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VIEW '^'
y
OF THE
Evidences of Chriftianity
IN THREE PARTS.
PART I. Of the dirca Hiftorical Evidence of Chriftianity, and wherein it is diitinguiflied from the Evidence alleged for other Miracles.
PART II. Of the Auxiliary Evidences of Chriftianity.
PART III. A brief Coniideration of feme popular Obje(^ion%
By WILLIAM PALEY, m. a,
ARCHDEACON OF CARLISLE.
THREE VOLUxM.es IN ONE,
PRINTED AT BOSTON,
By L THOMAS and E. T. ANDREWS,
No. 45, Newbury Street^
StPT. 1803.
155598:
AerOf?, LEWOX AND TILDEN FOU^JDATIONS.
1S99.
-i
TO THE. HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND
JAxMEg YORK, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF ELT.
MY LORD,
VV HEN five years ago, an important ftation in the Univerfity of Canibridgc av/aited your Lord- fhip^s difpofal, you were pleafed to offer it to me. The circumitances, under which this offer was made, demand a pubHc acknowledgment. I had never feen your Lordfhip : I poffeifed no connex- ion which could poilibiy recommend me to your favour : I was known to you, only by my endeav- ours, in common with many others, to difcharge my duty as a tutor in the Univerfity ; and by fome very imperfect, but certainly well intended, and, as you thought, ufeful publications fmce. In an age by no means wanting in examples of honour- able patronage, although this deferve not to b& mentioned, in refped to the objed of your Lord- fhip's choice, it is inferior to none, in the purity and difmtereftednefs of the motives which fuggeft- ed it.
How the following work may be rcc .nved, 1 pre- tend not to foretel. My firfl prayer concerning it is, that it may do good to any : my fecond hope,
IV
that it may allid, what it hath always been iny earned: wifh to promote, the religious part of an academical education. If in this latter view it might feem in any degree to excufe your Lord- fhip's judgment of its author, I iliall be gratified by the reflection, that to a kindnefs flowing from public principles, I have made the beft public re- turn in my power.
In the mean time, and in every event, I rejoice in the opportunity here afforded nje, of teilifying the fenfe I entertain of your Lordfnip's condud, and of a notice which I regard, as the moft flat- tering diiunaion oi my life.
I ?<fn, my Lord, VvMth feiitimcnts of gratitude and refpcvl. Your Lordfhip'}; faithful,
?.ni\ mofl obliged fervanf,
W. PALEY.
CONTENTS.
Page Preparatory Confiderations, 9
PART THE FIRST.
Of the direct Historical Evidence of Christian- ity, AND WHEREIN IT IS DISTINGUISHED FROM THE
Evidence alleged for other Miracles. i^
PROPOSITION L
CHAP. I. There is fathfaElory evidence that many^prcfcjpng to he anginal nvitfifjIJef of the Chri/iiai. Miracles, f>q/jed their lives In la- bours^ diingers and fujjlnnv f, voluntarily undergone in attef- tat ion of the accounts ivh'ub they delivered, andfjidy in con- fequence of their belief of the truth of thofe accounts ; and that they aljo fuhmitled,from the fame motives, to ne^iv rules of coriduSr, • l^:
CHAP. IL to CKA? Vni. rhe fame fuljea con^hiued.
C H A P. IX. " Of the authenticity of the fcriptures.*^ 74.
S E C T. I.
The h'florical looks of the New 'Ted amen f, meaning ihercly the four Gofpe-s and the Acts of the Abrflks, arc quoted, or alluded to, by a fries of Chrijlian ^U-'riters, -Wginning with thofe ^who ivere contemporary n.vith the Apojlies, or ivho irn- ynediaiely follovjed them, and proceeding in clofe andre;yular fucceffionfrom their time to the prefent.. 8©-.
Sect. IL- When the fcriplures are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted nvith peculiar refpcct, as looks fui generis, as pnjfijjing an authority which belonged to no ether books, and as conclu- Jive in all quejlions and coni roverf.es among fi Chri/Iia?:s, cjC) Sec t. hi.. Uhe fcriptures were in rery early ti'/nes coihCfed- into a dfllnC}, iiolume. \.Qi
hz.
CONTENTS.
P25ie
Sect. IV. Our prefent f acred writings tucre foon dijl'mgvtjhed h} appro- pr'iate names and titles of refped. 105
Sect. V. Our fcrlptures ivere puhltckly rend and expounded in the religi- ous ajfeinhlies of the early ChrijTians. 107
Sect. VI.
Commentaries tvere anciently written upon the fcriptures ; harmonies formed out of them ; different cop'es carefully collated } and verficns made of them into different lan- guages. 109 Sect. VII.
Our fcriptures were received by ancient Chriflians of different feds and perfuajiotis, by many heretics as well as Cath- olicsi and were ufually appealed to by both fides, in the con- troverfies which arofe in thofe days. 1 1 3
Sect. VIII. The four Gofpels, the A£is of the Apoj}les^ thirteen Epi/lles of St. Paul, thefrj Etijlle of John, andthefrfl of Pe- ter, were received without doubt by thofe who doubted concerning the other books, which are included in our pref- €nt canon* 1 1 8
Sect. IX. Our hiflorical fcriptures were attacked by the early adverfa- ries of Chriflianily, as containing the accounts upon which the religion was founded. 122
Sect. X.
Formal catalogues of authentic fcriptures were publifhed, in all which our prefent fiicred hi/lories were included. 1 26
Sect. XI. Thefe proportions cannot be predicated of any of thofe boohs, which are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Tefiament. 1 28
CHAP. X. 132
TROPOSITION II.
C H A P. I.
Our fecond propofition, and which now remains to be treated of, is, " That there is hot fatisfaSory evidence.
CONTENTS. Til
Page
that perfonSi pretending to he original ivltnejes of any other Jimllar miracles^ have a£ledin the fame manner^ in attefiation of the accounts which they delivered^ andfolely in confequence of their belief of the truth of thofe account s,^^ 136
CHAP. H. 152
PART THE SECOND.
Of the Aukiliary Evidences of Christianity. |
158 |
CHAP. I, |
|
Prophecy* |
158 |
C H A P. IL |
|
The Morality of the GofpeL |
167 |
CHAP. III. |
|
The Candour of the Writers of the Neiu Teflament* |
191 |
CHAP, IV. |
|
Identity of Chri/l's Charader, |
198 |
CHAP. V. |
|
Originality of our Saviour s Character, |
20S |
CHAP. VI. |
209 |
CHAP. VII. |
|
Undejigned Coincidences, |
233 |
CHAP. VIII. |
. |
Of the Hiflory of the RefurreBion, |
236 |
CHAP. IX. |
|
The Propagation of Chriflianity. |
239 |
Sect. I. |
246 |
Sect. JI. |
|
Refledions upon the preceding Account, |
354 |
Sect. III. |
|
Of the Religion of Mahomet. |
259 |
PART THE THIRD.
A BRIEF Consideration of some popular Objec- tions. ^7*
¥iJi CONTENTS.
Page CHAP. I.
The Difcrepancles hetween thsfeveral Go/pels^ 2'] I
CHAP. n.
Erroneous Opinions imputed to the Apojlles. 274
CHAP. HI.
The Connexion of Chrijlianlty with the Jeivj/Io H'tflory, 277
CHAP. IV.
Reje6lion of Chrijiianity. 279
_^ C H A P. V.
**" ' the Chriftian miracles are not recited^ or appealed tOf by ly Chriftian ivriters the?nfehesy fo fully or frequently as ht have been expeded. 291
CHAP. VI.
of univerfality in the knoivledge and reception of Chrif- 'ityy and of greater ckarnefs in the evidence, 298'
CHAP. VIl. uppofed Effe^s cf Chriflianity. 3C4
CHAP. VIII. ^,onc!uJiofh. 3x0^
Preparatory Confiderations.
X DEEM it unnecefikry to prove that mankind flood in need of a revelation, becaufe I have met with no ferious perfon who thinks that even under the Chriftian revelation we have too much light, or any aflurance which is fuperfluous. I defive moreover that in judging of Chriftianity it may be remembered, that the queftion lies between this religioa and none : for if the Cliriftian religion be not credible, no one, with whom we have to do, will fupport the pretenfions of any other.
Suppofe then the world we live in to have had a Creator ; fup- pofe it to appear, from the predominant aim and tendency of the provifiuns and contrivances obfervable in the univerfe, that the Deity, when he formtd it, confalted for the happinefs of his fenfitive creation ; fujmofe the difpofition which diclated this council to continue ; fuppofe i part of the creation to have re- ceived faculties from their Maker, by which they are capa- ble of rendering a moral obedience to his will, and of voluntari- ly puf-fuing any end for which he has definned them ; fappofe the Creator to intend for thefe his rational and accountable agents a fecond (late of exiftence, in which their fituation will be regulated by their behaviour in the firft Pcate, by which fup- pofition (and by no other) the objection to the divine government in not putting a difference between the good and the bad, and the incoiifiilency of this confiuion v/ith the care and benevolence difcoverable in the works of the Deity, is done away ; fuppofe it to be of the utmoft importance to the fubje£ls of this difpenfa- tion to know what is intended for them, that is, fuppofe the knowledge of it to be highly conducive to the happinefs of the fpecies, a purpofe which fo many provilions of nature are calcu- lated to proaiote : vSuppofe, neverthelefs, almod the whole race, either by the imperfection of their fliculties, the misfortune of their fituation, or by the lofs of forae prior revelation, to want this knowl- edge, and not to be likely without the aid of a new revelation to attain it ; under thefe circumftances is it improbable that a reve- lation fliould be made ? Is it incredible that God fhould inter* pofe for fucli a purpofe ? Suppofe him to defign for mankind a future ftate, is it unlikely that he fhould acquaint them with it ?
Now in what way can a revelation be made but by miracles ? In none which we are able to conceive. Confequ«ntly, in
Id A VIEW OF THE
whatever degree it Is probable or not very improbable that a revelation fhould be communicated to mankind at all, in the fame degree is it probable or not very improbable that miracles fbould be wrought. Therefore when miracles are related to have been wrought in the promulgating of a revelation manifeft- ly wanted, and, if true, of ineftimable value, the improbability which arifes from the miraculous nature of the things related, Is not greater than the original improbability that fuch a revelation fhould be imparted by God.
I wifh it however to be corre6lly underdood, in what man- ner, and to what extent, this argument is alleged. We do not •alTume the attributL'j of the Deity, or the exigence of a future ftate, in order to pro've the reaUty of miracles. That reality always mu(l be proved by evidence. We aflert only that in miracles adduced in fupport of revelation, there is not any fuch antecedent improbability as no teltimony can furmount. And, for the purpofe of maintaining this affertion, wc contend, that the incredibility of miracles related to have been wrought in atteHiatlon of a meffige from God, conveying Int:Jligence of" a future ftate of rewards and punlihments, and teaching man- kind how to prepare themfelves for that ftate, is not in itfelf greater tliin the event, call it either probable or improbable, of the two fVl lowing proportions being true, namely, firft, that a future ftate of exiflence fhould be deftined by God for his hu- man creation, and fecondly, that, being fo deftined, he fhould acquaint them with it. It is not neceflary for our purpofe that thefe propofitlons be capable of proof, or even that by arguments drawn from the light of nature, they can be made out to be prob- able. It is enough that we are able to fay concerning them, that they are not fo violently Improbable, fo contradictory to what we already believe of the divine power and characfter, that either the propofitlons themfelves, or fails ftrlftly connected with the propofitlons, (and therefore no farther improbable than they are improbable) ought to be rejected at fir ft light, and to be rejeded by whatever ftrength or complication of evidence they be attefted.
This is the prejudication we would refift. For to this length does a modern objedion to miracles go, viz. that no human telti- mony can In any cafe render them credible. I think the reflec- tion above ftated, that, if there be a revelation, there muft be mira- cles ; and that, under the circumftances in which the human fpe- cies are placed, a revelation is not improbable, or not improbable in any great degree, to be a fair anfwer to the whole objedioa*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. ii
But fince It is an objedion which ftands In the very threfhold of our argument, and, if admitted, is a bar to every proof, and to all future reafoning upon the fubjedt, It may be necefiary, be- fore we proceed farther, to examine the principle upon which it profeffes to be founded : which principle Is concifely this, that it is contrary to experience that a miracle fhould be true, but not contrary to experience that teftimony fliould be falfe.
Now there appears a fmall ambiguity in the term ** experience," and In the phrafes " contrary to experience," or " contradiding " experience," which It may be necefiary to remove In the flrft place. Strl^ly fpeaking, the narrative of a fa^ is then only contrary to experience, when the fad: Is related to have exited at a time and place, at which time and place we being prefent, did not perceive It to exift ; as if It fhould be aflerted, that In a particular room, and at a particular hour of a certain day, a man was raifed from the dead. In which room, and at the time fpecified, we being prefent and looking on, perceived no fuch event to have taken place. Here the affertion is contrary to experience properly fo called ; and this a ' contrariety which no evidence can furmount. It matters nothing,, whether the faft be of a miraculous nature or not. But although this be the experience, and the contrariety, which Archbp. Tillotfon alleged In the quotation with which Mr. Hume opens his efTay, It is certainly not that experience, nor that contrariety, which Mr. Hume himfelf intended to obje(51:. And, fhort of this, I know no Intelligible fignificatlon which can be affixed to the term " contrary to experience," but one, viz. that of not having ourfelves experienced any thing fimllar to the thing re- lated, or fuch things not being generally experienced by others. I fay not " generally," for to ftate, concerning the fadi in quef- tion, that no fuch thing was ever experienced, or that univerjal experience Is agalnft it, is to afTume the fubjedt of the contro- yerfy.
Now the improbability which arifes from the want (for this properly is a want, not a contradiction) of experience, is only equal to the probability there is, that if the thing were true, we Ihould experience things fimilar to it, or that fuch things would ^c generally experienced. Suppofe It then to be true that mir- acles were wrought upon the firft: promulgation of Chriftianlty, when nothing but miracles could decide its authority, is it certain that fuch miracles would be repeated fo often, and In fo many places, as to become obje^s of general experience I Is it a
12 A VIEW OF THE
probability approaching to certainty ? Is it a probability of any great ftrengtli or force ? Is it fuch as no evidence can encoun- ter ? and yet this probability is the exa<5l converfe, and there- fore the exa<5l meafure of the improbability which arifes from the war^r of experience, and which Mr. Hume reprefents as invincible uy human teftimony.
It is not like alleging a new law of nature, or a new experi- ment in natural philofophy, becaufe, when thefe are related, it is expefted that, under the fame circumftances, the fame ef- fefl will follow univerfally ; and in proportion as this expefta- tion is juftly entertained, the want of a correfponding experi- ence r:e^^;atives the hiftory. But to expeft concerning a mira- cle that it Ihould fucceed upon repetition, is to expcfl that which would make it ceafe to be a miracle, which is contrary to its nature as fuch, and would totally deftroy the ufe and purpofe for which it was v/rought.
The force of experience as an objedion to miracles is found- ed in the prefumption, either that the courfe of nature is inva- riable, or that, if it be ever varied, variations will be frequent and getieral. Has the neceffity of this alternative been dem- onftrated ? Permit us to call the coutfe of nature the agency of an intelligent being, and is there any good reafor; forjudging this (late of the cafe to be probable ? Ought we' not rather to expect, that fuch a being, upon occafions o'f peculiar impor- tance, may interrupt the order which he had appointed, yet, that fuch occafions fhould return feldom ; that thefe interruptions confequently fhould be confined to the experience of a few ; that the want of it, therefore, in many, fhould be matter neith- er of furprife nor objcdion ?
But as a continuation of the argument from ciiperience it is faid, that, v/hen we advance accounts of miracles, we aflign effeds without caufcs, or we attribute effedts to caufes inade- quate to the purpofe, or to caufes of the operation of which we have no experience. Of what caufes, we may afl<, and of what elfe^ls does the pbjedion fpeak ? If it be anfwered that, when we afcribe the cure of the palfy to a touch, of blind- nefs to the anointing of the eyes with clay, or the raifing of the dead to a word, we lay ourfelves open to this impatation, we reply that v/e afcribe no fuch effcds to fuch caufes. We perceive no virtue or energy in tlicfe things more than in other "".ings of the fame kind. They are merely figns to connect ■'I oiiraclc with its end. The eflPeft v/e afcribe fimply to the
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY,
I?
volition of the Deity ; of whofe exigence and power, not to fay of whofe prefence and agency, we have previous and inde- pendent proof. We have therefore all we feek for in the works of rational agents, a fufficient power and an adequate motive. In a word, once believe that there is a God, and miracles are not incredible.
Mr. Hume ftates the cafe of miracles to be a contefl: of op- pofite improbabilities ; that is to fay, a queftlon whether it be more improbable that the miracle fhould be true, or the tefti« mony falfe ; and this I think a fair account of the controverfy. But herein I remark a want of argumentative julHce, that, in defcribing the improbability of miracles, he fupprtefles all thofe circumftances of extenuation which refult from our knowledge of the exigence, power and difpofition of the Deity, his con- cern in the creation, tlie end anfwered by the miracle, the im- portance of that end, and its fubfer^/iency to the plan purfued in the works of nature. As Mr Hume has reprefented the queftion, miracles are alike incredible to him who is previoufly affured of the conHiant agency of a Divine Being, and to him who believes that no fuch being exifts in the univerfe. They ■are equally incredible, whether related to have been wrought upon occafions the mofl: deferving, and for purpofes the mod beneficial, or for no afltgnable end whatever, or for an end confelTedly trifling or pernicious. Tiiis furcly cannot be a cor- led ftatement. In adjuring alfo the other fide of the balance, the ftrength and weight of tellimony, this author has provided an anfwer to every poffible accumulation of hiflorical proof, by telling us, that we are not obliged to explain how the ftory or the evidence arofe. Now I think we are obliged ; not, per- haps, to fh'?w by pofitive accounts how it did, but by a probable hypothefis how it might fo happen. The exiftence of the tefli- niony is a phenomenon. The truth of the fa<5l folves the phe- nomenon. If Vivi rejedt this folution, we ought to have fome other to reft in ; and none even by our adversaries can be ad- mitted, which is not confiftent with the principles that regulate human affairs and human conduct at prefent, or which makes men then to have been a different kind of beings from what they are now.
But the fhort confideratlon which, independently of every
other, convinces me that there is no folid foundation in Mr.
Hume's conclufion, is the following : When a theorem Is pro-
pofed to a mathematician, the firfl thing he does with it is to
B
•14 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITV.
•try it upon a fimple cafe ; and, if it produce a falfe refult, he is iure that there muft be fome miftake in the demonftration. Now to proceed in this way -with what may be called Mr. Hume's theorem. If twelve men, whofe probity and good ferife I had Jong known, fhould ferioufiy and circumftantially relate to me an account of a miracle wrought before their eyes, and in which it was impoflible that they fhould be deceived ; if the governor ©f the country, hearing a rumor of this account, ihould call thefe men into his prefence, and offer them a fhort propofal, cither to confefs the impofture, or fubmit to be tied up to a gibbet ; if they fliould refufe with one voice to acknowledge that there exifted any falfehood or impofture in the cafe ; if this threat were communicated to them feparately, yet with no different effed ; if it was at lad executed ; if I myfelf faw them, one after another, confenting to be racked, burnt, or (trangicd, Tather than give up the truth of their account : fiill, if Mr. [Hume's rule be my guide, I am not to believe them. Now I undertake to fay that there exifts not a fceptic in the world, who would not believe them ; or who would defend fuch inr credulity.
Inftances of fpurious miracles fupported by ftrong apparent teftimony undoubtedly demand examination. Mr. Hume has endeavoured to fortify his argument by fome examples of this kind. I hope in a proper place to f/iow that none of them reach the ftrength or circumftances of the Chriftian evidence. In thefe however confids the weight of his objedlion. In l^e priociplc itfelf I am perfuaded there is none.
PART THE FIRST.
Of the direct Historical Evidence of Christianity, and wherein it is distinguished from the evidence
ALLEGED FOR OTHER MiRrACLES.
X HE two propofitions which I fliall endeavour to eflablifti, are thefe :
I. That there is fatisfa<Story evidence that many, profefling to be original witneffes of the Chriftian miracles, pafTed their lives in labours, dangers and fufTerings, voluntarily undergone in atteftation of the accounts which they delivered, and folely in confequence of their belief of thofe accounts ; and that they atfo fubmitted, from the fame motives, to new rules of conduct.
II. That there is «9/ fdtisfa6torv evidence that perfons, pro- fefTing to be ori;^inal witneiTesof other miracles, in theirnature as certain as thefe are, have ever aired in the fame manner, ia- atteftation of the accounts v^hlcli they delivered, and properly in confequence oftneir belief of thofe accounts.
The firft of thefe propofitions, as it forms the argument, will ftand at the head of the following nine chapters.
CHAR I.
There h fat is f apiary evidence that many^ P^^fijf^^'^ '^ ^^ original nulitiejfes of the Chriftian Miracles, pajftd their Ivoes in labours^ dangers c.dfujferings, ^voluntarily undergcrie in atteflation of the accounts iiihich they delivered, and fole/y in confequence of their belief of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fubmitted, from ths fame motives, to new rules of conduct.
X. O fupport this proportion two points are neceffary to be made out ; liril:, that the founder of the inllitution, his afToci- ates and immediate followers, adted the part which the propofi- tion imputes to them : fecondly, that they did fo, in atteftatioa of the miraculous hiRory recorded in our fcriptures, and folely in confequence of their belief of the truth of this hiflory.
Before we produce any particular telHmony to the adivity and fufTerings which compofe the fubjed of our firil alTertion, it
i6 A VIEW OF THE
will be proper to confider the degree of probability which the afTertion derives from the nature of the cafe, that is, by inferen- ces from thofe parts of the cafe which, in point of fa^, are on all hands acknowledged.
Firft then, the ChrilKun religion exifts, and therefore by fome means or other was eftciblillied. Now it either owes the prin- ciple of its eflabliftiment, i. e. its firft publication, to the ad>ivi- ty of the perfon who was the founder of the inftitution, and of" thofc who were joined with him in the undertaking, or we are driven upon the ihange fuppofjtion, that, although they might lie by, others would take it up ; although they were quiet and fi- lent, other peifons bufied themfelves in the fnccefs and propa- gation of tlieir ftory. This is perfediy incredible. To me it appears little lefs than certain, that, if the firft announcing of the religion by the founder had not been followed up by the zeal and indallry of his immediate difciples, the fcheme muft have expired in its birth. Then as to the kind and degree of exertion which was employed, and the mode of life to which thefe perfons lubmitted, we reafonably fuppofe it to be like tha,t> vhich we obferve in all others who voluntarily become miflion- aries of a new faith. Frequent, earned: and laborious preach- ing, con(!antly converfing with religious perfons upon religion, a fequeftsation from the common pleafures, engagements and varieties of life, and an addiction to one ferious objed, compofe the habits of fuch men. I do not fay that this mode of life is without enjoyment, but I fay that the enjoyment fprings from fincerity. With a confcioufnefs at the 'bottom, of hollownefs and falfehood, the fatigue and reftraint would become infupport- abie. I am apt to believe that very few hypocrites engage in thefe undertakings; or, however, perfift in them long. Ordi- narily fpeaking, nothing can overcome the indolence of man- kind, the love which is natural to mod tempers of cheerful foci- ety and cheerful fcenes, or the defire, which is common to all, of pcrfonal eafe and freedom, but convidion.
Secondly, i'c is alfo highly probable^ from the nature of the cafe, that the propagation of the new religion was attended with difficulty and diingtr. As addr.clTed to the Jews it was a fyf- tern, adverfe not only to their habitual opinions, but to thofe opinions upon which their hopes, their partialities, their pride, their confohtion was founded. This })eople, with or without reafor, had woiktd themftlves into a perfuafion, that iome fig- nal and greatly advantageous change, was to be effe(^ed in the
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 17
condition of their country, by the agency of a long-promlfed mefTenger from heaven. The rulers of the Jews, their leading fedt, their priefthood, had been the authors of this pcrfuafiou to the common people. So that it was not merely the conjec- ture of theoretical divines, or the fecret expedlation of a few reclufe devotees, but it was become the popular hope and paf- fion, and, like all popular opinions, undoubting, and impatient of contradidion. They clung to this hope under erery misfor- tune of their country, and with more tenacity as their dangers or calamities increafed. To find, therefore, that expedations fo gratifying were to be worfe than difappointed, that they were to end in the diffiilion of a mild unambitious religion, which, inftead of vi<5lories and triumphs, inftead of exalting their ra- tion and inftitution above the reft of the world, was to advance thofe whom they defpifed to an equality with themfelves, in thofe very points of comparifon in which they moft valued their own diflindion, could be no very pieaiing dtfcovery to a Jewifh* mind ; nor could the meflengers of fuch intelligence expe<5t to be well received or eafiiy credited. The doftrine was equally harili and novel.- The extending of the kingdom of God to> thofe who did not conform to the law of Mofes, was a notion^ that had never before entered into the thoughts of a Jew.
The character of the new inftitution was, in other refpeds- alfo, ungrateful to Jewifh habits and principles. Their own religion was in a high degree technical. Even the enlightened Jew placed a great deal of ftrefs upon the ceremonies of his- law, faw in them a great deal of virtue and efficacy ; the grofs and vulgar had fcarcely any thing elfe ; and the hypocritical and oftentatious magnified them above meafure, as being the inftiuments of their own reputation. and influence. The Chrif- tlan fcheme, v/ithout formally repealing the Levitical code," lowered its eftin-'ation extremely. In the place of ftri^lnefs- and zeal in performing the obfervances which that code pre-< fcribed, or which tradition had added to it, the new fed preach- ed faith, well-regulated affedions, inv/ard purity, and moral? reditude of difpofition, as tiie true ground, on the part of the- worfliipper, of merit and acceptance with God. This- howev- er rational it may appear, or recommending to us at prefent, tKd not by any means facilitate the plan then. On the contrary, to difparage thofe qualities which the higheft charadters in the- country valued thenjfelves moft upon, was a fure way of mak- ing powerful enemies. As- if the fruftriition of the'national hope B 2 ,
i8 A VIEW OF THE
was not enough, the long efteemed merit of ritual zeal and pun^uality was to be decried, and that by Jews preaching to Jews.
The ruling party at Jerufalem had juft before crucified the founder of the religion. That is a fadl which will not be dif- puted. They therefore who flood forth to preach the religion, muft neceffarily reproach thefe nilers with an execution, which they could not but reprefent as an unjuft and cruel murder. This would not render their office more eafy, or their litua- tion more fafe.
With regard to the interference of the Roman government which was then eftablillied in Jjdea, I fhould not expe^, that, defpifing, as it did, the religion of the country, it would, if left to itfelf, animadvert, either with much vigilance, or much feverity, upon the fchifms and controverfies which arofe within it. Yet there was that in Chriftianity which might eafily afford a handle of accufation with a jealous government.. The Chrif- tians avowed an unqualitied obedience to a new mrifter. They avowed alfo that he was the perfon who had been foretold to the Jews under the fuf|je(5l:ed title of king. The fpiritual na- ture of this kingdom, the cocfiikncy of this obedience with civ- il fubjeftion, were diftinf>ions too refined to be entertained by a Roman prcfident, who viewed the bufinefs at ii; great dirtance, or through the medium of very hoftile reprefentations. Our hiftories accordingly inform us, that this was the turn which the enemies of Jefus gave to his character and pretenlions in their remonftrances with Pontius Pilate. And Juftin Mar- tyr, about a huudred years afterwirds, complains that the fame., miftake prevailed in his time : " Ye having heard I'hat we are waiting for a kingdom, fuppofe, without diftinguifhing, that we mean a human kingdom, when in truth we fpeak of that which is with God."-^ And it was undoubtedly a natural fource of calumny and mlfconftru(ftion.
The preachers therefore of Chriftianity had to contend with jJnejudice, backed by power. They had to come forward to a cUfappointed people, to a priefthood poffefTing a confiderable fhare of municipal authority, and aduated by Itrong motives of Oppofition and rtfentment ; and they had to do this under a fpteign government, to whofe favoui they made no pretenfions,** uid which was conftantly furrounded by their eaemies. The
a Ap. 1 mc. p. 1 6. cd. Thirl,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.
•9fe
well-known, becaufe the experienced, fate of reformers, when- ever the reformation fubverts fome reigning opinion, and does not proceed upon a change already taken place in the fentlments of a country, will not allow, much lefs lead us, to fappofe, that the firft propagators of Chriftianity at Jerufalem and in Judea, with the difficulties and the enemies which they had to contend, with, and entirely deftitute, as they were, of force, authority or prote<^ion, could execute their miffion with perfonal eafe and fafety.
Let us next inquire what might reafonably be expe<5led by, the preachers of Chriftianity when they turned themfelves to the heathen public. Now the firft thing that ftrikes us is, that the religion they carried with them was exclufive. It denied without referve the truth of every article of heathen rnythology,; the exiftence of every objed of their worfhip. It accepted no compromife : it admitted no comprehenfion. It muft prevail, if it prevailed at all, by the overthrow of every ftatue, altar and temple in'the world. It will not eafily be credited that a de- fign, fo bold as this was, could in any age be attempted to be carried into e^tecution with impunity.
For it ought to be conGdered, that this was not fetting forth» or magnifying the charafter and wodhip of fome new competitor for a place in the Pantheon, whofs pretenfions might be difcuf^ fed or afTerted without queflioning the reality of any others.,, It was pronouncing all other gods to be lalfe, and all other worfliip vain. From the facility with which the Polytheifm of ancient nations admitted new obje<5ts of worfbip into the num- ber of their acknowledged divinities, or the patience with which they might entertain propofals of this kind, we can argue noth- ing as to their toleration of a fyftem, or of the publifhers and adbive propagators of a fyftem. which fwept away the verjr foun- dation of the exifting eftablifhraent. The one was nothing more than what it would be, in Popifh countries, to add a faint- to tlie calendar ; the other was to aboiiih and tread under foot the calendar itfeif
Secondly, it ought alfo to be confidered. that this was not the cafe of philofophers propounding in their books or in their fchools, doubts concerning the truth of the popular creed, or even avowing their di (belief of it- Thefe philofophers did not go about from place to place to colIe<5l profelytes from amongft the common people ; to form in the heart of the country focie- ties profeiHng their tenets ; to provide for the order, inftriw^ioa,.;
to A VIEW OF THE
and permanency ofthefe focietles ; nor did they enjoin their followers to withdraw thenifelves from the public worHiip of the temples or refiife a compliance with rites iniHtutedl3y the laws.^ Thefe things are what the Chriftians did, and what the philofophers did not ; and in thefe confifted the adivity and danger of the enterprife.
' Thirdly, it ought alfo to be confidered, that this danger pro- ceeded not merely from loiemn a(5ts and pubUc refolutions of- the ftatc, but from fjdden burfts of violence at particular places, from the licenfe of the populace, the rafnnefs of fome magif- trates, and the negligence of others, frorti the influence and in- iligation of iuterefted adverfaries, and, in general, from the va- fiety and warmth of opinion which an errand fo novel and ex- traordinary could not fkil of exciting. I can conceive that the teachers of Chriftianity might both fear and fuffer much from thefe caufes without any general perfecution being denounced againft them by imperial authority. Some length of time, I ihould fuppofe, might pafs before the vafl machine of the Ro- man empire would be put in motion, or its attention be obtain- ed to religious controverfy ; but, during that time, a great deal of ill ufage might be endured, by a fet of friendlefs, unproteded travelleis, telling men, wherever they came, that the religion of their anceftors, the religion in which they had been brought up, the religion of the ftate and of the magiftrate, the rites which they frequented, the pomp which tliey admired, was through- out a fyftem of folly and delufion.
Nor do I think that the teachers of Chriflianlty would find protedlion in that general difbelief of the popular theology, ■which is fuppofed to have prevailed amongft the intelligent part of the heathen public. It is by no means true, that unbelievers arc ufually tolerant. They are not difpofed (ar.d why (hould they ?) to endanger the prefent ftate of thing:, by fuffering a religion of which they believe nothing, to be difturbed by anoth- er of which they believe as Wttla. They are ready themfelves to conform to any thing ; and are, oftentimes, amonglt the fore-^ iBoft to procure conformity from others, by any method which
t» Thebcft of the ancient philofophitrs, Plato, Cicero and Epl<Sletus,. allowed, or rather enjoined men to wurfliip the gods of the country,. and in the cftabliflicd fornv See piiTa<;e;> to ihi-. purpofe, colltifted from their works by Dr. Clarke, Nat. and Rev. Rcl. p. 180. Ed. V. Except Socrates, they all thought it wifer to ccmply with the la>?9, ' than tO cuQtcnd.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 2k
they think likely to be efficacious. When was ever a change of religiofli patronlfed by infidels ? How little, notwithftanding the reigning fcepticifra, and the magnified liberality of that age, the true principles of toleration were underrtood by the wifeft men amongft them, may be gathered from two eminent and urt- contefted examples. The younger Pliny, polifhed as he was> by all the literature of that foft and elegant period, could grave- ly pronounce this monftrous judgment : " Thofe who perfifted in declaring themfelves Chriftians, I ordered to be led away to punifhment, (i. e. to execution) for I did not d:^ubt, ivhatm ever it ivas thai they confejfed^ that contumacy and tnfle>cib!e ohjlina" cy ought to he punijhed.^^ His mafter Trajan, a mild and accom^ phflied prince, went, neverthelefs, no farther in his fentiments of moderation and equity, than what appears in the following refcript ; ** The ChrilHans are nf)t to be fought for, but if any are brought before you, and convi(fted, they are to be punifhed.'* And this dire61ion he gives, after it had been reported to him by his own prefident, that, by the moil ftri(5t exaraination, noth- ing could be difcovered in the principles of thefe perfons, but, **a bad and excefTive fuperftition,'' accompanied, it feems, with an oath or mutual federation, '' to allow themfelves in no crime or immoral condudl whatever." The truth is. the an- cient heathens considered religion entirely as an nffair of ftate, as much under the tuition of the magillrate as any other part of the police. The religion of that age was not merely allied to the ftate ; it was incorporated into it. Many of its offices were adminiftered by the magiftrate. [ts titles of pontiffs, au- gurs and flamens, were borne by fenators, confuls and generals. Without difcufling therefore the truth of the theology, they re- fented every affront put upon the eftablillied worlhip, as a diredt oppofition to the authority of government.
Add to which that the religious fyltems of thofe times, how-, ever ill fupported by evidence, had been long eftabli^ied. The ancient religion of a country has always many votaries, and fometimes not the fewer, becaufe its origin is hidden in remote- nefs and obfcurity Men have a natural veneration for antiqui- ty, efpecially in matters of religion. What Tacitus fays of the Jewilh, was more applicable to the heathen eftablifhment, " hi ritus, quoquo modo indufti, antiquitate defenduntur.** It was alfo a fplendid and fumptuous worfhip It had its priefthood, its endowments, its temples. Statuary painting, architedure, and mullc, contributed their efFe<^ to its ornament and magnifif
22 A VIE\y OF THE
cence. It abounded in feftival fliows and folemnltics, to wliicli tlie common people are greatly additfled ; and which were of a nature to engage them much more than any thing of that fort amon^ us. Tliefe things would retain great numbers on its fide by the hifcination of fpeftacle and pomp, as well as intcrtft many in its prefervation by the advantage which they drew from it, **It was moreover interwoven." as Mr. Gibbons rightly repic- fents it, " with every circuml^ance of bufinefs or pleafure, of public or private life, with all the oiHces and amufements of fo- ciety." Upon the due celebration alfo of its rites, the people Weie taught to believe, and did believe, that the profperity of their country in a great meafare depended.
I am willing to accept the account of the matter which is gl^en by Mr. Gibbons : " Th° various modes of wor.Oiip which prevailed in the Roman world, were all confidered by the peo- ple as equally true, by the philofophers as equally falfe, and by t^e magiftrate as equally ufcful ;*' and T would alk, from which. . of thefe three c lafTes of men, were the Chriftian miffionaries to look for protedion or impunity. Could they expert it from the people, '* whofe acknowledged confidence in the public re- ligion'' they fubverted from its foundation ? from the philofo- pher, who, " confidering all rt-ligions as equally falfe," v/ould of courfe rank theirs amongft the number, with the addition of regarding them as bufy and troublcfome zealots ? or from the magiftrate, who, fatisfied with the *' utility'' of the fubfiiting leligion, would not be likely to countenance a fpirit of profelytifm and innovation ; a fyflem, which declared war againft every other, and which, if it prevailed, muft end in a total rupture of public opinion ; an upftart religion, in a word, which was not content with its own authority, but muit difgrace all the fettled religions of the world ? It was not to be imagin- ed that he would endure with patience, that the religion of the emperor and of the (hite fhould be calumniated and borne down by a company of fuperftltious and defpicable Jews.
Laftly ; the nature of the cafe affords a ftrong pi oof, that the original teachers of Chriftianity in confcquence of their new
►feffion, entered upon a new and fmgular courfe of life. We
y be allowed to prefume, that the inftitution which they
ached to othe>rs, they conformed to in their own perfons ;
:aufe this is no more than, what every teacher of a new relig- both does, and muft do, in order to obtain either profelytes
htarers. The ghange which this would produce was very
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 23
confiderable. It is a change which we do not eafily edimate, becaiife, ourfelves and all about us being habituated to the in- ftitiition from our infancy, it is what we neither experience nor obferve. After men became Chriftians, much of their time was fpent in prayer and devotion, in religious meetings, in cele- brating the eucharifl-, in conferences, in exhortations, in preach- ing, in an affedionate intercourfe with one another, and corre- fpondence with other focieties. Perhaps their mode of life in its form and habit was not very unlike that of the Unitas fra- tmm, or of modern Methodifls. Think then what it was to htzomcf luh at Corinth, at Ephefus, at Antioch, or even at Jerufalem. How new, liow alien from all their former hab- its and ideas, and from thofe of every body about them? What a revolution there muft have been of opinions and preju- dices to bring the matter to this ? We know what the pre- cepts of the religion are ; how pure, how benevolent, how difinterefted a conduct they enjoin ; and that this purity and benevolence is extended to the very thoughts and affec- tions. We are not perhaps at liberty to take for granted, that the lives of the preachers of Chriftianity were as perfect as their lefTons : but we are entitled to contend, that the obferva- ble part of their behaviour muft have agreed in a great meaf- ure with the duties which they taught. There was therefore, which is all that we aflert, a coiirfe of life purfued by them, different from that which they before led. And this is of great importance. Men are brought to any thing almoft fbon- er than to change their habit of life, efpecially, when the change is either inconvenient, or made againfl the force of natural incli- nation, or with the iofs of ^ccudomed indulgencies. " It is the moll difficult of all things, to convert men from vicious habits to_ virtuous ones, as every one may judge from what he feels in hirafelf, as well as from what he fees in others."'^ It is almofl like making men over again
Lefi^tlien to myfelf, and without any more information than a knowledge of the exiftence of the religion, of the general ftory upon whicli it is founded, and that no ad of power, force or authority, was concerned in its firfl. fuccefs, I fliould conclude, from die very nature and exigency of the cafe, that the author of the religion during his life, and his immediate difciples after his deatli, exerted themfelyes in fpreading and publifhing the infli- ct Hartley's EfT. on Man, p. 190.
34 A VIEW OF THE
tution throughout the country in which it began, and into whicft it was firft carried ; that, in the profecution of this purpofe, they underwent the labours and troubles which we obferve the propa- gators of new fe^s to undergo ; that the attempt muft neceflarily have alfo been in a high degiee dangerous ; that from the fubje<n: of the miflion, compared with the fixed opinions and prejudices of thofe to whom the mi/lionaries were to addrefs themfelves, they could hardly fail of encountering flrong and frequent oppofi- tion ; that, by the hand of government, as well as from the fudden fury and unbridled hcenfe of the people, they would oftentimes experience injurious and cruel treatment ; that, at liny rate, they muft have always had fo much to fear for their perfonal fafety, as to have pafTed their lives in a ftate of conftant peril and anxiety ; and laftly, that their mode of life and con- du<5l, vifibly at leaft, correfponded with the inftitution which they delivered, and fo far, was both new and required continu- al felf-denial.
CHAP. II.
*Therf is fatisfaSory e'oidencfi that manyy profejfmg to he original avitneffet of the Chrifliafi Miracles^ pajfed thnr ffves in labours j dangers and fufferingSy voluntarily undergone in attejlation of the accounts nvh'tch they delivered^ and folely in confequtnce of their belief of the truth of thefe accounts ; and that they alfo fubmittedy from the fame motives ^ to nenv rules of conduS,
XxFTER thus confidering what was likely to happen, we are next to inquire how the tranfa<5tion is rcprefented in the feveral accounts that have come down to us. And this inquiry is prop- erly preceded by the other, forafmuch as thr reception of thefe accounts may depend in part upon the credibility of what they contain.
1 he obfcure and diftant view of Chriflianity, which fome of the heathen writers of that age had gained and which a few pafiages in their remaining works incidentally difcover to us, offers itfelf to our notice in the firft place : becaufe, fo far as this evidence goes, it is the conceflion of adverfaries ; the fourcc from which it is drawn is unfufpefted. Under this head a quotation from Tacitus, well known to every fcholar, muft be inferted as deferving of particular attention. The reader will
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 25
bear in mind that this pafTage v/as written about feventy years after Chrift'3 death, and that it relates to tranfadions which took place about thirty years after that event. Speaking of the fire which happened at Rome in the time of Nero, and of the fufpicions which were entertained that the emperor himfelf was concerned in caufing it, the hiftorian proceeds in his narra- tive and obfervations thus :
" But neither thefe exertions, nor his largefTes to the people, nor his offerings to the gods, did away the infamous imputa- tion under which Nero lay, of having ordered the city to be fet on fire. To put an end therefore to this report, he laid the guilt, and inflicted the mod cruel punifliments upon a Tet of people, wha were held in abhorrence for their crimes, and called by the vulgar, Chrijiians. The founder of that name was Chrift, who fuffered death in the reign of Tiberius, under his procurator Pontius Pilate. This pernicious fuperftition, thus checked for a while, broke out again, and fpread, not only over Judea, where the evil originated, but through Rome alfo, whither every thing bad upon earth finds its way, and is pradifed. Some who confefTed their fedl were firft feized, and afterwards by their information a vaft multitude were apprehend- ed, who v/ere convided, not fo much of the crime of burning Rome, as of hatred to mankind. Their fufFerings at their execu- tion were aggravated by infult and mockery ; for fome were dif- guifed in the fkins of wild hearts, and worried to death by dogs — ^fome were crucified- and others were wrapt in pitched fhirts,* and fet on fire when the day clofed, that they might ferve as lightb to illuminate the night. Nero lent his own gardens for thefe executions ; and exhibited at the fame time a mock Cir- cenfian entertainment, being a fpeftator of the whole in the drefs of a charioteer, fometimes mingling with the crowd on foot, and fometimes viewing the fpedacles from his car. This conduft made the fufferers pitied ; and though they were crim- inals, and deferving the fevereft punifhment, yet they were con- fidered as facrificed, not fo much out of a regard to the public good, as to gratify the cruelty of one man."
a This is rather a p?iraphrafe, hut is juftified by what the Scholtaft upon Juvenal fays — " Nero malcficos homines teda et papyro et cera fuperves tiebat, et fic ad ignem ad moveri jubebat." Lard. Jueft. e:: Heath. Teft. vol. I. p. 359.
26 A VIEW OF THE
Our concern with this pafTaoe at prefent, is only fo flir as it affords a prefumption in fupport of tliC proportion which we ' maintain, concerning the adtivity and fuiferings of the fird teach- ers of Chriftianity. Now, confidered in this view, it proves three things ; ift, that the founder of the inftitution was put to death ; 2dly, that, in the fame country in which he was put to death, the rehgion, after a fliort check, broke out again and fpread ; sdiy, that it fo fpread as that, within thirty-four years from the author's death, a very great number of Christians (in- gens eorum muhitudo) were found at Rome. From which faft, the two following inferences may be fairly drawn ; firft, that, if in the fpace of thnty-four years from its commence- ment, the religion had fpread throughout Judea, had extended itfelf to Rcme, and there had numbered a great multitude of converts, the original teachers and mifiionaries of the inftitution could not have been idle ; adly, that when the author of the undertaking was put to death as a malefaiHior for his attempt, the endeavours of his followers to eftablifli his religion, in the fame country, araongft the fame people, and in the fame age, could not but be attended with danger.
Suetonius, a writer contemporary with Tacitus, defcribing the tranfaclions of the fame reign, ufes thefe words : '' Affedifu- pliciis Chriftiani, genus hominum fuperftitionis nov^e et malefi- cs."*^ " The Chriftians, a fet of men, of a new and mifchiev- ous (or magical) fuperftition, were puniflied."
Since it is not mentioned here that the burning of the city was the pretence of the punifhment of the Chriftians, or that they were the Chriltians of Rome who alone fuffcred, it is probable that Suetonius refers to fome more general perfecu- tion than the ftiort and occafional one which Tacitus defer ibes.
Juvenal, a writer of the fame age with the two former, and intending, as it fhould feem, to commemorate tije cruelties ex- ercifed under Nero's government, has the following lines :''
" Pone Ti.oellinum tcda lucebis in ilia
Q^'i flantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant,
Et latum mediafulcumc dcducit arena."
** Defcribe Tigellinus, (a creature of Nero's) and you fliall fuffer the fame punifhment with thofe who ftand burning in tkcir own flame and fmoke, their head being held up by aftake
a Suet. Nero, cap. i6. b S?.t. 1. vcr. I jj. ^' Forfan " dcducis."
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 27
fixed to their chin, till they make a long ftreani of blood and melted fulphur on the ground."
If this paffage were confidered b}' itfelf, the fiibjeft of the al- lufion might be doubtful ; but when conne(51:ed with the -tefti- mony of Suetonius, as to the adual punifhment of the Chriftians by Nero ; and with the account given by Tacitus o£ \he. f pedes of puniihment which they were made to undergo ; I think it fufficiently probable, that thefe were the executions to which the poet refers.
Thefe things, as hath already been obferved, took pkce within thirty-one years after Chrift's death, that is, according to the courfe of nature, in the life-time, probably, of fome of the apoftles, and certainly in the hfe-time of tliofe who were converted by the apoftles, or who were converted in their time. If then the founder of the religion was put to death in the execution of his defign ; if the lirft race of converts to the religion, many of them, fuffered the greatell: extremities for their profelTion ; it is hardly credible, that thofe who came betiveen the two, who were companions of the author of the in- fiitation during his life, and the teachers and propagators of the inftitution after his death, could go about their undertak- ing with eafe and fafety.
The teftiniony of the younger Pliny belongs to a later peri- od ; for although he was contemporary with Tacitus and Sue- tonius, yet his account does not, hke theirs, go back to the tranfadions of Nero's reign, but is confined to the affairs of his own tiiiie. His celebrated letter to Trajan was written about feventy years after ChriiVs death ; and the inform.ation 10 be drawn from it, fo far as it is conneiSled with our argument, re- lates principally to two points ; lirfl, to the number of Chriflians in Bythynia and Pontus, which was fo confiderable as to in- duce the governor of thefe provinces to fpeak of them in the following terms : " Multi, omnis jetatis, utriufque fexus etiam — enim ctvitates tantum, fed vicos etiam et agros, fuperftitionis iftius c&ntagio pervagata eft." " There are many of every age and of both fexes ; nor has the contagion of this fuperdition feized cities only, but fmaller towns alfo, and the open country." Great exertions mad have been ufed by the preachers of Chrif- tianity to produce this ftate of things within this time. Sec- ondly, to a point. which hath been already noticed, and which I think of importance to be obferved, namely, the fufferings to which Chriftians were expofed, without any pubUc perfecution
28 A VIEW OF THE
being denounced agalnft them by foveieign authority. For, from Pliny's doubt how he was to a6l, his filence concerning any fubfirtlng law upon the fubjed, his requelling the emperor's refcript, and the emperor, agreeably to liis requelt, propounding a rule for his direction, without reference to any prior rule, it may be inferred, that there was, at that time, no public edicl. againft the Chriftians in force. Yet from this fame epiftle of Pliny it appears " that accufations, trials and examinations were, and had been, going on againU: them, in the provinces over which he prefided ; that fchedulcs were delivered by anonymous in- formers, containing the names of perfons who w^cre fafpcded of holding or of favouring the religion ; that, in confequence of thefe informations, many had been apprehended, of whom fome boldly avowed their profeffion, and died in the caufe ; others denied that they were Chriftians ; others acknowledging that they had once -6een Chriftians, declared that they had long ceafed to be fuch." All which demonftrates that the profeffion of Chriftianity was at that time (in that country at leaft) attend- ed with fear and danger ; and yet this took place without any edict from the Roman fovereign, commanding or authorif. ing the perfecution of Chriftians. This obfervaeion is farther confirmed -by a refcript of Adrian to Minucius Fundanus the pro-conful of Afia : -^ from which refcript it appears, that the cuftom of the people of Afia was to proceed againft the Chriftians with tumult and uproar. This diforderly pradice, I fay, is re- cognized in the edicl, becaufe the emperor enjoins, that, for the future, if the Chriftians were guilty they (liould be le- gally brought to trial, and not be purfued by importunity and clamour.
Martial wrote a few years before the younger Pliny ; and, as his manner was, made the fufferings of the Chriftians the fub- \tS. of his ridicule.^ Nothing however could fliow the noto- riety of the fa6l with more certainty than this does. Martial's teftimony, as well indeed as Pliny's, goes alfo to another point_,
a Lard. Heath. Teft. v. II. p. no. b In matutina nuper fpecSlatus arena Mucins, impofuit qui fua membra focis, Si patiens fortifque tibi durufque videtur, Ab deritanx pedtora plebis babes ; Nam cum dicatur tunica prasfcnte molefta, Ure* manum plus eft dicerc non facio. ♦ Fir/an " t/jute manum,'-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 29
viz. that the deaths of thefe men were martyrdoms in the ftrict- eft fenfe, that is to fay, were fo voluntary, that it was in their power, at the time of pronouncing the fentence, to have averted the execution, by confenting to join in heathen facrifices.
The conflancy, and by confecjuence the fufi^crings, of the Chriftians of this period, is alfo referred to by Epiftetus, who imputes their intrepidity to madnefs, or to a kind of fafliion or habit ; and about iifty years afterwards, by Marcus AureHus, who afcribes it to obftinacy. " Is it poffible (Epi6letus afks) that a man may arrive at this temper, and become indifferent to thofe things, from madnefs or frorrj habit, as the Galileans.'^ " Let this preparation of the mind (to die) arife from its ov/n judgment, and not from obftinacy //if the Chrijlians T "^
CHAP. III.
There h fathfaBory evidence^ that many, P^'lf^f^^S ^^ ^^ original nvitnejfes of the ChrijUan Miracles , P^ff^d their lives in labours^ dangers and fuffermgs, voluntarily undergone in attejlalion of the accounts ivhich they delivered, arid folely in confequence of their belief of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fubmiited, from the fame motives, to ne^ju rules of condiid*
UF the primitive condition of Chriilianity, a diftant only and general view can be acquired from heathen writers. It is in our own books that the detail and interior of the tranfadion mud be fought for. And this is nothing different from what might be expefted. Who would write the hiftory of Chriftiani- ty but a Chriftian ? Who was likely to record the travels, fuffer- ings, labours or fucceffes of the apoftles. but one of their own num- ber, or of their followers ? Now thefe books come up in their ac- counts to the full extent of the propofition which we maintain. "We have four hiftories of Jefus Chrift. We have a hiftory taking up the narrative from his- death, and carrying on an ac- count of the propagation of the religion, and fome of the mod eminent perfons engaged in it, for afpace of nearly thirty years. We have, what forae may think fHll more original, a colledion cf kctersj written by certain principal agents in the bufmefsjUpon the
a Epic. r. iv. c. 7. l» Marc. Aur. Med. 1. xi. c. 3. C 2
30 A VIEW OF THE
bufinefs, and in the midn: of their concern and connexion with it. And we have thefe writings feverally attefting the point which we contend for, viz. the fufferings of the witnefTes of the hiftory, and attefting it in every variety of form in which it can be con-" ceived to appear ; diredlly and indirectly, exprefsly and inci- dentally, by affertion, recital and allufion, by narratives of fa6ts, and by arguments and difcourfes built upon thefe fadls, either referring to them, or necefiarily prefuppofmg them. —
I remark this variety, becaufe in examining ancient records, or indeed any fpecies of teftimony, it is, in my opinion, of the greatell importance to attend to the information or grounds of argument which are cafually and undefignedly difclofed ; foraf- much as this fpecies of proof is, of all others, the leaft liable to be corrupted by fraud or mlfreprefentation.
I may be allowed therefore, in the inquiry which is now be- fore us, to fugged fome conciulions of this fort as preparatory to more diredt teftimony.
1. Our books relate, that Jefus Chrift, the founder of the religion, was, in confequence of his undertaking, put to death, as a malefa(5lor, at Jerufalem. This point at lead will be granted, becaufe it is no more than what Tacitus has recorded. They then, proceed to tell us, that the religion was, notivith'
Jianding, fet forth ax the fame city of Jerufalem, propagated from thence throughout Judea, and afterwards preached in ether parts of the Roman empire, Thefe points alfo are fully confirmed by Tacitus, who informs us, that the religion, after a fhort check, broke out again in the country where it took its life ; that it not only fpread throughout Judea, but had reached Rome ; and that it had there great multiti^des of converts : and all this within thirty years after its commencement. Now thefe faft-, afford a (trong inference in behalf c^ the propofiticn which we maintain. What could the difciples of Chrift ex- j-ed for themfelves, when they faw their mailer put to death ? Could they hope to efcape the dangers in which he had perifli- cd ? If they have perfecuted me, they will alfo perfecute you, was the v/arning of common fenfe. With this example before their eyes, they could not be without a full fenfe of the peril of their future enterprife.
2. Secondly, all the hiftories agree in reprefenting Chrift as foretelling the perfecutlon of his followers.
" Then (hall they deliver you up to be afflided, and ftiall kill you, and ye (hall be hated of all nations for my name's fakev"* a Matt. xxiv. 5,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 31
" When afflidion or perfecution arifeth for the word*s fake, immediately they are offended."*
" They {hall lay hands on you, and perfecute you, delivering you up to the fynagogues, and into prifons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's fake ; and ye fliall be betrayed both by parents and brethren, and kinsfolks and friends, and fome of you fhail they caufe to be put to death."''
*' The time cometh, that he that killeth you will think that he doeth God fervice. And thefe things will they do unto you, becaufe they have not known the Father nor me. But tliefe things have I told you, that when tbe time fliall come ye may remember that I told you of them."*^
I am not entitled to argue from thefe paflages, that Chriil: a<5tually did foretel thefe events, and that they did accordingly come to pafs, becaufe that would be at once to affume the truth of the religion : but I am entitled to contend, that one fide or other of the following disjun<5Hon is true, either that the evangeiifts have delivered what Chrift really fpoke, and that the event correfponded with the prediction ; or that they put the predi(5lion into Chrift's mouth, becaufe, at the time of writing the hiflory, the event had turned out fo to be : for the only two remaining fuppofitions appear in the highefl de- gree incredible, which are, either that Chrift filled the minds of his follovv^ers with fears and apprehenfions, without any rea- fon or authority for what he faid, and contrary to the truth of the cafe ; or that, although Chrift had never foretold any fuch thing, and the event would have contradidled him if he had, yet hiflorians who lived in the age when the event was known, falfely as well as officioufly afcribed thefe words to him.
3. Thirdly, thefe books abound with exhortations to pa- tience, and with topics of comfort under diftrefs.
" Who fhall feparate us from the love of Chrifi? ? Shall trib- ulation, or diftrefs, or perfecution, or famine, or nakednefs, or peril, or fv/ord ? Nay, in all thefe things we are more than con- querors through him that loved us."*^
"We are troubled on every fide, yet not diflreffed ; we aj»e perplexed, but not in defpair ; perfecuted, but not forfaken.;
« Mark iv. 17. fee alfo x. 30.
^ Luke xxi. 12 — 16. fee alfo xl 49,
c John xvi. 4. fee alfo xv. jo. and xvi. 3-3.
4 ^om. viii. 2S, 37'
32 A VIEW OF THE
caft dov^n bat not deftroyed ; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jefus, that the Hfe alfo of Jefus mighi; be made manifeft in our body — knowing that he which railed up the Lord Jefus fliail raife us up alfo by Jefus, and ihall prefent us with yon — for which caufe we faint not, but, thougli oar outward man perifh, yet the inward man is renewed day by day ; for our light aillidion which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."-
" Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have fpoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of fufFering affliction, and of patience. Behold we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have feen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."'^
*' Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflidions, partly whilil: ye were made a gazing-itock both by reproaches and afflidlions, and partly whiHl: ye became companions of them that were fo ufed ; for ye had compalTion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the fpoiling of your goods, knowing in your- felves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring fubitance. Caft not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompenfe of reward ; for ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promife." "^
" So that we ourfelves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your perfecutions and tribula- tions that ye endure. Which is a manifeft token of the right- eous judgment of God, that ye may be accounted worthy of the kingdom, for which ye alfo fulTer."^
** We rejoice in hope of the glory of God ; and not only fo, but we glory in tribulations alfo ; knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope."^
" Beloved, think it not ftrange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though fome flrange thing happened unto you, but rejoice, inafmuch as ye are partakers of Chrift's fufferings. Wherefore let them that futfer according to the
a a Ccr. iv. 8, 9, lo, 14, 16, 17. ^ James v. to, 11. <■ Hcl). X. 32 — 36. d 2 Thell. i. 1—5.
c Fvom, V, 3. 4.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 33
will of God, commit the keeping of their fouls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."'^
What could all thefe texts mean, if there was nothing in the circumllances of the times which required patience, which call- ed for the exercife.of conftancy and refolution ? Or will it be pretended that thefe exhortations (which, let it be obferved, come not from one author, but from many) were put in, mere- ly to induce a belief in after ages, that the firft Chriftians were expofed to dangers which they were not expofed to, or under- went fafferings which they did not undergo. If thefe books belong to the age to which they lay claim, and in which age, whether genuine or fpurious,they certainly did appear, this fuppo- fition cannot be maintained for a moment ; becaufe I think it im- poflible to believe, that pafTages, which murt be deemed not only unintelligible but falfe, by the perfons into whofe hands the books upon their publication were to come, fhould neverthelefs be in- ferted, for the purpofe of producing an ef[e6t upon remote gen- erations. In forgeries which do not appear till many ages after that to which they pretend to belong, it is pofTible that fome contrivance of that fort may take place ; but in no others can it be attempted.
CHAP. IV.
There is fatisfaBory evidence, that many^ profejfing to he original luttnejjei of the Chriflian Miracles, pajfed their lives in labours •, dangers and fiifferings , voluntarily undergone in attejlation of the accounts nuhich they delivered, andfolely in confequtncc of their belief of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fubmittedy from the fame motives, to neiv rules of conduB,
X HE account of the treatment of the religion and of the ex- ertions of its firft preachers, as dated in our fcriptures, not in a profefTed hiftory of perfecutions, or in the connected manner in which I am about to recite it, but difperfedly and occafionally, in the courfe of a mixed, general hidory, (which circumflance alone negatives the fuppofition of any fraudulent defign) is the follow- ing : *' That the founder of Chriftianity, from the commence- ment of his miniflry to the time of his violent death, employed
a I Pet. iv. I J, 13,13,
34 A VIEW OF THE
himfelf wholly in publifliing the inftltution in Judea and Gali- lee ; that, in order to aflift him in this purpofe, he made choice, oat of the number of his followers, of twelve perfons, who might accompany him as he travelled from place to place ; that, except a fhort abfence upon a journey, in which he fent them, two by tvv'o, to announce his miflion, and one of a few days, when they vv^ent before him to Jerufalem, thefe perfons were llatedly and condantly attending upon him ; t? at t!jey were with him at Jerufalem when he was apprehended and put to death ; and that they were comrniffioned by him, when liis own miniftry was concluded, to publiHi his gofijel, and colleil difci- ples to it from all countries of the world." The account then proceeds to ftate, " That, a fev/ days after his departure, thefe perfons, with fome of his relations, and fome who had regular- ly frequented their fociety, afTcmbled at Jerufalem ; that, con- fidering the office of preaching the religion as now devolved upon them, and one of their number having deferred the caufe, and repenting of his perfidy, having deftroyed himfelf, they pro- ceeded to eleft another into his place, and that they were care- ful to make their eledion out of the number of thofe who had accompanied their mafter from the firft to the lafl, in order, as they alleged, that he ml^ht be a witnefs, together with thcm- felves, of the principal fads which they were about to produce and relate concerning him -^^ that they began their work at Je- rufalem, by publickly aflcrting that tlris Jefus, whom the rulers and inhabitants of that place had fo lately crucified, w^as, in truth, the perfon in whom all their prophecies and long expec- tations terminated ; that he had been fent amongft them by God ; and that he was appointed by God the future judge of the human fpecies ; that all, who were fohcitous to iecure to themfelves happinefs after death, ought to receive him as fuch, and to make profeffion of their behef, by being baptized in his name."'^ The hiflory goes on to relate, " that confiderable numbers accepted this propofa!, and that thofe who did io, formed amongfl: themfelves a ftricl union and fociety f that, the attention of the JewiHi government being foon drawn upon them, ,two of the principal perfons of the^ twelve, and who alfo had lived moll intimately and condantly with the founder of the re- ligion, were feized as they were difcourfmg to the people in the temple ; that, after being kent all night in prifon, they were
a A<5ls i. 21, ai. l> Aas xi. c^asv. 41.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 35
brought the next day before an aiTembly, compofed of the chief perfons of the Jewiih magiftracy and priellhood ; that this af- fembiy, after feme confuitation, 'found nothing, at that time, better to be done towards fupprefTing the growth of the feft, than to threaten their prifoners with punifhment, if they perfift- ed ; that thefe men, after exprefling, in decent but firm lan- guage, the obhgation under which they confidered themfelves to be, to declare what they knew, " to fpeak the things which they had fecn and heard," returned from the council, and re- ported what had pafled to their companions ; that this report, whiift it apprifed them of the danger of their fituation and un- dertaking, had no other effe*fl upon their condud, than to pro- duce in them a general refolution to perfevere, and an earned j)raver to God to farniih them with affiftance, and to infpire them with fortitude, proportioned to the increafmg exigency of the fervice."^ A very Ihort time after this, we read *' that all the twelve apoftles were feized and caO: into prifbn '^ that, be- ing brought a fecond time before the Jewifh Sanhedrim, they were upbraided with their difobedience to the injunction which had been laid upon them, and beaten for their contumacy ; that, being charged once more to defift, they were fuffered to depart ; that, however, they neither quitted Jerufalem, nor ceafed from preaching, both daily in the temple, and from houfe to houfe ;^ and that the twelve confidered themfelves as fo en- tirely and exclufively devoted to this ofhce, that they nov/ "trans- ferred, what may be called the temporal affairs of the fociety, to other hands." '^
a A^s Iv. b Aasv. j8. c Aasv.
<1 I do not know that it has ever been infiiiuated, that the Chriftiati ir.firion, in the hands of the apoftles, was a fcheme for making a fortune, x)r for gettinp. money. But it may neverthclefs be fit to remark upon this paifage of their hiftory, how perfectly free they appear to have been from any pecuniary or interePced views whatever. The moft tempting opportunity, which occurred, of making again of tlicir con- vercs, was by the cuflody and management of the pubHc funds, when Come of the richer members, intendin,^ to contribute their fortunes to the common fupport of the fociety, fold their polleffions, and laid down the prices at tlie apoflles' feet. Yet fo infenfililc or undefirous were they of the advantage which that confidence afforded, that, we find, they Mtery foon difpofed of the trufl, by putting it into the hands, not of nominees of their own, but of ftewardsfermally ele(5ted for the purpofe by the fociety at brge. ^
AVe may add alfo, that excefs of gcnerolity, which caft private prop- ^' y into tiie pubhc ftock, was fo far from being required by the a-
36 A VIEW OF THE
Hitherto the preachers of the new religion feem to have had the common people on their fide ; which is afligned as the reafon, why the Jewifli rulers did not, at this time, think it prudent to proceed to greater extremities. It was not long, however, before the enemies of the inftitution found means to reprefent it to the people as tending to fubvert their law, de- grade their law-giver, and diflionour their temple.'^ And thefe infmuations were difperfed with fo much fuccefs, as to Induce the people to join with their fuperiors in the ftoning of a very adlive member of the new community.
The death of this man was the fignal of a general perfecu- tion ; which raged at Jerufalem with fo much fury, as to drive moft^ of the new converts out of the place, except the twelve apoftles. The converts, thus ' fcattered abroad," preached the religion wherever they came ; and their preaching was, in efFetfl, the preaching of the tivelvcy for it was fo far carried on in concert and correfpondence with themy that, when they heard of the fuccefs of their emiflaries in a particular country, they fent two of their number to the place to complete and con- firm the miiTion.
An event now took place of great Importance In the future hiftory of the religion. The perfecution '^ which had begun at Jerufalem, followed the Chriflians to other cities, in which the authority of the Jewi(h Sanhedrim over thofe of their own nation was allowed to be excrcifed. A young nun, who had fi'^nalized himfclf by his hoftility to the profeffion, and had procured a commiffion from the council at Jerufalem to feize any converted Jews whom he might fipd at Damafcus, fuddenly became a profelyte to the religion which he was going about to extirpate. The new convert not only fhared, upon this extraordi- nary change, the fate of his companions, but bi ought upon himfelf a double meafure of enmity for the party which he had left. The
poftles.or impofed as a law of €hriftianity, that Peter reminds Ananias that he had been guilty, in his behaviour, of an officious and volunta- ry prevarication ; for whilft, lays he, thy eftate remained unfold, "was it not thine own ? and, after it was fold, was it not in thine own power ?'*
3 Ads vi. 12. b AdVs viil. I. " And they were all fcattered abroad ;" but the term "all" is not, I think, to be taken flricVly, or as denoting more than \.]\z generality ; in like manner as in A(fls ix 2)S- "And all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron faw him, and turned to the Lord."
c Adsix.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 37
Jews at DamafcLis, upon his return to that city, watched the gates night and day with fo nnich dihgence, that he efcaped from their hands only by being let down in a bafeetby the wall. Nor did he find himfelf in greater fafety at Jerusalem, whither he immediately repaired. Attempts were there alfo foon fet on foot to deftroy him, from the danger of which he was pre- ferved by being fent away to Cilicia, his native country.
For fome reafon, not mentioned, perhaps not known, but' probably connetSled with the civil hiftory of the Jews, or with Ibme danger^ which engrofled the public attention, an inter- million about this time took place in the fufferings of the Chrif- tian.s. This happened, at the mod only fev^n or eight, per- haps only three or four years after Chrifl's death ; within which period, and notwithftanding that the late perfecution occupied part of it, churches, or focieties of believers, had been formed in all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ; for we read that the churches in thefe countries *' had now reft, and were edi- fied, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the com- fort of the Holy Ghoft, were multiplied."^ The original preach- ers of the religion did not remit their labours or activity during this feafon of quietnefs ; for we find one, and he a very prin- cipal perfon aniongft them, pafling throughout all quarters. We find alfo thofe, who had been before expelled from Jerufalem by the perfecution which raged there, travelling as far as Phe- nice, Cyprus, and Antioch :*-" and laftiy, we find Jerufalem again the centre of the miiTion, the place whither the preachers re- turned from their feveral excurfions, where they reported the condudl and effe<5ts of their miniftry, where queftions of pub- lic concern \yere canvaiTed and fettled, from whence diredions were fought, and teachers fent foith.
The time of this tranquillity did not, however, continue'long. Herod Aggrippa, who had lately acceded to the government of Judea, " ftretched foith his hand to vex certain of the church."-' He began bis <:ruelty by beheading one of the twelve original apoftles, a kinfman and conftant companion of the foun- der of the religion. Perceiving that this execution gratified
a Dr. Lardner (in which he is followed aho by Dr. Benfon) afcribes this celTation of the perfecution of the Chrifhans to the attempt of Caligula to fet up his own flatue in the- teraple of Jerufalem, and to the confternation thereby excited in the minds of the Jewifli people ; which confternation for a feafon excluded every other contcll:. ^ Acts ix. 3:. c Ac5ts xi. ly. ^ Acls xij. i.
D
30 A VIEW OF THE
the Jews, he proceeded to feize, in order to put to death, anoth- er of the r.umber ; and him like the former, affociated with Chrift during his life, and eminently a(ftive in the fervice fmce his death. This miin was, however, delivered from prifoft, as the account ftates,^ miraculoufly, and made his efcape from Je- rufalem.
Thefe things are related, not in the general term? under which, in giving the outlines ofthe hidory, we have here mentioned them, but with the utmoft particularity of names, perfons, places, and circumftances ; and, what is deferving of notice, without the fmalleft difcoverable propenfity in the hiftorian to magnify the fortitude, or exaggerate the fufierings, of his party. When they fled for their lives, he tells us. When the churches had reft, he remarks it. When the people took their part, he does not leave it without notice. When the apoflles were carried a fecond time before the Sanhedrim, he is careful to obferve that they were brought without violence. When milder courv cils were fuggelted, he gives us the author of the advice, and the fpeech which contained it. When, in confequence of this advice, the rulers contented themfelves with threatening the apoftles, and commanding them to be beaten with ftripes with- out urging at that time the perfecution farther, the hlftorian can- didly and diftlnftly records their forbearance. When, there- fore, in other inftances, he ftates heavier perfecutions or actual martyrdoms, it is reafonable to believe that he ilates them be- caufe they were true ; and not from any wiili to aggravate, in his account, the fuffcrings which Chriftlans fudained, or to ex- to', more than it.deferved, their patience under them.
Our hiflcry now pirfues a narrower path. Leaving the reft ofthe apcfties, and the original afTociates of Chrift, engaged in tlie propagation of the new faith, (and who, there is not the lead reafon to believe, abated in their diligence or courage) the narrative proceeds with the feparate mem.oirs of thatemi^ rent teacher, whofe extraordinary and fjdden converfion to the religion and correfponding change of conda6^, had bf^fore been circumdantially dtfcrlbed. Thij perfon, in conjundion with another, who appeared amongd the earlieft members ofthe fo- ciety at Jerufalem, and ;»monod the immediate adherents *' of the twelve apodle?, fet out from Antloch upon the cxjircfs bu- QneSs of carrying the new religion through the various province^
a AfVi lii 5 — T7 l> A(5^s iv. 36.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 3^
ofthelefTer Afia.'* During this expedition, we find, that in almoil every place to which they came, their perfons were in- faked, and their lives endangered. After being expelled from Antioch in Pifidia, they repaired to Iconium. i> At Iconiuni an attempt was niade to ftone them. At Lyflra, whiiher they fled from Iconium, one of them i:Ctaally was iloned, and drawn out of the city for dead."^ Thefe tv/o men, though not themfelves original apofl!es, were ading in connexion and conjunifdon with the original apoftles ; for, after the completion of their jour- ney, being fent upon a particular commiHion to Jerufalem, they there related to the apoftles '^ and elders the events and fuccefs of their miniilry, and were in return recommended by them to the churches, ** as men who had hazarded their lives in the caufe."
The treatment which they had experienced in their firft pro- grefs did not deter them from preparing for a feccnd- Upon a difpute, however, arifing l>etween them, but not conBe(5ted with the common fubject of their labours, they a<5led as wife and fincere men would act ; they did not retire in difguft from the fervice in which they were engaged, but, each devoting his en- deavours to the advancement of the religion, they parted from one another, and fet forwards upon feparate routr. The hiftory goes along with one of them ; and the fecond enterprife to hira was attended with the fame dangers and perfecutions as both had met with in the tirit. The apoflle's travels hitherto had been confined to Afia. Ke now crofTes, for the firft time, the jEgean Sea, and carries with him, amongft others, the per- fon whofe accounts fjpply the information we are ftating.^ The firft place in Greece at which he appears to have flopped was Philippi in Macedonia. Here himfelf and one of his compan- ions were cruelly whipped, caft in.o prifon, and kept there under the moft rigorous cuH'ody, being thruft, whilft yet fmart- ing v/ith their wounds, into the inner dungeon, and their feet made faft in the ftocks. * Norwitliftanding this unenuivocal fpec- imen of the ufage they had to look for in tlidt country, they went forward in the execution of their errand. After paiTing through Amphipolis and Appclonia, they came to TheiTalonica ; in which city the houfe in which tliey lodged was aiHiiled by a party of their enemies, in crdtr to bring them cut to the popu-
a Acts liii. a. b Adls liii. 50. « A(5l3 xW. 5,
i Afts XV. ii^s6. c Acts xvi. 11. f V. aj, 24, 33.
40 A VIEW OF THE
lace. And when, fortunately for their prefervation, they were not found at home, the mailer of the houfe was dragged before the magiflrate for admitting them within his doors.* Their reception at the next city was fometinng better ; but neither here had they continued long before their turbulent adverfaries, the Jews, excited againlf tluj# fuch commotions amonglt tlie inhabitants, as obliged the apolHe to make his efcape by a jtrivatc journey to Athens.^ The extremity of the progrefs was Corinth. His abode in this ciiy, for fome time, feems to have been with- out moleflation. At length, however, the Jews found means to ftir up an infurreftion ag&uift him, and to bring him before the tribunal of the Rorn^n prefident.*^ It was to the contempt which that magilirate entertained for the Jews and their contro- verfies, of which he accounted Chiirtianiiy to be one, that our apoftle owed his deliverance,^
This indefatigable teacher, after leaving Corlrth, returned hy Ephefasinto Syria ; and again vifited Jerufalem, and the focie- ty of Chriftians in that city, which, as hath been repeatedly ob- ferved, (Hli continued the centre of the mifiion.^ It fuited not, however, with the a6tivity of his zeal to remain long at Jerufa- lem. We find him going from thence to Actioch, and, after fome ftay there, traverhng or.ce more the northern provinces of Afja Minor.^ This progrefs ended at Ephefus ; in which city the apoftle continued in the daily exercife of his miniftry two years, and until his fuccefs,at length, excited the apprehenfions of thofe who were interefted in the fupport of the national worfhip. Their clamour produced a tumult, in which he had nearly loft his life.^ Undifmayed, however, by the dangers to which he faw himfelf expofed, he was driven from Ephefus only to renew his labours in Greece.^ After pafling over Macedonia, he thence proceeded to his former ftation at Corinth.' When he had formed his defsgn of returning by a direift courfe from Co- rinth into Syria, he was compelled by a cohfpiracy of the Jews, who were prepared to intercept him on his way, to trace back his fteps through Macedonia to Philippi, and from thence to take ftiipping into Afia. Along the coaft of Afia he purfued his voyage wirh all the expedition he could command, in order to reach Jerufalem agaiftft the feaft of Pentecoft.'' His reception
a A^s xvii. I — 5. b V. 13, c Ai5ls xviii. 12.
. «i AcT:s xviii. 15. c y. 2Z, f V. 23. K Ac5ls xlx. i, 9, ro. li V, 29. 31. ■' Acls x:x I. k Ads xlx. 16.
EVIDENCES OF CHRrSTIANITY. 41
at Jerufixlem was of a piece with the ufage he had experienced from the Jews in other places. He liad been only a few da) 3 in that city when the populace, indigaied by feme of his old opponents in Afia who attended this fcalt, feized him in the temple, forced him out of it, and were ready immediately to have deilroyed him, had not the fuddea prefence of the Re- man guard refcued him out of their hands/ The olHcer, however, who had thus feafonably interpofed, acted from his care of the .public peace, with the prefervation of which he was. charged, and not from any favour to the apoilie, or indeed any difpofition to exercife either juftics or humanity towards him ; for he had no fooner fecured his perfon in the fortrefs, than he was proceeding to examine him by torture,^
From this time to the conclufion of the hiftory the apoftle remains in pubhc cuftody of the Roman government. After efcaping afTafTmation by a fortunate difcovery of the plot, and delivering himfelf from the infiuence of his enemies by an ap - peal to the audience of the emperor,*^ he was fent, but not until he had fuifered two years' imprifonment, to Rome.^ He reach- ed Italy after a. tedious voyage, and after encountering in his pafiage the perils of a defperate fhipwreck.*^ But although ftill a prifoner, and his fate ftill depending, neither the various and long continued fuflerings which he had undergone, Hor the dan- ger of his prefent iituation, deterred him from perfilting ia preaching the religion ; for the hidorian clofes the account by telling us, that, for two years, he received all that came unto him in his own hired hcufe, where he was permitted to dwell with a foldir.r that guarded him, *' preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching thofe things which concern the Loid Jefus Chrill: with all confidence.''
Now the hiftorian, from whom we have drav/n this account, in 'the part oj his narrative which relates to St. Paul, is fup- ported by the (Irongell: corroborating tedimony that a hiftory can receive. We are in poflelTion of letters written by St. Paul himfelf upon the fubjeft of his rainiif ry, and either written during the period which the hiifory comprifes, or, if written afterwards, reciting and referring to the tranfadions of that period. Thefe letters, without borrowing from the hiftory^
a Ads XX!. 27 — 33. b Ads xxJi. X3, 24. c Ads xxv. J^l J. * Ad5 xxlv. a;. c Ads xvll
13 7
42 A VIEW OF THE
or tlie hi/lory from them, unintentionally confirm the account which the hiftory delivers in a great variety of particulars. What belongs to our prefent purpofe is the defcription exhibit- ed of the apoftle's fufFerings : And the reprefentation given in the hldory, of the dangers and diftreffes which he underwent, not only agrees, in general, with the language which he himfelf ufes, whenever he fpeaks of his life or' miniftry, but is alfo, in many inftances, attefted by a fpecific correfpondency of time, place, and order of events. If the hlftorian relates that at Philippi the apoflle " was beaten with many ftripes, caft into prifon, and there treated with rigour and indignity,"** we find him, in a letter'^ to a neighbouring church, reminding his con- verts, that " after he had fuftered before, and was fhamefully entreated at Phihppi, he was bold, neverthelefs, to fpeak unto them (to whofe city he next came) the gofpel of God." If the hiftory relate,'^ that, at Theffalonica, the houfe in which the apoftle was lodged, when he iirfl came to that place, was aflault- td by the populace, and the maifer of it dragged before the mag- iflrate for admitting fuch a gueft within his doors, the apoftle, in his letters^ to the Chriftians of ThefTalonica, calls to their remem- brance, ♦' how th^y had received the gofpel in much affliftion.'* If the hiilory deliver an account of an infurreftion at Ephefus, which had nearly coil: the apoftle his life, we have the apoftle himfelf, in a letter written a iTiort time after his de])arture from that city, defcribing his deipair, and returning thanks for his de- liverance.^ If the hiftory inform us, that the apoftle was expell- ed from Artioch in Pifidia, attempted to be (loned at Iconium, and a6lually ftoned at Lyftra, there is preferved a letter from him to a favourite convert, whom, as the fame hiftory tells us, he firft met with in thefe parts ; in which letter he appeals to that difciple's knowledge *' of the perfecutions which befel him at Antioch, at Iconium, at I^yflra."^ If the hirtory make the apoftle, in his fpeech to the Ephefian elders, remind them, as one proof of the difmtcrefiednefs of his views, that, to their knowledge, he had fupplied his own and the neceilitics of his companions by perfonal labour,? we fmd the fame apoftle, in a letter written during his refidence at Ephefus, afferting of
a A<5l6 xvi. 24. b I Thtfl'. ii. 1. c Adls xvii. 57.
«l 1 ThelT. i. 6. t a^s xix. a Cor. i. 8, 9.
f h(X% xiii. 50. — lix. 5, 19. a Tim, iii. 10, ii. E Ads xx. 34-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 43
liimfelf, " that even to that hour he laboured, working with his own hands." ^
Thefe coincidences, together with many relative to other parts of the apoftle's hiftory, and all drawn from independent fources, not only confirm the truth of the account, in the partic- ular points as to which they are obferved, but add much to the credit of the narrative in all its parts ; and fupport the author's profefTion of being a contemporary of the perfon whofe hiftory he writes, and, throughout a material portion of his narrative, a companion.
What the epiftles of the apoftles declare of the fuffering ftate of Chriftianity, the v/rltings which remain of their companions, and immediate followers, exprefsly confirm.
Clement, who is honourably mentioned by St. Paul in his epiftle to the Philippians,^ hath left us his atteftation to this point in the following v/ords : " Let us take (fays he) the ex- amples of our own age. Through zeal and envy the moft faith- ful and righteous pillars cf the church have been perfecuted even to the moft grievous deaths. Let us fet before our eyes the holy apojiles. Peter, by unjuft envy, underwent, not one or two, but many fufFerings ; till at laft, being martyred, he went to the place of glory that was due unto him. For the fam.e caufe did Paul, in like manner, receive the reward of his pa- tience. Seven times he was in bonds ; he was whipped, was ftoned ; he preached both in the eaft and in the weft ; leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith : and fo having taught the whole vv^orld righteoufnefs, and for th^t end travel- led even unto the utmoft bounds of the weft, he at laft fuffered martyrdom by the command of the governors, and departed out of the world, and went unto his holy place, being become a iTioft eminent pattern of })atience unto all ages. To thefe holy apoftles were joined a very great number of others, who having through envy undergone, in like manner, many pains and tor- ments, have left a glorious example to us. For this, not only men, but women, have been perfecuted ; and having fuffered very grievous and cruel punifhments, have finifhed the courfe of their faith with firmnefs."*^
HermaS; faluted by St. Paul in his epiftle to the Romans, in
a piece vei y little connected with hiftoricai recitals, thus fpeaks :
** Such as have believed and fuffered death for the name of
a X Cor. iv, II, 12. ^ Adls ix. 3.
t'Clem. ad Cor. c. v. vi. A. B. Wake's tranf.
44- A VIEW OF TITE
Chrlft, and have endured widi a ready mind, and have giverr up their lives with ail their hearts."*'
Poiycarp, the difciple of John, though all that remains of his works be a very llioit epifHe, has not k-ftthis fubjed unnoticed.. " I exhort (fays he) all of you, that ye obey the word of right- eoufnefs. and exercife all patience, which ye have feen fet forth before your eyes, not only in the blefied Ignatius, and Lorimus, and Rufus, but in others among yourfelves, and in Paul h'ttnfelf and the rejl of th: apcftles ; being confident in this, that ail thels have not run in vain, but in faith and righteoufnefs ; and ate gone to the place that- was due to them from the Lord, with whom alfo they fulfered. For thev loved not this prefcnt world, but Jbim who died and was raifed again by God for us.'"*
Ignatius, the contemporary of Poiycarp, recognizes the lame topic, biieriy indeed, but pofitively and precifely. *' For this caufe (i. e. for having felt and handled Chrift's body after his refurredion, and being convinced, as Ignatius expreffes it, both by his ilelh and fpirit) they (i. e. Peter, and thofc who were prefent with Peter at Chrift's appearance) dcfplfcii death, and were found to be above it.""-
Wouid the reader knovv^ what a perfecution in thefe days was, I would refer him to a circular letter, written by the church of Smyrna foon after the death of Poiycarp, who it will be remembered, had lived with St. John ; and which let- ter is entitkd a relation of that bifhop's martyrdom. '* The fufferings (fay they) of all the other martyrs were bleffed and generous,, which they underwent according to the will of God. For fo it becomes us, who are more religious than others, to afcribe the power and ordering of all things unto him. And indeed who can choofe but admire the greatnefs of their minds, and that admirable patience and lovtj of their Mailer, which then appeared in them ? who, when they were fo flayed with whip- ping, that the frame and ftrudture of their bodies v/ere laid open to their very inward veins and arteries, nevcrthelefs endured it. In like manner, thofe who were condemned to the beafts, and kept a long time in prifon, underwent many cruel torments, be.- ing forced to lie upon fharp fpikes laid under their bodies, and tormented with divers other forts of punifliments ; that fo, if it were polTible, the tyrant, by the length of their fufferings, might have brought them to deny Chrift."^
a Shepherd of Hennas, c. xxviii. ^ Pol. ad c. ix.
t ip.Eph. Smyr. c. iii. ^ Rel. Mor. Pol. c. ik
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 4$
CHAP. V.
There is fatisfa&ory evidence, that many, profejjlng to have been original nvitnejfes of the Chrijlian Mirqcles, pa/fed their lives in labours, dangers andfiijferiugs, volurdarily unt^ergone in attejlation of the accounts 'which they delivered, and folely in conf-quence of their belief of the truth of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fub- mitted, from the fame motives, to neiv rules of condu£l.
Ui
PON the hiftory, of which the lall chapter contains an ab- ftradl, there are a few obfervations which it may be proper to make, by way of applying its teftimony to the particular propo- fitions for which we contend.
I. AhhoLigh our fcripture hiftory leaves the general account of the apoftles in an early part of the narrative, and proceeds with the feparate' account of one particular apoftle, yet the in- formation which it delivers fo far extends to the red, as it (hows the nature of the fcrvice. When we fee one apofile faffering per- fecution in the difcharge of his commifllon, we fhall not believe, without evidence, that the fame office could, at the fame time, be attended with eafe and fafety to others. And this fair and reafonable inference is confirmed by the dired atteftation of the letters, to which we have fo often referred. The writer of thefe letters not only alludes, in numerous pafTages, to his own fufferings, but fpeaks of the reft of the apoftles as enduring like fufferings with himfelf. " I think that God hath fet forth us the apojlles laft, as it were, appointed to death ; for we are made a fpe<5tacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men — even unto this prefent hour, we both hunger and thirft, and are naked and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour working with our own hands : being reviled, we blefs ; being per- fecuted, we fuffer it ; being defamed, we entreat : we are made as the ixlth of the world, and as the ofFscouring of all things unto this day."*^ Add to which, that in the ftiort account that is given of the other apoftles, in the former part of the hiftory, and within' the ftiort period v/hich that account comprifes, we find, firft, two of them felzed, imprifoned, brought befoi'e the Sanhedrim, and threatened with further puniftiment '^. then, the whole num- ber imprifoned and beaten :^ foon afterwards, one of their ad- herents ftoned to death, and fo hot a perfecution laifed againft
* I Cor. ir et feq. ^ Adls iv. 3, ar. t Adls v. 18, 40.
4* A VIEW OF THE
the feifl, as to drive moit of them out of the place ; a fliort tinit? only fucceeding, before one of the twelve was beheaded, and another fentenced to the fame fare ; and all this palling in the. imgle city of Jerufalcm, and within ten years after the founder's death, and the commencement of the inliitution.
ir. Secondly ; we take no credit at prefent for the miracu- lous part of the narrative, nor do we infifl upon the corrednefs of fingle paflaj-^es of it. If the whole ftory be not a novel, a ro- mance ; the whole atStion a dream ; if Peter, and James and Paul, and the re il of the apoftles, mentioned in the account, be not all imaginary perfons ; if their letters be not all forgeries ; and, what is more, forgeries of names and chara(^tcrs which never exHied ; then is there evidence in our hands fuihcient to fupport the only fafl we contend for (and which I repeat again, is, in itfelf, highly probable) that the orlglna! follov/ers of Jefus Chrlft exerted great endeavours to propagate his religion, and underwent great labours, dangers, and fuffeiings, in confec^uence of their undertaking.
III. The gereral reality of the apodofic hiilory is flrongly confirmed by the confideration, that it, in truth, docs no more than allign adetpaate caufes for elfeds v/hich certainly v/ere pro- duced, and defcribe confequences naturally refulting rroni litua- tions which certainly exilied. Tht effe&s were certainly there, of which this hiftory fets forth the caufe, and origin, and pro* grefs. It is acknowledged on all hands, becaufe it is recordeijr. by other teftlmony than that of the Chriftians thtmfelves, that' the religion began to prevail at that time, and in that country. It is very difficult to conceive how it could begin, or prevail at all, without the exertions of the founder and his followers in propagating the new perfuafion. The hiflory now in our hands defcrFbes thefe exertions, die perfons employed, the means and endeavours made m{s. of, and the labours undertaken in the prof- ecution of this purpofe. Again ; the treatment which the hif- tory defcrlbes the tirft propagators of the religion to have expe- rienced, was no other than what naturally refulted from the fitu- ation in which they were conRfTedly placed. It is admitted that the religion was adverfe, in a grert degree, to the reigning opinions, and to the hopes and wiilies of the nation to which it was fird introduced ; and that it overthrew, fo far as it was re- ceived, the eftablilhcd theology and worfliip of every other- country. We cannot feel much relu(flance in believing thatj when the mcffengers of fuch a fyftem went about not only pub*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 47
llfning tlieir opinions, but colledling profelytes, and forming reg- ular focieties of profelytes, they fhouJd meet with oppofitioB in their attempts, or that this oppofition fliouid fometimcs proceed to fital extremities. Gur hiftory details examples of this oppo- fition, and of the fafferings and dangers which the emifiaries of the religion underwent, perfectly agieeable to what might rea- fonably be expefted, from the nature of their undertaking, com- .parcd with the charailer of the age and country in which it was carried on.
IV. Fourthly ; the records before us fapp'y evidence of what formed another member of our general proportion, and what, as hath already been obferved, is highly probable, and al- moft a necefTary confetjuence of their new profeffion, viz. that, together with activity and courage in propagating the religion, tlie primitive followers of Jefas aifamed, upon their conver- iion, a new and peculiar courie of private life. Immediately after their Mafter was withdrawn from them, we heaT of their *' continuing with one accord in prayer and fupplication,"^ of their *' continuing daily with one accord in the temple,"^ of «** many being gathered together praying."'^ We know what ftri(5t injunctions were bid upon the converts by their teachers : wherever they came, khe firft word of their preaching was " re- pent/' We know, that thtfe injuncTtions obliged them to refrain from many fpecies of licentioufnefs, v\'hich were not, at that time, reputed criminal. We know the rules of purity, and the maxims of benevolence, which Chriftians read in their 'books ; concerning which rules, it is enough to obferve, that, if they were, I will not fay, completely obeyed, but in any de- gree regarded, they would produce a fyfteni of condud, and, what is more difficult to prefcrve, a diipofition of mind, and a regulation of affedions, different from any thing to which they had hitherto been accuftomed, and different from what they would fee in others. The change and diftinfrion of manners, which refulted from their new charaCrer. is perpetually referred to in the letters of their teachers. *' And you hath he quicken- ed, who nvere dead in trefpafTes and fins, wherein in times pq/l ye walked, according to the courfe of this world, according to the prince of the pov/cr of the air, the fpirit that now workcth in the children of difobedience ; among whom alfo we all had our converfation in times part, in the lafts of our fleib, fulfilling
a A as i 14, b A'!>.s ii- 49. c Ail* x"!. IZ
49 A VIEW OF THE
the defires of the ilefli, and of the mind, and were by nature thq children of wrath, even as others."'* *' For the time pajl of our lives may fufnce us to have wrought the will of the Gen- tiles, when we walked in lafcivioufnefs, luft, excefs of wine, revcllings, banqiietings, and abominable idolatries, ivhere'm they think itjtrange that ye run not with them to the fame escefs of riot. ^' ^ St. Paul, in his firll letter to the Corinthians, after enumerating, as his manner v/as, a catalogue of vicious charadlers, adds, " Such were feme of you, but ye are wafhed, but ye are fandi- fied."*^ In like manner, and alluding to the fame change of pradices and fentiment, he aflcs the Roman Chriftians what fruit they had in thofe things whereof they are nciv alhamed ?" ** The phrafes which the fame writer employs to defcribe the moral condition of Chrillians, compared with their condition before they became Chriftians, fuch as " newnefs of life," being " freed from fin," being *' dead to fin," *' the deftru6tion of the body of fin, that, for the future, they fnould not ferve fin ;" *' children of light and of the day," as oppofed to " children of darknefs and of night," *• not fieeping as others," imply, at leaft, a new fyftem of obligation, and, probably, a new feries of conduft, commencing with their converfion. ,»
The teftimony which Pliny bears to the behaviour of the new fe<5l in his time, and which teftimon^ comes not more than fifty years after that of St. Paul, is very applicable to the fiibje<St under confideration. The chara6ler which this writer gives of the Chriftians of that age, and which was drawn from a pretty accurate inquiry, becaufe he confidered their moral principles as the point in which the magiftrate was interefted, is as follows : — He tells the emperor, *' that fome of thofe who had relinquifhed the fociety, or who, to fave themfelves, pre- tended that they had relinnuifned it, afiirmed that they were wont to meet together, on a ftated day, before it was light, and iing among thcmlelves alternately a hymn to Chrift as a God ; and to bind themfelves," by an oath, not to the commiflion of any wickednefs, but that they would not be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery ; that they would never faHify their word, nor deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon to re- turn it." This proves that a morality, more pure and m\&. than was ordinary, prevailed at that time in Chriftian focietics.
R Eph. ii. 1—3. fee alfo Tit. iii. 3. ^ i Pet. iv. 3,4.
t I Cor. vi. II. d Rom vr. 21.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 4.^
And to me it appears that we are authorifed to carry this tef- timony back to the age of the apoftles, becaufe it is not proba- ble that the immediate hearers and difciples of Chrift were more relaxed than their fuccefTors in Pliny's time, or the miffionaries cf the religion than thofe whom they taught.
CHAP. VI.
There if fathfaclory evidence, that many^ profejfing to ha've been original luitnejfes of the ChrijTian Miracles, pajfcd their li'ves in labours, dangers, and fujferings, voluntarily undergone in attejia- tion of the accounts nvh'icb they delivered, and folely in confequcnce of their belief of the truth of thofe accounts ; avd that they alfo fnhmitted, from the fame motives, to new rules of cm duel,
VV HEN we confider, firft, the prevalency of religion at this 4i0"iir ; fecondly, the only credible account which can be given of its origin, viz. the activity of the founder and his afiociates ; thirdly, the oppofltion v/hich that activity mufl naturally have exciied ; fourthly, the fate of the founder of the religion, attefl- ed by heathen writers as w-ell as our own ; fifthly, tlie teftimo- r.y of the fame writers to the Aifterings of the Chriftians, either contemporary with, or immediately lucceeding, the original fet- tlers of the inftitution ; iixthly, predidions of the fuffcrings cf his followers afcribed to the founder of the religion, which af- cription alone proves, either that fucb prcdiclions were delivered and fuliilled, or that the writers of Chrifl's life were induced by the event to attribute fuch prediftions to him ; feventhly, letters now in our pofTelTion, written by fome of the principal agents in the tranfaftion, and referring exprefslyto extreme labours, dan- gers, and futferings, fuftained by themfelves and their compan- ions ; laftly, a hiilory, purporting to be written by a fellow-trav- eller of one of the new teachers, and, by its unfophilticated cor- refpondency with letters ofthatperfon (till extant, proving itfelf to be written by fame one well acquainted with the fubje6i: of the narrative, which hiftory contains accounts of travels, perfe- cutions, and martyrdoms, anfwering to what the former reafons lead us to expe<5t ; when we lay together thefe confiderations, which, taken feparately, are, I think, corredtly fuch as I have ftated them in the preceding chapters, there cannot much doubt remain upon our minds, but that a number of perfons at that E
50
A VIEW OF THE
■time appeared In the world, publickly advancing an extraordinary •flory, and, for the fake of propagating the beHef of that ftory, voluntarily incurring great peribnal dangers, traverfing feas and kingdoms, exerting great induftry, and fuftaining great extremities of ill ufage and perfecution. It is alfo proved that the fame perfons, in confequence of their perfjafion, or preten- xied perfuafion of the truth of what they afierted, entered upon ^ couife of life in many refpefts new and fingular.
From the clear and acknowledged parts of the cafe, I think it to be likewife in the higheii degree probable, that the ftory, for which thefe persons voluntarily expofed themfelves to the fa- tigues and hardrtiips which they endured, was a miracn/ous flory ; I mean that they pretended to miraculous evidence of fome kind ©r other. They had nothing elfe to ftand upon. The defig- nation of the perfon, that is to fay, that Jefus of Nazareth, rath- er than any other perfon, was the MelTiah, and as fuch, the f»b- led: of their minidry, could only be founded upon fupernatural tokens attributed to him. Here were no vidories, no con- quelh, no revolutions, no fivrpriling elevation of fortune, no achievements of valour, of flrength, or of policy, to appeal to ; no difcoveries in any art or fcience, no great efforts of genius or learning to produce. A Galilean peafant was announced to the world as a divine lawgiver. A young man of mean con- dition, of a private and fim.ple life, and who had wrougjit no deliverance for the Jewifh nation, was declared to be their Mef- fiah. This, without afcribing to him at the fame time fome proofs of his miflion (and what other but fupernatural proofs could there be ?) was too abfurd a claim to be either imagined, or at- tempted, or credited. In whatever degree, or in whatever part, the religion was argumentative^ when it came to the queftion. Is the carpenter's fon of Nazareth the perfon whom we are to re- ceive and obey ? there was nothing but the miracles attributed to him, by which his pretenfions could be maintained for a mo- ment. Every controverfy and every queftion mull prefuppofe thefe ; for however fuch controvcrfcs, when tliey did arife might, and natiu^ally would be difcuffed upon their own grounds of argumentation, without citing the miraculous evidence which had been aflerted to attend the founder of the religion (which would have been to enter upon another, and a more generaJ, queftion) yet we are to bear in mind, that without previoufly j[upl>ofing the exigence, or the pretence, of fuch evidence, there cC'Mjd have been no place for the difcuflion or the argument at
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTrANITY. 51
aJI. Thus, for example, whether the prophecies, which the Jews interpreted to belong to the Mefiiah were or were not, ap- pHcabk to the hidory of Jefus of Nazareth, was a natural fub- jed of debate in thofe times ; and the debate would proceed, without recurring at every turn to his miracles, becaufe it fet out with fuppofmg thefe ; inafmuch as without miraculous marks and' tokens (real or pretended) or without fome fuch great change ef- fedled by his means in the public condition of the country, as might have fatisfied the then received interpretation of thcfe prophecies, I do not fee how the queftion could ever have been entertained. Apollos, we read, " mightily convinced the Jews> fhowing by the fcriptures that Jefus was Chriil: ;"^ but unlefs Je- fus had exhibited fbme diftlndion of his peribn, fome proof of fupernatural power, the argument from the old fcriptures could have had no place. It had nothing to attach upon. A young raan calling himfelf the Son of God, gathering a crbwd about him^ and delivering to them lectures of morality, could not have excit- ed fo much as a doubt amon^il: the Jews whether he was the object m whom a long.feries of ancient prophecies terminated, from the completion of which they had formed luch magnificent expeda- tions. and expectations of a nature fo oppoiite to what appeared ; I mean, no fuch doubt could exift when they had the whole cafe before them; when they faw him put to death for his oificioufnefs, and when by his death the evidence concerning him was clofed. Again, the effeci of the Meiliah's comicg, fuppofing Jefus to have been him, upon Jews, upon Gentiles, upon their relation to each other, upon their acceptance vvith God, upon their duties and their expedations ; his nature, authority, office and agency ; were likely to become ful^efts of much confideration with the early votaries of the religion, and to occupy their attention and writ- ings. I Ihouldnot, however, expedt, that in thefe difquifitions,' whether pieferved in the form of letters, fpeeches, or let trea- tifes, frequent or very diredt mention of his miracles would oc- cur. Still miraculous evidence lay at the bottom of the argu- ment. In the primary queftion, miraculous pretenfions, and mi- raculous preter.fions alone, were what they had to rely upon.
That the original ftory was miraculous, is very fairly alfo in- ferred from the miraculous powers which were laid claim to by tJie Chriftians of fucceeding ages. If the accounts of thefe mir- acles be true, it was a continuation of the fame powers i if they
a A(5ls xviii. 28.
5-- A VIEW OF THE
be falie, it was an imiiation, I will not fay, of what had been wrought, but of what had been reported to have been wrought by tliofe who preceded them. That imitation Ihould follow re- ality ; fiction be gralted upon truth ; that if miracles were per- forniid at tiril, miracles rticuld be pretended afterwards, agrees fo well with the ordinary courfe of human afraiis, that we can have no great difficulty in believing it. The contrary fuppofition is very improbable, namely, that miracles ihould be pretended to- by the followers of the apofties and fird emiiiaries cf the religion, when none were pretended to, either in their own perfons o? that of their mafter, by thefe apofties and emiffari^s themfelves.
C H A P. VII.
T/jere Is fat'tsfaclcry evUencey that manyy prof effing to have been original nviinejfes of the Chrijlian Miracles, pajfed their lives in labours y dangers and fujfermgs ^ voluntarily undergone in attejlation of the accounts lohich they deliversd^ and folely in confcquence of their belief of the truth ofthofe accounts ; and that they nlfo fuh- wittedy from the f ami motives ^ to ne-zu rules of conduB.
It once then being proved, that the firft propagators of the ChrilHan inftitution did exert great adivity, and fubjed them- felves to great dangers and fuflerings in confequcnce and for the fake of an extraordinary, and 1 think, we may fay, of a miraculous i^ory of fome kind or other ; the next great quef- tioa is, whether the account, which our fcriptures contain, be that ftory ; that which thefe men delivered, and for which they acted and lufrered as they did.
This qaeftion is, in effed, no other than whether the ftory, which Chriftians have now, be th/ ftory which Chrillians had ihe:i ; and of this the following pi oofs may be deduced from general confiderations, and from conflderations prior to any in- quiry into the particular reafons and teftimonies by which the £Uthority of our hiftories is fupported.
In the firft place, there exifts no trace or veftige of any other ftory. It is not, like the death of Cyrus the great, a competi- tion between oppofite accounts, or between the credit of differ- ent hiPurians. There is not a document, or fcrap of account, either contemporary with the commencement of Chriftianity, or extant within many acres after that commencement, which
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 53
aiTigns a hlftory fubdantlally different from ours. The remote, brief, and incidental notices of the affair, which are found in heathen writers fo far as they do go, go along with us. They bear teftimoay to thefe facts ; that the inilitution originated from Jefjs ; that the founder was put to death, as a malefactor, at Jerufakm, by the authority of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate ; thac the religion neverthelefs fpread in that city, and throughout Judea ; and that it was propagated from thence to diitant countries ; that the converts were numerous ; that they fuffered great hardiuips and injuries for their profelFion ; and that all this took place in the age of the world which our books have alligned. They go on farther, to defcribe the manners of Chriftians in terms perfedly conformable to the accounts ex- tant in our books ; that they were wont to aifemble on a cer- tain day ; that they fung hymns^ to Chrift as to a God ; that they bound themfelves by an oath not to commit any crime, but to abftain from theft and adultery, to adhere ftridtly to their promifes, and not to deny money depofited in their hands ;* that they Vv^orlliipped him who was crucified in Paleftine ; that this, their hrft lawgiver, had taught them that they were all brethren :, that they had a great contempt for tbe things of tliis world,, and looked upon them as common ; that they flew to one another's relief: that they cheriftied ftrong hopes of im- mortality ; that they defpifed death, and furrendered themfelves- to fuiferings."'^ This is the account of writers who viewed the fubjedt at. a great diftance, who were uninformed and unintereft-i ed about it. It bears the charaders of fucii an account upon
a Vide Pliny's Letter. Bonnet, in his lively. \Yay of exprefllng him- felf, fays — " Comparing Pliny's Letter with the account in the Acts, it feem.s to me that I had not taken up another author, but that I was ftill reading the hiftorian of tliat extraordinary lociety." This is ftrong ; but there is undoubtedly an affinity, and all the affinity that could be txpecled,.
^ " It is incredible what expedition they ufe when any of their friends are known to be in trouble. In a word, they fpare nothing upon fuch an occafion ; for thefe niiferable men have no doubt they fliall be immortal, and live forever, therefore they contemn death, and many furrender themfelves to fufFcrings. Moreover, their /irft lawgiver has taught them that they are all brethren, when once they have turned and renounced tlie gods of the Greeks, and worfliip the mafter of theirs who was crucified, and engage to live according to his laws. They have alfo a fovcreign contempt for all the things of this world, and look upon them as common," Lucian de Morte Peregrinij ^.1. p. 565, ed, Gt«v.
E 2
54 A VIEW OF THE
t]i€ face of it, becaufe it defcribes cfftdb, namely, the appear- ance in the world of a new religion, and the converfion ofgreat multitudes to it, without defcending, in the fmallell degree, to the detail of the tranfa<5lion upon which it was founded, the in- terior t>f the infdtution, the evidence or arguments offered by thofe who drew over others to it. Yet ilill here is no contra- didion of our flory, no other or different (lory let up againft it,, but fo far- a confirmation of it, as that, in the general points, upon which the heathen account touches, it agrees widi that which v/e find in our ov/n books.
The fame may be obferved of the very few Jewidi writers, of that and the adjoining period, which liave come down to us. Whatever they omit, or whatever diflicuhies we may find in explaining the omifiion, they advance no other hiftory of the tranfadtion than that which v/e acknowledge. Jofephus, who wrote his antiquities, or hiilory of the Jews, about lixty years after the commencement of ChritVianity, in a paffage generally admitted as genuine, makes mention of John under the name of John the Baptiil ; that he was a preacher of virtue j that he bap- tized his profelytes ; that he was well received by the people ; that he was impiifbnecl and put to death by Herod ; and that. Herod lived in a criminal cohabitation with Herodias, his broth- er's wife.^ In anotlicr paiTage, allowed by many, although not. without confiderable ciueftion being moved about it, we hear of ** James, the brother of him who Wiis called Jefus, and of his being put to death. "^ In a third paffage, extant in every copy that remains of Jolephus's hiftory, but the authenticity of which has neverthclefs been long difputed, we have an expUcit tefti- inony to the fubftance of our hiilory in thcfe words : — *' At that time lived Jefu^, a wife man, if he may be called a man, for he performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher offuchmiCn as received the truth with plcufure. tie drew over to him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the Clirift ; and when Pilate, at the iniligation of the chief men among us,. bad condemned him to the crofs, they, who before had con- ceived an alFedion for him, did not ceafe to adhere to him ;, for on the tliird day he appeared to them alive again, the di- vine prophets having foretold thefe and many wonderful thing;} ■N-)c:erning him. And the fed of the Chiiftians, -fo called
a Antiq. I. xviii, cap. v. {c6i. i, 2. ^ Antiq. I. 3x cap. is. fc^ i.
EVIDENClilS OF CHFLISTIANITY. si
from him, fubfifts to this time.*'* Whatever becomes of the controverfy- concerning the genuinenefs of this pafTage ; wheth- er Jofephus go the v/hole length of our hiflory, which, if the paflage be fincere, he does j or whether he proceed only a very little way with us, whichj if the paflage be rejefted, we confefs to be the cafe ; ftill what v/e afferted is true, that he gives no other or different hitlory of the fabje<5t from ours, no other or different account of the original of th* inflitution. And I think alfo that it may with great reafon be contended, either that the paffige is genuine, or that the filence of Jofephus was defigned. For, although we (hould lay afide the authority of our own. books entirelj'', yet when Tacitus, who wrote not twenty, perhaps not ten, years after Jofephus,. irt his account of a period in which Jofephus was near thirty years of age, tells us, that a vad multitude of Chriftians were condemned at Rome ; that they derived their denomination from Chrift, v/ho, m the reign of Tiberius, was put to death, as a criminal,, by the procurator Pontius Pilate ;, that the fuperftition had fpread not only over Judea, the fource of the evil, but had reached Rome alfo : when Seutonius, an hlftorian contertlporary with TacituB, relates, that in the time of Claudius, the Jews were making dif- turbances at Rome, Chreftus being their leader ; and: that, dur- ing the reign of Nero, the Chriftians were puniflied- ; under both which emperors Jofephus lived : when Pliny, who wrote his celebrated epiftle not more than thirty years after the publica- tion of Jofephus's hiflory, found the Chriftians in fach numbe'ts iii the province of B-ythynia as to. draw froni him a complaint>. that the contagion had felzed cities, towns and villages, and had fo feized them, as to produce a general defertion of the public rites ;. and when, as hath already been, obferve'd> there is no reafon for imagming that the Chriftians were more numer- ous in Bythynia than in many other parts of the Roman em^ pire : it cannot, I ihould flippofe, after this, be believed, that the religion, and the tranfa»i1ion upon v/hich it was founded, v/ere too obfcure to engage the attention of Jofephus, or to ob- tain a place in his hiRory. Perhaps he did not know how to reprefent the bufmef?, and difpofed of his difhculties by palTing ^it over in filence. Eufebius wrote the life of Conftantine, yet omits entirely the moft remarkable circumflance in that lire, the death of his^fon Ciifpus ; undoubtedly for the reufon here
a Antiq. 1. xviii. cap. iii, fcdt. 3,
S6 A VIEW OF THE
given. The refcrve of Jofephus upon the fiibjedl of Chnftlanl* ty appears alfo in his palling over the banifliment of-the Jews by- Claudius, which Suetonius, v/e have feen, has recorded with an exprel's reference to Chrift. This is at leafi as remarkable as his filence about the infants of Bethlehem.^ Be, however, the fadl, or the caufe of the omiilion in Jofephus,^' \vh<it it may, no other or different hiflory or the fubjeft has been givtn by him,, or is. pretended to hava been given.
But further, the whole feries of Chriftian writers, fiom the iirft age of the inftitutlon down to the prefent, in their difculfions,. apologies, arguments, and controverlies, proceed upon the gener- al ftory which .our icriptures contain, and upon no other. The main fa^Sts, the principal agents, are ahice in all. This argument will appear to be of great force when it is known that we are able to tiace back the feries of v/riters to a contad with the hif- torical books of the New Teflament, and to. the age of the lirft emilTaries of the religion, and to. deduce it by an unbroken con- tinuation, from that end of the train to the prefent.
The remaining letters of the apoftles (and what naore original' than f/?eir letters can we have) though, written without the re- moteil defiga of tranfmitting the hiftory of Chriii, or Chriftian- ity, to future ages,- or even of making it known to their contem- poraries, incidentally dlfclofe to us the following circumflances ; *' Chriii's defcrnt and .family,, his innocence, the meeknefs and gentlenefs ■ of his cliarader (a recognition which goes to th^ whole gofpeih: (lory) his exalted nature, his clrcumcifion, tranf- figuration, liis life of oppofition and fufferlng, his patience and. refignation, the appointment of the cucharift and the manner o£
a Michaelio has computed, and, as it fbould fcem- fairly cnoHgh, that probably not more than twenty children ptrilhed by this cruel precaution. Michael. Iirirod, to the N. Teft. traollated by Marfh... VoT. I. c. ih fedt n,
b Tliere is no no'jice taken fcf Ghriftianity in the IVIifhna, a collec-- tion of Jcwifrt traditions compiled about the year i8o, although it^ contain., a Traifl, " Decuitu Percgrino," of ftrangc or idolatrous v/or- fliip ; yet it cannot be difputed but tluit ChriAiiinity was pcrfecflly welrknown in the world at this ti;r.e. There is extremely little notice of the fubjeA in the Jcrufalcm Talmud, compiled about the year 300, and not much more in the Babylonifli Talmud, of th« year 500, al- though both thcfe works are of a religious nature, and although, when t}.e firfl: was compikd, Chrillianity was upon thcpoint of becoming the religion of the (late, and, when the letter was publillicd, had beeri. fo fur 2&C years.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 57
It, his agony, his confeffion before Pontius Pilate, his ftripes, crucitixion, buriai, refurretflion, his appearance after it, firfl to Peter, then to the reft of the apoRles, his afcenfion into heaven, and his defignation to be a flit u re judge of mankind : the ftated refidence of the apofties at Jerufaiem, the working of miracles by the firil: preachers of the 'gofpel, who were alfo the hearers of Chriil ••■^ the fucCefsful propiViation of the rehgion, the perfe- cution of its followers, the miraculous converfion of Paul, mira- cles wrought by hknfejf, and alleged ia his controverfies with his adverfaiies, and in letters to the peifons amongfl whom they were wrought ; finally, that viiradei nvere thefigns of an apojlfe^^ ^
In an epidle bearing the name of Barnabas the companion of Paul, probably genuine, certainly belonging to that age, we have the fufferings of Chrift, his choice of apofties and their number, his paflion, the fcarlet robe, the vinegar and gall, the mocking and piercings the cafting lots for his coat,'^ his refurrec- tion on the eighth (i. e. the firft day of the week^ ) and the commemorative diftindtion of that day, his manifeftation after his refurredlion, and laftly, his afcenfion. We have alfo his miracles, generally but poiitively referred to in the following words : *' finally teaching the peopk of Tfrael, and doing many wonders andfigns among ihem^ he preached to them, and Ihowed the exceeding great love which he bare towards them."^
In an epiftle of Clement, a hearer of St. Paul, although writ- ten for a purpofe remotely connected with the ChriiHan hiftory, we have the refurredtion of Chrift, and the fubfequent miflion of the apofties, recorded in thefe fatisfactory terms : " The
a Heb. ii. 3. <« How fkall we tfcape if we neg'edl fo great falvation, which at the firft began to he fpoken by tl e Lord, and was confirmed unto \Why them that heard lAm^ God alfo bearing them witnefs, both ivitb Jtgns and ivvndcrs, and with divers miracles-^ and gifts of the Holy Gholl." I allege this epiflie without hefitation, for whatever doubts may have been raifed about its author, there can he none concerning the age in whicli it was written. No epiftle in the collection carries about it more indubitable marks of antiquity than this does. It fpeaks, for inflance, throughout, of the temple as then ftanding, and of the wcrfliip of the temple as then fubfilling. Heb. viii. 4. " For if he were on earth, he fliould not be a priefl, feeing there arc priclb that offer according to the law." Again, Heb, xiii. to. '« We have ah aliaf" whereof tlicy have no right to eat which /cTVf the tabernacle."
b 2 Cor. xii. 12. "Truly, the ftgns of on apojile were wrought among you in all patience, in figns and wonders, and mighty deeds "
c Ep. Bar. c. vii, <i Ibid. c. vi. « Ep. Bar. c. v.
SS A VIEW OF THE
apoftles have preached to us from our Lord Jcfus Chrift fixini: God — For having lecelved their command, and hQingt/jorougl/' ly ajfured by thirefurveclion nf our Lord Jefus Chr'ijl, they went^ abroad, puhlifliing thcit the. kingdom. oF God was at hand." ^ We. find noticed alfo, the humility, yet tlie power of Chrift, ^ his defcent from Abraham, his crucii'ixion. • We have Peterr and Paul reprefented as faithful and righteous pillars of the- church, the numerous fufFerings of Peter, the bonds, (Iripes and ftoning of Paul, and more particularly, his extcnfrve and : unwearied travels.
In an epiflle of Polycarp, a difciple of St. John, though only, a brief hortatory, letter, we have the humility, patience, fuffer- ings, refurredion, and afcenfjon of Chrill, together with the' apodolic charader of St. Paul diftlndly recognized.^ Of this fame father we are alio affured by Irenacus, that he (Irenxus) had heard him relate, *' what he had received from eye-wit- nefles concerning the i^oxAyhoi^ cancennng his miracUi and his doctrine/'"^
In- the remaining works of Ignatius, the contemporary of Polycarp, larger than thofe of Polycarp (yet, like thofe of Polycarp, treating of fubjeds in no wife lending to any recital of the Chiidian hiltory) the occafional allulions are proportion- ably more copious. The defcent of Chrill from David, his. mother Mary, his miraculous conception, the ftar at his birih, his baptifm by John, the reafon ailigned fcr it, his a})peal to the^ prophets, the ointment poured on his head, his fuffeiings under. Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, his refurrection, the. Lord's day called and kept in commemoration of it, and the erf- charilf, in both its parts, are uncquivocrJly referred. to- Upon the refurredion this writer is even circumftantial. Pie mentions the apoftles, easing and drinking v/ith Chrid: after he was rifen, their feeling and their handling him ; from which lad circum- flance Ignatius raifcs this juft reflection — " They believed, be- ing convinced both by his ilefli and fpirit ; for this caole they defpifed death, and were found to be above it." ^
Qu^adratus, of the fame age with Ignatius, has Ic^t us the following noble teftimony : — '*The works of our Saviour were always confpicucus, for they were teal : both they that were.
a Ep. Clem. Rom. c. xlii. b Ib.c. ivi.
c Pol. Ep. ad Piiil. c. v. viii. ii. lit. d ir. ad Flor. ap. Euf, I. v. c. %0* € Ad, Smyr. c» iii.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. S9
Kealed, and they that were raifed from the dead: who were feen not only when they were healed or raifed, but for a long time afterwards. Not only whilft he dwelled on this earth, but alfo after his departure, and for a good while after it, in- fomuch that fome of them have reached to our times."'^
Juftin Martyr came little more than thirty years after Qua- dratus. From Juftin's works, which are ftUl extant, might be colletfled a tolerably complete account of Chrift's Hfe, in all points agreeing with that which is deli-vered in our fcriptiires ; taken indeed, in a great meafure, from thofe fcriptures, but flili proving that this account, and no other, was the accoun-t 'known and extant in that age. The miracles in particular, which form the part of Chrift's hiftory moft material to be traced, ftand ful- ly and diftindlly recognized in the following paffage : — " He healed thofe who had been Wind, and deaf, and lame, from their birth, caufing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and a third to fee ; and by railing the dead, and making them to live, he induced, by his works, the men of that age to know him.'^b
It is unneceflary to carry thefe citations lower, becaufe the hiftory, after this time, occurs in ancient Chriftian writings as familiarly as it is wont to do in modern fermons ; occurs always the fame in fubftance, and always that which our evangeiifts reprefent.
This is not only true of thofe writings of Chriftians which are genuine, and of acknowledged authority, but it is, in a great meafure, true of all their ancient writings which remain ; although fome of thele may have been enoneoufly afcribed to authors to whom they did not belong, or may contain faHe accounts, or may appear to be undeferving of credit, or never indeed to have obtained any. Whatever fables they have mix- -ed with the narrative, they preferve the material parts, the lead- ing fi(5ls, as we have them ; and, fo far as they do this, although they be evidences of nothing elfe, they are evidence that thefe points were^.xW, were received and acknowledged by all Chrif- tians in the ages in which the books were written. At leaft it ^'ay be afterced, that, in the places where we were moft likely to meet with fuch things, if fuch things had exifted, no relics
a Ap. Euf. H. E. 1. Iv. c. 3.
^ jua. dial, cum Tryph. p. z88, ed. Thirl,
6q a view of the
appear of any {lory fubftantially different from the prefeati as the catife, or as the pretence of the inflitutlon.
Now that the original ftory, the ftoty delivered by the firft preachers of the inllitution, (hould have died away fo entirely as to have left no record or memorial of its exifttnce, although lb many records and memorials of the time and tranfaftlon remain ; and dut another ftory fliould have ftepped into its place, and gained exclufive poffeflion of the belief of all vho profefTed themfelves difciples of the inlHtution, is beyond any example of the corruption of even oral tradition, and Hill lefs confiftent with the experience of written hiftory : and this improbability, which is very great, is rendered ilill greater by the reflexion, that no fuch changey as the oblivion of one ftory and the fubfti- tution of another, took place in any future period of the Chrif- ^ian era. Chriftianity has travelled through dark and turbulent ages ; neverthelefs it came out of the cloud and the dorm fuch, in fubflance, as it entered in. Many additions were made to the primitive hiftory, and thefe entitled to different degrees of credit ; many dodrinal errors alfo were from time to time grafted into the piibhc creed, but Itill the original ilory remain- ed, and remained the fame. In all its principal parts it has been fixed from the beginning.
Thirdly, the religious rites and ufagcs that prevailed amongfl: the early difciples of Chriflianity were fuch as belonged to, and fprung out of, the narrative now in our hands ; which accordan- ce fhows, that it was the narrative upon which thefe perfons aded, and which they had received from their teachers. Our account makes the founder of the religion direct that his difci- ples fnould be baptized : We know that the firft Chridians were baptized. Cur account makes him dire<5l that they fliould hold religious aiTemblies : We ^xnci that they did liold religious affembiies. Our account mstkcs the apofllcs aflcmble upon a ftatcd day in the week : We find, and that from infor- mation perfc(rtly independent of our accounts, that the Chrif- tians of the firit century did obferve flated days of aflcmbling. Our hiftories record the inflitution of the lite which we call the Lord's fupper, and a command to repeat it in perpetual fuccefTion : We find, amongfl the early Chriitians, the celebra- tion of this rite univerfal. And indeed v.-e find concurring in all the above-mentioned obfervances, Chrillian focleties of many different nations and language?, removed from one another by great diflancc of place and diflimilitude of fituation. It is alfo
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 6i
extremely material to remark, that there is no room for inilnuat- ing that oar books were fabricated with a ftudious accommoda- tion to the ufages which obtained at the time they were written 5 that the authors of the books found the ufages e/labliilied, and framed the flory to account for their original. The fcripture accounts, efpecially of the Lord's fuppcr, are too fnort and curfory, not to fay too obfcure, and, in this view, deficient, to allow a place for any fufpicion.*
Araongfl the proofs of the truth of our profeffion, viz. that the flory, which we have noiUf is, in fubftance, ihe ftory which the Chriftians had then, or, in other v.'ords, that the accounts in our gofpels are, as to their principal parts at leaft, the accounts which the apoftles and original teachers of the religion deliver- ed, one arifes from obferving, that it appears by the gofpels themfelves, that the (lory was public at the time ; that the Chriftian community was already in polTeflion of the fubftance and principal parts of the narrative. The gofpels were not the original caufe of the Chriflian hiftory being believed, but were themfelves among the confequences of that belief. This is ex- prefsly affirmed by St. Lake in his brief, but, as I think, very important and inftru^ive preface. " Forafmuch (fays the evan- gelift) as many have taken in hand to fet forth in order a dec- laration of thofe things nvhtch are mojl furely hd'ie'ved amongjl m, even as they delivered them unto us, auhtch, from the beginnings luere eye-witneff'es and mint/iers of the nxwrd ; it feemed good to mc alfo, having had perfe<5l underftanding of all things from the very firft, to write unto thee in order, moft excellent Theoph- ilus, that thou mightcfl knov/ the certainty of thofe things "wherein thou hafl been irfiru&ed" This fiiort introduclion tefti- •fies, that the fubflance of the hiftory, which the evangeliH: was about to write, was already believed by Chriftians ; that it was believed upon the declarations of eye-witnefles and minifters of the word ; that it formed the account of their religion, in which Chriftians were inftrudled ; that the office which the hiftorian propofed to himfelf, was to trace each particular to its origin, and to fix the certainty of many things which the reader had before heard of. In St. John*s gofpel, the fame point appears
* The reader who is convcrfant in thefe rcfearches, by comparing the fhort (cripture accounts of the Chriftian rites above- mentioned with the minure and circumftantial cire<2;ions contained in the pre- tended apollolical conflitutions, will fee the force of this obfervation 5 the difference between truth and forgery. F
63 A VIEW OF THE
from hence, that there are fome principal faifts, to which the hirrorian refers, tut which he does not relate. A remarkable inftance of this kind is the afcenfion, which is not mentioned by St. John in its place, at the conclufion of his hiftory, but which is plainly referred to in the following words of the fixth chap- ter :^ " What and if ye fliall fee the Son of man afcend up where he was before." And flill more pofitively in the words which Chrift, according to our evangelifi, fpoke to Mary after l)is refurre(5tion, " Touch me not, for I am not yetafcended to my Father ; but go unto my brethren, and fay unto them, I afc£nd unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God. "'^ This can only be accounted for by the fuppcfition, that St. John wrote under a fenfe of the notoriety of Chrift's afcenfion, umongll thofe by whom his book was likely to be read. The fame account muft alfo be given of St. Matthew'? omiflion of the fame important fa(5t. The thing was very well known, and it did not occur to the hiftorian, that it was necef- fary to add any particulars concerning it. It agrees alfo with' this folution, and with no other, that neither Matthew nor John difpofe of the perfon of our Lord in any manner whatever. Other intim.ations in St. John's gofpel of the then general no- toriety of the ftory, arc the following : His manner of intro- ducing his narrative, (ch. i. v. 15.) " John bare witnefs of him, and cried, faying," evidently prefuppofes that his readers knew who John was. His rapid parenthetical reference to John's imprifonment, *' for John was not yet caft into prifon,"'^ could only come from a writer whofe mind was in the habit of con- fidering John's imprifonment as perfe6tly notorious. The de- fcription of Andrew by the addition *' Simon Peter's brother,"** takes it for granted that Simon Peter was well known : liis name had not been mentioned before. The evangelifli's notic- ing^ the prevailing mifconfl:ru(Stion of a difcourfe, which Chrift held with the beloved difciple, proves that the characters and the difcourfe were already public. And the obfervation which thefe inftinces afford, is of equal validity for the purpofe of the prefent argument, whoever was the author of the hifbries.
Thefe four circumftances — firft, the recognition of the ac- count in its principal parts by a feiies of fuccecding writers ; fecondly, the total abfence of any account of the origin of the rriHgion fubrtantially different from ours ; thirdly, the early and
a Alfojohn ill. 13. and xvi. 28. ^ John xx. 17. « johii iiL 2-4. ^ Jf*iia i. 40. e John xxi. 24.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 6^
extcnfive prevalence of rites and inftitutions, whicli refuk from our account ; fourthly, our account bearing in its conllrudlion proof that it is an account of fa6ts, which were known and believ- ed at the time ; are fufficient, I conceive, to fupport an affurance, that the (lory, which we have now, is, in general, the (lory which Chriftians had at the beginning. I fay In general; by which term I mean, that it is the fame in its texture, and in its principal fadts. For inftance, I make no doubt, for the reafons above ftated, but that the refarredlion of the founder of the religion was al- ways a part of the ChriiHan itory. Nor can a doubt of this remain upon the mind of any one, who reliecfts that the refur- redion is, in fome form or other, alferted, referred to, or af- fumed, in every ChriiHan writing, of every defcription, which hath come down to us.
And if our evidence flopped here, we {hoald have a ftrong cafe to offer : For we fnould have to allege, that in the reign of Tiberias Cxfir, a certiin number of perfons fct about an attempt of ei^^abliHiing a new religion in the world ; in the profecution of which purpofe, they voluntarily encountered great dangers, undertook great labours, fuflained great fuffenngs» tiWfor a miraculous flory which they publifhed wherever they came ; and that the refurredllon of a dead man, v/hom, during his life, they had followed and accompanied, was a conflant part of this flory. I know noiiiing in the above flatement which can, with any appeartince of reafon, be difputed ; and I know notiiing in the hiflory of the human fpecies fimilar to it.
C H A P. VIII.
'There is JaUsfaBory evidence that many perfons ^ prof ejjlng to have been original iv'itmffes of the Chrifiian Miracles ^ P<]lf^d their lives in labours, dangers and firff'e rings, 'voluntarily undergone in attejldtion of the accounts ivl^ch they delivered, andfolely in con^ fequence of their belief of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fub- miited, from the fame motives, to neiv rules of condud,
X HAT the flory, which we have now, is, in the main, the (lory which the apoftles publifhed, is, I think, nearly certain from the confiderations which have been propofed. But whether, when we come to tlie particulars and the detail of the carratiye, the hiilorical books of the New Tellament be
6^ A VIEW OF THE
defcrvlng of credit as hiftorits, Co that a facl ouqht to be ac- counted true becaufe it is found in tiiem ; or whether they are entitled to be confidered as reprefenting the accounts, \vhich» true or fulfe, the apoilles pubUflied j whether their authority, in either of thefe views, can be trufted to, is a point which ne- cefl';irily depends upon what we know of the books, and of their authors.
Now, in treating of this part of our argument, the firil, and a mofi: material obfervation upon the fubjecl is, that, fuch was the fituation of the authors to whom the four gofpels are afcrib- ed, that, if any one of the four be genuine, it is fufficient for our purpofc. Tl^.e received author of the lirft was an original apoTtle and cmiiury of the reh!gion. The received author of -.he fccond was an inhabitant of Jerufalem at thci time, to whofe houfe the apoillcs were wont to refort, and himfelf an attend- ant upon cn3 of the moit eniin eat oi' that number, 'ilie re- ceived author of the third was a llattd companion and feJlow- traveller of the moll: active of all the teachers of the religion, and in the courfe of his travels freque-otly in the fociety of the original a};o(He3. The received author of the fourth, as well as of the firft, was one of thefe apollles. No Wronger evidence of the truth of a hiilory can arife from the fituation of the hif- torian than what is here offered. The authors of all the hif- tories lived at the time and upon the fpot. The authors of two of the hiiforles were prefent at many of the fcenes which they defcribe ; e3'e-witnelTes of the fads, ear-witneffes of the difcourfes ; writing from perfonal knowledge and recollection, and what ftrengthens their teftimon}', writing upon a fubje(5l in which their minds were deeply engaged, and in which, as they muft have been very frequently repeating the accounts to others, the palfages of the hiflory would be kept continually alive in their memory. Whoever reads the gofpels (and they ought to be read for this particular purpofe) will find in them not mere- ly a general afHrmation of miracidous powers, but detailed cir- cumlhmtiul accounts of miracles, with fpecifications of time, place and perfons ; and thefe accounts ma^ny and various. In the gofpels, therefore, which bear the names of Matthew and Jolm, thefe narratives, if they really proceeded from thefe men, mail either be true, as far as the lidclity of human recoileclion is ufually to be depended upon, that is, mnfl: be true in fub- ftance, and In their principal parts (which is fufficient for the purpofe of proving a fupernatural agency) or ihey muft be wiK
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 65
ful and meditated fldfshoods. Yet the writers who fabricated and uttered thefe faJl'ehoods, if they be fiich, are of the number of thofe who, unlefs the whole contexture of the Chriitiin ftory be a dream, facriiiced their eafe and fafety in the caufe, and for a purpofe the mofl: inconfiftent that is poUible with difnoneft intentions. They were villaias for no end but to teach honeily, and martyrs without the leaft profpect of honour or advantage.
The gofpels which bear the name of Mark and Luke, al- though not the narratives of eye-witnefTes, are, if genuine, re- moved from that only one degree. They are the narratives of contemporary writers, of writers themfelves mixing with the bufmefs, one of the two probably living in the place which was the principal fcene of afiion, both living in habits of foclety and correijjondence with thofe who had been prefent at the tranfaclions which they relate. The latter of them according- ly tells us (and with apparent fmcerity, becaufe he tells it with- out pretending to perfonal knowledge, and without claiming for hji€ work greater authority than belonged to it) that the things, which v/ere believed amongft Ch^i-iftians came from thofe who from the beginning were eye-wiinefles and minifters of the word ; that he had traced up accounts to their fource ; and that he was preparoi-to inllruft his reader in the certainty of the things which bf related. '"^ Very few hiftories lie fo dole to their facts ; very few hiftorlans are fo nearly conne^^ted with the fubje<51: of their narrative, or poiTefs fuch means of authen- tic information as thefe.
The fituation of the writers applies to the truth of the fads which they record. But at prefent we ufe their teftimony t& a point foraewhat Ihort of this, namely, that the fads recorded in the. gofpels, whether true or falfe. are the fads and the fort of fads, which the original preachers of the religion alleged. Stridly fpeaking, I am concerned only to fhov\', that what the gofpels contain is the fame as what the apoftles preached. Now how ftands the proof of this point ? A fet of men v/ent about the world pubhfhing a ftory compofed of miraculous accounts (for miraculous from the very nature and exigency of the cale
a Why fliould not the candid .ind modeil prtface of this hiflorUn he believed, as well as that -which Dion Caflius prefixes to his life of Coir- modus. *' Thefe things aun the following I write not from the report of others, but from my own kno\iiiledge and obfervation." I fee nc reafon to doubt but that both paflagts dtfcribc truly enough the iiiu- ation of the authors,
F 2
66 A VIEW OF THE
they mall have been) and, upon the flrength of thefe account?,- called vpon mankind to quit the relij;ions in which they had been educated, and to take up, from thenceforth, a new fyfteni of opinions, and new rules of adion. What is "more, in attef^ tation of thefe accounts, that is, in fupport of an inftitution of which thefe accounts were the foundation, the fame men volun- tarily expofed themfelves to haraffing and perpetual labours, dangers, and fufferings. We want to know what thefe accounts were. We have the particulars, i. e. many particulars, from two of their number. We have them from an attendant of one cf the number, and who there is reafon to believe was an in- habitant of Jerufalem at the time. We have them from a fourth writer, who accompanied the mod laborious miffionary of the inflitution in his travels ; who, in the courfe of thefe travels-, •was frequently brought into the fociety of the reft ; and who, let it be obfervcd, begins hi-s narrative by telling us, that he is about to relate the things which had been delivered by thofe who were ministers of the word, and eye-witnelTes of the fadb. I do not know what information can be more fatisfaclory thaa this. We mav;, perhaps, perceive the force and value of it more ientibly, if we reiied how requiring we fliould have been if we had ^wanted it. Suppofing it to be fuiiiciently proved, that the religion, now profefFed amongft us, owed its original to the preaching and miniftry of a number of men, who, about eigh'- teen centuries ago, fet forth in the world a new fyflem of re- ligious opinions, founded upon certain extraordinary things which they related of a wonderful perfon who had appeared in>. Judea J fuppofe it to be alfo fufhciently proved, that, in the courfe and profecution of their miniftry, thefe men had fubjeJb- ed themfelves to extreme hardfliips, fatigue, and peril ; but frppofe the accounts which they publifhed had not been com- mitted to writing till fome ages after their times, or at lead that no hiftories, but what had been compofed fome ages afterwards, had reached our hands ; we fliould have faid, and with reafon, that we were willing to believe thefe men under the circum- ftances in which they delivered their telKmony, but that we did not, at this day, know with fufiicient evidence what their telti- mony was. Had we received the particulars of It from any cf thofe who lived and converfed with them, iiom any of their hearers, or even from any of their contemporaries, we fhoald have had fomething to rely u])on. Now, if our books bt genu'ne, we ha\e all thefe. We have the very fpeci^s of ia-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 6^
formation which, as it appears to me, our imagination would have carved out for us, if it had been wanting.
But I have faid, that, if any one of the four gofpels be gen- uine, we have not only dired hillorical teftimony to the point we contend for, but teftimony which, fo far as the point is con- cerned, cannot reafonablybe rejedled. If the fir ft gofpel was real- ly written by Matthew, we have the narrative of one of the number from which to judge what were the miracles, and the kind of miracles which the apoftles attributed to Jefus. Ahhough, for ar- gument's fake, and only for argument's fake, we fliould allow that this gofpel had been erroneoully afcribed to Matthew, yet if the gofpel of St. John be genuine, the obfervation holds with no leis ftrength. Again, although the gofpels both of Matthew and John could be fappofed to be fpurious, yet if the gofpel of St. Luke was truly the compofition of that perfon, or of any perfon, be his name what it might, who was acftually in the lituation in which the au- thor of that gofpel profeftes himfelf to have been ; or if the gofpel which bears the name of Mark really proceeded from him ; we ftill, even upon the loweft fuppofition, poftefs the accounts of one writer at leaft, who was not only contemporary with the apoftles, but aifociated with them in their miniftry ; which au- thority feems fufficient, when the f^ueftion is fimply what it was which thefe apoftles advanced.
I think it material to have this well noticed. The New Tef- tament contains a great number of diftind writings, the genu- inenefs of any one of which Is almoft fufficient to prove the truth of the religion : it contains, however, four diftind hifto- ries, the genuinenefs of any one of which is perfedly fufficient, l^, therefore, we muft be confidered as encountering the riik of er- ror in affigningthe authors of our books, we are entitled to the advantage of fo many feparate probabilities. And although it fhould appear that fome of the evangelifts had feen and ufed each other's works, this difcovery, whilft it fubtrasfts indeed from their characters as teftlmonles ftrlclly independent, diminifhes, I conceive, little, either their feparate authority, by which I mean the authority of any one that is genuine, or their mutual confirmation. For let the moft dlfadvantageous fuppofition poffible be made concerning them ; let it be allowed, what I ihould have no great difficulty in admitting, that Mark compiled his hiftory almoft entirely from thofe of Matthew and Luke ; and let it alfo, for a moment, be fuppofed that thefe hiftorles were »ot, in/a(fl:, written by Matthew and Luke j yet if it be true that
6S A VIEW OF THE
Miuk, a cantemporary of the apoftles, living in habits of foci' ety with the apoftles, a fellow-traveller and fellow-labourer with fomc of them ; if, I i^y, it be true that this perfon made the compilation, it foljows, that the writings fiom which he made it exiiicd in the times of the apoftles, and not only fo, but that they were then in fuch efteem'and credit that a compan- ion of the apoftles formed a hillory out of them. Let the gofpel of Mark, be called an epitome of that of Matthew ; if a perfon in the fituation in which Mark is defcribed to have been, aflually made the epitome, it affords the iirongell pollible attef- tation to the character of the original. Again, parallelifms in fentences, in words, and in the order of words, have been tra- ced out between the gofpel of Matthew asd that of Luke ; which concurrence cannot eafily be explained otherwife than fuppofing, either that Luke had confulted Matthew's hiflory, or, wliat appears to me in no wife incredible, that minutes of fome of Chrifr's difcourfes, as well as brief memoirs of forae paf- fages of his life, had been committed to writing at the time, and tJ-iat fuch written accounts had by both authors been cccafion- ally admitted into their hiflories. Either fuppofitlon is perfect- ly confiftent with the ackno^vledged formation of St. Luke's narrative, v.ho profeffes not to write as an eye-witnefs, but to have inveftigated the original of every account which he deliv- ers ; in othei words, to have coUedtcd them from fuch docu- raents and teflimonies as he, who had the befl opportunities of making inquiries, judged to be authentic. Therefore, allowing that this writer alfo, in fomc inltances, borrowed from the gof- pel which v/e call Matthew's, and once more allowing, for the fake of dating the argument, that that gofpel was not the pro- du6tion of the author to whom v/e afcribe it, yet ftill we have, in St. Luke's gofpel> a hiflory given by a writer immediately conneded with the tranfiftion, with the witneffes of it, with the perfons engaged in It, and compofed from materials which that perfon, thus fituatcd, deemed to be fafe fources of intelli- gence : in other words, whatever fuppofitlon be made concern- ing any or ail the other gofpcls, if St. Luke's gofpel be genuine, we have in it a credible evidence of the point which we main- tain. The gofpel according to St. John appears to be and is on all hands allowed to be an independent tedlmony, ftridly and proptrly fo called. Notwithftanding, therefore, any con- nexion, or fuppofed connexion, between fome of the gofpels, I again repeat^ what I before faid^ that, if any one oi the four be
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. ' G^
genuine, we have in that one, ftrong reafon from the chara(5ler and lituatlon of the writer to beHeve, that we pofTefs the ac- counts which the original emiflaries of the reh'gion delivered.
II. In treating of the written evidences of Chriflianity, next to their feparate, we are to confider their aggregate authority. Now there is in the evangeUc hiftory a cumulation of telHmo- ny which belongs hardly to any other, but which our habitual mode of reading the fcriptures fometimes caufes us to overlook. When a paffage, in any wife relating to the hiftory of Chrift, is read to us out of the epiftle of Clemens Romanus, the epiftks of Ignatius, of Polycarp, or from anj other writing of that age, we are immediately fenfible of the confirmation which it affords to the fcripture account. Here is a new witnefs. Now if we had been accuftomed to read the gofpel of Matthew alone, and had known that of Luke only as the generality of Chriftians knov7 the writings of the apoftolicat fathers, that is, had known that fuch a writing was "extant and acknowledged ; when we came, for the firft time, to look into what it contained, and found many of the f^i51:s which Matthew recorded, recorded alfo there, many other fadts of a fimilar nature added, and throughout the whole woik the fame general feries of tranfac- tions Ttated, and the fame general charader of the perfon who was the fubjecft of the hiftory preferved, I apprehend that we fliould feel our minds flrongly imprtfled by this difcovery of frefh evidence. We fhould feel a renewal of the fame fenti- ment in firft reading the gofpel of St. John. That of St. Mark perhaps would ftrike us as an abridgment of the hillory with which we are already acquainted ; but we fliould naturally re- fiedt, that, if that hiflory v/as abridged by fuch a perfon as Mark, or by any perfon of fo early an age, it afforded one of the higheft poflible atteflations of the value of the work. This fucceffive difclofure of proof would leave us aflured, that there muft have been at leafl fome reality in a ftory which, not one, but many, h?,d taken in hand to commit to writing. The very exiflence of four feparate hiftories would fatisfy us that the fubjed had a foundation ; and when, amidfl the variety which the different information of the different writers had fnpplied to their accounts, or which their ditferent choice and judgment in feledling their materials had produced, we obferved many fa^fls to fland the fame in all ; of thefe fads, at leaft, we fhould con- clude, that they were fixed in their credit and publicity. If, after tliis, W€ fliould come to the knowledge of a diflin(5l hiflo
7c A VIEW OF THE
ry, ^nd that alfo of the fame age with the reft, taking up thf fubje(5t where the others had left it, and carrying on a narrative of the effe«5ls produced in the world by the extraordinary caufes of which we had already been informed, and which effecfls fubfift at this day, we fiiould think the reality of the original flory in no little degree eflabliihcd by thi^> fupplcment. If fubfequent inquiries fnould bring to our knowledge, one after another, letters written by fome of the principal agents In the bufinefs, upon the bufinefs, and during the time of their activity and concern in it, aiTumlng all along and recognizing the origin- al ftory, agitating the queflions that arofe out of it, prefling the obligations which refulted from it, giving advice and direftions to thofe who a<f!:ed upon it, I conceive that we fkould find, in every one of thefe, a flill further fupport to the conclufion we had formed. At prefent the weight of this facceflWe confirm- ation is, in a great meafure unperceived by us. The evidence does not appear to us v;hat it is ; for, being from our infancy accudomed to regard the New Teflanient as one book, we fee in it only one telHmony. The whole occurs to us as a fingle evi- dence ; and its different parts, not as dKKnct atteftations, but as different portions only of the fame. Yet in this conception of the fubject we are certainly miilaken ; for the very difcre- pancies amongfr the feveral documents which form our volume prove, if all oiher proof was wanting, that in their original com- pofition they were feparate, and moft of them independent pro- dudlicns.
If we difpofe of our ideas in a different order, the nriattcr ftands thus ; — Whild the tranfa«5tion was recent, and the orig- inal witneiles were at hand to relate it ; and whilft the apcflles were bufied in preaching and travelling, in colleding difciples, in forming and regulating focieties of converts, in fupporti ng therhfelves agalnfl oppofition ; whilii: they exercifed their min- iftry und-:r the haraflings of frequent perfecjtlon, and In a (late of almoU continual alarm, it is not probable that, in this engag- ed, anxious, and unfeitled condition of life, they would think immediately of writing hlftorles for the information of the pub- lic or of pofl:erity.^ But it is very probable that emergencies
a Tills thouoht occurred to F.ufehius — " Nor vere the apoflles of Chrift greatly concerned about the writing of book?, being engaged ii\ a more excellent miniftry, which is above all human power" Ecc. Hift. 1. iii. c. 24. The fame CDnfidcration accounts alio for the pau- city of Chriftian writings in the ilrfl century of its era.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 71
might draw, from fome of them, occafional letters upon the fub- je6t of their miffion to converts, or to focieties of converts, with which they were conne<5led ; or that they might addrefs written difcourfes and exhortations to the difciples of the iniHtution at large, which would be received and read with a refpecft propor- tioned to the character of the writer. Accounts in the mean time would get abroad of the extraordinary things that had been pafling, written with different degrees of information and cor- reftnefs. The extenfion of the Chriftian fociety, which could no longer be intruded by a perfonal intercourfe with the apof- ties, and the pollible circulation of imperfed or erroneous narra- tives, would fcon teach fome amongft them the expediency of fending forth authentic memoirs of the life and dodrine of their Mafter. When accounts appeared, authorifed by the name, credit, and fituation of the writers, recommended or recognized by the apoftles and firft preachers ot the religion, or found to coincide with what the apoftles and firft preachers of the reli- gion had taught, other account? would fall into difufe and neg- ledl ; whilft thefe, maintaining their reputation (as, if genuine and well founded, they would do) under the teft of time, inqui- ry andcontradiclion, might be expected to make their way into the hands of Chriftians of all countries of the world. This fe'ems the natural progrefs of the bufinefs ; and with this the records in our pofiejTion, and the evidence concerning them, correfpond. We have remaining, in the firll: place, many let- ters of the kind above defcribed. which have been preferved . with a care and fidelity anfwering to the refpefl with which we may fuppofe that fjch letters would be received. But as thefe letters were not written to prove the truth of the Chriftian reli- gion, in the fenfe in which we regard that queftion, nor to con- vey information of facts, of which thofe to whom the letters written had been previoufly informed ; we are not to look in them for any thing more than incidental allufions to the Chrif- tian hiftory. We are able, however, to gather from thefe docu- ments various particular atteftations which have been already enumerated ; and this is a fpecies of written evidence, as far as it goes, in the bigh.eft degree fatisfadory, and in point of time perhaps the firft. But for our more circumftantial infor- mation we have, in the next place, five diredl h'l/lories, bearing the names of perfons acquainted, by their fituation, with the truth of what they relate, and three of them purporting, in the very body cf the 'narrative, to be written by fuch perfons : of
72 A VIEW OF THE
which books we know that feme were in the hands of thofe who were contemporaries of the apoftles, and that, in the age immediately pofterior to that, they were in the hands, we may fay, of every one, and received by Chriftians with fo much re- fpe<Jl and deference, as to be conftantly quoted and referred to by them without any doubt of the truth of their accounts. They were treated ?.s fuch hiftories, proceeding from fuch authorities, might expert to be treated. In the preface to one of our hiftories we have intimations left us of the exift- ence of fome ancient accounts which are now loft. There is nothing in this circumftance that can furprife us. It was to be expeded from the magnitude and novelty of the occafion that fuch accounts vjoaldfwarm. When better accounts came forth, thefe died away. Our prefent hiftorles fuperfeded others. They foon acquired a chararter and eftablifhed a reputation which does not appear to have belonged to any other ; that, at leaft, can be proved concerning them, which cannot be proved concerning any other.
But to return to the point which led to thefe reflexions. By confidering our records in either of the two views in which we have reprefented them, we fhall perceive that we pofTefs a colIeSton cf proofs, and not a naked or folitary teftimony ; and that the written evidence is of fuch a kind, and comes to us in fuch a ftate, as the natural order and progrefs of things, in the infancy of the inftitution, might be expefled to produce.
Thirdly. The genuinenefs of the hiftorical books of the New Teftament is undoubtedly a point of importance, becaufe the ftrenpth of their evidence is augmented by our knowledge of the fituation of their authors, their relation to the fubjert, and the part which they fuftained in the tranfadlion ; and the teftimonies which we are able to produce compofe a firm ground of perfuafion that the gofpels were written by the per- fons whofe names they bear. Keverthelefs I muft be allowed to Hate, that, to the argument which I am endeavouring to main- tain, this point is rot cfTential ; I mean, fo efFential as that the fate of the argument depends upon it. The queftion before us is, whether the gofpel exhibit the ftory which the apoftles and firft emiflaries of the religion publlfhcd ; and /cr which they a6led and fuffered in the manner, in which, for fome miraculous {lory or other, they did a<5l and fuffer. Now let us fuppofe that we pofTefied no other information concerning thefe books than that they were written by early difciples of Chriftianity ; that
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 73
they were known and read during the time, or near the time, of the original apoftles of the religion ; that by Chriftians whom the apoftles inftrufled, by focieties of Chriftians which the apof- tles founded, thefe books were received (by which term " re- ceived," I mean that they were believed to contain authentic accounts of the tranfadion upon which the religion refted, and accounts which were accordingly ufed, repeated, and reli-' ed upon) this reception would be a valid proof that thefe books, whoever were the authors of them, muft have accorded with what the apoftles taught. A reception by the firft race of Chriftians, is evidence that they agreed with what the firft teachers of the religion delivered. In particular, if they had not agreed with what the apoftles themfelves preached, how could they have gained credit in churches and focieties which the apoftles eftablifhed ?
Now the fa(5t of their early exiftence, and not only of their exiftence but their reputation, is made out by fome ancient tef- timonies which do not happen to fpecify the names of the writ- ers : add to which, what hath been already hinted, that two out of the four gofpels contain ayerments in the body of the hiftory, which, though they do not difclofe the names, fix the time and fitaation of the authorSj viz. that one was written by an eye-witnefs of the fufferings of Chrift, the other by a con- temporary of the apoftles. In the gofpel of St. John (xix. 2z) after defcribing the crucifixion, with the particular circumftance of piercing Chrift's fide with a fpear, the hiftorian adds, as from himfelf, *' and he that faw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he faith true, that ye might be- lieve." Again (xxi. 24) after relating a conver'fation which paffed between Peter and the difciple, as it is there exprefted, whom Jefus loved, it is added, " this is the difciple which te'f- tifieth of thefe things and wrote thefe things.*' This teftimc- ny, let it be remarked, is not the lefs worthy of regard, be- caufe it is in one view imperfed:. The name is not mention- ed, which, if a fraudulent purpofe had been intended, would have been done. The third of our prefent gofpels purports to have been written by the perfon who v/rote the Ads of the Apoftles; in which latter hiftory, or rather latter part of the fame hiftory, the author, by ufing in various places the firft perfon plural, declares himfelf to have been a contemporary of all, and a companion of one of the original pieachersof the re- ligion.
G
74 A VIEW OF THE
CHAP. IX.
There is fatisfa&ory evidence that many per fans ^ p^'^f"Jf^^'Z ^^ ^ original <witnejjes of the Chrijlian Miracles, pajfed Jhcir lives in laboursy dangers^ and fvjferings^ vulimtarily undergone in attefia- tion cf the accounts luhich they delivered, andfolely in confqucnct of their belief of the truth of thofe accounts ; and that they alfo fuhmitted,from the fame motives, to nciv rules of condud.
** Of the authenticity of the fcriptures.'*
N.
OT forgetting, therefore, what credit is due to the evPH" gehc hiftory, fuppofing even any one of the four gofpels to be genuine ; what credit is due to the gofpels, even fuppofing nothing to be known concerning them but that they were writ- ten by earjy difciples of the rehgion, and received with defer- ence by early Chriflian churches ; more efpecial]y not forget- ting what credit is due to the New Teflamcnt in its capacity of cumulative evidence ; we now proceed to ftate the proper and diOinct proofs, which fnow not only the general value of thefe records, but their fpecific authout)^ and the high probability there is that they adluaily came from the perfons whofe names they bear.
There are, however, a few preliminary reflections, by which we may drav/ up with more regularity to the propofitions, upon which the clofe and particular difcuflion of the fubjed depends. Of which nature are the following ;
I. We are able to produce a great number of ancient fnanu' fcripts, found in many different countries, and in countries wide- ly diftant from each other, all of them anterior to the art of print- ing, fome certainly feven or eight hundred years old, andfome which have been preferved probablj^ above a thoufand years. * We have alfo many ancient verfions of thefe books, and fomc of them into languages which are not at prefent, nor for many ages have been, fpoken in any part of the world. The exift- ence of thefe manufcripts and verfions proves that the fcriptures were not the production of any modern contrivance. It does away alfo the uncertainty which hangs over fuch publications as the works, real or pretended, of OlTian and Rowley, in which the editors are challenged to produce their manufcripts, and to
a Tlie Alexandrian manufcript, now in the king's library, \vas vrit- Rcn probably in the fourth or finh centiiry.
ETIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 75
^ow where they obtained their copies. The number of man- ^fcripts, flir exceeding thofe of any other book, and their wide difperiion, affords an argument, in fome meafure, to tiie fenfes, that the fciiptiires anciently, in Hke manner as at this day, were more read and fought after than any other books, and that alfo in many different countries. The greateft part of ipurious Chridian writings are utterly loft, the reft preferved by fome lingle manufcript. There is weight ah^o in Dr. Beniley's obfervation, that the New Teftament has lufi'ered lefs injury by the errors of tranfcribers than the works of any profane author of the fame fize and anti(^uity ; that is, there never was any writing in the prefervation and purity of which the world was fo interefted or fo careful.
II. An argument of great weight with thofe who are judges of the proofs upon which it is founded, and capable, through their teftimony, of being addrelTed to every underftanding, is that which arifes from the ftyle and language of the New Tef- tament. It is juft fach language as might be expected from the apoftles, from perfons of their age and in their fituation, and from no other perfons. It is the ftyle neither of claffic au- thors, nor of the ancient Chriftian fathers, but Greek coming from men of Hebrew origin ; abounding, that is, with Hebriac and Syiiac idioms, fuch as would naturally be found in the writings of men who ufed a language fpoken indeed where they lived, but not the common diale^^l of the country. This happy peculiarity is a ftrong proof of the genuinenefs of thefe writings ; for who lh9uld forge them ? The Chriftian fathers were for the niofl part totally ignorant of Hebrew, and therefore were not- likely to infert Hebraifms and Syriafms into their v/ritings. The few who had a knowledge of the Hebrew, as Juftin Mar- tyr, Orjgen, and Epiphanius, wrote in a language which bears no refemblance to that of the New Teftament. The Naza- renes, who underftocd Hebiew, ufed chiefly, perhaps almoft entirely, the gofpel of St. Matthew, and therefore cannot be fufpe<5led of forging the reft of the facred writings, 'fhe argu- ment, at any rate, proves the antiquity of thefe books ; that they belonged to the age of the apofties ; that they could be ^compofed indeed in no other. =^
a See this argument flated more at large in MichaeJis's introduc- tion (Marfli's tranflation) vol. I. c.ii. fee, x* from which thcfc obrer"- NWtions are taken.
76 A VIEW OF THE
in. Why fliould we queftion the genuinenefs of thefe books ? Is it for that they contain accounts of fupernatural events ? I apprehend that this, at the bottom, is the real, though fecret, caufe of our hefitation about them ; for had the writings in- fcribed with the name of Matthew and John related nothing but ordinary hiflory, there would have been no more doubt whether thefe writings were theirs, than there is concerning the acknowledged works of Jofephus or Philo ; that is, there would have be n no doubt at all. Nov%' it ought to be confid- ered that this reafon, however it may apply to the credit which is given to a writer's judgment or veracity, affects the queftion of genuinenefs very indirectly. The works of Bede exhibit many wonderful relations ; but who for that reafon doubts that they were written by Bede ? The fame of a multitude of other authors. To which may be added, that wc aflc no more for out books than what we allow to other books in fome fort fimi- lar to ours. We do not deny the genuinenefs of the Koran. We admit that the hiftory of Appollonius Tyanaeus, purport- ing to be written by Philoftratus, was really written by Philo- ftratus.
IV. If it had been an eafy thing in the early times of the inftltution to have forged Chriftlan writings, and to have ob- tained currency and reception to the forgeries, we fhould have had many appearing in the name of Chriif himfelf. No writ- ings would iiave been received withfo much avidity and refpeift as thefe ; confequently none afforded fo great temptation to forgery. Yet ha\'e we heard but of one attempt of this fort de- fjrvirg cf tiie fmallefl notice, that in a piece of a very few lines, and fj far from fucceeding, I mean from obtaining acceptance and reputation, or an acceptance and reputation in any wife fimilar to that which can be proved to have attended the books of the Nev/ Teflament, that it is not fo much as mentioned by any writer of the three firil centuries. The learned reader need not be informed that I mean the epiftle of Chrifl to Ab- garus, king of Edefla. found at prefent in the work of Eufe- bius,^ as a piece acknowledged by him, though not without confiderable doubt whether the whole paffage be not an inter- polation, as it is moft certain that after the publication of Eu- iebius's vvcik, this epiftle was univerfally rejedted.^
A H. Eccl. 1. i. c. 13.
' Aiaii'iii'i, A. D. yjs-. f^'c confcnf. evang. c. 34)had heard that the Pa£an3 prticiKlcd ro be pclTflTcd of in epiflie from Chrift to Peter and
EVIDENCES OF CHRrSTL^NITY. 77
V. If the afcription of the gofpels to their refpedlve au- thors had been arbitrary or conjectural, they would have been afcribed to more eminent men. This obfervation holds con- cerning the three firft gofpels, the reputed authors of which were enabled, by their fituation, to obtain true intelligence, and were likelyjtQjieli^iief an honefl: account of what they knew, but were perfons not diftinguifhed in the hiftory by extraordi- nary marks of notice or commendation. Of the apoftles, I hardly know any one of v/hom Icfs is faid than of Matthew, or of whom the little that is faid, is lefs calculated to magnify his charader. Of Mark nothing is faid in the gofpels ; and what is faid of any perfon of that name in the a6ls, and in the epif- ties, in no part beftows praife or eminence upon him. The name of Luke is mentioned only in St. Paul's epifUes,^ and that very tranfiently. The judgment, therefore, which ailigned thefe writings to thefe authors proceeded, it may be prefumed, upon proper knowledge and evidence, and not upon a voluntary choice of names.
VI. Chridian writers and Chrillian churches appear to have foon arrived at a very general agreement upon the fubject, and that without the interpofition of any public authority. When the diverfity of opinion which prevailed and prevails among Chriftians in other points is confidered, their concurrence in the canon of fcripture is remarkable, and of great weight, ef- pecially as it feems to have been the refult of private and free inquiry. We have no knowledge of any interference of au- thority in the queftion before the coimcll of Laodicea in the year 363. Probably the decree of this council rather declared than regulated the public judgment, or, more properly fpeaking, the judgment of fome neighbouring churches, the council itfeif confifting of no more than thirty or forty bifhops of Lydia and
Paul, but he had never feen it, and appears to doubt of the exiflence of any fuch piece, either genuine or fpurious. No other ancient writ- er mentions it. He alfo, and he alone notices, and that in order to condemn it, an epiftle afcribed to Ghrid by the Manichees, A. D. 270, and a fliort hymn attributed to him by the Priiciiiianifts, A. D. 378, (cont. Fauft. Man. lib. 28, c. 4.) The iatenefs of the writer who no- tices thefe things, the manner in which he notices them, and,abey£ all, the filencc of every preceding writer, render them unworthy of confideration.
a Col. AV. 14. 2 Tim. IX, XI, Philem, 24. Gz
78 A VIEW OF THE
the adjoining countries.^ Nor does its authority feem to have extended farther ; for we find numerous Chrillian writers, after this time, difcuffing the queflion, *' what books were entitled to be received as fcripture," with great freedom, upon proper grounds of evidence, and without any reference to the decifion at Laodicea.
Thefe confiderations are not to be negleded ; but of an argu- ment concerning the genuinenefs of ancient writings, the fab- itance undoubtedly and (Irength is ancient teftimony.
This tefHmony it is necefTary to exhibit fomewhat in detail i. for when Chriftian advocates merely tell us, that we have the fame reafon for believing the gofpels to be written by the evaa- gelilb, whofe names they bear, as we have for believing the Commentaries to be Caefar's, the -^neid Virgil's, or the ora- tions Cicero's, they content themfelves with an imperfect rep- refentation. They ftate nothing more than what is true, buX they do not flate the truth corredly. In the number, variety, and early date of our teftimonies, we far exceed all other an- cient books. For one, which the moil celebrated work of the mod celebrated Greek or Roman writer can allege, we produce many. But then it is more requifite in our books, than in theirs, to feparate and diilinguijli them from fpurious competitors. The refult, I am convinced, will be fatisfadory to every fair in- quirer ; but this circumftance renders an inquiry necefTary.
In a work, however like the prefent, there is a difficulty in finding a place for evidence of this kind. To purfue the de- tail of proofs throughout, would be to tranfcribe a great part of Dr. Lardner's eleven oftavo volumes ; to leave the argument without proofs, is to leave it without effect ; for the perfuafion produced by this fjiecies of evidence, depends upon a view and induction of the particulars which compofe it.
Tiie method which I propofe to myfelf is, firft, to place before the reader, in one view, the propoftions which compriie the feveral heads of our tcftimony, and afterwards, to repeat the fame propofitions in fo many difiind fedions, with the necefla.'
ry authorities fubjoined to eacl
The following, then, are the ailegations upon the fibjed, which are capable of being eflabliftied by proof :
a Lartlner's Cred. vol. VIII. p. 291, ct. fcq.
b The reader, when he has the propofitions before him, will obfcrve that t!.c argutncnr, it he iliould omii the leO.iuns, proceeds conae*.^- *uly from thi^ puiiit.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 79
I. That the hiftorlcal books of the New Teftament, meaning thereby the four gofpels and the acfls of the apofties, are quoted, or alluded to, by a feries of Chriftian writers, beginning with thofe who were contemp|»-ary with the apoftles, or who imme- diately followed them, and proceeding in clofe and regular fuc- cellion from their time to the prefent.
II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to, they are qou- ted, or alluded to with peculiar refpeft, as books y^^i ^^«mx, as pofTeffing an authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclufive in ail quelHons and controvjrfies amongil: Chriftlans.
III. That they were, in very early times, coileded into a diftin6t volume.
IV. That they were diftinguifhed by appropriate names and titles of refped.
V. that they were publickly read and expounded in the re- ligious afTemblies of the early Chriftians.
VI. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of them, different copies carefully collated, and verfions of them made into different languages.
VII. That they were received by ChrllHans of different fefls, by many heretics as well as Catholics, and ufually ap- pealed to by both fides in the controverfies which arofe in thofe days.
VIII. That the four gofpels, the a<5ls of the apoflles, thir- teen epiltles of St. Paul, the firft epiftle of John, and the firft of Peter, were received, without doubt, by thofe who doubted concerning the other books which are included in our prefent canon.
IX. That the golpels were attacked by the early adverfa- rles of Chriftianity, as books containing the accounts upoo which the religion was founded.
X. That formal catalogues of authentic fcrlptures were pub- llflied ; in all which our prefent facred hiftories were included.
XI. That thefe propofitions cannot be affirmed of any oth- er books, claiming to be books of fcripture ; by which I mean thofe books, which are commonly called apochrypha.1 books of the New Tellament.
So A VIEW OF THE-
The hiftbrkal boohs of the Neia Tejlament, n-camng thereby the four Gofpsls and the Acis of the Af^cless n^'e quoted or aUiidid' tOy by a ferics of Chr'ijTian cvrttenf beginning tvith thofe 'who ivere contemporary nvith the ApcflJes, or luho immediately follow^ ed theniy and proceeding in clofe and regular fttccej/hn from their time to ihe prefent.
Ti
HE medium of proof flated in this propoGtlon, is of all oth- ers, the mo{^ unquefiionabie the leaft liable to any pradlices of fraud, and is not diminifned by the lapfe of ages. Bifhop Eur- net, in the hiitory of his own times, inferts various extradls from Lord Clarendon's hiflory. One fuch infertion is a proof, that Lord Clarendon's hiftory was extant at the time when Bifh- op Burnet wrote, that it had been read by Bifliop Burnet, thct It was received by Bifhop Burnet as a work of Lord Clarendon's, and alfo regarded by him as an authentic account of the ttanf- actions which it relates : and it will be a proof of tliefe points a thoufand years hence, or as long as the books exift. Juve- nal having quoted, as Cicero's, that memorable line, " O fortunatam natam me confiile Romam,"
the quotation would be jflrong evidence, v^'ere there any doubt, that the oration in which that line is found, aftually came from Cicero's pen. Thefe infiances, however flmple, may ferve to point out to a reader, who is little accuftomed to fuch refearch- cs, the nature and value of the argument.
The teftiraonies which w^ have to bring forward under this propofition are the following.
I. There is extant an epillle afcribed to Barnabas,* the com- panion of Paul. It is quoted as the epiftle of Barnabas by Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194 ; by Origen, A. D. 230. It is mentioned by Eufebius, A. D. 315, and by Jerome, A. D. 392, as an ancient work in iheir time, bearing the name of Barnabas, and as well known and read amongft Chriftians, though not accounted a part of fciipture. It purports to have been written foon after the deftruftion of Jerufaleni, during the
a Lardner's Crcd. cd. 1755, vol. I. p. 23, ct fcq. The reader will obferve from t'ne references that the materials of thefe fcdlions are al- moft entirely extraiTted from Dr. Lardner's work — my ofTice confiikd « arrangement and fclcdtici).
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 8i
calamities which followed that difafter ; and it bears the char- acter of the age to which it profefles to belong.
In this epiftle appears the following remarkable palTage : " Let us therefore, beware left it come upon us, as it is lurltien, there are many called, few chofen." From the expreflion, ** as it is written," we infer with certainty, that, at the time when the author of this epiftle lived there was a book extant, well known to Chriftians, and of authority amongft them con- taining thefe words — " many are called, few chofen." Such a book is our prefent gofpel of St. Matthew, in which this text is twice found, and is found in no other book now known. There, is a farther obfervation to be made upon the terms of the quotation. The writer of the epiftle was a Jew. The phrafe '* it is written," was the very form in which the Jews quoted their fcriptures. It is not probable, therefore, that he would have ufed this phrafe, and without qualihcacion, of any books but what had acquired a kind of fcriptural authority If the paftlige remarked in this ancient writing had been found in one of St. Paul's epiltles, it would have been efteemed by ev- ery one a high teftimony to St. Matthew's gofyel. It ought therefore to be remembered, that the writing in which it is found was probably by very few years pofterior to thofe of St Paul.
Befide this paiTage, there are alfo in the epiftle before us feveral others, in which the fentiment is the fame with what we meet with in St. Matthew's gofpel, and two or three in which we recognize the fame words. In particular, the author of the epiftle repeats the precept, *' give to every one that aflceth thee," and faith that Chrift chofe as his apoftles, who were to preach the gofpel, men who were great fmners, that he might fliow that he came, " not to call the righteous, but finners, to repentance."
II. We are in pofTeffion of an epiftle written by Clement, Bifhop of Rome,^ whom ancient writers, without any doubt or fcrople, affert to have been the Clement whom St. Paul men- tions, Phil. iv. 3j " with Clement alfo, and other my fellow-la- bourers, whofe names are in the book of life." This epiftle is fpoken of by the ancients as an epiftle acknowledged by all ; and, as Irenaeus well reprefents its value, " written by Clement, who had feen the blefted apoftles and converfed with them, who had the preaching of the apoftles ftill foimding in his ears, and their traditions before his eyes." It is addreiTed to the
a lb. vol. I. p. 6z, tt feq.
H A VIEW OF THE
ehurch of Corinth ; and what alone may kern alinoil decil'ivc of its authenticity, Dyonilius, Biihop of Corinth, about the year 170, i- e. about eighty or ninety years after the epiiHe was •written, bears witiiefs, " that it had been v/ont to be lead in tliat church from ancient times."
This epidle affords, aniongft others, tlie following valuable pafliges : — '* Efpecially remembering the words of the Lord Jefus which he fpake, teaching gentlenefs and long fuffering ; for thus he faid ;^ Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy ; forgive, that it may be forgiven unto you ; as you do, fo (hill it be done unto you ; as yoii give, To fhall it be given unto you ; as ye judge. To fhall ye be judged ; as ye iliow kindnefs, £0 Ihall kindnefs be fliown unto you ; with what ni^afure ye. mete, with the fame it fhall be meaflired to you. By this com- mand, and by thefe rules, let us efhblilh ourfelves, that we may always v/alk obediently to his holy words."
Again, *' lleniember the words of the Lord Jofiis, for he. faid. Woe to chat man by whom offences come ; ic were bet- ter for him that he had not been born, than that he fhou'd of- fend one of my ele(fi: ;, it were better for him that a mill-ftone fhould be tied about his neck, and that he fhould be drowned in the fea. than that he fliould olfend one of my little ones." '"^
In both thefe paffages we perceive the high refpeft paid to the words of Chrilt as recorded by the evangclifls : " Remem- her the words of the Lord Jefus — by this command and by thefe rules let us eftablifh ourfelves, that we may always walk obediently to his holy words.' We perceive alfo in Clement a total unconfcioufnefs of doubt, whether thefe were the real words of Chriil, which, are read as fuch in the gofpels. This obfervation indeed belongs to the whole feries of tellimony, and efpecially to tliC moil: ancient part of it. Whenever any
a '* BlefTed arc tlie merciful, for they fliall obtain mercy." Mitt* V. 7. — " Forjiive, aud ye iliall be forgiven ;, give, and it fliall be given unto you." Luke vi. 37, .^8. — " Judge not, that ye he not judged ; for with what judgment ye judge, ye lliall be judged, and witli what meafure ye mete, it ihali be meafured to you again." Matt. vii. z.
b Matt, xviii. 6. " But whofo fnall ofFcnd one of thefe little ones ivhich believe in mC; it were better for him that a miil-flone were hanged about his netlc, and that he were cafl into the fea." The lat- ter 'part of the palTage in Clement agrees more exavflly with Luke xvii. a, " It were better for him that a mill-ftone were hanged about his neck, and he caft into the, fea, than that he flio'.ild oflcnd one of thefe little ones."
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 83
thing now read in the gofpels is met with in an early Chriftian writing, it is always oblerved to ftand there as acknowledged truth, i. e. to be introduced without hefitaiion, doubt, or apolo- gy. It is to be obferved alfo, that as this epiftle was writter. in the name of the church of Rome, and addrefTed to the church of Corinth, it ought to be taken as exhibiting the judg- ment not only of Clement, who drew up the letter, but ofthefe churches themfelves, at kail as to the authority of the books referred to.
It may be faid, that, as Clement hath not ufed words of quotation, it is not certain that he refers to any book whatever. The words of Chrift, which he has put down, he might himfelf have heard from- the apoilles, or might have received through the ordinary medium of oral tradition. This hath been faid ; but that no fuch inference can be drawn from the abfence of words of quotation is proved by the three following confidera- tions : Firft, that Clement, in the very fame manner, namely, without any mark of reference, ufes a paffage now found in the epiftle to the Romans ;'^ which pafiage, from the peculiarity of the words which compofe it, and from their order, it is m'ani- fcll that he m"ui} have taken from the book. The fame remark may be repeated of fome very finguiar fentiments in the epiftle to the Hebrews. Secondly, chat there are many fencences of St. Paul's Hrd epiftle to the Corinthians^ {landing in Clement's •epiftles without any dgu of quotation, wliich yet certainly are quotations ; becaufe it appears that Clement had St. PauPs epiftle before him inafmuch as in one place he mentions it in terms too exprefs to leave us in any doubt — " Take into your hands the epiflle of the bleiTed apoftle Paul." Thirdly, that this method of adopting words of fcripture, without reference or acknowledgment, v/as, as will appear in the feqyel, a method in general ufeamongft the rnoft ancient Chriftian writers ; thefe analogies not only repel the obejc^ion, but caft the prefumption on the other fide ; and afford a confiderable degree of pofitive proof that the words in queflion have been borrowed from the places of fcripture in which we now find them.
But take it if you will the other way, that Clement had heard thefe words from the apoftles or fiiil teachers of Chrifti- anity ; with refped to the precife point of our argument, viz. that the fcriptures contain what the apoftles taught, this fuppo- fiLion may ferve ^almolf as well.
^ Rom. i, 29,
84 A VIEW OF THE
III. Near the conclufion of the epiftle to the Romans, St. Paul, amongll others, fends the following falutation : " Salute Afyncritus, Phlegon, Hennas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them."
Of Hermas, who appears in this catalogue of Roman Chiif- tians as contemporary with St. Paul, a book hearing the name, and (it is mort probable) rightly, is ftill remaining. It is call- ed the Shepherd or Paftor of Hernias.^ Its antiquity is incon- teftible, from the quotations of it in Irenacus, A. D. 178, Clem- ent of Alexandria, A. D. 194, Tertullian, A. D. 2co, Origen, A. D. 230. Ihe notes of time extant in the epiftle itfelf a- gree with its title, and with the teflimonies concerning it, for it purports to have been written during the life-time of Clem- ent.
In this piece are tacit allufions to St. Matthew's, St. Luke's and St. John's gofpcis, that is to fay, there are applications of thoughts and exprellions found in thefe gofpels, without citing the place or writer from which they were taken. In this form appear in Hermas the confefling and denying of Chrifl ; the parable of the feed fown ; the comparifon of Chrift's difciples to little children ; the fayine, " lie that putteth away his wife and marrieth another committeth adultery." 1 he lin- gular expreflion, " having received all power from his father," in probable allufion to Matt, xxviii. 18, and Chrift being the *•' gate," or only way of coming, " to God," in plain allufion to John xiv. 6 — x. 7, 9. There is alfo a probable allufion to AiSls V. 32.
This piece is the reprefentation of a vifion, and has by many been accounted a weak and fanciful performance. I therefore obferve, that the chara<^er of the writing has little to do with the purpofe for which we adduce it. It is the age in which it was compofed that gives the value to its teftimony.
IV. Ignatius, as it is teflified by ancient Chriflian writers, became Bifliop of Antioch about thirty-feven years after Chrift's afcenfion ; and therefore, from his time, and place, and (tation, it is probable that he had known and converfed with many of the apoftles Epiftles of Ignatius are referred to by Polycarp his contemporary. Paffages, found in the epirtles now extant under his name, are quoted by Irenaeus, A. D. 178; by Origen, A. D. 230 ; and the occafion of writing the epiftle is given at
a L?rdncr's Cred. vol. I. p. ill.
EVrDr_,'CES OF CHRISTIANITY. 85
!arge by Eufeblus and Jerome. What are called the fmaller epiftles of Ignatius are generally deemed to be thofe which were read by Irenasus, Origen, and Eufebius/
In thefe epiftles are various undoubted allufions to the gof- pels of St. Matthew and St. John ; yet fo far of the fame forjm with thofe in the preceding articles, that, like them, they are not accompanied with marks of quotation.
Of thefe allufions the following are clear fpecimens :
i*' Chrift was baptized of John, that all righteouf. nefs might be fulfilled by him:' " Be ye <wife as ferpents in all things, and harm' lefs as a doi)e:' P " Yet the Spirit is not deceived, being from j God ; for it knows <whence it comes^ and ivhither . yohn.^ J it goes :^
] *' He (Chriftl is the dnor of the Father, by
j which e?iter in Abraham and Ifaac and Jacob and
(_ the apoftles and the church."
As to the manner of quotation, this is obfervable : — Ignatius,
in one place, fpeaks of St. Paul in terms of high refpedt, and
quotes his epiftle to the Ephefians by name ; yet in feveral
other places he borrows words and fentiments from the fame
epiitle without mentioning it : which (hews, that this was his
general manner of ufing and applying writings then extant, and
then of high authority.
V. Polycarp'^ had been taught by the apoftles ; had converf- ed with many who had feen Chriit ; was alfo by the apoftles appointed Bifhop of Smyrna. This teftimony concerning Poly- carp is given by Irena!us, who in his youth had feen him. " I can tell the place," faith Irenseus, " in which the bleffed Poly- carp fat and tauoht, and his going out and coming in, and the manner of his life, and the form of his perfon, and the difcourfes
a lb. vol. I p. 147. l> iii. 15. •' For thus it becomes us to fulfil all rinhteoufnefs." xi. 16. *' Be ye therefore wife as ferpents, and harmlefs as doves.'*
c iii. 8. « The whid bloweth where it lifleth, and thou heareft: the found thereof, but canfl not tell ivhence it cometh, and ivhither it goetb ; i'o is every one that i& born of the Spirit."
X. 9. «< I am the door j by mc if any man enter in he fiiall be faved."
dib, vol. I. p. i9i,
H
36 A VIEW OF THE
he made to the people, and how he related his converfation with John and others who had feen the Lord, and how he re- lated their fayings, and what he had heard concerning the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his do(ftrine, as he had re- ceived them from the eye-witnefles of the word of hfe j all which Polycarp related agreeable to the fcriptures."
Of Polycarp, whofe proximity to the age and country, and perfons of the apoilles, is thus atteiled, we have one undoubted epiftle remaining. And this, though a fhort letter, contains nearly forty clear allufions to books of the New Teihment ; which is flrong evidence of the refpe<^ which Chriflians of that age bore for thefe books.
Amongft thefe, although the writings of St. Paul are more frequently ufed by Polycarp than other parts of fciipture, there are copious allufions to the gofpel of St. Matthew, fome to paf- fage?. found in the gofpels both of Matthew and Luke, ana fome which more nearly refemble the words in Luke.
I feleft the following, as fixing the authoriry of the Lord's prayer, and the ufe of it amongfl the primitive ChrilHans, " if therefore we pray the Lord that he ivill forgive us, nve ought alfo to f'^rgive^
" With fuppllcation befeeching the all-feeing God not to lead us info tarpiation"
And the following, for the fake of repeating an obfervation already made, that words of our Lord, foimd in our gofpels, were at this early day quoted as fpoken by him ; and not only fo, but quoted with fo little queftion or confcioufnefs of doubt, about their being really his words, as not even to mention, much lefs to canvafs, the authority from which they were taken.
** But remembering what the Lord faid, teaching, judge not, that ye be not judged ; forgive, and ye fhall be forgiven ; be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy ; with what meafure ye mete, it fliall be meafured to you again.'*
Suppofing Polycarp to have had thefe words from the books in which we now find them, it is manifeft that thefe books were c«nfidered by him, and, as he thought, confidered by his read- €rs> as authentic accounts of Chrift's difcourfes ; and that that point was inconteftible.
The following is a decifive, though what we call a tacit, ref- erence to St. Peter's fpeech in the adts of the apoftles : — « vhoni God bath laifed, having loofed the pains of death.'*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 87
VI. Papias,^ a hearer of John, and companion of Polycarp, as Irengeus attefts, and of that age, as all agree, in a pafTage quot- ed by Eufebius, from a work now loll:, exprefsly afcribes the lefpetHve golpels to Matthew and Mark ; and in a manner which proves that thefe gofpels muft have publlckly borne the names of thefe authors at that time, and probably long before ; for Papias does not fay, that one gofpel was written by Mat- thew, and another by Mark, but, afTuming this as perfectly well known, he tells us from what materials Mark coiledled his ac- count, viz. from Peter's preaching, and in what language Mat- thew wrote, viz. in Hebrew. Whether Papias was well inform- ed in this ftatement or not, to the point for which I produce his teftimony, namely, that thefe books bore thefe nasies at this time, his authority is complete.
VII. The writers hitherto alleged, kad all lived and con- verfed with fome of the apoftles. The works of theirs which remain, are in general very fliort pieces, yet rendered extreme Jy valuable by their antiquity ; and none, fliort as they are, but what contain fome important teftimony to our hiftorical fcrip- tures.^
Not long after thefe, that is, not much more than twenty years after the laft, follows Juftin Martyr.*^ His remaining works are much larger than any that have yet been noticed. Although the nature of his two principal writings, one of which was addreffed to heathens, and the other was a conference with a Jew, did not lead him to fuch frequent appeals to Chriftian. books, as would have appeared in a difcouife intended for Chriftian readers ; we neverthelefs reckon up in them between twenty and thirty quotations of the gofpels and ads of the apof-
2 lb. vol. I. p. 239. ''That tlie quotations are more thinly drown in thefe, thgn in the; writings of the next, and of fucceeding ages is, in a good meafure, ac- counted for by the obfcrvation, that the Icriptures of the New Tefla- nient had not yei. nor by their recency liarclly couid hnve beconi'e a general part of Chriftian education ; read, as the Old Teftament was, by Jews and Chriftians from their childhood, and thereby inti- mately mixing, as that had long done, with all their religious ideas, and with their language upon religious fubjecTts. in procefs of time, and as foon perhaps as could be expecSted, this came to be the cal'e. And when we perceive the efFcift, in a proportionably greater fie- qucncy, as well as copioufnels of allufton.*
c lb. vol. I. p. 258.
* Mich. LUr.c. a./d^.m.
88 A VIEW OF THE
ties, certain, dlftinfl:, and copious ; if each verfe be counted fep- arately, a much greater number ; if each expreflion, a very great one.*
We meet with quotations of three of the gofpels within the corapafs of half a page : " and in other words he fays, Depart from me into outer daiknefs^ which the Father hath prepared for Satan and his angeis" (which is from Matthew xxv. 41.) " And again he faid in other words, I give unto you power to tread upon ferpents andfcorpions. and venomous bealls, and up- on all the power of the enemy." (This from Luke x. 19.)
" And before he was crucitied, he faid, The Son of Man mufl fuffcr many things, and be rejeded of the Scribes and Pharifees, and be crucified, and rife again the third day. (This from Mark viii. 31.)
In another place Jufrin quotes a paflage in the hiftory of Chrid's birth, as delivered bv Matthew and John, and fortifies his quotation by this remarkable teftimony ; " as they have taught, who have writ the hidory of all things concerning our Saviour Jefus Chrill ; and we believe them."
Quotations :ilfo are found from the gofpei of St. John.
What, moreover, feems extremely material to be obferved, is, that in all Juftin's works, from v/hich might be extra<5ted almoll a complete life of Chrift, there are but two inftances, in v/hich he refers to any thing as faid or done by Chri(t, which is not related concerning him in our prefent gofpels : which fhews, that thefe gofpels, and thefe we may fay, alone, were the authorities from which the Chrillians of that day drew the in- formation upon which they depended. One of thefe inftances is of a faying of Chrift not met with in any book now extant. ^ The other of a circumllance in ChrilVs baptifm, namely, a fiery or luminous appearance upon the water, which, according to Epi-
2 " He cites our prefent canon, and particularly our four gofpels continually, I dare lay, abov^ two hiinurtd times." Jones's ntvv and full method. Appen. vol. !. p. 539, td. 1726.
^ "Wherefore alfo our Lord Jclus Chrid has faid, In whatfoevcr I fliall find yuu, in the fau.c I ^vill alio judge you." Pcflinly Juftinde- iigncd not to qu«ne any text, but to rcprelent the fenfe ot many of our Lord's fayir.gs. FaOricIus his obferved, that this inying has httn quot- ed by many writers, and that JuUin is the only one who afcrihcs it to our Lord, an J ihst pcjhaps l)y a il:p ot his memory.
WorJs rtle:nl)iing thefe are iiad rlpeattdly in EztkicI ; " I will judge Li.tm according to tlitir ways.'* (vii. 3. Xixiii. 20.) It is re-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.- 89
phanlus, is noticed in the gofpel of the Hebrews ; and which might be true ; but which, whether true or falf'c:, is mentioni-i by Juftin, with a plain mark of diminution, when comj/ared with what he quotes as reiHng upon fcripture authotity. Th? read- er will advert to this diitin^tion ; '* and then, when Jifu" came to the river Jordan, where John was baptizing, as Jeius defcend- ed into the water, a fire alio was kindled in Jordan ; and when he came up out of the water, the apojlks of this our Chrrfl have lurit, that the Holy Ghoi'i lighted upon him as a dove."
All the references in Ju^Hn are imade without m.n'ioni.ig the author ; which proves that thefe books were perfedly noto- rious, and that there were no other accounts of Chrid: then ex. tant, or, at leaft, no others fo received and credited, as to make it neceflary to diftinguifh thefe from the reft.
But although Juftin mentions not the authors' names, he calls the books, " Memoirs compofed by the ap^ales," " Memoirs compofed by the apoftles and their companions ;" which de- fcriptions, the latter efpecially, exactly fuit with the titles which, the gofpels and Acfls of the apoliles now bear.
VIII. Hegefippus^ came about thirty years after Juftin. His teftimony is remarkable only for this particular ; that he relates of himfelf, that, traveliing from Paleftine to Rome, he vilited upon his journey many bilhops ; and that " in every fac- cefTion, and in every city, the fame dodrine is taught, which the law, and the prophets, and the L'jrd teacheth." This is an important atteftation, from good authority, and of high an- tiquity. It is generally underftood that by the word '^ Lord,'* Hegefippus intended fome writing or writings, containing the teaching of Chrift, in which fenfe alone, the term combines with the other terms '* law and prophet,'* which denote writ* ings ; and together with them admits of the verb " preacheth," in the prefent tenfe. Then that thefe writings were fome or all of the books of the New Teftament, is rendered probable from hence, that, in the fragments of his works, which are
mark^ble that Juftin had but )uft before exprefsly quoted Ezekiek Mr. Jones upon this circiimftance founded a conjecSbure, that Juftin writ only " the Lord hath faid," intending to quote the words of God, or rather the fenfe of thofe words, in Ezekicl, and that fome tranfcril)- er, imagining thefe to be the words of Chrift, inferted in hi» cooy the additioJi " Jcfus Chrift." Vol. I. p. J3.>
« lb. vol. I. p. 314.
H2
90 A VIEW OF THE
preferved In Enfebius, and In a writer of the ninth century, enough, though it be little, Is left to fliow, that Hegefippus ex- prefled diverb things in the flyle of the gofpeJs, and of the Ads of the apoftles ; that fi^ referred to the hiftory in the fecond chapter of Matthew, and recited a text of that gofpel as fpoken by our Lord.
IX. At this- time, viz. about the year 170, the churches of Lyons and Vienne in Frajice fent a re'ation of the fufferings of their martyrs to the churches of Afia and Phrygia."^ The epiftle is preferved entire by Eufeblus. And what carries iik fome meafure the teftimony of thefe churches to a higher age is, that they had now for their bifiiop Pothinus, who was nine- ty years old, and whofe early life confequently mull have Im- mediately joined on with "the times of the apoftles. In this epiftle are exad references to the gofrels of Luke and John, and to the A 613 of the apoftles. The form of reference the fame as In all the preceding articles. That from St. John is in thefe words : " Then was fulfilled that which was fpoken by the Lord, that whofoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God fervice."b
X. The evidence now opens upon us full and clear. Irenae- \ts^ fucceeded Pothinus as bifhop of Lyons. In his youth he had been a difciple of Polycarp, who was a difciple of John. In the time in which he lived, he was diftant not much more than a century from the publication of the gofpels ; In his in- firu6i:ion, only by one ften fepirated from the perfons of the apoftles. He afferts of himfelf and his contempoiailes, that they were able to reckon up, In all the principal churches, the fuccr.iiion of bifiiOj^s fiom the firft. ^ I remark thefe particu- lars concerning Irenasus vvith more formallry than ufual ; be- caufe the teftimony which this writer aficrds to the hlftorical books of the New Teftament, to their authority, and to the titles which they bear, is exprefs, pofitlve, and exclufive. Oge prlccipal paftlige, in which this teftimony is contained, opens with a precife aflerilon of the point which we have laid down as the foundation of our argument, viz. that the ftory which the gofpels exhibit Is the itory which the apoftles told. " We have not received," faith Irenseus, " the knowledge of the way of our falvation by any others than thofe by whom the gofpel has been brought to us. Which gofpel they firft preach^
a lb. vol. I. p. 333. b John ivi. 2.
c lb. vol. 1. p. j44. <i Adv. Ilaref. 1. 3 c. 3.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 91
ed, and afterwards by the will of God committed to writing, that it might be for time to come the foundation and pillar of our faith. — For after that our Lord rofe from the dead, and they .(the apoilles) were endowed from above with the power of tiie Holy Ghoft coming down upon them, they received a perfedt knowledge of all things^ They then went forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the blefling of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one alike, the gofpel of God. Matthew then, among the Jews, writ a gofpel in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gof- pel at Rome, and founding a church there. And after their exit, Mark alfo, the dilciple and interpreter of Peter, deliver- ed to us in writing the things that had been preached by Peter. And Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a book the gofpel preached by him (Paul.) Afterwards John., the difci- ple of the Lord, who alfo leaned upon his breaft, he likev/ifc publifhed a gofpel while he dwelt at Ephefus in Afia." If any modern divine fhould write a book upon the genuinenefs of the gofpels, he could not afTert it more exprefsly, or ftate their original more diftindlly, than Irenseus hath done within little more than a hundred years after they were publifhed.
The correfpondency, in the days of Irenaeus, of the oral and written tradition, and the dedudion of the oral tradi- tion through various channels from the age of the apoftles, which was then lately pafTed, and, by confequence, the proba- bility that the books truly delivered what the apollles taught, is inferred alfo v/ith ftri6l regularity from another pailage of his works. " Fhe tradition of the apoftles (this father faith) hath fpread itfelf over the whole univerfe ; and all they who fearch after the fources of truth, will find this tradi- tion to be held facred in every church. V/e might enumerate all thofe who have been appointed bifliops to thefe churches by the apoftles, and all their fuccelTors, up co our day. It is by this uninterrupted fucceflion that we have received the tradition which adualiy exilh in the church, as alfo the dodrines of truth, as it was preached by the apoftles."'^ The reader will obferve upon this, that the fame Irensus, who is now ftatlng the ftrength and uniformity of the tradition, we have before feen recognizirig, in the fulleft manner, the authority of the written records ; from which we are entitled to conclude, that they were then conformable to each other.. » Ir. in Haer. I. iii. c. 3.
92 A VIEW OF THE
I have faid, that the teftimony of Irenseus in favour of onr gofpels is exchiftve of all others. I allude to a remarkable paf- fage in his works, in which, for fomc reafons fiifficiently fan- ciftil, he endeavours to fliow, that there could be neither more nor fewer gofpels than jour. With his argument we have ro concern. The pofition itfelf proves thai four and only four gof- pels were at that time publickly read and acknowledged. That thefe were our gofpels, and in the ftate in v/hich we now have them, is fiiown from many other places of this writer beiide tkat which we have already alleged. He mentions how Mat- thew begins his gofpel, how Mark begins and ends his, and their fuppofed reafons for fo doing. He enumerates at length the feveral pafTages of Chrifl's hiiWy in Luke, which are not found in any of the other evangelifls. He ftates the particular defign with which St. John compofed his gofpel, and accounts for the do<5lrinal declarations which precede the narrative.
To the book of the Ads of the apofties, its author and cred- it, the teftimony of Irenjpus is no Icfs explicit. Referring to the account of St. Paul's converfion and vocation in the ninth chapter of that book, *' Nor can they (fays he, meaning the par- lies with whom he argues) fliow that he is not to be credited, •who has related to us the truth with the greateft exaftnefs." In another place, he has accurately colle61ed the feveral texts, in which the writer of the hiftory is reprefented as accompanying St. Paul, which leads him to deliver a fummary.of almoft the whole of the laft twelve chapters of the book.
In an author, thus abounding with references and allufions to the fcriptures, there is not one to any apochryphal Chrifiian/ •writing whatever. This is a broad line of diftindtion between cur facred books, and the prctenfions of all others.
The force of the teftimony of the period which we have con- fidered, is greatly flrengthened by the obfervatlon, that it is the te/limony, and the concurring teflimony, of writers who lived in countries remote from one another. Clement iiourifhed at Rome, Ignatius at Antioch, Polycarp at Smyrna, Juitin Martyr in Syria, and Irenaeus in France.
XI. Omitting Athenagoras and Theophilus, who lived a- bout this time j^ in the remaining works of the forrpcr of whom are clear references to Mark and Luke ; and in the jvorks of the latter who was blfhop of Antioch, the fixth in fuccefiion fro-m the apolUes, evident allufions to Matthew and John, a-nd i lb. vol. 1. p. 400.-^lb.4Z2.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 93
probable allufions to Luke fwhich, confidering the nature of the compofitions, that they~vvere addreffed to heathen readers, is as much as could be expe^ed ;) obferving alfo, that the works of two learned Chriftian writers of the fame age, Mihia- des and Pantaenus,^ are now loft; cf which Miltiades Eufebius records, that his writings " were monuments of zeal for the di- vine oracles ;" and which Pantsenus, as Jerome teftifies, was a man of prudence and learning, both in the divine fcriptures and fecular literature, and had left many commentaries upon the ho- ly fcriptures then extant : pafling by thefe without further re- mark, we Come to one of die molt voluminous of ancient Chrif- tian writers, Clement of Alexandria.^ Clement followed Irena?us at the difhnce of only fixteen years, and therefore may be faid to maintain tlie feries of teftimony in an uninterrupted continuation.
In certain of Clement's works, now loft, but of which vari- ous parts are recited by Eufebius, there is given a diftin<5t ac- count of the order in which the four gofpels were written. . The gofpels, which contain the genealogies, were (he fays) written firft, Mark's next, at the inftance of Peter's followers, and John's the lal't ; and this account (he tells us) that he had received from Prefbyters of more ancient times. This teftimo- ny proves the fohowing points ; that thefa gofpels were the hiftories of Chrift then pubiickly received, and relied upon ; that the dates, occafions, and circumftances of their publication, were at that time fubjeds of attention and inquiry amongft Chriftians. In the works of Clement which remain, the four gofpels are repeatedly quoted by the names of their authors, . and the Acfts of the apofUes is exprefsly afcribed to Luke. In one place, after mentioning a particular circumftance, he adds thefe remarkable words ; '' We have not this paflage in the- four gofpels delivered to us^ but in that according to the Egyp- tians ;" which puts a marked diftindion between the four gof^ pels and all other hiftories, or pretended hiftories^ of Chrift. In another part of his works, the perfeft confidence with which he received the gofpels, is fignified by him in thefe words s ** That this is true appears from hence, that it is written in the gofpel according to St. Luke ;" and again, " I need not ufe many words, but only to allege the evangelic voice of the Lord." His quotations are numerous. The fayings of Chrift, ^f which he alleges many, are all taken from our gofpels, the fingle e^^
a lb. vol. I. p. 418, 450. b lb. vol. II. p. 469.
94
A VIEW OF THE
ception to this obfervation appearing to be a loofe* quotation of a paflage in St. Matthew's golpei.
XII. In the age in which they lived,*^ Tertullian joins on with Clement. The number of the gofpels then received, the names of the evangehfis, and their proper defcriptions, are ex- hibited by this writer in one fnort fentence : *' Among the apojllesi John and Matthew teach us the faith ; among apojhVic- al men, Luke and Mark refreili it." The next pafTage to be taken from Tertullian, affords as complete an attcftation to the authenticity of our books, as can be well imagined. After enumerating the churches which had been founded by Paul, at Corinth, in Galatia, at Phiiippi, Thelfalonica, and Ephefus ; the church of Rome eftabliOied by Peter and Paul ; and other churches derived from^ John ; he proceeds thus : — '* 1 fay then, that with them, but not with them only which are apof- tolical, but with all who have fellowfhip with them in the fame faith, is that gofpel of Luke received from its firft publication, v/hich we fo zealoufly maintain :" and prefently after waids acids — *' I'he fame authority of the apoilolical churches will fupport the other gofpels, which we have from them, and according to them, I mean John's and Matthews, al- though that likewife, whicii Mark puhlifhtd, may be faid to be Peter's, whofe interpreter Mark was." In another place Tertullian afHrms, that the three other gofpels were in the hands of the churches from the beginning, as well as Lake's. 1 his noble tellimony fixes the univerfality with which the gofpels were received, and their antiquity; that they were in the hands of all, and had been fo from the firft. And this evidence appears not niore than one hundred and fifty years after the publication of the books. The reader muft be given to underftand that when Tertullian fpeaks of maintain- ing or defending (tuendi) the gofpel of St. Luke, he only means maintaining or defending the integrity of the copies of
^ •' Afk great thinjjf, and the Imall fliall be added unto you." Clem- ent rather chofe to expcmnd the words of Matthew (vi, 33) than lit- erally to citcthtm; and this is mr ft uadeniahly proved by another place in the iamc Clement, where In botli produces the text and thefe words as an expofition : — " Seek ye lirft the kingdom of iieaven and its righteoufHels. for thefe are the great things; but the imall things, and things relating to this life, lliall be added unto you." Jones's New and Full Method, vol. I. p. ^^3-
a lb. vol. II. p. sii.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 95
Luke received by Chrifllan churches, in oppofition to certain curtailed copies ufed by Marcion, againO: whom he writes.
This author frequently cites the A6ts of the apoftles under that title, once calls it Luke's commentary, and obferves how St. Paul's epiftles confirm it.
After this general evidence, it is unnecefTary to add particu- lar quotations. Thefe, however, are fo numerous and ample, as to have led Dr. Lardner to obferve, ** that there are more, and larger .quotations of the fmall volume of the New Tefta- ment in this one Chriftian author, than there are of all the works of Cicero in writers of all charaders for feveral ages."*
TertuHian quotes no Chriftian writing as of equal authority with the fcriptures, and no fpnrious book at all ; a broad line of diftindlion, we may once more obferve, between our facred books and all others.
We may again likewife remark the wide extent through which the reputation of the gofpels, and of the Adls of the apoftles, had fpread, and the perfect confent in this point of dif^ tant and independent focieties. It is now only about one hun- dred and fifty years fince Chrift was crucified ; and within this period, to fay nothing of the apoftolical fathers who have been noticed already, we have Juftin Martyr at Neapolis, Theophi- lus at Antioch, Irenseus in France, Clement at Alexandria, TertuHian at Carthage, quoting the fame books of hiftorical fcriptures, and, I may fay, quoting thefe alone.
XIII. An interval of only thirty years, and that occupied by no fmall number of Chriftian writers,*^ whofe works only re- main in fragments and quotations, and in every one of which is fome reference or other to the gofpels (and in one of them (Hippolitus, as preferved in Theodoret) is an abfl:ra<5t of the whole gofpel hiftory) brings us to a name of great celebrity in Chriftian antiquiry, Origen"^ of Alexandria, who, in the quan- tity of his writings, exceeded the moft laborious of the Greek and Latin authors. Nothing can be more peremptory upon the fubjed now under confideration, and, from a writer of his learning and information, more fatisfaftory, than the declara- tion of Origen, preferved, in an extrad from his works, by
a lb. p. 647.
^ Mlnucius Felix, Appollonius, Caius, Aflcrius, Urbanns, Alexander kifliop of Jerufalem, Hippolitus, Ammoaius, Julius Africanus. c lb. vol. III. p. 234.
96 A VIEW OF THE
Eufebius : '* That the four gofpels alone, are received without difpute, by the whole church of God under heaven ;" to which declaration is immediately fubjoined a brief hiftory of the re- fpecftive authors, to whom they were then, as they are now, af- cribed. The language h^slden concerning the gofpels through- out the works of Origen which remain, entirely correfpond with the teftimony hcie rlted. His atteftation to the Ads of the apcftles is no iefs pofitive : " And Luke alfo once more founds the trumpet lelaiingthe rids of the apolHes." The univerfal- ity with which the fcrptures were then read, is well fignified by this writer, \ri a pafuge in which he has occafion to obferve againit ceiius, ** that it is not in any private books, or fuch as are read by a few only, and thofe ftudious perfons, but in books read by every body, that it is written, the invifible things of God Irom the creation of the world are clearly feen, being un- derftood by things that are made." It is to no purpofe to fin- gle out quotations of fcripture from fuch a writer as this. We might as well make a fele6tion of the cjuotations of fcripture in Dr. Clark's fermonp. They are fo thickly fown in the works of Origen, that Di. Miil fays, " If we had all his works remain- ing, we (hould have before us almoft the whole text of the bible.-"-^ •
Origen notices, in-order to cenfure, certain apocryphal gof- pels. He alfo ufes four writings of this fort ; that is, through- out his large works he once or twice, at the m.oft, quotes each of the four ; but always with fome mark, either of dired rep- robation, or of caution to his readers, manifeftly efteeming them of little or of no authority.
XIV. Gregory, biiliop of Ncocsefarea, and Dionyfius of Alexandria, were fcholars of Origen. Their teftimony there- fore, though full and particular, may be reckoned a repetition only of his. The feries, however, of evidence, is continued by Cy- prian, bifhop of Carthage, who flourifhed within twenty years after Oiigen. " The church (fays this father) is watered, like paradife, by four rivers, that is, by four gofpels." The Ads of the apolHes is alfo frequently quoted by Cyprian, under that name, and under the name of the " divine fcriptures.*' In his various writings are fuch conftant and copious citations of fcrip- ture, as to place this part of the telhmony beyond controverfy. Nor is there, in tlie works of this eminent African bifliop, one quotation of a fpurious or apocryphal Chriftian writing.
a Mill, proleg. cap. vi. p. 66.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 97
XV. Paflfing over a crowd^ of writers following Cyprian, at different dirtances, but all within forty years of his time, and who all, in the imperfedl remains of their works, either cite the hiftorical fcriptures of the New Teftament, or fpeak of them in terms of profound refped ; I fingle out Vidorin, bifhop of Pettaw in Germany, merely on account of the remotenefs of his fituation from that of Origen and Cypnan, who were Afri- cans ; by which circumftance, his teftimony, taken in conjunc* tion with theirs, proves that tjie fcripture hii'tories, and the fame * hiftories, were known and received from one fide of the Chrif- tian world to the other. This bifhop'^ lived about the year 290; and in a commentary upon this text of the Revelations, " The firft was like a lion, the fecond was like a calf, the third like a man, and the fourth hke a flying eagle," he makes out that by the four- creatures are intended the four gofpels, and to fhow the propriety of the fymbols, he recites the fubjedt with which each evangelift opens his hiftory. The explication is fanciful, but the tedimony pofitive. He alfo exprefsly cites the Ads of the apoftles.
XVI. Arnobius and Ladtantius,*^ about the year 300, com- pofed formal arguments upon the credibility of the ChtiHian re- ligion. As thefe arguments were addreffed to Gentiles, the authors abftain from quoting Chriflian books by naiue, one of them giving this very reafon for his referve ; but when they come to ftate, for the information of their readers, the out- lines of Chrift's hiftory, it is apparent that they draw their ac* counts from our gofpels, and from no other fources ; for thefe ftatements exhibit a fummary of almoH: every thing which is re- lated of Chrift's adions and miracles by the four evangelifcs. Arnobius vindicates, without mentioning their names, the cred- it of thefe hiftorians, obferving that they were eye-witnefTes of the fads which they relate, and that their ignorance of the arts of compofition was rather a confirmation of their teftimony, than an objedion to it. Ladantius alfo argues in defence of the religion, from the confiftency, fimplicity, difintereftednefs, and fufferlngs of the Chriftian hiftorians, meaning by that term our evangelKls.
^ Novatus, Rome, A D. 25 r. Dionyfius, Rome, A. D. 259. Commo* dian, A. D. 270. Anatoli us, Laodicea, A. D. 270. Theognoflus, A. D, »8*. Methodius, Lycia, A. D. 290. Phileas, Egypt, 296.
^ lb, vgl, V. p. ai4. ^ lb. vol, VII, p. 43, %qu
I
$8 A VIEW OF THE
XVII. We clofe the feries of tefllmonies with that of Eufe- bius,^ bifliop of Ccefarea, who flourifhed in the year 315, con- temporary with, or pofterior only by fifteen years, to the two authors laft cited. This voluminous writer, and moft diligent collector of the writings of others, befide a variety of large works, compcfed a hiftory of the affairs of Chriftianity from its origin to his own time. His teftimony to the fcriptures is the tellimony of a man much ccnverfant in the works of Chrif- lian authors, written during the three firft centuries of its era ; iind who had read many which are now loft. In a jjaffage of bis evangelical demonftration, Eufebius remarks, with great nicety, the delicacy of two of the evangelifts, in their manner "of noticing any circumflance which regarded themfelves, and of Mark, as writing under Peter's diredlion, in the circumftan- ces which regarded him. The illuftration of this remark leads Iiim to bring togeth.er long quotations from each of the evan- gelifts ; and the whole pafiage is a proof, that Eufebius, and the Chrlilians of thofe days, not only read the gofpels, but ftudied them with attention and exaflnefs. In a pafiage of his .ecclefiaftical hiftory, he treats, in form, and at large, of the oc- cafions of writing the four gofpels, and of the order in which they were written. The title of the chapter is " Of the Order of the Gofpels ;" and it begins thus j " Let us obferve the wri- tings of this apoftle John, which are not contradidled by any ; and, firft of all, muft be mentioned, as acknowledged by all, the gofpel according to him, well known to all the churches under heaven ; and that it has been juftly placed by the an- cients the fourth in order, and after the other three, may be made evident in this manner." Eufebius then proceeds to fliow that John wrote the laft of the four, and that his gofpel was intended to fupply the omiflions of the others, efpecially in the part of our Lord's miniflry, which took place before the imprifonment of John the Baptift. He obferves, *' that the apoftles of Chrill were not ftudious of the ornaments of com- pofition, i>or indeed forward to write at all, being wholly occu* pied with their miniftry."
This learned author makes no ufe at all of Chriftian writings^
forged with the names of Chrift's apoHles, or their companions^
We clofe this branch of our evidence here ; becaufe, after
Eufebius, there is no room for any qucltion upon the fubje^:,
'Jic works of Chriftian writers being as full of texts of fcripiuit>
- lb. vol. VIIL p. 33.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 99
and of references to fcripture, as the dlfcourfes of modern divines. Future teftimonies to the books of fcripture could only prove that they never loft their charader or authority.
Sect. II.
When the faiptures are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted with peculiar refpe&, as books fui generis, as pojfejjing an authority ivh'ich belonged to no other hooks-, and as concliifive in all quef- tions and tontroverfies among Jl Chrj/iians,
BESIDES the general fbrain of reference and quotation which uniformly and ftrongly indicates this ^iftindtion, the fol- lowing may be regarded as fpecific teftimonies.
I. Theophilus/ bifhop of Antioch, the fixth in fucceffion from the apoftles, and who flouridied little more than a century after the books of the New Teftament were written, having occafion to quote one of our gofpels, writes thus : '* Thefe things the holy fcriptures teach us, and all who were moved by the Holy Spirit, among whom John fays, In the begin- ning was the Word, and the Word was with God." Again — *' Concerning the riyhteoufnefs which the law teaches, the like things are to be found in the prophets and the go/pels, becaufe that ail being infpired,fpoke by one and the fame Spirit of God." ^ No words can teftify more flrongly than thefe do, the high and peculiar refpedt in which thefe books were holden.
II. A. writer againft Arteraon,^ who may be fuppofed to come about one hundred and fifty-eight years after the publi- cation of the fcriptures, in a paffage quoted by Eufebius, ufes thefe expreflions : *' Poffibly what they (our adverfaries) fay, might have been credited, ifjirji of all \ht divine fcriptures did not contradict them ; and then the writings of certain brethren, more ancient than the times of Victor." The brethren mention- ed by name, are Julfin Militiades, Tatian, Clement, Irenseus, Melito, with ageneral appeal to many more not named. This paf- fage proves, firft, that there was at that time a collection called divine fcriptures ; fecondly, that thefe fcriptures were efteemed of higher authority than the writings of the moft early and cel- ebrated Chridians.
a Lard. Cred, pr. ii. vol. I. p. 429. b lb. p. 44 P. c lb. vol. III. p. 40.
155593
loo A VIEW OF THE
III. In a piece afcribed to Hippolitus,^ who lived near the tame time, the author profefTes, in giving his correfpondent in- ftrudion in the things about which he inquires, " to draw out oi iht facrecl fountain^ and to iVt before him from the facred fcriptures, what may afford him fatisfa^ion." He then quotes immediately PauPs epiftles to Timothy, and afterwards inany books of the New TelUment. This preface to the quo- tations carries in it a marked diilin<5tion betwixt our fcriptures and other books,
IV. *' Our aflertions and difcourfes," faith Origen,'' " are unworthy of credit ; we muH: receive tV.Q fcriptures as witnefTes.*' After treating of the duty of prayer, he proceeds with his argu- ment thus : *' What we have faid may be proved from the di- vine fcriptures/' In his books agalnft CeJfds, we find this paf- fag& : ••* {'hat our religion teaches us to feek after wifdom, (hall be {hewn, both out of the ancient Jcwiili fcriptures which we alfo ufe, and out of thofe written fince Jefas, which are believ- ed in the churches to be divine." I'hefe expreflions afford abundant evidence of the peculiar and excluflve authority which the fcriptures pofTcfTed.
V. Cyprian, biihop of Carthage,^ whofe age lies clofe to that, of Origen, earneilly exhorts ChriiHan teachers in all doubtful cafes, *'to go back to iho. foimtain ; and if the truth has in any cafe been fhaken, to recur to the gofpels and apoftolic writings.'* — " The precepts of the gofpel," fays he in another place, " are nothing lefs than authoritative divine lelTons. the foundations of our hope, the fupports of our faith, the guides of our way, the fafeguards of oar courfe to heaven."
VI. Novatus,"^ a Roman, contemporary with Cyprian, ap- peals to the fcriptures, as the authority by- v/hich all errors were to be repelled, and difputes decided. •' That Chrift is not on- ly man but God alfo, is proved by the facred authority of the divine writings." — " The divine fcripture eafily deteds and confutes the frauds of heretics." *' It is not by the fault of the heavenly fcriptures, which never deceive " Stronger af- feitions than thcfe couid not be ufed
VII At the diftance of twenty years from the writer laft cited, Anatolius '^ a learned Alexandrian, and bifhop of Lao- dicea, fpeaking of the rule for keeping Eafler, a que (lion at
a lb. vol. HI. p. 11 a. b lb. p. 287, 288, 289. c lb. voi. IV. p. 840. d lb. vcl. V. p. 102.
c lb. vol. V. p. 146.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. loi
that day agitated with much earneftnefs, fays of thofe whom he oppofed, *' they can by no means prove their point by the au' thority of the divine fcrip^ure."
VIII. The Arian^, who fprung up about fifty years after this, argued ftrenuoufly againft the ufe of the words confub- ftantia! and effence, and Hke phrafes ; " bccaufe they <were not tnfcrlplureJ'^^ And in the fame ftrain, one of their advocates opens a conference with Auguftine, after the following man- ner : " If you fay what is reafonable, I muft fubmit. if you allege any thing from the divine fcriptures, which are common to both, I muft hear. But unfcriptural eXprefSons (quas extia fcripturam funt) deferve no regard."
Athanafius, the great antagonift of Arianifm, after having enumerated the books of the Old and New Teftament, adds, *' Thefe are the fountains of falvation, that he who thirfts may be fatisfied with the oracles contained in them. In thefe alone the dodrine of falvation is proclaimed. Let no man add to them, or take any thing from them."'^
IX. Cyril, bifhop of Jerufalem,'^ who wrote about twenty years after the appearance of Arianifm, ufes thefe remarkable words : " Concerning the divine and holy myfteries of faith, not the lead article ought to be delivered witliout the divine fcriptures." We are affured, that Cyril's^ fcriptures were the fame as ours, for he has left us a catalogue of the books includ- ed under that name. •
X. Epiphanius,'^ twenty years after Cyril, challenges the Arians, and the followers of Origen, *' to produce any paiTa^re of the Old or New Teftament, favouring their fentiments."
XI. Phaebadius, a Gallic bifhop, who lived about thirty years after t^e council of Nice, teftifies, that " the bidiops of that council frft confulted the facred volumes, and then de- clared their faith.'' ^
XII. Bafil, bilhop of Csfarea, in Cappadocia, contemporary with Epiphanius, fays, " that hearers inflrufted in the fcrip- tures, ought to examine what is faid by their teachers, and to embrace what is agreeable to the fcriptures, and to reje<51: what is other wife." *^
XIII. Ephraim, the Syrian, a celebrated writer of the fam.e times, bears this conclufive teftimony to the propofition which
a lb. vol. VII. p. 283, 284. b lb. vol. XII. p. 182.
6 lb. vol. VIII. p. 276. d lb. p. 314. e lb. vol. IX p. 52. ^ lb. vol. IX. p. J 24.
I 2
loz A VIEW OF THE
forms the fubje^l of our prefent chapter : " The truth written in the facred volume of the gofpel, is a perfect rule. Nothing can be taken from it, nor added to it, without great guilt."*
XIV. If we add Jerome to thefe, it is only for the evidence which he affords of the judgment of preceding ages. Jerome obferves, concerning the quotations of ancient Chriftian writers, that is, of writers who were ancient in the year 400, that they made a diflindtion between books, fome they quoted as of au- thority, and others not : which obfervation relates to the books of fcripture, compared with other writings, apocryphal or heathen.'^
Sect. III.
'The fcriptures ivere in 'very early times colleiled into a dijlinSi volume.
IGNATIUS, v/ho was bifhop of Antioch within forty years after the afcenfion, and who had lived and converfed with the apoftles, fpeaks of the gofpel and of the apoftles in terms which render it very probable, that he meant by the gofpel, the book or volume of the gofpels, and by the apoftles, the book or vol- ume of their epiftles. His words in one place are,"^ *' fleeing to the gofpel as the fit^w of Jefus, and to the apoitles as the pref^ bytery of the church ;" that is, as Le Clerc interprets them, " in order to underib.nd the will of God, he fled to the gof- pels, which he believed no lefs than if Chrid in the flefh had been fpeaking to him ; and to the writings of the apoil:les, whom he efteemed as the prefbytery of the whole Chrillian church." It mull be obferved, that about eighty years after this we have direft proof, in the writings of Clement of Alex- andria,'' that thefe two names, " gofpel" and " apoftles," were the names by which the writings of the New I'eltament, and the divilion of thefe writings, were ufually exprelfed.
Anotlier paffage from Ignatius is the following : — " But the gofpel has fomewhat in it more excellent, the appearance of our Lord Jefus Chrift, his pafHon, and refurreiftion."'^
■^ II). p. aoa. b Vol. X. p. 123, 124.
c I.,ard. Cred. pr. ii. vol. I. p. i8o.
d lb. vol. II. p. 516. e lb. p. i8a.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 105
And athlid, " Ye ought to hearken to the prophets, but cfpecially to the gofpel, in which the pafTion has been manifeft- ed to us, and the refurredtion perfe6led." In this laft paflage the prophets and the gofpel are put in conjunction ; and as Ig- natius undoubtedly meant by the prophets a colledion of writ- ings, it is probable that he meant the fame by the gofpel, the two terms (landing in evident parallelifm with each other.
This interpretation of the word " gofpel" in the paflages above quoted from Ignatius, is confirmed by a piece of nearly equal antiquity, the relation of the martyrdom of Polycarp by the church of Smyrna. *' All things," fay they, " that went before were done, that the Lord might fhew us a martyrdom according to the gofpel, for be expetled to be delivered up as the Lord alfo did."^ And in another place, *' we do not com- mend thofe who offer themfelves, forafmiich as the gofpel teaches us no fuch thing." '^ In both thefe places, what is call- ed the gofpel feems to be the hiftory of Jef is Chrift, and of his do6trine.
If this be the true fenfe of the paflages, they are not only ev- idences of our propofition, but ftrong and very ancient proofs' of the high efteem in which the books of the New Teflament were holden.
II. Eufebius relates, that Quadratus and fome others, who were the immediate faccefibrs of the apoftles, travelling abroad to preach Chrifl, carried the gofpels with them, and delivered them to their converts. The words of Eufebius are, " then travelling abroad, they performed the work of evangelifts, be- ing ambitious to preach Chrifl, and deliver the fcripture of the divine gofpels J ^'^ Eufebius had before him the writings both, of Quadratus himfelf, and of many others of that age, which are now loft. It is reafonable, therefore, to believe, that he had. good grounds for his afTertion. What is thus lecorded of the gofpeis took place within fixty, or at the mofl feventy, years after they were publifhed ; and it is evident, that they mufl> before this time, and, it is probable> long before this time, have been in general ufe, and in high efteem in the chu;ches planted by the apoftlcs ; inafmuch as they were now, we find, colleded into a volume, and the immediate fucceffors of the apoflles, they who preached the religion of Chrift to thofe who had not
a Ig. Ep c. i. ^ lb. c, iv.
c I.ard. Ced. p. ii. vol. I. p. 236.
104 A VIEW OF THE
already heard it, carried the volume with them, and delivered it to their converfs.
II L Irenaeus, in the year 178,* puts the evangelic and apof- tolic writings in connexion with the law and the prophets, man- ifeftly intending by the one a code or colie61:ion of Chriflian facred v/riting, as the other exprefTed the code or collection of Jewifh facred writings. And
IV. Melito, at tills time bifhop of Sardis, writing to one Onefimus, tells his correfpondent,'-^ that he had procured an accurate account of the books of the Old Teflament. The occurrence, in this pafTage, of the term 0.^ Teflament, has been brought to prove, and it certainly does prove, that there was then a volume or colledion of \^ritings called the New Teflament.
V. In the time of Clement of Alexandria, about fifteen years after the la(l quoted teftimony, it is apparent that the Chrillian fcriptures were divided into two parts, under the general titles of the gofpels and the apoflles ; and that both thefe were re- garded as of the highefl authority. One, out of many expref- lions of Clement alluding to this didribution, is the follow- ing : — " There is a confent and harmony between the law and the prophets, the apoflles and the gofpel.'* ^
VI. The fame di\i6on, *' prophets, gofpels, and apoflles," appears in Tertullian,*^ the contemporary of Clement. The eolledlion of the gofpels is likewife called by this writer the ** Evangelic Inflruraent ;"^ the whole volume, the " New Teflament ;" and the two parts, the " Gofpels and Apoflles." ^
VII. From many writers alfo of the third century, and ef- pecially from Cyprian, who lived in the middle of it, it is col- ledled, that theChriflian fcriptui^es were divided into two codes or volumes, one called the *' gofpels or fcriptures of the Lord," the other, the *' Apoflles or epiflles of the ApofLles."s
VI If. Eufebius, as we have already feen, takes fome pains to fliow, that the gofpel of St. John had been juflly placed by the ancients " the fourth in order, and after the other three." '' Thefe are the terms of his propofition ; and the very introduc- tion of fuch an argument proves inconteflibly, that the four gof- pels had been colle^5lcd into a volume to the exclufion of every
a lb. vol. 1. p. 38.^ b lb. p. 33r.
c Tb- vol.11, p. 516. tl lb. p. 631.
e lb. vol. II. p. 574. f lb. p. 632.
£ lb. vol. IV. p, 846. 1' lb. vol. VIII. p. 90.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 105
other ; that their order in the volume had been adjufted with much confideration ; and that this had been done by thofe who were called ancients in the time of Eufebius.
In the Dioclefian peifecution in the year 303, the fcriptures were fought out and burnt ;■* many fufFered death rather than dehver them up ; and thofe who betrayed them to the perfecu- tors were accounted as iapfed and apoftate. On the other hand, Conftantine, after his converfion, gave directions for multiply- ing copies of the divine oracles, and for magnificently adorning them at the expenfe of the imperial treafury,' v/hat the Chri{^ tians of that age fo richly embeUifhed in their profperity, and, which is more, fo tenaciouily preferved under perfecution, was the very volume of the New Tellament which we now read.
Sect. IV.
Our prefent facred ivrlt'ings were foon dijlinguijhed by appropriate names and tides of refpedl.
I. POLYC ARP : "i truft that ye are well exercifed in the holy fcriptures — as in thefe fcriptures it is faid, Be ye angry and fin not, and let not the fun go down upon your wrath."'^ This paflage is extremely important ; becaufe it proves that, in the time of Polycarp, who had lived with the apoilles, there were Chriftian writings didinguifhed by the name of " holy fcrip- tures," or facred writings. Moreover, the text quoted by Poly- carp is a text found in the collection at this day. What alfo the fame Polycarp hath elfewhere quoted in the fame manner, may be confidered as proved to belong to the colledtion ; and this comprehends St. Matthev/'s, and, probably, St. Luke's gofpel, the A<fts of the Apoftles, ten epilUes of Paul, the firfl: epiftle of Peter, and the fiift of John. ^ In another place Poly- carp has thefe words : *' Whoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lufts, and fays there is neither refurre6lion nor judgment, he is the firft-born of Satan. "^ It does not appear what elfe Polycarp could mean by the "oracles of the Lord,** but thofe fame *' holy fcriptures," or facred wiitings, of which he had fpoken before.
a lb. vol. VII. p. 214. ct feq. b lb. p. 432.
c lb. vol. I. p. 203. ^ 11). p Z23. « lb. p. 2aa»
10^ A VIEW OF THE
II. Juftin Martyr, whofe apology was written about thirty- years after Polycarp's epiftle, exprefsly cites fome of our prefent hiftories under the title of gos p e l, and that, not as a nanie by him firlt afcribed to them, but as the name by which they were gen- erally known in his time. His words are thefe : — " For the apoftles in the memoirs compofed by them, luhich are called go/- pehi have thus delivered it, that Jefus commanded them to take* bread, and give thanks." * There exifts no doubt, but that, by the memoirs above-mentioned, Juftin meant our prefent hiftori- cal fcriptures, for, throughout his works, he quotes thefe, and no others.
III. Dionyfius, bifhop of Corinth, who came thirty years after Juftin, in a paffkge preferved in Eufebius, (for his v.orks are loft) fpeaks of " the fcriptures of the Lord."^
IV. And at the lame time, or very nearly fo, by Irenasus, bifhop of Lyons in France,'^ they are called " divine fcriptures,'*" — *' divine oracles," — " fcriptures of the Lord," — " evangelic and apoftolic writings/"^ The quotations of Irenseus prove de- cidedly, that our prefent gofpels, and thefe alone, together with the Ads of the apoftles, were the hiftorical books comprehend- ed by him under thefe appellations.
V. St. Matthew's gofpel is quoted by Theophilus, bifliop of Antioch, contemporary with Irenaeus, under the title of the " evangelic voice :"'^ and the copious works of Clement of Al- exandria, pubhfhed within fifteen years of the fame time, afcribe to the books of the New Teftament the various titles of " facred books," — " divine fcriptures," — *' divinely infpired fcriptures," — '' fcriptures of the Lord," — *' the true evangelical canon. "*^
VI. Tertullian, who joins on with Clement, befide adopting mod of the names and epithets above noticed, calls the gofpels *' our digefta," in allufion, as it fhould feem, to fome colledion of Roman laws^ then extant.
VII. By Origen, who came thirty years after Tertullian, the fame, and others no lefs flrong titles, are applied to the Chrif- tian Icriptures j and, in addition thereunto, this writer frequent- ly fpeaks of the " Old and New Tel^ament," — <' the ancient and new fcriptures," — " the ancient and new oracles."^
a lb. p. 271. i> lb. p. 298.
c The reader will ohferve the remotcnefs of thefe two writers ia •ountry and fkuation.
dib. p. 343,et fcq. eib. p. 417.
f lb. vol. II. p. 515. g lb. p. 630. 1' lb. vol. III. p. 280.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 107
VIII. In Cyprian, who was not twenty years later, they are *' books of the fpirit/' — " divine fountains," — " fountains of the divine fulnefs.''^
The expreflions we have thus quoted are evidences of high and pecuUar refpe(5l. They all occur within two centuries from the pubHcation of the books. Some of them commence with the companions of the apoftles ; and they increafe in numL^^r and variety, through a ferie.s of writers, touching upon one another, and deduced from the firft age of the rehgion.
Sect. V.
Qur fcnptures nuere puhlickly read and expounded In the religious ajfemblies of the early Chrijlians.
I. JUSTIN MARTYR, who wrote in the year 140, which was feventy or eighty years after fome, and lefs, probably, after ©thers of the gofpels v/ere publiflied, giving in his firft apology, an account to the emperor of the Chriftian worfhip, has this remark- able paffage :
" The memoirs of the apoftles, or the writings of the proph- ets, are read according as the time allows, and when the read- er has ended, the prefident makes a difcourfe, exhorting to the imitation of fo excellent things.'^ ^
A few fhort obfervations v/ill fhow the value of this teftimo-
1. The " memoirs of the apoftles," Juftin in another place exprefsly tells us are what, are called " gofpels ;'* and that they were the gofpels, whith we now ufe, is made certain by Juftin's numerous quotations cithern, and his filence about any others.
2. Juftin defcribes the general ufage of the Chriftian church.
3. Juftin does not fpeak of it as recent or newly inftituted, but in the terms in which men fpeak ofeftablifhed cuftoms.
II. TertuUian, who followed Juftin at the diftance of about fifty years, in his account of the religious aftemblies of Chriftians as they were conduifted in his time, fays, "We come together to recollect the divine fcriptures ; we nourifh our faith, raife our hope, confirm our truft, by the facred word.'"^
III. Eufebius records of Origen, and cites for his authority the letters of bifnops contemporary with Origen, that, when he
* lb. vol. IV. p. 844. ^ lb. vol. L p. *73. c lb. vol. II. p. 6i8.
io8 A VIEW OF THE
went into Paledine about tke year 2i6, which was only i6 years after the date of Tertulh'an's teftimony, he was defired by the bifnops of that country to difcourfe and expound the fcrip- tures pubHckJy in the church, though he was not yet ordained a prefbyter/ This anecdote recognizes the ufage, not only of read- ing, but of expounding, the fcriptures ; and both as I'ubfiding ia fid*, force. Origen alfo himlelf bears witnefs to the fame prac- tice : "This (fays he) we do, when the fcriptures are read in the church, Ttnd when the difcourfe for explication is delivered, to the people."'^ And, what is a ftill more ample tellimon}^, many homilies of his upon the fcriptures of the New Teilament delivered by him in the alfemblies of the church, are flill extant.
IV. Cvprian, whofe age was not twenty years lower than that of Origen, gives his people an account of having ordained two perfons, who were before confeiTors, to be readers, and what they were to read, appears by the raafon which he gives for his choice: — "Nothing (fays Cyprian) can be more fit, than that he, who has made a glorious confeiTion of the Lordj fhould read publickly in the church ; that he who has fhown himfelf willing to die a martyr, fhould read the gofpel of Chrift, by which martyrs are made."^
V. Intimations of the fame cufroni may be traced in a great number of writers in the beginning and throughout the whole of the fourth century. Of thefe teftimonies I will only ufe one as being, of iffelf, exprefs and fiilL Auguftine, who ap- peared near the conclufion of the century, difplays the benefit of the Chridian religion on this very account, the public read- ing of the fcriptures in tlie churches, " where (fays he) is a con- fluence of all forts of people of both fexes, and where they hear how they ought to live well in this world, that they may de- ferve to live happily and eternally in another." And this cuf- tom he declares to be univerfal : " The canonical books of fcripture being read every v/here, the miracles therein recorded are well known to all people.'"^
It does not appear that any books, other than our prefent fcriptures, were thus publickly read, except that the epiflle of Clement was read in the church of Corinth, to which it wai addrelTed, and in fome others ; and that the Shepherd of Her^ mas was read in many churches.
a lb. vol. III. p. 68. h lb, p. 302.
6 lb. vol. IV. p. 84». '^ lb. vol. X. p. 276, et. fc<|.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. lof
Nor does it fubtra<5l much from the vahie of the argument, that thefe two writings partly come within it, becaufe wc allow them to be the genuine writings of apollolical men. There is not the leaft evidence, that any other gofpel, than the four which we receive, was ever admitted to this diftinction.
E C T.
VL
Commentaries tuere anciently luritten upon the fcnptures ; harmo- nics formed out of them ; different copies carefully collated ; and 'verjions made of them into different languages,
NO greater proof can be given of the efleem in which thefe books were holden by the ancient Chrijflians, or of the fenfe then entertained of their value and importance, than the induf- try beftowed upon them. And it ought to be obferved, that the value and importance of thefe books confifted entirely in their genuinenefs and truth. There was nothing in them as works of tafte, or as compofitions, which could have induced any one to have written a note upon them. Moreover it fliows that they were even then conlidered as ancient books. Men do not write comments upon publications of their own times : therefore the teftimonies cited under this head afford an evidence which car- ries up the evangelic writings much beyond the age of the tefti- monies themfelves, and to that of their reputed authors.
I. Tatian, a follower of Juilin Martyr, and who ilouriflied about the year 170, compofed a harmony, or collation of the gofpels, which he called Diatcffaron of the four.^ The title, as well as the work, is remarkable ; becaufe it fliows that then, as now, there were four, and only four gofpels, in general ufe with Chriflians. And this was Httle more than a hundred years af- ter the publication of fome of them.
II. Pantsenus, of the Alexandrian fchool, a man of great reputation and learning, who came twenty years after Tatian, wrote many commentaries upon the holy fcriptures, which, as Jerome teflifles, were extant in his time.
III. Clement of Alexandria wrote fhort explications of many books of the Old and New Teflament.*^
a lb, vol. I. p. 307. b lb. vol. I. p. 455.
c lb. vol. II. p. 462. K
no A VIEW OF THE
IV. Tertulllan appeals from the authority of a later verfioU then in ufe to the *' authentic Greek."**
V. An anonymous author, quoted by Eufebius, and who ap- pears to have written «ibout the year 212, appeals to the ancient etpks of the fcriptuies, in refutation of fome corrupt readings alleged by the followers of Artemon. ^
VI. The fame Eufebius, mentioning by name feveral writers of the church who lived at this time, and concerning whom htfays, ** there fHll remain divers monuments of the laudable induftry of thole ancient and ecclefiartical men," (i. e. of Chriftian writers, uliO were confdered as ancient in the year 3C0) adds, " there are befades treatifes of many others, whofe names we have not been able to learn, orthodox and ecclefiaftical men, as the in- terpretations of the divine fcriptures, given by each of them, ihow."^
VII. The five lad tedimonies may be referred to the year 2CC, immediately after which, a period of thirty years gives us,
Jalius Africanus, who wrote an epiftle upon the apparent difference in the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, which he endeavours to reconcile by the diftin«5lion of natural and legal defcent, and conducts his hypothefis with great induftry through the whole feries of generations ;'^
Ammonius, a learned Alexandr-ian, who compofed, as Ta- tian had done, a harmony of the four go/pels ; which proves, as Tatian's work did, that there were four gofpels, and no more, at this time in ufe in the church. Ic affords alfo an inftance of the zeal of Chridians for thofe writings, and of tlieir folici- tude about them f
And, above both thele, Origen, who wrote commentaries, or homilies, upon mioft of the books included in the New Tefta- jnent, and upon no other books but thefe. In particular, he v/rote upon St. John*s gofpcl, very largely upon St. Matthew's, and commentaries, or homilies, upon the Ads of the apoftles.'
VIII. In addition to thefe, the third century likcwife con- tains,
Dionyfius of Alexandria, a rery learned man, who compared, with great accuracy, the accounts In the four gofpels of the time (#f Ciirift's refurredlion, adding a refiedlon which faewed his Ojiinion of their authority : — ** Let us not think that the cvam-
alb. p. 638. b lb. vol. in. p. 46.
r IJj, vol II. p. 55 r. ^ lb, vol. III. p. 17c.
<• lb. p. lii. i lb. p. 352, t9h %0-it 24J.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. iii
ge lifts difagree, or contradi<5l each other, although there be fome fmall difference ; but let us honeftly and faithfully en- deavour to reconcile what we read."^
Viclorin, bilhop of Pettaw in Germany, who wrote comments upon St. Matthew's gofpel ;''^
Lucian, a preibyter of Antioch, and Hefychius, an Egyptian bifliop, who put forth editions of the New Teftament.
IX. The fjurth century fupplies a catalogue^ of fourteen writers who expended their labours upon the books of the New Teftament, and whofe works or names are come down to our times ; araongft which number, it may be fufncient, for the purpofe of fliowing the fentlments and the ftudies of learned Chriftians of that age, to notice the following :
Eufebius, in the very beginning of the century, wrote ex- prefsly upon the difcrepancies obfervable in the gofpels, and likewife a treatife, in which he pointed out what things are re- lated by four, what by three, what by two and what by one erangelift.^ This author alfo teftifies, what is certainly a mate- rial piece of evidence, *' that the writings of the apoftles had obtained fuch an efteem, as to be tranflated into every language both of Greeks and Barbarians, and to be diligently ftudied by ?.ll nations."^ This teftimony was given about the year 300 ; how long before that date tliefe tranllations were made, does not appear.
Damafus, bifhop of Rome, correfponded with St. Jerome upon the expofition of difficult texts of fcripture ; and, in a letter (lill remaining, defires Jerome to give him a clear explanation of the word Hofanna, found in the New Teftament ; " he (Damafus) having met with very different interpretations of lit in the Greek and Latin commentaries of Catholic writers which he had read."'^ This laft claufe fhows the number and variety of commentaries then extant.
a lb. vol. IV. p |
66r. |
b lb. p. 195. |
Eufebius, A. D. - - . |
z-^s |
Didymus of Alex. - - - 370 |
Juvencus, Spain, - - - |
Zl'^ |
Ambrofe of Milan, - - 374 |
Theodore, Thrace, - - |
334 |
Diodore of Tarfus, - - - 378 |
Hilary, Poiaers, - - - |
354 |
Gaudentius of Brefcia, - - 387 |
Fortunatus, - - - - |
340 |
Theodore of Cilicia, - - 394 |
Apo!linarius of Laodicea, |
361 |
Jtrome, -x^^"^ |
Damafus, Rome, - - |
366 |
Chryfoftom. 39^; |
Gregory, NyfTcn, - - - |
37t |
|
•* lb. vol. Vill. p. 46. |
e lb. p. aox. f-Ib. vo!. IX, p. ic8. |
113 A VIEW OF THE
Gregory of NvfTen, at one time, appeals to the mod exa<5b copies of St. Mark's gofpel ; at another thne, coni])ares togeth- *iv, and propolis to reconcile, the feveral accounts of the refur- 1 c6r!on^m-.'v ty the four evangdijh ; which Hmitation proves, that iwcxz. vt-re no other hiiloiies of Chrilt deemed authentic befide thcfe, or included in the lame charader with thefe. This writ- *:r obferves, acutely enough, that the difpoiition of the clothes jn the fepulchre, the napkin that was about: our Saviour's head »30t lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itfclf, did not befpeak the terror and hurry of thieves, and therefore refutes the llory of the body being flolen.-"^
Ambrofe, bifhop cf Milan, remarked various readings in the I.aiin copies of the New Tellament, and appeals to the origin- al Greek ;
And Jerome, towards the corclufion of this century, put forth an edition of the New Teilanient in Latin, corrected, at ka!t as to the gofpels, by Gre;lL copies, " and thofe (he fays) ancien:." * ^^ * '
LaiHy, Chryfoltom, it is well knov/n, delivered and publifli- «d a great many homilies, or fermons, upon the gofpels and the Ads of the apoftles.
It is needlefs to bring dov/n this article lower ; but it is of importance to add, that there is no example of Chriftian v/rit- crs of the three lirft centuries compofing comments upon any other books than thofe which are found in the New Teflament, «?xcept the Tingle one, of Clement of Alexandria commenting upon a book called the Revelation of Peter.
Of the ancient verfions of the New Telkraent one of the moft valuable Is the Syriac. Syriac was the language of Paleftine when Cbriftianity was there firil: edabliihed. And although the books of fcripture were vyritten in Greek, for the purpofe of a more extended circulation than within the precinds of Judea, yet it is probable that they would foon be tranflated into the Yulgar language of the country where the rehgion liiil prevail- ed. Accordingly a Syriac tranflation Is now extant, all along, fo far as appears, ufed by the inhabitants of Syria, bearing many internal marks of high antiquity, fupported in Its pretenlions by the uniform tradition of the Eaft, and confirmed by the dis- covery of many very ancient manufcripts In the libraries of Europe. It is about 20c years fince a bifhop of Antioch fent a copy of this tranflation into Europe to be printed ; and this a lb. p. 163.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 113
feems to be the firft time that the tranflation became generally known to thefe parts of the world. The bifnop of Antioch's teftament was found to contain all our books, except the fecond 'Cpiftle of Peter, the fecond and third of John, and the Keve- iation ; which books however, have Cnce been difcovered in that language in fome ancient manufcripts of Europe. But ia this colledion, no other book, befide what is in ours, appears ever to have had a place. And, which is very worthy of ob- fervation, the text, though preferved in a remote country, and without communication with ours, diifers from ours very little, and in nothing that is important."^
Sect. VII.
Our fcrlptures ivere received by ancient Chrijlians of different feds and perfuafiom-f hy many heretics as tuell as C a! holies ^ and ivere ufually appealed to by bothjides in the cant r ova Ji-js luhich arofe in thofe days.
THE three mof! ancient topics of controverfy amongft Chrif- tians were the authority of the Jewirti inllitution, the origin of evil, and the nature of Chri(L Upon the iiifl of thefe, we find in very early times, one clafs- of heretics reje<5Hno the old Tef- tament entirely, another contending for the obligation of its law, in all its parts, thronghoat its whole extent, and over every one who fought accq)tance with God. Upon the two latter fub- je<fl:s a natural, perhaps, and venial, but a fruitlefs, eager and inipatient curiofity, ])r()mpted by the philofophy and by the fcholaflic habiis of the age, v/hich carried men much into bold hypothefes and eonjeilural folutions, raifed amongft fome who profefTed Chridianity very wild and unfounded opinions. I think there is no reafon to believe, that the number of thefe bore any confKierable proportwm to the body of the Chriftian church ; and amidll tiie difputes, which fuch opinions nccclTari- ly occafioned, it is a great fuisfa<5tion to perceive, what in a vaft plurality of inftances we do perceive, all lides recurring to the fame fcriptures.
I.*^ Bafilides lived near the age of the apoftles, about the
a Jones on the canon, vol. I. c. 14. t> The materials of the former part of this fc^Vion are taken from Dr. Lardner's hiftory of the heretics of the two f-rft centuries publiilv- K 2
114 A VIEW OF THE
year 120, or perhaps fooner.* He reje(51:ed the Jewidi Inftitu- tion, not as fpurious, but as proceeding from a being inferior to the true God ; and in other refpe<5ts, advanced a fcheme of the- ology widely different from tlie general doftrine of the Chrif- tian church, and which, as it gained over fome difciples, was warmly oppofed by ChrilHan writers of the fecond and third century. In thefe writings there is pofitive evidence, that Ba- filides leceived the gofpel of Matthew ; and there is no fufH- cient proof that he reje<n:ed any of the other three ; on the con- trary, it appears that he wrote a commentary upon the gofpel, fo copious, as to be divided into twenty-four books.
II. The Valentinians appeared about the fame time. ^ Their herefy confided in certain notions concerning angelic na- tures, which can hardly be rendered intelligible to a modern reader. They feem, however, to have acquired as much im- portance as any of the feparatiils cf that early age. Of this ft&f Irenreus, who wrote A. D. 172, exprefsly records, that they endeavoured to fetch arguments for their opinions, from the evangelic and apoftolic writings. '^ Heracleon, one of the moll celebrated of the fed:, and who lived probably fo early as the year 125, wrote commentaries upon Luke and John.'' Some obfervations alfo of his npon Matthew are preferved by Origen,*^ Nor is there any reafon to doubt, that he received the whole Kew Teft anient.
III. The Carpocratians were alfo an early herefy, little, if at all, later than the two preceding.^ Some of their opinions refembled, what we at this day mean by Socinianifni. With refped to the Icriptures, they are fpecifically charged by Irenae- ^s and by Epiphanius, with endeavouring to pervert a paflage^ in Matthew, which amounts to a pofitive proof, that they re- ceived that gofpel. 8 Negatively, they are not accufed by their adverfaries, of reje(fting any part of the New Tellament.
IV. The Sethians,' A. D. i50;''the Montanifts, A. IX 156;' the Marcofians, A. D. 160;^ Hermogenes, A. !>. 180;' Praxias, A. D. 196;"^ Arteraon, A. D. 200;"The- ©dotus, A. D. 200 ; all included under the denomination of
rA fince his death, with additions by the Rev. Mr. Hogj> of Exeter, acd inferted into the ninth volume of his works, of the edition of 1788.
a Vol. IX cd. 1788. p. 271. b IK p. 350, 351. t Vol.1, p. 383, i Vol. IX. e.i. 1788. p. 352. e lb. c^sS- ^ lb. 3^9- ^ lb. 31JJ. ^ Vol. v-C. ed. 1788, p. 455. ' U>- P- 482. ^ II>. p. 348. ' lb. p. 473. ^' lb. p. /{3Z, c lb. p. 466.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 115
heretics, and all engaged in controverfies with Catholic Chrif- tians, received the fcriptures of the New Teftament.
V. Tatian, who lived in the year 172, went into many ex- travagant opinions, was the founder of a fe6t called Encratites, and was deeply involved in difputes with the Chriftians of that age ; yet Tatian fo received the four gofpels, as to compofe a harmony from them.
VI. From a writer, quoted by Eufebius, of about the year 200, it is apparent that they, who, at that time, contended for the mere humanity of Chrift, argued from the fcriptures ; for they are accufed by this writer, of making alterations in their copies, in order to favour their opinions."^
VII. Origen's fentiments excited great controverfies ; the bifhops of Rome and Alexandria, and many others, condemn- ing, the bifhops of the Eaft efpouling them ; yet there is not the fmalleft queftion, but that both the advocates and adverfa- ries of thefe opinions acknowledged the fame authority of fcrip- ture. In his time, which the reader will remember was about one hunched and fifty years after the fcr'^^nures were publifhed, many difTenfions fubfifted amongft Chriftians, with which they were reproached by Celfus, yetOiigen, who has recorded this accufation without contradi<fl:ing it, neverthelefs tefhfies '* that that the four gofpels were received without difpute by the whole church of God under heaven.'*^
VIII. Paul of Samofata, about thirty years after Origen, fo dlftlnguifhedhimfelf in the controverfy concerning the nature of Chrift, as to be the fubjed of two councils or fynods, affembled at Antioch, upon his opinions. Yet he is not charged by his adverfaries with reje<fting any book of the New Teilament. On the contrary, Epiphanius, who wrote a hiftory of heretics a hun- dred years afterwards, fay^ that Paul endeavpiired to fupport his doiflrine by texts offcripture. And Vicentius Lirinenfis, A. D. 434, fpeaking of Paul and other heretics of the fame age, has thefe words : " Here, perhaps, fome one may aflc, whether heretics ulfo urge the teftimony offcripture. They urge it in- deed, explicitly and vehemently ; for you may fee them flying through every book of the facred law.'*c
IX. A controverfy at the fame time exlfted with the Noe- tians or Sabellians, who feem to have gone into the oppofite ex- treme from that of Paul of Samofata, and his followers. Yet,
a lb. Vol. III. p. 46. ^ Jb. vol, IV. p. (>^%. c lb. Vol. XI, p. ij8.
ii6 A VIEW OF THE
according to the exprefs teftimony of Epiphanius, Sabellius re- ceived all the fcrlptiires. And with both fe<5ls Catholic writers conftantly allege the fcriptures, and reply to the arguments which their opponents drew from particular texts. This is a proof, that parties, who were the moft oppofite and irreconcileable to one another, acknowledged the authority of fcripture, and witli equal deference.
X. And as a general teftimony to the fame point, may be produced what was fad by one of the bifiiops of the council of Carthage, which was holden a little before this time. " I am of opinion that blafphemous and wicked heretics, who pervert the facred and adorable words of the fciiptures, Iliould be exe- crated.'* ^ Undoubtedly what they perverted they received.
XL The Millennium, Novatianifm, the baptifm of heretics, tlie keeping of Earter, engaged alfo the attention, and divided the opinions of Chriftians, at and before that time, (and, by the vay, it may be obferved, that fuch difputes, though on fome accounts to be blamed, fliowed how mucli men were in ear- ned upon the fubjedl) yet every one appealed for the grounds of his opinion to fcripture authority. Dionylms of Alexandria, who fiouriflied A. D. 247, defcribing a conference, or public difpatation, with the Millenarlans of Egypt, confcifes of them, though their adverfary, " that they embraced whatever could be made out by good arguments from the holy fcriptures."^ No- Tatus, A. D. 251, diiVinguifhed by fome rigid fentiments con- cerning the reception of thofe who had lapfed, and the founder of a numerous fed, in his few remaining works quotes the gof- pel with the fame refpefl as other Chrillians did ; and concern- ino his followers the teftimony of Socrates, who wrote about the year 440, is pofitive, viz. " that,, in the difjjutes between the Catholics and them, each jGde endeavoured to fupport itfclf by the authority of the divine fcriptures."^
XII. The Donatiib, who fprung up in the year 528, ufcd the fame fcriptures as we do. " Produce- (faith A ui;uftine) fome proof from the fcriptures, whofe authority is common to us both."^^
XIII. It is perfedly notorious, that, in the Arian controvert fy, which arofe foon after the y^ ar 3 00, both fides appealed to the fame fcriptures, and with equ.l proftHions of deference and re* gard. The Arians, in their council of Antioch, A.D. 34T, pro«i.
a lb. p. 839. b lb. vol. IV. p. 666. c lb. vol. V. p. 105, vi ib. vol. VII. p. 243.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 117
nounce that, " if any one, contrary to the found doftrine of the fcriptures, fay that the Son is a creature, as one of the creatures, let him be anathema.''* They and the Athanafians mutual- ly accufe each ot^^erofufing unfcnptural iphraksy which was a mutual acknowledgment of the conclufive authority of fcrip- ture.
XIV. The Prifclllianifts, A. D. 378,^ the Pelagians, A. D. 405,*^ received the iame fcriptures as we do.
XV. The teftimony of Chryfoftom, who lived near the year 400, is fo pofitive in affirmation of the propofition which we maintain, that it may form a proper conclufion of the argument. ** The general reception of the gofpels is a proof that their hif- tory is true and confident ; for fince the writing of the gofpels, many herefies have arifen, holding opinions contrary to what is contained in them, who yet receive the gofpels either entire or in part."'^ I am not moved by what may feem a dedudion from Chryfoilom's teftimony, the words " entire or in part ;" for, if all the p-iris, which were ever queftioned in our gofpels, were given up, it v/ould not affecl the miraculous origin of the religion in the frnalleft degree : e. g.
Ceriachus is faid by Epiphantus to have received the gofpel of Matthev/, bat not entire. What the omiifions were does not •appear. The common opinion, rhat he rejedled the two firfl chapters feems to have been a miilake.^ It is agreed, howev- er, by all who have given any account of Cerinthus, that he taught that the Holy Ghoft (whether lie meant by that name a peiibn or a power) defcended upon Jefus at his baptifm ; that Jefus from this time performed many miracles, and that he ap- peared after his death. He muft have retained therefore the effential parts of the hiflory.
Of all the ancient heretics, the mofl: extraordinary v/as Mar- cion.^ One of his tenets was the rejedion of the Old Tefta- ment, as proceeding from an inferior and imperfect deity ; and in purfuance of this hypothefis, he erafed from the New, and that as it fhould foem, without entering into any critical reafons, every pafTage which recognized the Jewifli fcriptures. He fpar- ed not a text which contradicted his opinion. It is reafonable to believe that Marcion treated books as he treated texts : yet this rafhandwildcontroYerfialiftpublifliedarecenfion,orchaftifededi-
a lb. p. 'i77. b lb. vol. IX. p. 325. c lb. vol, X^ p. 5i. d lb. vol. X. p. 316. = lb. vol. IX. ed. 17 88, p. 3Z2._ f lb. icdt. ii. c. X. Alfo, Michiel. vol. I, c. 1 . feA. xviii.
ii8 A VIEW OF THE
tlon, of St. Luke's gofpel, containing the leading facfls, and all V hich is neceflary to authenticate the religion. This example affords proof, that there uere ahvayG feme points, and thofe the main points, uhich neither wildnefs nor rafli-T^efs, neither the fu- rv of oppofition nor the intemperance of controverfy, would venture to call in queftion. There is no reafon to believe that Marcion, though full of refentment againft the Catholic Chiif- tians, ever charged them with forging their books. *' The Gof- pel of St. ^latthew, the ei^iftle to the Hebrews, with thofe of St. Peter and St. James, as well as the Old Teilament in gen- eral, (he faid) were writings not for Chriftiansbut for Jews."^ This declaration (hows the ground upon which Mi.rcion pro- ceeded in his mutilation of the fcriptures, viz. his diflike'of the pafTages or the books. Marcion fiourifhed about the year 130. Dr. Lardner, in his General Review, fums up this head of evidence in the following words ; *' Noetus, Paul of Samofata, Sabellius, Marcellus, Photinus, the Novatians, Donatifts, Man- icheans,'' Prifcillianifts, befide Artemon, the Audians, the Ari- ans, and divers others, all received mod or all of the fame books of the New Tcftament which the Catholics received ; and agreed in a like refped for them as writ by the apofties, or tlieir difciples and companions."^
Sect. VIII.
The four Go/pels^ the ASs of the Jpoftks, thirteen Eptfiles df St. Paul, thejirjl Epiflle of John, and the frfl of Peter, were re- ceived 'Without doubt by thofe nvho doubted concerning the other boohs, nvhich are included in our prefent canon. I STATE this propofition, becaufe, if made out, it fhows that the authenticity of their books was a fubjeft amongft the early Chriftians of confideration and inquiry ; and that, where there was caufe of doubt, they did doubt ; a circumftance which ftrengthens very much their teftimony to fuch books as were received by them with full acquiefcence.
a I have rranrcribed tliis ftntence from Michaelis, (page 38) who has not, however, rtferrtd to the authority upon which he attributes thcfe words to Marcion.
b This muft be with an exceptien, however, of Fauflus, who lived fo late as the vear 384.
c lb. vol. XII. p 12.— Dr. Lardncr's future inquiries fupplicd bJcft with m*ny other inftances.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 119
1. Jerome, in his account of Caius, who was probaWy a pref- bytet of Rome, and who liouriflied near the year 200, records of hini, that, reckoning up only thirteen epiftles of Paul, he fays the fourteenth, which is infcribed to the Hebrews, is not his ; and then Jerome adds, " With the Romans to this day it is not looked upon as Paul's." This agrees, in the main, with the account given by Eufebias of the fame ancient autiior and liis work; except that Eufeblus delivers his own remark in more j»uarded terms, '* and indeed to this very time, by fome of tlie Romans, this epiftle is not thought to be the apoftle's."'^
XL Origen, about twenty years afrer Caius, quoting the epif- tle to the Hebrews, obferves that fome might difpute the author- ity of that epiftle, and therefore proceeds to quote to the fame point, as undoubted books of fcripture, the gofpel of St. Mat- thew, the Ails of the apoftles, and Paul's firft epiftle to the Theflalonians.^ And in another place this author fpeaks of the epiftle to the Hebrews thus : " The account con\e down to us is various, fome faying that Clement, who was bilhop of Rome, wrote this epiftle ; others, that it was Luke, the f ime who writ the gofpel and the Ads." Speaking alfo in the fame paragraph of Peter, " Peter (fays he) has left one epiftle acknowledged ; Lt it be granted likewife that he wrote a fecond, for it is doubted of." And of John, " He has alfo left one epiftle, of a very few lines ; grant alfo a fecond and a third, for all do not allow thefe to be genuine.'' Now let it be noted, that Origen, who thus difcriminates, and thus confefles his own doubts, and the doubts which fubfifted in his time, exprefsly witncftes concern- ing the four gofpels, *' that they alone are received without difpute by the whole church of God under heaven."^
III. Dionyfius of Alexandria, in the year 247, doubts con- cerning the book of Revelation, whether it was written by St. John ; ftates the grounds of his doubt ; reprefents the divetfity of opinion concerning it, in his own time, and before his time.^ Yet the fame Dionyfius ufes and collates the four gofpels, in s, manner which fliov/s that he entertained not the fmalleft fufpi- cion of their authority, and in a manner alfo which fiiows that they, and they alone, were received as authentic hiftories of Chrift.«
IV. Bat this fe6lion may be faid to have been framed oa ^^urpofe to introduce to the reader two remarkable palfages, ck-
a lb. vol. Iir. p. 240. li lb. p. 246. c lb. p. 234.
<! lb. vol. IV. p. 6704 c lb. p. 661.
120 A VIEW OF THE
tant in Eufebius's eccleriadlcal hlrtory. The firflpaflage opens with thefe words — *' Let us obferve the writings of the apoftle John, which are iincontradlEled ; and, firft of all, muft be men- tioned, as acknowledged of all, the gofpel according to him, well known to all the churches under heaven." The author then proceeds to relate the occafions of writing the gofpels^ and ■ the reafons for placing St. John's the lafl:, manifeftly fpeaking throughout of all the four as parallel in their authority, and in the certainty of their original.'^ The fecond paflage is taken from a chapter, the title of which is, *' Of the Scriptures univet' folly acknowledged^ and of thofe that are not fuch." Eufebius begins his enumeration in the following manner : — " In the firft place, are to be ranked the facred four gofpels ; then the book of the A6ls of the apoftles ; after that arc to be reckoned the epiftles of Paul ; in the next place, that called the firft epiftle of John, and the epiftle of Peter, are to be efteemed authentic ; after this is to be placed, if it be thought iii, the Revelation of John, about which we iliall obferve the different opinions at proper feafons. Of the controverted, but yet well known, or approved by the raoft, are that called the epiftle of James, and that of Jude, and the fecond of Peter, and the fecond and third of John, whether they are written by the evangelift, or another of the fame name."b He then proceeds to reckon up live others, not in our canon, which he calls in one place jj>w- riouSi in another coniro'verted, meaning, as appears to me, near- ly the fame thing by thefe two words.^
It is manifeft from this paffage, that the four gofpels, and the Ads of the apoftles, (the parts of fcripture with wiiich our concern principally lies) were acknowledged without difputc even by thofe who raifed objedtions, or entertained doubts, about fome other parts of the fame colledion. But the pafTage proves fomething more than this. The author was extremely converfant in the writings of Chriftians, which had been pub- lifhed from the commencement of the inftitution to his own
a lb. vol. VIII. p. 90. h lb. p. 98.
c That Eufebius could not intend, by the word rendered « fpurious," what we at prefent mean by it, is evident from a chufe in this ver7 chapter, where, fpeaking of the gofpels of Peter and Tiiomas, and Matthias and fome others, he fays, *' They arc not fo much as to be reckoned ^mongthc /jyurious, b'jt are to be rejcded, as altogether ab- fard and impious." Vol. VIII. p. 98.
EVIDENCES OF CHRiSTIANirY', in
tirfte ; and it was from thefe writings that he drew his knowl- edge of the charader and reception of the books in queftion. That Eufebius recurred to this medium of information, and that he had examined with attention this fpecies of proof, is (hewn, firfl, by a paflage in the very chapter we are 'quoting, in which, fpeaking of the books which he calls fpurioas, *' None (he fays) of the ecclefiaftical \vriters, in the fuccej[li.on of the apoftles, ha\^ Touchfafed to make any mention of them in their writings ;'* and fecond'y, by another prifiage of the fame work, wherein, fpeaking of the firft epiille of Peter, "This (he fays) the pref- byters of ancient times have quoted in their writings as undoubted- ly genuine j"'^ and then, fpeaking of fome other writings bearing the name of Peter, " We know (he fays) that they have not beendehvereddown to us in the number of Catholic writings, foraf- much as no ecciefiaftical writer of the ancients, or of our times, has made ufe of teftimonies out of them." " But in the prog- refs of this hiftory," the author proceeds, " we fhall make it our bufmefs to (how, together with the fucceifions from the apoftles, what ecclefiadicai v/riters, in every age, have ufed fuch writings as thefe which are contradided, and what they have faid, with regard to the fcriptures received in the New Teftament, and ac' lnoT.vkdgefihy all, and with regard to thofe which are not fuch." ^ After this it is reafonable to beheve, that, when Eufebius ftates the four gofpels, and the Ads of the apoftles, as uncon- Iradided, lincontefied, and acknowledged by all ; and when he places them in oppofition, not only to thofe which were fpurious in our fenfe of that term, but to thofe which were controverted, and even to thofe which were well known and approved by many, yet doubted of by fome ; he reprefents, not only the fenfe of his own age, but the refult of the evidence, which the writings of prior ages, from the apofile's time to his own, liad furnifiied to his inquiries. The opinion of Eufebius and his contemporaries, appears to have been founded upon the tefHmo- ny of writers, whom they fhen called ancient ; and we may ob- ferve, that fuch of the works of thefe writers, as have come down to our times, entirely confirm the judgment, and fiipporfe the diftindion which F.ufebius propofes. 1 he books which he calls *' books univerfally acknowledged," are in fad ufed and quoted, in the remaining works of Chriilian writers, during the 250 yeart between the apofile's time and that of Eufebius,
a lb. p. 99. b lb. p. xir.
L
122 A VIEW 01? THE
much more frequently than, and in a different manner front thofe, the authority of which, he tells, us, was difputed.
Sect. IX.
Qur h:J}oricaI fcr'iptures were attacked by the early adverfar'ies of Chrifliamty, as cofjiaifiing the accounts upon ivhich the religion Tvas fowided.
I. NEAR the middle of the fecond century, Celfii?, a heathen philcfopher, wrote a profefTed treatife agalnft Chiift- ianity. To this treatife, Origen, who came about fifty years after him, publifhed an anfwer, in which he frequently recites his adverfary's words and arguments. The work of Celius is loft ; bnt^ that of Origen remains. Origen appears to have given us the words of Celfus, where he profefTes to give them, very faithfully ; and, amongft other reafons fortliinkirg fo, this is one, that the obje<5lion, as ftated by him from Celfus, is fometimes ftronger than his own anfwer. I think it alfo prob- able that Origen, in his anfwer, has retailed a large portion of the work of Celfus : " That it may not be fufpeded (he fiiys) that we pafs by any chapters, becaufe we have no anfwers at hand, I have thought it bed, according to my ability, to con- fute every thing propofed by him, not fo much obfcrvifig the natural order of things, as the order which he has taken him- felf"»
Celfus wrote about too years after the gofpels were publilh- ed ; and therefore any notice of thefe books from him are eX' tremely important from their antiquity. They are, however, rendered more fo by the charad^er of the author ; for the re- ception, credit, and notoriety of thefe books muft have been Avell elUblifhed amongft ChriiHans, to have made them fubje<5ts ©f animadverfion and oppofition by ftrangers and by enemies. It evinces the truth of what Chryfoftom, two centuries after- wards, obferved, that " the gofpels, when written, were not hid in a corner, or buried in obfcurity, but diey were mr.de known to all the world, before enemies as well as others, even as they are now."
X. Celfus, or the Jew whom he perfonates, ufes thefe words ;
a Or. cont. Celf. 1. i. ftcV. 41-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 123
** I could fay many things concerning the afEiirs of Jcfus, and ihbfe, too, different from thofe written by the difciples of Jefus, but I purpofely omit them.*''^ Upon this paffage it has been light- ly obferved, that it is not eafy to believe, that if Celfus could have contradi(5led the difciples upon good evidence in any ma- terial point, he would have emitted to do fo ; and that the af- fertion is, what Origen calls it, a mere oratorical iiourifli.
It is fufficient however to prove, that in the time of Celfus, there were books well known, and allowed to be written by the difciples of Jefus, which books contained a hifcory of him. By the term difcipks, Celfus does not mean the followers of Jefus io general, for them he calls Chriftians, or believers, or the Hke, but thofe who had been taught by Jefus himfelf, i. e. his apoftles and companions.
2. In another paJfTage, Celfus accufes the ChriRians of alter- ing the gofpel.^' The accufation refers to fome varieties in the readings of particular paifages ; for Celfus goes on to obje<5l, that when they are preffed hard, and one reading has been con- futed they difown that, and fly to another. We cannot per- ceive from Origen that Celfus fpecified any particular inftances, and v/ithcut fuch fpecification the charge is of no value. But the true conclufion to be drawn from it is, that there were in the hands of the Chriftians, hiftories, which were even then of fome (landing ; for various readings and corruptions do not take place in recent produdions.
The former quotation, ttie reader will remember, proved that thefe books were compofed by the difciples of Jefus, fhi<5lly fo called ; the prefent quotation iliews, that though objedions were taken by the adverfaries of the religion to the integrity of thefe books, there was none to their genuinenefs.
3. In a thiid paffage, the jew, whom Celfus introduces, fliuts up an argument in this manner : — *' Thefe things then we have alleged to you out of your own avrh'wgs, not needing any other weapons.'"^ It is manifeft that this boafl proceeds up- on the iuppofition that the books, over which the writer affects to triumph, poffeffed an authority, by which Chriftians confeffed themfelves to be bound.
4. That the books to which Celfus refers were no other than our prefent gofpclsj is made out by his allufions to various
a Lr.rdncr's Jcwiili and Heathen TtPum. vol. II. p. 274* b lb. p. 275. c lb. p. 276.
124- A VIEW OF THE
paflages ill!} found in thefe gofpels. Celfus takes notice of tb*? genealogies^ which fixes two of thefc gofpels ; of the precei>ts, refifl: not him that injures you, and, if a man ftrike thee on th^ one cheek, offer to him the other alfo ;^ of the woes denounced by Chrift ; his predictions ; his faying that it is impofTible to ferv^ two mafters ;' of the purple robe, the crown of thorns, and the reed in his hand ; of the blood that flowed from the body of Jefus upon the crofs,*^ which circumllance is recorded by Johiv alone ; and (what h mjl a r omnium for the purpofe for which w^ produce it) of the dilFerence in the accounts given of the refur- redlion by the evaogeiills, ferae mentioning two angels at thq fepulchre, others only one.*^
It is extremely material to remark, that Celiiis not only per- petually refer! ed to the accounts of Chrill contained in the four gof{)els,^ but that he referred to no other accijunts ; that he founded none of his objedions to Chriftianity upon any thing- delivered in fpurious gofpels.
II. What Celfus was in the fecond century, Porphyry be- came in the third. His work, which was a large and formal treatife againll the Chriftian religion, is not extant. We muft be coni.ent therefore to gather his ob}e6tions from Chriftian wri- ters, who have noticed in order to anfwer them ; and enough remains of this fpecies of information, to prove completely, that Porphyry's animadverfions were direded again(t the con- tents of our prefent gofpels, and of the A<51s cf the apoilles ; Porphyry confidering, that to overthrow them was to overthrow the religion. I'hus he ot;je61s to the repetition of a generation in St. Matthew's genealogy ; to Matthew's call ; to the quotation of a text from Ifaiah, which is found in a pfalm afcribed tp Afaph ; to the calling of the lake of Tiberias a fca ; to the expreflion in St. Matthew, '* the abomination of defolation ;" to the variation in Matthew and Mark upon the text, " the voice of one crying in the wildernefs," Matthew citing it from Ifaias, Mark from the prophets ; to John's application of the term " word ;" to Chri(t's change of intention about going up to the feafl: of tab- ernacles (John vii. 8.) to the judgment denounced by St. Peter upon Ananias and Sapphira, which he calls an imprecation of dearh/
a IH. p. %-■(). b TS. p. .277. c lb. p. 280, 2?T. d Ih, p. i%%.
* The p;<rtic'.ilar?, of which tl.c above ^xc only a ftw, arc wtli coU. Ict^tii l-.y Mr. Bryant, p. 140.
f Jtw'Pii .uiJ HesihcTi Tcfl, vol. III. p. 166, ct fcf).
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 125
The Indances here alleged ferve, in forae mcafufe, to fhow the nature of Porphyry's objedlons, and prove that Pophyry had read the gofpels with that fort of attention, which a writer would employ, who regarded them as the depofitari^s of the re- ligion which he attacked. Befide thefe fpecifications, there exifls in the writings of ancient Chriftians general evidence, that the places of fcripture upon which Porphyry had remarked, weie very numerous.
In fome of the above cited examples, Porphyry, fpeaking of St. Llatthew, calls him your evangelift : he alfo ufes the term evan^^elifts in the plural number. What was faid of Celfus is true like wife of Porphyry, chat it does not appear that he c-on- fidered any hiftory of Chrift, except thefe, as having authority with ChrilBans.
III. A third great writer againft the Chrlftian religion was the Emperor JuUan, whofe work was compofed about a century after that of Porphyry.
In various long extracts, tranfcribed from this work by Cyril and Jerome, it appears, ^ that Julian noticed by name Matthew and Luke, in the difference between their genealogies of Chrifl 5 that he objedled to Matthew's application of the prophecy, ** Out of Egypt have I called my fon," (ii. 15.) and to that of ** a virgin fhall conceive j" (i. 2 3.) that he recited fayings of Chrift, and various paffages of his hiflory, in the very words of the evangelifts ; in particular, that Jcfus healed lame and blind people, and exorcifed demoniacs, in the villages of Bethfalda and Bethany ; that he alleged that none of Chrift's difciples af- cribed to him the creation of tlie world, except John ; that neither Paul, nor Matthew, nor Luke, nor Mark, have dared to call Jefus, God ; that John wrote later than the other evan- gelifts, and at a time when a great number of men in the cities of Greece and Italy were converted ; that he alludes to the converfion of Cornelius and of Sergius Paulus. to Peter's vifion, to the circular letter fent by the apoftles and elders at Jerufa* iem, which are all recorded in the Ads of the apoftles: by which quoting of the four gofpels and the A6ts of the apo{lles> and by quoting no other, Julian Ihows that thefe were the hill torical books, and the only hiftorical books, received by Chrifl tians as of authority, and as the authentic mefnoirs of Jefus Chrift, of his apoftles, and of the dodrines taught by thero*
a lb. vol. IV. p. 77, et kq.
126 A VIEW OF THE:
But Julian's teftlmony does fomething more than reprefent the. judg'iient of" the Chriftian church in his time. It difcovers alfo his own. He himfelf exprefsly (btes the early date of thefe records. He all along fuppofes, and no where attempts to. (ijueftlon,. their genuinenefs.
The argument in favour of the books of the New Teftament, drawn from the notice taken of their contents by the early writers againfl the religion, is very confiderable. It fliows that the accounts, which Chriflians had then, were the accounts which we have now ; that our prefentfcriptures were their's. It (hows, moreover, that neither Celfus in the fecond, Porphyry in the third, nor Julian in the fourth century, fiifpeded the authenticity «.f thefe books, or ever infmuated that Chriilians were miflaken. in the authors to v;hom they afcribed thtm* Not one of them, exprefiedan opinion upon, this fubje 61 different from that which v/as held by ChriRian^,, And when we confider how much it would have availed them to have cali a doubt upon this point, if they cculd ;; and hov/, ready they {hov/ed tb-emfclves to be, to lake every advantage in their power ;. and that they were all men of learning and inquiry ; their concefiion, or rather their- fuffrage, upon the fubjed, is extremely valuable.
In the cafe of Porphyry, it is made IHll icronger, by the con-. /Idcration that, he did in fad fupport himfelf by this fpecies of cbjetftion, when he faw any room for. it, or when his acutenefs tould fupply any pretence for alleging it. The prophecy of Daniel he attacked upon this very ground of fpurioufnefs, inftli-. itig that it v/as written after the time of Antiochus EpiphancFj and maintains his charge of forgery by fome, far-fetched in- deed, but. very fubtle criticifms. Concerning the writings of ♦he New, Tedament. no trace of this fulpicion is any whcie to be found in him.'"^
S E C T. X,
Formal catalogues of authentic fcrtptures jwere puhlijhed, in all ivh'ich our prcjer.t facred h'ljlor'tes fwere indiuied,
THIS fpecies of evidence comes later than the red, as it- was not natural that catalogues of any particular cJafs of books,
a- Michatiib's Introclactixjn to the New Teft. vol. I. p. 4j. Marili'L;
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY; trfi
ftould be put forth, until' Chriflian writings became numerous,, or until, fome writings {bowed themfelves,. claiming titles which did not belong to them, and thereby rendering it necefTary to feparate books of authority from others. But, when it does appear, it is extremely fatisfadtory j. the catalogues, though mi- merous, and made in countries- at a wide diftance from one another, differing very little, differing in nothing which is mate- rial, and all containing the four gofpels. To this laft article there is no exceptioni
I. In the writings of Origen which remain, and in fome ex- tfa61:s preferved by Eufebiusfrom works of his which are now lofl, there are enumerations of the books of fcrjpture, in which the four gofpels and" the Ads of the apoftles are diflindily and honourably fpecified, and in which no books? appear befide what, are now received.* The reader, by this^time, will eafily recol*. ledl that the date of Origen's work is A. D. 230.
II. Athanafius, about a century afterwards, delivered a cat-, alogue of the books of the New Teftament in form, containing our fcrlptures and no others ; of which he fays, " In thefe alone ^ the dodlrine of religion is taught j: let no. man. add to them, or take any thing from them." ^
III. About ^o years after Athanafius, Cyril, blfhop of Jeru- fa)em, fet forth a catalogue of the books of fcripture, publickly lead at that time in the church of Jerufalem^ exactly the fame as our's,, except that the " Revelation" is omitted.^
IV. And, fifteen years after Cyril,, the Council of Laodicea^ delivered an authoritative catalogue of canonical fcripture, like Cyril's, the fame as ours, with the omifTion of the *' Revelation." '
V. Catalogues now become frequent.. Within thirty years, from the lafi: date, that is, from the year 363 to near the con-, clufion of the fourth century, we have catalogues by Epiphani- us,'^ by Gregory Nazienzen,^ by Philafterj.bilhop of Brefcia in Italy,^ by Araphilochius, bifhop of Iconium, all^ as they are fometimes called, clean catalogues, (that is, they admit no books into the number befide What we now receive) and all, for every purpofe of hiftoric evidence, the fame as our's.s
« Vol, 111. p. 234, ct feq. vol. YIII; p. 196. b lb. voL VIII. p. 213. c lb. p. 270. d lb. p, 368. , e Vol. TX. p. 132, f lb. p. 573.
g Epiphanlus omits the A(5ls of the apoflles. This muft have been: an accidental miflnke either in him or in fome copyift of his work, for- h^ tlfewhere exprefsly refers to tUis book, aod afcrrbes it to Luke.
128 A VIEW OF THE
VI. Within the fame period, Jerome, the mof! learned Chriilian writer of his age, delivered a catalogue of the books of the New Teftament, recognizing every book now received, with the intimation of a doubt concerning the cpliHe to the Hebrews alone, and taking not the kail notice of any book which is n^t now received.*
VII. Contemporary with Jerome, who lived in Paleftine, was St. Augurtine in Africa, who publifiied likewife a catalogue without joining to the fcriptures, as books of authority, any oth- er ecclefiaftical writing whatever, and without omitting one which we at this day acknowledge.'^
. Vill. -And with thefe concurs another contemporary writer, Rufin, a prefbyter of Aquileia, whofe catalogue, like their's, is perfedl and unmixed, and concludes with thefe remarkable words : " Thefe are the volumes which the fathers have in- cluded in the canon, and out of which they would have us- prove the doctrine of our faith," '^
Sect. XL
Thefe propo/itkns cannot be predicated of any of ihofe boohy which- are commonly calkd apochryphal hols of the Nenv Tejlament.
I DO not know that the objedion taken from apocryphal writinos is at prefent much relied on by fcholars. But there are many, who, hearing that various gofpels exifted in ancient times under the names of the apoflles, may have taken up a no- tion, that the fele^ion of our prefent gofpels from the lef}, was rather an arbitrary or accidental choice, than founded in any clear and certain caufe of preference. To thefe it may be very ufeful to know the truth of the cafe. I obferve therefore,
I. That, befide our gofpels and the Ads of the apoflles, no- Chriftian hiftory, claiming to be written by an apoftle or apof- tolical man, is quoted within three hundred years after the birth of Chrift, by any writer now extant, or known ; or, if quoted, is not quoted with marks of cenfure and reje<5tion.
I have not advanced this affertion without inquiry ; and I doubt not, but that the paflages cited by Mr. Jones and Dr. Lardner, under the feveial titles which the apocryphal books- bear ; or a reference to the places where they are mcntioDU^
a Vol X. p. 77. I' lb. p. 21 J. c lb. p. 187.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 12^
dd, as collected in a very- accurate table, publifhed in the year 1773, by the Rev. J. Atkinfon, will make out the truth of the propofition to the fatisfadion of every fair and. competent judgment. If there be any book which may feem to form an exception tp the obfervation, it is a Hebrew, gofpel, which was circulated under the various titles of the gofpel according to the Hebrews, the gofpel of the Nazarenes, of the tbionites, fome- times called of the twelve, by feme afcribed to St. Matthew. This gofpel is onre and only once^ cited by Clenient Alexan-. drinus, who lived, the reader will remember, in the latter part of the fecond century, and which farne Clement quotes one ol^ other of our four gofpels in a'moft every page of his work. It is alfo twice mentioned by Origen, A. D. 2.30 ; and both times with marks of diminution and difcredit. And this is the ground upon which the exception ftands. But what is ftill more material to obferve, is, that this gofpel, in the main, agreed with o^r prefent gofptl of St. Matthew.^
Now if, with this account of the apocryphal gofpels, we com-- pare what we have read, concerning the canonical fcriptures in the preceding fedlions ; or even recolle«5t that general, but well-founded aflertion of Dr. Gardner's, ** that in the remaining works of Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, who all lived in the two firft centuries, there are more, and larger quotations of the fmall volume of the new Teftameni, than of/ all the works of Ciqero, by writers of all charad:ers, for fever- al ages ;"'^ and if to this we add, that notwithflanding the lofs of many works of the primitive times of Chriftianity, we have, •within the above-mentioned period, the remains of Chriftian writers, who lived in PaleiHne, Syria,, Afia Minor, Egypt, the part of Africa that ufed the J^atin tongue, in Crete, Greece, Italy, and Gaul, in all which remains, references are found to our evangelifts ; I apprehend, that we fhall perceive a clear and broad line of divifion, between thofe writings, and all others pretending to a fimilar authority.
II. But befide certain hiJlorie<! which afTumed the names of apoftles,and which were forgeries properly fo called, there were fome other Chriftian writings, in the whole or in part of ae
* In applying to this gofpel, what jferome in the latter end of the fbnrth century has mentioned of a Hebrew gofpel, I think it probable that we fomttimes confound, it with a Hebrew copy of St. Matthe.w's gofpelj whetlier an original or vcrficn, which was then extant,
l» Lard, Cned. vol. XII. p» SZ-,
ISO A VIEW OF THE
hiftorical nature, which, though net forgeries, are denominated apociyphal, as being of an uncertain, or of no authority.
Of this feccnd clafs of writings, I have found only two, which are noticed by any author of the three fiifl centuries, without exprefs terms of condemnation ; and thefe are, the «ne, a book entitled the Preaching of Peter, quoted repeatedly by Clement Alcxandrinus, A. D. 196 ; the other, a book en- titled the Revelation of Peter, upon which the above-mentioned Clement Alexanarinus is faid,by Eufebius, to have written notes j which is tv/ice cited in a work ftill extant, afcribed to the fame author.
I conceive therefore, that the proportion we have before ad- vanced, even after it hath been fubjejSled to every exception, of every kind that can be alleged, feparates, by a wide inter- Tal, our hirtorical fcriptures, from all other writings which pro- fefs to give an account of the fame fubjedl.
We may be permitted however to add,
1. That there is no evidence, that any fJDurious or apoc- ryphal books whatever, exifted in the firfl: century of the Chrif^ tian era ; in which century all our hiitorical books are pioved to have been extant. '^ There are no quotations of any fuch books in the apoftoHcal fathers, by whom I meaa Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas, Ignatius and Polycarp, whufe writings reach from about the year of out Lord 70, to the year 108 ;" (and fome of whom have ^oted each and every one of our hlftorical fcriptures) *' T fay this," adds Dr. Lardncr, " becaufe I think it has been proved.'''^
2. Thefe apocryphal writings were not read in the churches of Chriflians ;
3. Were not admitted into their volume ;
4. Do not a]>pear in their catalogues ;
5. Were not noticed by their adverfaries ;
6. Were not alleged by dilFerent parties, as of authority in their controverfies ;
7. Were not the fabje^ls amongfl: them, of commentaries, verfions, coilations, expofitions.
Finally ; befide the fjlence of three centuries, or, evidence within that time of their rejedtion, they were, with a ci nfent searly univcrfal, reprobated by Chiiflian writers of fucceeding ages.
a lb. vol. XII. p. 158.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 131
Although it be made out by thefe obfervatlons, that the books in qucflion never obtained any degree of credit and notoriety, which can place them in competition with our fcriptures, yet it appears from the writings of the fourth century, that many fuch exited in that century, and in the century preceding it. It may be difficult at this diftance of time to account for their orioin. Perhaps the mod: probable explication is, that they were in general compofed with a defign of making a profit by the fale. Whatever treated of the fubjed v/ould find purchafers. It was an advantage taken of the pious curiofity of unlearned Chriftians. With a view to the fame pur|.)ofe, they were ma- ny of them adapted to the particular opinions of particular feds, which would naturally promote their circulation amongft the favourers of thofe opinions. After all, they were probably much more obfcure than we imagirhe. Except the gofpel ac- cording to the Hebrews, there is none, of which we hear more, than the gofpel of the Egyptians ; yet there is good reafon to believe that Clement, a prefbyter of Alexandria in Egypt, A. D. 184, and a man of almod univerfal reading, had never (etn it.^ A gofpel according to Peter, was another of the mod an« cient books of this kind ; yet Rerapion^ bifhop of Antioch, A. D. 200, had not read it, when he heard of fuch a book being in the hands of the Chriltians of RhofTas in Cilicia ; and fpeaks of obtaining a fight of this gofpel from fome fe«5taries who ufed it.^' Even of the gofpel of the Hebrev.s, which confefledly ftands at the head of the catalogue, Jerome, at the end of the fourth century, was glad to procure a copy by the favour cf the Nazareans of Berea. Nothing of this fort ever happened, or could have happened, concerning our gofpela.
One thing is obfervable of all the apocryphal Chriflian wri- tings, that they proceed upon the fam.e fundamental hiflory of Chrid and his a]>oftlts, as that which is difclofed in our fcrip- tures. The miflion of Chrift, his power of working miracles, his communication of that power to the apoftles, his paffion, death and refare(5lion, are alTumed or aiTerted by every one of them. The names under which fome of them came forth, are the names of men of eminence in our hiftories What thefe books give, are not contradi<5lions but unauthorized additions. The principal fa<5ls are fuppofed. the principal agents the fame ; which fhews that thefe points were too much fixed to be alter- . "d or difputed. • • . '
A Tones, vol. I. p. 443. b Lard. Cred. vol. II. p. 557.
ii'2 A VIEW OF THE
If there be any book of this defcription, which appeata t6 have impoled upoa fome confiderable number of learned Chrif- tians, it is the; Sybellyne oracles ; but- when we refled upon the circum(hinces which faci Itated that inipofture, we ftlall ceafe to wonder either at the attcmptj or its faccefs. It was at that time univerf.illy undertT:o.)d that fuch a prophetic writing exifted. Its contents were kept fecret. I'his fituation afforded to fome one a hint., as well as an opportunity, to give out in writing un- der this name, favourable to the already eftabliihed perfualion of Chriitians, and which writing, by the aid and recommendation of thefe circuinfhnces, would in Tome degree, it is probable be received. Of the ancient forgery we know but little ; what is now produced could not, in my opinion, have impofed upon any one : it is nothing elfe than the gofpel hiflory, woven into Latin verfe ; perhqis was at firft rather a fidlion than a forgery ; an exercife of ingenuity more than an attempt to deceive.
CHAP. X.
X HE reader will now be pleafed to recolle(5l, that the tw« points which form the fubjedl of our prefent difcuffion, are. firftj that the founder of ChriiHanity, his alTociates and immediate followers, pafled their lives in labours, dangers, and fufferings ; fecondly, that they did fo, in atteftation of the miraculous hif- lory recorded in our fcriptures.. and folely ill confequence of their belief of the truth of that hlftory.
The argument, by which thefe two jn'opofitions have been hiaintained by us (lands thus :
No hiftoricai ficl, I apprelicnd, is more certain, than that the original propagators of Chriftianity voluntarily fubjeded themfelves to lives of fatigue, danger, and fulferin^, in the pros- ecution of their undertaking. The nature of the undertaking; fehe charader of the perfons employed in it ; the oppofition of their tenets to the fixed opinions and expedations of the coun- try, in which they lirft advanced tliem ; their undiffembled con- demnation of the religiori of all other countries; their total want of power, authority, or force, render it in the higheft de- gree probable that this muft have been the cafe. The proba- bility is increafed» by v/hat We know of the fate of the founder
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 133
of the indltutlon, who was put to death for his attempt ; and by what we alfo know, of the cruel treatment of the converts to the inftitution, within thirty years after its commencement ; both which points are attefted by heathen writers, and bein^ once admitted, Jeave it very incredible, that the primitive emii- faries of the rehgion, who exercifed their miniftry, firfi:, a- mongft the people who had deflroyed their mafter, and, after- wards, amongft thofe who perfecuted their converts, iliould themfelves efcape with impunity, or purfue their purpofe in ed'e and fafety. This probability, thus fuftained by foreign teftimo- ny, is advanced, I think, to hiftorical certainty, by the evidence of our own books ; by the accounts of a writer, who v/as the isompanion of the perfons whofe fufferings he relates ; by the letters of the perfons themfelves ; by predictions of perfecutions afcrJbed to the founder of the religion, which predidions would not have been inferted in his hiftory, much lefs have been fludi- oully dwelt upon, if they had not accorded with the event, and which, even if falfely afcribed to him, couJd only have been fo afcribed, becaufe the event fuggefted them ; iaftly, by incefTant exhortations to fortitude and patience, and by an earneftnefs, repetition, and urgency upon the fubjeft, which were unlikely to have appeared, if there had not been, at the time, fome ex- traordinary call for the exercife of thefe virtues.
It is made out alio, I think, with fufficient evidence, that both the teachers and converts of the religion, in confequence of their new profeflion, took up a new courfe of life and beha- Tiour.
The next great queflion Is, what they did this for. That it wasybr a miraculous ftory of fome kind or other, is to my apprehenfion extremely manifefl ; becaufe, as to the fundamen- tal article, the defignation of the perfon, viz. that this particu- lar perfon, Jefus of Nazareth, ought to be received as the Mef- ilah, or as a mefienger from God, they neither 4iad, nor eould have, any thing but miracles to ftand upon. That the exertions and fufferings of the apoftles vjerefor the ftory which we have now, is proved by the conlideration, that this iioiy is tranfmitted to us by two of their own number, and by two others perfonally conneded with tliem ; that the peculiarity of the narratives prove, that the writers claimed to poflefs ciicumflantiai informa- tion, that from their fituatJon they had full opportunity of ac- quiring fuch information, that they certainly, at Icafl, knewi what their colleagues, their companions, dieir mailers taught ; M
134 A VIEW OF THE
that each of thefe books contains enough to prore the truth of the religion ; that, if any one of them therefore be genuine it is iufficient ; that the genuinenefs however of all of them is made out, as well by the general argaments which evince the genuine- ^efs of the moft undifputed remains of antiquity, as alfo by pe- culiar and fpecific proofs ; viz. by citations from them in wri- tings belonging to a |>eriod immediately contignous to that in which they were publiilied ; by the dilHnguiOied regard paid by early Chriilians to the authority of thefe books (which re- gard was naanifefted by their colleding of them into a volume, ^.ppropriating to that volume titles of peculiar rcfyt^, tranila- ting them into various languages, digefting them into harmonies, writing commentaries upon them, and (till more confpicuoufly, by tlie reading of them in tJieir public airemblies in all pans of the world) by an univerfal agreement with refpeift to the/e books, whilft doubts were entertained concerning fome others ; by contending feds appealing to them ; by the early adverfjiries of the religion not difpiiting their genuinenefs, but, on the contra- ry, treating them ^s the depofitaries of the biltory upon which the religion was founded ; by many formal catalogues of thefe, as of certain and authoiitative writings, publiflied in ditfereat and diftant parts of the ChrifHan world ; lafUy, by the abfence or defedl of the above-cited topics of evidence, when applied to any other hiftories of the fame fnbjed.
Thefe are ftrong argumentc to prove, that the books a<5l:ualljr proceeded from the authors whofe names they bear ; (and have always borne, for there is not a particle of evidence to (how that they ever went under any other) but the ftri6l genuinenefs of the books is perhaps more than is neceflary to the fupport of our proportion. For eren fupixyfTi^g that by reafon of the fi^- lence of antiquity, or tiie lofs of records, we knew not who were the Writers of the four gofpels, yn the f.i&t that they were re- ceived as authentic accoants of the tranfaftion upon which the religion refted, and were rectiv^ed as foch by Chril'Hans at or near the age of the apolHes, by thofe whom the apolHcs had taught, and by focietres which the ajwflles had founded ; this faift, I fiy, connedied with tlie confideration, that they are corroborative of each other's tcdimony, and that thx;y are ftrr- ther corroborated. by another ccmtemporaiy hiltory, taking up the ftory where they had left it, nrrdj in a narrative bnJit upon that llory, accounting for the rife ^ind produ(5i:ion of changes in the jtrotld, the effects of wi>ich fubfiil at this dajt ; coivnedcd, more*.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. J55
over, with the conHrmation which they receive, from letters written by theapoftlesthemfelves, which both afTumethe fame gen- eral ftory, and as often as occafions lead them to do fo, allude to particular parts of it ; and conne(5led alfo with the reiledion, that if the apoftles delivered any different ftory, it is lofl ; (the prefent and no other being referred to by a feiies of Chrirtiaa writers, down from their age to our own ; being likewife recog- nized in a variety of inlHtutions, which prevailed, early and univerfally, amongft the difciples of the religion) and that fo great a change, as the oblivion of one {lory and the fublKiution of another, under fuch circumftances, could not have taken place ; this evidence would be deemed, I apprehend, fufficient to prove concerning thefe books, that, whoever were the authors of them/ they exhibit the (tory which the apolUes told, and for which, confequently, they a.i5>ed, airid tliey lufTcred.
If it be fo, the religion muii be trae, Thefe men could not be deceivers. By Doly not bearing teftimony, tJiey might have avoided all their fafie rings, and have lived quietly. Would men, in fuch circumftances, pretend to have feen what they never fiw ; affert fadls which tiicy had no knowledge of; bring u{x>n theiiafeiKs* fof ootfeia^ e'aoothy an«i hiitred, danger and
136 A VIEW OF THE
PROPOSITION IL
C H A p. I.
Cur firft propofitlon was, '* that there is fathfadory eviJencff that manyy pretending to he crginal luitnejfes of the Chr'ifl'ian Miracles^ puffed their lives in labours^ dangers ^ and fiifflrings^ •vc'iuntarily tu^dcrtahen and undergone, in atttjlationoflhe accounts which they delivered^ and Jolely in conjequence of their belief of the truth of thofe accounts ; and that they aJfofubmitted, from the fame motives, to new rules of conduct,'*
Our fecond propofitlon, and which now remains to be treated of, is, " that there is n ot fatisfatiory evidence, that perfons pre^ tending to he original nvitneffes of any other fimdar mimcles, have aRed in the fame manmr, in atteflation of the accounts nvhich they delivered, and fokly in confluence of their belief of the truth of thofe account sJ^
X ENTER upon this part of my argument, by declaring how far my belief in miraculous accounts goes. If the reformers in the time of Wychliif, or of Luther ; or thofe of England, in the time of Henry the Eighth, or of Qiieen Mary ; or the foun- ders of our religious fcfrsfincc, fuch as were Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Wefley in our times, had undergone the life of toil and exer- tion, of danger and fulfering, which we know that many of them did undergo, for a miraculous ftory ; that is to fay, if they had founded their public miniftiy upon the allegation of jTjiracks wrought within their own knowledge, and upon narra- tives which could not be refolved into delufion or miflake ; and if it had appeared, that their condud really had its origin in thefe accounts. 1 fiiould have- believed them. Or, to borrow an inflance which will be familiar to every one of my readers — If the late Mr. Howard had undertaken his labours andjournies in atteftatlon and in confequence of a clear and fenfibie mira- cle, I fhould have believed him alfo. Or, to reprefent the fame thing under a third fuppolltion — If Socrates had profeffed to perform public miracles at Athens ; if the friends of Socrates, Ph?Edo. Cebes, Crito, and Simniias, together with Plato, and many of his followers, relying upon the atteflation which thefe mir- acles aiTordtd to his prctenfioDs, had, at the hazard of their
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 157
Ikes, andtlie certain exp€nf2 of their eafe and tranquillit^vgonc- about Cireece, aft^r his deathi» to piibjilli and propagate his doiftrines y aiid if tliel^ th.ini^s hud c<)me to our knowletlge, in the iama w^iy, a-S tliat in which tke h& of Socrates, is now tranf- njifctedto us, thicugh the hand's oiHiis companions and difciplec, that is, by writings leceived without doabt as theirs, from the age in which they were pubhflied to th« prefent, I fnould have beheved this likewife. And my belief would, in each cafe, be much lire ngthened, if the fubje$a of the miifion wei-e of impor- tance to tiiecondudarad happinisfg of hwoian hfe; if it teftified any thing which, it behoved mankind to know fr.om fuch authority ; if the nature of what it dtll?/e;ed required the fort of proof "which it alleged ; if the occailon was adequate to the iaterpo- fition, die end worthy of the means. In thelaft cafe, my faith would be much confirmed, if the eifeds of tht tranfadiion re- mained ;. more efpecially, if a change had been wrought, at the time, in tlm opinion and conduct of fuch numbers, as to lay the foundation of an infHtution, and of a fyflem of dD(5irines, which had fince overfpread the.greatelt part of tjae civilized world. I (hould have believed, I fay, feJie tefiimony, in thefe ciifes ; ^^ none of them do more, than come up to the apodollc lijftoryi
If anyone choofo to call a/S:nt to this eyidence, credulity, it is at leTiii incumbent upon him to produce ej?amples, in which the fame evidence hath turned out to be fallacious. And this contains the precife queftion;.which we arc now to agitate.
In ilating the comparifon between our evidence, and what our adverfaries may bring into competition with oiuv's, we will divide the di(lin<5tions which we vyilh to propofe into two kinds, thofe which relate to tlie proof, and thofe wjiich rtiate to the miracles. Under the former head we may lay outrof the cafe,
I. Such accounts of fupernatural events, 'm are found on* iy in hiftories, by fome ages poiterior to the tranfatlion ; and of which it is evident that the hiftorian could know little more than his reader. Our's is contemporary hidory. This iJifFer- cnc^ alone removes out of our way the miraculous hifloi-y of Pythagoras, who lived five hundred years before the ChrifHan era, written by Porphyry and Jamblicus, who lived three hun- dred yeais after that era ; the prodigies of Livy's hiftory j the f^les of the heroic ages ; the whole of the Greek and Roman, as well as of the Gothic mythology ; a great part of the leg- endary hillory of Pcpifh faints^ the very btA aUefv«idQf which; = M 2 .
J 38 A VIEW OF THE
is extratTted from the certificates that ate exhibited during the procefs of their canonization, a ceremony which feldom takes place till a century after their deaths. It applies alfo with con- iiderable force to the miracles of Apollonius Tyaneus which are contained in a folitary hiftory of his life, publiflied by Philortratus, above a hundred years after his death ; and, in which, whether Philoilratus had any prior account to guide him depends upon his fingle unfupported afTertion. Alfo to fome of the miracles of the third century, efpecially to one ex- traordinary inft?.nce, the account of Gregory, bifhop of Neoce- larea, called Thaumaturgus, delivered in the writings of Gre^ gory of NyfTen, who lived one hundred and thirty years after the fubje(Stwf his panegyric.
The value of this circumftance is fhown to have been accu- rati^ly exemplified, In the hiftory of Ignatius Loyola, the found- er of the order of Jefuits.^ His life, written by a companior* of his, and by one of tlie order, was publiflied about fifteen years after his death. In which life, the author, fo far from afcribing any mirachs to Ignatius, induftrioully dates the rea- fons, why he was not invefkd with any fuch power. The life was re-publiflied fifteen years afterwards witli the addition of jnany circumftances, which were the fruit, the author fays, or further inquiry, and of diligent examination ; but ftlU with a total filencc about miracles. When Ignatius had been dead near fixty years, the Jefuits conceiving a v/ilh to have the foun- der of their order placed in the Roman calenJar, began, as it -hould feem, for the fir ft time to attribute to him a catalogue of miracle's, which could not then be diilindly difproved ; and which there was in thofe who governed the church, a (trong dii- pofition to admit upon the raofl {lender proofs.
II. We may lay out of the cafe, accounts publifhed in one country, of what paffed in a diftant country, without any proof that fuch accounts v/ere known or received at home. In the Cede of Ciiriftianity, Judea, which was the fcene of the tranfac- lion, was the centre of the miflion. The (lory was publilhed m the place in which it \\?.s adtcd. The church of Chi ill was lirft planted at Jerufalem itlelf. With that chinch others cor- lefpouced. From thence the primitive teachers of the inftitu- tlon went forth ; thither they afiVmbled. The church of Jerufa- km and the feveral chu.ches of Judea fubfifted from the be-
>PougUfs's CriurloD of Minc1e«, p 74.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 13^
ginning, and for many ages,^ received alfo the fame book4 and the fame accounts as other churches did.
This didincStion difpofes, amongft others, oF the abovemen* tioned miracles of Apollonius Tyaneus, moil of which are rela- ted to have been performed in India, no evidence remaining that either die miracles afcribed to him, or the hiftory of thofe miracles, were ever heard of in India. Thofe of Francis Xavier, the Indian miffionary, with many others of the Romifh brevi- ary, are Hable to the fame objedion, viz. that the accounts of them were publifhed at a vaft diftance from the f^ippofed fcene of the wonders.^
-III. We lay out of the cafe tranfient twmows. Upon the firft publication of an extraordinary account, or even of an ar- ticle of ordinary intelligence, no one, who is not perfonally ac- quainted with the tranfadion, can know whether it be true or falle, becaufe any man may publifli any ftory. It is in the fu- 'ture confirmation, or contradiction of the account ; in its per- manency, or its difappearance ; its dying away into filencc, or its increafing in notoriety ; its being followed up by fubfequent accounts, and being repeated in different and inde})endent ac-. counts, that folid truth is diflinguifhed from fugitive lies. This diilinclion is altogether on the fide of Cbriftianity. The ftory did not drop. On the contrary, it was facceeded by a train of a<5tions and events dependent upon it. The accounts which.we have in our hands were compofed after the fir{l reports muil have fubfided. They were followed by a train of writings upon the fubje^t. The hiftorical teiVimonies of the tranfaftion were ma- ^y and various, and connedted with letters, difcourfes, contro- verfies, apologies, fuccefilvely produced by the fame tranfadion.
IV. We may layout of the cafe what I call «^/W hiftory. It has been faid, that if the prodigies of the Jewift hiftory had been found only in fragments of Manetho, or Berofus, we fhould kave paid no regard to them- : and I am. willing to" ad- mit this. If we knew nothing of the fact but from the frag- ment ; if we poffeiTed no proof that thefe accounts had been credited and a6ted upon, from times, probably, as ancient as the accounts themfelves j if we had no vifible effe(fts connect- ed with the hiftory, »o fubfequent or collateral tcftlmony
* The fucccfLon of many eminent bifliops of Jerufalem, in the three firft centuries, is ciiftin<flly prefcrved, as Akxiodtr, A, D. »IZ, wha fu*;>cetUtd NarciiTus, ihcii 116 ytars old. t- Doug. Cric. p. 84,
i4P A VIEW- OF THE
tp con^irni. k j unde? th^ circum (lances, I think thftf i$ would be undeferving of credit. But this certainJy is ^^k our cafe. In ajjpreciafiijDg tki.' evidcjucu of Chr-iftia^ityj the books are. t^ be conibiijcd witjh t!ie iiiiliLution ;,. with tlic pr^v4- leQcy qt' tJie religiaii ai thi.& day ; widvtbe dn^^s and plnca ot' ii,s origin, v/luch are acknov/ltdged points ;, vudi the Gircumii.ftijr pes of itirife and progrefs, ia collecbed from exDjtnal hilcory ; with the fa<Stof ourprefenL books bein^ received by the votcuie;* q£ the inftitution from the beginfiing ; with that of other books comipg after thefe, filled with accounts of the dkds aad con- fequences refjdtiao tVcra the Lranfa(^>ion, or refening to the trani- a^tioH, or bujk Hf^n it ; laftly, wth tl.e co»'iii(jeration of the Dumber and variety- o£ th^ bool-is tbenifelvss, the diiTereiu wri- ters from which th^y- proceed, the different views with which t^ey were v>^ritten, lb difagreeiog, as to, repel the fufpieion cf confederacy, fo agr-eeing, a^to Ihow that they were founded in a comiTK)n origiuaJ, i. e. irj a (lony fiibftantially the fan;e. V/hether this proof bedajis^^/^oj v or not* if is properly a cuBHii ktion of evidence, by- no m^jans a; nak-ed or- fpUtary record,
V. A mark of hii^orical truth, ahhoiigh ooly in- a certaia way, and to a certain- degree, isparticular'Uy in names, dates, pla- ces, circumftances, and in the order of events preceding or fol- lowing the tranfavilion : of, which, kind,, for inftaoce, is the par- ticularity in the defcription of-St-.P-aurs vx>y,age iind fhipwreck, in, the 27th clvaj^er of the Atfts, which no maOj I think cai read without being convinced that the writer was there ; ami ajfo in the account of the cure and examination of the blind; Bian, in the ninth chapter of St. John's gofpel, which bears ev^ ^ry mark of perfonal knowledge on the part of the" hiftorian./* I do not deny that liclioi^ has often the particularity of truth j but then it is of (ludied and elaborate ii(3:iun, or of a formal- at- tempt to deceive, that we obferve this. Since, however, expe- rience proves that particularity is not confmed to truth, I have ilated that it. is a proof of truth, only tq a certain extent, i. e. i^ reduces the quettion tp this, whett-i"teT we can depend or not upon the probity of tlie relator.; which is aconridcrable advartce ip our prefent argument ; for an cxpitfi attempt to deceive, v^ whidi, cafe alone particularity car) appear without truth, is changed upon the evangclids by few. If the hiftorian acknowl- edge liimfelf to have received his intelligence from .others, the
a Both tuefe chapters ought to be read for tbc fake cf this very ol>- /crvation, ,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 141
particularity of the narrative fhows, prima facky the accuracy of his inquiries, and the fulnefs of his information. This remark belongs to St. Luke's hiftory. Of the particularity which we allege, many ejiamples may be foufKl in all the gofpels. And it is very difficult to conceive, that fuch numerous particulari- ties, as are almoft every where to be met with in- the fcripUires, fliould be ralfed out of nothing, or be fpun out of the imagina- tion, without any fa^ft to go upon.^
It is to be remarked, however, that this particularity is only to be looked for in dired hiifory. It is not natural in refer- ences or allufions, which yet, in other refpeds afford often, as far as they go, the mofl: unfufpicious evidence.
VI. We lay oat of the cafe fuch (lories of fupernatural events, as require^ on the part of the hearer, nothing more than an otlofe afient ; (lories upon which nothing depends, in which no intereft is involved, nothing is to be done or changed in con- fequence of believing them. Such (lories are credited, if the careiefs a(rcnt that is given to them deferve that name, more by the indolence of the hearer than by his judgment ; or, though not much credited, are pa(red from one to another without inquiry or refinance. To this cafe, and to this cafe alone, belongs what is called the love of the marvellous. I have never known it carry men further. Men do not fuf- fer perfecutlon from the love of the marvellous. Of the in- different nature we are fpeaking of, are mofl: vulgar errors and popular fuperftitions : mo(f, for inftance, of the cur- rent reports of apparitions. Nothing depends upon their be- ing-true or falfe. But not, furely, of this kind were the alleged miracles of Chrill and his apoftles. They decided, if true, the raoft important queftion, upon which the human mind can fix its anxiety. Thty claimed to regulate the opin- ions of mankind, upon fubje(5ts in which they are not only deep-
a « There is always feme truth where there are confiderable particu- larities related ; and they always leem to bear fome proportion to oae another. Thus there is a great want of the particulars of time, place, and ptrfons, in Manetho's account of the Egyptian Dyuafties, Etefias's of the Affyrian kings, and thofe which the technical chronologers have given of the ancient kingdoms of Greece ; and agreeably thereto, thefe accounts have much ficTtion and falfehood, with fome truth: where- as Thucydides's hiftory of the Pcloponnefian war, and Cxfar's of the war in Gaul, in both which the particulars of time, place, and perfons are mentioned, are univerfally efteemcd true to a great degree of es- ac^nefs," Hartley, vol II. p. 109.
HZ A VIEW OF THE
ly concerned, biU ufually refrudory and obllinate. Mea could Bot be Mtterly careltfs ioi'uch a cafe as this. W A Jew took up the ibry, he found his darling partiality to his own nation and law wounded ; if a Gentile, he found his idolatry and polythe- ifm reprobated and condemned. Whoever entertained the ac- count, whether Jew or Gentile, could not .ivoid the following reiicclion :~« If tl:efe things be true, I niufi: give up the opin- ions and principles in which I have been brought up, the reli- gion ia which my fathers lived aad died," It is not conceiva- ble that any Rian fliould do this upon any idle report or frivolous account, ot, indeed, witliout being fully fatisfied and convinced of the trudi and credibility of the narrative to which he trufted. ]^0t it did nor ftop at opinions. They who believed Chriftian- ity, a<f^ed upon it. Many made it the exprefs buOnefs of their lives to publifli the inte4iigence. It was inquired of thofe, who iidmltted that intelligence, to change foFthwith their condud and their principles, to take up a d-ifFevent courfe oflife^to part with their habits and gratifications, and begin a new fet of rules ^nd fy(tem of behaviour. The apoftles, at Icaft, were interelied |}0t to fricrifice their eafe, their fortunes, and their lives, for an idle tale ; multitudes befide them were induced, by the faiue tale to encoi^nter oppofition, danger and fufferings.
1{ it be faid, that the mere promife of a futuie ihitc \¥0ul4 do all fcbis, I anfwer, that the niQie piornile of a futar^ ftate, witla- 0Wt any evidence to give credit or aiTttrance to it, w<>ttld( do Bothin.g. A few wandering fiib^crnien talking of a refurvediiO^ ©f the dead could produce no effect. If it be fiirtl-ber faid, tha.t fiaen eafiiy believe, what tUey anxioufly defire, I again aelwer that in my opinion, the very contrary of this is nearer the tEuti^. Aoxiety of defue, earneftr^^fs of expectation, the vaAnefs of au event, rather,cai/es noei^ to di(^.'li.cve, to doubt, to dread a faU lacy, to dirtrud, and to examine. Whea our Lord's reluri!;^c- tlon v/as firlt reported to the apoftles, they did not believe, we -are told, for joy. rhis was- »atoral, and is agreeabk to expe- rience.
VII. We have laid out of the cafe thofe accounts, which rccj-uire no more than a fimpk aijcat ; aijid we n&w al^ la.y out q£ the cafe thofe whicU coaic n>errely- U a^rma^ci^ ^ opimoas already formed. Tkis l*ft- ei-rGamliaHce it is of the ucaioii isw- portance to notice v/efh It has long been obferv^d, that Po- j^^fli miracles happen in PopiOi countries ; that they make no converts ; which proves that (tori«is aj;e acteptsd, wfccn tli^^^ fvill
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 145
in Vv'ith principles already fixed, with the public fentiments, 6t with the ftntimtnts of a party alreiKly engaged on the fide the miracle fupports, which would not be attempted to be produced in the face of enemies, in oppofition to reigning tenets or favour- ite prejudices, or when if they believed^ the belief mufi: draw men away from their pre-conceived and habitual opinions, from their modes of life and rules of a^^lion. In the former cafe, men may not only receive a miraculous account, but may both a<5t and fuffer on the Mq and in the canfe which the miracle fupports, yet not ad or fufter/ar the miracle, but in purfuance of a prior perfuafion. The miracle, like any other argument which only confirms what was before believed, is ad- mitted with little examination. In the moral, as in the natural world, it is change which requires a caiife. Men are eafily for- tifted in their old opinions, driven from them with great diffi- culty. Now, how does this apply to the Chriftian hiflory ? the miracles there recorded were wrought in the midft of enemies, vaid&r a government, a pried hood and a magiftracy decidedly and vehemently adverfe to them and to the pretentions which \^cy fupported. Tliey were Proteftant miracles in a Popifli CouMry ; they were Fopifti miracles inthemidflof Proteftants. They produced a change ; they eftablifhed a focitety vipon the fpot adhering to the belief of them ; they rhade converts, and thofe who were converted, gave up to the telHmony their mo^t fixed opinions, and moft favourite prejudices. They who alli- ed and fufferedin the caufe, acted and fufFeredy^'r the miracles ; fefr there was no anterior perfutt^on to induce them, no prior reverence, prejudice or partiality to ta'kc hold of. Jefus had a©t orve follower when he fet up hk claim. His miracles gave h'nik to bis feift. No |^^rt of th.is defcrij^'ion belongs to the or- dinary evidenee of heathen or Po^^ifh ^•^i1•acle3. Eve'n rft'off of the miracles alleged to hiare l>€en peffo^rmed by Chriftiaris, in tbe fecorid and third century of its era, wa'nt this eon^rmation. It <:o«fiitGtes indeed a liti^' of psrtrtiion between the m-igrn and ppogrcfs of Chriftianity. Frauds and fallacies might mix them- feives with the progrefi, which could \iQt pofiibly take place in \h^ coramencerncnt of the religion ; at leafl: according to any laws of huiv.ati Gandii<5l thitt we are accpjainted \Wth. What ftKm'id faggeft to the iirlt pt'oparratortj of Clyriilianity, ef])eda?iy to filhermen, tax-gatherers, and hudjar.dmen, fuch a thought as that of changing the reiigron of the world ; what could bear them through the difficulties, in *»hie1i the a«cmpt ' engaged
144 A VIEW OF THE
them ; what could procure any degree of fuccefs to the attempt ; are qaefllons which apply,, with great force, to the fetting out of the inflitutlon, with lefs to every future ftage of it.
To hear fome men talk, one would fuppofe the fetting up of a religion by miracles to be a thing of every day's experience, whereas the whole current of hiftory is againfl it. Hath any founder of a new (edt amongft; Chridians pretended to miracu- lous powers and fucceeded by his pretenfions ? *' Were thefe powers claimed or exercifed by the founders of the fe<5ls of the Waldenfes and Albigenfes ? lad Wichiilf in England pre- tend to it ? Did Hufsor Jerome in Bohemia ? Did Luther in Germany, ZuingJius in Switzerland, Calvin in France, or any of the reformers advance this plea ?"'* The French prophets, in the beginning of the prefent century, ventured to allege mi- raculous evidence, and immediately ruined their caufe by their temerity. " Concerning the religion of ancient Rome, of Tur- key, of Siam, of China, a fingle rniracle cannot be named, that was ever offered as a teft of any of thofe religions before their eftablifhment.^
We may add to what has been obferved, of the diftln(5llon which we are confidering, that, where miracles are alleged merely in affirmance of a prior opinion, they who believe the doftrine may fometimes propagate a belief of the miracles which they do not ihemfelves entertain. This is the cafe of what are called pious frauds ; but it is a cafe I apprehend, which takes place, folely in fupport of a perfuafion already ef^abliflied. At lead it does not hold of the apoftolical hiftory. If the apoftles did not believe the miracles, they did nx>t believe the religion ; and, without this behef, where was the p'lety^ what place was there for any thing, which could bear the name or colour of])i- ety, in publiiliing and attefting miracles in its behalf? If it be faid that many promote the belief of revelation and of any ac- counts which favour that belief, becaufe they think them, wheth- er well or ill founded, of public and political utility, I anfwer, that if a chara^er exift, which can with lefs juflice than another be afcribed to the founders of the Chriftian religion, it is that of politicians, or of men capable of entertain-ng political viev/s. The truth is, that there is no affignable charafter, which will ac- count for the condud of the apolUes, fuppofing their ftory to be
a Campbell on Miracles, p. I20, cd. 1766. *> AdancM on Mir. p.fj.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 145
fa.\Ce. If bad men, what could induce them to take (uch pains to promote virtue ? If good men, they would not have gone about the country with a firing of lies in their mouths.
In appreciating the credit of any miraculous ftory, thefc are diftindions which relate to the evidence. There are other diftindions, of great moment in the queftion, which relate to the miracles thenifelves. Of which latter kind the following ought carefully to be retained.
I. It is noc necefiary to admit as a miracle, what can be refolved into a fdfe perception. Of this nature was the demon of Socrates ; the vifions of St. Anthony, and of many others ; the vifion which Lord Herbert of Cherbury defcribes himfeit to have feen ; Colonel Gardiner's vifion, as related in his hfe, written by Dr. Doddridge. All thefe may be accounted foi by a momentary infinity ; for the characleriftic fymptom of hu- man m^^dnefs is the rifing up in the mind of images not diftin- guifnable by the patient from impreflions upon the fenfcs.^- The cafes, however, in which the poflibility of this delufion exifts, are divided from the cafes in which it does not exift, by many, and thofe not obfcure marks. They are, for the moil part, cafes of vifions or voices. The object is hardly ever touched. The vifion fubmits not to be handled. One fenfe does not confirm another. They are likewife almoft always cafes of a fol'itary witnefs. It is in the higheft degree improbable, and I know not, indeed, whether it hath ever been the fact, that the fame derangement of the mental organs fhould feize different perfons at the fame time ; a derangement, 1 mean, fo much the fame, as to reprefent to their imagination the fame obje<5i:s. L-altly, thefe are always cafes q{ momentary miracles ; by which term I mean to denote muracles, of which the whole exigence is of fliort duration, in contradi{lin<ft!on to miracles which are attended with permanent clfcds. The appearance of a fpedre, the hearing of a fjpernatural found, is a m.omentary miracle. The fenfible proof is gone, Vv^hen the apparition or found is over. But if a pcrfon born blind be reftored to fight, a notorious crip- ple to the ufc of his limbs, or a ^^^^. man to life, here is a perma- nent effed produced by fupernatural means. The change indeed was inflantaneous, but the proof cortinues. The fubjed of the miracle remains. The man cured or redored is there : his for- mer condition was known, and his prefent condition may be ex-
a Batty on lunacy.
N
M A VIEW OF THE
am'ined. This can by no poflibility be refolved into Ailfe per- ception : and of this kind are by far the grenter part of the mi- racles recorded in the New Teftament. When Lazarus was ■laifed from the dead, he did not merely move, and fpeak, and die regain ; or conic out of the grave and vanifh away. He returned to his home and his family, and there continued ; for V^e find hir', fome time afterwards, in the fame town, fitting at table with Jefus and his lirters ; vifitcd by great multiiudes of the Jews, as a fubje6t of curiofity ; giving by his prefence fo much uneafmefs to the Jewiih rulers, as to beget in them a de- fign of deftroying him.^ No delufion can account for this. The French prophets in England, fome ti-me fince, gave out that one of their teachers wovild come to life again, but their enthii- fjafm never made them believe that they adiually faw him alive. The blind man, whofe refloration to light at Jerufalem is record- ed in the ninth chapter of St. John's gofpel, did not quit the place, or conceal himfelf from inqniry. On the contrary, he was forthcoming, to anfwer the call, to fatisfy the fcrutiny, and to fuftitin the brov/oeating of GhtifFs angry and pov-/erfi:l ene- mies. When the cripple at the gate of the temple was fudden- ly cured by Peter,^ he did r/Ot immediately relapfe into his former lam.enefs, or difappear out of the city : but boldly jind honeftly produced liimfclf along with the apofrles, when they were brought the next day before the Jewiih council.^ Here, though the miracle \vas fudden, the proof was permanent. The lamenefs had been notorious, the cute continued. This, therefore, could not be the effed of any momentary delirium, either in the fiibjt(ft or in the witndfcs of the tranfa<5lion. It is the dime witji the greatcft number of the fcriptuie miracles. There are other cafes of a w/.vr'J nature, in which, although the principal miracle be momentary, fome circumflpnce com- bined with it is permanent. Of tliis kind is the hiflory of St. Paul's converfion.*^ The fudden ligbt and found; the vifion and the voice, upon the road to I)amafcus, were momenta- ry ; but Paul's blindntfs for three days in confeqaence of what had happened ; the communicafion made to Ananias i:i another place, and by a vifion inde}>endent of t!ie former^; Ananias finding out Paul in confeqaence of intelligence fo re- ceived, and fmding him in the condition defcribed, and PaulV
a John x"i. i, 2, 9. to. ^ Ac\s iii. i.
c A^s iv. 14. '^ Accb ix.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 147
yecovery of his fi^ht upon Ananias laying his hands upon him ;' are circumilances, v/hich take the tranfadtion, and th.e princi- pal miracle as included in it, entirely out of the cafe of mo- mentary miracles, or of fuch as may be accounted for by fdlfe perceptions. Exadly the f\me thing may be obferved of Pe- ter^s vifion preparatory to the call of Corrtliiis, and of its con- nexion with what was imparted in a dirtant place to Cornelius himfelf,- and with the mefla^^e difpatche-* by Cornelius to Peter. The vifion might be a dream, the melTage could not. Either conmiunication, taken feparateiy, might be a delufion ; the concurrence of the two was iaipofHuIe to happen without a fu- per natural cauf?.
Eefide the liil; of delufion, which attaches upon momentary miracles, there is alfo much more room for impoftiire. The account cannot- be exaniined at the moment; And, when that is alio a moment of hurry and confulion, it may not be difEcult/ for men of influence to gain credit to any (lory, which they' may wiili to have believed. This is precifely the cafe of one of the beft atteited of the miracles of old Rome, the appearance of Caftor and PctIIux in the battle fought by Pofthumius with the Latins at the lake Regillus. There is no doubt but that Podhumius after the battle, fpread the report of fuch an appear- ance. No pei (on could deny it, whilii it was faid to laft. No ])eifon, perhaps, had any inclination to difpute it afterwards ; or, if they had, could fay with pofitivenefs, what was, or what was not feen, by fome or otlicr of the army, in the difmay, and'^ umidft the tumult of a battle.
In affigning falfe perceptionsj as the origin to which fome miraculous accounts may be referred, I have not mentioned claims to infpiration, ilium.inations, fecret notices or directions, internal fenfations, or ccnfcioufneffes of being aded upon by fpiritual influences; good or bad, becaufe, thefe appealing to no external proof, however convincing they may be to the perfons tiiemfelves, form no part of what can be accounted miraculous evidence. 'I'heir own credibility ftands upon their alliance with other miracles. The dlfcuflion, therefore, of all fuch prctenfions may be omitted.
II. It is not neceffary to bring into the comparifon what may be called tentative miracles ; that is, where, out of a great number of trials, fome fucceed, and in the accounts of which, although the narrative of the fuccefsful cafes be alone preferv- €tlj. and that of the unfucccfsfui cafes funk, yet enough is
J48 A VIEW OF THE
ftated to Hiow that the cafes produced are only a few out of many in which the fame means have been employed. This cbfervation bears, with confiderable force, upon the ancient or- acles and auguries, in which a fingle coincidence of the event with the predidion is talked of and mtignified, whilft failures are forgotten, or fupprefied, or accounted for. It is alfo ap- plicabl(i to the cures wrought by relics, and at the tombs of laints. The boafted "fficacy of tl:e king'-s touch, upon which Mr. Hume lays fome ilrefs, falls under the fame defcription. Nothing is alleged concerning it, which is not alleged of vari- ('us noiFrums, namely, out of many thoufands who have ufecl them, ceriified proofs of a few who have recovered after them. No foluticn of this fort is a))plicable fo ilie m/tracles of the gof- ptl. There is nothing in the nariatlve which can induce, or even allow us to believe, that Chrift attentpted cures in many inflances,* and fucceeded in a few ; or that he ever made the attempt in vain. He did not profefs to heal every where all that were lick ; on the contrary, he told the Jews, evidently meaning to reprefent his own cafe, that " although many wid- ows were in Ifrael in the days of Elias, when the heaven was fhut up three years and fix months, when great famine was through- out all the land, yet unto none of them v/as Elias fent, fave unto Sarepta,a city or Siclon,untoawomanthatwasawidow:" audthat ** raanyleperswerein Ifraelin the time of Elifeus the prophet, and none of them was cleanfed faving Naaman the Syrian."^ By which examples he gave them to underftand, that it was not the nature of a divine interpofition, or neceffary to its purpofe, to be general ; ftill lefs, to anfwer every challenge that might be made, which would teach men to put their faith upon thtfe experiments. Chriil never pronounced the word, but the ef- fefl followed.^ It was not a thoufand fick that received his benedidlon, and a few that were benefited : a (ingle paralytic is kt down in his bed at Jefus's feet, in the midit of the iur-
a Luke iv. 25. ^ One, and only one, inflance may he produced in u hich the d'rfapkt of Chrifl dij fcem to have atttmpted a cure, and not to have bet n able to perform it. The Aciry is very ingenucufly and candidly related by three of the cvangelifh.* The patient was afterwards healed by Chrift himfelf ; and the whole tranfaeStion feems to have been intended, as it was well fuittd, to difplay the fuperiority of Chrift above all who per- formed miracles in hi;, name ; a diOindtion which, during his prefence v\ the world, it might be necclTary to inculcate by fome fucli proof as this* * Mark ix. 14. Mat, ?.iv. 20,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 145
younding multitude ; Jefus bid him walk, and he did {o.^ A man with a withered hand is in the fynagogue ; Jems bid him flretch forth his hand, in the prefence of the a/Tembly, and i-t was *' reilored whole like the other."^ There was nothing tentative in thefe cures ; nothing that can be explained by the- power of accident.
We may obferve alfo that many of the cures which Chrid wrought, fuch as that of a perfon blind from his birth, alfo ma- ny miracles befide cures, as ralfing the dead, walking upon the Tea, feeding a great multitude v/ith a few loaves and fifties, are' of a nature which does not in any wife admit of the fuppofition- of a fortunate experiment.
III. We may difniifs from the quefuion ali accounts in "which, allowing the. phenomenon to be real, the faci: to be true, it ftili^ remains doubtfal whether a miracle were wrought. This is the cafe with the ancient hiftory of what is called the thun- dering legion, of the extraordinary circumftances which ob- rrru6tcdthe rebuilding of the temple at j.ciufaleni by Julian, the circling of the flames and fragrant fiiicll at the martyrdom of Polycarp, the iiidden fiiovver. that extinguiihed the fire into which the fciiptm>^were thrown in the -Diocletian perfecution ; Conliandne's dream, Iiis infcribing in confequence of it the crofs upon his (land a rd and the fhields of his foJdiers ; his victory^, and the efcape of the llandard bearer- ; perhaps alfo the imagin- ed appearance of the crofs in the heavens, though this lall cir- ciimifance is very deficient in hiilorical evidence^ It is alfo the cafe with theniodern annual exhibition of liquefa6ionof the blood of St. Januarlus at Napiec-.^ It is a doubt hkewife, which ought to be excluded by very fpecial circumftances, from thefe narra- tives which relate co the fupernataral cureof hypochxindriacal and nervous complaints, and of ail diieafes which are much affeded by the imagination. . The miracles of the fecond and third cen- tury are, ufaary, healing the fick^ and calling out evil fpirita, miracles in which there is room for fonis error and deception. We hear nothing of caufing the blind to fee, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be clear.kd.'^ There arc alfo in- fiances in Chriftian writers cf reputed niiiacies, which were natural operations though not known to be fuch at the time, ar, that of articuliite fpeech after the Icfs of a great part of thii- tongue. .
» Mark ii. 3. b M^'-t. xli. lo. c JgriiaV ^^c.\, vol, II. p, 51,- N 2:
i5<^ A VIEW OF THE
IV. To the fame head of cbjefflion nearly, may alfo be referred accounts, in which the variation of afmall circumlhnce may have transformed feme extraordinary appearance, or fome critical coincidence of events, into a miracle j iiories, in a word, which may be refolved into exaggeration. The miracles of the gofpel can by no pofTibility be explained away in this manner. Total lidion will account for any thing ; but no ftretch of ex- aggeration that has any parallel in other hiitories, no force of fancy upon real circumilances, could produce the narrative which we now have. The feeding of the £ve thoufand with a few loaves and fifhes furpaifes all bounds of exaggeration. The rai-^ ling of Lazarus, of the widow's fon at Nain, as well as many of the cures which Chrift wrought, come not within the compafs of mifreprefentation. I mean, that it is impoffible to aflign any pofition of circumftances, however pecu'iar, any accidental ti\ fects, however extraordinary, any natural fingularity, which, could fupply an origin or foundation to thefe accounts*
Having thus enumerated feveral exceptions, which may jud^ ly be taken to relations of miracles, it is neceflary, when we- read the fcriptures to bear in oui' mind this general remarlc, that although there be mir^cks recorded in the New Teftament,. ■which fall within fome or other of the exceptions here aligned, yet that they are united with others, to which none ofihe fame exceptions extend, and that theix credibility Hands upon this unioa. Thus the vifions and revelations- which St. Paul aflerts, to have feeen imparted to him, may not, in their feparate evi- dence, be diftioguifhable from the vifions and revelations which, many others haye alleged But here is the difference. St.. Paul's pretenfions were atteiled by external miracl.;;s wrought by himfelf, and by miracles wrought in the caufe to which thefe vifions relate ; or, to fpeak ms^re propciiy, the fame hillorical au- thority vvhic h informs us of one, informs us of the other. This is not ordinarily true of the vifions of enthiifiaf^s, or even of the ac- counts in which they ^re contained. Again, fome of thrift's own. miracles \ycit moyuyUafy ; as the transfiguration, the appearance and yoice from heaven at ChriiVs baprinn, a voice fiomthcclouds ijpon one occidion aftervv'ards, (John xii. 31. ) and fome others. It is notdenied, that feiie diilinftion which we have propofcd concern- ing miiaclcs of this fpecles, appHes in di.minut'on of the force of the evidence as much to thele infrances, as to others. But ^is is the cafe, rwt with a:l the miracles afcribed to Ci'ii^-, ftQir with the greater part, nor with nuny. WhaUver force
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 151
therefore there may be in the objedlion, we have numerous miracles which are free from it; and even thofe to which it is applicable, are little afFevfled by it in their credit, becaufe there are few, who, admitting the reft, will reje6: //)i?w. If there be miracles of the New redament, which come within any of the other heads into which we have diftributed the objedions^ the fame remark rauft be repeated. And this is one way, ia which the unexampled number and variety of the miracles af^ ciibed to Chrift, Itrengthens the credibility of Chriitianitj'-. For it precludes any folution, or conje<fture about a folution,. which imagination, or even which experience might fuggefl concerning fome particular miracles, if confidcred independent- ly of others. The miracles of Chrift were of various kinds, * and performed in great varieties of fituation, form and manner 5 at Jerufalem, the metropolis of the Jevviili nation and religion, in different parts of Judea and Galilee ; in cities, in villages ;, in fynagogues, in piivate houfes ; in the ftreet, in highways;; with preparation, as in the cafe of Lazarus, by accident, as ia the cafe of the widow's fon at Nain ; when attended by multir tudes, and when alone wiih the patient ; in the midft o£ his difciples, and Jn the prefence of his enemies ;- with the common people around him, and before fcribes and pharifees. and rulers of the fyn?.gogues.
I apprehend that, vvhen we remove from the comparifon the cafes v/hicli are fairly difpofed of by the obfervattons that have been dated, many cafes will net remain. To thofe which do. remain, we apply this Rnal diuincftion ; ** that there is not fat- isfo/tory evidence, that perfons pretending to be original wit« nefies of the miracles, palled their lives in labours, dangers and fiifferings, voluntariJy undertaken and undergone in, atteflation of the accounts v;hich they delivered, and properly in confe- quence of their belief of the truth of thofe apqounts.'*
•1 Not only healing every fpccies of diTeare, but turning water into wine (Jchnii. ;) tending multituUes with a fgw loaves and fiHlcs (Mat xiv. 14. Mark. vi. 35. I^uke ix. 17. John iv. 5. :) walking. on the fea (Mat. xJy- 13 :) ca?ming,a ftorm (Mat. viii. a6. Luke viii. aj.;) a cc!e(l;a} voice at his. baptifm, and miraculous, appearance (Mat. iii. 1.7. afterward; John xii. 28. ;) his trans^^iiratjon (Mat. xvii, i-— 8, Mark ix. 2. Luke ix. 28. Ep. Peter i. ro, 17.;) railing the dead in three difti lA inftancco (Mat, x, 18. Mark.v. a^.Lukc viii. 41. Lyke \ii. 14. Jphn xi.)
15^ A VIEW OF THE
CHAP. II.
B
UT they, with wliom wa argue, have undoubtedly a right to eledl their own examples. The inftances, with which Mr. Plume liath chofen to confront the miracles of the New Tef- tament, and which, therefore, we are entitled to regard, as the ftrongeH: which the hillory of the world could fupply to the in- quiries of a very acute and learned adverfary, are the three fol- lowing :
1. The cure of the blind and of a lame man at Alexandria, by tlie emperor Velpafian, as related by Tacitus.
2. The reftoration, of a limb to an attendant in a Spanilli church, as told by Cardinal de Retz ; and
3. The cures faid to be performed at the tomb of the Abbe Paris, in the early part of the prefent century.
I. The narrative of Taciias is delivered in thefe terms- " One of the common people of Alexandria, known to be dif- eafed in his ej^es, by the admonition of the god Serapis, whom that fuperiHtiaus nation wcrilup above all other gods, proftrattd himfelf before the emperor, earneftly imploring from him a remedy for his blindneis, and entreating, that he would deign to anoint \\nt\i his fpittle -his cheeks and the balls of his eyes. Another, difeafed in his hand, requeued, by the admonition of." the famd god, that he might be touched by the foot of the em- peror. Vefpallan at f rft derided and dcfpifed their application ; ; after v/ards, when they continued to urge their petiiions, he,, fometime?, a^^peared to dread tlie imputation of vani^ty ; at oth- er times, bv the earned fupplication of the patients, and the perfuafion of his flatterers, to be induced to hope, for fuccefs. At length he commanded an inquiry to be made by phyficians, whether fuch blindnefs and debility were vincible by human i aid. The report of the phyficians contained various points ; tha: in the one, the power of vifion Vv'as net oedroyed, bu: would return, if the obllacles were removed ; that in the ether, the diftaftd joints might be rellored, if a heahng power wei e ajrplied ; that it was, perhaps, agreeable to the gods to do this; that the emperor was elected by divine aiTillance ; ladly, that the credit of the fucctfs v.'ould be the eniptror's, the ridi- cule of thedifippolmment would fall upon the patients. Vtff a- fian, believing thpt every thing was in the. pcv/er ef his fcrtuur aiid t.hi;t nothing was any longer in«-jr;dibie; whilil ih«, multiludi
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. J53
which flood bv, eagerly expelled the event, with a countenance expreffive of' joy executed what he was he defired to do. Im- mediately the hand was rcflored to its ufe, and light returned to the blind man. They who were preltnt, relate both thefe cures, even at this time, when there is nothing to be gained by lying."-^-
Now, although Tacitus wrote this account twenty- feten years after the miracle is faid to have been performed, and wrote at Rome of v/hat pafTed at Alexandria, and wrote aifo from report ; and although it does not appear that he had examined the ito- ry, or that he believed it (but rather the contrary) yet I think his tellimony fufiicient to prove, th^at fuch a tranfadlion took place ; by which I mean, that the two mc?3 in qucftion did ap- ply 10 Vej[|:)afian, that Vefpafan did touch the direafed in the manner related, and that a cure was reported to have followe'd the operation. But the aff-ar labours under a (Irong and juft fufpicion, that the whole of it was a concerted impofture brought about by concluficn, between the jratients, the phyfician, and the emperor. This folution is probable, becaufe there wa- every thing to fviggeft, and every thin'r to facilitate fuch a fcheme. The miracle was calculated to confer honour upon the emperor, and upon the god Serapis. It v/as achieved in the midft of the emperor's flatterers and followers ; in a city, and amongft a populace beforehand devoted to his intereft, and to the v/orfliip of the god ; where it would have been treafon and blafphemy together to have contradided tlie hnic of the cure, or even ta have queftioned it. A nd what is very obfervable in the account is, that the report of the phyficians is jufl fuch a report as would have been made of a cafe, in which no external marks of the difeafe exifted, and which, confequently, was capable of being eafily cGunteifeited, viz. that, in the iirft of the patients the or- gans of vifion were not deftroyed, that the weaknefs of the ftC' end was in his joints. The lirongeil circ.umllance in Tacitus's narration is that the fird patient was *' notus tabe ocu'orum,'* remarked or notorious for the difeafe in his eyes. But this was a circumftance which might have fovmd its way into the fto- ry in irs piogrefs from a diftant country, and during an interval ox" thirty years ; or it might be true that the malady of the eyes \Vas notorious, yet that the nature and degree of the difeafe had teter been afcertained. A cafe by no iheans tincommon. The
a Tac. Ant. p. ^9.
J 54
A VIEW OF THE
empercr's ref^rve was eafily afFcfled, or it is pofiible he mighi not be in the i^:cr£t. There docs not feem to be much .weight in the obfer^Htion of Tacitus, that they who were prefcnt con- tinued even then to relate the (lory, when there was nothing to be g.irried by the He. It only proyes that thofe, who had told th^ii^ory for many years, perfiikd in it. The flateof mind of the witneflcs and fpedators at the timCf is the point to be attend- ed to. Still lefs is there of pertinency in Mr. Hume's eulogi- um upon the cautious and penetrating genius of the hiflorian ; for it does not appear that the hiftorian believed it. The terms in which he fpeaks of Serapis, the deity to whofe interpofition the miracle was attributed, fcarcely fuffer us to fuppofe that Tacitus thought the miracle to be real, " by the admonition of the god Serapis, whom that fa-periliticlus nation (dedita fuper- ftitionibus gens) worfnip above all other gods*" To have brought this fuppofed miracle within the limits of compavifon with the miracles of Chrift, it ought to have appeared, that a- perfon of a low and private ftation, in the nudil of enemies, whh the whole power of the country oppoling him, with every one around him prejudiced or intereited againft his claims and char- afler, pretended to perform thefe cures ; and required the fpec- tators, upon the rtrength of vv'hat tliey faw, to give up their firm- cft hopes and opinions, and follow bim through a life of trial and danger^; that many were fo moved, as to obey his call, at "the expenfe both of every notion in which tlicy had been brought up, and of their eafe, lafety, and reputation ; and that by thefe beginnings a change was produced in the world, the effects of which remain to this day : a cafe, both in its circum- ftances and confequences, very unlike any thing we find in Tac- itus's I'elation.-
2. The (lory taken from die memoirs of Cardinal de Rctz, which, is the fecond example alleged by Mr. Hume, is this : " In the church at Saragolfa in Spain, the canons (hewed me a man whofe bivfinefs it was to light the lamps, telling me that- he hiid been for feveral years at the gate, with one leg oc-ly. I faw him with two."^
It is ifated by Mr. Hume, that the Cardinal who relates this llory, did not beHeve it ; and it no where appears, that he cither examined the limb, or ailced the patient, or indeed any one, a Tingle queftion about the matter. An artificial leg.
a liv. 4. A. D. l6j4.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 155"
"Wf-ouoht with art, would be fufficlent in a place where no fuch contrivance had ever before been heard of, to give origin and ^currency to the report. The ecclefiaftics of the place would, it is probable, favour the ftory, inafmuch as it advanced the hcnour of their image and church. And \^ they patronized it, nx) other perfon at SaragoiTa, in the middle of the lafl century, would care to difpute it. The ftory likewife coincided, not lefs with the wifhes and preconceptions of the people, than with the interefts of their ecclefiaftical rulers ; fo that there was pre- 'judice backed by authority, and both operating upon extreme ig- norance to account for the fuccefs of the impolture. If, as I have fuggefled, the contrivance of an artificial limb was then new, it would not occur to the Cardinal himfelf to fufpecfl it ; : specially under the careleffnefs of mind with which he heard the tale, and the little inclination he felt to fcrutinize or expofe its fallacy.
3. The miracks related to have been wrought at the tomb of the Abbe Paris, admit in general of this folution. The pa- tients who frequented the tomb, were fo affected by their devo- tion, their expedlation, the place, the folemnity, a.nd, above all, by the fympathy of the furrounding multitude, that many of them are thrown into violent convulfions, which convulfions, in certain initances, produced a removal of diforders depending up- on obllrudion. We fliall, at this day, have the lefs difficulty in admitting the above account, becaufe it is the very fame thing, as hath lately been experienced in the operations of animal mag- netifm ; and the report of the French phyficians upon that myf- terious remedy, is very applicable to the prefent confideration, viz. that the pretenders to the art, by working upon the imagina- tions of their patients, were frequently able to produce convul- fions ; that convulfions fo produced are amongfl: the moft power- ful, but at the fame time, moll uncertain and unmanageable ap- plications to the human frame, whicli can be employed.
Circum (lances, which indicate this explication in the cafe of the Farilian miracles, are the following :
1. They were tentative. Out of many thoufand (ick, infirm, %id difeafed perfons, who reforted to the tomb, the profclTed
hiftory of the miracles contains only nine cures.
2. The convulfions at the tomb are admitted. ■
A,, The difeafes were, for the moll part, of that fort, which pends upon ina(5tion and obHiudlion, as dropfies, palfies, and •lume tumors.
1S6 A VIEW OF THE
4. The cures v/ere gradual ; fome patients attending mariy days, fome feveral weeks, and fome feveral months.
5. The cures were many of them incomplete.
6. Others were temporary/-
So that all the wonder we are called upon to account for Is, that, out of an almofl: innumerable multitude which reforted to the tomb for the cure of their complaints, and many of whom were tlicre agitated by (Irong convulfions, a very fmall proper- tion expeiienced a beneficial change in their conftitution, ef- pecially in the adion of the nerves and glands.
Some of the cafes alleged do not require that we fhould have recoutfe to this folution. The firll cafe in the catalogue is fcarcely diftlnguifhable from the progrefs of a natural recov- ery. It was thiit of a young man, who laboured under an in- flammation of one eye, and had loft the fight of the other. The inflamed eye was relieved, but the bllndnefs of the other remained. The inflammation had before been abated by med- icine ; and the young man, at the time of his attendafice at the tomb, was ufing a lotion of laudanum. And, what is a flili more material part of the cafe, the inflammation after fome inter- val returned. Another cafe was that of a young man who had loft his fight by the pun61:ure of an awl, and the d fcharge of aciueous humour through the wound. The fight v/hich had been gradually returning was much improved during his vifit at the tomb, that is, probably in the fame degree in which the difcharged humour was replaced by frefli fecretions. And it is obfervable that thefe two are the only cafes, which, from their nature, fliould feem unlikely to be affeded by convulfions.
In one material refped I allow, that the Patifian miracles were different from thofe related by Tacitus, and from the Span- iili miracle of the Cardinal de Retz. They had not, like them all the power and all the prejudice of the country on thcij- fide to begin with. They were alleged by one party againft another, by the Janfenifts againfts the Jefuits. Thefe were of courfe oppofed and examined by their advcrfiries. The conleqiience of which examination was, that many faHt-hoods were detected, that with fomething really extraordinary, m.uch fraud appeared to be mixed. And if fome of the cafes, upon v/hicii dcfigrcd mifreprefeniation could not be charged, were not at the time
?• The reader will find tliefc particulars verified in the detail, by fhc accurate inijuirles of the prcfcxit BilLop 0/ Sarum in his criceriun oi Hiiraclts, p. 13;. ct fcq.
EVIDENCES or CHRISTIANITY. 157
fatisfavTcorlly accounted for, it was becaufc the efficacy of flrong fpafmodic affeftions were not then fufficiently known. Finally, the caufe of Janfenifm did not rife by the miracles, but fank, al- though the miracles had the anterior perfuafion of all the numer- ous adherents of that caiife to fet out with.
Thefe, let us remember, are the ftrongeO: examples which the hlftory of ages fupplies. In none of them was the miracle T/n- dquivocal ; by none of them were edablifhed prejudices and J)erfuafions overthrown ; of none of them did the credit make its way, in oppofition to authority and power ; by none of them were many induced to commit themfelves, and that in contra- di6tion to prior opinions, to a life of mortification, danger, and fufferings ; none were called upon to -atteit them, at the ex* penfe of their fortunes and fafety.-^
^ It may he thought that the hiftorian of the Parifian miracles, M. Montgeron, forms an exception to this lad aflertion. He prefented his book (with a fufpicion, as it iliould feem. of the danger of what he was doing) to the king ; and was fliortly afterwards commuted to prifon, from which he never came out. Had the miracles been un- cquivocai, and had M. Montgeron been originaHy convinced by them, I fliould have allowed this exception. It would have ftood, I think, alone in the argument of our adverfarics. But, bellde v.'hat has been obierved of the dubious nature of the miracles, the accoujit, which TvT. Montgeron has himfelf left of his converfion, iliows both the ftate of his mind, and that bis perfuafion -was not built upon external miracljs. " Scarcely had he entered the church-yard, when he was'ftruck," he tells us, " with awe and reverence, having never before Jieard pray- ers pronounced Avith fo much ardour and tranfport, as he obferved amongfl the iupplicantsat the tomb. Upon this, throwing himfelf oil his knees, refting his elbows on the tombftone, and covering his face with his hands, lie fpake the following prayer : 0 thou, by ivh-fe inter" cejjionfo many miracles are /aid to he performed, if it he true that a part ofthcs furviveth the grave, and that thou haji infuence ivith the Almighty, have pity on the darhiefs of my under/landing, and through his mercy obtain 'the removal of it. Having prayed thus, many thoughts, as he fayeth, began to open themfelves to his mind; and fo profound was his attention, that he continued on his knees four hours, not in the leafl: difturbed by the vaft crowd of furrounding fupplicants. During this time all the argu- ments which he ever heard or read in favour of Chriftianity, occurred to him with fo much force, and feemecJ fo ftrong.and convincing, that he went home fully fi^tiaficd of the truth of religion in general, and of the holiatfs and power of that perfon,who," as be fuppofcd, "had en- gaged the divine goodnefs to enlighten his uudcrftandiag fo fuddenly." Doughtfa Crit, of Mir. p. SI4.
o
PART THE SECOND.
Of the Auxiliary Evidences of Ckristi.akity.
C H A P. I.
Prophecy,
If. 111. 13. liii. JOEHOLD, my fervant fhall deal prudent- ly, he fhall be "fexalted and extolled, and be very high. As iT\any were aftonifhed at thee j his vifage was fo marred more than any man, and his form more than the Tons of men : fo (hall he fprinkle many nations ; the kings {hall (hut their mouths at him : for that which had not been told them fliali they fee ; and that which they had not heard fhall they con- lider. Who hath believed our report ? and to whom is the arm of the I^ord revealed ? For he ihall g'ow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground ; he hath no form nor coraelinefs ; and when we fhall fee him, there is no beauty that we fhould defire him. He is defpifed and re- jefled of men, a man of fprrows and acquainted with grief: and •we hid, as it were, our faces from him ; he was defpifed, and U'e edeemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our forrows : yet we did efteem him ftricken, fmitten of God, and afflidled. But he was wounded for our tranfgref- fions, he was bruifed for our iniquities ; the chafti'ement of c-jr peace was upon him ; and with his ftripes we are healed. All wc like fheep have gone aftray ; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was opprefled, and he v/as afHi^ted, yet he opened not his mouth ; he Is brought as a lamb to the flaughter, ?.nd as a flieep before her fhearers rs dumb, fo he openetli not his mouth. He was taken from prifon and from judgment : jind who fliall declare his generation \ for he was cut off out of tiie land of the living : for tl.e tranfgreflion of my people was he ftricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death j becaufe he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleafcd the Lord •m liruife him ; he hath put him to grief. When thou ilialt
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY^ 159
make his foul an ofFenng for fin, he fhal! fee his it^d, he flvaU prolong his days, and the pleafure of the Lord (hall profper in his hand. He fuall fee of the travail of his foul, and flmil be fatisfied : by his knowledge fhall my righteous fervant juftify many ; for he ihall bear their inicpaities. Therefore will I di- vide him a portion with the great, and he lliall divide the fpoil with the drong ; becaufe he hath poured out his foul unto death : and he was numbered with the tranfgrcirors ; and he bare the fm of many, and made interc^ffion for the tranfgref- fors."
These words are extant in a book, purporting to contain the piedidtions of a writer who lived feven centuries before the ChriiHan era.
'i'hat material part of every argument from prophecy, namel3'p that the words alleged were actually fpoken or written before the hd:, to which they are applied, took place, or could by any natural means be forefeen, is, in the prefent inftance, incontef- tible. The record comes out of the cuftody of adverfaries. The Jews, as an ancient father well obferved, are our librarians. The paffage is in their copies as well as in ours. V7ith many attcmps to explain it away, none has ever been made by theni to diicredit its authenticity.
And, what adds to the force of the quotation is, that it is taken from a writing declaredly prophetic ; a writing, profelFmg to defcribe fuch future tranfa»ftions and changes in the world, as were connected with the fate and intereds of the Jewifh na- tion. It is not a j^affage in an hiRorical or devotional compo- fition, which, becaufe it turns out to be applicable to fome future events, or fome future fituation of affairs, is preliimed to have been oracular. The words of Ifaiah were delivered by him in a prophetic character, with the folemnity belonging to that char- ader ; and what he fo delivered, was all along underilood by the Jewifh reader to refer to fomething that was to take place after the time of the author. The' public fentiments of the Jews, concerning the defign of Ifaiah's writings, are fet forth in the book of Ecclefiafticus : " He faw, by aa excellent fpirit, what fliould come to pafs at the laft, and he comforted them that mourned in Sion. He fhowed what fhculd come to pafs for- ever, and fecret things or ever they came." (ch, xlviii. r. 24.)
It is alfo an advantage which this prophecy pof^e{^ef^, th^t it is intermixed with no other fubjeft. It is entire, feparate, and uninterruptedly dire<^wd to one fcene of thing*..
1 69 A VIEW OF THE
The application of the prophecy to the evangeh'c hlftory 13 plain and 'cipi)rcpriate. Here is no double fenfe. No figurative language but what is fufliciently inteUigible to every reader of every country. The obfcmities, by which I mean the expref- fions that require a knowledge of local di(51:ion, and of local al- iiifion, are few, and not of great importance. Nor have I found that varieties of reading, or a different conftruing of the origin- al, produce any material alteration in the fenfe of the prophecy. Compare the common tranflatioii with that of bifhop Lowth, and the dlfTerence is not confideiable. So far as they do differ, biihop Lowth's corredions, which are the faithful refult of aa accurate examination, bring the defcription nearer to the New Tellament hiftory than it was before. In the fourth verfe of the fifty-thitd chapter, what our bible renders *' flricken," he iranHates "judlcialiy (Iricken :" and in the eighth verfe, the claufe " he was taken from prifon and from judgment," the bifnop gives '* by an opprellive jud>]ment he was taken off." The next words to thefe '< who (hail declare his generation,** are much cleared up in their meaning by the biiliop's verfion, ^*his manner of life who would declare," i. e. who would ftand forth in his defence. The former part of the ninth verfe, *< and he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death," which inverts the circumffances of Chrift's pafTion, the bifliop brings out in an order perfectly agreeable to tiie event ; ** and his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the rich man v/as his tomb.'* The words in the eleventh verfe^ '*by his knowledge fliall my righteous fervantjuflify many," are in the biihop's vet Hon *• by the knoauki^ge of him fhall my right- tecus fcrvant juilify many."
It is natural to incpiire what turn the Jews themfelves give to this prophecy.'^ There is good pro(^f that the ancient Rab- bios explained it of their expeded Meifiah ;'' bat their mod- ern expofitors' concur, I think, in reprtfenting It, as a defcri|>. tlon of the calamitous date and intended r'floiatloa of the Jewifli people, who are here, as they fay, exhibited under the charafter of a fingle perfon. I have not difcoverd that their expoiition refts upon any critical arguments, or upon thefe ia
a « Vaticinium hoc Efaiac eft carnificina Rabl)inorum, de quo aliqui Jndjei mihi conftfTi i'unt, Rabhlnos fuos tx propheiicis fcriptviris facile fc c^itricrtii; poluilTc, tnoJo Efuias tacuijfct." Hulic Thcol. Jud. p. 3l8»
quoted by Poole in loc.
b Huli'c Thccl. Jud. p. 43«,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. i6t
any other than a very minute degree. The claufe in the ninth verfe, which we render " for the tranfgreflion of my people was he ftricken," and in the margin " was the ftroke upon him,'* the Jews read, *' for the tranfgreflion of my people was the ftroke upon them" And what they allege in l^.ipport of the al- teration amounts only to tliis, that the Hebrew pronoun is cV pable of a plural, as well as of a lingular lignillcation, that is to' lay, is capable of their conilrudlion as well as our's.^ And this is all the variation contended for ; the reft of the prophecy they read as we do. The probability, therefore, of their expofition is a fubjedt of which we are as capable of judging as themfelves.
a Bifliop Lowth adopts in this place the reading of the feventy, ■which gives fmitten to dcath^ " for the tranfgreflion of my people was he fmitten to death." The addition of the words " to death," makes an end of the Jewifli interpretation of the claufe. And the authority upon which this reading (though not given by the prefent Hebrew text) is adopted, Dr. Kennicot has fet forth by an argument, not only fo cogent, but fo clear and popular, that I beg leave to tranfcribe the fubftance of it into this note. " Origen, after having quoted at large this prophecy concerning the Meffiah, tells us, tiaat having once made ufe of this palTage, in a difpute againft fome that were ac-* counted wife among the Jews, one cf them replied, that the words did not mean one man, but one people, the Jews, who were fmitten rf God, and difperfed among the Gentjks for their converfion ; that Lc then urged many parts of this prophecy, to iiiew the abfurdlty of thifv interpretation, and tIaat he feemed to prefs them tlic hardefl by thi;j fentence- "for the tranfgreffien of my people wiis he fmitten to death." Now, as Origen, the author of the Hexapla, i-iuft have underftood Hebrew, '<\'e cannot fuppofe that he would have urged tliis J?,ft text a» fo decilive, if the Greek verfion had not agreed here with the Hebrew text; nor that thefe wife Jews would have been at all diitreifed bv this quot?iti®n, unlefs the Hebrew text had read agreeably to the words " to death,'' on which the argun^ent principally depended; for by quoting it immediately, they would have triun\jiliid over him and reprobated his Greek verdon. This, whenever they could do it, Ava* their conftant pradice in their difputes with the Chriftians. Origen Jiimfclf, who laborioufly comjjared the Hebrew text with the Septua- gint, has recorded the necelFity of arguing with the Jews, from fuch paflages only, as were in the Septuagint agreeable to the Kehrew, Wherefore, as Origen had carefully ^)mpared the Greek verfjou cF the Septuagint with the Hebrew text; and as he puzzled and con- founded the learned Jews, by urging upon the reading " to death" in- this place; it feems almofl impoiTible not to conclude, both from Origen's argument, and the filence of his Jewifli adverfarie?, that tlie Hebrew text at that time acftuaJly had the word agreeably t«j the ver* (k)ja ot the fcYcnty." Lowth's Ifaiah, p. X44,
O z
i6z A VIEW OF THE
This jttdgment Is open indeed to the good fenfe of every attea- tire reader. The application which the Jews contend for, ap- pears to me to labour under- infiperable difficulties ; in particu- lar, it may be demanded of them to explain, in r^/jofi name or perfon, if the Jewldi people be the fufferer, does the prophet fpeak, when he fays, *' he hath borne cz/r griefs, and carried our forrows, yet we did efteem him ftricken, fmitten of God and alfli(5ted ; but he was wounded for our tranfgreflions, he was bruifed for our iniquities, the chaftifement of our peace was up- on him, and with his ilripes tue are healed." Again, the de- fcription in the feventh verfe, " he was opprefled and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ; he is brought as a Iamb to the {laughter, and as a flieep before lier fhearers is dumb, fo he opened not his mouth," qaa.drates with no part of the Jew- ifh hidory with which we are acquainted. The mention of the ** grave," and the " tomb," in the ninth verfe, is not very ap- plicable to the fortunes of a nation ; and ilill lefs fo is the con- clufion of the prophecy in the twelfth verfe, which exprefsly rep- refents the fufferings as voluntary^ and the lufferer as interceding for the oifenders, " becaufe he hath, poured out his foul unto death, and he was numbered with the tranfgreffors, and he bare the fm of many, and made interceffion for the tranfgrelTors."
There are other prophecies of the Old Teftament, interpret- ed by Chriftians to relate to the gofpel hiftory, which are de- ferving both of great regard, and of a very attentive confidera- tlon ; but I content myfelf with ilating the above, becaufe I think it the cleared and the ftrongeft of all, and becaufe moft of the reft, in order that their value be reprefented with any tolera- ble degree of fidelity, requite a difcuificn unfuitable to the limits and nature of this vv^ork. The reader will find them difpofed in order, and diilinftly explained in billiop Chandler's treatife up- -en the fubje(5l : and he will bear in mind, what has been often, and I think, truly urged by th« advocates of Chriilianity, that there is no other eminent pe'foa, to the hiftory of whofe life fo many circumftances can be made to apply. They who object, that much has been done by the power of chance, the ingenuity of accommodation, and the induftry of refcarch, ought to try v/hether the f-ime, or any thing like it, could be done, if Ma- homet, or any other perfon, v;eic propofcd as the fubjccl ci Jew. ifti prophecy.
EVIDENCES OF CHllISTIANITY. 163
il. A fecond head of argument from prophecy, is founded iipon our Lord's predi(5tIons concerning the deftruftion of Jeru- lldem, recorded by three out of the four evangeilfls.
Luke XKu 5 — 25. " And as fome fpake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly ftones and gifts, he faid. As for thefe things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there (hall not be left one ftone upon another, that fhail not be thrown down. And they aficed him, faying, Mailer, but when Ihail thefe things be ? and what fi^n fhall there be when thefe things fliail come to pafs ? And he faid. Take heed that ye be not deceived, for many fhall come in my name, faying, I an* Chrifl; ; and the time draweth near. Go ye not therefore after them. But, when ye fliall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified ; for thefe things mu fi: fir ft come to pafs, but the end is not by and by. Then faid he unto them. Nation flial! rife againft nation, and kingdom againft kingdom, and great earthquakes fliall be in divers places, and famines and peftilen- ces : and fearful fights, and great figns fliall th<;re be from heaven. But before all thefe, they fliall lay their hands on you, and perfecute you, delivering you up to the fynagoguesj and into prlfons, being brought before kings ?^nd rulers for my name's fake. And it fliall tiu-n to you for a teftimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye fliall anfwer ; for I will give you a mouth and wifdom, which all your adverfaries fliall not be able to gainiay nor refifl:. And ye fliall be betrayed both by parents and biethren, and kinsfolk and friends ; and fome of you fliall they caufe to be put to death-. And ye fliall be hated of all men for my name's fake. But there fliall not an hair of your head perifh. In your patience pofl^efs ye your fouls. And when ye fliall fee Jerufilem com- patl^d with armies, then know that tlie d:folation thereof in nigh. Then let them which are in Judca flee to the moun- tainr, ; and let them v/liich are in the raidil of it depart out ; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For thefe be the days of venge.ince, that all things v/hich are writ- ten may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give fi.rck in thofe days ; for there fliall be great dldiefs in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they fliall fall by the tdge. of the fword, and fliall be led Aw^y captive into all nations ; and Jerufalem fliall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fuhilled.''
In terms nearly fimllar, this difcourfe is related in the tv/en- ty-fourth chapter of Matthew, and the tliittcenth of lNlark»
i64 ' A VIEW OF THE
The profpedl of the fame evils drew from' our Saviour, upon another occafion, the following affecting expreflions of concern, which are preferved by St. Luke (xix. 41) ; "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, faying, If thou hadft known, even thou, at leaft in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ; but now they are hid from thine eyes ; for the days ftiall come upon thee, that thine enemies (liall caft a trench about thee, and compafs thee round, and keep thee in on every fide, and fhall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and fhall not leave in thee one ftone upon another, becaufe thou kneweft not the time of thy vifitation." Thefe paflages are direft and explicit pre- dictions. References to the fame event, forae plain, fome par- abolical, or otherwife figurative, are found in divers other dif- courfes of our Lord.^
The general agreement of the defcriptions with the event, viz. with the ruin of the Jewifli nation, and the capture of Je- rufalem under Vefpafian, thirty-fix years after ChrilPs death, is mofl evident : and the accordancy in various articles of detail and circumflance has been fliewn by many learned writers. It is alfo an advantttge to the inquiry, and to the argument built upon it, that we have received a copious account of the tranfac- tion from Jofephus, a Jewifh and contemporary hiflorian. This part of the cafe is perfectly free from doubt. The only quef- tion which, in my opinion, can be laifed upon the fubjed, is, whether the prophecy v/as really delivered before the event. I fhall apply, therefore, my obfervations to this point folely.
1. The judgment of antiquit)'-, though varying in the preclfc year of the publication of the three gofpels, concurs in ailigning them a date prior to the deftrudion of Jerufalem.'^
2. This judgment is confirmed by a flrong probability arifing from the courfe of human life. The deftru<5tion of Jerufaleni took place in the feventieth year after the birth ofChrift. The three evangelifts, one of whom was his immediate companion, and the other two alTociated with his companions, were, it is probable, not much younger than he was. They mufl:, coofe- quently, have been far advanced in life when Jerufalem was taken ; and no reafon has been given why they fhould defer writing their hiflories fo long.
» Mat. xxi. 33 — 46. xxii. 1 — 7. Mark xii. i— 12» Luke xiii. I--- 9. XX. 9—20. xxi. s — 13-
b Lardaer, vol. XUU
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 165
3.''^ If the evangelifts, at the time of writing the gofpels, had known of the de(iiudion of Jerufalem, by which catallrophe the prophecies were plainly fajrilled, it is moft probable, that, in recording the predidions, they would have dropped fome word or other about the completion ; in like manner as Luke, after relating the denunciation of a dearth by Agabus, adds, " which came to pafs in the days of Claudius C^far :" ^ where- as the prophecies are given diftindlly in one chapter of each of the three iiril gofpels, and referred to in feveral different pafla- ges of each, and, in none of all thefe places, does-there appear the fmalleft intimation that the things fpoken of were come to pafs. I do admit tha.t it would have been the part of an im- poiior, who wilhed his readers to believe that his book was written before the event, when in truth it was written after it, to have fjppreffed any fuch iniimaaon carefully. But this was not the charader of the authors of tlie gofpei. Cunning was no quality of their's. Of all writers in the world, they thought the leaft of providing againft obj-:61:ions. Moreover, there is no claufe in any one of them, that makes a profeffion of having written prior to the Jewiili wars, which a fraudulent purpofe would have led them to pretend. They have done neither one thing nor the other. They have neither inferted any words, which might fignify to the reader that their accounts were written hsfore the deftra<5tion of Jerufalem, which a foph- ift would have done ; nor have they dropped a hint of the com- pletion of the prophecies recorded by them, which an undefx^rt' ing writer, writing after the event, could hardly, on fome or other of the many occafions that prefented themfelves, have miffed of doing.
4. The admonitions^ which Chrift is reprefented to have given to his followers to fave themfelves by flight, are not eafi- hj accounted for upon the fuppofuion of the prophecy being
a Le Clerc. DilT. III. de quat. ev. Num. VII. p. 541. b ^Qii xi. a8.
c Luke xxi. 2G, 2T. " When ye fliall fee Jerufalem compafied with armies, then knowr that the defolation thereof is nigh ; then let them •which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are ** the mid ft of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto."
Matt. xiv. 18. " When ye (hall fee Jerufalem compaiTcd with ar- mies, then let them which be in Judta flee unto tiie mountains ; Ice him whicli i,> on the houfe top, not come down to take any thing out cf his houfe, neither let hiii which is in tlsc fitld, return back to take Ikis clothes."
i66 A VIEW OF THE
fabricated after the event. Either the Chriftians, when the fiege approached, did make their eicape from Jerufalem, or they did not : if they did, they mud have had the prophecy amongft them : if they did not know of any fuch prediction at the time of die fiege ; if they did not take notice of any fuch warning, it was an improbable fidion, in a writer pubhlhing his work near to that .time (which, upon any even the loweft and moil difadvantageous fuppofition, was the cafe with the gofpels now in our hands) and addrefling his works to Jews and to Jewifh converts (which Matthew certainly did) to ftate that the followers of Chrift had received admonitions, of which they made no ufe when the occafion arrived, and of which, expe- rience then recent proved, that thofe, who were mofl: con- cerned to know and regard them, were ignorant or neghgent. Even if the prophecies came to the hands of the evangelifts through no better vehicle than tradition, it muft have been by a tradition which fubfifled prior to the event. And to fuppofe, that, without any authority whatever, without fo much as evea any tradition to guide them, they had forged thefe paflages, is to impute to them a degree of fraud and impoilure, from every appearance of which their compofitions are as far removed as poffible.
5. I think that, if the prophecies had been compofed after the event, there would have been more fpecification. The names or defcriptions of the enemy, the general, the emperor would have b^en found in them. The defignation of the time would have been more detenninate. And I am fortified in this opinion by obferving, that the coanterfeited prophecies of the Sybil line oracles, of the twelve patriarchs, and, I am inclined to bilieve, mod others of the kind, are mere tranfcripts of the hirtory moulded into a prophetic form.
It is objecSted that the prophecy of the deftru6lion of Jerufa- lem is mixed, or connected with exprellions which relate to the final judgment of the world ; and fo connected, as to lead an ordinary reader to txpeift, that thefe two eventB would not be far diftant from each other. To which I anfwer, that the objedion does not concern our prefent Argument. If our Sav- iour aiftua'ly foretold the deiiruftion of Jerufalem, it is fufficient ; even although we fliould allow, that the narration of the proph- ecy had combined together what had been faid by him upon kindred fubjedts, without accurately preferving the order, er al- ways noticing the tranfition of the difcourfe.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 167
jC.HAP. II.
The Morality of the Go/pel
In ftating the morality of tlie gofpel as an argument of its truth, I am willing to admit two points, firft, that the teaching of morality was not the primary defign of the miffion ; fecond- ly, that morality, neither in the gofpel, nor in any other book, can be a fubjedt,. properly fpeaking, of difcovery.
If I were to defc/ibe in a very few words the fcope of Chrlf. tianlty, as a r^w/rt/w«,^ I fliould fay, that it was to Influence the conduft of human life, by edablifning the proof of a future ftate of reward and punifhment — '* to bring life and immortality to light." The dire<51: objed, therefore, of the defign is to flip- ply motives and not rules, fan6lions and not precepts. And thefe were what nirinkind ftood moft in need of. The mem- bers of civilized fociety can, in all ordinary cafes, judge tolera- bly well how they ought to a<5t ; but without a future (late, or, which is the fame thing, without credited evidence of that ftate, they want a motive to their duty ; they v/ant at lead itrength of motive fufficient to bear up againrt: the force of paflion, and the temptation of the pvefent advantage. I'heir rules want au- thority. The mofl important fervice that can be rendered to human life, and that, confequently, which, one might expert beforehand would be the great end and office of a revelation from God, is to convey to the world authorifed a/Turances of the reality of a future exigence. And although, in doing this, or by the minidry of the fame perfon by which this is done, moral precepts or examples, or illufl ations of moral precepts may bti^occalionally given, and be highly valuable, yet (lill they do not form the original purpofe of the miffion.
Secondly, morality, neither in the gofpel, nor in any other book, can be a fubjed of difcovery, properly fo called. By which propofition, I mean that there cannot, in morality, be any thing fmiilar to what are called difcoveries In natural phi- iofophy, in the arts of life, and in fome fciences ; as the fyflem
a Great, and inefllmabljr beneficial pnrpofcs, may he attained by -Chrift's mifuoii, and cfpccially by his death, which da not Ixloiig tt» Chriftianity as a tevclation, thnt is, they might have exifted, and they might have been accooipii/hed, though wc had uf.vcr.in this )ik-,havc hp.tM made acquainted with thcro,
168 A VIEW OF THE
of the univerfc, the circulation of the blood, the polarity ofthe magnet, the la^vs of gravitation, alphabetical writing, decimal arithmetic, and fome other things of the fame fort ; fa<51:3, or proofs, or contrivances, before totally unknown and unthoug^t of* Whoever therefore expe^ls, in reading the New Tellament, to be.ftruck with difcoveries in morals, in the manner in which his mind was.affe(5led, when he firft came to the knowledge of the difcoveries above-mentioned ; or rather in the manner in Tvhich the world was aifedled by them, when they were firft publifhed ; expeds what, as I apprehend, the nature ofthe fub- ]*:Ct renders it impoflible he Ihould meet v/ith. And the foun- dation of my opinion is this, that the qualities of adlions depend entirely upon thtir cffeds, which eflre<5ts mult all along have been the fubje»5l of human experience.
When it is once fettled, no matter upon what principle, that to do good is virtue, the reft is calculation. But fmce the cal- culation cannot be inflitnted concerning each partic-..lar adlon, we ellabli fa intermediate rules : by which proceeding the bufi- nefs of morality is much facilitated, for then, it is concerning our rules alone that we need inquire, whether in their tendency they be beneficial ; concerning our adions we have only to afk, whether they be agreeable to the rules. We refer a.'H-ions to rules, and rules to public happinefs. Now^ in the formation of thefe rules, there is no place for dlfcovery properly fo called, but there is ample room, for the exercife of wifdom, judgment, and prudence.
As I wifli to deliver argument rnther thr.n panegyric, 1 fliall treat of the morality of the gofpel, in fubjt ciion to thtfe obfer- vations. And after all, I th.ink it fuch a moraiity, as, confid- ering from whom It came, is mofi: extraordinary ; and luch, as, without allowing fome degree of reality to the cliaradter and pretenfons ofthe religion, it is difficult to account for ; or to place the argument fomewlvnt loAver in the fcaie, it is inch a morality, as completely rep^^ls the fuppof tion of ivs being the tradition of a barbarous age cr of a baibardus people, ofthe re- ligion being founded in folly, or of its beir^g the producftion cf craft ; and it repels alfo, in a great degree, the fuppodticn of its having been the effufon of an entliuf-afcic mird.
The divifion, under which the fobjea may U. nioH: conve- niently treated of, is that ofthe thi.jgs laughi, and ir: Jiui-Pcr of tcachino;.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. iGg
Under the firft head, I fhould willingly, if the limits and na- ture of my work admitted of it, tranfcribe into this chapter the v/hole of what has been faid upon the morality of the gofpel, by the author of the internal evidence of Chr'ijtianlty ; becaufe it perfe<5tly agrees with my own opinion, and becaufe it is impof- iibie to fay the fame things fo well. This acute obferver of hu- man nature, and, as I believe, fmcere convert to ChrilHanity, appears to me to have made out fatisfadarily the two following pofitions, viz.
I. That the gofpel omits fome qualities, which have ufually engaged the praifes and admiration of mankind, but which, in reality, and in their general effects, have been prejudicial to hu- man happinefs.
II. That the gofpel has brought forward fome virtues, which poffefs the higheft intriniic value, bui which have commonly been overlooked and contemned.
The firft of rhefe y^ropofitions he exemplifies, in the inftances cf friendfliip, patriotifm, a<Sive courage ; in the fenfe in which thefe qualities 2 re ufually underftood, and in the condud which they often produce..
The fecond, in the infrances of paiTive courage or endurance of luireriAgs, patience under affronts and injuries, humility, ir- refiilance, placability.
The truth is, there are two oppofite defcriptions of character, under which mankind ir,ay gea-icrally be claffed. The one pof- feifes vigour, firmnefs, rrffolutioa, is daring and adive, quick in us fenfibilities, jealous of its fame, eager in its attachment", in- iiexible in its purpofe, violent in its refentments.
The other, meek, yielding, complying, forgiving ; not prompt- to ad but willing to fuffer, filent and gentle under rudenefs and infult, fuing for reconciliation where others would demand fat- isfadion, giving way to the pufiies of impudence, conceding and indu'gent to the prejudices, the wrong-headedneis, the intrada- hility of thofe with whom it has to deal.
i'he former of thefe charaders is, and ever hath been, the favourite of the vvorld. It is. the charader of preat men. 1 here is a dignity in it which univcrfally commands refped.
'i'he latter is poor-fpirited, tame, and abjed. Yet fo it hath happened, that, with t)\e founder o\ Chriltianity, this latter is thefiibjed of his commendation, >iis precepts, his example; attd tllatthe former is fo, in no pare of its compofition. This,
170 A VIEW OF THE
and nothing clfe, Is the charadcr dtTigned in the following re- markable pafTage : " Rcfift not evil ; but whofoever fliall jfmite thee on the right check, turn to him the other alfo ; and if any man will fue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak alfo ; and whofoever fhall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain ; love your enemies ; blefs them that curfe you ; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which defj)itefully ufe and perfecute you." This certainly is not common-place morality. It is very original. It fhows at jeaft (and it is for this purpofe we produce it) that no two things can be more different than the heroic and the Chriftiar* charadler.
Now the author, to whom I refer, has not only remarked this difference more ftrongly than any preceding writer, but has proved, in contradidion to firft imprefllons, to popular opinion, to the encomiums of orators and poets, and even to the fuf- frages of hi(}orianr. and moralifts, that the latter chara<5tcr pof- feffes the mod of true worth, both as being mod dirticu<!t either to be acquired or fuftained, and as contributing mod to the liappinefs and tranquillity of focial life. The (late of his argu- ment is as follows :
I. If this difpofition were univerfal, the cafe Is clear : the world would be a fociety of friends. Whereas, if the other dif- pofition were univerfal, It would produce a fcene of univerfal contention. The world could not hold a generation of fuch men.
II. If, what is the faft, the difpofition be partial ; If a few be a(ftuated by It, amongft a multitude who are not, in whatever degree it does prevail, in the fame proportion It prevents, allays, and terminates quarrels, the great difturbers of human happi- nefs, and the great fourccs of human mifery, fo far as man's happinefs and mifery depend u])on man. Without this difpofi- tion enmities mult not only be frequent, but, once begun, muft be eternal ; for each retaliation being a frefh injury, arid,confe- quently, requiring a ivzih fat'isfa^lion, no period can be afligned to the reciprocation of affronts, and to the progrefs of hatred, but that which clofes the lives, or at lead the intercourfe, of the parties.
1 would only add to thefe obfervatlons, that although the former of the two charaders above defcribcd njay be occafion- ally ufeful, although, perhaps, a great general, or a great ftatef- man, may be formed, and thefe may be inflruments of irapor-
EVIDENCES OF CHRIS flANITY. 171
lant benefits to mankind, yet is this nothing more than what is true of many qualities, which are acknowledged to bj viciou?. Em>y is a quality of" this foit. I know not a fhonger Ilinui- lus to exertion. Many a fcholar, many an arti(l, many a foi- dier, has been produced by it. Neveithclefs, lince in its gen- eral effe<5ts it Is noxious, it is properly condemned; certainly is not praifed, by fober nioralifls.
It was a portion of the fame charaifler as that we are defend- ing, or rather of his love of the fame charadler, which our Saviour difplayed, In his repeated corredllon of the ambition of his difci- ples ; his frequent admonitions, that greatnefs with them was to confirt in humility ; his cenfare of that love of difllnfllon, and greedinefs of fuperlority, which the chief perfons amongft his countrymen were wont, on all occafions, great and little, to betray. *' They (the fcribes and pharifees) love the upi>ermo/l: rooms at feafts, and the chief feats in the fynagogues, and greet- ings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye c-alled Rabbi, for one is your mafter, even Chrift, and all ye are brethren ; and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, which is in heaven ; neitiier be ye called mafters, for one Is your Mafter, even Chrlft ; but he that is greateft among you (hall be your fervant, and whofoever fhall exalt himfelf (hall be abafed, and he thatfhall humble himfelt fiiall be exalted."^ I make no farther remark upon thefe paf- fages (becaufe they are, In truth, only a repetition of the doc- trine, different expreflions of the principle, which we have al* ready ftated) except that fome of the pafTages, efpeciully our Lord's advice to the guefts at an entertainment, (Luke xiv. 7 ) feem to extend the rule to what we call manners ; which wasj, both regular in point of confiitency, and not fo much beneatk the dignity of our Lord's miflion as iTiay at fir ft fight be fup- pofed, for bad manners are bad morals.
It is fufficiently apparent, that the precepts we have recited^ or rather the difpofition which thefe precepts inculcate, relate to perfonal condudl from perfonal motives ; to cafes in which men a(5t from impulfe, for themfelvcs, and from themfelves. When it comes to be confidered, what is nece/Tary to be done for the fake of the public, and out of a regard to the general welfare (which confideration, for the moft part, ought cxclu- fively to govern the duties of men in public ftatlons) It comes
* Mat. xxiii, 6. Sec alfo Mark xll. 39. Luke xx. 43- xiv. 7.
172 A VIEW OF THE
to a cafe to which the rules do not belong. This diftin^lion is plain ; and, if it v/ere lefs fo, the confequence would not be much felt, for, it is very feldoni that, in the intercouife of pri- vate life, men a6t with public views. The perfonal motives, from which they do mO:, the rule regulates.
The preference of the patient to the heroic chara<fler which we have here noticed, and which the reader will fina explained at large in the work to which v/e have referred him, is a pecu- liarity in the-Cliriilian inftitution, which I propofe aa an argu- 7ncnt of wifdoni, very much beyond the fituation and natural chirader of the perfon who delivered it.
11.- A faond argument, drawn from the morality of the New Teilament, is the (trefs which is laid by our Saviour upon the regulation of the thoughts. And I place this confideration next to the other, bcraufe they are conne6:€d. The other le- lated to the malicious paHions, this to the voluptuous. Togeth- rr they conpreheod the whole chara<51:er.
** Out of the /j."^/-/ proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulte- ries,, fornications, &c. — Thefe are the things which defile a man." Mat. xx. 19.
<' "Woe unto you, fcribes and pharifees, h"pocrites, for yc make clean the outfide of the cup and of the |. latter, bvit 'ahhin they are full of extortion and cxcefs. — Veare Hke unto whited fep-'j'chres, which indeed- appear beautifjl outward, but are v/ithin full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleann^s ; tven fove ?]fo outwardly appear righteous v.nto men, but tuUb- in ye are full of hypocrify and ini'^uity." IvLit xxiii. 25, 27.
And more particulariy that ftrong exprefiion, (Mat. v. 2&) *' Whofbever Jookcth or. a woman to luft at'ttr her, Iiath cont- mirted adultery already with her in his heart."
There can be no doubt with any reflecting mind, bui th.it the properfities of cur nature muft be fubjefted to regulati<-ri ; but the queftion is, where the check ought to he placed, upon the thought, or only upon adion. In this queltion our Saviour, in the texts here quoted, has pronounced a decifive judgmert. He makes the control of thought e/Tential. Tntcn:ai purity with him is every thing. Now I contend that this is the only difcipline which can fucceed ; in other words, rhat a moral fyf- tem, which prohibits adions, but leaves the thoughts at liberty, ■will be ineffectual, and is therefore unwife. I know not hov/ to go about tlvc proof of a point, which depends upon expcri- c«ce, and upon a knowledge of the human conftitution, better
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 173
than by citing the judgment of perfons, who appear to have given great attention to the fabjed, and to be w«ll qualified to form a true opinion about it. Boerhaave, fpeaking of this very decla- ration of our Saviour, *' whofoever looketh on a woman to lull after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," and underllanding it, as we do, to contain an injunction to lay the check upon the thoughts, was wont to fay, that *' our Saviour knew mankind better than Socrates." Haller, who has recorded this faying of Boerhaave's, adds to it th<? following remark of hi* own :^ ** It did not efcape the obfeivation of our Saviour, that tlie rejection of any evil thoughts was the bed defence againftvice ; for, when a debauched perfon fi'ls his imagination with impure pidiures, the licentious ideas which he recals, faii not to llimulate his defires widi a degree of violence which h^ cannot refill. This will be followed by gratification, unlcfs fome external obftacle (hould prevent him from the commiflion of a fin, which he had internally rcfolved on." ** Every mo- ment of time (fays our author) that is fpent in meditations up- on fin, increafes the power of the dangerous ohytd: which has po/Teircd our imagination." I fuppofe thefo reflesTtions will be generally afiVnted to.
I£I. Thirdly, had a teacher of morality been aiked concern- ing a general principle of conduct, and for a ihoit rule of life ; and had he inftruded the perfon who confulted him, *' con- ftantly to refer his a^ftions to what he believed to be the will of his Creator, and conftantly to have in view, not his own in- tereft and gratification alone, but the h.ippinefs and comfort of thofe about him," he would have been thought, I doubt not, in any age of the world, and in any, even the moR improved ftate of morals, to have delivered a judicious anfwer ; becaufe, bv the firfl diredion, he fiiggefted the only motive v/hich a6is fteadily and uniformly, in fight and out of fight, in familiar occurrences and under prelfing temptations ; and, in the fecond, he correded, what, of all tendencies in the human chara<n:er, flands moft in need of coxx t&\ox\, feljijhnefs, a contempt of other men's conve- niency and fatisfa(ftion. In eftimating the value of a moral rule> we are to have regard, not only to the particular duty, but the general fpirk j not only to what it dired^ us^ to do^ but to the
* IrCttcrs to his dnughtcr. P2
174 A VIEW OF THE
charader which a compliance with its tiireftion is likely to- foira in us. So, in the preient inftance, the rule here recited will never fiiil to make him who obeys it, confiderale^ not only of the rights, but of the feelings of other men, bodily and mental, in great matters and in fmall, of the cafe, the accommodation, the jelf-complacency of all with whom he has any concern, efpecially of all who are in his power, or dependent upon his will.
Now what, in the moft applauded philofopher of the moll enlightened age of the world, would have been deemed worthy of his wifdom, and of his chara<fter, to fjiy, our Saviour hath faid, and upon juft iuch an occafion as that which we hayc feigned.
" Then one of them, which was a lawyer, aflced him a queflion, tempting him, and faying, Malter, which is the great commandment in the law. Jefus faid unto him. Thou fhalt love the Lord thy God, with ail thy heart, and with ail thy foul, and with all thy mind ; this is the firll and great com- mandment ; and the fecond is like unto it, Thou flialt love thy neighbour as thyfelf : on thcie two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Mat. xxii. 35 — 40.
The fecond precept occurs in St. Matthew, on another oc- cafion limilar to this, (xix. 16) and both of them upon a third fmiilar occafion in Luke (x. 27. ) In thefe two latter infiances, the c]ue(l:ion propofed was, " Whatfhall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Upon all thefe occafions, Lconfider the words of our Sa- viour as exprefling precifely the fame thing as' what I have put into the mouth of the moral philofopher. Mor do I think tliat it detrads much from the merit of the anfwer, that thele pre- cepts are extant in the Mofaic code ; for his laying his finger, if I may fo fiy, upon thefe precepts ; his drawing them out from the relf of that voluminous inftitution ; his ftating of them, not fimply amongft the number, but as the greateil and the fum of all the others ; in a word, his propofing of them to his hearers for their rule and principle, was our Saviour's own.
And what our Saviour had faid upon the fubje^l, appear* to jne to have fxed the fcntiment amongfl: his followers.
St. Paul has it exprefsly, " if there be any other command- ment it is briefly comprehended in this faying, Thou fliilt love thy neighbour as thylelf ;"^ and again, ** for all tiie law is ful-
5k Rom. xlJi. 7 .
EVIDENCES GF CHRISTIANITY. 17^
£lkdin one word, even this, Thou flialt.io«?e thy neighbour as thyfelf/'*
St. John, in hke manner, " this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God, love his brother alfo."''
St. Peter, not very difFcrendy, ** feeing that ye have puriijejd your fouls in obeying the truth through the fphit, unto unfeign- ed love of tiie brethren,, fee that ye love orwi another witii a pure heart fervently."*^
And it is fo well known, as to require no citations to verify it, that this love, or cha,rity, or, in other words, regard to the welfare of others, runs in various forms through all the precep- tive parts of the apoiloilc writings. It is the theme of all their exhortations, that with which their morality begins. and ends^ from which ail their details and enumerations fet out, and into which they return.
And that this temper, for fome time at leaft, defcended.in its purity to fucceeding Chriftians, is attefted by one of the eariieft and befi: of the remaining v/ritings of the apollolical fathers, the ejnftle of the Roman Clement.. The meeknefs of the Chriilian €hara<flei reigns throughout the whole of that excellent piece. The occafion called for it. It v/as to conipofe the diflenGons of the church of Corinth. And the venerable hearer of the apofties does not fall ihort. In the difplay of this<principle, of the £neft paflages of their writings. He calls to the remembrance of the Corinthian church its former character, in which " ye were all of you (he tells them) humble minded, notboafting of &ny thing, defiling rather to be fabje<5l than to govern, to give rthan to receive, being content with the portion God had difpen- icd to you, and hearkening diligently to his word, ye were en- larged in your bowels, having his fuflferings always before your eyes. Ye contended day and night for the whole brotherhood, tlvat with compaflion and a good confcience the number of his ,elev5t might be faved. Ye were fincere, and without offence, to- wards each other. Ye bewailed every one his neighbour's Iins, :efteeming their defe.5l3 as your own.*'*^ His prayer for them was for the *' retmn of peace, long-fufFering, and patience."^ And his advice to thofe, who might have been the occafion of diiference in the fociety, is conceived in the true Jpirit. and with a perfect knowledge of the Chriftian charader. *' Who.is
a Ga!. v. 1-4. b j John iv, 11. c j Pet. I j^,
* Ep. Clem. Rom. c. %. A, B, Wake's Tranflation. e {b. c. 5 8.
176 A VIEW OF THE
there among you that is generous ? Who tliat is compaflionate ? Who that has any charity ? Let hira fay, if this fedition, this contention, and thefc fchifins, be upon my account, I am ready to depart* to go away whitheifoever ye pltafe, and do whatfo- ever jq (hall command me, only let the flock of Chrift be in peace, with the elders who are fet over it. He that fhall do this, (hall get to hlmfelf a very great honour in the Lord ; and there is no place but what will be ready to receive bim, for tite earth is the Lord's, and the fulnefs thereof. Thefe things they, who have their converfation towards God,' not to be re- pented of, both have done, and will be always ready to do."*
This facrcd principle, this earneft recommendation of for- bearance, lenity, and forgivenefs, mixes with all the writings of that age. There are more quotations in the apoftolical fathers of texts which relate to thefe points, than of any other. Chiift's fayings had ftruck. them. ** Not rendering (faith Polycarp, the difciple of John) evil for evil, or railing for railing, or Itriking for ftriking, or curfing for curfing."^ Again, fpeakinp; of fomc whofe behaviour had given great offence, " be ye moderate (fays he) upon this occafion, and look not upon fuch as enemies, but call them back as fuffering and erring members, that ye fave your whole body."^
** Be ye mild at their anger, (faith Ignatius, the cempanion of Polycarp) humble at their boaftings, to their blafphemies re- turn your prayers, to their error your firmnefs in the faith ; when they are cruel, be ye gentle ; not endeavouring to imitate their ways, let us be their brethren in all kindnefs and modera- tion, but let U3 be followers of the Lord, for who was ever more unjuftly ufed, more deftitute, more defpifed ?"
IV. A fourth quality, by which the morality of tl^ gofji^^l is diftingiiifhed, is the exclufion of regard to fame and reputation.
*' Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be feen of them, otherwife ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.'*'*
" V/hen thou prayeft, enter into thy clofet, and when thou haft fliut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in fecret ; and thy Father, which feeth in fecret, Ihall reward thee openly."*^
And the rule by parity of reafon is extended to all other virtues.
a lb. c. 54. ^'Pol. Ep ad. PhlLc. 2. « Ih. c. lu * Mat, vl X. « Mat. vi. ^
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 177
I do not think, that either in thefe, or in any other piilT.ige of the New Teftament, the purfijit of fame is dated as a vice ; it is only faid that an a<5tion, to be virtuous, muft be independent of it. I would a.To obferve, that it is not publicity, but often- tation, which is prohibited ; not the mode, but the motive of the adlion, which is regulated. A good man will prefer that mode, as well as thole objects of his beneficence, by which he can produce the greacelt effeft : aod the view of this purpofe may dift ite ibmetimes publication, and rometimes concealment. Eidiet the one or the other may be the raode of the adion, ac- cording as the end to be promoted by it appears to recjuire. But from ih^ molhe, the reputation of the deed, and the fruits and Advantage of that repviratiou to ourlcives, muft be (hut out, or, in whatever proportion they are not fo, the a<51ion in that proportion fails of being virtuous.
This exclufion of rcgaid to human opinion, ia a difTerence, not fo much in the dudes, to which the teachers of virtue would peiftjade mankind, as in the manner and topics of perfuafion. And in thir- view the difference is great. When lue fet about to give advice, our le(ftures are fuH of the advantages of charac- ter, of the regard that is due to appearances and to opinion. ; of what the world, efpeciaiiy of what the good or great, will think and fir/ ; of the value of public efteem, and cf the quali- ties by which men acquire it.. V/idely different from this w^s our Saviour's inftruelion ; and the diff^ience was founded upon the beft reafons. For, however the care of reputation, the au- thority of public opinion, or even of the opinion of good men, the fatisfavStion of being well received and well thought of, the benefit of hz'mg known arid diiiinguiihed, are topics, to whiqh we are fain to have recourfe in our exhortations, the true vir- tue is that which diicards thefe conilderations abfolutely ; and v/hich retires from them all to the fmgle internal purpofe of pleating God. This at leall: was the virtue which our Saviour taught. And in teaching of this, he not only confined %\iQ .views of his followers to the proper meafure and principle of human duty, but acted in confiftency with his office as a moni- tor from heaven.
Next to what our Saviour taught, may be confidered the manner of his teaching; which was •extremely peculiar, yet. i think, precifely adapted t^ the peculiarity of his chara<5ter an.! fituation. His leffons did not conriil: of difquifitions ; of any thing.like .mQral ^iT^ys, pr.Iike.fefmoQs, Qr,like,A;t tr^atifes wppn
178 A VIEW OF THE
the feveral points wh'jch he mentioned. When he delivered a precept, it was feldom that he added any proof or argument ; dill feldomer, that he accompanied it with, what all precepts require, limitations and diitip.dions. His inflru^tions were conceived in ihort emphatic rules, in occalional reflections, or in round maxims. I do not think that this was a natural, or would have been a proper method, for a philofopher or a moraliit ; or that it is a method which can be fuccefsfully imi- tated by us. But I contend that it was fuitiible to the chara«5ler which Chrift alTumed, and to the fituation in which, as a teach- er, he was placed. He produced himfelf as a meffenger from God. He put the truth of what he taught upon authority. In the choice, therefore, of his mode of teachng, the purpofe by him to be confulted was in.prejjion ; becaufe convidion, which forms the principal end of our difcourfes, was to arife in the minds of his followers from a different loarce, from their refped to his perfon and authority. Now, for the purpofe of impref- fion fingly and exclufively (I repeat again, that we are not here to confider the convincing of the underftanding) I know nothing which would have fo great force, as flrong ponderous maxims, freo^uently urged, and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the hearers. I know nothing that could in this view be faid better, than " do unto others, as ye would that others fliould do unto you ; the firfl and great commandment is, thou flialt love the Lord thy God ; and the fecond is like unto it, thou fhaltlove thy neighbour as thyfelf." It niuft alfo be remembered, that our Lord's miniltry, upon the fuppofitioo either of one year or three, compared with his work, was of fhort duration ; that, within this time, he had many places to vifit, various audiences to addrefs ; that his perfon was gener- ally befieged by crowds of followers ; that he was, fometimes, driven away from the place where he was teaching by perfecu- tion, and, at other times, thought fit to withdraw himfelf from the commotions of the populace. Under thefe clrcumftances, nothing appears to have been fo practicable, or likely to be effi- cacious, as leaving, wherever he came, concife lefTons of duty. Thefe circumftances at leaft fliow the neceflity he was under of comprifing what he delivered in a fraall compafs. In partic- ular, his fermon upon the mount ought always to be confidered v/ith a view to thefe obfervations. , The queftion is not, wheth- er a fuller, a more accurate, a more fyflematic, or a more argu- Bientative difcourfe upon morals might not have been pronouac-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 1 79
tdy but whether more could have been faid in the fame room, better adapted to the exigencies of the hearers, or better calcu- lated for the purpofe of impreflion. Seen in this light, it hath always appeared to me to be admirable. Dr. Lardner thought that niis difcourfe was made up of what Chrift had faid at differ- ent times, and upon different occafions, feveral of which occa- fions are noticed in St. Luke's narrative. I can conceive no reafon for this opinion. I believe that our Lord delivered this difcourfe at one time and place, in the manner related by St, Matthew, that he repeated the fame rules and maxim.s at difFer- eat times, as opportunity or occafion fuggefted ; that they were often in his mouth, were repeated to different audiences, and in various converfations.
It i« incidental to this mode of moral inflrudtion, which pro- ceeds not by proof but upon authority, not by difquifition but by precept, that the rules will be conceived in abfolute terms, leaving the application, and the diftinftions that attend it, to the reafon of the hearer. It is likewife to be expected, that they will be delivered in terms, by fo much the more forcible and en- ergetic, as they have to encounter natural or general prcpenfities. It is further alfo to be remarked, that many of thofe ilrong in- ftances which appear in our Lord's fermon, luch as *' if any man will fmite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other alfo ; if any man will fue thee at the law, and take away thy coai, let him have thy cloak alfo ; whofoever (hall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain ;" though they appear in the form of fpeciflc precepts, are intended as defcriptive of difpofition and charac- ter. A fpecific compHance with the precepts woidd be of lit- tle value, but the difpofition which they inculcate is of the high- eft. He who fhould content himfelf with waiting for the occa- fion, and with literally obferving the rule when the occafion of- fered, would do nothing, or worfe than nothing ; but he who conftders the charader and difpofition which is hereby inculcat- ed, and places that difpofition before him as the model to which he fiiould bring his own, takes, perhaps, the beft pofTible meth- od of improving the benevolence, and of calming and rectifying the vices of his cemper. If it be faid that this difpofition is un- attainable, I anfwer, fo is all peife(5tion ; ought therefore a mor- "Jalift to recommend imperfedions ? One excellency, however, of our Savioiir's rules is, that they are either never mifUken, or never fo miflaken as to do harm. I could feign a hundred caf- es, in which, the literal application of the rule, " of doing to
i?o A VIEW OF THE
others as we would that others fhould do unto us," might mlT- lead us ; but I never yet met wich the man who was actually mifled by it. Notwithftanding that our Lord bid his fcliowers, •* not to reljft evil," and '* to forgive the enemy, who fhculd trefpafs againft them, not till fevcn times buc till feventy times feven," the Chriftian has hitherto fufFered little by too much placability or forbearance. I would repeat once more, what has already been tv/ice remarked, that thefe rules were defigned to regulate perfonal conduil from perfonal motives, and for this purpofe alone.
I think- that thefe obfervations will affift us greatly in placing our Saviour's conduft, as a moral teacher, in a proper point of view ; efpecially when it is confidered, that to deliver moral difquifitions was no part of his defign, to teach morality at all was only a fuboidinate part of it, his great bufinefs being to fupply, what was much more wanting than the lefTons of mo- rality, flronger moral fanflions, and clearer affurances of a fu- ture judgment.'^
']LhQ. parables of the New Tefiament are, many of them, fuch as would have done honour to any book in the world, I do not mean in ftyle and diction, but in the choice of the fubjecfls, in the ftruclure of the narratives, in the aptncfs, propriety, and force of the circum (lances woven into them ; and in fome, as that of the good Samaritan, the prodigal ion, the pharifee and the publican, in an union of padios and fimplicity, which, in the beltprodtuflions of iraman genius, is the fruit only of a much exercifed and well cultivated judgment.
The Lord's prayer^, for a fucccllion of folemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon a fev/ great points, for fuitablenefs to
a Some appear to require in a religious fydem, or in the books whicii profefs to deliver ib.at fyftem, minute dirtcflious for every oalc and occurrence that may arife. This, hy they, is necelTiiry to render a revelation perfecfl, efpeclaily one which lias for its objc6l the regu- lation of human conduct. Now, how prolix, and yet how incoitipictc and unavailing, fuch an attempt muft have been, is proved by one notable example: "The Induo and MiilTuInnn religion are in- ftiiutes of civil law, regulating the mir.iitcft qucftions botJi of prop- erty, and of all qneflions which come under the cognizance of the magiftr.ue. And to v^hat length details of tl;is kind are ncccflanly carried, when once bcf^un, may be undtrftood from an anf.cdfJtc of the MulTuhBan code, which we'have lioeived from tho mod refpe^^ta- bJc authority, that not kls x.\-\^s\ fcvcnlyjjve thm fa-J traditional precept.'; have been promulgaicd." Hamiltou's tranilatii^n 'v. (.'m' H.'.-- -- Guidc»
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. i8i
every condition, for fufficiency, for concifenefs without obfcuri- ty, for the weight and real importance of its petitions, is with- out an equal or a rival.
From v/hence did thefe come ? Whence had this man this wifdom ? Was our Saviour, in fadl, a w«ll inftrucfted philofo- pher, whilft he is reprefented to us as an illiterate peafant ? Or fhall we fay that fome early ChriiHans of tafte and education compofed thefe pieces, and afcribed them to Chrift ? Eefide all other incredibilities in this account, I anfwer, with Dr. Jortin» that they could not do it. No fpecimens of compofition, which ihe Chriftians of the firft century have left us, authorize us to believe that they were equal to the tailc. And how little qauli- iied the Jews, the countrymen and companions of Chriil:, were to aflifl: him in the undertaking, may be judged of from the tradi- tions and writings of theirs which were the neareft to that age. The whole colIed:ion of the Talmud is one continued proof into what follies they fell whenever they left their Bible ; and how little capable they were of furnifliing out fuch lefTons as Chrift delivered.
But there is flill another view, in which our Lord's difcourf- es deferve to be confidered ; and that is, in their negative char- acter, not in what they did, but in what they did not contain. Under this head, the following reflexions appear to me to pof- fefs fome weight.
I. They exhibit no particular defcriptlon of the invifible world. The future happinefs of the good, and the mifery of the bad, which is all we want to be afTured of, is dire<5lly and pofitively affirmed, and is reprefented by metaphors and com- parifons, which were plainly intended as metaphors and com- parifons, and as nothing more. As to the re{i, a folemn referve is maintained. The queftion concerning the woman who had been man ied to feven brothers, " v/hofe fhall /he be on the ref- •jrredion ?" was of a nature calculated to have drawn from Chrift a more circumfhntial account of the llatc of the human fpecies in their future exigence. He cut fliort, however, the in- quiry by an anfwer, which at once rebuked vain and intruding; curiofity, and was agreeable to the heft apprehenfions we are able to form upon the fubjed, vi?.. " that they who are account- ed worthy of tiiat refurredlion, fliall be as the angels of God in heaven." I hiy a iliefs upon this referve, becaufe it repels the fufpicion of enthufiafm ; for enthufiafm is wont to expatiate up- on the conditicn of the departed, above all other fubjedls ; and
1 82 A VIEW OF THE
with a wild particularity. It is moreover a topic which is al- ways liftened to with greedintfs. The teacher, therefore, whofe principal purpofe is to draw upon himfelf attention, is fureto be iull of it. The Koran of Mahomet is half made up of it.
II. Our Lord enjoined no aufterities. He not only enjoin- ed none as abfolute duties, but he recommended none as car- rying men to a higher degree of divine favour. Place Chrifti- anity, in this refped,by the fide of all inftitutions which have been founded in the fanaticifm, either of their author, or of his firfl followers ; or rather compare in this Tefpe<5l, Chriftianity as it came from Chrift, with the fame religion after it fell into other hands ; with the extravagant merit very foon afcribed to celiba- cy, folitude, voluntary poverty ; with the rigours of an afcetic, and the vows of a monadic life, the hair fhirt, the watchings, the midnight prayers, the obmutefcence, the gloom and morti- fication of religious orders, and of thofe who afpired to religious perfedion.
III. Our Saviour uttered no impaflioned devotion. There was no heat in his piety, or in the language in which he ex- preffed it ; no vehement or rapturous ejaculations ; no violent urgency in his prayers. The Lord's prayer is a model of calm devotion. His words in the garden are unaffeded expreflions, of a deep indeed, but fober piety. He never appears to have been worked up into any thing like that elation, or that emo- tion of fpirits, which is occafionally obferved in mofl of thofe, to whom the name of enthufiaft can in any degree be applied. I feel a refped for Methodifts, becaufe I believe that there is to be found amongft thern much fincere piety, and availing, though not always well-informed Chriflianity ; yet I never at- tended a meeting of theirs, but I came away with the re- flexion, how different what I heard was from what I read ; i do not mean in dodrine, with which, at prefent, I have no concern, but in manner ; how different from the calmnefs, the fcbriety, the good fcnfe, and, I may add, the (trength and au- thority of our Lord's difcourfes.
I\^ It is very ufual with the human mind, to fubftitute for- ward nefs and fervency in a particular caufe, for the merit of general and regular morality ; and it is natural, and politic alfo, in the leader of a fed or party, to encourage fuch a difpofition in his followers. Chrifl: did not overlook this turn of thotight ; yet, though avowedly placing himfelf at the head of a new inflitu- tion, he notices it only to condemn it. " Not every one that
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 183
faith unto rae, Lord, Lord, jfliall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven : Many will lay unco me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not propliefied in thy name ? and in thy name have cafl: out devils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ? and then will I profefs unto you, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that toork iniquity. ''^^ So far was the Author of Chriftianity from courting the attachment of his followers by any facriSce of principle, or by a condefcenfion to the errors which even zeal in his fervice might have infpired. This was a proof both of fincerity and judgment.
V. Nor, fifthly, did he fall in with any of the depraved fafhions of his country, or with tlie natural bias of his own ed- ucation. Bred up a Jew, under a religion extremely techni- cal, in ah age and amongfl a people more tenacious of the cer- emonies than of any other part of t'hat reHgion, he delivered an inftitutlon containing lefs of ritual, and that more fimple, than is to be found in any religion, which ever prevailed amojigft mankind. We have known, I do allow, examples of an en- thufiafm, which has fwept away all external ordinances before it. But this fpirit certainly did not dictate our Saviour's con- du(5t, either in his treatment of the religion of his country, or in the formation of his own inftitution. In both he difplayed the foundnefs and moderation of his judgment. He cenfured an overftrainsd fcrupuloufnefs, or perhaps an affedtation of fcru- puloufnefs, about the Sabbath ; but how did he cenfure it ? not by contemning or decrying the inftitution itfelf, but by declaring that, " the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sab- bath ;" that is to fay, that the Sabbath was to be fubordinate to its parpofe, and that that purpofe was the real good of ihofe who were the fubjcifls of the lav/. The fame concerning the nicety of fome of the Phaiifees, in paying tythes of the mall trifling articles, accompanied with a neglect of juftice, fidelity, and mercy. He finds fault with them for mifplacing their anx- iety. He does not Ipeak difrefpedfully of the law of tythes, or of their obfervance of it, but he affigns to fuch clafs of duties its proper ftation in the fcale of moral importance. All this might be expedted perhaps from a well-inltrudted, cool, and ju- dicious philofopher, but was not to be looked for from an illittr- ate Jew, certainly not from an impetuous enihuiiafi:.
a Mat. vii. ai, zz.
i54 A VIEW OF THE
VI. Nothing could be more quibbling, than were the con»- nients and expofitions of the Jewifli doc^tors, at that time ; nothing fo puerile as their diftindtions. Their evafion of the fifth commandment, their expofition of the law of oaths, are fpecimens of the bad tafte in morals which then prevailed. Whereas in a numerous colle(fl:ion of our Saviour's apothegms, many of them referring to fundry precepts cf the Jewifh law, there is not to be found one example of fophiflry, or of falfe iubtlcty, or of any thing approaching thereto.
VII. The national temper of the Jews was Intolerant, nar- row-minded, and excluding. In Jefus, on the contrary, wheth- er we regard his lefTons or his example, we fee not only benev-. olence, but benevolence the moO; enlarged and comprehenfive. In the parable of the good Sanmritan, the very point of the (lo- ry is, that the perfon relieved by him, was the national and re- ligious enemy of his benefador. Our Lord declared the equi- ty of the divine admliiiihation, when he told the Jews (what, probably, they were furprifed to hear) " that many fliould come from the eaft and weft, and fnould fit down with Abra- ham, Ifaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, but that the children of the kingdom fliould be caft into outer darknefs." * His reproof of the hafly zeal of his difciple?, who would needs call down lire from heaven to revenge an atfront put upon their Mafter, ihows the lenity of his charadter, and of his religion ; and his opinion of the manner in which the mofl: unreafonable opponents ought to be treated, or at leaft of the manner ia which they ought not to be treated. The terms, in which his rebuke was conveyed, deferve to be noticed : — ** Ye know not what manner of fpirit ye are of."^
VIII. Laflly, amongll the negative qualities of our religion, as it came out of the hands of its Founder and his apoflles, we may reckon its complete abflradion from all views either of ec- clefiaflical or civil policy ; or, to meet a language much in fallilon with fome men, from the politics either of priefls or (latefmen. Chri!l:'s declaration, that " his kingdom was not of this world," recorded by John ; his evafion of the queflion, whether it was lawful or not to give tribute unto Caefar, mentioned by the three other evangelifts ; his reply to an application that was made to him, to interpofe his authority in a queftion of property, " Man, who made me a ruler or a judge over you ?'* afcribed
a Mat. viii. II. b Luke ix. 55.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. iSj
to him by St. Luke ; his declining to exercife the office of* criminal judge in the cafe of the woman taken in adultery, ^9, related by John, are ail intelligible fignifications of our Saviour's fentiraents lipon this head. And with refped to politicsy in the ufual fenfe of that word, or difculTions concerning different forms of government, Chriftianity declines every quellion upo:i the fubjecT:. Whihl politicians are difputing about monarchies, ariftocracies, and republics, Chritlianity is alike applicable, ufe- ful, and friendly to them all ; inafmuch as, ift, it tends to make men virtuous, and as it is eafier to govern good men than bad men under any conditution : as, zdly, it dates obedience to government in ordinary cafes, to be not merely a fubmiffion to force, but a duty of confcience ; as, 3dly, it induces difpofi- tions favourable to public tranquillity, a Chriftian's chief care being, to pafs quietly through this world to- a better : as, 4thly, it prays for communities, and for the governors of communities, of whatever defcription or denomination they be, with a folici^ tude and fervency proportioned to the influence which they pofiefs upon human happinefs. All which> in my opinion, is juft as it Ihould be. Had there been more to be found in fcrip- ture of a political nature, or convertible to political purpofes, the worfi: ufe would have been made. of it, on. whichever iide it feemed to lie.
When, therefore, we confider Chrift as a mora! teacher (re* merabering that this was only a fecondary part of his office ; and that morality, by the nature of the fubj(i6l, does not admit of difcovery, properly fo called) v;hen we confider, either what he taught, or what he did not teach, either the fubftance or the manner of his indrucflion ; his preference of folid to popu- lar virtues, of a charader which is commonly defpifed, to a charadler which is univerfally extolled ; his placing, in our li- centious vices, the check in the right place, viz. upoq the thoughts ; his collejfHng of human duty into two well-devifed rules, his repetition of chefe rules, the flrefs he laid upon them, cfpecially in comparifon with pofitive duties, and his fixing thereby the fentiments of his followers j. his exclufion of all regard to reputation in our devotion and alms, and, by parity of rcafon, in our other virtues ; when, we confider that his infrac- tions were delivered in a, form^ calculated; for imprefiion, t!ie precife purpoie in his fituation to be confulted ; and that they were iliudrated by parables, the choice and ftnidture of v,''iich\ would have been admired in any compofition whatever \ wheu;
i86 A VIEW OF THE
we obferve him free from the ufual fymptoms of enthufiafm, heat and vehemence in devotion, aufterity in inftitutions, and a wild particularity in the defcriptions of a future ftate ; free alfo from the depravities of his age and country, without fuper- flition amongft the moft fuperftitious of men, yet not decrying podtive diftindions or external obfervances, but foberly recal- ling them to the principle of their eftablifhment, and to their place in the fcale of human duties ; without fophiftry or trifling, amidft teachers remarkable for nothing {o much as frivolous fubtleties and quibbling expofitions ; candid and liberal in his judgment of the reft of mankind, although belonging to a peo- ple, who affedted a feparate claim to divine favour, and, in con- fequence of that opinion, prone to uncharitablenefs, partiality and reftridion ; when we find in his religion, no fcheme of building up a hierarchy, or of miniAering to the views of human governments : in a word, when we compare Chriftianity, as it came from its Author, either v/ith other religions, or with itfelf in other hands, the nioft reludtant underftanding will be indu- ced to acknowledge the probity, I think alfo, the good fenfe of thofe, to whom it owes its origin ; and that fome regard is due to the teftimony of fuch men, when they declare their knowl- edge that the religion proceeded from God ; and when they appeal, for the truth of their aflertion, to miracles which they wrought, or which they faw.
Pel haps the qualities which we obferve in the religion, may be thought to prove fomething more. They would have been extraordinary, had the religion come from any perfon ; from the perfon, from whom it did come, they are exceedingly fo. What was Jefus in external appearance ? a Jewifh peafant, the fon of a carpenter, living with his father and mother in a remote prov-lnce of Paleftine, until the time that he produced himfelf in his public character. He had no mafter to inftrudl or prompt him. He had read no books, but the works of Mofes- and the prophets. He had vifited no polifhed cities. He had received no leifons from Socrates or Plato ; nothing to form in him a tafte or judgment, different from that of the reft of his countrymen, and of perfons of the fame rank of life with him- felf. Suppofing it to be true, which it is not, that all his points of morality might be picked out of the Greek and Roman writ- ings, they were writings v/hlch l)e had never feen. Suppofing them to be no more than what forae or other had taught in va- rious times and places, he could not coile(^ them together.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 187
Who were his coadjutors in the nndertaking, the perfons into whofe h.^nds the religion came after his death ? a few fifher- men upon the lake of Tiberias, perfons jiift as uneducated, and for the purpofe of framing rules of morality, as unpromifing as himfelf. Suppofe the miflion to be real, all this is accounted for ; the unfuitablenefs of the authors to the produdion, of the chara6ters to the undertaking, no longer furprifes us ; but with- out reality^ it is very difficult to explain how fuch a fyftem fliould proceed from fuch perfons. Chrift was not like any other carpenter j the apoftles were not like any other fifher- men.
But the fubje<5l is not exhaufted by thefe obfervations. That portion of it, which is moft reducible to points of argu- ment, has been liated, and I truft truly. There are, however, fome topics, of a more diifufe nature, which yet defer ve to be propofed to the reader's attention.
The charafter of Chrift is a part of the morality of the gof- pel ; one firong obfervation upon which is, that, neither as rep- refented by his followers, nor as attacked by his enemies, is he charged with any perfonal vice. This remark is as old as Origen : — *' Though innumerable lies and calumnies had been forged againil the venerable Jefus, none had dared to charge him with any intemperance."'^ Not a reflecf^ion upon his mor- al character, not an imputation or fufpicion of any offence againfl: purity and chaftity, appears for iive hundred years after his birth. This fanltleffnefs is more peculiar than we are apt to imagine. Some (lain pollutes the morals or the morality of almoft every other teacher, and of every other law-giver. ^ Zeno the ftolc, and Diogenes the cynic, fell into the fouleft impurities ; of which alfo Socrates himfelf was more than fuf- pedled. Solon forbad unnatural crimes to flaves. Lycurgus tolerated theft as a part of education. Plato recommended a community of women. Ariftotle maintained the general right of making war upon barbarians. The elder Cato was remark- able for the ill-ufage of his flaves. The younger gave up the perfon of his wife. One loofe principle is found in alraoft all the Pagan moralifls ; is diftindlly, hovv^ever, perceived in the writings of Plato, Xenophon, Cicero, Seneca, Epl(5tetu?, and
a Or. Ep. Celf. 1. 3. Num. 56. ed. Bened.
•' See many inftances collected by Grotius de Ver. in tlie notes to his fccond book, p. u6. Tocock's edition.
i88 A VIEW OF THE
that is, the allowing, and even the recommending to their dii- ciplcs a compliance with the religion and with the religious rites of every country into which they came. In fpcaking of the founders of new inttitutions, we cannot forget Mahomet. His licentious tranfgreflions of his own licentious rules ; his abufe of the charader which he afiumed, and of the power which he had acquired, for the purpofes of perfonal and privi- leged indulgence ; his avowed claim of a Ipecial permiffion from heaven of unlimited fenfuality, is known to every reader, as it is confelied by every writer, of the Moflem ftory.
Secondly, in the hiftories which are left us of Jefus Chrift, although very fhort, and although dealing in narrative, and not in obfervatioa or panegyric, we perceive, befide the abfence of every appearance of vice, traces of devotion, humility, benigni- ty, mildnefs, patience, prudence. I fpeak of traces of thefe qualities, bccaufe the qualities themfelves are to be colleded from incidents ; inafmuch as the terms are never ufed of Chrift in the gofpels, nor is any formal charafter of him drawn in any part of the New Teftamentr
Thus we fee the devouinefs o{ his mind, in his frequent retire- ment to folitary prayer, -"^ in his habitual giving of thanks, ^ in his reference of the beauties and operations of nature to the bounty of Providence p in hisearneft addreffes to his Father, more particularly that fliort but folemn one before the raifing of Laz- arus from the dead ;'^ and in the deep piety of his behaviour in the garden^ on the lafl: evening of his life f his humility^ ia his conftant reproof of contentions for fuperiorifcy \- the benigni^ iy and affedionatenefs of his temper in his kindnefs to children ^s in the tears which he fhed over his falling country ;'' and upon the death of his friend -} in his noticing of the widow's mite ;'^ in his parables of the good Samaritan, of the ungrateful fervant, and of the pharifee and publican, of which parables no -me but a man of humanity could have been the author : the mildnefs and lenity of his charader is difcovered, in his rebuke of the for- ward zeal of his difciples at the Samaritan village,' in his ex- poftulation with Pilate,'" in his prayer for his enemies at the mo-
a Mat. xiv. 23. ix. 28. xxvi. 2)^. b M. t xi. 25. Mark ^iii 6. John vi. 23. I-ukc xxii t8. t- Mat. vi. 26, 28. djohnsl. 41. c Mat. xxvi.
f Mark ix. t^t^. g II/, .16. h Luke xix. 41. ' John xi. i^, l'Markxii.42. 1 Luke ix. 55. m John xix. 11.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. i8(j
ment of his fafFering,* which, though it has been fince very properly and frequently imitated, was then, I apprehend, new. His prudence is difcerned, where prudence is moll wanted, in his condudt upon trying occafions, and in anfv/ers to artful quef^ tions. Of thefe the following are examples ; His withdraw- ing, in various inilances, from the firft fymptoms of tumult,'* and with the exprefs care, as appears from St. Matthew,'^ of conducing his miniftry in quietnefs ; his declining of every fpe- cies of interference with the civil affairs of the country, which difpofition is manifefted by his conduct in the cafe of the woman caught in adaltery,*^ and in his repulfe of the application made to him, to interpofe his decilion about a difputed inheritance ; ^ his judicious, yet, as it fhould feem, unprepared anfv/ers, will be confeffed in the cafe of the Roman tribute,^ in the dii^iculty concerning the interfering relations of a future ftate, as propo- fed to him in the inftance of a woman who had married feven brethren ;S and, more efpecially in his reply to thofe who de- manded from him an explanation of the authority by which he acled, which reply confifted, in propounding a queftion to them, fituated between the very difficulties, into which they were in- (idi'iuny endeavouring to draw h'lm^
Our Saviour's lelfons, beUde wliat already has been remarked in them, tooch, and that oftentimes by very affeding reprefen- tations, upon fome of the mod: interefting topics of human duty, and of human meditation ; upon the principles, by which the decifions of the laft day will be regulated,^ upon the fuperior, or rather the fupreme importance of the religion,'^ upon peni- tence, by the moft prefling calls, and the moft encouraging invi- tations,' felf-denlal,™ watchfulnefs," placability," confidence in God,P the value of fpiritual, that is, of mental worfhip,"! the nec^flity of moral obedience, and the directing of that obe- dience to the fpiritand principle of the law, inflead of feeking for evafions in a technical conftrudion of its terms."^
a Luke xxili. 34. "^ M-'-t- xlv. ^^. Luke v. 15, 16. John v. 13. vi. 15. c xii. 19. ^ John viii. i. e Luke xii. 14. ^ Mat. ixii. 19,
g lb. x%. h xxi. 43. et feq. i Mat. xxv. 31. et feq.
k Mark viii. 35. Mat. vi. 31—33. Luke xii. i6, 21—4, 5- * John xw m Mat. v. 29. ^ Mark xiii. 37. Mat. xxiv. 42 — xxv. 13, 0 Luke xvii. 4. Mat. xviii. n, P Mat. v. 23 — 30,
q John iv. 23j 24. r Mat. v. j,i.
190 A VIEW OF THE
If we extend our argument to other parts of the New Tef- tament, we may offer, as amongll the bed and fliorteft r»les of life, or, which is the fame thing, defcriptions of virtue, that have ever been delivered, the following paffages :
" Pure reHgion and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this, to vifit the fatherlefs and widows in their arHi(ftion, and to keep himfelf unfpotted from the world. "'^
" Now the end of the commandment is, charity, out of a pure heart, and a good confcience, and faith unfeigned."'^
*' For the grace of God that bringeth falvation, hath appear- ed to all men, teaching us, that, denying ungodlinefs and world- ly lufts, we fhould live foberly, righteoufly, and godly in this prefent world. "^
Enumerations of virtues and vices, and thofe fufficiently ac- curate, and unqueftionably juft, are given by St. Paul to his converts in three feveral epiftles.'^
The relative duties of hufbands and wives, of parents and chil- dren, of mailers and fervants, of Chri(Han teachers and their flocks, of governors and their fubjedls, are fet forth by the fame writer,"^ not indeed with the copioufnefs, the detail, or the dilKndnefs, of a moralift.. who fhould, in thefe days, fit down to write chapters upon the fubjeft, but with the leading rules and principles in each ; and, above all, with truth, and with au- thority.
Laftiy, the whole volume of the New Teflament Is replet% Vfhh piety ; with what were almofl: unknown to heathen mor- alifts, devotional virtues^ the moft profound veneration of the Deity, an habitual fenfe of his bounty and protedtion, a firm confidence in the final refult of his councils and difpenfations, a difpofition to refort, upon all occafions, to his mercy, for the fupply of human wants, far affiftaace in danger, for relief from pain, for the pardon of fm.
a James i. a;. b i Tim. i. 5. c Tit. II. 11, i».
d Gal. V. 19. Col. lii. iz. i Cor. liii. « Eph. v. 3a. vi. i.
▼ii. J. a Cor. vi. 6, 7. Rom. xiii.
EVIDENeES OF CHRISTIANITY. 191
CHAP. III.
The Candour of the Writers of the Neio Tejlament.
JL MAKE this candour to confift, in their putting down many pafTages and noticing many circumftances, which no writer whatever was likely to have forged ; and which no writer would have .chofcn to appear in his book, who had been careful 10 prefent the flory in the moft unexceptlonr.ble form, or who had thought himfelf at liberty to carve and mould the particu- lars of that ftory, according to his choice, or according to his judgment of the effeft.
A ftrong and well-known example of the fairnefs of the evangelifls, offers itfelf in their account of Chriffs refurreftion, namely, in their unanimoufly ilating, th?t, after he was rifen, he appeared to his difciples alone. I do not mean, that they have ufed the exclufive word alone ; but that all the inihnces which they have recorded of his appearance, are inftances of appearance to his difciples ; that their reafoninps upon it, and ailufions to it*, are confined to this fuppofition ; and that, by one of them, Peter is made to fay, '* Him God railed up the third day, and fhowed him openly, rot to all the peo- ple, but to witneffes chofen before of God, even to u?, who did eat and drink with him after he rofe fiom the dead.'' The commoneft underftanding muft have perceived, that :he hifcory of the refuriedion would have come with more aavan- tage, if tl:ey had related that Jefus appeared, after he was rifen^ to his foes as well as his friends, to the fcribes and pharif^es, the Jewifh council, and the Roman governor ; or even if they had afferted the public appearance of Chrift in general unquali- fied terms, without noticing, as they have done, the pref.nce of his difciples upon each occafion and noticing it in iuch a manner as to lead their readers to fuppofethat none but dilciples were prefent. They could have repiefented it one way as well as the other. And if their point had been, to have the religion believ- ed, whether true or falfe ; if they had f bricated ihe llory ab inltioy or if they had been difpofed, either to have aelivered their teiH- raony as witneffes, or to have worked up their materials and in- Ybrmation as hiftorians, and in fuch a manner as to render their narrative as fpecious and unobjectionable as they could ; in a word, if they had thought of any thing but of the tiuth of the cafe, as
192 A VIEW OF THE
they underftood and believed it ; they would, in their account of Chrlft's feveral appearances after his refurreftion, at leaft have omitted this reftridtion. At this diftance of time, the ac- count as we have it, is perhaps more credible than it would have been the other way ; becaufe this manifeftation of the hiftorian's candour, is of moie advantage to their teftimony, than the dif- ference in the circumftances of the account would have been to the nature of the evidence. But this is an effedl which the evarr- geUlls would not forefee ; and I think that it was by no means the cafe at the time when the books were compofed.
Mr. Gibbon has argued for the genuinenefs of the Koran, from the confeffions which it contains, to the apparent difad- vantage of the Mahometan caufe.^ The fame defence vindi- cates the genuinenefs of our gofpels, and without prejudice to the caufe at all.
There are fome other inftances in which the evangelifts hon- eftly reldte what, they muft have perceived, would make againft thenj.
Of this kind is John the P-aptift's wcK^ige preferved by St. Matthew and St. Luke, (xi. 2, 3. vii. 19) *• Now when John had heard, in the prifon, the works of Chrift, he fent two of his difciples, and faid unto him. Art thou he that fhould come, or look we for another ?'' To confefs, ftill more to ftate, that John the Baptiil had his doubts concerning the chara»5ler of Jefus, could not but afford a handle to cavil and objedion. But truth, like honefty, negleds appearances. The fame ob- fervation, peihaps, holds concerning the apolVacy of Judas.*^
a Vol. IX. c. 50. note 96. ti I had once placed amongft thefe examples of fair conccfHon, the rrmarkable words of St. Matthew, in liis account of Chrifl's appear- ance upon the Galilean mountain; "and when they faw him, they v/orfliippcd him, dut f<r c dovhtidy* I have fincc, however, been con- «/vinced, by what is obferved conctrninsi; this p ilFagef in Dr. 'J'own- fc-nd'a difcouife upon the refurrcclioii, that the traniadtion, as related by St. Matthew, was really this : " Chrift appeared firfl: at a diftance ; the greater part of the company, the mouKnt they faw him, worlhtp- pcd ; but fome, as yet, J. e. upon tins firit diftant view of Iiis pcrfin, clouhteil ; whereupon C\\x\Vi tame ujl to them and fpake 10 thcni," &c. : that the doubt, therefore, was a doulit only at firft, ft)r a moment, 3rd upon his being fecn at a diftance, and was afterwards difpelied by hii nearer approach, and by his entering into converlation with them. * A-.vW/V. 17. f P.ige 177.
\ St. Matthew's words are, Kai rfoca^uv 0 Iv.a-w; iKuxr-a-iv Mrri;. This ■ intimates, that when he firft appeared, it was at a dirtance, at Icafl from many of the fpe(n:ators. (lb. p. 197.)
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 195
John vi. 66. ** From that time many of his difciples went back, and walked no more with him." Was it the part of a writer, who dealt in fuppreffion and difguife, to put down ibis anecdote ?
Or this, which Matthew has preferved, (xiii. s^-) " He did not many mighty works there, becaufe of their unbelief.'*
Again, in the fame evangelill:, (ver. 17, 18.) " Think not that I am come to deftroy the law or the prophets ; I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil ; for, verily, I fay unto you, till heaven and earth pafs, one jot or one tittle fhall in no wife pafs from the law, till all be fuinlled.'^ At the time the gofpels were written, the apparent tendency of Chrift's milTion was to diminifh the authority of the Mofaic code, and it was fo con- sidered by the Jews themfelves. It is very improbable, there- fore, that, without the conftraint of truth, Matthew fhouldhave afcribed a faying to Chrill:, \vh\ch,primo intuitu, militated with the judgment of the age in which his gofpel was written. Marcion thought this .ext fo objedionable, that he altered the words fo .13 to invert the fenfe.^
Once more, A6ts xxv. 19. " They brought none accufation againft him, of fuch things, as I fuppofed, but had certain quef- tions againH: him of their own fuperflition, and of one Jefus which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." Nothing could be more in the character of a Roman governor than thefe words. But that is not precifeiy the point I am concerned with A n-icre panegyrift, or a diflioneft narrator, would not have repiefentcd his caufe or have made a great magiftrate rep- refentit, in this manner, i. e. in terms not a little difparaging, and befpeaking on his part much unconcern and indifference about the matter. The fctme obfervation may be repeated of the fpeech which is afcribed to Gallio. ( A6bs viii. 14.) " If it be a <juefl:ion of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of fuch matters.
Laftly, where do we difcern a ftronger mark of candour, or lefs difj)ofition to extol and magnify, than in the conclufion of the fame hiftory ? in which the evangelill, after relating that Paul, upon his fiili: arrival at Rome, preached to the Jews from morn- ing until evening, adds, " and fome believed the things which were l])oken, and feme believed not.
a Lard. vol. XV. p. 4rz.
R
194 A VIEW OF THE
The following, I think, are pafTiges, which were very un- likely to have prefented themfeives to the mind of a forger or a fabulift.
Mat. xxi. 21. " Jefus anfwered and faid unto them, Ver- ily I fay unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye fhall not only do this, which is done unto the fig-tree, but alfo, if ye ihall fay unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and be thou cad into the fea, it fhall be done ; all things whatfoever ye fhall a(k in prayer, believing, it fliall be done."^ It appears to me very improbable, that thefe words fliould have been put into Chrift's mouth, if he had not adually fpoken them. The term " faith," as here ufed, is perhaps rightly interpreted of confidence in that internal notice, by which the apoftles were admonifl^ed of their power to perform any particular miracle. And this expofition renders the fenfe of the text more eafy. But the words, undoubtedly, in their obvious conftru(5lion, carry with them a difficulty, which no writer would have brought upon himfelf officioufly.
Luke ix. 59. " And he faid unto another, follow me ; but he faid. Lord, fuffer me firft to go and bury my father. Je- fus faid unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. ""^ This anfwer, though very ex- prefiive of the tranfcendent importance of religious concerns, v/as apparently harfh and repulfive ; aad fuch as would not have been made for Chrift, if he had not really ufed it. At leaO:, feme other inftance would have been chofen.
The following pafTage, J, for the fame reafon, think impofli- ble to have been the produ(5lion of artifice, or of a cold forgery : — *' But I fay unto you, that whofoever is angry with his broth- er, without a caufe, fhall be in danger of the judgment ; and whofoever fliall fay to his brother, Raca, fliall be in danger of the council ; but whofoever fliall fay. Thou fool, fhall be in danger of heil-hre (Gehennie)." Mat. v. 22. It is emphatic, co^en^ and well calculated for the purpofe of impreffion, but inconfiftent with the fuppofition of art or warinefs on the part of the relator.
The fliort reply of our Lord to Mary Magdalen after his refurre6"lion, (John xx. 16, 17.) " Touch me not, for I am rot yet afccnded unto r'y Father," in my opinion, mufl; have bfeen founded in a reference or allufion to fome prior converfation,
a a)CC 31:0 XVII.
20. Luke xvii. 6. •» See rdfo Mat. vili. 2r.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 195
for the want of knowing which, his meaning is hidden from us. This very obfcurity, however, is a proof" of genuinenefs. No one would have forged fach an anfwer.
John vi. The whole of the converfation, recorded in this chapter, is, in the highelt degree, unlikely to ht fabricated, efpecially the part of our Saviour's reply between the fiftieth and the fifty-eighth verfe. I need only put down the firft {-^n- tence ; **I am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread he (hall live forever ; and the bread that I will give him is my flefh, which I will give for the life of the world." Without calling in quefHon the expofitions that have been given of this paflage, we may be permitted to fay, that it labours under an obfcurity, in v\^hich it is impoffibl* to beheve that any one, who made f}>eeches for the perfons of his narrative, would have voluntarily involved them. That this difcourfe was obfcure even at the time, is confeiTed by the writer who has preferved ii, when he tells ns at the conclalion, that many of our Lord's difcipies, when they had Iseard this, faid, *' This is a hard faying, who can hear it i"
Chrid's taking of a young child, and placing it in the midil of his contentious difcipies, (Mat. xviii. 2.) though as decifive a proof as any could be of the benignity of his temper, and very exprelfive of the character of the religion which he wifhed to inculcate, was not by any means an obvious thought. Nor am I acquainted with any thing in any ancient writing v.'hich refembles it.
The account of the inftitution of the Eucharifl bears flrong internal marks of genuinenefs. If it had been feigned, it would have been more full. It would have come nearer to the actual mode of celebrating the rite, as tiiat mode obtaini'd very early in Chriftian churches ; and it would have been nu^re formal than it is. In the forged piece called the apoftolic conflitutions, the apodles are made to enjoin many parts of the ritual, which was in ufe in th« fecond and third centuries, with as much par- ticularity as a modern rubric could have done. Whereas, in the hi (lory of die Lord's fupper, as we read it in St. Matthew's gofpel, there is not fo much as the command to repeat it. This, furely, looks like undefignednefs. I think alfo that the difficulty, arifing from the concifenefs of ChrllVs expreflion, ** This is my body," would h.ive been avoided in a made-up ftory. I allow that the explication of thefe words, given by Proteftants, is fatisfa(5tory ; but it is deduced from a diligent
i9<5 ' A ^ VIEW OF THE
comparlfon of the svords in queftion with forms of cxpreflion ufed in fcripture, and efpecially by Chrift, upon other occafions. No writer would, arbitrarily and unneceflarily, have thus cad in his reader's way a difficulty, which, to fay the leaft, it requir- ed refearch and erudition to clear up.
Now it ought to be obferved, that the argument which is built upon thefe examples, extends both to the authenticity of the books, and to the truth of the narrative ; for it is improba- ble, that the forger of a hiftory, in the name of another fhould infert fuch paffages into it ; and it is improbable alfo, that the perfons v/hofe names the books bear, fliould fabricate fuch paf- fages ; or even allow them a place in their work, if they had Tiot believed them to exprefs the truth.
The following obfervation, therefore, of Dr. Lardner, the moft candid of all advocates, and the moll cautious of all in- quirers, feems to be well founded : — " ChrifHans are induced to believe the writers of the gofpel, by obferving the evidences of piety and probity that appear in their writings, in which there is no deceit or artifice, or cunning, or defign." " No remarks," as Dr. Beattie hath propeily faid, *' are thrown in to anticipate objeflions ; nothing of that caution, which nev- er fails to dlftlnguifli the tedimony of thofe, who are confcious of irnpofturc ; no endeavour to reconcile the reader's mind to what may be extraordinary in the narrative."
I beg leave to cite alio another author,-* who has well ex- prefled the refledion, which the examples now brought forward were intended to fuggeft. ** It doth not appear that ever it came into the mind of thefe writers, to confidcr how this or the other atftion would appear to mankind, or what objedions might be raifed upon them. But, without at all attending to this, they lay th.e fadls before you, at no pains to think wheth- er they would appear credible or not. If the reailer will not believe their ted imony, there is no help for it ; they tell the truth, and attend to nothing elfe. Surely thie looks like (in- cerity, and that they publifhed nothing to the v/orld but what they believed themfelves."
As no improper fupplenient to this chapter, I crave a place for obferving the extreme naturalnefs of fome of the things re- lated in the New Teihment,
» Duchal, p. 97, 98.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 197
Mark ix. 23, 24. Jefus fliid unto him, " If thou canft be- lieve, all things are poffibie to him that beHeveth. And ilraight- way the father of the chiid cried out, and faid with teatf, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief/' The tbuggle in the fadi- er's heart, between folicitude for the prefervation of his child, and a kind of involuntary diftrafl: of Chrift's power to heal him, is here exprefled with an air of reality, which could hardly be counterfeited.
Again, (Mat. xxi. 9.) the eagernefs of the people to intro- duce Chriil into Jerufalem, and their demand, a fiiort time af- terwards, of his cruciiixion, when he did not turn out what they expedted him to be, fo far from aifording matter of objec- tion, reprefents popular favour, in exacl: agreement with nature and with experience, as the fiux and reflux of a v/ave.
The riders and pharifees rejedling Chrill:, whiHi: many of the common people received him, was the effect which, in the then ilate of Jewifh prejudices, I (liould have expefled. And the reafon with which they who rejeded Chrift's miflion kept theni- felves in countenance, and with which alio they anfwered the arguments of thofe who favoured it, is precifely tlie rcafoii v/ uch fuch men ufaally give : — *' Have any of the fcribc^s or phariiees believed on him ?'' John vii. 8.
In oar Lord's converiation at the well, (John iy. 29.) ChriiL had furprifed the Samaritan woman, with an alkifion to a fingl- particular in her domeflic fituation, *' Thou hail had five ha'- bands, and he whom thou now hait is not thy huiband." The woman, foon after this, ran back to the city, and called cut to her neighbours, " Come, fee a man which told mQ a!/ tbinos ihni: ever I did." This exaggeration appears to nie very natural ; efpeclally in the hurried ftate of fpirits into which the woman may be fappofed to have been thrown.
\ The lawyer's fubtlety in running a diRinfblon upon the word neighbour, in the precept " Thou (lialt love thy neighbour as thyfelf," was no lefs natural than our Saviour's anfv/er v/as dc- cifive and fatisfadory. (Luke x. 29.) The lav/yer of the Nev/- Teftament, it muil be obfcrved, was a Jewifli divine.
The behaviour of Gallio, Ads xviii. 12 — 17, and ofFellus, XXV. iS, 19, have been obferved upon already.
The confjdency of St. Paul's charader throughout the whole of his hillory ; the warmth and activity of his zeal, fir (1: again fl, and then for Chrillianity, carri^^s with it very much of the ap- pearance of truth.
R 2
19^ A VIEW OF THE
There are alfo fome proprieties, as they may be Called, obferv- able in the gofpels ; that is, circumftances feparately fuiting with the fituation, chara<5ter, and intention of their refpe<5live authors.
St. Mattheu', who was an inhabitant of Galilee, and did not join ChriiFs fociety until fome time after Chrift had come into GaUlee to preach, has given us very little of his hiftory prior to that period. St. John, who had been converted before, and who wrote to fupply omiiTions in the other gofpels, relates fome remarkable particulars, which had taken place before Chrifl: left Judea to go into Galilee.^
St. Matthew (xv. i.) has recorded the cavil of the pharifees ^gainft the difciples of Jefus for eating " with* unclean hands." St. Mark has alfo (vii. i.) recorded the fame tranfadion, (tak- en probably from St. Matthew) but with this addition, " for the pharifees, and all the Jews, except they wafli their hands often, ieat not, holding the tradition of the elders : and when they come from the market, except they wafh they eat not ; and many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the wafhing of cups and pots, brazen veiTels, and of tables." Now St. Matthew was not only a Jew himfelf, but it is evident, from the whole flrudtuie of his gofpel, efpecially from his numerous references to the Old Teilament, that he wrote for Jewifli readers. The above explanation therefore in him would have been unnatural, as not being wanted by the readers whom he addreFed. But in Mark, who, whatever ufe he might make of Matthew's go(]iel, intended his own narra- tive for the general circulation, and vAio himfelf travelled to diilant couritries in the fervicc of the religion, it was properly added.
CHAP. IV.
Lltntily of Chr'iffs CharaSer,
1 HE argument exprefTcd by this title I apply principally to the coir!j>arifon of the three firli gofpels with that of St. John. It is known to every reader of fcripture, that the pafTages of Chrift's hiftory preferved by St. John, are, except his pailion and refuiiedtion, for the moft part different from thofe which
I
a Hartley's Ohf. vol. 11. p. 103.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 199
are delivered by the other evangellfts. And I think the an- cient account of this difference to be the true one, viz. that St. John wrote after the reft, and to fupply what he thought omiflions in their narratives, of which the principal were our Saviour's conferences with the Jews of Jerufalem, and his dif- courfes to his apoftles at his laft fupper. But what I obferve in the comparifon of thefe feveral accounts is, that, although ac- tions and difcourfes are ascribed to Chrlft by St John, in gen- eral diirerent from what are given to him by the other evange- liflfe, yet, under this diverfity, there is a fimilitude of manner^ which indicates that the actions and difcourfes proceeded from the fame perfon. I fliould have laid little ftrefs upon a repeti- tion of adions fubftantially aHke,or of difcourfes containing many of the fame exprelTions, becaufe that is a fpecies of refemblance which would either belong to a true hiftory, or might eafily be imitated in a falfe one. Nor do I deny, that a dramatic wri- ter is able to fuftain propriety and diftindlon of character,, through a great variety of feparate incidents and fituations. But the evangelifts were not dramatic writers ; nor poffefJcd the talents of dramatic writers ; nor will it, I believe, be fuf- pecSled, that they^«JW uniformity of charader, or ever thought of any fuch thing, in the perfon who was the fubjed: of their hiftories. Such uniformity, if it exift, is on their part cafual ; and if there be, as I contend there is, a perceptible refemblance o^ manner, in paflages, and between difcourfes, which are in themfelves extremely diftind', and are delivered by hlftorians writing without any imitation of, or reference to one another, it affords a juft prefumptlon, that thefe are, what they profefs to be, the actions and the difcourfes of the fame re^.l perfon ; that the evangelifts wrote from fad, and not from imagination. The article in which I find this agreement mcft ftrong, Is in our Saviour's mode of teaching, and in that particular property of It, which confifts in his drawing of his doctrine from the oc- cafion ; or, which is nearly the fame thing, raiflng refiedlions from the objedts and incidents before him, or turning a partic- ular difcourfe then pafiing into an opportunity of general Inftruc- tion.
It will be my bufinefs to point out this manner in the three firft evangelifts ; and then to inquire, whether it do not appear alfo, in feveral examples of ChritVs difcourfes, preferved by St. John.
SCO A VIEW OF THE
The reader will obferve in the following quotation, that the italic letter contains the refle(5tion, the common letter the inci- dent or occafion from whence it fprings.
Mat. xii. 49, 50. " Then they faid unto him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren ftand without, defiring to fpeak with thee. Biit he anfwered, and faid unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren ? And he flretched forth his hands towards his difciples, and faid, Behold my mother and my brethren ; for ivhofoever Jloall do the luill of my Father 'wh'ich is in heaven^ the fame is my brother ^ and f fiery and mother'*
Mat. xvi. 5. ** And when his difciples were come to the other fide, they had forgotten to take bread ; then Jefus faid unto them, Take heedy and beware of the haven of the pharifees^ and of thsfidductes. And they reafoned among themfelves, fay- ing, it is becaufe we have taken no bread. — How is it that ye do not underftand, that I fpake it not to 3^ou concerning bread, that ye fhould beware of the leaven of the pharifees and of the fadducees ? Then underflood they honv that he bade them not be- nvare of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the pharifees and of the fadducees.^'
Mat. XV. I, 2, ic, II, 17 — 20. "Then came to Jefus fcribes and pharifees, which were of Jerufalem, faying, Why do thy difciples tranfgrefs the tradition of the elders ? for they wafli not their hands when they eat bread. — And he called the multitude, and fiid unto them, Hear and underftand, net that <which goeth into the month deJUeth a man, but that ivhich ccmeth out of the mouthy this defjeth a man, — Then anfwered Peter, and faid unto him. Declare unto us this parable. And Jefus faid. Are ye alfo yet without undei (landing ? Do ye not yet underftand, that whatfoever entereth in at the mouth, goeth into the beliy, and is call out into the draught? but thofe things which proceed out cf the mouth conie forth from the heart, and they defile the m.an ; for out cf the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders J adu'tcrieSfforrdsati.ms, thefts, fdfe iviinefs, blafphemies ; thefe are the things nvhich dtfle a man ; but to eat nvilh unwa/Joen hands dejiieth not a manJ* ' Our Saviour, upon this occafion, ex- patiates rather more at large than iifua!, and bis- difcourfe al/b is more divic^ed ; but the concluding fentence brings back the whole train of thought to the incident in the full veife, viz. the objurgatory q.ieaion of the pharifees, and renders it evi- dent that the whole fprung from that circumftance.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 201
Mark x. 13, 14, 15. "And they brought young children to him, that he fhould touch them, and his difciples rebuked thofe that brought them ; but when Jefus faw it, he was nmch difpleafed, and faid unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them noif for offiuh is the kingabin of God : verily I fay unto youy nvhofoever fhall not receive ths hingdo?n of God as a little child^ hefloall not enter therein.^*
Mark i. 16, 17. "Now as he walked by the fea of Gali- lee, he faw Simon and Andrew his brother, carting a net into the fea, for they were fifhers ; and Jefus faid unto them, Corns ye after mCy and I ivill make you fifhers of men.'' ^
Luke xi. 27. ** And it came to pafs as he fpake thefe things, a certain woman of the company lift up her voice and faid unto him, Blefled is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou haft fucked ; but he faid. Tea rather^ hlef fed are they that hear the ivord of Cody and keep it.''^
Luke xiii. i — 5. " There were prefent at that feafon fome tliat told him of the Galileans, whofe blood Pilate had mingled with their facrifices ; and Jefus anfwering, faid unto them, Sup" pofe ye that thefe Galileans luere finners abov^ all the Galileans^ becaufe they fujfered fuch things ? I tell you nay, but except ye re- pent y ye fhall all Ukenvife pmjh'* ^.
Luke xiv. 15. " And when one of them that fat at meat with him, heard thefe things, he faid unto him, Bleffed is he that Ihall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Then faid he un- to him, A certain man mads a great f upper and bade many" &c. The parable is rather too long for infertion, but affords a ftri- king inftance of Chrift's manner of raifmg a difcourfe from the occafion. Obferve alfo in the fame chapter, two other exam- j)Ies of advice, drawn from the circumftances of the entertain- ment, and the behaviour of the guefts.
We will now fee, how this ?nanner difcovers itfelf in St. Johns hiftory of Chrift.
John vi. 26. " And when they had found him on the oth- er fide of the fea, they faid unto him, Rabbi, when cameft thou hither ? Jefus anfwered them, and faid, Verily I fay unto you, ye feek me not becaufe ye faw the miracles, but becaufe ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour not for the meat ivhich perifhethy but for that meat 'which endureth unto everlafling Ife, which the Son of Man fhall give unto you.**
John iv. 12. " Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himfelf, and his chil-
202 A VIEW OF THE
dren, and his cattle ? Jefus anfwered and fald unto her, (the woman of Samaria) Whofoever drinketh of this water fhall third again, but ivhojocuer drinketh of the water that I fiall give him, /hall never thirjl ; but the water that I Jh all give him, Jhall he in him a well of water, fpringing up into everlajling life.'*^
John ir. 31. ♦< In the mean while, his difciples prayed him, faying, Mafter, eat ; but he faid unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore faid the difciples one to anoth- er, Hath any man brought him aught to eat ? Jefus faith unto them. My meat is, to do the will of him that fent me, and toJiU' i/h his work?''
John ix. I — 5. " And as Jefus pafTed by, he faw a maa which was blind from his birth ; and his difciples aflced him, faying. Who did fm, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind ? Jefus anfwered, Neitli^r hath this man hnned, nor his parents, but that the works of God fhould be made manifeft in him. / mujl work the wcrh of him that fait me, while it is day ; toe night cometh, zuhen no man can tvork. As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world''
John ix. i^ — 40. " Jefus heard that they had caft him (the blind man above-mentioned) out ; and when he had found him, he faid unto him, Doll thou believe on the Son of God \ And he anfwered and faid. Who is he. Lord, that I might believe on him ? And Jefus faid unto him, Thou had both feen him, and it is he that taiketh with thee. And he faid, Lord, I believe, and he worfliipped him. And Jefus faid. For judgment I am come into this world, that they which fee not might fee, and that they which fee might he made Hind.'*
All that the reader has now to do, is to compare the feries of examples taken from St. John, with the feries of examples taken from the other evangeiifts, and to judge whether there be not a vifible agreement of manner between them. In the above quoted paHages, the occafion is dated, as well as the re- fledion. They feem therefore the mod proper for the purpofe of our argument. A large, however, and curious coliedion has been made by different writers,^ of indances, in which it is extremely probable, that Chrid fpoke in allufion to fome obje*5l, or fome occafion then before him, though the mention of the occafion, or of the cbjecfl, be omitted in the hidory. I only ob-
a Newton on Dan. p. 148. note a, Jcrtin Dif. p. 213. Biflicp Law's Life of Chrifl.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 203
ferve that thefe inflances are common to St. John's gofpel with the other three.
I conclude this article by remarking, that nothing of this man' ner is perceptible in the fpeeches recorded in the A6ls, or in any other but thofe which are attributed to Chrift, and that, in truth, it was a very unlikely manner for a forger or fabulift to attempt ; and a manner very difficult for any writer to execute, if he had to fupply all the materials, both the incidents, and the obfervations upon them, out of his own head. A forger or a fabulift would have made for Chrift, difcourfes exhorting to virtue and diffaading from vice in general terms. It would never have entered into the thoughts of either, to have crowded together fuch a number of alluiions to rime, place, and other little circumftances, as occur, for inftance, in the fermon on the' mount, and which nothing but the adual prefence of the obje<5ls could have fuggefted.*
II. There appears to me to exift an affinity between the hif^ tory of Chrift's placing a little child in the midft of his difci- ples, as related by the three firft evangelifts,^ and the hiftory of Chrlfl's wafhing his difciples' feet, as given by St. John.^ In the ftories themfelves there is no refemblance. But the affini- ty, which I would point out, confifts in thefe two articles ; firft, that both (lories denote the emulation which prevailed amongll Chrift's difciples, and his own care and defire to cor- real it. The moral of both is the fame. Secondly, that both ftories arc fpecimens of the fame manner of teaching, viz. by a(5tion ; a mode of emblematic inftrucfticn extremely peculiar, and, in thefe pafTages, afcribed, we fee, to our Saviour, by the three firft evangelifts and by St. John, in inftances totally unlike, and without the fmaileft fufpicion of their borrowing from each other.
in. A Angularity in Chrifl's language, which runs through all the evangelifts, and which is found in thofe difcourfes of St. John, that have nothing fimilar to them in the other gofpels, is the appellation of '* the Son of Man ;" and it is in all the evangelifts found under the peculiar circumftance of being ap- plied by Chrift to himfelf, but of never being ufed of him, or towards him, by any other perfon. It occurs feventeen times
a See Bifliop Law's Life of Chria.
b Mat. xviii. i. Mar'k ix. 2,^- I-uke ix. 4!
c xiii. 3.
204 A VIEW OF THE
in Matthew's gofpel, twelve times in Mark'*, tv/enty-cne times in Luke's, and eleven times in John's, and always with this reftr!(5lion.
IV. A point of agreement in the conduct of Chrifl, as rep- refented by his different hiflorians, is that of his withdrawing himfelf out of the way, whenever the behaviour of the multi- tude indicated a difpofition to tumult.
Mat. xiv. 2 2. *' And ilraightway Jefus conflrained his dif- ciples to get into a fhip, and to go before him unto the other (jde, while he fent the multitude away. And when he had fent the multitude away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray.'*
Luke v. 15, 16. " But fo much the more went there a fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities : and he withdrew himfelf into the wildernefs and prayed."
With thefe quotations compare the following from St. John.
Chap. V, 13. " And he that v.'as healed wift not who it was, for Jefus had conveyed himfelf away, a multitude being in that place."
Chap. vi. 15. " When Jefus therefore perceived that they "would come and take him by force to make him a king, he de- parted again into a mountain by himfelf alone."
In this lad inflance St. John gives the motive of Chrift's conduct, which is left unexplained by the other evangelills, who have related the condufl itfelf.
V. Another, and a more fmgular circumftance in Chrlfl's minidry, was the rtferve, which, for fome time, and upon fome occafions at lead, he ufed in declaring his own chara(il:er, and his leaving it to be colledled from his works rather than his profefTions. Juft reafons for this referve have been afligned.* But it is not what one would have expe61:ed. We meet with it in Matthew's gofpel (xvi. 20.) " Then charged he his dif- cipies that they fliould tell no man that he was Jefus the Chriih" Again, and upon a different occafion, in Mark's, (lii. 4.) " And unclean fplrits, when they faw him, fell down before him, and cried, faying. Thou art the Son of God ; and he draightly charged them that they fhoi.ld not make him known." Another Indance fimilar to this laft is recorded by St. Luke, (iv. 41.) What we thus find in the three evangelifls, a})pears
a Sec Locke'3 ReafonAblenefs of Cluiftianity.
EVIDENCES OF CHRTSTIANITY. 205
alfo in a pafTage of St. John (x. 24, 25.) " Then came the Jews round about him, and faid unto him, How long doil thou make us to doubt ? If tliou be the Chrift, tell us plainly." The occafion here was different from any of the veil ; and it was indired. We only difcover Chrift's condudl: through the upbraidings of his adverfaries. But all this ftrengihens tiie ar- gument. I had rather at any time furprife a coincidence in fome oblique allufion, than read it in broad aflertions.
VI. In our Lord's commerce with his difciples, one very obfervable particular, is the difficulty which they found in uo- derftanding him, when he fpoke to them of the future part of his hiftory, efpecially of what related to his paflion or refurrec-. tion. This difficulty produced, as v/as natural, a wiffi in them to afli for further explanation ; from which, however, they ap- pear to have been fometimes kept back, by the fear of giving offence. All thefe circumftances are diflindtly noticed by Mark and Luke, upon the occafion of his informing them (probably for the firft tinie) that the Son of Man (hould be delivered into the hands of men. ** They underflood not," the evangelifts tell us, " this faying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not ; and they feared to aik him of that
Caying." (Luke ix. 45. Mark ix. 32.) In St. John's gofpel we have, upon a diiierent occafion and in a different inflRnce-^ the fame difficulty of appreheniion, the fame cuiiofity, and the fame reflraint-: — <' A little while, and ye fhall not fee me : and again a little whije, and ye fhall fee me ; becaufe I go to tlie Father. Then faid fome of his difciples among themleives, AVhat is this that he faith unto us ? A little v/hile, and ye Ihall not lee me : and again a little v/hile, and ye fliall fee me ; and, Becaufe- I go to the Father :' They faid, therefore, What is this that he Qlth, A little while ? We cannot tell v/hat he faith. Now Jefus knew that they v/ere defirous to aflc him, and faid unto them,*' &c. John xvi. 16, et fea.
VII. The niccknefs of Chiifi: daring his lad: faiTerinfrs, which is confpicucus in the narratives of the three flift evanoe- lifts, is prcfervcd in that of St. John under feparate examples. The anfwer given him, in St. John/ when the high-prielt afl^- -ed him of his difciples and his doctrine, " I fpake openly to -the world, I ever taught in the fynagogne, and in the temple, •whither the Jews always refort, and in fecret have I faid noih-
a xvWu 20,
2o5 A VIEW OF THE
ir.g, why anceil thou me ? Aflc them which heard me what I have faid unto them ;" is very much of a piece with his reply to the armed party which feized him, as we read it in St. Mark's gofpel, and in St. Luke's:^ " Are ye come out as cgainfi a thief, with fwords and with ftaves, to take me ? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not.'* In both anfwers we difcern the fame tranquillity, the fame ref- erence to his public teaching. His mild expoflulation with Pilate upon two f&veral occafions, as related by .'St. John,^ is delivered with the fame unruffled temper, as that which con- duvfted him through the lafi: fcene of his life, as defcribed by his other evangelifls. His anfwer, in St. John's gofptl, to the officer who flruck him with the palm of his hand, " If I have fpoken evil, bear witnefs of the evil, but if well, why fmiteft thou me ?"^ was fuch an anfwer, as might have been looked for from the perfon, who, as he proceeded to the place of exe- cution, bid his companions (as we are told by St. Luke '^) weep not for him, but for themfelves, their pofterity, and their coun- try ; and who prayed for his murderers, whilfl: he was fufpend- ed upon the crofs, " For they know not (faid he) what they do." The urgency alfo of his judges and his profecutors to extort from him a defence to the accufation, and his unwilling- rjefs to make r.ny (which was a peculiar circumftance) appears in St. John's account, as well as that of the other evangelifts.^
There are moreover two other correfpondencies between St. John's hiftory of the tranfaftion and their's, of a kind fome- what different from thofe which v/e have been now mentioning. ' The three firfl: evangelifts record what is called our Sa- viour's agony, i. e. his devotion in the garden, immediately be- fore he was apprehended ; in which narrative they all make him pray, " that the cup might pafs from him." This is the particular metaphor which they all afcrlbe to him. St. Mat- thew adds, " O my Father, if this cup may not pafs away from me, except I drink it, tliy will be done."^ Now St. John does not give the fcene in the garden ; but when Jefus was feized, and fome refiftance was attempted to be made by Peter, Jefus, according to his account, checked the attempt with this reply : " Put up thy fword into the fheath ; the cup,
•1 Mark xiv. 46. Luke xxii. 52. '' xviii. 34. xix. 11.
c y.rs-.v. 23. ''■ X''^''!- 2S.
c See John x-x ■). Mart, xxvli. 14. Luke xxiii. 9. ^ xxvl. 42.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 207
which my Father hath given me, fnill I not drink it ?''''^ This is fomethin^ more than bare confiftency ; it is coincidence : becaufe it is extremely natural, that Jefus, who, before he was apprehended, had been praying his Father, that " that cup might pafs from him," yet with fuch a pious retraiStion of his requeft, as to have added, " If this cup may not pafs from me, thy will be done ;" it was natural, I fay, for the umc peifon, when he a<5lually was apprehended, to exprefs the refi^nation to which he had already made up his thoughts, and to exprefs itiu the form of fpeech which he had before ufed, *' The cup which my Father hath given me, fliall I not drink it ?" This is a co- incidence between writers, in whofe narratives there is no imi- tation, but great diverfity.
A iecond fimilar correfpondency is the following : Matthev/ and Mark make the charge, upon which our Lord was con- demned, to be a threat of defh-oying the temple ; " We heard him fay, I Vv'ili deftroy this temple, made with hands, and, within three days, I will build another made without hands ;" ^' but they neither of them inform us, upon what circumllrtnce this calumny was founded. St. John, in the early part of his hiflory,^ fupplies us with this information ; for he relates, that, upon our Lord's firfl: journey to Jerufalem, when the Jews afic- cd him, " V/hat fign lliewed: thou unto us, feeing that thou docii thefe things ? He anfwered, Deftroy this temple, and in three days I will raife it up." This agreement could hardly arife from any thing but the truth of the cafe. From any care or defign in St. John, to make his narrative tally with the nar- ratives of the other evangeliits, it certainly did not arife, for no fuch defign appears, but the abfence of it.
A llrong, and more general inflance of agreement, is the following ; The three iirft evangelifts have related the appoint- ment of the twelve apoftlcs ;'^ and have given a catalogue of their names in form. John, without ever mentioning the ap- pointment, or giving the catalogue, fuppofes, throughout his whole narrative, Chrift to be accompanied by a feletS party of difciples ; the number of thefe to be twelve ;^ and, whenever he happens to notice any one as of that number,^ it is one in- cluded in the catalogue of the other evangeliits ; and the names
a xviii. LI. b Mark xiv. 5. c ji. 10.
^ Matt X. I. Mark iii. 14. l<uke vi. li. vi. 7.
f XX. 24' vi. 71.
208 A VIEW OF THE X
principally occurring in the courfe of his hiflory of Chrift, are the names extant in their lift. This laft agreement, which is of confiderable momeni, runs through every gofpel, and through every chapter of each.
All this befpeaks reality.
CHAP. V.
Originality of ovr Saviour* s Charader.
X HE Jews, whether right or wron^r, had underftood theis- prophecies to foretel the advent of a perfon, who, by fome fuper- uatural aiTiftance, iaould advance tlieir nation to independence,, and to a iuprcmt: degree of fplendour and profperity. This was the reignii) 4 opinion and expedation of the times.
Novyf, had Jefus been an enthufiall, it is probable that his entirjijifm woaid have fallen in with the popular delufion, and. fhat, wliilit he gave himfelf out to be the perfon intended by thefe predidions, he would have affumed the character, to which.: diey were univcifaily fuppofed to relate.
Had he been an impoftor, it was his bufinefs to have flatter-. ed the prevailing hopes, becaufc thefe hopes were to be the inftru- rrients of his attraftion and fuccefs.
But what is better dian conjedures, is the fatfr, that all the pretended MciTiahs adually did fo- We learn from Jofephus that there were many of Uiefe. Some of them, it is probable, might be irnpoftors, who thought that an advantage was to be taken of the (late of public oj'inion. Others, perhaps, were en- thufiaRs, whofe imagination had been drawn to this particular objCtft, by the language and fentiments which prevailed around them. But, whether impoftors or enthufiafts, they concurred in producing thcmfelves ini the charafcer which their country- men looked for, that is to fay, as the reftorers and deliverers of the nation, in that fenfe in which reftoration and deliverance were expetftcd by the Jews.
Why therefore Jcfus, if he was like them, either an enthufi- aft or impoftor, did not purfue the fame conduci: as they did, in framing his chara(5ler and pretenfions, it will be found difficult to explain. A million, the operation and benefit of which was to take place in another lifj, was a thing unthought of as the
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 209
fubjecH: of thefe prophecies. That Jefas, coming to thera r.s their Meffiah, fhould come under a charailer totally difftreni from that In which they expeded him ; (liould devic.t.. rroni the general perfaafion, and deviate into pretenfions abfolirely lingular and original, appears to be inconiiftent widi the iir.pu- tation of enthufidfm or impoftaie, both which, by their nature, I fliould exped, would, and both which, throughout the expe- rience which this very fabjecl furnifhes, in fact han)e followed, the opinions that obtained at the time.
If it be faid, that Jefus, having tried the other plan, turned at length to this ; I anfwer, that the thing is faid withoat evi- dence ; againit evidence ; that It was competent to the reft to have done the fame, yet that nothing of this fort was thought of by any.
J-
C H A P. VI.
V-/NE argument, which has been much relied upon, (hut not more than its jiiil weight deferves) is the conformity of the fads, occafionaliy mentioned or referred to m fcripture, with the (late of things in thofe times, as reprefenied by foreign and Independent accounts. Which conformity proves, that the vvriters of the New Teftanient paifeiTcd a fpecier. of local knowl- edge, which could only belong to an ifihabicaot of th it coun- try, and to one living In that age. This argument, if well made out by examples, is very little fliort of proving the abfo lute genuinenefs of the wiiiingj. It carries them up to die age o the reputed authors, to an age, in which it muft have been licult to impofe upon the Chriitian public forgeries in the names of of thofe authors, and in which there is no evidence that any for- geries were attempted. It proves at leaft, that the books, who- ever were the authors cf them, wei"e compofed by perfons living in the time and country in which thefe things v.^erc tranf- aiTted, and, confequentiy, capable, by their fituation, of being well informed of the iavfts v.hich they relate. And the argument is. ilronger, when spplled to the New Teftament,than it is in thecaie of ahnoft any other writings, by reafon of the mixed nature of li e alluhons which this book contains. Tlie fcene of a6don is net confined to a fingle country, bat difJDlayed in the greatcfi cities of the Roman e moire. Al'.ufions are made to the manacis aad S 2
210 A VIEW OF THE
principles of the Greeks, the Romans, and tiie Jews. ThIS' variety renders a forgery proportionably more diff.cuh, efpecial- iy to writers of a pollerior age. A Greeli or Roman Chrif- tian, who lived in the fecond or tliird century, would have been wanting in Jewifh literature ; a Jewifli convert in thofe ages v/ould have been equally deficient in tlie knowledge of Greece and Rome.*
' This, however, is an argument which depends entirely upon an induction of particulars ; and as, confequently, it carries with it litilc force, v/ithout a view of the infiances upon which it is built, I have to requefi: the reader's attention to a detail of examples, diftin6lly and articulately propofed. In colledling thefe examples, I have done no more than to epitomize the firfl: volume of the hrft part of Dr. Laidner's credibility of thegof- pel hiflory. And I have brought the argument within its prefent compafs, firft, by paffing ovtv fome of his fedions in which the accordancy appeared to me lefs certain, or upon fubjeds not lufficiently appropriate or circumftantial ; fecondly, by coDtrading every fcdion into the feweft words poflible, con- tenting niyfelf for the mofl: part wich a mere apportion of paf- fages ; and, thirdly, by omitting many difquifitions, which, though learned and accurate, are not abfolutely neceflary to the underftanding or verification of the argument,
The writer, principally made ufe of in the inquiry, is Jofe- phus. Jofephus was born at Jerufalem four years after Chrifl's. afcenlion. He wrote his hidory of the Jewidi war fome time lifter the ded-rudion of Jerufalem, v/hich happened in the year of our Lord fev.enty, that is, thirty-feven years after the afcen- iion ; and his hiitory of the Jews he finifhed in the year nine- ty-three, that is, fixty years after the afcenfion.
At ti<e head of each article, I have referred,, by figures in-- eluded in brackets, to the page of Dr. Lardner's volume where.- ihe fefdop, from which the abridgment is made, begins. The edition ufed is that of 1741.
I. (p. 14) Mat. xi. 22. "When he (Jofcph) heard that Aichelaus did reign in Judea, in the room of his fither Herod, he v.as afraid to go thither ; notwithfhmding, being warnexl of God in a dream, he turned afjde into the parts of Galilee."
In this paflrige it is aflerted, that Archelaus fucceeded Herod in Judea ; and it is implied, that his power did rwi extend to
a IVIichaclis."? Intrcduction to ihe New TcHament, (Marfu 3 tranfla- Uon) c. ii. Tec. -xi.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY: tit
Galilee. Now we learn from Jofephus, that Herod the Greats whofe dominion included all the land of Ifrael, appointed Ar- chelaus his fucceffor in ^M^/frt, and affigned the r^ of his do- minions to other fons ; and that this difpofition was ratified, as to the main parts of it, by the Roman emperor.^
St. Matthew fays, that Archelaus rei^^ned, wds I'ing in JudeiL^ Agreeably to this, we are informed by Jofephus, not only that Herod, appointed Archelaus his fijcceffor in Judea, but that he alfo appointed him with the title of king ; and the verb {/ScccriXivzi) which the evangeHft ufes to denote the government and rank of Archelaus, is ufed likewifeby Jufephus."^
The cruelty of Archelaas's character, which is not obfcurely intimated by the evangelift. agrees with divers particulars in his hiftory, perferved by Jofephias* " In the tenth year of his gov- ernment, the chiefofthe Jews and Samaritans, not being able to endure his cruelty and tyranny, prefented complaints againll him to Caefar."'^
II. (p. 19.) Luke ill. I. "In the fifteenth year of the relgti' of Tiberius Ca^far — Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Itarea, and of the region of Trach- onitis — the word of God' came unto Joha.'*'
By the will of Herod the Great, and the decree of Augus- tus thereupon, his two fon& were appointed, one. (Herod Anti- ])as) tetrarch of Galilee a^nd. Perieaj and the other (Philip) tetrarch of Trachonitis and the neighbouring, countries.'* We have therefore thefe two perfons.in the fituations in which St. Luke places them ;. and alfo^ that they were in thefe fituations in xhtji/ie^n/h year of Tiberius, in other words> that they con- tinued in poffeihou of their territories and titles until that time, and aftGrwards, appears fron:i'a pafllige of Jofephus, which re- lates of Herod, " that he was removed by Caligula, the fuccel^ for of Tiberius ;? and of Philip, that he died in the tiventieth year of Tiberius, when he had governed: Trachonitis and Bata-- nea and Gaulanitis thirty- feven years. ^'
III. (p. 20.) Mark v; ly;'^ *' Herod had fent forth and' laid hold upon John, and bound him in prifon, for Herodias's £ike, his brother Philip's wife ; for he had married her."
a Ant. lib. 17. c. 8. Icf. r.. b De BcH. hb. i, c. 33. fee. ;,
c Ant. .lib.. 17. c. 13. fee. t;.
'^ Ant. lib. 17. c, 8. fee. i. ^ Ant. lib. i3. c. 8. fee. 3.
f Anr. r.b. i3. c. 5. fee. 6.
S Sec alfo Mat. xiv. !■— 13. Luke iii. 19*
212 A VIEW OF THE
With this compare Jof. Ant. I. i8. c. 6. fee. i. " He (Herod the tetrarch) made a vifit to Herod his brother — - Here, falling in love with Herodias, the wife of the laid Her- od, he ventured to make her propofals of marriage."*
Again, Mark vi. 22. *' And when the daughter of the /aid Herodias came in and danced."
With this alfo compare Jof. Ant. I. 18. c. 6. fee. 4. *' Hero- dias was married to Herod, fon of Herod the Great. They had a daughter, whofe name was Salome ; afcer whofe birth, Herodias, in utter violation of the laws of her country, left her hufband then living, and married Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, her hufband's brother by the father's fide."
TV. (p. 29.) Acts xii. 1. *' Now, about that time, Herod the k'ln-y (fretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church." In the conclufion of the fame chapter, Herod's death is repre- fented to have taken place, foon after this perfecution. The accuracy of our hiftorian, or, rather, the unmeditated coinci- dence, which truth of its own accord produces, is in this inftance remarkable. There was no portion of time, for thirty years be- fore, nor ever afterwards, in which there was a king at Jerufa- lem, a perfon exercifing that authority in Judea, or to whom that tide could be applied, except tlie three laft years of this Herod's life, within which period, the tranfadlion recorded in the A^ts is ftated to have taken place. This prince was the grandfon of Heiod the Great. In the A<fts he appears under his family name of Herod ; by Jofephus he Is called Agrippa. For proof that he was a king, properly fo called, we hi ve the teftimony of Jofephus in full and dire^^ terms : — *' Sending for him to his palace, Cahgula put a crown upon his head, and ap- pointed him king of the tetrarchie of Philip, intending alfo to
a The affinity of the two accounts is unqueftion^ble ; but tlicre is a difference in the name of Herociias's firft hufjaid, which, in the c- vangelift, is Philip, in Jofephus, Herod. The difTicuIty, however, will not appear confidcrablc, v.-lien we recollect how common it was in thofe times, for the fame perfon to bear two names : Simon, which is called Peter ; Lcbhcui, whoft: firname is Thaddeus ; Thomas, which is called Dldymiis ; Simeon, who was called Niger ; Saul, who was alfo called Paul." 'J'he folution is likewife rendered eaficr in the prcfent cafe, by the confidcration, that Herod the Great had children by fev- ven or eight wives; that jofephu? mentions three of his fons hnder the name of Herod ; that it is neveithelef^ highly probable, that tlie brothers bore fomc additional name, by whicli thty were diftinguiflicd from oue auothtr. Lard. vol. 11. p. t^y,.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 215
give hini the tetrarchie of Lyfanias."* And that Judea was at laft, but not until the lad, included in his donninions- appears by a fubfequent pafTage of the fame Jofephus, wherein he tells us, that Claudius by a decree confirmed to Agrippa the do- minion which Caligula had given him, adding alfo Judea ancl Samand) in the utmojl extent , ^^ p'ilf^Jf^^^ h his grandfather Hcrod^
V. (p. 32.) Acts xii. 19, 2-3. " And he (Herod) went down from Judea to Csefarea, and there abode. And upon a^ fet day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, fat upon his throne^ and made an oration uato them ; and the people gave a (hout^ faying, It is the voice or a god and not of a man ; and imme- diately the angel of the Lord fmote him, becaufe he gave not God the glory ; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up' the ghod." -
Jof. Ant. lib. xix. c. 8. {&z, 2. " He went to the city Cisfirea. Here he celebrated (hows in honour of Caefar. On- the fecond day of the fhows, early in the morning, he came in- to the theatre, dreffed in a robe of filver, of moft curious work- manihip. The rays of the rifing fun, reflected from fo fplendid a garb, gave him a majeftic and awful appearance. They called him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them, faying^ Hidierto we have refpedled you as a man^ but now we ac- knowledge you to be more than mortal. The king neither re- proved thefe perfons, nor reje<fted the impious flattery. Imme- diately after this, he was feized with pains in his bowels, ex- tremely violent at the very firfl. He was carried therefore with all hafte to his palace. Thefe pains continually tormentr ing him, he expired in five days time."
The reader will perceive the accordancy of thefe accounts in various particulars. The place, (Csefarea) the fet day, the- gorgeous drefb, the acclamations of the aiTembly, the peculiar tarn of^the flattery, the reception of it, the fudden and critical^ incurfion of the difeafe, are circumftances noticed in both narra- tives. The worms mentioned by St. Luke are not remarked; by Jofephus, but the appearance of thefe is a fymptom^ not un- ufuaily, I believe, attending the difeafe, which Jofephus defcribes, viz. violent affeiftions of the bowels.
VI. (p. 41.) A(n:s xxiv. 24. <* And after certain days, when Felix came v/ith his wife Drufdla, which was a Jewefs,, be fent for Paul.
a Ant. xviii. c. vii. fee. lo. ^ lb. xix. c. v. fee. I.
214 A VIEW OF THE
Jof. Ant. lib. XX. c. 6. fee. 1,2. " Agrippa gave his fifter Drufilla in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emefenes, when be had conf^nted to be circumcifed — But this marriage of Drufilla with Azizus was difTolved in a fiioit time after in this manner : when Felix ivas procurator jf Jiideay having had fight of her, he was mightily taken with her- She was induced to tranfgrefs the laws of her country, and marry Felix."
Here the public flrtlon of Felix, the name of his wife, and the fmgular citcumftance of her religion, all appear in perfect conformity with the evangelift.
VII. (p. 46.) "x4.nd after certain days, king x^grippa and Bernice came to Cssfarea to filute Feftus." By this pafTage we are in effedt told, that Agrippa was a king, but not of Judea j for he came to falate Feftus, who at this time adminiitered the government of that country at Casfarea.
Now- how does the hitfory of the'age correfpond with this account ? The Agrippa, here fpoken of, was the fon of Herod Agrippa, mentioned in the lall article ; but that he did not fuc- ceed to his father's kuigdom,nor ever recovered Judea, which had been a part of it, we learn by the information of Jofephus, who relates of him, that, wnen his father was dead, Claudius intend- ed, at firil, to have put him immediately In poffefTion of his father's dominions ; but that Agrippa being then but feventeefl years of age, the emperor was perfuaded to alter his mind, and appointed Cufplus Fadus prefect of Judea and the whole king- dom ;^ which Fadus was fucceeded by Tiberius Alexander, Cu- manus, Felix, Feflus ^ But that, though difappointed of his father's kingdom, in which was included Judea, he was never- thelefs rightly ftyled king Agrippa; and that he was in pofTef- fion of confiderable territories bordering upon Judea, we gather from the fame authority ; for after feveral fucceilive donations of country, " Claudius, at the fame time that he fent Felix to be procurator of Judea, promoted Agrippa from Chalcis to a greater I'lngdom, giving to him the tetrarchie mAwSw had been Philip's ; and he added moreover the kingdom of Lyfanias, and the province that had belonged to Varus."^
St. Paul addreffes this perfon as a Jew : " Kirg Agrippa, believed thou the prophets ? I know that thou bt:^heve(t." As the fon of Herod Agrippa, who is defcribed by Jofephus to
a Ant. xix. c. ix. ad fm. b lb. xx. de BelL lib. II.
c De litll. lib. II. c. xii. ad fiu.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 215
have been a zealous Jew, it is reafonable to fuppofe that he maintained the fame profeflion. But what is more material to remark, becaufe it is more clofe and circumftantiai, is, that St. Luke, fpeaking of the father, (xii. i, 3.) calls him Herod the king, and gives an example of the exercife of his authority at Jerufalem ; fpeaking of the fon, (xxv. 13.) he calls him king, but not of Judea ; which diftindion agrees corredtly with the hiftory.
VIII. (p. 51.) A<fls xili, 7, " And when they had gone through the ifle (Cyprus) to Paphos, they found a certain for- cerer, a falfe prophet, a Jew, whofe name was Barjefus, which was with tlie deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man."
The word, which is here tranflated deputy, (igm^es proconful, and upon this word our obfervation is founded. The provinces of the Roman empire were of two kinds ; thofe belonging to the emperor, in which the governor was called propraetor ; and thofe belonging to the fenate, in which the governor was called proconful. And this was a regular diltintlion. Now it appears from Dio Caffius,^ that the province of Cyprus, which in the original diftribution was afTigned to the emperor, had been trans- ferred to the fenate, in exchange for fome others ; and that, after this e^xchange, the appropriate title of the Roman gover- nor was proconful.
lb. xviii. 12. (p. ^^.) " And when Gallio was deputy (proconful) of Achaia."
The propriety of the title " proconful" is in this paflage flill more critical. For the province of Achaia, after paffing from the fenate to the emperor, had been reftored again by the em- peror Claudius to the fenate (and confequently its government had become proconfular) only fix orfeven years before the time in which this tranfa<Stion is faid to have taken place. '^ And what confines with ftridlnefs the appellation to the time is, that Achaia under the following reign ceafed to be a Roman prov- ince at all.
IX. (p. 152.) It appears, as well from the general condi- tution of a Roman province, as from what Jofephus delivers concerning the ftate of Judea in particular,^ that the power of life and death relided exclufively in the Roman governor, but
a Lib. 54. ad A. U. 732. ^ Suet, in Claud, c. %$• Dio. lib. 61.
c Ant, lib. 20, c. 8. fee. 5. c. 1. fee. 2.
21 6 A VIEW OF THE
that the Jews, nevertheleft, had magiftrates and a council, in- veiled with a fubordinate and municipal authority. This econ- omy is difcerned in every part of the golpel narrative of our Saviour's crucifixion.
X. (p. -203.) A6ts ix. 31. "Then had the churches refi: througiiout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria."
This rejl fynchronifes with the attempt of Caligula to place his ftatue in the temple cf Jerufalem ; the threat of which out- rage produced amongft the Jews a confiernation, that for a fea- fon diverted their attention from every other obje^l.^
XI. (p. 218.J Afls xxi. 31. ** And they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple ; and forthwith the doors were ihut. And as they went out to kill him, tidings came to the chief captain of the hand^ that all Jerufalem wa«? in an uproar. Then the chief captain came near and took him, and command- -cd him to be bound with two chains, and demanded who he was, and what he had done ; and fome cried one thing, and fome another, among the multitude: and, when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the cajlle. And whin he came upon the^airj-, ■fo it v/as, that he was borne of the foldiers for the violence of the people."
In this quotation, we have the band of R-oman foldiers at . Jerufalem, their office (tofupprefs tumults) the caftle, the (lairs, both, as it ihould feem, adjoining to the temple. Let us in- quire whether we can 'find thefe particulars in ainy other lecord of that age and place.
Jof. de Bell. hb. 5. c. 5. fee 8. " Antonia was fituated at the angle of the weftern and northern porticoes of the outer temple. It was built upon a rock fifty cul^its high, fleep on all ■fides. — On that fide, where it joined to the porticoes of the temple, there were flairs reaching to each portico, by which the <^uard defcended ; for there was always lodged here a Ro- man legion^ and pofling theml'eives in their armour in feveral places in the porticoes, they kept a watch on the people on the feafl: days to prei^ent all dijorders ; for as the temple was a guard to the city, fo was Antonia to the temple."
XII. (p.. 224.) A<5ls iv. I. " And a? they fpake urto the people, the priefts and the captain of the temple^ and the faJdu- cees, came upon them." Here we have a piibiic officer under
a Jof. de BtIL lib. II. c. 10. fee. i, 3, 4-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 217
the title of captain of the temple, and he probably a Jew, as he accompanied tbe priefts and fadducees in apprehending - the apoflles.
Jof. de Bell. lib. 2. c. 17. fee. 2. " And at the temple EJeazar, the fon of Ananias the high prieft, a young man of a bold and refolute difpofition, then captain, perfuaded thofe who performed the facred miniftrations, not to receive the gift or facrifice of any ftranger."
XIII. (p., 225.) Acls XXV. 12. " Then Fefttis, when he had conferred with the coimaU anfwered, Haft thou appealed unto Csefar \ unto Gsefar fhalt thou go." That it was ufual for the Roman prefidents to have a council, confifting of their friends, and other chief Romans in the province, appears ex- prefsly in the following paflage of Cicero's oration againft Ver- res :— ^** Iliad negare poiTes, aut nunc negabis, te, concilio tuo dimifTo, viris primariis, qui in confilio C. Sace/dotis fuerant, tibique ef^e volebant, remotis, de rejudicata judicafle ?'*
XIV. (p. 235.) Aas xvi. 13. " And (at Phiiippi) on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by a river fide, where prayer was wont to be made,*' or where a profeucha, oratory, or place of prayer, was allowed. The particularity to be remark- ed,, is the fituation of the place where prayer was wont to bc> made, viz. by a river ft de.
Philo, describing the condu6l of the Jews of Alexandria up- on a certain public occafion, relates of them, that, " early in the morning, flocking out of the gates of the city, they go to the neighbouring fiores J (for the />r<j/fc7yci>^ were deftroyed) and (land- ing in a-moif pure place, they lift up their voices with one ac- cord."'^
Tofephus gives us a decree of the city of Halicarna/Tus, per- mitting the Jews to build oratories, a part of which decree runs thus :— " VVe ordain that the Jews, who are willing, men and women, do obferve the Sabbaths^ and perform facred rites ac- cording to the Jewifh lawi, and build oratories by the fea-fide.'^^°
Tertullian, among other Jewifli rites and cuibms, fuch as feafts, fabbaths, fafts, and unleavened bread, mentions orationes iitorales, that is, prayers by the river fide.^
XV. (p. 255.) Ac^s xxvi. 5. " After the mod J ra if ej ka of our religion, I Uved a Pharifee."
a Philo in Flacc. p. 38X. b jof. Ant. lib. 14. c. lo. fee. 24. c Tcrtull. ad Nat. lib. i, c. 13.
T
2i3 A VIEW OF THE
Jof. de Bell. 1. I. c. 5. fee. 2. "The Pharlfecs were reck- oned the moft religious of any of the Jews, and to be the moil exa^ and ikilful in explaining the laws."
In the original there is an agreement, not only In the fenfe but in the exprefiion, it being the fame Greek adjedive, which is rendered " ftrait" in the Ads, and " exa<5l" in Jofephus.
XVI. (p. 255.) Mark viii. 3, 4. "The Pharifees and all the Jews, except they wafh, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders ; and many other things there be which they have received to hold."
Jof. Ant. lib. 13. c. 10. fee. 6. "The Pharifees have de- livered to the people many infcitutions, as received from the fathers, which are not written in the law of Mofes."
XVII. (p. 259.) Ads xxiii. 8. " For the Sadducees fay, that there is no refurredtion, neither angel nor fpirit, but the pharifees confefs both."
Jof. de Bell. lib. 2. c. 8. fee. 14. They (the Pharifees) believe every foul to be immortal, but that the foul of the good only paffes into another body, and the foul of the wicked is punlllied with eternal punifhment." On the other hand» Ant. lib. 18. c. I. fee. 4. " It is the opinion of the Sadducees that fouls perifh with the bodies.'*
XVIII. (p. 268.) Aas V. 17. "Then the high-pried rofe up, and all they that were with him, which is the fed of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation." St. Luke here intimates that the high-pried was a Sadducee, iv-hich is a charac- ter one would not have expe6led to meet with in that fla- don. This circumftance, remarkable as it is, was not however without examples.
Jof. Ant. Hb. 13. c. 10. fee. 6, 7. " John Hyrcanus high- prieft of the Jews, forfook the Pharifees upon difguit, and join- ed himfelf to the party of the Sadducees." This high-priea died one hundred and feven years before the Chriftian era.
Again, (Ant. lib. 20. c. n. fee. i.) " This Ananus the younger, who, as we have faid juft now, had received the high- priefthood, was fierce and haughty in his behaviour, and above all men bold and daring ; and moreover 'was of the feS of the Sadducees:' This high-prieft lived little more than twenty years after the tranfadtion in the Ads.
XIX. (p. 282.) Luke ix. 51. " And it came to pafs when the time was come, that he fhould be received up, he ftedfaflly fet his face to go to Jerufalem, and fent mefTengers before his
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 219
face. And they went and entered into a village of the Sama- ritans to make ready far him, and they did not receive him> becaufe his face was as though he would go to Jerufalem."
Jof. Ant. lib. 20. c. 5. fee. i. *' It was the cuftom of the Galileans, who went up to the holy city at the feafts, to travel through the country of Samaria. As they were in their jour- ney, fome inhabitant*) of the village called Ginsea, which lies on the borders of Samaria and the great plain, falling, upor* ttiem, killed a great many of them."
XX. (p. 278.) John iv. 20. " Our fathers," faid the Sama- ritan woman, ** worfhipped in this mounlain, and ye fay, that Je- rufalem is the place where men ought to worfhip."
Jof. Ant. lib. 1 8. c. 5. fee. i. " Commanding them to meet him at Mount Geri%im, which is by them (the Samaritans) ef- teemed the moll facred of all mountains.
XXI. (p. 312.) Mat. xxvi. 3. ** Then afTcmbled together the chief priefts, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high prieil, nvho luas called Caiaphas" That Caiaphas was high-prieft, and h-igh-prieft throughout the prefidentfliip of Pontius Pilate, and confequently at this time, appears from the following account ; — He was made high-prieft by Valerius Gra- ins, predecejjor of Pontius Pilate, and was removed from his of- fice by Viteliiiis, prefident of Syria, after Pilate was fent away out of the province of Judea. Jofephns relates the ad'vancement of Caiaphas to th^ high-priefthood in this manner : *' Grat'.is gave the high-priefthood to Simon, the fon of Camithus. He having enjoyed this honour not above a year, was fucceeded by Jofeph, luho is alfo called Caiaphas.^ After this Gratus went away for Rome, having been eleven years in Judea ; and /*o«- tius Pilate came thither as his fucceJforJ' Of the remo'val of Cai" aphas from his office, Jofephus like wife afterward informs us ;• and conned:s it with a circumftance, which fixes the time to a date fubfequent to the determination of Pilate's government. ** Vitellius (he tells us) ordered Pilate to repair to Rome ; and a/^ ter that went up himfelf to Jerufalem, and then gave dire<5tions concerning feveral matters. And, having done thefe things, he took away the priefthood from the high-prieft Jofeph, who is called Caiaphas:'^
XXII. (Michaelis, c. ii.fec. 11.) A^s xxiii. 4. "And they that flood by faid, Revileft thou God's high-prieft ? Then
» Aiit. lib, 18. c. a. fee. 3. ^ Ant. lib. j8. c j. fee. 3,
220 A VIEW OF THE
fald Paul, 1 wift not, brethren, that he was high-prieft." Now, upon inquiry into the-hiflory of the age, it turns out, that An- anias, of whom this is fpoken, was, in truth, not the high-prieft, though he was fitting in judgment in that afTumed capacity. The cafe was, that he had formerly held the office, and had been depofed ; that the perfon who fucceeded him had been murdered ; that another was not yet appointed to the ftation ; nnd that, during the vacancy, he had of his own authority, ta- ken upon himfelf the difcharge of the office." This fingular fituation of the high-priefthood took place during the interval between tl.-e death of Jonathan, who was murdered by order of Felix, and the acceilion of Ifmael, who was invefted with the high-priefthood by Agrippa ; and preclfely in this interval it happened, that St. Paul was apprehended, and brought before the Jewifh council.
XXIIL (p. 323) Mat. xxvl. 59. "Now \.\\e chief priefs and elders, and all the council, fought falfe witnefs againlt him."
Jof. Ant. lib. 18. c. 15. I'ec. 3, 4. *' Then might be feen tlie hi^h-priefls themfehes^ with afhes on their heads, and their breads naked. ^*
The agreement h'-re confiih in fpeaking of the high-priefts, or chief priells (for the name in the original is the fame) in the ■plural number-, when in ftridtnefs there was only one high-priefl : which m.ay be confidered as a proof, that the evangelifts were habituated to the manner of fpeaking then in ufe, bccaufe they retain it, when it is neither accurate nor juH:. For the fake of brevity I ha/e put dowri from Jofephus, only a fingle example of the application of this title in the plural number ; but it is his ufaal (lyle.
lb. (p. 871.) Luke iii. r. *' Now in the fifteenth year of tlie reign of Tiberius Csefav, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judca, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, j4nnas atid Cain- phas being hlgh-priejis, the word of God came unto John.'* '^ There is a pafTage in Jofephus very nearly parallel to this, and which may at leaft ferve to vindicate the evangelift from objec- tion, with refpecl to his giving the title of high-priell: to two perfons at the fame time : *' Quadratus fent two others of the moft powerful men of the Jevvs, as alfo the bigh-pnejis Jonathan and AnaniasT^ That Annas was a perfon in an eminent ftation, and
a Jof. Ant. 1. XX, c. 5. fee. ^. c. vi. fee. %, c. 9. fee. a, bDc Bell. lib. II. c. la.fec. 6.
]£VIDKNCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 22 f
pofTeffed an authority co-ordinate with, or next to. that of the high-priefts properly fo called, raiy be inferred from St. John's gofpel, which, in the hKbry of Chrift's cruciiixion, relates that " the foldiers led him away to Annas firft."^ And this might be noticed as an example of undefigned coincidence in the two evangelifts.
Again, (p. 870.) Aits Iv. 6. Annas is called the high- priefl:, though Caiaphas was in the office of the high-priefthood; In like manner in Jofephus,'' " Jofeph the Ton of Gorion, and the high-prieft Ananus were chofen to be fuprenie governors of all things in the city." Yet Ananas, though here called the fiigh-prieft iVnanus, was not then in the office of the high pried- hood. The truth is, there is an indeterminatenefs in the ufe of this title in che gofpel ; fometlmes it is applied. exclufively to the perfon who held the office at the time, fometimes to one or two more, who probably ffiared v^'ith him fome of the pow- ers or fundions of the office ; and, fonietimes* to fuch of the prlefts as were eminent by their ftarion or character j and there- in the very fame indeterminatenefs in Jofephus.
XXIV. (p. 347.) John xix. 19, 20. "And Pilate wrotsr a l^itle, and put it on the crofs." . That fucH v/as the c-aftom of the Romans upon thefe occadons, appears from pafT.iges of Su-- etonius and Dio Caffius : " Fatrem familias — canibus objecit,. cam hoc iitulo impie locutus parmularius.'' Suet. D^mit. cap.' 10. And in Dio Caffius we have the following : " Having led him through the midftof the coart or alTembly, with a ttyrh'nig:
ftjnifying the caufe of his death, and afterwards crucifying him."' Book 54.
lb. " And it was written in Hebrev/, Greek, and Latin."' That It was: alfo-nfual, aboirt: this time, in Jerufalem, to fet up advertifements in different languages, is gathered from the ac* count which. Jcfephus gives, of an expoflalatory nieffiige from^ Titus to the Jews, when the city was almoft in his hands ; in'., which he fays, Did ye riot ere6l pillars v/ith infcriptions on them, in the Greek, and in oiir language^ " Let no one pafs be- yond thefe. bounds ?"
XXV. (p; 3^2.) Mat. xxvii. 26.- << When he had/-<?r«'^^i^" Jfefus, he delivered him to be crucified."
The following pafl'iges occur, in Jofcphus : .
a-jtviil \2„- ^ De Bell, a. c iC. ftc. Zj-
222 A VIEW OF THE
" Being beaten, they were crucified oppofite to the citadel/' * ** Whom, \\?iy'mg Jirji fiaurged iviih nvhlps^ he crucified.'"* *' He was burnt alive, having beenjirjl beaten.''''^ To which may be added one from Livy, lib. ii. C. 5. ** Produdlio^ue omnes, 'uirgtfque ccefi, ac fecuri percuffi."
A modern example may iliullrate the ufe we make of thb inftance. The preceding of a capital execution by the corpo- ral punifhment of the fufferer, is a pradlice unknown in England, but retained, in fome inftances at leaft, as appears by the late execution of a regicide, in Sweden. This circumllance, there- fore, in the account of an Englifh execution purporting to come from an EngHfh writer, would not only bring a fufpicion upon the truth of the account, but would, in a confiderable degree, impeach its pretenfions, of having been written by the author "whofe name it bore. Whereas, the fame circumftance, in the account of a Swedidi execution, would verify the account, and fupport the authenticity of the book in which it was found ; or, at leaft, would prove that the author, whoever he was, pof- fefled the information and the knowledge which he ought to pofTefs.
XXVI. (p. 353.) John xix. 16. ** And they took Jefus, and led him away, and he, hearing his crofsy went forth.'*
Plutarch de lis qui fero puniuntur, p. 554. A. Paris, 1624. ** Every kind of wickednefs produces its own particular torment, juft as every malefa<fl:or, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own crofs."
XXVH. John xix. 32. ** Then came the foldiers, and hrake the legs of the firft, and of the other, which was crucified is-'ith him."
Conftantine abolifhed the punifhment of the crofs ; in com-
:rRending which edid, a heathen writer notices this very circum-
ftance of breaking the legs : ** Eo plus, uc etiam vetus veterri-
k mumque fupplicium, patibulum, et cruribtis fujfringendis ^ primus
removerit.'^ Aur. Vi<5l. Caef cap. 41.
XXVHI. (p. 457.) Adh iii. 1. *' Now Peter and John went up together into the temple, at the hour of prayer, being the n'nith hour."
Jof. Ant. lib. 15. c. 7. fee. 8. *' Twice every day, in the morning, and at the ninth hour, the priefts perform their duty at the altar."
a Fas- 1*47. *4 edit. Hndf. b p. ic8o. 45 edit* c P, J327. 43 edit.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. ^^
XXIX. (p. 462.) Aas XV. 21. " For Mofes of old time, hath, in every city, them that preach him, being read in thefyfi- agogues every fabbath day.
Jof contra Ap. 1. 2. ** He (Mofes) gave us the law, the Kioil: excellent of all inftitations 5 nor did he appoint that it fhoald be heard once only, or twice, or often, but that, lay- ing afide ail other works, we fhould meet together every week to hear it read^ and gain a perfeift underftanding of it."
XXX. (p. 465.) Ads xxi. 23. " We have four men, tvhich have a vo'w on them ; them take, and parify thyfelf with them, that they m-^yjljave their heads.^^
Jof. de Bell. 1. 1 1. c. 15. ** It is cu(bmary for thofe who have been afflifted with fome diftemper, or have laboured under any other difficulties, to make a voiu thirty days before they offer facrilices, to abftain from wine, ^.ndjhave the hair of their heads:'
lb. V. 24. " Them take, and purify thyfelf with them, and le at charges ivith themy that they may Jhave their heads"
Jof. Ant. 1. 19. c. 6. *' He (Herod Agrippa) coming to Jerufalem, offered up facrifices of thankfgiving, and omitted nothing that was prefcribed by the law. For which reafon hs alfo ordered a good number of Na%arites to be Jhaved." We here find that it was an adt of piety amongft the Jews, to de- fray, for thofe who were under the Nazaritic vow, the expenfes which attended its completion ; and that the phrafe was,* " that they might be fhaved." The cuflom and the expreffion are both remarkable, and both in clofe conformity with the (trip- ture account.
XXXI. (p. 474.) 2 Cor. xi. 24. " Of the JeWs five times received I forty i\x\]^ts, fave one^'
Jof. Ant. iv. c. 8. fee. 21. " He that a<5ts contrary hereto, let him receive forty ilripes, 'wanting one., from the public, officer."
The coincidence here is fingular, becaufe the law allowed forty ftripes ; — " Forty flripes he may give him and not ex- ceed." Deut. XXV. 3. It proves that the author of the epiftle ■ t* the Corinthians was guided not by books, but by fads } be- caufe his ftatement agre^is with the adtual cuflom, even when that cuflom deviated from the written law, and from what he mult have learnt by confalting the Jewiili code, as fet fuith in the Old TeflamcDt.
31^ A VIEW OF THE'
XXXII. (p. 490.) Luke Hi. 12. ** Then came alfo/w^- Itcant to be baptiz^ed." From this quotation, as well as from the hiftory of Levi or Matthew (Luke v. 29 ) and of Zaccheus (Luke xix. i.) it appears, that the publicans or tax-gatherers were, frequently at leaft, if not always, Jews : which, as the country was then under a Roman government, and the taxes were paid to the Romans, was a circumftance not to be ex- pedled. That it was the truth however of the cafe, appears from a fliort pafTage of Jofephus.
De Bell. lib. ii. c. xiv. fee. ^y. " But Florus not reftrainw ing thefe pradices by his authority, the chief men of the Jews, among whom ivas John the publican^ not knowing well what courie to take, waited upon Florus, and gave him eight talents of filver to ftop the building."
XXXIIL (p. 496.) Aasxxii.25. " And, as they bound him with thongs, Paul faid unto the centurion that ftood by. Is it lawful for you tofcourge a man that is a Romany and uncon- demned ?
** Facinus eft vinclri civem Romanum i fcelus verberari, Cic. in ver."
" Caedebatur virgis, in medio foro MefTanse, civ is Romanus^ Judices, cum interea, nallus gemitus, nulla vox ali:?, iftius mlferi, inter dolorem crepitumqae plagarum, audiebatur, nili hiEC, c'l'uh Romanus fumP
X^XIV. (p. 513.) Aas xxii. 27. " Then the chief cap- tain came, and faid unto him, (Paul) Tell me, art thou a Ro- man ? He faid, Yea." The circumftance here to be noticed is, that a Jew was a Roman citizen.
Jof. Ant. Irb. 14. c. 10. fee. 13. " Lucius Lentulus, the conful, declared, I have difmifled from the fervice, the Jewi/b Roman citizens, who obfervc the rites of the Jewilh religion at Ephefus."
lb. V. 27. " And the chief captain anfwered, With a great fum obtained I this free clonic
Dio. Cafiius, 1. 60. ** This privilege, which had been bought formerly at a great pricey became fo cheap, that it was common- Jy fdid, a man might be made a Roman citizen for a few pieces of broken glafs."
X\XV. (p. 521.) A<^s xxviii. 16. "And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prifoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was fufFtred to dwell by himfelf with.^ fvldicr that kepi him"
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 225
With which join v. 20. ** For the hope of Ifrael I am bound with this cham^
" Quemadmodam eadera catena, et cuftodiam et miUtem copu- lat, fie ifta, quse tam dilliniiiia funt, pariter incedunt." Seneca,
" ProGonful aeftimare folet, utrum incarcereni recipienda fit perfona, an miuti tradenda." Ulpian, 1. i , fee. de cuftod. et exhib. reor.
In the coniinement of Agrippa by the order of Tiberius, Antonia managed, that the centurion who prefided over the guards, and the foldier to whom Agrippa tvas to be hound, might be men of mild chara(5ler. Jof. Ant. lib. 18. c. 7. fee. 5. After the accellion of Caligula, Agrippa aifo, like Paul, was fuffered to dwell, yet as a prifoner, in his own houfe.
XXXVI. (p. 531.) A6t3 x>ivii. I. ** And wlien it was determined that we faould fall into Italy, they delivered Paul, and certain other pr if oners, unto one named Julius.*' Since not only Paul, but certain other pr'ifoners, were fent by the fame fhip into Italy, the text muH: be confidered, as carrying with it an intimation, that the fending of perfons from Judea to be tried at Rome, was an ordinary practice. That in truth it was fo, is made out by a variety of examples which the writings of Jo- fephus furnifn ; and aniongft others by the following, which comes near both to the time and the fubje(5l of the inftance in the A-6ts. ** Felix, for fome flight offence, bound and fent to Rome feveral priefts of his acquaintance, and very good and honed men, to anAver fdr themfelves to Caefar." Jof Invit. fee. 3.
XXXVII. (p. 539.) AcTts xi. 27. « And in thefe days, came prophets from Jerufalem unto Antioch ; and there flood up one of tliem, named Agabas, and fgnified by the Spirit diat there fhouid be a great dearth throughout all the world, (or all the country) ivh'ich came to pafs in the days of Claudius Cafar,^"*
Jof Ant. 1. 20. c. 4. fee. 2. " In their time (i. e. about the fifth or fixth year of Claudius) a great dearth happened in Judea."
XXXVni. (p. ^^^.') Aas xvm. I, 2. " Becaufe that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome."
Suet. Claud, c. 25. " Judaeos, impulfore Chrefto affidue tumultuantes, Roma expulit.'*
XXXIX. (p. 664.) A<5ts V. 37. *' After this man rofe up
226 A VIEW OF THE
Judas of Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him."
Jof. de Bell. 1. vii. " He (viz. the perfon, who, in another place> is called by Jofephus, Judas the Galilean, or Judas of Galilee) perfuaded not a few not to enroll themfelves^ when Cyrenius the cenfor was fent into Judea."
XL. (p. 942.) Ads xxi. 5S. " Art not thou that Egyp- tian, which, before thefe days, madeft an uproar, and leddei out into the wildernefs four tlioufand men, that were murder- ers."
Jof. de Bell. 1. 2. c. 13. fee. 5. " But the Egyptian falfs - prophet, brought a yet heavier difafter upon the Jews ; for this inipoltor, coming into the country, and gaining the reputation of a prophet, gathered together thirty thoufand men, who were deceived by him. Having brought them round out of the wildernefs, up to the Mount of Olives, he intended from thence to make his attack upon Jerufalem ; but Felix coming fuddenly upon him with the Roman foldiers, prevented the attack. A great number, or (as it (hould rather be rendered) the greateft part of thofe that were with him, were either flain, or takca piifoners."
In thefe two pafTages, the defignation ©f the impoftor, an ** Egyptian," without his proper name ; " the wildernefs ;" his efcape, though his followers were deftroyed ; the time of the tranfadion, in the prefidentfhip of Felix, which could net be any long time before the words in Luke are fuppofed to have been fpoken ; are circumftances of clofe correfpondency. There is one, and only one, point of difagreement, and that is, in the number of his followers, v/hich in the Ads are called four thoufand, and by Jofephus thirty thoufand : but, befid^ that the names of numbers, more than any other words, are lia- ble to the errors of tranfcribers, we are, in the prefent inftance, under the lefs concern to reconcile the evangelift with Jofe- phus, as Jofephus is not, in this point, confiflent with himfelf.
For, whereas, in the pafTage here quoted, he calls the num- ber thirty thoufand, and tells us that the greatefl part, or a great number (according as his words are rendered) of thofe that were with him, were deitroyed ; in his Antiquities, he r^prefents four hundred to have been killed upon this occafion, and two hundred taken prifoners,* which certainly was noi
a Lib. ao. c. 7. fee, 6*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 227
th« " greatefl: part," nor " a great part," nor " a gre at num- ber," out of thirty thoufand. It Is probable alfo, that Lyfias and Jofephus fpoke of the expedition in its different ftages : Lyfias of thofe who followed the Egyptian out of Jerufalem ; Jofephus of all who were colle<^ed about him afterwards, from different quarters.
XLI. (Lardner's Jewifh and Heathen Teftimonles, Vol. III. p. 21) A(^s xvii. 22. " Then Paul flood in the midd of Mars-hill, and faid. Ye men of Athens, I perceive tliat in all things ye are too fuperflitious ; for, as 1 pafTed by and heheld your devotions, I found an altar ivith this infcriptmn, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worfhip, him declare I unto you."
Diogenes Laert'ius^ who wrote about the year 210, in his hiftory of Epimenides, who is fuppofed to have flourifhed near- ly fix hundred years before Chrifi, relates of him the following llory : that, being invited to Athens for the purpofe, he deliv- ered the city from a peftilence in this manner — '* Taking fev- eral fheep, fome black, others white, he had them up to the Areopagus, and then let them go where they would, and gave orders to thofe who followed them, wherever any of them fliould lie down, to facrilice it to the god to whom it belonged ; and fo the plague ceafed. Hence," fays the hiflorian, '' it has come to pafs, that^ to this prefent t'lme^ may he found in the boroughs of the Athenians anonymous altars ; a memorial of the expiation then made.*'^ I'hefe altars, it may be prefumed, were called anonymous^ becaufe there was not the name of any particular deity infcribed upon them.
Paufanias, who wrote before the end of the fecond century, in his defcription of Athens, having mentioned an altar of Jupi- ter Olympius, adds, " and nigh unto it is an altar of unknoivn gods^^ And, in another place, fpeaks ^^ of altars of gods called vnknown.^^^
PhiloflratuSi who wrote in the beginning of the third century, records it as an obfervation of Apollonius Tyanaeus, '* that it was wife to fpeak well of all the gods, efpecially at Athens^ where altars of unhnoiun demons nvere ereded.^^^
The author of the dialogue Philopatris^ by many fuppofed to have been Lucian, who wrote about the year 170, by others
* In epimenlde. 1. i. fegm, no. ^ Pauf. 1. 5. p. 41a.
^ lb, 1. I. p. 4. d Philof. Apoll. Tyan. 1. 6. c. 3.
228 A VIEW OF THE
fome anojiynvous heathen v/riter of the fourth cenf-ury; makes Critias fwear by the unknonvn god of Athens ; and near the end of the dialogue, has thefe words, " but let us find out the un- kuo'vjn gcd at Athens, and, ftretching our hands to heaven, offer to him our praifes and thankfgivings."^
This is a very curious and a very important coincidence. It appears beyond controverfy, tliat altars with this infcription were exifting at Athens, at the time vhen St. Paul is alleged to have been there. It feems alfo, which is very worthy of, ol?fervation, that this infcription \j^s peculiar to the Athenians., There is no evidence that there were altars infcribed "to the. unknov/n god'* in any other country. Suppofing the hifloryi of St. Paul to have been a fable, how is it poflible that fuch a writer as the author of the Ads of the apoflles was, fhould hit upon a circumdance fo extraordinary, and introduce it, by an allufion fo fuitable to St. Paul's office and charader.
The examples here colledled, will be fufficient, 1 hope, to fat- isfy us, that the writers of the Chriftlan hiflory knew fomething . of what they were writing about. The argument is alfo f^rength- ened by the following confiderations :
I. That thefe agreements appear, not only In articles ofpubr lie hiftory, but, fometimes, in minute, recondite, and very pecu- . liar circumftances, in which, of all others, a forger is mod like- ly to have been found tripping.
II. That the deflruflion of Jerufalem, which took place- forty years after the commencement of the Chriftian inftitution, produced fuch a change in the ftate of the country, and the condition of the Jews, that a writer who was unacquainted with the circumftances of the nation before that event, would find it dijUicult to avoid mifhike?, in endeavouiing to give detailed ac- counts of tranfadlions conneded with thole circumftances, for- afmuchashe could no longer have a living exemplar to copy from.
III. That there appears, in the writers of the New Teft^- ment, a knowledge of the affairs of thofe times, which we do not find in authors of later agp s. In particular, many of the Chriftian writers of the fecond and third centuries, and of the following ages, had falfe notions concerning the ftate of Judea, between the nativity of Jefus and the deftrudion of Jerufa- lepi.'^ Therefore they could not have compofed our hiftories-
-. aX-ucian in Phil op. torn. a. Grasy. p, 767,780 b I.ard. part I. vol, II. 11. 960.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 229
Amldft fo many conformities, we are not to v/onder that we meet with fome difficulties, i'he principal of thcfe I will put down, together with the folutions which they have received. But in doing this I muft be contented with a brevity, better fuited to the limits of' my volume, than to the nature of a controv^erfial argument. For the hiftorical proofs of my alfertions, and for the Greek criticiims upon which fome of them are founded, I refer the reader to the fecond volume of the fiiit part of Dr. Lardner's large work.
I. The taxing, during which Jefus was born, was " flrft made," as we read, according to oui tranflation, in St. L\ike, <* whilfl: Cyrenius was governor of Syria."^ Now it turns out that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria until twelve, or, at the fooneft, ten years, after the birth of ChriO: ; and that a tax- ing, cenfus, or afle/Tment, was made in Judea in the be- ginning of his government. The charge, therefore, brought againft the evangelift is, that, intending to refer to this taxing, he has mifplaced the date of it, by an error of ten or twelve years.
The anfwer to the accufation Is found in his ufing the word " firft" — '* And this taxing wasj^r/? made ;" for, according to the miftake imputed to the evangeiitf, this word could have no iignification whatever. It could have had no place in his narra- tive, becaufe, let it relate to what it will, taxing, cenlus, enroll- ment, or afieflment, it imports that the writer had more than one of thefe in contemplation. It acquits him therefore of the charge, it is inconfiftent with the fuppofition, of his knowing only of the taxing in the beginning of Cyrenius's government. And if the evangelift knew, which this word proves that he did, of fome other taxing befide that, it is too much for the fake of convi(5ling him oF a miftake, to lay it down as certain, that he intended to refer to that.
The fentence in St. Luke may be conftrued thus : " This was the firft aiTeflment (or enrollment) of Cyrenius, governor of Syria ;"^ the words " governor of Syria" being ufed after the
a C, ii. V. 2.
b If the word which \vc render " firft" be rendered " beforc;" which
it has been ftrongly contended that the Greek idiom allows of. the
whole difficulty vanilhts, for then the paflage would be — *' now this
usimg was mad'e before Cvrenius was governor of Syiia;" which cor-
u
23© A VIEW OF THE
name of Cyrenius as his addition or title. And this title, be- longing to him at the time of writing the account, was naturally enough fubjoined to his name, though acquired after the tranfac- tion, which the account defcribes. A modern writer, who was not very cxa6t in the choice of his expreflions, in relating the af- fairs of the Eaft-Indies, might eafiiy fay, that fuch a thing was done by governor Haftings, though, in truth, the thing had been done by him before his advancement to the ftation from which he received the name of governor. And this, as we contend, is precifely the inaccuracy which has produced tJie difficulty in St. Luke.
At any rate, it appears from the form of the expreflion, that he had two taxings or enrollment in contemplation. And if Cyrenius had been fent upon this bufinefs into Judea, before he became governor of Syria, (againft which fuppofition there is no proof, but rather external evidence of an enrollment going on about this time under fome perfon or other* ) then the cenfus on all hands acknowledged to have been made by him in the beginning of his government, would form a fecond, fo as to occafion the other to be called thtfiji.
11. Another chronological objedtion arifes upon a date af- figned in the beginning of the third chapter of St. Luke ;** ** Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caefar — Jefus began to be about thirty years of age ;" for fuppofing Jefus to have been born, as St. Mattliew, and St. Luke alfo himfelf, relates, in the time of Herod, he muft, according to the dates given in Jofephas, and by the Roman hiftorians, have been at lead thiity-one years of age in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. If he was born, as St. Matthew's narrative intimates, one or two years before Herod's death, he would have been thirty-two or thirty-three years old, at that time.
refponds with the chronology. But I rather choofe to argue, that» however the word " firfl" be rendered, to give it a meaning at all, it niiiJcates uith the objed-ion. Jn this I think there can be i.o miftake,
a Jofephus (Ant. 17. c. 2. fee. 6.) has this remajkable paflage — "Wht.n therefore the whole Jewiili nation look an oath to be laith- ful to Cxfar, and the interefts ot the king." This tranfaclion corref- ponds in the coiirfe ot the hiftory with the time of Chrifts birth. What is called a cenfus, and which wc render taxing, w?.s ricliveiing upon oath an account of thtir propcrtj. Thisniight he accompanied with an oath, of fidelity, or might be miftaken by Joftphus for ir.
^l.wiX parti, vol, II p. 768.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 251
This is the difficulty : the folution turns npon an alteration in the conrtruflion of the Greek. St. I^uke's words in the original are allowed, by the general opinion of learned men, to fignify, not '* that Jefus began to be cibout thitty years of age,"' but *'that he was about thirty years of Kge when he began hir. miniftry." This conftrutJ^ton being admitted, th«2 adverb *< about'* gives us ail the latitude we want, and more ; efpccially wl^en applied, as it is in the prefent inflance, to a decimal number ; for fuch numbers, even without this qualifying additionj are of- ten ufed in a laxer fenfe than is licre contended for.'^
III. Ads V. 36. *' For before thefe days rofe up Theudas, boafting himfelf to be fomebody ; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themfelves ; who was fiain ; and all, as many as obeyed him, were fcattercd and brought to nought."
Jofephus has preferved the account of an impoftor, of the name of Theudas, who created fome diiiurbances, and was fliiin ; but, according to the date affigncd to this man'?! appearance, (in which, howcA'er, it is very pollible that Jofephus may have been millaken'' ) it muft have been, at the leall, fevcn year*? after Gamaliers fi^eech, of which this text is -a part, was deli\'-- ered. It has been replied to the obje(5lion,^ that there miglit; be two impodors of this name ; and it has been obferved, ia order to give a general jnobability to the folution, that the f.v.vic thing appears to have happened in other inflances of the Hime kind. It is proved from Jofephus, that there were not fewer than four perfons of the name of Simon, within forty years, and not fewer than three, of the name of Judas, within ten years, who were all leaders of infurreclions : and it Is iikcwifc recorded by this hiftorian, tliat, upon tlie death of Herod the Great^ (which a-j-ees very well with the time of the commo-
a I>ivy, fpeaking of the peace, which t'l>e conducfl of Romuhjs had procured to the State, during the tvbole reign of his fucctflor* (Numa,) has thefe words — '< Ab illo cnini profeiHiig virihus datis tantuin valuit, ut, in quaJraginta deindc annos, tutam paceni haberct :"yct, afterwards, in the fame chapter, "Romulus (he fays) feptem et triginta regnavit annos, Numa tres et quadraginta."
h Michaclis's Introdu(5tion to the New Teft. (Marih's Tranfkuion) vo!. I, p. 6l.
c Lardner, part I. vol. II. p. ()%%,
* Liv. Hijl. c. I./cc. 16.
232 A VIEW OF THE
tion referred to by Gamaliel, and with his manner of Rating that time " before thefe days") there were innumerable didurb- ances in Judea.^ Archbifliop Ufiier was of opinion, that one ofthethies Judas's above mentioned was Gamaliel's Theudas ;•* and that, with a lefs variation of the name than we a(5tually find in the gofpels, v/here one of the twelve apoftles is called by Luke, Judas, and by Mark, Thaddeus.*^ Grigen, however he came at his information, appears to have believed, that there was an impoftor of the name ojf Theudas before the nativity of Chrid/^
IV. Mat, xxiii. 34. *' Wherefore, behold, I fend unto you prophets, and wife men, and fcribes : and fomc of them ye fhall kill and crucify ; and fome of them fftall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and perfecute them from city to city ; that upon you may come all the righteous blood (hcd upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unio the blood of ZaclsariaSi fan of Barach'uis, ivhom ycjlcw lelive^n ihe temple and the altar. ^^
There is a Zacharias, whofe death is related in the fecond book of Chronicles, in a manner which perfedly fupports our 8a- Tiour's allufion.^ But this Zacharias was the fon oi Jehotada.
There is alfo Zicharlas the prophet ; who was the fon of Barachlah, and is fo defcribed in the fupericription of his proph- ecy, but of v/hofe death we liave no account.
1 have little <lcubt, but that the finl Zacharias was the per- fon fpoken of by our Saviour ; a^id that the name of the father has been fince added, or changed, by fjme one, who took it from the title of the prophecy, which happened to be better known to him than the hillory in the Chronicles.
There is like wife a Zacharias, the fon of Baruch, related by Jofephas to have been flain in the temple, a few years before the deltrudlion of Jerufalem. It has been insinuated, that the words put into our Saviour's mouth, contain a reference to this tranfadion, and were compofed by fome writer, who either
a Ant. 1. 17. c, 12. fee. 4. b Annals, p. 797. c Luke vi. x6. Mark iii. 18. d Or. Con. Celf. p. 44.
e «' And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the fon of Jehoiada the pricft, which ftood above the people, and faid unto them, Thus faithViod, why tranfgrefs ye the connnandments of the Lord, that yc cannoc proiptr ? Becaufe ye have forfaktn the Lord, he hath alfo for- faken vou. And ihey confpired againft \i\m, andjlcnai hi,-n luithjlones^ Gt the commandmint of the iin^, in the court oj'the bouj'e of the Lord." % Chroil, xxiv. SO.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 233
confounded the time of the tranfafllon with our Saviour's age, or inadvertently ovei looked the anachronifra.
Now fuppofe it to have been fo ; fippofe thefe word;', to have been fuggefted by the tranfadtion related in Jofephus, and to have been falfely afcnbed to Chrift ; and obfervc what ex- traordinary coincidences (accidentally, as it muft in that cafe have been) attend the forger's miftake.
Firft, that we have a Zacharias in the book of Chronicles, whofe death, and the manner of it, correfponds with the aliu- fion.
Secondly, that although the name of this pcrfon's father be erroneoiifly put dov/n in the gofpel, yet 'we have a way of ac- counting for the error, by fhowing another Zacharias in the Jewilh fcriptures, much better known than the former, whole patronymic was adually that which appears in the text.
Every one, who thiaks upon the fubjevl, will find thefe to be circumilances, which could not have met together in a mil- take, which did not proceed from the circumOrances themfelvet.
I have noticed, I think, all the dlFiculties of this kind. They are few 3 fome of diem admit of a clea;, others (jf a rro >• able foiution. The reader will compare them with the nuni- ber, the variety, the clofenefe, and the fatisfa^frorinefs of the nu iUnces v/hich are to hi- fet againCl them ; and he will remernber the fcantinefs, in mdny cafes, of our intelligence, and chat dilU- cuities always attend imperfecl information.
C H A P. Vil.
JJtidcfigned Co'inc'uli nccs,.
ijETWEFN the letters which, bear the name of %x.. Paai' in our collection, and his hiftory in the Ads of the apoftics, there exid many notes af con;c<i)ondency. The fimpie perulul of the writings is ftifncient to-piove, that neither the hi .'very was taken from the letters, nor the letters froiT> the hi (ho; v. And the iwdfJJow./kcfi of the agreements, which undefiyned- Ftcfs is gathere.i fom their latency, thtir minutenefs, theii- ol)- liquity, the fuitab'enefs of the circumflances in which, d'.ey coti- fill, to the places in which thofe ciicumftancts occi.i, ard ti>{? circuitcus references by whicli they arc traced out, dcmon^ii.xits U 2
234 A VIEW OF THE
that they have not been produced by meditation, or by any frauduleat contrivance. Ijuc coincidences, from which thcie caufes are excluded, and which are too dole and numerous to be accounted for by accidental concurrences of fiction, mull nec- efTarily have truth for their foundation.
This argument appeared to my mind of fo much value (ef- pecialiy for its a/Tuming nothing befide the exigence of the books) that I have pudued it through St. Paul's thirteen epif- tles, in a work publifhed by me four years ago under the title of Hoije Paulinas. I am fenfible how feebly any argument, which depends upon an indudion of particulars, is reprefented without examples. On which account, I wilhed to have abridged my own volume, in the manner in which I have' treated Dr. Lardner's in the preceding chapter. But, upoa making the attempt, 1 did not find it in my power to render the articles intelligible by fewer words than I have there ufed. I mud be content, therefore, to refer the reader to the work itfelf. And I would particularly invite his attention to the obfervations which are made in it upon the three firrt: epiftles. I perfuade myfelf that he will find the proofs, both of agree- ment and undefignednefs, fupplied by thefe epiftles, fufficient to fupport the concluiion which is there maintained, in favour both of the genuinenefs of the writings, and the truth of the narrative.
It remains only, in this place, to point out how the argument bears upon the general quedion of the Chriftian hiftory.
Firft, St. Paul in thefe letters affirms, in unequivocal terms, his own performance of miracles, and, what ought particularly to be remembered, " that miracles lucre thejigns of an apr^ileJ^'^ If this teflimony come from St. Paul's own hand, it is invalua- ble. And that it does fo, the argument before us fixes in my mind a firm affjrance.
Secondly, it fhows that the ferics of a6lion, reprefented in the epiilies of St. Paul, was real ; which alone lays a founda- tion for the propofition, which forms the fubjec!!: of the firlt part of our prcfent work, viz. that the original witneffes of the Chrif- tian hiftory devoted themfelves to lives of toil, fufftring, and danger, in confequence of their belief of the truth of that hido- ry, and for the fake of communicating the knowledge of it to others.
* RoBi. XV. 18,19, * ^^^' ^i'' ^^*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 255
Thirdly, it proves that Luke, or whoever was the author of the Adls of the apoftles (for the argument does not depend up- on the name of the author, though I know no reafcn for quef- tioning it) was well acquainted with St. Paul's hiftoiy ; and that he probably was, what he profefTes himfelf to be, a com- panion of St. Paul's travels : which, if true, eftablilhes, in a confiderable degree, the credit even of his gofpel, becaufe it fliows that the writer, from his time, fituation, and connexions, pofreiled opportunities of informing himfelf truly concerning the tranfadtions which he relates. I have little difficulty in apply- ing to the gofpel of St. Luke what is proved concerning the Ads of the apoftles, confidering them as two parts of the fame hiliory ; for, though there are inftances o^ ftcond yaxx.^ being forgeries, T know none where the fecond part is genuine, and the firft not fo.
I will only obferve, as the fequel of the argument, though not noticed in my work, the remarkable fimilitude between the ftyle of St. John's gofpel, and of St- John's firft epillle. The ftyle of St. John's is not at all the ftyle of St. Paul's epifdes, though both are very fmgular ; nor is it the ftyle of St. James's or of St. Peter's epiftle ; but it bears a refemblance to the ftyle of the gofpel infcribed with St. John's name, fo far as that re- femblance can be expeifted to appear, which is not in fimple narrative, fo much as in reflexions, and in reprefentation of difcourfes. Writings, fo circumftanced, prove themfelves, and one another, to be genuine. This ccrrefpondency is the more valuable, as the epiftle itfelf afTerts, in St. John's manner indeed, but in terms fufficiently explicit, the writer's perfonal knowledge of Chrift's hiftory : "That which was from the beginning, v/hich we have heard, which we have feen v/ith our eyes, \vhich we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the "Word of life ; that which we have feen and heard, declare we unto you."^ Who would not defire, who perceives not the value of an account, delivered by a wiiter fo well informed as
this I
a C. i. V. I, 3,
236 A VIEW OF THE
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Hiflory of tl^ Refun-etlkn*
X HE hiflory of the refurrcftion of Chrifl is a part of the ev- idence of ChrifHanity ; but I do not know, whether the proper llrength of this pafTage of the Chriftian hidory, or wherein its pecaH:ir value as a head of evidence, confiih, be generally un- derftood. It is not that, as a miracle, the refurredion ought to be accounted a more decifive proof of fupernatural agency than other miracles are ; it is not that, as it (lands in the gofpels it is better attefred than fome others ; it is not, for either of thefe reafons, that more weight belongs to it than to other miracles, but for the following, viz. that it is completely certain, that the apolllts of Chriil, and the firlt teachers of Chriflianity, afierted the faifl. And this would have been certain, if the four gofpels had been loft, or never written. Every piece of fcripture re- cognizes the refurredion. Every epiftle of every apoftle, every author contemporary with. the apoftles, of the age immediately fucceeding the apoftles, every writing from that age to the pref- ent, genuine or fpurious, on the fide of Chriftianity or againft it, concur in reprefenting the refurrec^ion of Chrift as an article of his hiftory, received without doubt or difagreement by all who called themfclves Chriftians, as alleged from the beginning by the propcigators of the inftiuuion, and alleged as the centie of their teftimony. Nothing, I apprehend, which a man docs not himfelf fee or hear, can be more certain to him than th!S])oint. I do not mean that nothing can be more certain than that Chrift rofe from the dead ; [3ut that nothing can be more cer- tain, than that his apoftles, and the lirft teachers of Chriftiani- ty, gave oat that he did fo. In the other parts of the gofptl narrative, a queftion may be made, whether the things, related of Chrift, be tlie very things which the apoftles and hrft teach- ers of the rehgion delivered concerning him. And this quef- tion depends a good" deal upon the evidence we pofl'efs of the gcnuir.cnefs, or rather, perhai)s, of the ancicjuity, credit, and Teception of the books. Upon the fubjeifl of" the refurredtion no fuch difcufiion is necefl'ajy, bccaife no fuch doi.bt can be entertained. The only points, which can enter into our con- fideration, are, v/hether the apoillcs knowingly pull.lhed a falfehood, or whether they were themfc Ives deceived : wheth- tr either of ihcfe fuppofitions be poillble. The fnft, I ihink,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 237
13 pretty generally given up. The nature of the undertaking, and of the men ; the extreme unUkenhood that fuch men (hould engage in fuch a meafure as a fcheme ; their perfonal toils and dangers and fufferings in the caufe ; their appropria- tion of their whole time to the obje<5t ; the warm and feeming- ly unalTe<5ted 2ea} and earneftnefs with which they profefs their rincerity, exempt their memory from the fufpicion of impof- ture. The folution more deferving of notice, is that which would refulve the; condu(5l of the apoftles into enthujiafm ; which would clafs the evidence of ChriiFs refurrei^ion with the numerous ftories that are extant of the apparitions of dead men. There are clrcumrtances in the narrative, as it is pre- ferved in our hiftories, which deftroy this coniparifon enurely. It was not one perfon, but many, who faw him ; they faw him not only feparately, but together, not only by night but by day, not at a diilance but near, not once but feverai times ; they not only faw him, but touched him, conveifed with him, atQ with him, examined his perfon to fatisfy their doubts. Thefe particulars are decifive : but they ihnd, I do admit, upon the credit of our records. I would ar.fwer, therefore, the infmua- tion of enthufiafm, by a circumstance which arifes out of the nature of the thing, and the reality of which mull be confeffed by all, who allov/, what I believe is not denied, that the refur- reftion of ChriO:, v/hether true or falfe, was aflerted by his dif^ ciples from the beginning ; and that ci/cumllance is the non- produftion of the dead body. It is related in the hiftory, what indeed the (lory of the refurreclion necelTarily implies, that the corpfe v/as milBng out of the fepulchre : it is related alfo in the hiitory, that the Jews reported that the followers of Chiift had ftolen it away.^ And this account, though loaded with great improbabilities, fuch as the fituation of the difciples, their fears for their own fafety at the time, the unlikelihood of
a " And this faying," St. Matthew writes, *' is commonly reported amongft the Jcwi unal this day." (xxviii. 15,) The evangehft may be thought g(iOcl authority as to this point, even hy thofc who do not admit lus tvidcnce in every other point; and this point is fufficient to prove that the body w?,s mifrin<^.
It has aL'o been righily, I think, obferved by Dr. Townfend, (Dif. upon the Rcf. p. 126) that the Wory of the guards carried colhifion upon the face of it : — " His diicipies c.ime by night, and ftole him awa), while we dept." A4en in their circumftances would not liave made 'uch an acknowledgment of their ntgligeace, without previous allbrancesof protei5tiou and impunity.
238 A VIEW OF THE
their expe<5lin^ to facceed, the difficulty of adual fuccefs,* and the inevitable confequence of dete<flion and failure, was nevcr- thekfs the mod credible account that could be given of the matter. But it proceeds entirely upon the fuppofition of frp.ud, as all the old obje(5\ions did. What account can be given of the /Wv, upon the fuppofition of enthufiafm ? It is im- poiTiblc our Lord's followers could believe that he whs rifen from the dead, if his corpfe was lying before them. No enthu- fiafm ever reached to fuch a pitch of extravagancy as that : a fpirit may be an iilufion, a body is a real thing ; an object of fenfe, in which there can be no miftake. AW accounts of fp€(5^res leave the body in the grave. Anc, ahhough the body of Chrift might be removed by fraud, and for the purpofes of fraud, yet, without any fuch intention, and by fincere but de- luded men, which is the reprefentation of the apoftolic charac- ter we are now examining, no fuch attempt could be made. The prefence and the abfence of the dead body are alike in- ccnfiftent with the hypothefis of enthufiafm ; for if prefent, it roufi have cured their enthufiafm at once ; if abfent, fraud, not enthullidm, mufi: have carried it away.
But further, if we admit upon the current teftimony of all the hiftories fo much of the account as ftates that the religion of Jefus was fet up at Jerufaiem, and fet up with aiferting, in the very place in v/hich he had been buried, and a few days after he had been buried, his refurrecflion out of the grave, it is evident that if his body could have been found, the Je^\'s would have produced it as the lliorteft and completed anfwer poiTible to the vv'hole flory. The attempt of the apoftles could not have furvived this refutation a moment. If we alfo admit, upon the authority of St. Matthew, that the Jews were adver- tifed of the exnedladon of Chrift's followers, and that they had taken due precaution in confequence of this notice, and that the body was in marked and public cufbdy, the obfervation re- ceives more force dill. For, notwithdanding their precaution, and although thus prepared and forewarned ; when the dory of the refurrcction came forth, as it immediately did ; when it was publickly aderted by his difciples, and made the ground and bafis of their preaching in his name, and colledling follow-
a " Efpeclally at the full moon, the city full of people, many proh;^- bly pafllng the whole night, as Jtfus and his difciples had done, in the open air, the fepulchre (o near the city as to be now inclosed within the wails." Prieftly on the Refur. p. Z4.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 239
crs to his religion, the Jews had not the body to produce : but were obliged to meet the teftimony of the apoftles by an an- fwer, not containing indeed any impoflibility in itfelf, but ab- folutely inconfiftent with the fuppolltion of their Integrity ; that is, in other words, inconfiftent with the fuppofition, which would refolvc theii condud into enthufiafm.
C H A P. IX.
The Propagation of Chriftianity,
IN this argument, the firft confideration is the h€i ; in what degree, within what time, and to what extent, Chriftianity ac- tually was propagated.
The accounts of the matter, which can be colle6led from our books, are as follows : A few days after Chrift's difappear- ance out of the world, we find an affembly of difcipks at Je- rufalem, to the number of *' about one hundred and twenty ; ' ^ which hundred and tv/enty were, probably, a little affociation cf behevers. met together, not merely as believers in Chrift, but as perfonally connedted with the apoftles, and with one another. Whatever was the number of believers then in Jeru- falem, we have no reafon to be farprifed that fo fmall a com- pany fhould aflcmble ; for there Is no proof that the followers of Chrift were yet formed into a faclety, that the foclety was reduced into any order, that it Was at this time even under- ftood that a new religion (in the fenfe which that term con- veys to us) was to be fet up in the world, or how the profef- fors of that religion were to be dlftlnguifhed from the reft of mankind. The death of Chrift had left, we may fuppufe, the generality of his difclpies in great doubt, both as to what they were to do, and concerning what was to follow.
This meeting was held, as we have already fald, a few days after Chrift's afcenfion ; for ten da) s after that event was the day of Pentccoft, when, as our hlftjry relates,^ upon a flgnal dlfplay of divine agency attending the perfons of the apoftles, there were added to the fociety " about three thoufand fouls." ^ But here, it is not, I think, to be taken, that thefe three thou- fand were all converted by this fmgle miracle ; but rather that
a Ad3 i. 5. b Ads ii. i. c lb. ii. 41.
240 A VIEW OF THE
many, who were, before believers in Chrlft, became now pro- feflbrs of Chridianity ; thai is to fay, when they found that a religion was to be cftabliihed, a fociety formed and fet up in the name of Chrift, governed by his laws, avowing the belief in his mifiion, united aniongil themfelves and feparated from the reft of the world by vifib'e diftindlions, in purfuance of their former conviction, and by virtue of what they had heard and feen and known of Chrift's hiftory, they publickly became members of it.
We read in the fourth* chapter of the A 6ls, that foon after this, *' the number of the men," i. e. of the fociety openly pro- feffing their belief in Chrift, " was about five thoufand." So that here is an increafe of two thouldnd within a very fhort time. And it is probable that there were many, both now and afterwards, who, although they believed in Chrift, did not think it neceffary to join themfclves to this fociety ; or who waited to fee what was likely to become of it. Gamaliel, whofe advice to the Jewilli council is lecorded Adts iv, 34. appears to have been of this defcription ; perhaps Nicodemus, and perhaps alfo Jofeph of Arimathea. This clafs of men, their charader and their rank, are iikewife pointed out by St. John, in the twelfth chi^pter of his gofpel, " neverthelefs among the chief tulers alfo many believed on him ; but becaufe of the Pharifees they did not confefs him, left they fhould be put out of the fynagogue : for they loved the praife of men more than the praife of God.'* Perfons fuch as thefe, might admit the miracles of Chrift, without being immediately con- vinced that they were under obligation to m'ake a public pro- feilion of Chriftianity, at the rifli. of all that was dear to them in life, and even of life itfelf.^
a Vcrfe 4.
*> " Bcfide thofc who profcntd,3nd thofe who rejedied and oppofed Chriftianity, ihere were, ia ^11 probnhility, multitudes httvccn both, neither ptrie(fk Chrifiians, nor yet unbcl'evers. 1 hey had a favoura- ble opinion of the gofpel. but wo! Idly confiderations mnde them un- willing to own it. Tlicre were many cii cuniftancts which inclined them to think that Chriftiani-y was a divine revelation, but there ^vere maty inconver.iences whrch attended the open prcfrffion of it ; and they coald not find in thcmfeivcs courage enough to bear them, to difoblige their friend? and fpmily, to ruin their fortunes, to lole their reputation, thtii liberty snd their life, for th-' fake of the new religion. Therefore they were willing to hope, that if they endtav-
TTvIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. i^v
^Cf^rldlanlty, however, proceeded to increafe in Jerufalem by iprogrefs equally rapid with its iirft f^accefs ; for, in the next^ chapter of our hiftory, we read that " believers were the more added to the Lord, m/>'///V^ffl'i?j- both of men and wo- men." And this enlargement of the nev/ fociety appears in the firfl: verfe of the facceeding chapter, wherein we are told, that^ " when the number of the difciples was multiplied, there arofe e. murmuring of che Grecians againft the Hebrews becaufe their widows wereneglefted;"^ and, afterwards in the fame chap- ter, it is declared exprefsly, that 'Uhe;n«mber of the difciples multiplied in Jernfalem greatly, and that a great company of the priefls were obedient to the faith."
This I call the firft period in the propagation of Chridlanity. It commences with the afcenfion of Chrifl: ; and extends, as may he coUeded from incidental notes of time,^ to fomething moi'e than one year after that event. During which term the p/eaching of ChrifHanity, fo far as our documents inform us, was confined to the ^mglo. city of JeruGilem. And how did it fucceed there ? The hrJl: affembly which we meet with of Chrifl's difciples, and that a few days after his removal from the world, confifted of *' one hundred and twenty." About a week after this " three thoufands were adde^"' in one day ; and the num- ber of Chriflians, publickly baptized, and publickly affcciating
ogetJ"ier, -were very foon increafed to '* f ve thoufands.'' *' Mul- titudes both of men and women continued to be added :" " dif- ciples multiplied greatlj," and "many of the Jewlfli prieft- hood, as well as others, became obedient to the faiih ;'' and 'this within a fpace of iefs than tv/o years ft cm the commence- ment of the inlHtution.
By reaion of a perfecution raifed againfl the chur-ch at Jeru- falem, the converts were driven from that city, and difperfed throughout the regions of Judta and Samaria.^ Wljerever they
cured to obfcrv^ the great precepts of morality, which Chrifl had rcprefcnted as the principal, part, the fum and fubft.j.ncc of religion ; if they thought iioiiourably of the gofpel, if they offered no iiiijury to the Clirifhans, if they d:d them all the fervices that thty conXtX fife ly .perform, they were wiUinfi to hvpe that God would accept this, and that he would excuie and loigive the reit." Jcrtin's Dif, on the Chrift -Rel. p. 91. ed. 4. '
a lb. V. 14. '"> 11). vi. T.
c Vide Pcarfon's Ant^. 1. xviil. c. 7. Bcnfon's Hift. of Chrifl. book i. p. 14^. 'ilb. viii. i,
W
S42 A VIEW OF THE
came, they brought their religion with thcrn ; for our hif- torian informs us,-^ that, ** tJiey that were fcattered abroad, went every where, preaching the word." The efFeifl of this preaching con-ws afterwards to be noticed, where the Iiiltorian is lecl, in the caurfe of liis narrative, to obfervc, that ■then, (i. €. about three years^ poflerior to this) *' the churches had reft throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and xjtre edifi'id, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghoft, were multiplied." This was the vork of the fecond period, which comprifes about four years.
Hitherto the preaching of the gofpcl had been confined td Jews, to Jewilh profelytes, and to Samaritans. And I cannot forbear from fetting down, in this place, an obfervatiop of Mr. IBryant^Sj which ap])ears to me to be perfc(fHy well founded :-^ •' The Jews ftill remain, but how feldom is it that we can make a fingle profelyte I There is reafon to think, that there were niore converted by the apoftles in one day, than have (ince been won over In the laft thoufand years."*^
It was not yet known to the apoitles, that they wefe at liberty to propofe the religion to mankind at large. That *' myftery," as St. Paiil calls it,'^ and as it then was, was revealed to Peter by an efpecial miracle. It appears to have been^ about Jeven years after Chrill's afcenfion, that the gofpel was preach- ed to the Gentiles of Cefarea. A year after this, a great mul- titude of Gentiles were converted at Antioch in Syria. The cxprefiions employed by the hiftorian are thefe — "a great num- ber believed and turned to the Lord ;" ** much people was ad- ded to the Lord ;" *' the apoftles Barnabas and Paul taught xnuch peopleV'f Upon Plerod's death, which happened in the jiext year.s it is obfervcd, that " the word of God grew and i^iultiplied.*"^ Three years from this time, upon the preaching of Paul at Iconium, the metropolis of Lycaonia, *' a great mul- titude both of Jews and Greeks believed ;"' and afterwards, in the courfe of this very progrefs, he is reprefented as " making many difciples" at Derbe, a principal city in the fame diftrift. Three years^'- after this, which brings lis to fixteexi after the aT-
A Ver. 4. ^ Cc-nfon, b. I. p. ocy.
c Bryant on the truih of the Chrifliaii Religion, p. IIX.
li Ephef. iii. 3—6. e Iknfon, b. II. p. 236.
i lb. xl. 21, M, 26. E Benfon, b. II. p. 289.
h xii. 24, » lb: Kiv. I, k B£n]"ou'5 liift. Chrift. b. III. p. 5<>.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 245
eeniion, the apofHes wrote a public letter from Jerufalem to the Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria, and Cilieia, with which letter Paul travelled through theie countries, and found the churches " eftablifhed in the faith, and inerealing in number daily."* From Afia the apoAle proceeded into Greece, where, foon after his arrival in Macedonia, we find him at ThtfTaloni- ca J in which city " fome of tbe Jew^s believed, and of the de- vout Greeks a great multitude."^ We meet alfo here with an accidental hint of the general progrefs of the Chiiftian miflion, in the exclamation of the tumultuous Jews of Theifalonica, "that they, who had turned the world upfide down, were come thither aifo.'^*^ At Berea, the next city at which St. Paul ar- rives, the hiftorian who was prefent, informs us tlvit " many of the Jews believed*'"^ The next year and half St. Paul's rainii- try was fpent at Corinth. Of his fuGcefs in that city v/e recelvd the following intimations r. " that many of the Corinthians be- lieved and were baptized,'' and *' that it was revealed to ths apoftle by Chrift, that he had ?;2;/t7-» people vn that city."^ With- in lefs than a year after his departure from Corinth, and tv/en- ty-five^ years afcer the afcenfion, St^ Paul fixed his ftation at; Ephefus, for the fpace of two years^ an-d fomething more. The effect of his miniilry in that city and neighbourhood, drev/ from the hifforian a refledion, " So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed,"^' And at the conclufion of this period, we find Demetrius at the head of a party,- who were alarmed by the progrefs of the religion, complaining, that; " not only at Ephe- fus, but alfo ihrougtiout all Afia, (i. e. the province of Lydia> and the country adjoining to Ephefus) this Plml hath perfuad- €d and turned away much people."^ Befide thefe accounts* there occur, incidentally, mention of converts at Rome, A.1-* exandria, Athens, Cypru^, Cyrene, Macedonia, Philippi.
This is the tliird period in- the propagation of Chriflianity, fetting off in the feventh year after the afcenfion, and ending at the twenty-eighth;- Now, lay thefe three periods together, and obferve how the progrefs of the rehgioa by thefe accounts is rep- relented. The inftitution, which properly htgan only after its author's removal from the world, before the end of thirty years, has fpread itfelf throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria, almoft
a XVJ..J, b xvii. 4i c lb. v. 6. «* xvii. I2^.
e lb. xviil. 8— 10. ^ Beufon, b. III. p, i6fc.
«A<as six, lo, ^ six. 20. • » lb. V. a6i
244 A VIEW OF THE
all the numeroas diflri(f"ts of the lefTer Alia, through' Gretcfj. and the iHands of the ^gean Sea, the fea-coail of Africa, and: hzd extended itfelf to Rome, and into Italy. At Antioch in. Syria, at Joppa, Ephefu5, Corinth, The/Talonica, Berea, Iconi-- nm, Deibe, Antioch in PiJidia, at Lydda, Saron, the number cf converts is intimated by the exprellions "a great number, '"* "great multitudes,'* " mach people." Converts are mention- ed, without any deiignation of thdr number/ at Tyre, Cefarea^ Troas, Athens, Phiiippi, Lyilra, Damafcus. During all this time, Jerufrilen) continued not only the centre of the niiflion, but a principal feat of the re]i;5;on ; for when St. Paul returned^ thither, at the conclu'ion of the period of which we are now confidering the accounts, the other apoilles pointed out to him,,, as a reafon for his comphance with tl^cir advice^ *' how many ihcufands (myriads, ten thoufands) there weje in that city who believed/' ^
Upon this abf^ra«flr, and the writing froni which it is drawn, the foilov/ing obfervations feem material to be made :
I. That the account comes from a perfon, v;ho was himfelf concerned in a portion of whnt he relate?, and was contempo- rary with the whole of it ; who vifited JeruGileni, and frequent- ed the fociery of diofe who had a<^ed, and were acting, the chief parts in the tranfliiflion. I hiy down this point poUtively ; for had the ancient atteftations to this valuable record been iefs fatistliclory than they are, the unaffededncfs and fimplicity with which the author notices his prefence upon ceitain' occafions,, and the entire abknce of art and defign from thefe notices,, would have been fuiEcient to perfuade my mind, that, whoever he v/as, he actually lived in the times,, and occupied the fitua- tion in which he reprefents himfelf to be. When I fay, " who- ever he was," I do not mean to caft a doubt upon the name, to which antiquity hath afcribed the. Ads of the apoflles, (for
a ConfKkring the extreme concirtnefs of many part* of the hJftory,„ the filence aiiout the num'oers of converts is rto proof of their paucity : for at Phiiippi, no mention whatever is made of the nun^Jicr, yet St. Paul addreiTetl an epiftle to that church. i'he churches of Galatia, and the affairs of thofe churches, were confidcrahle en(nioh to be the fubjeclof anotlur letter, and of much of St. Paul's foHcitude, yet no account is prefervtd in the hiftory of his Ru cefs, or even of hispreach- inj^ in that country, except the (Tight notice wliich thefe words con- vey : — "when they had gone t^\^cughout Phrygia, and the regioQ.cf Galatia, they alTayed to go into Bythinia." xvL 6, 7.. b lb. xxi. 20,,
EVIDENCES OF GliklSTlANITr. 245
ikZTQ Is no caufe, that I am acquainted with, for queftioning It) but to obferve, that in fuch a cafe as this, the time and lituatiort of the author is of more importance than his name ; and that r/^r^ appear from the work itielf, and in the moft unfufpicious form.
II. That this account is a very Incomplete account of the preaching and propagation of Chriftianlty ; I mean, that, if what we read in the hiftory be true, much more than what the hiftory contains muft be true alfo.^ For, although the narrative from which our information is derived has been entitled the Adls of the apoftles, it is in faift a hiftory of the twelve apoftles' only during a fliort time of their continuing together at Jerufa- lem ; and even of this period the account is very concife. The' work afterwards confills of a fev/' important pafiages of Peter's- Kiiniftry, of the fpeechand death of Stephen-, of the preaching of Philip the deacon f- and the fequel of the volume, that is,- two thirds of th« whole is taken up with the converfion, the" travels, the difcourfes and hiftory, of the new^ apofUe Paul, in which hiftory alfo large portions of time- are- often pafl'ed over with very fcanty notice,
III;- That the account, fo far asMt goesj Is^ for this very reafon more credible.' Had it been the author's defign to hav^ dlfplayed the early progrefs of Chriftianity, he would undoubt- edly have colleded, or, at Icaft, have fet forth, accounts of the preaching of the reft of the apoftles, who cannot^ without ex- treme imprcbability, be fuppofed to- liave remained file nt and inactive, or not to have met v^rith a Ihare of that fuccefs whicli attended their colieagues; To which it may. be added, as an' obfervation of the fame kind,'
IV. That the intimations- of the number of converts, and c£ the fuccefs of the ^preaching of the apoftles,- com.e out for the mo9i \>?lX\. incidentally ; are drawn from the hiftorian by the oc- caiion ; fuclvas the murmuring of the Grecian converts, the reft from perfecution, Herod's death, the fending of Barnabas to Antioch, and Barnabas calling Paul to his affiftancc, Paul coming to a place and finding there (lifciplcs, the clamour fo the Jev/s, the complaint of artificers intcrefted in the fuppoit ofthe popular religion, the reafon alTigncd to Induce Paul 'to give fa c- isfaftion to the Chriftians of j.eri,fakm. Had it not been for- tbefe occafions, it is probable that no notice whatever woui(^i have bccpi takea oi the nurnt)<ii of coftyetts, in fcvei^al'of thg-'
z^6 A VIEW OF Tire
pan*ag£s in which that notice now appears. All this tends to remove the rafpicion of any defign to exaggerate or deceive.
Parallel testimonies with the hirtory, are the letters •which have come down to us of St. Paul, and of the other apoftles. Thofe of St. Paul are addrefTed to the churches of Corinth, PhiHppi, ThefTalonica, the church of Galatia,and, if the infcription be right, of Ephefus, his miniftry at all which places is recorded in the hiftory ; to tlie church of ColoiTe^ or rather to the churches of ColofTe and Laodicea jointly^ •which he had not then vifited. They recognize by reference the churches of Judea^ the churches of Alia, and " all the churches of the Gentiles."'^ In the epiftle to the Romans,** tlie author is led to deliver a remarkable declaration, concerning the extent of his preaching, its efficacy, and the caufe to which. he afcribes it, " to make the Gentiles obedient by v/ord and deed, through mighty ligns and v/onders, by the power of the Spirit of God, fo that, from Jerufalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gofpel of Chrift." In the- epiiUe to the Coloflians,'^ we find an. oblique, but very ftrong lignification, of the then general ftate of the Chridian niinion,^, at lead as it appeared to St. Paul : " If yo continue in the faith,., grounded and fettled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gofpel, which ye have heard, and nvhich war- f reached to every creature tvhkh is vnder heav.en f'" which gofpel, he had reminded them near the beginning'* of his letter, " was • prefent with them as it -wai in all lie iJorkL" The exprefllonst.-, are hyperbolical ; but they are hyperboles, which could only be tifed by a writer who entertained a ftrong fenfe of the fubje^ti The firft epifde of Peter aacofts the Chrifti^ns difptrfed througW out Pontus,, Galatia, Cappadocia, Afia.and Bithynia..
Sect. X;
IT comes next to be confidered', how far thefe accounts af« confirmed, or followed up, by other evidence.
Tacitas, in delivering a relation, which, has already been- Jaid before the reader^ of the fire which happened at Rome in, the tenth year of Nero, which coincides with the thirtieth year
a-i ThefT. ii. 14. Rom, xvi. 19,4. b x-v. 18, 19, c i, 'j,z, «1 i. 6.
EVIDEKGES OF CHRISTI ANITT.' •s^y
atlter Chrift's af^enfiony alTerts, that the emperor, in order to (up-- prefs-the rumours of having been himfelf the author of the mil-- chief, procured the Chriftians to be accufed. Of which Chris- tians,-thus brought into his narrative, the following is Co much^ of the hi/lorian's account, . as belongs to cur prefenc purpofe. - •** They had their. denomination from Chriftus, v/ho, in the reign ^ of. Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal by the procurator' Pontius Pilate. This pernicious fuperftition, though checked i for a; while, broke out again, and fpread not only over Judeaj, , but reached the city alfo. At firfl: they- only were apprehend- ed, who con feffed themfelves of that fc*5l ;. afterwards a vaji! tnultihide were difcove; - i by them.V This teftimony to the: early propagation of Chriflianity is extremely material.
It is from an hiflorlan of great reputation,, living near the ' time, from a ftrailger and an enemy to the religion ; and it; joins immediately v/iththe period through" which the fcripture ' accounts extend. It efiablifhes thefe points,- that the religion ! began at Jertiflilera, that it fpread throughout Judea, that it had '- reached Rome, and not only fo, but that it had theie obtained ' a great number of converts.-- This- v/as^ about fix- years after '■ the. time that St. Piiv.l. wrote his epiftle- to the . Romans, and! fomethirg more than two years after he arrived • there -himfelfo The converts to the religion were then fo numerous at RomCj, that of thofe who v/ere betrayed by the information of :the per- - Tons firft "profecuted, a great multitJAde (multitudo ingens) were- difdovered and feized, .
It feems probable^ that the temporary check'. which. Tacitus ■■- reprefents ChiilHanity to have received (repreffa in prasfens) re* ferred to the perfecution at Jeruflilem, v/hich followed the death ♦ of Stephen ; ■( Aas viii.) and which, by difperfmg the converts^ . caufed the inftitution, in fom.e nieafurey to difdppearj Its fec-"- ond eruption at the fam.e place, and within a fhort time, has > much in it of the chara<5>er.o»f truth. It w?vS the firm nefs and 1 perfcverance of men who knew what they relied uponv..
Next in order of time, and -perhaps iuperior in importance, is '■• the teftimony of Pliny the youngen Pliny was the Roman go/* ernoi". of Pontus and Eithynia, two con fide rible diflricflis in the ' northern part of Afia Minor* The fituationin which he. found- his pro^/ince, led him to apply to the emperor" (Trajan) for his: direction, as-to the conduct:. he was -to hold towards ciie Chrif- {^•a.D3. The letter, in v^hich this application is contained^ was- written not' q;iije-eight]^ y^ar$- after Ciivi(i-s. aiceriliofl^ 'JChe
i^ A viifworTmr
prefident in this letter dates the meafures he had alreacfjr pBiv- fued, and then adds, as hisreafon for reforting to the emperor's = counfel and authority, the following words ;« — '* S«r|>ending air judicial proceedings, I have recourfe to you for advice ; for it has appeared to me a matter highly deferving confideration, ef^ pecially upon account of the great number of perfons who are in danger of fufFering : for many of all ages, and of every rank, (£ both fexes likewife, are accufed, and will be accufed. Nor has the contagion of this fuperAition feized cities only, but the leiTer towns alfo,- and the open? country. Neverthelefs it feemed to^ me that it may be retrained and correcfted. It is certain that the temples, which were almoft forfakcvi, begin to be more fr&o quented ; and the facred folemnities, after a long imermiiIior>, • are rcviTcd. • Vidims, likewife, are every where (paffim) bought up ; whereas, for Tome time, tl>ere were few to purchafc themt Whence it is eafy to imagine, what numbers of men might be reclaimed, if pardon were granted to thofe that fliall repent/'*
It is obvfous to obfiiye, that the pafiage of Pliny's letter,, here quoted, proves not only that the Chriliians in Pbntus and Bithyniaweie now numerous, but that they had fabfifted there for fome^ confiderable time. *' It is certain (he fays), that the temples, which were almoll forfaken, (plainly^ afcribing this de- • fertionofthe popular worfhip to the prevalency of Ghriftianity) begin to be more frequented ;- and the facred folemnities, after a /o«^ intermifliony are. revived." There are alfo two claufes in the former part of the letter which indicatethe fame thing ;.-one^ • in v/hich he declares that he had ** never been prefenc at any trials of Chriftians, and therefore knew not what was the ufu^d lubjec^ of inquiry- a-nd puniihment, or how far either! was wont to be urged :" the fecond claufe is the following : •** others were named by an informer^ who at firft, confeifed themfelves Chrii^ tiansj and afterwards denied it ; the reft faid,'- that they had been Ghriltiansj fome three years ago, fome longer,. and fome above twenty years." It is alfo apparent that Pliny fpeaks of the Ghriftians as a dcfcrrption cf men well known to the perfon to whom he v/rites. His firft fentence concerning tham is, *• I have never been prefentat the trials of Chriftians.'* Thisraentica of the name of Chrii'lians, v/ithout any preparatory expIanatio'>4 (hows that it was a term familiar both to the writer cf the Ict- *.er', and the perfon to whom it was addreiled. Had it not beeu '
* C. PUa. Trajano Imp. lib. x, cp. xcTii.-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY:. 23}.t>
H), Pliny would naturally have begvm his letter by Informing the emperor, that he had met- with a certain fet o^men in the pror- ince called Chriftians.
Here then is a very fignal evidence of the-progrefs of the ChriiKanreHgion in a Ihort fpace. It w i3 not fourfcore years after the cnicitixion of Jefus when Pliny wrote this letter ; nor feventy years finr.e the apollles of Jefus began to mention hi? name to the Gentile world; Bithynia and Pontus were at a great dilknce from Jadea, the centre from wluch the religion; Ipreiid ; yet in thefe proviflces Chrillianlty had long fubfilled, and- Chriflians were now in fnch numbers, us to lead the Roman gov- ernor to report to the j^mperor, that they were found, not only in cities, but in villages and- in open countries ; of ail ages, of every rank and condition ; that they abounded fo much, as to have pro- •duced a vifib-e defertion.of the temples ; that beads brought to market for vidims had few purchafers ; tr^at the facred folem- nities were much ne^^let'ted ; clrcumPrances noted by Pliny, for the exprefs purpofe of fliowing to the emperor the effedl and. prevalency of the new inftitution^
No evidence remaios, by which it can be proved that the Ghrifdans were more numerous in Pbntus and Bithynia than: in other parts of the Roman empire ; nor has any reafon been: offered to fhow why they fnould be fc* CbruVsanity did not begin in thefe countries, nornear them. I do not know, there-- fore, that we ought to confine the defcription in- Pliny's letter. to the Hate of Chrifrianity ia.thofe provinces, even if no other account of the fame fubjedl: had came down to us ; but, certain- ly, this letter may fairly be applied in aid and confirmation of the reprefentadons given of the general ftate of Chriftianity in the world, by Chriffian writeis of. that and the next fucceeding- age.
Juftin Martyr, v/ho v/rote about thirty years after Ptiny and* one hundred and fix after the afcenfion,, has thefe remarkable works :, " There is not a nation, either of Greek or Barbariair, or of any other name, even of thofe who wander in tribes, and live in tents, amongit whom prayers and.thankfglvings are not offered, to the Father and Creator of the univerfe by the name ©f the crucified Jefus."* Tertullian, who comes about fifty ^jears, after Juftin, appeals to the governors of the- Roman eni«-
*DiaI,.cum Txyjplu.
iS<:f A VIEW OF THE
f)ire in thefe terms :. ** We were but of yefterday, and we hztS filed your cities^ iHands, towns and boroughs, the camp, thg fenate, and the forum. They (the heathen adverfaries of Chrillianity) lament, that every fex, age and condition, and perfons of every rank alfo, are converts to that name."* I do allow that thefe exprelTions are loofe, and may be called de- clamatory. But even declamation hath its bounds i this pub- lic boalling upon a fabjecfb, which mufl be known to every read- er, was not only ufeiefs but unnatural, unlefs the truth of thtf cafe, in a confiderable degree, correfponded with the defcrip- tion ; at leaft: unlefs it had been lx)ih true and notorious, that great multitudes of Chriftiuns, of all ranks and orders, were to be found in moH: parts of the Roman empire. The fame Ter- taillian, in another pailage, by way of fetting forth the extenfive- diffufion of Chriftianity, enumerates as belonging to Chrift, be»- fide many other countries, tlie "Moors and Gsetuiians of Africa^ the borders of Spain, feveral nations of France and parts of*^ Britain inacceilible to the Romans, the Sarmatians, Daci, Ger- mans, and Scythians :"^ and, which is more material than the extent of the inltitution, the nuviher of Chriltians in the fever al* countries in. which it prevailed, is thus exprefled by him : ** Ali. though fo great a multitude, that in almoit every city we form^ the greater part, we pafs our tinie modtflly and in filence."* Clement Alexandrinus, who preceded Tertullian by a few years*, introduces a comparifon between the fuccefs of Chriftianity, and that of the mod celebrated philofophical inftitutions. " Tha philofophers were confined' tO' Greece, and to their particular retainers :. but the dodtrine of the Mafter of Chriftianity did' not remain in Judea^ as philofophy did in Greece, but is fpread' throughout the whoi& worldj in every nation and village and' city, both of Greeks and Barbarians, converting both who!« houfes and feparate individuals, having already brought over ta- the truth not a few. of the philofophei's themfelves. If the Greek philofophy be prohibited, it immediately vaniihes ;: where- as, from the full preaching of our dodrine, kings and tyrants,, governors and prefidents, with their whole train, and with th^ populace on their fide, have endeavoured with their whole might to exterminate it, yet doth it flourifh more and more.'"^ Ori« ^en^ who follows To'tulliaa at the diHance of only thirty years^.
a TertuU. Apol. c. 37. ^ Ad. Jud. c. 7.
^ Ad. Scap. c. 1 1 x« *> CIcm« AL Strom, libr vi. ad &&»-
lEVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 251
JkfiTcrs ncarW the fame account : ** In every part of the world, ^(days he) thr^ghout all Greece, and in all other nations, there as-e innumerable and immcnfe ^nultitudcs, who, having left the laws of their country, and thofc whom they efteemed gods, have given themfelves up to the law of Mofes, and the religion of Chrift ; and this, not without the bittereil refentment from the idolators, by whom they were frequently put to torture, and fometimes to death ; and it is wonderful to obfcrve, how, in fo fhort a time, the religion has increafed, amidO: puniihment and death, and every kind of torture."'"^ In another pafliige Origin ^raws the following candid comparifon between the ftate of Chriflianity in his time, and the condition ♦f its more primitive ages : — " By the good providence of God the Chriftian religion has fo flouriilied and increafed continually that it is now preached freely without moleftation, although there were a thoufand obftacles to the fpreading of the do<ririne of Jefus in the world. But as it was the will of God, that the Gen- tiles fhould have the benefit of it, all the councils of men againft the Chriftians were defeated ; and by how much the more em- perors and governors of provinces, and the people every where, rtrove to deprefs them, fo much the more have they increafed and prevailed exceedingly."^
It is well known, that within lefs than eighty years after this, the Roman empire became Chriftian under Conflantine ; and it is probable that Conftantine declared himfelf on the fide of the Chriftians becaufe they were the powerful party : for Arnobius, who wrote immediately before Conftantine's accellion, fpeaks of the whole world as filled with Chrift's dodrine, of its diffufion throughout all countries, of an innumerable body of €hriitians in diftant provinces, of the ftrange revolution of opinion, of men of the greateft genius, orators, grammarians, rhetoricians, lawyers, phyficians, having come over to the inftitution, and that alfo in the face of threats, executions and tortures."'^ And not more than twenty yeats after Conftantine's entire pofTeiBon of the empire, Julius Firmicus Maternus calls upon the emperors Con- flantius and Conftans to extirpate the relicsof the ancient relig- ion ; the redu6tion and fallen condition of which is defcribed by our author in the following words : — " Licet'adhue in quibuf- dam reniunibus idolatrise moricntia palpitent membra, tamen In
a Or. in. Celf. lib. r. b Or. Con. Celf. lib. vii.
i Arnob. m Gcntes, I, j» p. a;, 9, 34f 4^t 44' Ed, Lug. Bat, i6s9,_
353 A VIEW OF THE
eo res eft, ut a Clirlflianis omnibus terris pefllfcrum hoc malunfc ^nditus amputetur;" and in another place, " Mcxlicum tantumj fupevefl, ut iegibus vcflris— extindta idolatrire pereat funefta; -contagio."^ It will not be thought that we quote this v.'viteM in order to recommend his temper or his judgment, but to fliow -the comparative Rate of Chri(tianity and of heathenifm at this period. . Fifty years uftern'ards, Jerome reprefents tb.e decline, •of paganifm in language which conveys tire fame idea of its ap- j)roaching extinction : " Solitudinem patitur et in uibc gertili- tas. Jjn quondam nationum, cum bubonibus et noctuis, in folis culminibus lemanferunt/''^ Jerome here indulges a triumph, .natural and allowable in a zealous friend of the caufe but winch ■cculd only be fuggefted to his mind by the confent and univer- fality with whicii he faw the religion received. ** But now (fays he) the paflion and refurrecflion of Chrift are celebrated in the difcourfes .and writings of ail nations. I need not mention Jews, Greeks and Latins. The Indians, Perfians, Goths and Egyptians, philofophife, and firmly believe the immortality of the ioul and future reccmpenfes, which, before, the grcatefl philofophers had denitd, or doubted cf, or perpie^.ed with their difputes. The ficrcenefs of Thracums and Scythians is now foftcned by the gentle found cf the'gofpel ; and every v/here Chrifl: is all in ali.''^ Were therefore the motives of Conftan- tine's converilon ever fo probitmatical, the eafy eftabliflmieni of Chriftianity^ and the ruiri of heathenifm under him and his im- .mediate fucceilors, is of itfelf a proof of the progrefs which Chriftianity had made in the preceding period. It may be ad- ded aifo, " that M.axentius, the rival of Condantlne. had fliOAvn himfclf friendly to the Chriili:ins. Thorefjre, of thofe who were contending for worldly power and empire, one adually favoured and Mattered them, and another may be fufpect- ed to have joined hmrfelf to them, pa'tly from conlideration of intercfl: ; fo corfiderable weri; they become, under external difadvanrages of ail foits."^. This at leaft is certain, that throughout the whole tranfaftion hitherto, the great feemed to follow, not to lead the pubi:c opinion.
It may help to convey to us fome notion of the extent and nrogrcfs of Chriftianity, or rather of the character and quality of
aDe Error. Profan. Rellg. c. 21. p. 172, Quoted by Lardncr, \'J. VUI, p. 262.
b Jer. Lq^:. ep. 57. , <^ Jtr. tp. 8. ad Htliod.
<ii.ard. vol. Ill, p. 330.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 25'^
many early Christians, of their learning and their labours, to notice the number of Chriftian <TvntcrsvA\o £ourilhed in thefe ages. St. Jerome's catalogue contains ji'<ty-fi>^ writers within ^ the three iirft centuries, and the fix firlt years of the fourth ; ■ stnd Jiffy-four between that time and his own, viz, A. D. 392. Jerome introduces his catalogue with the following juft remon- ftrance : — " Let thofe, who fay the thurch has had no philofo- •phers, nor eloquent and learned men, cbferve who and what >they were, who founded, eftablidied and adorned it ; let them ceafe to acc^ifc our faith ofrullicity, and confefs their "miftake." '"^ Ofthefe wrirers, feveral, as JufHn, Irenarus, Clement of Alex- andria, Tertullian, Origen, Bardefanes, Hippoliuis, Eufebius, were voluminous writers. ChrilHan writers abounded particu- larly about the year 178. Alexander, bifliop of Jerufalem, founded a library in that city A.D. 212. Pamphiius, the friend of Origen, founded a library at Cefiirea, A. D. 294. Public defences were aifo fet forth, 'by various advocates of the religion, in the courfc of its three firA centuries. Within one 'hundred year^ after ChrilVs afcenfion, Quadratus and Ariitides, wliofe works, except fome few fragments of thefirfl, are led ; and about twenty years afterwards, Juftin Martyr, wliofc works remain, preicnted apologies for the ChrilHaii religion to the Ro- man emperors ; Quadrams and Ariitides to Adiir:n, Jufbin to Antoninus Pius, and a Iccond tc Marcus Antoninus. Melito, bilhop of Sardis, and Apollinaris, biihop of Hicrp.polis, and Miltiades, men (jf great reputation, did the fame to Marcus Antoninus twenty years afterwards ;^' and ten years after this, Apollohius, who fuffered m^irtyrdcm tmder the emperor Com- modus, compofcd <m apology for his faith, which he read in the fen;»te, and which was afterwards publiihcd."^ Fourteen years after the apology of Apollonias, Tertullian addreikd the work» •which now remains under that name, to the governors cf prov- inces in the Roman empire ; and, about the lame time, Min- r.iicius Felix compofjd a dclence of the Chridian religion, which is Hill extant ; and, fliortly aitertlie conclufion of tliis centu- -y, copious defences, of Christianity were publifhed by Ainobius id I.adlantius.
'•'■ ]>.T. Pro!, in lih. do fer. ecc. ' ruf^b. Hid. I. i-. c. :6. Sec ^Ko l.arthKr, vol. U. p. 664 c La'-d. vol. U. p. 037.
354 A VIEW OF THE
Sect. II.
Rfjledtions upon the preceding Account. IN Viewing the progrefs of Chriftianity, our firft attention Is due to the number of eonveits at jerufalem, immediately after its founder's death ; becaufe this fuccefs was a fuccefs at the W///C, and upon ihtfpoiy when and wliere the cJiicf part of the Jpid-ory had been tianfaded.
We are, in the next place, called upon to attend to the early <"ltabli:hment of numerous ChriiUan focicties in Judea and Gal- ilee, which countries had been the fcene of Chrilt's ralracles '^-nd miriifry, and wliere the memory of what had pafTcd, and the knowledge of what was alleged, mu-^ have yet been frefh iii\i\ certain.
We are, thirdly, invited to recoUeift the ruccefs of the apof- ties and of their companions, at the feveral places to which they came, both within and without Judea ; becaufe it was the cred-" it given to ori^ir.al witnciles, appeahng for the truth of their ac- counts to what themklves had feen and heard. The effect al- io of their preaching, fhongly confirms the truth of what oar hi'iory pofiiiyely and circumitanaally relates, that they were able to exhibit to their hearers fupcrnatural attefiations of their liiiiTion,
We are, laRly, to confider iht fuhfdquent growth and fpread of the religion, of which we receive lucceifive intimations, and iatisfai^tory, though general and occufjonai accounts, until its full and final eihibiilhmcnc.
In all thefe feveral Itages, the hiflory is without a parallel ; for it muft be obferved, that we have not now been tracing the ))rogrefs, and defcribing the prevalency of an opinion, founded upon phiiofophical or critical arguments, upon mefe dcdu<51ions of jeafon, or the con{lru*ilion of ancient writings, (of which kind are the feveral theories which have, at dilfertnt tinKS, <'ained polTelfion of the public mind in- various departments *>f felence and literature ; and of one or other of which kind are the tenets alfu which divide the various fe^fts of Chrilbanity) t>at that wc fpeak of a ]y(l.em, the very bafis atfcl poilulatiim ut lA'blch, was a fupernatural character afcrlbed to a particular per- foii ;' of a docnine, the truth v/hereof depended entirely upon the truth of a matter of htX then recent. *' To cilablini a nei^ irli^ion, evefi amongfl a few people, or in one finglc nation, ib ji thiiu i« iiilli fjivccdiitgly ditucult, To rcujrm k>v^<: ccrrup-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANlfy. ?5?
t?ons which may have fpread in a religion,- of to make new regulations in it, is not perhaps fo hard, when the main ani principal parts of that religion are prcferved entire and anihak- en ; and yet this very often' cannot be accomplifhed, without an extraordinary concurrence of circiirndances, and may be at- tempted a thoulknd times without fuccefs. But to introduce ',\ rcw faith, a new way of think-ir.g and aifting, 8n\i Co rirfuadi^ many nations to quit the iciigion in which r\yt\v ancelbss liad lived and died, which had bct?n delivered down to them froin time immemorial, to make them forfake and defpife the deities which they had been acciillomed to reverence, and worfhip j this is a work of ftill greater difriculty." The refinance of edi:- cation, worldly policy, and fnperftkion-y is almo'd invincible,"
If men, in thefe days, be Chriilians ir> confeciaence of th -ir education', in jfubmifli^m to avnhority, or in conipliance witly fafhion, let us recoi-left that it was not fo fronrv the beginning. The firil race of Chriftian*^, as well' as millions uho lucceecicd them, became fuch in formal oppoStion^ tO' all thefe motives, to the whole power and flrength of this influence. Kvery arpU' ment therefore, and every infence, whiv'h fets forth the preju- dice of education, and the aln:!c(t irrefiibbie effects of that preju- dice (and no perfons are niore fond of expatiating, up.^rt th!*? fubjeft than deiflical writ-ers) in h'^ confK-nv-i tiie evidence of Chtiflianity.
But, in order io judge of the argumer.t which is drawn from the early propagation of ChrifHanity, I know no fairer way of proceeding, than to compare what we have feen of the fiibjc.f):, with the fiiccefs of Chriftian miflions in modern ages. In th^ Ead-India miflion, fupported by the fociety for promoting Chriftian knowledge, we hear fom^times of thirty, lijrnetirncs of forty, being baptized in the courfe of a year, and thefe prin- cipally children. Of converts properly fo called, that is, of adults voluntarily embracing Chriflianity,. the number is ex- tremely fmall. "■ Notwithftanding the labour of iniifionaries for upwards of two hundred years, and the eftablilhnients of different Chriftian nations who iujiport them, there are not twelve thoufand Indian Chriflians, and thofe ulmoft entirely outcafts."^
i Jortin's Dtf. on tHe Chrift. R^!. p. 107. ed. IV. ^ Sfcf;tchfs relating to the hiflory, Itarninif, and manners of th<- Hin> doos, p. 48. quoted by Dr. Robcrtion, Hift. JDif* concerning autient JUi4ia, p. >j6.
2S6 A VIEW OF THE
I lament, as much as any man, the little progrcfs which Chii/lianity has made in thefe countries, and the inconfidenible clTecl that has. followed the labours olMts miilionaries ; but I iee in it a ftrong proof of the divine origin of the religion. VV^hat had the apoftics to affifl them in }>ro]^agating Clirifb'ani- ty, which the milnonarics have not ? If jwety and zeal had been i'jflicient, I doubt not but that our milTionaries pofTefs thefe dualities in a high degree, for nothing, exce}>t piety and zeal, tf'uld cnopge th^m in the undertaking. If fandity of life and .inanrers was the allurement, the conduct of thef-^ men is un- -li^ameable. U the advantage of education and learning be looked to, there is not one of the modern miflionavie?, who is . /lot, in this refpecH-^ fiiperior to all the apoflJes vand that not only abfolutt.Iy, but, what is of more importance, rcLitivei}', in t.omparifonj that is, with thofe amongfi whom they excrcife their ofrice. "If the intrlnfic excellency of the religion, the ?>ene(ftion.of its morality, the purity of its precept?, theelo-- ttuencc or tendernefs or fiabliniity of various part? of its writ- ings, were the recommendations by which it made its way, tr.cle remain the lame. If the charaifrer and circumilances, . tinder which the preachers v/ere introduced to the countries ia . vhidi they taught, be accounted of importance, this advantage io all on the ttde of the modern miuonaries. They come from ■ i. couRtry and a people^ to which the Indian world look up with ientimentG of deference. The apofcles came forth- amongft the ^jJenti'es under no o-.her name than that of J«ws, which was •precifely the ch?'a<51er they defpifed and derided. If it be uirgraceful in India to become a Chriflian, it could not be much lefs fo to be enrolled amongft thofe, *' quos pef flagitia invifor, vulgus Chrirtianos appeliabat." If the religion which they had to encounter be confidered, the difference, I appre- hend, w^ill not be gre^.t. The theology of both was nearly the fame, ** v/hat is fuppofed to.be performed by the power of Ju- piter, of Neptune, of ^^o las', of Mais, of Venus, according ta the mythology of the Wed:, is afcribed, in the Eart^, to the agency of Agr:o, the god of fire, Varoon, the god of oceans, Vavoo, the god of wind, Cama, the god of love."^ The facrcd rites of the wertern polytheifm were gay, ftftive and licentious j the rites ot' the public religion in the Eaft partake of the fame icharader, with a more avowed indecency. " In every func-
a Eagvat Geeta, p. 94. quoted by Dr. Robcrtfun, lad. Dif. p. 306.
EVIDENCES CF CHRISTIANITY. ^57
ttbn performed in the pagodks, as well as in every public pro- ceflion, it is the office of thefe women (i. e. of women prepared by the Brahmins for the purpofe) to dance before the idols, and to fing hymns in his priiife ;■ and it is difficult to fay, whether they trefpafs moft againft decency by the geitures they exhibit, or by the verfes which they recite. The walls of the pagodas were covered with paintings in a (lyle no lefs- indelicate."* "
On both fides of the comparifon the popular religion had a ftrong eftablifhment. In ancient Greece and Rome it was llri(51:ly incorporated with the (fate. The magiitrate was the prieit. The higheft offices of government bore the moft dil- tingulflied part in-the celebration of the public rites:. In India,- a powerful and- numerous caft pofTcfs exclu-fively theadminif- tration of the eftablifhed worfhip ; and are, of confequence, de- voted to its fervice,- and attached to its intereft* In both, the prevailing mythology was dclHtute of any proper evidence, or rather, in both, the origin of the tradition is run up into ages, long anterie^r to the exigence of credible- billory, or of A^n-ittea language* The Indian chronology computes- eras by millions of yearsj and the life of man by thoufands ;^ and in tbefe, or' prior to- thefe, is placed the hiltory of their diviRkies- In both,, the- eflablilhed fuperditioB held the fame place in the publig opinion ;= that is to fay, in both it- was credited by the hulk, of thfe people,-'' but by the learned and philoibphic part of the com- •
«' Others of the cleides of trie 'E\i\' are of' an;' andire and glcor.iy chaTa<5ter,to be propitiated by vlcl:im'?,fonietimes by human lacrificcb., and- by volimrary torraema ol' the ntoft exci uc^Hling kind.
b" Voyage de Gentil. vc\. I. p. 244— ^260. Preface to Code of Gen=. tbo lia\v3,p. 57. quoced by Br. Ro'nertfoft. p.-3ao.
c "The SbfFec Jogtie, or age of puritv-, isfaid to have- JaUcJ thrfc iftiIli6ntu''o hundred thoufand years, atid thev hold that the life of nian was eztended in that age toorve hundred thoufand- years ; but there is'a di£Fercn«sf ar/toitgft the Indian writers of (ix- millions- of ye.ifS' itt ihfe corr.jTutatiort of' this era." lb.'
d " How ahfurd Ibever the articles of fa'th may be, vv^hich fnperft!- tion J;ias adopted, or how unhallowc;d the rites \\'h^ch irprefcritus, lite fbr'mei' art received, in evtry age and country;- with uuhefitating af-' fenit; l>y the great body of the people, and the latter oblerved with' ftrupulou^ exai'lnefs. In oUr reafoning.^ conceriiinti opinions a-wi pracfttccsi which difler widely from oui' o^vn, \ve are extremely apt to erri HAving been inttr u'cled o>irfelvcs in the principles ot a leligicp, •worthy, in tvtry refpedt, of rbat divine v> itxlom by which thty were dictated, we hecjuently exprefs wonder at the crtduluy of natioiK-j, i» unbracing fyilems of belief which appear 10 Vi io dirccliy rep,.£-
X2
'25^ A VIEW OF THE
munity, either derided, or regarded by them as only St tohe upholden for the fake of its poHtical ules/
Or if it fliould be allowed, that the ancient heathens believ- ed in their religion lefs generally than the prefent Indians do, 1 am far from thinking that this circumftance would afford any facility to the work of the apoftles, above that of modern mif- lionaries. To me It appears, and I think it material to be re- marked, that a difbelief of the efiablilhed religion of their country (I do not mean a reje<f^ion of fome of its articles, but a radical difbelief of the whole) has no tendency to difpofe men for the reception of another ; but that, on the contrary, it gen- •eratea a fettled contempt of all religious pretenfions whatever. General infidelity is the hardeil foil VN^hich the propagators of a new religion can have to work upon. Could a Methodill or Moravian promlfe himfelf a better chance of faccefs with a French efprit fort, who had been accuftomed to laugh at the popery of his country, than with a believing Mahometan or Hin- doo ? Or are our modern unbelievers in Ghriftianlty for that xeafon in danger of becoming Mahometans or Hindoos ? It does not appear that the Je\vs, who had a body of hiftorical evidence to' offer for their religion, and who at that time un- doubtedly entertained and held forth the expe(51ation of a fu- ture (late, derived any great advantage, as to the extenlion of their fyftem, from the difcicdit into which the popular religion had fallen v/iih many of their heathen neighbours.
We have particularly directed our obfervations to the flate and progrefs of Chriftianity araongfl the inhabitants of India ;
nnnt to right reafon ; and fometimcs fufjjec^, that tenets fo v/ild and extravagant do rot really gain credit with tbem. Bat experience may fatisfy us, that neither our wonder nor fufpicions are well founded. No article of the public religion was called in qucflion hy thofe peo- ple of ancient Europe, with whofe liiflory wc axe heft acquainted ; and no practice, which it enjoined, appe^ired improper to them. Oji the other hand, every opinion that tended to diminilh the reverence of men for the gods of their country, or to alienate them from their worfhip, excited, among the Gretks and Romans, that indigna;it zeal, •which is natural tc every people attached to their religion by a firm perfuafion of its truth," Ind. Dif. p. 321.
a That the learned Brahmins of the Eaft are rational thcifts, and fe- crttly rcjctft the eftablilhed theory, and ccntemn the rites that were founded upon them, or ri^ther conGder them as contrivances to be fupported for their pohlical ufesj fee Dr. Robcrtfon's lud. Dif. p. 3^4—334.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 259
;but the hiftory of the Ghriftian miffion in other cauntrie?, where the efficacy of the miiTion is left foleiy to the conviction wrought hy the preaching of Grangers, prefents the fame idea,, as the Iq= ^ian miflion does, of the feeblenefs and inadequacy of huni;ui means. About twenty-five years ago, was publiflied in Eng- - Jand, a tranflation from the Dutch of a hiilory of Greenland^ and a relation of the niilTion, for above thirty years carried on in that country, by the Unitas Fratriim cr Moravians. Every part of that relation confirms the opinion we have'ftated. Nothing could fiirpafs, or hardly equal, the zeal and patience of the mifTionaries. Yet their hiRorian, in the conclufion of his narrative, could .find place for no refieftions more encoura- ■ ging than the following: — <* A perfon that had kiiown the heathen, that had fee n the little benefit from the great pains hitherto taken with them, and confidered that one after another had abandoned all liopes- of the converfion of th ofe infidels? (and fome thought they Wjould never.be converted, till they faw miracles wrought asin the apoftie's days, and this the Green- landers expe<n:ed and demanded of their inflru<Slors) one that confidered this, I fay, would iiot wonder -at the paft unfruitful- nefs of thefe young beginners, as at their liedfail perfeverance in the midft of nothing but diilrefs, difficulties and impediments, internally and externally ; and that they never defponded of the converfion of . thofe poor creatures araidil all feeming im- poflibilities.*'^
From the widely difproiK>rtionate effeiSs, which attend the preaching of modern mifiionaries of Chriftianity, compared with what- followed the miniftry of Chriftand his apoftles, under circumftances either alike, or not fo unlike as to account for the difiference, a conclufion is fairly drawn, in fupport of what our -hiftories deliver. concerning them, that they pofieHed means of convidion, which we have not ; that they had proofs to appeal -to, which we want.
Sect. III.
O/fk Rd'igwn of Mahomet.
THE only event in the hiftory of the human fpeciea, which admits of comparlfon with the propagation of Chriftjanity, i? the fuccefs of Mahometanifm. The Mahometan inflitution was
» Hift. Crecaland, vol. II. p. 376,
i^<y A VTEW OF THE"
rapid in its progrefs, v;^s recent in its hiftory, and was fotmdf^^ upon a fupernatural or prophetic charader aiTiiined by its author.- In thefe articles the refemblance with ChrilHanity is confefTe-iw But there are points of difference, which feparate, we appre- hend, the two cafes entirely.
I. Mahomet did nat fband hty pretenficns upon miracles,, properly fo called;- that is, upon proofs of fupernatural agency, capable of being known and attefted by others. Chriftians are warranted in th'iy a^rtion^ by the evidence of the Koran, m "which Mahomet' not only does not- affect the power of working . miracles, but exprefsly difclaims it. The follov/ing palfages of that book furnifh<iirei5^'proofiof the truth of what we allege : — *' The intidels fay, Unlefs a frgn be fent down unto him froai' his lord, we will not believe ; tlaou art a preacher only."^ Again, ** nothing hindered us from fending ihee with miracles, except that the former' nations have-charged them with impof- ture."*^ And laflly, " th^y fay, Unlefs a fign be fent down unto him from his lord,- we will not believe ; anfv/erV Signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no more than a public preachev.' IsMt not fafficient for them, that we have fent down unto them the book of the Koran to be read unto them ?''^ Bef^de thefe acknowledgments, Thave obferved //j/r- iren difl;ini5l places, in which Mahoirset puts the objedion (ufW lefs a fign, &g.) into the mouth of the unbeii<»v<;r, in not one o-f "VCfhich does he allege a miracle in reply. Hisanfwer is," tb;H God giveth the power cf working -miracleG when and to whs^*-? hepleafeth j'"^ *' that if he fhould work miracles, they woiiU not believe j"^ '• that tliey had befere rejected Mofes, 'M\d je- fus, and the prophets, who wroufrht miracles ;"^ *'' that the Ko- ran itf:lf was a miracle.-"^
The only place in the Koran," iiif which- it can be pretended that-a^fenlible miracle is referred to (for I do not allow the fe- cretvifitations of Gabriel, the night journey- of Mahomet -to heaven, or the prefence in battle of invifible hoils of angels, to defer ve the name of yt-Aiy^/iA? miracles) is • the beginning ■ of the- iifty-founh chapter: The words are thefe:- "The hour of judgment apppoacheth, and the moctihat^ beenfpTlt in fund- ?r, but if the unbelievers fee a fign, they turn afide, . faying;^
a- Sale's Koran, c. xiii, p. 201, cd. quarto.- t>'c. xvii. p. 23*.:
c lb. c. xxii. p, 328. ^ c, V. X. xiii. twice,
e c. vir ^ c* iii. ixi. xiviii, EC xvi.-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITT. 25t
This is a powerful charm." The Mahometan expofitors dlfa^ gree in their interpretation of tliis parage ; Tome e^pJaining it to be a mention of the fphtting of the moon, as one of the future figns of the approach of the day of judgment ; others referring it to ja miraculous appearance which had then taken place."^ It feeni^ to me not improbable, that Maiiomet may have taken advantage of fome extraordinary halo, cr other iinufuaJ appearance of the moon, wJiich had happened about that time ; and which fupplied a foundation both for this pafFage, and for the (lory which ia- •fter times had been raifed out of it,.
After this more than filcnce; after thefe ^\\\.ht\n\c confejfwns of the Koran, we are not to be moved with miraculous llorie? related of Mahomet by Abulfeda, who wrote bis life above fi>' Jhundred years after his death, or \vhich are found in the legend )0f Al Jannabi, who came two hundred years later.^
On the contrary, from comparing what Mahomet himfeli wrote and faid< with what was afterwards reported of him by his followers, the plain and fair concluCion is, that, when the religion was eftabliOied by concuert, then, and not till then^, came out the (lories of his miracles.
Now. this- dilference alone conditutes, in my opinion, a bar to all reafoning from one cafe to the other. The fuccefs o^ ^. religion founded upon a miraculous hirtory, ihovys the credit which was given to the hl^ory ; and this credit, under the cir- curaftances in which it v/as given, i. e. by perfons capable of knowing th« truth, and Ir^terGiled to inquire after it, is evidence of the reality of the hiftory, and, by conCequence, of the truth of the religion. V/here a rairaculous hiftory is not alleged, no part of this argument can bciipplied. We admit that multitudes acknowledged the pretenfions of Mahomet ; but thefe pr.eten» fions being deftitute of miraculous evidence, w.e know that \.\\^ grounds upon which they were acknowledged, could notbefecune grounds of perfuafion to his followers, nor their example any authority to us. Admit the whole of Mahomet's authentic hillory, fo.far as it Vv^as of ii. nature capable of being known or
a Vide Sale in Inc.. li It doesqot, I think, appear, that thtfc hiftbrlan? had any Avritteni accounts to appeal to more ancient than the Sonnah, which was a col-- IccSVion of traditions, made by order of the CiHphs, two hundred years. ?.ftcr Mahomet's death. Mahomet died A. D. 631 ; Ah Bochari, one of the fix dodVors who compiled tlie Sonnah, was born A. D. 869^. J.^xijltauj's JLife of .Malioiixct,?.. i<ji}. ed., 7tji. .
t6i A VIEW OF TH^
witnelTea by others, to be true,- (which' is certainly to admit a!^ the reception of the religion can bt brought to prove) and Ma-* hornet might be fKli an impotlor, or enthufiafl-, or an union of both. Admit to be true ahnoft" any part of Chrid-'s hidory, o? thcif, I mean ^ whichv/as public, and' within the cognizance oF his follower?, and he mu(l have co:ne fi'om God. Where mat- ter of fa^ i« in qiitftion, where mirucles arc not allegtd> I do not fee that the progrcfs of a religion is a better argument of its truth, than the pr«jvalenry of any fyftem of opinion in natural relifiion, morality, or phyficsj is a proof of the truth of thoft opiniojifji And we know that this fort of argument is inad-' niidible in any branch of philofophy whatever.
Bat it will be fnid, If one religion cou'd make its way with^r- «'jt miracles, why might not another ? To which I reply, firfl^ That this rs not the queliion : the proper quef^ion is not, V'hether a reli^jious inlHuition could be {^i up without miracles, but whether a religion, or .1 change of religion, founding itfelf in miracles, could fucceed witiiout any reality to rtfl upon; I apprehend thcfe two cafes t^.^ be very diiferent ; and I appre- hend Mahomet's not taking this courfe to be one proof, amongd others, that the thing is di/Hcult, if not impoffible, to be accom- plifhed : certainly it v/a^ not from- an unconfrioufnefsof the Taluc and importance o^ miraculous evidence, for" it is very ob* fer\'able, that in the fime volume, and fometimes in the fame chapters, in which MiJ^omet ^o repeatedly difclaims the power of working miracles hinifcif, he is inccfTantly referring to the miracles of preceding prophets. One v/ould imagine, to hear feme men talk, or to read Tome books, that the fetting up of t religion by dirjt of miraculous pretences was- a thing of every day's experience ; whereas I believe, that> except the Jewifh and Chriftiao religion, there is'no tolerably well authenticated account cf any fuch thing having been accomplilhed.
II. Secondly, the ef^.iblifiiment of Mahomet's religion was efre'51ed by caufes, which, in no degree, appertained to the ori- gin of Chriflianity.
During the firfl twelve years of his million, Mahomet had' recourfe only to perfjafion. This is allowed. And there is fifficient reaion from the effect to believe, that if he had con- fined himfelf to this mode of propagating his religion, we t^f the prefent day fliould never have heard either of him or it. " Three years were filently employed in the converfion d fourteen i^rofclyi^. For tea years the religion advanced witij*
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 26|
^ (tow and painful progrefs within the v/alls of Mecca. The fiumber of profelytes in the feventh year of his million may b« cftimated by the abfence .of eighiy-three men and eighteen wo- -fnen, who retired to Ethiopia.* Yet this progress, fuch as it ivas, appears to have been aided by fome very important advan« tages, which Mahomet found in his fjtuation, in his mode of i:ondu<5ting his deiign, and in his docftrine.
1. Mahomet was the grandfon of the moft powerful and 'honourable family in Mecca ; and although the early death <of his father had not left him a patrimony fuitable to his birth, he had, longbeforvfi the commencement of his miffion, repaired .this deficiency by an opulent marriage. A perfon confiderable by his wealth, of high defccnt, arvd nearly allied to the chiefs of his country, taking upon himfelf the charaifler of a rehgious Jeacher, would not fail of attracting attention and followers.
2. Mahomet conducted his defign, in the ouifet efpecially, with great art .and prudence. He conduced it as a politician ■would conduct a plot. His firil application was to his own family. This gained him his wife's uncle, a confiderable perfon in' Mecca, together with liis coufm Ali, afterwards the celebra- ted Caliph, then a youth of great expeftation^ and even already ^iiilinguifhed hy his attachment, impetuofity and courage.^ He next addieifed himfelf to Ahu J5ecr, a man amongft the firil of the Koreifh in wealth and influence. The interell: and ex- .ample of Abu Beer drew in five other principal perfons in Mec- ca, whofe folicitations prevailed upon (i\'Q moie of the fame Tank. This was die work of three years, during which time £very thing was tranfaded in fecret. Upon the ftrength of ;thefe allies, and under the powerful protedion of his family, who, however fome of them might disapprove his enterprife, or iieride his pretenfions, v/ou'ld not fuffcr the orphan of i^eir houfe, the reli<ft of their favourite brother, to be infulted, — Ma- homet now commenced his public preaching. And the advance ^'hich he made, during the nine or ten remaining years of his
•1 Gibbon's liift. vol. IX. p. 344. et Teq. ed. Dub.
b Of which Mr. Cribbon has prcferved ihc following fpecimen : — "When MahoiDct tailed out in an alTembly of his family, who .imuiig you w'xW be my coinpanina and my vizir ? Ali, then only in the four- tctnch year of his age, fuddenly replied, O prophet, I am the man ; who- ioever rifes againrt thee,l will dafli out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break h'8 Ices, rip up h'jg bcHy. 0 prophet, I will be tby vizir over thcnx" Vol. IX. p. 24J,
154 A VIEW OF THE
|)eaceable minillry, was by no means greater than \vliat, with thefe advantages, and with the additional and fingular circurti- llance of their being no ejlablt/hed religion at Mecca at that time to contend with, might reafonably have been expeilTted. How ibon his primitive adherents were let into tlie fccret of his views of empire, or in what (tage of his^undbrtaking thcfc views firll opened themfelves to his own mind, it is not now eafy to deter- mine. '1 he event however v/cis, that thcfe his fii-ft profelytes all ^iltimately attained to riches and honours, to the command of armies, and the government of kingdoms.*^
3. The Arabs deduced their defceht from Abraham through the line of Ifhmael. The inhabitants of Mecca, in common probably with the other i^rabian tribes, acknowledged, as I think
"may clearly be collected from the Koran, one fupreme Deity* but had aflbciated with him many objects of idolatrous worfliip. The great doctrine, with which Mahomet fet out, was the Ih ict and exclufive unity of God. Abraham, he told them, their illaf- trious anceftor ; Ilhmael, the father of their nation ; Mofes, the law-giver of the JfeWs ; and Jefus, the author of Chriftianity, had all afferted the fame thing ; that, their followers had univer- fally corrupted the truth, ard that he was now commiflioned to reftore it to the world. Was it to be wondered at, that a doch inc fo fpecious, and authorifcd by names, fomc or other of which Were holden in the higheO: ven-eration by every defcription o'f his hearers, (hould, in the hands of a popular miilionary, prevail tb the extent in which Mahomet fucce eded by his paciiic min- iflry?
4. Of the itiiHttition which Mahomet joined with this funda- mental do(flrine, and of the Koran in which that inffitution is <!elivered, vrz difcover, I think, tv/o purpofes that pervade th'e trhole, viz. to make converts, and m make -his converts foldicrs.
The following particulars, amongil; others, may be confidered as pretty evident indications of thefe delignn :
I. When Mahomet began to preach, his addrefs to the Jews, the Chridians, and to the Pagan Arabs, was, \h:X the religion which he taught, was no other than what had been originally their own. " We believe in God, and that which hath been lent down unto us, and that which hath been lent down unto Ab!;i- ham, and Iflimael, and Ifaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, air that which was delivered rnto Mofes and Jefus, and that \\\v. ■
a Gib, vol. IX. p. 244.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 265
"Vjjas delivered unto the prophets from their Lord ; we make no diftindion between any of them."^ " He hath ordained you the rehgicn which he commanded Noah, and which we Iiave revealed unto thee, O Mohammed, and which we commanded Abraham and Moles and Jefus, faying, Obferve this religion, and be not divided therein/''^ *' He hath chofen you, and hath not inipofed on you any difliculty in the religion which lie hath given you, the religion of your father Abraham/'^
2. The author of the Koran never ceafes from defcribing the future anguilh of unbehevers, their defpair, regret, penitence and torment. It is the point which he labours above all oth- ers. AvA thefe defcriptions are conceived in terms, which will appear in no fm^W degree imprelHve, even to the modern reader of an EngHHi tranflation. Doubdefs they would operate with much greater force upon the minds of thole to whom they \yere immediately dire(5led. The terror which they feem well calculated to infpire, Vi/ould be to many tempers a powedul ap-
' plication.
3. On the other hand, his voluptuous paradife ; his robes of fijk, his palaces, of marble, his rivers and Ihades, his groves and couches, his wines, his dainties ; and, above all, hisfeventy-two virgins afiigned to each of the faithful, of refplendent beauty and eternal youth ; intoxicated the imaginatiqns, and feizcd the paflions- of his Eaftern followers.
4. But Mahomet's higheft heaven was referved for thofe, who fought his battles, or expended their fortunes in his caufe. *' Thofe believers who fit dill at home, not having any hurt, and thofe who employ their fortunes and their perlons for the religion of God, fliail not be held equal. God haih pre- ferred thofe who employ their fortunes and their perfons in diat caufe, to, a degree above thofe who fit at home. God hadi in- deed promiled every one paradife, but God hath prefei red t.hofe' ^hojightjor thejhilhi before. thofe who (it IHil, by adding unto them a great reward ; by degrees of honour conferred upon them from him, and by granting them forgivenefs and mercy." ^ Again, '* l^o ye reckon die giving diink to the pilgrims, and the viifiting of the holy icmple, to be aitiontj as mtntcrious as thofe performed by him who believeth in God and the fad dny. and
2, Salt's rior;'n,c. i;. p. 17. 1 Ih. c. xlii. p. 1^2,,
<- Ih. G. xxii. \\ 28 X. '■ II). c. iv. p. 7.^
266 A VIEW OF THE
Jighteih for the religion of God ? they fliall not be held equal with God. They who have believed, and fled their country, and employed their fabftance and their perfons in the defence of God's true religion, fhall be in the higheR degree of honour with God ; and thefe are they who fl:iall be happy. The Lord fendeth them good tidings of mercy from him, and good will, and of gardens wherein they fhall enjoy lafling pleafures. They fhall continue therein foiever, for with God is a great re- ward."^ And, once more, " Verily God hath purchafed of the true believers their fouls and their fubftance, promifmg them the enjoyment of paradife, on condition that thty Jight for the caufe of God, whether they flay or be flain, the promife for the fame is affuredly due by the law and the gofpel and the Ko- ran."^ "^
5. His dod^rine of predeflinaiion was applicable, and was applied by him, to the fame piirpofe of fortifying and of exalt- ing the courage of his adherents. " If any thing of the mat- ter had happened unto us, we had not been flain here. Anfwer, if ye had been in your houies, verily they would have gone forth to fight, whofe flaughter was decreed to the places where they died."'^
6. In warm regions, the appetite of the fexes is ardent, the rjallion for inebriating liquors moderate. In compliance with this diftindlion, although Mahomet laid a reflraint upon the drinking of wine, in the ufe of women he allowed an almoft un- bounded indulgence. Four wives, with the liberty of changing them at pleafurc,*^ together with the perfons of all his captives,^ v/as an irrefiftible bribe to an Arabian warrior. ** God is mind- ed,'* fays he, fpeaking of this very fubjed, " to make his relig- ion light unto you, for man was created weak." How differ- ent this from the unaccommodating purity of the gofpel ? How \vould Maliomet have fucceeded with the Chriftian IcfTon in his raouth, " Whofoever looketh on a woman to luff after her,
a lb. c. ix. p. 151. b lb. p. 164.
c «<The fvvord (faith Mahomet) is the key of lieavcn and of liell ; jv drop of Mood fhed ia the caufc o{ God, a night fpent in arms, is of mere avail than two months of fafting or prayer. Whofoever falls in battle, his (ins are forgiven at the day of judgment ; his wounds flial! be rcfplendent as vermilion, and odorikrous as muflc, and the lols of his hmbs fliatl be fupplied Ivy the wings of angels and cherubim." Gibh. vol. IX. p. 256.
d C. iii. p. 54. « C. iv, p, t'},. f Gibb. p. 2JJ.
1
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 267
haih committed adultery with her already in his heart." It muft be added, that Mahomet did not venture upon the prohi- bicion of wine, till the fourth year of the Hegira, or the (even- teenth of his million,^ when his military fuccelTes had complete- ly eftablifhed his authority. The fame obfervatlon holds of the fafl of the Ramadan,'^ and of the mod: laborious part of his in- ftitation, the pilgrimage to Mecca.^
What has hitherto been collefled from the records of the MufTulman hiftory, relates to the twelve or thirteen years of Mahomet's peacable preaching, which part alone of his life and enterprife admiis of the fmallefl comparifon with the origin of ChrifHanity. A new fcene is now unfolded. The city of Medina, diftant about ten days journey from Mecca, was at that time diftrafted by thehereditary contentions of two hoflile tribes. Thefe feuds were exafperatcd by the mutual perfecutions of the Jews and Chriftians, and of the different Chriftian fedts by which the city was inhabited/^ The religion of Mahomet pre- fented, in fome meafure, a point of union or compromife to thefe divided opinions. It embraced the principles which were common to them all. Each party faw in it an honourable ac- knowledgment of the fundamental truth of their own fyftem. To the Pagan Arab, fomewhat imbued with the fentiments and knowledge of his Jewifh or Chrillian fellow-citizen, it of- fered no offenilve or very improbable theolog^r. This recona- mendation procured to Mahometanifm a more favourable recep- tion at Medina, than its author had been able, by twelve yean/ painful endeavours, to obtain for it at Mecca. Yet, after all, the progrefs of the religion was inconiiderable. His miilionary could only colle6l a congregation of forty perfons.^ It was not a religious, but a political afibciation, which ultimately introduc- ed Mahomet into Medina. HaralTed, as it rtiould feeni, and difgufted by the long continuance of factions and difputes, the inhabitants of that city faw in the admifTion of the prophet's au- th-ority, a reft from the miferies which they had fuffered, and
a Mod. Un. Hid. vol. I. p. 126. b lb. p. 113.
c This latter, however, already prevailed aniongfi: ihe Arabs, ar.d had grown out of their exceffive veneration for the Caaba. Ma- homet's law, in this refped:, was rather a compliance than an inr.ova- tioa.*
d Mod. Un. Hi{l. vol. I. p. 100. c lb. p. 85.
* Sale's Prelim. ;(!. 10-2.
i6^ A VIEW OF THE
a fuppreffion of the violence and fury which they bad learnt to condemn. After an embaiTy therefore, compofed of believers and ufibelievtrs," and ofptrfons of both tribes, with whom a treaty was concluded of ill Id alliance and fupport, Mahomet made his public entry, and was received as the fovereign of Medina.
From this time, or foon after this time, the Impoftor changed his language and his condud. Having now a town at his com- mand, where to arm his party, and to head them with feciVrity, he enters upon new counfels. He now pretends that a divine commiilion is given to h\m to attack the infidels, todedroy idol- atry, and to fet up th.e true faith by the fword." An early vic- tory over a very fuperior force, achieved by condu<5l and brave- ry, eftablifaed the renown of his arms, and of his perfonal char- acter.^ Every year after this was m;irked by battles or aiTilli- nations. The nature and adlvlty of Mahomet's future exertions may be eflimated ficm the computation, that, in the nine fol- lowing years of his life, he commanded his army in perfon in eight general engagements,'^ and undertook, by himfelforhis Jitiitenants, fiity mihtary enterprifes.
From this time v.e have nothing left to account for, but that Mahomet ihould colk^l an army, that his army ihould conquer, and that his religion fliould proceed together with his conqiKfts. The ordinary ex])criehce of human affairs, leaver tis little to wonder at, In any of thefe efFe(Jls ; and they Vv'ere likcwife each afTitted by peculiar facilities. From alt lidcs, the roving Arab:, crowded around the lUndard of religion and plunder, of freedom and vi-flory, uf arms and laplne. Be- {\(\q. the highly painted joys of a carnal paradife, Mahomet re- warded his follovs/ers in this vv'orld witli a liberal divifion of the fpoils and with tlic pcrfons of iheir female captives.^ The con- dition of Arabia, occupied by fmall independent tribes, expofed it to the Imprefiion, and yielded to the progrefs of a firm and refolute army. After the redu<ftion of his native peninfula, the weakncf^ aifb of the I oman provinces on the North and the Wefh as l^-ell as the dlOratfied ftate of the Perfian empire on the Eafl, facilitated the fucccfsful invafion of neighbouring coun- tries. That Mahomet's conquers fliould carry his religion along
a lb. p. 85. b ih p 88.
c Vid^ory of £tdr. ib. p. 106. *^ Un. Hift. vol. I. p. 255.
« Gibb. vollX. p. 155.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 269
with them, will excite little furprife, when we know the condi- tions which he propofed to the vanquifhed. Death or conver- sion was the only choice offered to idolaters. '* Strike off their heads ; ftrike off all the ends of their fingers :'■' kill the idolater.:, wherefoever ye fhall find thera."'^ To the Jews and Chriftians was left a fomewhat milder alternative, of fubjedion and tribute, if they periifted in their own religion, or of an equal partici])a- tion in the rights and liberty, the honours and privileges, of the faithful, if they embraced the religion of their conquerors. " Ye Chriftian dogs, you know your option ; the Koran, the tribute,. or the fword."*^ The corrupt ftate of Chriftianlty in the fcventh century, and the contentions of its fe(51s, unhappily fo fell in with men's care for their fiifety, or their foi tunes, as to induce ^ many to forlake its profeliion. Add to all which, that Mahom- , et's vidories not only operated by the natural elfe6l of conquefl:, •, but that they were conftantly reprefented, both to his friends * and enemies, as divine declaratians in his favour. Succefs was evidence. Profperity c-irri'd widi it not only influence but proof. " Ye have already,'' fiys he, after the battle of Bear,, " had a miracle (hown ycu, in two armies which attacked each other ; one army fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels."'^ Again, '* Te flew not thofe who were flaln at Bedr, but God flew them. If y^ dcfire a decifion. of the mat- ter between us, now hath a decifion come unto you."^
Many more paffiges might be colleded out of the Koran to- the fame effeclH:. But they are unneceffary. The fuccefs of Mahometanifm during this, and indeed &^tvj future period of its hifl:ory, bears fo httie refemblance to the early propagation- of Chriftianity, that no inference whatever can jufily be drawn from it to the prejudice of the Chrii'lian argument. For what are we comparing ? A Galilean peafant, accompanied by a few iiftiermen, with a conqueror at the head of his army. We com- pare Jefus, without force, without power, without fupport, with-- <outone external circumflance ofattraftionor influence, prevailing againfl the prejudices, the learning, the hierarchy of his coun- try, againfl: the ancient religious opinions, the pompous religious rites, the philofophy, the wifdom, the authority of the Roman empire, in the moft: poliflicd and enlightened period of its exif- tence, with Mahomet making his way amongft Arabs ; colleft-
^ Sale's Koran, c. viii. p. 140. b lb. c. ix. p. 149.
-Oibb, ib,p,3.37, ^ Sale's Kor. c. iii. p. 36. « Ch. viii, p. 141^
y 2'.
270 A VIEW OF THE
ing followers in the midft of conquells and tiiumphs, in the darkeft ages and countries of the world, and when fuccefs in arms not only openited by that command of men's wills ar^d perfons which attends profjrerous undertakings, but was confid- ered as a fure teftimony of divine approbation. That multitudes, perfuaded by this argument, fhcuid-join the train of a vidorious:- chief; that (Hll greater multitudes fhould, without any argument bow down before irrefiflible power, is a conducfk in which we cannot fee much to furprife us : in which we can fee nothing that refemb'es the caufes, by which the eflablifliment of Chr'/- tianity was cfFcfted.
The Cucct^'i therefore of Mahometanifni ftands not In the way- of this importr.nt conclufion, that the projiagation of Chnftianity, in the manner and under the circum!^* iices in which it was propagated, is an unique in the hiiiory of the fpecies. A Jcwifh peafant overthrew the religion of the world.
I have, neverthelefs, placed the prevalency of the religion amongft the auxiliary arguments of its truth ; becaufe, whethet it had prevailed or not, or whether its prevalency can or cannot be accounted for, the dire<ft argument remains flill. It is ftill true, that a great number of men upon the fpot, petfonally connected vi'ith the hiftory and with the author of the religion, were induced by v^hat they heard and faw and knew, not only to change their former opinions, but to give up their time, and facrifice their eafe to trr.veife feas and kingdoms, without reil, and without wearinefs,to commit themfelves to extreme dangers, to undertake incefiant toils, to undergo grievous fufferings, and all this, fulely in confequence, and in fupport of their belief of fa'^is, which, if true, cflablifii the truth of the religion, which, if falfe, they niuH have knov/n to be fo.
PART THE THIRD.
A BRIEF Consideration of some popular Objection:
C H A P. I.
The Difcrepancies between the fever al Gofpeh.
X KNOW not a more rafli or more unphilofophical condudl of the andei (landing than to rejedl the fubflance of a ilory by rea- ibn of fome diverfity in the circumftances with which it is related. I The ufua! charafter of human teftimohy isfubftantial truth under . k circumftantial variety. This is what the daily experience of * courts of julKce teaches. When accounts of a tranfa<5lion come from the mouths of different witneffes, it is feldom that it is not poilible to pick out apparent or real inconfiilencies between them. Thefe inconliftencies are iludioudy difplayed by an adverfe pleader, but oftentimes with little impreffion upon the minds of the judges. On the contrary, a clofe and minute agreement induce J the fafpicion of confederacy and fraud When written hiftories tomch upon the fame fcenes of adion, the comparifon almoft always affords ground for a like reflection. Numerous, and fometimcs important, variations prefent themfelves;. not feldom aifo, abfolute and final contradi<flions ; yet neither one nor the other are deemed fafficient to fhake the credibility of, the main fd61:. The embafiy-of the Jews to deprecate the exe- cution of Claudian's order to place his ftatue in their temple, Philo places in harvelt, Jofephus in feed time ; both contempo- rary writers. Mo reader is led by this inconfiftency to doubt, wheiher fuch an embaffy was fent, or whether fuch an order was given. Our own hiftory fupph"es examples of the fame kind. In the account of the Marquis of Argyie's death in the reign of Charles the Second, v/e have a very remarkable contradiction. \ Lord Claiendon relates that he was condemned to be hangeds which was performed the fame day : on the contrary, Burnet, "Woodrow, Heath, Echard, agree that he was beheaded ; and that he was condemned upon the Saturday, and executed upon ^e Maaday.^ V/as any reader of r.ngliOi hiCiory ev^rr ^ Ste Bio>;, BricAJii.
2 72 A VIEW OF THE
fceptic enoHgh, to raife from hence a queflion, whether the Marquis of Argyle was executed or not ? Yet this ought to be left in uncertainty, according to the principles upon which the Chriftian hiftory has fometimes been attacked. Dr. Middleton contended, that the different hours of the day affigncd to the crucifixion of Chrift by John and by the other evangehfts, did not admit of the reconcilement which learned men had pro- pofed ; and then concludes the difcuflion with this hard remark ; ** We muft be forced, with feveral of the critics, ro leave the difficulty jufi: as we found it, chargeable with all the confequen- ces of manifeft inconflftency."^ But what are thefe confequen- ces ? by no means the difcrediting of the hiif ory as to the prin- cipal fa<5t, by a repugnacy (even fuppofing that repugnancy not to be refolvabie ,into different modes of computation) in the time of the day, in which it is faid to have taken place.
A great deal of the difcrepancy obfervable in the gofpels, arifes from omjjp.on ; from a fa(5t or a pafiage of Chrift's life being noticed by one writer, which is unnoticed by another. Now omifFion is at all times a very uncertain ground of objec- tion. We perceive it, not only in the comparifon of different writers, but even in the fame writer, when compared v/ith him- felf. There are a great many particulars, and fome of them of importance, mentioned by Jofephus in his Antiquities, which, as we fhould have fuppofed, ought to have been put down by him in their place in his Jewifn wars.^ Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Caffms, have, all three, written of the reign of Tiberius. Each has mentioned many things omitted by the reft,^ yet no. objeflionis from thence taken to the refpeftive credit of their hiffo- ries. We have in our own times, if there were notfomething inde- corous in the comparifon, the life of an eminent perfon, writ- ten by three of his friends, in which there is very great variety in the incidents feledled by them, fome apparent, and perhaps fome real contradictions ; yet without any impeachment of the fubftantial truth of their accounts, of the authenticity of the books, the competent information or general fidelity of the writers.
But thefe difcrepancles will be Hill more nunierou-^, when men do not write hiflories, but meinotrs ; which is perhapi the true
a Middleton's Seficaions anlV/ercd by Benfon, Hift. Chrlf. vol. III. p. JO.
b Lard. part. I. vol. II. p. 755, ct ftq. c ;.b, p, 743,
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 273
name, and proper defcrlption of our gofpels : that is, when they do not undertake, or ever meant to deliver, in order of time, a regular and complete account of 6-// the things of impor- tance, which the perfon, who is the fubjcil of their hillory, did or f.i-id ; but only, out of many fimilar ones, to give fuch pafTa- ges, or fuch actions and difcourfes, as offered themfelves more immediately to their attention, came in the way of their inquir- ies, occurred to their recolledtion, or were fuggefted by their particular defign at the time of wr'ting.
This particular defign may appear fometimes, but ntU always, nor often. Thus I think that the particular defign, which St. Matthew had in view whilft he was writing the hiltory of the refurrecftion, was to atteft the faithful perform:mce of Chrift's promife to his difciples to go before them into Galilee ; becaufe he alone, except Mark, who feems to have taken it from him, . has recorded this promife, and he alone has confined his narra- * live to that fmgle appearance to the difcij'les which fulfilled it. It was the preconcerted, the great and moil: public manifefta- tion of our Lord's perfon. It was the thing which dwelt upon St. Matthew's mind, and he adapted his narrative to it. Eut, that there is nothing in St. Matthew's language, which negatives other appearances, or which imports that this his appearance to his difciples in Galilee, in pursuance of his promife, was his firfl or only appearance, is made pretty evident by St. Mark's gofpel, which ufed the fame terms concerning the appearance in Galilee as St. Matthew ufes, yet itfelf records two other ap- pearances prior to this : *' Go your way, tell his difciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee, then fliall ye fee him as he faid unto yoo." (xvi. 7.) We might be apt to infer from thcfe words, that this was the firff lime they were to fee him : at lead, Vv'c might infer ir, with as much re. fon as we draw the inference from the fame words in Matthew : yet the hifro- rian himfeif did not perceive that he was leading his readers to any fuch conclufion, for, in the tv/elfth and two following verfes of this chapter, he informs us of tvv'o appearances, which, by comparing the order of events, are jfliown to have been prior to the appearance in Galilee. " He appeared in another form un- to two of them, as they walked and went into the country ; and they went and t€ld it unto the refidue neither believed they them : afterwards he appeared unto the eleven, as they fat at meat, and upbr ided them with their unbelief, becaufe they be- lieved not them that had .feen him after he was riftn/'
274 A VIEW OF THE
Probably the fame obfervation, concerning the particular de- Jign which guided the hi'ftorian, may be of ufe in comparing many othei pafTages of the gofpels.
C H A P. IL
Erroneous opinions imputed to the Apojlles.
JLj^ SPECIES of candor which is fliewn towards every oth- er book, is fometimes refufed to the fcriptures ; and that is, the placing of a didinftion between judgment and telfimony. We do not ufually queifiisn the credit of a writer, by reafon of any opinion he may have delivered upon fubjeds unconneded with his evidence ; and even upon fubjedls conneded with his ac- count, or mixed witii it in the fame difcourfe or writing, we naturally feparate fads from opinions, teftmiony from obferva- tion, narrative from argument.
To apply this ecjuitable conuderation to the ChrifHan records, much controverfy and much objedion has been raifed, concern- ing the quotations of the Old Teftament found in the New ; fome of which quotations, it is faid, are applied in a fenfe, and to events, apparently different from that which they bear, and from thofe to which they belong, in the original. It is proba- ble to my apprehenfion, that many of thofe quotations were in- tended by the writers of the New Teftament as nothing more than accommodations. They quoted paflages of their fcripture, which fuited, and fell in with, the occafion before them, without always undertaking to afTert, that the occafion was in the vievv of the author of the words. Such accommodations of paiTages from old authors, from books efpecially which are in every one's hands, are common with writers of all coun- tries ; but in none, perhaps, were more to be expeded, than in the writings of the Jews, whofe literature was almoft entirely confined to their fcriptures. Thofe prophecies which are al- leged with more folemnity, and v/hich are accompanied with a precife declaration, that they originally refpeded the event then related, are, I think, truly alleged. But were it other- wife ; is the judgment of the writers of the New Teftament, in interpreting pafTages of the Old, or fometimes, perhaps, in receiv- ing eftabUfhed interpretations, fo conneded, either with their veracity, or with their means of information concerning what
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 275
was paffing in their own times, as that a critical miftake, even were; it clearly made out, fhould overthrow their hiftorical credit ? — Does it diminifli it ? Has it any thing to do with it ?
Another error, imputed to the firft Chriftians, was the ex- pe(5led approach of the day of judgment. I would introduce this obje<^ion, by a remark, upon what appears to me a fome- what fimilar example. Our Saviour, fpeaking to Peter of John, faid, *' If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee."* Thefe words, we find, had been fo mifcondrued, as that "are- port" from thence, *' went abroad among the brethren, that that difciple Ihould not die." Suppofe that this had come down to us amongft the prevailing opinions of the early Chrif- tians, and that the particular circumftance, from which the mif- take fprung, had been loft, (which humanly fpeaking was mod likely to ^ave been the cafe) fome, at this day would have been ready to regard and quote the error, as an impeachment of the whole Chriftian fyftem. Yet with how little juftice fach a conclu- fion would have been drawn, or rather fuch a prefumption taken up, the information which we happen to poifefs enables us now to perceive. To thofe who think that the fcriptures lead us to be- lieve, that the early Chriftians, and even the apoftles, expedled the approach of the day of judgment in their own times, the fame refleiftion will occur, as that which we have made, with refpeft to the more partial perhaps and temporary, but ftill no lefs an- cient error, concerning the duration of St. John's life. It was an error, it may be likewife faid, which would effedlually hinder thofe, who entertained it, from adling the part of impoftors.
The difficulty which attends the fubjed of the prefent chap- ter, is contained in this queftion ; if we once admit the fallibil- ity of the apoftolic judgment, where are v/e to ftop, or in what can we rely upon it ? To which queftlons, as arguing with un- believers, and as arguing for the fubftantial tiuth of the Chriftian hiftory, and for that alone, it is competent to the advocate of Chriftianity to reply, Give me the apoftle's teftimony, and I do not ftand in need of their judgment ; give me the fiids, and I have complete fecuriry for every conclufion 1 want.
But, although i think, that it is competent to the Chriftian apologift to return this anfwcr ; I do not think that it is the only anfwer which the objedion is capable of receiving. The two following cautions, founded, I apprehend, in the moft rca-
^ John xxi. 26.
276 A VIEW OF Tm;
fonable dIftin(5lIons, will exclude all uncertainty upon this head, which can be attended with danger.
Firft, to feparate what was the objecfl: of the apoftolic miflion, and declared by them to be fo, from what was extraneous to it, or only incidentally connedled with it. Of points clearly extraneous to the religion, nothing need be faid. Of points incidentally conncded with it, fomcthing may be added: De- moniacal poffefTion is one of thefe points ; concerning the reality of which, as this place will not admit the examination, or even the prcdiidion of the arguments^ on either fide of the quedion, it would be arrogance in me to deliver any judgment. J^. nd it. is unneceflary. For wliat I am concerned to obfcrve is, that even they, who think that it was, a general, but. erroneous opinion, of thofe times ; and that the v/riters of the New Teflamei.t, in common with other Jewifh writers of that age, fe)'- into the manner of fpeaking and of thinking upon the fubjedt, wliich then univerfally prevailed ; need not be alarmed by the conccflion, as though they had any thing to fear from it, for the truth of Chriftianity. The dodrine was not what Clnift brought into the world. It appears in the Chriftian records, incidentally and accidentally, as being the fubfilHng opinion of the age and country in which his miniflry was exercifcd. It was no part of the objed of bis revelation, to regulate men's opinions con- cerning the action of fpiritual fubihinccs uj^on animal bodies. At any rate it is unconncd'tcd with ttftimcny. If a dumb per- fon v/as by a word reilored to the ufa of his fpc^ch, it fignif es little to what caufc the dumbnefs was afcribed ; and the like of every other cure, wrought upon thofe who are faid to have been poilcfred. The malady was real, the cure was res], whether the popular explication of, the caufe was well fonndv'd or not- The matter of fad, the change, fo far as it was an objea: of fenfe, or of teftimony, was in either cafe the fame. ,
Secondly, that in reading the apoirblic writings, v/e diiiin gulfli between their dodrines, and their arguments. Their doflrlncs came to them by revelation properly fo called ; yet in propounding thefe dodrines in their writirgs or difcouifes, they were wont to illullrare, fupport and enforce ihem, by /r.ch ;.n,il- ogies, arguments, and confiderations, as their own thoughts fu^oeficd. Thus the call of the Gentiles, that is, the admiilion oAhe Gentiles to the Chvifiian profcffion without a j.timous fubjedion to the law of Mofes, v^as imparted to the apollles by revelation : and was attdled l)y the miracles winch attended liv;
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 277
Chriftian minlftry amongfl; them. The apoflles' own aflurance of the matter refted upon this foundation. Neverthelefs, St. Paul, when treating of the fubje(5t, offers a great variety of top- ics in its proof and vindication. The dodrine itfelf mufl be received ; but is it neceffary, In order to defend Chriftiamt}', to defend the propriety of every comparifon, or the validity of every argument, which the apodle has brought into tlie dif- -cuffion ? The fame obfervation apnhes to fome other inltances ; and is, in my opinion, very well founded. " When divine v/riters argue upon any point, we are always bound to believe the conclulions that their reafonings end in, as parts of divine revelation ; hut we are not bound to be able to make out, or even to aiTcnt to, all the premifes made ufe of by thern, in iheir whole extent, unlefs it appear plainly, that they affirm the pre- mifes as exprefsly as they do the conclufions proved by them." ^
CHAP. HI.
The Cormexion of Chrlfl:anity ivith the JewifJo Hiftory,
U NDOUBTEDLY", our Saviour afTuraes the divrne origin
' the Mofaic inflitution ; and, Independently of his authority,
- conceive it to be very difficult to affign any other caufe for
tiie commencement or exigence of that inftitution ; efpeclally
for the fmgular circumftance of the Jews adhering to the unity,
\ when eveiy other people llld into polytheifm ; for their being men
\ in religion, children In every thing elfe ; behind other nations in
i the arts of peace and war, fuperlor to the moft impioved in their
fentiments and dotflrines relating to the Deity. ^ Undoubtedly
a!fo, our Saviour recognlfes the prophetic charader of many
of their ancient writers. So far, therefore, we are bound as
Chriliians to go. Bat to make ChrKHanity anfwerable with
its life, for the circumflantial truth of each feparate paflage of
•T Burnet's Expof. arr. 6.
b *' In the do^^:tine, for example, of the un'.ty, the eternity, the omni- potence, the oinnifcienccjthe omniprtfencc, tlie wifdom and the good- ncfs of God ;■ in t'ltir opinions c^jiiccnuo^ providence, and the crearion, f preIervadoa,and government of tlic woj id.' Campi)c]l on Mir. p. 207.
27^ A VIEW OF THE
the Old Teftament, the genulnenefs of every book, the inform- ation, fidelity, and judgment of every writer in it, is to bring, I -will net fay great, but unnecefTary, difficulties, into the whole fyfteni. Thefe books v/ere univerfally read and received by the Jews of our Saviour's time. He and his apoftles, in common with all other Jews, referred to them, almded to them, ufed them. Yet, except where he exprefsly afcribes a divine au- thority to particular predidions, I do not know that we can ftri<!^ly draw any conclufion from the books being fo ufed and iipplied, befide the proof, which it unqueftionably is, of their notoriety and reception at that time. In this view our fcrip- tures afford a valuable teftimony to thofe of the Jews. But the nature of this teftimony ought to be underftood. It is fure- ly very different from, what it is fometimes reprefented to be, a fpecific ratification of each particular fadl and opinion ; and not only of each particular fa6l, but of the motives affigned for eve- ry adion, together with the judgment of praife or difpraife beftowed upon them. St. James, in his epiftle/"^ fays, " Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have feen the end of the I^ord." Notwithdanding this text, the reality of Job's hiftory, and even the exigence offuch a pcrfon, has been always deem- ed a fair fubje£l of inquiry and difcuilion amongft Chriftian di- vines. St. James's authority is confidered as good evidence of the exiftence of the book of Job at that time, and of its recep- tion by the Jews, and of nothing more. St. Paul, in his fecond epillle to Timothy,^ has this fimilitude, " Now, as Jannes and Jambres withftood Mofes, fo do thefe alfo refift the truth," Thefe names are not found in the Old Tellament. And it is uncertain, whether St. Paul took them from fome apocryphal writing then extant, or from tradition. P>ut no one ever imag- ined, that St. Paul is here afferting the authority of the writing, if it was a written account which he quoted, or making himfelf anfvverable for the authenticity of the tradition ; much lefs, that he fo involves himfelf with either of thefe queftions, as tha-t the credit of his ov/n hiftory and mlfiion fhould depend upon the fa(5l-, v^'hethcr " Jannes and Jambres withftood Mofes or not." For what reafjn a more rigorous interpretation fliould be put upon other references, it is difficult to kno-.v. I do not mean, that other paflages of the Jev/lfa hiftoFy-ftand upon no better evidence than the hldory of Job, or of Jannes and Jam-
tv. II. ^ m. i5.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 279
bres, (I think much otherwife) bat I mean, that a reference in the New Teilament, to a pafHige in the Old, does not fo fix its authority, as to excKide all inquiry into its credibility, or into the feparate reafons upon which that credibility is founded ; and that it is an unwarrantable, as well as unfafe rule to lay down con- cerning the Jewifli hiftory, what was never laid down concern- ing any other, that either every 'particular of it mud be true, or the whole falfe.
I have thought it necefTary to ftate this point explicitly, be- caufe a fafhion revived by Voltaire, and purfued by the difcipks of his fchool,feems to have much prevaikd of late, of attacking Chriftianity through the fides of Judaifm. Some objection? of this clafs are founded in mifconftrudion, fome in exaggeration ; but all proceed upon a fuppofition, which has not been m^idc out by argument, that the atteflation, which the author and firtl teachers of Chriftianity gave 10 the divine miflion of Moics and the prophets, extends to every point and portion of the Jew- ifh hiftory ; and fo extends, as to make Chriftianity refponfj- ble in its ov^^n credibility, for the circumftantial truth, I had al- moft faid for the critical exadlnefs, of every narrative contained in the Old Teftament,
CHAP. IV,
RejeSion of Chrtjllanity,
W E acknowledge that the Chriflian religion, although it converted great numbers, did not produce an univerfal, or even a general convidion in the minds of men, of the age and coun- tries in which it appeared. And this want of a more com- plete and extenfive fuccefs, is called the reje^llon of the Chrii- tian hiftory and miracles ; and has been thought by feme, to form a (Irong objeclion to the reality of the fadis which the hiflory contains.
The matter of the obje(5llon divides itfelf into two parts, ar> k relates to the Jews, and as it relates to heathen nations ; be- Caufe the minds of thefe two defcriptions of men may have been, with refped to Chriftianity, under the influence of very differ- ent caufes. The cafe of the Jews, inafm\ich as our Saviour's miniftry was originally addrelTed to them, offers itfelf firfi: to out confideration>
2So A VIEW OF THE
Now, upon the fjbjed of the truth of the Chriftian retigiorr, with us there is but one quellipn, viz. whether the miracles were adually wrought ? From acknowledging the miracles we pafs inftantaneoufjy to the acknowledgment of the whole. No doubt hes between the preraifes and the conclufion. If we beheve the v/orks, or any one of their, we believe in Jefus. And this order of reafoning is become fo univerfal and familiar, that we do not readily apprehend how it could ever have been otherwife. Yet it appears to me perfedly certain, that the rtate of thought, in the mind of a Jew of our Saviour's ?ge, was totally different from this. After allowing the reality of the ir.iracle, he had a great deal to do to perfuade himfelf that Jefus was ihc Melliah. This i;; clearly iniiniated by various pafTager, of the gofpel hiftory. It appears that, in the appre- henfion of the writers of the Ncv/ T lament, the miracles tiid not irrefilllbly carry, even thofe who faw ihtcm, to the con- clufion intended, to be drawn from them ; or fo compel aficnt, as to leave no room for fufpenfe, for th-! exercife of candour, or the etfecfts uf prejudice. And to thi^ point at haft, the evan- gclifts may be allowed to be good witneiTts ; becaufe it is a point, in which exaggeration or difguife would have been tlic other way. Their accounts, if they could befufpcvfledof falfe- hood, would rather have magnified, than dimirjilued> the effects of the miracles.
John vli. 2 i> 3 r. " Jefus anfwercd, and faid unto them, I have done one \\*ork, and ye all marvel — if a. man on the Sab- bath-day receive circumcifion, that the law of Mofcs (hould not be broken, are ye angry at me, becaufe I have made a man every whit whole on the S.ibbath-day ? Judge not according to tlie appearance but judge righteous judgment. Then faid fomc of- them of Jcrufalem, Is not this he whom they feek to kill ? but lo, he fpeaketh boklly, anii they {\j nothing to him ; do the rulers know indeed that thi3 is the very Chri(i: ? hoivlsil^ nve Inow this man whence he h ; hut^ ii''jcn Chri/i comclhy no man hiototth nvhence he is. Then cried Jefas in the temple as he taught, faying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am ; and 1 am not come of myfelf, but he that fjnt me is true, v.hom ye know not ; but I knov/ him, for I am from him, and he hath fent me. Then \hey fought t J take him, but no man laid hands on him becaufe his hour was not yet come ; and many of the feople believed on hitn, and /aid, When Chijl comethy <w ill he da mere ml-acles than thofe <U}hich this man, hath done F"
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 281.
This pafTage is very obfervable. It exhibits the reafoning of different forts of perfons upon the occafion of a miracle, v/hich perfons of all forts are reprefented to have acknowledged as real. One fort of men thought, that there was fomething very extraordinary in all this ; but that dill Jefus could not be the Chi-ill, becaafe there was a circumftance in his appear;;nce, which militated with an opinion concerning Chrill, in which they had been brought up, and of the truth of which, it is prob- able, they had never entertained a partick of doubt, viz. that; *' when Chrid coraeth no man knoweth v/hence he is." Anoth- er fort were inclined to believe him to be the Melliah. But even thefe did not argue as we ilioald ; did not confider th-s miracle as of itfelf deciilve of the queftion, as what, if once al- lowed, excluded ail farther debate upon the fubjetfl, bur found- ed their opinion upon a kind of comparative reafoning, " when . Chrifl Cometh, v/ill he do more miracles than thofe which this man hath done ?"
Another paffage in the fame evangelift, and obfervable for the lame purpofe, is that in which he relatfs the refarredtion of JL.azarus : " Jefus," he tells us, (xi. 43, 44) " when he had thus fpoken, cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forch ; and he, that was dead, came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jefus faith unto them, Loofe him and let him go." One might have expedted, that at leaft all thofe who flood by the fepul- chre, when Lazarus was raifed, would have believed in Jefus. Yet the evangehft does not fo reprefent it. " Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had feen the things which Jefus did, believed on him ; but/om^ of them went their ways to the Pharifees, and told them what things Jefus had done." We cannot fuppofe that the evangelift meant, by this account, to leave his readers to imagine that any of the fpe6tators doubt- ed about the truth of the miracle. Far from it. Unqueflrion- ably he dates the miracle to have been fully allowed : yet the perfons who allowed it, were, according to his reprefentation,. capable of retaining hoftile fentiments towards Jefus. *' Believ-- ing in Jefus" was not only to believe that he wrought miracles, but that he was the Mefliah. With us there is no difference between thefe two things ; with them there was the greateft. And the difference is apparent in this tianliidion. If St. John, has reprefented the conduct of the Jews upon this occafion tru- ly, (and why he fliould not I cannot tell, for it rather raaJ^.es. Z i
2S2 A VIEW OF THE
againfl him than for him) it fhews clearly the principles upon which their judgment proceeded. Whether he has related the matter truly or not, the relation itfelf difcavers the writer's own opinion of thofe principles, and that alone pofTefTes confiderable raithority. In the next chapter, we have a refledlion of the evangeiift, entirely fuited to this ftate of the cafe ; *' but though he had done fo many miracles before them, yet believed they not on him."^ The evangeiift does not mean to impute the defect of their belief to any doubt about the miracles, but to their not perceiving, what all now fufficiently perceive, and what they would have perceived had not their underflandings been governed by ftrong prejudices, the infallible atteflation, which the works of Jefus bore, to the truth of his pretenfions. The ninth chapter of St". John's gofpel contains a very cir- cumflantial account of the cure of a blind man ; a miracle fub- mitted to all the fcrutiny and examination which a fceptic could propofe. If a modern unbeliever had drawn up the interrogato- '■i-s, they could hardly have been more crhical or fearching. The account contains alfo a very curious conference between tlie Jewifh rulers and the patient, in which the point for our prefent notice, is their reiidance of the force of the miracle, and of the conciufion to which it led, after they had failed in difcrediting its evidence. " W^e know that God fpake unto Mofes, but as for this fellow we know not whence he is." That was the anfwer which fet their minds at refl. And by the help of much prejudice, and great unwlllingnefs to yield, it might dofo. In the mind of the poor man reftored to fight, which v/as under no fuch bias, felt no fuch reluftance, the miracle had its natu* ral operation. " Keiein," fays he, " is a marvellous thing, that ye knew not from whence he is, yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not fmners ; but ii 5Lny man be a vvorfhipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man ■were not of God he could do nothing.'* We do not find that the Jewifh rulers had any other reply to make to this defence, than that which authority isfometimes apt to make to argument, *' Do!] tiiou teach us ?"
If it Ihali be inquired how a return of tlionght, fo different fvom what prevails at prefent, fhould obtain currency with the
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 2^3
ancient Jews, the anfwer is found In two opinions, which are proved to have fubfifted in that age and country. The one- was, their expectation of a Mefliah, of a kind totally contrary to what the appearance of Jefus befpoke him to be : the other^ their perfaafion of the agency of demons in the prodii<5tion of fapernatural effedls. Thefe opinions- are not fuppofed by ns for the purpofe of argument, but are evidently recognized in the Jewiili writings, as well as in ours. And it ought raoreover to be confidered, that in thefe opinions the Jews of that age had been from their infancy brought up ; that they were opinions, the grounds of which they had probably fev/ of them inquired into, and of the truth of which they entertained no doubt. And I think that thefe two opinions conjointly afford an expla- nation of their condud. The liill put them upon feeking out fonie cxcufe to themfelves, for not receiving Jefas in the char- acter in which he claimed to be received ; and the fecond fup- plied them with jufl fuch an excufe as they wanted. Let Je- fus work what miracles he would, ftili the anfwer was in read- inefs, " that he wrought them by the afiiftance of Beelzebub." And to this anfwer no reply could be made, but that which our Saviour did make, by fhowing that the tendency of his mijp. fion was fo adverfe to the views with which this being was, by the obje(5lors themfelves, fuppofed to a<5i:, that it could not rea- fonably be fuppofed that he would affift in carrying it on. The power difplayed in the miracles did not alone refute the Jewifh folution, becaufe, the interpofition of invifible agents being once admitted, it is impoflible to afcertain the limits by which their efficiency is circurafcribed. We of this day may be difpofed, poffiDly, to think fuch opinions too abfurd, to have been ever ierloufly entertained. I am not bound to contend for the cred- ibility of the opinions^. They were at leafi: as reafonable as the belief in witchcraft. They were opinions in which the Jews of that age had from their infancy been inftrucltd ; and thofe who cannot fee enough in the force of this reafon, to account for their conduct towards our Saviour, do not fufiiciently con- (ider how flich opinions may fometinies become very general in a country, and with what pertinacity, when once become i^o^ they are, for that reafon alone, adhered to. In the fufpenfe which thefe notions, and the prejudices refulting from them,, might occafion,, the candid and docile and humble-minded would probably decide in Chrift's favor ; the proud and ob(H- nate. together with the giddy and the thoughtiefs, almoft oni- verfally againll him.
a84 A VIEW OV THE
This ftate of opinion difcovers to us aifo the reafon of vAiz^ fome choofe to wonder at, why the Jews fhould reject miracles ■when they faw tliem, yet rely fo much upon the tradition of them in their own hiftory. It does not appear, that it had ever entered into the minds of thofe who Hved in the time of Mofes and the prophets, to afcribe l/jeir miracles to the fuper- natural agency of evil beings. The folution was not then in- vented. And the authority of Mofes and the prophets being eftablifhed, and become the foundation of the national poli- cy and religion, it was not probable that the later Jews, brought up in a reverence for tliat religion, and the fubje(5iS of that policy, fliould apply to their hiftory a. reafoning which^ tended to overthrow the foundation of both.
I.I. The infidelity of the Gentile world, and that more eS- pecially of men of rank and learning in it, is refolvable into a. principle, v/hich, in my judgment, will account for the inefficacy of any argument or any evidence whatever, viz. contempt prior to examination. The ftate of religion amongft the Greeks and Romans had a natural tendency to induce this difpofition. Dionyfius Halicarneffenfis remarks, that there were fix hundred, different kinds of religions or facred rites exercifedat Rome.^ The fuperlor claffes of the community treated thera all as fa- bles. Can we v^onder then, that Chrirtlanlty was included in the number, without inquiry Into Its feparate merits, or the par- ticular grounds of its pretenilons ? It might be either true or falfe for any thing they knew about it. The religion had noth- ing In its charader which Immediately engaged their notice. It mixed with no politics. It produced no fine writers. It contained no curious fpeculations. When It did reach their knowledge, I doubt not but that It .appeared, to them a very ftrange fyftem — fo unphilofophica! — dealing- fo little in argu- ment and difcuflion, however In firch arguments and difcuf- fions as they were accuftomed to entertain. What is faid of Jefus Chrlft, of his nature, office and miniitry, would be, in the high- eft degree, alien from the conccjjtiorjs of their theology. The Redeemer, and the dcftined Judge of the human race, a poor young man executed a^ Jerufalem with two ihleves up'^n a crofs !' Still more, the langunge In which the Chriftian uoclrine was delivered, would be diffjnant and barbarous to their tars. V/hat* knew they of grace, of redemption, of ju'Iification, of the blood.
a jpriin's Remarks on Eccl. Hifw. vo!. I. p. 371*
I
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 285
of Chrifl: fhed for the fins of men, of reconcilement, of media- tion ? ChriiHanlty was made up of points they had never thought of, of terms which they had never heard.
It was prefented afo to the imagination of the learned heathen, under additional difadvantage, byreafon of its real, and ftill more of its nominal, connexion with Judaifm. It fhared in the obloquy and ridicule, with which that people and their religion were treated by the Greeks and Romans. They regarded Je- hovah liimfelf only as the idol of the Jev/ifh nation, and what was related of him, as of a piece with what was told of the tu- telar deities of other countries ; nay, the Jews were in a paruc- ular manner ridiculed for being a credulous race ; fo that what' ever reports of a miraculous nature came out of that country, v/ere looked upon by the heathen world as falfe and frivolous. When they heard of Chriflianity, they heard of it as a quarrel araong/l this people, about feme articles of their own fuperfti- tion. Defpiling, therefore, as they did, the whole fyHem, it »was not probable that they wouid enter, with any degree of fe- rioufnefs or attention, into the detail of its difputes or the merits of either fide. Hov/ little they knev/, and with what carelefs- r.efs they judged of thefe matters, appears. I think, pretty plain- ly from an example of no lefs weight than that of Tacitus, v/ho in a grave and profefled difcourfe upon the hiftory cf the J^ws, ftates that they wor(hipped the effigy of an afs.^ The pafTage is a proof, how prone the learned men of thefe times were, and upon how little evidence, to heap together li«;ries, which might increafe the contempt and odium in which that people was held. The fame foolifti charge is alfo confidently repeated by Plu- tarch.^
it is pbfervable, that all thefe connderations are of a nature to operate with the greate.l force upon the highed ranks ; upon men of education, and that order of the public from which wr/- ters are principally taken. I may add alfo, upon the philofoph- ical as well as the libertine charader ; upon the Antonines or Julian, not lefs than upon Nero of Domitian ; and, more particu- larly, upon that large and polifhed clafs of men, who acquiefced in the general perfuafion, that all they had to do was to prac-. life the duties of morality, and to worfhip the Deity more patrta ; A. habit of thinking, liberal as it may appear, which fhuts the door againft every argument for a new rehgion. The confider-
a Tac. hift. 1» v. c. 2. b Sympof. lib. 4. qucC jt
286 A VIEW OF THE
ations above mentioned, would acquire alfo ftrtngth, from the prejudice vvliich men of rank and learning univerfally entertain againft any thing that originates with the vulgar and illiterate ;' which prejudice is known to be as obllinate as any prejudice whatever.
Yet Chriftianity was ftill making its way : and, amidft fo many impediments to its progrefs, lo much difficulty in procur- ing audience and attention, its actual luccefs is more to be won- dered at, than that it fliould not have univerfally conquered fcorn and indifference, fixed, the levity of a voluptuous age, or, through a cloud of adverfe prejudications, opened for itfelf a pafTage to the hearts and undei Handings of the fcholars of the age.
And the caufe which is here affigned for the reje(51ion of Chrif- tianity, by men of rank and learning among the heathens, namely, a flrong antecedent contempt, accounts alfo for \ht\x Jfhr.ce con- cerning it. If they had rejected it upon examination, they would have written about it. They would have given their reafons. Whereas what men repudiate upon the flrength of fome prefixed perfuafion, or from a fettled contempt of the fubjed, of theperfons who propofe it, or of the manner it which it is propofed, they do not naturally write books about, or notice much in what they write upon other fubjeds.
The letters of the younger Pliny furnifh an example of this filence, and let us, in fome meaiure, into the caufe of it. From his celebrated correfpondence with Trajan, we know that the Chriflian religion prevailed in a very confiderable degree in the province over which he prefided ; that it had excited his atten- tion ; that he had inquired into the maiter, jufl fo much as a Roman maglftrate might be expeded to inquire, viz. whether the religion contained any opinions dangerous to government ; but that of its doctrines, its evidences, or its books, he had not taken the trouble to inform himfelf with any degree of care or corrednefs. Bat although Pliny had viewed Chriflianity in a nearer pofilion, than molt of his learned countrymen faw it in ; yet he had regarded the whole with fuch negligence and dif- dain, (farther than as it feemed to concern his admin iftration) that, in more than two hundred and forty letters of his which have come down to us, the fubjedl is never once again mention- ed. If out of this number the two letters between him ard Trajan had been loft, with what confidence would the obfcuri- ty of the Chriftian religion have been argued from Pliny's fl-- lence about it, and with how little truth I
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 287
The name and characler, whicli Tacitus hath given to Cbrif- tianity, " exitiabilis fuperftitio,'* (a pernicious fuperftition) and by which two words he difpofes of the » v'hole queftion of the merits or demerits of the rehgion, aifotd a ftrong proof how little he knew, or concerned himfelf to know, about the matter. I apprehend that I ihall not be contradicted, when I take upon me to afTert, that no unbeliever of the prefent age would apply this epithet to the Chriftianity of the New Teftament, or not allow that it was entirely unmerited. Read the infl:ru<5lions given, by a great teacher of the religion, to thofe very Roman converts, of whom Tacitus fpeaks ; and given alfo a very few years before the time of which he is fpeaking ; and which are not, let it be obferved, a colle(^ion of fine fayings, brought to- gether from different parts of a large work, but ftand in one en- tire pafiage of a public letter, without the intermixture of a fin- gle thought, which is frivolous or exceptionable. " Abhor that which is evil, cleave to tl at which is good. Be kindly afFec- tioned one to another, with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another. Not flothful in bufinefs, fervent in fpirit, ferving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing inftant in prayer, diftributing to the neceflity of faints, given to hofpitality. Blefs them which perfecute you ; blefs, and curfe not; rejoice with them that do lejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the fame mind one towards another : mind not high things, but condefcend to men of low eftate. Be not wife in your ovv^n conceits. Recompenfe to no man evil for evil. Provide things honeft in the fight of all men. If it bepoflible, as much as lieth in you. live peaceably with all men. Avenge not yourfelves, but rather give place unto wrath, for It is writ- ten. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, faith the Lord : there- fore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if he third:, give him drink ; for, in fo doing, thou flialt heap coals of fire on his f head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. " Let every foul be fabje<5t unto the higher |iowers, for there is no power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of God ; whofcever therefore refilleth the power, refifteth the or- dinance of God, and they that refill fliall receive unto them- (elves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good, and thou flialt have praife of the fame, for- he if, the niiniflcr of God to thee for good : but if thou d»
2n • A VIEW OF THE
that which is evil, be afiaid, for he beareth not the fword m vain : for he is the minifler of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that ^cth evil.- Wherefore ye muft needs be fubje6t, rot only for \vrath, but alfo for confcience fake : for, for this caufe, pay ye tribute alfo, for they are God's minif. tiers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render, there- fore, to all their dues ; tribute, to whom tribute is due ; cuf- tom, to whom cuftom ; fear, to whom fear ; honour, to whom honour.
" Owe no man any thine, but to love one another ; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law : for this. Thou fhalt not commit adultery, thou Ihalt not kill, thou ilialt not bear falfe witnefs, thou (halt not covet, and if there be any other com- mandment, it is briefly comprehended in this faying, Thou (halt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, therefore love is the fulfilHng of the law."
** And that, knov.'ing the time, that now is our falvation rearer than when we believed. The night is far fpent, th*^ day is at hand ; let us therefore caO: off the works of darknefs,- and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honeftly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkennefs, not in chambering and v/antonnefs, not in ftrife and envying.'"'
Read this, and then think of exitiabilis fuperftitio ! ! — Or if we be not allowed, in contending with heathen authorities, to produce our books againft theirs, we may at Icaft be permitted to confront theirs with one another. Of this " pernicious fu- f erftition," what could Pli.'j find to blame, when he was led by his office, to inflitute fomething hke an examination into the condu<5i: and principles of the fed ? He difcovered nothing, but that they were wont to meet together on a ftated day before it was light, and fing among themfelves a hymn to Chrift as a god, and to bind themfelves by an oath, not to the commifllon of any wickednefs, but not to be guilty of thefr, robbery, or adul- tery; never to falfify their word, nor to deny a pledge commit- ted to them, when called upon to return it.
Upon the words of Tacitus we may build tiie following ob- fervations :
Fird, That we are well warranted in calling the view, under w^hich the learned men of that age beheld ChrrTrianity, an ob- fjure and diflant view. Had Tacitus known more of Clirittian-
a Rotn. xii. 9. xlii. ij.
IIVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 289
ity, 0/ its precepts, duties, conftitution, or defign, however he kad difcredited the (lory, he would have refpe<5ted the princi- ple. He would have defcribed the religion differently, though he had reje(5led it. It has been very fatisfafiorily fhown, that the ** fuperftition" of the Cbriftians confifted in wor/hipping a perfon unknown to the Roman calendar ; and that the perni- cioufnefs with which they were reproached, v/as nothing elfe but their oppofition to the eftablifhed polytheifm : and this view of the matter, was juft fuch a one as might be expeded to occur to a mind, which held the fed in too much contempt to con- cern itfelf about the grounds and reafons of their ccnducl:.
Secondly, We may from hence remark, how little reliance can be placed upon the moft acute judgments, in fabje(5l3 which they are pleafed to defpife ; and which, of ccurfe, they from the firfl confider as unworthy to be inquired into. Had not Chriftianity furvived to tell its own ftory, it mud have gone down to po(terity as a " pernicious faperflition ;'* and that upon the credit of Tacitus's account, much, I doubt not, ftrengthen- cd by the name of the writer, and the reputation of his fagacity.
Thirdly, That this contempt prior to examination, is an in- telletStual vice, from which the greateft faculties of mind are not free. I know not, indeed, whether men of the greateft faculties of mind are not the moll: fubjec^ to it. Such men feel them- felves feated upon an eminence- Looking down from their height upon the follies of mankind, they behold contending te- nets wafting thicr idle ftrength upon one another, with a com- mon difdain of the abfurdity of them all. This habit of thought, however comfortable to the mind which entertains it, or how- ever natural to great parts, is extremely dangerous ; and more apt than almofl any other difpofiuon to produce hafty and con- temptuQ-as, and, by confecjuence, erroneous judgments, both of perfors and opinions.
Fourthly, We need not be furprifed at many writers of that age not mentioning Chriftianity at all, when they who did men- tion it appear to have entirely mifconceived its nature and char- after ; and, in conftquence of that mifconception, to have re- garded it with negligent; and contefnpt.
To the knowledge of the greatell part of the learned heath- ens, the fa(51s of the Chrifiian hiftory could only come by report. The books, pvobnbly, rhey had never looked Into. The fettled habit of tlifcir minds v.ms, and long had been, an indifcriminatc rcjedion of all reports of the kind. With thefe fweeping con- A A
2^9. A VIEW OF THJE
clufions truth hath no chance. It depends upon difl:in(5Hoii. If they would not inquire, how fhould they be convinced ? It might be founded in truth, though they who made no fearch might not difcover it.
*' Men of rank and fortune, of wit and abilities, are often found, even in Chriftian countries, to be furprifingly ignorant of religion, and of every thing that relates to it. Such were many of the heathens. Their thoughts were all fixed upon other things, upon reputation and glory, upon wealth and power, upon luxury and pleafure, upon bufmefs or learning. They thought, and they had reafon to think, that the religion of their country was fable and forgery, an heap of inconfi^rent lies, which inclin- ed them to fuppofe that other religions were no better. Hence it came to pafs, that when the apoftles preached the gofpel, and wiought miracles in confirmation of a doctrine every way wor- thy of God, many Gentiles knew little or nothing of it, and would not take the leafl pains to inform themfelves about it. This appears plainly from ancient hiflory."*^
I think it by no means unreafonabie to fuppofe, that the hea- thy public, efpecially that part v/hich is made up of men of rank and education, were divided into two clafles ; thofc who defpiied Chridianity beforehand, and thofe who received it. In correfpondency with which divilion of character, the wtit- crs of that age would alfo be of two clafies, thofe who were liient about Chrifiianity, and thofe who were Chridians. " A good man, who attended fufficiently to the Chriflian affairs, would become a Chrillian ; after which his teftimonv ceafed to
ian.
"b
be pagan, and became Chrift
I mufl: alfo add, that I think it fufficiently proved, that the notion of magic was reforted to by the heathen adverfaries of Chrifiianity, in like manner as that of diabolical agency had before been by the Jews. Juflln Martyr alleges this as his rea- fon for arguing from prophecy rather than from miracles. Or- igen imputes this cvafion to Celfus ; Jerome to Porphyry ; and Ladantius to the heathen in general. The feveral paflages which contain thefe teffimiOnics will be produced in the next chapter. It being difficult however to afctrtain in what degree this no- lioii prevailed, efpecially amongft the fuperior ranks of the hea- then coninranities, another, and I think an adequate caufe, has t)CCn afligned for their infidelity. It is probable that in many Caits the two caufes would opciate together.
a Jortin's DLf.on the ChriT. R;!. p. C6. cd. 4t;i. b H?.rtlcy Obf. a i t»
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 291
CHAP. V.
'^hat the Chrtjl'ian miracles are not recited^ or appealed tOy by early Chnjiian ivriters themfehes, fo fully or frequently as might have been expcSed,
I
SHALL confider this objeiflion, firil, as it applies to the letters of the apoltles, prelerveci in the New Tefbment ; and fecondly, as it applies to the remaining writings of other early Chriilians.
The epidles of the apoflles are either hortatory or argument- ative. So far as they were occupied in delivering leilons of duty, rules of public order, admonitions againft certain prevail- ing corruptions,, againfl: vice, or any particular fpecies of it, or in fortifying and encouraging the conllancy of the difciples under the trials to which they were expofed, there appears to be no place or occafion for more of thefe references than we adually find.
So far as the epiftles are argumentative, the nature of the ar- gument which thev handle, accounts for the infrequency of thefe allufions. Thefe epirtles were not written to prove the truth of Chriflianity. The fubjedl under confideration was not that which the miracles decided, the reality of our Lord's miilion ; but it was that v/hich the mirac-es did not decide, the nature of his perfon or power, the defign of his advent, its effedls, and of thofe elTeifis the value, kind, and extent. Still I maintain, that miraculous evidence lies at the bottom of the argument. For nothing could be fo prepofterous, as for 'the difciples of Jefus to difpute amongft themfelves, or with others, concerning his office or character, unlefs they believed that he had ftiown, by fupernatural proofs, that there was fome- thing extraordinary in both. Miraculous evidence, therefore, forming not the texture of thefe arguments, but the ground and fubfbatum, if it be occafionally difcerned, if it be incidentally appealed to, it is exadtly fo much as ought to take place, fup- pofing the hidory to be true.
As a further anfwer to the obje<5lion, that the apoftolic epif- tles do not contain {o frequent or fuch diie6l and circumftantial recitals of miracles as might be expected, I would add, that the apoftolic epillles refemble in this refpe(5l the apoftolic fpeeches, which fpeeches are given by a wriier, who diftiD<ftly records
292 A VIEW OF THE
numerous miracles, wrought by thefe apoftles themfelves, and hj
the founder of the inftltution in their pEefence ; that it is unwar- rantable to contend, that the omifTion or infrequency of fuch re- citals in the fpeeches of the apoftles, negatives the exiftence of the miracles, when the fpeeches are given in immediate conjunc- tion with the hiftory of thofe miracles ; and that a conclufion which cannot be inferred from the fpeeches, without contradi(fi:- ing the whole tenor of the book which contains them, cannot be inferred from letters, which, in this refpedt, are fimilar only to the fpeeches.
I'o prove the fimilitude which we allege, It may be remarked, that although in St. Luke's gofpel, the apoftle Peter is repre- fented to have been prefent at many decilive miracles wrought by Chrift ; and although the fecond part of the fame hiftory af^ cribes other decifive miracles to Peter hlmfelf, particularly the cure of the lame man at tlie gate of the temple, (A6ls iii. i) — the death of Ananias and Sapphir^i, (A<n;s v. i) — the cure of jEneas, (Adts Ix. 40) — the relurredion of Dorcas : (A<51s ix. 34) — yet out offjx fpeeches of Peier, preferved in the A<5ts, I know bat two, in which reference is made to the miracles wrought by Chrift, and only one in which he refers to miracu" lous powers pofiefied by hinifelf. In his fpeech upon the day cf Pentecoft, Peter addrefTes his audience witii great folemnity thus : *' Ye men of Ifracl, hear thefe words : Jefus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and figns, which God did by him in ihe midfl of you, as ye yourfeives aifo know,"^ Sec. In his fpeech upon the converfioa cf Cornelius, he delivers his tcitimony to the miracles perform- ed by Chrift in thefe words : "We are witneffc:s of ail things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jeiufalem." ^ Ijut in this latter fpeech no allufion appears to the miracles "wrought by himfclf, notwithltanding that the miracles above enumerated, all preceded the time in v/hich it was delivered. In his fpeech upon the ele»Stion of Matthias,'^ no diftincft refer- ence is made to any of the miracles of Chrid's hiftory, except his refurredion. The fame alfo may be obferved of his fpeech upon the cure of the lame man at the gate of the temple ;^ the fame in his fpeech before the Sanhedrim f the flime in his fec;- end apology in the prefence of that aflembly. Stephen's long
aA^sii. 41. l^Ib. I. 39, c a^s 1. 15. AAt^iiii. XI. <^ iv. 5^.
EVIDENCES OF GHRlSTIANITr. 293
fpeech contains no reference whatever to miracles, though it be: exprefsly related of him, in the book which preferves the fpeech, and almoft immediately before the fpeech, "that he did great wonders and miracles among the people."'' Again, although miracles be exprefsly attributed to St. Paul in the A (51s of ths apoftles, fird generally as at Iconium — (Adls xiv. 3) — during the whole tour through the Upper Afia — (xi?. 27. xv. 12) — at Ephefus ; — -(xix. 11, 12) -fecondly, in fpecific inftances, as the biindnefs of Elymas at Paphos,'' the cure of the cripple at Lyftra,'^ of the Pythonefs at Philippi,*^ the miraculous liberation from prifon in the fame city,^ the refioration of Eutychus,^* the predi6tions of his lliipwreck,^ the viper at Melita,'^ the cure of Publius's father ;' at all which miracles, except the two firft, the hiftorian himfeJf was prefent ; notwithllanding, I fay, this poU- i;ive afcription of miracles to St. Paul, yet in the fpeeches deliv- ered by him, and given as delivered by him, in the fame book in which the miracles are related, and the miraculous powers a-i-f ferted, the appeals to his own miracles, or indeed to any mira- cles at all, are rare and incidental. In his fpeech at Antioch in Pifidia,*^ there Is no allufion, but to die refurredtion. In his difcourfe at Miletus* none to any miracle : none In his fpeech before Felix ;"' none in his fpeech before Feftus ;" exce:.t to Chrilt's refurredtlon and his own converfion.
Agreeably hereunto, in thirteen letters afcribed to St. Pan', we have incefTant references to ChrilPs refurre^tion, frequent references to his own converdon, three indubitable references. to the miracles which he wrought, ° four other references to the fame, lefs direft yet highly probable ;P but more copious or cir- cumftantial recitals we have not. The confent therefore, be- tween St. Paul's fpeeches and letters, is in this refpe(S fufiU ciently exa^l : and the reafon in both is the fame ; namely, that the miraculous hillory was all along prefuppofed, and that the queftion, which occupied the fpeaker's and the writer's thorights was this ; whether, allowino; the hiHory of Jefus to be true> he was upon the itrength of it ic bt received as the promifed
a vi. 8. h xlii. 7. c xiv. 8. ^ xvi. 16. c xvi. 5-6.
f XX. 10. g xxvii. I. Ii xxviii. 6. i sxviii. 3.
* xlii, 16. 1 y-x. 17. J" xxiv. 10. " \xv. 8.
0 Gal. ill. 5. Rom. xv. i8, r9. z Cor. xii. i:^. P 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5. Eph. iii. 7. G..I. ii 8. I ihtAl u s- A'A Z
3,9+ • A VIEW OF THE
Meffiah ; and if he was, what were the confequcnccs, what was the objedl and benefit of his million ?
The general obfervation which has been made upon the apof- tolic writings, namely, that the fubjeft, of which they treated, did not. lead them to any dired recital of the Chriftian hiftory, belongs alfo to the writings of the apodolic fathers. The epiftle of Barnabas is, in its fubjeft and general compofition, much like the epiftle to the Hebrews ; an allegorical application of divers pafTages of the Jewifli hiftory, of their law and ritual, to thofc parts of the Chriilian difpenfation, in which the author perceiv- ed a refemblance. The epidle of Clement was written, for the fole purpofe of quieting certain difTenfions that h^d arifen amongft the members of the church of Corinth ; and of reviving, in their minds, that temper and fpirit of which their predeceflbrs in the gofpel had left them an example. The work of Hermas is a \ifion ; quotes neither the Old Teftament nor the New ; and merely falls now and then into the language, and the mode of ipeech, which the author had read in our gofpels. The epiftles of Polycarp and Ignatius had, for their principal ob;e<n:, the or- der and discipline of the churches which they addrelTed. Yet», Ainder all thefe circumitances of difadvantage, the great points of the Chriftian hiflory are fully recognized. This hath been /hown Its proper place.''
There is, however, another clafs of writers, to whom the an- fwer above given, viz. the unfaitablenefs of any fuch appeals or references as the obje(5lion demands : to the fubjeds of which tlie writings treated, does not apply ; and that is, the clafs of ancient apologijls, whofe declared defign it was, to defend Chrif- tianlty, and to give the reafons of iheir own adherence to it» It is necefTary, therefore, to inquire how the matter of the ob-. jedion (lands in ihefe.
The molt ancient apologifl, of whofe works wc h.ave the fmall- eft knowledge, is Quadratus, who lived about feventy years af- ter the afcenfion, and preftnted his apology to the emperor Ad- lian. From a paflage of this work, prcferved in Eufebius, it ;ippears that the author did dire<Stly and formally appeal to the miracles of Chrift, and in terms as expiefs and confident as we- could defile. The pafTage (which has been once already ftated) is as follows : *' The works of our Saviour were always con. fpicuouG, for they were real : both they that were healed, and
EVIDENCE.S OF CHRISTIANITY. ^9^-
they that were raifed from the dead, were feen, not Oi-jly when they were healed or raifed, but for a long time afterwards ; not only whilfl: he dwelled on this earth, but alfo after his departure, and for a good while after it ; infomuch as that fome of them have reached to our times»"'^ Nothing can be more rational or fatisfa(ftory than this.
JuiUn Martyr, the next of the Chriftian apologias whofe work is not lotl, and who followed Quadratus at the diftance of about thirty years, has touched upon paflages of Chrift's hif- tory in fo many places, that a tolerably complete account of Chrift's life might be collected out of his works. In the fol- lowing quotation, he afferts the performance of miracles by Chrift, in words as ftrong and pofitive as the language poffe/Tes : ** Chrid healed thofe who from their birth were blind, and deaf, and lame ; caufing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and a third to fee j and having raifed the dead, and caufed- them to live, he by his works excited attention, and induced the men of that age to know him. Who, however, feeing thefe things done, faid that it was a magical appearance ; and dared to call him a magician, and a deceiver of the people."^
In his firft apology,*^ Juftin exprefdy afligns the reafon for his having recourfe to the argument from prophecy, rather than alleging the miracles of the Chntlian hiftory ; which reafoQ- was, that the perfons witli whom he contended would afcribe thefe miracles to m.agic ; " left any of oiu" opponents fliould fay, what hinders, but that he who is called Chrift by us, being a man fprung from men, performed the miracles which we attrib- mted to him by magical art.';* The fuggefting of this reafon meets, as I apprehend, the very point of the prefent objedtion ; more efpecially when we find Juftin followed in. ic, by other writers of that>age. Irenseus, who came about forty years after him, notices the fame evafion in the advetfariesof Chriftianity, and replies to it by the fame argument : '* But, if they fiiallfay, that the Lord performed thefe things by an illufory appearance, {(pctvrariA'OMs) leading thefe objectors to the prophecies, we will fhow from them, that all things wert thus predi(Sted concerning; him, and ftri'5lly came to pafs.' '' Laftantius, who lived a centu- ry lower, delivers the fame fentiment, upon the fame occafion. ** He performed miracles — we mighthave fuppofed him to have
» Euf. Hift. 1. iv. c. 3. b jua. Dial. p. 258. eel Thirlbx.. t Ap. Prim. p. 48. ib. d h,X ii. c. 57^
^f6 A VIEW OF THE
been a magician, tis ye fay, and as the Jews then fuppofed, if all the prophets had not with one fpirit foretold, that Chrift would perform thefe very things."^
But to return to the Chriftian apologifts in their order ; Tertuliian -"That perfon, whom the Jews had vainly imagin- ed, from the meannefs of his appearance, to be a mere man, they afterwards, in confequence of the power he exerted, con- fidered as a magician, when he, with one word, ejedted devils out of the bodies of men, gave fight to the blind, cleanfed the leprous, ftrengthened the nerves of thofe that had the palfy, and Jaftly, with one command, refloTcd the dead to life ; when he, I fay, made the very elements obey him, aiTuaged the (torms, walked upon the feas, demonflrating himfelf to be tl?e word of God.'"^
Next in the catalogue of profefTed apologias we may place Orlgen, who, it is well known, pubiiflied a formal defence ,of Chrirtianity, in anfwer to Celfus, a heathen, who had written a difcourfe againll it. I knov/ no expreifions, by which a plainer or more pofitive appeal to the Chriitian miracles could be made, than the expreffions ufed by Origen : *' Undoubtedly "we do think him to be the Chrift, and the Son of God, becaufe he healed the lame and the blind ; and we are the more con- firmed in this perfuafion, by what is written in. the prophecies, Then (hall die eyes of the b.ind be opened, and the ears of the deaf (hall hear, and the lame men fhall leap as an hart. But that he alfo raifed the dead, and that it is not a fidion of thofe who wrote the gofptls, is evident from hence, that, if it had been a lidion, there would have been many recorded to be raifed up, and fuch as had been a long time in their graves. But, it not being a fidtion, few have been recorded ; for in» Itance, the daughter of the ruler of a fynagogue, of whom I do not know why he faid, She is not dead but fieepeth, exprefling fomething peculiar to her, not common to all dead perfons ;. and the only fon of a widow, on whom he had compailion and raifed to life, after he had bid the bearer of the corpfe to ftop ; and the third, Lazarus, v^ho had been buried four days." Thio is pofitive to afTert the miracles of Chrift, and it is alfo to comment upon them, and that witli a ccnllderiible degree of accuracy and candour.
^TcrtuU. Apolog. p ao. eU, Prioxii Par. 1675..
EVIDENCES or CHRISTIANITY. 297
In another pafTage of the fame author,^ we meet with the old fohition of magic, applied to the miracles of Chrirt by the ad- verfaries of the religion. *' Celfus," faith Origen, " well know- ing what great works may be alleged to have been done by Je- fus, pretends to grant that the things related of him are true ; fuch as healing difeafes, railing the dead, feeding multitudes with a few loaves, of which large fragments were left " And then Celfus gives, it feems, an anfwer to thefe proofs of our Lord's million, which, as Origen underftood it, refoived the phenomena into magic ; for Origen begins his reply, by obferv- ing, " /ou fee that Celfus, in a manner allows that there is fuch a thing as magic." ^
It appears alfo from the teftimony of St. Jerome, that Por» phyry, the mod learned and able of the heathen writers againft Chriilianity, reforted to the fame folution : " Unlefs," fays he, fpeaking to Vigilantius, "according to the manner of the Gen- tiles, and the profane, of Porphyry and Eunoraius, you pretend that thefe are the tricks of demons."*
This magic, thefe demons, thisillufory appearance, this com • parifon witii the tricks of jugglers, by which many of that age accounted fo eafily for the Chrlflian miracles, and which an- fwers the advocates of Chriflianicy often thought it neceiTary to refute by arguments drawn from other topics, andparticu ar- ly from prophecy, to which, it feems, thde folutions did not apply, v/e now perceive to be grofs fubterfiiges. That fuch rea- fons were ever ferioufly urged, and ferioufly received, is only a proof what a glofs and varniOi fafhion can give to any opinion.
It appears, therefore, that the miracles of Chrift, underftood, as we underdand them, in their literal and hiftorical fenfe, were pofitively and precifely afferted and appealed to by the apologifts for Chriltianity ; which anfwers the allegation of the objeftion.
I am ready, however, to admit, that the ancient Chriftian advocates did not infift upon the miracles in argument, fo fre- quently as I fliould have done- It was their lot to contend with notions of magical agency, againfl which the mere produc- tion of the fiids was not lufficient for the convincing of their adyerfaries : 1 do not know whether they themfelves thought;
a Or. Con. Ctlf, Hb. I'i. fee. 48. • iiard. Jewilh and Heath. Teft. vol. IL p. 394, ed. fljiarto., * Jeroxne Con. Vigil ,
298 A VIEW OF THE
it quite decifive of the controverfy. But iince it is proved, I conceive with certainty, that the fparingnefs with which they appealed to miracles, was owing neither to their ignorance, nor their doubt of the fads, it is, at any rate, an objedtion, not to the truth of the hiftory, but to the judgment of its defenders.
CHAP. VI.
Want of unt'verfoVity in the inotuledge and reception ofChriJlianity^ and of greater dearnefs in the evidence*
\JY a revelation which came from God, the proof, it has been faid, would in a;l ages be fo public and manifeft, that no part of the human fpecies would remain ignorant of it, no un- derflanding cculd fail of being convinced by it.
The advocates of Chriftianity do not pretend that the evi- dence of their religion poflefTes thefe qualities. They do not deny, that we can conceive it to be within the compafs of di- vine power, to have commAinicated to the world a higher de- gree of affurance, and to have given to his communication a (Wronger and more extenfive influence. For any thing v/e are able to difcern, God could have fo formed men, as to have per- ceived the truths of religion intuitively ; or to have carried on a communication with the other world, whilft they lived in 4his ; or to have feen the individuals of die fpecies, inftead of dying, pafs to heaven by a fenfible tranilation. He could have prefented a feparate miracle to each man's fenfes. He could have eflabli/hed a (landing miracle. He could have caufed miracles to be wrought in every different age and country. Thefe, and many more methods, which we may imagine, if we once give loofe to our imaginations, are, fo far as we can judge, all pradicable.
The queftion, therefore, is not, whether Chriflianity pofTefT- cs the higheft poflible degree of evidence, but whether the not hating more evidence, be a fufficient reafon for rejecting that which we have.
Now there appears to be no fair'^r method of judging, concern- ing any difpenfation which is alleged to come from God, when a queftion is made whether fuch a difpenfation could come from God or not, than by comparing it with other things, which are acknowledged to proceed from the fame council, and to be
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 2^^
produced by the fame agency. If the difpenfation in queftion labour under no other defeds than what apparently belong to other difpenfations, thefe feeming defeds do not juftify us in, fetting afide the proofs which are offered of its authenticity, if, they be otherwife entitled to credit.
Throughout that order then of nature, of which God is the author, what we find is a fyftem of beneficence, but we are feU, dom or ever able to make out, a fyftem of cpfimifm.
I mean, that there are few cafes in which, if we permit our- felves to range in pollibilities, we cannot fuppofe fomething, more perfed, and more unol jedionable, than what we fee. The rain which defcends from heaven is confefledly amongft the contrivanes of the Creator, for the fuftentation of the ani- mals and vegetables which fubfift upon the furface of the earth. Yet hov/ partially and irregularly is it fupplied ? How much of it falls upon the fea, where it can be of no ufe ; how often is it wanted where it would be of the greatell: ? What tradts of con- tinent are rendered defert by the fcarcity of it ? Or, not to fpenk of extreme cafes, how much, fomerimes, do inhabited countries fiiffer by its deficiency or delay ? — We could imagine, if to imagine were our bufinefs, the matter to be otheru'ife reg- ulated. We could imagine fliowers to fall, jufl: where and when they would do good ; always feafonable, every where fufficient ; fo diftributed as not to leave a field upon the face of the globe fcorched by drought, or even a plant withering for the lack of moiflure. Yet does the difference between the real cafe and the imagined cafe, or the feeming inferiority of the one to the other, authorife us to fay, that the prefent dif. pofition of the atmofphere is not aniongft the produ6lions or the defigns of the Deity ? Does it check the inference which we draw from the confefTed beneficence of the provifion ? or does it make^us ceafe to admire the contrivance ? — The obfervation, which he have exemplified in the fingle inftance of the rain of heaven, may be repeated concerning moft of the phenomena of nature : and the true conclufion to which it leads is this, that to inquire what the Deity might have done, could have done, or, as we even fometimes prefume to fpeak, ought to have done, or, in hypothetical cafes, would have done, and to build any propofitions upon fuch inquiries againfl: evidence of fads, is wholly unwarrantable. It is a mode of reafoning, which will not do in natural hiiiory, which will not do in natural religion, which cannot tliercfore be applied with fafety to levelation.
300 A VIEW OF THE
It may hare fome foundation, in certain fpeculatlye a prkri ideas of the divine attributes ; but it has none in experience, or is analogy. The general character of the vovks of nature is, on the one hand, goodnefs both in dtfign and effed ; and, on the other hand, a liability to difficulty, and to objedlions, if fuch obje<f^ions be allowed, by reafon of feeming incompletenefs or tmcertainty in attaining their end. ChriHanity participates of this charafler. The true fimilltude between nature and reve* Jation confifts in this ; that they each bear (Irong marks of their original ; that they each aifo bear appearances of irregula-rity and d^kdi. A fyOem of ftri^ optimifm may neverthelefs be the real fyftem in both cafes. But what I contend is, that the proof is hidden from vs ; that we ought not to expe<5l to perceive that in revelation, which we hardly perceive in any thing ; that beneficence of which we can judge, ought to fatisfy us, that optimifm, of which we cannot judge, ought not to be fought after. We can judge of beneficence, becaufe it depends upon effe<5ls which we experience, and upon the relation between the means which we fee a<5ling, and the ends which we fee produced. We cannot judge of optimifm, becaufe it necefiari- ly implies a comparifon of that which is tried, with that which is not tried ; of confequences which we fee, with others which we imaoine, and concerning many of which, it is more than probable^ we know nothing ; concerning fome, that we ha\'e no notion.
If Chriftianity be compared with the flate and progrefs of natural religion, the argument of the cbje<f]:or wiil gain nothing by the comparifon. I remember hearing an unbeliever fay, that if God had given a revelation; he would have wiitten it in the (liies. Are the truths of natural religion written in the /kies, or in a language which every one reads ? or is this the cafe with the molt ufeful arts, or the moll neceflary fcieoccs of human life? An Otahcitean or an iifquimaux knows nothing of Chriftianity ; does he know more of the principles of deifni or morality ? v/hich, notwithftanding his ignorance, are neither untrue, nor unimportant, nor uncertain, "i'he exigence of the Deity is left to be collcfled from obfcrvations, v/hich every man does not make, which every man, perhaps, is not caj able ot making. Can it be argued, that God does not exift, bccc^ufc. if he did, he would let us fee him, or difcovcr himfelfto man- kind by proofs, (fuch as, we may think, the nature of the fub- yiS: merited) which co inadvertency could niifs, no pitjodicc with (land ?
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 301
If Chriftianity be regarded as a providential inflrument fof the melioration of mankind, its progress and diffulion refembles tliat of other caufes, by which human Hfe is improved. The diverfity is not greater, nor the advance more flow in reh'gion, than we find it to be in learning, liberty, government, laws. The Deity hath never touched the order of nature in vain. The JcwiHi religion produced great and permanent effevfts : the Chrillian religion hath done the fame. It hath dif]5ofed the world to am.endment. It hath put things in a train. It is by no means improbable that it may become univerfal, and that the world may continue in that ilate' fo long, as that the dura- tion of its reign may bear a vaft proportion to the tinie of its partial influence.
V7hen we argue concerning Chriftianity, that it mull necefTa- rily be true, becaufc it is beneficial, we go perhaps too far on one fide,; and v/e certainly go too fir on the other, when we conclude that it mad: be falfe, becaufe it is not fo efficacious as
e .:ouId have fuppofed. The queilion of its truth is to be • ■ -ed upon its proper evidence, wiihout deferring mach to this fort of argument, on either fide. " The evidence," as bifliop Butler hath rightly obfei ved, " depends upon the judgment we form of human conducl, under given circumllances, of which it may be prefumed that we know fomething ; the objedion ilands upon the fuppofed conduifl of the Deity, under relations with which we are not acquainted."
What would be the real effecl: of that overpowering evidence which our adverfaries required in a revelation, it is difficult to foretel ; at Icafi: we mull fpeak of it as of a difpenfation, of which we have no experience. Some confequences however v/ouid, it is probable, attend this economy, which do not feem to befit a revelation that proceeds from God. - One is, that ir- refiftible proof would reftrain the voluntary powers too much ; woiftd not anfvver the purpofe of trial and probation ; would call for no exercife of candour, feriouinefs, humility, inquiry ; no fubmilfion of paffions, intcrefts and prejudices, to moral evi- dence and to probable truth ; no habits of refie(n:ion ; none of that previous dcfire to learn and to obey the will of God, v.'hich forms perhaps the tell: and merit of the virtuous princi- ple, and which induces m.en to attend, with care and reverence, to every credible in.timation of that will, and to reOgn prefent advantages and pv^fcnt pleafures to any reafonablc expc^Ttation of propitiiif.ing his fiyour. " Men's moral pi ubation 111 ay be,
302 A VIEW OF THE
whether they will take due care to inform themfelves by impar- tial confideraticn ; and, afterwards, whether they will a6l as the cafe requires, upon the evidence which they have. And this, we find, by experience, is often our probation in our temporal capacity."''
II. Thfcfe modes of communication would leave no place for the admi/Tion o^wternai evidence ; which ought, perhaps, to bear a confiderable part in the proof of every revelation, becaufe it is a fpecies of evidence which applies itfelf to the knowledge, Jove, and pradtice of virtue, and which opei ates in proportion to the degree of thofe qualities vv'hich it finds in the perfon whom it addreiTes. Men of good difpofitions, amongfl; Chriftians, are j;reatly affe^led by the imprefiion which the fcriptuies themfelves make upon their minds. Their convi(rrion is much ftrengthen- cd by thefe imprellions. And this perhaps was intended to be one effecl to be produced by the religion. It is likcwife true, to whatever caufe we afcrlbe it ; (for I am not in this work at lib- erty to introduce the Chriftian doctrine of grace or affillance, or the Chriftian promife, ** that, if any man will do his will, he /hall know of the do(5trine, whether it be of God" ^) it is true, X'fay, that they who fmcerely acft or fmcerely endeavour to aft, according to what they believe, that is, according to the juft jefult of the probabilities, or, if you pleafe, the poffibilities in natural and ret^ealed religion, which they themfelves perceive, and according to a rational eillmate of confequences, and, above all, according to the jud effeft: of thofe principles of grati- tude and devotion, which even the viev/ of nature generates in a well-ordered mind, feldom fail of proceeding farther. This alfo may have been exactly what was defigned.
Whereas, may it not be faid, that irrefilKble evidence would confound all characters, and all difpofitions ? would fubvert rath- er than promote the true purpofe of the divine counfels, which is not to produce obedience by a force liitle fnort of mechanic- al conftraint, (which obedience would be regularity, not virtue, aad would hardly perhaps differ from that which inanimate bod- ies pay to the laws impreflcd upon their nature) but to treat moral agents agreeably to what they are ; which is done, when light and motives are of fuch kinds, and are im.parted in fuch meafures, that the influence of them depends upon the recipi- «nts themfelves \ '* It is not meet to govern rational free agents
a B'Jtkr's Analogy, part II. c. vi. i' John vli. 17.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. s^S
in via by fight and fenfe. It would be no trial or thanks to the moil: lenfual wretch to forbear finning if heaven and hell were open to his fight That fpiritual vifion and fruition is oar Rate in patria/* (Bixter's Reafons, p. 357.) There may be truth in this thought, though roughly exprelTed. Few things are more iniprobabte than that we (the human (jjecies) fliouid be the high- eft order of beings in the univerfe ; that animated nature fftould afcend from the lowed rei^tile to us, and all at once ftop there. If there be clafles above us of rational Intelligences, clearer niani- feftations may belong to them. This may be one of the diiUnc- tions ; and it may be one to which we ouvfeives hereafter fnali attain .
III. But thirdly ; may it not alfo be aOced, whether the per- fed- difplay of a fumre ftate of exlftence would be compatible with the a<5livity of civil life, and with the fuccefs of human af- fairs ? I can eafily conceive that this impreffion may be over- done ; that it may fo fcize and fill the thoughts, as to leave no place for the cares and offices of men's feveral ftations, no anxi- ety for worldly profperity, or even for a worldly provifion, and, by confequence, no fufficlent ftimulus to fecular induftry. Of the firft Chriitians v/e read, *' that all that believed were togeth- er, and had all things common ; and fold their pofTcflions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need ; and, continuing daily, with one accord in the temple, and break- ing bread from houfe to houfe, did eat their meat with gladnels and finglenefs of heart."* This was extremely natural, andjuft what might be expedted, from miraculous evidence coming with fall force upon the fenfes of mankind : but I much doubt, whether, if this ftate of mind had been univerfal, or long con- tinued, the bufinefs of the world could have gone on. The necef- fary arts of focial life would have been little cultivated. The plough and the loom would have ftood ftill. Agriculture, man- ufadlures, trade, and navigation, would not, I think, have flour- ifhed, if they could have been exercifed at all. Men would have addided themfelves to contemplative and afcetic lives, inllead of lives of bufinefs, and of tifefui induftry. We obferve that St. Paul found it neceffary, frequently to recall his converts to the ordinary labours and donisitic duties of their condition ; and to give them, in his own example, a lefTon of contented application to their worldly employments.
a Aiftjii. 44— 46.
30+ A VIEW OF THE
By the manner in which the religion is now propofed, a great portion of the human fpecies is enabled, and of" thcic, multitudes of every generation are induced to feek and to effectuate their falvation through the medium of Chriltianitj^, without interrupt tion of the profperity or cf the regular ccurfe of human affairs.
CHAP. VIL
The fuppojed Ef}cfs of Chr'iJ}ianif}\
X HAT a religion, which, under every form in which it b taught, holds forth the final reward of viitue, and punifhment of vice, and propofts thofe didincftions of virtue and vice, which the wifeft and moil cultivated part of mankind conftfs to be ji'ft, fnould not be believed, is veiy poflible ; but that, fo far as it is believed, it Hiould not produce any good, bat rather a bad effect upon public happinefs, is a propofition, which it re- <juires very ilrong evidence to render credible. Yet many have been found to contend for this paradox, and very confident ap- peals have been made to hilloiy, and tooblervation,for thetrutli of it.
In the coficlunons, however, which thcfe writers draw, from what they call experience, two foikrces, I think, of miiUke, may be perceived.
One is, that they look for the influence of religion in the wrong place :
The other, that they charge Chrifiianity with mauy confe- C[uence£, for which it is not rcfponfibie.
I. The influence of religicn is not to be fought for, in the courriis of princes, in the debates or refclucions of popular af- fcmblies, in the condiid of governments tov/aids their I'ttjeds, or of flates and fovereigns towards one another, of conquer- ors at the head of their armies, or of parties intriguing for power at home, (topics, which alone Jmoil: occupy the atten- tion, and fill tiie pages of hiftory) but muft be perceived, if perceived at all, in the filent courfe of private and domcftic life. Nay more ; even tho-c its influence may not be very obvious to obfervation. If it check in fome degree, perfonal diffolutenefs, if it beget a general probity in the tranfadtion of bufinelsv if it produce foft and humane manners in the mafs of the communi- ty, and occalional exeriichs of laborious or expenfive bcntvokac:
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 305
in a few individuals, it is all the efFe^fl which can offer itfelf to external notice. The kingdom of heaven is within us. That which is the fubftance of the religion, its hopes and confoiations, its intermixture with the thoughts by day and by night, the de- votion of the heart, the control of appetite, the fteady diiefHon of the will to the commands of God, is neceifarily invifible- Yet upon thefe depends the virtue, and the happinefs of millions. This caufe renders the rcprefentations of hiPcory, with ref])e<?: to religion, defedtive and fallacious, in a greater degree than they are upon any other fabjecft. R^eligion operates iTiorr upon thofe of whom hiftory knows the lead: ; upon fathers and moth- ers in their families, upoi? men-fervants and maid-fervants, upon the orderly tradefman, the quiet villager, the rnanufafterer at his loom, the hufbandman in his fields. Amongft fuch its in- fluence colle<5lively may be of ineftimabie value, yet its eife<5l«» in the mean time little, upon thofe who figure r.pon the ftage of the world. They may know nothing of it ; they may believe nothing of it ; they may be afluated by motives more impetu- ous than thofe which religion is able to excite. It cannot, there- fore, nbe thought flrange, that this influence (hould elude the grafp and touch of public hiftory \ for v/hat is public hiilory.,, but a regifter of the fuccelTes and difappointments, the vices, the follies, and the quarrels, of thofe v/ho engage in contentions for power ?
I will add, that much of this influence may be fek in times- of public diftrefs, and little of it in times of public wealth arict fecurity. This alfo increafes the uncertainty of apy opinior% that we draw from hiftorical rcprefentations. The influence of Chriftianity is commenfurate with no effeds which hiftory ftates. We do not pretend that it has any fuch necelTary and irreiiftible power over the aflPairs of nations, as to furmount the force of other caufes.
The Chriftian religion alfo afls upon public ufages and infti- tutions, by an operation v/hich is only fecondary and indire«^h Chriftianity Is not a code cf civil law. It can only reach pub- lic inftitutions throagh private chara<5ler. Now its ■ir.fluencc; upon private chara<Sler may be confiderable, yet many piiblic wfages and intHtutions, repugnant to its principles, may rcmalr.. To get rid of thfie, the reigning pan of the community mujfl aft, and afl together. But it m2y.be Jong before the pcrfons, who compofe tliis body, be fufhciently touched with the Ciirif-- ix.'i.w charadcr, to join in the fupurcifion of pradices to whwij>
3o6 A VIEW OF THE
they and the public have been reconciled by that which \n\l reconcile the human mind to any thing, habit and interelL Nevcrthelefs, the efFcdts of Chridianity, even in this view, have been Important. It has mitigated the condud of war, and the treatment of captives. It has fonened the adminiliration of del^xjtic, or of nominally defpotic governments. It has abolifh- ed polygamy. It has reftrained the licentioufnefs of divorces. It has put an end to the expolure of children, and the iniraola- lation of Haves. It has fuppreffed the combats of gladiators, ^ and the impurities of religious rites. It has baniO.ied, if not un- natural vices, at lead the toleration of them. It has greatly xp.eliorated the conditien of the laborious part, that is to fty, of the mafs of every community, by procuring for them a day of M^'eekly reft. In all countries, in which it is profcfTed, it has produced numerous eftablifhments for the relief of ficknefs and poverty ; and, in feme, a regular and general provifion by law.. It has triumphed over the flavery ellablifhed in the Roman em- pire : it is contending, and, I truft, will one day prevail, again!?: •the worfe flavery of the Weit- Indies.
A Chrirtian writer,'^ fo early as in the fecond century, has teflified the lefiftance which Chriflianity made to wicked and licentious pradices, though eftabliflied by law and by public ufage. " Neither in Parthia, do the Chrilliaos, though Parthi- ans, ufe polygamy; nor in Perfia, though Perfians, do they marry iheir own daughters ; nor, among the Badri or Galli, do they violate the fau6hty of marfiage ; nor, wheiever they are, do they fuffer themfelves to be overcome, by ill-conflitu.ed laws and manners^"
Socrates did not dedroy the idolatry of Athens, or produce theflightefi revolution in the manners of his country.
But the argument to v/hich I rtciu is, that the benefit of re- ligion being felt chiefly in the obfcurity of private flations, nee eUarily efcapes th€ cbfervation of hiibry.. From the firll gene- ral notification of ChrKlianity to the prcfent day, there hava been in every age many millions whofe names were never heard ©f, made better by it, not only in their condudl, but in their
a iJpfius arT.rms, (Si'.t. B. i. c. 12) that the glndiatorical fliows fome- timts Ci)ii Errope twvinty ct thirty thuuland hves in a month ; and tliat not only the men, but even tlie women of all ranks, were pafliou- atcl? foud cf thefe fliows. Ste Eiiliop Porteus's Scrmou Xlll.
^ Bardcfancs ap. Eufeb. prap. cvang. vi. lo.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 307
difporition ; and happier, not fo much in their external circun> fiances, as in that which is inter pracorcUa^ In that which alone defetves the name ot happinefs, the trancjuillity and confolation of their thoughts, it has been, lince its commencement, ths author of happinefs and virtue to miliions and millions of the human race. Who is tiiere that would not wifh- his fon to be a ChrilBan ?
Chrillianity alfo. In every country in which it Is profelTedj hath obtained afenfible, although not a complete influence, upoa the public judgment of morals. And this- is very important. For without the occaiional correction which public opinion re- ceives, by referring to fome fixed ilandard of morality, no man can foretel into what extravagancies it might wander. Afialli- nation might become as honourable as duelling. Unnatural crimes be accoa^ted as venial as fornication. In this way it is poffible, that many may be kept in order by C'hriliianitv, who are not themfelves Chridians. They may be guided by the reditude which it communicates to public opinion. Theic confciences may fuggeft their duty truly, and they may afcribe thefe fuggeftions to a moral fenfe, or to the native ca- pacity of the human intellect, when in fa<5t they are nothing more than the public opinion reflected from their own minds ; an opinion, in a. confiderable degree, modified by the leflbns of ChrllHanity.. '* Certain it is, and this is a,great deal to fay, that tlie generahty, even of the meaned and molt vulgar and ignorant people, have truer and worthier notions of God, moie juit and right apprehenfions concerning, his attilbutes and perfev.^tions, a deeper lenfe of the difference of good and evil, a greater regard to moral obligations and to the plain and molt neceffary duties of life, and a more firm and univerfal expecftatlon of a futura ftate of rewards and punifhments, than, in any heathen country,, any conlldciable number of men were found to hav-e had."*
After all, the value of Chriltianlty Is not to be appreciated by its temporal t^t^\s. The object of revelation is to influence hu- man conduit in this life ; but what is gained to happinefs by that influence, can only be eflimated by taking in the wiiole cf human exittence. Then, as hath already been obferved, there may be alfb great confequences of Chriftianity, which do net; belong to it as a revelation; The effe:ts upon human falvation, f»f the million, of the dcadi, of the prefent, of the future agency
* Clark, Ev. Nat. Rev. p. %o%, cd,-v.
3o8 A VIEW OF THE
of Chrld, may be univerfal, though the religion be not iiniyef" fally known.
Secondly, I afTert that Chriftianity is charged with many confequences, for which it is not refponfible. I believe that religious motives have had no more to do, in the formation of nine- tenths of the intolerant and perfecucing laws, which in dif- ferent countries have been ertablifhed upon the fubjeiTt of relig- ion, than they have had to do in England with the making of the gam.e laws. Thefe meafures, although they have the Chrif- tian religion for their fubjedl, are refoivable into a principle, which Chriftianity certainly did not plant, (and v/hich Chrifti- anity could not univerfally condemn, becaufe it is not univerfal- ly wrong) which principle is no other than this, that they who are in pofTeflion of power do what they can to keep it. Chrif- tianity is anfwerable for no part of the mifchief which has been brought upon the world by peifecution, except that which has arifen from confc'ientlous perfecutcrs. Now thefe perhaps have never been, either numerous, or powerful. Nor is it to Chrif- tianity that even their miftake can fairly be imputed. They have been mlfled by an error, not properly Chriftian or relig- ious, but by an error in their moral philofophy. They purfued the particular, without adverting to the general confequence. Believing certain articles of faith, or a certain mode of worfhip, to be highly conducive, or perhaps eiTential to falvation, they thought themfelves bound to bring ail they could, by every means, into them. And this they thought, without confidcring what would be the efFc6t of fuch a conclafion, when adopted amongft mankind as a general rule of condu<5l. Had there been in the New Teftament, v/hat there are in the Koran, pre- cepts authorising coercion in the propagation of the religion, and the ufe of violence tov/ards unbehevers, the cafe would have been different. This diilin^iion could not have been taken, or this defence made.
I apologize for no fpecies nor degree of pcrfecution, but I think that even the fa6t has been exaggerated. The fla-ve-trade dedroys more in a year, than the inquifition does in a hundred, cr perhaps hath done fnce its foundation.
If it be objected, as I apprehend it v/ill be, that Chrif^ianity is chargeable with every mifchief, of which it has been the occa- Ji;.n, though not the motive ; T anAver, that if the malevolent paC- fions be there, the world will never want occafions. I'he nox- ious elefiient will always £nd a condaftor. Any point will pro-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. • 309
duce an expIoGqn. Did the applauded intercommunity of the Pagan theology preferve the peace of the Roman world I Did it prevent opprellions, profcripiions, maffacies, devaiktions ? Was it bigotry that carried Alexander into the Ea(t, or brought C^- far into Gaul ? are the nations of the world, into which Chrif- tlanity hath not found its way, or from which it hath been ban- iflied free from contentions ? are their contentions iefs ruinous and fanguinary ? Is it owing to Chriftiatiity, or to the want of it, that the rineft regions of the Eaft, the countries inler quatuor maria, the peninfula of Greece, together with a great part of the Mediterranean coafi, are at tiiis day a defert ; that the banks of the Nile, whofe conikntly renewed fertility is not to be im- paired by negleft, or deftroyed by the ravages of war, ferves only for the fcene of a ferocious anarchy, or the fupply of un- ceafing hoftilities. Europe itfelf has known no religious wars for fome centuries, yet has hardly ever been without war. Are the calamities, v/hich at this day afHift it, to be imputed to Chriftianity ? Hath Poland fallen' by a Chri'dian crufade ? Hath the overthrow in Fiance, of civil order and fecuiity, been €ffe(Sed by the votaries of our religion, or by the foes ? Amongit tlie awfal lePions, ^yhich the crimes and the miferies of thac country afford to mankind, this is one, that, in order to be a perfcicutor it is not necefliiry to be a bigot ; that in rage and cruelty, in mifchief and deibiKftion, fan aticifni itfelf can be outdone by infidelity.
Finally, if war, as it is now carried on between nations, pro- duce Iefs mifery and ruin than formerl\^, we are indebted, per- haps to Chri'rianity for the change, more than to any other caule. Viewed therefore even in its relation to this fubjed, it appears to have been of advantage to the world. It hath humanized . the condudl: of wars ; it hath ceafed to excite them.
The diierences of opinion, that have in all ages prevailed amongll Cluiilians, fall very much within the alternative w'hich has been dated. If we pulfeilcd the difpofition which Chrifti- anity lab )urs, above all other qualities, to inculcate, thefe dif- ferences would do little harm. If that difpofition be wanting, other caufes, even were thefe abfent, would continually rife up, to call forth the malevolent paflions into aftion. Differences of opinion, when accoinpanied with mutual charity, which Chrif- tianity forbids them to violate, are for the moft part innocent, and for fome purpofes ufeful. "They promote inquiry, difcuffion, and knov/ledge. They help to keep up an attention to religious.
3IO A VIEW OF THE
fubjeifis, and a ccncern about them, which might be apt to die away in the calm and filence of univerfal agreement. I do not know that it is in any degree true, that the influence of religion \» the greatelt, where there are the fcwell difleaters^
CHAP. vnr.
T/)e Ccnchtffon.
.1 M religion, as in every other fuhje^ of human reafontag, l^uch depends upon the mhr in which we difjjofc our inquiries. An Kill who takes ui5 a (y{h:m of divinity wit'i a previous opinion that cither every part muft be true, or the whole falfe, approach- es the difculTi in with great difadvantage. No other fyftem, which is founded upon moral evidence, would bear to be treat- ed in the fame maoner. Neverthelefs, in a certain degree, we are all introduced lo our religious ftudies under this prejudica- tion ; and it cannot be avoided. The weaknefs of the human judgment in the early part of youth, yet its extreme fufceptibil- ity of impreflion, renders it necelTary to fjrniili it with fome opinions, and with fome principles orotlier. Or indeed, with- out much exprefs care, or much endeavour for this purpofe, the tendency of the mind of man, to aflimilate itfeif to the habits of thinking and fpeaking which previil around him, produces the fame effe<5t. That indiiferency and fufpenfe, that waiting and equilibrium of the judgment, which fome require in reJigious matters, and which fome would wiih to be aimed at in the condui^of education, are impofiible to be prcferved. They are not given to the condition of human life.
It is a confsqucnce of this fituation that the do(5trines of re- ligion come to us befor^e the proofs ; and come to us v;ith that mixture of explications and inferences from which no public creed is, or can be, free. And the effcdl which too frequently follows, 'from Chriftianity being prefented to the undeirtanding in this form, is, that when any articles which appear as parts of it, contradi(51: the apprehenfion of the perfons to whom it is propof- ed,men ofrafh and confident tempers, haftily and indifcriminately rejeft the whole. But is this to do juftice, either to themfclves, or to the religion ? The rational way of treating a fubjeft of fuch acknowledged importance is to attend, in the firft place, to the general and fubAantial truth of its principles, and to that
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. pf
alone. "Wlien we once feel a foundation, when we once per- ceive a ground of credibility in its hiilory, we fhail proceed with fafety to inquire into the interpretation of its records, and into the dodrines which have been deduced from them. Nor will it either endanger our faith, or diminifh or alter cur motives for obedience, if we ihould difcover that thefe conclufions are form- ed with different degrees of probability, and pofTefs different de- grees of importance.
This condud of the underftanding, ditflated by every rule of right reafoning, will uphold perfonal Chriftianity even in thofe countries in which it is eftablifhed under forms the moft hable to difficulty and objedlion. It will alfo have the further effeft of guarding us againfl: the prejudices which are wont to arife in OMT minds to the difadvantage of religion, from obferving the numerous controverfies which are carried on amongfi: its profef- fors, and likewife of inducing a fpirit of lenity and moderation tn our judgment, as well as in our treatment, of thofe who Hand, in fuch controverfies, upon fides oppofite to ours. What is clear in Chriftianity we fhall find to be uifBcient, and to be in- finitely valuable ; what is dubious, unnecefiary to be decided, or of very fubordinate importance ; and what is moll obfcure, will ' teach us to bear with the opinions which others may have form- ed upon the tame fubje-ct. We fhall fay to thofe, who the moft widely diffent from us, what Augafline faid to the worfl here- tics of his age : " Ilii in vos .^viant, qui nefcient, cum quo la- bore verum inveniatur, et quam difficile caveantur errores — qui pefciunt, cum quanta difficultate fanetnr oculus interioris homi- ris — qui nefciunt, o^uibus fiifpiriis et gemitibus fiat, ut ex quant- ulacunque parte pcliit inte'ligi Deus."'
A judgment, moreover, which is once pretty well fatisfied of the general truth of the religion, vjiW not only thus difcrimin ate in its doctrines, but will pofTefs fufficient flrcngth to overcome the reluctance of the imagination to admit articles of faith which are attended with difficulty of apprehenfion, if fuch articles of faith appear to be truly parts of the revelation. It was to be expeded beforehand, that what related to the economy and to the perfons of the invifible world, which revelation profefFes to do, and which, if true, it a<5luaily does, fhould contain fome points remore from our analogies, and from the compreheniion of a mind which hath acquired all its ideas from fenfe and from experience.
a A'jg. Contr. Ep". fund. cap. 2. n, a, 3.
312- A \'IEW OF THE
It hath been my care, in the preceding work, to prefcrve the Reparation between evidences and do(5trines as inviolable as I could ; to remove from the primary queflion all confidcrations which have been unnecefi'arily joined with it ; and to ofier a defence of Chrilllanlty, which every ChriUian might. read, with- out feeing the tenets in which he had been brought up atracked or decried : and it always afforded a fatisfadlon to my mind to obferve that this was pra<fHcab]e ; that ftw or none of ourmany controverlks with one another aife«5l or relate to the proofs of our religion ; that the rent never defctnds to the foundation.
Thetrutii i>f Chri/tianicy depends ujion its leading fa^ts, and upon them alone. Now of thcfe we have evidence which ought to fuisfy us, at leafl: until it api)ear that, mankind have ever been deceived by the fame. We have fome uncor.efted and inconteftible points, to which the hiftory of the human fpe- cies hath nothing fimilar to offer. A Jewifli peafant ci tang- ed the religion of the world, and that, without force, with- out power, without fuppott *, without 0fie natural fourcc or cir- cumitance of attracftion, inliuence or fuccefs. Such a tiling hath not happened in any other inflance. The companions of this pcrfon, afttr he himfelf had been put to death lor his attempt, aflerted his fupernatural character, founded upon his fupernatu- ral operations ; and, in tefiimony of the truth of tlieir aiTer- tions, i. e. in confequence of their own belief of that truth, and, in order to communicate the kno^-ledge of it to others, volun- tarily entered upon lives of toil and hardlhip, and, with a full experience of their danger, committed thtmfelves to the iaft: extremities of pevfecuuon. This hath not a parallel. More particularly, a very few days after this perfon had been publiekly executed, and in thfe very city in which he was buried, thcfe his com'^anions declared v/ith one voice that his body was icf- tored to life; that they had [cen him, handled him, itf^ with him, convcrfed with him ; and, in puifiumce of their pcrfuafion of the truth of what they told, preached his religion, with this flranne faft as the foundation of it, in the face oftiioft; who had killed him, who were armed v/ith the power of the country, aud neceflarily and natu;-ally difi)ofed to treat his followers as they had treated himfelf ; and having done this upon the fpot • where the event t(»nk place, csiried the ir.iclligence of it abroad, in defpite of diiTicuities and ot;pofition, and where the nature of their errand :ittvc thrnT^othin;T u> expert but derifion, iii:i;!r, and outrage. This is without, v:x.a*,)L'. Thclc thrjc ! u't.:, I
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 315
think, are certain, and would have been nearly fb, if the gofpels had never been written. The Chriftian ftory, as to thefe points, hath never varied. No other hath been fet up againlt it. Ev- ery letter, every difcourfc, every controverfy, amongft the fol- lowers of the religion ; every book, written by them, from the age of its commencement to the prcfcnt time, in every part of the world in v/hich it hath been profcHcd, and with every fciT: into which it hath been divided, (and we have letters and dil- courfes written by contemporaries, by witncfles of the tranfac- tlon, by perfons themfelves bearing a (hare in it, and other wri. tings following that age in regular (uccelTion) concur in 1 eprefcnt- ing thefe fa6ts in ihis manner. l\ religion, which nov/ pofill- fes the greateft part of the civilized world, unquclHonably Iprang up at Jerufalem at this time. Some account mufl be given of its origin, fomc caufe afligned for its life. All the accounts ok this origin, all the explications of this caufe, whether taken fron\ the writings of the early followers of the religion, in which, and i« which perhaps alone, it could be expcded that they Ihould be diftinftly unfolded, or from occadonal notices in other writings of that or the adjoining age, either cxprcfsly allege the fa(5ls above dated as the means by which the reli;non was fet up, or advert to its commencement in a manner which agrees with the fuppofition of thefe fads being true, which renders them probable according to the then (late of the v/orld, and which teftifies their operation and efTcds.
Thefe propofiiions alone lay a foundation for our faith, for they prove the exigence of a tranfadion, which cunnot even in us moft^fwra/ parts be accounted for upon any reafonable fup- j>ontion, except that of the truth of the miffion. But the par- ticulars, the //tY^/V of the miracles or miraculous pretences [iov fuch there ncccffarily mud have been) ujx)n which this unex- ampled tranfa6\ion rc(ted, and /or wl-.ich thefe men aded and fufFercd as they did a6i and fuffer, it is undoubtedly of great; importance to us to know. We have this detail fiom the foun- tain head, from the perfons themfelves ; in accouHts written by eye-wItncfTes of the fcene, by conteniporarics and companions of thofe who were fo ; net in one bool;, but four, each contain- ing enough for the verification of the religion, nil agreeing in the fundamental parts of the Jiidory. We have the authentic- ity of thefe books eflabliflied by more and (Ironger ))roofs than belong to almoil iinyoihcr ancient, beck whatever -.ird by proofs ul:ich widely difliii'^i/d) them from ?r^v f'thcrs clainrng a 'iuii- ^ C c
3H A VIEW OF THE
lar authority to theirs. If there were any good reafon for doubt concernipg the names to which thefe books are afcribed, (which there is not, for they were never afcribed to any other, and we have evidence not long after their publication of their bearing the names which they now bear) their antiquity, of which there is no queftion, their reputation and authority amongfl: the early difciples of the religion, of which there is as little, form a valid proof that they mull:, in the main at leafl:, have agreed with what the firft: teachers of the religion delivered.
When we open thefe ancient volumes, we difcover in them marks of truth, whether we confider each in itfelf, or collate them with one another. Tiie writers certainly knew fome- thing of what they were writing about, for they manifell an ac- quaintance with local circumftances, with the hlftory and ufa- ges of the times, which could only belong to an inhabitant of tthat country, living in that age. In every narrative we perceive fimplic'ty and undefignednefs ; the air and the language of real- ity. When we compare the different narratives together, we find them fo varying as to repel all fufpicion of confederacy ; fo agreeing under this variety, as to Ihow that the accounts had one real tranfadion for their common foundation ; often attrib- uting different aftions and difcourfes to the perfon whofe hifto- ry, or rather memoirs of whofj hiftory, they profcfs to relate, yet aftions and difcourfes fo fimilar, as very much to befpeak the fame character ; which is a coincidence, that, in fuch wri- ters as they were, could only be the confequence of their wri- ting from fa<51, and not from imagination. ^
Thefe four narratives are confined to the hiftory of the Foun- der of the religion, and end with his minillry. Since however it is certain that the atfair went on, we cannot help being anx- ious to know hotv it proceeded. This intelligence hath come down to us in a work purporting to be written by a perfon, himfelf conne(5ted with the bufinefs during the firft ftages of its progrefs, taking up the (lory where the former hiflories bad left it, carrying on the narrative, oftentimes with great particularity, and throughout with the appearance of good fenfe,"^ information and candour ; ftating all along the origin, and the only proba- ble origin, of efre^s which unqueftionably were produced, to-
a Sec Peter's fpcech upon curing the cripple,'(A(5Vs iii. i8.) the coun- cil of the apoftles, (xv.) Paul's dilcourfe at Athens, (xvii. 22.) before Agrippa. (xivi.) I notice rhefe pafTages, both as fraught with £ood f»nfe, and as free from th= fmallcd lir.rtire of enthnfip.rni.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 315
gcther with the natural confequences of fituations which un- queftionabiy did exift ; and corijirmed \i\ the fubftance at lead of the account, by the ftrongeil poffible acceffion of tefumony which a hiftory can receive, origina/ /<f//<frf, written by the per- fon who is the principal fubject of the hidory, written upon the bufinefs to which the hiflory relates, and during the period, or fbon after the period, which the hiftory coniprifes. No man can fciy that this altogether is not a body of llrong hiftorical evidence.
When we refiefl that fome of tliofe, from whom the books proceeded, are related to havf^ themfelves wrought miracles, to have been the fubjecl of miracles, or of fupernatural afiiftance in propagating the religion, we may perhaps be led to think, that more credit, or a difFeient kind of credit, is due to thefe ac- counts, than what can be claimed by merely human teftimony. But this is an argument which cannot be addreiTed to fceptics or unbelievers. A man mull: be a Cb.rKtian before he can re- ceive it. "1 he infpiraticn of the hifl:orical fcriptures, the nature,- degree, and extent of that infpiration, are queillonG undoubted- ly of ferious difcuffion ; but tl:ey are queftions amongd Chrif- tians themfelvesj and not between them and others. The doc- trine itfclf is by no means necef^ary to the belief of Chrillianity, which mud, in the firft indance at lead, depend upon the ordi- nary maxims of hiftorical credibility/
In viewing the detail of miracles lecorded in thefe bookij we find every fuppofition negatived, by which they can be re- folved into fraud or deluficn. They were not fecret, nor mo- mentary, nor tentative, nor ambiguous; nor perfoimed under the fandion of authority, with the fpe<51ators on their fide, or in aihrmance of tenets and pradiccs 'already eflabliftied. We find alfo the evicknce alleged for them, and vv'hich evidence was by great numbeis received, different from that upon v/hich other miraculous accounts red. It was contemporray, it was publidicd upon the fpot,it continued; it involved interedsand quedions of the grcated magnitude; it contradi6ti:d the mod fixed })er- luafions and prejudices of the perfons to whom it was addrefied ;; it required from thofe who accepted it, not a fimpie indolent ai- lent, but a change, from thenceforward, of principles and condu<^r, a-fubmilhon to confequences the mod ferious and the mod deter* ring, K) lofs and danger, to infult, outrage- and peifecutioiu How fuch a dory fliouldbe fi\ire,.or, if faife, how under fucn
^ Sec Powell's Difcourfee, •■ Difcourfe iv. p. 245,,
3i6 A VIEW OF THE
circum (lances it iliould make its way, I think ImpofTible to be explained ; yet fiich the Chriflian llory was, fiich were the circumftances under which it came forth, and in oppofition to fuch difficulties did it prevail.
An event fo connsded with the leligion, and with the fortunes of the Jewifn people, as one of their race, one born amongrt them, ediblifhing liis authority and his law throughout a great portion of the civilized world, it was perhaps to be ex- pefted, fliould be noticed in the prophetic writings of that na~ tion ; efpecially when this perfon, together with his own mif- fibn, caufed alfo to be acknowledged the divine original of their inftitution, and by thofe who before had altogether rejected it. Accordingly we perceive in thefe writings, various intimations concurring in the perfon and hiftory of Jefus, in a manner, and in a degree, in which pafTages taken from thefe books, could not he made to concur, in any perfon arbitrarily affumed, or in any perfon, except him, who has been the author of great chan- ges in the affairs and opinions of mankind. Q£ fome of thefe predi6lions the weight depends a good deal upon the concur- rence. Otbrers pofTefs great feparate ifrength ; one in particu- lar does this in an eminent degree. It is an entire defcription, manifeftly direfted to one chaiafter and to one fcene of things : it is extant in a writing, or collection of writings, declaredly prophetic ; and it applies to Chrid's charader, and to the cir- cumftances of his life and death, with confiderable precifion, and in a way which no diverfity of interpretation hath, in my opinion, been able to confound. That the advent of Chrift:, and the confequences of it, ihould net have been more diftind- iy revealed in the Jewifh facred books, is, I think, in fome meaf- tre acounted for by the coafideration, that for the Jews to have forefeen the fall of their inftitution, and that it was to merge at length into a more pcrfe«51: and comprehenfive difpcnfation, would have cooled too much, and relaxed, their zeal for it, and iheir adheience to it, upon which zeal and adherence, the pref- ervation in the v^orld of any remains, for many ages, of religious truth, might in a great raeafuie depend.
Of what a revelatiorv difclofes to mankind, one, and only one qutftion can properly be alked, ** was it of importance to mankind to know, or to be better afTured of?" In this queftion, when we turn our thoughts to the great Chrlftian do(5lrine of the refurreiftion of the dead, and of a future judgment, no doubt can poiUbly be entertaiBeJ, He ^vho gives mc riches gr hoe-
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 3:17
©ars does nothing ; he who even gives me health does little, io comparifon with that, which lays before me juft grounds for ex- pefting a reftoraticm to life, and a day of account and retribu- tion : which ihing Chriftianity hath done for millions.
Other articles of the Chriftian faith are only the adjun<5ls and circumftances of this. They are however fuch, as appear worthy of the original to which we afcribe them. The moral- ity of the religion, whether taken from the precepts or the ex- ample of its Founder, or from the leiFons of its primitive teachers, derived, as it fliould feem, from what had been inculcated by their Mafter, is, in all its parts, wife and pure ; neither adapted to vulgar prejudices, nor flattering popu- lar notions, nor excufmg eftablifhed pradices, but calculated, in the matter of its inftru(5lion, truly to promote human happi- nefs, and, in the form In which it was conveyed, to produce imprefTion and efredl ; a morality, which, let it have proceeded from any perfon whatever, would have been fatisfaftory ev- idence of his good fenfe and integrity, of the foundnefs of his underdanding and the probity of his deiigns ; a morality, in every view of it, much moie perfed, clian could have been expected from the natural circumftances and chaiafler of the perfon who delivered it ; a morality, in a word, which is, and hath been, mod beneficial to mankind.
Upon the greateft therefore of all poffible occafions, and for apurpofe of inelHmable value, it pleafed the Deity to vouchfafe a miraculous atteftation. Having done this for the inftitution, when this alone could fix its authority, or give to it a beginning, he committed its future progrefs to the natural means of human communication, and to the influence of thofe caufas, by which, human condu(5l and human affairs are governed. The feed be- ing fown, was left to vegetate ;. the leaven being inferted, was left to ferment ; and both according to the laws of nature :. laws, neverthelefs, difpofed and controlled by that Providence which condu6ls the affairs, of the univerfe, though by an influ- ence infcrutable, and g^enerally undiftinguiniable by us. And. in thls^ Chriftianity is analogous to moft other provifions for hap- pinefs. The provifion is made ; and being made, is left to a<5l ac- cording to lav/s, which, forming part of a more general fyftem, regulate this particular fubje<fl, in common with many others.
Let the conftant recurrence to our obfervation, of contri- vance, deHgn, and wifdom in the works of nature, once fix upori. «ur minds the belief of a God, and after that all is eafy. In
3j8> a view of the
the cour/feh of a being, pofTe/Ted of the power and dlfpofitloiv which the Creator of the univerfe mull pofiefs, it is not improb- able that there fliould be a future (late j it is not improbable that we fhould be acquainted with it. A future llate redlifies every thing ; becaufe if moral agents be made, in the laft event, happy or miferable, according to their condu.ft in the ftation and under the circumftances in which they are placed, it feems not very material by the operation of what caufcs, according to what rules, or even, if you pleafe to call it fo, by what chance or caprice, thefe flations are affigned, or thefe circuinftances de- termined. This hypothecs, therefore, folves all that objection to the divine care and goodnefs, which the prornlfcuous diftri- bution of good and evil (I do not mean in the doubtful advanta- ges of riches and grandeur, but in the unqueftionably important diftindions of health and ficknefs, (trength and infirmity, bodily eafe and pain, mental alacrity and depreflion) is apt on fo many occafions to create. This one truth changes the nature of things ; gives order to confufion ; makes the moraiworld of a- piece with the natural.
Neverthelefs, a higher degree of afTurance, than that to which it is poffible to advance this, or any argument drawn from the light of nature, was necelTary, efpecially to overcome the fhock, which the imagination and the fenfes receive, from the effeds ?.nd the appearances of death ; and the obflruc^lion which from thence arifes to the exne(!n:ation of either a continued or a future exiftence. This difficulty, although of a nature, no doubt, to r.(5t very forcibty, will be found, I think, upon reflection to re- fide more in our habits of apprehenfion, than in the fubje(5l ; and that the giving way to it, v;hen v/e have any reafonable grounds for the contrary, is rather an indulging of the imagina- tion, than any thing elfe. Abftraftedly confidered, that is, confidered without relation to the difference, which habit, and merely habit, produces in our faculties and modes of apprehen- fion, I do not fee any thing more in the refurre6lion of a dead man, than in the conception of a child ; except it be this, that the one comes into his world with a fyftem of prior confciouf- neffes about him, which the other does not ; and no perfon will fay, that he knows enotigb of either fubjed to perceive, that this circumftance makes fuch a difference in the two cafes, that the one fhould be eafy, and tlie other impofliblc ; the one natural, • the other not fo. To the fir ft man, the fuccefTion of the fpecies would be as JDComprehenfible as the refurrefuor; of the dead is to us.
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 319
Thought is different from motion, perception from impact : the individuality of a mind is hardly confident with the divifibil- ity of an extended fubftance ; or its voHtion, that is, its power of originating motion, with the inertnefs which cleaves to every portion of matter, which our obfervation or our experiments can reach. Thefe diftinccions lead us to an immaterial princi- ple ; at leaft, they do this ; they fo negative the mechanical properties of matter, in the conilitution of a fentient, ftill more of a rational being, that no argument drawn from thefe proper- ties, can be of any weight in oppofition to other reafons, when the queftion refpeds the changes of which fuch a nature is capa- ble, or the manner in which thefe changes are effeded. What- ever thought be, or whatever it de^^nd upon, the regular expe- rience oljleep makes one thing concerning it certain, that it can be completely fufpended, and completely reftored.
If any one find it too great a flrain upon his thoughts, to ad- mit the notion of a fubftance flridlly immaterial, that is, from which extenfion and folidity are excluded, he can find no difficulty in allowing, that a particle as fmall as a particle of light, minuter than all conceivable dimenfions, may juft as eafily be the depofitory, the organ and the vehicle of confcioufnefs, as the congeries of animal fubftance, which forms a human body, or the human brain ; that, being fo, it may transfer a proper identity to whatever fhall hereafter be united to it ; may be fafe amldfl the deflrucflion of Its Integu- ments ; may connect the natural with the fpirltual, the corrup- tible with the glorified body. If It be faid, that the mode and means of all this is imperceptible by our fenfes, it is only what is true of the mofl important agencies and operations. The great powers of nature are all invifible. Gravitation, eledrlclty, magnetifm, though confrantly prefent, and conftantly exerting their influence ; though within us, near us, and about us ; though diffufed throughout all fpace, overfpreading the furface, or penetrating the contexture of all bodies with which we are acquainted, depend upon fubftances and aftlons, which are total- ly concealed from our fenfes. The Supreme Intelligence is fo himfelf.
But whether thefe, or any other attempts to fatisfy the Imag- ination, bear any refemblance to the truth, or whether the im- agination, which, as I have faid before, is the mere flave of habit, can be fatlstied, or not ; when a fature flate, and the rev- elation of a future ftate, is not only perfe(5tly confiftent with the
32<i A VIEW OF, ^c.
attributes of the Being who governs the univcrfe ; but when it is more ; when it alone removes the appearances of contrariety, which attend the operations of his will towards creatures capa- ble of merit and demerit, of reward and pimiftiment ; when a 4lrong body of hiftorical evidence, confirmed by pjiiny internal tokens of truth and authenticity, gives us juft reafon to believe that fuch a revelation hath aflually been made ; we ought to fet our minds at reft with the afTurance, that, in the refources of creative wifdom, expedients cannot be wanted, to carry into tfFed what the Deity hath purpofed : that either a new and mighty influence will defcend upon the human world, to refuf- ■citate extinguished confcioufnefs ; or that, amidfl: the other wonderful contrivances with which the univerfe abounds, and by fome of which we fee animal life, in many inflances, aflum- ing improved forms of exiftence, acquiring new organs, new perceptions, and new fources of enjoyment, provifion is alfo made, though by methods fecret to us (as all the great procef- fes of nature are) for condufling the objeds of God's moral government, through the neceiTary changes of their frame, to thofe final didindions of happinefs and mifery, which he hath declared to be referved for obedience and tranfgreffion, for vir- tue and vice, for the ufe and the negleifl, the right and the"^ wrong employment of the faculties and opportunities, with which he hath been pleafed, feverally, to entruft and to try us.
THE END.
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