mmim
AN
ENQUIRY
INTO THE
DIVINE MISSIONS
OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST,
AND
JESUS CHRIST;
50 FAR AS THEY CAN BE PROVED
FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THELR BIRTHS,
AND
THEIR CONNEXION WITH EACH OTHER.
To 'which are prefixed j
ARGUMENTS
IN PROOF OF THE AUTHENTICITY
OF THE NARRATIVES
OF THE BIRTHS OF JOHN AND JESUS,
CONTAINED IN THE TWO FIRST CHAPTERS OP THE
GOSPELS OF ST. MATTHEW AND ST. LUKE.
BY WILLIAM BELL, D.D.
PREBENDARY OF ST. PETETl's, WESTMINSTER.
A NEW EDITION, /^
0W
LONDON :
PRINTED TOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGT01
62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD,
1810.
&
/ by IAIIO nrd Giibm, St. John's Square,
ARGUMENTS
IN PROOF OF
THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE NARRATIVES OF THE
EXTRAORDINARY CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST,
AND THE
MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION AND BIRTH OF
JESUS CHRIST;
CONTAINED IN THE TWO FIRST CHAPTERS OP
GOSPELS OF ST. MATTHEW AND ST, LUKE.
SECOND EDITION.
PREFACE.
the following Enquiry into the
Divine Miffions of JOHN THE BAPTIST,
and JESUS CHRIST, was firft fubmitted to
the Public, it was not introduced by any
arguments, intended to prove, that thofe
Paffages, from the contents of which it is
deduced, are genuine parts of the Two
Gofpels in which they are found. Thofe
Paffages being not only of great length, but
likewife in their contents extremely remark-
able; and having been tranfmitted, from
the firft ages of Chrittianity, as certainly
authentic ; notwithftandins; it was univer-
^2
fally known to the Church at large, who
tranfmitted them, that their contents were
re-
PREFACE.
garded as impofilble, and therefore diibe-
lieved, by fome of the earlieft Chriftian
Se6ls; their authenticity was confidered
as neceffarily included in that of their re-
fpedive Gofpels ; and, therefore, as not
ftanding in need of any feparate proof.
BUT as there are perfons who entertain
a perfuafion, that even thefe paflages ; fo
remarkable in theinfelves, and fo peculiarly
circumftanced ; are in reality nothing better
than fpurious interpolations ; and the very
obje6t of the Enquiry into the Divine
Miffions of Jefus, and the Baptift, is to
ihew, that the particulars recorded in thefe
paffages, confidered by themfelves alone,
fupply us with one complete, and inde-
pendent proof of the Divine Character of
Jefus, and the truth of the Chriftian Reve-
lation ; it cannot but be of fervice to the
caufe of Chriftianity in general ; as well as
confirm
, PREFACE. vii
confirm the propriety, and promote the de-
fired effed, of this Enquiry in particular ;
to prefix to it a diredl, and fpecial proof,
that thofe Narratives, on the contents of
which it is founded, mult certainly have
been authentic parts of the two Gofpels, in
which they have been tranfmitted to us.
WHETHER the following Arguments,
now firft advanced in proof of this point,
will be found fufficient to eftablifh it, the
event alone can determine. But as they
are the refult of the Author's endeavours
to ftrike out, for himfelf, fuch lights upon
the fubje6t, as might give even abundant
fatisfa6lion to his own mind ; and he has
not been able to difcover any particular in
which they are fallacious ; he fubmits to the
confideration of others, what appears abfo-
lutely conclufive to himfelf.
AR-
ARGUMENTS, &c.
1 HE relations contained in the two firft chap-
ters of the Gofpels of St. Matthew, and St.
Luke, of a variety of miraculous events, there
affirmed to have accompanied the conceptions,
and births, of John the Baptift, and Jefus, muft
cither,
FIRST, have been written by the two Evangelifts
refpeclively ; of whofe Gofpels, as they have been
tranfmitted to us, thefe relations form a part;
Or,
SECONDLY, they muft have been forged, by
fome perfons unknown ; and clandeilinely inferted
in the genuine Gofpels of thofe Evangelifts.
To form a fatisfa&ory judgement, therefore,
of the authenticity of thefe relations, the moft di-
rect, and decifive method will be, to enquire,
Whether it is credible, that fuch forgeries, as
thofe in queftion, could have been devifed, and
attempted; and further, fuppofmg it poflible for
them to have been devifed and attempted, Whether
a it
2 ARGUMENTS, &C*
it is credible, that they could have efcaped a fpeedy
and effectual detection.
Ix the firft place, therefore, is it credible, that
the forgeries under coniideration could have been
devifed and attempted ?
I. IT is obvious, that the very defign, which
mult have been intended to be anfwered by them,
could not have been formed by any one who had
not embraced the faith in Jefus. And the only
motive that can be fuggefted, as capable of having
urged any believer in Jefus to fo ftrange, and ini-
quitous a forgery, muft be a fuppofed, over zealous
defire to inculcate more exalted ideas of the nature
of Jefus, than the genuine Gofpels, as they were
written, and delivered to the difciples, by the two
Evangelifts themfelves, would afford any ground for
entertaining.
Is it then credible, that any believers in Jefus ;
and efpecially in that early age of Chriftianity, in
which alone the forgeries in queftion muft be
fuppoied, if at all, to have been invented ; that
is, at the lateft, within a few years after the death
of the Apottle, and Evangelift, St. John ; could
become animated with fo extravagant, and at the
fame time fo impious, a zeal ; as to break through
every moral, and religious, principle which Jefus
had inculcated, by thus endeavouring to corrupt
the
ARGUMENTS, &C. 3
the Gofpels ; thole very Gofpels in which they muft
themfelves have believed, and on the genuine
contents of which they muft have founded their
own faith ; for no other end, than to deceive
their fellow Chriftians into the reception of more
exalted ideas of the nature of Jefus, than the
genuine, unadulterated, Gofpels afforded any
ground for entertaining ? We may venture to af-
firm, that fuch a fuppofition, though it does not
imply an abfolute, natural impoffibility, is how-*
ever utterly incredible.
AND this utter incredibility of the forgeries in
queftion, ariling from their extreme impiety, will,
if poffible, be exceedingly heightened, if we add
the confideration of the great number, and afto-
niming nature, of the particulars they contain ;
and that part of the two Gofpels in which they are
introduced. For, in the firft place, we muft be
forced to believe, that the author, or authors, of
thefe fuppofed forgeries, for no other end than to
accomplilh this wicked impofition upon their fel-
low Chriftians, actually invented all thofe mi-
raculous particulars relating to the conceptions,
and births, both of John the Baptift and Jefus,
which are recorded in the firft and fecond chap-
ters of the Gofpel of St. Matthew; and take up al-
moft the whole firft and fecond chapters of that
of St. Luke, And, in the next place, we muft
a 2 like-
4 A ft G U M E N T S, &C.
likewife believe, that they fcrupled not to infer!
all thefe moft aflonifhing particulars of their own
inventing ; no one of which could ever have been
heard of till they invented, and inferted them ;
even in the very beginning of the two Gofpels
which they determined to corrupt ; where it was
abfolutely impoffible for fo many miraculous
events, of fo fmgularly attonifliing a nature, not
to excite the particular notice of every one al-
ready acquainted with the genuine contents of
thofe Gofpels ; that is, of every Chriftian ; im-
mediately upon perufing them, or hearing them
read, after their infertion. When it is delibe-
rately coniidered, that we cannot fuppofe the paf-
fages in queftion to have been furreptitioufly
added to the genuine Gofpels, without admitting
likewife fuch abfolutely incredible fuppofitions as
thefe; it muft furely be acknowledged, that all
ideas of the forgeries under confideration muft be
given up, and utterly exploded.
BESIDES, the paffages themfelves contain in-
ternal evidence, that they could not be forged.
It cannot be believed, that any one who fat down
to forge an interpolation of the Gofpels, in order
to exalt the divine character of Jefus, could in
that interpolation apply to him any prophecy,
which was fure to be interpreted by the Jews a
foretelling, that Jefus would conduct himfel
with
ARGUMENTS, &C. 5
: refpecl to a molt itriking, and important
particular, in a manner directly oppoiite to that
conducl, which the (Jolpels Ihcwed he actually
had obferved. lint if the narratives in queition
had been forged, this is what the authors of thefe
forgeries limit knowingly, and defignedly have
done. For in the Gofpels it is recorded, that
when, more than once, the Jews had endeavoured
to excite Jefus to declare himfelf againlt, and to
oppofe tlie Roman power; he had fhewn it to be
his determined refolution, not to give occaiion even
to the iinaileft oppolition to it*. But in the narra-
tives under confideration, Zacharias is introduced,
applying to Jefus, at the time of giving John his
name, the prophecy, that he " would fave the
" Jews from their enemies, and from the hand
li of all that hated them ;" which prophecy, it
was certain would be underftood by the Jews as
foretelling, that Jefus would refcue them from their
itate of fubjection to the Romans. As the intro-
duction of this particular prophecy could not, there-
fore, be the forgery of any one, who was defirous of
exalting the character of Jefus ; it is, in fact, an
abfolutely decifive internal proof, that the narratives
in queition could not be forged additions to the
Gofpels.
* Matthew xxii. 1521. Mark xii. 1317. Luke ,xx.
i'O '25. John vi. 15.
ft 3 II.
6 ARGUMENTS, &C.
II. BUT, that in a concern of fo great im-
portance to the authenticity, and genuine con-
tents of the Gofpels, we may be properly aware of
all the confiderations which will unite in proving the
abfolute incredibility of the forgeries in queftion ;
Jet us, for the fake of enquiry, fuppofe it polfible,
notwithftanding all thefe infuperable difficulties,
that fome one, or more, moft extravagant enthu.
iiafts might conceive this incredible defign ; and
actually proceed to the execution of it ; by invent-
ing all the particulars juft referred to, and foifting
them into forne copy, or copies, of the Gofpels of
St. Matthew, and St. Luke, in the places where
we now find them ; and let us enquire, whether
it would have been poflible for thefe forgeries, fo
foiited in, to have efcaped detection ; and to have
been tranfmitted to us as genuine parts of thofe
Gofpels, in the manner, in which they actually
have been.
THIS queftion will admit of a fatisfactory de-
termination, by attending to some circumftances
in the conduct of the Apoftles, during the period,
in which, by means of their preaching, the re-
ligion of the Gofpel was firft eftablilhed in the
world.
THE particulars recorded by St. Luke, in the
Acts, of the Apoftles, give us abundant reafon to
believe, that the Apoftles in general, if not all the
Apoftles,
ARGUMENTS, &C. 7
Apoftles, continued to r-iide at Jerulalem, and in
Judea ; and to preach the Gofpel, not only there,
but likewife in the feveral countries round about ;
for the fpace of lixteen, or feventeen, years after
the Afceniion; tliat is, till after the council held
by the Apoitles and Elders at Jerufalern, upon the
coining of Paul and Barnabas from Antioch, with a
queltion for the decilion of the Apoitles, in the
year 49, or oO*.
IT appears likewife, that during this period
Peter and John, in particular, among the Apoftles ;
as well as fome chofen difciples, fuch as Philip and
Barnabas, \\ho were not Apoftles; made it their
employment ;to preach the Gofpel in Judea,
Samaria, Galilee, Phenice, &c. ; and that, where-
ever they eftabliihed Congregations of believers,
they appointed Elders to prefide over them, for
their conftant regulation ; and that they did not
even then leave them to themfelves, but from time
to time went round to vifit them ; in order to correct
whatever improprieties might have taken place
among them ; and to inftruct, and confirm, them in
the faith f.
IT
See Larclner's Works, Ed. 1788. Vol. VI. That is, the
Supplement to the Credibility, &c. ch. vi. particularly from
p. 6? to the end of the chapter.
f For thefe particulars, which cannot be given here in de-
tail, fee the Supplement to Lardner's Credibility, ch. vi. on the
a 4 time
8 A B G U M E N T S, &C.
IT further appears, that St. Paul ; who, from
being a violent perfecutor of the Chriftian faith, was
miraculously converted to it, about the year 36, or
three years after the Afcenfion ; and who, three
years after his converfion, that is about the year 39,
commenced the molt indefatigable, as well as able
preacher of it ; came feveral times, in the courfe of
the firft feventeen years, to Jerufalem, upon the
bufmefs of preaching the Gofpel. And that about
nine years after the Afcenfion, that is about the
year 42, Paul and Barnabas eftablilhed a very con-
iiderable Chriftian Church at Antioch in Syria.
That St. Paul likewife eftablifhed churches in a
great number of other places ; and with unremitted
diligence and care vifited, from time to time, all
the churches, or congregations, which he had
eftablilhed *.
FROM the fame A6ts of the Apoftles it like/-
wife appears, that very foon after the Afcenfion
James, called the Juft, was appointed Head, or
Bilhop, of the church at Jerufalem, and in Judea ;
and that, from the time of his being fo appointed,
he continued to refide at Jerufalem, fuperintend-
ing the Church ; till at length, as is related by
<
time when the Apoftles left Judea ; ch. xviii., on St Peter; and
ch. xvi. on James the Lord's Brother ; in Vol. VI. of his Works,
1(1 See Lardner's Supplement, ch. xi. on St. Paul ; particu-
larly from tea. 7- in Vol. VI. of his Works.
ancient
A R U M E N T S, &C. 9
lent authors, he was put to death in a tumult
there, in the 1 ; that is about twenty nine, or
thirty, years after the Afeeniion *.
SUCH was the manner in which the Apoltles
proceeded in eftablilhing the Gofpel in Judea, and
afterwards wherever they preached it. It is our
bulinefs therefore to confider, what light thef cir-
cumitances will throw upon the queftion before us ;
Whether it is credible, that the particulars relat-
ing to the conceptions, and births, of John the
Baptilt, and Jefus, contained in the two firft chapters
of the Goipels of St. Matthew, and St. Luke, as we
have them, could have been forged, and clandestinely
added to them ; and yet have been delivered down
to us as genuine parts of thofe Gofpels, as they
actually have been?
III. NONE of the Gofpels having any authorita-
tive date affixed to them, either of the time when,
or the place where, they were firft delivered to the
difciples by their refpe&ive Evangelifts ; and it not
being certainly known, therefore, at what particular
time, or place, either of them was firft made public;
a variety of opinions have alrnoft unavoidably
been embraced, by different writers, upon thefe
particulars.
* See Larclner's Supplement, as before, ch. xvi. on James
the Lord's Brother : Vol. VI. of his Works.
WITH
JO A R G U M E N T S, &C.
WITH refpect to the country where St. Matthew
wrote his Gofpel, and firft delivered it to the difci-
ples, there has indeed been but one prevailing
opinion. The univerfal tradition is, that he wrote
it for the ufe of the Jewiili converts in particular, if
not at their requeft ; though, at the fame time, un-
doubtedly, for the ufe of all Chriftians in general ;
and that he delivered it to them, fomewhere in, or
near, Judea*.
WITH regard to the particular time at which
St. Matthew made his Gofpel public, there have
been a great variety of opinions ; founded upon the
different circurnftances which have happened to
make the ftrongeft impreffion upon different writers.
One fmgle author has fuppofed it to have been
made public even fo very early as about three years
after the Afcenfion ; fome, about five ; others, eight
or nine ; fome, fifteen ; and others (till, about thirty
years after that event ; that is, about the years 63,
64, or65t-
SUPPOSING, therefore, agreeably to the univer-
fal tradition, which there is not any reafon what-
* See Lardncr's Supplement, ch. v. feel. 2, 3. Vol. VI. of
his Works.
f See thefe particulars treated at large in Lardner's Sup-
plement, ch. v. on St. Matthew ; Vol, VI. of his Works.
Michaelis's Introductory Lectures to the New Teftament,
Englifh Tranflatiou of 1759, fedl, 88. Benfon's Hiftory of the-
Planting of the Chriftian Religion, B. II. ch. iv. fe&. I.
ever
ARGUMENTS, &C. 1 1
ever to controvert ; that this Apoftle firft delivered
his Gofpel to the Jewilh dilciples, fomewhere in, or
near, Judea ; and at either of thofe different p^iods
of time, which have been affignecl for it ; of even
at any other time which can poflibly be fuppofed ;
the point to be confidered is, Whether it was
pofiible for thole particulars, relating to the concep-
tion, and birth of Jefus, which have been delivered
down to us in the firit and fecond chapters of it, to
have been afterwards forged, and clandefiinely
added to it, without being almoft immediately ex-
ploded ?
AT whatever place St. Matthew firft made his
Gofpel known, it cannot be doubted, but that it
muft have been fome confiderable Congregation
of believers to whom he firft imparted it; and
that he muft have delivered it to the Elders ; or
prefiding, and molt refpeclable perfons of the
Congregation ; not only in order that its authen-
ticity, as well as its contents, might with indifpu-
table authority be made known among them ; but
likewile, that it might be carefully preferved;
for the continual, authentic inftruciion of the
difciples, both there, and elfewhere. As little
can it be queftioned, whether all the difciples of
that Congregation, to which it was delivered by
the Apoftle, would be eagerly difpofed to read it,
or hear it read ; and that in confequence of this
uni-
12 ARGUMENTS, &C.
univerfal, and unavoidable defire, and the evident
propriety of the thing itfelf, the Congregation, to
\vhofe keeping it was delivered by St. Matthew,
would certainly agree upon having it read publicly ;
either at the times of their affembling together for
religious worfhip, as it feerns highly reaibnable to
fuppole ; or elfe, at meetings appointed for
that particular purpofe only ; or, perhaps, even
at both.
NOR can it be doubted, but that fuch of the
difciples as were themfelves able to copy it, or in
circumftances to afford the expence of having it
copied ; which, as it was not a long work, could
not be very great ; would be no lefs defirous of
taking, or procuring copies of it, for their own pri-
vate ufe; under the control, and inspection, of thofe
Elders, to whole immediate keeping the Original was
committed ; either by the Apoftle himfelf, or thofe
to whom he had delivered it.
AND further, we cannot but believe, that as
foon as it became known to other Congregations ;
which it very foon would; that St. Matthew had
delivered his Gofpel to any particular Congre-
gation of difciples; copies of it would be ap-
plied for, and by degrees procured, by at leaft
every Chriftian Congregation round about; as
well as by That at Jerufalem itfelf above all
others ; if it was not at Jerufalem that the Apoftle
firft
ARGUMENTS, &C, 15
firlt made it public ; in order that it might be read
in the lame manner among them likewife ; even be-
fore the copies could be fo multiplied as to be per-
mitted to come into private hands.
Br thefe obvious means, as St. Matthew's Gofpel
was not a work of fuch length as to require a great
lime for tranfcribing, many authentic copies of it
muft, within a very few years, have come into
the poffefiion of the feveral Chriftian Congrega-
tions, which were in, and round about Judea;
as well as, more efpecially, of That at Jerufalem
itfelf; where, till the year 62, James the Juft
refided.
AXD, as thefe copies, and more efpecially the
Original itfelf, would certainly be kept with the
greateft care; and the copies be univerfally read
in their religious aflemblies ; as other copies gra-
dually taken in the fame manner, would likewife
be* in private families ; the genuine contents of
this Gofpel muft foon have become extremely
well known to all Chriftians, in general, through-
out Judea, and all the neighbouring countries;
wherever the Apoftles had already eftablilhed, or
by degrees came to eftabliih, Chriftian -Congre-
gations.
THAT this muft have been the cafe will be ftili
further evident from other confiderations. The
early converts to Chriftianity were partly from
among
14 ARC U M E N T S, &O.
among the Jews, and partly from among the Gen-
tiles. Such as had been Jews had always been
accuftorned to hear their own Scriptures read in,
their religious afiemblies, as well as to read them
diligently at home. As foon therefore as the
Chriftian Church became poffefFed of any Chriftian
Scriptures ; and efpecially of any of thofe Gofpels,
which contained the very foundation of the faith,
in the hiftory of the words and actions of Jefus ;
all fuch of the difciples as had been Jews would
moft certainly be defirous of having them read
publicly at their religious affemblies : as well as
of obtaining copies of them for their own private
perufal. And thofe converts who had been Gen-
tiles ; as well as the children of the firft converts,
whether Jews or Gentiles, who had been bred up
in the Chriftian faith; would no lefs certainly
be defirous of having the contents of the Gofpels
thus publicly, and privately, made known to all ;
on account of the felf-evident utility of the
practice.
BESIDES, if it were conceivable, that they could,
of themfelves, have neglected to caufe their
Chriitian Scriptures to be publicly read to all
the members of their feveral Churches, we have
proof, that this practice was enjoined them by
St. Paul, and tHat they did in fact adopt it.
So
ARGUMENTS, &C. 15
So early as the year 52; only nineteen years
alter the Afccniion, and the firft preaching of the
Gofpi'l by the Apoitles; St. Paul, writing his firft
Epiltle to the Theflalonians ; which is fuppofed
to have been the firft written of all his epiftles ;
clofes it by faying, " I charge you, by the Lord,
" that this epiitle be read unto all the holy bre-
" thren*." And ten years after this, in his
epiftle to the Coloffians, he fpeaks of their read-
ing that epiftle among them, as a thing of courfe,
without giving them any direction to do it ; and
then directs them to caufe it to be read to the
church of the Laodiceans ; and to take care ta
read themfelves the Epiftle which he had written
from Laodicea f. And that the intention of
St. Paul was fimilar with refpect to his other
epiftles is evident from his manner of addreffing
them. The firft to the Corinthians is addrefled,
" Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth,
w ith all that in every place call upon the
" name of Jefus Chrift^" The fecond, " Unto
" the Church of God which is at Corinth, with
" all the Saints which are in all Achaia." That
to the Galatians, " Unto the Churches of Ga-
" latia fl." That to the Romans, " To all that
* 1ft Thefialonians v. 27. t Coloffians iv. 16.
I 1ft Corinthians i. 2. $ 2d Corinthians i. I.
fl Galatians i. 2.
" be
16 ARGUMENTS, &C.
" be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be
" faints*." That to the Philippians, " To all
" the faints in Chrift Jefus which are at Philippi,
<c with the Bifhops and Deacons f." And though
thofe to Timothy, and Titus, are addrefied to them
only; that to Philemon is addrefled not only to
him, but likewife, " To the Church in his houfe J."
And from the Second Epiftle of St. Peter, ad-
dreffed to all Chriltians, and written in the year
64*, it appears, that the contents of St. Paul's
Epiftles were then become well known to all
Chriftians in general ; and, confequently, that
copies of them muft by degrees have been tran-
fcribed for the ufe of all Chriftian Congregations ;
and that the various Churches muft have adopted
the cuftom of having thefe epiftles read publicly ;
either at their ftated meetings for religious worfhip,
which is on every account in the higheft degree
probable; or at particular meetings held for this
purpofe only ; or poffibly at both.
AND when it is feen that the feveral Chriftian
Congregations, in all places, certainly made it a
practice to read St. Paul's Epiftles in this manner ;
as copies of them could be procured ; no doubt
can poffibly be entertained, but that as foon as
* Romans i. 7- t Philippians i. I.
f Philemon v.2. 2d Peter iii. 16.
Either
ARGUMENTS, &C. 17
Either of the Evangelifts had prefented any Con-
gregation with the Original of his Goipel ; which
was of a nature fo much more neceffary for, and
fo much better adapted to, the inftruclion of all, in
the very grounds and reafons of the faith in Jefus,
than any of the Epiftles ; they would certainly caufe
copies of that Goipel to be tranfcribed for other
Congregations ; as well as, by degrees, for private
perfons likewife ; and would all have them pub-
licly read, in the fame manner, as foon as they
could be obtained.
THE neceffity of this practice, in that early age
of the Church, muft have been fo ftrongly felt,
that it could not be omitted. For, as the Chriftians
had not then any large buildings fet apart for
the purpofe of religious worfliip ; but were ob-
liged to meet at the private houfes of fome of the
difciples, where but few could afiemble together
at one time ; and there muft therefore have been
feveral of thefe fmall Congregations in the larger
cities, wherever the difciples were numerous ; till
fo many copies of the Gofpels could be taken, that
each Congregation might have one, either they
muft have been under the neceffity of carrying
the Original, or rather fome copy, to the different
houfes of meeting ; that each Congregation might
hear it read ; or elfe, all the different Congrega-
tions muft have alTembled, at different times, at
b the
IS A KG V M \ T 3, &<
the fame houfc, for that purpole ; and the in-
nce, and even danger, attending both
the!' .icnts, and efpccially in the times of
persecution, rnuft have been fo fenfibly felt, that
circumfuiiice alone muft certainly have fet
the ChriftiaHs to work, to caufe copies to be
tranfcribed, as faft as might be, for the ufe of all
Congregations.
u in addition to thefe confiderations it is of
importance to obfervc, that all thofe perfons who
were thus continually employed in tranfcribing the
Gofpels, muft unavoidably have had the genuine
contents of them fo accurately imprefled upon their
minds, that no faliification of, or addition to them,
of any confiderable length, or at all ftriking in its
particulars, could poffibly have efcaped their inftan-
taneous detection.
SUCH then being the circumftances of the cafe,
Was it poffible for thofe particulars relating to the
conception and birth of Jefus, which are recorded
in the firft and fecond chapters of the Gofpel of St.
Matthew, as it has been delivered down to us, to
have been forged, and clandeftinely added to any
copies of it ; and then to have been produced as
genuine parts of that Gofpel ; without being imme-
diately condemned as forgeries, and exploded ; let
this Gofpel have been firft made public by St
Matthew at whatever time, and place, it might?
1
A R G V M E N T S, &C. 19
IF St. Matthew firft delivered it to the difciples
either very early ; or at any time before the coun-
cil held at Jerufalem, upon the deputation of
Paul and Barnabas from Antioch, in the year
49, or 50 ; that is, at any time within fixteen, or
feventeen years after the Afcenfion ; while the
Apoftles in general, as well as fome other chofen
difciples, were engaged in preaching the Gofpel,
not only at Jerufalem, but throughout Judea,
and in the neighbouring countries ; any attempt
to add the particulars in queftion, as they have
been delivered down to us, muft have been im-
mediately detected ; not only becaufe it muft
have been perfectly well known to all in general,
that the facts fo related were till then abfolutely
unheard of, and therefore certainly falfe ; as well
as becaufe the Original Goipel given to the difciples
by St. Matthew himfelf, and many undoubtedly au-
thentic copies of it, muft have been extant, and well
known, and would at once have proved the fuppofed
addition to be a forgery ; but likewife, becaufe
fome or other of the Apoftles ; who were all at this
time employed in preaching the Gofpel through-
out Judea, and in the countries round about it ;
muft very foon have been informed of thefe forged
narrations, and appealed to upon them ; and would
immediately have fought out, and condemned, the
copies in which they were inferted ; and have made
the rnoft public declarations, that the particulars in
b 2 quef-
20 ARGUMENTS, &C.
queftion were forged, and void of all foundation in
truth.
AND whether the Gofpel of St. Matthew was
made public by the Apoftle before, or after, the
year 4y, or 50 ; if the particulars in queftion were
added to it at any time before the year 62 ; that is,
not later than nine and twenty years after the Afcen-
fion ; the forgery muft have been no lefs certainly
detected ; not only bccaufe the greater number of
authentic copies, which muft have been taken in
this longer interval ; as well as the Original itfelf,
which muft have been preferved to a much later
time ; would indifputably have proved it a forgery ;
but more efpecially, becaufe James the Juft; who
reiided at Jerusalem, as Head, or Bifhop, of the
Church in Judea, till he was put to death there, in
the year 62 ; muft very foon have been informed of
the remarkable addition in queftion, containing ac-
counts of fuch ationilhing miraculous tranfations ;
and would certainly, by his o^vn authority, have con-
demned, in the moft public and effectual manner, ib
flagitious a falfification ; as foon as the attempt to
obtrude it upon the belief of the Church had come
to his knowledge.
AND what, is it reafonable to believe, would
have taken place ; if, agreeably to the moft ancient
teftimony, and the judgment of foine of the moft
refpeclable Writers *, St. Matthew did not make
* See Lardner's Supplement, ch. v. as before; and b. i.
ch. xiii. p. 511513, of Vol. VI. of his Works.
his
ARGUMENT S, &C. <2 \
his Gofpel public till about the year 63, 64, or
6J ; that is, about thirty years after the Afcen-
iion ; when James the Jult, the firit Bifhop of the
Chriftian Church in Judea, was now dead ; and the
Apoftles in general were difperfed in other coun-
tries, and occupied in preaching the Goipei
there ?
I\ this cafe it is evident, that the forgery in
queftion could not pofiibly be attempted till many
years after the year 64, or 65 ; the time at which
we are now fuppofmg St. Matthew to have made
his genuine Gofpel public ; becauie if it had been
attempted fooner, St. Matthew's Original Gofpel,
which mult have been well known, and preferved
many years, would immediately have refuted it.
And during that number of years, the authentic
Copies taken from the Original, in the more en-
larged ftate of the Church at that later period,
would have become fo numerous, that no con-
fiderable, or remarkable forgery ; and certainly
none fo very confiderable, and fo extremely re-
markable, as that in queftion ; introduced into a
very few copies only ; (and into a very few copies
only could fuch a forgery be introduced ;) could
have efcaped being detected, and exploded, by all
thole Chriftian Congregations, as well as indivi-
duals, under whole infpection any fuch fuppofed
interpolated copies had come.
b 3 LET
22 ARGUMENTS, &C.
LET us put the cafe, that the experiment had
actually been tried : let us fuppofe, for a moment,
that the paffages under confideration are not ge-
nuine ; but were clandeftinely added, no matter
by what means, to fome copy, or copies ; and let
us confider, what mult have been the fticcefs of the
attempt to get them received as genuine, either by
thofe private Chriftians, or thofe Chriftian Congre-
gations, to whofe perufal the fuppofed interpolated
copy, or copies, were in any artful manner fub-
mitted ; and fo, in procefs of time, by the Church
at large,
COULD any Chriftian whatever have been
brought to believe, upon perufing one of thefe
fuppofed interpolated copies, that he had always
before read in the Gofpel of St. Matthew, That
" Mary the Mother of Jefus had been found with
" child, before Jofeph and She came together ;"
if, when this Gofpel was firft made public by the
Apoitle, and till the very time when this inter-
polation was firft inferted in fome copies, no
fuch fac~l had been mentioned in it ? Or, that he
had always read in it, That " an Angel of the
" Lord had appeared unto Jofeph in a dream,
" faying, Jofeph, thou Son of David, fear not
" to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that
" which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghoft :
" and flic fliall bring forth a Son, and thou ftialt
call
ARC U M E X T S, , 23
il his name Jefus ; for he fhall lave his people
4 - iVoni their lins ;" if no fuch molt aftonilliing,
miraculous facts had till then been there related ?
Could any one have been brought to believe, that
this Gofpel had always informed him, That " in
44 the days of Herod the King, there had come
* k \Viic Men from the Eaft to Jernfalem, laying,
" Where is he that is born King of the Jews ;
* for we have fcen his ftar in the Eaft, and are
<; come to worfhip him ?" That on account of
this application, " Herod affembled the Chief
" Prielts, and the Scribes of the people, and
" demanded of them, where Chrift iliould be
" born!" That in confequence of their deter-
mining that Bethlehem was the place, Herod
fent the Wife Men thither; and that there, by
means of the fame fupernatural light which they
had feen in the Eaft, the Wife Men actually
found him ; and that Herod foon after caufed all
the infants in Bethlehem, and all its coasts, to be
put to death ; merely with a view to deltroy him ?
Was it even naturally poiiible for any one,
upon reading fuch particulars as thefe, in any inter-
polated copies of St. Matthew's Gofpel, to have
become perfuaded, that he had always read thefe
particulars in that Gofpel ; when no fuch parti-
culars had in fact been related in it, till the time
when they were forged, and clandeftinely added
b 4 to
24 ARGUMENTS, &C.
to fome very few copies of it ? It is abfolutely felf-
eyident, tliat no perfon in his fenfes could be fo
deceived.
THERE was like wife another very important
circumitance, by means of which any fuch at*
tempt, as that in queftion, muft inevitably have
been exploded, if it had been tried at any time
between the death of James the Juft, in the year
62, .and the year 100. The Apoftle and Evan-
geliit St. John lived to that period. Either there-
fore the forgery would immediately have been
exploded, by the decifive teftimony of the difciples
where it was firft brought forward ; or elfe, thofe
difciples who refifted the iinpofition would, no
doubt, have fent a deputation to the Apoftle
John, with a copy of thefe interpolated paflages ;
for his Apoftolical determination upon them ; and
St. John would at once have pronounced them a
forgery ; by a judgment which even the very con-
trivers of the forgery could not have dared to
controvert.
ALL ideas of the forgery in queftion muft
therefore be totally given up ; or elfe, as a lail
refource, it muft be contended, that it was not
contrived and executed till after the death of the
Apoftle and Evangclift St. John. But to fuppofe,
that accounts -of : fuch events as thofe in queftion
could be invented, and added to the genuine
Gofpel
A K G U M E N T S, &C 25
Gofpel of St. Matthew, after the year 100; that is,
at a period of no lefs than feventy years after the
the faith in Jefus had been preached by all the
Apoftles ; and full fix and thirty years, at the leaft,
after St. Matthew's Gofpel had been made public
by its author ; and been read both publicly in the
Chriftian Congregations, and privately in Chriftian
families ; as well as after a very great number
of faithful copies muft have been tranfcribed,
by perfons properly employed, from the uncor-
rupted Original ; and further to imagine, that a
forgery fo exceedingly remarkable in itfelf, and
fo circumftanced, mould Viot have been immedi-
ately exploded ; nay, and even that it ihould have
been received, and delivered down to us as an un-
doubtedly genuine part of the Gofpel concerned ;
as it a&ually has been ; would Jbe a fuppofition fo
extravagantly abfurd and incredible, as not to need
refutation.
BESIDES ; without having recourfe either to
the Original, or the authentic copies, of St. Mat-
thew's Gofpel ; it muft have been Ib obvious to
the common fenle of every one, That any facts of
a moft aftonilhing, and miraculous nature, and
afcribing an immediate divine origin to Jefus ;
which no one of the Apoftles had ever made men-
tion of, from the time of their beginning to
preach the Gofpel even to their deaths ; through a
period
26 ARGUMENTS, &C.
period of no lefs than feventy years ; muft have
been forged ; -This muft have been fo obvious ;
that fuch a forged narration, added to St. Matthew's
Gofpel, at any fuch late period of time as after the
death of the Apoftle John, or indeed many years
earlier, could not pofiibly have been permitted
to gain the fmalleft degree of credit; or to have
efcaped the moll determined, and immediate
rejection.
IV. HAVING feen the impoffibility of the fuccefs
of the forgery in queftion, as it relates immediately
to the Gofpel of St. Matthew ; we muft now go on
to enquire, whether it can be at all more credible
with refpeft to that of St. Luke.
IT is not certainly known at what particular
time, or in what particular place, St. Luke made
his Gofpel public. It has been generally thought,
that it was firft publiihed in Achaia ; but by
Some, either at Antioch, or in fme part of
Syria, or in Paleftine *. And though Some have
fuppofed it to have appeared about fifteen, and
Some about two and twenty years after the Af-
cenfion ; the more prevailing opinion is, that it
was not delivered by the Evangelift to the difci-
* See Lardner's Supplement, ch. riii. fed. 6. p. 132, of
Vol. VI. of his Works. But fee likewife Dr. Campbell's'
Preface to his Tranflation of St. Luke's Gofpel, p. 178, 179.
pies
A R G U M E N T S, &C. 27
pics till towards the year 64 ; that is, about thirty
? after that event*.
THE fame kind of confulerations, which have
proved the utter incredibility of the forgeries in
queftion in relation to the Gofpel of St. Matthew,
will no lefs ftrongly prove its utter incredibility with
regard to that of St. Luke likewife.
No attempt to introduce a forgery of fuch a
kind, fo aitoniming in its particulars, and fo
ftriking by its length, could be hazarded till
many years after this Gofpel had been made pub-
lic ; becaufe the Original, given by Luke him-
felf, which muft have been preferved for many
years, would immediately have refuted it. And
when many years had elapfed, from its being
made public for the general ufe of the difciples,
fo many copies of it muft have been tranfcribed ;
as well for the purpofe of being publicly read in
the different Congregations, as for the private
peruial of different families ; that any forgeries in-
ferted in a very few copies ; (which was all that
could poflibly be done ;) if they were of any con-
fiderable length, and contained any remarkable
particulars, mult have been taken notice of, as
foon as they were made public, and effectually
exploded.
* See Lardner's Supplement, ch. iv. feft. 4; and chapu
viii. feft, 4. in Vol. VI, of bis Works.
AND
S A R G U M E N T S, &C.
AND what then is the length, as well as the re-
markablenefs, of the particulars of the fuppofed
addition to St. Luke? No lefs than the whole
firft, and nearly the whole fecond chapter of his
Gofpel, as it has been delivered down to us ; con-
taining The account of the appearance of the
Angel Gabriel to Zacharias in the Temple ; The
Angel's prediction that Elizabeth, hitherto bar-
ren, and now paft the time of child-bearing,
ihould bear a Son, who Ihould be named John ;
That this John Ihould be great in the fight of
the Lord ; be filled with the Holy Ghoft even
from his Mother's womb ; and go before the
Lord in the fpirit and power of Elias, to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord; The
Angel's puniming Zacharias, by ftriking him inftan-
taneoufly dumb, for doubting the truth of his pre-
diction ; The appearance of the fame Angel foon
after to Mary : his prediction to her likewife, that
fhe ihould conceive a Son ; and That, above all,
in a fupernatural manner ; even by the operation of
the Holy Ghoft, and the power of the Higheft ;
That that Son Ihould therefore be called the
Son of God ; That he Ihould fit upon the throne
of his father David, and reign over the houfe of
Jacob ; and, that of his kingdom there mould be
no end ; The verification of thefe predictions
both to Elizabeth, and Mary, and their inter-
courfc
A 11 G U M E N T S, &C. 9
courfc in confcquence of it ; The birth, and the
circumftanees accompanying the naming of John ;
more ripecially Zacharias's fudden recovery of his
JJH -cell on that occafion ; and his immediately fore-
telling, that John mould be called the prophet of
the higheft, &c. The miraculous circumftanees ac-
companying the birth of Jefus ; The appearance
of an angel, attended by a multitude of the heavenly
hoft, to fome Shepherds near Bethlehem ; declaring
to the Shepherds; " I bring you good tidings of
" great joy, which {hall be to all people ; for
" unto you is born this day, in the city' of
" David, a Saviour, which is Chrift, the. Lord ;"
and iiiitru&ing them where to find him, which
o
they immediately did : And, in the laft place,
the prophetic declarations of Simeon and Anna
in the temple ; announcing Jefus for a light fent
to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of
Ifrael.
SUCH particulars as thefe, not only fo numerous
and aftonifliing, but ftriclly miraculous ; which,
if they were a forged addition to Luke's genuine
Gofpel, never could have been made mention of
by any one of the Apoftles, in the courfe of their
preaching ; nor ever have been heard of by any
perfon, till they were found added to fome copy,
or fome very few copies, of St. Luke's Gofpel ;
''n which we are to fuppofe them to have been
clan-
SO ARGUMENTS, &C.
clandeftinely inferted ; could no fooner have
brought out for infpeaion, in order to impofe them
on the credulity of the Chriftian world, than they
would have been exploded by any one to whom they
were fliewn ; as a moft unqueftionable, as well as
unparalleled faliification.
NOR is the particular place, and manner, in
which thefe relations are introduced in the Gofpel
of St. Luke, much lefs incredible ; fuppofing
them to have been forged, and clandeftinely in-
'ferted ; than even the forgeries themfelves. St.
Luke's Gofpel opens with the following introduc-
tj on> Forafmuch as many have taken in hand
" to fet forth, in order, a declaration of thofe
" things, which are moft fur dy believed among us ;
" even as They delivered them unto us, which from
" the beginning were eye-wit neffes, and Minifters of
" the Word ; it ieemed good to me alfo ; having
" had perfect under/landing of all things from the
" very jirjl : to write unto Thee, in order, Moft
" Excellent Theophilus ; that Thou mightefi know
(i the certainty of thofe things wherein thou haft
been iiiftructed"
THIS is evidently an exprefs, and decifive de-
claration ; to the very perfon to whom St. Luke
addreffes his Gofpel ; not that the hiftory, with
which he was going to prefent him, would con-
tain any extraordinary, or miraculous events,
which
A H G U M N T S, &C. 31
which he had not heard of before ; but, on the con-
trary, that it would o ily give him a particular, and
"fatisfctClory account of all thofe important facts,
ichich had already been made known, as well to
him, as to all the difciples; and which had been
conftantlif affirmed by the Apoftles themfelves, from
their jir ft beginning to preach the Gofpel ; and, in
confequence of their affirmations, firmly believed,
from the very beginning, by all whom they had ever
converted to the Chrijiian faith.
YET, if it be fuppofed, that the particulars in
queftion, relative to the conceptions, and births,
of John the Baptift, and Jefus, were not a genuine
part of this Gofpel ; the Authors of this iuppofed
forgery muft have chofen to infert all theie moft
aftoniiliing particulars of their own inventing ;
which no one could have heard of till they were i'o
inferted ; immediately after this very introduction ;
which, in that cafe, muft not only have given the
lie, in the moft direct and finking manner, to
the whole interpolation ; but mult have pointed it
out fo plainly for an interpolation, as to render it
impoflible for it to have efcaped the notice of even
the moft dull, or inattentive reader. And this,
certainly, we may venture to affirm, is utterly
incredible.
So enormous, indeed, and extravagant, would
fuch an interpolation as that in queltion have
been.
32 ARGUMENTS, &C.
been, that, in whatever part of St. Luke's Gofpel
it had been introduced, it muft have been ob-
ferved, and detected. But certainly, if it had
been poffible for any one to reiblve to try the
experiment of inferring it at all, he could never
have chofen to do it immediately after- that par-
ticular declaration of St. Luke, which muft ren-
der the forgery more exceedingly ftriking, and
confpicuous, than it would have been in any other
place.
IN" fact, if it had been pomble for any one to
have determined to make this interpolation, ia
this particular place ; he muft, at the fame time,
have determined to add to it another ; by alter-
ing St. Luke's introduction, to fuit it to his pur-
pofe ; and making him inform Theophilus, that
he ihould lay before him, not only a full and fa-
tisfactory account f all thofe particulars, relating
to Jefus, which he had before heard ; but like-
wife, feveral moft important miraculous facts,
which he had never before been informed of.
And this fingle circumttance, therefore, that the
particulars in queftion are placed immediately
after fuch an introduction as they directly follow,
is alone a decifive proof, that they muft have been
a genuine part of St. Luke's original Gofpel ; and
that the fats which they contain muft have been
related by the Apoftles, as oceafion required, to
all
ARGUMENTS, &C. 33
all the diiciples they made, from the very time of
their beginning to preach the Goipel.
V. BUT waving for a moment all thefe con-
fidcrations, and fuppofmg the forgeries in quef-
tion to have been attempted, what muit have been
the confequence ? No fooner could the contrivers
of them have brought them forward, than they
muft have been exploded by all who were not
concerned in the forgery of them ; fince no perion
could poflibly give credit to relations fo extremely
remarkable as thefe, which no one of the Apoftles
could ever have made mention of; and for which
no authority whatever could be pretended. And
wherever the experiment had been tried ; whe-
ther in Palestine, Syria, or Achaia ; if notwith-
fianding their immediate rejection by thofe to whom
they were propofed, they had ftill been contended
for, as authentic, by thofe who contrived, and
produced them ; an account of them would cer-
tainly have been tranfmitted to Jerufalem, for the
judgment of that Church upon them ; and there
they would certainly have been authoritatively con-
demned.
WHEN there arofe a difpute among the difci-
ples at Antioch, about the necefiity of circum-
cifiun, they fent Paul and Barnabas' to Jerufalem,
to have the point authoritatively decided by the
c Apoftles
34 A & G U M E N T S, &C.
Apoftles there *. And in the fame manner, no
doubt, if St. Matthew's and St. Luke's Gofpels
were made public early enough to permit the for-
geries in queltion to be attempted at any time
during the life of James the Juft; who prefided
over the Church in Judea for about thirty years
after the Afccniion ; that is, till the year 62 ; to
him, undoubtedly, an account of them would have
been fent ; if they were at all perfiitcd in ; and by
him the falfehood of them would have been dcci-
fively declared.
AND if we iliould fuppofe the attempt not to have
been made till after the death of James the Juft, in
the year 62 ; but before the death of the Apoftlo
and Evangelilt St. John, who lived to about the
year 100 ; it cannot be doubted, but that as foon as
thefe moft aftonilliing, and before unheard of
relations were made public, the Biiliop, and other
molt coniiderable members of the Church at Je-
'rufalem would have lent a deputation to St. John ;
with copies of the fuppofed interpolated parts of
Matthew's and Luke's Gofpels ; for his Apoftolicai
'judgment upon their authenticity, and truth. And
after St. John had authoritatively condemned them
as furreptitious, and falfe ; as lie would, and
muft have done ; it would have been utterly im-
* Ads of the Apoftles, ch. XY
poffibi
A R G U M E N T S, &C. 35
pofiible for them to have been tranfmitfed to us, as
genuine parts of the Gofpels concerned, in the
manner they actually have been. On the contrary,
either the very memory of thefe forgeries would
have died away, and we fhould never have heard of
them ; or elfe St. John's apoltolical condemnation
of them would certainly have been tranfmitted
to us, together with an account of the forgeries
themfelves.
OR if, for arguments fake, we put the fup-
poiition, that the contrivers of the fuppofed for-
geries might ftill endeavour to keep up a party
in their fupport ; it cannot be queftioned, but
that the fame heads of the Church at Jerufalem,
who had applied to St. John for his judgment
upon them, would immediately have informed
him of the fupport ftill attempted to be given to
them, even in oppofition to the judgment he had
pronounced againtt them ; and that St. John would
then have addrelled an Epiitle to all the Chrif-
tian Churches, to prevent the poilibility of their
being milled by fuch an impious attempt. And
certainly, That Epiitle, written upon fo very ex-
traordinary an occaiion, could not but have been
delivered down to us; together with the three
Epiftles of his writing which we now have. And as,
after this Epiitle of St. John had been made pub-
lic, no Chriimns, rwpt the fuppofed liipporters
c Q of
56 A R G U M N T S, &C.
of the forgeries, would either have added the paf-
fages in queftion to thofe copies of the Gofpels of
St. Matthew and St. Luke, of which they were
already pofiefled ; or would have prefixed them
to any copies of thole Gofpels, which might after-
wards have been tranfcribed ; the confequence inuft
have been, that it would have been only not
abfolutely impoffible for fo much as even a iingle
copy of thofe Gofpels, to which the forgeries
ivere added, to have come down to us ; and we
fliould not have known what the contents of thefe
forgeries were ; except from the Epiftle of St.
John written purpofely to condemn them ; and
whatever the early Chriftian Writers might have
mentioned concerning 1 them. Whereas the aclusl
fact is, that no fuch Epiftle was ever written by
St. John; and all the copies of the Gofpels
concerned, which have been tranfmitted to us;
except thofe, the beginnings of which are mani-
feftly loft; are found to contain the paifages in
queftion *.
VI. IF then the forgeries in queftion fliould
be ftill conceived poffible, it can only be by
fuppofing them to have taken place at fome time
* See Dr. Campbell's Note on Matt. ii. 23: Vol. II.
. 308, of his Tranflation of the Gofpels. " It is proper to
bferve," &c.
after
ARGUMENTS, &f. 37
after tlic death of the Apoftlc John ; when there was -
no longer any pcrfon living, \\ ho could on his own
apoitolical authority condemn them. But fuppofmg
even this to have been the cafe, what mult have been
tlie ifiue ?
THE lateft time afiigned for the publication of
St. Matthew's and St. Luke's Gofpels is about the
year 63, 64, or 65 * ; and the Apoftle and Evan-
gelift St. John lived to about the year 100 ; that is,
about five, or iix, and thirty years after this
lateft time of their publication. During this in-
terval of five, or fix, and thirty years ; and efpe-
cially in that advanced Hate of the Church, near
the beginning of the Second Century ; very many
copies of Matthew's and Luke's Gofpels mult
have been tranfcribed, and carefully kept ; not
only for private perufal, but, more efpecially, to
be read at the religious meetings of the difciples.
Several years, therefore, before the death of the
Apoftle and Evangelift St. John, the genuine con-
tents of thefe Gofpels muft have been fo perfectly
well known ; and there muft have been fo many
copies of them, whofe completenefs, as well as
authenticity, would not admit of doubt; and fo
many perfons who knew that to be the cafe ; that
if any one could have been wild enough to invent
* See the authorities referred to in the note in page 27.
C 3 the
38 A P v G U M E N T S, &C,
the pafiages in queftion, and ibift them into any
copies of the Goipels concerned, which he could
get into his poiieflion ; after the death of the
Apoitle John ; and then bring thofe copies into
public notice ; and fubinit them to public infpec-
tion as unadulterated ; and therefore, as the only
authentic, and complete copies of thele Gofpels ;
it would have been abfolutely impoflible, but that
fuch impudent forgeries muft have been immedi-
ately exploded ; and the interpolations themfelves
could not have been delivered down to us, as they
actually have been, as genuine parts of the Gofpels
in which they are found.
BESIDES, at whatever time, whether early or late,
after the death of the Apoftle John, we may fuppofc
the attempt to have been made, to pafs the narra-
tions in queftion for genuine upon the Chriitian
world ; the particulars related in them muft have!
been abfolutely unheard of till that very time, by all
except the few who were concerned in forging them ;
and no one copy of the Gofpels concerned could at
that time have been found to contain them ; ex-
cept thofe very few, into which the contrivers of
the fuppofed forgeries had been able to foiil.
them.
WHAT then muft have been the cafe, a,s foon
as the attempt to pafs them upon the difciples in
general was brought forward; wherever it may
be
A R C V M K X T S, , S9
be funpofed to have been made? Chriftians by
being cither converted to the Chriitian i'aith, or
educated in it, did not become deiritute of common
fenfe: and they mutt therefore have acted, upon
particular oceaiion, as peribns who were
common fenfc certainly would have
I If the copies, to which the iiippofed forged
narrations were added, were in private hands, the
perfons to whom they were dircclly Ihewn, or to
whole notice they were in any artful manner fub-
initted, in order to get llicie aftoniiliing additions
received, would immediately have compared
them, not only with other copies in private hands
likewife ; but efpecially with thofe copies, which
were read in their religious meetings, at thofe
places, where the fuppofed corrupted copies were
brought into notice. Or if the forgers could
have found means to corrupt fonic copy, or evea
more than one copy, made ufe of at their reli-
gious meetings ; the pvefiding, and moft intelli-
gent members of ^hofe Congregations to which
thele copies belonged, as fooii as they came to
hear thefe before unheard of, and aftonilhing re-
lations read among them, at their religious meet-
ings, would certainly have looked for them in
their own private copies, as well as in the private
copies of all to whom they had accefs ; and would
likewife have enquired, whether thofe, till then?
unheard
40 ARGUMENT S, &C.
unheard of, narrations were to be found in the
copies made ufe of in other Congregations, as
well as their own. And as the number of copies,
which the contrivers of the fuppofed forgeries
could have found mearfs to corrupt, muft have
been very finall ; and every other copy, without
exception, would have borne teftimony againft
them ; while every perlbn not concerned in the
fuppofed forgeries muft have known with abfo-
lute certainty, that he had never feen, or heard
of, any fuch relations as thofe in queftion, till
the time when the forgers of them produced
them into notice;' the attempt to fupport thefe
forgeries muft either have been immediately
given up, and the forgeries themfelves have been
totally rejected ; or elfe, if the perfons who
forged them, and fuch as they might have gained
over to their party, (if indeed they could have
gained any ;) continued obftinaiely to contend for
them as genuine ; and to ufe thofe copies into
which thefe narrations had been foifted, as the
only complete copies of the two Gofpels con-
cerned ; If this, merely for the fake of argu-
ment, be fuppofed not abfolutely impoffible ;
then This Party muft immediately have become
noticed as a, Small New Se6l of Chriftians ; who
diftinguifhed themfelves from the great body of
the Chriftian Church, by the peculiarity of re-
ceiving
ARGUMENTS, &C. 41
ceiving the paflnges in quefdon as genuine, while
every one elfe rejected them as forged.
THIS muft at all events have proved the cafe.
And tliis circumftance will furniih us with another
fatisfaclory proof, that it is abfolutely impofiible
for the fuppofed forgeries to have been contrived,
and executed, at any time after the death of the
Apoftlc John.
IF the attempt fuppofed had been made after
the death of John ; who lived to the end of the
firft century ; there muft have been a time, after
the beginning of the Second Century, when the
particulars in queftion, contained in the two firft
chapters of the Gofpels of Matthew and Luke,
as we have them, firft began to be heard of.
There mult have been a time, after the begin-
ning of the Second Century, when they who
received thefe paflages as genuine, firft became
known, as a Small New Sect of ' Chriftians ;
diftinguifhing themfelves from all other Chriftians
by that very peculiarity; and when the whole
Cliriltian Church, except this very Small New
Sect, univerfally rejected thefe paiTages as noto-
rious interpolations. And fmce all the unmu-
tilated copies of the two Gofpels concerned, \\hicli
have come down to us> contain the paflages in
queftion ; there muft likewife have been, at ibme
period ftill later in the Second Century, a far
more
42 ARGUMENTS, &c.
more remarkable epocha ftill ; a time, when
great body of Chriftians, in all places, muft have
come over to the diftinguilhing peculiarity of this
Small New Seel ; and when, agreeing to receive the
paffages in queftiori as genuine, they mult actually,
and by concert, have corrupted all their authentic
copies of the two Gofpeis concerned ; by prefixing
univerfally theie pailages to them, as original parts
of them.
AND if the Chriftian Church produced any
Writers upon the affairs of the Church, at, or
not very long after, that time ; thofe Writers
muft inevitably have recorded tliefe aftonifhing
events ; to which there^ is nothing fmiilar in the
hiftory of mankind. \Vhether they could have
given a fatisfactory account of the means by which
fo unparalleled a revolution was brought abo,ut
or not ; they would, at all events, have recorded
the revolution itfelf; and we mould have been
explicitly informed by them ; That during a
long period the Gofpeis of Matthew and Luke
were not known to have contained thofe paf-
fages relating to the conceptions and births, of
John the Baptift, and Jefus ; which, at the tim
when they wrote, were univerfallv placed at the
beginning of them :-^ That the Chriftiau Church
had poiTeifcd thofe Gofpeis without the paifages
concerned, till fuch a certain period in the early
part
ARGUMENT 8, &C. 43
i of the Second Century : but that not long
Ijcfore that time, a New Sect of Chriitians had
fpnmg up ; who then produced fome copy, or
ropic.^. of thole Gofpcls, containing the paflages
in queftion; and contended, that they had been
originally contained in them ; by what means fo-
c it had happened, that they had been left out
of all the copies, except thole which they had pro-
duced containing them. That at length., this New
Seel found means to perfuade the whole Chrillian
Church to adopt this belief; arid that then, accord-
ingly, the copies of thefe Gofpels were all by
degrees altered, and the paffages in queftion inierted
in them, as they have been delivered down from,
them to us.
Sue n muft have been the hiftory of thefc mar-
vellous events, which the Chriitian Writers, who
flourilhed but a very few years after they muft have
taken place, would certainly have given us ; if the
pail ages in queftion had been forged, and added to
their refpeftive- Gofpels, at any time after the death
of the Apoltlc, and Evangelift, St. John.
BUT fo far is this from being the cafe, that
the hiftory of the Church is an abfolute, and di-
rect contradiction to every idea of this kind ; and
proves ail fuch fuppofitions to be as falfe in faciy
as they are, in their very nature, abfurd and im-
pollible. *
THE
44 ARGUMENT*, &C,
THE Chrifiian Writers, who flourished not
long after the death of the Apoltle John, do not
,eft any fuch notion, as that there ever was a
time ; either after the death of John, or before it ;
when the Gofpels of Matthew, and Luke, did not
contain thofe paiiages relating to the conceptions,
and births, of John the Baptilt and Jefus, which
they now do contain. They give not the leaft
hint of any time, at which the Chriftian Church,
from having the Gofpels of Matthew and Luke
without thefe paiiages, were firit made acquainted
with them ; and, from being prevailed on to con-
fider them as genuine, agreed to admit them ; and
accordingly added them to all the copies of thefe
Gofpels ; of none of which they had before made
a part.
BUT, in direct contradiction to every fuch
idea, they explicitly fhcw, that very early in the
Second Century, not long after the death of the
Apoftle John, there was indeed grown up into
public notice a Ncu-'Sect of Chriftians, known
by the name of Ebionites ; who (in agreement
with a fomewhat earlier fecr, the Cerinthians,)
differed from the Church at large, with refpcci
to the Miraculous Conception of Jefus, recorded
in the paflages in queftion : but that this S
inftead of being the firft publifhcrs, and defenders,
of thefe paflages ; and the firlt to perfuade the
Church
A R G U M I 45
Church at large nena, and add them to
the i pels concerned: were aciualiy
cuilhea ', oppofed to the Catholic Church,
uibdieving the particulars recorded in theft
paffages, ana ore rejecting them ; white the
:ge continued to receive them, as ua-
arts of their R Gofpels; known
to be f(, from the :ne when thofe GofpeU
were firi delivered to the difciples, by the Evange-
otethem*.
THEY mention lik m important particular
in the conduct of this Seel ; which may
tiat their dilbelief of the miraculous C
01 of Jefus ought not to be regarded as &
rrftince of any moment, in jud_
thofe p:. in the Gofpcls
:alars relating to it are recorded.
that this Seel, on account of the
ilike they entertained to the doctrk:
* S;o Mofheim's Ecclefiafb'cal Hiftoiy, 1ft Centun-, p. *,
and 2d Centniy, p. 2, c: Tliat
one brauch of the Ebiouites denied the miraculous Concep-
tion, fee the pafiages from Eufebius, quoted by Lardcer,
ana
particulaiy Vol. III. p. 541, note IL Of i e beginning of
the Gofpei of the Ebionites, fee the reference to Epiphaniui,
Lardr. h Credibility, p. t,
th. xir. v n.
the
46 A B G riMF XT 8, L.
the abolition of the Jewilli Law by the Got.
which was very particularly iniilted on | )V
Paul ; rejected entirely both St. Paul himfetf, and
his Epiltles*. From which fact alone it is abindantly
<-nt, that their diibelief of the miracukus Con-
ception of Jefus cannot afford even the linaleft pre-
fuinption againit the authenticity of thofe iaii;t
of the firft and fecond chapters of the Gcfpcls of
St. Matthew and St. Luke, in which the paticulars
of it are recorded.
AND they fliew further, that though his S
perfifted in diibelieving the contents of tlcfe paf-
iages ; the Church at large were not, cvo in the
final left degree, influenced by their conciift, to
difbelieve them likewife ; but continued to rec
them; as it is evident from tL -.unit
have done from the beginning ; and, acccrdinizly,
delivered them down to us, as of the fame urn:
tionable authority with any other p:i
thofe Gofpels contain.
HAVING now feen, in the firft pla, the
Narratives in queftion are in themfelvesof fuch
a nature, as to render it abfolutely incredible,
* That the Ebionites rejected St. Paul, ami his Forties, f.*
Lardner's Works, Vol. II. p. 354 ; That is 'it}-, p. 2 ?
ch. xxix. fed. iv. 20; and the quotation iVom Eufebius in
Vol. VII. p. 20. And Mar/h's Tr
Tntrodurtion to the New Teft. Vol. I. p. 36\ 37.
that
R U M EXT S, &C. 47
that they could be invented, and forged, by any
perfons whatever ; In the next, that if they
could have been forged, they could not have 1
made public at any period of time, either during
the life, or alter the death, of the Apoftle and
^elift St. John, without being inevitably ex-
ploded ; And further, that even if they could have
been forged ; and matters could have been fo ma-
naged by thofe who forged them. a= to procure their
reception by the Church at large, as genuine
pafiagtts of the two Gofpels concerned ; the
hiitory of the Church relating to them mult then
have been diametrically oppofite to what it
actually is ; Having feen all this, we might
here reft the queftion ; as having abundantly
proved, that the narratives under confidcration,
relating to the births of Jefus and the Baptiit, mult
have been authentic paffages of their respective
Gofpels.
BUT becaufe fome of the earlicft Chriftian S
difbelieved the contents of thefe relations ; and
that circumiumce has probably been the radical
caufe of whatever doubts about them, or actual
diibelief of them, may at this day be entertained ;
it will certainly be ufeful, to Ihew, further, that
their authenticity is very fatisfaclorily confirmed,
not only by an early Writer of the Church at
who, with the Church, held their autho-
rity
4$ ARGUMENTS, &C.
rity to be beyond all doubt; but even by thofe
very Sects, who did not believe their contents,
and rejected them ; as well as by the moft diftin-
guifhed of thole profelfed Enemies to the faith
In Jefus, who exerted all their abilities to over-
throw it.
VII. AND that thefe paflages were certainly au-
thentic ; as the Church at large, without the fmalleft
doubt, held them to bp ; the marmpv in which they
are mentioned in the writings of Juftin Martyr, the
firft Apologift for Chriftianity, will afford us very
fatisfaftory corroborating proof.
JUSTIN wrote, and prefented his Firft Apology,
at the lateft within fifty years after the death of
the Apoftle John *. In it he repeatedly infifts upon
the fact, that Jefus was born of a Virgin ; which,
he likewife contends, it was foretold by Ifaiah,
that Jefus fhould be ; and for the truth of this
fact he refers to the particulars recorded in the
paflages in queftion ; and exprefsly affirms, that
thefe palfages were written by the fame Evange-
lifts who had written the whole hillory of Jefus ;
and without judging it requifite to fay a fy liable
* Cave's Life of Juftin, fed. S. Lardner's Works, Vol. II.
p. 117; that is, Credibility, p. 2, cli.x. Juftiii's Firft Apology,
N 46, p. 71. Ed. Paris, 1742.'
in
ARGUMENT S, &C. 49
in fupport of the truth of this aflertion *. This is
what he could not have done, if any doubts of the
authenticity of thefe pafiagcs had been at that time
entertained or if the Sects, who diibelieved the
particulars related in them, had attempted to pro-
duce any evidence, by which their authenticity
could be brought into queftion.
JUSTIN'S Apology was addreffed to the Em-
peror, the Senate, and the people of Rome ; and
was writterf, and prefented, for the very purpofe
of exciting in the Emperor a favourable opinion
of the Chriitians, and procuring a cetfation of
thofe cruelties, which were at that time exerciled
againft them. But had Juftin attempted to de-
ceive the Emperor, with the Senate, and People
of Rome, by boldly averting the genuinenefs of
thefe relations, when he knew their authenticity
was called into queftion ; (and if it had been, he
muft have known it;) he could have had nothing
to expect, but that fome of the very numerous
and powerful enemies of the Chriftians would have
taken advantage of a conduct fo highly culpable,
to encreafe both the odium, and the perfecution,
which the Chriftians laboured under. This was
fo extremely obvious, that it was impoffible for
Juftin not to reflect upo^ it. His having written
* See Juftin's Firft Apology, N 32, 33. Ed. Paris, 1742.
dl of
50 ARGUMENTS, &C.
of thefe pafiages, therefore, in the manner he has;
that is, his having poiitively aficrted, as an acknow-
ledged fact, which required no proof, that they
were written by the fame perfons, who wrote the
whole of thole Gofpels, of which they have been
tranfmitted to us as genuine parts ; in an Apology
for the Chriftians ; addrefled, and delivered to the
Emperor ; purpofcly to excite a favourable dif-
pofition in the Emperor towards the Chriftians -;
is an ample proof, that their authenticity was
not even questioned, (though the facts related in
them were not believed by the Seels already
mentioned ;) when he wrote this Apology ; that
is, within fifty years after the death of the Apoftle
John.
AND this conclnfion is very ftrongly confirmed
by Juftin's conduct in his Second Apology. Had
the authenticity of thefe pafiages been at all
doubtful, when in his Firft Apology he referred
to them as of unqueltioned authority ; juft as he
would have referred to any other paflages of the
fame Gofpels ; this artifice would quickly have
been obferved, and urged againft him. And if,
after this, he undertook to write, and prefent, a
Second Apology, to the then Emperor ; in order
to induce him to mitigate the feverities ftill exer-
cifed againft the Chriftians ; he muft have made
it his bufinefs in that Second Apology, to vin-
dicate
A R G U M E X T S, &C. 5 1
ilioatc the paflages in qucltion from whatever doubts
had bucn railed againft them ; and to prove fatis-
lactorily that they were authentic ; as in his Firlt
Apology he had, in the moft unqualified manner,
and without the leait mention of any proof, affirmed
them to be. But ib far is this from being the cafe ;
that in his Second Apology ; being led to mention,
that Jefus was made man, by being born, in con-
fequence of the will of God, and the Father ; lie
rs to what he had faid before upon this point,
as fully fufticicnt ; without adding any thing to
confirm his former aflertion*. And this cer-
tainly is a proof, that no objection had been
made to his unqualified affertion of the authen-
ticity of thefe pafiages, in his Firft Apology ; and
confequently, that no doubts were entertained con-
cerning it.
NOR is this all. The fame conclufion which is
thus eftablifhed by Jultm's two Apologies, is ftill
further confirmed by his Dialogue with Trypho
the Jew. If any doubts had been entertained of
the authenticity of thefe paflages, when Juftin
wrote this Dialogue, thole doubts muft have been
perfectly well known to the Jews in particular ;
* Sec Ju Ilia's Second Apology, N 6, p. 93, fame Edi-
tjon ; and compare it nith what he has faid, Firft Apology,
d2 and
5% ARGUMENT 5, &C.
and in uft have been alleged by them in their oppd*-
iition to the faith in Jefus. And this Dialogue
being defigned by Juftin as a profefied proof of
the truth of the Chriftian Revelation ; and more
especially as a refutation of fuch objections as
were alleged by the Jews againft it ; if thefe paf-
fages had been objected to as fpurious, at the time
when tliis Dialogue was cornpofed, and made pub-
lic, It would not have been poflible for Juitin to
have ailerted .their authenticity, and argued from
them, as he does in this Dialogue ; without, at
the fame time, introducing Trypho alleging fuch
objections, to prove them fpurious, as were known
To be urged againft them ; and then, in reply to
Trypho, producing fuch arguments as he thought
valid ; to mew that the objections urged by Trypho
were of no force.
JUST in this manner we actually find, that
when Juftin has alleged the prophecy of Ifaiah,
A Virgin Jliall conceive, &c. he immediately intro-
duces Trypho replying to him, that he miftranllated
the word in the Original ; that it is not laid by
Ifaiah, that a Virgin, but merely that " a young
woman, ihall conceive, c. ;" and Juftin then fets
himielf to refute this objection *. But though
See the Dialogue with Trypho, N6'6, 67 i p. I&3, 164 ;
and N 84- ; p. 181, lame Edition.
Juftin
A.HGU M E N TS, &C, 33
Juftin argues repeatedly, and at great length, from
this prophecy ; and appeals particularly to the
events recorded in the two firit chapters of the
.els of St. Matthew and Luke *, as of decifive
authority, for the completion of it ; and though
he introduces Trypho objecting, that the fact, which
Juftin wants to eftabliih upon the authority of thefe
paiiages ; that is, Jefus's having been born of a
Virgin ; was in itielf almoit, if not altogether^ im-
poflible'l*; yet he has not introduced Trypho fug-
gefting fo much as an idea, that the authenticity of
the paiiages in which thofe miraculous events arc
recorded, and upon the authority of which Juftin
fo entirely relied, was fubjcft even to the fmalleft
doubt ;(;.
THERE can fcarcely be conceived a ftronger cir-
cumltantial proof than this, that when Juftin wrote
this Dialogue; which is judged to have been not
long after his Firit Apology ; no doubts of the
authenticity of thefe paiiages had ever been enter-
tained; (though it was univerfally known, that
Murcion, the Ebionites, and fonie other Seels,
did not believe their contents;) and much lefs
* Dialogue with Trypho, N 77, 7S, 84; p. 174., 5, 6",
and 181.
t Ibid. N(>8; p. ifo.
J This appears from the paflagcs juft referred to.
$ See Lardncr's Works, Vol. II. p. 117.
d 3 any
54 A ft G U M E N T S, &C-
any idea of there having been a time, when thefe
paffages were firft brought to light, by any fmall
New Sect of Chriftian s ; and when, in confe-
quence of their arguments in favour of them, they
had been received by the Church at large, and
inferted in all the copies of the two Gofpels con-
cerned ; which till that time had not contained
them.
JUSTIN ihews, that before he wrote, it was the
efiablifhed practice to read the Gofpels publicly
in the Chriftian Congregations* : and his referring
to thefe paffages, juft as he would have referred to
any other paffages of the fame Gofpels, as
having certainly been written by the writers of
the whole Gofpels to wiiich they belong ; without
referring to any proof of the point, or confider-
ing it as requiring any ; is an abfolute proof, not
only that the copies of the Gofpels of Matthew
and Luke which were read in- the Chriftian Con-
gregations, and confequently thofe which were
kept, and read, in private families, muft have
contained thefe paffages ; but that thefe paffages
were then, as well as before Juftin wrote, held to
be of juft the fame unexceptionable authority, as
any other paffages of thofe Gofpels. And as this
* See the Firft Apology, N 67, p. S^. And Lardner's Woiks,
Vol. If. p.'lSi, 122, J28, 129,
' could
A R C U M E X T S, &C.
could not have been the cafe, if they hud been
firft brought into notice, and added to the various
co})ies of thole Gofpels, at any time between the
death of the Apoftle St. John, in the year -100,
and 'the time when Juftin wrote, before the year
UO; or, indeed, feveral years fooner ; the man-
ner in which Jultin has referred to thele pan 7 ages ;
in his two Apologies, and his Dialogue with
Trypho ; is a fatisfactory proof, that tiiefe palTages
could not have been brought into notice, and added
to the various copies of the Gofpels concerned,
either at any time after the death of the Apoftle
and Evangelift St. John ; or for feveral years
before it.
BESIDES, Juftin was born, according to Some,
in the year 89 ; or, according to Others, in the
year 103 ; or, ' perhaps, between thole periods ;
and after applying himfelf to the ftudy of the
doctrines of all the principal Sects of Philofophers,
without being able to obtain fatisfaction from any
thing which they taught ; at length fet himfelf
to examine the evidence, and the doctrines of
Chriitianity ; and became a convert to the Chrif-
tian faith, when about thirty years of age *. His
Converlion muft have been founded upon his
conviction of the authenticity of the Gofpels, an(|
Sec Larducr's Works, Vol. II. p. 115, 116.
d 4 the
56 ARGUMENTS, &C.
the truth of the facts related in thorn. Whatever
opinions any particulars in his writings may have,
given occafion to, either of his judgment, or his
credulity ; his fmcerity is abfolutely uni in peached.
And as his enquiries into the authenticity, and
truth, of the Gofpels, previous to his converfion,
mult have been carried on, according to the above
accounts, either about the year 130, if he was born
in the year 103 ; or about the year 120 5 if he was
born in 89 ; or in the interval between thofe
years ; that is, not more than thirty years, at the
moft ; and perhaps not more than twenty, after
the death of the Apoftle John ; if the paflages in
queftion had been firft produced, and received,
at any time after his death ; or, indeed, feveral
years before it ; Juftin, as well as every one elfe of
his time, muft have been fully acquainted with the
whole hiftory of their firft publication, and fubfe-
quent reception ; and muft certainly have made
fome dire6~b mention of, or at leaft, fome allufion
to, thofe circumftanccs, of fo very fingular a nature;
not only in his firft Apology, but more efpecially in
his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. There is not
even a poffibiljty of conceiving that he could have
omitted it.
THE firft produ&iori of thefe moft remarkable
narratives, at any diftance of time after the pubr
lication of their refpe6tive Gofpels ; and the fub-
fequent
A R G U M E N T S, &C. 57
fequent reception of them, as authentic, by the
Church at large ; together with the infertion of
them in all their copies of thofe Gofpels ; would
have been events fo exceedingly aftonifhing; as to
render it abfolutely, and utterly incredible, that
Juftin could appeal to the miraculous fa6ls related
in thefe paffages as unqueftionably authentic ;
without fome exprefs mention of, or at leaft fome
evident allufion to, their moft unparalleled difcovery,
and introduction ; and the evidence upon which
they had been received as authentic by the Church
at large.
JUSTIN'S referring to thefe paffages, therefore,
and exprefsly affirming, that they were written by
the fame perfons who wrote the whole hiftory of
Jefus ; juft as he would have referred to any other
paffages of the Gofpels to which they belong ;
without even the flighteit hint of their having been
firft brought to light, and at length adopted, at
fome time fubfequent to the firft publication of
thofe Gofpels ; whether after the death of the
Apoftle John, or before it; is an abfolutely de-
cifive proof, that no fuch difcovery, and recep-^
tion, of thefe paffages had been heard of, in the
time of Juftin ; and confequently, that they mufl
have made a part of their refpective Gofpels,
juft as they now do, when thofe Gofpels were
firft
.58 A R G U M E N T S, &C.
firft delivered to the difciples by the Evangelifts
who wrote them.
VIII. AND to this pofitive evidence of the au-
thenticity of the paffages in queftion, drawn from
the unqualified affertion of it by Juftin ; without
any reference or alluiion whatever, to their firft
introduction, or the evidence upon which they
had been received , as genuine, by the Church,
when firft produced ; (which it is utterly incredible
that Juftin could have omitted, if there had been
a time, when the feveral copies of the Gofpels
concerned, in public and private ufe, did not
contain them ; and after which time the paffages
in queftion had been inferted in them ;) we may
add almoft as ftrong a confirmation of it, from the
conduct, as well of thofe Sects of Chriftians, who
dilbelieved the facts related in thefe paffages, and
therefore rejected them ; as of the molt diftin-
guiihed of thofe profeffed Enemies to the Chrif-
tian faith, who exerted all their abilities to over-
throw it.
B ONE of the earlieft Sects of any note, who
diibelieved the Miraculous Conception of Jefus, was
that of the Cerinthians ; whofe founder is judged
to have begun to fpread his doctrines, if not
very near the end of the firft Century, at the
lateft
ARGUMENT S, &C. ^9
} in the beginning of the Second*. It
appears highly probable, that Ccrinthus, and his
followers, though they received the Gofpel of St.
Matthew, yet difbelieved that part of the firft
chapter, in" which it is related that the Virgin
Mary was found \\ith child of the Holy Ghoft ;
and held, that Jefus was the Son of Jofeph and
Mary; iince it is certain, that they believed
Jefus to be nothing more than a mere man f.
But this do&rine of their Sea affords not any
reafon for fuppofing, that they dilbelieved this
part of the firft chapter of the Gofpel of St. Mat-
thew, bccaufe they alleged any evidence, to prove
that it was not an authentic part of his Gofpel ;
for the fame authority which informs us, that
they reject :d this pafiage of St. Matthew's Gof-
pel, informs us likewife, that they rejected St.
Paul, and his Epiftles ; and That, not becaufe
they alleged any evidence to prove that St. Paul
was not an authorized Apoftle, which he moft
certainly was ; or, that the Epiftles made public
in his name were not really his, which they moft
* See Marfti's Tranflation of Michaclis's Introduction to the
New Teftament, Vol. I. p. 36. And Lardner's Works, Vol. IX.
p.3C:~>, :>^4. ; and 330 near the end.
f See the quotations from Irenceus, and Epiphanius, in Lard-
nor'sAVorks, Vol. IX. p. 319,321; and from Theodoret, p.
and note x ; and 525, 3#) j and 3^0, note g.
un-
60 ARGUMENTS, &C.
undoubtedly were ; but merely becaufe they could
not bring themfelves to admit the doctrine of the
abolition of the Je\viih Law by the Gofpel*;
which St. Paul, in his preaching, and Epiftles, very
ftrongly enforced. And juft in the fame manner,
we have reafon to conclude, they rejected the part
in queftion of the firft chapter of St. Matthew's
Gofpel ; and of courfe the correfpondent paffage of
St. Luke's ; not becaufe they were poiTefled of any
evidence to prove that thofe paflages were interpo-
lations ; but merely becaufe they could not bring
themfelves to believe the reality of that particular
miraculous fact, which is in thofe palTages affirmed
to have come to pafs ; but which they regarded as
impoffible.
AN the fame obfervation is equally applicable
to another Seel of note, the Ebionites ; who
exifted early in the fecond Century ; though they
are not judged to have fprung up fo foon as the
Cerinthians. The Ebionites were divided into
two parties.; One of which received the firft
chapter of St. Matthew's Gofpel, and believed that
Jefus was of the Holy Ghoft, and the Virgin
Mary; while the Other, like the Cerinthians,
* Lardncr's Works, Vol. IX. p. 322, from Epiphanius ; and
p. 3'27, from Epiphanius and Jerom. And Marih's Translation,
&c. us before, Vol. I. p. 36.
held
A RG I* M F, X T S, &C. fii
held that Jdus was born, of Jofeph and Mary; and
mult therclbre have dilbelieved that part of the iirft
chapter of Matthew's Gofpel, in which the Virgin
is faid to have been found with child of the Holy
(ihoft ; if not, as it is affirmed, the whole two iiril
chapters *; and of courie the correfponding pafiages
of St. Luke's. But we have no reafon to imagine,
that their diibelief of thefe pafiages was occasioned
by any tiling more than their perfuaiion, that the
miraculous Conception was impoffible; or, more
especially, that it arofe from any evidence, which
induced them to believe, tiiat thefe chapters,
or any part of them, had been forged ; fur
They, like the Ccrinthians, would not pay any
regard to St. Paul, as an Apoftle ; or to his
Lpiftles ; merely becaufe they would not admit the
do&rine, that the Law of Mofes was fuperfeded
l>y the Gofpel |.
IX.
* Lardncr's Works, Vol. VII. p. 1923. Vol. II. p. 307,
308, and 143.
t Marfh's Tranflntion, c. Vol. I. p. 35, 37. The quota-
tion from Eufebius in Lardner's Works, Vol. VII. p. 20, and
Vol. II. p. 354. It has now been aiTumed, that both the
Ccrinthians, and the Ebionitos, knew not only \vhat dodrine
St. Paul had preached, but like\vife what he had infilled on
in his Epiftles ; and that on account of that dodrine, they
rejected both Him, and his Epiftles. That this was the cafe
tvith the Cerinthiujis is ftron-gly implied by Epiphanius ;
in
62 A R G U M E X T S, &C,
IX. AXD that, in fact, neither thefe, nor any
other of the eaiiieft Se6ts, who diibelieved the
nar-
in the paflage quoted from him, in MarnYs Tranflation of
Michaelis's Introduction, &c. Vol. I. p. 36 ; and cxprcfsly
affirmed by Eufebius, with regard to the Ebionites, in the
paffage quoted from him, in Lardner's Works, Vol. I. p. 20.
But whether they were acquainted with any of St. Paul's
Epiftles, or not, is in reality a point of no moment whatever
to the prefent argument. For fmce it is certain, that they
rejected St. Paul himfelf, for teaching, in his Difcourfes, that
the Law was fupcrfedcd by the Gofpel ; no doubt can be en-
tertained, but that they rejected his Epiftles, likewife, for in-
filling on the fame doctrine ; if the fa6l was, that the contents
of his Epiftles, at the lead, did come to their knowledge. And
that That was the cafe, appears very highly probable. St.
Paul's Epiftles are judged to have been written between the
years 52 and 63. They were defigned by the Apoftle, as we
have already feen, (p. 15, 16,) to be communicated to all the
difciples, as extenfively as might be ; and it appears from
ch. iii. 16, of the 2d Epiltle General of St. Peter ; judged to
have been written about the y ear 64 ; that the knowledge of
them was even at that time very generally fpread. The Seel
of the Cerinthians did not fpring up into notice till juft the end
of the firft Century, or the very beginning of the Second ;
and that of the Ebionites not till the Second. And in this in-
terval, between the year 6*4 and the end of the firft Century,
the knowledge of St. Paul's Epiftles mufl have become fo
much more general ftill, as to render it very highly impro-
bable, that the Cerinthians and Ebionites mould not, at leaft,
have heard of them ; and efpecially, of their infilling very
ftrongly on that doitrine, of the Law's being fuperfeded by
the
A R G U M E N T S, &C. 63
narratives contained in the firft and fecond chapters
of the Gofpels of St. Matthew, and St. Luke, either
had, or even pretended to have, any evidence, to
prove that thofe narratives were not authentic
parts of the Gofpels in which they are found,
will fully appear, from confidering the conduct,
as well of fome of the moft diftinguimed Se-
paratiits from the Catholic Church ; as of fome
of the moft determined Oppofers of the Chriitian
faith.
So early as loon after the year 1 30, Marcion,
who was the Son of a Bifhop, and himfelf a prieft,
quitted the Catholic Church ; and became a moft
violent preacher of peculiar doctrines, of his own
invention *. Before this time the Sects of the
Cerinthians, and the Ebionites, had become efta-
blifhed, and their doctrines well known ; and if
they had founded their difbelief of the firft and
fecond chapters of the Gofpels of Matthew and
Luke, upon any evidence which they alleged, to
prove them furreptitious ; That evidence muft
the Gofpel, for which they rcje&ed St. Paul himfelf, as a falfe
Apoftle. Whoever would receive pleafure from a new, and
convincing proof of the authenticity of St. Paul's Epiftles,
will do well to perufe the Hora3 Paulinae of Archdeacon
Paley.
* Marfli's Tranflation, &c. Vol. I. p. 37, 38. Lardner's
Works, Vol. IX, p. 359-36*1 .
have
64 ARGUMENTS, &C.
have been perfectly well known to Marcion ; and
Marcion, who agreed with them in rejecting thofe
chapters *, would certainly have alleged it, to
add fo much ftrength to his own reafons, what-
ever they might be, for rejecting them likewife.
But that Marcion did not allege any evidence
of this kind againft thofe Chapters ; and confe-
quently, that neither the Cerinthians, nor the
Ebionites, had alleged any before him ; the
manner in which Tertuliian has written againft
O
him, in relation to this particular point, will fully
convince us.
MARCION rejected all the Gofpels, except that
of Luke f ; and of this he left out the two firft
chapters, as well as a great number of other pa
fages ; and altered many more J. Tertuliian,
when, in the courfe of his treatife againft Mar-
cion, he comes to conlider his conduct in this
particular, argues againft him in the following
manner. " I fay, that my copy is the true one ;
" Marcion, that his is fo. I affirm, that Mar-
" cion's copy is adulterated ; Marcion, that mine
" is fo. Who fhall determine between us, if not
'" a regard to the age of the copies in queftion ;
" adjudging That to be of authority, which mall
* Lardner'a Works, Vol. IX. p. 396.
t Ibid. Vol. IX. p. 393395. J Ibid.
" be
ARGUMENTS, &C. 6,5
'' be found to be the moft ancient ; and con-
" demning That as corrupted, which ih all be
** found to have been the molt modern. For as
<f certain as it is, that the falfe mult be a corrup-
" tion of the true ; fo certain is it, that the true
" mult have preceded the falfe*." Then, after
obferving, that That Gofpel of St Luke, which
was received by the Catholic Church, was indif-
putably prior to that of Marcion ; fince Marcion
himfelf had originally received it, before he
quitted the Catholic Church ; and before he-
framed his own copy ', which was new, and'
had no exiftence till he himfeif had framed it;
after obferving this, Tertullian proceeds to fay ;
" In a word, if it is certain, that That is the
" moft genuine, which is the moft ancient ;
" That the rnoft ancient, which is from the be-
" ginning ; and That from the beginning, which is
" from the Apoftles ; it is no lefs certain, that
" That mult have been delivered down from the
" Apoftles, which has been held facred in the
" Churches founded by the Apoftles '(*." And
prefently after he adds, " I affirm, therefore,
c that That Gofpel of Luke, the genuineness of
* Tertull. contra Marcion. Lib. iv. c. iv. p. 415. B. Ed.
Paris, 1664.
t Ibid. D. 5.
e " which
6'6. A R G U ME N T S, &C.
" which we moft carncftly defend, has been ao
" knowledged, not only by all the Churches
"founded by the Apottles ; but likewife by every
" Church in Communion with them ; from the
" very time of its being fir ft made public : but that
'* That of Marcion is not fo much as known
" to many of them ; and is known only to be con-
''' dcmned, by every one of them to which it is
" known*."
NOTHING can be more obvious, than that if
Marcion had alleged any evidence, to prove
that the two firft chapters of Luke's Gofpel were
an interpolation, Tertulliaii could not have written
as he here has. If that had been the cafe, he
t-ould not but have itated, in this very place, the
evidence which Marcion had produced for that
purpofe ; and have fet himfclf to refute it. Or, if
he had before Haled, and, as he thought, refuted it,
in any other paifage ; he in nit in this place have
referred to his itatement, and refutation of it, in
that pailage.
AT the time when Tertullian wrote, and made
public, his treatife agahrii Marcion, the followers
of Marcion were very numerous '(" ; and his wri-
tings were not only in all their hands, but like-
* Ibid. D.5.
-fr Lardncr's Works, Vol, IX. p. 366, 367.
A R G tJ M E tt T S 3 &C. 67
>vife very generally known to thofe of the Catholic
Church. Under thefe circumitances, Tcrtullian
could not fct himielf down to write, at great
length, a full, and argumentative refutation of
the errors of Marcion ; without being confcious,
that if he peremptorily aiicrted the genuinenefs of
that copy of the Gofpel of Luke, which was re-
ceived by the Catholic Church ; but, at the fame
time, pafled over unanswered, and even unnoticed,
any evidence, which Marcion had alleged, to
prove that the two firTt chapters of it were fpu-
rious; he 'would not only have injured the caufe
which he undertook to defend ; but muft have ren-
dered himfelf the object of deferred ridicule and
contempt.
WHEX, therefore, we find Tertullian putting
the queftion, Who iliall decide between Marcion
and me, Whether that copy of St. Luke's Gofpel,
n-hich is received by the Catholic Church, or
That which Marcion fettled for himfelf, is the
genuine and true copy; and aflerting, that the copy
received by the Church had been held facred by all
the Churches founded by the Apoftles, as well as
all thofe in Communion with them, from the
time of its having been firit made public by St.
Luke ; without fo much as mentioning, that
Marcion had urged any evidence whatever, to
prove that the two firft chapters of that copy were
e 2 forged ;
6$ A R C U M E N T S, &C.
forged ; we cannot but be fatisfied that the facl
was, that though Marcion had rejected thofe
chapters, as not believing their contents ; he had
not alleged any evidence, to prove them furrep-'
titious.
AND that this was the cafe, will further appear,
from fome other, very particular, circumftances.
Marcion received, in a certain manner, the Gofpel
of St. Luke ; but he rejected the two ilrft chapters,
and feverai other paifages ; altered many more ;
and added fuch particulars as he choie * ; be-
fore he propofed it to his followers, as the Gofpel
proper to be adopted. But, after having made it,
in this manner, fuch as he chofe to have it ;
he did not prefume to call it the Gofpel of St.
Luke ; or prefix to it the name of any other perfon,
as its author | : a plain, though tacit proof, that
he did not reject the two fhit chapters in confe-
ffuence of having alleged any evidence, to prove
that they were not authentic pailages of that
Gofpel, which St Luke had written, and delivered
to the Church.
AND that Marcion was capable of rejecting,
without fcruple, whatever paflages of St. Luke's
Gofpel he difliked, without having any evidence
* Lardner's Works, Vol. IX. p. 39:3 402.
f Ibid. p. 324. Tcrtullian againft Marcion, Lib.iv.ch.il.
.0. p414. Ed. Paris, I6u4.
of
A U G U M E NT 3, &C. 69
of their being fpurious ; is beyond queftion evident,
from his fimilar conduct in other inftances. He re-
jected tiie Gofpels of Matthew, Mark, and John ;
and the Ats of the Apoftles *. Whereas the au-
thenticity of thole books, which he was pleafed to
t, was juit as well ascertained as that of the
Gofpel of Luke, which he, in a certain manner,
received ; but, at the fame time altered, juft as
the notions, which he entertained, led him to
alter it f .
Ix reality, the Situation and concjucl of Mar-
cion ; when confidered, as they ought to be, to-
gether; afford an abfolutely deciiivc proof, that
thofe paffages of the Gofpels of Matthew and
Luke, which contain the accounts of the concep-
tions, and births, of John the 1'aptift, and Jcfus,
muft have been authentic parts of their refpcCHve
Gofpels. Marcion rejected thefe accounts as fa He ;
he would certainly tlierefore have produced evi-
dence, if lie could have produced any, to prove
that they were forged : and he was fo circum-
stanced, that if, in fact, tliey had been forged, he
mult have known it, and have been able to give
' o
the world an authentic account of the forgery.
lie was the foil of a Brfiiop ; was educated pur-
* LardmT's Works, Vol. IX, p. 393, 4. 103 5.
f Ibid. p. :;<jG' -10v?.
e 3 pofely
70 ARGUMENTS, &C.
pofely for the church ; became a Prieft ; and after
having continued feveral years in the difcharge of
the duties of that clerical office, revolted from
the Church ; and began preaching his own doc-
trines, not much later than the year 130. If
the narratives in queltion had not been contained
in the original Gofpels ; but had been rirft brought
forward in the beginning of the Second Century,
after the death of the Apoftle John, the laft of the
Apoftlcs ; (fooner than which, we have fcen long
ago, they muft have met with St. John's autho-
ritative condemnation ;) Or even if they had been
brought forward before the death of St. John ;
and by the management of thole who forged, and
produced them, had been admitted as genuine by
the Church ; and then inferted in all their copies
of the Gofpels concerned ; If even this had been
the cafe ; Marcion, from his fituation in the family
of the Bilhop his father ; (who muft have been
in the Church, at the very time when thefe forge-
ries were brought forward ; and muft have known
all the circumftances which had accompanied
their reception ;) as well as from his own edu-
cation for, and admiffion into the Church, very
fliortly after their reception muft have taken
place ; could not but have been fully acquainted
with the whole hiftory of this moft unparalleled-
tr an faction, And when at length he came to revolt
from
A n c; u :\r F.-N T s, &c. 71
. the Church ; and among the numerous altera-
s which lie thought fit to make in the (iofpels,
e very remarkable pafiages, which had
' introduced ; he would, no doubt, have
give.. M'ld a particular detail of the time, and
manner, of their iirft introduction; to convince
' that they had been forged. And as his
followers were numerous, and his writings were not
onlv in their hands, but rend by thofe of the Church
likewife ; (feveral of whom wrote in anfwer to him ;)
if Marcion had given any fuch account of the firft
introduction of thefe pail ages, evident it is, that
no writer of the Church could afterwards have
contended for them as authentic, without making
particular mention of Marcion's account of their
mil introduction, and forgery; and endeavouring
to refute it.
Ix particular, it would have been abiohitely
irnpoiiible for Tertullian, when writing exprefsly
in reply to Marcion, to have aflerted ; as we have
fcen he has ; that That Gofpel of St. Luke, in
which the longeft, and moft remarkable, of thefe
was contained, had been received by all
the Churches founded by the Apoftk-s, and all thole
in communion with them, from the very time of its
having Ifeen iinr made public by St. Luke; with-
out taking any notice whatever of Marcion's
charge of their late introduction, and forgerv.
e 4 And
72 ARGUMENTS, &C.
And no lefs impolSble would it have been for Juitin
Martyr ; who wrote but a few years after Marcion
himfeli .vrote, and even while. he was ftill living; to
hav, d the genuineneis of thefe paffages, in
the m a iiner we have feen he has ; both in his Firft
Apology, and his Dialogue with Trypho ; without
making the leaft mention of any evidence brought
by IvL-rcion ^ainft them,
SINCE therefore, if the paffages in queftion had
been forged, and added to the genuine copies of
their refpective Gofpels, after the death of the
Apoltle John ; or indeed feveral years before it ;
' "Marcion muft have known the whole hiftory of their
introdu&ion ; and would certainly have publilhed
an account of it, as an abfolutely unanfwerable rea^
fon for reje6fcing them ; and iince it is no lefs certain,
fro Qi the manner in which both Juftin Martyr, and
Tertullian, have afferted the genuinenefs of thefe
paffages, that Marcion had not alleged any evidence
to impeach their authenticity; though he disbelieved
their contents, and rejected them ; the confequence
is unavoidable, that thefe paffages muft have made
a part of their refpeclive Gofpels, when thofe
Gofpels ^ere firft made public by the Evangelifts
who wrote them *.
X. Nor
* In faft. the reveries of Marcion, relating to Jefus, are
fufficient to flipw, that his rejection of thofe paffages ia
\vhicU
ARGUMENTS, &C. 75
X. NOT long after the middle of the Second
Century flourhlied Celfus, one of the moft able, and
malicious adverfaries of the Chriftian caufe *. But
from his manner of writing againft it we fliall una-
voidably be convinced, that neither he, nor any one
who preceded him, made any attempt, or alleged
any evidence, to prove, that the hiitory of the con-
ceptions, and births, of John the Baptift and Jefus,
contained in the two firft chapters of the Gofpels of
St. Matthew and St. Luke, were not genuine parts
of thofe Gofpels.
THE work of Celfus, indeed, in which he en-
deavoured to overthrow the credit of the Gofpel,
is not extant : but Origen's anfwer to it is written
in fo regular a manner, and furnifhes fo many
which the Miraculous Conception, and birth, of Jefus, are
recorded, ought not to be confidered as of any weight what-
ever, in judging of the authenticity of thofe pavTages. For
though Jie rejected the hiftorics of Jefus's Miraculous Concep-
tion, he did not regard him as the Son of Jofcph and Mary,
born in the natural \vay; on the contrary, he taught, that
Jefus, not having any real body, but only the appearance of
one, was not born at all ; but defccnded from above, already
in that ftate, in which he publicly addrefled himfelf to the Jews j
and immediately entered upon the duties of his Minion. See
Lardner's Works, Vol. IX. p. 371380. That is, B. ii. ch. x,
fed. ip.
Lardner's Works, Vol, VIII. p. 57. fub fin. Marfli's
Trajiflation, c. Vol. I. p. 40.
extraft*
74 ARGUMENTS, &C.
extracts from it, as to be abundantly fufficient to
prove this point.
FROM the pains taken by Celfus to fix the charge
of falfehood upon a great variety of facts related
in the Gofpels, it will not admit of a doubt, but
that if he could have produced any evidence, to
prove that the paiTages, in which any of thofe
facts are related, were forged, he would moft
certainly have brought that evidence forward, to
convict the Chriftians of fuch forgeries. It is like-
wile no lefs certain ; as well from the neceffity of
the thing, as from the very regular manner in which
Origen produces, and replies to, his objections ;
that if Celfus had alleged any fuch evidence,
Origen mult, and would, have extracted the paf-
fages in which it was contained, and have fet him-
felf to refute it. This cannot be doubted ; fince it
is not only manifeft, that he would have betrayed
the caufe he had undertaken to defend, and ex-
pofed himfelf to contempt ; but likewife, that he
would ihamefully have failed of fulfilling his own
remarkable and voluntary promife ; if he had not
done fo.
O.RIGEX exprefsly fays, that " left any one mould
" imagine he purpofely paifed over, without any
" notice, fuch of Celfus's objections as he was
" confcious he could not make any reply to ; he
u would aufwer to every one of them, in the beft
"" manner
ARGUMENTS, &C. 75
" manner he was able ; and That, not in the order
." which the natural connexion of the fubjects
" would point out ; but in the very fame order in
" which Celfus had introduced them in his o\vn
" work * "
AFTKR this voluntary promife it cannot be
imagined, if Celfus had objected to any remarkable
paflages as fpurious additions to the original Gof-
pels, and alleged any evidence to prove the charge,
that Origcn could have omitted to ftate thole ob-
jections, or the evidence by which Celfus endea-
voured to fupport them ; and to give them fuch
anfwers as the circumftances of each particular
charge ihould have fuggefted to him. Evidence,
againlt the authenticity of any remarkable paflages,
would have been the moft fatal of all objections to
credit of the Golpels ; and that particular
objection, therefore, which it is utterly incredi-
ble, that Origen could pafs over without notice.
But the fact is, that Origen has not made mention
of any charge of this kind, as having been brought
forward by Celfus. The arguments produced l>y
Origen, as alleged by Celfus, to difcredit thofe
relations of facts, which he conlidered as utterly
falfe, were intended to (hew, that the particulars
related were, either in themfelves, or their cir-
* Origincs contra Cclfum, Lib. i, feel. 41.
cumftances,
76 A R G U M E N T S, &C.
cumitances, incredible ; not that the paflages in
which they are related were fpurious additions to
the Gcfpels m which they are found.
THUS, with refpect to the very palTages under
confideration, Gelfus particularly mentioned, That
it was pretended, that Jefus was born of a Vir-
gin : that an angel appeared to Jofeph, on ac-
count of Mary's being fou d with child, to allure
him it wa of the ' oly hoft ; that a ft ar ap-
peared at his birth, which occafioned certain
Chaldeans to c. me to wo-fhip him while an in-
fant ; that Hei od matlacred certain children
with a view to deftro him; and that an Angel
had before appeared to Jofeph, directing him to
go with Jefus into Egypt, in order to preferve
him*. But, though Celfus regarded all theie
afferted facts, as well as a great number more
throughout the Gofpels, as fo many mere pre-
tences, and abfolute falfehoods ; and ftarted fuch
objections to the facts themfelves, as he thought
fufricient to prove, that they could not have taken
place ; Origen makes no mention of his having
fuggeited even fo much as a fufpicion, that the
paflages, in which thefe facts are afierted to have
* See Dr. Dodd ridge's Epitome of Origen againft Cclfus;
Lardncr's Works, Vol. VIII. p. 63 ; and Dr. John U-lund's
Epitome, p. 66, and cfpeciall.y, p. (y.
come
ARGUMENT S, &C. 77
come to pals, were not authentic parts of thole
(iolpels in which they are found. Nay, on the
contrary, it a6tually appears, that Celfus men-
tioned the relations of the facts contained in thefe
. as having been warranted by Jefus him-
felf* ; from which it is evident, that Celfus inuft
have regarded the palliuies containing them as au-
thcntic parts of thofe hiftories of Jefus, which were
written by his chofen difciples, and their affiftants
in preaching his Gofpel f.
OuuM'x litts, indeed, preferved a paflage, and
Ihcwn his integrity by prcferving it, in which
relfus accufes the Chriitians, " of changing, and
T verting, the original text of the Gofpe],
" three times, four times, and oftcner, in order
" to defeat objections urged agaiiift them 'jv
But this charge, it is evident, could not relate to
any paiiagcs, but fucn as might have their diffi-
culties attempted to be removed by various read-
ings . It is, in its very nature, totally inappli-
* See thepafibge from Origcn againft Celfus quoted in LarJ-
ncr's Works, Vol. VJII. p.. 19, N 3. p. 20, N 7-
| See Lardner's Works, Vol. VJII. p. 6? ; and the parlages
cited from Origcn, Ibid. p. 19, N 3 ; p. 20, N 7 ; p. 121,
^8; p. 22. N9.
I Contra Celfum, Lib. ii. 27.
In relation to the import of this cliargc of Celfus, fee
Mario's Truncation, <5cc. Vol. I. p. 40, 41.
cable
78 ARGUMENTS, &C,
cable to the queftion before us. Whether the ac-
counts of the conceptions, and births, of John the
Baptift, and Jcfus ; contained in the firit and fecond
chapters of the Gofpels of St. Matthew, and St.
Luke, as they have been delivered down to us ;
are authentic parts of thofe Gofpels ; or were clan-
deiiinely foiited into them, at forne time after they
had been made public by the Evangelifts who wrote
them ; The fa6ts recorded in thefe relations are
fuch, that no alterations of the original text
could pofiibly remove any objections which might
be railed againit them : fo that it is certain, this
charge of Celfus ; whether true, or falfe, with re-
gard to any paflages whatever ; could not be alleged
againft the relations of Jefus's Miraculous Con-
ception.
AND as it appears, from Celfus's repeated men-
tion of thefe relations, that he was particularly de-
firous of difcrediting them ; but that he levelled
his objections to them, againft either the truth,
or the probability, of the facts themfelves ; with-
out fuggeiting even a fufpicion againft the au-
thenticity of the .pailages m which they are re-
lated ; and that, in reality, he certainly confidered
thofe paflages as authentic * ; we are not only
war-
* See the pafiage from Origen againft Celfus quoted m
Lardncr's Works, Vol. VIII. p. 19, N3, 4, 5. And p. 20.
A R C U M E N T S, See. 79
warranted in concluding, but we arc abiblutcly
obliged to conclude, that t'clfus knew not of any
evidence to be alleged againlt their authenticity ;
and therefore, that neither Alarcion, nor the Sect,
of the Cei inthians, nor that of the Ebionites ; with
all of whom Cclfus agreed in dilbelicving the parti-
culars contained in thele relations, and with whole
objections to them Celfus niuii have been acquaint-
ed ; had produced any *.
XI. IF then the leaft countenance for any fui-
pieion, that the paffagcs in queftion miglit IHJ
forged, can be derived from the diibelief of any
of thole who rejected them ; it mult be founded
on the objections of the two molt virulent ene-
mies of Chriitianity after the time of Celfus
K y 7.Ancl p. 21. K8. And Dr, John Leland's Epitome
ofCelfus, Ibid. p. 67.
* Accordingly it is obfervable, of the Writers of tho Churcli
at large, \vhoaflerted the truth of the Miraculous Conception ;
in oppofition to the feveral Softs, of the beginning of the
Second Century, \vlio difbelievcd it ; that they generally fuggeft
fome confideration, with a view to fliew, that fuch a Concep-
tion was not hnpofiible ; without alleging a fyllahle in fupport
of the authenticity of ihe pufl'ages in which it is recorded. A
vvry remarkable corroborating proof, that, though the feveral
Sefts denied the polTibility of fuch a fact, they brought no
nee to impeach the authenticity of the pafibges in which
it was recorded.
For-
SO ARC i) ME'NT s, Sic.
Porphyry, and Julian. But the only evidence:
afforded us, by what happens to be preferved of
their writings, will be found, on the contrary,
to confirm the authenticity of the paffages con-
cerned.
THE writings of Porphyry againft the Chrif-
tians having been over zealoufly deftroyed, and
the feveral profeffed anfwers to them being loft,
only a very few patfages of them have come down
to us ; by being incidentally inferted, and replied
to, in the Works of fome of the Chriftian
Writers. But from fuch of the objections of Por-
phyry as are thus preferved, it appears, that they,
like thofe of Celfus, were levelled at the parti-
cular facts related in fuch paflages as he obje&ed
to, not at the authenticity of the paflages them-
felves *.
THUS Porphyry acculed Matthew of committing
a miftake, in ch. i. 11, 12 ; that is, in his account
of the genealogy of Jefus ; which is immediately
connected with the different paffages under con-
iideration. And as Jerom has preferved, and
replied to, this accufation of a miftake f ; and
if Porphyry had objected to this firft chapter
* See Lardner's Works, Vol. VIII. 207215.
f- See the objection of Porphyry, and Jerom's anftver, in
Lardner's Works, Vol VIII. p, 207. N VII. note y,
as
ARGUMENTS, &C. 8 1
as fpurious, Jerom would at the fame time have
noticed, and replied to, that charge more efpecially ;
but he has not given the leaft intimation, that
Porphyry had alleged any iuch charge ; we are
inder a necefiity of concluding, that he certainly
had not.
AXD that this was the fa6t will be abundantly
evident from the writings of Julian.
As Porphyry's work againft the Chriftians was
extant even long after the time of Julian * ; and
was written with the fame zealous defire to deftroy
the credit of Chriftianity, with which Julian
himfelf wrote ; no quefiion can be made, but
that Julian was perfectly well acquainted with its
contents, when he fat down to write againft the
Chriftians himfelf. It muft therefore be allowed,
that if he had found any evidence produced by
Porphyry, which could impeach the authenticity
of any paflages of the Gofpels, the contents of
which Julian himfelf regarded as falfehoods ; he
would certainly have urged that evidence againft
thofe paflages, or at leaft have referred to it, in
his own work.
* See Lardner's Works, Vol. VIII. p. 2, 181, 182; and
356. Conftantine ordered Porphyry's Work againft the
Chriftians to be deftroyed, before the year 325 ; but that
order could not have had its intended effeft ; fince Theodofius
the Younger ifiued a decree for abolffliing Porphyry's Works,
in the year 44-9 : whereas Julian died in the year 36'3.
f Is
82 ARGUMENTS, &C.
IF therefore Julian ; iuftead of alleging any evi-
dence, to prove that the accounts of the Miraculous
Conception of Jefus were fpurious, or even of
doubtful authority ; did ot even fuggeft any
fufpicion of the kind; but, on the contrary, ar-
gued againit the facts related in them in fuch a
manner, as to mow, that he regarded thofe ac-
counts as genuine parts of the Gofpels in which
they are contained ; if this is the cafe ; it muft be
agreed, that neither Porphyry, nor Julian, knew
of any reafon for calling the authenticity of thefe
paiTages into queition ; and therefore, that their au-
thority is as unexceptionable, as that of the Gofpels
of which they are a part.
AND from fome paffages of the Work of Julian,
which Cyril, in his anfwer to it, has preferved, this
appears to have been the fact.
IN one palTage, where he is contending, that
certain prophecies of the Old Teftament, which
the Chriftians applied to Jefus, did not relate to
him; Julian proceeds to fay; " But that none
" of thefe things belong to Jefus is manifeft ; for
*' neither is he of Judah : and how fhould he be
" fo ; when, according to you, (Chriftians) he
" was not born of Jofeph, but of the Holy
" Ghofc ? When you reckon up the genealogy
" of Jofeph, you carry it up to Judah : but you
" have not been able to contrive this dexteroufly ;
" for
ARGUMENTS, &C. 83
(i for Matthew, and Luke, have been fliewn to
" ill tier with one another, about the genealogy *."
Here it is inanifeft, that Julian not only fpeaks of
the Miraculous Conception of Jefus, as the ac-
knowledged doftrine of the Chriltian Church ; but
of Matthew, and Luke, as the authors of the
genealogies, which are immediately conne&ed with
thofe accounts of the Conception of Jefus, which
are contained in the paffages under confideration*
For if Julian had regarded thefe accounts as
forgeries, which had been clandeftinely inferted in
the Gofpels of St. Matthew, and St. Luke, no
queftion can be made, but that he would here have
expreffed that opinion of them ; together with fome
allufion> at leait, to the evidence upon which he
embraced it ; in order to brand the Chriftians with
the infamy of not only believing accounts of mira-
cles, which he held to be wholly fictitious ; but even
of forging the very paffages in which thofe miracles
were related.
AND that Julian had not a doubt of the authen-
ticity of the fecond chapter of the Gofpel of St.
Matthew, is evident from another paffage, which
has been preferved by Jerom, in his Comment
on Hofca, ch. xi. 1. In Matthew ii. 14, 15, it
* See the paffage in Lardner's Works, Vol VIII. p. 397,
and p. 398, note/?.
f % is
84 ARGUMENTS, &C.
is faid : When he (Jofeph) arofe, he took the young
child and his Mother, by night, and departed into
Egypt) an d was there until the death of Herod:
that it might be fulfilled, which was fpoken of the
Lord by the prophet ; faying, Out of Egypt have
I called my Son. And upon this paffage Jerorn
fays ; " The Emperor Julian, in the feventh
" volume of his malicious work againft the Chrifti-
" ans, vents his calumny upon this paiTage, and fay?,
" that the Evangelift Matthew has here transferred
" to Chrift, what was written of Ifrael ; in order
" to impofe upon the iimplicity of the Gentile
" converts to Chriftianity *." It is evident, that
Julian could not have brought this accufation
againft St. Matthew, if he had not regarded this
paffage as an authentic paffage of his Gofpel. If
he had coniidered the paflage as fpurious, he
would have laid the fuppofed miftake to the
charge of the forgers of the paiTage, not of the
Apoftle : and if he had confidered it even as of
doubtful authority, he muft on this occaiion have
made fome mention of thofe doubts. And, in
either cafe, it would not have been poffible for
Jerom to have reprefented Julian as laying this
attempt, to impofe upon the Gentile Converts,
* See the patfage quoted from Jerom, in Lardner's Works,
Vol. VIII. p. 398, note y.
to
ARGUMENTS, &C. 85
to the charge of Matthew himfelf, inftead of his
liippolcd interpolator.
IN* "another pallage, which happens to have
been preferved, Julian lays, " Jefus, whom you
' celebrate, was one of Ciciar's lubjects. If you
' difpute it, I will prove it by and by; but
' it may as well be done now. Tor yourfelves
; allow, that he was enrolled, with his father
* and mother, in the time of Cyrenius *."
Here Julian alleges a paflage, which is in the
midit of the hiftory of the Miraculous Concep-
tion, and birth, of Jems ; contained in the two
firft chapters of the Gofpel of Luke ; as an au-
thority decifive of the faci which he brings it to
prove. And this he certainly could not have
done, unlefs he had regarded the narratives con-
tained in thofe chapters as authentic parts of that
Gofpel.
XII. HERE therefore we may clofe our enqui-
iies ; and take a fhort review of the evidence with
which the circumftances of the cafe have fupplied
us, in proof of the authenticity of the paliages
under confideration.
Ix the firft place it has been found, not only
the forgeries in queftion are, in their very
* See the paflage quoted, Ibid. p. 388,
f 3 nature
86 ARGUMENTS, c.
nature, utterly incredible ; but likewife, from the
circumftances, and the manner, in which the
Gofpel was firft preached by the Apoftles, that
no time whatever can be affigned for the intro-
duction of thefe fuppofed forgeries, at which it is
not abfolutely incredible, that an attempt to intro-
duce them could have fucceeded.
THEY could not poffibly have gained admit-
tance during the firft fixteen, or feventeen, years
after the Afcenfion ; while all the Apoftles in
general continued in, and round about Judea ;
engaged in the very bufmefs of preaching the
Gofpel.
THEY could not have efcaped being detected
by James the Juft ; the firft Head, or Bifhop, of
the Chriftian Church in Judea ; if they had been
brought forward within thirty years after the Af-
cenfion ; that is, at any time before the year 62 ;
in which year James was put to death at Jeru-
falern.
THEY would certainly have been exploded by
the authority of the Apoftle, and Evangelift, St.
John ; if the attempt to impofe them upon the
belief of the Church had been made at any time
before the clofe of the firft Century ; to which
period St. John lived.
IT is felf-evident, * that the common fenfe of
Chriftians muft have caufed them to be rejected,
with
A RG U M ! A(\
with difdain ; it' they l.ad lh-en forged^ and fir ft
made public, fo late as after the; death of
Apoftlc, and Evaiigelift, St. John ; that is, after
the beginning of the Second Century ; or even
feveral years earlier.
A\D it is indifputably certain ; from the man-
ner in which the facts related in the patfages in
queftion are repeatedly mentioned by Juftin Mar-
tyr ; that thofe paflages were actually held, by
the Church at large, to be of juft the fame au-
thority as any other parts of the Gofpels to which
they belong ; in the very early part of the Second
Century ; not merely before Juftin wrote ; but
likewife before he began to make thofe enquiries
into the evidence for the truth of Chriftianity, in
confequence of which he became a convert to the
faith in Jeftis. And this could not poffibly have
been the cafe, unlefs they had made a part of thofe
Gofpels, and been regarded as an unqueftionably
authentic part of them, before the end of the Firfl
Century ; when they muft have been known to, and
confirmed by the authority of, the Apoitle, and
Evangelift, St. John.
Ix addition to this connected feries of evidence ;
which absolutely precludes all poffibility of the
forgeries in queftion ; another particular has been
pointed out, which is alone of fufficient weight
to be abfolutely decifive of th;; queftion. The.
f 4 hiftory
88 ARGUMENTS, &C.
hiftory of the Church, with refpecl to thefe paffages,
is juft the very reverfe of what it muft have
been, if they had not been authentic. If the
Gofpels of Matthew, and Luke, had been originally
made public, by thole Evangelifts, without the
paffages under confideration ; and thefe paflages
had been forged at fome fubfequent period, when-
ever that might be ; one of the following circum-
ftances muft have taken place. Either the Church
at large muft have rejected thefe forgeries ; and
it mult have been only fome particular Seels who
admitted them ; and then they could not have
been tranfmitted to us, by the Church at large,
as authentic parts of their refpe6live Gofpels ; as
they actually have been ; Or elfe, there muft
have been a certain time, at which the Church
at large firft came to acknowledge them ; and, ac-
cordingly, firft inferted them in all their copies of
thofe Gofpels, of which they have been tranf-
mitted to us, by the Church at large, as authen-
tic parts. And if that had been the cafe, forne
account of thefe moft remarkable events muft
have been given, by thofe early Chnftian Wri-
ters, who were the firft to defend the Chriftian
caufe, or to preferve the hiftory of the Church.
Whereas the real fact is, that the hiftory of the
Church is directly contradictory to every idea of
this kind. It is incontrovertibly certain, that it
was
ARGUMENTS, &C. 89
only fome well known Sects, not the Church at
, who ever did disbelieve the particulars con-
tained in the paflages in queftion ; and there is not
the leaft imaginable hint of there having been a
time, alter the original publication of the Gofpels
concerned, when the Church was not in pofieflion
of thefe paflages, and did not regard them as
authentic parts of the Gofpels to which they
belong.
THE aggregate force of this feries of evidence is
far more than lufficient to determine the point in
queftion. But becaufe it is certain, that the con-
tents of thefe paflages were diibelieved by forne of
the early Chriftian Sects ; as w r ell as by the profefi'ed
Enemies of the Gofpel ; we have proceeded to en-
quire further, Whether this diibelief of theirs was
founded upon any fuppofed evidence, that the paf~
fages concerned were fpurious. And with regaid
to this point it has appeared ;
THAT the Cerinthians, and one branch of th..
Ebionites, reje&ed the Miraculous Conception of
Jefus, as falfe ; regarding it as impoflible ; but
without alleging any evidence, to prove that the
paliiiges containing the accounts of it were forged :
juft as they rejected St. Paul, and his Epiftles ;
not becaufe they alleged any evidence, to prove
that St. Paul was not an Apoftle ; or that the
Epiftles attributed to him were not authentic; but
becaufe
90 ARGUMENTS, &C.
becaufe St. Paul preached, and his Epiftles very
ftrongiy inculcated, fome doctrines, which they
could not bring themfelves to receive.
THAT next after thefe Seels, the Miraculous
Conception was rejected by Marcion. But that
neither did Marcion found his rejection of it upon
any fuppoled Evidence, that the paffages containing
the accounts of it were forged, is abundantly evi-
dent ; as well from Tertullian's manner of reply-
ing to him ; and Juftin Martyr's manner of
referring to the paffages concerned ; as from
Marcion's rejecting like wile the Gofpels of Mat-
thew, Mark, and John ; and the Acts of the
Apaftles ; the evidence in favour of which is not
lefs fatisfactory, than that for the Gofpel of Luke;
the only one which it pleafed Marcion, in a certain
manner, to admit. And befides, with regard to
Marcion, it has ftill further appeared ; that if
thefe paffages had been forged, lie muft have
been perfectly well acquainted with the hiftory of
their firft introduction ; and would certainly have
publimed it, to mew the propriety of his own
conduct in rejecting them.
THAT not long after the time of Marcion,
Celfus exerted his abilities in a work, the pro-
feffed object of which was to explode the Chri
tian faith. But by means of fome paffages of that
work,
A RG U M E NTS, &C. 91
work, which have been preferved by Origen in his
anfwer to it, it appears, that though Celfus utterly
diibelievod the Miraculous Conception of Jefus ;
and muft have been perfectly well acquainted with
the objections made to it both by Marcion, and the
other Seels abovementioned, who disbelieved it like-
wife ; yet he knew of no evidence to be alleged
againft the authenticity of the paflages in which it is
related ; and himfelf regarded them as authentic
parts of their refpective Gofpels.
AND that, in fine, Celfus was fucceeded by
the two moft virulent writers againft the Chriftian
caufe, Porphyry, and Julian. But that from fome
paflfages of the works of Julian ; who muft certainly
have been well acquainted with all the objections
urged before him, by Porphyry, Celfus, and Mar-
cion ; it is manifeft, that Julian likewife, though
he regarded all the particulars related of the
Miraculous Conception of Jefus as fo many
abfolute falfehoods; yet confidered thofe paifages
of the Gofpels, in which thefe particulars are re-
lated, as having been written by the Evangelifts
themfelves.
FROM all thofe circumftances, therefore, the
joint evidence of which can alone decide the
queftion ; and the joint evidence of which is, in
fact, far more than fufficient to decide it ; the
au-
5)2 ARGUMENTS, &C.
authenticity of the paflages concerned appears not
only ascertained, but full as -abundantly afcertained,
as that of any other paffages of the Gofpels, the
contents of which were never difbelieved by any of
the early Chriftian Seels. For thefe paffages have
not only the unexceptionable teftimony of the
Church at large, juft as much as any other
paffages of the fame Gofpels, in their favour ; but
as their contents were difbelieved by fome of
the earlieft Chriftian Seels; who regarded the
facts related in them as impoffible ; there cannot
be a doubt, but that if any evidence could have
been produced to impeach their authenticity, it
would certainly have been brought forward, and
enforced, by thofe Sects who difbelieved their
contents, at the very time when it could have been
fubftantiated ; and they muft inevitably have been
exploded.
AN
ENQUIRY
INTO
THE DIVINE MISSIONS
OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST,
AND
JESUS CHRIST;
SO FAR AS THEY CAN BE PROVED
FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR BIRTH$>
AND
THEIR CONNEXION WITH EACH OTHER,
THE THIRD EDITION.
PREFACE
TO THE
FIRST EDITION,
IN perufing the Evangelic Writings, the
Author of the following ftieets imagined,
that he had difcovered an argument of
their truth, which had been hitherto over-
looked, or very {lightly mentioned. He
caught it with joy, and purfued it with
eagernefs. He found the proof, which at
firft glimmered faintly as it lay difperfed,
grow brighter as the fparks were brought
nearer together. He traced the different
lines of inference, and perceived that they
met at lail in one central truth. And he
flatters himfelf with having Ihewn once
g more,
PREFACE.
more, what was more than fufficiently
Ihewn before, that our Religion is from
GOD. He hopes, that he has added an-
other ray to the fplendor of its evidence;
and another motive to the power of its in-
fluence.
IF the argument be really conclufive,
it will ftand the teft of examination ; if
not, it is for the intereft of truth and
religion, that its weaknefs be dete&ed.
Whatever judgment be pafled upon it, the
Author has at leaft this fatisfaflory confi-
deration; that every other proof will re-
main uninjured, and unimpaired. And he
therefore fubmits this Effay to the Public,
as the attempt of one whofe defign is good;
and who will have done no harm, though
his performance prove defective.
CON-
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTORY ConJUemtions. - Page 1
PART I.
SECTION I.
The miraculous events recorded of the birth and
circumcifion of John the Baptift cannot have
been forged, either by Jefus, or any of his difci-
ples ; or by John himfelf, or any of his difciples.
Page 15
SECTION II.
Suppojwg there 'was any deceit at all in the cafe ;
what the nature and defign of the whole impojlure
muft have been; and who mujl have been con-
cerned in planning it, and carrying it on.
Page 52
SECTION III.
Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the contrivers
of that wicked impojiure, which the fuppofition
of any deceit at all, in this cafe, neceffarily
obliges us to admit of. - - - - Page 70
" 2
CONTENTS.
SECTION IV.
Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the authors
of any fuch double impofture, as muft here be
fuppofed. - - - Page 90
SECTION V.
If Zacharias and Elizabeth could have been the
authors of fuch a double impofture ; they could
not have applied to Jofeph and Mary, to take
part with them in carrying it on. - Page 107
SECTION VI.
Neither Zacharias and Elizabeth, on the one part ;
nor Jofeph and Mary, on the other ; could con-
trive Each their refpe&ive plots, in this double
impofture ; nor could Jofeph and Mary be the
contrivers of the whole joint undertaking.
Page 131
PART II.
SECTION I.
The whole impofture in queftion is, in its own na-
ture, fo exceedingly abfurd, that it was not pof-
Jible to have been conceived) or undertaken, by
any person whatever. ----- Page 153
SEC-
CONTENTS,
SECTION II.
Some particular fafts, previous to the births of
John and Jefus, coufidered. - - - Page 185
SECTION III.
Several very remarkable faks> fubfequent to the
births of John and Jefus, confidered* Page 199
PART III.
77ie dejign of this part ; to confider the conduft of
John and Jefus ; with a view to their connexion
with each other. - - - - - - Page 229
SECTION I.
John wrought no miracles. - - - - Page 234
SECTION II.
The different external characters of John and Jefus
conjidered. -------- Page 245
SECTION III.
A prophecy of John's, concerning Jefus, confi-
tiered. - - - Page 262
SEC-
CONTENTS.
SECTION IV.
baptized by John. ----- Page 75
SECTION V.
John's anfwcr to the deputation from the Sanhe-
drim ; and a particular in Jefus s conducl rela-
Ike to it. Page 289
SECTION VI.
A* 'very peculiar character, and office, afcribed to
Jefus by John. - Page 303
SECTION VII.
A remarkable particular in John's conducl to
Herod, conftdered in its relation to Jefus.
Page 307
SECTION VIII.
John's very remarkable meffage to Jefus conftdered.
Page 313
SECTION IX.
The conduct of Jefus in confequence of his having
purified the temple. ----- Page 324
CONCLUSION. Page 333
IT may not be improper to mention, that befides the two
Works cited in the firfl Note in the following ENQUIRY,
there is an elegant Treatife, entitled, " Confiderations on
the Life and Death of JOHN THE BAPTIST ;" by Dr.
Home, Prefident f Magdalen College, Oxford ; who
became Bifhop of Norwich. But the object of that Trea-
tife is, to deduce moral and religious reflections from the
circumftances and conduft of the BAPTIST; not to fug-
geft any arguments to prove the truth of his Miflion.
tHE
JDIVINE MISSIONS
OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST
AftD
JESUS CHRIST.
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS *.
W HEN we confider, and compare together,
thofe ihort hiitories of the life and a&ions of
Jefus Chrift, which were written by his chofea
difciples, and their fellow labourers in the gofpel ;
the great events, that firft engage our attention,
* Whoever is clefirous of feeing what may have been written
upon this fubjeft before, may confult Dr. Jortm's Fifth Difcourfc
concerning the truth of the Chnjtian Religion; entitled, " The
" Tcftimony of John the Baptift :" and Part 4. Chap. 5. of a
work written originally in French, but tranflated into Englifh,
under the title of, " The Principles of the Chriftian Religion/'
Thefe two are the only trafts upon the fubjeft, which the au-
thor of the following argument has happened to meet with.
B
are
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS.
are the remarkable birth and miniftry of John the
Baptift. The accounts indeed, which the evange-
lifts have given of him, are extremely fhort, and
feem intended, as far as concerns John hirnfelf,
only to afford us a clear precife notion of his
prophetic character, and to aflure us of his divine
commiffion to preach repentance to the Jews.
But the particulars comprifed even in thefe very
concife relations, are in themfelves fo extraor-
dinary, and fome of them, at tirft appearance at
leaft, fo truly miraculous, that we cannot reflect
on them without admiration. The fevere fan6tity
of his manners, the benevolent and pious labours
of his public life> and the cruelty of his martyrdom
in the caufe of virtue and religion, joined to all
thofe afto niihing events that accompanied his con-
ception and birth, are particulars of fo linking a
fiature, that they not only claim, but extort our re-
gard, upon their own account alone.
BUT the difciples of Jefus had a more impor-
tant defign to ferve, by their accounts of the*
Baptift, than merely making known his peculiar
life and chara&er, and the circumftances which
attended his appearance in the world. In them
they purpofely tranfmitted to mankind the hiftory
of a prophet, who had borne the fuller! teftimony
to the divine character of their own mafter. And
chief end they propofed to ferve, by making
fuel*
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS* 3
fuch particular mention of John in their hiftorie$
of Jefus, was to confirm the divine miflion of
Chrift by the teftimony of that prophet, whofe
coming, it was the univerfal opinion, had for
fome ages been foretold, in the character of his
forerunner *.
AGREEABLY to this defign, Mark begins his
gofpel by acquainting usf, " The beginning of
" the gofpel of Jefus Chrift the fon of God," was,
" as it is written in the prophets ; behold I fend
" my mefienger before thy face, which (hall pre-
" pare thy way before thee." And then he im-
mediately proceeds to relate the public miniftry
of John. Matthew likewife declares J, that John
the Baptift was, " He that was fpoken of by the
" prophet Efaias, faying, the voice of one cry-
" ing in the wildernefs, prepare ye the way of the
" Lord, make his paths ftraight ft." The fame
fays
* " Behold I will fend my meflenger, and he fhall prepare
" the way before nne : and the Lord whom ye feek fhall fad*
" denly come to his temple : even the meflenger of the cove-
" nant, whom ye delight in : behold he fhall come, faith the
" Lord of hofts," Mai. iii. 1. It is notorious, that, at the time
of John's coming, the Jews univerfally expecled fome fuch ex-
traordinary mefienger to precede the Mefliah ; and that this,
among others, was one of thofe prophecies on which they
founded their expectations.
-r Mark i. 1, 2. J Matt. iii. 1- 3.
j| Ifa. xl. 3. " The voice of him, that crieth in the wilder-
B 2 " ncfs,
4f INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS,
fays Luke*. And the evangelift John exprefsly
affirms f , that '" there was a man fent from God r
" whofe name was John; and that the fame came
1 for a witnefs, to bear witnefs of the light, that
tc all men through him might believe."
FROM all thefe testimonies it evidently appears,
that the chief defign of the evangelifts was not to
make us acquainted with the divine character of
the Baptift on his own account ; but to complete
the evidence of the divine miffion of Jefus, by the
unexceptionable teftimony of that extraordinary
prophet, whofe appearance in the character of his
forerunner had been univerfally expected, becaufe
explicitly foretold.
JN purfuance of this defign, it was natural for
them to be fcrupuloufly exact; in recounting thofe
particulars, by which the prophetic character of
John himfelf was eftablimed ; and circumftantial
in their relations of the teftimony he bore to
the divine miffion of Jefus. But for the reft of
John's life and actions, as a minute knowledge of
thefe was not neceffary for the chief end in view,
they would, of courfe, only furnifh us with their
true general idea. Accordingly it will be found,
" nrfs, prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make ftraight in the
<v deJiirt a highway for our God."
* Luke iii. 2 4.
i J oli n i. 6\ 7.
upon
JNTKODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS. 5
upon companion, that tlicevangelifts have followed
this plan. Luke has given a very particular detail*,
of all the feemingly miraculous events, which at-
tended John's conception and birth ; and which, if
they truly came to pafs as related, mult fully prove
him to have been fent by a ipccial act of the divine
providence, purpofely to fultain that peculiar pro-
phetic character he afterwards aflumecl. And, not
to cite each evangelilt, or have recourfe to every
thing they have recorded, what follows will fuffi-
ciently prove how defirous they were to confirm the
divine authority of Jefus, by the exprefs teitimony
of John.
" AND this is the record of John, when tl)^
" Jews fent priefts and levites from Jerufalein, to
'*' alk him, who art thou ? and he confeflcd, and
" denied not, but confefled, I am not the Chrilt.
" I am the voice of one crying in the wildernefs,
*' make ftraight the way of the Lord, as fa id the
" prophet Efaias. I baptize with water ; but there
41 ib.ndeth one among you, whom ye know not,
" he it is, who coining after me, is preferred be-
" fore me, whole fhoe's latchet I am not worthy to
*' unloofe.- The next day John feeth Jeliis corn-
fl ing unto him, and faith, behold the lamb of
" God, which taketli away the iin of the world.
;i This is he, of whom I faid, after me cometh
* Luke i 4 from vrric 5 to 80.
B 3 "a man
6 INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS.
" a man which is preferred before me ; for he was
" before me. And I knew him not ; but that he
" mould be made manifeft to Ifrael ; therefore am
<c I come baptizing with water. And John bare
" record, faying, I law the Spirit defcending from
" heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And
" I knew him not : but he that lent me to baptize
f: with water, the fame faid unto me, upon whom
< thou fhalt fee the Spirit defcending, and re-
" maining on him, the fame is he, which bap-*
" tizeth with the Holy Ghoft. And I faw, and
" bare record, that this is the fon of God. And
" again, the next day after, John flood, and two
" of his difciples ; and looking upon Jefus as he
" walked, he faith, behold the lamb of God. And
" the two difciples heard him fpeak, and they fol-
" lowed Jefus*."
THUS full and particular have the evangelifts
been, in tranfmitting to us the feveral proofs of
the divine character of John the Baptift, and his
repeated exprefs teftimony in confirmation of the
divine mifiion of Jefus. But at the fame time that
they were fo felicitous to eftablifh the divine
character of John, and to preferve fo many di
tincl pofitive declarations, publicly delivered by
* John i. from 19 to 37. To the fame purpofc fee Matt,
iii. 11, &c. Mark i. 7, &c. Luke iii. 15, &c, John i. 15 X
&c. and more efpecially John iii, 25 36,
him,
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS. 7
him, that Jefus was the true Meffiah ; they have
tranfmitted to us nothing more of. John's tranfao
tions, than what was absolutely requifite to give us
a true idea of his extraordinary character.
M'E may venture to conclude then, that the
principal intention of Jeiuss difciples, in making
luch mention as they have of John, was, in reality,
to eftablila the divine character of their mafter, fo
firmly, upon his teitimony, " that all men through
" him might believe." And in this it mult at leaft
be confefled, that they acted a very prudent part ;
fince it is impofTible for any teitimony to be
more clear, or more decifive, than that with
which the Baptift confirmed the high preteniion^
of Jefus.
Ox the otlier hand, we find Jefus on every op-
portunity employing all his credit with the people,
to perfuade them, that John was indeed the very
perfon, which he pretended to be ; and the
greateft of all the prophets, that had ever ap-
peared among them. The character which the
Baptitl had from the beginning aflumed, was
" the voice -of one crying in the wildernels, make
41 ftraight the way of the Lord, as laid the pro-
1 phet Efaias/' And when, upon a particular
occalion, he thought fit to fend fome of his dif-
ciples to Jefus, to alk him publicly, whether He
was the Meffiah ; Jefus improved the opportu-
B 4 nity
8 INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS,
nity this afforded him, to addrefs the people in
favour of John ; by declaring, in a manner the
moft emphatical, " that John was a prophet ; yea,
" I fay unto you, and much more than a prophet.
" For this is he, of whom it is written, behold I fend
" my meffenger before thy face, which ihall prc-
" pare thy way before thee. Verily I fay unto you,
" among them that are born of women, there hath
" not arifen a greater than John the Baptift.
" And, if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which
" was for to come. He that hath ears to hear
" let him. hear *." Full and frequent as John
had been, in witneffing the truth of Jefus's pre-
tenfions to the high character of the Meffiah ; his
aifertions, we fee, were not more exprefs or em-
phatical, than thefe declarations of Jefus, in which
he publicly affirmed John to be his divine fore-
runner.
HAD they not thus reciprocally fupported each
other's claim to divine infpiration, the characters
which they each aflumed were in themfelves fo
diftinct, though relative to each other, that lit-
tle, perhaps, could have been drawn from them
alone, to eftablifh the truth, or detect the falfe-
hood, of their pretenfions. Had John only de-
clared himfelf the forerunner of the Meffiah,
without pretending to point him out perfonally to
* Matt, xi, 9, &c,
the
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS; 9
the people ; and had Jefus left the Jews to judge
for theinfelves, concerning the reality of the liap-
tifts infpiration ; the divine authority of Both
could not neceflarily have been determined by
the veracity of Either. But lince we find them
reciprocally bearing teftimony to the truth of
each other's divine conmiiflion ; and the difciple's
of Jefus appear likewife to have given us no far-
ther account of John, than was necelTary to avail
thernfelves of his authority, in eftablifhing the
ere .lit of their own rnalter ; hence we are enabled
to draw this certain concluiion; that tiiey mult
Both have been importers ; or Both, in reality,
thofe divine pedbnagc-3, whofc characters they
refpectively alFumed. And this concluiion, ririt
eftablimed, will immediately point out a very na*
tural method to bring the claims of Both to a deci-
five examination.
THEIR mutual endeavours to perfuade the peo-
ple into a belief in each other, mult either have
been the effect of forne fupernatural knowledge,
which allured them of each other's divine mil*
lion ; or the refult of a previous agreement be^
tween them, to fupport their double impofture.
The nature of the cafe will not admit us to iup-
pofe, that Jefus may have been the true Mefiiah,
but John an impoftor ; or John, that prophet, lie
declared liimfclt, but Jefus a deceiver. Their
claims
16 INTRODUCTORV CONSIDERATIONS.
claims to any thing divine muft now ftand or fall
together.
HAD either of them alone been a counterfeit ;
the true prophet, it muft be allowed, could not
have borne witnefs in his favour ; unlefs the other
had found means to deceive him into a firm
belief of his pretenfions. As the real meflenger
of the God of truth could not be fent into the
world to fupport a lie; fo it was impffible for
him knowingly to abett the defigns of an infamous
deceiver.
IF then only One of them was really the divine
peribn he pretended to be, nothing can account for
his conduct in fupporting the Other, but his having
been deluded by him into an opinion, that that divine
character did truly belong to him, which he had im-
pioufly aiTumed. But this fuppofition cannot be ad-
mitted in the prefent cafe.
THE appearance of the long promifed Meffiah
was an event of fuch importance to the general
happinefs of mankind, and in which, the good-
nefs, veracity, and juftice of God were fo inti-
mately concerned, that He could not be fent into
the world, in fuch a manner, as would lay man*
kind under an abfolute neceffity to difown and
reject him, without the leaft fault in themfelves.
The divine wifdom could not therefore fend that
infpired mefienger, whom he had long promifed,
pur-
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS, Jl
purpofdy to prepare the Meffiah's way before him ;
without enlightening him with that ample portion of
his difcerning fpirit, which would enable him to
diftinguifh the true MefTiah, without a poffibility
of miltake, from every counterfeit of his character ;
or at leaft fecure him from bearing witnefs to
any impoftor. Had he been fent without this
neceffary qualification, inftead of preparing the
Meffiah's way before him, he might, and in the
preient cafe muft, have been the moft effectual
obftructor of it. He might involuntarily have
mifapplied his divine authority, in abetting the
defigns of an impious deceiver ; and thus have
thwarted thofe eternal counfels he was fent pur-
pofely to fulfill, through the defects of his own in-
fpiration.
SUPPOSING then that the Baptist was, in fact, the
divine meffenger in queftion ; Jefus mult likewife
have been the true Meffiah.
ON the other hand, Ihould we allow Jefus to
have been the long expected Meffiah; his tefti-
r mony will furniih us with as fatisfactory a proof of
the divine authority of John. Nothing can be
more evidently abfurd, than to fuppofe, that a
being of confummate wifdom and power, would
render the authority of his divine infpirationi
liable to be brought into queftion, by being
connected with the ihort-fighted and inconfiftent
fchemes
12 INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS.
fchemes of hun\an impolture. Intricate plans of
deceit, efpecially fuch as affect the general in-
tereits of mankind, and are of the molt extenfive
nature, are ever liable to be difcovered. Nor
have we need of any other reafon for rejecting all
pretenders to divine authority, than the finding them
defirous to encreafe their credit by the affiitance of
a deceiver. Jefus, therefore, if he was the true
Meffiah, mil ft unquestionably have diftinguiihed
the true Elias, from every counterfeit, who might
affume his name : or, at leaft, he muft have refrain-
ed from bearing witnefs to any one whom he
did not infallibly know to be the divine perfon
in queftion.
BESIDES, had the Baptiil alone been the coun*
terfeit, as Jefus muft then have been preceded by
fame truly divine forerunner, to whom the character
which John affumed did really belong ; Jefus would
undoubtedly have appealed to the teitirnony of that
true prophet, if to any, inftead of the falfe ; and we
could never have found him endeavouring to efta-
blifh the credit of John.
IT is evident therefore beyond queftion, that if
ive admit the divine 'million of Jefus, his telti-
inony will oblige us alfo to acknowledge the in-
fpiration of John. And thus the evidence they
have borne to the truth of each other's divine
pretcnfions reduces us to the neceflity of rejecting
them
INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS. 13
them Both as impoftors ; or fubmitting lo Both, m
in thole very characters they ailumed, as the fpecial
meilengcrs of God, and immediate rcvealers of his
will to mankind.
. Tins indhToluble connection between Jefus and
the Baptitt, naturally points out a particular method
of eitabliming the truth and certainty of the
Chriltian revelation ; in its own nature, ftrong and
conclulive ; and independent of all that variety of
other arguments by which its divine original may
be clearly proved. If thole particulars, which
the evangelifts have recorded, relating to John's
birth and tranfactions, and iiich others concerning
Jefus as are neceffarily connected with them, will
enable us to Ihew fatisfa&orily, that the Baptitt
himfelf could not be an impoitor ; then will they
afford a complete and equally fatisfaetory proof
of the divine million of Jefus ; fmce it will then be
certain, that he could be no lefs than what John
declared him to be, the promifed Meffiab, and the
Son of God.
THE profecution of this particular point is the
firlt and more immediate object of the following
enquiry. But, as w ? e proceed in it, the argument
will likewife be found attended with this farther,
and very material advantage ; that in illuftrating
the evidence of the divine original of John, we
mall at the fame time unavoidably trace out a fe- ,
parate.
14 INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS.
parate, direct, and equally full proof of the divine
character of Jefus ; drawn from the nature of
thofe particulars which relate immediately to him-
felf alone.
THE chief of thofe materials, which muft ferve
for the foundation of this enquiry, are but few in
number, and little more than a feries of aftoniihing
events, affirmed to have accompanied both the
Baptift's and Jefus' s birth. But thefe, when confi-
dered in their feveral circumflances, and neceiTary
connexions; and when joined likewife with fome
remarkable particulars in the conduct of John and
Jefus towards each other, which muft greatly contri-
bute to their farther illuftration ; will appear, it is
hoped, fully fufficient to anfvver the end propofed ;
and afford us a proof, at leaft, as fatisfa&ory as in
fuch a point can rationally be defired, that John was
indeed a man fent from God, and Jefus beyond all
doubt the true Meffiah.
THE
DIVINE MISSIONS
OP
JOHN THE BAPTIST
AND
JESUS CHRIST.
PART I.
SECTION I.
J7ie miraculous events recorded of the birth a?id
-circumcifion of John the Baptift cannot have been
forged, either by Jefus, or any of his difciples ; or
by John hlmfelj] or any of his difciples.
1 HE feveral miraculous events reported to hav*
accompanied the conception of John the Baptift,
are related by Luke as follows * :
" There was in the days of Herod, the king
" of Judea, a certain prieft named Zacharias,
* Luke i. 525.
1$ THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
" of the courfe of Abia : and his wife \vas of
" the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
" Elizabeth. And they were both righteous be-
" fore God, walking in all the commandments
" and ordinances of the Lord blamelefs. And
'* they had no child, becaufe that Elizabeth was
" barren, and they both were now well ftricken in
" years. And it came to pafs, that, while he
" executed the prieft's office before God, in the
" order of his courfe, according to the cuftom
" of the priefifs office, his lot was to burn
" incenfe, when he went into the temple of the
" Lord'. And the whole multitude of the people
" were praying without at the time of incenfe.
" And there appeared unto him an angel of
" the Lord, ftanding on the right iide of the
" altar of incenfe. And when Zacharias faW him$
" he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But
" the angel laid unto him, fear not, Zacharias :
" for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth
" {hall bear thee a Son, and thou ilialt call his
" name John. And thou malt have joy and glad-
" nefs, and many mall rejoice at his birth. For
" he mall be great in the fight of the Lord, and
" lhall drink neither wine, nor ftrong drink ;
" and he ihall be filled with the Holy Ghoft,
<{ even from his mother's womb. And many of
<c the children of Ifrael Hull he turn to the Lord
" thek
Seel. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 17
" their God. And he ihall go before him in the
" fpirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the
ihers to the children, and the difobedient to the
<; willlom of the juft, to make ready a people pre-
" pared for the Lord. And Zacharias faid unto
" the angel, whereby Ihall I know this ? for I am
' an old man, and my wife well ftricken in years.
" And the angel anfwering faid unto him, I am
" Gabriel, that itand in the preferice of God ; and
" am lent to fpeak unto thee, and to ihew thee thefe
" glad tidings. And behold, thou ihalt be dumb,
" and not able to fpeak, until the day that thefe
" things ihall be performed ; becaufe thou believeft
" not my words, which ihall be fulfilled in their
" fcafon. And the people waited for Zacharias,
" and marvelled that he ftaid fo long in the temple.
" And when he came out he could not fpeak unto
" them : and they perceived that he had feen a
" viiion in the temple ; for he beckoned unto them
" and remained fpeechlefs. And it came to pafs,
" that as foon as the days of his miniftration were
" accomplifhed, he departed to his own houfe.
" And after thofe days his wife Elizabeth conceived,
" and In'd herfclf live months, faying, thus hath the
" Lord dealt with me, to take away my reproach
among men."
THE evangelift; having thus related the circum-
ftances of John's conception, flops here to give
C an
18 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti.
an account of many other events, no lefs aftonifh-
ing, which foon after accompanied the conception
of Jefus ; and then goes on with the following
hiltory of the birth of the Baptitt *.
" Now Elizabeth's full time came, that me
" mould be delivered, and ihc brought forth a
" fon. And her neighbours, and her coufins,
t heard how the Lord had iliewed great mercy
" upon her, and they rejoiced with her. And
u it came to pafs, that on the eighth day they
" came to circumcife the child, and they called
" him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
" And his mother anfwcred, and faid, not ib ;
" but he fliall be called John. And they laid
" unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is-
" called by this name. And they made ligns to
" his father, how he would have him called. And
" he alked for a writing table, and wrote, faying,
" his name is John. And they marvelled all. And
" his mouth was opened immediately, and his
" tongue loofed, and he fpake and praifed God.
" And fear came on all that dwelt round about
" them ; and all thefe fay ings were noifed abroad,
" throughout all the hill country of Judea. And
" all they, that had heard them, laid them up in
" their hearts, faying, what manner of child mall
" this be ? And the hand of the Lord was with
* Luke i. 57 to the end.
'" him.
SeCt. 1. .) PTIST AND JES
4% him. And his father Zacharias was filled with
" the Holy Ghoft, and prophefied, faying, BlefTed
" be the Lord God of Ifrael, for he hath vifited
" and redeemed his people ; and hath railed up
" an horn of falvation for us, in the houfe of his
" fervant David, as he fpake by the mouth of his
" holy prophets, which have been fince the world
" began. That we ihould be laved from our ene-
" mies, and from the hand of all that hate us. To
u perform the mercy promiied to our forefathers,
" and to remember his holy covenant ; the oath
" which he fware to our father Abraham ; that he
" would grant unto us, that we, being delivered
" out of the hands of our enemies, might ferve him
" without fear, in holinefs and righteoufnefs before
" him all the days of our life. And thou, child,
" lhalt be called the prophet of the Higheit ;
" for thou flialt go before the face of the Lord to
c prepare his way, to give knowledge of falvation
" to his people, by the rcmiffion of their fins ;
t; through the tender mercy of our God ; whereby
' the day fpring from on high hath vifited us, to
" give light to them that fit in darknefs, and in the
" lhadow of death ; to guide our feet into the way
1 of peace. And the child grew, and waxed ftrong
" in fpirit, and was in the defarts until the day of
" his mewing unto Ifrael."
C 2} SUCH,
520 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
SUCH, and fo aftonilhing, are the particulars
tranfmitted to us of the conception and birth of
John the Baptiit. The evangcliit himfelf, by his
manner of relating them, fcems to have thought
they contained evidence fully iufficient to con-
vince mankind of the truth of his prophetic cha-
racter, and divine inipiration. And if tlicfe ac-
counts may be relied on as true hiltories of fa6ts,
which actually came to pafs, in the manner they
are related ; it muft at once be confeffed, that
their teftimony is abundantly iufficient to allure
us of John's divine mifllon ; and there can be
no room to doubt whether Jefus was the true
Meffiah.
THE appearance of an angel to Zacharias ; his
prophetic declaration, that things in the highelt
degree improbable would very ihortly be brought
to pafs ; his punifhing Zacharias, by ftriking him
initantaneoufly dumb, for queftioning the truth
of what he, foretold ; the fubfequent conception
and birth of John, at a time when, humanly
fpeaking, Elizabeth could not have had children ;
the fudden reftoration of Zacharias's fpeech, at
the period when the angel declared it would be
reftored to him; and his breaking-out into pro-
phecies the inftant after, through the furce of
divine infpiration ; thefe events, confidered to-
gether, are fo apparently beyond the power of
human
. 1. .JOHN' r.M'TIST AM) JLSUS ClIltlST. 21
human artifice to accompliih, that, if it be allowed
really eaine to pails, all farther argument is
at an end. The Jkiptilt mult at once be fub-
rnitted to as the true Elias ; and Jefus, upon
his repeated teftimony, be acknowledged the Son
of God.
Tins then is the queftion ; Whether we have
iufticient reaibn to ialisfy us, in a point of fo
great importance, that this relation of the evan-
gel iits is free both from impofture and miftake ;-
and that all the facts contained in it are unquef-
tionably tru<
IF this miraculous hiftory of the birth of John
is not to be veiled on,, as a true account of what
did actually happen ; it muft either have been in-"
* Before we enter upon the argument propofecl, it feems
iiecefiary to prcmife, that it is not here intended to prove,
that the gofpels were really written by thole perfons, whdfe
names they bear; but taking this Jingle point for granted, as
having been fully eftablifhed by thole, who have written pro--
fefiedly upon it ; the defign of this inquiry is to prove, that
the facts in queftion, recorded in the gofpels, could not pof-
fibly be forged ; but muft really have come to pafs, in the
manner that they are there related. And this, not by argu-
ing from any fuppofcd authority of the cvangclifts, but from
the very nature and circumltanccs of their relations them-
jelves. The authenticity of the gofpels may be feeii proved
at large by lMrdncr t in his Cm/, of the Gofp.IIiJl. ; and others,
who have fet themfelves exprefsly to examine the canon of the
New Teltament.
C 3 vented
2 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
vented by Luke, or fome other of Jefuss apoftle& 9
iii order to ftrengthen the credit of their own
inafter ; or it muft have been forged by John
himfelf, m Jomc of his difciplcs, to deceive the
people into a belief of his divine infpiration ; or
laftly, it muft have been a contrivance of Zacha-
ricis and his qffociates, in order to pafs his Son upon
the Jews for that honourable prophet, who was ex-
pected to come before-hand to prepare the way of
the Lord.
Now that it could not be forged by Luke, w ill
very evidently appear. Though the exact time of
the publication of his gofpel is unknown, nor is
it certain whether it came abroad before or after
thole of Matthew and Mark, the nature and end of
the work itfelf, and Luke's own words, oblige us
to acknowledge, that it could not be made public
immediately after the death of Chrift. Till the
church was fo enlarged, that the pcrlbnal tefti-
mony of the apoftles, and the eye-w itneiles of
Jefus's life and actions, could not often be had ;
and their verbal accounts, through a courfe of
fome time, were expofed to the danger of being,
even involuntarily, corrupted ; the evangelifts were
under no great neceffity to write hiftories of the
life of Jefus their inafter ; and were much too
fully employed in making converts to chriftianity,
to have leifure for compofmg them. In fact,
Luke
Sect. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 23
I. uke himfelf has exprefsly declared *, that he did
nut com pole liis gofpel, till after " many had taken
" in hand to fet forth, in order, a declaration of
" thole things, which were molt ailuredly believed
" among them." This declaration, especially when
joined to the nature of the thing itfelf, would make
it in the higheit degree unreafonable to fuppofej that
the gofpel in queftion could have come abroad, till
fome confiderable time after the death of Chrift.
And thus far all the different opinions about it are
agreed.
BUT after fuch a time had elapfed, the evan-
gel ift could not but know and confider, that it
would be impoffible for him to forge a feries of
facts, fo aftonifhing in themfelves, and of fuch
confiderabic moment, without being immediately
detected ; and ruining at once the prevailing cre-
dit of Jefus, and all who preached in his name.
Could the apoftles, from the iirlt of their miniftry,
have appealed to fo wonderful a feries of events,
which had accompanied the birth of John ; no
man could poffibly believe, that they would till
this time have itudioufiy fuppreffed them ; or
could, through neglect, have forgot to relate them.
For John, we have fecn bore the molt expreis
teftimony to the truth of Jcfus's pretenfions ; and
* Luke i. 1.
C 4 \ve
24 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
*vve know likewife, that all the people held John to
have been a prophet indeed.
THE evangeliit therefore could not pofiibly have
prefixed a relation fo aftonilhing, as this hiilory of
the birth of John, to his account of the life and
actions of Jefus ; unlefs the particulars contained
in it had not only been publicly known and beli&ved,
before he wrote ; but publicly taught likewife, by
all the apoftles, to every convert they had made,
from their firft beginning to preach the gofpcl.
Becaufe it was evident, that, if he had, not only
his own gofpel, but, with it, all the pretences of
his party, mult, on this very account, have been
umverfally exploded.
NEITHER, can this relation have been a forgery
concerted between all or any of Jefuss di/ciples, at
their very firft beginning to preach the gofpcl,
after Jefus's death. Such a furprifmg feries of mi-
racles fuppofed to have accompanied John's birth,
but never made known till fo long a time after his
death * ; and then firft reported by a fet of men,
whole intereft was fo nearly and fo evidently con*
* According to Mr. Macknight, John was beheaded before
the third paflbver of Jefus's public miniftry ; and Jefus hiinfelf
was put to death at the fifth, So that the death f Jefus did
not happen till full two years after the death of John. Some
computations make the diitance greater Itill ; and it could not
be k-fs,
cerned
I. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 55
cerncd in promoting the belief of them ; wiuft ne-
lly huvc carried with it fo ftrong an appear-
of hnpoflure, that thole, who did not reject
them at once, as apparently fictitious, would no
diiii!)t have examined into the truth of them, with
fo much fcrupulous care, that, had they not been
founded on unqueftionable fact, their falfehood
in uft have been prefently detected.
How zealous and active the rulers of the Jews,
and the whole fynagogue continued, for a long
time after they had put Jefus to death, in en-
deavouring to lilcnce the apoftles, and prevent
even the name of Jefus from being named among
the people, is well known. At the very time,
when the apoftles muft have firft publifhed thefe
forgeries concerning the birth of John ; if in
reality they were forgeries, and the apoftles the
perfons who forged them ; the chief priefts and
rulers were watching every opportunity to deftroy
them. Firft, they imprifoned Peter and John * ;
then all the apoftles at oncef ; not difmifiing them
without ftripes, and threats of the fevereft punifh-
ment if they full continued preaching in Jefus's
name J ; and, very foon after, they even put
Stephen to death || . So circumflanced, in the midft
* Afts of the apoft. iv. 13.
t Ads of thcapoft. v. 17, 18.
J A 61s of the apoft. iv. IS, 21. v. 28, 40.
11 Ibid. vii. 58,59,60.
Of
26 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Part I.
of fuch perfecuting foes, what can be more incre-
dible, than that the apoftles Ihould voluntarily court
not only the utter extinction of their Mailer's credit,
but even their own ihame and deftruciion ; by now
firft publilhing fo extravagant and ill-founded a
forgery, as muft neceffarily make their veracity not
fufpecied only, but exploded, by every one of the
leaft judgement or reflection ?
OB, were it conceivable, that the apoftles them-
felves could act fo fooliih a part ; how can it be
believed, that the chief priefts and rulers would
quietly acquiefce, in fuffering them to fpread abroad
thefe hitherto unheard-of divine revelations ; fo evi-
dently calculated to raife the credit of Jefus ; whole
name and memory they were at this very time ex-
torting all their authority to deftroy ? Had the cir-
cumftances of John's birth, which Luke has related,
been unknown till this time, and now fir- It publilhed
by Jefus's difciples ; the fanhedrim could not have
failed to make the ftricteft enquiry into the evidence
alleged in their fupport ; and if that had proved in-
fufficient, as it certainly muft, would have punifhed
the apoftles to the utrnoft extent of their power;
and by laying open their villainy to the public view,
have extinguilhed for ever the growing credit of the
SINCE therefore, on the contrary, it appears,
that though they not only threatened, but beat,
and
I. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 27
and irnprifoned the apoftlcs, and even put one of
them to death, for periitting to preach in the name
of Jelus ; yet they never accufed them of the leaft
forgery, in thofe miraculous accounts of the birth of
the Baptift, which they were now every where
fpreading among their converts to Chriflianity ; we
are neceffitated to acknowledge, that this account
of the birth of John, which Luke has recorded,
inuft have been publicly known, and univerfally
believed before the time of Jefus's death. It
could not therefore be forged by the apofdes,
when they firft began to preach the gofpel, imme-
diately after it.
IF then the miraculous account under confide-
ration was forged by Jefus's difciples, Jefus himfelf
muft have been concerned with them in it, and they
muft jointly have publifhed it foon after the death of
John. But not to repeat arguments, which have
been but this moment alleged ; the very fame rea-
fons, which have (hewn it impoffible for Jefus's dif-
ciples to have done this, foon after his death ; prove
it equally certain, that neither could Jefus, in con-
junction with them, have firft publimed fuch a for-
gery, at any time after the death of John. Becaufe
the teftimony of Jefus more efpccially, with that of
his difciples, would neceilarily have been cxpofed
to all the fame objections in this cafe, as the tefti-
jnony of his difciples alone, in the former.
Sixes
28 -HIE mviNE MISSIONS OF Parti.
SINCE therefore this account of the miraculous
birth of John, whether we fuppoie it true or falie,
mult have been publicly known and received, while
John himielf was alive to confirm or contradict it;
if it was a forgery, we mult next fuppoie John
himfelf to have been the true author, and chief
propagator of it. But neither could this poffibly
be the cafe.
JOHN'S whole character, life, and doclrine,
were fo eminently diftinguilhed by a religious
adherence to the very ftricleit rules of piety and
virtue ; that, according to Jofephus, the Jews in
general were firmly perfuaded, that particular
divine judgements were inflicted upon Herod for
putting him to death *. But, not to infift on this,
the
* Jofephus having related the total defeat of Herod's army,
and mentioned the caufe of it, that they were betrayed by
forae deferters, goes on as follows.
Tn7i $ rcjy Ivfrawv ^oxs> oAwAevat rov Hpw
x#t ^aA hy.ouus rwwu.tvx xja -ETCHW Ivavvx rs
'jtj-a' xlt'.vet yao rtflw H^W^'/K, ayaQov ccvc^cc, Y.CH
ctcslw fiSYwrxovjIas, xt TV vrfos atMuttes hzouvs-vvv, y.eu -ro-o? rov
Guv tvfft@sne> ^w/x,3yy?, ^a,^ltff[AU trvmeven" aro y^ %cu r^
w etvlu (pct,ii<rbi, pr, mi nvvv KpaQaSuv wagI3crej
' ayj> rov cr^walo?, art oy v.cu rns ^v/J^. ^x.aioa-
.,w. Jofeph. Antiq. Jiid. L. 18. 5. Ed. Iluverc.
" But many among the Jews were pcrfuaded, that the de-
finition of Herod's army was owing to the particular inter-
poiition of God ; who, they thought, took this method to
punife
. 1. J< PTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. .$
the feveral particulars related are of fuch a nature,
.oiul contradiction, that thefe accounts
could not have been lirli invented, nor even firit re-
lated, at any time after John's birth; and confe-
(jiiently, that it is impoffible for John himfelf, or any
of his difciples, to have been the contriver, or firit
propagator of them.
ZACH A BIAS'S feeming lofs of fpeech, and his
Signifying to the people his having feen a vifion
in the temple, were facts, that, if true, muft have
been notorious to great numbers ; as is evident
from the occafion on which they are faid to have
happened *. Again, Zacharias's no lefs furpri-
punifli him, as he very highly deferved, for his cruelty to John,
commonly called the Baptift. For Herod had put him to
death, notwithstanding he was a good man, and exhorted
Hie Jews not to come to his bap ti fir., without ilrft preparing
themfelves for it, by the pradice of viitue; by a Itricl ad-
herence to the rules of juftice and equity in their dealings
with one another; and by manifcfting a fincere piety towapds
God. For their being baptized, he taught them, would then
only be acceptable to God, when, having firft purified the mind
with righteous difpofitions, they had recourfe to baptifm, as
nothing more than an emblem of their freedom from fonfual
pollutions ; not when they made ufe of it as a commutation for
their fins."
* " And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that
" that he tarried fo long in the temple. And wken he cam
" out he could not fpeak unto them : and they perceived that
*' he bad feen a vifion in the temple : for he beckoned unto
" them, and remained fpeechlefs." Lujse i. 21, 22.
SO THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
fing, inftantaneous recovery of his fpeech, at the
time of John's circumcifion, was another fact, which,
if true, mult have been known likewife at the very
time, to no lefs than ten feveral relations of the
family who, according to the conftant cuftom of 'the
Jewilh nation, mult have been prefent upon that
occafion *.
Now it is inconceivable, that an impoftor
fliould choofe to forge fuch facls as thefe, the
falfehood of which might prefently be detected ;
and add likewife, that the whole country round
about was, at the very time, made acquainted
with, and furpifed at them ; when, if the facls
* The occafion was the circmncifion of John. " And it came
" to pafs, that on the eighth day they came to circumcifc the
child; and they called .hiir, Zacharias, after the name of his
" father, &c." Luke i. 59 Upon this occafion the cuftom of
the Jews was as follows.
" Upon the day of circumcihon the father makes a feaft.
Ten muft be the number of the invited guefts ; and one or two
of the learned Rabbis make a long prayer and fermon
at the table ; while the others freely fet the glafs about
and drink plentifully. This feaft they obferve, by the ex-
ample of Abraham, who made a great feaft, the fame day that
Ifaac was weaned (Gen. xxi. 8.) : they pervert the text,
and fay, when he was circumcifcd." Lewis's Heb. Antiq.
B.4. Ch.l.
The number of pcrfons to be invited to this feaft, at the cir-
cumcifion, was not limited to ten ; but there were always to be
ten at the Icaft. J3uxtorf. Syn. Jud. cap. 2,
them-
Sect. 1, JOHN BAPTIST AXD JKSUS CHRIST. 31
themfelvcs were not true, it would immediately
have appeared, upon enquiry, that none of the
neighbouring inhabitants had ever heard any thing
of them. * " And fear came on all that dwelt
4i round about them ; and all theie layings (that'
" is, all tliefe traniaclions '| ) were noifcd abroad,
tl throughout all the hill country of Judea. And
41 all that heard them laid them up in their hearts^
* Luke i. 65, 66.
f To prevent any fufpicion of having interpreted this paf-
fage in a more comprehenfive fenfe, than it ought to be taken
in ; it is proper to obferve, that the words in the original are^
-cravla roc. gyp,oklot ravla, ; which in the tranflation are rendered
" all thefc fayings." Now it is certain, that r fu/uolc* figni-
fies indifferently things as well as words ; and is as often ufed
for the former as the- latter. Thus in this very chapter, ver.
37. 'OTI ovx. ctowctir.c-i Grxpa, TS 0ew lacnv gypa. ; in the tranfla-
tion, " For with God nothing Jhall be impojfible" And in
chap. ii. 15. AithQu[/,fV OTJ \u$ B>;9A^^ y.oc,k loa^y TO PI)[AOL
TOfTO TO yeyovc,:, o 6 Kfpo^ tyvupctv r,j/AV. *' Let US 110 W go even
" unto Bethlehem, and fee this thing which is coYne to pafs,
" which the Lord hath made known unto us." From tliefe
inftances only it is fufliciently plain, that in the pafiage befora
us, -sravla roc, pijaola ratvla, would have been more properly
tranflated, "all thefe events;" inftead of, " all thckfaj/iifgs ;'
and that Luke meant by them, not only Zacharias's pro-
phetical declaration, but all the fuels he had juft been re-
lating. See more on the word gyux in Hamm. on Matt, 2.
Wolf. Cur. Phil, in Luc. i. 37. Gataker dc Stylo N. T.
p. 1 16'. Rofs's Efiay for a new Tranfl. (from Lc Cene), p. 2,
ch. 4.
" faying,
52 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
" faying, what manner of child ihall this be?"
Uniefs thefe events had apparently come to pafs,
in the manner, and at the time, they are related to
have happened ; they could not at that time have
been noifed abroad through the neighbouring coun-
try ; nor could John hirnfelf, or his affociates, at
any time afterwards have ventured to affert that
they were.
THE nature of the facls themfelvcs was fo fur-
prifmg, that upon this account alone, foine re-
membrance of them muft have been preferved, in
the neighbourhood where Zacharias had lived, had
they really happened, much later than it was poffi-
ble for John himfelf, or any of his difciples while he
was living, to have contrived and publifned thefe
accounts. The hiftory of fo many divine revelations,
reflecting fo much honour upon all thofe to whom
they had been made, rnuft without doubt have been
preferved in the family, with great care, at leaft
as long as the perfon, whom they immediately
concerned, was alive. The hopes and expecta-
tions of feeing them accomplimed in John's fu-
ture life and actions, muft have kept them in
the remembrance of Zacharias's friends and re-
lations at leaft ; and rendered it impoffible for the
memory of them to have been loft, while there
was a poiiibility remaining of feeing them one
day fulfilled/
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 38
No fooner, it is related, had Zacharias fignified
that his fon lliould be named John, than his fpeech
was perfectly rt'ftored, and he was immediately
filled with the Holy Ghoit, or at leaft pretended to
be fo, and prophefied : foretelling, beiides the
fpeedy coming of the Meiliah himfelf, and the
glories of his reign, that his own fon y at that time
but a few days old, was fent to difcharge the office
of his immediate forerunner.
So unexpected a prediction, delivered by Zacha-
rias, after having been, as he pretended, for fo long
a time miraculoully ftruck dumb, and but the inftant
before as miraculouily reftored to fpeech ; and this
too concerning a child born to him when he could
have no hopes of children ; and to whom he had
juft given a name, in opposition to the delire of
all his relations prefent, and the prevailing cuitom
of his country; fuch a prophecy, pronounced in
circumftances fo remarkable, and full of pro-
mifes fo defirable, could not have been forgot
in John's life-time, had it really been delivered ;
nor could John's affirming fuch a ftory have been
able to procure it belief, if it had not been re-
membered.
IF therefore, upon enquiry, when John alTumed
his public character, no account, not even the
leaft tradition, of thefe miracles and prophecies
could be learned from the family of Zacharias,
D and
34 THE BIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
and the neighbourhood * where he lived ; and if
they were forgeries of John's own, or any of his
difciples, it is evident this muft have been the
cafe ; they muft at once have becrt effectually ex-
ploded, John's own reputation muft have beei*
abiblutely blafted ; nor would the hiftorians oi
Jefus have dared afterwards to publiih thefe re-
lations, in order to fupport the credit of their
Mafter. On the contrary, it muft have been their
deiire, by all means, totally to fupprefa all memory
of them ; iin-ee any known faliehood in John mult
fo neeeffariiy bring the credit of Jefus into queftion,
Not to fey, that in this cafe it would have been
impoffible for the credit of Jefus to have outlived
that of John.
* It may not be improper to take notice, on tlm
that the Jews were from the beginning fettled in their pof-
feffions r according to their tribes and families (See M. Low-
man's Civil Government of the Hebrews, ch. 4.). By thiv
means a whole neighbourhood, being in fome meafure related
to each other, mull have been more neayly connected, than m
other countries ; where no fuch regulation had originally
taken place ; and their tribes were not kept difliac~r. And, on
this account, it muft have been looked on as ftill more highl-v
incredible,. that the neighbourhood, where Zacharias had lived,
could at this time be found abfolutely ignorant of any fuch
aftoni fning events as thofe before us ; had they ever really comfr
to pats, and been related among them,
BUT
Se6t. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 35
BUT beiides this conclufive argument, drawn from
the ieveral circumftances attending the fuppofed re-
velations themfelves ; it appears, on many other
accounts, abfolutely impoffi ble for them to have been
forged by John himfelf, or confequently by his
difciples.
IT mult at once be allowed, that before he
could contrive, or enter upon a defign fo intricate,
fo bold, and fo iniquitous, he muft, at leaft, be
drawing very near to man's eftate. This is the
very earlieit period we can poffibly affign for it.
He could not then begin to publifh thefe ftories,
in order to prepare people for receiving him, in that
divine character, which he muft have intended after-
wards to affume, till he was at leaft about twenty
years of age. Now, at this time either Zacharias
and Elizabeth, and all the ten perfons who had
been prefent at the feaft of John's circumcifion,
about twenty years before, muft have been ftill
alive ; or elfe only fonae of them were yet living ;
or laftly, they muft all have been already dead.
And which ever of thefe fuppofitions we may
choofe to embrace, it will be found incredible,
that John could attempt fetting on foot fuch an
impofture, at this time ; or, if he had attempted
it, that he could have efcaped immediate and public
detection.
D 8 Ji?
36 THE DIVINE MISSION* OF Part L
IF Zacharias and Elizabeth, and all thofe who
had been prefent at their ion's tircumcifion, were
yet alive ; it is evident, that John could not at-
tempt to publifh any forgeries of his own, giving
an account of fuch remarkable revelations, as
having been made to all of them, fo many years
before ; unleis he had firft feduced them all to
corroborate his relation, with their own evidence ;
and confpire with him in the profecution of the
whole plot,
BUT what an extravagant and incredible fup-
pofition is this! Was it poffible for John to en-
tertain a defign of engaging his very parents them-
felves, perfons of fuch virtuous converfation as
he knew them to be, in fo wicked an impofture ?
Could he conceive hopes, that they, who, he well
knew, had ever walked " in all the command-
" ments and ordinances of the Lord blamelefs *,''
would
* As it is not allowable here to take the good character of
Zacharias and Elizabeth upon truft, it is necefiary to obferve,
that the circumflances of the cafe will prove the characters
given of them to be true ; without confidering Luke's relation
as of any authority, on his own account. It has ju-ft now
been proved, that if the circtimftances of John's birth, re-
lated by Luke, had been forged ; they could not, however,
he forged, and firft made known, either by Luke himfelf, or
any of Jcfus's difciples, after the death of Jefus ; or by Jefas*
in conjunction with his own, or John's difciples, after John's
death.
Sect. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 37
would encourage, and even aflift him, in the mod
impious of all undertakings ? Or could he ima-
gine,
death. This beiwg the cafe, it necefiarily follows, that the
particulars concerned, even if they were forged, mult have
been made known, at the lateft, while John was yet alive. It
is evident likcwife, that thefe particulars were of fo marvel-
lous a nature, that, whenever they were firft related, they
would undoubtedly caufe many, and the chief priefts more
efpecially, to recollect, or enquire into, the received charac-
ters of Zacharias and Elizabeth ; who were represented as to
intimately concerned in them. And as this, we have feen,
muft have been while John was yet alive ; and confequcntly,
long before the received characters of Zacharias and Eliza-
beth could be forgot, in the neighbourhood where they had
lived ; hence it appears, that the reputation they had really
maintained, whether good or bad, muft have been fo well known
and cftabliihed during the public miniftry of John, that it
could not be in the power of Luke to attribute & falfc charac-
ter to them, and above all, one fo remarkably good, when he
came to write his gofpel fome years afterwards. Befides, it
would be manifeltly abfurd to fuppofe, that the people in ge-
neral, or the chief priefts in particular, mould not enquire
who John was, and from what parents he arofe; when firit
he began to baptize, and drew all orders about him. Curu
ofity alone would lead the generality to make this enquiry ;
and the chief priefts muft have done it on other motives. Nor
could they pofiibly remain ignorant of the true characters of
Zacharias and Elizabeth ; fmce all the other priefts, who
had lived in the fame neighbourhood with thein, muft cer-
tainly have known very well, what reputation they had in
fact maintained ; and were the very perfons, to whom the
I) 3 chief
38 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
gine, that among no lefs than ten of his father's
felect friends, and two Rabbis, whom he had
chofen to rejoice with him, at the feaft for the
circumciiion of an unexpected fen, there mould not
be one, who mould have common honefty enough
to refufe becoming an accomplice in fo wicked a
confpiracy ? Nothing can farther exceed the bounds
of credibility, than this fuppofition would ; except
what we mult at the fame time fuppofe, in order to
convict John of the forgery in debate ; that he not
only determined to attempt corrupting them, but
actually fucceeded.
THOUGH the evangelifts have given us no ac-
count of thofe perfons who were prefent at the
Baptift's circumcifion ; the occafion of the meet-
ing itfelf is fufficient to convince us, that they
inuft certainly have been perfons of good moral
characters, and virtuous reputations. Zacharias
called them together, in compliance with the
cuftom of his country, to rejoice with him for
chief priefts and rulers would have applied, for information
about them. On both thefe accounts therefore it muft be al-
lowed, that that exemplary character, which Luke has without
fcruple afcribed to Zacharias and Elizabeth, could be no other,
than what had always been admitted as their true character ;
fcut more efpecially from the time when John began firil to
baptize ; at which time, it is certain, no falfe account of them
would have been fuffered by the chief priefts to gain ground.
the
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 39
the birth of a fon, born after he had loft all hopes
of having children. This was an event, which nmit
have given To much pleafure to Zacharias, and more
especially to Elizabeth *, that it cannot be doubted,
but they would certainly invite iuch of their moft
intimate friends to rejoice with them upon it, as
would render the family meeting as futisfaciory as
poffible. Whoever they were then, that met to re-
joice with Zacharias upon this occafion, they could
not be any of his mere common acquaintance ;
perfons whofe lives and converfations he might
know but little of, and be as little felicitous
about; but, on the contrary, they mult have
been fuch of his beft friends and relations, as he
Jcnew would take part moft fmcerely in his prefeni
fatisfaction.
Now from hence it is certain, that they muft
have been perfons of integrity, and unblemiihed
reputation. For how can it be imagined, that a
prieft, who had maintained to old age an exem-
plary character, could have formed his moft in-
timate connections with perfons of abandoned
principles, and diffolute lives ? How is it poffible
lie fhould have formed friendfhips, and kept up
an intimate correspondence, with thofe, whole
company would have been a di (grace to his pro-
* Sec Lwkci. 2i,25,
D 4 feffion,
40 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
feffion, and whofc conduct muft have been oppofite
to his own ? Had he conducted himfelf in this man-
ner, he could neither have acquired, nor preferved,
that virtuous reputation, which he died pofleffed of.
He was now likewife arrived at that advanced time
of life, when other caufes of intimacy lofe their in-
fluence, and good men value their friends, more
than ever, for the internal difpoiition and good prin-
ciples of the heart. Thofe friends therefore, whom
Zacharias felecled to rejoice with him upon this
occalion, we may reft fatisfied, muft have been, like
himfelf and Elizabeth, perfons of approved probity
and worth.
WHAT then can be more incredible, than that
John fliould imagine he could prevail with no
lefs than twelve perfons, of fuch worthy charac-
ters as his parents and their friends certainly were,
to become, all on the fudden, extravagantly
wicked, and affift him in the profccution of a
moft impious impofture ? And even had it been
poffible for him to have refolved upon attempting
this, by what itrange fatality could it happen,
that they fliould all, without exception, approve
his wicked defigns, and all become at once fo
hardened in iniquity, that neither the cuftomary
flings of remorfe, nor even the feverer terrors of
a death-bed, fliould induce any one of them, ever
after,, to make confeffion of his crime ? No ex-
pedients
Set 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 41
peclients whatever can render fuch fuppofitions even
in the very loweft degree credible, or capable of
being allowed.
AND what views of advantage could John have
to propofe to his parents and relations, in order
to engage them in fo iniquitous an undertaking;
which, on fo many other accounts, it muft have
appeared to him plainly impoffible for them to ap-
prove ? Some furely he muft have thought neceffary
for this end ; and yet his defign, planned as we
muft fuppofe him to Imve planned it, could not ad-
mit of any.
THE prophecies and revelations which they at-
tefted, and which muft either have been his con-
trivance alone, or the joint produce of all, were
fuch as would at all times have made it requifite
for him to refufe all earthly power and honours.
He was to be great indeed * ; but then it was to be
in the fight of the Lord, not of man. His life and
manners were to be diftinguiihed from thole of
other men ; but, inftead of being rendered re-
markable by a more fplendid poflerTion of human
enjoyments ; " he was to drink neither wine nor
" ftrong drink;" and to live in a continued
courfe of abftinence and mortification. He was
to aifume the character of an inftruftor of man-
* Lukei, 15.
kind ;
42 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
kind; but, far from being to poflefs the allure-
ments of human vvifdom and philofophy, " he was
" to be filled with the Holy Ghoft from his mo-
" thers womb." He was to preach the doctrine of
repentance ; of all others the moft directly calcu-
lated to draw upon him a general hatred and aver-
fion ; and, " to give knowledge of falvation by the
" remiffion of their fins" to THAT people, who va-
lued themfelves fo highly on being the fons of
Abraham. In fine, he was profeffedly to renounce
the high character of the Meffiah ; and to lay claim
to no other honour, than that of a meffenger, who
was to prepare his way before him, in the referved
and retired manner of Elias.
THIS being the plot he contrived ; if it was in-
deed a plot of his own contrivance ; what rewards
could he poffibly propofe to Zacharias and Eliza-
beth, and their friends, fufficient to induce them
to embark in fo iniquitous an impofture? It is
evident he could have none to offer. And to fup-
pofe, notwithftanding, that he could think it pof-
iible, that fo many perfons of virtuous reputation
ihould all agree to join in carrying on fo wicked,
and, at the fame time, fo ufelefs a defign ; and,
an confequence of this opinion, that he could at-
tempt to feduce them ; and farther, that, in fact,
they all heartily embraced it, and ever after ad-
hered to it ; would be contradicting the firft prin-
ciples
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 43
ciples of common fenfe, and all experience ; and
utterly confounding all diftin&ion between falihood
and truth.
BUT, incredible as the fuppofition muft un-
doubtedly be allowed, let us fuppofe thefe twelve
perfons, of unblemifhed integrity, to have become,
all at once, the moft accomplished impoftors. Even
this conceffion itfelf will not yet make it poflible for
the impofture in debate to have been firft contrived,
and thus fet on foot by the Baptift. For, had
it been his contrivance, even the joint teftimony
of all thefe in its fupport would have been utterly
infufficient to prevent it from being prefently ex-
ploded.
IT has been already obferved, that John muft
at leaft have arrived at man's eftate, before he can
be conceived capable of entering upon fuch a de-
fign. So that, whatever aflbciates he might then
engage in it, muft till that time have been totally
ignorant of every particular of the plot; and,
confequently, could never have made mention of
any of thefe divine revelations, as having accom-
panied the birth of John, during the long interval
of about twenty years, which muft have elapfed
fince he was born. But after fuch a filence as
this, had they all agreed to publiih relations of any
fuch miraculous events ; it cannot be doubted,
what muft have been the fuccefs of fo fo.olilh an
attempt
44 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
attempt to irnpofe upon the common fenfe of
mankind.
WHO could poffibly have given credit to fto-
ries of fo extraordinary a nature ; which, if
related at the very firft, required to have been
fo well attefted ; when it fhould appear, that not
one of thofe witnefTes, upon whole teftimony only
they muft ftand or fall, had ever made the leaft
mention of them, for fuch a feries of years ? It
would have heen utterly impoffible for any of
them, and more efpecially for Zacharias, to ac-
count fatisfacfcorily for their entirely fuppreffing
fuch events, at the time they came to pafs ; when
aftonilhment alone would have led every honeft
undefigning fpectator to reveal them ; as well as
for making them known at laft, when they were
plainly calculated to ferve an interefted view,
after having fo long fupprefled them. Such a con-
duct, it muft have been clear to all, could have
proceeded from nothing lefs than fome diflioneft
agreement between them ; and, confequently,
muft have deprived Iheir teftimony of all regard,
however credible witnefies they might otherwife
have been.
WHAT more natural, nay, what more unavoid-
able, than this enquiry ; how fo many honeft men
could have agreed among themfelves, abfolutely
to fupprefs fuch extraordinary revelations of the
will
Seel. J. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 45
will of God, as, according to their own account
of them, it was of the utmoft importance, mould
be publimed to mankind ? " He mall be great,"
faid the angel to Zacharias, " in the fight of the
" Lord ; and many of the children of llrael
" mail he turn to the Lord their God. And he
" mall go before him, in the fpirit and power of
" Elias ; to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
." children, and the difobedient to the wifdom of
" the juft, to make ready a people prepared for the
" Lord *." Zacharias himfelf too prophefied,
" And thou, child, malt be called the prophet
" of the higheft, for thou malt go before the
" face of the Lord, to prepare his ways, to
" give knowledge of falvation to his people, by
" the remiffion of their fins f." Thefe were di-
penfations, which, the moft fimple could not but
at once perceive, required the proofs of John's
divine commiffion to be publimed to mankind.
It muft therefore have occurred to every one,
that whoever could agree among themfelves to
fupprefs thofe miraculous events, by which alone
thefe difpenfations could be confirmed, muft have
been perfons of no lefs abandoned principles, than
fuel i as could deliberately combine together, to
oppofe the merciful difpenfations of God, and
* Lukei. 15, 17. t Ibid. i. 76, 11.
obftruft
46 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
obftruct the univerfal happinefs of man. So that ?
had it been poffible for John himfelf to have en-
tered upon, and engaged his parents and relations
in ib foolim a defign, their long unavoidable filence,
with regard to all thefe aftonifhing events, which
they muft now at length have attefted, was abun-
dantly fufficient to prevent any one from paying the
Jeaft regard to their reports *.
ABOVE all the reft; the credit of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, though hitherto unfufpected, muft on
this account have been effectually deftroyed. For
every honeft motive, that could poffibly influence
their conduct upon fuch an occafion, would have
fonfpired together, in forcing them to publifh
thefo divine revelations, had they ever really been
made. If he was a man of probity and virtue, he
could not have refolved to conceal from mankind
fuch fmgular manifeftations of the over-ruling pro-
vidence of God. If a prieft of piety and reli-
gion, he could not have dared to withhold from
* Nay, their teflimony would not only have been rejected on
all thefe accounts ; but their characters would unavoidably
have become infamous, in the judgement of all the people.
For. amoBg the Jews, all fuch as concealed any revelations,
tRat had been made to them, were looked upon as one particu-
lar fpecies of falfc prophets ; and they believed that God would
execute ievcre judgement upon them, as fuch. See Seklen de
Synedr, Eb. 1. 2. c, <?. .And Lewis's Hcb. Ahtiq. B, 2. 16.
his
Sect. 1. JOftN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 47
his whole nation thofc divine revelations concerning
his own ion ; the very fubftance of which evidently
ihewed, that God certainly defigned them to be
made known to all. As a defendant of Abraham,
and an inheritor of the promifes made to his fore-
fathers, he could not but have been extremely
defirous to be the firil publifher of the joyful tidings
of the long-expected Meffiah ; he could not but
have rejoiced exceedingly at the high honour con-
ferred upon hhnfclf, in bleffing him with a fon
to be the Mcffiah's immediate forerunner. And
on all thefe accounts together, if he was not pre*
vented by any dimoneft defigns, he muft have
burned with impatience, to make known to all
the neighbourhood where he lived, thefe certain
allurances of the approaching deliverance of their
whole nation, and his own great favour with
God.
THE deiire even of encreafing his own reputation
mult have concurred with his regard to virtue
and religion, and forced him to make known fuch
miraculous revelations, had they really accompa-
nied the birth of his fon. Thefe confiderations
likewife were fo far from remote, that they muft
naturally have occurred to every Jtr, 7 upon the
firlt mention of the cafe. So that though, for
argument's fake, we mould fuppofe Zacharias,
ai\d all the reft, to have entered into a plot to bear
witnefs
48 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
witnefs to thefe revelations, at the inftigation of
John ; this fmgle circumftance, that they had never
made the lealt mention of them, for the long in-
terval of near twenty years, after they were affirmed
to have come to pafs, mult effectually have betrayed
the impofture, and caufed it to be univerfally ex-
ploded.
THUS it appears impoffible for John himfelf to
have been the contriver of any fuch impofture, as
that in queftion, if we fuppofe his parents, and all
thofe who had been prefent at his circumcifion, to
have been ftill living, when he was capable of con-
triving it.
IF now we fuppofe, what is far more probable to
have been the cafe, that only fome of them re-
mained alive, when John may be thought capable
of forming fuch a defign ; the impofiibility of his
fetting the plot on foot, without its being pre-
fently rejected, becomes more evident than before.
For, in addition to' all the arguments already al-
leged, which muft effectually have deftroyed the
credit of fuch of them, as were yet alive to publilh
thefe relations; the abfolute iilence of all thofe,
who had even died without ever making mention
of fuch miraculous events, would have rendered
it ftill more apparent, that, no fuch revelations had
ever really been made. That thole, who now at
length
Se&. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CIlfelST. 49
length attefted them, ihould have concealed them
fo long, was what no man could believe ; but that
any of thofe, who were prefent when they happened,
Ihould even die without revealing them, was doubly
incredible.
CAN it appear poffible then, for John to have
fucceeded better in the fuppofed defign ; if, in the
laft place, we fhould imagine, that Zacharias and
Elizabeth, and all who had been prefent at his
circumcifion, were dead before he entered upon
it ? Could he take advantage of the death of all,
and fuccefsfully publiih fuch forgeries as thefe ;
when there were no longer any witneffes to be had,
who could exprefsly declare his pretenfions to be
falfe ? On the contrary, it is apparent from what
has juft now been faid, that this fuppofition, the
only one remaining, muft be, of all, the moft un-
favourable for his plot. For, could John himfelf
have been foolifh enough to lay claim to a divine
character, upon the mere ftrength of thefe pre-
tended revelations ; at a time, when he himfelf was
the only perfon, who aflferted he had ever heard a
fyllable of them ; and when every one of thofe-
perfons to whom, he faid, they had been made,
were at length dead ; and* dead too, without having
ever revealed the leaft hint concerning them ; it
is apparent he muft at once have been rejected,
E as
50 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti-
as the moft fhamelefs and abandoned of all in>
poftors *..
SINCE therefore, on the other hand, it is cer-
tain, that John was not only efteemed a true
prophet, by the people k* general, but that even
the Phar-ifees themfelves, his avowed and early
enemies, had no fuch argument to allege againit
his pretenfions to a divine commiffion ; it muft ne-
cefiarily be acknowledged, that there could be no
room for this decifive objection. And thus, to
convince us that thefe revelations, faid to have
accompanied the conception and birth of John,
were undobutedly noifed abroad, by Zacharias
and his friends concerned in them, throughout all
the hill country of Judea, immediately after John's*
clrcumcifton ; and confequently, that it is abfolutely
irnpofiible for them to have been forged by, John
* It would be idle to fuppofe here, that John might fuborn
witnefles to corroborate his own teftimony, by afierting, that
they had heard of thefe revelations, as well as himfelf ; an*
that by this means his account might gain ground. For, not
to infift on the great apparent difficulty and danger of fuch ar*
attempt, it muft have been utterly impofiible for. John to have,,
procured fuch a number, as would by any means have been
fitfficient to give even an air of probability to their relations ;
while, the contradictory evidence of others, of no lefs authority,
muft have effectually prevented. their teftimony from being re-
ceived, after fo long an interval had clapfed as that of twenty
years,
hinv
Sect 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 51
himfelf, or any perlbns at all connected with him,
offer that time; we have, at once, the exprefs
affurance of the evangelifr, the obvious nature of
the thing itfelf, and the unqueftionable teftimony of
the very enemies of John,
SEC-
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
SECTION II.
Suppq/ing there was any deceit at all in the cafe;
what the nature and defign of the whole impofture
muft have been; and who mujl have been con-
cerned in planning it out, and carrying it on.
1 HE miraculous events, faid to have accom-
panied the birth of the Baptift, having thus ap-
proved theinfelves fuch as could not pofTibly be
forged, either by Luke, or any of Jefus's difciples,
after John's death ; or by John himfelf, or any one
elfe in conjunction with him, feveral years after his
birth ; there remains but one fuppoiition more,
which can poffibly account for them on the foot of
an impofture.
IF the events in queftion did not really come
to pafs, in that fupernatural manner in which they
are related ; then the whole rnuft have been a plot,
concerted before the Baptifts birth, between his
parents Zacharias and Elizabeth, and whoever elfe
ihall appear to have been concerned with them in
carrying it on. And all this muft have been con-
trived purpofely to impofe their fon upon the Jews
for
Sect. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. '53
for that prophet, whom they expelled God would
lend to proclaim the coming of the Meffiah.
IT is now therefore neceflary to confider, whether
this fuppofition is at all more capable of being ad-
mitted, than either of the former. And to proceed
in this enquiry with clearnefs and certainty, it will
be requifite, in the firft place, to take a full view of
the whole fcheme of that impofture, in the profecu-
tion of which, Zacharias muft, on this fuppofition,
have been engaged; as well as to know certainly,
what affociates he muft have been connected with,
in carrying it on.
THIS done, we may be enabled to determine the
truth or falfehood of the fuppofition itfelf; from
coniidering the nature of the iuppofed defign ; the
circumftances andjituation of all the perfons con-
cerned ; and the manner in which, it {hall appear,
they muft actually have conducted it.
FOR, if the feveral circumftances of all thofe,
who, on this fuppofition, muft have contrived
the plot in queftion, mould make it incredible for
them to have been engaged in fuch an under-
taking; if, befides, the fuppofed impofture it-
felf mould prove fo abfurd in its own nature, as
to make it impofiible to believe, that any one
could be foolim enough to have planned it;
and again, if feveral particulars mould occur in
the progrefs of it, fuch as could not poffibly have
E 3 " been
54 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
been adopted by them, if they had ; Zacharias, and
all concerned, muft be acquitted of all fufpicion of
deceit, and the prophetic character of the Baptiil
will be completely eftablifhed.
BY laying together fome circumftances of im-
portance in the cafe, it will immediately be feen,
that if Zacharias was really engaged in the con-
trivance we have juft been fuppoiing, he could riot
be the only perfon who planned, and carried it on.
On the contrary it will be found, that whatever
forgeries were made public by Zacharias and
Elizabeth relating to Jphn ; Jofeph and Mary muft
not only have been thoroughly acquainted with,
and acceffaries to them, but the plot itfelf muft,
from the beginning, have been concerted between
them all.
IT will appear likewife, that if the impofture fup-
pofed with regard to John had any real exiftence,
this alone was not the whole defign Zacharias muft
have been engaged in concerting ; but there muft
have beep, at the fame time, ajimilar plot laid, and
put in execution, relating to Marys /on ; in the
proje6tion and fupport of which, Zacharias and
Ehzabeth muft have been jointly engaged with
Jofeph and Mary themfelves. The truth of thefe
aflertions will prefently appear.
SUPPOSING all the circumftances recorded of
John's birth, to have been no more than the fe-
veral
Se6t. . JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 55
veral particulars of a deep-laid impofture ; Zacha-
rias, \ve find, entered upon his defign, by pre-
tending to have feen an angel in the temple, who
foretold even the conception as well as the birth of
his fon ; commanding Zacharias, when the time
came, to name him John ; and declaring him or-
dained of God to be the immediate forerunner of
the Median. That to prevent people from quef-
tioning the truth of fo extraordinary a revelation,
he immediately feigned himfelf dumb ; fignifying,
that the angel had deprived him of fpeech, for
a certain period, which he afligned as a punifh-
ment for his having doubted the truth of this
aftoniming precli6lion. That, in due time after
this, his wife Elizabeth was delivered of a fon, as
he pretended the angel had foretold (he fhould be.
That to confirm ftiil farther the angel's appearance
in the temple, which was to ferve for the foundation
of the whole impofture ; Zacharias, at his ion's
circumciiion, named him John ; and immediately
pretending to have had his fpeech inftantaneoufly
reftored, according to the angel's pretended decla-
ration, he began to return thanks to God for his
gracious diipenfations. And, in fine, to give a
ftill ftronger fancfcion to the future divine charac-
ter of his fon, and to cover the whole plot with a
greater air of folemnity, he himfelf immediately
affumed the ftyle of infpiration, and broke out
E 4 into
56 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
into a pretended prophecy; foretelling, that the
Meffiah himfelf was at length on the point of ap*
pearing; and, as before, that John was ordained
to be his immediate forerunner *,
SUCH was the part Zacharias mult have a&ed,
in that feheme of impofture, which we are now
fuppofing him to have contrived with regard to
John. -,\ j '.. - : -;; ,;/ v , *
As to his wife Elizabeth, the very nature of the
cafe evidently mews, that me muft unavoidably
have been a party to the defign; and her beha-
viour, at the time of John's circumcifion, fuffi-
cientjy proves it. " And it came to pafs, that on
" the eighth day they came to circumeife the child;
" and they called him Zacharias after the name of
" his father. And his mother aniwered, and faid,
(t not fo ; but he ihall be called John. And they
" faid unto her, there is none of thy kindred,
" that is called by this name. And they made
<c figns to his father how he would have him called ;
" and he aiked for a writing-table, and wrote,
" faying, his name is John. And they mar-
" veiled allf."
HAD not; Zacharias already engaged Elizabeth
in the profecution of whatever defign he had in
view, with regard to John ; we could not have
f Luke ch. i s t Luke i. 69.
found
Se6t. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 57
found her, on this occafion, breaking through the
cuftom of her country, to the no fmall furprize of
all their relations prefent * ; evidently for no other
end, than to obey the pretended commands of
the angel to Zacharias, and by that means con-
firm the belief of his appearance in the temple.
Elizabeth therefore muft certainly, from this time
at leaft, have been engaged in promoting the
plot, which Zacharias had contrived, to ferve for
the foundation of the future impoiture of their
fon.
BUT if all this extraordinary conduct of Zacha-
rias and Elizabeth was really the effect of fub-
tletj and deceit; there muft likewife have been
* " The name was ufually given to the child at the time of
circuracifion :" (as we fee was the cafe with John.) " They
always had regard to the name of fome perfon of diftin&ion,
who had been of the family." Lewis's Ileb. Antiq; B. 4.
ch.i.
" God at the fame time inftituted circumcifion, and changed
the names of Abraham and Sarah : hence the cuftom of giving
names to their children at the time of their circumcifion."
" Amongft the feveral accounts, why this or that name was
given to the fons, this was one that chiefly obtained, viz.
For the honour of fome perfon, whom they efleemed, they gave
the child his name. Which feems to have guided them in this
cafe here ; whenZachaiy himfelf, being dumb, could not make
his mind known to them. Lightfoot on Luke i. 59. Vol. IL
p. 387. and likewife Vol. I. p. 421.
another
5B THE DIVINE 3IISSIOXS OF Part L
another fimilar impofture carrying on, at the fame
time, byJofeph and Mary ; and they muft //have
been engaged together in the joint profecution of
both. This the connection of the plots themfelves,
and the whole conduct of all the parties, will oblige
las to acknowledge.
ZACHARIAS began his pretended prophecy, at
the time of John's circumcifion, thus : " Blefled
" be the Lord God of Ifrael, for he hath vifited
" and redeemed his people ; and hath raifed up
" an horn of falvation for us in the houfe of his
" fervant David; as he fpake by the mouth of
" his holy prophets, which have been fince the
" world began*.'' This declaration, it is plain,
could not poffibly relate to John, who was not
of the houfe of David ; nor to any other per-
fon, than the Meffiah himfelf. And in it Za-
charias prophetically declared, that the God of
Ifrael had, at that time, raifed him up among
them.
IF then Zacharias was carrying on fuch a plot,
as we now fuppofe, it is certain he muft, before
that time, have found out fome of David's de-
fcendants, who had embarked with him in this
deep-laid defign ; and, in concert with him, had
already fixed upon fome defcendant of their own
family? who ihould afterwards affume the facred
* Luke i. 68.
cha*
. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 59
chara&er of the Meffiah. To have uttered fuch
a prophetical declaration, without firft providing for
its accomplishment, would have been purpofely be-
traying his want of real infpiration, and publishing
the whole deceit.
AND that in fat Zacharias was not guilty of fo
great an overfight as this, will immediately appear,
from the following account of feveral extraordinary
events, faid to have come to pafs above three months
before the birth of John ; and confequently fome
little time longer before Zacharias delivered this
pretended revelation.
" AND * in the fixth month," after his ap-
pearance to Zacharias, " the angel Gabriel was
" lent from God, unto a city of Galilee, named
" Nazareth ; to a virgin efpoufed to a man whofe
" name was Jofeph, of the houfe of David ; and
" the virgin's name was Mary. And the an-
" gel came in unto her, and faid, Hail, thou
" that art highly favoured, the Lord is with
" thee; blefled art thou among women. And
" when ihe faw him, ihe was troubled at his fay-
" ing, and caft in her mind what manner of falu*
" tation this Ihould be. And the angel faid unto
" her, Fear not, Mary, for thou haft found fa*
** vour with God. And behold, thou ihalt con*
f Luke i, 26 $6,
ceive
6*0 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
'in thy womb, and bring forth a fon, and
" ihalt call his name Jefus. He ih all be great,
" and ihall be called the Ton of the Higheft; and
** the Lord God iliall give unto him the throne of
" his father David. And he ihall reign over the
" houfe of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
" there Ihall be no end. Then faid Mary unto
" the angel, How ihall this be, feeing I know
41 not a man? And the angel anfwered, and faid
" unto her, The Holy Ghoft ihall come upon
" thee, and the power of the Higheft {hall over-
" ihadow thee ; therefore, alfo, that holy thing,
" that iliall be born of thee, ihall be called the
" Son of God. And behold thy coufm Elizabeth,
-" ihe hath alfo conceived a fon in her old age,
" and this is the iixth month with her, who was
" called barren. For with God nothing ihall be
" impoffible. And Mary faid, Behold the hand-
" maid of the Lord, be it unto me according to
<c thy 'word. And the angel departed from her.
" And Mary arofe in thofe days., and went into the
" hill-country with hafte, into a city of Juda,
" and entered into the houfe of Zacharias, and
" faluted Elizabeth. And it came to pafs, that
" when Elizabeth heard the falutation of Mary,
" the babe leaped in her womb ; and Elizabeth
" was filled with the Holy Ghoft. And ilie
" fpake out with a loud voice, and faid, BleiTed
" art
SeCt. 2, JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS ClfRIST. 6f
" art thou among women, and blefled is the fruit
" of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that
" the mother of my Lord mall come to me ? For
" lo ! as foon as the voice of thy falutation
" founded in my ears, the babe leaped in my
" womb for joy. And blefled is (he that be-
" lieved ; for there ihall be a performance of
" thofe things, which were told her from the
" Lord. And Mary faid, My foul doth magnify
" the Lord, and my fpirit hath rejoiced in God
" my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low
*' eitate of his handmaiden; for behold, from
" henceforth all generations ihall call me blefled.
" For he that is mighty hath done me great things,
* c and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them
" that fear him from generation to generation. He-
" hath mewed itrength with his arm, he hath feat--
" tered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
" He hath put down the mighty from their feats,
u and exalted them of low degree; he hath filled
" the hungry with good things, and the rich he
" hath fent empty away. He hath holpen his fer-
" vant Ifrael, in remembrance of his mercy ; as
" he fpake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to
" his feed forever. And Mary abode with her
" about three months, and returned to her own
" boufe."
THE
8% THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
THE particulars of this extraordinary relation
will not fuffer us to doubt the truth of the following
conclusions. Firft, that if that part of the events
here recorded, which relate to John, were the
effects of contrivance and deceit ; there muft
unqueftionably have been two connected, though
diftinet fchemes of impofture, fet on foot by the
fame perfons, at the fame time ; which, taken
together, formed the whole of their plot. And
fecondly, that though one part of this contrivance
was more immediately under the direction of Zacha-
rias and Elizabeth, becaufe it was of fuch a nature,
that they only could conduct it ; and the other, for
the fame reafon, was principally executed by Mary
and Jofeph ; yet the whole dejign muft from the be-
ginning have been planned, and agreed upon, be-
tween All the Four.
THE clofe connection between the angel's two
mefTages to Zacharias and Mary, one of which
exprefsly makes mention of the other; joined to the
ftill more immediate dependance of Zacharias's
prophecy upon both ; fhews plainly, that if the
firft of thefe revelations was a forgery, the fecond
muft have been fo too ; and that both muft have
been jointly contrived by all the parties concerned.
Had either appearance of the angel been real,
and, confequently, either melfage a divine reve-
lation ; whichever it was, it could not have borne
tef-
Sect. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 6&
teitimony to the truth of one that was forged.
Nor could two diftint fchemes of impofture have
been fo contrived, that one mould neceflarily pre-
fuppofe, and depend immediately upon the other ;
but by the original agreement, and joint confpiracy
of the authors of both.
THE intercourfe likewife between Elizabeth and
Mary ; their mutual declarations of the immediate
interposition of God, in making one of them the
mother of the Mefiiah, and the other of his imme-
diate forerunner ; their reciprocal congratulations
upon this remarkable account ; and their prophetic
declarations in confequence of it ; all thefe particu-
lars prove to demonftration, that from the beginning
they muft have a6ted in concert to fupport each
other's pretenfions ; and, consequently, that what-
ever impoftures were carrying oo among them, Mary
muft, from the firft, have been jointly engaged with
Elizabeth and Zacharias in the contrivance of the
whole deceit.
THAT Jofeph likewife muft have been a prin-
cipal in the plot, both the nature of the cafe, and
feveral particulars in his conduct, will undeniably
prove. W . Mary began the part ihe performed,
ihe had beta already for fome time efpoufed to
Jofeph, and was ihortly to become his wife *.
So
* As the particular here taken notice of made a part of the
matrimonial rites among the Jews, to which we have nothing
firnilar
64 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
So circumftanced, it is plainly incredible, that
Zacharias and Elizabeth mould attempt to engage
Her in a contrivance of fuch a nature as this, with-
out firft engaging Jofeph to affift in the fame de-
fign. The obvious and necelfary confequence
muft otherwife have been that Jofeph would im-
mediately have become their profeiTed enemy ;
Mary's reputation muft very foon have .been
fnnilar ourfelves ; it may be proper here to obfervc, that
among the Jews no one could be married, who had not been
before efpoitfed. That the ceremony of the efpovfal was as
much sijixed, and necejbry rite, as thofe more immediately
obferved at the final completion of the marriage. The dif-
ferentybrm oftfpovfing were all minutely prefcribed ; they were
to be tranfacted before witncfles; and they were celebrated with
a feaft. The efpoufal was a folemn engagement between the fe~
veral parties concerned, ejjentially preparatory to the marriage ;
and the times which were to clapfe between them, were limited
in fome refpc&s. From the time of the efpoufal, the woman
was confidcred as the wife of the man to whom me was efpoufed ;
in every refpeft, except that they did not live together ; and
the utmoft care and caution were obferved in the regulation
of her conduct ; as the fame capital punifltmcnts were inflicted
on her, on account of any failures in it during this interval,
before the marriage, as after me was actually married ; and were
even extended, in fome degree, to thofe under whofe care (he
now remained. See all the particulars relating to this point
at large, in Selden's IJx. Hob. 1. 2. c. 3, and 8. Bafuage'
Hift. of the Jews, B. 5, 19, fed. 0, &c.- Lewis's Heb. Antiq.
B. 6. c. 33, 35, 36*. Allix's Reflect, on the O. T. ch. 20,
p. 2 1,2, 244-.
blafted ;
. f3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 65
blafted ; and the integrity of Zacharias and Eliza-
beth theinfelvcs would have been rendered, at leait,
Ib extremely fufpicious, that, though their iniqui-
tous deiigns fliould not have been plainly detected,
yet their whole intended impofture muft have been
effectually put an end to.
NOR is it more certain, from the very nature of
the cafe> that Jofeph, as well as Mary, muft, from
the beginning, have been engaged in the profecu-
tion of the plot ; than it is clear, from his own
conduct, that he was at leaft as active in promoting
it, as any of them all. No iboner had Zacharias
played his part at the circumcifion of John, than
Jofeph began his ; with an account of ftill more
divine revelations made to himlelf ; all evidently
calculated to fervc the fame defign, and promote
the credit of thofe already given out by Zacharias
and Mary.
" Now * the birth of Jefus was on this wife.
When as his mother Mary was efpoufed to
' Jofeph, before they came together, ilie was found
" with child of the Holy Ghoft. Then Jofeph her
" huiband, being a juft man, and not willing to
1 make her a public example, was minded to put
4 her away privily. But while he thought on
" thefe things, behold, the angel of the Lord ap-
* Matt. i. 1824.
F " peared
6*6 THE piviNE MISSIONS OF Part I.
" peared unto him in a dream, faying, Jofeph,
" thou fon of David, fear not to take unto thce
" Mary thy wife ; for that which is conceived in
" her is of the Holy Ghoft. And Hie fhall bring
" forth a fon, and thou fhalt call his name Jefus ;
" for he mall fave his people from their iiris. Then
'" Jofeph, being railed from ileep, did as the angel
' of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him
" his wife."
THUS did Jofeph endeavour to ftrengthen the
authority of what Mary had already related, con-
cerning her future fon ; fome months before Jefus
was born. And to this revelation, we find, he after-
wards added two more, admirably fitted to promote
the fame end.
" AND * when they," the wife men, " were de-
" parted, behold, the angel of the Lord appearetli
" to Jofeph in a dream, faying, Arife, and take the
" young child, and his mother, and flee into Egypt ;
" and be thou there until I bring thee word ; for
" Herod will feek the young child to deftroy him.
" When he arofe, he took the young child, and
" his mother, by night, and departed into Egypt.
." But, when Herod was dead, behold the angel
" of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Jofeph in
" Egypt, faying, Arife, and take the young child,
*Matt. ii. 1321.
" and
Seel. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 67
" and his mother, and go into the land of Ifrael.
" And he arofe, and took the young child,
" and his mother, and came into the land of
" Ifrael."
IF then there was any deceit contriving among
them, Jofephy it is certain, muft have been full
as active as the reft, in promoting the common
caufe ; fince he muft have forged no lefs than three
revelations in its behalf. Nay, it appears, he
muft have put himfelf to all the inconveniences,
of baniming himfelf and his family from his own
country, for a confiderable time, purely to gain
credit to thefe ftories, of his own inventing, for its,
fupport.
AT length, therefore, we may venture to affirm,
what the very nature of the cafe, as well as the
clear evidence of facts, have fo fully proved ; that,
if the events recorded of the birth of John were
only the feveral particulars of a deep-laid deceit ;
thofe relating to the birth of Jeflis muft have been
fo too ; that the fuppofition of One of thefe im-
poftures neceffarily includes the Other ; and that
Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, and Jofeph, muft All
have been jointly engaged in the planning, and
profecution of Both.
THIS conclufion immediately points out, in
what method we muft now proceed, to enquire
into the real exiftence of the impoflures in debate.
F 2 Should
68 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
Should it appear impoflfible for Thefe four per fons
to have been connected together, in the joint con-
trivance of this double deception, the queftion will
then be decided. All fufpicion of Zacharias's in-
tegrity muft be rejected as groundlefs and falfe ;
the Bapti/t muft be fubrnitted to, as one infpired
from above ; and Jefus confequently be received as
the undoubted Mefiiah.
AT the fame time it muft become equally evi-
dent, from the very nature of the cafe, and with-
out any regard had to the teftimony of John ;
that all the circumftances recorded of the birth of
Jefus muft actually have come to pafs, in that fu-
pernatural manner, in which they are related ; and
therefore, that on this diftinct account likewife, we
have the fulleft affurance, that Jefus Chrift was the
true Meffiah.
Now fuppoling the contrivances juft explained
to have been really undertaken, by all thofe, who,
we have juft feen, muft have confpired together to
carry them on ; one of the following fuppofitions
muft unavoidably be allowed. Either,
1ft, ZACHAHIAS and Elizabeth muft have been
the original and real contrivers of Both thefe de-
figns ; as well that relating to Mary's fon, as their
own ; and by means of fome advantages, which
Jofeph and Mary might be made to hope for from
the One, muft have perfuaded thena to become their
accomplices in Both. Or,
8%
2. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CIIfclST. 63
2dly, Z AC ii ARIAS mult have been the projector
of that defign only, which immediately concerned
his fon ; and Jofeph and Mary, in like manner,
have firft planned the impofture in favour of their
fon. Or,
3dly, JOSEPH and Mary muft have contrived
Both the plots ; and fo have perfuaded Zacharias to
confpire with them, in promoting that immediately
relating to Mary's fon ; in hopes of fome advantages
to be drawn from the fuccefs of the other, relating
to his own fon.
IF they were All thus united in thefe fchemes of
iniquity, one or other of thefe fuppofitions muft of
neceffity be true; lince the cafe itfelf will admit of
no more. It muft now, therefore, be our bufinefs
to evince the incredibility of them all; and this, in
the firft place, from conlidering the particular cha-
r afters, and other material cifcumfyances, of all
the parties concerned.
70 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Fait I,
SECTION III.
Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the contrivers
of that wicked impofture, which the fuppofition
of any deceit at all, in this cafe, neceffarily
obliges us to admit of,
iHAT Zacharias himfelf and his wife Eliza-
beth were efteemed, by all who knew them, per-
fons of fmcere virtue and integrity, we may be lure,
as there has already been occafion to prove *,
from the remarkable good character Luke has
given them, in the very opening of his gofpel ;
that " they were both righteous before God,
<c walking in all the commandments and ordi-
<c nances of the Lord blamelefs." The evange-
lift could not have ventured on this aflertion, were
it capable of being disproved. And as Zacharias
was a prieft, one of that particular order of men,
in which a more exemplary conduct is naturally
required to eftablifh an univerfal good name ; and
whofe failings are naturally cenfured with greater
feverity, than thofe of any other profefiion ; fo
his unblemiihed character could not have been
* See note, p, 36.
fup
, 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JF.SUS CHIlIST. 71
fupported by any other means, than an uniform
dilcharge of all the moral and religious duties of
the Jewifh law.
AMONG the Jews, it is well known, that the
priefthood was abfolutely confined to one family
only. No one could be admitted to exercife the
prieftly functions, till he had clearly proved his
immediate defcent from fome prieft of the family
of Aaron, and was found to be free from every,
the leaft perfonal blemifh. When a candidate had
undergone thefe examinations, he was capable of
being admitted to perform fome duties in the temple,
at twenty years of age ; and from that time conti-
nued, in his turn, a kind of probationer in all the
employments there, till the age of thirty ; when he
became qualified to difcharge every part of the
prieftly office*.
UXDER
* " The fucceffion of the Hebrew priefthood was efiabliflied
in the family of Aaron ; the pontifical dignity was fixed in the
line of his firft-born. All others of his poftenty were prieits,
limply fo called ; or prielts of thcfecond Order. The fixed and
confident time of the prieft's entering into the fervice, was at
the age of thirty ; but at five and twenty they were proba-
tioners, and might do fome offices, but not all." (And even
from the age of twenty, after David's time; as Lightfoot
proves from 1 Chron. xxiii. 24 27.) " Their inftalmtnt
and admiflion into the fervice, was in this manner. The great
Sanhedrim fat daily in the room Gazitii, to judge concerning
the priefts that came to age, and were to be admitted : and if
I- 4 they
78 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti.'
UNDER fuch an inftitution it would be abfur4
to luppofe, that no attention was paid to a prieft's
moral character ; and much more fo to imagine,
that one of this order mould be able to preferve
from youth to old age, the reputation of exem-.
plary goodnefs ; had not his actions themfelves
plainly ihewn him to have deferved it. As ceiv
tainly as the fmalleft blemim in his perfon, which
was prohibited by the law, would have prevented
Zacharias from officiating in the temple worfhip ;
fo certainly would any vicious irregularities in his
conduct and convention have deprived him of
that amiable chara&er, which, it appears from the
evangelift, he muft have died poiTeiTed of. It
was impoffible for the Jews in general not to agree
in this particular with Moles their law-giver; who
they proved duly qualified, they clothed them in white, and
enrolled them among the order, and they went in and mini-'
ftered ; and the great council rejoiced to finq them perfect,
and blefled God for it with a folemn prayer. But if the per-
fon proved to be of the right line, and had any of the ble-
mimes, which rendered him incapable of the miniftry;" (of
which were reckoned HO) " he was fent into the wood-roorn
to worm the wood for the altar ; and had his portion of the
things with the men of the houfe of his father, and did eat with
them." Lewis's Heb. Antiq. B. 2. ch. 6*. See the chapter;
and Lightfoot, vol. I. p. 915. Selden de SticcefT. in Pontif.
Ebrag. 1. 2. c. 5. Lev. xxi. ]6. ad finem. Spencer de I,eg,
}Jeb. 1. 1. c. 10. p. 177.
Se&. 3, JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 73
defig'ned, " that the prieits fhould be not only in
. reipeft faultlels, in the difcharge of their la-
cred fun6tions ; but that they iliould exert their
earneft endeavours to approve themfelves un-r
blameable in their daily converfation, and common
intercourfe with the world *," And, had not this
been the rule of Zacharias's conduct, he could not
pollibly have obtained, and left behind Jiim, fo fair
a reputation,
ELIZABETH'S fphere of action muft have been
much lefs public than that of Zacharias. But her
alliance with a man of fuch approved worth, when
considered jointly with her having, in fact, main-
tained the lame virtuous character as liimfelf, which
it appears ihe did, deprives us, at once, of the
Jeaft iliadow of a realbn for calling her integrity
into queftion. Befides, the very profeflion of her
huiband affords no inconfiderable teftiinony to her
virtue.
THERE was nothing, we are informed, about
which the Jews were more fcrupulous, than the
marriages of their priefts ; not only to prevent
fuch alliances as would taint their blood, but fuch
likewiie as might tend to corrupt their morals,
i [AOVOV tffsgi retq
orf^t TW dvluv oiaiTaf, i-r av\nv ot^s/xTrlov tucu. - Jofephi Antiq.
Jud. 1.3. 12. fab. init.
and
74 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
and Men their reputation. The law * itfelf ex-
prefsly prohibited them from marrying, not only
fuch as were of known ill character, or whofe in-
tegrity could be thought in the leaft fufpicious ;
but even thofe, whofe fituations in life expofed
them to more danger of being vitiated than others ;
and even the children of all fuch perfons. By
means of which precautions, it became at length
even a proverbial expreffion among the Jews, to
denote a woman of an exemplary character ; " that
" fhe deferved to marry with a prieft." And the
moft honourable alliance a prieft could enter into
was with one of prieitly extraction, which Elizabeth
herfelf was f.
To argue from thefe cautious reft fictions only,
however remarkable, that the wife of every Jewilh
prieft inuft neceffarily have been a perfon of an
excellent moral character, would be drawing a
conclufion, which the weaknefs of human nature
could not poffibly bear. But when we confider,
in addition to the character of Zacharias her
hulband, and all thefe circumftances fo much in her
favour, the pofitive reputation of fo unexception-
* Levit. xxi. See Lewis's Heb. Antiq. B. 2. 6.
Jofephus's Jew. Antiq. 1. 3, 12. fub. init. Idem contra
App, 1. 1. 7. Lightfoot, vol. II. p. 379.
f- " And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her
f ( name was Elizabeth." Luke i. 5.
able
Se6L 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 75
able a life, as Elizabeth left behind her ; we can no
longer doubt of her integrity, without preferring a
mere aroundlefs and obltinate prejudice, to the plain
reafon of the thing.
So circumitanced then as Zacharias and Eliza-
beth were, nothing can be more unreafcnable than
to fufpecl, that their virtue might be no better
than hypocrify, and their reputation maintained
by fome artful difguife. To obtain the applaufe
of numbers for a time, by means of fome re-
markable actions of a fpeeious nature, may,
perhaps, be no very difficult talk. Extraor-
dinary fits of zeal, and inftances of fevere mor-
tification, have at times been able to eftablifh
a character for virtue, where the principle was
certainly wanting. But to preferve an uninter-
rupted reputation for goodnefs and piety, through
the feveral ftages of life, even to advanced age,
without laying claim to any uncommon flights of
virtue, or aiming at fuch aclions as are plainly
calculated to procure popular applaufe, feems far
beyond the power of any thing leis than the peace-
able confeientious difcharge of all the duties of our
ftation.
THAT fuch was the conduft of Zacharias and
Elizabeth, we have good reafon to believe from
their very charafter itielf. The evangeliii fays
nothing of their extraordinary fits of devotion,
and
76 HIE DIVINE MTSSIONS OF Parti.
and pious zeal. But " they were both righteous/'
we are told, " before God, walking in all the
" commandments and ordinances of the Lord
c blamelefs." A character, equally remote from
all affected dazzling difplays of more public vir-
tue ; and all the feverer rigours of fanctifted en-
thufiafm. A character, which, as it plainly iliews
they made it their chief care and ftudy, to live
void of offence, towards God and man ; fo it as
evidently implies, that they never attempted to
eftablifh an ill-grounded reputation, by any in-
direct means. And indeed, had they attempted
it, their middle ftation in life, by expofing the
general tenour of their conduct to the familiar
obfervation of all their neighbours, would have
made it impoffible for them to have fupported,
through life, this peculiar kind of good fame,
by any other means, than the real practice of that
goodnefs, they had the reputation of poflefling.
From all thefe reafons laid together, we are there-
fore bound to believe that Zacharias and Elizabeth
muft have really merited the good name they main-
tained ; that is, that they muft have been juft and
benevolent in all their dealings with man, and fin-
cere worfhippers of God.
CAN it then be conceived, that any perfons of
this virtuous and religious difpofition could be
capable of deliberately forming fo iniquitous a
fcheme,
3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 77
irhcmc, as \ve are now to enquire, whether it is
pollible for Zacharias and Elizabeth to have con-
trived ? Can it be imagined, tiiat a prielt of the
God of Ifrael, who was like wife a man of approved
piety and goodnefs, could conceive and profecute
fo impious a defign, as that of fetting up his own
Ion for the MefTiah's forerunner ; and prevailing
with another perfon to fet up his, to counterfeit
the inoft facred and awful character of the Meffiah
himielf?
ZACHARIAS, a devout prielt of the God of Ifrael,
muft have been thoroughly inftru&ed in all his mi-
raculous and merciful difpenfations to his fore-
fathers, as well as his feve re judgements executed
upon them for their impieties. He muft have be-
lieved the predictions of Moles and all the pro-
phets. .He muft at this very time not only have
expected, but wilhed to fee the arrival of the true
Klias, and the manifestation of the long promifed
Median'. And he mult unqueftionably have be-
lieved, that God would alTuredly accomplilh the
the plans of his divine providence ; and not permit
any counterfeits of thefe Ikcred and important cha-
racters to go off undetected, or the abettors of
Inch impious undertakings to efcape without iignal
punilhment.
WAS it then poflible for a good man, furnifhed
with this knowledge, guided by this belief, and
ac-
78 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
actuated by thefe hopes and fears, to have con-
trived ib execrable a delign, purely to pull down
the vengeance of God upon him? Could fuch a
man doom his own ion, even before his birth, to
be the perpetrator of One fuch impious impofture ;
and, as if that were not wickednefs enough, per-
fuade his friends to engage as deeply in the pro-
fecution of Another? If fo, he who ferved de-
voutly at the altar of the God of truth, mult vo-
luntarily have contrived and publimed the moil mif-
chievous and ihocking falsehoods ; he who be-
lieved all the miraculous interpofitions of God's
power, fo frequently difplayed in the deliverance
and eftablimment of his own nation, and lived in
hopes of a ftill greater deliverance, which God had
promifed mortly to fend them ; muft voluntarily
have fet hiinlelf up to oppofe the accomplimrnent
of thofe gracious promifes ; which, at the fame
time, he both hoped and believed, would cer-
tainly be fulfilled. In ihort, he, who expected
the reign of the MeiTuih to be productive of the
utmoft glory and happinefs to his whole na-
tion, mult purpoiely have endeavoured to pre-
vent the happy confequence of his appearance ;
by fctting up, before he came, an impoftor in
his itead. But thefe are fuppoiitions in their
own nature evidently contradictory and abfurd.
And indeed, the whole of this fuppofed con-
trivance
N Ct. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 79
trivance is of fo very iniquitous a nature, that
none but the mojl abandoned of men could ever
poifibly conceive or undertake it ; and therefore
impoflible to have been deviled or carried on, by
One, who, we have fufficient reafon to believe,
muft have been eminently good.
BUT had not Zacharias's and Elizabeth's cha-
racter, and iituation, proved it fo clearly iinpofii-
ble for Tlicm to have been capable of engaging in
iuch a plot ; full their age would have rendered it
utterly incredible, that theyjhould.
AT the time when we muft fuppofe them to be
entering upon the execution of this defign, they
were neither of them young, nor even in the
vigour of life ; but, on the contrary, they were,
both well Jlricken in years ; a circumftance of the
greateft importance to illuttrate their innocence
with regard to this particular impofture. What-
ever ambitious views we may imagine capable of
prompting any one to fo defperate an undertaking,
muft naturally have cooled, and died away, in
the decline of life; however warmly they might
have been actuated by them before. That daring
fpirit of enterprize, and defiance of danger, which
fometimes engages men in the moft defperate at-
tempts, to gratify the willies of ambition, in the
active and vigorous parts of life, generally gives
way to cautious and timid apprehenfions, when
age
80 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
age , has bounded the profpecb before them, and
checked the current of the blood. Then too reli-
gious apprehenfions begin to intrude themfelves
upon the mind; and make men little inclined to
embark in hazardous plots of extreme wickednefs
and impiety, whatever they may have done before.
So that could we fuppofe them capable of having
formed fuch a plan of impofture, arid refolved to
put it in execution, at that active age, when a
vitious ambition has fometimes led men into the
moft extravagant enormities ; yet their having con-
tinued childlefs till they were now well Jiricken
in years, and all hopes of an opportunity to execute
it were at length at an end, muft unqueltionably
have caufed them long iince to drop all thoughts of
their former defi^n.
o
To imagine, that after this, upon the unex-
pected birth of a fon, they mould relume it again,
in their old age ; and profecute it with fuch a feries
of unheard-of devices, as forged revelations, feigned
lofs of fpeech, and pretended prophecies ; would be
fuppofing them to have arrived at fuch a hardened
pitch of iniquity, as nothing lefs than a life of con-
tinued and notorious wickednefs was able to bring
them to. But after what has been feen already of
their true character and conduct, we may venture
to fay this would be a fuppofition, that muft cev-
tainly be fa lie.
FARTHER,
. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 81
FARTHER, the incredibility of their refuming
the plot fuppofed, becomes ftill more undeniable,
when we confider, that it was now likewife too late
for them to indulge any of thofe ambitious detigns,
for the fake of which only, even obftinacy itfelf can
pretend, fuch an impofture could be contrived, and
undertaken. Had the birth of their fon happened
while they were in the vigour of life, they might
conceive hopes, it may be faid, of deriving great
honour and advantage to themfelves, from being
the parents of the reputed " prophet of the
" higheft ; who was to go before the face of
" the Lord to prepare his ways; to give know-
" ledge of falvation to his people." But John was
not born till Zacharias and Elizabeth were fo ad-
vanced into the decline of life, that all fuch hopes of
enjoying the fruits of their iniquity muft neces-
farily have expired.
FROM the very nature of that character, which,
according to this fuppofition, they muft have de-
figned him to counterfeit ; nothing could be more
probable, than that they themfelves might not
live till the very earlieit period, when it could be
proper, or even poffible, for John to undertake
it. He, who, by kheir own predictions, was " to
" go before the Lord in the fpirit and power of
" Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to
' the children, and the difobedient to the wil-
G c ' dom
82 THE DIVINE MISSIONS of Part I.
*' dom of the juft, to make ready a people pre-
" pared for the Lord ;" could not take upon him
the awful name of fo exalted a prophet, and at-
tempt to fulfill the great purpofes of this divine
commiflion ; till he was arrived at that age, which
was requifite for the compleat performance of even
the duties of a common prieft. And accordingly
it appears in fa6i, that neither John nor Jefus af-
fumed their public characters, till they were jufl
approaching the age of thirty years. This 'very
diftant period therefore was the earlieft at which
Zacharias and Elizabeth could hope for even the
fmall fatisfaction, of bringing their long-planned
irapofture to the trial, and feeing whether there
was any probability of impofing thus on the world.
Or ihould it be imagined, they might not think it
necefTary for John and Jefus to pay this fern-
pulous regard, in point of time, to the legal
age of a prieft ; they muft, however, be fenfible,
that the impoftors they were contriving to raife
up, could not pofiibly appear in thofe difficult
characters they intended them to fuftain, at the
fooneft, till they had already paft the firft age of
a man.
BUT what can be more inconceivable, than that
they, who were already old and well Jtricken in
year$> ihould fet themfelves to lay the foundation of
fuch an impofture, to gratify their own afpiring
de-
Sect. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 83
dell res, as could not be fet on foot, till no lefs
than between twenty and thirty years after, and
then muft be extremely uncertain of fuccefs?
Should they have happened to live to this period,
and even have feen their wicked artifices fucceed ;
fuppolitions both of them in the higheft degree
improbable ; what advantages could they then
expect to reap from them ; when extreme old age
would fcarce have left them the perception of any
thing the world could beftow ; and they were juft
tottering into the grave? Had they therefore been
wicked enough to be capable of contriving fuch a
defign> as well as of executing whatever plot might
feem to flatter their ambitious defires ; it is utterly
incredible, that at their advanced age, they mould
plan, or determine to wait the iffue of a project fo
tedious as this.
As to any advantages to be procured from the
contrivance before John mould be old enough to
act his defigned part ; it is evident they expected
none. They neither endeavoured to make him be
peribnally taken notice of, before that time ; nor
took pains to fpiead far and wide, their accounts
of fo many miracles, as having attended his birth*
Both which they would certainly have done, had
they been influenced by any fuch expectations.
On the contrary, we find, that " John was in the
" defarts until the day of his fliewing unto If-
G 2 rael."
4 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
" rael*.* And fo far were they from affiduoufly
fp reading abroad, every where, the miracles juft
mentioned ; that when John afterwards began to
baptize, " all men muled in their hearts whether
" he were the Chrilt or notf." And fome time
after this, even after he had baptized Jefus, and
declared him to be the Mefliah, " the Jews fent
" priefts and levites from Jerufalem, to alk him,
V who artthoujr" Upon both which occafions,
as well as many others, the majority appeared fo
inclined to think he might be the Chrilt, that John
himfelf thought it neceffary to tell them plainly,
" he was not the Chrilt ;" but only " the voice of
" one crying in the wildernefs, make ftraight the
" way of the Lord."
AT the time then, when John was preaching
among them, it is plain the Jews in general
formed their conjectures of his character, merely
from his appearance as a great prophet, and their
own expectations of the Mefliah ; not from divine
revelations of the particular character he was to
bear, affiduouily fpread abroad, among all the
people, by his parents, from the very time of his-
birth. From whence it is plain, that though they
* Luke, ch. iii. 15. John began to appearinhis public cha-
rafter about the thirtieth year of his age.
t Luke, ch. iii. 15. J John, ch. i. Ip.'
\ John, ch. i. 20, 23.
did
. 3. JOHN" BAPTIST AND JESUS CHtUST. 83
did not conceal thofe aftonilhing events, with which
he was introduced into the world ; yet they had not
made it their bulinefs, as impofiors would have
done, to make them univerfally known ; but, in
compliance with the natural fuggeftions of an honelt
and upright mind, had publiflied them, as we have
already feen, in all the neighbourhood, where they
lived ; and waited, with a pious refignation, for
the accomplifhment of thole predictions, which they
knew afluredly were divine.
AND thus it feems evident, that Zacharias and
Elizabeth could not poiTibly have fet on foot, any
fuck iniquitous impofture, as that in queftion ; which
was to be carried into execution afterwards by John.
Zacharias's religious profeffion, and ftation in life ;
the re?narkable good character, which both He and
Elizabeth always maintained, and at length died
poflefled.of ; and the advanced age they had already
arrived at, at the time of the birth of John ; con-
iidered jointly with fome very material particulars
in the fuppofed plot itfelf ; are all fo many convinc-
ing arguments of the utter incredibility of their
having been the authors of fuch an impofture ; and
when laid together in one view, prove the fuppofed
faft, with fatisfactory evidence, to have been morally
impoffible.
BUT befides, did not the circumftances and fitu-
atiou of Zacharias render it fo highly incredible for
G 3 him
86 THE DIVINE MISSIONS o? Part I
him to have been the contriver of fuch a plot, as that
in debate, relating to to ownfon ; ftill it would be
on all accounts inconceivable, that he could choofe
to add to* it fuch another, as that we are now
fuppofmg him to have contrived for the fon of
Mary.
IT will be freely confefled indeed, that if Za-
charias had been wicked enough to plan one of
thefe defigns, no fcruples of confcience could
have prevented hirn from entering upon the other.
But, what honefty would not have prevented, policy
would; and his concern for the fucceis of the
enterprise intended for John, would not have
permitted Zacharias to have rendered it dependant
upon the fuccefs of fuch another, as that relating
to Jefus.
ZACHARIAS cannot be imagined to have con-
trived the impofture in debate for Mary's fon, and
to have connected it fo clofely with that relating
to his own ; unlefs he thought it would prove be-
neficial to Johns undertaking, and ferve to pro-
mote his fuccefs. The fuccefs of his own fon was
what he imift have had mqft at heart ; nor could he
therefore join any other plot with this ; which he
did not imagine would make John's impofture
more likely to fucceed, than it would have been
without it.
BUT
Se&. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. $7
BI/T is it poflible he could hope for any ad-
vantage, of this kind, from the fuppofed impof-
ture of Jefus? In other words, could he believe
That more likely to fucceed, than the undertaking
he had planned for John ? On the contrary, it is
evident at firlt light, Zacharias muft have known,
that, difficult as Johns enterprize might prove,
That of Jefus muft he infinitely more fo : and con-
fequently, that the profecution of Both, in a mutual
dependance upon each other, would be fo far from
affifting John, that it muft unavoidably render his
attempt far more hazardous, than it would have
been alone.
THE defign we are fuppofing him to have
planned for John, was only to counterfeit the
Mefliah's forerunner ; whereas the enterprize he
muft have intended for Jefus, was nothing left
than to fupport the character of the Meffiah him
/elf. The moil particular idea the Jews had been
able to form of the Meffiah's forerunner, was little
more, than that he would appear among them,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord ; with
all that fpirit of piety, feverity, and mortification,
which had remarkably diftinguimed one of their
former prophets. But fuch was their univerfal
interpretation of the various prophecies, concern-
ing the life and actions of the Meffiah ; that who-
ever ihould aflume his character, it was well
G 4 known,
SS THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
known, would be expe&ed to make himfelf their
king.
THUS the pretended Forerunner might conduct
himfelf in the moft peaceable, and leaft dangerous
manner ; whereas the counterfeit Meffiah, in or-
der to be received, would be under a neceffity of
laying claim to the fupreme power ; and wrefting
it out of the hands of thole, who already poiTefTed
it. The earneft preaching of repentance, joined to
the continued practice of mortification, and a per-
fect freedom from all fufpicion of any vice, might
be fufficient to eflablim the character of the One ;
whereas nothing lefs than the exertion of fuperna-
tural powers, in uttering great prophecies, and
working great miracles, would anfwer the expeta-
tions of the Jews, or induce them to give credit to
the Other. All this Zacharias could not but be
well apprized of, and reflect upon. And confe-
quently, the fuperior dangers and difficulties una-
voidably attending this loft undertaking, prove it
abfolutely impoflible, for Zacharias to have laid the
fcheme of the fuppofed impofture of Jefus, in order
to facilitate the fuccefs of the other deiign, to be
executed by John. It is apparent, that he himfelf
muft have known, that this would be the readieft
way to defeat it.
So that, in addition to what has been already
proved, that Zacharias could not poflibly be a
man
Se6l. S. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 89
man of fuch abandoned principles, as to have been
capable of conceiving thefe impious deiigns; and
moreover, that, if he had, his age alone would have
effectually prevented him from letting them on foot ;
it now appears farther, to be equally incredible,
that he could be foolijh enough jointly to adopt
thpm. And fince it is undeniably certain, that both
thefe tranfa&ions proceeded, from the beginning, in
a mutual and clofe dependence upon each other; and
that belides, whether they were the effects of divine
providence or human iniquity, Zacharias w 7 as, from
the firlt, intimately concerned in Both ; we muft
be forced to acknowledge, that the divine pretenfions
of John and Jefus could not be founded upon any
fuch deceits ; or at leaft, that Zacharias and Eliza-
beth could not be the contrivers of them BOTH, if
they were,
SEC-
YJIE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
SECTION IV.
JJacharias and Elizabeth could not be the authors
of any fuck double impojlure, as nnift here be
fuppofed.
OHOULD we now for a while neglect all that
has been proved in vindication of Zacfiariass inno-
cence, and fuppofe him to have been wicked
enough to be dcfirous of fetting up his fon for
the Meffiah's forerunner ; ftill his intimate con-
nection with Jofeph and Mary, throughout the
whole of thefe tranfactions, is fuch a particular
as will not permit us to believe he a&ually did.
Had he been ever fo defirous of carrying into
execution this plot relating to John ; it was of fo
dangerous a nature, that he could not have ventured
to connect it with any other undertaking, whether
advantageous or not, which would oblige him to
lay open his impious defign, to any perfon whatever.
He would certainly have contrived it fo as to carry
it on by Elizabeth's help alone,' without any other
aflbciates ; or, if he thought this could not be
effectually done, he would entirely have laid afide
the defign,
THE
Sel. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. l
THE impofture in debate relating to John only,
was in every refpecl; of fo very bad and unpromifing
a nature; that Zacharias himfelf muft have believed
{ie was almoft certain of being betrayed, fooner or
later, by any one to whom he might venture to im-
part it. Such only, as were of the moft abandoned
principles, could be at ail expected to join in a con-
fpiracy for frustrating the molt ancient and received
predictions of the prophets, by counterfeiting the
character of the Median's forerunner. At the
fame time Zacharias well knew, that the fuccefs
of his plot muft appear to all next to impoffible,
on account of the imiverfal expectation, at this
time, of the fpeedy arrival of the true Mefiiah
himfelf; and likewife, that the utmoft advantage*
he could propofe to obtain by it, even if it
could fucceed, were inoft exceedingly dubious and
remote.
THIS being the apparent nature of the cafe,
Zacharias could not but believe, that all thofe,
who were the only perfons capable of confpiring in
fo wicked a defign, would without heiitation re-
ject This we are confidering. Such veterans in
iniquity would certainly require a plot, that had a
much furer, and a much nearer prblpeft of fuc-
cefs ; as well as more ample rewards to allure
them to fo hazardous an enterprise. For in This,
they all knew, that no lefs than certain death
would
93 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Part I.
would be the inevitable confequence of detection*
It was a law God himfelf had given * them, " That
" the prophet, which mould prefume to fpeak a
" word in his name, which he had not commanded
" him to fpeak, Ihould die." And we are well in-
formed, " That when once any one was convicted
of men an impofture, and of pretending a divine
commiffion, when God had not fent him ; no
character or intereft was powerful enough to lave
him from punimment f. w And certainly he who
ihould dare to publiili falfe prophecies, to promote
fo impious a fraud as this, above all others, could
expect no mercy.
i
* Dent, xviii. 20 " The prophetic fpirit being fo com-
mon among the Hebrews, it was necelfary there fliould be a
method of trial eftablilhed, to prevent importers, and to difcern
the falfe prophet from the true. For it could not be expected
but, in a nation where there was fuch a number of prophets,
many pretenders would arife ; who would endanger the faith
of the people, unlefs there were fome certain way to find them
out. The more effectually therefore to deter men, either from
counterfeiting a prophetic fpirit, or hearkening to them that
did ; God appointed a fevcre punifhmcnt for every fuch pre-
tender ; who, upon legal conviction, was to fiiffcr death.
The Jews generally underftand this of ftrangling; as they do
always in the law, when the particular manner of death is not
exprefled." They were tried by the fanhedrim. Lewis's
IIe,b. Antiq. B. 2. l6. Selden de fynedr. lib. 3. c. 6V
H- Lewis, ibid, near the end.
NOR
Soft. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 95
NOR was it the only, or even the ftrongeft reafon^
that mult have deterred Zacharias, from attempt-
ing to procure affbciates in fuck a plot; that its
dangerous nature would have deterred every one
from engaging in it ; there were belides the
ftrongeft temptations imaginable to betray it.
Nothing could be more diftant, precarious, and
chimerical, than any advantages to be expected
from its fuccefs. But he might affure himfelf of
immediate and ample rewards, who mould detect
fo impious and facrilegious a prieft of the molt
high God ; as had not only contrived a plot for
letting up his own foil, to counterfeit the MeffiaKs
forerunner ; but would have perfuaded another
to fet up an impoftor, even for the Meffiah himfelf,
The detection of fuch complicated and enormous
villainy, directly calculated to make the nation
reject the true Meffiah, when he mould come;
and fet on foot at the very time when he was foon
expected to appear; would unqueftionably have
met with a reward, proportionable to the im-
portance of the difcovery. The whole nation,
priefts and people, would have confidered their
own fafety as intimately concerned, in the putting
a itop to fuch aftoniming wickednefs, in the very
fanctuary itfelf ; and would immediately have re-
warded whoever laid it open, in a far more am-
ple
94i THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Part t,
pie manner, than the impoiture itfelf, even if
fuccefsful, could ever be expected to do.
ZACHARIAS, therefore, had he actually refolved
upon any iuch deceit with regard to John ; could
never have added to it any other plot, which laid
him under the neceffity of attempting to procure
affbciates at fo imminent a hazard of his life. He
knew very well, that to whomfoever he laid himfelf
open, they would have all the moft powerful temp-
tations poffible, to betray him ; but none to engage
with him in fo defperate an undertaking.
LET us, however, fuppofe him fuch an able de-
ceiver, that he might think to perfuade fome, into
the hopes of inconceivable advantages, to be gained
by this contrivance ; and to reprefent it in fuch a
light, as to make it appear in the end almoft certain
of fuccefs. Notwithftandin.rc thefe large conceffions.
o o '
we fhall find him ftill under the fame dilemma as
before.
IT was impoffible he could expe6t to gain con-
federates in his defign, by the hopes of any ad-
vantages it. might produce; fmce the impofture
was of fuch a nature, that it could not even be
brought to the trial till about twenty years after.
Such as wade the deepeft in iniquity to gratify
their reftlefs defires, are but little able to brook
even accidental delays. Much lefs can they be
fuppofed to enter into defigns, profeifedly cal-
culated
4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CH11IST. 5
culated for fo tedious a procraftination. Men of
iincere virtue indeed, and extenfive benevolence,
are fometimes feen to labour contentedly through
life, for the accompliihment of whatever ufeful
and generous purfuits they have in view. That
felt-complacency, which attends the profecution
of all virtuous defigns, carries them calmly
through every difficulty ; and keeps alive the
vigour of application to fuch undertakings, as
require a long feries of time to bring them to
perfe&ion. But fchemes of iniquity, and dark
projects of deceit, keep the thoughts even of the
abandoned themfelves in fo uneafy a fufpenfe, that
they cannot but be defirous of foon determining
the event.
To fuppofe men knowingly to confpire toge-
gether in a moil impious undertaking, of fuch a
nature, as to render it abfolutely impoffible for
them to deiive the leaft benefit from it, for the
long interval of more than twenty years, would
be fuppofing, what is directly oppofite to the nature
of a depraved and vicious heart, and inconfiftent
with the frame of the human mind. Not to
obferve, at the fame time, that however fure of
fuccefs any fuch confpiracy might appear, the
uncertainty of life itfelf, for fo long a period,
would render any benefits to be expefted from it ?
in the higheft degree precarious. So that laying
afide
$6 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
afide every other confideration ; this Jingle circum-
fiance of the plot, that the whole muft neceffarily
lie dormant from the birth of John, at the leaft till
he was full twenty years of age, was inconfiftent
\vith every motive that could pofiibly induce any
one to join in fuch an impofture. Nor could
"Zacharias therefore have hazarded his ovrn fafety
fo far, as foolifhly to reveal fuch a deiign, in hopes
of procuring accomplices in his guilt.
IT is likewife ftill more incredible, that he mould
have ventured on this dangerous experiment, could
he even have believed it poffible to gain over fome
parties to his plot ; on this farther account, that he
muft know he had little lefs to fear, from whoever
he might prevail with to ajjift in his defigns, than
thofe who ihould at once reject them. This long
interval of more than twenty years, which muft of
neceffity elapfe, between the contrivance, and the
execution of the impofture ; afforded room for fo
many viciffitudes in the circumltances, and fuch
a change of the inclinations, of whoever might
at firft join with him in it ; as would give him the
greateft reafon to apprehend a difcovery of it, even
from them; before it could have a chance for
fuccefs.
IF an exaggerated reprefentation of the advan-
tages to be expected from it, had at iirlt warmed
them in the purfuit ; and from what has been
proved
Se6l. 4. JOHN BAPtlST ANti JESUS CHRIST. 97
proved already, it is certain, nothing elie could ;
this was a length of time, in which they muft fre-
quently cool, and reflect upon the folly and un-
certainty of the attempt. If they entered into it
through licentious confidence, and the overween-
ing profpe&s of artificial joy, and temporary fits
of refolution ; here was full time enough for the
frequent defpondencies of an evil fpirit to undo the
charm, and place the folly of fo ftrange a defign
full before their eyes. And what then could be
expected from them, but that at leaft in the de-
fpondencies of ficknefs, and at the approach of
death, circumftances very highly probable to attend
them within fo long a period, they would naturally
be led to make an ample difcovery of fo wicked a
contrivance; and bring the authors of it, if alive,
to condign punifhment, before it could be put to
the trial ?
NAY, neither death nor ficknefs would have
been at all requifite to bring on this difcovery.
Whoever was capable of entering into fuch a con-
federacy as this, for any fuch diftant and preca-
rious advantages, as it might feem at firft to pro-
mife, must certainly have been capable of betraying
it, when their firft fanguine hopes of its benefits
died away ; and they faw good reafon to expect a
far better, as well as immediate reward, for reveal-
ing it.
H IT
98 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
IT is evident then, on various accounts, that this
fuppofed impofture was of fitch a nature, as not
only to deprive Zacharias of all hopes of engaging
any one, to confpire with him in it, but even to
render it almoft certain, that whoever he ihould
impart it to, whether they became qffbdates in it or
not, would fooner or later betray his impious defigns.
HENCE it muft readily be allowed, that if the
plot, we have been fuppofmg, with regard to
John, could have any real exiftence ; and Zacha-
rias could have been the contriver of the deceit ;
he certainly would not have joined to it any other
plan of impofture, which would lay him under a
neceffity of procuring fome accomplices, who muft
be made privy to Both. He would have profe-
cuted the firft defign, which was what he was
chiefly concerned for, alone; and his wife Eliza-
beth would have been found his only affiftant in car-
rying it on.
NOR is there room to object here, that though
the truth of all this must be owned, yet perhaps it
might not occur to Zacharias; who might be fo
poffeffed with the hopes of fucceeding in this ex-
traordinary defign, by the help of fome affbciates,
as to overlook the imminent danger he muft in-
cur, in endeavouring to procure them. True in-
deed, it is, that impoftors are fometimes off their
guard, and found to act inconfiftently, when their
con-
Se6t. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 99
conduct is detected. But, in the fuppofed cafe be-
fore us, the danger of being betrayed was on many
accounts fo great, and on all accounts ib obvious,
that it could not have efcaped the notice even of
a raw beginner in the practice of deceit. In this
cafe, therefore, nothing can make it credible, that
Zacharias, above all others, could be guilty of
fo total a want of circumfpection, in a particular,
which fo nearly concerned, not his fuccefs only,
but his fafety; not his reputation alone, but his
life.
SHOULD we imagine him to have been capable
of planning the deceit before us, we mould be
forced to own, at the fame time, that he muft
have been the moft cautious and careful con-
cealer of his true character and actions, that ever
lived. If at his age, and in his religious profef-
fion, he was capable of letting on foot fo im-
pious an undertaking ; it is evident he muft have
been long hardened in wickednefs, and have grown
old in fin. Yet fure we are, that both He and
Elizabeth had found means to fupport an exem-
plary character, which was never called in quef-
tion. And this too, notwithstanding that the wit-
nefs, which John afterwards bore to Jefus, muft
naturally have led many of the Jews, and more
efpecially the rulers, to enquire fcrupuloufly into
their life and converfation. But He, who could
thus manage to advance in efteem for virtue, iu
U 2 pro-
100 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
proportion as he proceeded to greater lengths in
iniquity, and never drew on himielf the leaft fufpi-
cion of his guilt, muft have been far too cautious a
veteran in deceit, to have run the hazard of betray-
ing himfelf in the manner now under confidera-
tion.
A PLOT, which, we have feen, he muft origi-
nally have contrived, fo many years before the
birth of a fon gave him an opportunity to attempt
it ; and which he muft fo often, in the mean time,
have revolved every particular of, when the fond-
nefs of conceit and the warmth of expectation were
over, could not poffibly draw fo wary a deceiver
into an overfight fo obvious and fo dangerous as
this.
AFTER all, it plainly appears from the fuppofed
contrivance itfelf, that he could have no end to
anfwer by this ftep, in the leait degree adequate
to the danger incurred by it. None indeed could
be of fufficient moment for an impoftor to purfue,
which could not be obtained without expofing him-
felf to almoft certain detection. If Zacharias had
even fo laid his principal plan with regard to
John, for the fake of which only he could fet him-
felf to contrive any other, as to make fome affo-
ciates neceflary for its profecution ; the great dan-
ger of attempting to procure any would certainly
have made him alter his defign. But, in fact, the
fuc-
I 1 . 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 101
fuccefs of the plot in queftion relating t
E now iincl it, could fcarcely be at all promoted
by f/tii/ testimony, beiides that of Zacharias and
FJhabeth themfel ves.
ALL that He could poffibly defire, at the time
of his ion's birth, muft have been, to eftablifli the
credit of that divine inefiage, which, he affirmed,
had been delivered to Him by an angel from hea-
ven ; and upon the authority of which, Johns whole
claim to infpiration was necellarily to depend. Now
this divine meflage was publiihed as having been
delivered to Zacharias alone, and confequently
could not admit of being attefted by any other
peribn whatever. All, therefore, that any accom-
plices could poffibly do to ftrengthen the caufe,
was, to publiih the accounts of other divine meflages
revealed to themfelves ; calculated to confirm the
truth of Zacharias's own relation. But if his account
of his vision mould not be believed upon the
Itrength of his aflertion; enforced by fo refined an
artifice, as his pretended loss of fpeech, for a li-
mited time only, in confequence of it; Zacharias
could have no hopes of eitabliihing its credit, by the
tc-ltimony of any other perfons, of Jar Icfs weight
and authority than himfelf.
AT this time, it muft be remembered, he was
far advanced in years, and poflefled the character
of a man of true probity and religion. His facred
H 3 pro-
102 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part 1.
profeffion likewife would of itfelf, in great mea-
fure, fecure him from being thought capable of
contriving a forgery of fo heinous a nature. His
own teftimony therefore, he well knew, came fo
ftrongly recommended to the public, by his age,
his. profeffion, the general opinion of his virtue,
and his feeming miraculous lofs of fpeech, that if
This alone proved unable to gain belief for the facts
he related, the addition of one or two corrobo-
rating, but far lefs creditable, witnefies mult be
ufelefs and vain. If the people difbelieved him
himfelf, he knew affuredly, they muft regard the
reft as inferior accomplices in the fame crafty de-
fign, and reject all their pretended revelations with
difdain.
IN the mean while it is incredible, that Zacha-
rias fhould imagine, the people would, at this time
in particular, prove averfe to the reception of fuch
a revelation, as he made public among them : or
confequently, that his own eftablifhed character
would now, more than ever, be ijjfufficient to pro-
cure him their belief.
IN other nations indeed, whofe hiftories pre-
tended to no more, than a few uncertain accounts
of divine interpositions ; whoever had made public
a revelation of this kind, might with good reafon
apprehend, it would require the teftimony of more
than one, to gain credit to fuch an impofture.
But
4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
J)ut with the Jacs the cafe was quite different.
Their religious and civil hiftory being woven to-
gether in the fame records, and confiiting of little
elfe than a continued feries of immediate revela-
tions from God, authenticated in the moft unquef-
tionable manner ; fuch divine interpoiitions were fb
far from appearing, to thdr apprehenfions, ftrange
or improbable, in the nature of the thing, that they
were familiarized to the conceptions of even the
loweit of the people.
THEY had been favoured likewife with a long
fuccefiion of prophets, whole predictions had been
verified, in the moft fignal revolutions of their ftate
and nation ; and on whofe authority they now con-
fidently expected the fpeedy manifeftation of the
Mefliah. Their liberty too had been at length
fwaiiowed up by the Roman power, and they be-
gan more eagerly to look for the arrival of that
long promifed prince, with whom they expected
nothing lefs than univerfal dominion. Thus im-
patiently were the Jewiih nation at this time ex-
pecting the fudden appearance of their mighty de-
liverer.
AND could Zacharias apprehend, when the
people were in fuch a temper as this, that they
would be, now, more than ordinarily averfe to be-
lieving any divine revelation, upon the report of
H 4 one
104 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
one of his profeffion, and eftablifhed good character ;
and more particularly, a revelation which proclaimed
the actual arrival of the Meffiah's immediate fore-
runner? Could he think, that they would now at
laft begin to call in queftion the honefty of one,
whofe piety they had ever till this time revered ?
On the contrary, muft he not rather have expected,
that they would receive with joy the glad tidings
of the Meffiah's approaching manifeftation ; and,
inftead of now firft fufpecUng his veracity, wait,
with a pleafing hope, for the accomplimment of
the prediction? And with this opinion, founded
upon the well-known expectations of the whole
people, joined with the confcioufnefs of his own
eitabliilied character, it would be abfurd to ima^
gine, that fo artful an impoftor could foolimly
run the riik of being almoft inevitably betrayed,
merely to procure aifociates, whole concurrence
was fo far from neceffary, that they could not
at all affiit him in the execution of his fuppofed de^
figns.
IT has appeared then, that the fuppofed irn-
pofture of Zacharias, relating to his own Jon, was
of fo peculiar a nature, that he himfelf could not
entertain hopes of procuring any affociates in it,
Ihould he make the attempt ; and muft have been
fenfible, that if he could, it was next to certain
they
4. JOHN" BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 105
they would betray him, long before the plot could
be put in execution. It has appeared likewife,
that he could not but believe, that his own character
was fufficient to bear him out ; or, if That Ihould
I ) rove infufficient, that the affiftance of any affo-
i-iates, he could procure, would be ftill more un-
able to fupport his caufe. And farther we have
feen, the fuppofed plot itfelf, if there was one, was
fo contrived, that in fact he ftood in need of no
aflbciates at all.
FROM all thefe particulars we cannot but draw
this conclufion, that if Zacharias had been a
wicked deceiver, and the contriver of fuch a falfe
revelation concerning his own fon, he certainly
would not have fet on foot, at the fame time, any
other confpiracy, which would oblige him to re-
veal to any one his chief defign, relating to John.
This muft have been his only attempt; and his
wife Elizabeth would have been found the only
perfon concerned with him, in carrying this on.
And confequently, fmce it has before indifputably
appeared that two other perfons, Jofcph and Mary,
were as intimately concerned in the whole tranfac-
tion relating to John, as Zacharias and Elizabeth
them/elves; and likewife, that they were All en-
gaged together, at the fame time, in another iimilar
tranfa&ion relating to Jefus ; we are reduced to the
neceffity
106 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
neceffity of acknowledging, that there could be
no impofture at all in the cafe; or at leaft, that
Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the original
contrivers of Both the plots, if any fuch iniquitous
deception can Jtill be fuppofed.
SEC-"
5. .JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 107
SECTION V.
If Zacharias and Elizabeth could have been the
authors of fuch a double impqfture, they could
not have applied to Jofeph and Mary, to take
part with them in carrying it on,
IlAVING proceeded thus far in proof of Za*
charlass innocence of the impoftures in de-
bate, in order to place the incredibility of his
having contrived them, in that clear and ftrong
light, which the nature of the cafe allows, it will
now be neceflary to take fome more particular no
tice of Jofeph and Mary, who, we have feen, muft
from the beginning have been privy to Zacharias s
defigns.
FOR the prefent then, let us wave all that has
been proved to the contrary, and ftill fuppofe it
poffible for Zacharias to have contrived both the
plots in queftion ; and to have refolved to run the
hazard of procuring fome aflbciates to carry them
on. After all, it will yet be found, that Jofeph and
Mary were in feveral, the moil material, circum-
ftances, perfons abfolutely unfit for his defigns;
fuch
105 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
as it is utterly inconceivable he ihould ven-
ture to make acquainted with his plots, or in the
leaft expect to ailift him in them ; and fuck, in-
deed, as he could hy no means think capable of
ever consenting to abet them.
A MORE unanswerable argument cannot be de-
fired, to mew the impoffibility of Zacharias's
lingling out Mary, for a confederate in the con-
fpiracies fuppofed, than the confideration of her
youth.
THE mofl authentic writers inform us, that
marriage was, ftrictly fpeaking, fo truly univerfal
among the Jews, that they efteemed it an abfolute
command of God, which every man was indifpen-
fably obliged to comply with, as foon as he came
to years of maturity. That, on this account, it
was reputed among them highly finful, for a man
to remain unmarried after he was arrived at twenty
years of' age. And that, in confequence of this
opinion, the men were all married by that time,
and generally fooner ; and the women even much
younger JtilL For though a pofitive command laid
upon the man only, was thought fufficient ; and
therefore they did not hold, that a fimilar com-
mand was laid upon the woman alfo ; yet we are
aiTured, what indeed will fcarcely be doubted, that
in fact the women were always married, at firft,
much younger than the men. They were gene-
rally
. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 109
rally betrothed, when only ten years old ; and even
married, in the higher ranks, extremely young.
And judging upon a very fair average, we may be-
lieve their nuptials were completed about the age of
fifteen, at the lateft, through the whole body of the
people *.
Tins
* As this is a point of no fmall importance in the queftion.
and the fa6h here aflcrted are fo different from what obtains in
this part of the world ; it will be proper here to eftablifli the
truth of them, by more good authorities than one.
" The Jews are very warm afiertors of the honour and
fanftity of marriage ; they extol it infinitely above a fmgle life,
and hold it a condition more fuitable to nature, more advan-
tageous to mankind, and more acceptable to God ; fo that
they admit of no unmarried feel among them ; but, on the
contrary, look very jealoufly upon fuch of their nation, as
either marry not at all, or long defer it. " Wedlock they
" efteem among the affirmative precepts, which they make
" obligatory upon their whole nation. Every male coming to
" years of maturity, is bound to take a wife to increafe his
" family. Upon this account their efpoufals are very early,
" their daughters being ufually betrothed at ten years of age;
" and if they are rich, are married very young/' Lewis's
Meb. Antiq. b. vi. 35. See alfo particularly, b. vi. 24.
" The Jews are obliged to marry, becaufe God's precept
to the firft man, of peopling the earth, " increafe and mul-
" tiply," ftill continues in all its force. " Woe to the man
" who lives in a houfe without a wife." They come not under
this law till they are twenty years of age; " but then they
" muft marry, otherwife they fin againft God and his ordi-
" nance. They become murtherers ; they deftroy the image
" of
110 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti
THIS being the cafe, we are warranted to con-
clude, that at the time, when Zacharias muft have
fmgled
" of the firft man ; and caufe the Holy Spirit to withdraw
" himfelf from Ifrael." It is a queftion in the Talmud, " Who
" is he that proftitutes his daughter ?" and the anfwer is, " the
" father that keeps her too long at home, or marries her to au
" old man." The Jews do not generally wait twenty years*
They make contracts betwixt their children betimes, and ex-
ecute them as foon as pofTible. In the mean time, a daughter
married by her father, before Jhe is twelve years old and a half,
has the privilege of Separating upon a n'mple difguft at her huf-
band, becaufe (he was not then at the age of choofing." Baf-
nage's Hift. of the Jews, b. v. 19. For want of the original I
have quoted from Taylor's tranflation.
" Certainly among the Jewi/h nation, they were fo far from
accounting the vow of virginity a piece of devotion and reli-
gion, that they accounted it a reproach for a woman to be
childlefs ; n;;y, a reproach for a woman not to be married."
" And a greater reproach it was for a woman not to be mar-
ried." Nay, the Jews, in their traditional law (by which they
were led too much), did not only account it a Jhame not to be
married, but a fin, and a breach of God's command. For
thofe words (Gen. i. 28), " be fruitful and multiply," they
account not only a bleffing^, but a command ; and reckon it the
rft command of the fix hundred and thirteen commands that
are in the law." Lightfoot, Vol. II. p. 12l6.
On another occafion he quotes the following paflage from
Maimon. " The man is commanded concerning begetting
and multiplying, but not the woman. And when doth the
man come under this command? from the age of fateen or
ftienteen years. But if he exceeds twenty years without marry-
ing,
. 5. JOHN" BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. Ill
fingled out Mary, as a proper perfon to affift him
in carrying on his impious defigna, and one whom
he
ing, behold he violates, and renders an affirmative precept vain."
Lightfoot, v. ii. p. 757.
" Amongft the people of the Jews, the defire of iflfue made
them marry very young: moji of the men were married at eigh-
teen years of age. Allex's Reflec. on the four laft books o
Mofes, ch. 20.
" Mafculi omnes tenentur uxorem ducere, ubi attigerunt
fcxdecem ant ftptemdeccm annos." " The men are all obliged
to marry, when they arrive at fevefiteen or eighteen years of
age." Lamy, App. Bibl. p. 140. " At eighteen a foa is to
marry." Lewis's Heb. Antiq. b. v. ch. 39
In confirmation of thefe authorities a great variety of regu-
lations, which were obferved among the Jews, prove the ear-
linefs of their marriages beyond all difpute. It was provided,
that a woman betrothed before Jhe was twelve years old, could not
be taken to her hufband's houfe without her own confent, till
Jluf was twelve complete. If a woman was completely married
before the age of twelve and a half, (lie might obtain a divorce
upon a fimple difguft. A man of thirteen years of age, and a
woman at twelve and a half, was at full liberty to enter into a
contract of marriage without the confent of parents or guar-
dians. If a woman was betrothed before the age of twelve, me
had a power of deferring the marriage for a twelvemonth ; when-
ever the hu(band propofid to her to complete it, It betrothed at
the age of twelve and a half, me might put off the marriage till
Jhe was a year older. But if (he was thirteen and a half, or
older, at the time of betrothing, (lie had no power to delay the
marriage for more than thirty days, after the man propofed to
her the completing of their marriage, If the man deferred
the
1 12 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
he fuppofed likely to undertake the part he intended
for her in them, She could not be more than about
fourteen years of age.
FROM the hiftory itfelf it plainly appears, that
even after the birth of John, which muft have
been near a twelvemonth after Zacharias's jirjl ap-
plication to Mary, me was ftill only betrothed,
not yet married to Jofeph. " The birth * of Jefus
" Chrift was on this wife. When as his mother
" Mary was efpoufed to Jofeph ; before they came
" together fhe.was found with child of the Holy
" Ghoft." In confequence of which it follows,
that " Jofeph was minded to put her away pri-
vily." But it is plain likewife, that Jofeph was not
apprized of Marys fituation till juft after the birth
the completion of the marriage, longer than the expiration of
thefe legal times (except in cafes of neceffity), he was bound
to fupport the woman he had betrothed, till he finally married
her.
Thefe peculiar regulations prove clearly, that from before
tlit age often, to about thirteen years, was the period, in which
the women among the Jews were cuftomarily betrothed. And
when we confider this, jointly with the authorities juft pro-
duced, it cannot be doubted, but that marriage was, ilrictly
fpeaking, univerfal among the Jews ; and that in naming even
the age. of fifteen years for that limit, in which the Jewijh wo-
men were jirft married, we have allowed, at the leaf!, full as
long a period as the cafe can require.
* Matt. i. 18.
Of
5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 1 13
of John. For upon the angel's appearing to Mary,
and informing her*, as we are told, that her couiin
Elizabeth \vas then fix months gone with child ;
Mary, we find, immediately left her ovrn home, to
go to Elizabeth ; I abode with her three
" months, till her fall time came, and ihe brought
<c forth a fon f." Then it was, at her return home
from Elizabeth, upon the birth of John, and while
her marriage with Jofeph remained yet to be com-
pleted, that He became acquainted with her preg-
nancy, and began to think of putting her away.
Nor did he take her home to his own houfe, which
was part of the matrimonial ceremony among
the Jews, till at lealt fome little time after this ;
when, as he afferted, the angel had appeared to
him, arid told him, to fear not to take unto him
Mary his wife J. From all which it is abundantly
evident, that even fo late as after the birth of John,
Mary was not yet actually married to Jofeph;
though they had been for fome time betrothed \&
each other.
IT has been proved already , that Jofeph and
Mary muft have been engaged by Zacharias in his
defigns, if they were engaged in them at all, be-
fore the time of his own vifion in the temple. It
* Luke i. 36. f Idem. i. 56, 57.
J Matt, i, 20- $ ^ ee P a S es 5867.
I is
1 14 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
is indeed apparent, from the nature of the cafe
alone, that he who had fuch an extraordinary part
to play, and made ufe of fo much refined artifice at
Xj*e opening of the plot, muft certainly have taken
care to fecure fuch aflbciates, as he had made ab-?
folutely requifite for its fuccefs, before the time,
when the plan was actually to be put in execution.
So that it appears, Zacharias muft have fmgled out
Mary, as a perfon both likely and proper to carry
on that impofture he had contrived ; and muft have
communicated to her his whole defign ; and actually
have engaged her to aflift, as Ihe afterwards did,
in the profecution of it, about a twelvemonth, at
leaft, before her marriage with Jofeph was
completed ; ajt which time me could fcarcely be
more than between fourteen and fifteen years of
ege.
WITH regard to Mary then, the argument is
reduced to this ihort queftion; whether this can
be allowed a probable, or even a pofiible fuppo-
fition? Whether it is conceivable, that an arch
impoftor, grown grey in the practice of fraud
and difliinuiation, and IkiMed in all the artifice*
neceflary to carry on a deceit; as Zacharias, if
& deceiver, miflft have been; Ihould -efteem a girl,
who was not arrived at the full ufe of her under-
itanding, a fit pedbn to carry on a long and
intricate train of the mofl impious hnpoftures ?
Whether,
SeCL-5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
Whether, in fliort, lie who had proje&ed fuch a
deiign, as he knew was incapable of being eutered
into by any, who had not their conferences feared
with; the long practice of iniquity, in all its ihapes,
lliould (ingle out one, as a likely perfon to approve,
and abet it; whofe youth, and fex% and inexperi-
ence of the world, would neceffarily make her terri-
fied at the mention of fo villainous a proposal ; and
mocked at the monlter, who could attempt to feduce.
her into it;
* The incredibility of. the fuppofition we. are con fide ring, it
greatly inhanced, by the r^lerved manner in which the Jewt/k
women, Tike thofe of mgit other altern nations, were brought
u :
" It was the (niftom far parents amon- the Jews, never. to
iet their virgin daughters go out of their hoyfes ; which cuflom
them be called concealed, in oppofjti'on to thoe that went
abroad ; that is, that were proftitutes."-^-Allix on the Old
tn - ' 1 T
Teftarnent, Vol. J. c. 20.
fo the' feme 'purpofe, Lamy, Apparat. Biblieus, e. 16,
" Virgines multa cura fervantur abditae intra .dotnura ; undft
virgo (Jicitur hcbraicc-, gnalpma ; hoc eft, abfcondita/'- -
" The virgins are with great care kept concealed within
doprs ; from whc'nce a virgin is called in Hebrew, gnalemu ;
that is, hidden.''
" The daughters are inftrufted by the mothers, witli gf
care, in the bufmefs that belongs to their fex. They were fel-
dom allowed to go abroad ; and on this account a daughter in
the Hebrew language is called Alma; which fighifles as much
as a per&n concealed, and clofe confined."- Lewis'* Meb. Antiq.
b. yi. 35.
1 2 THESE
116 T'HE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti.
THESE furely are queftions we cannot hefitate
how to anfwer. We. may with confidence pro-
nounce it morally impofiible, for him, who, if de-
tected, was lure to pay for his villainy with his
life, voluntarily to lay it open to one, whofe youth
and inexperience abfolutely dif qualified Her from
giving him affiftance ; and whofe timidity, and
native abhorrence of fuch crimes, would in all
human probability induce her to publiih them to
the world.
NOTHING can render it poffible for Zacharias
to have pitched upon a peribn fo young as 'Mary,
to make a confederate in fuch a fcheme, or account
for Her engaging in it, but the fuppofition, that me
had already given very plain proofs of fo profligate
a difpofition, that it might naturally be fuppofed,
me was capable of entering into any villainous en-
terprize, he could poffibly prbpofe to her. A fup-
pofition on all accounts abfurd, .and impofiible to
have been true.
HAD this been the cafe, it muft certainly have
been much better known at Nazareth, the place
where Mary * lived, than it could be to Zacha-
rias, who dwelt at, Hebron f, which was a great
dif-
* Luke i. 26.
f It is a generally .received opinion, that Zacharias dwelt at
Hebron; " For though it is true indeed, the pricfts after
ihe return from Babylon were aot all difpofed and placed iu
5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JLSUS CHRIST. 117
diltance oft'*. But had the neighbourhood,
where -Mary relided, known, or only iufpe&ed,
her to have been guilty, not of any enormous
crimes only, but of any vicious conduct what-
ever, it would unqueftionably have been reported
about, and her reputation deftroyed ; at leaft as
foon as ihe began to let up for a publhlier of di-
vine revelations, and the moft honourable mother of
the Mefflah. The pleafure, which people of all
ranks and Itations are univerfally found to take,
in expoiing the faults and failures of all within
their knowledge, especially when they make pre-
teniions to fomething more excellent than all about
them, will not allow us to fuppofe, that, if Mary
had given iigns of fo bad a difpofition, thofe who
lived near, and were upon a level with her, would
have fuffered her to efcape without this public
condemnation.
HER inferior rank in life too will not fuffer us
to imagine, that ihe could have been guilty of
all thofe very fame dwellings they had poffefled before the
captivity ; yet is it probable that Zachary, who was of the feed
of Aaron, being here faid to dwell in the hill country of Judea,
might have his houfe in Hebron, which is more peculiarly faid
to be the city of Aaron's offspring, Jofh. xxi. 11." Lightfoot
no Luke i. 3p. Vol. II. 386. Aliix on the N. T. 198.
* The hill country of Judea was about feventy miles from
Nazareth, where Mary lived. Macknight's Comment on his
Harmony, feel. 4.
I 3 fuch
118 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Parti.
fuch crimes, and yet have found means to conceal
them. In the more exalted ftations wealth may
fometimes fupply means and opportunities of con-
cealing our true characters, and fuch actions as
are not fit for the public view. But That clafs of
the people, who are obliged to labour for their
fupport, and in which the intended wife of Jofeph
was*, are deftitute of fuch refources. Their habita-
tion ;, and the general tenour of their lives, are fo
far, at leaft, unavoidably expofed to the obfervatiort
of all about them, that they cannot go any confider-
able lengths in vice, without bringing themfelves into
general fufpicion at leaft, if they are not even actu-
ally detected.
IT is therefore utterly inconceivable, that Mary
could already have been guilty of any thing fo bad,
or indeed of any bad conduct at all, which could
make Zacharias believe her capable of undertaking
fo iniquitous a part, as he muft have defigned her to
act, without having become proportionably infa-
mous; cr at leaft of a very fufpicious character, in
the neighbourhood where me lived. Whereas we
have fufficient reafon to believe, that no objections
were ever raifed to Marys virtue and integrity.
IF any could have been urged, as they would
unqueftionably have been made public, and handed
down to us ; fo would they have rendered Mary
abfolutely unfit for Zacharias to have applied to,
for
Seel. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 119
for an aflbciate in his plot. Had her charafter
been in the leaft degree fufpicious, any apparent
connection with Her, in a feries of amazing events,
great part of which were fo circumftanced, as to
depend upon her veracity for their only imme-
diate proof, at that time, muft unavoidably have
made every one apprehenfive of ibrne deceit. The
fuppofition of fifary's being engaged by Zacharias
to carry on his fuppofed impofture, is therefore
plainly inconfiftent with, and deftru&ive of itfelf.
It necefTarily fuppofes her reputation to have been
fufpicious, at leaft, in order to account for his
judging her a proper perfon to carry on his de-
figns ; though it is evident, that the leaft impu-
tation upon her character, muft have made his
afibciating with her, the readieft way to prevent
his fuccefs.
As for Zacharias him/elf, we have already feen,
he had always found means to fupport an exem-
plary character. For Him therefore to have picked
out an afibciate, whofe integrity was looked upon
as of a dubious nature ; would have been pur-
pofely leflening his authority, and foolimly bring-
ing his eftabhfhed credit into queftion. A con-
duct, it muft be owned, too apparently abfurd,
to fuppofe him capable of purfuing ; and which
the event has fhewn he did not in facl; adopt, had
be been capable of it. Had Mary's integrity been
I 4 but
120 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
but of a queftionable nature, the Jewim rulers,
who had never hearkened to John, and at length
crucified Jefus, would not have failed to expole her,
with the utmoft virulence and malice. This they
would afluredly have done, to convince the people
of the wifdom of their own conduct, and to fliew
them, that the whole feries of miraculous events,
attefted both by Zacharias and Her, were, at the
bottom, nothing better than a moft audacious im-
pofture.
IN ihort, to render it poflible for Zacharias
to have attempted making Mary an accomplice in
the plot fuppofed, we muft refolutely maintain the
truth of one or other of the following moft abfurd
fuppofitions.
EITHER Mary, while (he was yet quite a girl,
and before me was betrothed to Jofeph, muft have
been guilty of fuck crimes as (hewed her to be fit
for Zacharias 's defigns : and thefe crimes, though
well known to Zacharias, who lived at a confider-
ble diftance from Nazareth, were never, at any time,
fo much as fufpected in the very place where She
herfelf refided,
OR elfe her wicked conduct was really well
known to her neighbours and acquaintance at
Nazareth ; but they were all fo firmly attached to
her intereft, and the two grand impoftures (he fo
foon engaged in ? that not one of them ever betrayed
the
St'Cl. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 121
the kaft hint of her mifdemeanors, even though the
laying open her true character, would certainly have
been rccompenfed with very great rewards.
OR, thirdly, though Mary had actually gone
great lengths in iniquity, neither Zacharias, nor
any one clfe, had any cauie to fufpect it ; and yet
Zacharias pitched upon Her for acting a principal
part in his plot ; and imparted it to her, without
any reafon whatever for imagining me could be
capable of entering into it.
OR, in the laft place, Mary's conduct had
really been irreproachable, till Zacharias thus
unaccountably laid open to her his flagitious de-
figns ; but then, all at once, ihe willingly con-
fpired with him, in publjfhing the moft impious
forgeries, for divine revelations ; and ever after
continued fo hardened and undaunted, as never
to make the ieaft confefiion, or acknowledgment of
her crimes.
SUCH are the conditions, and the only condi-
tions, on which it is allowed us to believe, that
Zacharias attempted to make Mary a confederate
in the profecution of his fuppofed impofture ;
and that Mary really became an accomplice with
him in it. But as each of thefe conditions
abounds in abfurdities, impoflible to be admitted ;
it mult at length be acknowledged, that, had Za-
charias
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Parti.
charias actually planned fuch an impofture, he
could not have applied to Mary, to affift him in
carrying it on ; nor Mary have complied with his
propofal, if he had. And fince it is likewife unde-
niably plain, that Mary was as much a principal in
the whole tr an faction, as Zacharias himfdf; we are
obliged to confefs, from the evidence of incontefti-.
ble facts, that the two impoftures fuppbfed muft
be all a mere groundlefs imagination ; or, at leaft,
that Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the au-
thors of them Bothy if in fact there could be any
deceit at all in the cafe.
WITH regard to Jofeph, we cannot argue in ex-
actly the fame manner as we have concerning
Mary, becaufe his age, at the time of his -mar-
riage with Mary, is a difputed point. The ma-
jority indeed fuppofe her to have been his jirft
tvife'; in which cafe we might fafely rely upon
his being fcarcely above twenty years old *, at the
time when Zacharias muft have applied to Him
likewife to take part in his plot. But fome au-
thors not only imagine him to have been married,
and to have had children before this time, but
have even thought he was already a very old
* As will appear upon confidering the conclufion eftabliflied
from p. 58, to p. 67 ; together with the particulars contained in
the note p. 109, & feq.
ma*.
Se61:. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 123
man *. However, choofe which of thefe opinions
we pleafe, either of them will afford us fufiicient
evidence of the incredibility of His being applied
to by Zacharias, to aflift in his fuppofed impofture.
IF we embrace the for ft fuppofition, and the
molt commonly received, his youth itfelf, con-
iidered in all its conlequences, which need not
here be iniifted on, will be fuch a circumftance,
as is alone fuffi.cient to render .Zacharias's apply-
ing to Him, with the defign in queftion, very
highly improbable. Suppofe him, with the other
fide, very far advanced in years, and it. will be but
plunging into one infuperabie difficulty, in order
to get clear of another. The older we fuppofe
him to have been, the more glaringly impoffible
it muft appear, for one in his low ftation of life ;
and who, before he could be thought capable of
confpiring in fuch a deceit, muft have been well
hardened in the practice of vice ; to have kept his
true character fo effectually concealed, that not
even his enemies mould ever call his integrity in
queftion. Yet this it is certain he muft have
done, fince the evangelift has not hefitated to
,. * See Epiphaniue, as referred to by Lardner, Vol. IV,
pp.315, 316V of The Complete Edition of his Works. For
the more received opinion, confult Grot, on Matt, xxiii. 55.
Lightfoot, Vol. I. p. 268,
affirm,
124 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
affirm, he was a juft man * ; and the Jews have
never contradicted the aflertion; notwithftandiiig we
know very well how defirous they mult have been to
blaft his reputation. And to this we muft add, that
if Jofeph was now eighty years of age, as ibme au-
thors report, or even many years younger ; all the
various abfurdities of his entering into fo tedious a
plot, as that in queftion, muft have appeared fo
obvious to Zacharias, as well as Jofeph himfelf,
that it is clearly incredible He could apply to Jofeph
to take part in it, or that Jofeph could have con-
fented to it, if he had.
IT muft therefore be given up as an incredible
imagination, that Jofeph could be ieduced by Za-
charias to take part in the confpiracy in queftion ;
or elfe we muft maintain, that even more moral im-
poffibilities, than thofe which have juft now ihewn
the falfehood of this fuppofition, with regard to
Mary, ought not to be allowed their natural weight
and influence, in determining its credibility with
relation to Jofeph.
BUT befides, can any thing be much more im-
probable, than that a Jewifli prieft, who had con-
ceived a defign no lefs ambitious, than that of
fetting up his own fon for the forerunner of the
Meffiah, mould choofe for his aflbciates in the
* Matt. i. Ip 4
pro-
. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 125
profccution of fuch a plan, peribns of fo obfcure a
Itation as Jofcph and Mary were? Could the fame
man, who was capable of forming fo iniquitous a
device, to gratify an unbounded pride and ambition,
choofe to be connected, in the profecution of it,
with an obfcure carpenter and his wife ? Nothing
could induce him to (ingle out fuch alftftants as
thefe, had his favourite plot really liood in need of
any ; buft his imagining, either, that it would be
more difficult to procure any confederates of a
higher rank in life ; or that, if they could be found,
their aiMance would not be fo likely to gain fuccefs
to his undertaking. But as to the jlrjl of thefe
fuppofitions, how could he imagine, that the lower
ranks of the people only were capable of fur-
niiliing him with affociates in fuch a villainous
impofture? It has never been fuppofed, that the
plain fundamental principles of moral honefty and
religion, are not as well known to the mechanic
and artificer, and have not as general an influ-
ence over them, at leaft in fuch cafes, where guilt
would be highly flagrant, as they are to, or have
over, thofe who are placed in much higher ftations
of life.
AND if there is not even an imaginary con-
nection between induftry, and falfehood, or im-
piety, and an humble ftation ; certain it is, there
*rre fomc vicious undertakings, which thofe who
labour
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OP Part I.
labour for their iupport, are rendered much more
unlikely to enter into, by their very fituation
itfelf. Such, above all others, are thofe iniquitous
plots, which owe their birth to in fat! able 'ambition,
the very nature of the fuppofed impofture before us.
The fphere, in which men act, prefcribes in great
meafure, the limits of their : attempts. It fets
bounds to the dangers they dare encounter^ and
the prize they will encounter them to obtaim
The forging of divine revelations, in order to fet
up. a counterfeit of the pronliled Meffiab, was a
project too far removed above the views of a com-
mon carpenter, to make it probable he could be
at all defirous of entering into it, as well as too
difficult and dangerous an attempt, for one in
his low ftation to care to engage in, for what, re-
wards it had to offer. Whereas it was, fo far, a
defign not unworthy the enterprizing ambition of
thofe in the more exalted fpheres of life ; and
confequently far more likely to ^engage them in its
purfuit.
WHAT motive then could pofilbly determine
Zachanas to attempt procuring his. aflbciates,
from fo low a rank of the people ? Could he think,
that the influence of fuch as were of fime figure
and -faihion, would not fo effectually contribute
to crown his enterprise with fuccefs ? On the
contrary, it is apparent, that the affiftanee of
thofe,
!$<_'&. 5. JOItJT BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 127
thofe, whole rank would fecure them from con-
frmpt, was what an'impoftor, embarked in fuch
a caufe, in lift have been particularly defirous of.
The ftrongeft teftimony of an obfcure mechanic, . in
matters relating to the higheft points of divine re-
vehition, Zacharias well knew, was likely to have
but little weight indeed j with the haughty rulers
of any of thofe febs, into which the Jew* W&PG
divided ; and by fome of which the whole people
were held, as it were, in bondage. Neither could
Zacharia- < to find) in the narrow fphefe of
Jo/cp/is itute and education, that comprehefifivfe
fubtlety, arid refined diflimulation, fo nece^kry
for can-ying on ilich intricate impoirures^; Ibui
icarcely to be acquired without a more mifceliane*
ous, and general intercourie with various order?
of mankind.
IN the meaii time,- it can fcarcely be belkved,
that any one could have travelled fo long iiv.thi
frigh roads of iniquity, as Zac1iaria.s>. if he was the
contriver of this plot, muft have dbne, without
fame faithful companion, to divide the dangers,
aiul 4hare the rewards of his crimes. At teaft,
this cauld otherwife be believed, -fo bg aft. we
fuppofe Zacharias to hav fought out for an afli>-
ciate, on the prtfrnt occafion, we lhall find our-
ieives obliged to grant, that, he ' muft frequently
have done .fo before. If, in the many wicked
plot*
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
plots he muft have devifed and executed before this t
he had made it his invariable rule, never to admit a
partner into his counfels, for fear of difcovering at
length his true character and conduct, it will be
abfurd to fuppofe, that he mould nozv, after all,
fo foolimly lay himfelf open to detection, in the very
wickedeft, and molt hazardous, of all the attempts
he could ever have undertaken ; and, above all, the
moft likely to be betrayed.
His being fuppofed to have fought out for af-
fociates at this time, plainly implies, therefore, that
he muft have done fo before, on many other occa-
lions ; and, confequently, that he muft have
had fome approved fellow-workers of iniquity,
from whofe former fidelity he had good reafon
to think, that whether they joined in his prefent
defign or no, they, above all others, would not
betray him. Thefe, therefore, if ftill living, muft
have been the perfons he would have applied to ;
and whom, if any, we mould have found acting
their parts in this impofture. For, if they mould
have thought it too hazardous, and unpromifmg
>an enterprize to engage in, Zacharias could not
have imagined any others would rilk their fafety
upon it. And even if he had already outlived all
his faithful accomplices, it was now much too
late in life to incur the danger of making more.
Yet certain it is, that Mary was a principal in the
whole
Sect. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 129
whole tranfaclion before us; and as certain, that
She, who was then fcarce fifteen years of 'age, could
not be one of thofe long-tried aflbciates of him, who
muft at this time have been fo old a practitioner in
the arts of deceit. Her youth alone, not to repeat
here any other circumftance of her character and
iituation, renders it abfolutely impoflible, that Ihe
could.
IN one word therefore, to clofe the evidence
that has been produced on this head, it has plainly
appeared, that if Zacharias was the contriver of
Both the con/piracies in queftion, and feduced Jo-
feph and Mary to act the parts they fuftained in
them ; in the firft place, he mult knowingly have
cxpofed himfelf to almoft certain deitruction, by
adding the plot concerning Jefus to that relating
immediately to John, as by this means only he laid
himfelf under a neccffity of making known his vil-
lainous defigns, in order to procure accomplices to
carry them jointly on; and tins, notwithstanding
his jirft and favourite impojlure was fo contrived,
that its fucceis was rendered more precarious, by
being connected with the Other, than it would*
iave been alone. In the next place, to crown the
whole, he muft purpofely have fmgled out fuch
perfons, to apply to for their ailiitance, in this
double impofture, whofe youth and character, whofe
every circumjiatice in life, rendered them, he well
K knew,
150 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Parti.
knew, the moft likely perfons to reject his pro*
pofals, and betray his villainy; and even ihould
they not, the leq/t capable of promoting their fuc-
cefs.
BUT as thefe are fuppofitions, which it is evi-
dently impoffible to admit, we may at length ven-
ture to affirm, that the exiftence of any fitch plots,
as thefe in debate, is a mere groundlefs imagina-
tion ; or, at leaft, if they did exift, that Zacharias
and Elizabeth could not be the original contrivers
Of them Both) and for the fake of promoting the
fuccefs of One, have procured Jofeph and Mary to
undertake the profccution of the Other.
SEC-
$C&. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST, 131
SECTION VI.
Neither Zacharias nor Elizabeth, on the one part /
nor Jofeph and Mary, on the other ; could con-
trive Each their refpe&ive plots in this double
impojlure ; nor could Jofeph and Mary be the
contrivers of the whole joint undertaking.
JL HE firft of thefe three fuppofitions we were
obliged to make *, in order to account for the ex-
iftence of the impoftures under confideration, having
thus proved incredible, on Jo many accounts ; let
us now proceed to the fecond, and enquire whether
it is pofliblcv
" THAT Zacharias might be the original pro-
je&or of that defign only, which immediately re-
lated to his fon; and Jofeph and Mary y in like
manner, the contrivers of the other fcheme, in fa-
vour of their own"
HAD this been the true ftate of the cafe, fmce
it has been feen, that They were All, from the be-
ginning, engaged together in the joint profecu-
* Sec page 68.
K 2 tion
132 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
tion of Both impoftures, it will unavoidably foU
low,
EITHER that Zacharias made known his defiga
firft to Jofepk and Mary, and that, in coniequence
of it, they then made him acquainted with theirs ;
or, that They firft difclofed their intended plot to
Zacharias, in hopes of procuring his afiiltance in
That alone-, upon which Zacharias laid open to
Them the fcheme he himfelf had in view ; and thus,
\yl)ich ever might happen to be the cafe, They All
immediately agreed to fupport each other in the
joint profecution of Both.
IF each party contrived their own plot, one of
thefe fuppofitions muft have taken place. But 3,
flight attention to fome material circumftances will
prefently make it appear, that neither of them can
be true.
WITH regard to the firft, which fuppofes Za-
charias to have laid the fcheme concerning John
only, and to have applied to Jofeph and Mary, to
join with him in the profecution of That alone,
nothing can be more plain, than that every argu-
ment which has been already alleged, to fliew that
Zacharias could not be the author of both defigns ;
or, if he had been, that He could not have apr
plied to Jofeph and Mary to confpire with him
in Both ; remains as ftrong as before, upon this
fnppofition; nay, and proves even more forcibly,.
that
Sett 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 133
that he could not have imparted to them One of
thefe fuppofed defigns, had he been the contriver
of One only.
HE could not have been wicked enough to be
capable of a contrivance for counterfeiting the Mef-
fiah's Forerunner, without having been equally ca-
pable of fetting up an irnpoftor, even under the
character of the Mejpah himfelf. If his advanced
age, his religious profeffion, and his fmgular good
character, conlidered in all their unavoidable con-
fequences, prove it utterly incredible, that he could
be the author of two fuch deteftable undertakings ;
they render it equally abiurd to imagine he could
be the planner of Either. If the length of time
requifite to put in practice the fuppofed impofture
relating to John only, is fuch a circumftance, as,
when confidered jointly with Zachariass age, ren-
ders the fuppoiition of his contriving it, not only
unworthy of belief, but even highly ridiculous, it
cannot ftand in need of any other plot of the fame
kind, to make it ftill more incredible. If it has
appeared likewiie from cqnfidering Mary's youth,
and the feveral other circumftance?, both of her
fituation, and that of Jofeph, that Zacharias can-
not be conceived to have clifclofed to them, both
thefe defigns, if he had contrived them Both ; the
fame reafons will make it equally incredible, that
he could venture to lay open to them his iniquity
K3 in
134? THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
in One of thefe devices, if he was the real author of
One only.
FROM what has been proved already therefore,
without any thing further, it might here be allow-
able to conclude, that this fecond fuppofition, as
far as relates to Zacharias, rnuft in every parti-
cular be as falfe and as groundlefs as the //>/?. But
in reality, the evidence of his innocence will be
found much ftronger on this fuppofition than the
former.
IN the firrt place, it is apparent from the na-
ture of the thing itfelf, that if the plot relating to
John was the whole of Zacharias s deiign, Elizabeth
and He wre the only perfons at all requiiite, and
indeed the only perfons capable of carrying it on,
Had this been the cafe therefore, they would never
have revealed their own impiety, as no ufe could
attend it, to any perfon whatever. To imagine,
that now at length Zacharias would voluntarily lay
open his wicked intentions, when they neither re-
quired, nor indeed could admit of any manage-
ment betides his own ; and, above all, that he ihould
thus betray himfelf to fuck perfons, fo circumftanced
as Jofeph and Mary were, purely to let them into
the fecret of his true concealed character, would
be the moil ridiculous and extravagant of all ima-
ginations.
Sect. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 135
AGAIX, while we fuppofed Zacharias to have
contrived a plot for the Son of another per/on, as
well as one for his ozcn, it might, at firft fight, ap-
pear poflible to procure affociates, by giving them
hopes of great advantages to be drawn from the
fuccefs of their Son. But if he had no defign on
foot, more than that relating to John only ; even
this appearance of a poffibility of his procuring af-
iiitance from Jofeph and Mary, had his plot really
itood in need of it, is entirely vanimed, and the
fuppoiition of his applying to them about it, be-
comes at once confeffedly incredible.
CERTAINLY he could not hope to engage them
in fo dangerous, as well as iniquitous a defign,
without having at leait forne very fpecious emolu-
ments to propofe to them from its fuccefs. But
what advantages could he make them imagine
might probably refult to them, mould his fup-
pofed defign in favour of John only prove ever fo
fuccefsful ? And this is the only defign we are now
fuppofmg him to have contrived. It might in-
deed be thought, that the parents of fo diftin-
guifhed a prophet, if they were ftill alive when
the plot mould take effect, would be held in ve
neration and efteem ; and this was the utmoft that
even they thejnf elves could hope for. But no be-
nefit could be expected on this account by his
moft diftant relations, and efpecially fuch as were
K4 in
136 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
in fo obfcure a fphere of life as Jofeph and Mary
were.
GREATNESS a.nd fplendor were by no means
the apparent objects of this defign, even with re-
gard to John himfelf; who, inttead of affecting
rule and authority over the people, was to teach
them " the knowledge of falvation through the
" remiffion of their fins," and preach to them the
baptifm of repentance. And however fuccefsful he
might be in impofmg on them as a prophet, an at-
tempt itfelf of no fmall difficulty and danger, it
would ftill remain in the higheft degree improbable,
that he mould ever be able to graft upon it the
attainment of wealth' and power.
IN nations overrun with a fabulous religion, and
fuperftitious notions of the gods, the eltablifhed
credit of divine infpiration might, with reafon, be
expected to afford means of gratifying the moft un-
bounded ambition. But among the Jews this was
by no means the eafe. Their clear and eftablifhed
knowledge of God's immediate providence, and
fettled belief in his will, already revealed to them,
freed them fo effectually from this blind enthufiaftic
admiration of whoever might pretend to an extra-
ordinary coinmifiion from above, as to make them,
on the contrary, fevere judges of all fuch preten-
iions. 'They had enjoyed likewife a long fucceffion
of perfons, univerfally acknowledged as the moil
approved
St'Ct. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 137
approved prophets, who, though even workers of
miracles in fupport of their claims, had neither
fought for public honours, nor to aggrandize their
fortunes, but periifted, to the laft, in quite a pri-
vate and reclufe fituation. Nay, the very Pcrfon,
whole life and manner John was profelledly to
imitate, according to Zachariass own prediction,
was one at leaft of the inoft eminent of them all,
for the abftemiou fuels and privacy of his courfe of
life.
Ir was therefore fo far from being natural for
a Jew to expect, that the Jewijh people would be
at all inclined to bellow wealth and honours, upon
whomfoever they might actually efteem infpired
from above ; that, in reality, there was great
reafon to fear, they would begin to call in quef-
tion the veracity of any one, and more efpecially
of the profeflfed imitator of Ellas, as foon as he
Ihould begin to betray a defire of fuch kind of re-
wards.
BESIDES, 7/e, above all others, who ftiould ap-
pear as the Forerunner of the expected Meffiah,
could not propofe to himfelf, or his adherents,
any conliderable advantages. The Mcfliak him-
felf was the king, for whom the Jews lo ardently
wimed, and whom they fo foon expected. lie
it was, who, they believed, would eftabiifli them
in an univerful dominion. And the nearer they
ap-
138 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I,
apprehended his arrival to be ; that is, the more fuc-
cefsfully any pretender to the character of his Fore-
runner mould delude them into a belief in his own
divine million ; the farther would they be from be-
ftowing wealth and honours upon the pretended
-meflenger himfelf. Their thoughts and expecta-
tions would unavoidably be fufpended till the ar-
rival of the Meffiah, and for him they would re-
ferve all their choiceft gifts ; while the Meffenger
and his adherents could have little or no hopes of
profit or exaltation. If they ihould believe his
report, it was naturally to be expected, that they
would behave to him, as in fact it appears the
Jews did to John, when they did believe him, and
he peremptorily declared himfelf only the harbinger
of the Mefliah ; that is, that they would reverence
him as a prophet, but not think of exalting him as
a man.
To fuppofe then, that Zacharias had only this
plot in view, and yet that he difclofed it to Jqfeph
and Mary, would be fuppofing him determined to
make known to them his own unparalleled iniquity,
though They could be of no ufe to Him in the exe-
cution of his plot; and it could not be of any fer-
vice to Them, even if it iliould fucceed. But this
is a fuppofition too abfurd to be received, iince
if ZacJiarias was capable of betraying himfelf in fo
foolifh a manner, he rnuft have been abfolutely in-
capable
Soft. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. ] 39
capable of concealing his true character, and main-
taining ib good a reputation as he did, till he was
well iiricken in veins.
BUT though, for all thele reafons, it cannot be
believed, that Zacharias could betray himfelf in fo
fooliih a manner to Jofeph and Mary; poffibly
Jofeph and Mary might apply firft to Zacharias,
to procure his affittance in that impofture, which
we are now fuppofmg Them to have planned out
for their Son.
AND here the queftion immediately occurs, for
what reafon could They apply to Zacharias, if they
had only that plot in view, which related to thdr
Otcn Son ? Could they be desirous of laying open
their wicked intentions to him, when it was not in
the leaft neceflary to the profecution of their de-r
tign ; and when they could not pofiibly imagine it
capable of being at all beneficial to him ? Was the
impiety of fetting up an impotlor for the Meffiah,
lefs mocking than that of counterfeiting his Fore-
runner; that They iliould be more ready to lay
themfclves open to Zacharias. than He could be,
as we have already feen, to expofe himfelf to Them?
Or, in one word, would not the folly and danger
of this step have been fo great, and fo glaring, that
it is impoffible to conceive they could be capable of
overlooking it ? The plot itfelf, as has been before
fully
140 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part f
fully fhewn *, wa s of fo dangerous and dilcou-
raging a nature, fo deftitute of all profpecls of ad-
vantage, and fo much more likely to induce any
one to betray than promote it, that it cannot be be-
lieved they could venture to impart it to any pcrfoii
whatever.
WAVING, however, thefe confiderations, and
fuppoling Them determined, though contrary to
every motive by which they could poffibly be de-
termined, to make fomebody privy to their intended
impofture, itill it would have been impoffible for
them to have fixed upon Zacharias and Elizabeth,
above all others, to make acquainted with their
plot.
NOTHING can be more inconceivable, than that
they fhould iingle out a Priejl of the God of Ifrael,
grown venerable with years, and ftill more fo by
an unblemiihed reputation, as one who could be
pleafed with the authors of fo iniquitous a device.
They could not poffibly hit on any perfon, in their
own opinions, more likely to reveal their impiety
immediately to the rulers, and publiili it to the
whole nation ; and by this means procure them
* This muft plainly appear, from confidcring all that has
. been fecu of the unpromifing nature of the ddfign fuppofud
with regard to John, jointly with the ftill greater difficulties
and dangers, that muft neceflknly attend this relating to
Jefus.
that
JOHN BAPTIST A.N'i) JilSUS CHRIST. 141
that condign puniihment they fo highly deferved,
and would have been fure to undergo. It muft
be ridiculous to fuppofe, they could expect any
thing better at his hands, though their defign had
been fuch, as even to have tempted him with lu^
crativc and ambitious views. And what then could
they hope for, or how could they lay open their
own guilt to him, above all others, when it was
abfolutely impoflible, that their fuppofed faigle,
impofture in favour of Jcfus could procure Zacha-
rias any benefit at all ?
BUT, infurmountable as thefe difficulties muft
be owned, the fuppofition we are examining, labours
yet with one more, if pofiible, ftill greater than all
the reft.
WE have feen long ago, that if there was any
contrivance in the cafe, all the parties concerned
muft have been engaged together in it, even from
the very planning of the whole joint tranfaction. If
therefore Mary and Jofeph communicated their fe-
par ate defign,^'//?, to Zacharias, they muft certainly
have taken this ftep, before Zacharias actually
counterfeited his vifion in the temple. Now this
event we know, from the order of the feveral facts,
came to pafs no lefs than full fix months before
even the conception of Marys fon. So that, on
the fuppofition we are now confidering, Jofeph and
Mary muft have planned and communicated their
feparate
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I.
feparate deiign to Zacharias ; nay, and they niuit
ail have determined, that Zacharias ihould actually
proceed to begin his part in the joint undertaking,
full fix months before Jefus was conceived', and,
confequently, as long before Mary had any actual
profpect of a child, to act that part, they intended
him afterwards to undertake. But this is an agree*
tnent fo utterly incapable of being believed, that
whatever fuppofition unavoidably includes it, muft
fceceflarily be falfe.
To fay no more therefore upon this head, fince
it has fo plainly and fully appeared, firft, that Za-
charias could not be the author of Both the plots
in queftion together ; nor, fecondly, of One of them
alone, while Jofcph and Mary were the real con-
trivers of the Other; let us enquire in the laft
place,
" Whether Jofcph and Mary may not have been
the real contrivers of both parts of this double im-
pofture, and have prevailed with Zacharias to un-
dertake the profecution of One, in hopes of fome
great advantages to be drawn from the joint fuccefs
of Both."
THIS is the only poffible fuppofition remain-
ing, and even this mult be exploded, as well as
the two former, unlefs it fhall appear credible, in
the firft place, that Jofcph and Mary could con*
trive two fuck dcfigns ; in the next, that they
could
Se6t. 6. JOHN BAPTIST A^ ? D JESUS CHRIST. 143
could impart them to Zacharias, in hopes of his
approving and becoming a principal in the joint
profecution of them ; and laftly, that He could
really engage in them, if they had. All thefe
particulars muft, upon examination, appear cre-
dible ; or this laft fuppofition, as it includes them
all, muft neceflarily be rejected as incredible and
abfurd.
AND with regard to thefe particulars, abfo-
lutely necefiary to be firft eftablifhed, not to en-
large upon arguments that have been already in-
fifted on, it muft by this time be fully evident,
that neither of them can poffibly be admitted.
For if the ingenuity, artleffnefs, and timidity, na-
tural to Marys youth ; the modeft and referved
education of her fex ; the good chara&er, free from
all afperfion, which She as well as Je/eph, at this
time enjoyed, and ever after maintained ; together
with the confined views, and inexperience of the
world, neceflarily occasioned by their low ftation
in life ; render it utterly incredible, that They
could even have become parties to fuch impious
and mocking contrivances, when planned by an-
other, they muft unqueftionably prove it morally
impofiible for Them to have firft contrived fuch
impoftures Themfelves. After all then that has
been faid already, in proof of this point, the fup-
pofition of Their having been the true authors of
Both
144 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
Both thefe impoftures, becomes fo apparently ex-
travagant, that it needs but to be mentioned, in
order to be exploded.
NOR, in the next place, can any ftronger ar-
guments be deiired, than uhat the facred profef-
lion, advanced age, and exemplary character of
Zacharias, have already furnimed, to convince us
of the impoffibility of his being applied to for af-
fiftance, in any wicked defign whatever, and much
more of his becoming a confederate in thefe abpve
all others, had he actually been folicited to join in
them.
HOWEVER, abundantly fufficient as the joint
force of all thefe confiderations is, to prove that
Jqfeph and Mary could not be guilty of contriving
both the plots in debate ; the nature of the cafe
will fupply us with one argument more, which
muft needs put this point beyond poffibility of dif-
pute.
IF Jqfeph and Mary were the real contrivers of
both the fuppofed impoftures, and, confequently,
engaged Zacharias and Elizabeth to act the part
they afterwards did, in the profecution of them;
then They rnuft in the beginning have laid open
thefe deiigns to Zacharias, in hopes of inducing
him to undertake the management of that half of
the plot, which he afterwards carried on. And
fmce, it is jnamfeftly impofTible for Zacharias tQ
have
SeCL 6. Jdiix BAftfst AND jrtsts diiRisf. 145
c been acting his part, till after he had been
thus folicitedj and agreed to undertake it, Jofeph
and Mary muft have applied to him on this ac-
count, and He muft have agreed to their propofal,
fome time before he actually opened the plot, with
his pretended viiion in the temple* That is, in
other words, fame time before even the conception
fjf John.
BUT what was the fituatlon of Zacharlas and
Elizabeth at that time? Elizabeth had always hi-
therto continued abfolutely childlefs t and both She
and Zacharlas were now too old, to entertain the
leaft hope of ever having children. So that upon
this fuppofition, Jofeph and Mary muft have foli-
citcd Zacharlas and Elizabeth to begin an impof-
ture for the fake of their men Son, and they muft
have agreed to it with this view ; not only at a time
when they really had no Jbn t but when they muft
likewife have been fully peffuaded that they never
fhould-have any. But how was it poifible, in fuch
circurnftances, for one party to make the applica-
tion, or the other to comply with it ? This at leaft,
it muft be confefl'ed, was abfolutely impoflible, and
the contrary fuppofition would have been evidently
abfurd.
HAD it therefore ft ill remained a matter of
doubt, whether Jofeph and Mary might not have
planned the two impoftures in queftion ; fure we
L are,
14t> THE DIVIXE MISSION'S OF Part L
are, Zacharias and Elizabeth were fo fituated, that
They could not have been applied to, to aflift in
carrying them on, nor have attempted to do it, if
they had. Nor does this conclulion reft wholly,
even upon a variety of the ftrongelt moral proofs,
but likewife, upon the clcareft natural impoflibility,
that the contrary could be true.
IN fine, to conclude this argument, it appears
not only certain, that Jofcph and Mary were inca-
pable of contriving fuch execrable plots ; as well as
from feveral circumltances of the laft importance,
that they certainly did not contrive thofe in debate ;
but likewife, that they could have no aflignable
motive whatever for fetting ,fuch contrivances on
foot.
THE only caufes, which either obftinate infi-
delity can invent, or impiety fuggeft, to account
for their concerting fuch a itrange impofture,
muft be, either the hopes of advantages to accrue
from the impoftures themfelves, or the defire of
preventing all farcaftic reflections upon Mary's un-
expected condition, before her marriage with Jofcph
was finally completed. But as to any advantages to
be derived from the fucceis of thefe impoftures
themfelves, though the poilibility of fuch hopes
has been all along fuppofed, for the fake of aj low-
ing the fuppofition of their guilt every imaginable
-advantage ; yet they have in facl appeared far too
remote
Sect. 6. jorfS BAPTIST ASD JESUS CHRIST. 147
remote and chimerical, and the dangers of the plots
too great and imminent, to admit of any one's cori-
tiiving them on fuch motives as thefe. After all
that has now been feen^ this account of the matter
mult neceilarily be given up.
As for the remaining fuppolition, that the whole
might be a contrivance to /are Marys reputation,
the fafts themfelves will iliew this to be, of all
others, the molt ridiculous, and indeed; ftrictly
fpeaking, imporTible. Nothing can be a more extra-
Vagaiit imagination, at tirft light, than this ; that a
carpenter and his intended wife, lliould a^ree to fet
up a child of theirs, yet unborn, for a counterfeit
of the great Mrffiah ; and moreover attempt to
perfuade fome one of their acquaintance, to
fet up another for his Forerunner ; and all this
for no bthcr end, than merely to prevent their
Neighbours from throwing out reflections to their
difadvantage.
BUT bciides, if the favihg of Mary\ reputation
was the point they aimed at, there was a certain,
fafe, eafy, and effectual, method of doing it,
\\hich they could not pofiibly be ignorant of, or
forget, and which therefore they would unquef-
tionably have adopted, iuftead of fetting them-
felves to contrive plots of ib dangerous, fruitlefs,
find ftrange a nature, as thofe before us. In 9.
word, as it is plain, that they had been for fome
L 2 time
!4S THE DIVIDE MISSIONS of Parti
time betrothed to each other, before Marys pafti*
cif/ar fituation took place, the mere completion of
their marriage, upon the very firft, flighteft fuf-*
plcion of it, would have fecured Her effectually
from all reproach, and was indeed the only expe-
dient capable of doing it.
STILL the fa6ts will iupply us with another
confideration upon this point, that can admit of
no reply. Had both the plots been contrived by
Jofeph and Mary, to fave her .from, difgrace, on
account of her iituation, before their marriage was
complete, it is plain They themfelves could not have
fettled the plan of them, till they had fom& reaforr
to apprehend the ftate Ihe might be in. At leaft,
this inuft unquettionably be allowed, that They
could not apply to Zacharias and Elizabeth to
undertake one of the joint plots they had contrived ;
and, above all, that Zacharias could not proceed to*
the actual execution of any public ftep in it, till
That event, on account of which only the whole
contrivance was agreed on, could be certainly known
to have taken place.
THESE points confidered, it muft neeeiTarily
be acknowledged, that if Jofeph and Mary con-
trived both thefe impoftures, for the end now fup-
pofed, Zacharias could not have brought on his
pretended vifion in the temple, which muft have
been the public opening of the whole dcfign, till
6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 149
at leaft ibme little time after Mary's particular fitu-
ution had been fully cotijirm&d.
DOES it then in fact appear, that Zacharias did
not begin the part he acted, with the viiion juft
mentioned, till j\lary might have been found with
child, the very earlieft period winch the nature of
the cafe can poilibly admit ? So far from it, that,
on the contrary, we find, lie pretended, at leaft,
to have feen the viiion in queftion, and to fliew the
vifible effects of it, no lefs than full fa months* be-
fore Mary ailerted the had feen a iimilar vifion,
and confequently, as long before even the conception
of Je/its.
WK may therefore confidently pronounce it
impoffible for Zachariass vifion to have been
the opening of a plot contrived by Jofeph and
Mary, and entered into by Zactiarias at their in-
ftigation, in order to refcue Mary from reproach,
on account of her being found with child, be-
fore her marriage with Jofeph was completed,
Becaule it was tranfa&ed fo many months before
the fuppofed occafion for it had any exiftencc,
to bring her character into queftion, and confe-
* That it was not poflible to falfify the time of Zach alias's
firft appearing dumb, and pretending to have feen the vifion.
jull mentioned, or to forge the faft itfelf, if it had never hap-
pened ; fee proved more at large in pp. 156', 157, 358, &c.
iiiid the notes,
L 3 qucntly,
150 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part L
quently, before any impofture whatever could, on
that account, be carried into execution.
AT length then we may be permitted to affirm,
that the fuppoiition, that Jofeph and Mary were
the real authors of the whole defign, and the fe-
el ucers of thofe concerned with them in carrying
it on, appears on various accounts abfurd, and ini-
pofiible to be true. And this fuppoiition being
what we were unavoidably driven to, as the very
laft * that could be made in fupport of any impofr
ture at all, we are now under a neceffity of laying
a fide all fufpicion of any deceit in the cafe, as
contrary to the clear evidence of a great variety of
facts, and destitute of every the leaft rational foun-
dation or fupport.
AND fince it has appeared plainly, from the
feveral circuwftances, /ititations, and characters, of
All the parties concerned in the tranfactions under
confideration, that neither Any vf them alone, nor
All of them together, could contrive and enter upon
fuch an impofture, as that in queftion, if it was
one, muft have been ; we are indifpenfably bound
to acknowledge, that the conceptions, and births,
of John the Baptijt and Jefus Chrift, were truly
accompanied with all thofe miraculous events,
which the cvangelifts have recorded of them .
* S-e page 68*
and
$eh 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 151
and confequently, that thofc prophetic and divhie
dmra&ers, which, agreeably to the angel's pre-
dictions, they afterwards afiumed, were unquef-
tionably their true characters, and what had been
of old ordained for them by the ftupendous provi-
dence of God.
L 4 THE
THE
DIVINE MISSIONS
OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST
AND
JESUS CHRIST.
PART II.
SECTION L
The whole impojlure in qucftion is, in its czcn nature,
fo exceedingly abfurd, that it teas not poflible to
have been conceived or undertaken, by any pcrfon
whatever,
1 HE circumftances and character of every
perfon at all concerned in the births of John
the Eaptjft and Jefus Chrift, having, upon a clofe
examination, afforded fo full a proof of their
divine millions and authority ; let us now proceed
to confider, whether as ftrong an argument, in
fupport of the fame conclufion, may not be drawn
from
154 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
from the internal nature of thefe remarkable events
tkemfelves, and the feveral fubordinate tranfa&ions,
that were either previous to, or any way connected
with them. Upon an attentive confideration, per-
haps the main fafts themfelves, as well as the
circumitances attending them, will be found of
fo peculiar a nature ; as to furnifli the molt
convincing proofs we can defire, that they could
not poffibly arife from, or even admit of any
impofture.
IT is needlefs to repeat here the detail of every
particular connected with the main events in de-
bate, fince the evangelift's own account of the
whole feries of thefe tranfa&ions has been quoted
at large already *. We may therefore proceed at
once to the examination of fuch particulars only, as
ieem fully fufficient to place beyond doubt the
truth and certainty of all the reft. And this they
will enable us to do, by mewing, firft, " That the
" plot fuppofed is, in its own nature, fo very ridi-
" culous and abfurd, that it is utterly inconceivable
" any one could ever contrive or engage in it."
And, in the next place, " that if we could fup-
" pofe it capable of being undertaken, the expe-
" dients by which it appears it muft have been
" carried on are fuch, as it is abfolutely incredible
" could ever have been adopted,"
* See page 15 20, and p. 59-~6l.
TWE
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
THE only foundation neceffary to be laid, before
we enter upon this argument, is fo obvious a prin-
ciple, that we may fafely venture to fuppofe it will
be very readily allowed. And this is, that
ALL IMPOSTORS MUST EVER BE SUPPOSED TO
ACT UPON MOTIVES OF HUMAN CUNNING, AND
TO GOVERN THEMSELVES BY VIEWS OF HUMAN
FORESIGHT AND. PROBABILITY. AND CONSE-
QUENTLY, WHENEVER A PLOT IN QUESTION
WOULD, IF TAKEN FOR GRANTED, BE ABSO-
LUTELY DESTITUTE OF THE ONE, AND THE
CONDUCT OF THE SUPPOSED IMPOSTOR BE FOUND
OPPOSITE TO THE OTHER ; THAT THEN RIGHT
REASON AND COMMON SENSE OBLIGE US TO
ACKNOWLEDGE, THERE COULD BE NO DECEIT
IN THE CASE.
BY this touchftpne therefore let us now try the
impofture in debate.
IT is related, that an angel appeared to Zacharias
in the temple, and foretold to him the conception,
birth, and divine character of his foil. That to
pupil)) hjni for miftrufting the truth of thefe pre-
dictions, as well as to convince him in the ftrongeit
manner of their divine authority, the angel at
once ftrack him dumb ; alluring him at the faint;
time that he ihould continue thus deprived of his
fpecch, till that fon, whofe birth he had then
een forewarned of ; ihould be actually born.
That
THE DIVINE MISSIONS or Part II.
That in a few days after this, when his miniftration
at the temple was over*, Zacharias returned home;
" and after thofe days his wife Elizabeth con-
" ceived." That in fa6l Zacharias did continue
dumb, till, in the natural cotirfe or time, John was
accordingly born ; and ihortly after, agreeably to
the angel's prediction, his fpeech was as inftanta-
neouily reftored to him, as it had been before taken
away.
THIS therefore now becomes the point in debate,
whether the facts here related might not be fa
o
many particulars of a fubtil impofture ; or whe-
ther, that fuppofed impofture, of which only thefe
particulars could be part, muft not have been of
fo abfurd a nature, that it is impoffible to believe it
could ever exift ?
AND here, firft, it is obvious, that Zacharias ? s
pretending, at leaft, to have been fuddenly ftruck
dumb, at the particular time mentioned, is a fat
which cannot have been forged ; becaufe, if true,
* The whole body pf the Jewifli priefts was divided into
twenty-four parts, called courfes ; each i which, in a fixed
rotation, attended in the temple to perform the whole worfliip
there, and the attendance of each courfe was a week at a
time, and that twice in a year. Such was the miniftration of
Zacharias here mentioned, at the expiration of which he
returned home from Jerufalem. See Lewis's Heb. Antiq,
b. ii. c, 7.
great
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 157
great numbers muft have been witneffes of it, and
could not be deceived about it. More efpecially as
it is affirmed to have happened on fo remarkable an
occafion, and in circumltances fo particular, that it
mult unavoidably have engaged the attention of
every one, who was prefent at the temple fervice at
the time.
u ACCORDING to the cuftom of the prieft's
<" office, his lot was to bum incenfe *, when he
" went into the temple of the Lord. And the
" whole multitude of the people were praying
" without at the time of incenfe. And the people
" waited for Zacharias, and marvelled, that he
" tarried fo long in the temple. And when he
" came out he could not fpeak unto them; and
" they perceived that he had feen a vifion in the
" temple, for he beckoned unto them, and re-
' mained fpeechlefs f."
THIS was fo. remarkable an event in all its cir-
cumftances, that it could not but aftonifh every
one prefent, and be immediately noifed about
through the whole city of Jerufalem. A vifion
* " As the courfes of the pricfts were (originally) decided
by lot, fo every particular prieft had his office appointed him
by the fame method. The lot determined, who fhould attend
the altar of incenfe, who fhould feed the fire, who carry out the
allies, and all other parts of the fervice." Lewis, ibid.
t Luke i. 9, 10, 21 ; 22.
from
15S tHE fclVlSE MISSIONS OF
from heaven, appearing to a prieft of venerable
fige, and exemplary character, while he was ac-
tually performing duty in the temple itfelf; and
depriving him of fpeech, fo as to di fable him from
going on with the moft public, and remarkable
part of his office, that of difmifiing the people with
their appointed folcmn blcjjing*, was an incident
fo
* This is a particular which dcferres our efpecial notice ;
as it mud have rendered Zacharias's apparent fuddcn lofs of
fpeech, fo extremely remarkable, that not one perfoii, who
ivas then attending worfhip in the tomple, could remain igno-
rant of it. " The people/' we find, <; waited for Zacharias;*
to come oat from the holy place, where the incenfe ws
burnt, and blefs them ; for fo the pricils ufed to do after burn-
ing the incenfe. (See Lightfoot's Temple Worfhip, en. 9.
Lewis, b. iv. 13.) " And they marvelled that he tarried fa
*' lofig. And when he" came out' he could not fpeak unto
44 them," to give them their accuftomed bleflmg before thej
departed. " And they perceived that he had feen a vifion in
** the temple ; for he beckoned unto them, and rcmaine^
" fpeechlefs." Now this lalt part of his office, which Zacha-
Tias on this occafion appeared unable to perform, and actually
did Hot perform, was that for which the Jews entertained A
much greater veneration than any other. - " The benediction
vas to be pronounced by the prieft, Handing fo that he might
be feen, with his hands lifted up and fpread, and fpeaking
\v ith a loud voice, with bis face towards the atfembly. This
was the form of the blelling, as it was eftabliflied by God
himfelf (Numb. vi. 24, &c.). " The Lord blcfs thee and
" keep thee ; the Lord make his face to /hine upon thee,
M and be gracious unto they ; the Lord lift up his counte-
" nance
Se&. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
fo very uncommon, that thole who were prefect
would naturally make it known, and render it irn-
pollible for any one afterwards to publifh fuch an
account, had the fact never happened, or fallify the
time on which it did.
AND befides this confideration, relating to the
people in general, it muft likewife be remembered,
that the whole number of the Jewifli priefts
was divided into feveral diftinct bodies, each of
which performed the worihip at the temple, in
*' nance upon tlice, and give thee peace." When this bene-
diction was faid in the fancluary, if we may believe the Jews,
it was but one, and pronounced without any paufe, the people
keeping profound filence ; but out of the fancluary, in their
fynagogues, they made three of it; the pricft pauling at the end
-of every vcrfo, and the people faying Amen, to each of them."
" The divine blefllng was always fuppofcd to depend upon
the blefling of the prieft, which they thought^o neccjjary, that
inch prieits as were admitted to no other fervice might perform
this, left the people mould at any time want it. And it was a
maxim, that the biffing pronounced by a prieft who had fomc
blfmifh in tis body was always to be accounted lawful. There
is nothing performed among the Jews with fo muchfolcmnity,
and in which they place fo much fanclity, as in this folemu
Benedittion." Lewis's Ileb. Antiq. 1. ii. 7.- After this account
of the folemnity of that part of his office, which Zacharias did
nut perform ; fignifying at the fame time, to the whole congre-
.gation, that he had feen a vifion and w.s dumb; we cannot need
any other argument to convince us of the great notice, that
7nuft have been taken of it ? by every one who was prefent at the
time it came to pafs.
their
160 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II*
their appointed weekly courfes, and at no other time.
So that as Zacharlas could not poffibly officiate
there, from the moment he appeared dumb, tifl
he had his fpecch to all appearance reftored ; the
time when he Jirft ceafed to fpeak muft have been
fo well known to all the reft of his own courfe,
who were upon duty at the temple at the fame
time, arid who were always a very confiderable
number; that it muft have been impoffible for
him ever after to falfify the period of this re-
markable event *.
* It cannot fail of iiluftrating this argument very greatly,
to confider how many priefts there might be in their week of
duty at the temple, together with Zncharias, and who muft
Gil have been well acquainted with what pafied at this time. '
Each of the twenty-four courfes had their weekly turn of duty
in the temple, twice in the year; and the diftinft families of
each courfe had their appointed days in the week. " Now the
pricfts in every one of the twenty- four courfes were exceeding
-jrrany. For Jofephus related), that there were thoufands in-
every courfe. And this we are fure of, from, evident fcrip-
ture, that at the crowning fa Joafli, when an infurre&ion by
Athaliah was feared, .the priefts of two courfes only were
reputed as a fuflicicnt guard for the king, and about the tern*
pie. 2 Kings, xi. 5, 6', 7- Aud when Uzziah would haver
burned incenfc, there were eighty priefts ready to withhold him*
2 Chron. xvi. 17. So that among fo great a multitude therein
but one being permitted to burn incenfc, it was nccefTary, that
he mould be chofen from among them by lot, and the lot at
this time fell to Zacfiarias." Lightfoot, Vol. I. 406. Thus
we
. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 161
IN line, were there no other confiderations to
ttfiure us of this important point, the very fervice
which Zacharias at this time performed, would
alone be iufficient to preclude the leaft doubt about
it. For on this day, his lot was to burn incenjc ;
and this was a particular iervice, which no prielt
had the honour to perform more than once in his
whole life*. It was efteemed the moft honour-
able
we fee, that A very large number of the priefts of 2acharias*s
o\vn courfe muft have been witnefics of his remarkable beha-
viour at this time. But thefe were a few in comparifon of the
reft of the fpe&ators. " There were conftantly in the temple,
at the hour of prayer, Fit ft, the priefts of lhat courfe that
then ferved. Secondly, the levites that ferved under the priefts.
!T7/?>f//y, the men of the ftation, as the rabbins Call them ;
that is, certain men, that were to reprefent the \vhoie con-
gregation, in putting their hands upon the heads of the facri-
iices. Fourthly, thofe whom deVotion moved to leave their
employments, and to be prefeht at the fervice of God. All
thefe might amount to a great number indeed. But the evan-
geliit, in naming the whole multitude of the people, feemeth to
have fomc further meaning, as i^he would intimate, that this
\vas not lipon an ordinary day of 'the week, but upon the
Sabbath-day, when the Congregation was full ; not only of the
priefts of the fcvcnth courfe, but alfo of all the multitude of the
city, which were tied that day in a more fpeCial manner, to
the public worfliip." Idem, i. 407. See thefe things more
at large in Lightfoot's Temple "Wcrfhip, ch. vi. 7. Lewis, b. iv,
tli. 13.
* " Kovi Temper accedobnnt facerdotes, ut fortiantur ad
fuffiendum. t nullus bis fuffitum adolebat." " Whenever
M the
1(52 THE DIVINE: srissiaxs OF Fart II.
able of all the offices, which the ordinary priefts
had to perform; and as their numbers were fo
great r
the: lot was drawn to determine the priefl who fhould burn the
incenfe, it was drawn by thole oivly who had not burnt incenfe
before. The Jitme perfon never burnt incenfo frczVe/'- Sigon*
Rep. Ikb. 1. iv.- 1& Not. Kd. Nicohii.
" Sacrifrcium juge vcfpertrnam iifdem ritrbua quibus ma-
tutinum peragebatur, exceptis fortibus, quce denuo non du-
cebantiir,. ft be ne did mac ; fed eadem ibnftio iifdem mane et
vcfperi obtingehat, Jl fiiffitum excipias, ad qitcm novo fort mm
ditttu opus erat ? The wening facnfiee was of courfe performed
\vitli the fame forms as the morning, except the ceremony oi
drawing lot, and the biejftng ; every one difcharged the fame
office in tht^ evening, that had fallen to him in the morning,
except the offering &f incenfe * f Of which it always vxi$' ncccflary-
ihut fame other perfoii Jhaidd be choj'tn" Keland, Antiq. lleb.
p. ii. c. 5. 5,
Lightfoot indeed makes mention of an exception,- when
tlie jame perfon might burn incenfe twice: bu-t this, it \v^ll ;
immediately be feen, cannot in the lead invalidate the argu-
ment we have drawn from the rule itfeif. " In the even-
ing they (the priefts) call- not lots for their feveral employ-
ments, but thofe that the lot had afligned them in the morn-
ing they retained in the afternoon ; " only a-bout- the mat-
4< ter of burning the incenfe they caft lots anc'w, amongft
" thofe of the houfe of the lather, that ferved that day, that
" had NEVER burnt incenfe in their lives." But if all of
them had, at one time or other, been- upon that employment^-
then he that had it by lot at the morning fcrvice, did aljv per-
form it in the evening." (Temple- Worfhilp, c. p. near the
end.) Befides that this- was the eafe, which, from what we
have feen of tho prieftly families, could fcarce ever happen, it
vSe6l. 1. JOHX BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 163
great, none were differed to draw lots for it,
who had ever performed it before. As this there-
fore was fo very particular an occalion, one even
that had never happened to Zacharias before, and
never could again; and as his apparent lofs of
fpeech rendered it impoffible for him to officiate
again in the temple, till a twelvemonth after this
happened, and three months after the birth of John,
there was not even a poflibility left him, to falfify
the time of his appearing, at leaft, to have been
ftruck dumb in the temple, on the occafion re-
lated.
WHETHER then, for the prefent, we fuppofe
this account of the angel's appearance and dif-
courfe to have been founded in truth, or a mere
fiction, and confequently Zacharias s lofs of fpeech
real, or pretended, this we are bound to believe as
an unqueftionable fa&, that Zacharias became in
appearance dumb, on the occajion, and at the time
is plain that it could not happen at this time; becaufe, if
Zachnrias appeared dumb in the morning, he could not
poffibly officiate again in the evening ; and even if he could
have done it, it is obvious, that the conclufion which this
particular has been brought to eftablifh, muft remain as valid
as before.
It may not be improper to add here one remarkable par.
ticular, that a prieft, who had been guilty of any great crime,
was never after permitted to perform this office. See Reland,
as above.
M 2 related,
164 THE DltlNfc MISSIONS Part 1 1.
related. And that was, as the evangeliit has ex-
prefsly informed us, fame little time before the
conception of John. For " it came * to pafs, that
" as foon as the days of his, Zacharias $> mini-'
" ftration were accomplifhed," during which he
became dumb, " he departed to his own houfe,
" and after thofe days his wife Elizabeth con-
" ceived."
SUPPOSING it poflible then for Zacharias to
have invented this refined expedient, and deter-
mined to make ufe of it, the more effectually to
conceal his projected impofture, was it poffible for
him to put it in practice at this time ? Or, on
the contrary, will not the very time only of his
apparent loft of fpeech unanfwerably prove, that it
could not be the effect of any fuch concerted de-*
fign?
WE are exprefsly informed f , that Elizabeth
had till this time continued abfolutely barren ;
and both She and Zacharias were now fo far ad-
Danced in years, that all thoughts of their having
children mult have been at an end. This being
the cafe, though we Ihould fuppofe him to have
planned the whole contrivance, in queftion, years
before; and to have been fully refolved to exe-
cute it, whenever an opportunity ihould offer,
* Liika i. 22, i Luke i. 7 1&.
ftili
$et. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 165
lull it will be confeffedly impoffible for Zacbarias to
have begim executing this part of the plot, at the
fooneft, till he knew with certainty, that Elizabeth
was actually with child.
NOTHING can be more ridiculous in itfelf, or
more inconliftent with fo mafterly a ftroke of im-
polture as this would have been, than to imagine
he lliould begin executing a plot, the very exiftence
of which neceflkrily depended upon Elizabeth's
being actually with child, at a time when he had
every reafon, the nature of the cafe would admit of,
to conclude, that She never would have children,
To believe him all on the Hidden forging a divine
revelation, and feigning himfelf dumb, with an ex-
prefs prediction, that he mould continue fpeechlefs
till his wife mould bring forth a fon ; and all this
with no other view, than to fet up this future fon
for the Mcffiah's Forerunner, notwithftanding Eli-
7 O
zabeth had hitherto continued barren^ and he him*
felf muft have believed, at the very time, that ilie
would always continue fo ; is fuck a fuppofition, as
the more we confider it, the more abfurd and ridi-
culous it muft appear.
YET, impoffible as this evidently is, we muft
believe every particular of it to have been true,
before we are at liberty even to fuppofe, that Za-
char'ms interview with the Angel might be a fic-
M 3 tion,
166 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II*
tion, and his apparent lofs of fpeech a deceit.
For it has juft been obferved, that this remarkable
tranfa&ion came to pafs even fome time befo?*e
Zacharias could have the leait expectation of a
child.
FROM the very nature of the thing itfelf, there-
fore, it appears abfolutely impoffible for Zacharias
to have forged the angel's appearance, and have
feigned himfelf dumb, at that time when it is cer-
tain he apparently became fo, in order to facilitate
any preconceived impofture relating to his fon. It
is likewife apparent, that the whole of this tranfac^
tion related entirely to the future birth and cha-
racter of his fon, and confeqtiently could not be
forged on any other account. From whence it in-
evitably follows, that Zacharias muft really have
converfed with an Angel, and have been actually
deprived of his fpeech, in the manner related by
the evangelift, becaufe the time when it happened
proves fufficiently, that there could be no deceit in
the cafe.
BUT, notwithftanding, for the prefent let us ima-
gine him already apprized of Elizabe-th's unex-
pected, though doubtful fituation, and determined
at all events to profecute this long premeditated
impoiture. Still it will be utterly incredible, that
he ihould venture to rilk any fteps of a public na-
ture, and efpecially one fo remarkable as this be-
fore
Sect. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 167
us, at the very earlielt period, //// the birth of
.
ELIZABETH was already at an age when ihe could
no longer be expected to be the mother of chil-
dren. And Zacharitis, if he was the cunning im-
poftor fuppofcd, inuft have governed himfelf with
regard to the uncertain event of her unexpected
iituiition, by tlie common rules of probability in
cafes of the fame kind. The point he had to con-
iider was nothing more than a plain matter of faft,
of daily obiervation; and Zacharias had all the ex-
perience of an advanced age to dire& his judge-
ment about it Can it then be conceived, that he
could immediately enter upon the execution of his
propofed impofture; as if it was an abfolute certain
point, that the hero of this intended plot, muft
ihortly after be brought a/ive into the world, merely
becaufe Elizabeth was now, in her old age, and,
i.oiitranj to alt expectation, with child?
IT is notorious he mult have known this to be,
at beft, but an uncertain event, even when all fa-
vourable circumftances concurred ; and in the pre-
fent cafe, on account of Elizabeth's advanced age,
more particularly doubtful than in common. So
that, had he been already alfured of the Jirjt m-
cefjanj point, with regard to Elizabeths ftate and
Situation; which, however, we have feen he was not;
it was impoffible for him to be guilty of fuch ex-
M 4 treme
168 THE DIVINE MISSIONS or Part It
treme madnefs and folly as to proceed at once to
the forgery of a divine revelation, and to puniilv
himfcif with this pretended lofs of fpeech, for a
long and fixed period of time, purely to introduce
an iinpofture, relating folely to a child, who was
not only yet unborn, but whofe birtli, on foine pe-
culiar accounts, was an event of more, than ordi*
nary hazard and uncertainty.
FARTHER, what rnuft we think of this extra-
vagant fuppofition, when we recollect, that the di-
vine chara&er, which, according to the angel's
prediction, the future child of Elizabeth was to
appear in, neceffarily determined of which fcx it
muft be?
CERTAIN it is, the Forerunner of the Meffiah
was always exprefsly prophefied of as a man. " Be-
f hpld I will fend you Elijah the prophet, before
** the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
" Lord ; and HE iliall turn the heart of the fathers
<f to the children, and the heart of the children
" to the fathers, left I come and finite the earth
" with a curfe*." And agreeably to this, the
Angel aflur.es Zacharias, in that revelation, which,
if it was forged, he himfelf muft have planned ;
" thy wife Elizabeth mall bear thee" (not a
.child, but) " a SON, and thou malt call his name
John,"
* Mai. ch. iv. 5, 6.
SECT. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 16$
SUPPOSE then, that at the time of this vifion,
when Zacharias became apparently dumb, Eliza-
bcttis pregnancy had been clearly afcertained ; and
that Zacharias was determined to begin his part
in the plot, notwithstanding the greateft uncertainty
of the birth of the child, upon which the whole muft
depend. After all, the existence of the plot flip-
pofed will remain Hill as incredible as before. Be-
caufe no one can be conceived fo abiurd, as to
forge a prediction under the pretence of its being
divine, which abfolutely pronounced, that a par-
ticular child yet unborn, and even but very lately
conceived, ihould infallibly prove a (on. Above
all, he who was cunning enough to introduce an
impofture, with fo refined an artifice as the pre-
tended miraculous lofs of fpeech, can never be
believed to have adopted fo apparently fooliih a
defign. A defign, which unavoidably required the
certain foreknowledge of an event, that it was ab*
folutely impoffible for him to foreknow ; and the
contrary of which it was equally probable might
take place.
SHOULD we, contrary to all reafbn, fuppofe that
Zacharias might be capable of fo wicked an at-
tempt, it can never be imagined he could contrive
one fo exceedingly limple, which nothing lefs than
a mere ideot, or an abjolute madman, could under-
take or conceive. It rnuit not be forgot, that the
very
370 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I L
very fuppofition of any deceit in this cafe, necef-
larily implies, as has been already Ihewn, that Za-
charias muft have been one of the molt fubtil im-
poftors the world ever produced. Till /Itch a one
therefore can be fuppofed to contrive a deceit of
the moft dangerous nature, in the direei May to
betray it; Zackariax can never be believed to
have foretold, under the nialk of divine revelation,
that his child, yet unborn, would certainly prove a
Son.
BUT thefe are not all the abfurdities which the
nature of Zachariass fuppofed impolture muft un-
avoidably have been attended with. Could we
even grant this molt ridiculous concefiion, that Za-
charias might unaccountably reiblve upon this pre-
tended prediction, though he knew at the fame time,
that the accompliihment of the event foretold, was
in the higheft degree uncertain ; ftill it will be found
impoffible to believe, he could be fo extremely
foolifh, as to pretend to prophefy publicly as he
did*, but a very jew days after Johns birth, that
his then in] ant fbn was to be the Forerunner of tiie
long-expected Meliiah.
To be thoroughly fatisfied of this, we need only
recollecct, what the nature of this character Mas,
and how long it muft be before John could enter
* Luke i. 67, to the end,
upon
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 171
upon it. As a very remarkable prophet, who was
to preach the baptiiin of repentance, to reclaim the
people from their fins, and make known the ac-
n --ptable year of the Lord; Zacharlas well knew
it would be impoflible for his ion, to enter upon
his talk, till he was bttiveen twenty and thirty
years of age*. So that the publifliing, at the time
he did, a pretended divine revelation, foretelling
that his fon was to be the Meffiah's Forerunner,
was, in fact, no lefs than affirming it to have been
revealed to him from above, that an infant, who
was then only eight days old, would infallibly live,
at leaft, till he was above twenty years of age.
BUT among all the deceivers that the world has
ever produced, where fhall we find one fo extrava-
gantly foolilh, fo bent upon procuring his own de-
ftru6tion, as voluntarily to have itaked the fuccefs
of all his defigns, and with his credit, even his
life it/elf, upon his being able to afccrtain the life
of a mere infant, for the long term of twenty
years ? To forge a revelation, foretelling the cer.
tain continuance of the life of any perfon what-
ever, for no lefs than full twenty years to come,
did even every poffible circumftance of age, health,
and iituation, confpire to render the continuance
pf it, for fuch a period, as probable as human na-
* See p. 8183.
ture
172 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II,
ture could permit, would be too glaring an ab-
furdity for any one in his fenfes to be capable of
committing.
WHEREAS in the prefent cafe, fo far was Za*
charias from having even any fuch probabilities to
ground this fuppofed forgery upon, that, on the
contrary, he could not but know, that the conti-
nuance of Johns life, at the time when he uttered
this prediction, was not only a matter of the utr
molt uncertainty, from the general nature of the
thing, but likewife on a peculiar account, more
than ufually improbable. Zacharias could riot
have lived to old age, without being well apprised,
how very large a proportion of thofe who are born
into the world, die even in infancy itfelf; how
many more never pals the bounds of childhood ;
and what great numbers of the remainder ftill
fall off, about the firft years of maturity ; and, in
Ihort, that from infancy till towards the age of
thirty years, that very interval which he mult
have undertaken to pronounce for, is, of all others,
except old age, the molt uncertain and dangerous
period of human life. This he could not but
inow was undoubtedly the cafe with mankind
in general ; and he had befides a peculiar reafon
tp believe it would prove fo with his oicn foil ia
particular.
Iff
. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHTUST.
IF there was nothing miraculous in the cafe, John
was the unexpected, and alrnolt unnatural child of
his old age ; brought into life when Both his pa-
rents had already outlived the ftrength of their con-
fritutions, and began to feel fenfible approaches of
decay. From whence it was more particularly pro-
bable, in the natural courfe of tilings, that he might
foon give manifeit tokens of a weak conftitu-
tion, and ihortly after decline. And can any thing
be more exceedingly ridiculous, than it would be
to imagine, that a crafty veteran deceiver, iliould
plan a laboured fcheme of impofture, abfolutely
requiring him to pretend to prophefy, that fuch a
particular infant, but a few days old, mould cer-
tainly live to above twenty years of age ? If this
is not abfolutely incredible, it will be no eaiy talk
to atfign any thing that can be fo. Yet mult the
poiTibility of all this be entirely acquiefcecl in, be-
fore we are even at liberty but to fuppofe, that
Zacharias could be a deceiver, and his lols of fpeecli
a pretence.
BUT betides the great uncertainty, and even
improbability of Johns living to the age, which
Zacharias's predict ion required, there was another
difficulty in the plot, irnpoffible to be removed,
and which alone would have been fufficient to
deter any man, in his fenles, from adopting fuch
a delign.
IT
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF ]?art IL
IT is notorious, that the tempers, abilities, and
difpofitions, of different men, are fo various and
oppofite, that nothing lefs than a knowledge far
fuperior to all human foreught, could podibly form
even the remoteft guefs, of what would prove the
future char after of an infant, only eight days old>
when he iliould he advanced to the full age of a
man. And he muft have arrived at a degree of
folly, not eafily to be conceived poflible, who
Ihould dare to foretell this, when confcious of his
utter ignorance about it ; and by pretending to
ipeak from divine authority, purpofely contrive to
lay open his own deceits to almoft certain detec-
tion. Yet if Zctchanas was the counterfeit fup
pofed, fuch muft have been the ftrange conduct he
purfued.
ON the day ofj&kn's circumcifion, no iboner
did Zachariass fpeech appear to be reftored, than
he peremptorily pronounced this prophetical de-
claration. " And thou, child, fhalt be called
" the prophet of the Higheft; for thou fhalt go
" before the face of the Lord, to prepare his
" ways ; to give knowledge of falvation to his
" people by the remiflion of their fins *." Nay,
the Ans;el, even when he foretold John's concep*
tion and birth, is reprefented as defcribing his fu-
* Luke i. 76, 77.
ture
:. 1. JOHX BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 175
ture character and employment, with it ill greater
mefs. " He iliall be great in the fight of the
" Lord, and ihall drink neither wine nor ftrong
" drink; and he ihall be filled with the Holy
'* Gholt, even from his mother's womb. And
" many of the children of Ifrael ihall he turn to
%k the Lord their God. And he ihall go before
%t him in the fpirit and power of Eiias ; to turn
" tiie hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
tk diibbedient to the wifdom of the juft; to make
<4 ready a people prepared for the Lord."
THUS did Zacharias very minutely defcribe a
molt iingular character, and pronounce, as by di-
vine authority, that it was the very character which
his Jin would afterwards appear in; not only when
when it was yet but a few days fince his birth, but
even ihortly before the time of his conception. He
foretold, that even from his childhood he would be
remarkable for his fingular good underftanding,
great abftemiouihefs, and irreproachable conduct;
that he would preach to the whole people the necei-
fity of repentance and reformation, with ail the bold-
nefs and freedom of the old prophets ; and that by
the force of his own virtuous example, together with
the goodnefss and energy of his doctrine, he would
bring great numbers to a true ienie of religion and
their duty.
THIS,
176 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF ar lit
THIS, it must be confelTed, was no common cha-
racter, but one which required the joint pollef-
fion of many rare endowments to fulfill. To fup-
port it, he inuft be pofleffed of great quicknefs
of understanding, and a judgement improved by
an extenfive knowledge of mankind. He muft
have wifdom to extricate himfelf from the embar'-
railmerits, and fortitude to encounter all the dan-
i
gers, to which fuch an attempt would unavoid-
ably expofe him* In ihort, he muft be expert in
inculcating the neceffity of a good life upon
others ; and fo able a hypocrite, as to appear in
all refpe6ts to pra&ife it himfelf; and yet, at the
fame time, fo thoroughly wicked at heart, as to
undergo all this drudgery in order to deceive
the world by a moft profligate and mifchievous ini-
poiture.
Bur how can we believe it poflible for Zacha-
rias to have deliberately contrived fuch a plot, as
laid him under the neceffity of foretelling, that a
particular infant but juft born into the world, nay,
one not yet bom, would certainly become a man of
fuch uncommon abilities, and fo depraved a dif-
pofition as tins ? Could he take pleafure in Hiking
his credit, and even his life, on the accomplifh-
ment of fuch events, as were not only im poflible
to be foreknown, but in the higheft degree in>
probable to happen ? Yet this muft have been
Zachariass deliberate and fettled choice ; if in the
cafe
$ec"t. 1. JOHN" BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 177
under conli deration he was guilty of any de-
er it ut all. For fliould Jo fin have turned out, as
it was moft probable he would, a perfon of only
common abilities, it would have been far beyond
his power to fupport that character, which his fa-
ther had prophefied he would maintain. And
unleis he fhould be brought likewife to a very
uncommon pitch of the molt daring wickednefs,
it was very plain he could never be induced to
undertake it.
AXD here a ftill farther difficulty ft arts up be*
fore us. How was it poffible for Zacharias to de-
pend upon the certainty of fo evidently precarious
an event, as his fon's becoming wicked enough to
engage in the profecution of fo impious a defign,
even fhould he prove able to carry it on ? We
muft indeed allow, that if he defigned John to
carry on this impolture, he muit certainly have
propofed likewife to educate him in fuch vicious
principles, as would fit jiim for the undertaking.
This the nature of the thing itfelf requires. But
then, this neceflary fuppofition, will be fo far
from removing the difficulty juft mentioned, that
it renders it infurmountable, and the whole
drfign, if poffible, even more incredible than
before.
CAN it be believed, that when Zacharias was
already within the confines -of old aw, lie could
X deliberately
J7S THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
deliberately enter upon fuch a plot, as plainly re-
quired, that he himfelf Ihould live at leaft twenty
years longer, in the vigorous enjoyment of all his
prefent abilities and cunning ? Yet this he muft
have done, if he fet on foot the plot fuppofed.
For it necefTarily required, that he ihould live to
educate his infant fon, in fuch principles of vice
and irreligion, as would prepare him for under-
taking the plot he himfelf had begun ; and to inftill
into him, fo much artifice and hypocriiy, as
would enable him to carry it on ; and, laftly, to
convince him of fuch advantages to be drawn
from it, as would make him enamoured of the
defign.
IN the natural courfe of things, Zachariass
only rule of judging in this whole matter, it wag
a point of the greateft uncertainty, whether he
himfelf might live to fee John arrive at half the
age of manhood. And Ihould he furvive that,
and even a much later period, he had nothing to
expect, but that his prefent activity would long
have left him, and his former cunning and abili-
ties have been fo far dcftroyed, as utterly to dii-
able him from training up this intended impoftor.
And Ihould this prove the cafe, as Zacharias muft
have expected it would, what muft at length have
enfued from all his deep-laid deiigns, and the
predictions he had fo fooliihly publilhed, at the
time
3e6t. ]. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 179
lime of John's conception and birth ? John could
never have undertaken to perfonate that character
which Zacharias had foretold, as by divine au-
thority, that he would infallibly appear in ; and
Zttch&riass long-concealed iniquity mult at lull have
been detected, and punifhed with, at iealt, its due
infamy and reproach.
JOHN might indeed have become abandoned
enough for any undertaking, by being differed to
grow up in the unreftrained indulgence of all his
appetites, and the total neglect of all rational
inftruction. And in this manner he might have
arrived at manhood, while Zacharias experienced
the ufual infirmities of extreme old age, and was
in all refpects unable to corrupt him. But then
this would have been quite infufficient for the exe-
cution of Zacharias 's defign ; nay, it would ne-
ceflarily have prevented John from ever attempt-
ing to purfue it.
INSUFFICIENT it mult have been, becaufe a
moft extraordinary character was already particu-
larly marked out for him to fupport ; and in
which therefore it was abfolutely necellarv, that
he fhould be completely inftructed, and befides,
prevailed with to aflame it. That it muft have
dl fab led him from ever acting his intended part, is
equally plain ; becaufe the fupport of it required
the exertion of all thofe abilities-, which a total
N 2 neglect
ISO THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part If.
neglecl of iris education, and his unreftrained indul-
gence in every vicious inclination, muft inevitably
have deftroyed. And what motives could prevail
with One, who from his very infancy had grown up
without all reftraint, to affume and perfift in a
character of moft extraordinary abfteimouiheis,
feverity, and virtue ?
UNLESS therefore we can believe, that at the
time of Johns birth, Zacharlas was ignorant,
even of the common period of "human life, and
the ufual decays attendant upon great age, and
firmly perfuaded of the continuance of his own
life ; nor of that only, but of all his active facul-
ties, to a moft uncommon and improbable length
of years ; unlefs we can believe all this, it muft
be clearly incredible that he mould, about the time
of Johns conception or birth, forge fuch a revela-
tion concerning the future character of his fon, as
made it neceflary for him himfclf to live to train
him up in vice and hypocrify, for full twenty years
to come.
BUT, in addition to all the particulars already
mentioned, how muft the impoffibility of this
whole contrivance increafe upon us, when it is
cpnfidered, that, in reality, Zacharias himfelf could
not believe,- that John would ever have an opportu-
nity to profecute his fuppofed delign, even if lie
himfelf mould live long enough to train him up
com-
Seel. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 181
completely for it ; and moreover, muft have
apprehended, that the worft puniilnnent would
overtake him himfelf, mould he live fo long.
Yet this is nothing more than a true ftate of the
cafe.
ABOUT the time of the birth of John, the whole
Jcwiih nation was firmly perfuaded, that the true
Mcffiah himfelf, and much more his Forerunner,
would very fpeedily appear. This is fully evident
from the gofpel-hiitory in general ; but more efpc-
cially from the remarkable conduct of Herod, iix
confluence of the appearance of the wife men at
Jerufalem ; and the cruel maffacre of the children,
which he thought it necefiary to proceed to, imme-
diately after their departure. A cruelty which he
could never have refolved. on, had he not known,
that the expectations of the people were fo univer-
fal and eager, as: to think they endangered the fafcty
of his throne.
AT ftich a time as this, when the arrival of the
true Mefliah himfelf was looked on as an event
that might every day come to pals, and could not
be far off, how could Zaeharias imagine John
would have any opportunity to counterfeit the cha-
racter of the Forerunner ; when it was plain that
John could not appear upon the ftage, till full
twenty years afterwards? Zaeharias' could expect
nothing elfe, than that the true harbinger of the
N 3 Meffiah
182 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
Meffiah would have appeared in the mean time,
and have proved his divine commiffion, long be-
fore John would have been old enough to fet him-
felf up in his ftead. And then Zacharias had good
reafon to think, that if he himfelf ihould be ftill
alive ; which, as this might happen very foon,
might very probably be the cafe ; his own for-
geries of divine revelations, and the pretended lofs
and recovery of his fpeech, would immediately be
called to mind ; and that he mould meet with that
infamy and puniihment, which crimes of this
particular nature, and among the Jews above all
others, could not but incur. So that whether
he himfelf lived or died, and whatever vicioufnefs
and cunning he might be able to inftil into his
fon ; He could not but think it extremely im-
probable, that John mould ever have an oppor-
tunity to carry on the fuppofed impofture ; and
confequently, it is utterly incredible, that he
could proceed to fuch dangerous and mocking
forgeries, merely to lay a foundation for it, if he
ihould.
WHEN we lay together thefe moft remarkable
particulars, all neceilarily included in the very
nature of the fuppofed impofture itfelf, its abfur-
dities muft appear at once Jo many, and /# mam f eft ^
sis to iliew it plainly impoffible for any one but a
(downright ideot ; or an abfoiute madman, to have
cq-
1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 183
engaged in it ; at the fame time that it is equally
impoilible even for thefe to have contrived it.
And to fuppoic itill, that fuck a plot could be the
deliberate delign of an old, fubtil, and iiiccefsful
impoftor, fuch as Zacharias, if any at all, rnuft
have been ; would be judging in direct oppofition
to the plaineft dictates of common fenfe, and in
reality believing what is, humanly fpeaking, im-
poflible.
AND here, to conclude this part of the argu-
ment, it is neceflary to obferve, that every con-
clufion we have now drawn from the nature of the
plot in debate, to prove the impoffibility of its
exiftence, as far as relates to John, is equally ap-
plicable to all the circurnfumces of the birth
of Jefus likewife ; which, we have feen long ago,
in uft have been the counterpart of the fame de-
fign. His future birth was openly predicted by
his parents themfelves loon after his conception ;
his life was pofitivety qffured for the fame term of
years ; his whole employment and public character,
were defined even more exactly than that of John;
though they were of fuch a nature, that no human
accomplilhments whatever could poflibly fulfil
them ; and Jofeph and Mary tliemfelves mult have,
thought, at the very time, that in all probability
Jefus would never have an opportunity to afiumc
them.
N 4 THOUGH
184 THE DIVINE MISSION'S OF Part II.
THOUGH therefore the whole impofture, as it
relates to Jefus as well as John, is rendered utterly
incredible, by coniidering its numerous abfurdities,
as far as they concern John only ; the impoffibility
of the plot becomes, as it were, doubly evident,
when we add the consideration of the feveral cir-
cumftances of the birth of Jefus to that of John,
and furvey the whole connected tranfalion in
one view.
Slit*
.IOHX BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
SECTION II.
Some particular facls previous to the births of
John and Jefus, confidered.
JL HUS far have we been proving the iinpoili-
bility of the impolture under confideration, merely
by examining its own internal nature and confti-
tution. But the point in debate will ftill admit of
no fmall additional illuftration, from confidering
fome particulars that occur, in feveral diftincl; fteps
of thefe complicated tranfa&ions. For if the whole
was an impofture, all the parts muft have been fo
many diftincl: fteps, deliberately agreed on by thofe
who devifed and carried it on, Whereas feveral of
thefe, when clofely attended to, will be found fuch
as the contrivers of the whole deiign could not be
capable of adopting.*
NE-
* To prevent an objection, which might otherwife arife,
it is here proper to apprize the reader, that in the remainder
of this part, as well as in the laft, the arguments are fre-
quently drawn from various particulars related by the evan-
gelifb, without giving immediate proofs, that the particulars
thcmielves muft certainly have come to pafs as they are re-
lated. This may pofTibly appear at firft, like relying upon
the authority of the Evcwgclijts for their truth. But when we
recoiled,
185 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II;
NEGLECTING then for the prefent what has
been fo fully proved to the contrary, from the
internal nature of the whole defign ; let us fuppole
it not impoffible for Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary,
and Jofeph, to have forged fome fuch revelations as
they actually pretended to have had made to them ;
and at the very time too, when they declared them
to have happened, Are there not ftill fome im-
portant particulars occurring in the progrefs of
the plot, which they could not have agreed on,
had the whole been an impoiture of their joint
contriving ?
IN the account of Zacliariass vifion, beiides
the prediction of the future conception, birth,
and divine character of John ; we are told of a
very fignal punilhment inflicted upon Zacharias, by
the Angel, for prefuming to doubt the accomplilh-
ment of his predictions. That he was inftantaneoufly
itruck dumb, for afaed period of about nine months^
at the expiration of which time he was as inftanta-
neoufly reftored to fpeech.
recolle, that it has bren already proved, both from the cir-
cmnftances of every perfon concerned, and from the internal
nature of the thing, that there could not be any impofture in
the cafe ; for the fake of which only, any of thofe particulars,
which may hereafter be made ufe of, could be forged ; this
ft'eming obje&ion falls immediately to the ground.
HERE
Sect. i2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 187
HERE it is obvious, that if the Angel's ap-
pearance was nothing more than a fi6tion, Zacha-
rias's lois of fpeech and recovery of it, could be
no better than a downright deceit. And this he
inuft have put in practice merely to gain credit
to the pretended vifion itfelf, by the appearance
of an actual miracle in its fupport*. A maiter-
piece of cunning it muft be confeiTed, and fuch
as muft prove its author to have been very clofely
attentive to every circumftance of what he was
about. But, at the fame time, ib dangerous and
defperate an expedient, that however defirous he
might be to contrive fome artifice or other for this
end, it is impoffible to believe he could venture
upon This.
FOR what muft this have been, but devoting
himfelf to an abfolute and uninterrupted Silence,
while he was in full enjoyment of the powers of
fpeech, for a continued ieries of no lefs than nine-
months ? A reftraint, than which, it is plain, none
could be more painful in itfelf ; none more incon-
venient to the profecution of his defigns ; none more
likely to be the means of betraying them.
* Wo mull not forget, that the truth of the external
i. c. Zacharias's having publicly appeared dumb, in the man-
ner Luke has related, has been fully proved already, p. 156
-~il>4 f
THE
188 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II?
THE mere painfulnefs of fuch a reftraint, for fo
long a continuance, was alone fufficient to have
deterred any one from voluntarily laying himfelf
under an obligation of fo very irkfome a nature.
And had it not been fo, fuch a refolution would
have interfered fo directly, with the profecution
of the plot ; that on this account alone he could
never have adopted it. lie was now only laying
the foundation of a long and intricate impofture,
in which Jofeph and Mary were intimately con-
cerned with him, and had their part likewife foon
afterwards to act. Nothing could be more dc-
firable, and even neceffary, in fo dangerous and
even difficult an undertaking, than fecuring each
other's courage and fidelity, by conferring to-
gether, as often as might be, upon the plot they
had agreed on, and the dangers they were to
guard againft. Whereas the Jtrange expedient
before us muft either have effectually prohibited all
intercourfe of this kind between them ; or conti-
nually have expofed Zacharias, and with him the
whole confederacy, to imminent danger of de-
tection.
ABOVE all, can it be thought credible, that
Zacharias could be fo confident of his own per-
petual watchfulnefs and care, as to believe, that
a bare refolution to appear fpeechlefs, would ena*
ble him to continue abfolutely dumb, for fo con-
fiderable
Seel. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 189
fulcra ble a length of time? That upon no oo
cafion whatever, during fo long an interval, he
lliould be fo far off his guard, as to utter a fingh
inadvertent word, and betray the cheat? Or is
it credible, that Zacharias, in particular, \vith all
his long experience and peculiar caution, fhould
choofe to riik the detection of his iniquity upon
fuch a manifeft hazard as this ? Scarce any fup-
pofition can be more ridiculous and incredible.
Could he not have hit upon fome other expedient
to anfvver the fame end ; certainly he would much
rather have left his interview with the Angel, to be
received upon his own long-eftablifhed credit, and
authority only, than have attempted fupporting it
by fuch a contrivance, as he himfelf mult have
thought, at the very time, was almoft fure to
betray it*.
* The argument here is purpofely confined to the fuppofi-
tion, that Zacharias was only, to all appearance, dumb, becaufe
our tranflation is confined to this fcnfe only. But fome of the
bcft commentators areftrongly of opinion, that he appeared not
only dumb, but deaf likewife. (See Hamm. on Luke i. 6'2.
Lightfoot on Luke i. 22. See alfo Lamy on Luke i. 22.) And
fhould this interpretation be allowed, the abi'urdities already
mentioned on ihefirjl fuppolition, will become at once fo ex-
ceedingly magnified, that one cannot fcruplu to pronounce,
without the leaft hefitation, that it was impoffible for any deceive!
to run the hazard of fucb an expedient as This.
BUT
190 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
BUT the evidence to be drawn from this particu-
lar, will be found of ftill greater weight, by confi-
dering, that very remarkable difference we find
between the confiqvtencc of the Angel's interview
with Zacharias, and his appearance to Mary.
ZACHARIAS, it is faid *, was terrified at this in-
terview, and expreffed great doubtfulness of the truth
of the Angel's meflage ; and as a puniihment for
his unbelief, was immediately ftruck dumb, in the
manner juft now related. Mary likewife is repre-
fented as having been exceedingly aftonrQied at the
angel's appearance, and wonderful declarations to
her, and plainly fignifying her opinion, that it was
impofiible they ihould come to pafs ; but at length,
as acquiefcing in the expectation of feeing them ful-
filled, and as having cfcaped all kind of punifhment
for firft doubting of their truth.
Now if thefe appearances of the Angel, and
of courfe all the circumftances related, were mere
fictions of Zacharias and his Affociates, contrived
for a foundation to their fubfequent impofture ; it
feems incredible, that Zacharias ihould have been
reprefented v&ftruck dumb in this manner ; and yet
Mary, at the fame time, as having efcaped all
vlftble rebuke. It Ihould feem, had there been any
deceit in the cafe, either that Both of them would
* Sec Lukei. 1220.
have
Sect. 2. J01IX BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 191
have appeared in foine manner vi/ibly puniihed ;
or if One of them only, that it then muft have
been Mary inltead of Zacharias.
FROM what has been obferved already, it is
certain, that if we grunt itpoflible for Zacharias to
have laid himfelf under this ftrange and painful
neceility, of appearing totally deprived of fpeech,
for ib long a time ; it could be on no other account
than becaufe he thought it abfolutely neceilary to
add the fanction of an apparent miracle, to the rela-
tion of ib uncommon an event, filled with fuch ex-
traordinary predictions. It muft be owned, that
Zacharias could not have hazarded this extraordinary
expedient, which expofed him to fo much danger of
betraying the whole, unlefs he thought it abfolutely
nece/fary, in order to procure credit to his own
relation. 13 ut if Zacharias him/elf', with all the
advantages of his facred profeflion, his advanced
age, and long-eftablilhed reputation, thought his
O'U-H teitimony infufficient to gain credit to his re-
lation of fiich a fact ; how was it poffible he could
imagine, that the angel's appearance to Mary,
with a prediction even ftill more wonderful than
his own, would be received upon only the mere aiiir-
mation of Mary ?
HAD the facts themfelves been but alike im-
probable, the credibility of the U'ltneffes was very
far from being equal, Zacharias had good reafon
to
19 C 2 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part 1JL
to expecl, that his teftimony would have a conii-
derable weight and influence with the people in
general. But if he thought his own credit, infuffi-
cient to warrant an event of this extraordinary na-
ture ; what regard could he think would be paid
to the mere witnefs of an obfcure, ignorant girl r
not yet arrived at years of judgement and difcre-
tion ? What more obvious, than that fo improba-
ble a tale, fupported only by the evidence of fo
contemptible, and at the fame time fo interefted
a witnefs, would be turned into ridicule ; or, at
the belt, be regarded as the mere delufions of
fear and fuperftition, fo generally attributed to
her fex.
BESIDES, with regard to the fa&s themfelves ;
the appearance of an Angd in the holy place of
the temple, charged with a divine revelation to a
prieft of refpeclable character, was an event fo
fimilar to what, all the Jews knew, had feveral
times happened, fmcc the fettlement of their na-
tion, that, on this account alone, they would be
more favourably inclined to believe it. Whereas,
a ftill more aftonifhing revelation, made to a mere
girl, bred up in obfcurity, and destitute of all
external caufes of refpect, it rnuft naturally be
expected, would be heard jvith prejudice, and
rejected with contempt. And while no obvious
motive whatever could lead them to fufpecl; Za-
charias
Sect. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.- 193
ch arias of any fuch deceit ; Mary's foliation, be*
fore her marriage was concluded, would very fhortiy
have furnifhed ib probable a caufe for her forging
the revelation in queftion, as was enough to bring
her veracity into univerfal fufpicion.
IT was not at all oppofite to any received opinion
of the Jews, that the MeHiah's Forerunner ihould
be the Ion of a refpectable prieft; ib that thus far
Zacharlas's account was very likely to be well re-
ceived. But nothing could be more incoftfiftent.
with all their acknowledged notions concerning
the Mefliah himfelf] than the fuppoiition, that lie
Ihould be born of one of no higher ftation, than
the intended wife of a carpenter. This was fucli a
ft urn bl ing block as Zacharias had little reafon to
think they could ever get over, efpecially when
joined to the reafon juft mentioned for fufpecting
Alary s veracity. How then can it be conceived,
that Zacharias and his aiibciates ihould think it
abiblutely neceffary to itrengthen his ovn tcftimony,
with the pretence of a miracle ; even at ib inani-
feit a liazard of his inadvertently betraying the
whole impofture ; and yet, at the fame time,
leave the teftimony of Mary quite unguarded, to
ftand or fall by its own fufpkious credit and au-
thority ?
IT is manifeft, that if they had jointly deter-
mined it to be neceffary to make uie of any ap-
() parent
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part It
parent miracle at all, they would either have con-
trived one to confirm Mary's revelation, as well as
ZachanasSj or Mary 8 alone ; iince That Itood fo
much more in need of forne external ibpport. So
that had thefe revelations been forged, for the onlif
purpofc for which they could be contrived, we
fhould either have found, that Mary pretended
to have been ft ruck dumb, inftead of Zacharlas;
or that fome other, no lefs apparent, miraculous
puniiliment, was as evidently inflicted upon Pier
like wife.
NOR can it be here objected, that impoftors are
frequently inconliftent with themfelves, and often
betray their plots by flagrant follies in fome par-
ticulars, while they guard againft detection by the
moft refined cunning in others. For, not to repeat,
what it has been fo often neceflury to mention, that
if Zacharlas was a deceiver, lie muft unqtieftion-
ably have been the in oft fubtil and cautious im-
poftor the world ever produced, the particular
now before us did not allow room for any fuch
inconfiftency.
FROM the very nature of the thins, it feerns ma-
nifcftly impofiible, that He could take fo much
thought to fecure a good reception for his own
ftory, and pay no regard whatever to the fuccefs
of Marys; by far the more likely to be i ejected of
the two. For an attention to both .was not to
. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
dtfthift itcps of the plot ; one of which might pof-
fibly be overlooked, while the other was remem-
bered ; but in fact they were both neceil'arily com-
prehended under one and the fame confederation.
And even had it been pofiible for Zachanas to have
attended to the ewe, and not the other; it was not
polTible for Jofeph and Mary, with whom it has
been already feen the whole plot mult have been
concerted, to have been, at the lame time, totally
forgetful, of what fo immediately concerned their
own lafety and fuccefs. Zachariass taking this par-
ticular cure for himielf, mult at leaft have reminded
Them of their muck greater want of fome fimilar
expedient, to procure credit to thdr part of the
plot.
To the decifive evidence of thefe confiderations,
we may add the corrobating teftimony of one fact
more, which happened before the birth of John,
and which feems to afford as ftrong a proof, as the
nature of fuch circumftances can admit of, that there
could be no fuch plot on foot, as that we have all
along been fuppofmg. The particular itfelf, is the
Hep Mary took, immediately after her interview
with the angel.
THE angel, after revealing to her what would
very fhortly happen to herlelf, proceeded to in-
form her of what had already happened to Eliza-
beth. " Behold thy coufm Elizabeth, She hath
O2 " alib
196 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
" alfo conceived a child, in her old age, and this
" is the fixth month with her, who was called
" barren." Upon receiving this information, -\ve
find Mary immediately left her own home ; " and
" went into the hill-country with hafte, into a city
" ofJuda, and entered into the houie of Zacha-
" rias, and fainted Elizabeth ;" and there ftayed
with her, no Ids than three months, till the time of
John's birth was almolt arrived.
HERE we have a fat, which may ferve greatly
to illuftrate the integrity, and artlefs innocence of
every perfon concerned. Had Zacharias, Eliza-
beth, Mary, and Jofeph, been engaged together,
in concerting ib daring and dangerous an impof-
ture as that in queftion ; we cannot but think, that
it would have been one of the fir it and principal
objects of their attention, to conceal their corre-
fpondcnce, at this particular time, as much as pof-
fible from the public view. They could not but
expect, that whenever their intended counterfeits
mould appear upon the ilage, and become objects
of the public attention, the ftricteit enquiries would,
probably be made into the families of two perfon s,
whofe claims to divine characters, were fo very
extraordinary in themfelves, and ib clofely con-
necled with each other. For this reafon they
would ftudioufly have avoided all appearance of
any intimate connection, efpecially at tkis time ;
as
Sect. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JFSUS CHRIST. 197
as that, in fuch a cafe, more than any thing elfe,
might induce every one to fufpect fomc Concerted
impofture. How then ean the fa6t before us be
reconciled with the fuppolition of the plot in quef-
tion ? Wliat can be more improbable, if they were
all engaged in the fuppofed contrivance, than that
Mary Ihould go to the houfe of Zacharias y and
lie permit her to itay in his houfe, for no lefs tlian
three months together, at this critical time? It is
incredible, that the contrivers of fo artificial and
refined a plot could be guilty of fuch an overiight as
this.
WHEREAS, if we fuppofe their accounts of the
angel's appearances to be true, and the feveral par-
ties concerned innocent of all finifter defigns, the
whole difficulty is cleared up at once ; and nothing
could be more natural than this behaviour in con-
fequence of thefe events. An honelt and unde-
li^niiitf heart could not but burn with a defirc of
O O
communicating to its friend, fuch an aftoniihing
revelation as Mary had received concerning her ft if;
as well as of determining the credit it defer ved,
by enquiring into the truth of what the angel like-
wife informed her, l^id already happened to her
friend. Nor could any conduct be more natural,
when Elizabeth and She certainly found themfelves
made the happy infmimcnts of fulfilling thofe glo-
rious proinifes, which had been revealed to their
O 3 fore-
15)8 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Part II.
forefathers, than their palling fome time together,
in admiring thofe aftoniihing events which were al-
ready come to pafs ; and thofe more aftoniming ftill,
which were now upon the point of being fulfilled.
And fu rely, when their conduct approves itfelf, in
every particular, the natural refult of innocence^
and is incompatible with the fuppoiition of their
guilty it would argue no fmall degree of perverfe-
nefs, ftill to fuppofe then> engaged in the prolecur
tion of an impofture.
SEC-
. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 199
SECTION III.
v remarkable Facts, fubfequent to the
Births of John and Jefus, conjidered.
the few facts juft confidered, preceding the
births of John and Jefiis, bear witnefs in fo Itrong
a manner, to the innocence and veracity of ail
thofe, who were moft immediately concerned in
e events; much more will feveral aftonifliing
particulars, that foon followed them, convince us,
that they could not poffibly be the effects of hu-
man artifice and cunning or arife from the fe-
cret machinations of Zachanas and his A(fodatc8 ;
the only perfons who could poiftbly have contrived
them.
LUKE having particularly informed us of the
time and place of Jcfuss birth, and the means by
which it happened, that he was born at Bethk-
htm> immediately goes on with the following narra-
tion.
" AND there were in the fame country," near
Bethlehem, " fhepherds abiding in the field,
*' keeping watch over their ilock by night. And
" lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
Q 4 " and
300 TilE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
" and the glory of the Lord ilione round about
" them, and they were fore afraid. And tiie
" angel fakl unto them, Fear not : for behold,
c I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
" iliail be to all people. For unto you is born
" this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which
." is Chrift the Lord. And this {hall be a fign
" unto you ; ye fhall find the babe wrapped in
" fwadling cloaths, lying in a manger. And fud-
" denly there was with the angel a multitude of
" the heavenly holt ; praiiing God, and faying,
" glory to God in the higheit, and on earth peace,
" good will towards men. And it came to pafs,
" as the angels were gone away from them into
" heaven, the fhepherds laid one to another, Let
" us now go even unto Bethlehem, and fee this
" thing which is come to pafs,' which the Lord
" hath made known unto us. And they came
" with hafte, and found Mary and Jofeph, and
" the babe lying in a manger. And when they
" had feen it, they made known abroad the fay-
" ina; which was told them concerning this child.
O O
" And all they that heard it wondered at thofe
" things, which were told them by the fhepherds.
" But Mary kept all thefe things and pondered
" them in her heart. And the ihcphcrds returned
* 4 glorifying unc} praifmg God, for all the things
' " they
Sect 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 201
" they had heard and feen, as it was told unto
; them*."
HERE a new fcene opens upon us, crouded
-with unexpected vilions, and divine revelations,
bearing witnefs in the molt extraordinary manner
to the facred character and divine million of Je fits.
But if the angel's former appearances, and predic-
tions of the births of John and Jefus, which have
already been conlidercd, were in reality butjictions
of Thofe to whom they were pretended to have
been made ; then mult this aftonilliing account of
what happened to the Shepherds of Bethlehem, be
an impofture likewiie. And if this be fo, it muft
have been brought about in one or other of the fol-
lowing ways.
EITHER the Shepherds muft have been deluded
by the ftrength of their own fuperftitious imagina-
tions into a belief, that they faw angels which never
appeared ; and heard the molt furprizing things re-
vealed to them, which in fa6t were never fpoken :
Or elfe, they muft have been corrupted by Zacha-
rias, and his Confederates, purpofely to give out
this revelation, and to pretend to fcek for Jofeph
and J\fary and, the young child, by night, as if in
confequence of it ; and they knew, at the fame time,
that every particular of this relation was entirely
* Luke ii. 820.
falfe.
502 THE DIVINE MISSION'S 0? Part II.
falfe. But we fhall foon fee, that neither of thefe
iuppofitions can poffibly be true.
It is notorious, that nothing could be more in-
confident with the univerial expectation of the Jews,
nor any thing more contradictory to all the notions
they had formed of the long-expected Meffiak, their
future king and deliverer ; than that he mould make
his entry into the world, in the ft able of an inn.
On the contrary, they expected him to appear with
fuch a glorious difplay of his fuperior dignity and
power, as might feem a fit introduction to that uni-
verfal dominion they believed he would aflume.
And it will readily be allowed, that the ftrength of
imagination, however overheated, could not feign
to itfelf divine appearances and revelations, dia-.
metrically oppofite to all its ftrongeft prejudices and
conceits.
HAD the force of enthufialin therefore painted
this chorus of angels, and dictated the glad
tidings they brought, the Angels could not have
informed the Ihepherds, that a particular moft
aftoniming event had actually taken place, which
could never have entered into their thoughts ; and
which, above all others, they firmly believed it
impoffible mould ever come to pafs. And indeed
had it not been impoffible on this account alone,
what could be more difficult to believe, than that
fevered poor Ihepherds, thus accidentally met to-
gether,
Se&. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 203
gether, fhould all be feizcd at once with fuch a
ftrong enthufiaftic delation, all be poflefied at
once with the fame wild imagination ; ail fee the
fame angels, and hear the fame revelation, and
fong of rejoicing ; and all this relating folely to a
matter fo extremely foreign from their common
thoughts and occupation, as the time, place, and
minutclt circumltances of the birth of the Mef*
Jiah?
NOT to iniift further therefore on the manifeft
incredibility of fuch a fuppofition; if there was any
deceit in the cafe, it rnuft needs have been in the
Shepherds themfelves. .They muft have been fe-
duced to affift in the grand plot, and on this oc-
cafion only acted a part they had been before in-
itructed to perform. Let us fee then, whether this
fuppofition is, at bottom, at all more credible than
the former.
Ox this occafion we might appeal to the uniform
practice of all impoftors, who, with good reafon,
are fo fearful of nothing, as of imparting their de-
figns to more perfons, than are abfolutely ncccfjary
for the profecution of their plots. We might ap-
peal to the conduct of that arch impoftor, Mahomet
himfelf, who, though he was praCtiiing upon a peo-
ple ignorant even to barbarifm, and liable to all the
extravagances of the inoft foolifh credulity, did not
4arc to feck alliftance in hit plot from more than
one
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part IL
one or two perfons at the moft ; and concealed
his connection even with them, with fo much care
and circumfpeclion, that it has coft even the
moft learned no little pains to find them out*.
Every argument likewife, that has been already J"
drawn from the peculiar danger of the cafe in
the plot before us, to fhew the incredibility of
Zachariass attempting to make any affociates at
all in the plot fuppofed, might here be applied,
with double force, to the fuppofition of his having
made known his iniquity to the Shepherds in quef-
tion.
WHAT more incredible, than that he iliould
almoft provoke forne one to betray him, by laying
himfelf open to fo many, merely for the fake of
executing a contrivance, by no means neceflary for
the fuccefs of his grand defign? Or how was it
poflible for him to choofe to corrupt tho/e, above
others, whole iirnplicity and great ignorance of
mankind, made them, of all orders of men, the
moft unfit to promote- his fchemes ; and the moft
likely to be ihocked at, and betray his propofals ?
It would be difficult to invent a fuppofition much
more inconceivable than this; that Zacharias or
Jofeph could attempt to corrupt a number of Skep-
* See Pridcaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 3(549. Svo. 2cl,
Edition.
t See Part L Sect, 4*
Se6l. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 205
herds, to bear the witnefs theft did to the divine
character of Jtfus ; or that They mould have be-
come the zealous promoters of fuck an impofture,
and ever after have remained the faithful concealers
of it, if he had.
BUT itill new wonders rife up before us. Though
we have already diicovered fo many perfons, wlio
muft certainly have been made partakers with
Zacharias and Mary, in whatever impofture they
were now carrying on, more actors are ftill
coming upon the ftage, to perform new parts in
the plot.
" AND when the days of her, Marys, purifi-
" cation, according to the law of Mofes, were ac-
" compl iflied/' that is, about a month after Je-
fus's birth, " they brought him to Jerufalem,
" to prefent him to the Lord. As it is writ-
" ten in the law of the Lord, every male that
" openeth the womb, mall be called holy to
" the Lord. And to offer a facrifice, accord-
" ing to that which is faid in the law of the
" Lord ; a pair of turtle doves, or two young
" pidgeons. And behold, there was a man in
" Jerufalem, whole name was Simeon ; and the
" fame man was juft and devout, waiting for the
" confolation of Ifrael ; and the Holy Ghoft was
*" upon him. And it was revealed unto him by
" the lioly Ghoft, that he mould not fee death,
tc before
06 THE DIVIDE MISSIONS OF Part tl<
" before he had feen the Lord's Chrift. And be
" came by the fpirit into the temple : And when
" tlie parents brought in the child Jefus, to do
" for him after the cuftom of the law, then took
" he him up in his arms, and blefled God, and
* laid, Lord, now letteft thou thy fervant depart
" in peace, according to thy word. For mine
" eyes have feen thy Talvation ; which thou haft
" prepared before the face of all people : a light to
" lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thv people
" Ifrael. And Jofeph and his mother marvelled
" at thofe things which were fpoken of him. And
" Simeon blefled them, and faid unto Mary his
* mother, Behold this child is fet for the fall,
" and rifing again, of many in Ifrael ; and for a
<c fign, which fhall be fpoken againit ; yea a
" fword fhall pierce through thy own foul alfo,
" that the thoughts of many hearts may be re-
41 vealed.
" AND there was one Anna, a prophetefs, the
" daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aler ; Ihe
" was of a great age, and had lived with an huf-
*' band feven years from her virginity; and fee was
" a widow of about fourfcore and four years ;
" which departed not from the temple, but ferved
" God with faftings and prayers night and day.
" And fhe coming in that inftant, gave thanks
" likewife unto the Lord, and fpake of him to all
" them
3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 20?
" them that looked for redemption in Jerufalem.
" And when they had performed all things accord-
" ing to the law of the Lord, they returned into
" Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth."
STRANGE as this fuppofition will at once ap-
pear, it muft be owned, that if the circumftances
recorded of the births of John and Jefus, were
only fo many parts of a deep-laid impofture ; the
remarkable particulars juft related muft have
been a fubtil contrivance from one end to the
other.
SIMEON and Anna, of whom fo honourable
mention is made for their acknowledged piety and
goodnefs, muft at the bottom have been two moft
impious deceivers, who had been corrupted by
Zacharias, or fome of his aflbciates, to abett his
irnpofture in the manner juft related. Their
coming into the temple at this particular time, as
it is faid, by the Spirit ; Simeons taking Jefus in his
arms ; his moft remarkable adiirefs of thankfgiving
to God, for the arrival of the OKffiHh^ and his
prophetic aiTurances to Mary concerning her ion ;
together with Annas public thanks, and infpired
declarations, poiitively afierting the divine cha-
racter of Jefus ; muft all have been the rcfult of
mere artifice and contrivance; and ineafures firft
privately concerted between them. Nay, what is
ftill more, all the claims of Simeon and Anna to
divine
08 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
divine infpiration, before this time, and efpecially
Simeons revelation, " that he Ihould not fee
" death, before he had fcen the Lord's Chrift ;"
muft all have been mere forgery and pretence,
from the very firft ; and, purpofely given out, with
the view of tranfacting this particular fcene of the
plot. So that, though the part, which we muft
now believe, They had undertaken to execute, did
.not bring them into public view before ; They
muft in reality have been privy to the whole irn-
pofture, and have agreed to act the part they did
to fupport it, ibine time before they came upon the
ftage.
BUT how will it be pofiible to folve fuch a feries
of difficulties as here thruft themfelves into view ?
Can we fuppofe Zacharias refolutely bent upon
purfuing the molt certain means to betray his own
iniquity, and procure his deftruction ? Could the
"vvickedeit and moft/fubtil impoftor that ever lived,
fmgle out thofe of the moft approved piety and
goodnefs, to make aiibciatcs in his crimes ; and
choofe to lay open his impious devices, above all
others, to the wife and good ? Could he fuppofe,
that they, who from youth to old age had per-
fevered in the practice of piety and religion,
would at laft, on the fudden, become equally in-
duftrious in the fervice of impiety and vice?
Could he expe6t to conquer the virtue of four-
fcoro
$efcl 3. JCHX BAPTIST AXt> JESUS CHRIST. 09
fcore years, and even -without the leaft profpect of
ird? Or could the fame perfons, who had ap-
proved themfelves fmcere worfhippers of the God
of Ifrael, through the rnoft dangerous ftages of
human life, at length proceed to mock him with
horrid blafphemies, in his very temple itfelf ; when
they could have no inducement for doing it, at the
extremity of old age ?
IF all this be allowed impoffible; and the nature
of the thing will not even admit of a doubt ; then is
it abfolutely incredible, that Zacharias or Jofepk
could have attempted to corrupt Simeon and Anna,
and equally fo that They could have agreed to abett
fuch an impofture, if either of them had. And fmce
their conduct was fo very remarkable, though on
this fingle occafion only, as to prove beyond doubt,
that They muft have been principals in the plot
fuppofed, if in fact it had any real exiftence; the in-
tegrity of Zacharias, and every perfon concerned,
appears inconteftibly proved, and all the miraculous
circumftances related of the births both of John
and of Jefus, muft be acknowledged as unqueftion-
a,bly true *.
BUT
* In addition to what has been here urged, drawn from
the peculiar charafters and circumftances of Simeon and Anna
themfelv'es, it is likewife proper to obferve, that every argu-
ment which has been already alleged, in Part J. Seel. 4.
P draws
210 THE .DIVIXE MISSIONS OF Part II.
BUT the amazing artifices of Zacharias and his
ailbciates to conceal their impoftore, if in truth
thev
drawn from the nature of the fu-ppofed contrivance alone, to
prove the utter incredibility of Zacharias's communicating fuch
a plot to any one at all ; imift here be allowed their full weight
and influence in regard to Simeon and Anna, and clearly prove
it to have been impoflible for him to have made confederates
of them.
But befides, the very fuppofition, that they had applied to
Simeon and Anna, and engaged them to a (fill in their fchemc,
is in fact immediately and eflentially deUructive of their joint
plot itfelf. For, if fo, it muft either have been Zacharias and
Elizabeth on one fide, or Jofeph and Mary on the other, who
looked upon Simeon and Anna as lit perfons for their pur-
pofe, and, in confequcnce of this opinion, applied to them to
allift the caufe. But had Zachnrias had any knowledge, of
Simeon a.ntf Anna, and looked upon them in this Hght; cer-
tainly he would at fir ft have applied to Them alwie, to afiift
feim in feme fuch manner in favour of John, as they acted
with regard to Jtrfus ; and with their afii fiance he could have
carried on his own plan concerning John only ; nor mould we
Lave found him connected, in any of his tranfacliohs, with Jo-
ii'ph and Mary; or his contrivance fur John, burthened with
.ae of fo much more hazardous a nature, as that relating to
Jcfus. While, on the ovhcr hand, had Jujljt/i and ~Mary been
Ihe perfons who knc\v tar real characters of Simeon and
Anna, and engaged them to ace the part they did, relating to
Jfj'us ; they could have had .no reai'cn whatever for laying
'.heir defigns to Zacharias and Elizabeth; who, being
old and childlefs, were evidently incapable of carrying on the
i l.ctt, take whirh lide we
pi
< Si JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. ^11
they had any to conceal ; or, to fpeak more pro-
perly, the indifputable evidences of their innocence
and integrity, are not yet at an end. There {till
remains to be confidered another, and a moft re-
markable tranfation, which will afford, perhaps, as
deciiive evidence, to determine the point in debate,
as any that has been hitherto taken notice of. It is
related by Matthew * as follows :
" Now when Jefus was born in Bethlehem
" of Judea, in the days of Herod the king,
" behold there came Wife Men from the Eaft to
" Jerufalem, faying, Where is he that is born
" king of the Jews ? For we have feen his ftar
" in the Eaft, and are come to worfhip him.
" When Herod the king heard thefe things, he
" was troubled, and all Jerufalem with him.
" And when he had gathered all the chief priefts,
" and fcribes of the people together, he de-
" manded of them, where Chrift fhould be born ?
" And they faid unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea i
" for thus it is written by the prophet ; And
" thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not
" the leaft among the princes of Juda ; for out
" of thee mall come a governor that mall rule
pleafe, the fuppofition of either party's pcrfuading Simeon and
Anna to engage in their plot, is, at the bottom, abfolutely de-
ftruftive of the fuppofitioii of their joint impofture itfclf.
* Matt. ii. 1 16.
PS / my
THE DIVINE MISSIONS Of Part I&
" my people Ifrael. Then Herod, when he had
" privily called the Wife Men, enquired of them
" diligently, what time the fear appeared. And
" he lent them to Bethlehem, and laid, Go, and
c learch diligently for the young child, and whei*
' ye have found him, bring me word again-, that I
46 may come and worfhip him alia. When they
" had heard the king, they departed; and lo,
" the ftar, which they faw in the Eaft, went before
" them, till it came and ftood over where the
" young child was. When- they law the ftar, they
" rejoiced with exceeding groat joy. And when
" they wer-e come into the houfe, they law the
" young child, with Mary his mother, and fell
u down and worih-ippcd him : and when they had
" opened their treafures, they prefented him with
" gifts, gold, and frankincenfe, and myrrh. And
" being warned of God in a dream, that they
'" Ihould not return to Herod, they departed into
<l their own country another way. And when
" they were departed, behold, the angel of the
" Lord appeareth unto Jofeph m a dream, lay-
a ing; A rile, and take the young child, and his-
" mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou.
" there until I bring thee word ; for Herod will
" feek the young child to deftroy him. W T hen
'" he rofe, he took the young child, and his mo-
" ther, by night, and departed into Egypt ; and
" was
3. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST* 213
" was there until the deatli of Herod ; that it
" might be fulfilled, which was fpoken of the
" Lord, by the prophet, faying, Out of Egypt
" have I called my foh. Then Herod, when he
" faw that he was mocked of the Wife Men,
* was exceeding wroth ; .and fcnt forth, and flew
" all the children that were in Bethlehem, and
" in all the coaits thereof, from two years old
" and under ; according to the time which he had
" diligently enquired of the Wife Men."
THE evangelilt makes no mention of the pre-
cile time when this remarkable event came to pafs,
nor is it material to the fubjecl in hand. But, as
far as may be colle&ed from fome circumftances, it
feems at leaft very probable, that it happened about
a tzcelvemonth * after Jefuss birth. Various have
been the opinions propofed concerning the par-
ticular character and country of thefe unexpected
perfons, who, we are only told, were Wife Men
from the Eaji f . But, to pafs over this difquifition.
* See the notes on the llth feft. of Mack night's Paraphrnfe
on his Harmony of the Gofpels. Hammond's Obfervation on
Luke ii. 24-. Sec Lightfoot, Vol. I, 205.
f Sec the commentators on the place, and note 1 on
the llth feet, of Macknight's Harmony. Lightfoot, Vol. I.
126, &c.
P 3 it
214 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II,
it will be Sufficient to our purpofe to obferve, that if
the other miraculous circumitances related of the
births of Zacharias's and Mar if $ fons, were only
the feveral parts of a plot, for deceiving the Jews
with a falfe prophet, and a counterfeit Meffiah ;
then muft thefe Wife Men from the Eajl have
been mere impoftors, and nothing better than ac-
complices with Zacharias ; fent by him to Jerufalem,
purpofely to act that particular character, they there
appeared in.
THIS extraordinary device too muft have been
put in execution, in order by their aftoniihing
enquiry, even of Herod hirnfelf, after a young
King of the Jews, lately born in his own domir
nions ; as well as by the religious worihip they
were to pay* the child when they found him; to
fix the thoughts and expectations of the whole
people upon Jefus ; that when he mould after-
wards be old enough to begin acting his own part,
they might the more readily receive him for the
promifed Mejjiak. The ftory of their being ap-
prized of the young kings birth) by the appear-
ance of a itar in the Eaft, and its appearing again
to them, and directing them to the houfe where
Jefus lay ; muft all have been forged, merely to
fupport their characters, and carry on the de-
iufion. Their being like wife warned of God, in a
clream t
SeCl. 3. JOHX BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST.
.in, to depart from Hctldcliein witho'itre turn-
to Herod ; and Jo/c])h J * carrying Mary and
the <7//A/ into Egypt, immediately after, in con-
fequence of a fimilar divine command ; mult have
been forgeries given out to throw an air of myfter\
over their fuddcn departure ; while, in fad:, every
one of thcfe fteps muft have been concerted
between them All, long before thcfe pretended
I ]\ leu from the Eajl made their appearance at:
Jerufalcm,
AT length then we are arrived at the iiniiliing
llrokc of this marvellous combination ; which, at
lirft fight, might force one to acknowledge it, for
ingenuity of defign, not unworthy of the completed
mailers in deceit. But a clofer infpection will prc
fently convince us, that trie fuppoiition of this inge-
nious expedient is on many accounts incredible,
and fuck as cannot be received.
Ix particular, the nature of the thing itfelf will
fully prove, that if Zachariaa, and -thole con-
nected with him, were actually engaged in the
grand plot we have all along fuppofcd, Hill it
will remain incredible, that they could attempt
the expedient before us. But, above nil, the whole
Jewilh Sanliednm, and even Herod hiinfel/] will
bear ample witncfe, that the Wife Mtn in queftion
were, beyond all doubt, the real p- 'ucv pre-
,ded to be.
P 4 T.
216 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II,
THAT fome fuch perfons as the evangelift has
defcribed, appeared publicly at JerU/al&n, en,
quiring for the young King of the Jews; t}iat Herod,
in confequence of an application to him on this
account, fummoned a great council of all the
chief priefts and fcribes, to determine upon the
place where Chrift mould be born ; that, in con-
fequence of their determination, he fent the
ftrangers to Bethlehem ; commanding them, when
they had found the young king, to acquaint him
alfo, where he was ; that they there found Mary,
and her ion Jcftts, and paid homage to him,
acknowledging him to be the young king they
had fought after ; and that, becaufe they departed
without returning to Herod, as he defired, he imme-
diately put to death all the children about Jefus's
age, which were to be found in Bethlehem,
and the region round about; all thefe facts, re-
lated clearly, positively aflerted, and never in any
part contradicted, are not now to he called in
queftion.
HAD they not been true, the evangelift could
not have dared to aflert them ; and even if he
could have been guilty of fo much folly, their
falfehopd would have been foon detected, and
publicly laid open, and the credit of his gofpel
have been effectually deftroyed. The facts are
of fo aftoniihing, and fo public a nature, that;
this
Seel. 3. JOHN T-APTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 217
this muft inevitably have been the cafe. Not to
that the very fuppolition of any deceit at the
bottom, neceilarily implies the exiftence of the
themfelves ; and, that the maflacre of the
infants, wliich is the moil important of them all,
to confirm the truth of the reft, is elfe where
recorded :f ,
THE
* See Lartlner's Cred. of the Gofpel Hiftory, b. ii. ch. 2.
throughout. See likewife even the exprefs teftimony of a Jew
to the truth of this fad, quoted by Dr. G. Sharpe, in his " Ar-
gument for the Defence of Chriftianity, taken from the Con-
ceffions of its moil antient Adverfaries," p fc 40. But the truth
of thefe extraordinary facls is fet in fo clear a light by a French
\vriter, that, upon this occafion, I hope to be forgiven the li-
berty of tranflating what he has faid about them.
" Had the evangelift only told us, that the Wife Men faw a
flar in the Eaft, which they believed to be the flar of the KITJ^
of the Jews, this would have appeared very fufpicious. If he
had faid no more, than that the Wife Men came to Jcrufalem,
neither would this have been fatisfaclory. But he aflerts,
not only that they came there, but that they appeared
there in public ; and that the whole city of Jentfnkm were
greatly moved and aftoniflicd on their account. Is it very
likely any one fhould take it into his head to attempt per-
fuading fo groat a city as Jcrufalem, that they had been
thrown into a general consternation, by the appearance of
certain v Vife Men, who came purpofely to worihip the king of
the Jews ? When a man has determined to publifli any
falfehood, which it is of the utmoft importance to him to pro-
pure the belief of, will he finglc out fucli circumftanccs to re-
late,
$18 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
THE fads then being indifputably eftablifhed, it
is certain, from the nature of that enquiry, whick
theie
late, as the people well know, arc all utterly falfe ? Matthew,
who wrote this account, was himfelf a Jew. And for whom did
he immediately defign it ? For many thoufand Jews, converts
to Chriftianity, who dwelt at Jerufaitem, and who were as well
acquainted with what had happened there, both in their own
days, and thofe of their fathers, as the people of Paris are with
what came to pafs there under the adminUlration of Cardinal
Richlicu; or thofe of London, with what was tranfacted there
in the time of Oliver Cromwell; or the people of Stockholm,
with what happened in that city in the reign of Guftavus.
And let us only confider, whether it would be poiiible for any
one to publifh fuch falfehoods in thefc populous cities, with fuch
remarkable fuccefs as attended the relations we are now confi-
dering, fo as by their means to engage many thoufands to be-
come parties in his caufe."
" But granting, that the evangelift might have afiurance
enough to defcribe the Wife Men, and the aftoniftiment they oc-
cafioiied in all the inhabitants of Jerufalem, even in direct oppo-
fition to the well-known hiftory of the times; it muft at leaft
be allowed, that ihefubfequent events, atferted to have happened
in confequence of this, were of fuch a nature, that not CVTII the
wioft impudent and abandoned writer could have dared to make
mention of them, had they not come to pafs."
" In reality, this t ran faclion contains two or three fads fo
clofely connected in their own nature, that if we allow the
truth of one, it will be impoffible to deny the reft. If we
agree, that the arrival of fame Wife Men induced Herod to
fummon the great council of the Jews, in order to be afiured
where the Meffiah fhould be born, we cannot, poflibly doubt
whether
3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 219
thefe apparent Wife Men from the Eaft came to
Jerufalcm to make, that they could not be im*
poftors,
FOR,
\vhether any fuch pcrfons did a&ualjy appear. And if we al-
low, that Herod really fent his people to Bethlehem, to put to
death all the children thera of two years old and under, there
can be no difpute about the anfwer given by the Sanhedrim to
this enquiry. If, therefore, the truth of the chief fact may be
relied on, there can be no need of any farther proof of the two
other."
" Now I will venture to affirm, that if tliis chief event had
not really come to pafs, the cvangelift could never have related
it. For what \va better known than the reign of Herod the
Great ? Even his moft infignificant actions were all got abroad.
How then could any one dare to charge //.';??, falfcli/, with fa
altoniihing and unheard-of a maflacre as this ? Bethlehem itfelf
was ftill flourifliing when the cvangclift wrote his account of this
tranfaclion. So that, if his relation was not true, every inha-
bitant of that city could bear witnefs to its faifehood. Its
diftance from Jerufalcm too was fo fmall, that the Chriftiaiis
there could not polTibly be ignorant of tbe reception this account
met with at Bethlehem itfdf"; efpccially as there was a very con-
fiderable intercourfe carried on between the two cities. Nor
was the time, which had clapfod between the birth of Jefus
Chrift and the writing of thisGofpel, by any mean? fuflicient to-
arford room for the reception of fo extravagant a faifehood. J
would only alk, whether we ourfclvcs could be perfuaded into
the belief, that any particular monarch now reigning in Europe ;
or, if you pleafc, one who reigned thirty or forty years fiiicc ; hud
caufed two or three thoufand children to be put to death in the
cradle, for the fake of deftroying one in particular, whole future
fortune
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
FOR, firft, mould we fuppofe Jofeph and Za-
chanas actually engaged in the grand impofture,
nothing can be more incredible, than that they
mould, at this time especially, be fo induftrious in
contriving the molt ready ways to betray it ; by ftiil
making /# many more perfons acquainted with their
whole delign. And how could thefe veteran de-
ceivers think of promoting their fuccefs, by fending
any of their accomplices upon fo dangerous, nay fo
mad an enterprize, as that of going purpofely to
acquaint fftrod himfelf, with the actual birth of a
young King of the Jews ? Above all, where could
they expert to find adventurers, daring and foolilh
enough to engage in fo defperate an undertaking ?
fortune he was afraid of? There is little likelihood indeed of our
lifteningto fuch an impofition as this ; or indeed that any one
ihould publifh fuch a falfehood ; or even, that fo ftrange a
thought fiioiud even enter into any man's head. But that any
one fhould be able to pcrfuade the people of the fame kingdom,
and c-vcn the inhabitants of the very place where the fcene is
laid, into the belief of fuck a fa&, if it had never happened, is
above all incredible.*' See Trajte ce la Verite de la Religion
Chr6ticrmc, jmr I. Abbadii* ; Par. ii. feft. 3v ch. 2. The rea-
ibning in this pafiage is perfectly juft; but the number of
children here; mentioned, us fuppofed to have been put to
death, is named at random, without any foundation. It is not
reafonable to fuppofe, that the whole number of male children
only under two years of age, in Bethlehem and its neighbour-
hood, could l>e large.
THE
Scl. 3. JOHN BAPTIST ASTD JESUS CHRIST. l
THE leaft they could expect from the execution
of fuch an embafTy was, that, if Herod fhould re-
frain from putting them immediately to death, it
would only be in order to place fuch fpies upon all
their motions, as they could not efcape from ; that
fo, when he had by thefe means detected their infant
king, he might cut them all off together, and thus
bring all their crafty devices to a very fpeedy con-
clunorr.
Xoit is it lefs evident from the codu& of Herod,
and the Jcwifh- council, that the Wife Men in queftion
really were not impoftors, than it is from the very
nature of that enquiry they came to Jerufalem to
make, that they could not be fo.
CAN it be imagined, that a prince of Herod's
penetration, policy, and paffionate difpofition,
would fuffer three or four perfons, in the character
of Wife Men from the Eqft, to throw himfelf,
and all Jerufalem with him, into fufpence and
aftonilh merit, by daringly publiftiing even the
actual birth of a new King of the Jews ; and
declaring they were come, by the guidance of
heaven itfelf, to worfhip him ; without immediate-
ly caufing the very ftrieteft enquiry to be made
into their true country and character ? Can we
fuppofe Herod, above all men, would fuffer his
very throne to be iliaken under him ; without
fatisfying himfelf in the eompleteft manner, that
thefe
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II*
thefe unlooked-for and daring harbingers of the
new King, were not a fet of impoftors ? Could fo
politic a prince, on any account whatever, himfelf
add dignity to their characters, and authority to
their declarations ; by treating them with fo much
outward refpel, as even to fummon the great
Council of the priefts *, to give a folemn anfwer
to their enquiry ; unlefs he had been thoroughly
convinced, that they were in truth the very perfons
they pretended to be ?
BEFORE he eould refolve to follow fo dan-
gerous a courfe as this, which muft unavoidably
make the people in general fo much more prone
to tumults and revolts, he would certainly have
taken every ftep neceilkry to detect fo bold an im-
pofition ; and would have condemned the impof-
tors, had they proved fuch, to the moft cruel
and ignominious deaths. Nor can it be believed,
that all the moft eminent members of the Jewilh
priefthood mould be fummon ed, even by Herod
himfelf, to give their opinion upon the place of
* " The chief priefts were either thofe who had enjoyed the
dignity of the high priefthood, which was now become ele&ive
and temporary, or the chiefs of the facerdotal clafies, the heads
of the courfes of priefts appointed by David. The fcribes
were the interpreters of the law, and the public teachers of the
nation." Macknight, feft. 11. See Lightfoot, Vol. I. 438,
&c.
Chri/F*
. 3. JOIIX BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 225
C/mft's birth, on fo unlooked-for, and furprizing an
lion, without enquiring very curioufly into the
true characters of thofe ftrangers, whofe amazing
declaratigns had been the only caufe of Herc<T$
calling them together.
BESIDES, from the cruel maflkcre of the in-
fants, \vliich Herod immediately proceeded to,
upon the departure of the Wife Men from Beth-
lehem, without returning to him, it is evident,
that his defign in treating their enquiry with fo
much refpect, -was, merely to get the young King
into his power, that he might then cut off him, and
whoever appeared connected with him, at once.
And this being unqucftionably his real intention,
had he not been moft thoroughly convinced, that
the Wife Men in queftion were not irnpoftors ; had
there been but the leaft room for any fufpicion
about it, his firft care would have been to befet
them with trufty perfons when he fent them to
Bethlehem, who certainly would have fecured Them
an; I their 'infant King, as loon as they pretended
to have found him, and have brought them all
back together to Herod, to be put to death at his
pleafure. So that had not the Wife Men, whoever
they really were, brought with them fuch clear
credentials of the truth of their ailuined characters
and country, as freed them at once from the leaft
fufpicion of deceit, we may be fure they could
224 THE DivixE MISSIONS o? Part 1 1.
not have efcaped, either undetected, or unpu-
niilied.
BUT farther, had not fuch an attempt itfelf beett
far too dangerous for them to try, and had it been
poflible for them t6 have efcaped ; ftill it appears,
that no importers could have been fent on this occa-
fion, with inftru6tiotis to conduct themfelves in that
manner in which the Wife Men before us are found
to have done.
IT was now fome time fmce the birth of their
intended counterfeit king. It had fallen out like-
wife, in confequence of an edift of the Roman
Emperor, that he had been born in a city, where
Jofeph and Mary had not, otherwise, any inten-
tion that he Ihould*. Whence it plainly ap-
pears,
* That Jofepli and Mary Jiad not originally formed any de-
lign of their own, that Jefus mould be born at Btikfakem, is
evident, not only from the unexpe&ed occafion of their going
thither, Auguftus's decree for the taxing, but likewife from
the other circumftanccs of his birth there. For it appears,
that they did not come to Bethlehem till/; late, that no room
was to be had in the houfc, and Mary was aclually delivered
of Jefus in zjlable. Whereas had Jofeph and Mary been en*
gaged in the plot fuppofed, and formed a dejzgn of having
Jefus born at Bethlehem, in order to correfpond with any re-
ceived opinion of the birth-place of the Mefiah ; they would
tinqueftionably have taken care to have been at Bethlehem,
efpecially upon the publication of fuch a decree, time enough to
have fecurcd fome more convenient, and>/er place for Mary's
delivery
Se6t. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
pears, that They knew nothing of an opinion, ge-
nerally known and agreed in, that Bethlehem was
certainly to be the birth-place of the Meffiah. At
the fame time, Herod's affembling the great Council
of the priefts, upon this occafion, to give him their
opinion, where the Meffiah fhould be born, affords
us another proof likewife, 'that this was a point
by no means univerfally known and determined,
at the time when the Wife Men in queition ap-
peared.
Now this point not being known to Jqfeph and
his ailbciates ; nor fo far determined, as to enable
them to judge before-hand, with any tolerable de-
gree of aflu ranee, for what particular place Heivd's
anfwer would declare ; it is clearly impoffible that
they could fend counterfeits to Jerufalem, at this
time, to enquire of Herod where the Meffiah fhould
be born?
FOR as to Herod, if he iliould choofe to dif-
fenible fo far, as to return any anfwer to their en-
delivery, than the Jtnblc of an inn. They knew before-hand
how extremely full the town would necefl'arily be upon this
particular occafion ; and as Zacliarias had already performed
his public part in the plot, and the farther profecution of their
dcfign fo abfolutely depended upon Mary's faft delivery, they
would unqueftionably have taken this rcquifite and obvious
precaution, at leaft, in order to have fccuix'd it.
Q quiry,
226 f HE DIVIDE MISSIONS O? Part II.
quiry, nothing lefs was to be expected, than that
he would affemble the great Council of the priefts,
to determine the matter. And what muft have
been the confequence, if Their anlwer had fixed
upon any other place, than, that particular city,
where, without the leaft view to the plot fup-
pofed, Jeftis had been brought into the world?
It is obvious, and muft have been fo to them,
that the determination of this learned Body of the
priefts, whofe opinions in all matters of religion
were of the greateft weight and authority, would
have been fubmitted to, as deci/ive, by the whole
people ; and all this artful long-laid defign of let-
ting up the fon of Alary for the Mqffiek, and the
counterpart of the plot' with regard to John, muit
at once have been effectually qualhed/ and entirely
put an end to.
HAD it therefore been poffible for any com-
pany of deceivers, engaged in a confederacy with
Zacharias and Jofeph, to have come to Jerufalem
at this time, under the affumed characters of Wife
Men from the Eqft ; which, however, we have
feen it was not; certain it is their errand could
not now have been, to enquire of Herod himfelf
where the Meffiah Jhould he born ? But, to fpread
it among the people in general, where he actually
was born. ' And the fame ftar, which they pre-
tended had guided them from the Eaft to Jeru-
falem,
Sect. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 227
falem, would, without any difficulty, have been
made to conduct them foon after to Bttfilehem
likewife; and by this means have faved them from
that dangerous application to Herod, as well as
from the hazard of receiving any fuch determina-
tion of the priefts, with regard to the birtk-plact
of the Median, as muft neceflarily have over-
thrown their long-laid defign of fetting up Jefus in
his ftead.
ANB thus we have gone through the propofed
examination, as well into the internal nature of the
grand impofture in debate, as of feveral particulars
that occur in the courfe of the whole tranfaction ;
and which, if there was any deceit at all in the cafe,
muft have been fo many fteps deliberately taken
by thofe who contrived and carried it on. And
while, on the one hand, the defign it/elf has ap-
peared, on every confideration, moft extrava-
gantly abfurd, and impoffible to have been con-
ceived or undertaken ; on the other, the conduB
of every perfon concerned has proved ilfelf, in
feveral particulars, of the laft importance to their
iuccefs, directly oppofite to what they muft cer-
tainly have purfued, had they really been engaged
in the profecution of the fuppofed iniquitous de-
ceit.
HERE therefore we may be allowed to repeat,
upon the ftrength of this argument only, what has
Q 2 already
228 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II.
already been as fully proved, in the firft part, by
another, that the plot, which we have all along
been fijppofing, could not poffibly have any real
exiftence. But on the contrary, that the revela-
tions, and other miracles recorded, as having ac-
companied the births of Zachariass and Marys
fons, prove themielves to have really come to pafs ;
and coniequently, that the facred and prophetic
characters to which John and Jefus laid claim, muft
unquestionably have been their true, characters, and
in all refpecls divine.
THE
Part III. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 2
THE
DIVINE MISSIONS
OF
JOHN THE BAPTIST
AND
JESUS CHRIST.
PART III.
The dcfign of this part ; to confider the conduct of
John and Jefus ; with a view to their conne&ion
with each other.
AFTER having proved, in the firft place, from
the circumftances and iituation of all thofe, who
muft have been the only contrivers of the impofture
in debate, that They could not poflibly have en-
gaged in fuch a plot ; in the next, that the fuppofed
plot itfelf is, in its own nature, ib manifeitly ab/itrd,
that it could never be entered into by any perfon
whatever ; and farther, that' federal of the moft im-
portant fteps in the courfe of thefe tranfactions,
Q 3 are
230 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
are fuch as could not have been taken, even if
the plot itfelf could really have exifted ; certainly
nothing more can be neceflary to eftablilli the mi-
raculous conceptions and births, and confequently,
the divine characters of John the Baptift and Jefus
Chrift.
BUT we have not yet produced all the evidence
in fupport of thefe points which the nature of the
cafe will admit of, and the facts recorded in the
Gofpels afford. And fince, in a matter of fuch
importance to the everlafting interefts of mankind,
as the truth and certainty of a particular divine re-
velation, no argument, which the cafe can furnifh
to illuftrate the truth, mould be fuffered to lie neg-
lected ; let us now go on to the examination of fome
other particulars, which naturally prefent themfelves
after thofe already coniidered, and which will prove
a very confiderable illuftration of the points already
eftablifhed.
SINCE John and Jefus at length appeared to-
gether, in thofe connected characters, which it was
prophetically aiTerted, at the time of their births,
they were afterwards to affume, we may with
good reafon expect, that their own conduct, in all
fuch particulars as any ways affected each others
character and reputation ; or could have any in-
fluence on the final fuccefs of their joint defign,
will afford us fome very ftrong circumftantial evi-
dence
Part III. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 231
dunce of the truth or falfehood of their preten-
tious.
WHEN any one has determined to attempt de-
ceiving mankind, by counterfeiting fome public
character of a very extraordinary nature ; it is in-
credible that he fliould begin to enter upon ac-
tion, without firlt fettling, at leait all the prin-
cipal parts of that conduct, which he judges moft
likely to fecure him from detection. When more
than one have agreed to profecute jointly any fuch
iniquitous defign, it is equally obvious, that they
cannot be fuppofed to appear on the public ftage,
without having nrit jointly fettled the whole fcheino
of tiieir conduct, and allotted to each his particular
plan.
THE more important and difficult the charac-
ters, which they intend to affume; and the better
the people, whom they defign to impofe on, are
qualified for detecting them ; the greater care they
will neceilkrily take in adj lifting their diftincl parts,
and contriving all the particulars of importance
in their public behaviour. More efpccially, as
nothing is io apt to caufe an immediate fufpicion
of fome concerted deceit, as an apparent connexion
een fuch as lay claim to the characters of
infpired meflcngers from God; it cannot be ima-
gined that fuch deceivers would determine to fay,
or do, any thing, which naturally tended to bring
the
232 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
the credit of Either into queftion. On the con-
trary, it muft readily be allowed, that they would
exert the utmoft care, to avoid doing any thing,
but what might help to promote the reputation
and fuccefs of Each Other, in their joint under-
taking.
SINCE therefore John and Jefus were Ib pro-
feffedly connected together, that they reciprocally
bore the moft poiitive teftimony to the divine cha-
racter of each other ; thefe confiderations point out
another method, in addition to thofe already made
ufe of, for eftabl hiring the truth, or detecting the
falfehood, of their claims. For from hence it is
plain, that if we will fuppofe them to have been
impoftors, we muft allow their whole public con-
duct to have been concerted between them, before
they proceeded to the actual execution of their
plot. So that if it fhould appear, that in feveral
particulars of their public management, they took
fuch fteps as they muft naturally think would pre-
vent their mutual fuccefs ; and that, in fome iiK
ftarices of their joint and relative behaviour, Each
purfued a very likely and obvious method to deftroy
the Other's, and even his own reputation ; this like-
wife muft be allowed a very ftrong collateral proof,
that they could not be deceivers. With characters
fo extremely difficult to fupport, as thofe laid claim
to by John and Jefus ; and before a people fo well
qualified
Part III. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 233
qualified, and fo willing, as the Jews were to de-
tect them, had they been pretenders ; we may pe-
remptorily pronounce, that no impoltors whatever
could have adopted fuch a conduct as this.
THE evangelifts indeed have recorded but few
inftances of any public intercourfe between the
Baptift and Jefus ; and as few public declarations
of Either, immediately relating to the Other. Per-
haps becaufe there were in reality few more of im-
portance to mention; perhaps becaufe they were
fully fatisfied with mentioning thofe they have; in
addition to that abundant proof of Jo/iris divine
character, contained in the miraculous circum-
itances of his birth. But few as the particulars of
this kind, handed down to us, are, thefe, when it
is confidered, that on the fuppofition of an impof-
ture, they mult have been preconcerted between
them ; will add no little ftrength to our former con-
clufion, and place the certainty of the divine origi-
nal of John and Jefus even in a Hill ftronger light
than before.
SEC-
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part
SECTION I.
John wrought no miracles.
A HE conduct and characters of John the Baptift
and Jefus Chrift, were in no particular more re-
markably diftinct than this; that whereas Jefus fpent
great part of his time in performing the moft afto-
niming miracles, without number ; the Betptift, we
are exprefsly informed *, never attempted to work
any miracle at all.
Now fuppofing them to have been joint in>
poftors, John muft have been as able to perform
all Jefus's miracles as Jefus himfelf was. For, on
this fuppofition, how aftonifhing foever thefe works
may appear to us, and plainly beyond the reach
of all power no lefs than the divine; to be con-
iiftent, we are obliged to confefs, that at the
bottom they could not be any thing more than
mere tricks and delufions. It is clearly impoffible
likewife, for two deceivers to have agreed to-
gether upon ib hazardous a defign, without lay-
ing open to each other all the wiles and artifices
* John's Gofp. x. 34.
each
Soft. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRLT. 235
each was mafter of, and by the help of vftich only
they could hope to carry it on.
IF then they were deceivers, it niuft be al-
lowed, that John knew how to worJ as many and
as great apparent miracles as Jefls himfelf did.
And confequently we muft believe that his never
attempting to perform any, was in truth owing
to private agreement, previoafly made between
them, from a perfuahon, that this artifice would
conduce moft to the Cuccefs of then joint de-
fign.
Is it then credible John and Jefus coild ima-
gine, that the fuccefs of their plot wotld have
been at all obftructed, mould John ha/e per-
formed any of thefe aftoniihing works? (\.t flrft
fight, it feems evident, that deceivers, wb were
determined to attempt fo difficult and unpro-
miiing an impoflure, would gladly have mde ufe
of every expedient that could gain the go<d opi-
nion of thofe they wanted to deceive. Ad fmce
the peculiar part John undertook, was to >repare
the people for the reception of Jefus, by Jiuring
them of his divine authority, and prepofTeffiq; them,
as much as poflible, in his favour ; whi more
natural, than for John himfelf to have exerted
fome of thefe extraordinary powers ; the nore ef-
fectually to gain credit to his own pophetic
character; and confequently to all his declrations
con-
236 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part IIL
concerting his Ajficiate, who was fo foon to ap-
pear?
IF they tiought it neceffary for procuring Je-
fus's fuccefs o fend a meffenger before him, to
proclaim his ijeedy arrival, and prepare the Jews
to receive him vhen he Ihould come; they muft.
unqueftionably ha/e been delbxms to furnim this
pretended divine herald with the beft credentials
in their power, that his emhiffy might be attended
with the w : ihed-for effect. Nor could they think,
that any other expedient would be fo eminently
ferviceabe for this ena 7 , as the performance of
fome fiiih feemingly miraculous works as, we have
juft nov feen, John muft have been able, to per-
form. Befides that great attention and reverence,
which works of this kind were fure to excite, on
their (wn account alone ; they were what feveral
of the Old Prophets had occafionally performed ;
and h particular, that very prophet Elijah*,
in whfe fpirit and power Zacharias had ex-
plicitly foretold, that John would go before the
Lord.
THB therefore would have been fo far from
inconficent with that character, in which John him-
felf ws to appear, that it muft have feemed highly
probaLe to Jefus and Himfelf, if impoftors, that
* lKings ; ch. xvii. and xviii. 2 Kings, ch, i. and 2.
the
Set. I. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 23?
the people might expect fomething of , this kind at
his hands. And whether they fhould require this
or not ; thus much was evident and certain, that
nothing elfe could contribute fo effectually to
Johns reception as a true prophet ; and confe-
quently to the eftabliihment of Jefus's character by
his means.
. SINCE then John and Jefus could not but be
icniible, that the performance of forne feeiningly
great miracles would be highly inftrumental in fe-
curing Johns fuccefs, in his preparatory part of the
plot; their previous agreement, that, notwithftand-
ing this, John mould abftain entirely from making
uie of them, rnuft have arifen from fome apprehen-
fion, that if he did not, this would interfere with
that part, which Jefus hiinfelf was foon after to
act ; and thus, in the end, obftrucl the fuccefs of
the whole undertaking.
FROM what then could fucli an apprehenfion
arife? No other afiignable foundation for it oc-
curs, than a doubt, whether, if John mould work
wonders as well as Jefus ; the people might not be
fo far prejudiced in favour of John; efpecially as
lie was to appear//;;// before them; as to believe,
for the molt part, that John himielf was the Mef-
fiah ; and therefore pay little regard to Jefus,
when he came. Or, at leaft, that they might be
fo far kept in fufpence between the Two, as never
to
238 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III,
to give their hearty affent to Either ; and by this
means effe6tually prevent the final fuccefs of
Both.
BUT thefe apprehenfions, however plaufible at
lirft fight, could not poffibly have any real ex-
iftence. Had two fuch deceivers indeed ftarted
up at the fame time, without any fecret connec-
tion, They might have had fome reafon to appre-
hend the worft of thefe inconveniencies, unlefs
they prefently agreed to a6l in concert, and fup-
port each other. But as it is certain, that if John
and Jefus were deceivers, they muft from the be-
ginning have concerted every ftep they took to-
gether; fo we may be allured, that They could
not be influenced by any fuch apprehenfions as
thefe.
THE more fatisfa&ory proofs John could give
of his own infpiration, the more effectually muft
his teftimony have eftabliihed the belief of Jefus s
divine miffion ; and not of his divine miffion only,
but the precife nature and delign of his particular
office. Whatever influence Johns authority might
have, in determining the people, in one of thefe
points, the fame, it was to be expected, it would
have, in the other. As Johns declarations could
have no weight with the Jews, in either of
thefe particulars, but in confequence of their be^
ing perfuaded, that he was commiffioned from
above,
. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 239
above, to make known to them whatever he de-
clared; it was natural to think, that his declara-
tions would have the fame weight, in -both thefe
points as in cither. So that if John and Jefus were
agreed in opinion, that it would be ferviceable to
their deligii, for John to appear as a divine mef-
fenger before the arrival of Jefus, and to bear wit-
nefs to Him at all; and had not this been the cafe
John could not have appeared ; they imift, for the
fame reafon, have thought it belt for John to fup-
port his own divine chara&cr by every artifice
in his power; and particularly, by thh of per-
forming threat apparent miracles, in preference to
every other.
HAD they even conceived the leaft fufpicion of
any fuch ill confequence from this conduct, a*
was juft now fuggefted, nothing would have been
eafier than to prevent their mutual credit from in-
terfering, by this means, in the leaft with each
other. What more obvious, than that they would
have agreed, that John iliould perform many
works apparently miraculous ; but that the mojt
aftoniihing of all thofe they were able to contrive,
fuch as ieeming to give light to thofe who had '
born blind, and railing the dead; mould be invio-
lably rcfervcd for Jefuss hand alone. That John,
in the m can time, iliould on all thefe occanons in-
culcate upon the people, the great fuperiority of
power
240 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
power with which they would ihortly fee the Mef*
fiah himfelf endowed; and prefs this upon them as
the infallible criterion of that fuperior divine cha-
racter, which he was to teach them, belonged to
Jefus alone. This would have been fo natural an
expedient, that they could not overlook it; and,
at the fame time, fo extremely ferviceable to their
caufe, that it is inconceivable they mould decline
making ufe of it.
AND befides this obvious and eafy reftriclion,
with regard to the nature of the works themfelves,
various expedients would have been hit on, by men
of fuch fubtilty and contrivance, as thefe muft have
been, to render Johns miracles far lefs ftriking,
than thofe even of the fame kind, worked by Jefus
himfelf', merely by means of their different manners
of performing them.
IN fome inftances we find Jefus himfelf making
ufe of apparent, though not adequate means to
accomplim his works; in others, not having re-
courfe to any. Sometimes he required certain
qualifications in the perfons themfelves for whom
he was about to work them, as neceflkry aififtances
for the fuccefs of his own endeavours ; at others he
peremptorily pronounced the word, and the work
was performed. Some he chofe to complete in
an inftant, others were accoinpliihed but by de^
grees. Upon fome occafions he openly implored
affift-
. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 241
afliftance from heaven, as if it was God alone who
really performed every thing he himfelf feemed to
do ; on others he thought fit to act, as if he himfelf
was actually endowed with the fulnefs of divine
power.
IT is nob only a probable fuppofition therefore,
that many different methods of working the fame
kind of miracles would have occurred to John and
Jefus, at the fettling of their refpective parts, in
the execution of their plot ; but it is an undeni-
able matter offaft, that they actually muft. It is
evident likewife, that though every work con-*
ceived to be miraculous neceffarily implies the
exertion of divine power; yet fome miracles, in
the nature of the things themfelves, may be far
more aftonilhing than others ; and even the fame
kind of miracles may be performed by different
perfbns, in a manner fo unequally calculated to
furprize, as to make the fpectators naturally con-
ceive far more exalted notions of the One than
the Other.
So that, by taking in the performance of ap-
parent miracles to his aid, but confining himfelf,
all the while, to thofe of the leaft ftupendous and
aftonifhing nature, and working even thefe in the
moft diffident and humble manner ; John might
with much greater affurance have expected to
eftablifh his own credit, and prepare the people
R for
THE DIVINE MISSIONS or Part 111.
for acknowledging the divine miffion of Jefiis, than
he could hope to accompliih thefe ends without
them. And the miracles, which John might have
performed under thefe obvious restrictions, would
have been fo far from involving the Jews in doubt
and perplexity, about the difference between the
character of Jefus and His own, that his repeated
declarations of himfelf, as being only the Mcffiatis
Forerunner ; and of Jefus as being the true Meffiah;
ftrengthened by Jefui's more aftonifhing works,
and fuperior all-powerful manner of performing
them ; would have induced the Jews to acquiefce
with greater readinefs, and certainty, in Their
diftinct preteniions. For, as Johns divine autho-
rity would, by this means, have been more afiuredly
eftablifhed ; fo it was to be expected, that his pe-
remptory, explicit declarations of Jefus' & peculiar
character, as well as his own, would be more im-
plicitly believed.
How then can it be conceived, that They, who,
if impoftors, were mailers of fo complete an art
of working wonders, as no other impoftors ever
poffefled ; and who depended ultimately for fuc-
cefs, upon the ufe they mould make of thefe
wonderous works, more than any thing elfe, as
Jefus himfelf often declared ; how can it be believed
They could agree, that John mould entirely abftain
from making the leaft ufe of them, when they
would
Sefit. 1. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESU3 CHRIST. S4S
would have been fo immediately capable of doing
the greateft fervice to the caufe? Nothing lefs
than the moft evident danger refulting from them,
could perfuade an impoftor to forego the pleafure
of putting in practice fo exquifite an art ; and
in the cale before us, inftead of any ill confe-
quence to fear from it, there was a very evident,
and ftrong reafon for John's making ufe of it.
The benefit to be expected from it, was fo great,
that they muft both have been exceedingly de-
iirous to make John's application of it fubfervient
to the reft of their plot; and the expedients,
by which this might have been done, were fo
obvious and eafy, that they could not efcape their
obfervation.
HAD John and Jefus been impoitors, we ihould
therefore undoubtedly have received accounts of
many miracles performed by John ; though neither
fo numerous, nor aftoniihing as thofe of Jefus
himfelf. And had this ever caufed the Jews to
enquire, in a manner fimilar to what they did
upon another occaiion ; why He performed thefe
miracles, if he was not the Meffiah ? His anfwer
was ready, and would have been of fingular fer-
vice to the whole joint undertaking. I indeed
(he would have laid) do perform thofe miraculous
works, which have excited your admiration, and
caufed this enquiry ; but there ftandeth one among
R 2 you,
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
you, whom ye knew not ; He it is, who will per-
form much greater works before you than I am
able to do. But thefe works, that I do, "are abun-
dantly fufficient to convince you of my own divine
authority; and confequently to fatisfy you, that
He alone, whom I have fo often pointed out to you
as fuch, is the true Mejfiah ; as well as that Iinyfdf
am his immediate Forerunner.
SEC
f. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
245
SECTION II.
The different external characters of John and
Jefus confidered.
-I F John and Jefus were joint deceivers, it Ls
certain, not only from the nature of their defign
itfelf, but likewife from thofe very diftinct and
remarkable kinds of life, they Each adopted ; that
they did not begin to mew themfelves to the people,
without having firft deliberately agreed to affume
fuck particular characters, as appeared to thembeft
calculated for promoting their plot. For befides,
that this was a matter of fuch importance as they
could not negleft ; the chara&ers, they actually
appeared in, were fo extraordinary in themfelves,
and fo directly oppofite to each other, that they
could not proceed from any thing but- a precon-
certed defign.
FROM the very beginning John praftifed all
imaginable aufterity ; making his firft public ap-
pearance in a covering * of camels hair, tied with a
leathern girdle ; living with the moft fmgular abfte-
mioufnefs, upon locuits, and wild honey ; and fe-
Matthew iii. 4.
R 3 eluding
$46 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I IF.
eluding himfelf, in great meafure, from the com-
mon intercourfe of life. Nor did he himfelf only
moft rigoroufly adhere to all the religious rites and
ordinances, pra&ifed by the fevereft feel; among the
Jews, the Pharifees ; but he obliged all his own
difciples, who aflbciated at all with him, to do
the fame. Whence the Pharifees themfelves put
the queftion to Jefas ; " Why do * the difciples of
" John faft often, and make prayers, and likewife
" the difciples of the Pharifees ; but thine eat and
tc drink ?" Such was the folitary and mortified life
of John, from the beginning of his public appear-
ance in the chara&er of the Baftift*
JESUS, on the contrary, was the reverie of all
this. He affumed a character, not only void of
all feverity and reftraint, but fpent his whole
time in a moft uncommon manner, in feeking the
fociety of, and converting familiarly with, all
ranks and orders of the people. And fo far was
he from complying with the fuperftitious cere-
monial of any of the prevailing feels, but more
efpecially the rigid Pharifees ; or exhorting his
difciples to conform, in the leaft, to them ; that,
on all oceafions, he himfelf conftantly broke
through them, and both publicly and privately
inveighed againft them. Society was what he
* X-uke v, 33,
fought
. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JtSUS CHRIST. 24?
fought above all things ; even with the moft defpifed
fort of men, and fuch as lay under a general re-
proach ; and with thefe, and all others, he ate,
and drank, and conveffed, juft as: opportunities
offered, without the loaft rdervfednefe or reftraintl
From his very firft appearance in the character of
the Mcffiak, he bade adiew, not only to retirement,
but even to domeitic life; and might be faid^tof liv&
perpetually in the public view of mankind. So that
retirement and aufterity did not more remarkably
diftinguim the character of John; than focial inter-
courfe with all ranks of men, and a rady com-
pliance with all their various indiffcrdnt cufto'ms,
may be ikid to mark: out the peculiar conduct
of Je/us.
Now 1 it is plainly impoffible for t\ro canneBed
ddceivers, to have refolved on two fuch Jingnlar
and oppofite characters as thefe ; and more efpe-
cially upon otie fo fevere and difagreeoble as that
of the Baptlft ; unlefs they thought them indif-
penfably neceiiary for the accomplishment of their
defigns, and for that very reafon pitched upon
them. It is evident likewife, that Avhatever other
coniiderations might contribute to determine their
choice ; the firft and principal deiign, which they
could never lofe fight of, muft have been, to
iingle out fuch a character for Each, as would
appear to correfpond with, and fulfill, thofc pro-
R 4 phetical
248 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
phetical revelations concerning them, which had
been publifhed by Zacharias an$";Afory, about the
time of their births. While <ve fuppofe them ~ to
have been importers, thefe predictions, as we have
already feen, muft be acknowledged as the be-
ginning and foundation of the whole plot. So that
they were now under an abfolute neceflity of paying
the ftri&eft regard to them ; and could neither forget
nor neglect to do it.
IF then either of thofe fingular chara&ers, which
we find they aftually adopted, and efpecially that
of Je/uSy fhould prove, upon confideration, in any
ftriking and capital particulars, wholly inconfiftent
with, and even contradictory to, what they themfelves
muft know to be the commonly received fenfe of
thofe predictions, which had been at firft made
public concerning them ; this again muft be
allowed another very ftrong prefumptive argument,
and indeed a conclude one, that they could not
be impoftors.
ZACHARIAS'S prophetical declaration concern^
ing JefuSy at the time of John's circumcifion, was
as follows : " Bleffed be the Lord God of Ifrael,
" for he hath vifited and redeemed his people,
" and hath railed up an horn of falvation for us,
" in the houfe of his fervant David ; as he fpake
' by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have
^ been fince the world began : that we fhould be
" fayed
Se&. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 249
" favcd from our enemies, and from the hand of
" of all that hate us ; to perform the mercy pro-
" mifed to our fathers, and to remember his holy
" covenant : the oath which he fware to our father
" Abraham ; that he would grant unto us, that we
" being deliverd out of the hands of our enemies,
" might ferve him without fear, in holinefs and
" righteoumeis before him, all the days of our
" life*."
AGREEABLE to this, but more full and ex-
prefs, was the revelation of the Angel to Mary.
" And behold, thou ihalt conceive in thy womb,
" and Ihalt bring forth a fon, and ihalt call his
" name Jefus. He ihall be great, and {hall be
" called the fon of the Higheft; and the Lord God
" ihall give unto him the throne of his father
" David. And he ihall reign over the houfe of
" Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there ihall
" be no end |."
IN what fenfe the Jews at this time interpreted
the predictions of the Holy Prophets, mentioned
by Zacharias, and God's promifes to Abraham, is
well known. In the perfon of the Meffiah, they
univerfally expected a temporal prince ; who iliould
deliver them out of the hands of their enemies,
and raife them to an univerfal monarchy, which
* Luke i. 6875. f Luke i. 3033.
could
&50 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
could never be overturned*. And ftnce the pro-
phelies concerning Jefas, juft now quoted, were
plainly fuch as coincided with this general opinion;
and Zacharias and Mary^ who made them public,
Could not but know, that they would be uftiverfall'y
underftood in this fenfe, and no other ; if they
were forgeries^ their defign in them mult neeeffariry
have been, that Jefus fhould aifume fuch a cha-
racter, as the predictions they delivered would
be imiverfally underftood to foretell. For the
iame reafon, when Jefus himfelf came afterwards
to deliberate upon a plan for his own public
conduct; he mult have been clearly convinced;
that no behaviour whatever would be looked upon*
as agreeable to thofe propbefies,, which he kne** it
was abfolutely incumbent upon him to fulfill; uri-
lefs he plainly intimated? a deign of fetting himfelf
tip, at ibtine proper opportunity, for their temporal
King.
WAS that remarkable kind of life, then, that
Jefus actually adopted,, fuch as might probably
induce the Jews to conclude, he entertained this
defign ; or did he ever make any particular de*
"kratk>as to promote this belief? On the con-
i
* This is abundantly evident, not only from the behaviour
of the people in general to Jefus, but even of his difc'tplcs
themfelyes, iu a variety of inftances throughout U^ Gofpels.
See likewife Lardner's L'yed. &c. b. i. ch. 5.
. 2. JOHX BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 251
trary, his conftant and familiar intercourfe, not only
with the loweit orders of the people, but with the
Publicans more efpecially, who were looked upon
as infamous by the Jews ; was a principal part of
his conduct, plainly calculated to deprive him of
all outward refpect and honour ; and to prevent the
Jews, as much as poffible, from entertaining any
exalted notions about him.
AT the fame time it appears, he never threw
out any fuch crafty insinuations, as an impqftor,
in this cafe, would not have failed to do ; calcu-
lated to lead the people on with an opinion, that
he was not without fuch deligns, as they believed
the MeJJiah would certainly put in practice ; though
the proper feafon for their execution was not yet
arrived. Nay when, after having miraculoufly
fed a great multitude, he faw they began to be
perfuaded, that he muft be the Meffia/t ; and for
that reafon were propofing to fet him up immedi-
ately for their King ; he mduftriou/ly prevented it,
by difperling them ; and to avoid any farther at-
tempts of the fame kind, immediately left the
place *. And at length, even when his death was
jut! approaching, he folemnly clofed the fcene with
an explicit declaration to Pilate, that he laid no
claim to any earthly kingdom-^.
* John iv, 15, &c. i John xviii. 36.
COULD
f HE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
COULD any conduct have been motevppqfite than
this to the fenfe, in which he well knew the Jews
in uft have underftood thole remarkable prophefies
of his life and actions, which had been made public
by Zacharlas and Mary; as well as to their uni*
verfal opinion of that conduct, which the Meffiah
was to purfue ? From beginning to end, it is evi-
dent, he perfifted in a regular oppofition to their in-
veterate opinions of both ; and yet never attempted
to convince them, or even fo much as iniinuated to
them, that they were at all miftaken in their in-
terpretation of either.
BUT perhaps a fufpicion may here arife,that be-
ta ufe thefe prophefies had been given out no lefs
than near thirty years before Jefus began to appear
in public ; therefore he might on this account deter-
mine, that there was no neceffity to pay any regard
to them ; as predictions long fince forgotten, and of
no concern. Or perhaps, it may poffibly be ob^
jected, Jefus might think the knowledge of thein
was confined within fo narrow a circle, that on
this account likewife they were not worthy of his
regard.
HERE it is obvious to remark, what we have
feu the truth of long ago, that all the events faid
to have accompanied Jcfuss conception, his birth,
his presentation in the temple, and efpecially his
being fought after by the Wife Mm; mult certainly
have
S.eft. 2. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 253
have been known, at the time, to great numbers
of the Jews. It is likewile as confefledly obvious,
that John and Jefus could not but expert the me-
mory of all thefe particulars to be revived, as foon
as the claim to the divine characters they affumed,
fiiould become an object of the public attention.
And as to the prophecies, in particular, which had
been at iirft made public about them ; the num-
ber of years which had elapfed, fince the time when
they were given out, was a circumltance fo far from
making it the left defireable to fulfill them ; that, on
the contrary, it was the moft fortunate circum-
ftance, that could attend them. Such a one indeed,
as any impoftors, in their cafe, muft have wiihed
for, if it had not exilted. For the longer it had
been fmce fuch prophecies were delivered, before
the time, for their accompliflnnent arrived ; the
greater certainly muft their authority be ; and con-
fequently the more deiirous an impoftor muft have
been to fulfill them.
BUT, befides all thefe considerations, the cha-
racter affumed by the Baptift will very clearly con-
vince us, that, in fact, Jefus and He did not look
upon it as unmcejfary for them to do all in their
power to fulfill the prophecies in queftion.
IT is not now to be proved, that if John and Jefus.
were deceivers, their public conduct and cha-
racters muft in the beginning have been debated
and
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
and agreed on, between them Both. And had they
been of opinion, for any reafons whatever, that it
was not neceffary for Jefus himfelfto pay any regard
to thofe prophecies, which had been fo long before
fpread abroad concerning him ; for the fame reafons,
they would have determined it to be unneceffary
for John likewife ; efpecially as he had but the infe-
rior part to ac~L
IT muft be obferved too, at the fame time, that
Johns whole character coniifted in the practice of
fo much apparent fanclity, at leaft, and real fey ere
mortification, as it is incredible any impoftor
\vould have confented to undergo, unlefs he
thought it abfolutely requifite for the fuccefs of
his undertaking. Yet John, we find, adhered
minutely to thefe prophecies, which had been given
out by Zacharias concerning him; nay, he even
exceeded what could have been expected from
him, on their account, in the feverity of his life
and manners.
IT had been foretold, that he mould " go
" before the Lord in the fpirit and power of
" Elias :' And this he fo particularly fulfilled, as
even to appeal like Elias, in his very garb itfelf*.
It
* As appears from Matthew iii. 4. " And the fame John
c had his raiment of camels hair, and a leathern girdle about
(t his loins ;" when compared with 2 Kings, i. f } 8. " And
" he/'
. C. JOHN BAPTIST AND .JESUS CHRIST.
It had been laid, that lie Ihouid drink neither wine
nor itrong drink ; and he lived in the defert upon
locuus and wild honey * ; and preaching the baptifrn
of repentance for the remiflion of iins, was, as it had
been foretold f, the conltant employment of his
public life. So that while Jefus, as \ve have feen
already, was acting in direct oppofition to the re-
ceived opinion of all the prophecies, which had
been given out concerning him ; and this, in thofe
parts of his conduct, which, muft be expected to
have the greatelt influence upon his fuccefs ; John
was practiling without interruption the moft fevere
mortifications ; merely to fulfill thofe predictions,
which had been originally made public concerning
him.
BUT what principles can poffibly explain, or
reconcile, fo oppoiite a conduct as this ; in two
impoitors jointly embarked in the profecution of
u he, u Akaziak, " faid unto them, what manner of man was
44 he, which came to meet you,, and told you thefe words ?
" And they anfwercd him, he was an hairy man, and girt
'* with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he faid, it is*
" Elijah the Tifhbite." John's garment of camels hair was
probably the fackcloth with which penitents and mourners
ufed to cover their loins, and ibnietimes their whole, bodies ;
1 Chroiu xxi. lG. l^acknight's Harm. feet. 14. See Hamm.
on Matthew iii.
* Compare Luke i. 15. with Matt. ni. 4. and Mark i. 6.
f Compare Luke iii. 3, &c. with Luke i. 7#, 77.
one
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III,
one and the fame defign? The adapting of their
characters to the prophecies in queftion, was evi-
dently a. particular which all impoftors muft have
regarded, as of the utmoit importance to their
future fuccefs. It was likewife a point in which
the fuccefs of Both was equally concerned, with
this difference only ; that as the iffue of the whole
undertaking depended finally upon the reception,
which Jefus himfelf might be able to procure ; fo
the failure of Jefus, in this moft important par-
ticular, would have been more follicitoufly
guarded againft by all impoftors, than that of
John. So that had John and Jefus been impoftors,
we may reft fully fatisfied, that Both of them
would have contrived the characters they affumed,
in fuch a manner as to anfwer the prophecies in
queftion ; or, had this been poffible, Neither. And
even could the nature of the cafe have permitted,
that One of them might neglect this precaution,
while they thought it was abfolutely neceflary for
the Other to obferve it; it muft certainly have
been John, who was left at liberty to choofe, inftead
of Jefus.
THE conduct of Jefus therefore, in regard to
this important particular ; when contidered, as
the nature of the cafe neceffarily requires it fliould
be, in conjunction with that of John; appears
abfolutely irreconcileable with the fuppofition of
their
2. JOItX BAPTIST AXD JfiSUS CHRIST. .37
r joint impofture; and this inconfiftency in their
different characters, when viewed in its proper
li^ht, affords us another deciiive argument, that
they could not poffibly be deceivers.
BUT might they not entertain hopes of fucceed-
in<* more univerfally, it may be laid, with all ranks
and orders among the Jews ; by means of thofe
contrary characters, which they ailumed ? The
Jewifh people being divided, as it were, into fepa-
rate bodies ; of which the leading feels were very
exact and rigorous in their obfervance of all failings,
and numbcrlefs external rites of religion; while the
reft paid much lefs regard to thefe rigid inftitutions ;
it may poffibly be conceived, that John and Jefus
purpofely affurned thofe oppofite characters in which
they appeared, in order the more effectually to in-
gratiate themfelves with all fects and perfuafions.
Perhaps it may even be thought, that Jefus himfelf
feems to have betrayed fome fuch defign, in this
particular exclamation. " Whereunto ihall I liken
" this generation ? It is like unto children fitting
" in 'the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
" and faying; we have piped unto you, and ye
" have not danced; we have mourned unto you,
" and ye have not lamented. For John came
" neither eating, nor drinking, and they fay he
" hath a devil. The fon of man came eating and
" drinking; and they fay, behold a man glut-
S " tonous,
253 THE DIVINE MISSIONS or Part III
" tonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publi*
" cans, and finners : but wifdom is juiliiicd of all
" her children*."
Now had tliis been their view, it will not be
denied, that it mult have been Johns intended part,
to apply himfelf afiiduoufly to gaining over the Pha-
rifccs, and other powerful feels, by means of his
conformity to their favourite fuperftitions : while
Jcfus was to win upon the people in general, by his
neglect of fuch rigid formalities, and unreferved
condefcenfion. In the mean time, it mult have
been a conitant and principal part of the care of
Both, to avoid every thing that had the lealt ap-
parent tendency to interfere with, and obftruct the
foccefs of Each Of her.
DOES it then in fact appear, that John did ap-
ply himfelf more eipecially to procure the favour
and protection of the molt powerful and rigid
Setts? Quite the contrary, lie had all the op-
portunity for attempting it he could hope for. lie
no fooner begun to preach and baptize, than the
Pharifees and Sadducees, {truck with the novelty
of his appearance and manner, came in great num-
bers, with the reft of the people, about him. Did
he then receive theie haughty guelts with any pecu-
liar marks of reverence and reipect ? Did he do, or
* Matthew xi. 1619.
even
JOHtf BAPTIST AXD Jl , HIST. 259
even fay, any thing, on this wifhed-for occafion,
that might flatter their pride, and clifpofe them to
entertain a favourable opinion of him and his pre-
fions ?
ON T the contrary, he began immediately to re-
buke them, and even them in particular, with the
irreatclt feverity, in the prefence of the whole mul-
titude ; as it were declaring war againft them, and
openly letting them at defiance. " Then went out
" to him (John the Baptift) Jerufalem, and all
" Judea, and all the region round about Jordan,
" and were baptized of him in Jordan, corifeiling
" their fins. But when lie faw many of the PHA-
" KISEE5 and SADDUCEES come to his baptifm, he
44 faicl unto THEM ; O generation of vipers, who
" hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
" come*?" Nothing could be more oppoiite, than
this conduct, to the defign juft fuppofed; nor was
any thing elie to be expected from it, but what ac-
tually happened f; that while the people, and the
publicans, fubmitted chearfully to his baptifm, the
Pharifees and rulers almoft univerfally rejeted and
oppofed it.
Lv the mean time, fo far was Jefus from being
rautious of giving offence to the leading fects ;
that he might not obftruct the Baptift, in his en-
deavours to gain them; that He likewife feized
* Matthew iii. 5, 6, 7- t Luke vii, 2p, 30.
S 2 every
260 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
every opportunity of expofaig even their pre-
tended virtues, as well as apparent vices : and
as his own conduct was in every refpecl diame-
trically oppofite to theirs ; fo he was continually
pointing them out to the people, as the proper
objects of their avcriion and contempt. Xor was
this behaviour, either in John or Jefus, the fud-
cien effect of unguarded paiiion, or iurprize ; but
their cool, conilarit, and deliberate choice. So
that, as nothing could be more inconiiftent with
that conduct they would certainly have obferved,
had they agreed on their refpeclive characters with
the dellgn juft fuggefted; and as this defign is the
only one capable of reconciling their characters to
the fuppofition of any impoiture at all ; we mult
necefiarily confefs, that the peculiar conduct both
of Jefus and of John *, when confidered fepa-
ratcly
* Had tlie oppofile characters and conduct of John and
Jefus, with regard to all the religious rites and ceremonies,
which were obferved by the different f'ccis of the Jews, been
owing to any private agreement between them ; as it mit/i havo
been if they were deceivers ; this at Ira it we might certainly
depend on, that Each would have taken care to prevent A/.v
own difciples from publicly railing objections, on this account,
to the Other. But, on the contrary, we find, that when Jt;/iv.
was dining with Levi, and a great number were prefent; then
" came to him the difciples of John, laying, why do we and
** the Ph ari fees fail oft ; and thy difciples fad not?" Matt.
ix. U.
JOIIX PAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. Q6l
ly in its own nature, and jointly in their re-
lation to each other ; affords us one of the ftrongeft
collateral proofs, we can poffibly delire, that They
could not be engaged in the profecution of a de-
ceit.
ix. 14. And from Mark ii. ]8. it appears, that they joined
\virli the Vhnrifccs in railing this particular objection to Jc-
Juv's conduct. Whereas had Jcfus and John been aflbciates,
it was impoffiblc that Either mould have been fo negligent of
their common fuccefs, as to fuffer his own difciples, for want
of proper information, to join with their common enemies in
railing objections to the credit of the Other. For there is not
the leaft room to fuppoff, that this might be. an artful expe-
dient defigned.to make the Pharifees better pleafed with John ;
(nice we have fern, that the whole conduct of John, as well as
Jrj'us, on every important occallon, was fuch as they knew
-I procure them the utter hatred and averfion of the Pha-
S3 SEC-
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
SECTION IIL
A prophecy of John's, concerning Jefus, con*
Jidered,
1 HE only defign John and Jefus could pombly
be engaged in, fuppofing there could be any plot
in the cafe, was a deep-laid defign of counterfeiting
the two laft prophets the Jews ever expected to
behpld : and one of whom efpecially, was to be b^
far the inoft accomplished, in all prophetical en-
dowments, of any they, had ever feen. And had
They really undertaken llich an attempt as this';
nothing can be more obvious, than that it would
have been one conftant, and chief object of their
care, not to foretell any thing, and more efpecially
any thing relating to Each Other, by which their
prophetical knowledge might poffibly be brought
into queftion.
THIS was manifeftly a point of fuch impor-
tance, as they could not but very carefully attend
to, from their very firft entrance upon the exe-
cution of th^ir defign. If they were deiirous of
feeming to foretell any thing concerning Each
Other, as by divine jnfpiration ; in order the more
effectually to fupport the delufion j they muft firft
privately
. 3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JKSITS CHRIST. 2G3
privately have agreed upon fome particular ac-
tions, which the One could fafely undertake to
perform ; and the Other might therefore fecurcly
venture to foretell. To have hazarded any pre-
dittion, without this obvious and neceilkry pre-
caution, would have been contriving the furclt me-
thod of expofmg their want of all real inspiration,
and laying open their impoiture to the public
\ie\v.
SHOULD it appear then, that John actually fore-
told of JcfifSj upon a very remarkable ocean* on, and
us an infallible token whereby to diftinguifh him for
true Mcffiah ; that Jcfhs would introduce a
certain molt remarkable kind of religious rite ; to-
tally different from what John himlclf made ufe of
for the lame purpofe : and lliould it likcwife be
found, that Jefus, during his whole life, never fo
i as attempted to put in practice any fuch rite ;
nor ever alleged any reafun for declining it ; nay,
nor ever made the leait mention of it : this furely
mult be acknowledged as another convincing proof,
that John and Jcfus could not be the impoftors fup-
M r iiK\ John made his fuft public appearance in
the country round about Jordan, preaching the
baptiiin of repentance for the remillion of iins ;
the whole multitude, we find, came forth to be
S 4 baptized
2(54 THE DIVIKE MISSIONS OF Part ill.
baptized of him, and to learn from him the
means of falvation *. u And f," at this time,
" as the people were in expectation, and all men
" mufed in their hearts of John, whether he were
" the Chrilt or not ; John anfwered, faying unto
" them all; I indeed baptize :{; you wit:: water;
" but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of
u whofe Ihoes I am not worthy to unloofe : HE
" SHALL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST
" AND WITH FIRE." And foon after this pre-
diction, when Jefus was dome to John, and like
the reit of the people had been baptized by
him ; to prevent the poffibility of any doubt, about
his being the perfon, whofe inftitution of this un-
heard-of kind of baptifm, John had particularly
pointed out; in order that they might know Him
by this fign to be the true Meffiah ; " John bare
" witnefs of him, and cried, faying; this was
" he, of whom I fpake, he that cometh after
" me is preferred before me; for he was before
* Matthew iii. 1, c. Mark i. 3, &c. Luke iii. 214.
-j- Luke iii. 15, 16. Compare Matt. iii. 11. Mark i. 7, $
And John i. 33.
t For the nature and end of John's Baptifm, fee Lightfoot,
Vol, II. p f 121, &c. See alfo Macknight's, feel. 14. note.
Matthew iii. 13 17.
H John i. 15. and i. 26' 34,
NOTHING
Seel. 3. Joi JIST AND JLSUS CHRIST. 9,65
NOTIIIXC; could br more remarkable, on its
own account, than the particular kind of baptifin
here foretold ; nor could any occaiion be of
givater importance, than that on which this pro-
phecy was delivered. John had juit begun to bap-
tize, in order to prepare the people for giving
Jelltss high preteniions a more favourable recep-
tion, when, contrary to his views, they began al-
ready to imagine, that John himfclf might be the
Meffiah.
SUCH a perfuafion, iliould it have continued,
muft unavoidably have broke in upon their plan,
and prevented the fuccefs of their whole defign.
Since John, who firft fet out as the Meffiah's Fore-
runner, could not aifume the character of the Mcf*
fiah himfclf; how willing foever the people might
be to give it him ; without effectually proving hiin-
felf an impoftor, in ib barefaced a manner, as could
not long efcape the notice of any intelligent ob-
ferver.
IT was therefore of the utmoft importance to
prevent this opinion from gaining ground. And
to mew how ieniible John himfelf was of the nc-
ceffity of -doing it, in the molt effectual method ;
we iind him Ibiemnly declaring to all that came
to him ; that though " he did indeed baptize
with water, he was not the Mctfhth ; but that
" one
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
" one mightier than he," who was indeed the
Meffiah, would very fpeedily appear. At the
fame time, to give them the loweft comparative
opinion of his own character, and the rnoft ex-
alted one of Jefus ; he tells them, he himfelf was
fo far from being the Meffiah, that he was not
even worthy to unloofe the very latchet of his
ihoes.
IT was impoffible to fet the fuperior excellence
and dignity of Jcfus \s character above his own, in a
Stronger light Yet left his own pofitive denial of
the high office which they were inclined to afcribe
to him, mould not be fufficient to put an end to
their doubts; he proceeds like wife to give them
a fign, by which they might diftinguifti the Mef-
fiah, not from himfelf only, but from every pre-
tender to his character; and by which they would
ihortly be convinced, that Jcfus was he. " I in-
deed," fays he, " baptize you with water;*' a ce-
remony which you yourfelves have long fuice
adopted in the admifiion of profelytes into your
own religion * : thereby declaring myfelf a real
prophet, commiffioned from on high. But the
McJ/lah himfelf, when the proper time arrives, will
baptize you in a manner totally different from all
* See Lightfoot, ii 121, &c, Lewis, Antiq, Ueb. b. iv.
ch. 2,
that
Sec"L 3, JOHX BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 267
that have gone hefore him ; namely, " with the
Moly Ghoft, and with fire."
THE only efteft, which this remarkable prophecy
could have, upon thofe to whom it was delivered,
. to make them believe, that the true Meffiah
would, at fome time or other, inftitute fuch a kind
of baptifm, as this prophecy plainly deicribed ; and
confcquently to make them reject every pretender
to this character, and Jefits among the reft, if He
fliould not. And as this was the only poffible effect
it could be attended with, it muft have been the
only one, which Johh himfelf could with, or intend
it to ha\
IF therefore John was an impoftor he could not
have foretold this remarkable particular of his Affo*
date in the deceit fuppofed ; unleis it had been
before agreed on between them ; and the manner,
in which Jcfus was to perform it, had been already
determined. And had John delivered this pro-
phecy in coufequence of fuch a previous agree-
ment, Je/as could not afterwards have neglected
to fulfill it, when at length He appeared. It
is evident, this would have been purpofely be-
traying their plot, at their very entrance upon it.
For how could John hope to maintain the repu-
tation of a prophet, when Jefuss conduct fliould
appear plainly to falfify his moft pofitive, and
explicit predictions concerning him ? Or if John's
eftablimed
268 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
eftablifned credit fhould, nottvithftanding, be able
to keep its ground ; what could poffibly lave
Jefus from being rejected, as a convicted im-
poftor ?
JOHN had not only allured the people, that the
true Meffiah would baptize, with the Holy Ghoft
and with fire ; but likevvife, that Jefus was that
very Meffiah of whom ne fpoke. And yet Jefus,
from his firft public appearance to his death, never
fignified ib much as even an intention of intro-
ducing this new kind of baptifm among them *.
Had the people reflected upon this apparent con-
tradiction
* Perhaps it may not be improper to obfcrvc, that the com-
pletion of this prophecy on the day of Pentecoft, can be no
objection to what has been faid ; fince this accomplishment of
it happened not till after Jefus WeaM: whereas John's pro-
phecy relating to it, was ib expreiled, and delivered on fucli
an occafion, that he muft think the people would underftand
him to mean, a particular kind of baptifm, which Jefus would
introduce during his life. Beiides, nothing can be more abfurd
and ridiculous, than it would be to fuppofe impojlors foretelling
of one another fomething that they would do after their death;
in order to promote the fuccefs of their plots, while they were
Neither can it be any objection to the force of this argu-
ment, that the true meaning of the prophecy itfelf is far from
being certain, as we would leem to make it. For, with regard
to the p relent point, the queftion is not, whether learned men
feave given the prophecy different interpretations, many ages
fihco
3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST.
tra-diction (and what more likely to have happened?)
it would alone have been fufticient to make them
i the prctenfions of Both to all divine infpira-
tion ; if they had indeed been deceivers ; becaufe
then they could have had no means whatever of
reconciling the prediction, to the want of its ac-
compliihment.
UNLESS therefore we can believe, that two im-
poftors, who let out upon a joint undertaking ;
the very being and fuccels of which neceflarily
depended upon their mutually fupporting the credit
of Each Other ; mould agree to begin their parts
hi fuch a manner, as was evidently calculated to
deftroy the credit of Both ; this fmgle prophecy of
the Bapt'iffs, when confidered jointly with the con-
duel; of Jefus, mult alone be fufticient to Ihew,
that John and Jefus could not poffibly be de-
ceivers.
fince it was delivered ; but what fenfe John hiznfelf muft have
believed the people would underftand it in, when he delivered it.
This alone was what an impojlor would have attended to, and
could not but attend to ; becaufe upon this muft depend
the future opinion of the people, whether it was really ful-
filled or not. And the fli,;hteft confideration of the prophecy
itfelf, and the occafion on which it was delivered, (hews at
once, that the Jews, who heard John pronounce it, could not
but underftand it in that fenfe, in which it has here been reprc-
fented. As indeed, that this was its true fenfe, appears un-
deniably, from what Jefus fuid to his difciples after his refur-
region, Ac c ts i. 4, 5.
NOR
270 THE DIVIDE MISSIONS OF Paft IIL
NOR was this all. John not only fcemed plainly
to foretell, that Jefus would inftitute a new, and
very extraordinary kind of baptifm, which Jefus.
during his life on eaith, never did ; but he likewife
expreifed himfelf fo as to leave it highly probable,
the people would underiiand him to mean, that
Jefus would not make ufe of the fame baptifm he
himfelf had adopted ; which notwithstanding Jefus
foon after did.
WHEN John declared ; in order to make the
people fully fenfible of the great difference, they
would perceive, between the Meffiah and Himfelf;
that He indeed baptized them with water, but thatr
the Meffiah would baptize them with the Holy
Ghoft and with Jire; what more natural for John
to think the people would conclude him to mean,
than, that the Meffiah would not make ufe of bap-
tifm with water, for the adrniffion of his difciples ?
This the turn and manner of the declaration itfelf,
as w r ell as the occafion on which it was delivered,
it is obvious, feemed to render extremely probable.
Had John therefore been an impoitor conne&ed
with Jefus ; and had it been agreed between them
that Jefus mould neverthelefs baptize with water
too; it is utterly incredible, that John could have
omitted making exprefs mention of this particular;
that the people might not immediately judge him
convicted of having propheiied a lie; when they
ihould
3. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST, 271
lliould ice Jefus baptizing with water as well as
Hiinfelf.
HAD they been joint deceivers, inftead of faying
what he did, John would certainly have declared,
" I indeed baptize you with water, AS THE MES-
" SIAII HIMSELF LIKEWISE WILL; but he will
" MOREOVER baptize you with the Holy Ghoft
" and with fire." For what opinion could John
otherwife expecl the people to form of his own
infpiration ; when they iliouki fee Jefus s difciples,
foon after, baptizing the people with water, under
the immediate infpe6lion of their Mafter ; and this
even in greater numbers than John himfelf had
done r " After thefe things came Jefus and his dif-
" ciples into the land of Judea, and there he tar-
" ried with them, and baptized." And prefently
we are informed, that " Jefus made and baptized,"
there " more difciples than John V
TRUE indeed it is, that Jefus himfelf did not
baptize, but only his difciples ; as the evangelift
exprefsly faysf. But this circumftance could make
no difference either as to his adopting this parti-
cular ceremony, for the admiffion of his own dif-
ciples ; or the interpretation, which the people muft
naturally be expected to put upon it. It is plain,
from the evangelift 's manner of relating this, that
* John iii. 2C. und iv. 1, f John iv. 2.
he
THE mviNE MISSIONS of Part III.
he had no conception, that this circumftance made
any alteration in the cafe ; for then he would have
taken care to remark it. Nor is it lefs evident,
that the Baptlft's own difciples, and even the Bap-
tift himfelf) confidered it in the fame light, as
if Jefus had performed the ceremony with his
own hands. For, while Jefus was baptising in
this manner, Johns difciples came, and faid unto
him*; "Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond
" Jordan, to whom thou bareft witnefs, behold,
" the lame baptizeth, and all men come to
him."
BUT, had they looked upon it as a circumftance,
which made any difference in the cafe, that Jefus
hlmfelf did not actually baptize, but only his dif-
ciples ; certainly they would not have failed to ob-
ferve it, on this occaiion, to their mafter. As, on
the other hand, had this been an agreed particular
between Jefus and John, in order to fave the credit
of John's divine infpiration ; John would now at
leaft have made that tile of it, for which it was
contrived ; by teaching his difciples to reconcile
his own predictions to Je fits' s conduct; which'
was, feemlrtgly, in every particular, fo contradictory
to it.
* John jii. 26.
AND
Stffc. 3. JOHN' r A\I> .n-srs ciiursT. 'J73
vn now conlklcring both thefe particulars,
as the nature of the cafe requires we mould, in
view ; tirir, .that John cxpreisly
foretold, as a touchftone of JefetSs being the
Mc/fiah, that Je/its would adopt a new and
very fingular kind of baptifin ; which however,
from his firft public appearance to his death, He
never did, nor ever mentioned a delign of doing
it : and in the next place, that John expreffed
himfelf in fucli a manner, as he could not but
think, might very probably make the people un-
derftand him to mean, that Jefus would not bap-
tize with water ; which, however, Jefus- prefently
after did, even in a greater degree than John him-
felf had done : when we confider all this, how is
it poffible to believe John and Jefus to have been
confpiring impoftors ?
HAD they been fuel), John could not have
foretold any part of Jcfuss conduct, in order to
convince the people, that He was the Mefliah ;
which Jefus had not before agreed with him, for
this very purpofe, to perform. Xor could Jefits^
after fuch an agreement, lay alide the defign of doing
any thing, which he had before agreed, that John
ilioukl foretel ; without giving him timely notice of
the alteration of his deligns. For though we have
no authority to believe, that the Jews did, in fact,
ever object to the truth of their divine pre-
T tenfions,
274 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
tenilons, on account of this feeming contradic-
tion, between Jefus's baptifm, and Johns pro-
phecy concerning it ; yet was it, from the nature
of the thing, fo extremely probable, that they
would ; and, at all times, fo very povlible that
they might ; that no impoftors can be fuppofed
capable of deliberately expofing themfelves, for
no end whatever, to fo manifeft a hazard of
detection.
SEC-
JOHN" HAPTI.ST AM) JESUS CHRIST. 275
SECTION IV r .
Jefus baptized by John.
V ERY foon after John had delivered the pro-
phecy juft considered, concerning the nature of
Jefiufs baptiiin, we meet with auother very re-
markable tranfaction, which will ferve to throw ftill
greater light upon their true characters, and the
connection really fubfifting between them.
." THEN cometh Jefus from Galilee to Jordan,
" unto John, to be baptized of him. But John
" forbad him, faying, I have need to be baptized
*' of thee, and comelt thou to me? .And Jefus
>k anfwering, faid unto him, fuffer it to be fo
" now ; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
;> rijrhtcoufnefs. Then he futfered him. And
CD
u Jefus, when he was baptized, went up ftraight-
*' way out of the water; and lo ! the heavens
*' were opened unto him, and he law the Spirit
" of God deicending like a dove, and lighting
" upon him. And lo ! a voice from heaven,
<' faying, this is: my beloved Son, in whom I am
* : svcll plcafed
* Muttliow iii. 1317,
T 2 IT
276* THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
IT will readily be acknowledged, that if John
and Jefus were joint deceivers, Jefus's coming to
defire baptifra of John, mult have been an artifice
firft privately concerted between them. It i$ plainly
incredible, that Jefus Ihould apply publicly to his
Forerunner, on fo particular an account : unlefs
they had previoully agreed upon this ftep, for
the fake of fome advantages, which they hoped
to derive from it. So that, upon the iuppolition of
any impofture, Johnvwft in reality have approved
of Jefus's requeft ; and his refufal at firft to bap-
tize Jefus, as if it were more proper that Jefus
mould baptize Him, could be nothing more than
a well-chofen expedient; to prevent the people from
fufpecling any fuch preconcerted agreement be-
tween them.
WHAT then could thefe propofed advantages be?
A very little reflection upon the cafe will prefently
convince us, that Jefus s being baptized by John ;
confidered only as to the nature of the thing itfelf ;
was a ftep fo far from being calculated to promote
the fuccefs of their fuppofed impofture ; that, if it
mould have any effect at all upon the opinions of
the people, it muft neceiTarily tend to prevent it.
JOHN'S baptifrn was plainly borrowed * from
that, which the Jews made ufe of, in the admif-
* See note, p. 266.
fion
4.' JOHN BAPTIST AND JfcSUS CHRIST. 277
of heathen protclytes to the profeffion of Ju-
daiiii) ; and John made uie of his, in a fimilar
manner, for the ad million of his difciples into a
lull purer profcfiion. This purpofe, to wliich
baptlfm among the Jews had always been applied ;
together with fome traditions generally received,
that they Ihould all be baptized and purified, againft
the coming of the Meffiah* ; had naturally con-
tributed to make the Jews conceive a very high
opinion of the dignity and holinefs of any pro-
phet, who was commiflioned to baptize ; and
confequently to conclude, that there could not be fb
great a degree of purity and holinefs in thofe, who
thcmfelves ftood in need of being baptized by him.
This opinion mult likewife have prevailed, particu-
larly with regard to all who ihould come to be bap-
tized of John ; as his was profeffedly no other than
the " baptifin of repentance, for the remiffion of
" fin.* ;" and of which therefore, thofe only who
had actually finned could be thought to ftand in
need.
* " The Jcvws, it fecins. had conceived an opinion that they
were all to be baptized ; cither by the Mcjjiah himfclf, or fome
!' his retinue ; becaule it is faid, Zach. xiii. 1. " in that day
" there fhallj be a fountain opened to the houfe of David, and
*' to the inhabitants of Jerufalem, for fin and uncleannefs."
Macknight's Comm. feet. 18. Not. on John i. 25. See Light-
foot on the place, II. $22.
T 3 WHAT
278 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III,
WHAT companion then muft it neceilarily
have been expected the people would make, be-
tween the characters of John and Jefus ; when
they beheld Jefus become a fuppliant for baplifin
to John ? Was this a itep calculated to prevent
that fatal miftake, which the people had already
lliewn themfelves inclined to run into ; that of
regarding John initead of Jefus as the true Meffiah ?
How could impoitors expect the people to recon-
cile the feeming Superiority of John over Jefus,
in point of holinefs and purity ; which to them
would appear fo plain, by Jejuss fubrnitting to be
baptized by John ; with John's own declaration,
fo lately made to them, that He was not worthy to
do even the molt menial offices about the perfon of
Jefus.
COULD He who was unworthy even to undo
the latchet of Jefus s Ihoes, be a perfon of fo
fuperior a character, as to make Jefus deiirous of
being baptized by him? Which of thefe public
declarations were the people to believe ; or rather
how could they give any credit to Him, who was
the author of both r Above all, how could They
themfelves think it would prove a more eafy talk,
to make the people believe, that Jefus was the
true Meffiah ? ihould they give them reafon to
think, that he flood in fieed of baptifm from
One,
SECT. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AN*D JJESUS CHRIST. 279
. who profeilcdly baptized into " repentance,
*' for the reiniflion of fins?"
4< JOHN'S heiitating *, at firil, to comply with
Je/uss requeft, could inake no alteration in the re*
quell itfelf ; nor remove fo confiderable a ftumbling-
block out of their way. Nor was any other confe-
quence to be expected from this contrivance, but
that it would diftraft the opinions of the people very
much about them ; and induce many, from this
time, to conceive but an inferior notion of Jefuss
character ; and 'entertain the ftrongeft fufpicions of
the veracity of John,
* It may here be worth while to obfcrve, that if John's rc-
J'ufal to baptize Jefiis upon his firft requeft, was purely a contri-
vance to prevent the Jews from fufpecling any deceit ; as it tnit/t
Lave been if Jolin and Jefus were deceivers; it fhould Iqem, at
leaft, highly probable, that thofe of Jefus's difciples, who after-
wards wrote hiftories of his life and actions, would not have
given us accounts of Jefus's being baptized by John.; without at
the lame trine re-cording this refufaL of the Raptiit, at firft, to
Comply with his defire. If this artifice feemed^of moment
enough to be put in practice, nothing Teems more natural, thai!
that they fhould all have thought proper to record it. Whereas
it appears in fact, that though every one of the ovangelifts have
related Jefus's being baptized by John ; v. hich is by no means
the cafe in feveral of the moft important t ran factions ; yctJione
but Matthew has made the leaft mention of John's refufal at firft
to do it.
Sec Matthew iii. 13, 15. Mark i. 9- 11. Luke iii. 21, 22,
John i. 3234.
T 4 SINCE
280 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
SINCE then it muft have occurred to John and
Jefus ; who could not be ignorant of the molt pre-
vailing opinions of the whole people, that the ftep
now before us was of fuch a nature in itfelf, as to
threaten them with the moft fatal influence on their
credit, inftead of contributing at all to its iupport ;
was there any external rea/bn, which might promife
fo much benefit to their defign, as to induce them,
notwithftanding, to adopt it?
A TRADITION of the fcribes, we are told *, pre-
vailed univerfally, at this time ; that Ellas was not
only to appear as the Meffiatis Forerunner, and to
preach concerning him ; but alfo, that he was to
baptize Him, in perfon, and make him known to
the people. Perhaps then they might think, that
the prevalence of this tradition laid them under a
neceffity of conforming to it ; and that great credit
would accrue to them from exactly fulfilling it. But
plaufible as this objection may at firit appear ; their
own conduct will fufficiently prove it to be utterly
groundlefs and falfe.
HAD Johns baptizing Jefus been a ftep con-
certed between them with fuch a deiign ; they
would unqueftionably have made this ufe of it, in
fupport of their particular pretenfions, when any
fair opportunity occurred. In particular, whei>
* See Whitby on Matthew xi. 14.
ever
5et. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 281
y thought proper to appeal to this tranfaciion
at all ; which, but for the fake of fom/e fucli
tradition as that juit mentioned, they could never
hre agreed on ; the fulfilling of that tradition
muft certainly have been the chief point, of
which they would have reminded the Jews. If
they judged the fulfilling of this tradition fo ne-
ceilary to the fuccefs of their plot ; as, on this
account, to do, what might otherwife have been
attended with the moll prejudicial effects to their
caufe ; it muft be abfurd to fuppofe, they could
neglect making that ufe of it, for which alone it
was deiigned, when it had been actually accom-
pliflied.
YET is there nothing more certain, than that
they muft have done fo ; fmce, throughout all the
Gofpels, there is not the leaft hint to be met with,
either of this tradition itfelf, or of its accomplijh-
ment on this occafion.
VERY foon after Jefus had been thus baptized,
we find John publicly bearing witnefs to the truth
of his divine pretenfions. " This is he, of whom
" I fpake, he that cometh after me, is preferred
" before me *, &c." Again, he gives the fame
teftimony to the deputation of Pharifees, whom
the rulers fent purpofely to enquire of him f, who
* John i. 1518. i Idem i. 1928.
he
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
he himfelf was ? But on neither of thefe remarkable
oecafions does he give them the leaft hint of his
having fulfilled any fuch tradition ; to ftrengthen
the authority of his own declarations. And though,
in anfwer to their farther enquiry ; " why he bap^
" tized then, fince he was neither the Chrift, nor
" Elias, nor that prophet?" John took oecaiion
to tell them, that there ftood one among them,
who was fo highly preferred before him ; yet did
he make no mention at all of his having baptized
Jefus ; and much lefs allege this traniaclion, as
the accomplifhment of any received tradition,
concerning the true Mefliah, and his expected
Forerunner.
NAY, when he once actually reminded the
people of the tranfaclion itfclf* ; not a word did
he utter, concerning any tradition, which by this
means had been fulfilled . Jefus him/elf likewife,
when, a long time after this, he put -\ the Jews
in mind of the witnefs which John had borne to
him, w r as as lilent, with regard to the accompliih-
ment of this tradition, as John had been before
him. And even the evangelifts ; whofe frequent
cuftom it is to inform us, that fuch particular
things came to pafs, in order that certain pro-
phecies might be fulfilled ; have neither of them
* John i. 3134, f John v. 32 3S.
made
. 4. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 283
made mention of any tradition as having been ac-
cornplilhccl by this event.
FROM the nature of this tranfaftion then we
muft freely confefs, that John and Jefus could not
be deceivers : becaufe othenvife we mult main-
tain, that they agreed upon this ftep without any
hope or intention of procuring the leaft benefit by
it ; at the fame time, that they could not but ex-
pect, that it would diftracl; and perplex the
people in general about their dijiinti pretenfions;
which it was, above all things, their intereft, to
make them exactly comprehend ; and thus very
greatly obitrucl; the fuccefs of their whole plot.
At leaft there is but one poflible way to avoid this
conclufion. And that is by iuppofmg, that the
ultoniming voice and appearance, which was ob-
fcrved immediately after Jefus was baptized, was
nothing more than the effect of Their exqui-
lite Ikill and cunning : and that the whole affair
was agreed on, merely for the fake of citablifhing
their credit, by t/tis wonderful contrivance. And
indeed, could it be believed, that what happened
on this occafion, might poffibly be the effect of hu-
man contrivance ; no more were to be faid. John
might well baptize Jefus; in order to have an
opportunity of impofing upon the people, with
fo marvellous a deceit, if they could perform it;
how-
284 THE DTVIXE MISSIONS OF Part IIL
however prejudicial to their credit, fuch a ftep mi<?ht
have been, without it.
BUT that this could not poffibly be, is evident
both from the conduct of Jefus, and tiie nature of
the thing.
HAD They contrived and executed fo exquifite a
deception ; Jefus would certainly never after have
appealed to John's teftimony in his favour, without
making particular mention of this miraculous ap-
pearance, at the time, when he was baptized. . He
could not have reminded the Jews of John's anfwer
to the Phariiees, " ye fent unto JOHN, and HE
" bare witnefs of me * ;" without appealing at the
fame time to the fact before us ; fo much more con-
vincing, than every thing elfe, tliat John had ever
witnefled in his favour. He could not have gone
on appealing to his own works, becaufe " they
" were f greater witnefles than that of JOHN ;"
without at the fame time appealing to this miracu-
lous appearance likewife ; which had been fo fuo
cefsfully brought about, at the time when John had
baptized him.
As for the nature of the tiling, we need only
repeat what actually came to pafs to determine
upon it. " Now when all the people were bap-
{ tized, it came to pafs, that Jefus being alib
* John v. 33, f John 3(v
" bap*
. 4. JOHN" r.ATTlST AND JESUS CHRIST. 285
" baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened;
" and the Holy Ghoit defccnded in a bodily ihape,
" like a dove, upon him. And a voice came from
" heaven, which laid, Thou art my beloved fon, in
" thee I am well pleafed *.*' It would be idle to
go about to demonftrate, that if John and Jefiis were
impoftors, they could not have had the whole fyftem
of nature at their difpofal ; could not have caufed
the iky to open before a multitude, and fomething
viiible to defcend from it ; which, after lighting
gently on the head of Jefu$ y remained j" upon him ;
could not have caufed a multitude to hear an articu-
late voice, coining as from heaven upon them.
Thefe were effects evidently beyond the reach of
human contrivance, fuch as the molt artful deceivers
could never entertain the leaft thought of accom-
plifhing.
NOT to iniift therefore on the evidence, which
the miracle Itftlf affords ; a eoniideration entirely
foreign to the defign of this enquiry ; all the con-
clufion we would here draw from it, is, that no
views of contriving fuch a marvellous appearance
as this, could be inftrumental in cauting John
and Jefus to agree, that Jcfus mould come to JO/IH,
iii this manner, and be baptized. Their oun con-
duct has likewife fiiewn, that they certainly did
* Luke iii. 21,22. f John i, 33.
not
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OP Part III.
agree upon this ftep, in order to fulfill any
tradition, that prevailed at that time. And as to
the natural tendency of the tranfaetion itfelf ; that,
we have feen, was fo far from being likely to en-
creafe their credit, that they thernfelves mult have
believed, if it had any effect at all, it would fill
the minds of the people with doubts and fufpi-
cions about them. So that as no reaions whatever
can be prod 1 3d, for their agreeing to act in this
manner, conii ent with the point they had in
view, if they were impoftors * ; and, at the fame
time,
* After what has been fuggefted in this, and the preceding
article, it muft needs become in a very high degree improba-
bly, that John and Jefus could be impoftors ; on this fmgle
account only; that Jefus baptized AS WELL AS John. For
what elfe could impoftors expect to follow, from Jefus'*
baptizing the people, when they had already received the
baptifm of John; and after Jefus hinifclf too had been bap-
ti?ed by him ; but that it would unavoidably make the people
believe that Jcfas himfelf regarded Johns baptifm, as of no
value or importance ; and, befides, by filling their minds with
doubt and perplexity at fo unufual a conduct, be a great,
means of preventing them from ever becoming hearty friends
to their caufe ? Deceivers could expect nothing elfe, by this
means, but to weaken very greatly the authority they had
hitherto acquired ; and at all events to obftruct the fuccefs of
all their joint 'dcfigns. And accordingly thus it happened.
For ibon after Jefus began to baptize the people in Judea
(John iii. 22. ), while John was doing the fame at Enon,
to &iliin (CJ.) ; " There arofe a qucftiou between
Soft. 4. JOHN AXD JESUS CHRIST.
time, muny obvious and important confiderations
occur, which mult have deterred them from it ;
it
" fome of John's difciplcs, and the Jews, about purifying,
(Ibid. 25.). That is, in other words, when the Jews faw Jtfus
baptizing as well as./y^;? ; he whom John had himfelf baptized,
now taking upon liim to rebaptize the difciplcs of John, and
this too without any oppolition from him ; unable to account
for fo imufual a conduct, any other way, they objected to John's
particular followers ; that if Jefiis was empowered to do this,
they mud no longer pretend, that the baptifm of their own
Matter was of any life or importance (See Macknight's Comm.
&dh 21.). That this would be the confequence of their Both
baptizing, in the manner they now did, was fo obvious, that it
js incredible any fuch impottors could have agreed to do fo.
But, even could thiy be thought poilible ; it in uft at leaft be
allowed, that they would have taken care to furnilh their own
immediate follun'(.rs t with fuch an anfwer to this obvious and
material objection ; as might enable Them, at any time, to
filence the fcruples of the people about it. If they could not
do this, they would have laid afide the defign. But even this
too they certainly did not do ; for Johns difcipk-s, it appears,
were unable to give an anfwer to the objection ; and came to
their matter complaining, " Rabbi, he that was with thce be-
" yond Jordan, to whom thou bareft witncfs, behold, the fame
" baptizeth, and all men come unto him." Thus remarkably
docs every particular in the conduct of John and Jefus contri-
bute to prove, that they could not pofTibly be deceiver*.
"What has here been obferved will likewile ierve to illuftrato
very greatly the truth of the conclulion eftablifhed in the firtt
feftion of this Part , from the contidvration, that John nevcr
at*
288 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
t
it muft be confeffed, that Jtfuss coming to John,
and being baptized by him, in the manner he was,
is indeed a very itrong collateral proof, that they
could not be deceivers.
Attempted to perform any miraculous works. The only fuppo-
fition capable of being there made, though at the fame time it
provccj abfolutely groundlefs, fo reconcile that facl with the
exiftence of an impofture, was, that John might refrain from
working wonders, for fear of diftracYmg the judgement of the
people between Jefus and Hiinfclf. But now, when we fee that
John baptized Jefus, and yet Jefus rebaptized the difciples of
John; a practice which it was obvious, could not fail to fill the
minds of the people with doubts and perplexity about them ;
this facl alone is diffident to convince us, it could not have been
agreed between them, that John mould deprive himfelfof ib
great an advantage, as that of working nonrJcrs, upon any fucli
SEC-
. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 289
SECTION V.
John's anfwer to the deputation from the Sanke*
drim ; and a particular in Jefus s conduct rela-
tive to it*
W HEN John had now continued to mew him-
felf to the people, for fome fpace 6f time, and
very foon after his baptizing Jefus, in the mariner
we have juft now feen; fuch an opportunity of-
fered itfelf to him, of making known his divine
pretenfions to the very chief of the people; and
preparing the way for Jefus, who was now be-
ginning to appear ; as, had they been joint de-
ceivers, John muft have been extremely defirous
to obtain.
" THE Jews * fent Priefts and Levites from
" Jerufalem ;" to Bethabara beyond Jordan,
where John was then baptizing ; " to alk him,
<; who art thou?'' and it will be well worth our
while to obferve how he conducted himfelf upon
this critical occalion. " And he confefled, and
" denied not, but confefled I am not the Chrift.
" And they aiked him, what then? Art thou
* John i. If) '28,
U "Elias?
30 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part 1IL
" Elias? And he faith, I am not Art thou that
" Prophet? and he anfwered, no. Then faid they
" unto him, who art thou ? that we may give an
" anfwer to them that fent u&. What fay eft thou
" of thyfelf ? He faid, I am the voice of one cry-
" ing in the wildernefs, make ftraight the way of
" the Lord ; as faid the prophet Efaias. And they,
" which were fent, were of the Pharifees. And
" they aiked him, and faid unto him ; why bap-
" tizeft thou then ; if thou be not that Chrift,
" nor Elias, neither that Prophet? John anfwered
" them, faying; I baptize with water: but there
" itandeth One among you, whom ye know not ;
" he it is, wlio, coming after me, is preferred be-
" fore me ; whole ilioes latchet I am not worthy to
" unloofe."
WHEN it is coniidered, who thofe perfoiis were,
with whom we iind 'John, on this occaiion engaged;
it will readily be feen, in what manner an impoftor,
in his circumftances, muft have behaved. Inftead
of being carnally applied to by fonie of the multi-
tude ; he was now addreffed by deputies fent pur-
polely from the rulers themfelves: and thefe too
uc;t iiidifcriininately appointed, but Priefts and
Leslies; men of knowledge and Ikill in all facred
matters ; and in fine, men of the rnoft reputed and
tkilful fecb, Pkanfccs. Inftead of being aiked for
his inftruciion in an eafy point of fpiritual advice;
the
. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 291
the qneftion, to which they required an immediate
and categorical anfwer, was no lefs than this;
what particular divine character he pretended to
affume ?
QUESTIONED upon fo important a point, by
thofe who were belt able to judge of the truth of
his pretenfions, and would certainly examine them
with the utmoft rigour ; by thofe likewife, who
were capable of being his moft ferviceable friends ;
but otherwife were fure to be his moft potent
and inveterate enemies ; in what manner muft
John, if an impoftor, have replied to their de-
mands ? To give no determinate anfwer to fuch an
embaily, after having taken upon him to baptize.
the people, and utter prophecies ; would have
been betraying the caufe he was embarked in, and
a tacit confeffion of his deceit. He rnuft therefore
have declared, what divine character he took upon
him.
HE would likewife have employed all his art
and ingenuity, not in enumerating only, but in
illuftrating all thofe proofs he had been able to
devife, for the foundation of his pretenfions ; and
in urging them to the beft advantage. And as
lie very well knew, that thefe deputies from the
Pharifees came prepoffeffed againft him ; if he was
able to allege any circumftances, likely to remove
their perfonai prejudices, he could not have ne-
U & glefted
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part I IF.
glected to throw in thefe likewife ; in order to in-
duce them- to examine the proofs, on which he
refted his claim to infpiration, with more candor
and impartiality than he could otherwife expect.
This attack was what he muft have looked for,
from the beginning ; and therefore muft have been
long provided with his anfwer. And the oppor-
tunity it afforded him, to try what could be done
with the chief priejts and pharifees ; if not to de-
ceive, at leaft to puzzle and confound them ; was
what he could by no means have neglected.
THUS, had John been a deceiver, when he re-
ceived this embafiy from the rulers, his firft care
would naturally have been, to turn the facred pro-
feffion of the meffengers themlelves, as well as
thofe who lent them, to his own advantage; by
making them conceive of Himfdf with more re-
fpect than before. To this end he would have re-
minded them, that He too was by birthright a
prieft of the God of Ifrael, as well as themfelves ;
and the fon, of no lefs honourable a prieft, than
Zacharias ; who muft yet have been well remem-
bered among them ; and who had lived and died
with the reputation of unblermihed virtue and in-
tegrity.
THEN he would have recounted to them at
large, all thofe aftoniihing events that had hap-
pened to his Parents : or at leaft were by many
be-
. 5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 293
believed to have happened to them ; from Zacha-
r/tfA-'.v lois of fpccch in tlie temple, to his recovery
of it again, at the time of his own circumciiion.
And he would have referred them to the neigh-
bourhood where Zacharias had lived, and where
all theie things had been noifed abroad at the very
time, for a full confirmation of the truth of all he
advanced. Above all, he would certainly have
given them a very particular account, both of the
Angel's, and his Fathers prophecy, concerning
Hnnjl'lf; as thefe predictions were the ible foun-
dation of whatever he might pretend to ; and very
minutely pointed out that particular character, in
which he now appeared. *!
SUCH would certainly have been the anfwer of
John to the Priefts and Levites, had he been a
deceiver. But John, it appears, adopted quite a
contrary part. He declined making ufe of even
thofe fair and obvious means in his power, to re-
move, or at leait leflen, their prejudices againft
him. He choie to fupprcfs ; for on this occafion
it was irnpoffible for him to forget ; all thofe mar-
vellous events, which were believed to have accom-
panied his conception and birth ; and which, if
lie was a deceiver, muft have been the only, and
long-laid foundation of all his prefent attempts.
Nay, he not only refufed to allege Zacharias s^
and the Angel's prophecies in his own behalf; but
U 5 even
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part IIJ,
ven anfwered the meflfengers in fiich a manner
as he knew rnight be interpreted by the pharjfees,
and indeed by any one, to be contradictory to
them.
THE angel, it had been publicly affirmed, had
foretold to Zackarias, (i that * John mould go be-
" fore the Lord, in the fpirit and power of Elias."
But when the meffengers put the queftion to John
himfelf, tf Art thou Elias?" What anfwer did John
give? Hefaid, " I am not,"
Now it is true indeed the Jews in general CK-
pected, that Eilas'\ the Tlftiblte, himfelf; he, who
had been fo diftinguifhed a prophet among them,
above eight hundred years before ; was to be the
identical perfon, who would appear again to umer
in the Mcffiah. And confequently, as the meffen-
gers, by their queftion, meant to aik John, whe^
ther he was " that very Elias;' J John, fmce he
knew their meaning, might very truly declare, " he
" was not." But for this very reafon, fince the
Jews in general expe&ed Ellas himfelf to come
again ^ and not any other perfon, in a character
fimilar to his ; it was plain, that all who had ever
heard of the revelations given out at John's birth,
inight have underftood them as fpoken immediately
* LuTce i. 17-
f See VVhitby on Matthew xi. 14* Lightfoot, TL 522, 183,
200- and I. 522. Pocock on Micah iv. 5.
Pi
Se&. 5, JOIIX BAPTIST AND JESL'S CHRIST.
of Eli cu> himfelf; and, confcquently. ;
fider Johns anfwer, upon this occafion, i6TBJc"i!y
contradictory to them. And even fuch as ru
iieard of tiic Angel's prophecy to Zacharias, might
probably conlider this anhvcr as a plain declara-
tion from John himfelf, that the office of Ellas be-
longed not to ///>;;. Nor was it pofliblc for John
himfelf to have been ignorant of this, or IK,
of it
CAN it then be conceived, that an impoftor,
laying claim to tkis very character and otfkr,
would have given an embatly of the phariiees fuch
an anfwer as this, to an enquiry which ftruck di-
recHy at the very foundation of all his claims? Or
could the fame deceiver, who mult have been ib
extremely deiirous to be like Elias> in hi.s wliol<
appearance and conducl, as even to imitate him
in the particularity of his drcfs * itlelf ; could ll<
fend the prieits back with fuch an anfwer to the
rulers, as he well knew would appear to them, to
be an utter difclaiming of all connection with L
character and othcc of Elh>.
IT was tii Jhcd opinion, that Elian niuil
iirlt come. If therefore John was only a deceiver,
liis intention mult have been, either to pais io,
that very Elicit, whom the whole nation throir
* Si r note, p. Cj4.
\' 4 iuif;
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
miftake expected ; or he muft have defigned to
convince the Jews, that they mifunderftood the
prophecies concerning Ellas; and that He himfelf,
though not that very Elias, whom they expected,
and afked him after ; was in fact the very perfon
foretold under his name. Any pretender to the
character of Ellas was under an abfolute neceffity
of adopting one, or the other, of thefe plans.
IF he plainly denied himfelf to be the perfon,
whom they all expected; and at the fame time
made ufe of no endeavours to convince them, that
they expected a perfon, who really was not to ap-
pear ; it is evident he did not try to procure him-
felf the leaft chance for fuccefs. The only confe-
quence of this conduct could be no other than
this ; that his prefent pretenfions, as well as all
that had been before publilhed about him, would
be regarded as the effect of artifice and impofture.
His feeming to them to deny himfelf to be
either of thofe perfons, whom the Jews expected
to appear, before the coming of the Mejfiah him-
felf; joined to his giving them a very mort ac-
count of what he really pretended to be ; could
not but contribute very greatly to prevent both the
rulers and the people from believing in him, as
the Meffiatis Forerunner; and confequently, to-
tally prevent his teftimony from inducing them
to
5. JOHN BAPTIST AND JKSUS CHRIST. 297
to receive Je/iis in the character of the Meffiah
VIEW the thing in whatever light we can; is
it not utterly incredible, that a counterfeit of the
Meffiatis Forerunner Ihould not profit himfelf of
the univerfal perfuaiion ; by pretending to be that
very Ellas, whom the whole Jewifh people was al-
ready difpo fed to acknowledge anci believe? That
he fliould refufe to apply fo important a prepoflef-
fion to the furtherance of his own impolture, which
was abfolutely grounded upon it, is on all confi-
derations clearly incredible ; but certainly, not to
conform in this point, to the univerfal belief and
expectation ; and yet, at the fame time, to ufe no
means whatever to remove it ; would have been
conduct fo apparently abfurd in an impoftor, as,
we cannot hefitate to pronounce, no impoftor could
purfue * f
Ho
* At the fame time it is certain, that Johns denying him-
felf to be EUaSj on this occafion, is perfectly confident with
his true character, if he was really the divine Forerunner of
the Meffiah. " That the Baptijl, on being aflced if he was
FMas, fhould have anfwerv.d in the negative, needs not to be
thought ftrange ; if the pcrfons, who put the qucftion to him,
believed, that Elias, the Tijhbite, was coming perfonally from
heaven to ufher in the Meffiah. For though the name of Elias
did truly belong to John ; Malachi having called him thereby;
he was not the prfon whom the people expefted, and the priefts
meant,
THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part II J.
HOWEVER, for a moment let us neglect this
confideration, and turn to a particular in the con-
duit of Jefus, which relates immediately to this of
John.
WHATEVER character John publicly affumed,
or denied ; this at leaft is certain, that if Jeftis and
He were joint deceivers ; and we have feen long
ago, that they muft have been confederates, or
no impoftors at all ; Jcfus could never fpeak of
Johns peculiar divine character, in fuch a man-
ner, as he knew would, in all probability, be inter-
preted, as directly contradictory to what John had
meant, when they afked him, art thou Elias? ?" Macjpight's.
Comnu fed. 18. note.
'* Ills meaning therefore is only this : I am not that Elias
in perfon, whom you expeft ; nor am I fuch a prophet as, in
the clays of the Meffiah, you expeil to rife from the dead."
Whitby on Matthew xi. 14. from Pocock, vol. I. p. 193. It
is plain therefore, that if John had anfwered, he was Elias;
he muft iikewife have taken pains to fliew the priefts, that they
were miftaken in their notions of that Elias, who was to come.
But to attempt convincing the Sanhedrim, that they were mif-
taken in the notions of that prophet, whom they lent to aflc
him, whether He was; was what the true Forerunner of the
Median, might well know would be fruitlefs and vain. He
therefore referred this deputation of the priefts, and through
them the whole Sanhedrim, from whom they came, to Ifaia/i,
for a true account of his Office ; and left them to the honcft
life of thofe lights they were poiVefled of, to determine who
fee was.
faM
Sect. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AND JEStJS CHRIST. 299
faid of himfelf. Johns denying himfelf to be
JZlias in the manner he did, was a particular of
fuch confequence, as he could not have deter-
mined to put in practice, without Jefus s know-
ledge and eonfent. When therefore John had de-
clared, that he was not Ellas ; had they been im-
poftors, Jefiis could not afterwards have affirmed,
that he was. Yet this, it appears, Jefus actually
did.
JOHN, as we have juft ieen, declared to the
priefts, without any particular explanation of his
meaning, that he was not Elias : and adding only,
that he was the voice of one crying in the wil-
dernefs, as laid the prophet Efaias ; left them to
determine farther about him, by themfelves. But
fome time after this, upon occafion of Jefus' s re-
ceiving from him a very remarkable meffage, by
two of his difciples ; Jefus took the opportunity to
defcant very minutely upon the real character of
John. And after having affirmed, " that among
" all, \vho were born of women, there had not
M arifen a greater prophet than John the Baptift ;"
he clofed his remarkable account of him, with
this moft emphatical declaration : " And, if ye
" will receive it, this is ELIAS WHICH WAS FOR
" TO COME. He that hath ears to hear, let him
" hear*."
* Matthew si. 14, 15.
NOTHING
300 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part ILL
NOTHING could be more emphatical, than this
declaration ; nor, according to the notion, which
the people entertained of Ellas, could any affer-
tiori feem more contradictory, to what John had
faid of himfelf. True indeed it is, that John was
not thaP Elias, about whom he was queftioned j
and equally true, that he was that Ellas who was
for to come. So that there was no real inconfif-
tency between what Jefus laid of John, and what
He had before faid of himfelf. But to the people,
John and Jefus were well apprized, that in this
there rauft appear a plain contradiction, ib long
as they retained their prefent opinion of Ellas.
Nor could they therefore, if . impoftors, have af-
ierted any thing of ib much confequence, in terms,
which they knew, might be thought contradictory
to each other ; without at the fame time ufmg
fuch arguments, as they mult have prepared for
this very purpofe, to convince the Jews, that
they had taken up a falfe opinion of that Ellas,
who was indeed to come before the arrival of the
Meffiah.
FOR what could they expect the people to think,
if they mould think at all upon the matter, coi>
cerning two pretenders to divine infpiration and
authority ; who feemed to them plainly to con-
tradict each other; and this too, in a point- of
no lefs importance, than the very nature of that
pro-
S<?ct. j. JOHN BAPTIST AND JF.SUS CHRIST. 301
prophetical character, which One of them affumed ;
and upon the reality of which, his evidence, in
favour of the other, depended ? However this
ieeming contradiction did, in fact, pafs unobferved ;
in the nature of the thing itfelf, it was very highly
improbable, that both prieits and people ihould
all overlook it. Nor can any fuppofition be
much more incredible than this ; that two the
moft fubtil pretenders to divine infpiration, lliould
deliberately refolve to run the hazard of fuch
a feeming material contradiction ; and, for no
end whatever, furriifh every one with fo linking an
argument for rejecting them., as convicted impof-
tors.
IN ihort, John, who replied to the embaffy of
the priefts in fuch a manner, as he knew, would
appear to them to be a refufal of any of thofe cha-
racters, in fome one of which, he likewife knew,
the whole nation expected the MeffiaKs Forerunner
to appear; and yet did not fo much as intimate
to them, that they themfelves had formed any er-
roneous expectations about him ; could not be
the crafty affociate of a counterfeit Meffiah. Nor
could Jefus, who exprefsly attributed fuch a title
to John, as he knew might appear a plain con-
tradiction to the teftimony, that John had already
given of himfelf ; be a pretended Meffiah, acting
in concert with John ; who was to prepare his way
before
302 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
before him, by aiTuming the part of his Fore-
runner *.
* Befides what has been faid to mew, that if Jo/in and Jrfus
had been impoftors, the On,e could not have refufed the cha-
racter of Elias, nor the Other have afterwards attributed it to
him ; without at the fame time entering into a particular ex-
planation of the exaft character, which they meant by that
name ; it is well worth our notice, that Jefus's manner of
fpeaking, on this occafion ; " if ye will receive it, this is Ellas,
which was for to come;" plainly mews, that he thought the
people would not believe John was the true FJias ; and yet at
the fame time we find, that he took no pains to convince them
that he really was. What could be more oppofite than this to
the ucceffary conduct of an impoltor ?
SEC-
Sel. (J. JOfl:* BAPTIST AND JESU3 CHRIST. 303
SECTION VI.
A very peculiar character and office afcribed to
Jefus by John.
OO inconteftable does the divine infpiration of
John and Jefus appear, that there is fcarce a
word or action recorded of the Former ; which,
upon a clofer infpecHon, will not furniih us with
fome ftrong collateral proof of the integrity of
Both ; by multiplying the abfurdities, that mufl
follow, from fuppofmg them to have been irnpof-
tors.
THE next day; after the priefts and levites had
been fent by the Sanhedrim, to enquire vi John,
who he was ; " John feeth Jefus coming unto
" him, and faith ; behold the LAMB of God,
" which taketh away the fins of the world *.
" And again, the next day after, John ftood, and
" two of his difciples ; and looking upon Jefus,
" as he walked, he faith, behold the LAMB of
" Godf."
Now had John and Jefus been deceivers, it is
evident, that all fuch remarkable declarations of
i. 29. t Bd; 35 : , 36.
Either,
304 THE DIVINE MISSIONS O^ Part IlL
Either, concerning the peculiar divine character
and office of the Of her, muft have been firft fe-*
cretly agreed on between them; with a view of
promoting their reception, in thofe particular cha-^
rafters, which they thought fit to afcribe, in this
mariner, to Each Other. And this obfervation is
the more particularly applicable to the inftance
before us ; becaufe the very peculiar character
here given to Jefus, by his ailbciate, made no part
of any of thofe divine revelations, which were
given out, as having preceded, and accompanied
his birth. So that, as none of thofe prophecies
were at all concerned in the cafe, which they might
think themfelves under a neceffity to fulfill ; it
muft have been merely the benefits they expected
to arife, from publicly giving Jefus this very re-
markable appellation, that could induce them to
agree to do it.
Is it poffible then, that Johns unexpected and
repeated declaration of this new part of Jefus s
character, now before us, could be agreed on
between them, from the hopes of any advantages
to be derived from it? Could it be thought ca-
pable of inclining the Jews to receive Jefus the
more readily for the true Mejfiah? The cha-
racter here afcribed to Jefus, that of " the
" Lamb of God, which taketh away the fins of
" the world;" evidently and directly alluded to
the
Se&. 6. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 305
the daily facrifices offered up in the temple at Jeru-
falem, for the whole people ; as well as the reft of
t\\Q Jin-offer ings appointed in the Je\villi law *. In
all which the death ofthcvi&kn was reprefented as
the means, by which the fin of thofe, for whom it
was offered, was taken away : for, in the Jewiih law,
without Jhedding of blood there was no reimflion^.
IF therefore any notice fhould be taken of this
remarkable character afcribed by the Baptift to
Jefus ; which, from its novelty, it was highly pro-
bable there would ; as Johns repetition of it plainly
ihewed, he was very defirous there might ; it was
impoffible, for the Jews to put any other interpreta-
tion upon it, than this ; that Jefus was one day to
be publicly put to death, as an atonement for the
fins of all.
BUT was this fuch an account of the defign of
Jefuis coming into the world, as an impoftor
could imagine, would make the Jews more ready
to receive him, for their long-promifed J\Ic[]lah ?
Or even, was this fuch a catajlrophe, as would cor-
refpond with the received interpretation of thofe
prophecies, that had been given out concerning
Jefus, at the time of his birth ? In particular,
ee Lightfoot and Whitby on the place. Lewis's I Jeb,
. b. iv. ch. 4 and 0'.
iult' to the Hebrews, ix. 2^.
X could
S06 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III*
could Jefus imagine, that the Jews would confider
this as an accompliihment of that predi&ion ; that
he fhould free them from all their enemies, and lit
on the throne of his father David? The contrary is
too notorious to admit of queftion.
How then was it poffible, that the falfe Fore-
runner of a pretended Mej)lali> could fet himfelf to
inculcate into the people, fitch an opinion con-
cerning his AiTociate's real character and defigns,
as was alone fufficient, Ihould they believe it, to
jnake them immediately reject him ? Or what could
be more oppofite to every conceivable defign, an
impoftgr could entertain ; and coniequently, what
more impoffible for an impoitor to do j than to take,
pains to make the people believe, that the very mo*
tive and defign of all his actions was, to procure
Jitmfelf to be put to death ? This furely, if any thing
could be fo, muft have been impoffible : and there-
fore, neither John, who afcribed this character and
office to Jefus ; nor Je/iis, whofe reception and fuc*
cefs it fa immediately concerned, could poffibly be
a Receiver,
SEC
. f. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 307
SECTION VII.
A remarkable particular in John's covduft to
Herod, cotijidercd in its relation to Jefus.
J[ HE cvangeliits have not exprcfsly informed
us, how long John continued preaching in public
and baptizing the people. But thus much is cer-
tain, that the purity of his doctrine, and the fanc-
tity of his life, had procured him the higheft eitecm
and veneration ; as well with Herod himfeli, as the
whole people ; while he was lull publicly converfant
with them.
WHAT opinion Herod had of his integrity, and
how great an influence John had over him, we
learn from the evangelift Mark; who has not
fcrupled to aiiert, " that Herod feared John,
" knowing that he was a jutt man, and an holy ;
" and obierved him ; and when he heard him, he
11 did many things, and heard him gladly *." No
ftronger proof can be defired, of that great
veneration which Herod had conceived for him,
* Mark vi. 20.
X thaiX
308 THE DIVINE MISSIONS QF J?art III.
than his being pleafed with, and liftening to, thp
advice of One in a ftation of life ib very far below
him, as the Eaptift.
AND how univerfal his authority was with the
people, is evident from the conduct of the prielts
who, fome time after his death, were afraid the
people would have ftoned them, ihould they venr
ture to fay he was an impoftor *. Jofephus like-
wife makes honourable mention }* of him, as one
who taught the people the neceffity of virtue and
true holinefs ; and adds, that his influence over
them was fo great, that Herod himfelf was fearful
of him, left he ihould excite a revolt ; and therefore
confined him ?
POSSESSED of fuch credit both witji the prince
and the people, what conduct would the fecret;
slfjociate of a pretended MerTiah, at this time, have
purfticd ? I Jefus, who aiTumed the character of
the Meffiak himfdf\ had not appeared fo long on
the public ftage ; his credit remaiped yet to be
tftabliihed and upon his fliccefs, at laft, inuft
the eveiit of their joint undertaking unavoidably
depend. The crafty For cr miner therefore wou!4
vow, rnqre than ever, haye employed all* his art,
to keep that influence he }iad already acquired;
^t once, cunningly inftilling into the people fuclj
f f^ukc xx. 6. t See note, p. 2S< 2p.
potions
;. F. JOHN BAPTIST Axb JESUS CHRIST. 309
notions as were beft calculated to ferve his fecret
defigns ; and practifing every artifice upon Herod
to preferve his protection and kindnefs uninterrupted.
The more popular he was, the more cautious he
would certainly have been of incurring Herod's
jealoufy, or diipleaiure ; for fear of blaiting at once
all their preconcerted defigns, when they were, at
length, in Ib fair a way for fuccefs.
BUT how oppoiite to all this, was the conduct of
John the Bapti/h At this critical point of time, in
this peculiar lituation ; when both his own, and his
Cotijedcrates iuterelt ablblutely required him to act
in the manner juit defcribed ; he even proceeded to
reprove Herod himfclf, for the wickednefs of his
life ; and charged him with the unlawfulnefs of his
jnolt darling pleafures, in fo particular an inftance ;
his marriage with Herodias *, his brother Philip's
wife; that he could expect nothing lefs in return,
from Herod's violence of temper, and Herudiass
influence, than impriforiment and death. And
accordingly we find, that Herod immediately im-
prifoned John, on account of Herodias ; as well
as, according to Jofephus, for fear he might attempt
to bring on a revolt : and Herodias, as it was na-
tural to expect Ihe would, foon after accomplifhed
his death.
* Mark vi. 17, IS, ip.
X 3 Ax
310 THE DIVIXE MISSIONS OF Part III
AN importer, in John?, particular fituation,
could not but have reflected, at the firft thought of
fo dangerous a ftep, as that which occafioned
Johns death ; that it was not his own immediate
afllftance only, of which his A/Jbclate would be
deprived, by his deftrucli'on ; though this alone
\vould have been fufficient to prevent him from
adopting it. But he would befides have confi-
dered, that his own imprifomnent and death,
would probably flrike fuch a panic into the
people ; however zealous they had before been in
his favour ; as would reftrain them from liftening
afterwards to Je fits'; or paying the fame regard,
they might other wife have done, to his preten-
fions.
NAY nothing was more probable, than that
Johns public in iniitry being put to fo ignominious
an end, would even deftroy that good opinion of
John himfelf, which they had hitherto entertained ;
and induce them to believe that, notwithstanding
his fair ontfide, he could be no better than an im-
poftor. For by what arguments could John think
it was poffible, that the Jews could perfuade them-
felves, he was really fent to be the divine Forerunner
of this triumphant Meffiah ; when they ftiould have
feen him feized, by Herod's order, imprifoned, and
put to death ?
BESIDE
Sect. 7. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 311
BESIDE therefore Johns regard to his own fuc-
cefs, his liberty, and even his life itfelf; which
no impoftor can be thought defirous of expofing
to certain dcftruclion, for no reafon ; his connec-
tion with Jefus, if they were deceivers, and the
neceflary dependance of Both upon the mutual
fuccefs and afliftance of Each Other ; muft un-
queftionably have reftrained John from provoking,
at this time, the inveterate hatred of Herodias ; and
drawing on himfelf Herod's violent fufpicion and
difpleafure. So that the remarkable behaviour of
John, in this important particular, and at fo
critical a conjuncture *, affords us one of the
ftrongeft
* Here we cannot but take notice of a very remarkable
particular in Jtfus's conduct, which is clofely connected with
what has juft been confidered in John's. No Iboner was Jefus
informed, that Herod had thrown Jo/in into prifon ; than He
quitted Jiidca, and went into Galilee. (See Matthew iv. 12.
to the end ; and Mark i. 14. to the end :) and travcrfing it all
over; as well that part of it, which was under Herod's jurif-
clidion, as that under Philip's (Matthew iv. 23. Mark i. 3p.) ;
he there began firft to preach continually to the people ;
elected feverai of his difciples to accompany him wherever h
went : performed the mod aftoniflitng works ; and drew the
attention of the whole country upon him. But had Jefus and
the Baptiji been afi'ociutc impoftors, nothing feems more im-
probable, than that J< fits fhould tingle out this particular
time ; and the dominions of that particular prince, who had
Mift then imprifoucd his partner in the fame wicked im
X 4
312 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part
ftrongeft prefumptive proofs imaginable, that neither
He nor Je/us could poffibly be deceivers.
pofturc ; in order the refirjl to make trial of all his devices ;
procure more alfociatcs ; and, attended by them, to draw the
multitude about with him, from all parts of the country. la
an impoilor, this would have been voluntarily feeking the fame
fate, that his Forerunner had but juil experienced ; and in
reality provoking Herod to put an end,, at once, to all their
joint machinations. But this is what n irnpoftor whatever can
be fuppofed defirous to have done.
Sett, 8; JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 315
SECTION VIIL
JohnV very remarkable meffage to Jefus con*
fukred.
j\ O fooner was John caft into prifon, than
Jefus began to preach in a more public manner
than before. Very foon after this, he felected his
twelve difciples, to accompany him wherever he
went ; and excited the attention of the whole
people, by healing all difeafes, and even railing the
dead to life.
WHEN behold, after fome time fpent in thefe
employments, he was addrefled before all the
people, by a deputation from John. For " the
" difciples of John fhevved him all thefe things ;
" having accefs to him, where he was ftill con-
" fined. And John calling unto him two of his
" difciples, fent them unto him, faying; art
" Thou he that ihould come, or look we for
" another? When the men were come unto him,
" they faid , John Baptift hath fent us to thee,
c< faying, art thou he that could come, or look
" we for another ? And in that fame hour He
41 cured many of their infirmities and plagues,
*' and of evil fpirits, and unto many that were
" blind
314 THE DIVINE MISSIONS Off Part
" blind he gave fight* Then Jefus anfwering faid
" unto them ; go your way, and tell John, what
" things ye have feen and heard :, how that the
" blind fee, the lame walk, the lepers are cleanfed,
" the deaf hear, the dead are railed, to the poor
" the gofpel is preached. And bleffed is he, who-
41 foever iliall not be offended in me *.
HERE we muft again recollect, that if John and
Jefus were importers, Neither of them could take
any public ftep, that might at all affect the credit of
the Other, unlefs it had been before agreed on be-
tween them. Nor could they even agree to put in
practice any contrivance of this nature, but fuch as
they thought would ferve to impofe upon the people
more effectually, and eftablifh their credit more
firmly than before.
HERE therefore the queftion immediately pre-
fents itfelf; whether, if John and Jefus had been
deceivers, this molt extraordinary meffage from
the Baptfl to Jcfus, could poflibly be agreed on
between them, from any hopes of .its promoting
the authority of Either ? If, on the contrary, the
obvious, natural, and only poffible effect of it
mult have been, exciting the people to call in
queftion the veracity of Both ; this unexpected
mejjagc will furniih us with another convincing ar-
* Luke vii. IS 23.
gument
8. JOHN BAPTIST AXD JESUS CHRIST. 31$
gument of the truth of Jefuss divine character, as
well as that of his Forerunner. *
COULD it then be the reputation of Jcfus, which
they were in hopes of advancing, by means of this
public deputation from John ? Nothing can be
more certain, than that the only probable effect of
this contrivance ; mould it have any effect at all ;
mult have been, to undermine, inftead of eftabliih-
ing and encreafing, whatever degree of credit Jcfus
had yet been able to acquire. John, we know, was
at this time, in pofieffion of an eftablilhed and uni-
verfal authority. Though the people had not agreed
upon any particular divine character to afcribe to
him ; all were thoroughly convinced that his cha-
racter was really divine ; all believed him to be a
prophet ; and held him in the higheft eiteem and
veneration.
THUS perfuaded of Johns divine character, as
both Jcfus and lie well knew the people were ;
ivhat influence inuft They themielves expect it
would have upon the general opinion of Jefus*
lliould the people find John fending his own dif-
ciples purpofely to declare, as it were, in public,
that John himfclf was not fatisfied of the truth of
Jefus*s divine pretenfions ! It is obvious that, as
far as Johns authority could influence the opinion
of the people, this ftep could only ferve to pre-
sent any one from becoming a difciple of Jefus,
who
316 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part
who was not fo already ; and to bring his af-
fumed character "into fufpicion even with thole
who were*
WAS it poflible then for this contrivance to
have been agreed on, with a view to increafe the
credit of John hbnfelf? So far from it, that they
mutt certainly have expelled, it would be attended
with atleaft as fatal an influence upon his own repu-
tation, as that of Jefus. John had before publicly
borne fuch pofitive .and repeated teftimony, to
Jefuis divine nature, and particular character;
that thofe of the dulleft apprehenlions might be
expelled to condemn him at once, for an evident
and moft barefaced impoftor ; ihould he now, after
all, begin to profefs himfeif, in the leaft, doubtful
about him,
HE it was, who from the beginning had de>
clared, that " the law was given by Mofes ; but
grace and truth came by JESUS CHRIST *." He it
was, who had long before cried out, more than
once; " Behold the LAMB of God, which taketh
" away the fins of the world. This is HE of
" whom I faid, after me cometh a man, which
" is preferred before me ; for he was before me.
" And I knew him not ; but that he mould be
" made manifeit to Ifrael : therefore am I come
;* John i. 17
" bap-
S. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESL'S CHRIST. 317
" baptizing with water. And John bare record,
" laying; I law the .Spirit defceiuling from heaven
" like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I
" knew him not : but he that lent me to baptize
" with water, the lame laid unto me ; upon whom
" thou limit lee the Spirit defeending, and rc-
" ma in ing on him, THE SAMK is HE who bap-
" tizeth with the Holy Gholt. And I law and
" bare record, that THIS is the Son of God*,
tf And he that believeth on the Son hath ever-
" lafting life ; and he that believeth not the Son,
" Qmll not fee life : but the wrath of God abideth
" on him f,"
AFTER fach peremptory and repeated declara-
tions as thefe ; which,- if true, place Jefuss dj-
vine miffion and cliaracl;er beyond doubt ; but,
i falfe, mult have been falfehoods, which John,
at the very time of declaring them, knew to be
fuch ; after all thefe declarations, what opinion
muft he now have expected the Jews would form
of his onTi integrity ; when, after all, they fhould
find him publicly declaring himfclf imfatisfied of
the truth of Je/iiss pretensions ? And in no other
fenfe whatever could they be expected to inter-
pret the queftion before us; thus publicly put.
Jo Jefus, in Johns own nanie ; and by his own
f Mn i, 2031. f Idem, iii. 36.
difciples.
318 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part IIL
difciples. " John Baptift hath fent us to thee,
" faying ; art Thou he that fhould come, or look
" we for another ?"
THE only conclufion the people could be ex-
pected to draw, from the itrong appearance of a
contradiction of fo flagrant a nature ; in one, who
had fo often pretended to pronounce Je/uis
divine character, by actual in fpi ration ; was evi-
dently this : That John himfelf had hitherto de-
luded them by his fpecious pretences; and that
lie, and whoever was connected with him, muft
be an errant impoltor. This was fo obvious a
confequence of the meftage before us, mould it
be taken notice of at all; and mould it not, it
could certainly do them no good; that it muft have
occurred to every one, and more efpecially to two
fo artful deceivers, upon the firft propofal of fuch
aftep.
IT is therefore utterly incredible they could
agree together before hand, that John mould fend
a deputation to Jefiis with fuch a meffage as This.
Let us invent as many fecret caufcs as we are able,
to account for it ; none can ever make it poflible to
have been the contrivance of two pretenders to
divine infpiration ; after that public and remark^
able teftimonV, which Jefus had already fo often
received . from John. After that, the manifeft
and
Se6il. 8. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 319
and direct tendency of it conld be no other, than to
blalt effectually the reputation of Both.
NAY, couid we even hit on any device, that
might fccm to aniwer the purpofe, it would not be
allowable to urge it : becaufe Je fits' s conduct, on
tliis occctfion, clearly {hews, that, if he was an im-
poftor, he Limielf knew of none.
HAD they themfelves provided any cunning
expedient for this end ; Jefus would certainly have
made, ufe of it, immediately after he had given
his anfwer to the menage itfelf; to prevent the
people from drawing from it the moft natural
conclufions, to the utter difcredit both of John
and Hiwjelf. No fooner would Johns difciples
have left him, to return to their mafter ; than we
fliould have found 'Jefus artfully preventing thofe
fufpicions, that muft otherwife be expected to
fpring up, in the minds of many, who had heard
the meflage delivered ; by infmuating fome plau-
fible pretence, to account for Johns, fending his
difciples, at this time, to make fo Jirangc an
enquiry.
BUT Jcfus y on the contrary, alleged nothing of
this kind. And though the doubting meffage,
which the people had heard, could have no other
effect, than to make them conclude, that John
was certainly unable to point out the true Meffiah,
fljould he actually appear ; Jcjus took this oppor-
tunity,
320 THE DIVIXE MISSIONS OF Part II L
tunity, while the found of Johns meffage was fcarce
out of their ears, to aflert, that " John was THAT
" VERY meffenger, who was to go before the
" Meffiah's face, to prepare his way before him;
" and, if they would receive it, he was ELIAS
f( which was for to come." Adding, to clofe the
whole with the greateft folemnity ; "he that hath
ears to hear, let him hear *."
WHAT conclufion now muft we be forced to
draw, from a conduct, on both fides, in every
refpe6fc fo unaccountable as this ? If, indeed, Jefus
was the true Meffiah, and John his real Fore-
runner ; all this is very poffible to have come to
pafs. They, who were accomplishing the eternal
counfels of God, by fulfilling a variety of explicit
prophecies ; in fuch a manner, as to afford man-
kind the moft ample proof of their divine miflions ;
and yet fo as to leave them to their own voluntary
and free conviction ; it is to be expected, mult
have conducted themfelves, on feveral occafions,
in a manner not eafily to be accounted for, by
beings like ourfelves, utterly unable to compre*
hend the whole nature of fuch amazing difpcn-
fations.
BUT if They were mere human impoftors, who
act upon no other views than thofe of hu-+
* Matthew xi. 10, 14, 15,
watt
Se6h 8. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST., 321
wan cunning only, we may be bold to afTert, that
John could not at this time have font fitch a meiTage
to Jcfus ; nor Jcfas have behaved thus to the people,
upon receiving it, if he had. They themfelves muft
have thought, that this would have been no lefs
than provoking the people to reject them, as un-
doubted hnpoltors.
HOWEVER, though this meflage could not be
agreed on between John and Jefus, with any view
to promote their joint credit, and conceal their
deceit ; it may be afked perhaps, might not John
lend it with a contrary deiign ? John had now
been imprifoned fome time, and there appeared
no prolpecl: of his releafe. It may poifibly be
thought he began at length -to be diigufted with
an undertaking, which had been the means of bring-
ing him into fuch a dilemma, and could afford no
hopes of extricating him from it. That, in confe-
quence of this, he had refolved to obtain what he
could for himfelf, by betraying that plot, in which
he had fucceeded fo ill : and fent his difciples to
deliver this fufpicious meflage to Jefus, before the
whole multitude; in hopes of deftroying Jefus's
credit, by means of his own more eitablifhed
authority.
On at leaft, it may in general be fuppofed,
that he did it out of refentment ; owing to fome
miiunderftanding, that had arifen between them.
Y And
THE BIVIDfB MISSIONS OF Paft III.
And furely it is very far from impoffible, it may be
faid, for importers to betray themfelves, by their
quarrels with each other.
BUT had John been at length defirous to obtain
his own enlargement, and what other advantages he
could, by betraying Ib iniquitous an impofture ; in-
ftead of taking fuch a method as this, to open the
eyes of the people-; he would certainly have difco-
vered the whole plot, at once, to Herod himfelf ;
from whom every favour, he could hope for, mult
be immediately derived.
FROM the beginning He had home witnefs to
j as the true Mcffiah y in ib remarkable a
manner, that by what means foever Jefns ihould
,be convicted of impofture ; John could not poflihly
efcape the fame condemnation. It was therefore
impoffible for Him, to be defirous of leading
the people themfelves to convict Ji'/us, without
fiis appearing at all voluntarily concerned in
betraying him ; for this evident reafon, that He
could then have no merit to plead in the di-
covery ; nor any thing to expect from it, but
that condign punHhment, which was due to him
for his ovvn ihare in the plot. Had John therefore
been defirous of betraying Jefus, Herod himfelf
was the only pcrfon to whom he would have ap-
plied^* and to whom he would have plainly con-
;oie plan of their kippfture; in hopes
of
SECT. 8, JOH& BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 523
of obatining his own pardon, at leaft, if not fome
reward.
AND thus, this remarkable meffage from the
Baptift to Jefus ; which, becaufe the motive^ that
really occalioned it, does not appear ; may at firft,
perhaps, be conceived as fome fmall objection to
tlieir credit; approves itfeif, upon a clofer inspection,
in every light it can be viewed * one of the moft
fatis factory, circumftantial proofs, of the integrity
and divine character of them Both, which the
gofpels afford. And whether we can point out
thofe particular motives*, which actually induced
tiie true Elias, to fend his difciples, \\ithfuck an
enquiry, to the true Mejjiah, is an enquiry of no
real importance at all ; however it might gratify
our curiofity to be able to folve the queltion. Since,
in the mean time^ it appears abundantly plain, that
no fuch meffage could on any account have been
fent from John to Jefus, had they in reality been no
better than impoftors.
* The chief caufes which have been affigned, as what might
probably induce the Eaptijl to lend Iris difciples to Jtfus with
this enquiry, may be feen, in Jortin's Difcourfi-s concerning
the Ch. Rel. ch. 5. on John the Buptill. -Mac-knight's Coinin.
to his Harmony, feft. 4 1 2. Whitby, and Lightfoot, on Mat-
"thcw xi. 3. And Dr. Home's Confiderations oil the Life ar*d
Death of St. John the Baptift, fediion 7
Y 2 SEC-
324 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III,
SECTION IX.
Tlie conduct of Jefus in confcquence of his having
purified the temple.
IN OT long before Je fits' s public miniftry, and
his life, were put an end to together, he made
a folemn entry into Jerufalem> attended by great
multitudes, and amidft the general acclamations of
the people * ; in fo much that " all the city was
" moved, faying, who is this r" And going the
next clay into the temple, he took upon him,
" to caft them out that fold and bought in the
" temple ; and overthrew the tables of the rno-
" ney-changers, and the feats of them that fold
" doves; and faid unto them, It is written, my
" houfe fti all be called the houfe of prayer, but
" ye have made it a den of thieves 'f." It would
have been wonderful indeed if the rulers had not
taken umbrage at his prefuming to do this. " And
" it came to pafs, that on one of thofe days, as
" he taught the people in the temple, and preached
"thegofpel; the chief priefts, and fcribes, came
* Matthew, cb. xxi. Mark xi. Luke xxi. John xi.
:-,Uhcw xxi, 12, 13.
" upon
Se6l. 9. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 3^5
" upon him, with the elders, and fpake unto him,
" faying ; Tell us by what authority doelt thou
" thefe things ? Or who is he that gave thee this
" authority ? And he anfwered, and faid unto them,
" I will alib aik you one thing, and anfwer me ;
" and I will tell you by what authority I do thefe
" things*: The baptifm of JOHN, was it from
" heaven, or of men ? And they reafoned with
" themfelves, faying, If we {hall fay from heaven,
" he will fay, 'why then believed ye him not? But,
" and if we fay, of men ; all the people will ftone
" us ; for they be perfuaded that John was a
" prophet. And they anfwered, that they could
" not tell whence it was. And Jefus laid unto
" them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do
" thefe things f."
" THE remarkable trau fact ion now before us will
ferve greatly to illuftrate the integrity both of John
and Jefus; by furniihing us with another ftrong
argument to {hew, that the various teftimonies of
the Former, to the divine character of the Latter,
coul'd not have ariien from any fecret impofture con-
certed between, them ; and confequenth, that no
fuch impofture could exiit.
WHEN Jefus took upon him to prohibit all
that- trafficking in the courts of the temple, which
.rkxi.CQ. t fcnbe.xx, 18,
Y 5 the
3M THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
the priefts and rulers had long permitted to be car-
ried on there ; the leaft he could expect was, that
(they would foon come to enquire of him, by what
authority he pretended to do this, and from whom
he derived it? For this was afTuming a power,
which none, who were not commiffioned from God
himfelf, or authorized by Them, had any right to
exercife. It was openly invading their particular
province, and ftriking at their whole authority, even
in the face of the people. Whatever then might be
the chief defign of Jefiis in driving the traders out
of the temple, in this authoritative method ; lince
it was, in a manner, certain, that the Sanhedrim
would at leait fend him a deputation to make this
enquiry, in confequence of it ; Jefits, if he was
aii impoftor, muft have determined what anjwer
to give them, before he put his defiga in exe-
cution. ,
THE nature of the cafe will likewife inform us,
in what manner an impoftor in Je/uss fituation
muft have determined to anfwer them. He had
now been a long time trying to gain credit to his
divine preteniions, and had at length made a kind
of public entry into the city, amidit the general
acclamations of the people.. And with them he
was now in fo high efteem, that " though the chief
" priefts, and the fcribes, and the chief of the
" people, fought to deftroy him ; they could not
" find
Sel. 9. JOHV i s CHRIST.
u find what they might do; for all the PKOPJ.J
" wt re verv attentive t<> hear him
]U [ as the chief priefrs, and rulers, were a v
formidable body, and all frill oppofecl him ; Ihould
he not he able to make good his claims, when
publicly challenged, ia their name, to vindicate
them; he had good reafon to expect, that by de-
grees the good will ot" the people alib would he
alienated from him. As, on the other hand, the
more advantageoufly he could fupport hi- divine
authority, in this particular encounter ; the more
immovcably he was lure to attach the people in
general to his interetts ; and the more likely to gain
over even fome of the rulers themfelves, if that were
pollible, to favour his caufe.
THUS circumftanced, Je/its, if an impoftor, could
not have wiibed for a more deiireable event, th;u:
to have the chief prie/is, and fcribes, and eh
come publicly to demand of him, b) what authority
he pretended to do what he had clone ? Nay, \i
he was an impoftor, we may now lee, that
bringing about this public enquiry into his th
commiiiion, rnuft have b* < n \ii- very defign he
in view; in exercifing that unexpected authority,
which upon this occasion he
Y 4
328 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
HAD he been a deceiver then, he would eagerly
have feized this defirable opportunity, of his own
immediate contriving, to have enlarged upon every
circumftance that could be alleged, in fupport of
his divine authority. He would have related parti-
cularly, all thofe aftonilhing revelations, and other
wonderful circumitances, which had accompanied
his conception and birth. He would have reminded
them, on how many occafions the blind had, by
his operation, received \\\z\? fight ; the lame walked;
the lepers been cleanfed ; the deaf been made to
hear ; and even the dead themfelves been raifed
up. And in particular, had he been an importer
in confederacy with John,, he would have urged
to them in the hearing of the people ; who were all
zealous difciples of the Baptijt ; and whole divine
authority he knew the priefts could not dare to
deny ; thofe repeated and explicit teftimonies,
which John had fo often borne to his divine cha-
racier ; and in which he had even pofitively declar-
ed him to be the true Meffiah. And now, likewife,
when he had worked up the people, by all the
arguments he could allege, to the greatelt fervour
in his caufe ; had he been an impoftor, he would
immediately have declared himfelf their Meffiah
and King ; and have commenced at laft one deci-
five ftruggle, to determine the fate of the whole
impoiture,
WHAT
Set. 9. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. S 1 29
WHAT then muft we be forced to conclude,
with regard to the true character of Jefus ; who
even upon this peculiar occafion, procured by his
own means ; though polVeffed of Juch teftimonies>
to eftabliih his own divine authority, as he knew
the chief priefts could neither invalidate, nor
difpute ; would not, even at this time, produce
any of them in his own defence? How is it poffible
\ve can believe him to have been the deceitful con-
federate of the Baptifl ; who, even on ib peculiar
an occafion, declined all appeal to Johns' authori-
tative teftimony; and would not avail himfelf of his
univerfal credit ?
UT did he not in fact, it may be aiked, ex-
preisly put the priefts in mind of John the Baptift?
And might he not intend this as an appeal to Johns
teftimony in his favour ? True indeed it is, that
Jefus did actually remind the priefts of John the
Baptift : but it is no lefs true, that he did this in
fuch a manner, as to make the juftnefs of our
conclufion even ftill more apparent, than it could
have been, had he not made the leaft mention of
John.
FOR, inftead of reminding them of John t fo as to
make the leaft ufe of His teftimony, in his own de-
fence ; it is evident, he did it with no other defign,
than merely to procure himfelf an opportunity of
making no defence at all.
" I will
330 THE DIVINE MISSIONS OF Part III.
" I will alfo aik you one thing (laid Jefus), and
" anfwer me ; and I will tell you by what authority
" I do thefe things. The baptifm of JOHN, was it
" from heaven, or of men ? And they anfwered,
" that they could not tell whence it was. And
" Jefus faid unto them, Neither tell I you by what
" authority I do thefe things."
THE manner in which, we fee, Jefus on this
occafion made mention of John, proves to de-
monftration, that though he was by no means
forgetful of that explicit evidence, which John
had fo frequently borne in his favour ; yet that he
was determined to make no advantage of it, for the
eftablifhment of his own divine character ; even
at that very conjuncture, when it would have been
of the moft iignal fervice to him, to alledge it.
Whereas, had Jefus been an impoftor in confe-
deracy with John ; inftead of making ufe of the
BaftfyTt name, at this time, merely in order to
procure himfelf an opportunity to be filent ; he
would certainly have innfted on John's tcftimony,
with all the power of his eloquence ; to eftablifu
the people immoveably in their prefent favourable
opinion of his own divine miffion, and authority.
And indeed, when we consider the whole of this
very remarkable tranfaclion ; the reformation in the
temple, which Jefus took upon him to make ;
together with his anfwer to the chief priefts and
rulers,
9. JOHN BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST. 331
rulers, when they came upon him to demand by
what authority he pretended to do this ; it ap-
pears undeniably, from that extraordinary manner
in which he chofe to make mention of John, upon
this very peculiar occafion ; that the Baptift and
Jefus could not poffibly be affbciate deceivers ; and
confequently, that Jefus himfelf could be no lefs
than the true Mejfiah, and John the Baptlft than
his divine Forerunner.
CON<
( 333 )
CONCLUSION.
1 HE enquiry, we at firft fet out on, is now
brought to an end ; and the defired conclufion
eftablifhed, it is hoped, by every argument at firft
propofed. But the peculiar nature of the traniaction
confidered, and the various circumitances neceiiary
to be attended to, in order to place every material
particular in its true light, and effectually clear
lip the point in debate ; have unavoidably drawn
it out to an unexpected length. It may not
therefore, in the laft place, be improper to take
a ftiort fketch of the whole evidence produced,
in fupport of the important point to be proved ;
that, when confidered at once in a collective
view, every diftinct part may be allowed its due
influence and weight : and the certainty of the
conclufion be judged of, by the joint evidence of
the whole.
To mew the utter incredibility of any fuch im-
pofture, as that in debate, nothing more can be
abfolutely requifite, than to prove one or other of
the following points.
EITHER
334
EITHER that the plot fuppofed is of fo abjurd a
nature in itfelf ; that it is impoffible to believe it
could ever be undertaken : Or, however, if we
have not materials to prove this ; that all the parti-
cular perfom concerned, were fuch, and fo circum-
Jlanced; that it cannot be believed poffible for Them
to have contrived, or engaged in fuch a defign :
Or laftly, that the manner of conducting the plot
fiippoled, certainly was, in feveral important parti-
culars during its progrefs, fuch as it could not have*
been ; had the only perfons concerned really con-
fpired in the profecution of fuch an impofture.
To trace out a fatisfactory proof of Either of
thefe points, may in many cafes, for want of in-
formation, be extremely difficult ; in many abfo-
lately impoffible. But in whatever inftance either
of them fingly can be clearly, and diftinc~tly made
out ; by comparing the feveral circumftances of the
cafe, with the moft obvious and allowed principles
of human nature ; there our doubts muft be at an
end; and the fufpicion of any impofture muft una-^
voidably be given up.
WHEN therefore the cafe confidered proves
fuch, that not one of thefe points only, but all of
them can be eftablifhed together ; when it can not
only be made to appear morally impqffible, for the
plot in queftion to have ever been contrived ; but
likewife, for thofe particular perfons, who alone
are
CONCLUSION.
are concerned, to have contrived it ; and moreover,
equally incredible for Them, if they had, to have
conducted it in the manner in which it appears, from
the facts themielves, to have been conducted:
when All thefe points can be made good together ;
then we have the completed proof the impoffibility of
the plot in queftion, that the nature of fuch points
can be ever capable of admitting. And, in, this
cafe the mind cannot but acquiefce without hefi-
tation, and reft perfectly fatisfied with the con-
clufion.
Now by Each of thefe feveral kinds of proofs
have we been enabled to eftabliili the truth and
certainty of all thofe miraculous events, which the
evangelifts have recorded of the nativities of John
o
the Baptift and Jc/us Chrijl.
Lv the fir ft place, it was obvious, that the va-
rious aftonifhins* circumftances, faid to have ac-
~ '
companied the conception and birth of John, are
in their own nature fo evidently miraculous ; that
if they really came to pafs, His- appearance in the
world, and the divine character he at length af-
fumed, muft have been the immediate appoint-
ment of God. With regard to thefe facts therefore,
the only point to be proved was, that they really
came to pals.
Ix order to prove this, it was plainly lliewn,
from a multiplicity of abfurdities, which mtift
un-
336 CONCLUSION.
unavoidably attend the contrary fuppofition ; that
they could neither be invented by Jefus, nor his
difciples, nor any one elfe, after the death of
JOHN ; nor by John himfelf, or any of his dif-
ciples, during his life. That fame of them, from
their very nature alone, muft affuredly have come
to pafs, in the manner, and at the time related ;
and, upon the whole, that if any of them did not,
or if there was the leaft deceit in the accounts of
any of them ; Zacharias and Elizabeth muft have
been the original and real managers of the plot.
THE contrivance of the plot in queftion being
thus traced up, as high as T hem; in order to
determine, whether They could really be the con-
trivers of it or not ; it was in the next place, fully
fhewn, that, if fo, the defign they muft have
been engaged in, could not be confined to John
only ; nor could they themfelves be the only perfons
concerned in carrying it on. But, that they muft
at the fame time have been engaged in promoting
another, fimilar impoiture, which related in like
manner to Jefus ; and was the counterpart of that
concerning John. And likewife that Jofeph and
Mary muft have been intimately connected with
Zacharias and Elizabeth, in the joint profecution
of Both.
THE foundation of the whole farther enquiry
being thus laid ; the next point was to prove the
in-
COXCLCSTOX. 5J7
credibility of the exiftcnce of thefe joint impoitures,
in the manner firft propofed ; by confidcring the
cumftaitces and JitUation of Each of thofc perfons;
who, it had already been clearly lben> iiiuit have
contrived, and carried them oh.
Tins argument therefore was the firlt attendee]
to. And after having purfucd it through the feveral
tracks, which gradually opened to our view, it brought
us at length to this deciiive concluiioil ; That the
*ichok fuppolitioil of thefe joint impoftures mult b
giveri up, as in every particular abiblutely ground-
lefs, and falfe.
TOR, from an attentive confideration of the moft
material CirCurnftances attending Each of the per-
fcns concerned ; but more efpeciaily, the advanced
age, facrcd profeffion, and exemplary character, cf
Zacliarias ; together with the youth, and innocence,
and unfilllltd reputation, of Mary ; and froln thefe
particulars, considered jointly with the progreft of
the fuppofed plots thernfelves; it has been fully
made appear, That neither A try of the Four per-
fons concerned, whether jnigly or jointly; nor All
of them together; could pofiibly'be the contrivers
of the impoftures fuppofed.
IT has indifputably appeared, that neither Za-
tharias and Elizabeth, on one fide ; nor Jofepk and
Mary on the other; could feparatcly have planned
either the Tuo joint impoitures, relating to both
Z par-
338 coxcltfsiosr,
parties ; or that One, more immediately relating tor
each.
AND moreover, that even if it were credible,
that Each fide, could have invented their own more
immediate plot ; it would (till, above all, remain
abfolutely incredible, that Either fide could have
attempted to make qffociates of the Other ; as well
as that They could have been prevailed on, to en-
gage with them, if they had.
So that, as the only perfons, at all concerned m
the tranfaclions under confederation, have plainly
turned out to be fuck perfons as could neither
have contrived, nor undertaken, the impoftures in
debate ; all fufpicion of any deceit in the cafe,
muft from this argument alone fall at once to the
ground ; the miraculous events in queftion muft be
acknowledged to have come to pafs, in the manner
they are related; and the characters of Thofe ex-
traordinary perfons, whole births they accompa-
nied, muft be fubmitted to, as unqueftionably <//-
toine.
HAVING thus, in the Firft Part, fully proved the
incredibility of the impoftures in queftion, from con-
fidering all the circuwjtanccs of the feveral Parties
concerned ; in the Second we proceeded to eftabliffa
the fame point, by another argument; of no left
real ftrength, and, at the fame time, more obvious
than the former. This was an illuftration of feveral
moft
CONCLUSION*. 339
molt ftriking abfurditie*, unavoidably contained in
the internal nature of the fuppofed impqfturcs them^
felves.
UNDER this head it very plainly appeared, that
the fuppoiition of any deceit in the cafe before us,
would indifpcnfably oblige us to fuppofe the truth
of feveral particulars, all in the higheft degree im-
potfible to be believed.
As for inftancc, that an old, practifed, and moil
fubtil deceiver, could plan an impoiture to be car-
ried into execution by one particular per/on only ;
and even venture to feign him felt* dumb, for a long
fpace of time, merely to prepare the way for it ;
not only while the very perfon, for whom it was
contrived, remained yet unborn; but likewife be-
fore he was even conceived \ nay, and while the
contriver himfelf had every reafon the thing could
admit of, for believing, that this per foil, for whom
he was contriving all this iniquity, would never ac-
tually exift.
THAT beiidcs, this fame veteran deceiver could
do all this, for the fake of fuch a plot, fo contrived;
as, after all, he could not have the leait hope of
ever bringing on the It age ; unlefs he could infalli-
bly foretell, not only the future birth, but even
the /c\r too, of a particular infant, even before it
yvas conceived,
Z 2 THAT,
340 CONCLUSION.
THAT, moreover, he could deliberately fix upon
fiich a plan for his intended hnpofture, as obliged
him publicly to foretell, under the pretence of
being divinely infpired; that a certain infant, then
but a few days old, would afluredly live till above
the age pf twenty _ years,
AND befides, that the fame infant, when ar-
rived at that age, would certainly appear in public,
and exercife the feveral functions of a moft extra-,
ordinary divine character ; which, humanly fpeakr
ing, it was in the higheft degree doubtful, from the
nature of tl^e character alone, whether He might
either be able, or inclined, to counterfeit; and the
true Ozcner of which, it w r as like wife univerfally-
believed, would appear in the wean time', and ef-
fectually deprive this fuppofed intended counterfeit
qf any opportunity to affume his part.
FROM the confideration of thefe, and other no
lefs incredible fuppofitions ; all necefiarily implied
in the plots in queftion ; the nature of the cafe led
ijs next to point out fome remarkable particulars,
which we meet with in the courfe of thefc tranfac-
tions ; which plainly appeared impoflible to have
happened, ha4 there really been, any impofture on
foot.
AND here it was fpon perceived, -that had the
interviews of the Angel with Zacharias^ and Mary,
been factions of their own contriving, to gain a fa-
vourable
COXCLUSIOX. 341
vourablc reception for tlieir intended impoftnres ;
unquestionably the Angel would not have been re-
prcfented, as punching Zacharias in that particular
manner,' in which Zacharias- pretended to have
been punil'ied by him ; or indeed in any manner
at all ; and yet at the fame time fuffering Mary
to efcape, without any vi/ible mark of his dif-
pleafure.
HERE like wife, it appeared evident beyond all
contradiction, that the furprizing relations of the
Shepherds at Bethlehem ; the behaviour of Simeon
and Anna in the temple ; and the appearance and
conduct of the Wife Men from the Eajl ; together
with the reception they met with from Herod him-
fclf ; and that cruel mq//acre, which immediately
cnfued upon their departure ; were all fo many
aftonifliing. events, which could not poffibly have
come to pals ; had Zacharias and the Other Three
perfons originally concerned, been engaged ia a
jiiint impofturc.
Foil it appeared abundantly evident, from a
variety of conliderations ; that the feveral perfons,
who were the immediate actors in all thefe un-
looked-for events ; were fitch Perfons, as neither
Zachart. any concerned with him, could
Ijave attempted feducing, to take part with them,
\i\ carrying on their dcligns ; and fuch likewifc,
CONCLUSION.
as could never have become their officiates, if they
bad.
THUS the truth of all the miraculous circum-
ilances recorded of the conceptions and births of
John the Baptift and Jefus Chrift, were fully
proved ; by every kind of direct argument, which
the nature of the facts themfqlves could admit.
For in them it had been fhewn, that neither were
the Perfons concerned capable of confpiring toge-
ther in the plot fuppofed ; nor was the plot itfe/f
even capable of being contrived, and entered into ;
nor could fever al Jteps, of the utmoft importance
which actually took place, have been adopted, had
there really exifted any fuch impofture, as That,
which muft be fuppofed.
BUT to render the joint force of the whole ftill
more irrefiftible ; and that no argument, with
which the Gofpels could furnifh us, to illuftratc
fo important a point, might lie neglected ; the
defign of the laft Part has been, to examine into
the behaviour of John and Jefus Themfdves ; in
thofe inftances, in which they mutt have had a
Jecret, as well as thofe in which they had an ap-
parent connection with Each Other ; and which
muft therefore tend to illuftrate ftill farther our
former conclufion, and their true characters and
defigns.
CONCLUSION 1 ^ 343
AND upon this enquiry into the relative con-
duct of the fuppofed Impoftors Tlieinfelves ; it
has appeared very plainly, in a variety of parti-
culars, of the utmoft importance to their caufe,,
to have been fach, as it is utterly incredible they
could have adopted ; had the leveral afconifhing
events, before conlidered, beenfiftitious; and They
Themfelves nothing more than mere human knpof-
tors.
FOR, in this Part, it inconteftibly appeared, that
in many, even the moil remarkable particulars ot*
their public conduct towards Each Other, they
acted in fuch a manner, as, to thofe, who had
nothing more than human forefight to judge by,
muft have appeared the readieft way to obftruct,
and overftt their whole deiign ; and confequently,
in a manner, in which no impoftors could poflibly
have determined to act.
HERE therefore it may be allowable to clofe the
whole argument, with that moil important conclu-
fion, the eftablilliment of which was its fole object
and defign.
BY proving jointly, the truth of the pretenfions
of John the Baptift, and Jefus Chrift, to divine au-r
thority and infpiration ; as the very nature of the
facts to be enquired into, abfolutely require we
fliould ; we have effectually vindicated, by two
544 CONCLUSION
diftinft, though connected proofs, the truth and Cer-
tainty of the Divine Miffion of-Jefus.
FOR, firft, if John the Baptift Certainly was,
what it has fo inconteftably appeared he muft have
been, the divine Forerunner of the \ong-cTpefted
Mcffiah ; lent purpofely to prepare his way before
him, and point Him out to mankind ; then muft
Jefus ; whom John frequently in the molt public,
and peremptory manner, pronounced to be That
divine Perfbnage ; unqueitionably have been the
true Meffiah.
AXD though, from the firft entrance upon the
argument, the order of the facts to be enquired
into, naturally led us to afcertain firft, the true
character of the Bapttft ; and by this means the
circumftances ofiJofuss birth, which were equally
furprizing, have been attended to in the fecond
place only ; yet Thefe Two grand Events have
proved all along fo fimilar to Each Other, and
fo infeparably connected; that, in eftablilliing -thd
truth of One., we have necefikrily confirmed the
miraculous nature of Both.
THE fame considerations, which have fo fully
flievvn, that no deceit can have been made ufe
of, by Zacharias and Elizabeth, in order to lay
a foundation for the divine pretenfions of John;
have proved likewife, at the fame time, that Jo-
feph and Mary could not poffibly forge any of
thofe
CONCLUSION. S45
thofe miraculous 'circumftances recorded of the
birth of Jcfus ; to pave the way for His future
appearance under the aflumed character of the
Mejjiah.
AND thus the Divine Mlfflon of Jefus Chrijl
Hands firmly eftablifhed ; not only on the adequate,
and indifputable, becaufe in/fired, teftimony of
John the Baptift ; but likewife, independantly of
His witnefs, upon the unqueftionable truth and
certainty of all thofe miraculous events which the
evangelifts have truly informed us accompanied His
own iirlt appearance in the world.
So confpicuoufly do the divine difpenfations of
perfect wifdom and truth, diftinguifh themfelves
from the ftiort-fighted fchemes of human artifice
and deceit. Plots of human cunning often appear
fpecious at firft fight, and well connected together ;
but, on a nearer infpe&ion, foon betray evident
tokens of inconfiftency, falfehood, and difguife.
While, on the contrary, the ftupendous plans of
divine providence, appear, at a diftance, like a
number of unconnected, and perhaps even inter-
fering events ; but, when molt fcrupuloufly exa-
mined, never fail to manifeft the fupreme wifdom
of their all-perfect Author ; in that irrefiftible force
of evidence they all jointly produce.
FINIS.
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