A SHORT and easy METHOD With the DEISTS; OR, Those who deny the ESSENCE of GOD: WHEREIN, The TRUTH of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION is Demonstrated, by such Rules as stand upon the Conviction of our Outward Senses, and which are incompatible with the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Deities, the Delusions of Mahomet, or any other Imposture whatsoever. licenced according to Order. In a Letter to a FRIEND. London Printed, and Edinburgh Reprinted by John Reid, and to be sold at his Printing-House in Bells wind, Anno Dom: M.DC.XCVIII. The CONTENTS. THE Pretence of the Deists against all Revelation, with the short Method proposed to prove the Truth of the Christian Religion. page. 5 II. That the whole of this Cause does depend upon the Truth of the Matters of Fact said to be done by Moses and Christ. p. 8 1. The Method taken to prove them. p. 8 2. Four Rulet whereby to ascertain the Truth of any Matter of Fact. p. 9 3. The two first Rules make it impossible to impose the Cheat at the time when the Matter of Fact is said to be done. p. 9. 4. The two last Rules secure equally against the Invention of it afterwards. p. 10 III. That these Marks or Rules do all meet in the Matters of Fact of Moses & Christ, but not in those of Mahomet, or the Heathen Deities. p. 11 As to 1. Moses. ibid. As to 2. Christ. p. 13 As to 3. Mahomet & the Heathen Deities. p. 14 IV The Deists are challenged to show any Fable that has all the four Rules or Marks before mentioned. p. 16 V. Many things true, which have all these Marks, which shows the greater certainty of that which has them. p. 17 VI. especially where the importance of such things is great. ibid. VII. Other topics, whence to prove the Christian Religion, from the Truth of the Apostles &c p. 18 VIII. The Attestation of Adversaries p 21 IX. These fullly convinceing to all reasonable Men. ibid. X. This present topic concludes upon the Conviction of our Outward Senses. p. 22 XI. None of the Popish Legends, or other Forgeries, can show the four Marks before mentioned, ibid. XII. 1. If revealed Religion be Priest-craft, it makes the Priests the wisest of Mankind. p. 23 2. More mighty than all the infernal Powers. p. 24 3 To do more than ever GOD has done. p. 25 4 Transubstantion touched upon this point. ibid. XIII. The Deists who laugh at miracles, run upon the greatest of all. p. 26 XIV. A fair trial( upon the Deists principles) whereby to judge whether they or the Priests( whom they so much vilify) have most sense or policy. ibid. XV. False Religion, the Imitation and Corruption of the True. p. 27 XVI. The Deists confession and contradiction in their Notions of Natural Religion, and recurring to the Common Reason of Mankind. ibid. XVII. Religion not the invention of Priests, Priests the great Guard of Religion. ibid. XVIII. Therefore the Priests most struck at by the Devil and his Agents. p. 20 XIX. The Quakers and other Dissenters join herein with the Deists. ibid. XX. Advice to the Deists. p. 31 Such minute Contents to so short an Essay, may seem disproportinable and needless: But it was done for ease to the memory of some, for whom it was more particularly designed: And can poejudice none, who need not such Helps. A Short and easy Method WITH THE DEISTS. SIR, IN Answer to yours, of the Third Instant, I much condole with you your Unhappy Circumstances of being placed amongst such Company, where, as you say, you continually hear the Sacred Scriptures, and the Histories therein contained, particularly of Moses and of Christ, and all revealed Religion turned into Ridicule, by men who set up for Sense and Reason. And they say, That there is no greater Ground to believe in Christ, than in Mahomet: That all these Pretences to Revelation are Cheats, and ever had been among Pagans, Jews, mahometans, and Christians: They are all alike Impositions of cunning and designing men, upon the Credulity, at first, of simplo and unthinking people, till, their numbers increasing, their delusions grew popular, come, at last to be established by Laws, and then the force of Education and Custom gives a bias to the Judgement of After Ages, till such deceits come really to be believed, being received up on Trust from the Ages foregoing, without examining into the Original and Bottom of them, which these Our modern Men of Sense( as they desire to be esteemed) say, that they only do, that they only have their Judgements freed from the slavish Authority of Precedents and Laws, and matters of Truth, which they say, ought only to be decided by Reason: Tho' by a prudent compliance with Popularity and Laws, they preserve themselves from Outrage and Legal Penalties, for none of their Complexions are addicted to Sufferings or martyrdom. Now, Sir, That which you desire from me, is some short topic of Reason, if such can be found, whereby, without running to Authorities, and the intricate Mazes of Learning, which breed long Disputes, and which these Men of Reason deny by whole-sale, tho' they can give no Reason for it, only suppose that Authors have been trump'd upon us, interpolated and corrupted, so that no stress can be laid upon them, tho' it cannot be shown wherein they are so corrupted; which, in Reason, ought to ly upon them to prove, who allege it; otherways it is not only a Precarious, but a guilty plea: However, you lay, it makes your Disputes endless, and they go away with Noise and Clamour, and a Boast, that there is nothing, at least nothing certain, to be said on the Christian side: Therefore you are desirous to find some one topic of Reason, which should demonstrat the Truth of the Christian Religion, and, at the same time, distinguish it from the Impostures of Mahomet, and the old Pagan World, That our Deists may be brought to this Test, and be either obliged to renounce their Reason, and the common Reason of Mankind, or to submit to the clear proof, from Reason, of the Christian Religion, which must be such a Proof, as no Imposture can pretend to, otherwise it cannot prove the Christian Religion not to be an Imposture. And, whether such a Proof, one single Proof( to avoid confusion) is not to be found out, you desire to know from me. And you say, that you cannot imagine but there must be such a Proof, because every Truth is in itself clear, and one, and therefore that one Reason for it, if it be the true Reason, must be sufficient: And, if sufficient, it is better than many, for Multiplicity confounds, especially to weak Judgements. Sir, You have imposed an hard Task upon me, I wish I could perform it: For tho' Every Truth is one, yet our sight is so feeble, that we cannot( alwise) come to it directly, but by many Inferences, and laying of things together. But I think that in the Case before us, there is such a Proof as you require; and I will set it down, as short and plain as I can. II. First then I suppose, That the Truth of the Doctrine of CHRIST will be sufficiently evinced, if the matters of fact which are recorded of Him in the Gospel be True? for His Miracles, if true, do vouch the Truth of what He delivered. The same is to be said as to Moses, if he brought the Children of Israel through the Red-Sea, in that miraculous manner which is related in Exodus, and did such other wonderful things as are there told of him? It must necessarily follow, that he was sent from GOD; These being the strongest Proofs we can desire, and which every Deist will confess he would acquiesce in, if he saw them with his Eyes. Therefore the whole of this Cause will depend upon the Proof of these matters of fact. 1. And the method I will take, is, First, To lay down such Rules, as to the Truth of matters of fact, that where they all meet, such matters of fact cannot be false. And then secondly, To show that all these Rules do meet in the matters of fact of Moses, and of Christ; and that they do not meet in the matters of fact of Mahomet, of the Heathen Deities, or can possibly meet in any Imposture whatsoever. 2. The Rules are these, 1st[ That the matters of fact be such, as that Mens outward Senses, their Eyes and Ears may be Judges of it. 2. That it be done publicly in the face of the World. 3. That not only public monuments be kept in memory of it, but some outward Actions to be performed. 4. That such monuments and such Actions or Observances be instituted, and do commence from the time that the, matter of fact was done.] 3. The two first Rules make it impossible for any such matter of fact to be imposed upon Men at the time when such matter of fact was said to be done, because every Man's Eyes and Senses would contradict it. For Example, Suppose any man should pretend that Yesterday he divided the Thames, in presence of all the People in London, and carried the whole City, Men, Women, and Children, over to Southwark on dry Land, the Waters standing like Walls on both sides: I say, it is morally impossible that he could persuade the People of London that this was true, when every Man, Woman, and Child, could contradict him, and say, that this was a notorious falsehood, for that they had not seen the Thames so divided, or had gone over on dry Land. Therefore I take it for granted,( and, I suppose, with all the allowance of all the Deists in the World) that no such Imposition could be put upon men, at the time when such public matters of fact was said to be done. 4. Therefore it only remains, that such matters of fact might be invented some time after, when the men of that Generation, wherein the thing was said to be done, are all past and gone; and the Credulity of After-Ages might be imposed upon to believr what things were done in former ages, which were not. And for this, the two last Rules secure us as much as the two first Rules in the former Case, for when ever such a matter of fact came to be invented, if not only Monuments were said to remain of it, but likeways that public Actions & Observances were constantly used, ever since the matter of fact was said to be done, the Deceit must be detected, by no such Monuments appearing, and by the Experience of every Man, Woman, and Child, who must know that no such Actions or Observances were ever used by them. For Example, Suppose I should now invent a Story of such a thing, done a thousand years ago, I might, perhaps, get some to believe it: But if I say, that not only such a thing was done, but that from that day to this, every man, at the age of twelve Years, had a Joint of his little Finger cut off; And, that every man in the Nation did want a Joint of such a Finger, and this Observation was said to be part of the matter of fact done so many years ago, and vouched as a proof and confirmation of it, and as having descended, without Interruption, and been constantly practised, in memory of such matters of fact, all along, from the time that such matters of fact was done: I say, it is impossible I should be believed in such a Case, because every one could contradict me, as to the Mark of cutting of a Joint off the Finger; and that being part of my Original matter of fact, must demonstrate the whole to be false. III. Let us now come to the second Point, to show, that the matters of fact of Moses, and of Christ, have all these Rules or Marks before mentioned, and that neither the matters of fact of Mahomet, or what is reported of the Heathen Deities have the like; and that no Imposture can have them all. 1. As to Moses: His rescuing the People of Israel out of egypt, in such a wonderful manner, dividing the read Sea, &c. is not only told, but likeways that the Passover was then, at that very time, instituted, and that the Observation of it has continued from that time down all along, in all the Families of the Jews, in remembrance of that miraculous Deliverance. To the same purpose was the Sabbath then commanded, Deut: 5.15. and several other public and solemn Institutions. Now, as it was impossible for Moses to have persuaded six hundred thousand Men, that he had brought them out egypt, through the Red-Sea, &c. if it had not been true; So, if such a Story was invented in After Ages, and the Observation of the Passover, from that time, said to be a part of the matter of fact, it must necessary sh●w the whole to be false, because when that Story was first invented, every Body must know, that they had never observed any Passover in memory of such a thing, or ever heard of it before; and it being told, that as certainly as such a thing was done, so certainly was such a Passover kept, and that not only by one or two in a corner, but publicly, and by the Law of the Nation, and in every Family: I say, it is full as impossible to make men believe this, if it be a lie, as to have persuaded all those men out of their Senses, at the time when the thing was said to be done. For, let me ask, is it not as impossible to make a whole Nation of men believe, that they had been all circumcised or baptized, and did Circumcise or baptize their Children, that they kept, and always had done every Seventh Day; a solemn Yearly Passover, &c. If they had never done any of these things; and that they had not only kept these Observations, but likeways that they kept them in memory of what they had never heard of before that Day: I say, it is not as impossible to persuade men to this: And is it not as much against their Senses, as well as their Reason, as to make them believe that they had passed through a Sea, or any other matter of fact that can be named? And the Truth of the first matter of fact said to be done so many hundred years ago, being urged, when first invented, to be no further believed, than as these Observances have been known and practised; and these public Observances, being brought as a proof and confirmation of the first matter of fact, It is as much against the Senses of that Age, wherein such Story was first invented, to believe it, as it was against the Senses of those who lived when such a Story was said to be done, to have believed it at that time. And therefore, where any matter of fact is attended with all the Rules and Marks before mentioned, it is as impossible to invent it in any After Ages without a Discovery, as to have imposed it upon the Senses of Mankind, at the time when it was said to be done. 2. Now secondly, As to our Blessed Saviour his Works and Miracles, which are recorded of him in the Gospels, are said to be done publicly, In the face of the World, as he argued to His Accusers. I spake openly to the World, and in secret have I said nothing, John 14.10. It is told, Acts 11.41. That three thousand at one time, and Acts 4.4. that about five thousand at another time were converted, upon Conviction of what themselves had seen, what had been done publicly before their Eyes, wherein it was impossible to have imposed upon them. Therefore here were the two first of the Rules before mentioned. Then for the two second: Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, were instituted as perpetual Memorials of these things, and they were not instituted in after ages, but at the very time when these things were said to be done, and have been observed without Interruption, in all ages through the whole Christian World, down all the way from that time to this. And therefore, by what is said above, it was as impossible to have imposed upon Mankind in this matter, by inventing of it in After-Ages, as at the time when those things were said to be done. 3. The matters of fact of Mahomet, or what is fabled of the Heathen Deities, do all want some of the aforesaid four Rules, whereby the certainty of matters of fact are demonstrated. First, for Mahomet, he pretended to no miracles, as he tells us in his Alcoran, c. 6. &c. and those which are commonly told of him, pass among the mahometans themselves but as Legendary fables, and, as such, are rejected by the Wise and learned amongst them, as the Legends of their Saints are in the Church of Rome. See Dr. Prideaux his Life of Mahomet, page. 34. But in the next place, those which are told of him, do all want the two first Rules before mentioned. For his pretended converse with the Moon, his Mesra, or night jpurney from Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to Heaven, &c. were not performed before any body. We have only his own word for them, and they are as groundless as the Delusions of Fox or Muggleton amongst ourselves. The same is to be said( in the second place) of the fables of the Heathen Gods, of Mercurie's stealling sheep, Jupiter's turning himself into a Bull, and the like; besides the folly and unworthiness of such senseless pretended miracles. And moreover, the Wise among the Heathen did reckon no otherwise of these but as fables, which had a mythology or mystical meaning in them, of which several of them had given us the Rational, or Explication. And it is plain enough that Ovid meant no other by all his Metamorphoses. It is true, that Feasts, Games, and such like public Institutions, were appointed in memory of Bacchus, Caeres, and other of the Heathen Deities: Put these want the fourth mark, viz: That such public Institutions should Commence from the time that such actions which they Commemorate were said to be done. Otherwise they cannot secure After Ages from the Imposture, by detecting it, at the time when first invented, as hath been argued before. But the Bacchnalia, and other Heathen Feasts, were instituted many Ages after what was reported of these Gods, was said to be done, and therefore can be no proof of them. IV. Now, to apply what has been said, you may challenge all the Deists in the World to show any Action that is fabulous, which has all the four Rules or marks before mentioned. No, it's impossible, And( to resume a little what is spoken to before) the History of Exodus or the Gospel could never have been received, if they had not been True, because the Institution of the Passover, of Baptism and the LORD's Supper are there related, as memorials then commenced, and so to descend through the succeeding Ages: And( as I said before) it is full as impossible to persuade men, that they had kept Passovers, and received Sacraments, if they bad not done it, as tbat they walked upon their Heads, went through Seas, or what you please. And the Truth of the matter of fact of Exodus and the Gospel, being no otherwise pressed upon Men, than as they had practised such public Institutions, it is appealing to the Senses of Mankind for the Truth of them: And makes it impossible for any to have invented such Stories in After Ages, without a palpable Detection of the Cheat when first invented, as impossible to have imposed upon the Senses of mankind, at the time, when such public matters of fact were said to be done. V. I do not say, that every thing which wants these four Marks is false: But that nothing can be false which has them All. I have no manner of doubt that there was such a Man as Julius Caesar, that he fought at Pharsalia, was killed in the Senate-House, and many other matters of fact of Ancient times, tho' we keep no public Observances in memory of them. But this shows, that the matters of fact of Moses and of Christ have come down to Us, better guarded than any other matters of fact, how true soever. And yet our Deists who would laugh any Man out of the World, as an irrational Brute; that should offer to deny Caesar or Alexander, Homer or Virgil, their public Works and Actions, do at the same time value themselves, as the only Men of Wit and Sense, of free, generous, and couldst Judgements for Ridiculating the Histories of Moses and Christ, that are infinitely better attested, and guarded with infallible Marks, which the others want. VI. Besides that, the importance of the subject would oblige all Men, to inquire more narrowly into the one than the other: For what Consequence is it to me, or to the World, whether there was such a Man as Caesar, whether he beat or was beaten at Pharsalia? whether Homer or Virgil wrote such Books? and whether what is related in the Iliads or Aeneids be true or false! It is not two Pence up or down to any Man in the World. And therefore it is worth no Mans while to inquire into it, Either to oppose or justify the Truth of these Relations. But on every Souls and Bodies, both this Life and Eternity are concerned in the Truth of what is related in the Holy Scriptures: And therefore Men would be more inquisitive into the Truth of these, than of any other matters of fact, Examine and sift them narrowly, and find out the deceit, if any such could be found; for it concerned them nearly, and was of the last importance to them. How unreasonable then is it to reject these matters of fact, so sifted, so Examined, and so attested, as no other matters of fact in the World ever were, and yet to think it the most highly unreasonable, even to madness to deny other matters of fact, which have not the thousandth part of their Evidence, and are of no Consequence at all to us, whether true or false! VII. There are several other topics, from whence the Truth of the Christian Religion is evinced to all who will Judge by Reason, and give themselves leave to consider. As the improbability that ten or twelve poor illiterat Fishermen should form a design of Converting the whole World to believe their Delusions: and the impossibility of their effecting it without force of Arms, Learning, Oratory, or any one visible thing that could recommend them? And to impose a Doctrine quiter opposite to the Lusts and Pleasures of men, and all worldly Advantages; or Enjoyments? And this in an age of so great Learning and Sagacity, as that wherein the Gospel was first preached? That those Apostles should not only undergo all the Scorn and Contempt, but the severest persecutions and most cruel death that could be inflicted, in attestation to what themselves knew to be a mere deceit, and forgery of their own contriving, some have suffered for Errors, which they thought to be Truth.: But never any for what themselves knew to be lies. And the Apostles must know what they taught to be Lies, if it was so, because they spoken of those things, which they said, they had both seen and heard, Act. 4.20. 1 Joh. 1.1. had looked upon, and handled with their Hands, &c. Neither can it be said, that they, perhaps, might have proposed some temporal Advantages to themselves, but missed of them, and met with Sufferings instead of them: For if it had been so, it is more than probable, that when they saw their Disappointment, they would have discovered their conspiracy, especially when they might not only have saved their Lives, but got great Rewards for doing of it. That not one of them should ever have been brought to do this? But this is not all; For they tell us, that their Master bid them expect nothing but Sufferings in this World. This is the tenor of all that Gospel which they taught: And they told the same to all whom they converted. So that here was no disappointment. For all that were converted by them, were converted upon the certain Expectation of Sufferings, and bidden prepare for it. Christ commanded His Disciples, to take up their across, and follow Him: And told them, that in the World they should have Tribulation: That whoever did not foresake Father, Mother, Wife, Children, Lands, and their very Lives, could not be His Disciples: That he who sought to save his Life in this World, should lose it in the Next. Now, That this despised Doctrine of the across, should prevail so universally against the Allurements of Flesh and Blood, and all the Blandishments of this World: Against all the Rage and persecution of all the Kings and Powers of the Earth, must show its Original to be Divine, and its Protector, Almighty. What is it else, could Conquer without Arms, persuade without rhetoric; overcome Enemies, disarm Tyrants, and subdue Empires, without Opposition? VIII. We may add to all this, the Testimonies of the most bitter Enemies, and Persecutors of Christianity, Jews and Gentiles, to the Truth of the matter of fact of Christ, such as Josephus and Tacitus; of which the first flourished about forty years after the Death of Christ, and the other about seventy years after: So that they were capable of Examining into the Truth, and wanted not prejudice and malice sufficient to have inclined them to deny the matter of fact itself of Christ: But their confessing to it: as likewise, Lucian, Celsus, Porpbyrie, and Julian the Apostate, the mahometans since, and all other Enemies of Christianity that have arisen in the World, is an undeniable Attestation to the Truth of the matters of fact. XI. These and other topics, which have been insisted upon by those who have managed this Argument, cannot nor ought to be denied by any Man who pretends to common Sense. And it is very lamentable to see a wide mouth, a scornful Nod, or liar, and a over-busy Effrontery, impatient of Argument or Contradiction, carry it away with some unthinking People, against all the Reason and Authority in the World, only because they say, that notwithstanding of all your probabilities, however artful laid together, yet it is possible to be otherwise: And they demand, for matters of fact long since past, a Demonstration from the Outward Senses of the present Age. That is, that I should see or hear what was before I was born. Which is a method they would Hoot at, if proposed in any other Case. X. But tho, wee cannot see what was done before our Time, yet by the marks which I have laid down concerning the certainty of matter of Fact done before our Time, we may be as much assured of the Truth of 'em, as if we saw them with out Eyes? because whatever matter of Fact has all the four marks before mentioned, could never have been Invented and received but upon the Conviction of the outward Senses of All those who did Receive it, as before is Demonstrated. And therefore this topic which I have Chosen, does stand upon the Conviction even of mens outward Senses. And since you have confined me to one topic, I have not insisted upon the others which I have only named: XI. And now it lies upon the Deists, if they would appear as men of Reason, to show some matter of Fact of former Ages, which they Allow to be True, that has greater Evidences of its Truth, than the matters of Fact of Moses and of Christ: Otherwise they cannot, with any show of Reason, Reject the one, and yet Admit of the other. But I have given them greater Latitude than this, For I have shown such marks of the Truth of the matters of Fact of Moses and of Christ, as no other matters of Fact of those Times however True, have but these only: And I put it upon them to show any Forgery that has All these marks. This is a short Issue, Keep them closs to, This determines the Cause All at Once. Let them Produce their Apollonius Tyanaeus, whose Life was put into English by the Execrable Charles blunt, and compared, with all the Wit and malice he was Master of, to the Life and Miracles of our Blessed Saviour. Let them take Aid from all the Legends in the Church of Rome, those Pious Cheats, the sotest Disgraces of Christianity; and which have bid the fairest, of any one Contrivance, to overturn the Certainty of the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles, and whole Truth of the gospel, by putting them All upon the same Foot; At least, they are so Understood by the Generality of their Devotoes, tho' disowned and laughed at by the Learned, and men of Sense among men. Let them Pick and Choose the most Probable of all the Fables of the Heathen Deities; and see if they can find in any or All of these the four marks before mentioned. Otherwise let them submit to the Irrefragable Certainty of the Christian Religion. XII. But if, notwithstanding of all that is said, the Deists will still contend, That all this is but Priest-Craft, the Invention of Priests, for their own Profit, &c. Then they will give us an Idea of Priests far Different from what they intend: For then, we must look upon these Priests, not only as the Cunningest and Wisest. of Mankind; but we shall be tempted to adore them as Deities, who have such Power as to impose, at their Pleasure, upon the Senses of Mankind, to make them believe, That they had practised such public Institutions, Enacted them by Laws, taught them to their Children, &c. when they had never done any of these things, or ever so much as heard of them before: And then, upon the Credit of their believing that they had done such things as they never did, to make them further believe, upon the same Foundation, whatever they pleased to impose upon them as to former Ages; I say, such a Power as this must exceed all that is human; and consequently make Us Rank these Priests far above the Condition of Mortals. 2. Nay, this were to make them out do all that has ever been Related of the Infernal Powers: For, tho' their legerdemain has extended to deceive some unwary Beholders, and their Power of working some seeming miracles has been Great, yet it never reached, nor ever was supposed to Reach so far as to Deceive the Senses of all Mankind, in matters of such public and notorious Nature as those of which we now speak, to make them Believe, that they had Enacted Laws for such public Observances, continually practised them, taught them to their Children, and had been instructed in them themselves, from their Childhold, if they had never Enacted, practised, taught, or been taught such things. 3. And as this exceeds all the power of Hell, and Devils; So is it more than ever GOD Almighty has done since the Foundation of the World: None of the Miracles that He has shown, or Belief which he has required to any thing that he has revealed, has ever contradicted the Outward Senses of any one Man in the World, much less of all Mankind together. For Miracles being Appeals to our Outward Senses, if they should overthrow the Certainty of our Outward Senses, must destroy with it all their own Certainty as to Us; Since we have no other way to judge of a Miracle exhibited to our Senses, than upon the Supposition of the Certainty of our Senses, upon which we give Credit to a Miracle, that is shown to our Senses. 4. This, by the way, is a yet unanswered Argument against the Miracle of Trans-substantiation, and shows the weakness of the Defence which the Church of Rome offers for it,( from whom the Socinians have licked it up, and of late, have gloried much in it amongst Us) That the Doctrines of the Trinity or Incarnation contain as great seeming Absurdities as that of Trans-substantiation: For I would ask, which of our Senses is it which the Doctrines of the Trinity or Incarnation do contradict? is it our Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Taste, or Smell? Whereas Trans-substantiation does contradict all of those. Therefore the Comparison is Exceedingly short, and out of Purpose. But to Return, If the Christian Religion be a Cheat, and nothing else but the Invention of Priests; and carried on by their Craft, it makes their Power and Wisdom Greater than that of Men, Angels or Devils; and more than GOD Himself ever yet shew'd or expressed; to Deceive and Impose upon the Senses of Mankind, in such public and notorious matters of fact. XIII. And this Miracle, which the Deists must run into to avoid these Recorded of Moses and Christ, is much Greater and more astonishing then All the Scriptures tell of Them. So that those Men. who laugh at all Miracles, are now obliged to Account for the Greatest of all, How the Senses of Mankind could be imposed upon in such public matters of fact. And How then, they make the Priests the most Contemptible of all Mankind, since they make Them the sole Authors of this the Greatest of Miracles! XIV. And since the Deists( these Men of Sense and Reason) have so Vile and mean an Idea of the Priests of all Religions, why do they not Recover the World out of the Possession and Government of such Blockheads! Why do they suffer Kings and States to be lead by Them! To establish their Deceits by Laws; and inflict penalties upon the Opposers of them! Let the Deists Try their Hands! They have been Trying; and are now very busy about it. And free Liberty they have. Yet have they not prevailed. Nor ever yet did prevail in any civilized or Generous Nation. And tho' they have made some Introads among the Hotintots, and some other the most Brutal part of Mankind, yet are they still Exploded, and Priests have and do prevail against them, among not only the Greatest, But Best part of the World, and the most Glorious for Arts, Learning, and war. XV. For as the Devil doth Ape God, in His Institutions of Religion, His Feasts, Sacrifices, &c. So likewise in His priests, Without whom, no Religion whether True or False, can stand, False Religion is but a Corruption of the True, The True was before it; tho it followed close upon the Heels. The Revelation made to Moses is Elder than any History Extant in the Heathen World. The Heathens, in Imitation of Him, pretended likewise to their Revelations; But I have given those Marks which Distinguish them from the True; None of them have those four Marks before mentioned. Now the Deists think all Revelations to be Equally pretended, and a Cheat; And the Priests of all Religions to be the same Contrivers and jugglers; and therefore they proclaim war equally against All: And are equally engaged to bear the brunt of All. And if the Contest be only betwixt the Deists, and the Priests, which of them are the Men of the greatest Parts and Sense, let the Effects determine it; and let the Deists yield the Victory to their Conquerors, who, by their own Confession, carry all the World before them. XVI. If the Deists say, that this is because all the would are Blockheads, as well as these Priests who govern them; that all are Blockheads except the Deists, who Vote themselves only to be men of sense: This( besides the modesty of it) will spoil their Great and Beloved topic, in behalf of what they call Natural Religion against the revealed, Viz: Appealing to the common Reason of mankind: This they set up against Revelation; Think this to be sufficient for all the Uses of men, here, or hereafter,( if there be any After-State) and therefore that there is no use of Revelation; this Common Reason they advance as Infallible at least, as the Surest Guide: Yet now cry out upon it, when it turns against them; When this Common Reason runs after Revelation( as it always has done) then Common Reason is a Beast; and we must look for Reason, not from the Common Sentiments of mankind, but only from among the Beaux the Deists! XVII. Therefore, if the Deists would avoid the mortification( which will be very uneasy to them) to yield and submit, to be subdued and hewed down before the Priests, whom of all Mankind, they Hate and Despise, if they would avoid this, Let them confess, as the Truth is, That Religion is no Invention of Priests, but of Divine Original: That Priests were instituted by the same Author of Religion; and that their Order is a perpetual and living monument of the matters of fact of their Religion, instituted from the time that such matters of fact were said to be done, as the Levites ●rom Moses; the Apostles, and succeeding Clergy from Christ, to this Day. That no Heathen Priests can say the same: They were not appointed by the Gods whom they served, but by others in after Ages. in Honour of those Gods. They cannot stand the Test of the four Rules before mentioned, which the Christian Priests can do; and they only. And it being told in the matter of fact of Christ, that such Order of Priests were by Him instituted, and to continue to the end of the World; if the matters of fact of CHRIST were False, then when ever they came to be invented, in after Ages, there could be no such Order of Christian Priests; And the matters of fact of Christ being pressed to be True, no otherwise than as there was( at that time when they were invented) not only public Sacraments( as before has been urged) but a visible Order of Priests to Administer them; Consequently there being then no such Order of Men visible in the World, must demonstrat the whole to be False, and so make it impossible to be received, under the Circumstances before mentioned. XVIII. Now the Christian Priesthood, as Instituted by Christ Himself, and Continued by succession to this Day, being as Impregnable and Flagrant a Testimony to the Truth of the Matters of Fact of Christ, as the Sacraments, or any other public Institutions, besides that, i● the Priesthood were taken away, the Sacrament, and other public Institutions, which are administered by their hands must fall with them. Therefore the Devil has been most busy, and bent his greatest Force in all Ages against the Priesthood, knowing that if That go down, All goes with it. XIX With the Deists, in this Cause, are joined the Quakers and other of their Dissenters who threw off the Succession of our Priesthood( by which only it can be demonstrated) together with the Sacraments and public Festivals. And if the Devil could have prevailed to have these dropped, the Christian Religion would lose the most Unden●able and Demonstrative Proof for the Truth of the Matters of fact of our Saviour, upon which the Truth of His Doctrine does depend. Therefore we may see the Artifice and Malice of the Devil, in all these Attempts: And let those wretched Instruments, whom he ignorantly( and some, by a mis●guided Zeal) has deluded thus to Undermine Christianity, now at last look back, and see the Snare in which they have been Taken for if they had prevailed, or ever should, Christianity Dies with them. At least, it will be renderd Precarious, as a thing of which no certain Proof can be given. Therefore, let those of them, who have any Zeal for the Truth, bless GOD that they have not prevailed; and quickly leave them, and let all others be ware of them. And let us Consider and Honour the Priesthood, Sacraments, and other public Institutions of Christ, See Dr. Cockburns Sermons. Ser: p. 129. not only as Means of Grace and Helps to Devotion, but as the Great Evidences of the Christian Religion. Such Evidences as no pretended Revelation ever had, or can have. Such as do plainly distinguish it from all Foolish Legends and Impostures whatsoever. XX. And now, last of all, if one word of Advice would not be lost upon Men, who think so Unmeasureable of themselves as the Deists, you may Represent to them, what a Condition they are in, who spend their Life and Sense, which GOD has given them, in Ridiculing the Greatest of his Blessing, His Revelations of Christ, and by Christ, to Redeem those from eternal misery, who shall Believe in Him, and Obey His Laws. And that GOD, in his wonderful Mercy and Wisdom, has so Guarded His Revelations, as that it is past the Power of Men or Devils to counterfeit: And that there is no Denying of them, unless we will be so Absurd, as to deny not only the Reason, but the Certainty of the Outward Senses, not only of one or two or three, but of Mankind in General. That this Case is so very plain, that nothing but want of Thought can hinder any to discover it. That they must yield it to be so plain, unless they can show some Forgery, which has all the four Marks before set down. But if they cannot do this, they must quiter their Cause, and yield a happy Victory over themselves: Or else sit down with all that Ignominy with which they have loaded the Priests; of being, not only the most pernicious, but( what will gull them more) the most foolish and inconsiderat of Mankind. Therefore let them not think it an undervaluing of their Worthiness, that their whole Cause is comprised in less than two Sheets of Paper: And no more time bestowed upon it, than it is worth. July 17th. 1697. FINIS