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 BE IO S865 1643 
 Smyth, William, 1765-1849. 
 Evidences of Christianity 
 
PROFESSOR SMYTH’S 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 $ 
 
EVIDENCES OF 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 wie 
 
 4 
 
 a¢ 
 BY WILLIAM SMYTH ESQ. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CAMBRIDGE 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 LONDON 
 WILLIAM PICKERING 
 1848 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2022 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/evidencesofchrisOOsmyt 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO“? LY MALLET, ESQ. 
 
 My Dear FRrienp, 
 
 I inscriBE to you the following 
 statement of the Evidences of Christianity, in © 
 acknowledgment of the judicious suggestions 
 I received from you, while drawing it up, and 
 in testimony of the very great regard and re- 
 spect, with which I have long been most sin- 
 cerely 
 
 Yours, 
 
 W. SMYTH. 
 
 QUEEN STREET, 
 Norwich. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Tse Works from which I have made large 
 
 Extracts, with or without acknowledgment, 
 are the following :— 
 
 Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise. 
 
 Conybeare’s Lectures on Theology. 
 
 Davison on Prophecy. 
 
 Archdeacon Lyall’s Propzdia Prophetica. 
 
 Paley’s Evidences. 
 
 J. B. Sumner’s Evidence of Christianity. 
 
 Pascal’s Pensées sur la Religion. 
 
 Soame Jenyns’ Internal Evidence. 
 
 Dr. Arnold’s Appendix on the Right Interpretation of 
 the Scriptures, in the Second Volume of his Sermons. 
 
 Bishop Maltby’s Two Sermons preached at Durham. 
 
 Bishop Marsh’s Third Appendix to his Lectures on the 
 Authenticity and Credibility of the New Testament, 
 and on the Authority of the Old. 
 
lai “2 
 
 ~ . 
 = JUL 2 1985 =< 
 o Git. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 AYE Oh iC] 
 Gere) HE prevalence of scepticism and 
 
 CaN Ava). infidelity has been long the la- 
 
 their hearers; those who receive its doctrines 
 with reverence, and who would wish others 
 to be influenced by religious feelings, like their 
 own—such believers in the truth of revelation 
 are disquieted, and even alarmed, when they 
 look around them and observe the indifference 
 of others to those principles and opinions which 
 are to themselves so dear: which, because they 
 believe them to be founded in truth, adminis- 
 ter comfort and support to them under the af- 
 flictions of the present state, and afford them 
 
InrropucToRY CHAPTER. 
 
 their hopes of happiness in the world that is 
 to come. 
 
 The feelings of pious and good men, such 
 as have been now described, must necessarily 
 be considered with great respect and anxiety 
 by every man who is sufficiently at leisure to 
 reflect upon the situation of his fellow-crea- 
 tures. 
 
 I am now at the close of life, and have been 
 much engaged in the education of young men ; 
 and I have had great opportunities of observ- 
 ing the notions of men of matured age also, 
 from having lived in the times of the breaking 
 out of the French Revolution, when every es- 
 tablished opinion was questioned, and in too 
 many instances shaken and destroyed—and, 
 on the whole, I think I may consider myself 
 as well acquainted with the views, when they 
 are of a sceptical nature, both of the young 
 and the old; and I know not how | can employ 
 any time that may yet be allowed me, better, 
 than by drawing up a few observations on the 
 general subject of the Evidences of Christi- 
 anity. ’ 
 
 What I shall hope to show in the ensuing 
 pages is this—that such scepticism and infi- 
 delity, wherever it exists, is not justified by the 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 reasonableness of the case; that good and pi- 
 ous men need not have their own faith shaken 
 by the indifference, which they may think they 
 observe in others; and that those who show 
 this indifference, are not aware of the evidence 
 that may fairly be produced in favour of Chris- 
 tianity, nor at all suspect, amidst the difficul- 
 ties and objections that may have occurred to 
 them, how unreasonable, after all, is their dis- 
 belief, and how little they comprehend the real 
 position in which they stand with regard to 
 their Almighty Creator. This I shall endea- 
 vour to do, by laying before them such re- 
 marks of learned and intelligent men, as | 
 think ought to influence their minds. 
 
 I have looked over various books and trea- 
 tises, and from such as | thought the most im- 
 portant, I have produced extracts, and have 
 made such statements and drawn such con- 
 clusions, as appeared to me to be reasonable. 
 From the authors I have referred to, I have 
 generally taken such passages as I thought to 
 my purpose, and have given them as much as 
 possible, in their own words; often abbrevi- 
 ating these passages, but always retaining what 
 I thought their meaning and their value. At 
 the same time, I have sometimes accompanied 
 
 b 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 them with such remarks as occurred to me, so 
 that most of the observations which the reader 
 will find, are not to be considered so much the 
 result of any learning of mine, or any labour 
 of my own thoughts, as the statements and 
 reasonings of others. I have confined myself 
 entirely to the great question of the truth of 
 the Christian Religion ; of the evidence which 
 may be brought in support of it; the external 
 evidence and the internal. The doctrines con- 
 tained in the New Testament I have scarcely 
 alluded to; they are a different question, and 
 are to be considered when the authority of the 
 New Testament has been first established : and 
 I must request that it may be always under- 
 stood, that I am not writing as a divine, but 
 addressing myself as a layman, not to those 
 who are already believers, but to those who 
 are unbelievers, and endeavouring to meet 
 them on their own grounds. 
 
 And before I go into the detail of this im- 
 portant subject, I shall make a few remarks 
 on the nature and character of those, to whom 
 I more particularly mean to submit, what I 
 think may be offered to their reflection. While 
 doing so, I shall probably anticipate much of 
 what I may hereafter lay before them, and I 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 -may thus, and in my subsequent Dissertation, 
 often repeat the same arguments, and again 
 and again produce the same views, such as I 
 conceive fitted to influence their minds; being 
 little concerned about the symmetry or beauties 
 of composition, and thinking only of the im- 
 pression to be made on my reader; which 
 impression may be materially assisted by such 
 repetitions, and may dwell with effect upon 
 the memory, when my work is no longer 
 thought of. 
 
 But before I proceed to describe the nature 
 and character of those, whom I am desirous 
 to address, | must require all such persons to 
 consider what is the exact sort of evidence on 
 which the truth of Christianity has been left 
 to rest, by the Almighty Being, whose crea- 
 tures we are. 
 
 We have the prophecies of the Old and 
 New Testament—we have the miracles per- 
 formed by the Saviour and by his apostles— 
 we have the manner in which the religion 
 was propagated among mankind—the impos- 
 sibility, except on the supposition of its truth, 
 that this propagation should either have been 
 attempted or accomplished—the impossibility 
 that such a being as the Saviour should have 
 
InTRoDUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 arisen out of such a community as the Jewish. 
 nation then was; and on the whole, the con- 
 stant necessity we are under, of supposing the 
 truth of the religion, while we are considering 
 the events connected with it: how and where 
 it arose, the astonishing effects it produced 
 upon its first converts, and more early disci- 
 ples, its subsequent effect upon the world, and 
 lastly, the nature of its doctrines, so removed 
 from all philosophic anticipation, and so un- 
 likely to have been conceived by any human 
 imagination. 
 
 But if such be the nature of the evidence, 
 one observation must now be made, and it 
 must never be forgotten, not only by those, 
 who are at present sceptics, but by those, who, 
 believers themselves, are uneasy when they 
 meet with a want of that belief in others, 
 which they feel would be a sanction to their 
 own. I must suggest to them then, that such 
 evidence, as we have been describing, cannot 
 compel the assent; it may be quite sufficient 
 to procure the assent of any mind that is in a 
 natural and sound state, but it cannot compel 
 the assent of any mind, which, on whatever 
 account of perverseness or unreasonableness, 
 is resolved not to assent. 
 
IntTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 Let no pious ear be alarmed, if I say, that 
 the evidence for Christianity is not of a nature 
 that can compel the assent. Evidence of this 
 kind can only exist in particular cases; these 
 particular cases are, where the truths of science 
 are concerned, in the propositions for instance 
 of geometry, or the facts of experimental phi- 
 losophy—here the evidence is addressed to the 
 senses or the understanding ; but this evidence 
 is of a different nature from what is called 
 moral evidence—it is this latter evidence that 
 belongs to the conduct of life; we proceed 
 upon it every moment; we depend upon it, 
 and justly depend, on every occasion. It is 
 the only evidence from the nature of our situa- 
 tion here, which was ever intended for our 
 government or can be placed within our reach 
 — it is that sort of evidence, which it is unrea- 
 sonable to resist, which in common language 
 we say, a man Is wrong-headed to resist, but 
 which, if a man chooses to resist, he cannot be 
 compelled to admit. We can only turn away 
 from him and leave him to his paradoxes and 
 his folly. 
 
 Now it is this kind of evidence, on which 
 not only the conduct of life, but the truth of 
 Christianity is left to rest. It must be care- 
 
Intropucrory CHAPTER. 
 
 fully noted, that there are two descriptions of 
 assent, or belief, or knowledge, call it which 
 you will, widely different, and originating in 
 sources clearly to be distinguished from each 
 other—that in the sciences, for instance, it is 
 the reason or the senses, that are alone con- 
 cerned—it is in these cases that the reception 
 of truth can be extorted, however unwillingly, 
 but in all ordinary cases, in all other cases, 
 even on the subject of the truth of Christianity, 
 no such reception of truth can be extorted, for 
 it is not the senses and the understanding that 
 are here alone concerned. 
 
 It must be remembered that what is called 
 belief is a compound result of the reason and 
 the feelings acting together; it is not the result 
 of the understanding alone, the feelings inter- 
 fere with the reason. Under the word feelings 
 I include everything that can affect the mind, 
 or rather perhaps the heart; views of self-inter- 
 est, suggestions of pride, resentment, and a 
 thousand other considerations such, as consti- 
 tute what are called motives to action—these 
 always result from the feelings. It is the 
 province of reason to exhibit the case, and 
 then for the feelings to decide, but even in 
 exhibiting the case, the feelings interfere, and 
 influence the statement. 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER, 
 
 Look around and observe the opinions of 
 mankind—the violence of their party heats 
 and animosities—-the absurdities which they 
 produce and patronize—in all these cases the 
 materials subjected to the minds of different 
 men are the same, and their faculties the same, 
 but how different their conclusions ; that is, 
 how differently do their feelings influence their 
 reason—and it is thus, and thus only, that we 
 can account for all that we see around us—it 
 is thus that the decisions of mankind, when 
 they leave their scientific inquiries, become va- 
 rious and contradictory, perplexed by dispute 
 and involved in confusion, and finally, it is 
 thus that different sectsarise : and again, which 
 is the point we are at present more especially 
 considering, it is thus that arises the occasional 
 disbelief of religion itself. 
 
 It should seem as if the Almighty Master 
 had placed us here in a state of constant pro- 
 bation—whatever may be the reason of this 
 dispensation, all the phenomena, we can ob- 
 serve, point to this great truth, and so indeed 
 do all the discourses and parables of the Sa- 
 viour himself—and this state of probation is 
 extended far beyond what may have been sup- 
 posed by the generality of mankind. It is not 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 too much to say, that we are responsible, not 
 only for our practical conduct, but for our 
 opinions. Our opinions are the result of our 
 feelings, as well as of our reason: they are 
 moral, at least they are not properly and mere- 
 lyslogical—they fall on the whole within the 
 province of morality and therefore of duty— 
 an awful consideration this to those who can 
 duly estimate its extent and importance. It 
 is common to see a sceptic or a man of the 
 world start up in a sort of heat and triumph, 
 and say, “ My understanding tells me so and 
 so, and this is sufficient ;” this is, however, not 
 sufficient, it remains to be examined, how and 
 why his understanding has told him so. 
 
 No doubt our faculties are very limited, and 
 grave men must consider that with a clear 
 over-balance of evidence in behalf of the au- 
 thority of the Bible, and of its most important 
 revelations, (and this at least may be affirmed, ) 
 with such a clear moral overbalance, it may 
 not be desirable that this evidence should be 
 of such a nature as to necessitate conviction, 
 for there would then be no room for the exer- 
 cise of docility, candour, and faith, nor even 
 for any anxious diligence in the study of the 
 
In rRoDUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 Scriptures ; and what, it may be asked, is to 
 become of those who would still be hurried 
 away by their passions and for whom there 
 would then be no excuse ! 
 
 Difficulties and obscurities in the Scriptures, 
 and in the doctrines of religion, exercise pa- 
 tience, stimulate inquiry, teach humility, re- 
 buke presumption, exercise faith, call forth 
 many virtues of the human character, disci- 
 pline the mind and the heart, and they are 
 therefore not without their use, and may be 
 intended for these purposes. 
 
 And now to proceed to our general subject 
 of the scepticism and infidelity that exists in 
 the world—I say exists; | am not going to 
 intimate that this prevails in the world—I am 
 not going to say that the people of England, 
 for instance, are not a religious people; but I 
 am going to comment upon the situation of 
 particular descriptions of men in the commu- 
 nity. I mean to exhibit, as well as I can, the 
 particular temptations of particular classes, 
 and to show when individuals amongst them 
 become sceptics and unbelievers, how this hap- 
 pens to be the case, and I hope to show here- 
 after, as I have already intimated, that there 
 
Intropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 exists such evidence of the truth of Christi- 
 anity, as I conceive ought to influence their 
 minds as reasonable men. 
 
 In the first place, then, we will cast a glance 
 on the young; but of these there are two dif- 
 ferent classes—those of ordinary talents, and 
 those of talents of a higher order ; and it is of 
 the latter that I mean now to speak. 
 
 All young men are naturally impatient of 
 authority—‘ monitoribus asper;” but those, 
 of whom I now speak, are more especially 
 averse to all opinions and institutions that 
 they find established in the world—they are 
 animated by the consciousness of their own 
 superior faculties, ambitious to display them, 
 and only studying to be the objects of admira- 
 tion, particularly among their companions and 
 those of their own age, who in the meantime 
 can most easily be won, and often are won, by 
 daring views and unexpected paradoxes, al- 
 ways mistaken for the reasonings of a more 
 profound and subtle sagacity. 
 
 Such are their intellectual temptations, to 
 say nothing of their physical ; and surely it is 
 to know little of human nature to expect them 
 to be reasonable on such a subject as the evi- 
 dences of religion. The opinions of a man 
 
InrropucToRY CHAPTER. 
 
 when young, if he is of superior genius, are 
 often as tumultuous as are the waves of the 
 ocean in a storm, and as wild in their aspect, 
 and they may never properly subside, or may 
 perhaps run into the opposite extreme of fana- 
 ticism. 
 
 But in the generality of young men, the 
 character improves, as life proceeds ; the taste 
 for sparkling novelties gradually declines ; the 
 mind softens ; becomes more calm, considerate 
 and sober, and the man of twenty-five may be 
 very different from the youth of eighteen— 
 much will depend, both in the earlier stage of 
 their opinions and in this latter, on the exam- 
 ple of the parents—not so much on their direct 
 precepts, as on their visible example; their 
 habits, the conversation at their table, their 
 passing allusions to religious subjects, the feel- 
 ings with which they are evidently themselves 
 inspired, the opinions which they obviously 
 themselves entertain.—In the case of youth 
 every allowance must be made and hope never 
 abandoned. 
 
 We will next advert to men of a maturer 
 age, the men of pleasure, the men of the 
 world, as they are called—these are men, who 
 may well be unbelievers, for they have no 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 resource, but to resist the evidences of a reli- 
 gion, that denounces their vices—these are 
 men that make it the system of their lives to 
 prefer the present to the future, to escape from 
 everything that can awaken thoughts of a seri- 
 ous, and what must be to them, of a gloomy 
 nature—everything that requires grave reflec- 
 tion or any seclusion from the amusing scenes 
 of life, or the agreeable topics of the day— 
 self-indulgence, the impulses of the moment, 
 the gratifications of sensual pleasure, these 
 become the very habit of their lives, the very 
 business of their existence.—How are such 
 men to turn to consider, or be disposed to 
 receive the evidences of a religion, the very 
 object of which is, to warn men of the sin- 
 fulness of their nature, and of its awful con- 
 sequences; to require from them purity of 
 conduct and holiness of thought, self-denial 
 and self-control, and to tell them, that they 
 are intended for another state of existence, for 
 which they are to prepare themselves, and 
 that they are not to be engrossed by the en- 
 joyments of this their present state. 
 Proceeding through the different descrip- 
 tions of men that constitute society, we may 
 observe a large portion of them, that are de- 
 
 a ih eT til cs 
 
IntTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 nominated men of business; of these men, the 
 fault is not so much a disinclination to receive 
 the truths of religion, as a thoughtlessness, a 
 carelessness, and an unworthy and dangerous 
 forgetfulness of religion. They are solely in- 
 tent on their daily occupations—it is not that 
 God is not always in their thoughts, it is, that 
 he is seldom or never in their thoughts—their 
 kingdom is of this world. 
 
 ‘ Seldom at church, twas such a busy life, 
 
 But duly sent his family and wife.” 
 Such is Pope’s description of them—no ordi- 
 nary observer—and though of these men the 
 characteristic fault is a serious one, it is not 
 one which we are at present called upon to 
 consider, it is not exactly connected with 
 scepticism or infidelity. 
 
 Much the same is the fault of another de- 
 scription of men, who may now be mentioned, 
 those who cultivate the fine arts, and are too 
 exclusively absorbed by those labours of the 
 mind and of the imagination, which give rise 
 to the productions of genius, but which are 
 too often indulged to the exclusion of graver 
 subjects, and of those more important medita- 
 tions, which ought also to take their turn ; 
 meditations which religion enjoins, and which 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 would in truth only elevate them to a higher 
 
 perception, even in their own worldly pursuits, 
 
 of the beautiful and the sublime. These men 
 are like the former, intent only on the present. 
 “ Art,” says Fuseli, in his Aphorisms, “ Art 
 absorbs the man.” 
 
 Of another description of men, the men of 
 science, it has been often observed, that their 
 habit of referring every thing to reasoning’s of 
 an abstract and demonstrative kind, indisposes, 
 and indeed incapacitates them from feeling 
 the force of reasonings of a moral nature— 
 Everything with them is fact and experiment ; 
 they go not beyond the evidence of their senses 
 and their understandings—and as such men 
 have constantly before them the most impor- 
 tant earthly interests of mankind, as the ardour 
 of study or the necessities of their occupation 
 engross their thoughts, it can be no wonder 
 that they either do not think at all, or think 
 lightly of subjects of a less palpable nature, 
 and of conclusions that can be made out only 
 by the patient examination, not of physical, 
 but of moral evidence. 
 
 “T can have nothing to say to your religion” 
 said the celebrated Halley, “ it is so full of 
 mysteries.” <‘ Mysteries,” observed Bishop 
 
 TT 
 
INtTRopuUCToRY CHAPTER. 
 
 Berkeley, “I will show him that there are 
 mysteries in his mathematics, as well as in my 
 religion,” and he immediately attacked what 
 Voltaire properly called the sublime geometry 
 of Newton, in a treatise, to which I have heard 
 mathematicians say, that no adequate answer 
 has ever yet been given ; and certainly mathe- 
 maticians with their curves and right lines 
 that continually approach and never coincide, 
 and other positions of the like nature, may as 
 well be silent on the subject of mysteries. 
 
 Bishop Watson, a distinguished man of sci- 
 ence himself, has exhibited an ample collection 
 of the mysteries of philosophy in his answer 
 to Paine’s Age of Reason. But it has thus 
 always happened, that it is amongst these men 
 of science that sceptics and unbelievers have 
 been most generally found. 
 
 Philosophy and vain deceit was from the 
 first the complaint of the Apostle, and with 
 some very illustrious exceptions the same com- 
 plaint might have been made through all the 
 history of Christianity, down to the present 
 moment. 
 
 A large portion of the rest of mankind, of 
 the more intelligent part, may be classed under 
 the general description of those, who, by the 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 exercise of their talents, are seeking for the 
 distinctions of the world, the advantages of 
 opulence, the advancement of their families. 
 Statesmen, distinguished men of literature, 
 barristers, and lawyers. Various are the temp- 
 tations to which all these men are exposed ; 
 very various are the causes which create in 
 such men a disinclination to receive the evi- 
 dences of Christianity ; and yet they are the 
 lights of the world,, and those, on whom the 
 eyes of more humble believers are naturally 
 fixed ; they shine in society—young lawyers 
 think this necessary to their professional suc- 
 cess—they give the tone to the opinions of 
 others; and the very qualities that constitute the 
 temptations of their own minds, the brillianey 
 of their talents and their powers of entertain- 
 ment, are the very reasons why, while they are 
 led astray themselves, they have an unhappy 
 influence on the minds of those around them, 
 more particularly the young, who, as well as 
 the old, are continually on the watch, and 
 never fail to discover, even when they are 
 decorously concealed, their real sentiments. 
 In all such instances, however, the pious 
 Christian must consider how little the reasona- 
 bleness of the case has to do with the opinions 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 of such men, whatever they may observe of 
 their superior talents, or may be told of the 
 sprightliness of their sarcasms. Let them note 
 the inconsiderate rashness of their conclusions: 
 above all, that they are in general extremely 
 ignorant of the subject. 
 
 The pride of reason has always been re- 
 marked, as an element in the composition of 
 the human mind, and in such men at least, it 
 is always found; their very first impulse is 
 invariably to separate themselves from those 
 they call the vulgar; to soar above what they 
 vote to be their prejudices and mistakes, their 
 blindness and their ignorance ; above all, their 
 credulity. Now, in every civilized community, 
 the common sense and common feelings of 
 mankind have offered worship, more or less 
 enlightened, to the Supreme Being; have 
 erected temples, and instituted religious or- 
 ders; and in the instance of Christianity, have 
 made our holy religion one of the great con- 
 cerns of life; an object continually presented 
 to our view, on every occasion brought forward 
 to influence our minds, to control our evil af- 
 fections, to fit us for our present state, and to 
 purify and prepare us for a better. 
 
 Now it is this natural and enlightened 
 
 d 
 
IntTRopucToRY CHAPTER. 
 
 anxiety of a community, which, while it has 
 the most desirable effect on the minds of the 
 mass of mankind, has, from its very nature, an 
 effect directly the reverse on the particular 
 description of men we are now considering— 
 they turn away from what influences others, 
 on that very account ; because it does influence 
 others—they must not be like the common 
 herd—they, forsooth, are not to be so easily 
 practised upon—they are not to be duped— 
 they object not indeed to the usefulness of 
 religion, as a means of keeping mankind in 
 order, but as to themselves, they are not much 
 disposed to be kept in order, and certainly not 
 by the discourses of priests, as they are called, 
 and the superstitious ceremonies, as they are 
 deemed, of religion. 
 
 We conceive that we are thus describing a 
 case of no very uncommon occurrence; often 
 to be observed, and still more often in secret 
 existing, among those, who are conscious of 
 their superior talents, and who are succeeding 
 in the world by the exercise of them. We 
 conceive that we have not advanced more 
 than they would themselves be conscious of, 
 if they undertook a duty with which they are 
 little acquainted, the duty of self-examination. 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 Their talents may be equal to the consideration 
 of the evidences of religion, but they have no 
 leisure so to employ them; they would not 
 thus advance themselves in the career of what 
 may be in itself, and properly limited, their 
 useful and honourable ambition; and they 
 are not in that frame of mind, which can be 
 fitted for the reception of the religion of hu~ 
 mility ; nor can they be brought into it, but 
 by some visitation of sickness, or the disap- 
 pointment of their worldly hopes. 
 
 But among such men, the men of talents, 
 distinctions exist, and they must be noted.— I 
 speak not indiscriminately of all—such men 
 are not always either licentious or thoughtless 
 in their opinions. Many are often found to 
 acknowledge the existence and attributes of 
 the Deity, though they may not have success- 
 fully considered the evidences of the truth of 
 Christianity—they are impatient of difficulties 
 and objections ; they content themselves with 
 the great general impression, that results from 
 the observation of every thing, within, above, 
 and around them; they can see and feel the 
 farce of the evidences of natural religion—any 
 serious or pious thoughts, by which they may 
 be affected, find here their immediate province, 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 and they soar away into a higher region, as 
 they suppose, of religious worship; higher 
 than those can attain, who are submitted to 
 all the ordinary ceremonies and doctrines of 
 any particular system of faith like Christianity. 
 It is to be lamented that such men, often in 
 themselves very respectable, should have their 
 minds so chained down by notions like these, 
 that they cannot carry out their reflections to 
 their legitimate conclusions, and that they do 
 not perceive, that in consistency, they ought 
 from Deists to become Christians: that though 
 natural religion is the foundation, Christianity 
 is the consequent superstructure. 
 
 A distinguished prelate of our church, 
 Bishop Butler, as profound a reasoner as any 
 of themselves can be, has well considered the 
 situation of men like these and has treated 
 them with a tenderness and a respect, which 
 they cannot but feel and acknowledge, and 
 which they have not always met with from 
 others ; but which the bishop, both as a man 
 of sense, and as a Christian, was disposed to 
 exercise, and could at the same time see, 
 would be the best preparation for the reception 
 of his reasonings. What he has shown, is the 
 analogy of every thing we can observe around 
 
IxntrropuctroryY CHAPTER. 
 
 us, to the doctrines of natural and revealed 
 religion ; that we exist here, for instance, 1s a 
 fact—that there is an Almighty being above, 
 this too will be admitted—that we have atftec- 
 tions and passions, and that we are pursued 
 by the consequences that follow from our be- 
 haviour—that there is prudence and folly in 
 the world—success and miscarriage—health 
 and sickness—patience and fortitude—hopes 
 and fears; that all these are facts which can- 
 not be denied, for we have daily and hourly 
 experience of them—that these facts are en- 
 tirely agreeable to the suppositions of natural 
 and revealed religion; that the views and 
 doctrines of each are such, as might be ex- 
 pected from these facts—that these facts on 
 the one side, and these views and doctrines 
 on the other, correspond and harmonize, and 
 therefore are evidently derived from the same 
 source—that there is an analogy and consist- 
 ency in the two, that is, in the facts of our 
 existence, with the doctrines in the first place 
 of natural religion, and afterwards the doc- 
 trines of revealed religion—that natural and 
 revealed religion are of the same nature with 
 each other—that they are exposed to the same 
 objections, and recommended by the same con- 
 
Intropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 siderations, and that on the whole the Deist 
 will find no difficulties in Christianity, which 
 may not equally be found in the system of 
 belief and in the Deism which he has already 
 adopted, and very wisely and justly adopted. 
 
 But unfortunately, as I have already ob- 
 served, with such men Deism is thought suf- 
 ficient—it sufficiently employs and elevates 
 the piety, which their nature affords, and they 
 are not conscious that they have already laid 
 the foundation of Christianity in their minds, 
 and that they stop, when they should proceed ; 
 that such feelings as affect their hearts, and 
 such reasonings as influence their understand- 
 ings, might justly lead them to higher percep- 
 tions of the dispensations of the Almighty ; 
 higher aspirations for the piety of their minds; 
 a better rest for their inquiries and a yet surer 
 and stronger foundation for the hopes, which 
 they already entertain of an hereafter. 
 
 It is to men like these that the work of But- 
 ler may be properly addressed: it may be de- 
 scribed in a few words. It is an unanswer- 
 able preparative for the reception of revealed 
 truth. He who is already a Deist cannot well 
 fail, after meditating this work, of becoming a 
 Christian—the objections to natural religion 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 and ‘Christianity are shown to be the same, 
 and if he has survived objections to the one, 
 he will find immortal life in the other. 
 
 Dr. Beattie, the author of the “ Minstrel, ” 
 was employed, in a retirement during the sum- 
 mer, in writing his Essay on Truth, in which 
 he undertook to confute the sceptical writings 
 of Hume—writings, which had then got pos- 
 session of the world to a degree that not a 
 little disquieted and alarmed him. In some 
 moments of melancholy thought, such as poets 
 are exposed to, he wrote the beautiful poem 
 that begins 
 
 *“* At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still, 
 And mortals, &e. 
 
 ‘Twas then by the cave of a mountain reclined, 
 An hermit his nightly complaint thus began : 
 
 Tho’ mournful his numbers, his soul was resigned, 
 He thought as a sage, though he felt as a man.” 
 
 and the poem ends with the two following 
 lines, 
 
 “ But when shall spring visit the mouldering urn ! 
 Oh when shall it dawn on the night of the grave!” 
 
 His literary friends remonstrated against his 
 leaving his Hermit in this disconsolate situa- 
 tion, without any hopes of a life to come; and 
 
InrropucToRY CHAPTER. 
 
 against his delivering to the world (though an 
 opponent of Hume) stanzas which Hume him- 
 self might rather have written. The poet felt 
 the objection—and in the first place he altered 
 the opening stanzas of the poem, destroying, 
 in fact, all the meaning of the poem, which 
 lay in the “ mournful numbers” and “ com- 
 plaint” of the hermit ; and he then made some 
 amends to the reader by writing the poem that 
 begins, 
 “’ Twas thus by the glare of false science betrayed ;” 
 
 —and what he had now to say, was, that 
 Christianity would restore the mind of the 
 hermit to peace, and afford him the sure hopes 
 of that immortality of which he had despaired ; 
 but it was not easy to say this in poetry— 
 words were to be found to express Christianity 
 and to describe immortality: the three con- 
 cluding stanzas of the poem were these: 
 
 “ Oh! pity, great Father of light, then I ery’d, 
 
 Thy creature who fain would not wander from thee; 
 Lo! humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride: 
 
 From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free! 
 And darkness and doubt are now flying away ; 
 
 No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn 
 
 So breaks on the traveller, faint and astray, 
 
 The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn.” 
 
Inrropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 And now Christianity was to be described, 
 and the immortality that Christianity promises, 
 and they were described in the stanza that fol- 
 lowed; in the last— which was thus expressed, 
 
 “See truth, love, and mercy, in triumph descending, 
 
 And nature all glowing in Eden’s first bloom ! 
 
 On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are 
 blending 
 
 And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.” 
 
 I must confess, that I have always con- 
 sidered this as the most successful retreat from 
 a former poem, the most successful palinode, 
 as it is called, that ever was written. It is 
 very agreeable to see so charming a poet ex- 
 tricate himself from his difficulties in so beau- 
 tiful a manner. 
 
 But if men distinguished in the world for 
 their talents turn away from Christianity, even 
 when exhibited to them in a manner agreeable 
 to the import and precepts of the gospel, how 
 inevitable is their recoil, when it is presented 
 to them, under the forms and ceremonies of 
 what they consider as superstition and _priest- 
 craft—still more, when they see the professors 
 of Christianity assailing with harsh expressions 
 and accusations those who differ from them ; 
 see them, enemies to the freedom of the human 
 
 e 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 mind, and disturbing the empire of peace and 
 goodwill among mankind. 
 
 Voltaire was thus exasperated by the mem- 
 bers of the Roman Catholic Church, till the 
 abolition of Christianity became the passion 
 of his life; and an unworthy spirit of intole- 
 rance can assume various forms according to 
 the various situations of the community with 
 regard to their religious belief. 
 
 And while I am engaged in considerations 
 of this kind, I am compelled to observe, that 
 the extravagances of enthusiastic preachers 
 have often a most unfavourable effect on the 
 belief of those who read their works or hear 
 their discourses; an unfavourable effect too 
 serious and too common, not to be alluded to, 
 when I am enumerating the causes of scepti- 
 cism and infidelity. The mysteries of our re- 
 ligion, that should be approached with awe, 
 that are received only as the proper objects of 
 faith, and on the authority of the gospel, these 
 mysteries are studiously brought forward and 
 are pushed into all their supposed logical con- 
 sequences; as if it was only meant to repel 
 and drive into a state of doubt and distress 
 every mind that is in a sober state of Christian 
 belief: and these, the effusions of a religious 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 imagination, rather than the edifying instruc- 
 tions of those, who better know what spirit 
 they are of, are no longer confined to the un- 
 learned and irregular teachers of the gospel, 
 but have found their way into the churches of 
 the establishment—and what is the unhappy 
 consequence! “Is this then Christianity?” 
 says a man of any reflection, “ is this what I 
 am to believe?” ‘is this the religion of the 
 gospel!” I may not be duly informed on the 
 subject—I am no divine, but this at least, I 
 cannot believe; this cannot be religion—it 
 may not occur to him, how different is what 
 _ he has thus heard or read, from what he will 
 find in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 “It must needs be that offences will come” 
 —when a religion is generally established and 
 received, it cannot but be, that fanaticism in 
 particular cases will occur. Men of ardent 
 temperament will consider it as a part of piety 
 to urge the doctrines they believe, to extremes 
 which are distressing to men of more sober 
 minds; they inflame themselves, and the sym- 
 pathy of their evident piety inflames their fol- 
 lowers; they exaggerate, they become intole- 
 rant and exclusive, they wage war with the 
 innocent amusements of life. But in the mean 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 time the general habits of contempt and deri- 
 sion that are thus introduced into the minds 
 of superior men are to be on every account la- 
 mented. ‘‘ Contempt” says Paley, “ before 
 inquiry is fatal,” and the sober and humble 
 believer must not be too much affected or him- 
 self lead astray, by the disbelief and irreve- 
 rence, which he may see thus occasioned on 
 the one part, or in the unlicensed and heated 
 effusions of the ministers of his religion, his 
 fellow Christians, on the other. 
 
 But the allusion that I have thus made, to 
 the contempt and derision, thus unhappily oc- 
 casioned, may introduce to our notice, a de- 
 scription of men, very important in society and 
 everywhere to be met with; these are men, 
 who from the liveliness of their faculties are 
 accustomed to see every thing in a ludicrous 
 point of view; every thing with them is con- 
 verted into a subject of banter and ridicule; 
 they have a sarcasm ever ready—the imper- 
 fections of every thing, whether in art, or na- 
 ture, or human character, are the very food 
 they live upon; and they turn away with in- 
 difference and dislike from every subject, that 
 can require any patience of thought, or se- 
 riousness of reflection. Men of this kind are 
 
InTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 very amusing to their friends and acquaint- 
 ance; appear to display great subtlety and 
 sagacity, and are very well fitted, like Voltaire, 
 to have their admirers and disciples: but no 
 more fatal quality can belong to the human 
 mind, than this disposition to see every object 
 in a ludicrous point of view. With such men 
 no grave subject can have any chance of pro- 
 per appreciation ; some ludicrous image inter- 
 feres, before an approach to it can be made. 
 Such men will always be found to laugh at 
 the virtues of others; to ridicule their piety, 
 to mock their credulousness, to deride the pu- 
 rity of their sentiments, to rejoice over their 
 faults and failings; and incapable themselves 
 of forming or long maintaining any reflection, 
 that is of an elevated nature, to consider all 
 mankind as made up of dupes and knaves: 
 and thus it happens, that they often give pain 
 and disturbance to the more rational minds of 
 moral and religious men, who are obliged to 
 acknowledge their natural talents, and cannot 
 always, from the nature of the human mind, 
 escape from the impression of the ludicrous 
 images, which such men have set before them, 
 or the imposing effect of the reckless hardi- 
 hood of their sarcasms. 
 
Intropuctory CHAPTER. 
 
 When men like these turn to such a subject 
 as the credibility of Christianity, they are quite 
 incapable of considering it—what can be ob- 
 jected to, what can be ridiculed, can alone ar- 
 rest their notice; what lies on the surface, 
 what requires no labour of thought, what can 
 be dispatched with a witticism—it is here that 
 they find the enjoyment and natural occupation 
 of their thoughts; they turn from all investi- 
 gation and reflection—above all, from what 
 has any appearance of gloom—from every thing 
 that can interrupt the gaiety of their minds 
 and the sort of constant revelry of thought, 
 which has at length become a part of their 
 existence. 
 
 I have now sufficiently adverted to the dif. 
 ferent descriptions of men, whom I mean more 
 especially to address in the ensuing statement 
 of the evidences of Christianity. Far be it 
 from me, I must repeat, to consider men as 
 without religion; the generality of men are 
 certainly not so—the leading arguments in fa- 
 vour of the truth of Christianity are sufficiently 
 striking and obvious, and they have never 
 ceased to influence the general mass of the ci- 
 vilized portion of mankind; such exceptions, 
 as I have noted, have existed and must always 
 
InrRoDUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 exist, from the varying nature of the human 
 mind, but in this country at least, men of or- 
 dinary good sense, and exercising that good 
 sense in the way they are accustomed to do, 
 on every other occasion, have uniformly rested 
 satisfied with the substantial credibility of 
 Christianity ; have conformed their conduct to 
 the precepts of it, as far as their imperfections 
 admitted, and have rested upon its doctrines 
 for their support here, and on its promises 
 for their hopes of bliss hereafter. 
 
 In his parable of the sower and his seed, the 
 Saviour has given a representation of the diffe- 
 rent descriptions of mankind, which will be a 
 warning and edification to them as long as the 
 world remains. 
 
 In this preface, that I have now written, 
 what have I done more, than to colour and 
 embody the master sketch of the Divine In- 
 structor ? 
 
Pa ~ts 
 
 pri 
 
7. AN iebcuealhs 20} 
 
 = JUL 2 1885 < 
 D Sy 
 
 Pe Ele Bo. Gi Heo) 2k 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 NaC ATURAL Religion has, of late 
 
 EMAL 
 
 years, received abundant con- 
 firmations from the science of 
 IER Geology. 
 
 In the petrified organic remains of the for- 
 mer conditions of our planet, the geologist 
 discovers proofs of the wisdom in which the 
 world was created, and shows that it is the 
 same Divine Intelligence which appears in 
 the world as we now see it, that may also be 
 traced in the fossil remains of these former 
 conditions of our planet. 
 
 Cuvier is the great discoverer of these 
 truths, by means of comparative anatomy. 
 Paley, and former reasoners, proved the exist- 
 B 
 
2 EviIpENCES 
 
 ence and intelligence of the Deity, by refer- 
 ence to the anatomy of every living thing in 
 the present world; but Cuvier extended the 
 same admirable reasonings into worlds that 
 have existed in pastages. Buckland’s Bridge- 
 water Treatise will be found an invaluable 
 treasure to those who would wish to know, as 
 surely all must wish to know, what is the con- 
 firmation that geology has rendered to natural 
 religion. The Bridgewater Treatises will 
 show the further confirmation derived from 
 other departments of science. Now the great 
 confirmation that geology, more especially, 
 has rendered to natural religion is this, that 
 modern geologists in the progress of their 
 merely philosophic inquiries, have by their 
 discoveries established the first great principle 
 of all religion, the creation of man. There 
 must have been a time, as appears from their 
 facts and their reasonings, when he could not 
 have existed on this globe, and therefore a 
 time when he first began to exist on it. An 
 inspection of his frame shows that some won- 
 derful intelligence must have been employed 
 in his formation; so, of every other creature 
 that exists, above, around, or below us; and 
 thus all the first main doctrines of natural re- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 3 
 
 ligion are at once proved, the assertions of 
 the ancient sceptics are at an end—that the 
 world, for instance, never had a beginning, 
 that every thing always was as it now is. It 
 is shown that this is not the case; that on the 
 contrary, there must have been a time when 
 man was created—man, and every thing else 
 that we know and that we see in existence on 
 earth, in the air, and in the sea. Now let any 
 one consider what creation is—what a stupen- 
 dous miracle is here substantiated! Look at 
 these fossil remains, the visible images of 
 those creatures, that could only have existed 
 in a world totally different from ours. Great 
 revolutions take place, and this our globe at 
 last becomes what we now see it. What 
 overwhelming thoughts are these! but they 
 may subside into this one great and most 
 cheering thought, that we are the creatures of 
 some Almighty Being, who has made us and 
 placed us here. That this is a positive fact, 
 visibly exhibited to us in every museum ; and 
 upon this fact, so established, the human mind 
 may proceed to build up the edifice, first of 
 natural and afterwards of revealed religion. 
 The reasonings of mankind to establish natu- 
 ral religion were always sufficiently cogent 
 
4 EviIpENCES 
 
 and convincing; the argument from design 
 was always sufliciently striking to the peasant 
 as well as the philosopher; but atheism is 
 now impossible. Let us refer for a moment 
 to a few of the main positions of these philo- 
 sophers. ‘In these most ancient conditions, 
 both of land and water,’ says Buckland, 
 “ veology refers us to a state of things incom- 
 patible with the existence of animal and vege- 
 table life; and thus on the evidence of natu- 
 ral phenomena, establishes the important fact, 
 that we find a starting point—on this side of 
 which all forms both of animal and vegetable 
 beings, must have had a beginning.” Again 
 —‘* Ag in the consideration of other strata, we 
 find abundant evidence in the presence of or- 
 ganic remains, in proof of the exercise of cre- 
 ative power, and wisdom, and goodness, at- 
 tending the progress of life, through all its 
 stages of advancement upon the surface of the 
 globe, so from the absence of organic remains 
 in the primary strata, we may derive an im- 
 portant argument, showing that there was a 
 point of time, in the history of our planet, an- 
 tecedent to the beginning of either animal or 
 vegetable life.” Again—‘ Having this evi- 
 dence (p. 55) both of the beginning and end 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 5 
 
 of several systems of organized life, each af- 
 fording internal proof of the repeated exercise 
 of creative design, and wisdom, and power, 
 we are at length conducted back to a period 
 in which we find a series of primary strata, 
 wholly destitute of organic remains, and from 
 this circumstance we infer their deposition to 
 have preceded the commencement of organic 
 life.’ ‘It is demonstrable (p. 59) from geo- 
 logy, that there was a period when no organic 
 beings had existence—they must therefore 
 have had a beginning subsequently to this 
 period, and where is that beginning to be 
 found, but in the will and fiat of an intelli- 
 gent and all-wise Creator.” 
 
 “Mais ce qui étonne d’avantage encore, ” 
 says Cuvier, “et ce qui n’est pas moins cer- 
 tain, c'est que la vie n’a pas toujours existé 
 sur le globe, et qwil est facile a l’observateur 
 de reconnaitre le point ot elle a commencé a 
 déposer ses produits.” 
 
 ‘“ Our evisting species (p. 54) had a be- 
 ginning at a period comparatively recent in 
 the physical history of the globe, and this sys- 
 tem was preceded by several other systems of 
 animal and vegetable life, respecting each of 
 which, it may be proved that there was a time 
 
6 EVIDENCES 
 
 when their existence had not commenced.” 
 Professor Sedgwick, another great name in 
 the science of geology, expresses himself thus 
 —“ With regard to the succession of animal 
 life, the evidence is so conclusive that no na- 
 turalist or competent observer will now deny 
 that new species have continually appeared, 
 not by the transmutation of those before exist- 
 ing, but by the repeated operation of creative 
 power. In his ordinary dealings with the 
 natural world, God works by second causes ; 
 so that one natural phenomenon may be said 
 to flow directly from another. But when we 
 see successive orders of animal existence and 
 successive organic types, which once minis- 
 tered to the functions of animal life, we can 
 only say, a living spirit had been breathed 
 into dead matter, far differing from the mere 
 causative of material laws, and that the be- 
 ings of whatever order were the effect of mere 
 creative will.” 
 
 The fossils that are found have been: re- 
 stored to apparent life by the genius and 
 industry of Cuvier. ‘The result of his re- 
 searches,” says Buckland, “ as recorded in the 
 ‘Ossemens Fossiles,’ has been to show, that 
 all quadrupeds, however differing in generic 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 7 
 
 or specific details, are uniformly constructed 
 on the same general plan and systematic basis 
 of organization, as living species; and that 
 through the various adaptations of a common 
 type to peculiar functions, under different 
 conditions of the earth, there prevails such 
 universal conformity of design, that we cannot 
 rise from the perusal of these inestimable 
 volumes without a strong conviction of the 
 agency of one vast and mighty Intelligence, 
 ever directing the entire fabric both of past 
 and present systems of creation.” “ Nothing 
 can exceed,” says Professor Buckland, “ the 
 accuracy of the severe and logical demonstra- 
 tions that fill these volumes (of Cuvier) with 
 proofs of wise design in the constant relation 
 of the parts of animals to one another, and to 
 the general functions of the whole body—no- 
 thing can surpass the perfection of his reason- 
 ings in pointing out the beautiful contrivances 
 which are provided in almost endless variety, 
 to fit every living creature to its own peculiar 
 state and mode of life—his illustrations of the 
 curious conditions and concurrent compensa- 
 tions that are found in the living elephants, 
 apply equally to the extinct fossil species of 
 the same genus, and similar exemplifications 
 
8 EVIDENCES 
 
 may be extended from the living to the extinct 
 species of other genera, e. g. rhinoceros, hip- 
 popotamus, horse, ox, deer, tiger, hyena, 
 wolf, &c, that are usually associated with the 
 elephant in a hostile state.” (p. 165.) “In 
 those distant ages that elapsed during the for- 
 mation of strata of the secondary series, a large 
 field was occupied by reptiles.” 
 
 ‘Geology, as now pursued with the aid of 
 Comparative Anatomy, supplies abundant evi- 
 dence of the structure and functions of these 
 extinct families of reptiles, and not only en- 
 ables us to infer from the restoration of their 
 skeletons, what may have been the external 
 form of their bodies, but instructs us also as 
 to their economy and habits, the nature of 
 their food, and even their organs of digestion; 
 it further shews their relations to the then ex- 
 isting condition of the world and to the other 
 forms of organic life with which they were as- 
 sociated.” 
 
 ‘During these ages of reptiles, the most 
 formidable occupants, both of land and water, 
 were crocodiles and lizards of various forms 
 and often of gigantic stature, fitted to endure 
 the turbulence and continual convulsions of 
 the unquiet surface of our infant world.” 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 9 
 
 “The history of reptiles may be traced back 
 through thousands of years, antecedent to that 
 latest point in the progressive stages of ani- 
 mal creation, when the first parents of the hu- 
 man race were called into existence.” “It is 
 probable (201) that to many persons, inexpe- 
 rienced in anatomy, any kind of information 
 on a subject so remote and apparently so in- 
 accessible, as the intestinal structure of an ex- 
 tinct reptile or a fossil fish, may at first appear 
 devoid of the smallest possible importance— 
 but the lost races, that formerly inhabited our 
 planet, are thus connected with species, that 
 are actually living and moving around our- 
 selves. The systematic recurrence, in animals 
 of such distant eras, of the same contrivances, 
 similarly disposed to effect similar purposes, 
 with analogous adaptations to peculiar condi- 
 tions of existence, shows that they all origi- 
 nated in the same intelligence. 
 
 ‘“ When we see the body of an Ichthyosau- 
 rus still containing the food it had just eaten 
 before its death, and its ribs still surrounding 
 the remains of fishes, that were swallowed ten 
 thousand or more than ten thousand times ten 
 thousand years ago, all these vast intervals 
 seem annihilated. Time altogether disap- 
 
 C 
 
10 EvIpENCES 
 
 pears, and we are almost brought into as im- 
 mediate contact with events of immeasurably 
 distant periods, as with the affairs of yester- 
 day.” “The design of the Creator (301) 
 seems at all times to have been to fill the wa- 
 ters of the seas and cover the surface of the 
 earth with the greatest possible amount of or- 
 ganised beings, enjoying life—and the same 
 expedient of adapting the vegetable kingdom 
 to become the basis of the life of animals 
 and of multiplying largely the amount of ani- 
 mal existence, by the addition of Carnivora 
 to the Herbivora, appears to have prevailed 
 from the first commencement of organic life 
 to the present hour.” 
 
 Perpetual destruction followed by continual 
 renovation seems to be the general system of 
 nature. The inhabitants of the earth and 
 seas are divided into two ereat classes, the 
 one herbivorous and the other carnivorous. 
 The appointment of death by the agency of 
 the carnivora almost annihilates through the 
 brute creation, the misery of disease and acci- 
 dental injuries and lingering decay, and im- 
 poses such salutary restraint upon excess in 
 increase of numbers, that the supply of food 
 maintains perpetually a due ratio to the de- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. Pe 
 
 mand. The surface of the land and depths 
 of the waters are ever crowded with myriads 
 of animated beings, the pleasures of whose 
 life are co-extensive with its duration, and 
 they fulfil with joy the functions for which 
 they were created. Life to each individual is 
 a scene of continued feasting in a region of 
 plenty. The face of the earth and the bosom 
 of the deep are renewed with endless succes- 
 sions of life and happiness. 
 
 Such, then, is the system, (I have here de- 
 scribed it for the immediate convenience of 
 my reader,) such is the benevolent system of 
 the great Creator; He, in the words of the 
 poet, 
 
 “* Who life on death, on change duration founds, 
 And gives th’ eternal wheels to know their rounds.” 
 
 Paley takes the same ground and argues 
 with his usual force and beauty. It may be 
 added, that in many cases, animal life is thus 
 extremely multiplied — how indefinitely in- 
 creased are the numbers of various animals, 
 sheep, &c., &c., because man feeds upon them, 
 and therefore propagates and nourishes them. 
 What animals do we ever see miserable /— 
 horses only and dogs—and why them? We 
 
12 EvIpENCES 
 
 do not suffer them to be eaten. We domesti- 
 cate them, and turn them to our own pur- 
 poses, for which indeed, like cows and sheep, 
 &c., &c., they were evidently intended. And 
 while we are looking round for facts, to esta- 
 blish our connection with the great Governor 
 of the universe, it is at this point that we may 
 turn to the Natural Theology of Paley, a most 
 invaluable work, the merits of which have 
 been acknowledged by all the writers and phi- 
 losophers that have followed him. 
 
 Paley considers no subject so extensive as 
 that of Natural History applied to the proof 
 of an intelligent Creator. He takes his stand, 
 however, on human anatomy—the striking 
 examples of mechanism, which he would 
 draw, he says, from the copious catalogue 
 which it supplies, are the pivot upon which 
 the head turns, the ligament within the socket 
 of the hip bone, the pulley or trochlear muscle 
 of the eye, the epiglottis, the bandages which 
 tie down the tendons of the wrist and instep, 
 the slit or perforated muscles at the hands 
 and feet, the knitting of the intestines to the 
 mesentery, the course of the chyle into the 
 blood, and the constitution of the SEXes, as 
 extended throughout the whole of the animal 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 13 
 
 creation. Every organised natural body, in 
 the provisions which it contains for its sus- 
 tentation and propagation, testifies a care on 
 the part of the Creator expressly directed 
 to these purposes. We are on all sides sur- 
 rounded by such bodies, examined in their 
 parts wonderfully curious, compared with one 
 another no less wonderfully diversified. The 
 works of nature want only to be contemplated, 
 they have every thing in them which can as- 
 tonish by their greatness. We see an Intel- 
 ligent Power, arranging planetary systems, 
 constructing a ring to surround the body of 
 Saturn of two hundred thousand miles diame- 
 ter, and then bending a hooked tooth, pro- 
 viding an appropriate mechanism for the 
 clasping and re-clasping of the filaments of 
 the feathers of a humming-bird. 
 
 We can trace an identity of plan, a con- 
 nection of system, from Saturn to our own 
 globe, and we can then pursue the connection 
 through all ihe organised, especially the ani- 
 mated bodies, which it supports. One mind 
 has planned all these productions, one Being 
 has been concerned in all. Under this stu- 
 pendous Being we live; our happiness, our 
 existence, is in his hands, nor ought we to feel 
 
14 EvIpDENCEs 
 
 our situation insecure, every where we find 
 attention bestowed on even the minutest parts. 
 
 It appears, too, that every portion of space 
 connected with the earth swarms with life, 
 while every living thing is furnished with the 
 means necessary to its well-being ; the marks 
 of an intelligent and providing Creator every 
 where visible; and it is here that the natural- 
 ist has such an endless field for his entertain- 
 ment and instruction: the recitals that he 
 makes, while describing the lives and habits 
 of birds and insects more particularly, are 
 perfectly wonderful. He indeed may “look 
 through Nature, up to Nature’s God,” the 
 world may be to him a temple, and his life 
 one continual act of adoration. So far, then, 
 we are permitted by the Almighty to observe 
 and know, but more is allowed—we can ob- 
 serve the principle of attraction around us, 
 and Newton has shown, that this principle 
 the Almighty has made use of, all through 
 the heavens above—that it is by this prin- 
 ciple that every thing is sustained and moved 
 —and this sublime discovery has been carried 
 forward by the great philosophers of France, 
 La Place, for instance, to an extent that may 
 well fill us with awe as well as admiration, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 15 
 
 Though Newton may be understood, few are 
 competent to understand La Place: we may, 
 however, take the report of those who do— 
 Mrs. Somerville and others. There is a very 
 interesting article on the subject, by Playfair, 
 in the Edinburgh Review, and the admirable 
 Bridgewater Treatise of Whewell is within 
 the reach of every one. The reference that 
 astronomy and general physics bear to natural 
 theology, is shown in a manner that makes 
 his treatise quite invaluable; indeed, all the 
 Bridgewater Treatises are more or less valu- 
 able, and united they show us, that nowhere 
 can we cast our eyes, without or within us, 
 that the intelligence of the Creator and his 
 adaptation of means to ends, are not visible. 
 I remember, too, that Smithson Tennant, the 
 late professor of chemistry at Cambridge, told 
 me, that the manner in which the elements of 
 nature were mixed up and adjusted, so as to 
 produce chemical results, that were applicable 
 to the purposes of the world, exhibited proofs 
 of the power and wisdom of the Creator, 
 more astonishing even than those which were 
 known and visible to every one. The che- 
 mist, for instance, may show the elements 
 which go to the composition of water, but 
 
16 EvIDENCES 
 
 what must have been the Being who so com- 
 posed them, and formed so universal a fluid— 
 and the observation may be extended through 
 all the universe, as far as we can see it. 
 
 Thus far we are by the great Almighty 
 Master permitted to go, and it is an extent 
 perfectly wonderful, considering what we are, 
 and where we are: it is an extent, perfectly 
 wonderful—and_ we have kept within the re- 
 gion of facts—nothing has been supposed or 
 built upon any theory—-nothing taken for 
 granted —the facts, produced by philosophers, 
 alone referred to. 
 
 Can we proceed any further? can any more 
 facts be found, that relate to our connection 
 with our Creator, and what use can be made 
 of them ? 
 
 Looking around us, we may observe a very 
 curious description of people, who go by the 
 name of Jews; and they are a people that 
 we find in all portions of the earth, look where 
 we will; and there is also a book in existence 
 called the Bible; and this people, though now 
 dispersed, were once a nation, and a nation of 
 great antiquity, and this Bible contains their 
 history, and is considered by them as a sacred 
 book, and is so considered by the nations of 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 17 
 
 Europe—these two are facts, and surely very 
 striking facts. 
 
 What can be made of them? in the first 
 place this people were once a nation, were 
 conquered and rooted out by the Romans, 
 were dispersed all over the world, have been 
 so for 1700 years, and yet are still in exist- 
 ence, nowhere collected as a nation, yet every- 
 where to be found, every where dispersed. 
 Nothing of this kind has ever happened to 
 any other nation: a nation when once con- 
 quered and rooted out, has always either been 
 heard of no more, or has merged into the ge- 
 neral mass of its conquerors. 
 
 The Britons were conquered by the Saxons, 
 the Saxons by the Danes, both by the Nor- 
 mans, but in the course of a few centuries all 
 were consolidated into one undistinguishable 
 mass. The Gothic nations overpowered the 
 Romans; but these civilized and uncivilized 
 portions of mankind were all, in no very long 
 process of time, melted together ; so the Moors, 
 that were left in Spain; but, with regard to 
 the Jews, dispersed and scattered as they have 
 been over the face of the globe, they have 
 never lost their religious or national distinc- 
 tions, though they do not bear any propor- 
 
 D 
 
18 EVIDENCES 
 
 tion to the natural inhabitants of the countries 
 where they are settled, though they have been 
 universally reduced to a state of the lowest 
 subjection; hated, despised, and persecuted, 
 yet still they exist in numbers undiminished, 
 and separate and distinct from the rest of the 
 world. The barbarity and injustice, the sa- 
 vage cruelty with which for many centuries 
 they have been treated, are dreadful to think 
 of; it is impossible to read without shudder- 
 ing. | 
 
 Now turn to this sacred book, this Bible in 
 which their history is contained, and what do 
 we find? Denunciations delivered by their 
 great leader and prophet, in case they dis- 
 obeyed the commandments of God, which, it 
 is allowed by their own historians, Josephus 
 and all their writers, and by their history con- 
 tained in this Bible, they did. Look at the 
 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, and again at 
 the 26th chapter of Leviticus. The denun- 
 ciations there to be found are almost a li- 
 teral description of their state and sufferings 
 since they were rooted up by the Romans: 
 Deut. xxviii. 47—“ Because thou servedst 
 not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and 
 with gladness of heart, for the abundance of 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 19 
 all things,” “The Lord (ver. 49) shall bring 
 
 a nation against thee from far, from the end 
 of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth, a na- 
 tion whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; 
 (ver. 50) a nation of fierce countenance, which 
 shall not regard the person of the old, nor 
 show favour to the young: (ver. 52) and he 
 shall besiege thee in all thy gates, &c.;” and 
 then follows an enumeration of calamities 
 which according to the history were realised 
 at the siege of Jerusalem. ‘And the Lord 
 (ver. 64) shall scatter thee among all people, 
 from the one end of the earth even unto the 
 other ;” “and among these nations (ver. 65) 
 shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole 
 of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give 
 thee there a trembling heart, and failing of 
 eyes, and sorrow of mind: (ver. 66) and thy 
 life shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou 
 shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none 
 assurance of thy life:” ‘‘ and I will (Lev. 
 xxvi. 30) destroy your high places, &c. (ver. 
 31) and I will make your cities waste, and 
 bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I 
 will not smell the savour of your sweet odours,” 
 “And I will scatter you (ver. 33) among the 
 heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: 
 
20 EVIDENCES 
 
 and your land shall be desolate, and your ci- 
 ties waste. And upon them (ver. 36) that 
 are left alive of you I will send a faintness 
 into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; 
 and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase 
 them ; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a 
 sword ; and they shall fall when none pursu- 
 eth.” ‘And they that are left of you (ver. 
 39) shall pine away in their iniquity in your 
 enemies’ lands;” &c., &c., and then follow 
 both in this chapter in Leviticus and in the 
 chapter in Deuteronomy, an assurance that 
 after all, the nation shall not be ultimately en- 
 tirely extinguished, but shall be restored to 
 their native land. So that the first part of 
 this general prophecy seems already fulfilled, 
 and the nation is apparently reserved in its 
 present unexampled state, to be ready to fulfil 
 the conclusion of the prophecy. 
 
 These denunciations and this sort of gene- 
 ral assurance of an ultimate restoration on re- 
 pentance, appear very fully in all the subse- 
 quent prophetical books—lIsaiah, Jeremiah, 
 Hosea, Ezekiel. ‘‘ For the children of Israel 
 shall abide many days without a king, and 
 without a prince, and without a sacrifice:” 
 (Hos. itl. 45) (ver. 5)—“ Afterwards shall 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 91 
 
 they return, and seek the Lord their God, and 
 David their king; and shall fear the Lord 
 and his goodness in the latter days,” &c. 
 Through all the changes of the world, no- 
 thing has happened to prevent the accom- 
 plishment of these prophecies, they are capa- 
 ble not only of a figurative, but of a literal 
 completion in every particular, if such be the 
 will of God. 
 
 These prophecies are recorded in books 
 which have been read in public assemblies 
 these 2000 years, have been dispersed into 
 several countries, translated into several lan- 
 guages, and quoted and commented upon by 
 different authors of different ages and nations, 
 so that there is no possibility of forgery or 
 illusion. 
 
 And these prophecies, though written by 
 different men in different ages, have yet a vi- 
 sible connection and an entire harmony and 
 agreement with each other. 
 
 Prophetic writing is of a peculiar nature— 
 necessarily obscure; designed more for the 
 instruction of future ages, than of the times in 
 which they were written ; obscure, for other- 
 wise some men would have been endeavour- 
 ing to hasten their accomplishment ; others, 
 
22 EVIDENCES 
 
 to defeat it. Prophecy is history anticipated 
 and contracted—history is prophecy accom- 
 plished and dilated. 
 
 The nature of it is most admirably exhibited 
 
 by the poet Gray, in his matchless ode of 
 ‘The Bard :” 
 
 “« Mighty victor, mighty lord,” 
 says the bard addressing Edward I ; 
 
 ** Low on his funeral couch he lies ! 
 
 No pitying heart, no eye, afford 
 
 A tear to grace his obsequies ! 
 
 Is the sable warrior fled ? 
 
 Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead. 
 
 The swarm that in thy noon-tide beam were born, 
 Gone to salute the rising morn.” 
 
 How unintelligible would all this have been 
 to Edward I., supposing he had really heard 
 it, pronounced by an ancient man from a rock 
 at Conway. What could he have made of 
 the ‘funeral couch,” and the “ sable warrior,” 
 and the “ rising morn?” and yet how descrip- 
 tive of the subsequent events of the history, 
 how beautiful, how affecting! The triumphs 
 of Edward III.’s reign—followed by his deso- 
 late condition at the close of his life—the de- 
 sertion of Alice Pierce—the premature death 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. oS 
 
 of the Black Prince—and the accession of the 
 young king, Richard II. 
 
 Prophecies verified assume the nature of 
 facts—the Bible is the only book that exhi- 
 bits to us the communications that the Al- 
 mighty has vouchsafed to make to his creatures. 
 After the great facts of natural religion to 
 which we have alluded, and which exist around 
 us, the only further intimations that we have 
 of his existence and his will and his dispen- 
 sations, are contained in the Bible—to the 
 Bible, therefore, we must refer, and the Bible 
 contains two great leading dispensations—the 
 dealings of the Almighty with the Jewish 
 nation ; and afterwards, his dealings with the 
 whole of his creatures, through the ministry 
 of Jesus Christ. These are astonishing and 
 awful subjects—they form the subject of the 
 Old Testament and the New ; and as we have 
 been speaking of facts, we must observe once 
 more, that prophecies, when verified, assume 
 the nature of facts; and facts that show the 
 divine origin of the books containing them. 
 
 This, no sound mind can deny ; and, there- 
 fore, when we look at the Old Testament and 
 find books that are called prophetic books, and 
 that contain prophecies that were afterwards 
 
94 _ EVIDENCES 
 
 verified in the history of the world, it is im- 
 possible to escape from the conclusion, that the 
 Book containing them is an inspired Book. 
 
 We may be repelled by other portions of 
 the Book—we may be at a loss to know what 
 to think of the different narratives and repre- 
 sentations that it exhibits; still, if there are 
 these prophecies in the Book, it is impossible 
 to cast it aside ; it must be considered as an 
 inspired Book, and as one essentially different 
 from every other. 
 
 It must be observed, too, that there are pro- 
 phecies both in the Old Testament and in the 
 New, but the books are very different in their 
 character. The Old Testament contains a 
 history of the Jewish people, of a people in a 
 most barbarous state, and it is filled with a 
 recital of their crimes and atrocities; it thus 
 becomes very repulsive—it gives an account 
 of the earliest communications of the Almighty 
 with his creatures, and the prophecies which 
 it contains connect it with the New Testa- 
 ment; for many of them refer to some subse- 
 quent state, not only of the Jewish people, 
 but of all mankind; for they refer to the 
 future appearance of some Being, who under 
 the name of the Messiah, was to redeem Israel 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. oS 
 
 and to produce important effects on the rest of 
 the world. 
 
 And this future appearance of the Messiah 
 becomes the subject of the New Testament ; 
 here are recorded the life, and the actions, and 
 the doctrines, in the first place, of the Messiah 
 that did appear, and afterwards of his apostles 
 and disciples, with the early progress of Chris- 
 tianity; and in this manner are connected 
 the Old Testament and the New. But, before 
 we turn to these sacred volumes, two pre- 
 liminary observations must be made, the better 
 to prepare the mind for the proper considera- 
 tionofthem. The first is this; that they who 
 resort to these books for the purpose of thereby 
 understanding the secrets of the universe, will 
 be disappointed—no insight is here afforded 
 into these mysterious subjects: it has pleased 
 the Almighty to give us great powers of rea- 
 soning and of discovery, but they are strictly 
 limited—are sufhicient to our well-being and 
 to the knowledge of our duty, but not to the 
 gratification of our curiosity ; and we must be 
 content to receive the gift of our existence on 
 such conditions as it has pleased the Almighty 
 Master, in his supreme wisdom and according 
 to the purposes of his providence, to impose 
 
 E 
 
26 EVIDENCES 
 
 upon it. The second is this; that men of 
 powerful and inquiring minds deduce from 
 the universe around them, conclusions of their 
 own, with respect to the attributes of the Deity 
 —they then turn to the Old Testament, (more 
 particularly, ) and do not find their expectations 
 realized ; they pronounce that the Book is 
 unworthy of the great Creator of the world, 
 inconsistent with these, his attributes, and 
 that it cannot be received as a Book of Divine 
 authority. 
 
 It is in these prior expectations and in the 
 comparison of these expectations with the re- 
 citals of the Old Testament, that may be found 
 the source of almost all the scepticism and 
 unbelief that may be observed to exist, more 
 particularly in the higher and more intelligent 
 orders. Some general remarks may be there- 
 fore made. 
 
 The great secret of the universe is, the ex- 
 istence of evil—it is a happy world after all, 
 says Paley—fairly considered it is so; still 
 there is more evil, both physical and moral, 
 than can possibly be explained or understood ; 
 and to its existence may be traced every difh- 
 culty that occurs to perplex and distress men 
 of inquiring minds or feeling hearts. - What 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. By 
 
 we may be allowed to learn or know in a future 
 state, may be a subject of humble hope and 
 reasonable expectation—but in this, our pre- 
 sent state, the veil is not withdrawn. 
 
 And it is not withdrawn by the Bible, nei- 
 ther by the Old Testament, nor the New— 
 and it must therefore be observed, that when 
 men of science and superior faculties turn 
 from these books, as inconsistent with the attri- 
 butes of the Creator, they do not consider at 
 the time, how much they presume upon their 
 own knowledge of those attributes, or rather of 
 what direction these attributes may take in 
 the present economy of our planet and of the 
 creatures which he has placed upon it—what 
 his designs may be in future, what this great 
 secret of the universe, this existence of evil, 
 really is ; how it operates, what consequences 
 it produces, they do not sufficiently consider; 
 as we are in total ignorance of the subject, how 
 modest ought to be our reasonings, how humble 
 our minds; with what timidity, hesitation, and 
 awe we ought to approach the counsels of the 
 Supreme Governor of the world. 
 
 The adversaries of Christianity have always 
 drawn their arguments chiefly from the books 
 of the Old Testament—it was the narratives 
 
28 EVIDENCES 
 
 and representations here contained, that Vol- 
 taire made the great subjects of his ridicule, 
 and with the assistance of the superstitions and 
 intolerant practices and tenets of the Roman 
 Catholic church he destroyed the faith of the 
 continent; when Priestley visited France, a 
 little before the Revolution, an Abbé left his 
 seat and embraced him, because he found him, 
 though a philosopher, yet a believer. And 
 indeed, it must be admitted, if we take par- 
 ticular passages in the strict literal sense, many 
 of them are such, as persons accustomed only 
 to philosophic trains of thought, will no doubt 
 naturally recoil from; but in the mean time 
 there is a difficulty, which the same men will 
 find it impossible to overcome. 
 
 The difficulty is this; that while the rest of 
 the world was involved in total ignorance and 
 debased by all the unworthy and obscene rites 
 and ceremonies of idolatry, very different were 
 the situation and notions of the Jews, and that 
 adequate and sublime views were entertained 
 of the nature and existence of the Deity, which 
 cannot be accounted for by any instruction 
 that Moses could have received from the Egyp- 
 tians, or any other source but the inspiration 
 of the Almighty. 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 29 
 
 It may be true, that the particulars to be 
 found in the book of Genesis imply very rude 
 conceptions in the Jews of the nature of the 
 Deity, and show the people to have been in a 
 state of the greatest barbarism ; and yet in the 
 midst of all that is repulsive to intelligent men, 
 the same intelligent men must surely perceive 
 striking marks of a revelation to Moses, and of 
 some early communications of God to mankind 
 —compare the sublimity of the account of the 
 Creation with all the other ancient cosmogo- 
 nies which the world has exhibited. Longinus 
 produces a passage from it, as an instance of 
 the true sublime—‘ Let there be light, and 
 there was light; and throughout the Penta- 
 teuch and the other books of the Old Testa- 
 ment, are enforced in the strongest manner, 
 the fundamental truths of one Supreme Being, 
 who is God alone, and who “ regards the 
 children of men.” Compare these conceptions 
 of God with those of the heathen deities in 
 Homer. On entering the Pentateuch we find 
 ourselves in the precincts, at least, of true 
 religion—though the Heavens sometimes ap- 
 pear obscured by clouds and darkness. 
 
 The idea of God was not a matter of specu- 
 lation among a few philosophers, but was actu- 
 
30 EvIpENCES 
 
 ally the fundamental doctrine of the popular 
 faith. The mere fact also of their most extra- 
 ordinary belief, that they had been separated 
 from all other idolatrous nations and called to 
 worship him, admits of no solution so reason- 
 able, as that their belief was true. The high 
 and just representations of the Deity, the ex- 
 alted language of piety, the enlightened views 
 of duty, which we find in so many of the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament, compared 
 with the prevailing character of the Jews them- 
 selves, and with that of other ancient nations, 
 can be referred only to some deep influence of 
 a Divine Revelation upon their minds. We 
 perceive these influences in their poetical writ- 
 ings, compositions of the most marked religious 
 character, entirely unlike the poetry of other 
 ancient nations. We see the minds of the 
 writers wrought upon by such religious con- 
 victions, as we cannot ascribe to the unaided 
 progress of the human intellect among the 
 Jews. Looking to the time when the Jews 
 were already in possession of these wonderful 
 books, we have to cast our view back to a 
 period, lighted only by a few gleams of au- 
 thentic history—all around is the darkness and _. 
 error of polytheism and unholy rites, except 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. ot 
 
 where a small people rises distinctly to view, 
 separated from the rest of mankind, whose 
 prophets could thus address them—“ Jehovah 
 is the eternal God, the Creator of the ends of 
 the earth, he faints not, neither is weary— 
 there is no searching of his understanding.” 
 
 “ Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, I 
 am the first, and I am the last, and beside me 
 there is no God. Let the wicked man forsake 
 his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
 and let him return to Jehovah, and he will 
 have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he 
 will abundantly pardon.” From the Jews we 
 have received a large collection of writings, 
 most of them in existence for centuries before 
 Christ, throughout which there was a constant 
 recognition of the being, providence, and moral 
 government of God; and the Old Testament 
 is so insulated from all other productions of 
 the human mind in ancient times, as to be a 
 perfect phenomenon in the intellectual history 
 of our race. We may explain it, if we admit 
 the divine origin of the Jewish religion, but 
 not otherwise. 
 
 From an antiquity, which would be shroud- 
 ed in darkness, were not a dim light cast upon 
 it by their own history, this small people has 
 
ry EvIDENCES 
 
 flowed down, an unmingled stream amid the 
 stormy waves of the world—for a phenomenon 
 so marvellous it is idle to assign any ordinary 
 cause. We must believe that this people were, 
 as they profess, separated from the rest of 
 mankind; and that in a manner so evident, 
 solemn, and effectual, that the ineffaceable be- 
 lief of the fact has been transmitted from gene- 
 ration to generation, as an essential charac- 
 teristic of the race. 
 
 In considering the history of this extraordi- 
 nary people, and the Scriptures of the Old 
 Testament, there are two considerations that 
 should be always present to the mind; and 
 they are these: that the purpose of the Al- 
 mighty appears to have been to warn mankind — 
 against idolatry, by means of the Jewish nation, 
 and by the same means, to prepare a reception 
 for his future dispensation of Christianity. 
 
 And first of idolatry— 
 
 We do not at this day understand or occupy 
 our thoughts about the sin of idolatry ; it has, 
 in a manner, ceased from among us; but in 
 the age of the world, and among those people 
 to whom the Mosaic commandments were de- 
 livered, the worship of false gods was the sin 
 which lay at the root of almost every other, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 33 
 
 the worship of idols was always attended by 
 the most licentious practices, the rites observed 
 were of the most immoral nature, the Jews 
 were notwithstanding continually disposed to 
 fall into this sin; they made Aaron set up a 
 calf, and the usual abominations followed ; it 
 was on account of such licentiousness that 
 idolatry was an offence so prevailing among 
 mankind, and so popular among the Jews, and 
 it is so in the East to this hour. The symbols 
 of the worship are of the most impure nature 
 and the Faqueers or saints indulge themselves 
 in the most licentious practices: the calf was 
 the symbol of love or rather of lust, the cow 
 being (probably from its nutritious nature) the 
 strange representation of Venus. There is a 
 great French work, on the Religious Cere- 
 monies of Mankind, by Picart, where curious 
 information may be found. 
 
 It has been much the custom of Voltaire 
 and his disciples to divert themselves and their 
 readers with the history of the Jews, the pecu- 
 liarities of their religion, their stupidity, ob- 
 stinacy, and ignorance; but how then, as I 
 shall continue to ask, how then were they so 
 superior to other nations in their doctrines, 
 concerning the nature and the proper worship 
 
 F 
 
34 EVIDENCES 
 
 of the Deity? This superiority, as they were, 
 it seems, so stupid and ignorant, was not 
 natural, and must therefore have been of a 
 supernatural kind. Other nations worshipped 
 the sun, the moon, and other visible objects ; 
 their ceremonies were, some of them, horribly 
 barbarous, others of a most impure nature ; 
 their priests cut and mangled themselves ; 
 human sacrifices were authorized. Of whom 
 could the Jews have learnt their own rational 
 worship, how could the Israelites have relin- 
 quished the rites of the Egyptians, and adopted 
 a religion and ceremonies of so very different 
 a nature—and have done so, even involunta- 
 rily ? for it was involuntary, as is evident, from 
 their frequent relapses into their former licen- 
 tious rites and into idolatry. Every effect 
 must have a cause. What adequate cause for 
 so great an effect, but the divine communica- 
 tions recorded in the books of Moses? The 
 Jews had long been enslaved to the Egyptians, 
 the authors and supporters of the grossest 
 idolatry, and they had been weighed down by 
 the most incessant manual labours, yet at this 
 time and in this nation, was the Mosaic law 
 promulgated, teaching the great principles of 
 true religion-—the self-existence, the unity, the 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 35 
 
 perfections, and the providence of the one 
 great Jehovah, reprobating all false gods, all 
 image worship, all the absurdities and_pro- 
 fanations of idolatry ; and a system of govern- 
 ment was framed, which had for its basis the 
 reception of, and steady adherence to, the 
 system of true religion. The promulgation of 
 such a system of theology at such a period and 
 to such a people, and to be so connected with 
 the frame of government, and adopting such 
 extraordinary regulations and observances— 
 such, indeed, as could not have been received, 
 if relying on nothing but human aid and con- 
 trivances—how can all this be accounted for, 
 without allowing the truth of the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation—the delivery of Israel by super- 
 natural aid, and the establishment of the reli- 
 gion and government by divine authority ? 
 The worse that is thought of what is read 
 in these extraordinary writings, in particular 
 passages on particular occasions, the greater 
 becomes the difficulty. How comes it that 
 when Solomon had to dedicate his temple to 
 the Supreme Being, he made use of expressions 
 so appropriate and so sublime, that our modern 
 preachers in the opening of their new churches, 
 can only paraphrase the sentiments, and follow 
 
36 EvIDENCES 
 
 at a humble distance this sovereign of the 
 Jews, praying among his people three thou- 
 sand years ago. 
 
 ‘“‘ And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is 
 no God like thee in heaven above, or on the 
 earth beneath.” —“ But will God indeed dwell 
 on the earth? behold the heaven and the 
 heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how 
 much less this house which I have builded. 
 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy 
 servant—and hearken thou to the supplication 
 of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when 
 they shall pray towards this place; and hear 
 thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when 
 thou hearest, forgive.” And after enumerating 
 different public calamities that might occur, 
 ‘“What prayer and supplication soever be 
 made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, 
 which shall know every man the plague of his 
 own heart, and spread forth his hands towards 
 this house; then hear thou in heaven thy 
 dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give 
 to every man according to his ways, whose 
 heart thou knowest ; (for thou, even thou only, 
 knowest the hearts of all the children of men ;) 
 that they may fear thee all the days that they 
 live in the land which thou gavest unto our 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. oe 
 
 fathers.” —And he continues his prayer in this 
 manner through several verses. 
 
 The preservation of the Jews from idolatry 
 and the establishment ofa purer worship, were 
 thus, we may presume to think, the first great 
 purpose of the Deity; and this is the first 
 great leading consideration that we are to 
 attend to; and the second is, that the Mosaic 
 dispensation was a preparation for the christian 
 religion—that is, a particular people were 
 selected not only to maintain in the world just 
 views of the existence and attributes of the 
 Deity, but to preserve in their records certain 
 prophetic compositions, which should announce 
 the future appearance of the Messiah, and 
 should always remain evidence, by the de- 
 scriptions there given, that in the person of 
 Jesus Christ the Messiah had appeared. 
 
 These two grand considerations should never 
 be absent from the mind of an inquirer, and 
 they will enable him to turn away, little af- 
 fected by various objections, that may other- 
 wise disquiet him; and I must repeat, that on 
 any enlarged view of the subject, the con- 
 clusion is, that the Jewish dispensation was of 
 divine origin, that the Jewish people were 
 chosen by God for certain great purposes, con- 
 
38 EvIDENCES 
 
 nected with the spiritual improvement of man- 
 kind, that he gave them the knowledge of 
 himself and of his will, and declared through 
 the prophets, the promise of a future Re- 
 deemer, and, finally, that the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation may rest on these main considerations, 
 crowned as they are by the subsequent dis- 
 pensation of Christianity—and having made 
 these general remarks, and urged the difficulty 
 that men of philosophic minds must be under, 
 to account for all that they cannot but admire 
 in the writings of the Old Testament, in the 
 midst of all that they may object to, the dif_- 
 culty, the impossibility of accounting for it, 
 but on some general admission of a communi- 
 cation from the Almighty, I must proceed to 
 make further statements, and suggest such con- 
 siderations as, I think, may fairly be addressed 
 to their serious attention. 
 
 The crimes and even the faults of the Jews, 
 render more striking the manner in which the 
 Divine Power effected the gracious purpose 
 of preserving in the world the principle of true 
 religion, when all the other nations of the earth 
 were sunk in idolatry and corruption of man- 
 ners. Had a nation, as celebrated for wisdom 
 and mystery as the Egyptians, for literature 
 
 Se i ee ae 
 
 ——! 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 39 
 
 and genius as the Greeks, for policy and suc- 
 cess as the Romans, been made the channel 
 of conveying to us the revelations of God, it 
 would have been immediately said, that the 
 scheme had originated in the wisdom and 
 policy of the first rulers of the state, and been 
 afterwards acquiesced in, from the admiration 
 with which the enlightened part of the people 
 regarded the system and its authors. But 
 among the Jews, (particularly under their 
 Judges,) the Mosaic law received no support 
 from any permanent authority, or the influence 
 of any set of men, possessing a decided mental 
 superiority ; while it was evidently contrary to 
 the sensual appetites and idolatrous propensi- 
 ties of the great bulk of the people. All mental 
 superiority died with Moses; his nation was 
 from the first, rude, barbarous, and sensual ; 
 and his original rise and influence and autho. | 
 rity, so great as they were, over such a people, 
 are totally inexplicable on any common sup- 
 position of natural and ordinary events. 
 
 All the Articles of the Jewish religion were 
 formed at once, and committed to writing by 
 Moses himself, and the books were not kept 
 secret. In defiance of them and of his authority, _ 
 the body of the people, to whom the law was 
 
40 EviIpDENCES 
 
 then given, frequently rebelled against him, 
 and would have even returned to their slavery 
 in Egypt. The institutions were so burden- 
 some, the rites so contrary to those they had 
 been accustomed to, that they would have been 
 always ready to detect any imposition that had 
 been practised upon them ; so would the idol- 
 atrous kings and priests of Baal, and so would 
 even Aaron, Moses’ own brother, and Miriam, 
 his sister, who had taken umbrage at his pre- 
 eminence, and who could not have been out 
 of the secret, if he had employed any unlawful 
 means to deceive the multitude. 
 
 The miracles of which we have an account 
 in these books were fitted to produce their 
 proper effect, for they were of such a nature 
 that no nation could have been. deceived in 
 the belief of them, and the Jews were ill dis- 
 posed to the object of them—the establish- 
 ment of the unity of God and the purity of 
 his worship. 
 
 How could all the nation, at any period of 
 time, be made to believe that their ancestors 
 had come from Egypt, through the Red Sea 
 and the river Jordan, and that such a law as 
 theirs had been delivered in an audible voice 
 from mount Sinai, if none of these things had 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 4] 
 
 ever happened? A fact that cannot be denied, 
 is, the belief of all the Israelitish nation, from 
 that time to this, that such events did take 
 place, that the history of them was written by 
 Moses himself, that he remained the historian 
 till near the time of his death, and that the 
 history was continued by other persons who 
 recorded the events of their own times. 
 
 No nation, except the Jewish, ever suffered 
 such calamities, or suffered them without being 
 wholly lost and confounded with the common 
 mass of mankind, and their religious customs 
 disappearing with them. 
 
 Mr. Gibbon says, that the contemporaries 
 of Moses and Joshua beheld with the most care- 
 less indifference the most amazing miracles ; 
 but not so—‘‘ And Israel served the Lord all 
 the days of Joshua and all the days of the 
 elders, that outlived Joshua, and who had 
 known all the works of the Lord,” (Joshua 
 xxiv. 31.) The belief, which Mr. Gibbon 
 means to question, was always steady, though 
 the practice did not always correspond with 
 the belief—no uncommon case. 
 
 Some of the miracles which Mr. Gibbon 
 
 calls amazing, are (however amazing) verified 
 
 by the institutions, ordained by Moses—the 
 G 
 
492 EvIpENCES 
 
 Passover, for instance.—(See Exodus, xii. 
 24.) “Then Moses called for all the elders of 
 Israel and said unto them, Draw out, and take 
 you a lamb according to your families, and 
 kill the passover, and ye shall take a branch 
 of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in 
 the bason, and none of you shall go out of the 
 door of his house till the morning; for the 
 Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, 
 and when he seeth the blood on the lintel and 
 on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over 
 the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to 
 come in unto your houses to smite you, and 
 you shall observe this thing for an ordinance 
 to thee and to thy sons for ever; and it shall 
 come to pass, when your children shall say 
 unto you, What mean ye by this service? that 
 you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s 
 passover, who passed over the houses of the 
 children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote 
 the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And 
 the people bowed the head and worshipped.” 
 And to the same effect is the 12th verse of the 
 same chapter— And this day shall be unto 
 you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a 
 feast to the Lord throughout your generations, 
 ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 43 
 
 ever.” And so it was kept, and will be kept 
 while the Jews exist. 
 
 Now the question is, how could this ordi- 
 nance have been at first instituted, if no such 
 event, as that on which it was founded, had 
 occurred. We have services in our Prayer 
 Book for the Martyrdom of King Charles I, 
 the Restoration, the Gunpowder Plot, &c. &c. ; 
 how could these services have been at first in- 
 serted there, if such events as they comme- 
 morate had never taken place? And the same 
 reasoning may be extended to other Jewish 
 ordinances, and to other references to miracu- 
 lous events, which continually appear in the 
 prophetic writings, and through every part of 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 This will only show, it may be said, that 
 they were believed by the nation; but the 
 question is, how could they have been at first 
 believed, being in their nature, matters of fact, 
 unless they had really happened. 
 
 It must be observed, that in the direct narra- 
 tive, the miracles are related minutely and cit- 
 cumstantially ; the time, the place, the occasion 
 of each being wrought are exactly specified : 
 and such circumstances are introduced, as, 
 when considered, prove the miraculous nature 
 
44 EvIDENCES 
 
 of the fact, though no argument to this effect 
 is brought forward; the miracles also are re- 
 lated in the exact order of time when they 
 happened, and the common and supernatural 
 events, both the one and the other, are ex- 
 hibited in one continued and, indeed, insepar- 
 able series. 
 
 Now, had the narrative of historic events 
 been formed for the purpose of gaining credit 
 to a doubtful narrative also of supernatural 
 facts, we should perceive a constant effort to 
 dwell upon and magnify the miracles and to 
 obviate any objections to their reality. We 
 should find the writer accusing his countrymen 
 of obstinate incredulity, asserting his own ve- 
 racity, and appealing in proof of the facts to 
 that veracity ; but nothing of this kind appears 
 in the book of Deuteronomy ; the people are 
 never once reproached with having doubted 
 or disbelieved the miracles, but ecnenna ap- 
 pealed to, as having seen and acknowledged 
 them. Moses never produces arguments to 
 prove the miracles, but always considers them 
 as notoriously true and unquestioned, and 
 adduces them as decisive motives, to enforce 
 obedience to the divine laws. This is the only 
 purpose for which they are introduced. 
 
 ; 
 ; 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 45 
 
 When the miracles are referred to in Deu- 
 teronomy, the illusion is naturally suggested 
 by the nature of the topic which the legislator 
 wishes to enforce; it is addressed to the people 
 in that manner which would be clear and 
 forcible, if they had been spectators of the 
 miracle alluded to, and on no other suppo- 
 sition. 
 
 “Your eyes,” says Moses, “ have seen what 
 the Lord did, because of Baal Peor, for all the 
 men that followed Baal Peor the Lord thy 
 God hath destroyed them from among you, 
 but ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God 
 are alive every one of you this day.” How 
 could Moses have spoken thus, if nobody who 
 had been witness of this fact remained alive? 
 
 Again, Deut. xi.— Love the Lord and keep 
 his charge, for I speak not with your children 
 which have not known, and which have not 
 seen the chastisement of the Lord, his great- 
 ness, his mighty hand and his stretched out 
 arm and his miracles and his acts, which he 
 did in the midst of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, the 
 King of Egypt, and all his land, and what he 
 did to the army of Egypt, unto their horses, 
 and their chariots, how he made the water of 
 the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued 
 
46 EvIpENCEs 
 
 after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed 
 them unto this day; and what he did unto 
 you in the wilderness, until you came unto 
 this place, and what he did unto Dathan and 
 Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, 
 how the earth opened her mouth, and swal- 
 lowed them up, and their households, and 
 their tents, and all the substances that were in 
 their possession in the midst of all Israel; but 
 your eyes have seen all the great acts of the 
 Lord, which he did, therefore shall ye keep all 
 the commandments which I command you this 
 day.” 
 
 The credit of the facts is here rested on the 
 persons addressed being themselves spectators 
 of the facts, and not merely the children of 
 those who had been spectators; this was natu- 
 ral in Moses, if addressing his cotemporaries, 
 and if the miracles had been really performed ; 
 everything is consistent with this last suppo- 
 sition, and inconsistent with every other. 
 
 Again—‘ I have led you forty years in the 
 wilderness, your clothes are not waxen old 
 upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon 
 thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither 
 have ye drank wine or strong drink, that you 
 might know that I am the Lord your God.” 
 
 ——— Tse Se 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 47 
 
 How could these things have been addressed 
 to the people if they had not been true? how 
 could the people have been persuaded of their 
 existence, if they had not been real ? 
 Furthermore, the Jewish ritual appointed 
 three great feasts, all of which were comme- 
 morative of the miraculous deliverances from 
 Eeypt—the passover expressly commemorated, 
 and every ceremony of it contributed indelibly 
 to record some circumstance of that memorable 
 night, when the destroying angel slew the 
 first-born of Egypt, and passed over the houses 
 of the Israelites. Another great feast was that 
 of the tabernacles, accompanied with this sin- 
 gular ceremony. ‘ Ye shall take, saith the 
 Lord God, on the first day, the boughs of 
 goodly trees, to make booths; for all that are 
 Israelites born shall dwell in booths seven 
 days, that all your generations may know that 
 I made the children of Israel to dwell in 
 booths, when I brought them out of the land 
 of Egypt; Iam the Lord your God.” <A third 
 great feast was the feast of Pentecost, fifty 
 days after the Passover, to commemorate the 
 miraculous deliverance of the Law from Mount 
 Sinai, which took place fifty days after the 
 destruction of the first-born of Egypt, and the 
 
48 EvIDENCES 
 
 consequent march of the Israelites from Egypt, 
 and the argument perpetually presents itself, 
 how could these feasts have been at first insti- 
 tuted, unless the events to which they referred, 
 had occurred. 
 
 The necessity of accommodating the religi- 
 ous institutions communicated to the Jews to 
 their capacity and feelings, should never be 
 forgotten when we consider the meaning and 
 objects of these institutions. We are not to 
 wonder, that doctrines of immediate necessity 
 and powerful influence should be insisted upon. 
 We are not to wonder, that the attributes and 
 conduct of the Deity should be described in 
 ordinary language, and illustrated by meta- 
 phors, drawn from the human character, and 
 even from human passions. We are not to 
 wonder, that immediate and temporal sanctions 
 should be preferred to spiritual and remote ; 
 and in general we may expect that the lan- 
 guage and manner in which religious truths 
 are inculcated, should be adapted to the gross 
 imaginations and short-sighted views of the 
 people for whom they were designed. 
 
 Considerations of this kind are quite reason- 
 able, when we read the Pentateuch, and they 
 must be carried to the utmost possible extent ; 
 
 SS ———— eS Ne ee ee eee ~ 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 49 
 
 some passages there are, where some messenger 
 from the Deity, some superior being, some 
 angel of the Lord must be supposed ; and this 
 is indeed sometimes positively expressed, and 
 some interference of this nature must be also 
 supposed through the whole of the Old Testa- 
 ment—it must always be some messeneer or 
 some influence of the Deity, sincerely believed 
 or felt by the leading actors in the narrative, 
 which is by them expressed in a rude and 
 barbarous age, by words that indicate the per- 
 sonal presence or interference of the Almighty, 
 in a manner totally inconceivable by us, who 
 live in ages of science and improved intelli- 
 gence. Every thing, it should be remem- 
 bered, must be always adapted to the state of 
 the recipient. It pleased the Almighty to defer 
 the discoveries of astronomical science to a 
 later age. Moses was therefore left to de- 
 scribe the formation of the world and of our 
 planetary system, ina manner that could alone 
 have been intelligible to those whom he ad- 
 dressed ; it was sufficient that the doctrine of 
 the one great Almighty Being, the creator of 
 the world, was then proclaimed. All through 
 the Jewish history, it must never be forgotten, 
 that the Jews, accustomed to the habitual con- 
 H 
 
50 EVIDENCES 
 
 templation of God, as the author of all things, 
 deeply penetrated by a sense of the marvellous 
 circumstances under which their nation ex- 
 isted, and regarding their nation as the object 
 of his special providence, naturally referred to 
 him directly whatever affected its condition, 
 and considered it as a manifestation of his 
 pleasure or displeasure. 
 
 I will now refer to some observations that 
 have been made by Dr. Arnold in his Disser- 
 tations on the Right Interpretation of Scrip- 
 LUTE, 
 
 In any communication, he remarks, between 
 a Being of infinite knowledge and one of 
 finite, the former must speak according to the 
 views of the latter, unless it be his pleasure at 
 the time to raise him above the existing level ; 
 and when he chooses a being of finite know- 
 ledge to be the medium of his revelations, it 
 1s at once understood, that the faculties of this 
 being are left in their natural state, except so 
 far as regards the success of the especial 
 message with which he is entrusted; and in 
 the very message itself, there must be a mix- 
 ture of accommodation to our ignorance. The 
 nature, too, of language must be considered, 
 when we describe the dealings of God with 
 
 --  ——s - vs CC nl 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. Ly 
 
 man—the wrath, jealousy, repentance of the 
 Divine Being, his sitting on high in heaven, 
 his right hand; and all expressions of this 
 nature must be considered as only such ex- 
 pressions as we are enabled to make use of, as 
 our only approach to ideas that are in them- 
 selves inaccessible. It must also be remarked 
 that God’s way of dealing with the childhood 
 and youth of the human race, was necessarily 
 different from what was afterwards adopted, 
 and that his revelations to man, including in 
 this term both communications of knowledge 
 and directions for conduct, were adapted to 
 his state, at the several periods, when they 
 were successively made, so that actions might 
 be even commanded at one period, which 
 would not have been at another. 
 
 Thus God commanded Abraham to sacrifice 
 his son Isaac; but human sacrifices, and par- 
 ticularly the sacrifice of children by their pa- 
 rents, were in that age of the world, notoriously 
 practised, and were considered, by the Mo- 
 abites, for instance, as the greatest possible 
 mark of devotion; and there is no reason to 
 Suppose that the command to sacrifice his son 
 Isaac, was received by Abraham in any other 
 light than as a duty severely trying to his 
 
52 EvIDENCES 
 
 feelings, but in no way startling to his sense 
 of right and wrong. It may be supposed by 
 some, that Abraham could not be less aware 
 than we are, of the wickedness of human 
 sacrifices, because they believe, that on all 
 points of duty he was not less enlightened 
 than the most enlightened christian ; but not 
 so—do they think that polygamy is a matter 
 of indifference, or that Abraham, judging as 
 christians do, would have lived habitually im 
 known sin, as he is represented to have done ? 
 
 Other examples of the same principles may 
 be mentioned—the command given to Saul 
 to destroy the Amalekites utterly, and his 
 punishment for not obeying it—a similar com- 
 mand given to Joshua to extirpate the Cana- 
 anites. Commands like these given to men 
 in the christian stage of their moral progress, 
 would only sanction barbarity; but at an 
 earlier stage the case is different ; half-civilized 
 men may be the executioners of God’s judg- 
 ments. In Saul’s time, and before, and long 
 afterwards, the laws of war were so thoroughly 
 barbarous, that no amount of slaughter, com- 
 mitted against enemies, was likely to shock 
 the feelings of any one; observe the conclu- 
 sion of the beautiful Psalm, ‘‘ By the waters 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 5a 
 
 of Babylon,” written many ages afterwards : 
 “Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, 
 on the day of Jerusalem, how they said, Down 
 with it, down with it, even to the ground; O 
 daughter of Babylon, wasted with misery, 
 yea, happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as 
 thou hast served us, blessed shall he be, that 
 taketh thy children and throweth them against 
 the stones.” 
 
 Instances to this effect are to be found in 
 the classical authors—in the poems of Homer, 
 for instance, Agamemnon, in the 6th Iliad, 
 advises Menelaus not to spare a single Trojan, 
 young or old, even to the babe in the mother’s 
 womb, and the poet approves the advice ; and 
 Ulysses and Telemachus put all the female 
 slaves of their household to death, and the 
 poet is indifferent to their sufferings. 
 
 Commands of this nature did no violence 
 to the moral notions of Saul or of the Jews, 
 but only called upon them to renounce the 
 ordinary fruits of victory—the slaves, the fe- 
 male captives, the cattle, the silver and the 
 gold—and to act merely as men who fought 
 according to the divine will, and not as men 
 who were to indulge in the customary excesses 
 of lust and plunder. 
 
54 EVIDENCES 
 
 The human species has gone through a 
 state far different from the present, one of less 
 fulness of moral knowledge, of less enlightened 
 conscience, of far more bounded and inferior 
 science, and this less perfect state being a part 
 of the will of the great Creator, the training 
 applied to it must have been suited to it; why, 
 indeed, he has so willed it, it is in vain to 
 ask, and when perceived to be vain, becomes 
 afterwards presumptuous. 
 
 The progress of mankind has been provided 
 for, though not immediately made attainable, 
 and the higher state of the civilization of the 
 world, and the more enlarged state of the 
 knowledge and science of mankind, are now 
 very distinctly marked. These observations 
 of Dr. Arnold are very deserving of consider- 
 ation. —It is said to be incredible, and Vol- 
 taire has made dramas to destroy all belief in 
 the Bible on this principle, that persons raised 
 up, directed, and assisted by God, should 
 have been guilty of such crimes as David, for 
 instance; but it should be considered that 
 men may be raised up for particular purposes, 
 
 may be aided in effecting a particular object, 
 inspired with a certain degree of knowledge, 
 assisted at particular periods, and in an espe- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 55 
 
 cial manner, and yet that beyond this, their 
 natural character, their external temptations, 
 their acquired habits may have produced all 
 the irregularities and crimes which have given 
 so much offence : to ask why God did not pre- 
 vent this, is to ask why he did not exercise a 
 greater degree of supernatural control than 
 the particular purposes of his providence re- 
 quired—it would be to affirm that God could 
 ‘not interfere at all in human affairs, without 
 interposing to such a degree, as would totally 
 subvert the laws of man’s moral nature, by 
 forcibly controlling human agency, and sub- 
 verting all free will. As far as we can judge, 
 the Almighty, in the government of the world, 
 pre-ordains the more material events, so as to 
 eflect his particular purpose, yet suffers his 
 creatures freely to exert their faculties, on all 
 convenient and ordinary occasions, in this 
 manner, not divesting himself of the govern- 
 ment of the world, yet not exercising a g0- 
 vernment that shall set aside all human sin 
 and punishment—all virtue and reward. 
 
 On all great subjects of human inquiry, no 
 just conclusions can be arrived at, unless dis- 
 tinctions are carefully made, and all the rela- 
 tive circumstances patiently considered ; on 
 
56 EVIDENCES 
 
 no subject is this so necessary as in that of 
 the Mosaic dispensation—the account that is 
 given of it by Moses in the Pentateuch, and, 
 again, his account of the creation of the world 
 and the events that took place during the first 
 ages of it. He related what he naturally be- 
 lieved, and it must be remembered, that at 
 that particular period, he was rather the leader 
 and instructor of the Jews, than of mankind. 
 A greater Prophet than he, a greater Captain 
 of our Salvation, was afterwards to arise, who 
 was to exhibit to mankind a more spiritual 
 system of worship, a higher code of morality, 
 and a more distinct promise of an hereafter. 
 No doubt the religion inculcated in the 
 Pentateuch, in the midst of the most sublime 
 references to the nature of the Deity, consisted 
 very much in rites and ceremonies, and espe- 
 cially in offerings and sacrifices : but the ob- 
 servation of the Saviour is very remarkable, 
 when the Pharisees had, as they’ supposed, 
 refuted his doctrines on the subject of divorce 
 _—“‘ Moses,” he said, “‘ because of the hard- 
 ness of your hearts, suffered you to put away 
 your wives, but from the beginning it was not 
 so;” and it must never be forgotten, that the 
 ceremonial law, however minute and however 
 
fal OF CHRISTIANITY. 57 
 
 overdone, as it has appeared to later writers, 
 and may to ourselves, might be, and it may 
 indeed be concluded, certainly was, quite ne- 
 cessary and adapted to the character and cir- 
 cumstances of this perverse and _ insulated 
 people, who required to be continually re- 
 minded of the dispensation under which they 
 were placed, and kept engaged in acts of 
 obedience and in observances connected with 
 their deliverance, and with the marked sepa- 
 ration which was to be enforced between them 
 and the surrounding nations—this could not 
 have been done but by minute and daily cere- 
 monial observances. At a subsequent period, 
 when the nation seems to have merged their 
 religion in those observances, and to have 
 substituted outward worship for the pure and 
 spiritual devotion by which it ought to be ac- 
 companied, the remonstrances and accusations 
 of the prophets are very remarkable, and the 
 fervour with which they insist on moral good- 
 ness, as the indispensable recommendation to 
 the favour of the Almighty. Similar senti- 
 ments are to be found in the Psalms. 
 
 The observations which I have now offered, 
 may, I think, be left to the consideration of 
 those who believe in natural and revealed re- 
 
 I 
 
58 EVIDENCES 
 
 ligion, as well as those who do not; but I 
 have drawn up this work for the purpose of 
 addressing it to men of sceptical minds, and 
 unsettled religious opinions ; and such men it 
 is impossible to influence, unless they are met 
 upon their own ground. I must therefore 
 make a few additional remarks, which must 
 be considered as submitted to their attention 
 exclusively. 
 
 In the first place, I must observe, that the 
 whole doctrine of inspiration has been very 
 unreasonably dealt with by pious and good 
 men. The human agents employed by the 
 Deity to carry on the purposes of his provi- 
 dence, have been supposed to be under his 
 immediate influence on every occasion—this 
 is in itself unnecessary and contrary to the 
 evident facts of the case, and very sceptical 
 objections have arisen in consequence of this 
 mistaken apprehension. In no instance has 
 this effect been more unfortunately produced, 
 than in the treatment of the scriptures of the 
 Old Testament—it was the very basis of all 
 the sarcasms and reasonings of Voltaire, and 
 has ever since been, of all the infidelity of his 
 followers—and the Pentateuch has more es- 
 pecially fallen under animadversions of this 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 59 
 
 nature. The situation, therefore, and conduct 
 of the great legislator of the Jews should be 
 very carefully considered—that Moses was 
 under the general inspiration and direction of 
 the Almighty may be surely conceived, for it 
 is impossible otherwise to account for the great 
 leading facts of the Jewish history, such as 
 are embodied in their rites and institutions, 
 and cannot now be reasonably questioned. 
 Men, however, recoil from the representations 
 which he has given of that inspiration and 
 direction; but a distinction must always be 
 made, between the dispensations of the Al- 
 mighty, and the representations afterwards 
 given of them, by the human agents whom it 
 has pleased him to make use of. The great 
 leading miracles which belong to the Jewish 
 history were such, that Moses could not but 
 have supposed, that he worked them by the 
 immediate influence of the Supreme Being ; 
 neither he nor the Jews could have supposed 
 otherwise; but he might then very naturally 
 have afterwards imagined, that he was under 
 the same influence when making provisions of 
 an ordinary nature, for the welfare and ma- 
 nagement of the nation. He might be gene- 
 rally commissioned to institute religious ordi- 
 
GO EVIDENCES 
 
 nances and ceremonies of a very exclusive na- 
 ture, such as would render the Jews a pecu- 
 liar people, and he might then be left to the 
 workings of his own mind, and justly believe 
 himself under the general influence of the 
 Deity, while preparing these ordinances and 
 ceremonies ; and yet it does not follow that 
 we are to take in a literal sense what he says 
 of the minute directions given him by the Al- 
 mighty, constituting so large a portion of the 
 Pentateuch. The chapters in Leviticus, it 
 may be objected, begin with the words, 
 ‘And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,” 
 and then follow such directions and particu- 
 lars, as it is impossible to suppose could have 
 been orally delivered by the Deity. Admit- 
 ting this not to be literally true, yet it will be 
 substantially so, if we suppose that this was 
 the form of words made use of by the Jewish 
 legislator, when he was drawing up a code of 
 laws, and announcing them to a rude people, 
 whose obedience he might consider himself as 
 commissioned to secure. In this manner may 
 the representations he has given, of his com- 
 munications with the Almighty, be accounted 
 for; it is impossible now to know what he 
 would have considered as a direct interference 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 61 
 
 of the Almighty, at that period of the world 
 in which he lived. It is sufficient for us to 
 know, that he must have been so far under 
 the immediate influence of divine inspiration, 
 as was necessary for the great purposes which 
 he had to accomplish. Those purposes may 
 be themselves a mystery, but we are not, 
 therefore to turn away from them. We may 
 use our faculties as far as they are permitted 
 to go—the mystery may be inaccessible, but 
 not therefore the evidence that the mystery 
 exists. 
 
 Nor do I see, why reasonings of this gene- 
 ral nature, such as may fairly be proposed to 
 the consideration and perhaps the candour of 
 men of sceptical minds, such men as I mean 
 more especially to address, may not be ex- 
 tended to far greater lengths—to the ordinary 
 intellectual nature of Moses, as well as his 
 more gifted and spiritual nature. He might 
 surely be competent to discharge all the great 
 offices of the providence of God, with respect 
 to the chosen people, though he might not in 
 a premature manner rise superior in his natu- 
 ral understanding to the various traditions 
 which seem so universaliy to have prevailed 
 among mankind, in the first ages of the world 
 
62 EVIDENCES 
 
 —these may appear in his Pentateuch, but 
 this is no reason why we should suppose, that 
 he was not an inspired legislator and an ap- 
 pointed leader of a chosen people. On the 
 whole of this great subject it is not contended 
 that a man of sceptical mind may not have 
 difficulties to produce, but it is contended, 
 that they must be considered with reference 
 to our nature and existence, and that they are 
 overpowered and lost amidst the evidences, so 
 numerous and so various, that belong both to 
 the New Testament and to the Old. 
 
 We may now turn to the second portion 
 of the Bible—to the New Testament—the 
 part in which ts contained an account of the 
 second dispensation of the Almighty to his 
 creatures, not to the Jews alone, but to all 
 mankind. In considering these two awful 
 dispensations, it is impossible to keep the 
 subjects entirely separate from each other, and 
 many observations which have been made in 
 considering the Old Testament, are equally 
 applicable to the New; similar objections to 
 be often obviated, similar evidences to be often 
 insisted upon. 
 
 But at the same time it must be once for 
 all remarked, that though we have dwelt at 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 63 
 
 some length on the credibility of the Jewish 
 scriptures, the truth or the falsehood of the 
 history of the New Testament depends upon 
 proofs quite independent of the miracles per- 
 formed by Moses —the connection of the 
 Christian with the Jewish covenant must be 
 - sought, not in the miracles, nor in the histo- 
 rical parts generally of the ancient scriptures, 
 but in the types and prophecies which they 
 contain; these have been incorporated with 
 the history of the Jews, and they are thus 
 kept alive in the memory and belief of man- 
 kind ; but it is these types and prophecies that 
 are of consequence to us, not the history to 
 which they are annexed; our Saviour often 
 alludes to points of Jewish history, but it is 
 only to the law and the prophets, that he re- 
 ferred ‘as they that testify of him,” and Chris- 
 tianity is thus connected only with those parts 
 of the Old Testament that rest upon facts pre- 
 dicted by the prophets, and which are facts 
 as easy to be ascertained as any other points 
 of history. 
 
 In a word, we may leave the historical parts 
 of the Old Testament, and turn our attention 
 to the prophecies. This point has been strong- 
 ly insisted upon in a very important work, to 
 
64 EVIDENCES 
 
 which we shall refer hereafter, by Archdeacon 
 Lyall. We know that these prophecies are 
 written in a language which at the time when 
 the fulfilment of many of them took place had 
 been a dead language more than 500 years ; 
 a translation of them is now extant, the Sep- 
 tuagint, which was executed nearly 300 years 
 before the coming of Christ. The only ques- 
 tions, then, respecting them, which concern 
 the truth of Christianity are, were these pro- 
 phecies distinctly announced, as prophecies, 
 at the time when they were delivered? were 
 they believed to be prophecies by those among 
 whom they were preserved? were they in pro- 
 cess of time substantially fulfilled, according 
 to the fair interpretation of them? If these 
 questions, can be answered in the affirmative, 
 all other questions sink into insignificance— 
 if the events predicted were such as no human 
 knowledge could have foreseen, nor any hu- 
 man art or power have produced, in this case, 
 these prophecies are written by divine inspi- 
 ration, and all the events which form the sub- 
 ject matter of them, and, more especially, that 
 grand event to which so many of them point- 
 ed, were brought about by a direct interposi- 
 tion of a divine authority. The Old Testa- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 65 
 
 ment announces in various parts the coming 
 of the Messiah, the New Testament exhibits 
 this very coming, and makes frequent refer- 
 ences to those annunciations. It is thus that 
 in these prophecies, when verified, the divine 
 authority of the book is shown, and it is in 
 these prophecies also, when they have any re- 
 ference to the Messiah, and are verified in the 
 person and character of Christ, that the divi- 
 nity of his mission also is shown. 
 
 Now the prophecies of the Old Testament 
 are of both sorts; some refer to the future 
 Messiah, some to the events of the world—to 
 the calamities, for instance, which the Jews 
 were to suffer, and to those that the then 
 great cities and kingdoms of the earth were 
 to suffer. 
 
 These last prophecies, when verified, are an 
 unanswerable proof of the divine nature of 
 these writings—they thus give an authority 
 to those passages that refer to the future 
 Messiah ; they become evidence in favour of 
 Christianity—both the one and the other are 
 evidence; and we will therefore consider for 
 some time these predictions, both of the one 
 kind and the other, as both conspiring to form 
 a proof of the truth of the religion of Christ. 
 
 K 
 
66 EVIDENCES 
 
 No doubt the evidence of the gospel does not 
 depend on prophecy alone, but prophecy is an 
 important portion of the evidence—it is that 
 part which more especially affects the minds 
 of men who are indisposed to believe; for no 
 answer can be made, if the prophecy appears 
 to be subsequently verified. 
 
 The argument from prophecy has been 
 drawn out by Bishop Newton, and pursued 
 by subsequent writers, stating the particular 
 confirmations of the argument that are afforded 
 by the accounts of modern travellers, and this 
 portion of the evidence has been fully dis- 
 cussed and exhibited by our regular divines ; 
 but I do not refer my reader to their works, 
 as I cannot depend upon his consulting them, 
 and as it is my object, in this short treatise to 
 offer him sufficient grounds for belief, here and 
 immediately. 
 
 The prophecies to which we will first allude 
 —those that respect the great kingdoms of 
 Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, and Egypt—are very 
 remarkable, and these kingdoms are the sub- 
 jects of history. There are prophecies also, 
 respecting inferior kingdoms, Moab, Edom, 
 and Ammon; but they were soon crushed 
 into oblivion, and the confirmations of pro- 
 
-OF CHRISTIANITY. 67 
 
 phecy have in some points perished with 
 them ; not so the greater kingdoms. To the 
 Jews, indeed, prophecies respecting these in- 
 ferior kingdoms, as they were neighbouring 
 kingdoms, might be of the greatest importance, 
 though not to us. It may be said, that em- 
 pires rise and fall, and that human foresight 
 may prophesy—but surely with little confi- 
 dence ; and two thousand five hundred years 
 ago, experience had not produced principles 
 upon which to calculate political changes, 
 such as we may have now. 
 
 But in the instances before us, there were 
 particulars described, which cannot be mis- 
 taken for the anticipations of human foresight. 
 Thus the prophet Nahum, speaking of the 
 destruction of Nineveh, says, ‘‘ For while they 
 be folded together as thorns, and while they 
 are drunken as drunkards, they shall be de- 
 voured as stubble fully dry.” Again—“ the 
 gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the 
 palace shall be dissolved,” or molten. Now 
 from Diodorus Siculus we learn, that the Assy- 
 rian camp in a state of drunkenness, during 
 a general festival, was surprised and_ over- 
 whelmed—they were embarrassed and unable 
 to defend themselves—they were ‘“‘ folded to- 
 
68 EvIpENCES 
 
 gether” and entangled “ as thorns”—they 
 were suddenly and completely mastered— 
 “ devoured as stubble, fully dry.” The same 
 heathen writer says, that during the siege of 
 Nineveh, an inundation of the river (the Ti- 
 oris) burst the walls, and the king in despair 
 raised a vast pile, and consumed himself in 
 the flames of his wealth and his palace. Thus 
 the gates of the rivers were opened, and the 
 palace was not simply taken, but ‘‘ dissolved,” 
 or molten. 
 
 Speaking of Babylon, Jeremiah says, ‘“ In 
 their heat I will make their feasts, and I will 
 make them drunken, that they may rejoice 
 and sleep a perpetual sleep, saith the Lord.” 
 And again—‘‘ I have laid a snare for thee 
 and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou 
 wast not aware, thou art found and also 
 caught.” And again—-“ a drought is upon 
 her waters, and they shall be dried up.” It 
 is a matter of history that Babylon was taken 
 in a manner corresponding with this predic- 
 tion, when Cyrus drained off the waters of 
 the Euphrates, and opened a passage on foot 
 within its banks for the entrance of his army. 
 Thus we have the very accidents of nature 
 and the devices and actions of men antici- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 69 
 
 pated. And, finally, what says Isaiah? (chap. 
 xiii.) “ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, 
 the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall 
 be as when God overthrew Sodom and Go- 
 morrah ; it shall never be inhabited, neither 
 shall it be dwelt in from generation to gene- 
 ration, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent 
 there, neither shall the shepherds make their 
 fold there.” And Jeremiah in like manner 
 —‘ Therefore the wild beasts of the desert 
 with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell 
 there, and the owls shall dwell there, and it 
 shall no more be inhabited for ever, neither 
 shall it be dwelt in from generation to gene- 
 ration.” 
 
 The date of these prophecies is quite clear 
 as to the age of Isaiah and Jeremiah, from the 
 Jewish canon of scripture—Isaiah 200, and 
 Jeremiah not less than 50 years before the 
 capture of Babylon. Isaiah was publicly 
 consulted by Hezekiah, Jeremiah publicly 
 questioned for some of his prophecies. The 
 age of Nahum is not so clear; the testimony 
 of the Jewish church, seconded by that of 
 Josephus, (who places the prophecy of Na- 
 hum 115 years before the capture of Nine- 
 veh,) is a fair and reasonable warrant to the 
 
70 EvIDENCEs 
 
 antiquity of Nahum’s prediction; but there 
 are not the auxiliary notices of his personal 
 history, or of a chronological date prefixed to 
 his book, that we have in the instances of 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah, 
 
 But observe Zephaniah“ He will stretch 
 out his hand against the north, and destroy 
 Assyria, and will make N ineveh a desolation, 
 and dry like a wilderness ; and flocks shall lie 
 down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the 
 nations, both the pelican and the bittern shall 
 lodge in the upper lintels of it, their voice 
 shall sing in the windows, desolation shall be 
 in its thresholds ;” “she is empty,” says Na- 
 hum, ‘‘and void and waste.” Zephaniah is 
 stated to have prophesied in the days of Jo- 
 siah. But the time when Nineveh was taken 
 is an unsettled point ofchronology. Herodotus 
 assigns the capture to Cyaxares, which will 
 be some years after the latest period of Ze- 
 phaniah’s prophecy. 
 
 Finally, it is to be observed, that the Jew- 
 ish canon of scripture was collected and pro- 
 mulgated after the return of the Jews from 
 their captivity, when Babylon was in exist- 
 ence; it was the work of some centuries to 
 break down this gigantic city into total ruins; 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 71 
 
 so that there is no date which can be assigned 
 to the predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah, 
 which will not leave them in possession of a 
 clear prophetic character. 
 
 There are many discriminating particulars 
 to be traced in the prophecy concerning Tyre ; 
 these particulars include the subjugation of 
 the city; her restoration to power, after a ser- 
 vitude of seventy years; her later calamities 
 of capture, burning, and demolition; her last 
 desolate state, like that of Nineveh and Baby- 
 lon. For so it is foretold—‘“TI will scrape 
 the dust from her and make her like the top 
 of a rock; it shall be a place for the spread- 
 ing of nets. Thou shalt be built no more; 
 though thou be sought for, thou shalt never 
 be found again.” Time has wrought this 
 extremity of ruin, and intermediate things 
 foretold have had their due fulfilment. 
 
 It is to be observed that the age of Ezra, 
 and the formation of the sacred canon after 
 the captivity, preceded by a century the de- 
 struction of T'yre, effected by Alexander; still 
 more do they precede the last stage of the 
 ruin and solitude foretold. 
 
 With regard to Egypt—after Ezekiel had 
 foretold a captivity of her inhabitants for forty 
 
72 EvIDENCES 
 
 years, he subjoins this second prediction— 
 “ Yet thus saith the Lord God, at the end of 
 forty years, I will bring again the captivity of 
 Egypt, and will cause them to return into the 
 land of Pathros, into the land of their habita- 
 tion; and they shall be a base kingdom, it 
 shall be the basest of kingdoms ; neither shall 
 it exalt itself any more above the nations, for 
 I will diminish them, that they shall no more 
 rule over the nations, and there shall be no 
 more a prince of the land of Egypt.” What 
 is here foretold, Egypt has suffered. Baby- 
 lonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, 
 Mamelukes, Turks, have been masters of it in 
 turn—even the Ptolemies were a foreign race; 
 a national degeneracy has defeated all the gifts 
 of nature—it has long been a base kingdom, 
 though originally the most prosperous, opulent 
 and powerful of kingdoms. 
 
 Thus Nineveh and Babylon have been de- 
 stroyed, and Tyre ; Egypt has been degraded; 
 the Jewish nation dispersed; and all pre- 
 dicted. The prophecies and their subjects 
 could not be interchanged—and their truth is 
 now visible. 
 
 One of the oldest scripture prophecies re- 
 lates to the people of Arabia, the progeny of 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 73 
 
 Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, it 
 was addressed to Hagar—‘ I will multiply 
 thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be 
 numbered for multitude; and thou shalt bear 
 a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, and 
 he will be a wild man, his hand will be against 
 every man, and every man’s hand will be a- 
 gainst him, and he shall dwell in the presence 
 of all his brethren.” If we call for the report 
 of the historians and travellers of every age, 
 they will inform us, that we have here the 
 very character of the Arabians—we have in 
 that character a long continued fulfilment of a 
 prophecy. 
 
 Thus the Ishmaelites in their own country, 
 and the Jews in every country, except their 
 own, have each, through ages, exhibited in the 
 peculiar nature of their condition, an object 
 that has confirmed the truth and foreknow- 
 ledge of prophecy. 
 
 One of the greatest of the prophets, how- 
 ever, has been always among the Jews consi- 
 dered to be Daniel. The great subject of his 
 prophecy is delineated in two separate visions 
 —visions in dreams. 
 
 The first runs thus—‘“ This is the dream, 
 and we will tell the interpretation thereof be- 
 
 L 
 
74 _ EvIpENCES 
 
 fore the king, the king of Babylon. Thou, 
 O king, art a king of kings, for the God of 
 heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, 
 and strength, and glory; and wheresoever 
 the children of men dwell, the beast of the 
 field, and the fowls of heaven, hath he given 
 unto thine hand, and hath made thee ruler 
 over them all. Thou art this head of gold, 
 And after thee shall arise another kingdom, 
 inferior to thee, and another third kingdom 
 of brass, which shall bear rule over all the 
 earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be 
 strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in 
 pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron 
 that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces 
 and bruise.” Here we have a clear statement 
 of the rise of four kingdoms. And such did 
 arise—the Babylonian, which was followed 
 by the Persian, then came the Macedonian, 
 and last the Roman. 
 
 Porphyry could only contend that the pro- 
 phecies of Daniel were not written and pub- 
 lished till about the age of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes. But the Jews had their canon com- 
 pleted long before the time of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes. We have it on the authority of Jo- 
 sephus that Daniel's prophecies were read 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 15D 
 
 publicly among the Jews in their worship, as 
 well as their other received scriptures ; and 
 he has given a more copious and explicit tes- 
 timony to the authority of this one prophet, 
 than to any other whatever. It may be added, 
 that the reion of Antiochus Epiphanes will 
 fall on the period of the third of these em- 
 pires, the Macedonian; and the prophecy re- 
 specting the Roman empire is not thus ac- 
 counted for; and how could it be foreseen 
 that this fourth empire was to be the last, and 
 how could the prophecy so accurately describe 
 the Roman power, which was to be “ the iron 
 power that was to break down and bruise all 
 things.” 
 
 But the argument admits of a material en- 
 largement. In the visions of Daniel there is 
 introduced a fifth conspicuous object — “a 
 stone cut out of a mountain without hands” 
 is the new object, concluding the first vision 
 of the great image; and at the conclusion of 
 the other or second vision, concerning the 
 four beasts, the conspicuous object is this— 
 “One like the Son of Man coming in the 
 clouds of Heaven and receiving a dominion, 
 a glory, a kingdom, that all people, nations, 
 and languages, should serve him; his domi- 
 
76 EvIDENCES 
 
 nion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 
 not pass away, and his kingdom that, which 
 shall not be destroyed.” These two new pro- 
 phetic emblems, occupying a similar place 
 in the two visions, denote some agreement, 
 or rather an identity in their subject: the 
 first expresses the establishment of the Chris- 
 tian religion; the second, the extent, eternal 
 duration, and victory of the Christian king- 
 dom; the mode of that establishment justifies 
 the emblem, of ‘‘a stone cut out of a moun- 
 tain without hands;” the first is a past fact ; 
 the second is in a state of credibility. It is 
 to be observed that the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity is here stated to be incident upon the 
 time of the fourth empire. This alone is a 
 prophecy. 
 
 Again, the termination of the fourth empire, 
 by its sub-division into a multitude of sepa- 
 rate kingdoms, is a further ingredient in the 
 prophecy. And a multifarious division took 
 place in the cluster of petty cotemporary king- 
 doms, which replaced the Roman empire upon 
 its dissolution—the definite number of ten 
 may or may not be a strict postulate of the 
 prophecy—a multifarious division is no doubt 
 denoted—and such a division took place. 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 77 
 
 I must dwell a little longer on the prophe- 
 cies concerning the great empires of the East 
 —they are very striking. 
 
 The main facts are, that the Assyrians car- 
 ried away the ten tribes of Israel, and that 
 the two remaining tribes of Judah and Ben- 
 jamin were afterwards carried captive by the 
 Babylonians. The facts are related by He- 
 rodotus and Xenophon. — Isaiah lived 250 
 years before Herodotus, 350 before Xeno- 
 phon. Jeremiah 150 before the one, 250 
 before the other. Isaiah prophesied 160 
 years before the taking of Babylon, Jere- 
 miah 56. 
 
 The prophecies are very animated, and are 
 distinct, though clothed in Eastern imagery. 
 The Assyrian princes placed colonists of their 
 own in Samaria, instead of the children of Is- 
 rael ; and Cyrus, after the conquest of Baby- 
 lon, restored the two captive tribes of Judah 
 and Benjamin to Judea, after a captivity of 
 seventy years. Humanly speaking, it was im- 
 possible for these prophets to have foreseen 
 the fall of these mighty empires, and the de- 
 struction of such immense cities—Nineveh by 
 the Babylonians, and Babylon by the Medes 
 
 and Persians; yet the denunciations of these 
 
78 EVIDENCES 
 
 Jewish writers are every where to be found 
 in their writings, and show them to have been 
 inspired, and their books fully entitled to the 
 character of prophetic writings. It were end- 
 less to produce passages of this nature—“ O 
 Assyria,” says Isaiah, “ the rod of mine anger; 
 (or, Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of mine 
 alorer.) 14 Waki Wherefore it shall come to 
 pass, that when the Lord hath performed his 
 whole work upon Mount Sion and Jerusalem, 
 I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the 
 king of Assyria, and the glory of his high 
 looks:” chap. x. There was no prospect at 
 this time of such an event, while the Assyrians 
 were in the midst of their successes and tri- 
 umphs—yet such was the event. 
 
 The fall of Nineveh was prophesied in like 
 manner, by Jonah, chap. ii.—‘ The Lord will 
 stretch out his hand against the north, and 
 destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a de- 
 solation and dry like a wilderness,” &c. What 
 probability was there that such a city (60 
 miles in circumference) should be destroyed, 
 and so destroyed; but the place is hardly 
 known where it was Situated, and the same 
 may be said afterwards of Babylon. 
 
 Babylon became the queen of the East, af- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 79 
 
 ter the destruction of Nineveh ; and the pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah are very dis- 
 tinct and continually repeated. ‘Israel is a 
 scattered sheep,” says Jeremiah, (chap. i.) 
 ‘The lions have driven him away; first the 
 king of Assyria hath devoured him, and last 
 this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath 
 broken his bones; therefore thus saith the 
 Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, behold I 
 will punish the king of Babylon, and his land, 
 as I have punished the king of Assyria. Jere- 
 miah lived before and during the Babylonian 
 captivity ; even the time of the fall of Baby- 
 lon was predicted—‘‘ These nations,” (the 
 Jews and others,) said Jeremiah, (chap. xxv.) 
 ‘¢ shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years, 
 and it shall come to pass, that when seventy 
 years are accomplished, that I will punish the 
 king of Babylon and that nation, saith the 
 Lord.” This was predicted in the first year 
 of Nebuchadnezzar. Particulars that occurred 
 are even alluded to: the city was taken, for 
 instance, by surprise, during the time of a 
 feast—“ I have laid a snare for thee, (Jer. i.) 
 and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou 
 was not aware; thou art found and also 
 
 caught.” (chap. li.)—‘ In their heat I will 
 
80 EvIDENCES 
 
 make their feasts, and I will make them 
 drunken, that they may rejoice and sleep a 
 perpetual sleep and not awake, saith the Lord ; 
 and I will make drunk her princes and her wise 
 men, her captains and her rulers, &c., and 
 they shall sleep, &c. 
 
 But observe the then condition of Babylon; 
 how could this have been foreseen and fore- 
 told? ‘* Babylon,” says Isaiah, (chapter xiii.) 
 —I must again allude to his prophecy— 
 “ Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the 
 beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be 
 as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah ; it shall never be inhabited, neither shall 
 it be dwelt in from generation to generation, 
 neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, &c. 
 &c., and her time is near to come and her 
 days shall not be prolonged.” In like man- 
 ner, Jeremiah (chap. i.)—‘ Because of the 
 wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited, 
 but it shall be wholly desolate .... every one 
 that goeth by Babylon, shall be astonished 
 and hiss at all her plagues ;” ‘‘ therefore the 
 wild beasts of the desert shall dwell there,” 
 ‘and the land shall tremble and sorrow, for 
 every purpose of the Lord shall be performed 
 against Babylon, &c. &c.” All these denun- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. Si 
 
 ciations have been fulfilled and exist at this 
 moment. 
 
 Cyrus, says Xenophon, imposed a tribute 
 upon the Babylonians, appointed a strong 
 garrison, &c. &c.; but they rebelled under 
 Darius and were cruelly treated, as prophe- 
 sied in Isaiah xiii. 11, 18; and Jeremiah |. 
 42. Xerxes plundered and destroyed the 
 temples and idols of Babylon: so Isaiah (xxi. 
 9)—* Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the 
 images of her gods he hath broken to the 
 ground.” So Jeremiah (li.)—“ I will do judg- 
 ment upon the graven images of Babylon, 
 &c.” Alexander purposed to have made Ba- 
 bylon the seat of his empire, and set men at 
 work to rebuild the temple of Belus, &c. &c.; 
 but he met with some difficulties, and shortly 
 died ; and Selucia being built a few years af- 
 terwards, Babylon, though long subsisting in 
 a state of decline, was at length swept away 
 from the place that it had occupied, and seen 
 no more. 
 
 Another city, which I have already men- 
 tioned, and which was an enemy to the Jews, 
 and another instance of the truth of prophecy, 
 was Tyre. There was an insular Tyre as well 
 as the Tyre upon the continent, and both are 
 
 M 
 
89 EvivENCES 
 
 included in the prophecies. Tyre must have 
 been the place of communication between the 
 west and the east ; and it was in this wealthy 
 and flourishing condition when Isaiah fore- 
 told its destruction, 125 years before it was 
 destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar—‘‘ Who hath 
 taken this counsel,” says Isaiah, (chap. xxiii.) 
 “against Tyre, the crowning city, whose mer- 
 chants are princes, whose traflickers are the 
 honourable of the earth? The Lord of hosts 
 hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all 
 glory, and to bring into contempt all the ho- 
 nourable of the earth.” But Ezekiel, who 
 lived later than Isaiah, is the prophet in 
 whose writings denunciations against Tyre 
 most abound—“ By thy great wisdom (chap. 
 xxviii.) and by thy trafhe hast thou increased 
 thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because 
 
 ofithy riches 25/4 . and thou hast sinned, and 
 therefore will I cast thee as profane out of the 
 mountain of God .... Thou hast defiled thy 
 
 sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniqui- 
 ties, by the iniquity of thy trafic ; therefore 
 will I bring forth a fire from the midst of 
 thee; it shall devour thee, and I will bring 
 thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of 
 all them that behold thee, all they that know 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 83 
 
 thee among the people shall be astonished at 
 thee, thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt 
 thou be any more.” “And (chap. xxvi.) I 
 will make thee like the top of a rock, thou 
 shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou 
 shalt be built no more, for I the Lord have 
 spoken it, saith the Lord God.” 
 
 Maundrell, who published a journal of his 
 journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, when he 
 came to the place where Tyre had stood, and 
 saw only ‘a few poor wretches who subsisted 
 chiefly upon fishing,” was much struck by the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy—‘ Thus saith the 
 Lord God, (Ezekiel xxvi.) Behold I will bring 
 upon Tyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby- 
 lon, a king of kings, from the north, with 
 horses and with chariots, &c....... He 
 shall slay thy people by the sword and thy 
 strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.” 
 Joel and Amos also uttered denunciations 
 against ‘l’yre. 
 
 If the prophecies concerning Tyre are ga- 
 thered up and considered, it will appear, that 
 the city was to be taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 after a long siege; that its inhabitants were 
 to fly over the Mediterranean, and find no 
 rest; should return after seventy years; that 
 
84 EvIDENCES 
 
 it should be again taken and destroyed ; that 
 the people should in time forsake their idola- 
 try, and become converts to the true religion; 
 and that the city should be finally destroyed, 
 and be a place for the fishermen to spread 
 their nets upon. 
 
 We will now allude to the second division 
 of the subject—to the prophecies that relate 
 to the Jewish nation. 
 
 The history, old and recent, of the Jews 
 verifies the denunciations of the prophets, such 
 as are contained in Leviticus and Deuterono- 
 my; in Amos, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other 
 books of the Old Testament. This was al- 
 ways a point insisted upon by the Fathers— 
 Justin, Tertullian, Chrysostom, and others. 
 
 The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy I have 
 already referred to, and this and the corre- 
 sponding chapter in Leviticus have always 
 been considered as containing prophecies of 
 the most remarkable description. Moses here 
 proposes to the Jews the blessings for obedi- 
 ence and the curses for disobedience, that 
 awaited them; and the predictions of the 
 chapter are verified by the whole series of 
 their history, from their first settlement in 
 Canaan to this very day; the events of this 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 85 
 
 history are well known and may be seen, not 
 only in the Old Testament itself, but in their 
 own historian, Josephus. 
 
 Jerusalem was taken by Sishak, king of 
 Egypt; by Nebuchadnezzar; by Antiochus 
 Epiphanes; by Pompey; by Sosius and He- 
 rod ; and finally destroyed by Titus ; and their 
 sufferings on these occasions were tremen- 
 dous. 
 
 Supposing them disobedient, Moses says, 
 ver. 49——“ The Lord shall bring a nation 
 against thee from far, from the end of the 
 earth, as swift as the eagle flieth ; a nation 
 whose tongue thou shalt not understand.” 
 The Chaldeans might be said to come from 
 far, in comparison with the Philistines and 
 their other neighbouring enemies. Much the 
 same description is given by Jeremiah—“ Ik 
 will bring a nation upon you from far, O 
 house of Israel, saith the Lord ; it isa mighty 
 nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose 
 tongue thou knowest not, neither understand- 
 est what they say.”’ These descriptions may 
 be applied. to the Chaldees, but still more so 
 to the Romans—Vespasian (father to Titus) 
 and Adrian, both great destroyers of the Jews, 
 came from commanding in Britain. In the 
 
86 EVIDENCES 
 
 next verse, the enemies of the Jews are cha- 
 racterized as a nation of a fierce countenance, 
 which shall not regard the persons of the old, 
 nor show favour to the young. Such seem 
 to have been both the Chaldeans and the Ro- 
 mans. According to the Chronicles—“ The 
 king of the Chaldees, who slew their young 
 men with the sword, and had no compassion 
 upon young man or maiden, old man or him 
 that stooped for age;” and Josephus says, 
 “The Romans showing mercy to no age, 
 eey 
 
 Their enemies were also to besiege and take 
 their cities—“ And he shall besiege thee in 
 all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls 
 come down, wherein thou trustedst, through- 
 out all thy land.” And what were the events ? 
 In the 2nd of Kings, we read—‘ Shalman- 
 ezer, king of Assyria, came up against Sama- 
 ria and besieged it, and at the end of three 
 years, they took it.” And again—“ So did 
 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against 
 all the fenced cities of Judah and took them.” 
 ‘And Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxv.) took 
 and spoiled Jerusalem, burnt the city and the 
 temple, and brake down the walls of Jerusa- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 87 
 
 lem round about.” So likewise the Romans, 
 as may be seen in Josephus. 
 
 In these sieges they were to suffer much, 
 especially by famine—‘* The man’s eye shall 
 be evil towards his brother, and towards the 
 wife of his bosom, and towards his children, 
 because he hath nothing left him, in the siege 
 and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies 
 shall distress thee, in all thy gates, &c.: Deut. 
 xxviii. 54. In Levit. xxvi. it is said by Moses, 
 “ Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons and the 
 flesh of your daughters shall ye eat;” and in 
 Deut. xxviii. 56—‘“ The tender and delicate 
 woman among you, who would not adventure 
 to set the sole of her foot upon the ground, for 
 delicateness and tenderness, she shall eat her 
 children for want of all things secretly in the 
 siege and straitness, wherewith thy enemies 
 shall distress thee in thy gates.” And this 
 appalling prophecy seems to have been ful- 
 filled at the siege of Jerusalem, 600 years after, 
 according to 2 Kings vi. and 900 years after, 
 according to the prophet Baruch (chap. u. 1,) 
 —‘ The Lord hath made good his word, ac- 
 cording to the things that were written in 
 the law of Moses, that a man should eat the 
 
88 EvIpENCEs 
 
 flesh of his own son and the flesh of his own 
 daughter.” And so Jeremiah (Lam. iv. 10)— 
 ‘The hands of the pitiful women have sodden 
 their own children, they were their meat in the 
 destruction of the daughter of my people.” 
 And the same prophecy was fulfilled 1500 
 years after, in the last siege of Jerusalem, ac- 
 cording to Josephus. 
 
 Great numbers of the Jews were to be de- 
 stroyed—(ver. 62) “* And ye shall be left few 
 in number, whereas ye were as the stars of 
 heaven for multitude.” Now, not to mention 
 any other of the calamities and slaughters 
 which the Jews have undergone, there was 
 in the last siege of Jerusalem, and the war 
 with the Romans, according to Josephus, 
 1,100,000 people destroyed: the Jews having 
 been assembled from all parts to celebrate the 
 passover. ‘ And the Lord (Deut. xxviii. 68) 
 shall bring thee into Egypt again, and there 
 shall ye be sold unto your enemies for bond- 
 men and bondwomen, &c.” Josephus says, 
 in the 12th book of his Antiquities, that in the 
 reign of the two Ptolemies, many of the Jews 
 were slaves in Egypt—many sent there by 
 Titus after the siege. 
 
 They were to “ be rooted out of their own 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 89 
 
 land.” Ver. 63—‘* And ye shall be plucked 
 out from off the land whither thou goest, to 
 possess it.”” They were indeed several times 
 plucked off from their own land—when the 
 ten tribes were carried into captivity by the 
 king of Assyria, and other nations were plant- 
 ed in their stead, and when the two other 
 tribes were carried away captive to Babylon, 
 and when the Romans took away their place 
 and nation ; besides other captivities and trans- 
 portations of the people. 
 
 But still more: they were to be dispersed 
 into all nations. Ver. 25—‘‘ And thou shalt 
 be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.”’ 
 Ver 60—*“ And the Lord shall scatter thee 
 among all people, from one end of the earth 
 even unto the other.” And what people in- 
 deed have been scattered so far and wide as 
 they? But though they should be so dispersed, 
 yet they should not be totally destroyed. Levit. 
 xxvi. 44—“ And yet for all that, when they 
 be in the land of their enemies, | will not cast 
 them away, neither will I abhor them, to de- 
 stroy them utterly and to break my covenant 
 with them.” And how marvellous is it, that 
 after so many wars, battles, and sieges, so many 
 years of captivity, slavery, and misery, after 
 
 N 
 
90 EVIDENCES 
 
 the destruction of their state and apparent ex- 
 tirpation, they are not destroyed utterly, and 
 though scattered among all people, they still 
 subsist as a distinct people, among various na- 
 tions by whom they are surrounded. And yet, 
 ver. 63—“ And among these nations, thou 
 shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy 
 foot have rest.” And again, ver. 29, &c.— 
 They were to be “ oppressed and spoiled ever- 
 more ;”’ ‘ their houses and vineyards,” “their 
 oxen and asses,” should be taken from them ; 
 they were to be “‘ only oppressed and crushed 
 alway.” The intolerable sufferings and atro- 
 clous cruelties exercised upon the Jews are 
 matters of history. Ver. 34—They were to 
 ‘“be mad for the sight of their eyes, which 
 they should see ;” and instances of their des- 
 pair and their destroying themselves occurred. 
 Ver 36—They should “serve other gods ;” 
 and they did so in popish countries to save 
 their property.—The Spanish and Portuguese 
 Inquisitions reduced them to the dilemma of 
 being either hypocrites or burnt—the dissem- 
 blers were numerous. Ver. 37—They were 
 to ‘‘ become an astonishment, a proverb, and 
 a bye-word among all nations.” And do we 
 not hear and see this prophecy fulfilled almost 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 9] 
 
 every day? Mahometans, Heathens, Chris- 
 tlans, agreeing in no other respect, have at 
 least agreed in vilifying, abusing, and perse- 
 cuting them—they have been treated as if they 
 were of another species. See the character of 
 Shylock, as given by Shakespeare. Ver. 59— 
 Their plagues were to be “‘ wonderful, even 
 great plagues, and of long continuance,” and 
 have they not been so, now, these 1800 years ? 
 
 We have here prophecies delivered above 
 3000 years ago. The Jews are truly as Moses 
 foretold they should be—‘“ a sign and a wonder 
 for ever "—(ver. 45, 46)—“‘ Moreover all these 
 curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue 
 thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed, 
 because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice 
 of the Lord thy God, to keep his command- 
 ments and his statutes, which he commanded 
 thee, and they shall be upon thee for a sign, 
 and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.” 
 
 The prophecies addressed to David are stri- 
 king—those that announced the future great- 
 ness and possible iniquities of Solomon—* I 
 will establish his kingdom; he shall build a 
 house for my name, and I will establish the 
 throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his 
 father, and he shall be my son; if he commit 
 
92 EvIDENCES 
 
 iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of 
 men and with the stripes of the children of 
 men. But my mercy shall not depart from 
 him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I put 
 away before thee; and thy house and thy 
 kingdom shall be established for ever before 
 thee—thy throne shall be established for ever. 
 According to all these words and this vision, 
 so did Nathan speak unto David :” 2 Sam. vii. 
 Again, 1 Chron. xxiii Behold a son shall 
 be born unto thee, who shall be a man of rest, 
 and I will give him rest from all his enemies 
 round about; for his name shall be called So- 
 lomon, and I will give peace and quietness 
 unto Israel in his day.” 
 
 The prophecies, too, respecting the temple 
 are very remarkable; it was reared with the 
 sanctity of a blessing upon it—‘“‘ mine eyes 
 shall be opened and mine eyes attent unto the 
 prayer that is made in this place.” Yet was 
 the mind of the Master of this magnificent 
 work occupied with an anticipation of the ju- 
 dicial doom that awaited this first temple— 
 “Then will I cut off Israel out of the land, 
 which I have given them, and this house which 
 I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out 
 of my sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 93 
 
 a bye-word among all people; and at this 
 house, which is high, every one that passeth 
 by shall be astonished and shall hiss, and they 
 shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto 
 this land and to this house?” ‘and they shall 
 answer, because they forsook the Lord their 
 God, and have taken hold upon other gods 
 and have worshipped them and served them.” 
 Jeremiah was sent to stand in the gate of this 
 temple and to proclaim to the worshippers that 
 entered, its approaching desolation ; its sub- 
 sequent rebuilding had been foreshown by 
 Isaiah, (chap. xliv.) “That saith of Cyrus, He 
 is my shepherd, and shall perform all my plea- 
 sure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be 
 built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall 
 be laid.” Of this second temple Christ spoke 
 openly in sight of the place, and announced 
 its coming desolation. Every part of the his- 
 tory of the temple was made a subject of pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 History has been called the interpreter of 
 prophecy, but during the period which includes 
 the most remarkable events in the Jewish 
 annals, from the commencement of their mo- 
 narchy to their resettlement after the Baby- 
 lonian bondage, and the restoration of the 
 
94 EVIDENCES 
 
 temple, there is scarce an event of any magni- 
 tude, that had not its place in the antecedent 
 warnings of prophecy. This will be seen by a 
 reference to the prophets, more particularly 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. 
 
 We may take our station in the age of 
 Isaiah, and look through his prophecies alone, 
 respecting the fortunes of the two kingdoms 
 of Israel and Judah and reaching through a 
 space of more than 200 years. The prophetic 
 scheme will present to us, Samaria to be over- 
 thrown, but Judah to be preserved; then 
 Judah and Jerusalem, though rescued from 
 the Assyrians, to fall into the hands of the 
 Babylonians—a smaller and a friendly power 
 at the date of the prediction ; the catastrophe 
 to be hopeless to Samaria, so that “‘ Ephraim 
 should be broken from being a people,” the 
 captivity not to be hopeless to Judah, but a 
 restoration to ensue; the restorer to be Cyrus, 
 to arise in a country which was then not 
 thought of among the greater subsisting king- 
 doms of the east; the medium of their restora- 
 tion was to be his capture of Babylon, which 
 capture was to be effected by drying the river 
 and obtaining access through the gates; the 
 Medes and Persians to be the powers engaged 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 95 
 
 in the siege; lastly, the city of Jerusalem and 
 the temple to be rebuilt. 
 
 Now let any one acquainted with the histo- 
 ries of those times and countries, as preserved 
 even in independent and heathen writers, (and 
 enough is preserved for the purpose of the 
 inquiry,) let him consider whether there ex- 
 isted in the age of the prophet Isaiah, the 
 most remote preparations, discernible by hu- 
 man foresight, for the events there enumerated, 
 and for this order of things. In particular, 
 whether the Medo-Persian victories by Cyrus, 
 or by any person either of Median or Persian 
 race, as the means of releasing Judah from 
 Babylon, could have been foreseen, when the 
 Median power, as we know, much more the 
 Persian, had no existence; when there was 
 neither captivity in Babylon nor victories of 
 Babylon to produce it; when the elder Assy- 
 rian power was yet in vigour, the subversion 
 of which was the only opening to the possi- 
 bility of the several distant changes and events 
 foretold. To evade the conclusion arising from 
 the prolonged succession of such predictions, 
 nothing is left but to deny that Isaiah or any 
 person of his age wrote the book ascribed to 
 him—an assertion without any evidence, and 
 
96 EvIDENCES 
 
 against all evidence; it is to affirm that the 
 Jewish people knew nothing of the book which 
 they placed at the head of their prophetic 
 canon, and nothing of Isaiah or the time in 
 which he lived; that they received books 
 which were forgeries, the authors unknown— 
 forgeries that referred to events that took place 
 through a long succession of years, the forge- 
 ries never suspected and the existence of the 
 prophets never questioned. 
 
 The various forms and different degrees of 
 light, under which prophecy was successively 
 dispensed, have been intimated by St. Paul— 
 “God in sundry partitions of his truth and in 
 divers manners, spake in time past unto the 
 fathers by the prophets.” 
 
 Finally, it must be observed that the Jewish 
 prophets, like the apostles, were confessors and 
 martyrs. Had there not been an irresistible 
 evidence of their inspiration, they could not 
 have withstood the odium they provoked, while 
 uttering their denunciations; and yet their 
 writings, so exhibiting the sins and crimes of 
 the Jewish nation, were not only preserved, 
 but adopted into the public monuments of 
 their church and nation, and the only reason 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 97 
 
 must have been an established conviction of 
 the impossibility of denying the inspiration. 
 
 On the whole then, the divine authority of 
 the prophecies of the Old Testament must be 
 allowed. And this being allowed, the next 
 observation is, that we must recur to our 
 former statement, that these prophecies are of 
 two sorts, those that relate to the great events 
 of the world, such as we have already noticed, 
 and those that refer to some future Messias 
 that was to appear, and that filled the Jewish 
 nation with a constant expectation of some 
 great event of the kind. Moreover, this Mes- 
 sias was, according to their belief, to be a great 
 temporal prince, and to be a Deliverer of their 
 nation. We will now refer to them. 
 
 The coming of the Messias was always a 
 fundamental article of the Jewish faith—this 
 appears from their Talmud, and from other 
 writers, and from expressions in their public 
 prayers—devout persons ‘‘ waited for the con- 
 solation of Israel,” Luke ii. it was ‘“ thought 
 that the kingdom of God would immediately 
 appear,” Luke xix. the chief priests and 
 scribes sent to inquire of John the Baptist, 
 whether he were the Christ or not, John i. 
 
 O 
 
98 EvIDENCES 
 
 the woman of Samaria said, “I know that 
 Messiah cometh.” 
 
 These notions received by the Jews were 
 by them dispersed among the Gentiles—the 
 wise men of the East concluded “ that the king 
 of the Jews was lately born:” Matt. ii. The 
 tradition seems to have reached the Greeks ; 
 their Sibylline oracles or Greek verses were 
 probably a Jewish composition taken out of 
 the prophets, and thence transferred to the 
 Romans; as in Virgil’s Eclogue, and as in 
 Tacitus, while alluding to Vespasian, that a 
 great king should be born in the East, &e. ; 
 so Suetonius and Josephus. (Malachi, chap. 
 iii.) —“* Behold I send my messenger, and he 
 shall prepare the way before me: and the 
 Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to 
 his temple, even the messenger of the cove- 
 nant, whom ye delight in: behold he shall 
 come, saith the Lord of hosts.” Again, (Ma- 
 lachi, chap. iv.) ‘“ Behold, I will send you 
 Elijah the prophet before the coming of the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he 
 shall turn the heart of the fathers to the chil- 
 dren, and the heart of the children to their 
 fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with 
 a curse.” In these two passages we see pro- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 99 
 
 phesied the coming of John the Baptist, as a 
 prophet, and of Jesus, as the Messias, and 
 the final destruction of Judea following their 
 coming. 
 
 There are many other passages in the pro- 
 phetic writings that indicate the coming of 
 the Messias. But the expectation of the Jews 
 was, that he was to be a temporal prince and 
 a great conqueror, after the manner of the 
 other great conquerors of the world ; and this 
 their expectation was always resisted by the 
 disciples of Christ, who have contended, that 
 though there may be hereafter a temporal 
 Messias, and a final restoration of the Jewish 
 nation, still, that there has a Messias already 
 appeared ; that his character is of a totally 
 different nature; that he came, not merely to 
 redeem Israel, but to redeem mankind; and 
 that his office, his qualities, and the effects of 
 his appearance on earth are exhibited in what 
 are now the generally received articles of the 
 Christian faith; and the great prophecy on 
 which Christians depend, is found in Isaiah, 
 beginning, where the Jews begin the prophecy, 
 at the end of the 52nd chapter—Isaiah ii. 
 13—“ Behold my servant shall deal prudently, 
 he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very 
 
100 EvIDENCES 
 
 high. As many were astonished at thee ; his 
 visage was so marred, more than any man, 
 and his form more than the sons of men: so 
 shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings 
 shall shut their mouths at him: for that which 
 had not been told them, shall they see; and 
 that which they had not heard, shall they 
 consider.” Chap. lii. 1-12 —“ Who hath 
 believed our report? and to whom is the arm 
 of the Lord revealed? for he shall grow up 
 before him as a tender plant; and as a root 
 out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor 
 comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there 
 is no beauty that we should desire him. He 
 is despised and rejected of men; a man of 
 sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we 
 hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was 
 despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he 
 hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ; 
 yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of 
 God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for 
 our transgressions; he was bruised for our 
 iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was 
 upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed. 
 All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have 
 turned every one to his own way; and the 
 
 Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 101 
 
 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet 
 he opened not his mouth—he is brought as a 
 lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before 
 her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his 
 mouth. He was taken from prison and from 
 judgment, and who shall declare his gene- 
 ration? for he was cut off out of the land of 
 the living, for the transgression of my people 
 was he stricken. And he made his grave 
 with the wicked, and with the rich in his 
 death; because he had done no violence, 
 neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it 
 pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put 
 him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul 
 an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he 
 shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the 
 Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see 
 of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied 
 —by his knowledge shall my righteous ser- 
 vant justify many; for he shall bear their 
 iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a 
 portion with the great, and he shall divide the 
 spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured 
 out his soul unto death: and he was num- 
 bered with the transgressors; and he bare the 
 sin of many, and made intercession for the 
 transgressors.” 
 
102 EVIDENCES 
 
 Now here, it must be allowed, there is no 
 indication of a temporal prince, and of an 
 earthly conqueror—every thing the contrary. 
 
 The person here announced, is described as 
 bearing the sins of others—healing by his 
 stripes—procuring peace to man by his chas- 
 tisement—¢iving his soul an offering for sin ; 
 making intercession for the transgressors— 
 and in brief it may be said, that this prophecy 
 is quite a history of the Saviour’s life, and a 
 description of his character and doctrines. 
 
 All that the Jews can do is to affirm, that 
 the prophecy refers to the fate and fortunes of | 
 the Jewish people; but it is evident, that an 
 individual, not a nation, is here described. 
 This is all that can be said by the Jews who 
 reject Christ ; and with regard to those who 
 can only say that the prophecy must have 
 been written after the coming of Christ, and 
 probably is an interpolation of the Christians, 
 it may be replied, not only that the Jews 
 themselves do not dispute the authenticity of 
 the chapter, but that it happens, that the Old 
 Testament was translated into Greek at Alex- 
 andria in the time of the Ptolemies, and the 
 translation is now called the Septuagint ; and 
 this was done long before the coming of 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 103 
 
 Christ, and the work has come down to us, 
 and the prophecy may be read there, as well 
 as in the Jewish canon of Scripture. 
 
 And now it must be remarked, that not only 
 is the character of the coming Messias here 
 determined, but that there are several indica- 
 tions given in the prophecies of the period 
 when the Messias was to appear, and among 
 these must be noted, more especially, the cele- 
 brated prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel. 
 Within seventy weeks (weeks of years) the 
 Messias was to appear. The prophecy has 
 been thoroughly considered; and without en- 
 tering into the reasonings and calculations of 
 the commentators, an ordinary inquirer may 
 be satisfied with this general observation, that 
 no one has appeared, since the promulgation 
 of the prophecy, to whom the character of the 
 Messias can be attributed, but the Saviour ; 
 and more than this, that the appearance of 
 Christ sufficiently corresponds in point of 
 time with the period marked by the expression 
 of the seventy weeks; and when Priestley, 
 who had it very much at heart to convert the 
 Jews to Christianity, urged this prophecy to 
 Levi, who entered into a controversy with 
 him, and was a man of consideration among’ 
 
104 EVIDENCES 
 
 his nation, the Jewish Rabbi could make no 
 satisfactory reply, and had only to produce 
 Antiochus Epiphanes as the person intended, 
 and the Jews have never been able to do more; 
 and the Christian interpretation of the pro- 
 phecy, and the application of it to Christ, is 
 quite undisturbed. 
 
 It may just be mentioned, that Moses, in 
 Leviticus xxv. 8, writes thus—“ Thou shalt 
 remember seven sabbaths or weeks of years, 
 and the space of the seven sabbaths of years 
 shall be unto thee forty and nine years.” See 
 also Numbers xiv. 34, and Ezckiel iv. 6. 
 Daniel adopts in the prophecy of the seventy 
 weeks, making 490 years, this mode of speak- 
 ing, and when he speaks of the ordinary weeks, 
 in chapter x. 2, he calls them weeks of days, 
 according to the Hebrew. 
 
 But a considerable part of the evidence for 
 the truth of Christianity arises not only from 
 the different passages to be found in the Old 
 Testament, but from different passages of a 
 prophetic character in the New, and we may, 
 therefore, once more make some preliminary 
 observations on the general nature of the pro- 
 phecy before we quit the subject and before 
 we approach more especially those passages in 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 105 
 
 the New. For instance, many things may 
 seem deviations from the course of nature, 
 which are in strict accordance with its laws; 
 many things spoken at random may come true 
 by chance; many things may come true which 
 human foresight was able to divine; some 
 predictions have a tendency to fulfil them- 
 selves. But when a case occurs in which an 
 event, which no human sagacity could have an- 
 ticipated, nor any human means have brought 
 to pass, comes true in accordance with a pre- 
 vious expectation, this case is one of a perfect 
 prophecy. History indeed may be full of 
 fabulous miracles, and sometimes exhibit pre- 
 tended prophecies ; but it is only in the Bible, 
 that any such prophecies, as we have just de- 
 scribed, can be found. 
 
 In a system of prophecy, therefore, such as 
 we find exhibited in the Scriptures, in many 
 cases it would be necessary that even a know- 
 ledge of the prophecy should have been kept 
 back ; for there is a large class of facts, which 
 depend upon the voluntary actions of human 
 agents, and which men might agree either to 
 bring about or to hinder—it would not there- 
 fore impeach the pretensions of a scheme of 
 prophecy, that many of the predictions which 
 
 P 
 
106 EvIDENCES 
 
 it contained had not been understood until 
 after the event: for example—had those pro- 
 phecies, in which the violent death of the 
 Messiah is foreshown, been understood literally 
 by the Jews, they would not have put Jesus 
 - Christ to death, in disproof of his pretensions, 
 and as a means of undeceiving the people. 
 In like manner, had they known beforehand, 
 that those passages in the Psalms, where it is 
 said, “they gave me gall and vinegar to 
 drink,” “they pierced my hands and my feet,” 
 ‘they parted my garments among them,” were 
 prophecies referring to the manner in which 
 the Messiah would be put to death, it is clear 
 that they would not have caused their fulfil- 
 ment in the person of our Lord at. the very 
 moment when they were punishing him as an 
 impostor. In Zechariah there is this passage 
 —<‘ And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto 
 the potter, a goodly price, that I was prized at 
 by them; and I took the thirty pieces of silver 
 and cast them to the potter in the house of the 
 Lord.” It would have been easy for the Jews, 
 humanly speaking, to have defeated this pre- 
 diction, if they had understood it as a pro- 
 phecy relating to their Messiah. It is there- 
 fore no ground of objection to the apostles, if 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 107 
 
 they sometimes quoted passages from the Old 
 Testament, and applied them to Christ, which 
 had not been so quoted or applied before. 
 
 The tests of prophecy, it has been said, are 
 time, and place, and person. Prophecies may 
 be constructed, which shall seem to be ful- 
 filled, if no restriction of circumstances Is re- 
 quired. But this is not the case with the 
 prophecies of the Scriptures; no necessary 
 definition, whether of time, or place, or person, 
 or thing, is withheld. We find there no cun- 
 ning reservations, no dark hiding places, no 
 artful accommodation of the language to what- 
 ever sense might prove convenient—they are 
 at once true or false. 
 
 And now it is to be observed, that not only 
 were prophecies uttered to announce the 
 coming of the Messiah, the time and the cha- 
 racter in which he was to appear, and not 
 only did he work miracles, to prove his divine 
 authority, but he himself was a prophet, and 
 uttered denunciations of a most extraordinary 
 character, that were afterwards amply fulfilled 
 by the event; and he must be considered, by 
 prophecy as well as by miracles, to have esta- 
 blished the divinity of his mission. ‘ The 
 works that I do,” he said, ‘“‘ they bear witness 
 
108 EvIDENCES 
 
 3) 
 
 of me.” Here we have the miracles. ‘ Now I 
 tell you, before it come to pass, that when it is 
 come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” 
 Here we have the prophecies. He predicted 
 his own sufferings, his death, his resurrection, 
 the manner and circumstances attending them, 
 the treachery of Judas, the denial of Peter, his 
 ignominious treatment in the council of the 
 Jews, and under the hands of Pilate and his 
 soldiers, the destruction of the temple, the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem and of his nation, the 
 rapid spread of his gospel, the persecutions of 
 his disciples, the rejection of the Jews, and the 
 bringing of the Gentiles into the church of God. 
 There can be no doubt that the several 
 books of the New Testament were written in 
 the age to which they are referred, and by the 
 men whose names they bear—this has been 
 amply shown by Lardner and others. These 
 prophecies were familiarly quoted by the early 
 Christian writers, but no writer against Chris- 
 tianity, in the primitive centuries, attempted 
 to resist the argument, by maintaining that 
 they were not published till after the events 
 had happened—the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 for instance, did not take place till more than 
 thirty years after the time of our Saviour. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 109 
 
 After describing the calamities of the na- 
 tion and the city, Christ continued his pro- 
 phecy to those of his own followers—“ Before 
 all these, they shall lay their hands on you 
 and persecute you, delivering you up to the 
 synagogues and into prisons, being brought 
 before kings and rulers, for my name’s sake.” 
 (Luke.) “ They shall kill you and ye shall 
 be hated of all nations, for my name’s sake.” 
 (Matt.) “I will give you a mouth and wis- 
 dom, which all your adversaries shall not be 
 able to gainsay nor resist.” (Luke.) For the 
 proof of the accomplishment of all these pre- 
 dictions, the Acts of the Apostles afford abun- 
 dant evidence. Immediately after the an- 
 nouncement of the outward persecutions and 
 internal defections, by which the servants of 
 Christ were to be troubled, there follows this 
 remarkable prophecy—-‘‘ This gospel of the 
 kingdom shall be preached in all the world, 
 for a witness unto all nations, and then shall 
 the end come.” The end referred to was that 
 of the Jewish polity, which entirely ceased at 
 the destruction of the Jewish metropolis and 
 temple. Jesus prophesied, that before this, 
 that is, in forty years from the time when 
 he uttered these words, the gospel would be 
 
110 EVIDENCES 
 
 preached in all the world. Now of all that 
 was then in futurity, what could have been 
 more improbable, or to human view more im- 
 possible, than this? For the gospel was then 
 received only by a handful of unlettered 
 Jews; in a few days after its author was 
 crucified as a malefactor; his disciples were 
 scattered, disappointed, and despairing ; his 
 enemies triumphant; and the gospel seemed 
 at an end.—And yet the gospel was preached, 
 as had been predicted. But none of our Sa- 
 viours prophecies are more impressive than 
 those concerning the destruction, not only of 
 the temple, but of Jerusalem, contained in the 
 gospels of Mark and Luke, and most at large 
 in the 24th chapter of St. Matthew. And it 
 happens that in the history of Josephus there 
 is a full description of the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, and if it had been composed for the 
 express purpose of attesting the complete ac- 
 complishment of our Lord’s predictions, it 
 could not have been more fitted to accomplish 
 itsend. Josephus was an eye-witness of what 
 passed, his book was composed at Rome, was 
 presented to Vespasian and Titus, who had 
 commanded at the siege: it was approved by 
 them. No great event in profane history is 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 111 
 
 related with so much attention to all the par- 
 ticulars connected with it, as the destruction 
 of Jerusalem is by this Jewish writer, and it 
 is quite astonishing to compare his statements 
 with the prophecies of the Saviour. 
 
 And not only Josephus, but Tacitus may 
 be referred to—and well might the Saviour 
 dissolve in pity over the city and the nation, 
 when he thought of the calamities that were 
 pending over them—calamities totally unpa- 
 ralleled even in the most dreadful portions of 
 the history of the world. 
 
 And now though nothing can be more irre- 
 sistible than the evidence resulting from a 
 comparison of the statements of the prophecy 
 with the statements of the history, yet the 
 subject is embarrassed by a particular circum- 
 stance—and it is this: that the prophecy of 
 the destruction of Jerusalem is connected with 
 expressions which seem to relate to the final 
 judgment of the world—and so connected, as 
 to lead the reader to expect that the two events 
 would not be far distant from each other. 
 How the Evangelists came thus to combine 
 what the Saviour must have said upon each 
 of these subjects, it is impossible to say—but 
 it may reasonably be said, that however this 
 
112 EvIDENCES 
 
 may have happened, still that the prophecies 
 respecting the destruction of the temple, of 
 the siege and destruction of the city, of the 
 destruction of the Jewish nation, that the city 
 should be trodden under foot and the Jews 
 dispersed over the world, and finally, the pro- 
 phecy of what was to happen to the disciples 
 themselves, form altogether a mass of evi- 
 dence, which it is impossible to resist, which 
 makes it impossible not to acknowledge, as a 
 full proof of the divine authority of the Sa- 
 viour—and I must not omit to mention that 
 there is even a dreadful account in Josephus, 
 of a woman eating part of her own child, 
 which is distinctly announced by Moses— 
 “The tender and delicate woman, &c. &c., 
 shall eat her children for want of all things, 
 secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith 
 thine enemy shall distress thee in the gates.” 
 And the same is indicated in the prophecy of 
 our Saviour, “ Woe unto them that are with 
 child and to them that give suck in those 
 days, &c.” 
 
 We have now alluded to the prophecies of 
 the Old Testament, and to the prophecies of 
 our Saviour in the New Testament; and the 
 general subject of prophecy may be dismissed. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 113 
 
 The prophecies of Isaiah announced the cha- 
 racter of the Messiah—the prophecies of 
 Daniel the time of his coming. In both par- 
 ticulars the Saviour answered to the descrip- 
 tions given. But more than this—the Chris- 
 tians contend, that the same Christ worked 
 miracles, and therefore thus finished the proof 
 that his mission was from God. The subject 
 of miracles is, however, a most important one ; 
 and before we refer to the accounts of the 
 New Testament, some preliminary observa- 
 tions may be made. 
 
 The great opponent of all belief in miracles 
 was Hume, who contended that no testimony 
 could prove them, it being always more pro- 
 bable that human testimony should mislead, 
 than that the course of nature should be sus- 
 pended or altered. That, make the most of 
 testimony—suppose it a miracle that the tes- 
 timony produced should be false—still it was 
 only one miracle opposed to another, and no 
 ground for rational belief remained. While 
 lately unpacking my books, I observed the 
 “Criterion” of Bishop Douglas, a standard 
 work, which was re-published at my desire, 
 in 1807, by Cadell. I looked at it again 
 after an interval of so many years, (more than 
 
 Q 
 
114 EvIDENCES 
 
 30,) and with great interest—and it should 
 always be read by those who read Hume's 
 “ Essay on Miracles,” as dissipating the effect 
 of that celebrated dissertation, so remarkably 
 fitted for turning men of business and men of 
 the world into unbelievers. It is the second 
 part of Hume’s Essay that is most important, 
 and to this the “Criterion” more especially 
 addresses. itself. Other writers have made 
 reasonable answers to the first part—to the 
 logical argument ; but the “ Criterion” enters 
 into the whole subject of the various cases of 
 false miracles produced by Hume—the mira- 
 cles worked at the tomb of the Abbé Paris, in 
 St. Medard’s churchyard at Paris, and other 
 miracles of Pagans and Papists. 
 
 In the first place, the great miracle of all is 
 the existence of the human race on the globe 
 of the earth, as we now see it. Time was 
 when the globe could not have been the habi- 
 tation of the animals now existing upon it. I 
 must refer, as I have already done, to the dis- 
 coveries of the geologists, and to the conclu- 
 sions that may be drawn from the extraordinary 
 fossil remains that they have produced. There 
 must have been a time, therefore, when man 
 was created and every thing else, that we see 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 11d 
 
 and know on earth, in the air, and in the sea; 
 and now, let any one consider, as I have al- 
 ready remarked, what a stupendous miracle is 
 here substantiated, some awful intelligence 
 exerting itself, and the living world, that we 
 see around us, produced. What is there that 
 can astonish us, or be an object of our unbe- 
 lief, after such a fact as this. 
 
 But to return to the subject before us—-Mr. 
 Hume seems to have delighted in scepticism, 
 and to have had the same pleasure in creating 
 a doubt, that others have in establishing a 
 truth. In the case, however, of miracles, pro- 
 duced in support of a religion, the argument 
 assumes a totally different appearance, accord- 
 ing as a reasoner supposes, or does not sup- 
 pose, the existence of a Deity. If we suppose 
 an Almighty Being above us, the interference 
 of such a Being in our concerns cannot be 
 thought impossible: but He created us ; it is 
 not, therefore, under particular circumstances, 
 even improbable; and it is not at all impos- 
 sible that such interference may be shown, by 
 such deviations from the general course of his 
 agency, as must necessarily make us believe 
 that He has in fact interfered. The distinc- 
 tion made by Archdeacon Lyall is quite just 
 
116 EvIDENCES 
 
 and very important :—there is the fact, and 
 the interpretation of the fact; the fact may 
 surely be proved by testimony; whether the 
 nature of the fact indicates an interference of 
 the Deity, is a moral consideration, which a 
 sound mind is perfectly competent to judge of 
 —that is, in any case, whether a miracle has 
 been performed or not. 
 
 According to Mr. Hume’s argument, no 
 human testimony can prove a deviation from 
 the established course of nature. 
 
 The King of Siam proceeded upon these 
 principles, and was wrong; it was in vain 
 that the Dutch assured him that in their coun- 
 try water became solid in the winter, and that 
 the people walked and travelled upon it. He 
 would not believe them, it was contrary to his 
 experience of the course of nature; it was 
 more probable that the Dutch deceived him. 
 But Mr. Hume would reply that the king took 
 too contracted a view, and saw not that the 
 course of nature might be different in a diffe- 
 rent country. 
 
 And we, in like manner, may say to Mr. 
 Hume, that he.takes too contracted a view ; 
 that the case, we suppose, is that of a reve- 
 lation. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 117 
 
 A distinction is to be made between those 
 events which might have happened without 
 the interference of the Deity, and those which 
 could not. 
 
 The effects produced by the imagination, 
 by enthusiasm, by the influence of the nerves, 
 appear perfectly astonishing ; it is in this way 
 that the “Criterion” accounts for the sup- 
 posed miracles of the Pagans and Papists, and 
 more especially those that took place at the 
 tomb of the Abbé Paris. The detail. is en- 
 tered into, and the cases are resolved into the 
 interested contrivances of imposture, or the 
 fanciful misconception of credulity ; but to 
 these the greatest minds have been subject, as 
 in the case of Pascal and his niece. 
 
 It is to be observed, that there were at the 
 time in Paris two religious factions raging 
 with .great animosity against each other—the 
 Jesuits and the Jansenists; and that it was to 
 support the cause of the latter that the mira- 
 cles were worked; the government had no 
 other expedient to put a stop to those delu- 
 sions, but that of enclosing the tomb of the 
 Abbé within a wall, and thus effectually ob- 
 structing all access to it. On this occasion, 
 
118 EVIDENCES 
 
 as 1s well known, the following exquisite epi- 
 gram was fixed upon the inclosure, in the style 
 of the royal edicts. 
 
 “ De par le Roy, défense a Dieu, 
 De faire miracles en ce lieu.” 
 
 I attempt a translation— 
 
 “ Oyez, oyez—the king hereby 
 Gives notice to the Lord on high, 
 That in this place He must no more 
 Work miracles, as heretofore.”’ 
 
 On the subject of miracles, the distinction 
 that Bishop Douglas insists upon is very just, 
 and is this: that it is one thing to work mira- 
 cles to found a religion, and quite another to 
 confirm a religion already established. 
 
 When the Saviour appeared as a worker of 
 miracles, he had no party for him; he was a 
 Galilean and a carpenter’s son, and every one 
 had the strongest prejudices against him. He 
 was not the Messiah they expected; he was 
 not a temporal prince. Some of his miracles 
 were performed on persons who had made no 
 application to him for relief; not knowing, or 
 not believing, that he had the power of afford- 
 ing it. The interposition of the Saviour was 
 never tried in vain, and the cure was always 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 119 
 
 instantaneous. The contrary of all this was 
 the case in the French miracles. 
 
 There could have been no confederacy to 
 support the miracles of Christ; on the con- 
 trary, there was a conspiracy of the rulers to 
 resist the pretensions of Christ and therefore 
 to detect them. The miracles were such as 
 could not be accounted for by any natural 
 causes—raising Lazarus—the widow’s son— 
 the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue— 
 the man blind from his mother’s womb—walk- 
 ing upon the sea—his own resurrection ; in 
 these cases, and in similar cases, the interfe- 
 rence of the Deity must be supposed. 
 
 The miracles of the Saviour were appealed 
 to, when performed they drew attention to 
 the pretensions of the Saviour, they caused his 
 religion to arise and exist—they were appealed 
 to by him along with the prophecies—and af- 
 terwards, along with the prophecies, they were 
 appealed to in the gospels, and by the apostles 
 in their preaching. The miracles were never 
 denied by the subsequent opponents of the re- 
 ligion, Julian, Celsus, and others. 
 
 But the existence of magic was then sup- 
 posed, and supernatural events did not then, 
 in the minds of men, necessarily imply the in- 
 
120 EVIDENCES 
 terference of the Deity. This, added to the 
 
 non-appearance of Christ as a temporal prince, 
 will account for the disbelief of the Jews. Yet 
 many appear to have believed in consequence 
 of the miracles wrought ; the number stated is 
 not inconsiderable. 
 
 The resurrection of Christ was always 
 publicly asserted, wherever Christianity was 
 preached: a miracle is the very corner stone 
 of the religion—Christ was to die for our sins 
 and rise again for our justification. 
 
 But the miracles had not the proper effect 
 of miracles ; for notwithstanding all that they 
 had witnessed, the disciples fled when they 
 saw their master arraigned and condemned, 
 and when they perceived that he was not the 
 temporal Messiah that, in common with the 
 rest of the Jews, they had expected. 
 
 Strong therefore must have been their con- 
 victions, and striking their conversion, when 
 after the resurrection they believed him to be 
 the Messiah, and proclaimed him as such, ap- 
 pealing to his works, and to the law and the 
 prophets; to both, though naturally more to 
 the last, when addressing their countrymen, 
 the Jews. 
 
 The apostles seem to have had themselves 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. La 
 
 the power of working miracles occasionally, as 
 appears from the Gospels and the Acts, and 
 passages in the Epistles. The power is now, 
 since Middleton’s “ Inquiry,” considered as 
 having died with them, when it was no longer 
 necessary. Time however was given from the 
 death of Christ, to the death of the apostles, 
 for the detection of any imposture. The apos- 
 tles did not keep together as if in a conspiracy, 
 but separated themselves ; and if the Gospel 
 had not been true, such a separation would 
 have been fatal. 
 
 The apostles were opposed by the authori- 
 ties of the world; every where those authori- 
 ties were intolerant and hostile, as may be in- 
 ferred from the letters of Pliny to the Emperor 
 Trajan ; men in authority mustall have thought, 
 as he did, that though the Christians might 
 worship Christ if they pleased, they ought not 
 to refuse their homage to the gods of the em- 
 peror; that this was at all events wrong, and 
 a crime to be punished: and it must be fur- 
 ther observed, that the apostles preached and 
 worked miracles in what was then a civilized 
 part of the world, and it was through the same 
 civilized part of the world that the gospel was 
 at first, and for some time, propagated. 
 
 R 
 
122 EvIDENCES 
 
 The first preachers introduced agreat change 
 into the state of religion among mankind ; how 
 could this have been done by them, unless they 
 had been supernaturally assisted. 
 
 “Whence,” says Dryden, in one of his 
 noble passages, 
 
 “© Whence but from heaven, could men unskilled in 
 arts, 
 
 In different ages born, in different parts, 
 
 Weave such agreeing truths—or how, or why 
 
 Should all conspire, to cheat us with a lie ; 
 
 Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice, 
 
 Starving their gains, and martyrdom their price.” 
 
 The apostles at least, were without riches 
 to bribe, authority to awe, reputation to influ- 
 ence, learning to cajole, or, with the exception 
 of St. Paul, eloquence to persuade. 
 
 There is one portion of the general argu- 
 ment in favour of the truth of the Christian 
 religion, which has been urged by Paley with 
 uncommon force; I know no specimen of ar- 
 cumentative eloquence equal toit. The whole 
 of his work on the “ Evidences of Christi- 
 > is full of the most beautiful and con- 
 vincing observations on the general subject, 
 and on every part of it. But the portion I 
 now allude to is that which has more especi- 
 
 anity,’ 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 123 
 ally satisfied all ordinary inquirers ; it is con- 
 tained in these two propositions :— 
 
 First—“ That there is satisfactory evidence, 
 that many pretending to be original witnesses 
 of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in 
 labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily 
 undertaken and undergone, in attestation of 
 the accounts which they delivered, and solely 
 in consequence of their belief of the truth of 
 those accounts, and that they also submitted, 
 from the same motives, to new rules of con- 
 duct.” 
 
 Secondly—* That there is not satisfactory 
 evidence that persons pretending to be original 
 witnesses of any other similar miracles, have 
 acted in the same manner, in attestation of the 
 accounts which they delivered, and solely in 
 consequence of their belief of the truth of those 
 accounts.” 
 
 This portion of the general argument, I 
 must repeat, has been urged with the most 
 striking argumentative eloquence; and the 
 whole work, I must also repeat, is full of the 
 most beautiful and convincing observations, 
 such as are well worthy of this incomparable 
 writer. 
 
 But it is sometimes said, that the privations 
 
124 EvIDENCES 
 
 and sufferings, which the apostles endured, 
 while first preaching the gospel, show only, 
 that they themselves believed in its truth, not 
 that it was true: that the history of the world 
 abounds with instances of fanatics and enthu- 
 siasts, who have suffered every extremity of 
 persecution, and even death itself, still affirm- 
 ing doctrines which no one but themselves 
 could possibly believe; and that, conceding 
 to Paley all that he has laboured to prove, 
 (but this is only in one portion of his general 
 argument, ) still, that he has only made out a 
 case that must be classed under the general 
 description of cases of fanaticism. 
 
 Now, in the first place, it must be observed 
 that Paley not only shows how great were the 
 privations, and sufferings, and sacrifices of the 
 first apostles, but that no such testimonies to 
 the truth of what they affirmed were ever, in 
 the history of the world, made before, by any 
 leaders of sects, or founders of a new religion ; 
 and therefore the conclusion, though only a 
 moral conclusion, is sufficiently strong and 
 satisfactory ; for it must not be forgotten, that 
 moral evidence is all, as [ have already inti- 
 mated, that can be procured when you once 
 leave mathematics or experimental philosophy. 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 125 
 
 In mathematics, you define what you mean by 
 a triangle or a circle, and you can then reason 
 and arrive at certainty; so in experimental 
 philosophy, you can ask what is the fact, and 
 you have the testimony of your senses; but 
 leave these subjects, and if by certainty be 
 meant that which cannot be otherwise, no cer- 
 tainty can be ever procured. It is not certain, 
 for instance, that the sun will rise to-morrow, 
 but no one can refuse to act upon the suppo- 
 sition. 
 
 And we will now, in the second place, ob- 
 serve, that the case is not a case of fanaticism ; 
 there was nothing of enthusiasm in the cha- 
 racter of the apostles, there are no marks of 
 fanaticism; consider their conduct, and all 
 that they say and do before the crucifixion of 
 the Saviour, and immediately after—where is 
 the fanaticism? That they should be ardent 
 in the propagation of Christianity, after the 
 resurrection and gift of tongues, was surely 
 nothing but natural—that they should be not 
 only ardent, but enthusiastic ; such ardent or 
 enthusiastic feelings do not at all impeach the 
 original sobriety of their character; consider 
 what their situation had become; it is the ori- 
 ginal sobriety of their character that is the 
 
126 EVIDENCES 
 
 point of consequence: that they should be af- 
 fected, as they were by all they had witness- 
 ed, was so natural that their testimony could 
 not otherwise have been received. Observe 
 how difficult it was for the Saviour to satisfy 
 the apostles that he had risen from the déad. 
 Thomas entirely refused all belief. 
 
 It is quite clear that the apostles participated 
 in the universal notion of their countrymen, 
 that the Messiah was to be a temporal Prince, 
 and that they considered the death of Jesus as 
 the annihilation of their hopes—‘‘ We trusted 
 that it had been He that should have redeemed 
 Israel.’ When Jesus said, ‘‘ Destroy this 
 temple, and in three days I will restore it 
 again,” the disciples did not understand him. 
 « Sir, if thou have borne him hence tell me 
 where thou hast laid him, and I will take him 
 away ”’—such was the lancuage of Mary Mag- 
 dalen ; far from expecting the resurrection, it 
 had not entered her thoughts. When the 
 event was first told the disciples, ‘‘ Their words 
 seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed 
 them not.” Every act and word marks their 
 complete consternation and despair—Peter had 
 denied him, they had all deserted him. When 
 
 the wrath of his enemies had been satiated, 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 124 
 
 they then only ventured to approach his grave. 
 The desire of embalming the body showed 
 that no change was contemplated, but the 
 usual process of human decay. 
 
 With the life of Jesus his religion appeared 
 to come to an end—it depended on his per- 
 sonal authority, and at his departure the whole 
 scheme was dissolved. He was not the Mes- 
 siah that was expected. In their trying cir- 
 cumstances, the conduct of the apostles was 
 precisely such as might have been expected, 
 upon the supposition that they were men of 
 sober minds, and therefore fit to be believed, 
 in what they afterwards asserted ; and indeed 
 nothing short of what they did assert, nothing 
 but what happened, and what they asserted to 
 have happened, can explain their rousing from 
 their despair, and their subsequent preaching 
 of the gospel. 
 
 The resurrection produced a total alteration 
 in their views, and yet at first very slowly ; but 
 how in their situation were they to think of 
 inventing such a story? and if it was not a real 
 event, how were they to be benefited by pro- 
 claiming it? The Jews were sufficiently ex- 
 asperated already; and the disciples had no 
 measure of either prudence or safety but to 
 
128 EVIDENCES 
 
 sink into silence and obscurity. And how were 
 they to believe such an event if unreal? Tho- 
 mas could not be brought to believe it, how 
 could they all agree to adopt a fact so extra- 
 ordinary, as the groundwork of a new religion ¢ 
 a religion which they were to announce to the 
 very people, and in the very place, where their 
 Master had been publicly put to death. 
 
 But on the supposition of an illusion, who 
 was to fabricate it? Or why? And how or 
 why were they all, not one, but all of them, 
 to give into the illusion? how were they all at 
 once to be seized by the same simultaneous 
 transport of enthusiasm? Make whatever un- 
 natural supposition you please respecting one 
 man, how are ten others to join him in his in- 
 sanity ’ how are they all to be deceived by any 
 unreal appearance ! how are they all to imagine 
 precisely at the same point of time, not once, 
 but repeatedly, the presence of their well-known 
 Master. 
 
 Dr. Ferriar always considered it a sufficient 
 argument against ghosts, that they had never 
 been seen by two persons at the same time. 
 Unless the apostles were controlled by the 
 consciousness of superintending miraculous 
 agency, how were they to have been, as they 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 129 
 
 are said to have been, and as they must have 
 been, “ of one mind.” Unity of purpose, of 
 interest, of sentiment and opinion were indis- 
 pensable. Was a Board of twelve likely to 
 secure this unanimity? There seems to have 
 been no such harmony among them before the 
 resurrection ; like ordinary men, they were 
 continually disputing about priority. “‘ What 
 was it,” said Jesus, “that ye disputed among 
 yourselves by the way?” But they held their 
 peace; for by the way they had disputed 
 among themselves who should be oreatest ; 
 how have these men, collectively and indi- 
 vidually, been in an instant transformed from 
 timid, despairing, disappointed, jealous, am- 
 bitious, and expectant followers, into intrepid, 
 single-minded, harmonious, self-denying, spi- 
 ritual leaders, in so extraordinary a cause as 
 the propagation of a new religion? and for 
 such an undertaking to have united such con- 
 summate courage and consummate prudence ? 
 Almost the last words of Peter in the gospels 
 are represented as a sort of blasphemous denial 
 of his Lord, “he began to curse and to swear, 
 saying, | know not the man.” We open the 
 Acts of the Apostles, and almost the first pas- 
 sage that occurs is a speech of Peter, distin- 
 S 
 
130 EvipDENCEs 
 
 guished alike for boldness and discretion, 
 without the slightest appearance of fanaticism: 
 nor is Peter alone ; heis supported by the rest; 
 and their first word, “the Lord has risen,” 
 placed them in a state of hostility with the 
 Jews, and probably with the Roman govern- 
 ment. When they had once publicly an- 
 nounced, that their Master who had been 
 crucified was the expected Messiah, and 
 should have been received as such, they could 
 not but have supposed, that unless miracu- 
 lously assisted and protected, they were them- 
 selves, like their Master, to die martyrs. Ob- 
 serve the words of Peter, how bold and yet 
 how free from fanaticism; how distinct and 
 sober, when a miracle had been performed— 
 “ Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this, or 
 why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by 
 our own power or holiness we had made this 
 man to walk? The God of Abraham, of Isaac, 
 and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath 
 glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye delivered 
 up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate 
 when he was determined to let him go. But 
 ye denied the holy one and the just, and de- 
 sired a murderer to be granted unto you, and 
 
 killed the Prince of life, whom God hath 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. Lon 
 
 raised from the dead, whereof we are wit- 
 nesses, and his name, through faith in his 
 name, hath made this man Strong sh Gayhee 
 and now, brethren, I wot that through igno- 
 rance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But 
 those things which God before had showed 
 by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ 
 should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.”  « Repent 
 ye therefore, &c.” “ And as they spake unto 
 the people, the priests and the rulers of the 
 temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them: 
 being grieved, that they taught the people, 
 and preached through Jesus, the resurrection 
 of the dead; and they laid hands on them 
 and put them in hold until the next day, for 
 it was now eventide. The remainder of the 
 chapter illustrates, in every respect, the obser- 
 vations that have been already made on the 
 character, situation, and conduct of the first 
 apostles. 
 
 On the whole it is impossible to conceive 
 that the plan of imposing upon the Jews a 
 crucified malefactor as their Messiah, could 
 have entered into minds sufficiently sane to 
 argue consecutively, or to harangue in public 
 without danger of being restrained as lunatics. 
 Tn this total failure then of adequate causes, 
 
132 EVIDENCES 
 
 for these obvious and undeniable effects, we 
 are thrown back upon the extraordinary facts 
 of the appearance of Jesus after his crucifixion, 
 and the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the 
 primitive assembly of the Christians. The 
 miracles are demanded to make the history 
 not merely probable, but even possible. Say 
 that the apostles were deceivers, whence the 
 moral courage, the unanimity, the self-reliance, 
 the eagerness for publicity, the defiance of 
 danger? Say that they were enthusiasts, 
 whence the sober and rational tone of their 
 arguments, their continued assertion of facts, 
 the systematic regularity of their proceedings, 
 the combined energy of their straight-forward 
 operations ? 
 
 They preached the resurrection of Christ : 
 whence the intelligence necessary to invent 
 this sublime part of our religion? is this the 
 doctrine of fishermen dragging their nets by 
 the lake of Genezareth? whence the bold- 
 ness to assert such a doctrine? are these the 
 men who deserted their Master and fled ? 
 That they persevered, that partially, at least, 
 they triumphed, that even in Jerusalem they 
 persuaded multitudes by what they said and 
 by what they did to believe the fact of the 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 133 
 
 resurrection, considering who and what they 
 were, is of itself decisive evidence of pre- 
 ternatural power; it is impossible that the 
 apostles should have invented the Christian 
 religion, or believed it themselves, or induced 
 others to believe it, without miraculous evi- 
 dence. The character and conduct of the 
 apostles affords incontestable proof of the truth 
 of the religion; they continued in Jerusalem ; 
 surely the most ill-chosen place possible for 
 the first assertion of the fact of the resurrection, 
 if the fact were not true; they continued to 
 maintain their doctrines through their spokes- 
 man, St. Peter, in public; there is no attempt 
 to escape, to dissemble, or to conceal. The 
 apostles, it must be remembered, had to com- 
 bat the general prejudice of the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem against their country. ‘ Thou art 
 a Galilean, and thy speech bewrayeth thee,” 
 was said to St. Peter. ‘Search and look, for 
 out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” 
 Again—Some of the leading tenets of the 
 Christians were singularly ill-suited for the 
 meridian of Jerusalem; they proclaimed the 
 temporal Messiah to be a fond delusion, they 
 appropriated to their own crucified teacher 
 all the prophecies on which the Jews relied ; 
 
134 EVIDENCES 
 
 they spoke of the dissolution of the temple ; 
 the Saviour had openly declared to his dis- 
 ciples that it was to be destroyed, and with 
 it, the usual customs and rites of the Mosaic 
 law were necessarily to cease: in proportion 
 as the Jews were anxious for a temporal 
 Messiah, would their indignation be raised 
 against all pretenders to the character of the 
 Messiah, if they opposed their preconceived 
 notions. Hence, in a great degree, among 
 other causes, the hostility of the priesthood 
 against Jesus ; and it was this which so in- 
 flamed the fury of the populace ; in his cruct- 
 fixion they beheld, as they supposed, the con- 
 futation of his impious pretensions. 
 
 Not only was the general state of popular 
 feeling ill-adapted for the progress of Christi- 
 anity, but the spirit of the predominant sects 
 was, if possible, more adverse—there were the 
 austere and ceremonious Pharisees, the more 
 lax and voluptuous Sadducees, the ascetic and 
 enthusiastic Essenes, and the fanatical Zealots 
 —how then were these Galileans to contend 
 with these sects? to contend against them with 
 a religion which condemned all alike? yet 
 they still fought their way with success, they 
 still “added daily to the church such as should 
 be saved.” 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY; 135 
 
 And now occurred the punishment of Ana- 
 nias and Sapphira: that this transaction did 
 not operate to their disadvantage, implies a 
 tacit acknowledgment on the part of their 
 adversaries, that with every facility of detec- 
 tion they could not disprove the miracle. 
 
 The martyrdom of Stephen follows—re- 
 markable in every respect, and “ a great per- 
 secution of the church which was in Jerusa- 
 Jem.” Still the apostles succeed, and this, at 
 first, could only have been in consequence of 
 the miracles which they wrought, Acts v. 12, 
 &e. “ By the hands of the apostles were 
 many signs and wonders wrought among the 
 Meopliencc.e..2.', They brought forth the sick 
 into the streets, &c.”’ 
 
 The conversion of St. Paul is the next 
 striking event in the history of the propagation 
 of Christianity. 
 
 The subject has been well discussed in a 
 distinct Treatise, by Lord Lyttleton. “ Infi- 
 delity,” says Dr. Johnson, “has never producéd 
 a specious answer ;” it appears to me now, as 
 it has always appeared, very valuable; it is 
 clear, unaffected, and well reasoned. Lord L. 
 makes out satisfactorily, that Paul was not an 
 impostor, nor an enthusiast, nor deceived by 
 
136 EVIDENCES 
 
 others, and therefore, that what he declared to 
 have been the cause of his conversion, really 
 was so, and therefore the Christian religion 
 true; by being an impostor he had nothing to 
 gain and much to lose, situated as he was ; nor 
 could he have succeeded ; he knew not enough 
 of Christianity to qualify him to be an apostle. 
 His success can only be accounted for by 
 supposing that the power of God went along 
 with him. Nor was he an enthusiast; he 
 seems to have been a man only of a very 
 ardent mind ; there are none of the common 
 marks of enthusiasm in his life and writings, 
 with perhaps one passing exception, of his 
 being translated to heaven in a sort of vision 
 —enthusiasm, I mean, in a bad sense of the 
 word; and in his case the enthusiasm had set 
 in the contrary direction ; he was persecuting 
 the Christians when checked in his career. 
 Nor, thirdly, could he have been deceived by 
 others—the conversion could not have been 
 contrived—who was there to contrive it? and 
 how was it physically possible ‘—his blindness 
 for instance. He can on the whole neither 
 be considered as a hypocrite, nor as a fanatic. 
 He must have been what he announces him- 
 self, “‘ an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 137 
 
 of God,” one “ that received the gospel not of 
 men, neither was taught it, but by the reve- 
 lation of Jesus Christ,” one to whom, as Peter 
 declared, among the assembled apostles, ‘‘ God 
 which knoweth the hearts bare witness, giving 
 him the Holy Ghost, as he did unto us, by 
 whom the signs of an apostle were wrought in 
 all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty 
 deeds.” 
 
 Paul could not have been a mere fanatic. 
 He had the ability, the prudence, to preach 
 with success, the extraordinary doctrine of 
 Christ crucified, over half the habitable world. 
 He conciliated the other apostles to an admis- 
 sion of his claim to equality ; in every public 
 scene he could conduct himself with the cool- 
 est self-command; his writings are distin- 
 guished for the vigour of their arguments and 
 the depth of their views; his nauiben is reason- 
 able on difficult questions and trying occa- 
 sions; he enforces and explains in an unaffected 
 and persuasive manner those virtues of humi- 
 lity, meekness, holiness, and charity, of which 
 the life and teaching of his Master was so 
 striking an example. There are no privations, 
 no perils, no labours that he is not ready to 
 undergo; he is prepared at all times to lay 
 
 ip 
 
138 EvIpDENCES 
 
 down his life for the truth; still he rushes 
 mto no dangers, or difficulties, or sufferings, 
 but what he at the time thinks necessary for 
 the support of the divine mission in which he 
 is engaged. Suppose his account of his con- 
 version to be true, and no difficulty remains 
 but the supernatural interference ; a miracle 
 that was sufliciently explained by the distin- 
 guished part he took in the propagation of 
 Christianity and the important phenomena 
 that his life and character exhibited after his 
 conversion. 
 
 The gift of tongues is a most important 
 event in the history of Christianity. The mi- 
 racle was universally accepted by the Christian 
 church in its literal sense ; it is incredible that 
 it should have been invented—still more in- 
 credible that it should have been fabricated 
 by the early expositors of Scripture, out of 
 any proverbial expressions bearing in reality 
 no such meaning. The miracle was of in- 
 estimable value to the apostles, as a means of 
 disseminating the religion of Christ. Turning 
 to the scene in Jerusalem on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, it was impossible that without this gift 
 the apostles could have made the impression 
 they did on the assembled multitude. Extra- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 139 
 
 ordinary as this intervention of Providence 
 may appear, it was in strict harmony with the 
 exigencies of the case—the apostles were to 
 preach the astonishing miracles of the resur- 
 rection to the Gentiles, and to be confirmed 
 in their own faith—the assembly were all 
 amazed—‘“ Behold, are not all these which 
 speak Galileans? and how hear we every man 
 in our own tongue wherein we were born, 
 Parthians, Medes, &c.; and they were in 
 doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth 
 this?” Certainly no attention, without the 
 miracle, would or could have been paid to 
 Galileans (the apostles), speaking in what was 
 a provincial dialect, despised and little known. 
 The apostles did not repair to barbarous coun- 
 tries where the ignorant might be imposed 
 upon, but we find them in Antioch, in Co- 
 rinth, among the philosophers of Athens, and 
 in the metropolis of the world. We see them 
 enduring the persecution of the inflamed po- 
 pulace, and dragged before the public autho- 
 rities. 
 
 But the world, it has been said, was in a 
 favourable state for the reception of a new re- 
 ligion. This may be. Mr. Gibbon makes 
 these secondary causes a sufficient solution of 
 
140 EvIDENCES 
 
 the success of the religion ; but the origin of 
 the attempt on the part of the apostles is still 
 inexplicable ; it was partly by the influence 
 of predisposed human means, and partly by 
 direct interposition of divine power that the 
 new religion was disseminated. We may 
 discern the hand of Providence in both. Sup- 
 pose secondary causes, however favourable, 
 and then suppose the apostles sent forth into 
 the world with no credentials but those of 
 dexterous impostors, or the fanatic adoption 
 of certain doctrines, of which they have no 
 other testimony to produce but their own as- 
 sertions ; and how are they to succeed ? 
 They came into the world, despised by the 
 heathen, as Jews; and disclaimed by their 
 brethren, the Jews, as apostates. The apostles 
 could not deny that Christ had been rejected 
 by the vast majority of their nation, and con- 
 demned by the constituted authorities. It must 
 be considered how novel, how appalling, how 
 remote from all human apprehension, were the 
 main doctrines which they taught ; all the ob- 
 jections that men make to these doctrines now, 
 existed then, and must have been made then, 
 and appear to have been made—the religion 
 appeared to the Greeks ‘‘ foolishness,” and the 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 141 
 
 apostles were called “ babblers.” Without 
 miracles the apostles could scarcely have made 
 any converts; even with miracles their suc- 
 cess could but have been partial ; the wonder- 
 ful works, the reality of which could not be 
 denied, were attributed both by the Jews and 
 the heathen to magic; though, occasionally, 
 the miracle was so clearly a miracle, that 
 its evidence was felt and acknowledged—this 
 seems always to have been the case in the in- 
 stance of those who were present. 
 
 The religion of the Greeks was completely 
 incorporated with their pleasures, that of the 
 Romans with their national pride; the aban- 
 donment of all these was the first imexorable 
 demand of the new religion—a revolution in 
 the business, amusements, and habits of life, 
 was required, as well as a total moral change 
 and a new faith. The contrast was very 
 striking between the mean, indigent, unpre- 
 tending, and self-denying religion of the cross, 
 and the splendour, ‘opulence, and festive and 
 indulgent ritual of paganism. 
 
 And what was the cross! To the Jews and 
 the heathens the symbol of the basest and most 
 degrading punishment of the lowest criminal 
 —the proverbial terror of the wretched slave. 
 
142 EVIDENCES 
 
 Yet to the cross of Christ men were to turn, 
 from deities in which were embodied every 
 attribute of strength, power, and dignity. “If 
 we must,” says Origen, “‘ give a probable rea- 
 son for the first establishment of Christianity, 
 we must say it is incredible that the apostles, 
 ignorant and unlearned men, should have 
 trusted to any means of preaching Christian- 
 ity, except the miraculous powers conferred 
 upon them, and the grace of God, which 
 avouched their doctrine; or that their hearers 
 should have abandoned the ancient rites of 
 their forefathers, and have been converted to 
 tenets so strange and opposite to those in 
 which they had been educated, unless moved 
 by some miraculous power, and by preterna- 
 tural wonders.” This remark of this distin- 
 guished Father seems very just. The argu- 
 ment from prophecy was the argument to be 
 addressed more especially to the Jews, but 
 scarcely to the heathen—to those who had 
 not been brought up in the knowledge and 
 veneration of the Old Testament; and the dis- 
 tinction seems to have been always observed 
 by the apostles--look at the discourse of 
 Peter. 
 
 The Christians were ready to mingle with 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 143 
 
 the heathen in all the indifferent transactions 
 of life, but would admit nothing that tended 
 to idolatry ; and allowed no quarter to the dif- 
 ferent sects of philosophy. Fanaticism could 
 not have proceeded with such temper and just 
 discrimination; they were spiritually wise, 
 but humanly wise also; and how could a 
 body so formed and constituted as that of the 
 apostles, have exhibited such wisdom, unless 
 it had been imparted ‘from on high;” the 
 Christians, their followers, at the same time 
 quiet, inoffensive, obedient to the laws for 
 - conscience’ sake, seeking no distinction, mak- 
 ing no display, shunning no duty compatible 
 with their faith, and everywhere gradually 
 and silently multiplying. Christianity did 
 not spread like the fiery lava of Mahometan- 
 ism, but, like leaven, it worked its way im- 
 perceptibly, till it had permeated the whole 
 mass of human kind, and with a healthful 
 and purifying influence. The immortality 
 promised to the Christian was not a certain 
 and secure Paradise, rich with all the luxu- 
 ries of the present world. It was to be at- 
 tained, though purchased by the blood of 
 Christ, by faithful, diligent, and incessant 
 service on the part of man—by purity, disin- 
 
144 EvIDENCES 
 
 terestedness, humility, charity, by self-disci- 
 pline and control, and the strict fulfilment of 
 the moral duties. 
 
 The uncompromising manner in which the 
 apostles announced their doctrines implied 
 their disregard of human assistance—divine 
 assistance, divine authority for what they said 
 and did, these were always taken for granted; 
 and they adopted no unworthy line of conduct 
 for the propagation of their faith—they courted 
 no popularity ; to the lower orders of society 
 a religion which proclaimed equality in the 
 sight of God must have been peculiarly ac- 
 ceptable—but they preached to the poor with- 
 out inflaming their passions and without ex- 
 citing the jealousy of the rich; they confined 
 their views to the moral and religious im- 
 provement of mankind; all this might be 
 piety, elevation of thought, uninspired wis- - 
 dom, but it was no blind enthusiasm, no fana- 
 ticism. 
 
 It is not enough to prove that the world 
 was in some degree prepared for their recep- 
 tion, unless we can provide them with ade- 
 quate means for subduing the hostile array of 
 vices, passions, opinions, prejudices, interests, 
 and superstitions, with which they had to con- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 145 
 
 tend in the world. How they attained to that 
 wisdom, how they pursued that conduct, how 
 they overcame such obstacles, and vanquished 
 such enemies, unless by the constant assist- 
 ance of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to 
 understand—exclude the Deity, nothing is 
 explicable, conceivable or credible ; acknow- 
 ledge “Christ, the power of God, and the 
 wisdom of God,” all is at once clear, rational, 
 satisfactory, and intelligible. 
 
 It is not one daring and eccentric adven- 
 turer that sets out to establish a new religion, 
 but a number of men, at first doubting and be- 
 wildered, and at last converted, and all united 
 in their belief—and united in a revolution of 
 this extraordinary nature, all of them making 
 every human sacrifice that can be mentioned 
 in pursuance of this design—literally taking 
 ‘no thought for the morrow,” not acquainted, 
 unless by divine inspiration, with the lan- 
 guages of those whom they are to address: 
 their difficulties confront them on the very 
 threshold of their undertaking; not one of 
 them, as far as we can ascertain, recedes— 
 no weary, or dissatisfied, or perverse brother 
 is estranged, or alienated. Differences of opi- 
 nion and old prejudices are violently called 
 
 U 
 
146 EVIDENCES 
 
 into action, but there arises. no long irrecon- 
 cileable schism in the apostolic body; one of 
 them—probably, indeed, the most ardent and 
 effective-—gives a well known description of 
 what was the life of an apostle—“ In journey- 
 ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers 
 Meas, in perils in the city..... in hunger and 
 thirst” —the enumeration is very full, and most 
 of these dangers and sufferings must have 
 been in like manner experienced by the rest 
 of the apostles, as well as by the narrator, St. 
 Paul; yet, judging from the instance of this 
 apostle, in whom, if anywhere, fanaticism was 
 to be found, no extravagance appears, no self- 
 inflicted tortures, no contempt of pain—‘ for 
 our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter- 
 nal weight of glory ’—“ if in this life only we 
 have hope in Christ we are of all men most 
 miserable” —“ if the dead rise not at all, why 
 stand we in jeopardy every hour?” The view 
 that is taken of the situation of himself and 
 his fellow-labourers is the most reasonable that 
 can be conceived, on the supposition that they 
 felt and knew themselves to be commissioned 
 by a heavenly Master, to preach the glad 
 tidings of the gospel to the world. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 147 
 
 On the whole, therefore, it may be very 
 true, that fanatics have appeared at different 
 periods, and the founders of new religions— 
 that we hear of Zoroaster, Confucius, Budh, 
 Numa, Mungo Capac—men, who, either by 
 the superiority of their natural talents, or by 
 pretended intercourse with the Divinity, have 
 wrought great and beneficial changes in the 
 moral and religious condition of their country- 
 men. But these are the works of individuals, 
 either in obscure or barbarous periods, or 
 among nations but imperfectly civilized ; the 
 darkness of the period, and the ignorance of 
 the people among whom they respectively 
 lived, justify us in attributing their success to 
 causes purely natural. 
 
 But Christianity appeared at a period when 
 civilization was far advanced, and we have in 
 this case, not the rulers of the world, but the 
 despised of the world, bringing the world into 
 spiritual subjection. Sufferings, bodily or 
 mental, no doubt prove only the sincerity of 
 the sufferer, not the truth of his doctrines. 
 We have had the Christian fanatics of the 
 fifth and sixth centuries; we have had the 
 monks and missionaries of the Roman Catho- 
 lic communion ; and we have had the martyrs 
 
148 EVIDENCES 
 
 and reformers of every other Christian com- 
 munion. But it is one thing to renew or to 
 attest the truth of an established religion, and 
 another to establish a new one—one thing to 
 improve or alter the cultivation of a field, and 
 another to clear and break up, and produce 
 a harvest in a jungle; the apostles, it must 
 be observed in a word, raised Christianity, out 
 of nothing and against everything. There is 
 no record in history of a number of men, sober 
 in their characters, as were the apostles, unani- 
 mously exposing themselves to every sufier- 
 ing, in attestation of facts—in attestation of 
 “that which was from the beginning, which 
 they had heard, which they had seen with 
 their eyes, which they had looked upon, which 
 their hands had handled of the word of life” 
 —and, in defiance of every prevailing opin- 
 ion, passion, and prepossession of mankind, 
 establishing a new, permanent, and highly 
 pure and spiritual religion. 
 
 Finally, though it may be impossible to 
 anticipate or limit the eccentricity of the hu- 
 man character, yet we must repeat that here 
 we have no eccentricity of character to pro- 
 duce. We have—not an individual, but a 
 body of men, actuated by common natural 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 149 
 
 principles ; we have the ordinary motives of 
 human conduct to refer to, when we propose 
 an explanation of what they attempted to per- 
 form, and of what they said and did. It is 
 impossible in their case to speak of any spe- 
 cies of insanity, or mental delusion, or aber- 
 ration of intellect, such as an individual may 
 be conceived to exhibit; they had, like the 
 rest of their countrymen, expected a temporal 
 sovereign—this may be said to have been na- 
 tural; when, on the contrary, their Master 
 was apprehended and brought to trial, they 
 deserted him and fled—this may have been 
 natural also; when he was publicly executed 
 every hope was extinguished in their minds 
 —this too may have been natural; after his 
 resurrection their hesitation, their doubt that 
 he could be still alive—this too may have been 
 natural. We have no eccentricity, no enthu- 
 siasm of character or conduct here ; and no- 
 thing but what they had experienced, as we 
 have already observed, nothing but what had 
 happened, and what they had asserted to have 
 happened—nothing short of this can make their 
 conduct, after the execution of their Lord and 
 Master, intelligible. 
 
 The question then comes to this—did they 
 
150 EVIDENCES 
 believe or did they not believe? If they did 
 
 not believe, why did they live and die, for no 
 end, but that of establishing a new religion, 
 of which, after all, the honour was to redound, 
 not to themselves, but to another—to Jesus 
 Christ! and how could they all be so impious 
 as to proclaim, unless they believed them, such 
 doctrines as his atonement, his Messiahship, 
 and his resurrection? they believed, or were 
 every day, without any object or temptation 
 usurping the name and authority of the Al- 
 mighty—a continued and unanimous impiety, 
 quite inconsistent with their demeanour, with 
 their words and actions—on the whole, quite 
 impossible. But suppose the converse—that 
 they believed, but were deluded in their belief. 
 Does their conduct or character justify any 
 such supposition ; and how could all be de- 
 luded, and on matters of plain fact, which came 
 directly under the cognizance of their senses ? 
 could they all suppose that they saw, and con- 
 versed, and sat at table with, their well-known 
 Master, though in fact he had never appeared 
 amongst them! could they believe that they 
 could speak various languages of which they 
 had not learnt a word? could they believe that 
 they commanded cripples to walk, who did 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. lo} 
 
 not walk—that they worked miracles, which 
 they did not work? could they be infatuated 
 and deprived of their senses—men who, at 
 the same time, could argue seriously and con- 
 duct themselves rationally? and if then they 
 could neither be deceivers nor deceived, they 
 must be recognized as the authorized and in- 
 spired delegates of the Almighty. 
 
 This reasoning on the whole of the case, 
 this alternative, so obvious and so intelligible, 
 so simple and so direct, has always been 
 thought unanswerable by all who have con- 
 sidered the question, from the earliest period, 
 through the different generations of mankind, 
 down to the present moment. We speak of 
 regular, virtuous, candid men, not of those 
 who from the nature of their minds are not 
 disposed to be taught, or who, from their ha- 
 bits of life, recoil from a religion which con- 
 demns their conduct. 
 
 But there is another view that may be taken 
 of the prophecies, and another argument thence 
 resulting, in confirmation of the truth of Chris- 
 tianity, which has been most ably drawn out 
 by Archdeacon Lyall, in his “‘ Propeedia Pro- 
 phetica,” from which I shall make large ex- 
 tracts, it is this—that in the prophecies it is 
 
152 EvIDENCES 
 
 announced that light should be poured in up- 
 on the Gentiles, and that the benefit of the 
 coming of the Messiah should not be confined, 
 as the Jews supposed, to their particular nation, 
 but should be extended to mankind. In this 
 view of the subject a new and insulated proof 
 arises, independent of the general proofs of 
 Christianity ; and it is a distinct ground of 
 belief, quite incontrovertible, for the whole is 
 thus rested on facts, inasmuch as in the Bible 
 are the prophecies announcing the future pro- 
 gress of the religion, and in the world before 
 us, the religion established, through all the 
 civilized and intelligent portions of it. 
 
 Now to feel the force of this argument, the 
 scriptures of the Old Testament must be first 
 observed, and afterwards different passages in 
 the New Testament, and the inquirer should 
 keep this point in view while he is reading 
 both the Old and the New; particularly the 
 Old, where the intimations of this great future 
 dispensation are often very short, and mixed 
 up with other matter; and yet if thus read, 
 the establishment of Christianity will be seen 
 announced in different passages, through the 
 prophetic parts of the Old Testament, from 
 Genesis to Malachi, more especially in Isaiah, 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 153 
 Daniel, Zechariah, and Malachi. The last 
 
 fourteen chapters of this single prophet, Isaiah, 
 would be sufhicient, and as a specimen, (chap. 
 ii.) —“ It shall come to pass in the last days, 
 that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be 
 established in the top of the mountains, and 
 shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations 
 shall flow unto it, and many people shall go 
 and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the 
 mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God 
 of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, 
 and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion 
 shall go forth the law, and the word of the 
 Lord from Jerusalem; and he shall judge 
 among the nations, and shall rebuke many 
 people.” Again, (chap. xlii.)—‘“ Behold my 
 servant, whom | uphold, mine elect, in whom 
 my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit up- 
 on him, he shall bring forth judgment to the 
 Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up, nor 
 cause his voice to be heard in the street; a 
 bruised reed shall he not break, and the smo- 
 king flax shall he not quench. He shall bring 
 forth judgment unto truth; he shall not fail 
 nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment 
 in the earth and the isles shall wait for his 
 oe es I the Lord have called thee in 
 Mw 
 
154. EVIDENCES 
 
 righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and 
 will keep thee and give thee for a covenant to 
 the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open 
 the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from 
 the prison, and them that sit in darkness out 
 of the prison house.” “ Arise, shine, (chap. 
 Ix.) for thy light is come, and the glory of the 
 Lord is risen upon thee; for, behold, the dark- 
 ness shall cover the earth and gross darkness 
 the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee 
 and his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the 
 Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to 
 the brightness of thy rising.” So in the 2nd 
 chapter of Haggai—“ For thus saith the Lord 
 of Hosts: yet once it is a little while, and I 
 will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the 
 sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all 
 nations, and the desire of all nations shall 
 come, and | will fill this house with glory, 
 saith the Lord..... The glory of this latter 
 house [the second temple] shall be greater 
 than of the former, and in this place will I 
 give peace.” This glory was the coming of 
 the Messiah, but the promise is at the same 
 time of a general nature—“ the desire of all 
 nations,’——and so in many passages in Isaiah 
 and in the prophetic writings, the expressions 
 are of a general nature. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. litays 
 
 In the New Testament, the announcement 
 of the new dispensation is more distinct; in 
 Matthew xxii. 43, the Saviour says, “‘ There- 
 fore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall 
 be taken from you, and given to a nation bring- 
 ing forth the fruits thereof;” and in John x. 
 16, “ And other sheep I have, which are not 
 of this fold; them also I must bring, and they 
 shall hear my voice, and there shall be one 
 fold and one shepherd.” The same, too, is 
 the language of the Saviour, as recorded by 
 St. Luke, when he speaks to his disciples after 
 his resurrection—“ Then opened he their un- 
 derstandings, that they might understand the 
 scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is writ- 
 ten, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and 
 to rise from the dead the third day, and that 
 repentance and remission of sins should be 
 preached in his name among all nations, be- 
 ginning at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of 
 these things, and behold I send the promise 
 of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the 
 city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
 power from on high.” 
 
 If the different prophetic passages in the 
 Old Testament are observed, it will be seen, 
 that the leading subject of them was not the 
 person of the Messiah, so much as the king- 
 
156 EvIDENCES 
 
 dom which he was to establish—this was the 
 burden, in one shape or another, of almost all 
 the predictions relating to that new covenant, 
 of which Christ was to be the messenger, and 
 may be said to constitute the promise, on which 
 the hopes of the Jewish people had solong been 
 fixed; but here lay the difference between the 
 views of the Jews and of the apostles—it was 
 an earthly kingdom, on the fancied glories and 
 felicities of which the thoughts of the former 
 were fixed—it was a spiritual kingdom which 
 occupied the minds of the latter. Notwith- 
 standing, therefore, the extraordinary charac- 
 ter of the great facts on which the apostles 
 rested their proof of Jesus being the predicted 
 Messiah, a knowledge of human nature will 
 not warrant us in being much surprised, that 
 the proof was not admitted by the majority of 
 the nation; especially when we consider what 
 their opinions were on the subject of miracles, 
 And the particular case of the Jews should be 
 well considered, for it has always been said, 
 as I have before observed, by unbelievers, 
 Why should I receive Christianity, when 
 Christ was rejected by the great body of the 
 Jewish nation ? 
 
 The proper answer to this objection has 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 157 
 
 been always given, but the more the situation 
 of the Jews at that time is considered, the more 
 conclusive and satisfactory will the answer be 
 found. A great impression had occasionally 
 been made on those, who had witnessed the 
 miracles of the Saviour; an impression much 
 the same as would be made upon ourselves ; 
 still the evidence of miracles was not at that 
 period of the world properly felt; and when 
 the Saviour neither was, nor proposed himself 
 as, a temporal prince, the disappointment and 
 indignation of the Jewish rulers knew no 
 bounds—they considered him as an impostor, 
 and a blasphemer, and they called upon the 
 Roman magistrate to inflict upon him the most 
 condign punishment, for the offences which he 
 had committed. The notions of the common 
 people too were suddenly changed—they no 
 longer surrounded him with shouts of triumph, 
 as they had done on his entrance into Jerusa- 
 lem; and his disciples, when they saw that 
 he was not the temporal prince, whom, in de- 
 fiance of all the Saviour had said to them, they 
 expected, even they “ forsook him and fled.” 
 Afterwards, when the disciples had been con- 
 vinced of their mistake, by the miraculous 
 events that followed the crucifixion, and when 
 
158 EVIDENCES 
 
 they had to undertake the conversion: both of 
 the Jews, and of mankind to the Christian 
 faith, still, one thing was clear, that if the 
 apostles explained the meaning of the prophe- 
 cles aright, the promise made to the Jewish 
 nation and to mankind of a temporal prince 
 had not been fulfilled, according to the sense 
 on which the Jews had built their expectations 
 ——no temporal prince had appeared : but nei- 
 ther had it been fulfilled, according to the 
 sense for which the Christians contended— 
 there was indeed no temporal prince, but there 
 was as yet no spiritual prince. Here then lay 
 the difficulty, with which the first preachers 
 of the gospel (humanly speaking) had to con- 
 tend: they insisted on the prophecies, but 
 their own sense of the meaning of the prophe- 
 cies had not as yet been shown by the event, 
 to be the right one. 
 
 The nations of the earth still walked in 
 “the valley of the shadow of death” —“ their 
 idols of silver and gold were still seen on the 
 hills and in every high place” —“ kings and 
 princes had not become the nursing fathers of 
 Christ’s church, neither had the nations flow- 
 ed into it” —“ the knowledge of the Lord, in- 
 stead of covering the earth, as the waters cover 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 159 
 
 the sea,” was still confined to his chosen peo- 
 ple—upon them only had the light shined. 
 
 So long as the Jewish dispensation was 
 standing, and heathenism continued to be the 
 predominant religion of the world, and all 
 things else the same as before—the preaching 
 of the gospel, who Jesus was, and what was 
 the end of his coming, would naturally be a 
 matter of discussion. So long as the Jewish 
 polity and institutions continued to subsist, the 
 question was necessarily surrounded with 
 much difficulty. Assuming the divine autho- 
 rity of the gospel—if it was to be established 
 among mankind, as the apostles contended, 
 the divine obligation of the Jewish law was to 
 be at an end; but how was it possible to show 
 this to the Jews, so long as the temple of Je- 
 rusalem was standing, and could number 
 among its worshippers, not only a majority of 
 the inhabitants of Judea, but thousands “ out 
 of every nation under heaven.” 
 
 If we examine the Epistles of St. Paul, or 
 even the Acts of the Apostles, it will at once 
 appear how important a place this controversy 
 occupied in the estimation of all parties at this 
 period. The obligation of the Jewish law was 
 the question debated in the first council that 
 
160 EvIDENCES 
 
 was held in the church ; that of the calling of 
 the Gentiles (which are in fact the same ques- 
 tion) constitute the entire subject of the three 
 most elaborate epistles of St. Paul, and are 
 emphatically alluded to in most of the others ; 
 it was a subject of debate, and even of angry 
 discussion, not only among the brethren in 
 general, but even among the apostles them- 
 selves. Different modifications of the ques- 
 tion were proposed, but St. Paul maintained, 
 and at length united the suffrages of all the 
 apostles in his opinion, that an adherence to 
 the Jewish law was absolutely unlawful—it 
 was keeping up that partition wall, which it 
 was the very object of the gospel to break 
 down—it threw a doubt upon the revelation 
 of that great mystery of the calling of the 
 Gentiles, which St. Paul said had been hidden 
 from the foundation of the world—practically 
 it was a denial of the fulfilment in Jesus Christ, 
 of the promise made to mankind from the be- 
 ginning, and a countenancing of the Jews in 
 the rejection of the Saviour. 
 
 But arguments of this kind, however con- 
 sistent with the prophecies, were not proofs to 
 the Jews. If, as the apostles contended, the 
 Jewish law was done away, it was a fact, as 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 161 
 
 it appeared to them, of which there was no 
 visible sign. But this visible sign at length 
 appeared—the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 The temple of Jerusalem was not merely 
 one of many temples in which worshippers 
 assembled ; it was the only temple belonging 
 to the nation. Though the Jews had syna- 
 gogues in almost every city, yet they were not 
 allowed to offer up any sacrifice, nor to build 
 any altar, except at Jerusalem; there alone 
 the priests could officiate, or the Levites per- 
 form the duties of their daily ministration ; 
 there it was that the three great feasts of the 
 Passover, and of the Pentecost, and of the 
 Tabernacles, were to be solemnized, and every 
 male was commanded to attend annually at 
 each of these solemnities, however distant his 
 abode might be, or whatever the difficulties of 
 his journey. 
 
 But after the destruction of the city and 
 temple by Titus, the observance of all that 
 part of the law which regarded the national 
 worship became, and has ever since continued 
 to be, impossible—the naked fact of the de- 
 struction of the city and temple of the Jews 
 was a proof that the Mosaic dispensation was 
 at an end. 
 
 % 
 
162 EVIDENCES 
 
 No passage can perhaps be pointed out, 
 from which it can be shown that this event, 
 at the time it happened, had been expected, 
 either by Jews or Christians; but since it 
 came to pass, its miraculous character has 
 never been called in question by either party 
 —both Jews and Christians have ever consi- 
 dered it as the fulfilment of prophecies which 
 were well known to both; the only difference 
 of opinion has been as to the meaning and 
 design of God. 
 
 The temporary character of the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation was however declared from the be- 
 ginning. Viewed simply as a prophecy there 
 is perhaps not one in the whole volume of the 
 Old Testament so remarkable in itself, and in 
 the exactness with which it has been fulfilled, 
 as the prediction by Moses of the final de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion 
 of the Jews, in the 28th chapter of Deuter- 
 onomy. 
 
 And at a time when we may suppose men’s 
 minds to have been agitated by contending 
 opinions, the controversy was ended ; sudden- 
 ly Jerusalem was encompassed with armies— 
 siege was laid to the city—the temple was de- 
 stroyed—and the whole nation was scattered, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 163 
 
 as with a whirlwind, through every region of 
 the earth. If all parties on both sides of the 
 question had agreed to refer the controversy 
 to the Divine arbitrament it may justly be 
 doubted, whether they could have fixed upon 
 a testimony more exactly applicable to the 
 particular point which was to be determined. 
 
 The Jews tell us that, after the fall of the 
 city, R. Jose exclaimed, “ Alas! the times of 
 the Messiah are past.” By the times of the 
 Messiah was understood, the calculated pe- 
 riod after which all hope of his coming, ac- 
 cording to the promise, would be at an end. 
 The passages of Scripture, from which the 
 Jews deduced their calculations, appear to 
 have been not more than four—Genesis xlix. 
 10; Haggai ii. 7—9; Malachi in. 1; and 
 Daniel ix. 24—27. We may observe, that 
 the three former fix no positive date, but only 
 define the period, beyond which he was not 
 to be expected—‘“ he was to come suddenly 
 to his temple, and in consequence the glory 
 of this latter house was to be greater than the 
 glory of the former, and the time of his com- 
 ing was to be while the city and state of the 
 Jews were subsisting; but though these pro- 
 phecies did not fix upon the time there was 
 
164 EvIDENCES 
 
 one that did—the remarkable prophecy of 
 Daniel, of the seventy weeks. It is certain 
 that this prophecy was uttered many years 
 before Christ came into the world, and that it 
 was considered by the Jews as containing a 
 prediction of the period at which their Mes- 
 siah was to be expected. In this prophecy a 
 stated historical fact appears—the decree for 
 the restoration of the temple; 490 years after 
 it the Messiah, according to the prophecy 
 was to appear, and at this time the oblation 
 and the sacrifice were to cease, by the destruc- 
 tion of the city and the sanctuary, and this 
 was to happen by war; and another fact is 
 stated, that the Messiah was to suffer death. 
 The agreement of this well known prophecy 
 with the truths of the gospel is not less re- 
 markable than its fulfilment. These truths, 
 as they have been received by mankind, are 
 clearly announced 1. e.—‘‘ Seventy weeks 
 are determined upon thy people and upon 
 thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and 
 to make an end of sins and to make recon- 
 ciliation for iniquity; and to bring in everlast- 
 ing righteousness, and to seal up the vision 
 and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy ;” 
 the Messiah, moreover, was also to be “ cut 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 165 
 
 off, but not for himself.” These expressions 
 sufficiently harmonize with the faith that is 
 generally established in the world. 
 
 Had the Jews known beforehand the very 
 month or year in which Messiah was to be cut 
 off, nothing short of an almost miraculous in- 
 terposition of Providence would have forced 
 them to put Christ to death, and thus be 
 themselves the instruments of causing the ful- 
 filment of the prophecy. It may therefore 
 have been made impossible for those whom it 
 concerned to select any definite point of time 
 on which to fix their expectation ; for although 
 the number of weeks was definite, yet the pe- 
 riod, from which they were to be calculated, 
 was not definite—“ from the going out of the 
 decree” was the expression ; but four decrees 
 are named in Scripture, as having gone out 
 for the restoration of the temple, and the in- 
 terval between the first and the last of these 
 is upwards of eighty years. Before the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem nothing more was re- 
 vealed, except the near approach of the Mes- 
 siah. 
 
 A common form of computation in Scrip- 
 ture is by generations, and this space of time, 
 according to the Psalmist, was threescore years 
 
166 EVIDENCES 
 
 and ten. Thus seventy weeks of years are 
 seven times seventy years, or seven genera- 
 tions ; in calculating, therefore, the several 
 events foretold, it is not the exact year we are 
 to look to, but the hebdomad or week. 
 
 The first decree was by Cyrus, 536 B. c., 
 the second by Darius Hystaspes, 519; the 
 third by Artaxerxes Longimanus, 457; the 
 fourth in the 20th of Artaxerxes, 444. Now 
 from the 17th of Artaxerxes to the death of 
 Christ are exactly seventy hebdomads. From 
 the same epoch to the commencement of John’s 
 ministry are sixty-nine hebdomads. From the 
 end of the hebdomad, in which the 20th of 
 Artaxerxes is fixed by our chronology to the 
 middle of the hebdomad in which Christ 
 was born is sixty-two weeks. From the first 
 preaching of John to the end of Christ’s mi- 
 nistry was one hebdomad. From the first 
 preaching of the gospel (or coming of Christ) 
 to the destruction of Jerusalem are seven heb- 
 domads, and this event happened at the end 
 of the first half of the seventh hebdomad, 
 when the sacrifice of oblation visibly ceased. 
 
 Calculations of this kind may be gone 
 through; the above seems sufficiently satis- 
 factory ; but it is enough, I think, to say, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 167 
 
 that the appearance of Christ took place 
 about the time specified, and that no other 
 person has since or before appeared, to whom 
 the prophecy could be applied; and, as I 
 have before mentioned, when this prophecy 
 was urged by Priestley, in his controversy 
 with Levi, the Jews had no one to produce, 
 but Antiochus Epiphanes, to whom the pro- 
 phecy in truth could have no reference. 
 
 In the scheme of prophecy, therefore, the 
 rise of the gospel and the downfall of the 
 Jewish dispensation were indissolubly united. 
 Before Jerusalem had been destroyed, St. 
 Paul, and the first preachers of the gospel, in- 
 sisted that this first dispensation was super- 
 seded by the gospel, and that the Gentiles 
 were to be called in to participate in the bene- 
 fits of the gospel—that this was the announce- 
 ment of the prophecies in the Old Testament: 
 and the question now is, how afterwards stood 
 the fact—were the Gentiles called in? Jeru- 
 salem was soon after destroyed, the Mosaic 
 dispensation visibly at an end, but was the 
 Christian dispensation established ? 
 
 Certainly the progress of the gospel was 
 from the first totally astonishing—quite sufh- 
 cient for the purposes of the general argu- 
 
168 EVIDENCES 
 
 ment; and the religion itself in the course of 
 little more than two centuries became the 
 established religion of Europe. The early 
 progress of the gospel may be distinctly traced 
 —it is visible in the Acts of the Apostles, and 
 in the Epistles of St. Paul; afterwards in the 
 writings of the Fathers, and in the allusions 
 to the rising sect to be found in profane his- 
 torians and writers, it is not necessary here 
 to go through the detail. This detail is ad- 
 mirably given by Paley, in his chapter on the 
 Propagation of Christianity. The celebrated 
 letter of Pliny to the emperor Trajan would 
 be of itself sufficient. Pliny is so overpowered 
 by the number of Christians (men who would 
 not worship the gods of Rome) that he writes 
 to know what on earth he is to do with them. 
 The letter is full of the most curious particu- 
 lars, and leads to the most important conclu- 
 sions ; it is largely commented upon by Lard- 
 ner, and the letter given—a letter written 
 about seventy years after the apostles had first 
 begun to mention the name of Jesus to the 
 Gentile world. No inquirer can do other- 
 wise than look attentively at this letter of 
 Pliny, nor indeed fail to be struck with the 
 minute and masterly detail given by Paley, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 169 
 
 and his observations on this part of the gene- 
 ral subject. 
 
 We may now see the nature of the argu- 
 ment which we have announced. It depends 
 on the passages in the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, in which the call of the Gentiles is 
 prophesied, and the fulfilment of the prophe- 
 cies by the subsequent success and final esta- 
 blishment of Christianity. The argument 
 was first fully and regularly stated by Arch- 
 deacon Lyall, in his ‘« Propzedia Prophetica ” 
 —a book very valuable, not only as making out 
 this argument, but also as making out more 
 distinctly than had ever before been done, how 
 it came to pass that the Jews rejected Christ 
 —a fact which had always been an obvious 
 and powerful argument to induce men in mo- 
 dern times to do the same. The proper an- 
 swer to the objection had always been given, 
 but the subject was never before so thoroughly 
 examined and displayed as it has now been 
 by this acute, and learned, and powerful wri- 
 ter. The evidences of Christianity are not 
 now a subject much thought of by the com- 
 munity ; their attention is entirely directed to 
 the nature of the doctrines and observances of 
 the ancient Christian chureh; otherwise the 
 
 Z 
 
170 EVIDENCES 
 
 book would have caused a great sensation in 
 the Christian world. The author indeed 
 seems to me sometimes to think too exclu- 
 sively of his own argument, but if this be so 
 it is not unnatural; no writer ever escaped 
 from a temptation of this kind, and the reader 
 need not forget, nor would the Archdeacon 
 wish him to forget, the weight that is due to 
 Paley and his more obvious argument, derived 
 from the miracles, the sufferings, the privations, 
 the sacrifices, and the labours of the apostles 
 —an argument that has always been effective 
 with mankind, and that Paley urges with such 
 uncommon logical eloquence and force. The 
 defence of Christianity, indeed, Archdeacon 
 Lyall contends, (and very justly,) may now be 
 left to rest on the prophecies and the diffusion 
 of Christianity, as he has stated it in his book, 
 and also to rest on the grounds on which it 
 has been always placed, by Paley and other 
 preceding writers, both among the Fathers 
 and in more modern times. 
 
 The extensive and sudden propagation of 
 Christianity has been always considered as in- 
 dicating its supernatural origin—as of itself a 
 sufficient proof of its truth ; and this has been 
 an argument of a general nature, easily un- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 171 
 
 derstood and always satisfactory to the gene- 
 rality of mankind. We see no such success 
 attending the labours of missionaries in our 
 own days, though they have many and im- 
 portant advantages, which the apostles and 
 first propagators of Christianity were without ; 
 the authority of power, and of learning, and 
 of wealth, and of all extraneous circum- 
 stances are now ranged in support of those 
 doctrines, to which they were originally op- 
 posed. 
 
 It was on account of the effect of this gene- 
 ral argument, that Gibbon brought forward 
 his secondary causes to account for the success 
 of Christianity ; these were human means, and 
 were so elevated in their importance and effect 
 by him as to render the solution of a superna- 
 tural influence unnecessary. But the secon- 
 dary causes which he produces, are all in fact 
 grounded upon the truth of Christianity, and 
 may be admitted as the human means which 
 contributed to that event. The importance of 
 Gibbon’s celebrated 15th and 16th chapters, 
 lies in the insinuations and objections to the 
 evidences of Christianity, which he directly 
 and indirectly urges, not in the causes he spe- 
 cifies of its success. He does not attempt to 
 
172 EVIDENCES 
 
 explain the first rise of Christianity in the 
 world, but only to account for its after pro- 
 gress. So far are the causes which he assigns 
 from excluding the supposition of its miracu- 
 lous origin, that a general belief of this truth 
 on the part of mankind is evidently a consti- 
 tuent part of his hypothesis, and must be as- 
 sumed as the ground-work of it. The causes, 
 which he states, instead of accounting for the 
 rise of this belief, are among the effects which 
 had flowed from it. 
 
 Yet have these chapters been very success- 
 ful in creating unbelievers, not only by ex- 
 plaining the progress of Christianity, and re- 
 solving it into an ordinary occurrence, but by 
 the refined wit, the sarcasm, the powerful 
 sneers, with which the chapters abound—all 
 exercised upon the Old Testament, the early 
 Christians, the Fathers and the evidences 
 themselves, as urged by the believers in Chris- 
 tianity. The secondary causes are only the 
 heads under which these serious attacks are 
 introduced. 
 
 I remember when [ had taken my degree, 
 I passed a whole half-year in the study of 
 these celebrated chapters, and the books con- 
 nected with the subject. I found Gibbon’s 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 173 
 
 quotations all fair and accurate, and his ac- 
 quaintance with the subject very great; but 
 the total want of all piety in his feelings ac- 
 counted sufficiently, not only for the objections 
 which he urged, but for his manner of urging 
 them. The observations of the Bishop of 
 Llandaff were alone worthy of the respect of 
 Gibbon, and alone obtained it. Priestley chal- 
 lenged him out, but he declined the contro- 
 versy, in an insulting letter, and hated and 
 persecuted him ever after. His reply to his 
 Oxford opponents is one of the most masterly 
 specimens of controversial writing that exists; 
 the sarcasm and the contempt are so entertain- 
 ing and so irrresistible. These chapters, it 
 may be finally observed, and Hume’s Essay on 
 Miracles, made the unbelievers in Great Bri- 
 tain; as Voltaire’s writings did those on the 
 Continent. 
 
 Archdeacon Lyall, after giving very satis- 
 factory answers to the general argument of 
 Gibbon, founded on secondary causes, pro- 
 ceeds to explain the sudden and extensive 
 propagation of Christianity himself; referring 
 to the different facts, as he contends, of the 
 case, but still, unlike Gibbon, leaving this 
 propagation to be accounted for, by the causes 
 
174 EVIDENCES 
 
 that from the first had been pre-ordained by 
 the Almighty. Thus, that it was the argu- 
 ment from prophecy that everywhere prevail- 
 ed, that the Jews were everywhere dispersed 
 over the world, that they had everywhere dif- 
 fused the knowledge of the Old Testament, 
 and the expectation of some extraordinary 
 personage, who was then to appear in the 
 world, and that a preparation was thus every- 
 where made for the reception of the gospel. 
 In the first place, he contends that the au- 
 thors of the New Testament rested their proofs 
 almost exclusively upon the evidence of cer- 
 tain supposed prophecies. St. Paul, the apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles, appears to have done so, 
 as is evident to those that examine his epistles. 
 The early Fathers of the church ascribe their 
 own eonversion to this same argument; in- 
 deed, it is clear, that mankind did not reason 
 about miracles, and feel the argument thence 
 arising, as we do now—mankind in general 
 did not—though the argument cannot be con- 
 sidered as never urged or overlooked ; far from 
 it; still it must be admitted that the argument 
 from prophecy was the more effective argu- 
 ment, to be addressed, not only to the Jews, 
 but to the Gentiles, if the books of the Old 
 Testament had become generally known, which 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. vice 
 
 might be the case, if the Jews were generally 
 dispersed over the world, in sufficient numbers, 
 and an expectation generally entertained, that 
 some extraordinary personage was to appear, 
 That such an expectation was entertained, 
 there can be no doubt; there is the fourth 
 Kclogue of Virgil, in which the expressions 
 are evidently borrowed, immediately or me- 
 diately from Isaiah, and at all events show 
 that at the time he wrote, an opinion prevail- 
 ed, that some new era was about to arise, In 
 which all wars would cease, the lion no longer 
 vex the folds, &c.; and prophecies of a simi- 
 lar import, are stated by Suetonius and Tacitus 
 to have prevailed all over the East—“ it was 
 an ancient and constant opinion,” says Sueto- 
 nius, ‘‘ and founded upon a knowledge of some 
 divine decree, that a person or persons would 
 appear in Judea, who should obtain the go- 
 vernment of the world.” ‘It was the persua- 
 sion of most ancient persons,” says Tacitus, 
 “that the ancient books of the priests con- 
 tained passages, which implied, that the East 
 would become powerful, and that there would 
 arise in Judea those who should obtain the 
 empire of the world.” Josephus refers to the 
 same expectation, and ascribes it to the rebel- 
 lion of the Jews—an expectation that some 
 
176 EviIpENCES 
 
 person would arise among them who should 
 govern the world. Now as there can be no 
 doubt whence the Jewish belief arose, there 
 can be none of the true origin of that of the 
 heathen world—the books of the Old Testa- 
 ment. | 
 
 If we examine the prophetical parts of the 
 Old Testament, we shall find that the largest 
 part is taken up with matter which relates 
 solely to Judea; but in the books of Isaiah 
 and Daniel the leading subject is, either the 
 calling of the Gentiles and the future triumphs 
 of the church, or else the particular judgments 
 of God, against the several nations of which 
 the Gentile world was composed—the destruc- 
 tion of Tyre and Babylon, the desolation of 
 Moab, and Edom, and Ammon, the degrada- 
 tion of Egypt, the rise of the several empires 
 of the world and their respective termination 
 ——it is these that fill all those parts of the pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah and Daniel, that do not re- 
 late to the gospel. 
 
 Most of the prophecies had been fulfilled 
 before the coming of Christ, and they referred 
 to the great events of the world, such as were 
 interesting to the Gentiles, and could be un- 
 derstood by them, when the Jews produced 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 177 
 
 them as proofs of the divine authority of their 
 scriptures; and if a large number of persons 
 in every country and city were thus introduced 
 to the knowledge of the scriptures, and to a 
 general belief in them, a preparation was 
 clearly made for the reception of the gospel. 
 After the destruction of Jerusalem the propa- 
 gation of Christianity was not slow or gra- 
 dual, it seems to have been suddenly diffused 
 throughout the world. From Pliny’s letter 
 we may collect that within little more than 
 thirty years from the time when the Jewish 
 form of worship was ostensibly abolished, 
 Christianity had become the faith of “ all 
 ranks, and ages, and conditions of men,” in 
 one of the remotest provinces of the Roman 
 empire. ‘‘ As the lightning cometh out of 
 the east and shineth even unto the west, so 
 shall the coming of the Son of man be’”— 
 such were the words of Christ; no prediction 
 was ever uttered which corresponded more 
 truly with the event ; and the fact may be ex- 
 plained, if we may assume, that a general 
 knowledge of the great and leading prophecies 
 of the Old Testament, was at the time gene- 
 rally diffused among mankind. 
 
 The place which the Old Testament occu- 
 
 A \ 
 
178 EvIDENCES 
 
 pies in the evidences of Christianity is, there- 
 fore, the Archdeacon argues, very important. 
 To omit this testimony altogether, or pass it 
 over slightly is a great mistake. It may be 
 admitted that the proof from the New Testa- 
 ment is complete in itself, since the establish- 
 ment of Christianity, without any help from 
 the Old; but the proof from the Old, is no 
 less complete by itself, since the same event, 
 without the aid from the New. The necessity 
 for this double principle of evidence was cre- 
 ated by the exigences of a new religion; for 
 to prove the truth of Christianity, by the proof 
 of the prophecies having been fulfilled, would 
 have been difficnit in the days of the apostles, 
 if not impossible, without the argument from 
 miracles; as on the other side the divine au- 
 thority of the miracles could not have been at 
 that period of the world, a sufficient proof, 
 with the notions then prevailing, without the 
 testimony of prophecy ; and thus, at the time 
 when Christianity was first preached, both 
 proofs were combined in showing the truth 
 of the religion. It can now stand upon either 
 of them singly. We are not, however, to sup- 
 pose, that one or the other of these respective 
 proofs may now be laid aside, or has become 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 179 
 
 superfluous. A man of serious mind and of 
 proper good sense will study both, not to gra- 
 tify his curiosity, but to come to a right con- 
 clusion respecting the authority of the revela- 
 tion which has been built upon them. 
 
 But that the gospel, at first a mere speck 
 in the horizon, should in the lapse of a single 
 generation have spread itself over the whole 
 firmament, and the name of its founder have 
 become familiar to every people, and in every 
 language of the known world, though an his- 
 torical fact, presents a problem, which neither 
 the miracles of the New Testament, nor the 
 prophecies of the Old Testament would be 
 sufficient to explain, without the supposition 
 of God’s continued interference. 
 
 There are some other considerations that 
 may be noted, which are proposed by the 
 Archdeacon; they are of a general nature, 
 but well worthy of attention. Did the writers 
 of the books of the New Testament live at the 
 time, when the events are stated to have hap- 
 pened! Was their statement the same as was 
 believed by those who lived on the spot and 
 at the time when they took place? 
 
 The establishment of Christianity seems to 
 afford of itself, the strongest proof that the 
 
180 EVIDENCES 
 
 facts related by the Evangelists must have 
 been believed by mankind in general, at the 
 time to which the narrative relates. We know 
 that the actions ascribed to Christ were vari- 
 ously explained, both at Jerusalem and else- 
 where, but there is no evidence to show, that 
 they were disbelieved as facts by any person ; 
 what evidence we possess leads to the opposite 
 conclusion. 
 
 First, then, the writers of the gospels lived 
 in the age to which the history refers. No- 
 thing need be added to the arguments which 
 Lardner, more especially, and others have pro- 
 duced, to show that the authors of them were 
 the persons to whom they have been always 
 ascribed. Ali the writers of antiquity put to- 
 cether, do not possess an hundredth part of 
 the external proofs of genuineness which this 
 single volume of the New Testament can ex- 
 hibit. To say nothing of some hundred MSS., 
 (many of them claiming a far higher antiquity 
 than any other similar documents now extant,) 
 there are distinct versions, into all the princi- 
 pal languages of antiquity, made in the age 
 immediately succeeding that of the apostles ; 
 and there are quotations from these books of 
 the New Testament to be found in the early 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 18] 
 
 Fathers, and in ecclesiastical writers, some 
 reaching to the very generation in which the 
 books profess to have been composed ; and so 
 numerous in the next and every succeeding 
 generation, as to imply that they were then 
 almost as familiarly known and referred to, as 
 in the present day. No one who has examined 
 this part of the subject will have any disposi- 
 tion to dispute these positions. 
 
 That these books were the forgeries of a 
 later age cannot be thought possible, unless 
 we suppose it possible that all the writings of 
 all the Fathers and of all the early ecclesi- 
 astical historians have been also forged; arid 
 all the versions into the Syriac, the Coptic, 
 the Armenian, and other languages, likewise 
 forged ; some of which have, for many ages, 
 ceased even to be spoken. 
 
 Take any work on the subject of the evi- 
 dences. To what sifting criticism have the 
 writings of the New Testament been exposed ; 
 how laboriously has every date, every custom, 
 every historical allusion been discussed. Now, 
 as the writers profess, for the most part, only 
 to relate what they had seen themselves, or 
 heard from others who had, it is not surprising 
 to find that they have triumphantly passed 
 
182 EVIDENCES 
 
 through this ordeal, severe as it has been; 
 but it certainly implies that they have said 
 nothing but what they knew to be true. When 
 we consider that the scenes of this history em- 
 brace many nations, speaking different lan- 
 guages, with different customs, and laws, and 
 institutions, and add to this, that the writers 
 of the New Testament were not men of learning 
 and various knowledge, the fact admits of no 
 other explanation. 
 
 No doubt, on account of the extraordinary 
 contents of these sacred books, and of the im- 
 portance and nature of the subjects, stronger 
 evidence is required in the instance of the 
 gospels than we require in the works of the 
 classical writers and historians; but the truth 
 is, that there is no stamp of genuineness which 
 an ancient writing can possibly exhibit which 
 we do not find in the books of the New Testa- 
 ment, nor has a single mark of spuriousness 
 ever been pointed out. 
 
 Is then the statement made by the evange- 
 lists such as was believed by those who were 
 living at the time both in Jerusalem and else- 
 where? With respect to the early Christians, 
 their belief in the miracles attributed to Christ 
 was never doubted. We have the direct evi- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 183 
 
 dence of the apostolic Fathers, as well as of 
 Justin Martyr, on this point; the former in- 
 deed supply us only with a general testimony, 
 but there is not a single important circum- 
 stance related by the evangelists to which 
 the latter does not refer—the miraculous birth 
 of Christ, his curing all manner of diseases 
 and infirmities, his raising the dead to life, 
 are distinctly affirmed by Justin, and these 
 facts are tacitly assumed by him to be so 
 notorious as not to render necessary anything 
 more than a general allusion. Now Justin 
 was a native of Samaria, and must have lived 
 within a few miles of the spot on which Jeru- 
 salem had stood until his conversion from 
 Gentilism ; his youth, therefore, must have 
 been spent among those who were not only the 
 contemporaries of the apostles, but who might 
 have, and in some instances probably had, 
 both seen and heard them. It would be a 
 waste of time to make quotations from the 
 later Fathers: it may fairly be assumed that 
 all the early disciples believed that Christ had 
 performed miracles. 
 
 To suppose that idolatry was rooted out of 
 the civilized part of the world, and a pure and 
 powerful religion, like that of Christ, planted 
 
184 EVIDENCES 
 
 in its room, by the belief of mankind in a set 
 of facts, which, under the appellation of “ pious 
 frauds,” were in truth neither more nor less 
 than the mere conjuring tricks of a few obscure 
 jugglers living in Judea—to suppose all this 
 is quite impossible; it would be to resort to 
 an explanation as little conformable with ex- 
 perience as any miracle could be, and which 
 they who disbelieve the truth of Christianity 
 should be the last persons to produce. But it 
 may be said, that though Christianity was 
 believed by a large number of persons living 
 in Judea, or rather at Jerusalem, still, that a 
 larger number of those whom we suppose to 
 have been witnesses in the case did not join 
 in that belief—ought not their incredulity to 
 be placed in the opposite balance? It ought 
 not, and for this reason: that the incredulity 
 here spoken of did not regard the facts them- 
 selves, but only the explanation of them—the 
 facts were attributed to magic, not to the in- 
 terference of divine power. The Jews did 
 not at the time, nor have they ever denied the 
 truth of the facts themselves, related in the New 
 Testament—the miraculous powers ascribed 
 to Christ were no part of the controversy be- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 185 
 
 tween his first disciples and the Jews, and, 
 indeed, never have been. 
 
 If we turn from the Jews to the heathen 
 writers of the first and second centuries, there 
 is not only the same absence of any counter- 
 statement, but there is what amounts to an 
 admission that the facts related in the New 
 Testament were believed. ‘‘ Admit,” says 
 Celsus, “ that Christ really performed all the 
 miracles ascribed to him by his followers, what 
 conclusion can be drawn from this, except that 
 he was conversant in those arts by which, for 
 a few pence, quacks and conjurers perform 
 their wonders in every market-place. Por- 
 phyry speaks in like manner; and this rea- 
 soning would never have been adopted by 
 such men as Celsus and Porphyry, unless the 
 facts related in the New Testament had been 
 generally believed ; and the way in which his 
 reasoning is met by Origin and Tertullian is 
 worthy of remark : they do not deny the reality 
 of the miracles said to have been wrought by 
 Apollonius and others (perhaps because it 
 would have been of no use), but they endea- 
 vour to show that there is no ground for attri- 
 buting them to God, which was in truth the 
 
 BB 
 
186 EvIDENCES 
 
 point at issue; and they ask their opponents 
 to state what was the purpose for which they 
 were wrought—to point out any effect result- 
 ing from them—contrasting their barrenness 
 in this respect with the wonderful fruits which 
 had been produced in the world by the belief 
 of mankind in the miracles which Christ had 
 performed. It may just be mentioned, that 
 the fables contained in the histories of Apollo- 
 nius and Pythagoras possess no claims to credit 
 of any kind. The facts which are related in 
 them were never so much as heard of in the 
 age in which they are said to have happened, 
 but were fabricated long after the events. 
 
 But, indeed, the very composition of the 
 books of the New Testament is stamped with 
 so many internal marks of a living authority, 
 that these alone (to say nothing of external 
 evidence) would be sufficient to show that the 
 Gospels had been composed by a Jew, who 
 was relating facts, at some of which he must 
 have been present. 
 
 Consider more especially the Gospel of 
 St. Matthew. The books of the New Testa- 
 ment purport to have been written by eye 
 witnesses, and persons who were parties in the 
 events described ; if they were not, the narra- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 187 
 
 tive must have been an invention, but nothing 
 can be so evident on the face of these compo- 
 sitions as the absence of all appearance of 
 design, or contrivance, or invention. 
 
 Paley, in his “ Hore Paulin,” has shown, 
 that between St. Paul’s Epistles and the history 
 of his life, as related in the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles, there are coincidences and agreements of 
 such a nature as are quite sufficient to prove 
 that the persons and transactions must have 
 been real, the letters authentic, and the narra- 
 tion in the main true. The argument is founded 
 on the undesignedness of these coincidences 
 and agreements—that they are too numerous 
 and too particular to be accounted for from 
 chance, and can only be accounted for by 
 supposing the writings genuine. The same 
 argument has been taken up by other writers, 
 from a comparison of the gospels with each 
 other, with the Acts of the Apostles and the 
 Epistles, and also with Josephus. Archdeacon 
 Lyall illustrates the same argument from the 
 Talmud and references to Lightfoot: as, for 
 Instance, when the Saviour said, ‘“ Let the 
 dead bury their dead,” it appears from the 
 Talmud, that by the dead, who were to bury 
 their dead, is meant the mourners who were 
 
188s EvIDENCES 
 
 so called by the Jews. Many instances are 
 produced by the Archdeacon to the same 
 effect. 
 
 It is a constant tradition in the church that 
 St. Matthew’s Gospel was written at Jerusa- 
 lem, for the use of the Jewish Christians; the 
 truth of this tradition is stamped upon every 
 page of the work. In the other gospels, when 
 Jewish customs, or laws, or opinions are 
 alluded to, it is commonly with some explana- 
 tory phrases—such as, “‘ for the Jews have a 
 custom,” or, “ there is at Jerusalem”—aind1- 
 cating that the readers require to be informed 
 on such points; but not so in St. Matthew—he 
 always assumes in his readers a knowledge of 
 all circumstantial particulars, whether local or 
 national. Any one who will read St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, with the Talmudical exercitations by 
 Lightfoot or Schoettgen before him, will find 
 in almost every page instances of undesigned 
 allusions. Lightfoot is a book within the reach 
 of every one. 
 
 As the New Testament had a Jewish origin, 
 to understand fully the import of many parts 
 of it, a knowledge of Jewish customs, and 
 opinions, and forms of speech is required ; this 
 fact alone would form a presumptive argument 
 
‘or CHRISTIANITY. 189 
 
 of its authenticity, and demonstrate that it 
 really had a Jewish origin. Passages occur 
 full of obscurity ; and passages sometimes that 
 become objections; but they are cleared up 
 when a knowledge has been obtained of the 
 circumstances which gave occasion to them 
 and the sense put upon them by the hearers ; 
 and it is here that the work of Lightfoot is of 
 such value. Lightfoot was a most eminent 
 Hebrew scholar; when I turned to his volumes, 
 I saw no great value in the ordinary matter, 
 but great value in his explanation of different 
 expressions and passages in the sacred text, 
 and I became quite satisfied that when any 
 difficulties arise his work must be referred to. 
 A curious instance once occurred to me to 
 show the value of this knowledge of Hebrew. 
 A young lady, that had been extremely dis- 
 tinguished in the circles of the west end of the 
 town for her beauty and talents, suddenly be- 
 came ill, and perceived, that though she was 
 still young, her brilliant career was at an end, 
 and that she was to die. She therefore en- 
 deavoured to prepare herself for the event, 
 and turned (for the first time, probably, with 
 any seriousness) to her Prayer Book; she 
 opened it in the Psalms, and was quite in 
 
190 EvIDENCES 
 
 despair—‘‘ What can I make of a book,” she 
 said, to her friend, “ where the Almighty is 
 represented as casting his shoe over Edom?” 
 Reference was made tome. I could only say 
 that I had no doubt it was some Hebrew idiom, 
 but that I was no Hebrew scholar, and would 
 inquire from some one who was. I did so, 
 and I found, as I had expected, that this 
 strange expression was a Hebrew idiom; 
 just as we have our own English idiom, when 
 we say, ‘“‘ I have him under my thumb,” ex- 
 pressing only total domination and control; 
 and from instances like this (and they are in- 
 numerable), the conclusion is, that no objection 
 must be insisted on, derived from particular 
 expressions or passages, and that it is to the 
 general tenour and meaning that we must alone 
 look. 
 
 But to return. That the events related of 
 Christ were believed by all his disciples, and 
 that we have no evidence to show that they 
 were denied even by his enemies, is a fact as 
 certain as any fact in history can be. The 
 question, therefore, is—Could many hundreds 
 and thousands of persons, living in and about 
 Jerusalem, have been made to believe that 
 such facts as the evangelists have related had 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 191 
 
 taken place under their eyes, or in their imme- 
 diate neighbourhood, while they, in truth, had 
 no other reason for thinking so but the mere 
 assertions of Christ and some dozen indi- 
 viduals, his immediate followers? Were the 
 facts witnessed only by two or three? were 
 they exhibited in a room to a select number 
 of persons? were they such as could not be 
 disproved, if they had not happened? did 
 those who were immediately concerned give 
 proofs of their honesty and sincerity ? had they 
 any interest to serve ? 
 
 It may be said, indeed, not that mankind 
 did not from the first believe the miracles of 
 Christ, but that those who did so, instituted 
 no inquiry as to the truth of the facts, but ad- 
 mitted them at once, from the love of the mar- 
 vellous, on the report of persons who were inter- 
 ested to deceive them. But though it may cost 
 people but little to believe anything which falls 
 in with their interest, or their wishes, or their 
 previous habits of thinking, it is quite clear 
 that mankind are equally unwilling to receive 
 even the most demonstrable truths upon con- 
 trary suppositions. The history of modern 
 missions has shown, that there is nothing more 
 difficult, than to persuade a people to renounce 
 
192 EvIDENCES 
 
 the religion in which they were born and edu- 
 cated, however absurd its tenets, and even 
 when external motives recommend a more ra- 
 tional belief. What then is the difference of 
 situation between the apostles and the modern 
 missionaries, but this, that in the present day 
 the latter have to prove the evidences which 
 they make use of, whereas in the days of the 
 apostles these were matters of public notoriety, 
 and such as every man might know to be true 
 or false, on his own personal knowledge. 
 
 It is true that Pliny, and Tacitus, and dis- 
 tinguished men at this period, did not think 
 it worth while to inquire, and, therefore, as it 
 appears from their writings, knew nothing of 
 the question, and remained unbelievers ; but 
 we are speaking of those who became believ- 
 ers; and the reason why the one did become 
 believers and the other not, is obviously, that 
 the one did inquire, and the other not. Ta- 
 citus gives a regular account of the Jews, 
 and evidently is very ignorant on the sub- 
 ject ; and Pliny, as is shown by his letter, was 
 witness to the most extraordinary phenomena 
 in the conduct of the Christians, but never 
 thought of inquiring into the reasons of them. 
 Neither Tacitus nor Pliny had any personal 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 193 
 
 sacrifices to make, and, therefore, did not in- 
 quire; but how are we to suppose that men 
 were willing to abandon all those prejudices, 
 of every kind, in which they had been born 
 and educated? in defiance, too, of every in- 
 telligible motive, whether of influence, or in- 
 terest, or ease, for the sake of a set of opinions, 
 about the truth or falsehood of which they 
 were so indifferent as not to have thought it 
 worth while even to institute any inquiry. 
 The account which history has given us, not 
 only of the sufferings, but of the character of 
 the first Christians, cannot be reconciled to 
 any explanation, which proceeds upon the 
 supposition of their having taken up their 
 new opinions from no other motive than vul- 
 gar credulity, or mere levity of mind. 
 
 Pliny describes Christianity as a degraded 
 superstition, but of the behaviour of its fol- 
 lowers he says, “ he has been able to discern 
 nothing particular except that they were wont 
 to meet together on a stated day, before it was 
 light, and sing among themselves alternately, 
 a hymn to Christ as to a God, (tanguam Deo,) 
 binding themselves by a vow, not to be guilty 
 of theft, or robbery, or adultery, never to fal- 
 sify their word, nor to deny a pledge com- 
 
 cc 
 
194 EVIDENCES 
 
 mitted to them when called upon to restore 
 it.” This last effect is an unequivocal proof 
 of the depth and earnestness of their convic- 
 tion in the truth of their religion. Mankind 
 did not hear for the first time from the preach- 
 ing of the apostles that they were not to rob, 
 or cheat, or falsify their word, or violate the 
 trust reposed in them ; but it is clear that the 
 reasons of the apostles had been more eftfec- 
 tive than either the persuasions of moralists, 
 or the threatenings of the magistrate. 
 
 Here then we have an undoubted fact. 
 What neither Pythagoras, nor Socrates, nor 
 Plato had been able to accomplish in many 
 hundred years, was effected in a single gene- 
 ration by the founder of Christianity, without 
 aid from learning, or rank, or power, or elo- 
 quence, or party—only by the belief which he 
 impressed upon his followers of his having 
 been sent from God. ‘‘ How did it happen,” 
 says Origen to Celsus, who had taunted the 
 Christians with the recency of their faith, 
 “that in so few years so many, both of the 
 learned and unlearned, had been brought to 
 embrace it, and not as a mere speculative 
 truth, but to be willing to lay down their 
 lives rather than renounce it?.......Had 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 195 
 
 Christ reclaimed only a hundred persons by 
 the strength of his doctrine, it would have 
 been an extraordinary thing, but to have re- 
 claimed thousands and tens of thousands, both 
 Greeks and barbarians, both rich and poor, 
 both wise and ignorant, from the wickedness 
 in which they were living, and to have brought 
 them to a life of holiness and virtue, this is 
 surely as strong an argument of divine power 
 as can be given.” This reasoning of Origen 
 seems to be very just. 
 
 On the whole, to suppose that an infinite 
 multitude of persons, in different parts of the 
 world, speaking different languages, and edu- 
 cated in different customs, should suddenly 
 and at the same time have all consented to 
 adopt not only new ways of reasoning and be- 
 lieving, but of feeling and acting, from the 
 report of facts happening almost at their door, 
 which, however, they had never taken the 
 trouble to examine, and which they had no 
 motive, or temptation, or interest to believe— 
 this seems a phenomenon in human nature 
 which it is impossible to understand, and leaves 
 the first rise of Christianity in the world to- 
 tally unaccountable, unless recourse be had to 
 suppositions such as have been always enter- 
 
196 EvIDENCES 
 
 tained, by the civilized world, of the truth of 
 the religion, and the superintending influence 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 The account which history has given us, 
 not only of the sufferings but of the character 
 of the first Christians, of their actions and 
 whole behaviour, under the influence of the 
 new opinions in religion, which they had em- 
 braced with so much zeal, and insisted upon 
 with so much earnestness, is not to be recon- 
 ciled with any supposition of their having 
 taken up those opinions from no other motive 
 than vulgar credulity or mere levity of mind. 
 It hardly sounds like common sense to say 
 that a man suffered death and torture patiently, 
 or that he renounced all the opinions of his 
 youth, or that he changed the principles of his 
 conduct, and acted in conformity with these 
 new principles, without having considered 
 why and wherefore: and amongst the im- 
 mense masses of mankind, that at an early 
 period adopted the Christian faith, there must 
 have been a sufficient number of men of intel- 
 ligence and sobriety of thought, who were 
 competent judges of what they believed, and 
 why they believed it. That the Christians 
 were sincere in their belief will not be dis- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 197 
 
 puted, but we contend for more, that they 
 must have considered the evidences of their 
 belief, and that their belief thus shows their 
 conviction of the truth of what they believed, 
 which conviction becomes fair evidence to us 
 who follow them. 
 
 One of the Apostolic Fathers, Papias, ob- 
 serves, ‘“‘] have never taken delight, as most 
 men do, in those who talk a great deal, but in 
 those who speak the truth ; nor in those who 
 repeated to me useless precepts, but in those 
 who repeated to us the sayings which the 
 Lord had entrusted to the keeping of his fol- 
 lowers, and which had been handed down to 
 us from the truth itself. And if at any time 
 I met with one who had conversed with the 
 elders, I inquired about what they had said ; 
 what Thomas, or James, what Matthew, or 
 John, or any other of the disciples of the Lord, 
 what Aristion, or John the Presbyter, disciples 
 of the Lord, used to teach ; for I was of opi- 
 nion that I could not profit so much by books 
 as by the living.” 
 
 This passage is taken from the third book 
 of Eusebius’ History, from which it seems that 
 Papias was a believer in the millenium, a doc- 
 trine which Eusebius strongly impugns. Ap- 
 
198 EVIDENCES 
 
 parently for this reason the latter sets him 
 down as a man of small understanding. If, 
 however, such a man was yet solicitous to ob- 
 tain the best information he could, and for 
 this reason sought out those who were eye 
 and ear witnesses, we can have no right to 
 take for granted that the first disciples in ge- 
 neral did not do the same. 
 
 Lastly, it may be added, that after examin- 
 ing the scheme of evidence on which the plan 
 of the Old Testament is projected, it is impos- 
 sible not to be struck with the exact adapta- 
 tion of the narrative contained in the New 
 Testament to the conditions which the hypo- 
 thesis of a preparatory dispensation in the Old 
 would require—the degree of knowledge im- 
 parted to the Jews, and the degree of igno- 
 rance in which they were kept; the prophecies 
 which were understood beforehand, and those 
 which were not understood till afterwards; the 
 facts which had been predicted, and those 
 which had not ; the nature of the expectations 
 which had been raised, and the limitations of 
 it—to every one of these points the events 
 which were related in the New Testament 
 were adjusted with a theoretical nicety, in- 
 volving so many proofs of design as to be, 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 199 
 
 perhaps, more convincing than almost any 
 merely historical evidence could be. So also 
 with respect to St. Paul’s Epistles, the very 
 subject matter of his arguments, the topics he 
 does not dwell upon, no less than those he 
 does, demonstrate their date ; they could not 
 have been written after the destruction of Je- 
 rusalem, because, after that event, the contro- 
 versies in which he was engaged against the 
 Jews necessarily expired ; that is, they were 
 written at the time they are understood to 
 have been written. 
 
 It should seem, therefore, upon a general 
 review of the books of Scripture, that the 
 Jewish and Christian dispensations were con- 
 nected together; that the Jewish law and 
 system was a preparation for the introduction 
 of the gospel, by its types and prophecies, and 
 by exhibiting and maintaining in the world 
 the principles of pure theology and of good 
 morals, during a period when the world was 
 sunk in idolatry and licentiousness—this in 
 the first place: and, finally, to bring all man- 
 kind to an exalted, pure, and spiritual happi- 
 ness, to teach them the nature and the duties 
 of their existence in the present world, and the 
 hopes and promises of that which is to come. 
 
200 EVIDENCES 
 
 These grand objects are perfectly singular and 
 unparalleled in the religions of the world, 
 and the manner in which the scheme was 
 conducted, through the different ages of the 
 world, was such as no human invention could 
 have devised, and no human contrivance could 
 have effected. 
 
 We will now allude to the works of some 
 distinguished men who have considered the 
 evidences of Christianity. Among the great 
 writers of France, one of the most celebrated 
 was Pascal. His thoughts—his ‘ Pensées 
 sur la Religion” may be said to make a part 
 of our English Literature, for the book is in 
 every library, and read by every man of edu- 
 cation in this country. Bishop Kennett made 
 an English translation of the work ; there was 
 an edition printed in 1817 by Didot, at Paris, 
 in his collections of the great works that had 
 appeared in the French language, with notes 
 by Voltaire and Condorcet. Voltaire was a 
 great admirer of Pascal, and his notes only 
 censure Pascal, where, from the temptations 
 of his situation and temperament, Pascal is, 
 more or less, unreasonable. He was ofa most 
 ardent mind and a Roman Catholic. To the 
 common editions of the work there is an ex- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 201 
 
 cellent preface, written by one of Pascal's 
 friends. Pascal intended, it appears, a grand 
 work, which is described by this friend, as 
 communicated to him in a conversation that 
 took place between them. This work he never 
 executed. The last four years of his life were 
 years of disease and suffering, and he died 
 early in 1662, when only just beginning his 
 fortieth year. But the germ and leading 
 principles of the work are, no doubt, to be 
 seen in the ‘ Pensées.”. What has come 
 down to us is selected from a bundle of pa- 
 pers found after his death. In this conversa- 
 tion, Pascal, it seems, described the nature 
 of man—his unintelligible contrarieties—his 
 greatness and his meanness. He declared 
 that he had referred in vain to all the philoso- 
 phical systems, and all the religions of the 
 world ; and that at last he was led to consider 
 the fall of man as the solution of the whole, 
 and the gospel as the only source of comfort 
 and rest to any reflecting mind ; insisting on 
 its credibility, and explaining to his friend the 
 evidences on which it was to be received, and 
 of the Thoughts, as they appear in tlte book ; 
 the whole drift and meaning is the same. 
 Thus the fall is the source of all the sinfulness 
 DD 
 
202 EVIDENCES 
 
 and degrading qualities which appear as phe- 
 nomena in the human character ; and this fall 
 is the source from which all the reflections 
 flow, and on the reality of which all the rea- 
 sonings depend. Original sin is the great 
 doctrine which he continually enforces and 
 illustrates. From his prior state, as he came 
 from the hands of his Creator is derived all 
 that is sublime in the mind and heart of man; 
 from his fall all that is mean, and base, and 
 repulsive, It is the doctrine so strongly in- 
 sisted upon by the evangelical part of our own 
 Church, and so furiously by the Methodists and 
 Calvinists. The difference between them and 
 Pascal is, that they reprobate the human cha- 
 racter as much as he can do, but say nothing 
 of the sublimity and greatness that he talks of. 
 A proper appreciation of the subject may be 
 derived from the Sermons of Bishop Butler. 
 Pascal insisted strongly on the evidence to 
 be derived from the prophecies. ‘It is” says 
 he “‘the greatest of all others. Prophecies 
 fulfilled are a standing miracle; and thus has 
 God raised up a succession of prophets for 
 sixteen hundred years, and then for four hun- 
 dred years dispersed these prophecies along 
 with the Jews, who carried them to every cor- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 206 
 
 ner of the globe. Such was the preparation 
 for the birth of the Saviour, whose gospel was 
 to be believed by all the world. The proof 
 would have been immeasurably strong, if these 
 predictions had been made and published by 
 one man; but we have here a succession of 
 prophets, for four thousand years, announcing 
 the same event. It is a whole people who 
 exhibit to us these prophecies; and they can- 
 not be turned aside from them, by all that 
 they have suffered.” The Jews, indeed, do 
 not understand these prophecies as we do, but, 
 as Pascal says, they do not give them up 
 through evil report and good report, they in- 
 sist upon their authenticity. 
 
 The prophets, says Pascal, gave various 
 marks that were to signify the coming of the 
 Messiah—that the fourth monarchy was to 
 arrive—the seventy weeks of Daniel to be ac- 
 complished—the sceptre to depart from Judah 
 —and so it was; it was then that the Messiah 
 appeared. In the fourth monarchy, before the 
 destruction of the second temple, before the 
 Jews were destroyed as a nation in thé seven- 
 tieth week of Daniel, the Pagans were to be 
 brought to the worship of the trae God—and 
 so it was. ‘* And it shall come to pass,” says 
 
204 EVIDENCES 
 
 Joel, in his 2nd chapter, “ afterward that I 
 will pour out my spirit upon all flesh ”—and 
 - so it was. Mankind were reclaimed from their 
 idolatries and their lusts—became ardent with 
 charity ; princes renounced their grandeur, the 
 rich their riches; .... the temples were de- 
 stroyed ; kings submitted to the cross;.... . 
 ‘but what is this,” says Pascal, ‘‘ but the 
 spirit of the Lord, poured out upon the world ?” 
 “ For from the rising of the sun,” says the 
 prophet Malachi, “ even unto the going down 
 of the same, my name shall be great among 
 the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall 
 be offered unto my name and a pure offering ; 
 for my name shall be great among the heathen, 
 saith the Lord of hosts.” 
 
 ‘“‘ Neither before nor after Jesus Christ did 
 any other being ever appear, who verified the 
 existing prophecies. To the Jews, said the 
 apostles, you are repudiated ; to the Gentiles, 
 you are to enter into the knowledge of God. 
 To this was opposed everything that was dis- 
 tinguished in the world—philosophers, sages, 
 and kings—they argued, they condemned, 
 they put the Saviour to death; and notwith- 
 standing every opposition, behold, in a short 
 space of time, Jesus Christ triumphant over 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 205 
 
 all, destroying the Jewish worship in Jerusa- 
 lem, and the idolatrous worship in Rome. We 
 have the simple and the powerless, the apos- 
 tles and the first Christians opposed to all the 
 powers of the earth, and yet destroying all the 
 established idolatry ; and all this by the power 
 of him who had predicted that so it should 
 be. The Jews, in continuing to reject the 
 Saviour, are become undeniable witnesses, and 
 in putting him to death and continuing to re- 
 ject him, have fulfilled the prophecies. 
 
 “ Who is it that does not recognize Jesus 
 Christ in the midst of all the particular cir- 
 cumstances that have been predicted of him ? 
 That he should have a precursor; that he 
 should be born in Bethlehem, from the family 
 of Judah and David; that he should make 
 blind the sages and the wise, and reveal him- 
 self to the poor and humble; open the eyes 
 of the blind, and give health to the sick, and 
 light to those that were dwelling in darkness; 
 that he should teach the perfect way -to the 
 Gentiles; that he should die for the sins of 
 the world ; that he should be a stone of offence, 
 yet become the head stone of the corner ; that 
 this stone should become a mountain and fill 
 all the earth, as in the prophecy of Daniel ; 
 
206 EVIDENCES 
 
 that he should be rejected, denied, betrayed, 
 sold, buffeted, and mocked, have gall given 
 him to drink, and his hands and his feet pierced, 
 spit upon and put to death, and that they 
 should cast lots upon his vesture”—Such are 
 the striking references of Pascal; and he adds, 
 “that he should rise the third day,” and quotes 
 Psalm xv. 10, (or, perhaps, xvi. 11,) and Ho- 
 sea vl. 2; but these references do not, I think, 
 make out the point, nor two other references 
 to the Psalms; indeed, in these references to 
 the Psalms, particular passages are sometimes 
 applied to our Saviour’s sufferings, by Pascal 
 and others, which might have been the natu- 
 ral effusions of David, in the midst of his own 
 sufferings. 
 
 “But why” says Pascal, “did not the 
 Jews believe these prophecies, or why were 
 they not exterminated for not believing? It 
 was predicted that neither should take place. 
 For it was not sufficient that there should be 
 prophets, it was necessary that their prophe- 
 cies should be in unsuspected keeping.” 
 Again—“ For us to disbelieve the apostles, 
 we must suppose them either deceived or de- 
 ceivers. But how could they be deceived in 
 supposing a man risen from the dead, and, on 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 207 
 
 the contrary, suppose twelve of them assem- 
 bled after the death of Christ and agreeing to 
 pretend that he was risen again; if any one 
 of them was drawn aside by the worldly ad- 
 vantages he might receive, or terrified by the 
 private tortures and death to which he was to 
 be exposed, the defection of any one was to 
 be the destruction of all the rest—what were 
 they then to do? While Christ, indeed, was 
 with them, he might support them, but when 
 he no longer appeared, who was then to put 
 them into motion, to direct or comfort them?” 
 Again—*“ The Jews did not all reject Christ; 
 the spiritual-minded received him, not the 
 carnal-minded.” Again; with respect to Ma- 
 homet—“ Any man can do what Mahomet 
 did, for he worked no miracles, nor was he 
 announced by any prophecies. But what man 
 can do what Jesus Christ has done? Mahomet 
 took every way, humanly speaking, to succeed ; 
 Christ, to perish; and Christianity would 
 have perished if the Almighty had not sus- 
 tained it.” 
 
 ‘‘ Consider,” says Pascal, “ how a religion, 
 so opposed to human nature, was established 
 without force or violence, and yet so firmly 
 established, that no torment could deter its 
 
208 EvIpENCES 
 
 martyrs, and no hostility of the powerful over- 
 throw it. Consider the holiness, the elevation, 
 and yet the humility of the Christian charac- 
 ter. No philosophers have ever acknowledged 
 the virtue of humility, though without it, all the 
 other virtues become faults and vices. Con- 
 sider all the endless marvels that the Holy 
 Scriptures contain—the grandeur and more 
 than human sublimity of what may there be 
 found—and yet the admirable simplicity of 
 the style; where there is nothing affected, no- 
 thing out of the way, nothing that does not 
 bear upon the face of it a character of truth, 
 which it is impossible not to acknowledge. 
 Consider the character of Christ, in particular. 
 Whatever we may think of him, one cannot 
 deny his grandeur and elevation of mind. He 
 disputes with the doctors at the age of twelve ; 
 he passes thirty years, not in the cultivation 
 of his talents, but in the labour of his hands 
 and in obscurity ; he chooses for his apostles 
 men without science, without learning, without 
 reputation; he makes enemies of those, who 
 are at the period, thought the wisest and most 
 learned; and is this then the conduct of a 
 man who intended to be the founder of a new 
 religion? Consider who and what were the 
 
or CurIsTIANITY. 209 
 
 apostles, chosen by Christ; who and what 
 were their opponents, and yet how they pre- 
 vailed over these opponents. Consider the mar- 
 vellous succession of prophets, which continued 
 for 2000 years, and who predicted every thing 
 that happened in the life of Christ, in his 
 death, in his resurrection, in the mission of 
 the apostles, in the preaching of the gospel, 
 in the conversion of the nations, and many 
 other particulars, that had reference to the 
 establishment of the Christian religion and 
 abolition of Judaism. Consider how different 
 the state of the Jewish nation before and since 
 the coming of the Saviour; how miserable, 
 since they rejected him. Consider the per- 
 petuity of the Christian religion. Consider its 
 sanctity, its doctrines, that account for every- 
 thing, even for all the contradictions that are 
 to be found in human nature; and the many 
 things above nature, and divine, that break 
 out from every part of it. Consider all this, 
 and then judge how is it possible to doubt of 
 the truth of the Christian religion ; of its being 
 the only true religion, and that no other can 
 make any approach to it.” 
 
 Such are the representations of Pascal. 
 Pascal made original sin and the fall the foun- 
 
 EE 
 
210 EVIDENCES 
 
 dation of his whole system, but he was per- 
 fectly aware of the difficulties of the doctrine. 
 Observe his discourse on the proof of a true 
 religion. 
 
 ‘“‘ The grandeur”’ says he, “ and the mise- 
 rable nature of man are so apparent, that the 
 true religion must necessarily teach us, that 
 there is some great principle, from which arises 
 at once this grandeur and this meanness ; for 
 the true religion must know our nature to the 
 very bottom, all that is grand and all that is 
 mean, and the reason both of the one and the 
 other, the reason of the astonishing contradic- 
 tions to be found in us.” 
 
 Pascal then turns to consider the nature of 
 man and the systems of the philosophers ; his 
 paragraphs are very striking and eloquent. 
 
 “ Lift up your eyes, says one sect of the 
 philosophers, you may resemble the Deity ; 
 wisdom will thus elevate you, if you will fol- 
 low her counsels. Down, cast down your eyes, 
 to the earth, says another sect, worms of the 
 earth as you are, and look at the animals, the 
 beasts of the field, of which you are the com- 
 panions.” 
 
 ‘“‘ Tf man had never fallen, he would be in 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. Pai 
 
 the full enjoyment of truth and happiness; if 
 he had never been other than corrupt, he 
 would have had no notion either of truth or 
 of happiness; but, miserable that we are, and 
 the more so from the grandeur that belongs 
 to us, we have notions of happiness that we 
 cannot reach, and of wisdom that we can- 
 not attain .... Astonishing fact, however, 
 that the very mystery, which is at the greatest 
 distance possible from our comprehension, the 
 transmission of original sin, is the very mys- 
 tery which can alone enable us at all to com- 
 prehend our nature; for undoubtedly there is 
 nothing that can so shock our reason, as to 
 say, that the sin of our first parent has made 
 guilty all those, who, at whatever distance, 
 were to follow him, and in whose guilt it was 
 impossible that they should have participated. 
 All this is not only impossible, but even most 
 unjust. What can be more so to our misera- 
 ble notions of justice, than that an infant 
 should perish everlastingly for a sin committed 
 six thousand years before it had even come 
 into existence. And yet, without this mys- 
 tery, incomprehensible as it may be, we are still 
 more incomprehensible to ourselves. Turn and 
 
912 EVIDENCES 
 
 twist the nature of our condition as we may, 
 the mystery is not so inconceivable, as is the 
 nature of man without the mystery. 
 
 “ The doctrine of original sin is foolishness 
 before man; but it is not pretended that it is 
 otherwise. The foolishness of God, says the 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, is wiser than the 
 wisdom of man; how can that be perceived 
 by reason, which is above reason ; and which, 
 so far from being discoverable by reason, is 
 revolting to reason, even when presented to it. 
 
 ‘But these two states of innocence and 
 corruption once disclosed to us, it is impossi- 
 ble not to be conscious of the truth of this re- 
 presentation. Let us observe ourselves, ob- 
 serve what passes within us, and see if we do 
 not find within ourselves the living marks of 
 these two natures; so endless are our contra- 
 dictions and contrarieties even in this one sim- 
 ple instance. 
 
 Who made, says Pascal, the Evangelists so 
 acquainted with the perfections and qualities 
 of a soul truly heroic, that they should be able 
 to paint it after so inimitable a manner in the 
 person of Jesus Christ ? 
 
 This observation seems very just ; nothing 
 appears so impossible, as that a Jew should 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 213 
 
 have assumed such a character as that of our 
 Saviour; and again, nothing so impossible as 
 that the Evangelists should have invented it. 
 ‘Pascal is so celebrated a writer, that I 
 turned from my more immediate subject of the 
 Evidences of Christianity to make a passing 
 reference to some of the chapters of his work. 
 I quoted from Bishop Kennett’s publication ; 
 the matter which it contains is all found in 
 the modern Paris edition, but differently dis- 
 posed—the chapters differently arranged. In 
 these chapters the thoughts are often affecting, 
 and there is always a charm about them: 
 whether instructive and elevating, or only para- 
 doxical, they are always interesting. But on 
 revising my manuscript, I found that they 
 took up too large a portion of it, and I there- 
 fore omit them. I will retain, however, one 
 of them. | 
 Pascal had sounded all the depths of meta- 
 physical scepticism, ancient and modern, and 
 he at last observes—-‘‘ Nature confounds the 
 Pyrrhonists, reason the Dogmatists.” That 
 is, we cannot be entire sceptics and believe 
 nothing ; our feelings, our senses, the laws of 
 our being forbid it. On the contrary, we 
 cannot he totally certain and dogmatic on 
 
914 EVIDENCES 
 
 such subjects as the fallibility of our senses, 
 and other paradoxical subtleties. Reason 
 suggests such perplexing grounds of hesitation 
 and suspense of judgment. Thus, to take a 
 modern instance—no Dogmatist can confute 
 Bishop Berkeley’s system of the non-existence 
 of matter ; but what sceptic can believe it or 
 act upon it? The above grand comprehensive 
 maxim of Pascal was always much admired 
 by Macintosh—indeed, it was after his own 
 manner. The great Pyrrhonist of modern 
 times was Hume. He delighted in doubt, 
 just as others do in the possession of truth ; 
 nowhere does he seem more to indulge his 
 genius than in his sceptical writings. 
 
 The Thoughts of Pascal, such as I now 
 omit, turn upon general subjects ; but it is on 
 his religious Thoughts that we are accustomed 
 to dwell, and of these such notices as I have 
 given may afford an example. The fall of 
 man and his redemption by Christ constitute 
 Christianity. Human nature is a mystery 
 totally inexplicable, but on the supposition of 
 the fall—it is an union of grandeur and of 
 meanness, otherwise totally unintelligible. The 
 feelings of the heart are every thing. Such are 
 the doctrines, and such the system of Pascal. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 215 
 
 In religion, according to Pascal, as I have 
 just said, the heart is every thing. And this 
 observation, which is in the main and practical 
 effect so just, leads me to advert to another 
 branch of the evidence for the Christian reli- 
 gion, which we have not yet noticed. 
 
 A distinction has always been made between 
 the internal and external evidence for the 
 truth of the Christian religion—between the 
 direct evidence of the prophecies, the miracles, 
 and the notices of profane writers, and the 
 evidence derived from the character and con- 
 duct, the words and the actions of all the 
 personages that come before us in our con- 
 sideration of the subject and the various cir- 
 cumstances that occur in the course of the 
 narratives delivered to us. The first, or the 
 direct evidence, is more or less addressed to 
 the understanding ; the latter to the heart, the 
 taste, and feelings of the inquirer. These 
 two descriptions of evidence cannot often be 
 separated from each other; nor need they ; 
 united they may become reasonable evidence 
 to a sound mind; but the evidence that is 
 addressed to the feelings of the heart, and the 
 perception of the taste, operates with very 
 different cogency on different minds—nothing 
 
216 EVIDENCES 
 
 can be so convincing to many; and it is of 
 great value to those who have not learning 
 nor leisure enough to consider the more matter- 
 of-fact evidence to which we have first alluded. 
 But there are men, the feelings of whose hearts 
 and the perception of whose taste are dull and 
 languid, and they assent to this internal evi- 
 dence, but do little more than assent, and feel 
 not the sort of sentiment that, like a stream, 
 flows in upon better constituted minds, and 
 produces an intuitive and indelible conviction. 
 
 I know of no finer specimen of this sort of 
 reasoning than is presented to us by Rousseau. 
 ‘‘T will confess to you,” says he, “ that the 
 majesty of the scriptures strikes me with admi- 
 ration, as the purity of the gospel hath its 
 influence on my heart. Peruse the works 
 of our philosophers with all their pomp of 
 diction; how mean, how contemptible are 
 they, compared with the scriptures. Is it 
 possible that a book at once so simple and 
 sublime should be merely the work of man? 
 Is it possible that the sacred personage, whose 
 history it contains, should be himself a mere 
 man! Do we find that he assumed the tone 
 of an enthusiast or ambitious sectary? What 
 sweetness, what purity, in his manner! What 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. pa ys 
 
 an affecting gracefulness in his delivery! What 
 sublimity in his maxims! What profound wis- 
 dom in his discourses! What presence of 
 mind, what subtlety, what truth in his replies ! 
 How great the command over his passions! 
 Where is the man, where the philosopher, 
 who could so live and so die without weak- 
 ness and without ostentation? When Plato 
 describes his imaginary good man loaded with 
 all the punishments of guilt, yet meriting the 
 highest rewards of virtue, he describes exactly 
 the character of Jesus Christ: the resemblance 
 was so striking that all the fathers perceived 
 it. What prepossession, what blindness must 
 it be to compare the son of Sophroniscus to 
 the son of Mary! What an infinite dispro- 
 portion there is between them! Socrates, 
 dying without pain or ignominy, easily sup- 
 ported his character to the last; and if his 
 death, however easy, had not crowned his life, 
 it might have been doubted whether Socrates, 
 with all his wisdom, was anything more than 
 a mere sophist. He invented, it is said, the 
 theory of morals. Others, however, had be- 
 fore put them in practice ; he had only to say, 
 therefore, what they had done, and to reduce 
 their examples to precepts. Aristides had 
 FF 
 
218 EVIDENCES 
 
 been just before Socrates defined justice; Le- 
 onidas had given up his life for his country 
 before Socrates declared patriotism to be a 
 duty ; the Spartans were a sober people before 
 Socrates recommended sobriety —before he 
 had even defined virtue, Greece abounded in 
 virtuous men. But where could Jesus learn, 
 among his contemporaries, that pure and 
 sublime morality, of which he only hath given 
 us both precept and example. The greatest 
 wisdom was made known amongst the most 
 bigoted fanaticism, and the simplicity of the 
 most heroic virtues did honour to the vilest 
 people on earth. The death of Socrates peace- 
 ably philosophizing with his friends, appears 
 the most agreeable that could be wished for ; 
 that of Jesus, expiring in the midst of agoniz- 
 ing pains, abused, insulted, and accused by a 
 whole nation, is the most horrible that could 
 be feared. Socrates, in receiving the cup of 
 poison, blessed indeed the weeping executioner 
 who administered it ; but Jesus, in the midst 
 of excruciating tortures, prayed for his merci- 
 less tormentors. Yes, if the life and death of 
 Socrates were those of a Sage, the life and 
 death of Jesus are those of a God. Shall we 
 
 suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction ? 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 219 
 
 Indeed, my friend, it bears not the marks of 
 fiction: on the contrary, the history of Socrates, 
 which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so 
 well attested as that of Jesus Christ. Sucha 
 supposition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty 
 without obviating it: it is more inconceivable 
 that a number of persons should agree to write 
 such a history than that one only should fur- 
 nish the subject of it. The Jewish authors 
 were incapable of the diction, and strangers 
 to the morality contained in the gospel; the 
 marks of whose truth are so striking and in- 
 imitable, that the inventor would be a more 
 astonishing character than the hero.” 
 
 It is impossible not to feel the justice of 
 these remarks, nor do I see what answer can 
 be made to them; and if it had not been for 
 the miracles that are insisted upon in the 
 scriptures, Rousseau had been a believer. By 
 them it seems he was repelled—but his mind 
 was so disorderly—his conduct so licentious, 
 so gross and sensual, in the midst of his high 
 feelings of purity and refinement—that we 
 must take this testimony to the internal evi- 
 dence, that is, to what he could thoroughly 
 understand and beautifully describe, and fur- 
 ther think not of him; for it is in vain to do 
 
220 EVIDENCES 
 
 so, or follow him through the mazes of his 
 eccentricities and the astonishing mixtures 
 and confusion of his sublimities and mean- 
 nesses—his high and his debasing qualities. — 
 
 We will now turn to a writer of our own. 
 About the period of the breaking out of the 
 great American war, appeared the work of 
 Soame Jenyns—his View of the Internal Evi- 
 dence of the Christian Religion. Soame 
 Jenyns was a gentleman of independent for- 
 tune, well known at the time; there is a good 
 account of him in Cumberland’s Memoirs ; 
 he was a member of Parliament, a supporter 
 of Sir R. Walpole and of Lord North, and 
 the most lively, able, and acute tory writer 
 that our literature possesses. He was a man 
 of wit, fond of paradox, and universally ad- 
 mired in society; and his works exhibit an 
 admirable model of English style, of idiomatic 
 yet elegant language. His book was very 
 short, and highly fitted for its purpose, univer- 
 sally read, and well deserving the notice it 
 received and the attentive consideration of 
 every inquirer, even at the present period. 
 
 “ Grotius, Bacon,” says he, at the con- 
 clusion of his work, “ Newton, Boyle, Locke, 
 Addison, and Lyttleton firmly adhered to the 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. oor 
 
 belief of the Christian religion, after the most 
 diligent and learned researches into the authen- 
 ticity of its records, the completion of the pro- 
 phecies, the sublimity of its doctrines, the 
 purity of its precepts, and the arguments of 
 its adversaries ; a belief which they have testi- 
 fied to the world by their writings, without 
 any other motive than their regard for truth 
 and the benefit of mankind. Should the few 
 foregoing pages add but one mite to the trea- 
 sures with which these learned writers have 
 enriched the world; if they should be so for- 
 tunate as to persuade any of these minute 
 philosophers to place some confidence in these 
 great opinions and to distrust their own ; if 
 they should be able to convince them that, not- 
 withstanding all unfavourable appearances, 
 Christianity may not be altogether artifice and 
 error; if they should prevail on them to examine 
 it with some attention, or, if that is too much 
 trouble, not to reject it without any examina- 
 tion at all; the purpose of this little work will 
 be sufficiently answered. Had the arguments 
 herein used, and the new hints here flung out, 
 been more largely discussed, it might easily 
 have been extended to a more considerable 
 
 bulk; but then the busy would not have had 
 
99) EvIpENCEs 
 
 leisure, nor the idle, inclination to have read 
 it. Should it ever have the honour to be 
 admitted into such good company they will 
 immediately, I know, determine that it must 
 be the work of some enthusiast or methodist, 
 some beggar or some madman. I shall, there- 
 fore, beg leave to assure them, that the author 
 is very far removed from all these characters ; 
 that he once, perhaps, believed as little as 
 themselves ; but having some leisure and more 
 curiosity, he employed them both in resolving 
 a question which seemed to him of some im- 
 portance—Whether Christianity was really 
 an imposture, founded on an absurd, incredi- 
 ble, and obsolete fable, as many suppose it, or 
 whether it is, what it pretends to be, a reve- 
 lation communicated to mankind by the in- 
 terposition of supernatural power. On a can- 
 did inquiry, he soon found that the first was 
 an absolute impossibility, and that its preten- 
 sions to the latter were founded on the most 
 solid grounds. In the further pursuit of his 
 examination, he perceived, at every step, new 
 lights arising, and some of the brightest from 
 parts of it the most obscure, but productive of 
 the clearest proofs, because equally beyond 
 the power of human artifice to invent and 
 
or CHRISTINIATY. 223 
 
 human reason to discover. These arguments, 
 which have convinced him of the divine origin 
 of this religion, he has here put together in 
 as clear and concise a manner as he was able, 
 thinking they might have the same effect 
 upon others, and being of opinion that if there 
 were a few more true Christians in the world, 
 it would be beneficial to themselves, and by 
 no means detrimental to the public.” 
 
 His view of Christianity is—that from the 
 New Testament may be extracted a system of 
 religion, entirely new, both with regard to the 
 object and the doctrines; not only infinitely 
 superior, but totally unlike everything, which 
 had before entered into the mind of man, and 
 that the object of this religion is to prepare us, 
 by a state of probation for the kingdom of hea- 
 ven. ‘* All,” says he, ‘that we here meet 
 with may thus be easily accounted for; for 
 this mixture of happiness and misery, of virtue 
 and vice, necessarily results from a state of 
 probation and education ; as probation implies 
 trials, sufferings, and a capacity of offending, 
 and education a propriety of chastisement for 
 those offences. And the doctrines of this re- 
 ligion (1 shall continue to quote from this 
 work for some time) are equally new with the 
 
224 EvIDENCES 
 
 object... . No other ever drew so just a por- 
 trait of the worthlessness of this world and all 
 its pursuits, nor exhibited such distinct, lively, 
 and exquisite pictures of the joys of another ; 
 of the resurrection of the dead, the last judg- 
 ment, and the triumphs of the righteous on 
 that tremendous day, ‘ when this corruptible 
 shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
 put on immortality’. .... No other has ever 
 pretended to give any account of the depra- 
 vity of man, or to point out any remedy for it; 
 no other has ventured to declare the unpar- 
 donable nature of sin, without the influence 
 of a mediatorial interposition and a vicarious 
 atonement, from the sufferings of a superior 
 being.” 
 
 ‘‘ These doctrines are all so far removed 
 from every tract of the human imagination, 
 that it seems equally impossible, that they 
 should ever have been derived from the know- 
 ledge or the artifice of man . . . . And the per- 
 sonal character of the author of this religion 
 is no less new and extraordinary than the reli- 
 gion itseli—‘ He spake as never man spake,’ 
 and lived as never man lived...... He is the 
 only founder of a religion, which is totally 
 unconnected with all human policy and go- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 925 
 
 vernment...... No one ever made his own 
 sufferings and death a necessary part of his 
 original plan, and essential to his mission. If 
 we contemplate the divine lessons, the perfect 
 precepts, the beautiful discourses, and the con- 
 sistent conduct of this wonderful person, we 
 cannot possibly imagine that he could have 
 been either an idiot or a madman, and yet, if 
 he was not what he pretended to be, he can 
 be considered in no other light.” 
 
 After giving a description of the religious 
 state of the heathen world, and of the views 
 of the most celebrated sages of antiquity, the 
 author proceeds— 
 
 “ At this time Christianity broke forth from 
 the East, like a rising sun, and dispelled this 
 universal darkness, which obscured every part 
 of the globe, and even at this day prevails in 
 all those remoter regions, to which its salutary 
 influence has not as yet extended; from all 
 those which it has reached, it has, notwith- 
 standing its corruptions, banished all those 
 enormities, and introduced a more rational 
 devotion, and purer morals; it has taught men 
 the unity and attributes of the Supreme Being, 
 the remission of sins, the resurrection of the 
 dead, life everlasting, and the kingdom of hea- 
 
 GG 
 
296 EVIDENCES 
 
 ven—doctrines as inconceivable to the wisest 
 of mankind, antecedent to its appearance, 
 as the Newtonian system is at this day to the 
 most ignorant tribes of savages in the wilds 
 of America—doctrines, which human reason 
 never could have discovered, but which, when 
 discovered, coincide with, and are confirmed 
 by it; and which, though beyond the reach 
 of all the learning and penetration of Plato, 
 Aristotle, and Cicero, are now clearly laid 
 open to the eye of every peasant and mechanic, 
 with the Bible in his hand. These are all 
 plain facts, too glaring to be contradicted, and, 
 therefore, whatever we may think of the au- 
 thority of these books, the relations which they 
 contain, or the inspiration of their authors, of 
 these facts no man who has eyes to see, or ears 
 to hear, can entertain a doubt; because there 
 are the books, and in them is the religion.” 
 The author’s third proposition is the most 
 striking and original of all. ‘“ That from the 
 New Testament may be collected a system of 
 ethics, in which every moral precept, founded 
 on reason, is carried to a higher degree of pu- 
 rity and perfection, than in any other of the 
 ancient philosophers of preceding ages ; every 
 moral precept founded on false principles is en- 
 
oF CuRISTIANITY. 927 
 
 tirely omitted, and many new precepts added, 
 peculiarly corresponding with the new object 
 of this religion.” 
 
 After maintaining this proposition in all its 
 parts, in the most spirited and forcible man- 
 ner, he afterwards concludes—“ Every one of 
 these propositions, I am persuaded, is most in- 
 controvertibly true; and if true, this short but 
 certain conclusion must inevitably follow— 
 That such a system of religion and morality 
 could not possibly have been the work of any 
 man, or set of men, much less of those obscure, 
 ignorant, and illiterate persons, who actually 
 did discern and publish it to the world; and 
 that, therefore, it must have been effected by 
 the supernatural interposition of divine power 
 and wisdom—that is, that it must derive its 
 origin from God.” 
 
 ‘We view with admiration the heavens, 
 and the earth, and all therein contained; we 
 contemplate with amazement the minute bo- 
 dies of animals, too small for perception, and 
 the immense planetary orbs, too vast for ima- 
 gination. We are certain that these cannot 
 be the works of man; and therefore we con- 
 clude, with reason, that they must be the pro- 
 ductions of an omnipotent Creator. In the 
 
298 EvIDENCES 
 
 same manner, we see here a scheme of reli- 
 gion and morality, unlike and superior to all 
 ideas of the human mind, equally impossible 
 to have been discovered by the knowledge, or 
 invented by the artifice of man, and therefore 
 by the very same mode of reasoning, and with 
 the same justice, we conclude, that it must 
 derive its origin from the same omnipotent 
 and omniscient Being.” 
 
 By ‘moral precepts founded on reason” 
 the author means, he says, ‘such as inculcate 
 piety to God, benevolence to man, such as im- 
 prove our nature, and conduce to the happi- 
 ness of man; that virtues of this first kind are 
 carried to a higher degree of perfection and 
 purity by the Christian religion than by any 
 other, has never been denied ; but by the pre- 
 cepts, founded on false principles I mean those 
 which recommend fictitious virtues, productive 
 of none of these salutary effects, and which 
 are, therefore, in fact, no virtues at all—such 
 are valour, patriotism, and friendship.” 
 
 These are startling positions, and the work 
 must be referred to, to see the manner in which 
 they are made out. ‘“ Active courage,” he 
 contends, ‘‘ can never be a Christian virtue, 
 because a Christian can have nothing to do 
 with it. Passive courage indeed, is frequently 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 9929 
 
 and properly inculcated by this meek and suf- 
 fering religion, under the titles of patience and 
 resignation—a real and substantial virtue this, 
 and a direct contrast to the former. Passive 
 courage is the resolution of a philosopher ; 
 active, the ferocity of a savage.” 
 
 “ Patriotism not only falls short of, but di- 
 rectly counteracts the extensive benevolence 
 of this religion. A Christian is of no coun- 
 try; he isacitizen of the world. Christianity 
 commands us to love all mankind ; patriotism 
 to oppress all other countries, to advance the 
 imaginary prosperity of our own. Christianity 
 enjoins us to imitate the universal benevolence 
 of our Creator; patriotism to copy the mean 
 partiality of an English parish officer.” 
 
 “Friendship, likewise, can have little pre- 
 tension to merit. ‘If ye love them which love 
 you, what thanks have ye; for sinners also 
 love those that love them.’ But if friendships 
 are formed from alliances in parties, factions, 
 and interests, or from a participation of vices, 
 the usual parents of what are called friendships 
 amongst mankind, they are then both mis- 
 chievous and criminal; but, in their utmost 
 purity, deserve no recommendation from this 
 religion.” 
 
 “To the judicious omission of these false 
 
930 EVIDENCES 
 
 virtues, we may add that remarkable silence 
 which the Christian legislator everywhere pre- 
 serves on subjects esteemed by others of the 
 highest importance, civil government, national 
 policy, and the rights of war and peace. Of 
 these he has not taken the least notice, proba- 
 bly because any explicit regulations would 
 have been inconsistent with the purity of his 
 religion.” 
 
 ‘“ Let us now examine,” the author con- 
 tinues, “‘ what are those new precepts in this 
 religion, peculiarly corresponding with the 
 new object of it, that is, preparing us for the 
 kingdom of heaven. Of these the chief are, 
 poorness of spirit, forgiveness of injuries, and 
 charity to all men; to these we may add, re- 
 pentance, faith, self-abasement, and a detach- 
 ment from the world—all moral duties, pecu- 
 liar to this religion and absolutely necessary 
 to the attainment of its end.” “ By poorness 
 of spirit is to be understood a disposition of 
 mind, meek, humble, submissive to power, 
 void of ambition, patient of injuries, and free 
 from all resentment. This was so new and 
 So opposite to the ideas of all pagan moralists 
 that they thought this temper of mind a cri- 
 minal and contemptible meanness. ‘ Blessed 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 231 
 
 are the poor in spirit, &c.’ ‘ Whoever shall 
 not receive the kingdom of God, as a little 
 child, he shall not enter therein.’” 
 
 “ Another precept, equally new and no less 
 excellent, is forgiveness of injuries—‘I say 
 unto you, love your enemies, &c.’..... Yet 
 noble and useful as this virtue is, before the 
 appearance of this religion it was not only un- 
 practised, but denied in principle, as mean 
 and ignominious, though so obvious a remedy 
 for most of the miseries of this life, and so ne- 
 cessary a qualification for the happiness of 
 another. 
 
 “ A third precept, first noticed and first en- 
 joined by this institution is charity to all men 
 —‘ Charity suffereth long and is kind, &c.’ 
 ‘A new commandment I give unto you, that 
 you love one another, &c.; by this shall all 
 men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have 
 love one to another.’ This benevolent dispo- 
 sition is made the great characteristic of a 
 Christian—an amiable disposition of mind, 
 exercising itself every hour, in acts of kind- 
 ness, patience, complacency, and benevolence 
 to all around us. ‘ It is a commandment so 
 sublime, so rational, and so beneficent, so wisely 
 calculated to correct the depravity, diminish 
 
232 EVIDENCES 
 
 the wickedness, and abate the miseries of hu- 
 man nature, that did we universally comply 
 with it, we should soon be relieved from all 
 the inquietudes arising from our own unruly 
 passions.” 
 
 ‘‘ Repentance is another new moral duty, 
 strenuously insisted on by this religion, and 
 by no other, because absolutely necessary to 
 the accomplishment of its end ; for this alone 
 ‘can purge us from those transgressions, from 
 which we cannot be totally exempted in this 
 state of trial and temptation, and purify us 
 from that depravity in our nature, which ren- 
 ders us incapable of attaining this end.” 
 
 ‘Faith is another moral duty enjoined by 
 this institution, of a species so new, that the 
 philosophers of antiquity had no word ex- 
 pressive of this idea.” In the New Testament 
 it generally means a humble, teachable, and 
 candid disposition, a trust in God, and confi- 
 dence in his promises; as applied to Christi- 
 anity it means, that Christ was the Messiah, 
 foretold and expected. It is always a direct 
 contrast to pride, obstinacy and self-conceit. 
 ‘‘ We have power over the mind’s eye, as well 
 as the body’s, to shut it against the strongest 
 rays of truth and religion, whenever they be- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 233 
 
 come painful to us, and open it again, to the 
 faint glimmerings of scepticism and infidelity, 
 when we ‘ love darkness rather than light, be- 
 cause our deeds are evil.’..... Men believe 
 and disbelieve any propositions which best 
 suit their interests ;...so that faith is a moral 
 virtue, and is not quite involuntary, and de- 
 pendent on the degree of evidence offered to 
 our understandings.” 
 
 ‘‘ Self-abasement is another moral duty in- 
 culcated by this religion only, which requires 
 us to impute even our own virtues to the grace 
 and favour of our Creator, and to acknowledge 
 that we can do nothing good by our own pow- 
 ers, unless assisted by his over-ruling influence 
 —a doctrine that is productive of so much hu- 
 mility, resignation, and dependence on God, 
 that it justly claims a place among the most 
 illustrious moral virtues. Yet was this duty 
 utterly repugnant to the proud and self-sufh- 
 cient principles of the ancient philosophers, as 
 well as modern Deists, and therefore before 
 the publication of the gospel, totally unknown 
 and uncomprehended.” 
 
 ‘¢ Detachment from the world is another 
 moral virtue constituted by this religion alone ; 
 
 H H 
 
934 - EVIDENCES 
 
 so new, that even at this day few of its pro- 
 fessors can be persuaded that it is required, or 
 that it is any virtue at all. By this detach- 
 ment from the world is not to be understood 
 seclusion from society, &c...... but such an 
 unremitted anxiety and perpetual application 
 as engrosses our whole time and thoughts, are 
 forbid, because they are incompatible with the 
 spirit of this religion, and must utterly dis- 
 qualify us for the attainment of its great end. 
 We toil on in the vain pursuits and frivolous 
 occupations of the world, die in our harness, 
 and then expect, if no gigantic crime stands 
 in the way, to step immediately into the king- 
 dom of heaven. But this is impossible, for 
 without a previous detachment from the busi- 
 ness of this world, we cannot be prepared for 
 the happiness of another..... To this celes- 
 tial mansion we should be ever advancing du- 
 ring our journey through life; but this by no 
 means precludes us from performing the bust- 
 ness or enjoying the amusements of travellers, 
 provided they detain us not too long, or lead 
 us too far out of the way.” 
 
 “The contrast between the Christian and 
 all other institutions, religious or moral, pre- 
 vious to its appearance, is sufficiently evident, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 235 
 
 and surely the superiority of the former is as 
 little to be disputed, unless, &c. &c.” 
 
 The above garbled and most imperfect 
 account will give some general notion of what 
 the author has delivered on the morality of the 
 gospel. It has been entirely approved by Pa- 
 ley; but what Paley says himself is so mas- 
 terly that I shall refer to it hereafter. The 
 author sums up what he has urged in the fol- 
 lowing manner. 
 
 ‘ But if any man can believe that at a time 
 when the literature of Greece and Rome, then -- 
 in their meridian lustre, were insufficient for 
 the task, the son of a carpenter, together with 
 twelve of the meanest and most illiterate me- 
 chanics, his associates, unassisted by any su- 
 pernatural power, should be able to discover 
 or invent a system of theology the most sub- 
 lime, and of ethics the most perfect, which had 
 escaped the penetration and learning of Plato, 
 Aristotle, and Cicero; and that from this sys- 
 tem, by their own sagacity they had excluded 
 every false virtue, though universally admired, 
 and admitted every true virtue, though de- 
 spised and ridiculed by all the rest of the world ; 
 if any one can believe that these men could 
 become impostors, for no other purpose than 
 
236 _ EvimpENcEs 
 
 the propagation of truth, villains for no end 
 but to teach honesty, and martyrs without the 
 least prospect of honour or advantage ; or that, 
 if all this should have been possible, these few 
 inconsiderable persons should have been able 
 in the course of a few years, to have spread 
 this their religion over most parts of the then 
 known world, in opposition to the interests, 
 pleasures, ambition, prejudices, and even rea- 
 son of mankind ; to have triumphed over the 
 power of princes, the intrigues of states, the 
 force of custom, the blindness of zeal, the in- 
 fluence of priests, the arguments of orators, 
 and the philosophy of the world, without any 
 supernatural assistance—if any one can believe 
 all these miraculous events, contradictory to 
 the constant experience of the powers and dis- 
 positions of human nature, he must be possess- 
 ed of much more faith than is necessary to 
 make him a Christian, and remain an unbe- 
 liever from mere credulity.” 
 
 ‘‘ Nor was the propagation of this religion 
 less extraordinary than the religion itself, or 
 less above the reach of all human power, than 
 the discovery of it was above that of all hu- 
 man understanding. It is well known, that in 
 the course of a very few years, it was spread 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. yest 
 
 over all the principal parts of Asia and of Eu- 
 rope, and this by the ministry only of an in- 
 considerable number of the most inconsidera- 
 ble persons, though at this time Paganism was 
 in the highest repute, believed universally by 
 the vulgar, and patronised by the great, &c.” 
 ‘On the preaching of a few fishermen, their 
 altars were deserted, and their deities were 
 dumb. This miracle they undoubtedly per- 
 formed, and this is sufficient to convince us 
 that neither their undertaking nor the execu- 
 tion of it could possibly be their own.” ‘ No .. 
 man who seriously considers the excellence 
 and novelty of its doctrines, the manner in 
 which it was at first propagated through the 
 world, the persons who achieved that won- 
 derful work, and the originality of those wri- 
 tings in which it is still recorded, can possibly 
 believe that it could ever have been the pro- 
 duction of imposture or chance.” 
 
 ‘Tf I have here demonstrated” he proceeds 
 to say, “ the divine origin of the Christian 
 religion, by an argument which cannot be con- 
 futed ; no others, however plausible or nume- 
 rous, founded on probabilities, doubts, and 
 conjectures, can ever disprove it, because if it 
 is once shown to be true, it cannot be false. 
 
238 EvIDENCES 
 
 But as many arguments of this kind have be- 
 wildered some candid and ingenuous minds, I 
 shall here bestow a few lines on those which 
 have the most weight, in order to wipe out, or 
 at least diminish, their perplexing influence. 
 
 ‘‘ But here I must previously observe, that 
 the most insurmountable as well as usual ob- 
 stacle to our belief arises from our passions, 
 appetites, and interests; for faith, being an 
 act of the will, as much as of the understand- 
 ing, we oftener disbelieve for want of inclina- 
 tion, than want of evidence.” 
 
 “Some” he says, “ have asserted, that all 
 revelation from God is incredible, because un- 
 necessary, and unnecessary, because the reason 
 which he has bestowed on man is sufficiently 
 able to discern all the religious and moral du- 
 ties, which he requires of them.” 
 
 ‘* But although human reason,” he replies, 
 “is capable of progression in science, yet the 
 first foundations must be laid in supernatural 
 instruction, for surely no other probable cause 
 can be assigned why one part of mankind 
 should have made such an amazing progress 
 in religious, moral, metaphysical, and philoso- 
 phical inquiries; such wonderful improve- 
 ments in policy, legislation, commerce, and 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 239 
 
 manufactures, while the other part, formed 
 with the same natural capacities, divided only 
 by seas and mountains, should remain during 
 the same number of ages, in a state little su- 
 perior to brutes, without government, without 
 laws or letters, &c. . .. And as reason in her 
 natural state, is thus incapable of making any 
 progress in knowledge, so when furnished with 
 materials by supernatural aid, if left to the 
 guidance of her own wild imaginations, she 
 falls into more numerous and more gross er- 
 rors, than her own native ignorance could ever .. 
 have suggested... . .She has persuaded some, 
 that there is no God; others that there can be 
 no future state: she has taught some, that 
 there is no difference between vice and virtue; 
 and that to cut a man’s throat and to relieve 
 his necessities are actions equally meritorious ; 
 she has convinced many, that they have no 
 free-will in opposition to their own experience ; 
 some, that there can be no such thing as soul 
 or spirit, contrary to their own perceptions ; 
 and others, no such thing as matter or body, 
 in contradiction to their senses. By analyzing 
 all things she can show, that there is nothing 
 in anything ; by perpetual sifting, she can re- 
 duce all existence to the invisible dust of scep- 
 
240 EvIDENCES 
 
 ticism, and by recurring to first principles, 
 prove, to the satisfaction of her followers, that 
 there are no principles at all. How far such 
 a guide is to be depended on in the important 
 concerns of religion and morals, I leave to the 
 judgement of every considerate man to deter- 
 mine.” 
 
 ‘“‘ Others allege that the scriptures cannot 
 be the revelation from God; because in them 
 are to be found errors and inconsistences, fa- 
 bulous stories, false facts, and false philoso- 
 phy; which can never be derived from the 
 fountain of all wisdom and truth. To this I 
 reply, that the scriptures are not revelations 
 from God, but the history of them. The reve- 
 lation itself is derived from God, but the his- 
 tory of it is the production of man, and there- 
 fore the truth of it is not in the least affected 
 by their fallibility, but depends on the inter- 
 nal evidence of its own supernatural excel- 
 lence ia hj Grant, that the Mosaic history 
 of the creation was founded on the erroneous, 
 but popular principles of those early ages;.... 
 will it from thence follow, that Moses could 
 not be a proper instrument in the hands of 
 Providence to impart to the Jews a divine law, 
 because he was not inspired with a foreknow- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 241 
 
 ledge of the Copernican and Newtonian sys- 
 tems! or that Christ must be an impostor, be- 
 cause Moses was not an astronomer?” If the 
 records of this revelation are supposed to be 
 the revelation itself, the least defect discovered 
 in them must be fatal to the whole: the want 
 of this obvious distinction has much injured 
 the Christian cause. ‘‘ We are not to under- 
 stand that every part of this voluminous col- 
 lection of historical, poetical, prophetical, theo- 
 logical, and moral writings, which we call the 
 Bible, was dictated by the immediate influence 
 of divine inspiration. The author of these 
 books pretended to no such infallibility, and if 
 they claim it not for themselves, who has au- 
 thority to claim it for them? Christ required 
 no such belief from those who were willing to 
 be his disciples. He says, “‘ He that believeth 
 on me, hath everlasting life; but where does 
 he say, He that believeth not every word con- 
 tained in the Old Testament, which was then 
 extant, or every word in the New Testament 
 which was to be wrote for the instruction of 
 future generations, hath not everlasting life? 
 .,... Lhe apostles were undoubtedly direct- 
 ed by supernatural influence in all things ne- 
 cessary to the great work which they were ap- 
 II 
 
242 EVIDENCES 
 
 pointed to perform. At particular times, and 
 on particular occasions, they were enabled to 
 utter prophecies, to speak languages, and to 
 work miracles; but in all other circumstances, 
 they seem to have been left to the direction of 
 their own understandings, like other men.” 
 “To some speculative and refined obser- 
 vers, it has appeared incredible that a wise 
 and benevolent Creator should have consti- 
 tuted a world upon one plan, and a religion for 
 it on another; that is, that he should have re- 
 vealed a religion to mankind, which not only 
 contradicts the principal passions and inclina- 
 tions which he has implanted in their natures, 
 but is incompatible with the whole economy 
 of that world which he has created, and in 
 which he has thought proper to place them. . . 
 To all this, I answer, that such indeed is the 
 Christian revelation. .... But they who re- 
 ject it on this account, enter not into the sub- 
 lime spirit of this religion, which is not a code 
 of precise laws, designed for the well-ordering 
 society, adapted to the ends of worldly conve- 
 nience, and amenable to the tribunal of human 
 prudence; but a divine lesson of purity and 
 perfection, so far superior to the low considera- 
 tions of conquest, government, and commerce, 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 943 
 
 that it takes no more notice of them, than of 
 the battles of game-cocks, the policy of bees, 
 or the industry of ants: they recollect not what 
 is the first and principal object of this institu- 
 tion ; that this is not, as has been often repeat- 
 ed, to make us happy, or even virtuous in the 
 present life, for the sake of augmenting our 
 happiness here, but to conduct us through a 
 state of dangers and sufferings, of sin and 
 temptation, in such a manner as to qualify us 
 for the enjoyment of happiness hereafter.” 
 “The great plan and benevolent design of 
 this dispensation is plainly this—to enlighten 
 the minds, purify the religion, and amend the 
 morals of mankind in general, and to select 
 the most meritorious of them to be succes- 
 sively transplanted into the kingdom of heaven. 
 bya as Did every man observe strictly every 
 precept of the gospel, the face of human af- 
 fairs and the economy of the world would in- 
 deed be greatly changed, but surely they would 
 be changed for the better... .. We must not 
 forget, that evils are by it forbid, as well as 
 resistance ; injuries as well as revenge. | But 
 this universal acceptance of such an offer was 
 never expected from so depraved and imper- 
 fect a creature as man, and therefore could 
 
244 EvIDENCES 
 
 never have been any part of the design... . . 
 ‘ Strait is the gate, and narrow the way which 
 leadeth unto life, and few there be that find 
 1th’ 
 
 “ The generality of mankind are actuated 
 by the same motives — fight, scuffle, and 
 scramble for power, riches and pleasure with 
 the same eagerness: all occupations and pro- 
 fessions are exercised with the same alacrity, 
 and there are soldiers, lawyers, statesmen, 
 patriots, and politicians, just as if Christianity 
 had never existed. Thus this wonderful dis- 
 pensation has answered all the purposes for 
 which it was designed. It has enlightened 
 the minds, purified the religion, and amended 
 the morals of mankind; and without subverting 
 the constitution, policy, or business of the 
 world, opened a gate, though a strait one, 
 through which all who are wise enough to 
 choose it, and good enough to be fit for it, 
 may find an entrance into the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 ‘‘ Others have said, that if this revelation 
 had really been from God, his infinite power 
 and goodness could never have suffered it to 
 have been so soon perverted from its original 
 purity, to have continued in a state of corrup- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 945 
 
 tion through the course of so many ages, and 
 at last to have proved so ineffectual to the 
 reformation of mankind. To these I answer, 
 that all this on examination will be found 
 inevitable, from the nature of all revelations 
 communicated to so imperfect a creature as 
 man, and from circumstances peculiar to the 
 rise and progress of the Christian in par- 
 ticular: for when this was first preached to 
 the gentile nations, &c.’—The author here 
 gives a most beautiful history of the rise and 
 progress of Christianity in the world and its 
 subsequent corruptions—so beautiful that it is 
 impossible to garble it or produce a few sen- 
 tences to give some idea of it. “ How far 
 this institution has been effectual to the refor- 
 mation of mankind it is not easy now to 
 ascertain, because the enormities which pre- 
 vailed before the appearance of it are by time 
 so far removed from our sight that they are 
 scarcely visible ; but those of the most gigantic 
 size still remain in the records of history, as 
 monuments of the rest.” A striking account 
 is then given of these enormities, which again 
 cannot be garbled. 
 
 ‘Yet notwithstanding all impediments it 
 has certainly done a great deal towards dimi- 
 
246 EviIvENCEs 
 
 nishing the vices and correcting the dispo- 
 sitions of mankind, and was it universally 
 adopted in belief and practice, would totally 
 eradicate both sin and punishment. But this 
 was never expected or designed, or possible ; 
 because if their existence did not arise from 
 some necessity, to us unknown, they never 
 would have been permitted to exist at all, and 
 therefore they can no more be extirpated than 
 they could have been prevented; for this 
 would certainly be incompatible with the 
 frame and constitution of this world, and in 
 all probability with that of another.” 
 
 ‘ Objections have likewise been raised to 
 the divine authority of this religion from the 
 incredibility of some of its doctrines, particu- 
 larly of those concerning the Trinity and 
 atonement for sin, by the sufferings and death 
 ofMChrister lee That three beings should be 
 one being is a proposition which certainly 
 contradicts reason, that is, ow reason; but it 
 does not from thence follow that it cannot be 
 true; ....1n like manner our reason informs 
 us, that the punishment of the innocent instead 
 of the guilty is diametrically opposite to justice, 
 rectitude, and all pretensions to utility ; but 
 we should also remember that the short line 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 247 
 
 of our reason cannot reach to the bottom of 
 this question ; it cannot inform us by what 
 means either guilt or punishment ever gained 
 a place in the works of a Creator infinitely 
 good and powerful, whose goodness must 
 have induced him, and whose power must 
 have enabled him to exclude them....... 
 Unless we could first resolve that great ques- 
 tion, Whence came evil? we can decide no- 
 thing on the dispensations of providence, 
 because they must necessarily be connected 
 
 with that undiscoverable principle... .. The 
 truth of these doctrines must rest entirely on the 
 authority of those who taught them. .... If 
 
 an able mathematician proves to us the truth 
 of several propositions by demonstrations which 
 we understand, we hesitate not on his autho- 
 rity to assent to others, the process of whose 
 proofs we are not able to follow; why there- 
 fore should we refuse that credit to Christ and 
 his apostles which we think reasonable to give 
 to one another ? 
 
 “ Many have objected to the whole scheme 
 of this revelation, as partial, fluctuating, in- 
 determinate, unjust, and unworthy of an om- 
 niscient and omnipotent Being, who cannot 
 be supposed to have favoured particular per- 
 
248 EvIDENCES 
 
 sons, countries, and times, with this divine 
 communication, &c..... To all this I shall 
 only say, that however unaccountable this may 
 appear to us, who see but as small a part of 
 the Christian as of the universal plan of 
 creation, they are both in all these circum- 
 stances exactly analogous to each other. In 
 all the dispensations of Providence, with which 
 we are acquainted, benefits are distributed in 
 a similar manner, health and strength, sense 
 and science, &c...... The whole economy 
 of this world consists of evils and remedies. 
 sk 2S Why the constitution of nature is so 
 formed, why all the visible dispensations of 
 Providence are such, and why such is the 
 Christian dispensation also, we know not, nor 
 have faculties to comprehend. God might 
 certainly have made the material world a sys- 
 tem of perfect beauty and regularity, without 
 evils and without remedies...... It seems, 
 indeed, to our ignorance, that this would have 
 been consistent with justice and reason, but 
 his infinite wisdom has decided in another 
 manner, and formed the systems both of nature 
 and Christianity on other principles, and these 
 so exactly similar, that we have cause to con- 
 clude that they both must proceed from the 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 249 
 
 same source of divine power and wisdom, 
 however inconsistent with our reason they 
 may appear. Reason is undoubtedly our 
 surest guide in all matters which le within 
 the narrow circle of her intelligence. On the 
 subject of revelation her province is only to 
 examine into its authority, and when that is 
 once proved, she has no more to do but to 
 acquiesce in its doctrines, and therefore is 
 never so ill employed as when she pretends 
 to accommodate them to her own ideas of 
 rectitude and truth. God, says this self- 
 sufficient teacher, is perfectly wise, just, and 
 good; and what is the inference! That all 
 his dispensations must be conformable to our 
 notions of perfect wisdom, justice, and good- 
 ness. But it should first be proved that man 
 is as perfect and as wise as his Creator, or this 
 consequence will by no means follow; but 
 rather the reverse, that is, that the dispensa- 
 tions of a perfect and all-wise Being must pro- 
 bably appear unreasonable, and perhaps unjust, 
 to a being imperfect and ignorant... .. Nor 
 is it the least surprising that we are not able 
 to understand the spiritual dispensations of 
 the Almighty when his material works are to 
 us no less incomprehensible” —how any union 
 KK 
 
250 EvIDENCES 
 
 can be formed between material and imma- 
 terial essences, &c.—-how the anxieties of the 
 soul can emaciate and destroy the body. 
 ‘That all these things are so, we have visible 
 and indisputable demonstration ; but how they 
 can be so, is to us as incomprehensible as the 
 most abstruse mysteries of revelation can pos- 
 Biplye beng If a revelation from such a 
 Being, on such subjects, was in every part 
 familiar to our understandings and consonant 
 to our reason, we should have great cause to 
 suspect its divine authority, and therefore had 
 this revelation been less incomprehensible, it 
 would certainly have been more incredible. 
 
 ‘‘ But I shall not enter further into the con- 
 sideration of these abstruse and difficult specu- 
 lations, because the discussion of them would 
 render this short essay too tedious and labo- 
 rious a task for the perusal of them for whom 
 it was principally intended; which are all 
 those busy or idle persons whose time and 
 thoughts are wholly engrossed by the pursuits 
 of business or pleasure, ambition or luxury; 
 who know nothing of this religion, except 
 what they have accidentally picked up by 
 ’ desultory conversation or superficial reading, 
 and have thence determined with themselves 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 951 
 
 that a pretended revelation, founded on so 
 strange and improbable a story, so contra- 
 dictory to reason, so adverse to the world and 
 all its occupations, so incredible in its doc- 
 trines, and in its precepts so impracticable, 
 can be nothing more than the imposition of 
 priestcraft upon ignorant and illiterate ages, 
 Nw ea. To talk to such about the Christian 
 religion is to converse with the blind on the 
 beauties of painting—they want all ideas re- 
 lative to the subject...... ‘The preaching 
 Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling- 
 block, and to the Greeks foolishness ;’ and so 
 it must appear to all who, like them, judge 
 from established prejudices, false learning, and 
 superficial knowledge ; for those who are quite 
 unable to follow the chain of its prophecy, to 
 see the beauty and justness of its moral pre- 
 cepts, and to enter into the wonders of its 
 dispensation, can form no other idea of this 
 revelation, but that of a confused rhapsody of 
 fictions and absurdities. 
 
 “¢Tf it is asked, Was Christianity then in- 
 tended only for learned divines and profound 
 philosophers * I answer, No; it was at first 
 preached by the illiterate, and received by the 
 ignorant, and to such are the practical, which 
 
252 EVIDENCES 
 
 are the most necessary parts of it, sufficiently 
 intelligible. But the proofs of its authority 
 undoubtedly are not; because these must be 
 chiefly drawn from other parts, of a specula- 
 tive nature, opening to our inquiries inexhaus- 
 tible discoveries, concerning the nature, attri- 
 butes, and dispensations of God, which cannot 
 be understood without some learning and much 
 attention. From these the generality of man- 
 kind must necessarily be excluded, and must 
 therefore trust to others, for the ground of their 
 belief, if they believe at all. And hence per- 
 haps it is, that faith or easiness of belief is so 
 frequently and so strongly recommended in the 
 gospel ; because if men require proofs, of which 
 they themselves are incapable, and those who 
 have no knowledge on this important subject 
 will not place some confidence in those who 
 have, the illiterate and unattentive must ever 
 continue in a state of unbelief. But then all 
 such should remember, that in all sciences, &c. 
 
 . and they ought surely to conclude, that 
 it may be at least as possible for them to be 
 mistaken in disbelieving this revelation, who 
 know nothing of the matter, as for those oreat 
 masters of reason and erudition, Grotius, Ba- 
 
 bd 
 
 con, &c.” And the author then proceeds in 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 253 
 
 the way I have already noted, giving the pas- 
 sage I have quoted at the beginning of this 
 description of his work—‘“ Grotius, Bacon, 
 Newton, &c.,” which is the conclusion of the 
 whole. 
 
 Now this is surely a most striking view of 
 the internal evidences of the religion—that 
 evidence which addresses itself to the feelings 
 and intuitions of the taste, the mind, and the 
 heart of the inquirer, not, as does the evidence 
 arising from the prophecies and the miracles, 
 to the logic of the understanding. No doubt 
 these two descriptions of evidence naturally 
 are connected and often run into each other, 
 nor is it necessary at all to separate them ; but 
 the former is most fitted to influence such per- 
 sons, as the author had in view the people he 
 lived with in society ; and his book had a very 
 great effect, and must always have a great ef- 
 fect, though it was considered as objectionable 
 in some of its passages, from the fearless and 
 paradoxical nature of many of the admissions 
 and some of the reasonings; still, to the gene- 
 ral argument, fairly considered, I see not what 
 answer can be given, and the divine authority 
 of the religion must be conceded, notwith- 
 standing all the objections which present them- 
 
254 EvIpENCES 
 
 selves to the inquirer, and which the author 
 states in the most forcible manner, and to 
 which he returns the most spirited, and to a 
 mind properly prepared by learning and in- 
 quiry, satisfactory answers—answers at least, 
 to which no reply can be well made, and that 
 must be acquiesced in—whether willingly or 
 not, must be acquiesced in. At present we 
 know nothing of the origin of evil, nor is it 
 allowed us to know; and this mystery is at the 
 bottom of all our doubts and difficulties, and 
 of all our melancholy helpless feelings, when- 
 ever they arise; but a future life may solve 
 all, and we have only to think humbly and to 
 hope humbly, and prepare ourselves by our 
 conduct here, for another state of superior 
 knowledge and happiness hereafter. 
 
 But the observations of our author on the 
 morality of the gospel are so striking and so 
 unexpected, and will appear at first sight so 
 objectionable, that the subject requires some 
 consideration. Courage and patriotism have 
 ever been considered as virtues amonest man- 
 kind; the feelings of friendship our Saviour 
 himself exhibited—John was the disciple he 
 loved—he shed tears over Lazarus—he recom- 
 mended his mother to the care of his disciple 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 955 
 
 —he was tender and compassionate to the 
 feelings and imperfect character of Peter; 
 these virtues are surely not fictitious virtues, 
 “ founded on false principles, and producing 
 no salutary effects, and therefore no virtues at 
 all.” The author should have been contented 
 with saying that they were judiciously omitted, 
 and not have decried them, as having really 
 no intrinsic merit in them—not have endea- 
 voured to show this, by caricaturing them, 
 and exhibiting them in their abuse. The 
 whole subject, however, is so important, and 
 is so admirably stated and adjusted by Paley, 
 and our author's views are adopted so judi- 
 ciously, as far as they are reasonable, that 
 reference must be had to this part of Paley’s 
 invaluable work on the Evidences. 
 
 “The division,” says he, “ under which 
 the subject may be most conveniently treated, 
 is that of the things taught, and the manner 
 of teaching. 
 
 ‘Under the first head, I should willingly, 
 if the limits and nature of my work admitted 
 of it, transcribe into this chapter the whole of 
 what has been said upon the morality of the 
 gospel, by the author of The Internal Evi- 
 
 dence; because it perfectly agrees with my 
 
256 EVIDENCES 
 
 own opinion, and because it is impossible to 
 say the same things so well. This acute ob- 
 server of human nature appears to me to have 
 made out satisfactorily the two following posi- 
 tions, viz. That the gospel omits some qualities 
 which have usually engaged the praises and 
 admiration of mankind; and has brought for- 
 ward some virtues which possess the highest 
 intrinsic value, and which have commonly been 
 overlooked and condemned..... The truth is, 
 there are two opposite descriptions of charac- 
 ter, under which mankind may generally be 
 classed; .... and no two things can be more 
 different, than the Heroic and the Christian 
 characters ”—active courage and passive cour- 
 age. 
 
 “ Now the author, to whom I refer, has not 
 only marked this difference more strongly than 
 any preceding writer, but has proved, in con- 
 tradiction to first impressions, to popular opi- 
 nion, to the encomiums of orators and poets, 
 and even to the suffrages of historians and 
 moralists, that the latter character possesses 
 the most of true worth, both as being most 
 difficult either to be acquired or sustained, and 
 as contributing most to the happiness and 
 tranquillity of social life.” 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. oT 
 
 Now if the author had been contented with 
 insisting upon the comparative merit of these 
 opposite virtues, as Paley here supposes, his 
 view would have been not only sufficiently 
 accurate, but sufhciently original; but surely 
 the author insists upon a great deal more, and 
 more than any intelligent moralist can admit. 
 The remaining remarks of Paley are, however, 
 very valuable. 
 
 ‘The preference of the patient to the heroic 
 character,” says he, “ which we have here 
 noticed, and which the reader will find ex- 
 plained at large in the work to which we have 
 referred him, is a peculiarity in the Christian 
 institution, which I propose as an argument 
 of wisdom very much beyond the situation 
 and natural character of the person who de- 
 livered it.” 
 
 ‘“‘ A second argument, drawn from the mo- 
 rality of the New Testament, is the stress 
 which is laid by our Saviour upon the regula- 
 tion of the thoughts.” The Saviour “makes 
 the control of thought essential. Internal 
 purity with him is every thing. Now I con- 
 tend that this is the only discipline which can 
 succeed.” “ Our Saviour,” said Boerhaave, 
 ‘© knew mankind better than Socrates.” 
 
 Leb 
 
958 EVIDENCES 
 
 “ Thirdly, had a teacher of morality been 
 asked concerning a general principle of con- 
 duct, and had he instructed the person who 
 consulted him constantly to refer his actions 
 to what he believed to be the will of his Cre- 
 ator, and constantly to have in view, not his 
 own interest and gratification alone, but the 
 happiness and comfort of those about him, he 
 would have been thought in any age of the 
 world, and in any, even the most improved 
 state of morals, to have delivered a judicious 
 answer.’ Now upon just such an occasion 
 our Saviour said, ‘‘ Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
 soul, and with all thy mind ; this is the first 
 and great commandment: and the second is 
 like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself.” ‘‘ And what our Saviour had said 
 upon the subject appears to me to have fixed 
 the sentiment amongst his followers.” 
 
 “A fourth quality, by which the morality of 
 the gospel is distinguished, is the exclusion of 
 regard to fame and reputation.” “I do not 
 think that in any passage of the New Testa- 
 ment, the pursuit of fame is stated as a vice; 
 it is only said, that an action to be virtuous, 
 must be independent of it. I would also ob- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 259 
 
 serve, that it is not publicity, but ostentation, 
 which is prohibited.” 
 
 «“ The true virtue is that which discards 
 these considerations absolutely, and which 
 retires from them all to the single internal 
 purpose of pleasing God. This at least was 
 the virtue which our Saviour taught. And in 
 teaching this, he not only confined the views 
 of his followers to the proper measure and 
 principle of human duty, but acted in con- 
 sistency with his office as a monitor from 
 heaven.” 
 
 And next with respect to the manner of 
 his teaching. 
 
 ‘¢ His instructions were conceived in short, 
 emphatic, sententious rules, in occasional re- 
 flections, or in round maxims..... He pro- 
 duced himself as a messenger from God. He 
 put the truth of what he taught upon authority. 
 In the choice, therefore, of his mode of teach- 
 ing the purpose by him to be consulted was 
 impression.” Under the circymstances in 
 which he was placed, nothing was so likely 
 to be efficacious as leaving wherever he came 
 concise lessons of duty. 
 
 ‘“¢ It is incidental to this mode of moral in- 
 struction, which proceeds not by proof but 
 
260 EVIDENCES 
 
 upon authority, not by disquisition but by 
 precept, that the rules will be conceived in 
 absolute terms, leaving the application, and 
 the distinctions that attend them, to the reason 
 of the hearer. It is likewise to be expected 
 that they will be delivered in terms by so much 
 the more forcible and energetic, as they have 
 to encounter natural or general propensities. 
 It is further also to be remarked, that many 
 of those strong instances which appear in our 
 Lord’s sermon, such as, ‘If any man will smite 
 thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other 
 also ;’ ‘ If any man will sue thee at the law, 
 and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke 
 also ;’ ‘ Whoever shall compel thee to go a 
 mile, go with him twain ;’ though they appear 
 in the form of specific precepts, are intended 
 as descriptive of disposition and. character. 
 A specific compliance with the precepts would 
 be of little value, but the disposition which 
 they inculcate is of the highest.”’ 
 
 “If it be said that this disposition is unat- 
 tainable, I answer, so is all perfection: ought 
 therefore a moralist to recommend imperfec- 
 tions! One excellency, however, of our Sa- 
 viour’s rules is, that they are either never mis- 
 taken, or never so mistaken as to do harm..... 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 261 
 
 The Christian world has hitherto suffered little 
 by too much placability or forbearance. .... To 
 teach morality at all was only a subordinate 
 part of our Saviour’s design; his great busi- 
 ness being to supply what was much more 
 wanting than lessons of morality, stronger 
 moral sanctions, and clearer assurances of a 
 future judgment. 
 
 “The parables of the New Testament are, 
 many of them, such as would have done 
 honour to any book in the world; I do not 
 mean in style and diction, but in the choice 
 of the subjects, in the structure of the narra- 
 tives, the aptness, propriety, and force of the 
 circumstances woven into them; and in some, 
 as that of the good Samaritan, the Prodigal 
 Son, the Pharisee and the Publican, and in 
 union of pathos and simplicity, which, in the 
 best productions of human genius, 1s the fruit 
 only of a much-exercised and well-cultivated 
 judgment. 
 
 “ The Lord’s Prayer, for a @uccession of 
 solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention upon 
 a few great points, for suitableness to every 
 condition, for sufficiency, for conciseness with- 
 out obscurity, for the weight and real impor- 
 tance of its petitions, is without an equal or a 
 
262 EVIDENCES 
 
 rival. From whence did these come? Whence 
 had this man his wisdom ?” 
 
 ‘‘ But there is still another view, in which 
 our Lord’s discourses deserve to be considered : 
 and that is, in their negative character—not 
 in what they did, but in what they did not, 
 contain. 
 
 “They exhibit no particular description of 
 the invisible world..... I lay a stress upon 
 this reserve, because it repels the suspicion of 
 enthusiasm ; for enthusiasm is wont to expa- 
 tiate upon the condition of the departed, above 
 all other subjects, and with a wild particu- 
 larity. It is moreover a topic which is always 
 listened to with greediness. The teacher, 
 therefore, whose principal purpose is to draw 
 upon himself attention, is sure to be full of it. 
 The Koran of Mahomet is half made up of it. 
 
 “ Our Lord enjoined no austerities. He 
 not only enjoined none as absolute duties, but 
 he recommended none as carrying men to a 
 higher degree of divine favour. Place Chris- 
 tianity, in this respect, by the side of all in- 
 stitutions which have been founded in the 
 fanaticism, either of their author, or of his first 
 followers; or rather compare, in this respect, 
 Christianity as it came from Christ, with the 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 263 
 
 same religion after it fell into other hands; 
 with the extravagant merit very soon ascribed 
 to celibacy, solitude, voluntary poverty ; with 
 the rigours of an ascetic, and the vows of a 
 monastic life; the hair shirt, the watchings, 
 the midnight prayers, the obmutescence, the 
 gloom and mortification of religious orders, 
 and of those who aspired to religious perfec- 
 tion. 
 
 ‘Our Saviour uttered no impassioned de- 
 votion. There was no heat in his piety, or 
 in the language in which he expressed it; no 
 vehement or rapturous ejaculations, no violent 
 urgency in his prayers. The Lord’s Prayer 
 is a model of calm devotion. His words in 
 the garden are unaffected expressions, of a 
 deep indeed, but sober piety. He never ap- 
 pears to have been worked up into anything 
 like that elation or that emotion of spirits, 
 which is occasionally observed in most of 
 those, to whom the name of enthusiast can in 
 any degree be applied.” 
 
 “ Tt is very usual with the human mind, to 
 substitute forwardness and fervency in a par- 
 ticular cause, for the merit of general and 
 regular morality; and it is natural, and po- 
 litic also, in the leader of a sect or party, to 
 
264 EVIDENCES 
 
 encourage such a disposition in his followers. 
 Christ did not overlook this turn of thought ; 
 yet, though avowedly placing himself at the 
 head of a new institution, he notices it, only 
 to condemn it. ‘ Not every one that saith 
 unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of 
 my Father which is in heaven. Many will 
 say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we 
 not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name 
 have cast out devils? and in thy name done 
 many wonderful works? And then will I pro- 
 fess unto you, I never knew you: depart from 
 me, ye that work iniquity.” 
 
 ‘Nor did he fall in with any of the de- 
 praved fashions of his country, or with the 
 natural bias of his own education. Bred up 
 a Jew, under a religion extremely technical, 
 in an age and amongst a people more tena- 
 cious of the ceremonies than of any other part 
 of that religion, he delivered an institution,’ 
 containing less of ritual, and that more simple, 
 than is to be found in any religion which ever 
 prevailed amongst mankind. We have known, 
 I do allow, examples of an enthusiasm, which 
 has swept away all external ordinances before 
 it. But this spirit certainly did not dictate 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 265 
 
 our Saviour’s conduct, either in his treatment 
 of the religion of his country, or in the forma- 
 tion of his own institution. In both he dis- 
 played the soundness and moderation of his 
 judement...... All this might be expected 
 perhaps from a well instructed, cool, and ju- 
 dicious philosopher, but was not to be looked 
 for from an illiterate Jew, certainly not from 
 an impetuous enthusiast. 
 
 “ Nothing could be more quibbling, than 
 were the comments and expositions of the Jew- 
 ish doctors, at that time; nothing so puerile 
 as their distinctions. Their evasion of the fifth 
 commandment, their exposition of the law of 
 oaths, are specimens of the bad taste in morals 
 which then prevailed. Whereas, in a nume- 
 rous collection of our Saviour’s apothegms, 
 many of them referring to sundry precepts of 
 the Jewish law, there is not to be found one 
 example of sophistry, or of false subtilty, or of 
 anything approaching thereunto. 
 
 ‘¢ The national temper of the Jews was in- 
 tolerant, narrow-minded, and excluding. In 
 Jesus, on the contrary, whether we regard his 
 lessons or his example, we see not only bene- 
 volence, but benevolence the most enlarged 
 and comprehensive.” 
 
 M M 
 
266 EVIDENCES 
 
 “ Lastly, amongst the negative qualities of 
 our religion, as it came out of the hands of its 
 Founder and his apostles, we may reckon its 
 complete abstraction from all views either of 
 ecclesiastical or civil policy.” The Saviour 
 declined every question on these subjects— 
 ‘© Man, who made me a ruler or a judge over 
 you?” “ Whilst politicians are disputing about 
 monarchies, aristocracies, and republics, the 
 gospel is alike applicable, useful, and friendly 
 to them all..... Had there been more to be 
 found in scripture of a political nature, or con- 
 vertible to political purposes, the worst use 
 would have been made of it, on whichever side 
 it seemed to lie. 
 
 ‘¢ ‘When, therefore, we consider Christ as a 
 moral teacher—(remembering that this was 
 only a secondary part of his office, and that 
 morality, by the nature of the subject, does not 
 admit of discovery, properly so called)—when 
 we consider either what he taught, or what he 
 did not teach, either the substance or the man- 
 ner of his instruction; his preference of solid 
 to popular virtues, of a character which is com- 
 monly despised to a character which is univer- 
 sally extolled; his placing on our licentious 
 vices, the check in the right place, viz. upon 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 967 
 
 the thoughts; his collecting of human duty 
 into two well devised rules, his repetition of 
 these rules, the stress he laid upon them, es- 
 pecially in comparison with positive duties, 
 and his fixing thereby the sentiments of his 
 followers; his exclusion of all regard to repu- 
 tation in our devotion and alms, and by parity 
 of reason, in other virtues ;—when we consider 
 that his instructions were delivered in a form 
 calculated for impression, the precise purpose 
 in his situation to be consulted ; and that they 
 were illustrated by parables, the choice and 
 structure of which would have been admired 
 in any composition whatever ;—when we ob- 
 serve him free from the usual symptoms of en- 
 thusiasm, heat and vehemence in devotion, 
 austerity in institutions, and a wild particula- 
 rity in the description of a future state; free 
 also from the depravities of his age and coun- 
 try; without superstition among the most su- 
 perstitious of men, yet not decrying positive 
 distinctions or external observances, but so- 
 berly calling them to the principle of their es- 
 tablishment, and to their place in the scale of 
 human duties; without sophistry or trifling, 
 amidst teachers remarkable for nothing so 
 
268 EVIDENCES 
 
 much as frivolous subtleties and quibbling ex- 
 positions ; candid and liberal in his judgment 
 of the rest of mankind, although belonging to 
 a people who affected a separate claim to di- 
 vine favour, and in consequence of that opinion, 
 prone to uncharitableness, partiality and _re- 
 striction ;—when we find in his religion, no 
 scheme of building up a hierarchy, or of minis- 
 tering to the views of human governments; 
 —in a word, when we compare Christianity, 
 as it came from its author, either with other 
 religions, or with itself in other hands, the 
 most reluctant understanding will be induced 
 to acknowledge that there is here a mass of 
 internal evidence, that religion came from 
 God, not to be resisted.” 
 
 “What was Jesus in external appearance? 
 A Jewish peasant, the son of a carpenter, living 
 with his father and mother in a remote pro- 
 vince of Palestine, until the time that he pro- 
 duced himself in his public character. He had 
 no master to instruct or prompt him; he had 
 read no books, but the works of Moses and 
 the prophets ; he had visited no polished cities ; 
 he had received no lessons from Socrates or 
 Plato—nothing to form in him a taste or jude- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 269 
 
 ment different from that of the rest of his coun- 
 trymen, and of persons in the same rank of 
 life with himself.” 
 
 “Who were his coadjutors in the under- 
 taking ?—the persons into whose hands the 
 religion came after his death; a few fishermen 
 upon the lake of Tiberias, persons just as un- 
 educated, and, for the purpose of framing rules 
 of morality, as unpromising as himself. Sup- 
 pose the mission to be real, all this is account- 
 ed for; the unsuitableness of the authors to 
 the production, of the characters to the under- 
 taking, no longer surprises us: but without 
 reality, it is very difficult to explain, how such 
 a system should proceed from such persons.” 
 
 ‘‘The character of Christ is a part of the 
 morality of the gospel; one strong observation 
 of which is, that neither as represented by his 
 followers, nor as attacked by his enemies, is 
 he charged with any personal vice. This re- 
 mark is as old as Origen. . . . Some stain pol- 
 lutes the morals or the morality of almost every 
 other teacher, and of every other lawgiver.” 
 
 “In the histories which are left us of Jesus 
 Christ, although very short, and although deal- 
 ing in narrative, and not in observation or pa- 
 negyric, we perceive, beside the absence of 
 
270 EvIDENCES 
 
 every appearance of vice, traces of devotion, 
 humility, benignity, mildness, patience, pru- 
 dence. I speak of traces of these qualities, 
 because the qualities themselves are to be col- 
 lected from incidents; inasmuch as the terms 
 are never used of Christ in the gospels, nor is 
 any formal character of him drawn in any part 
 of the New Testament.” 
 
 ‘‘ Thus we see the devoutness of his mind 
 in his frequent retirement to solitary prayer ; 
 in his habitual giving of thanks; in his refe- 
 rence of the beauties and operations of nature 
 to the bounty of Providence; in his earnest 
 addresses to his Father, more particularly that 
 short but solemn one before the raising of La- 
 zarus from the dead; and in the deep piety of 
 his behaviour in the garden on the last even- 
 ing of his life: his humility, in his constant 
 reproof of contentions for superiority : the be- 
 nignity and affectionateness of his temper, in 
 his kindness to children; in the tears which 
 he shed over his falling country, and upon the 
 death of his friend; in his noticing of the 
 widow’s mite; in his parables of the good 
 Samaritan, of the ungrateful servant, and of 
 the Pharisee and publican, of which parables 
 no one but a man of humanity could have 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. O7T 
 
 been the author: the mildness and lenity of 
 his character is discovered, in his rebuke of 
 the forward zeal of his disciples at the Sama-: 
 ritan village; in his expostulation with Pilate; 
 in his prayer for his enemies, at the moment 
 of his suffering, which, though it has been 
 since very properly and frequently imitated, 
 was then, I apprehend, new. His prudence 
 is discerned, where prudence is most wanted, 
 in his conduct on trying occasions, and in an- 
 swers to artful questions. Of these, the fol- 
 lowing are examples ;-—his withdrawing, in 
 various instances, from the first symptoms of 
 tumult, and with the express care, as appears 
 from St. Matthew, of carrying on his ministry 
 in quietness ; his declining of every species of 
 interference with the civil affairs of the coun- 
 try, which disposition is manifested by his be- 
 haviour in the case of the woman caught in 
 adultery, and in his repulse of the application 
 which was madeto him to interpose his decision 
 about a disputed inheritance: his judicious, 
 yet, as it should seem, unprepared answers, 
 will be confessed in the case of the Roman 
 tribute; in the difficulty concerning the inter- 
 fering relations of a future state, as proposed 
 to him in the instance of a woman who had 
 
Bp EVIDENCES 
 
 married seven brethren ; and, more especially, 
 in his reply to those who demanded from him 
 an explanation of the authority by which he 
 acted.” 
 
 “ Our Saviour’s lessons, beside what has 
 already been remarked in them, touch, and 
 that oftentimes, by very affecting representa- 
 tions, upon some of the most interesting topics 
 of human duty, and of human meditations; 
 upon the principles, by which the decisions of 
 the last day will be regulated; upon the su- 
 perior, or rather the supreme importance of 
 religion; upon penitence, by the most press- 
 ing calls and the most encouraging invitation ; 
 upon self-denial, watchfulness, placability, con- 
 fidence in God, the value of spiritual, that is, 
 of mental worship, the necessity of moral obe- 
 dience, and the directing of that obedience to 
 the spirit and principle of the law, instead of 
 seeking for evasions in a technical construction 
 of its terms. 
 
 ‘‘ If we extend our argument to other parts 
 of the New Testament, we may offer, as 
 amongst the best and shortest rules of life, or, 
 which is the same thing, descriptions of virtue, 
 that have ever been delivered, the following 
 passages :—‘ Pure religion, and undefiled, be- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. Lee 
 
 fore God and the Father, is this; to visit the 
 fatherless and widows in their affliction, and 
 to keep himself unspotted from the world.’ 
 ‘ Now the end of the commandment is charity, 
 out of a pure heart and a goodconscience, and 
 faith unfeigned.’ ‘ For the grace of God that 
 bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, 
 teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righte- 
 ously, and godly in this present world.’ Enu- 
 merations of virtues and vices, and those sufh- 
 ciently accurate, and unquestionably just, are 
 given by Saint Paul to his converts in three 
 several epistles.” 
 
 ‘¢ Lastly, the whole volume of the New Tes- 
 tament is replete with piety ; with what were 
 almost unknown to heathen moralists, devo- 
 tional virtues, the most profound veneration of 
 the Deity, an habitual sense of his bounty and 
 protection, a firm confidence in the final result 
 of his counsels and dispensations, a disposition 
 to resort, upon all occasions, to his mercy, for 
 the supply of human wants, for assistance in 
 danger, for relief from pain, for the pardon for 
 sin.” 
 
 Such are the admirable remarks of Paley. 
 
 The internal evidence of Christianity is a 
 
 NN 
 
O74 EvIDENCEsS 
 
 large subject, but some notion of it may be 
 formed from what has been now produced ; 
 in many cases, the intuition to be derived from 
 it flows in upon the mind like a sensation ; but 
 intuitions of this kind will best be derived by 
 a watchful observation of the different inci- 
 dents, that present themselves in the perusal 
 of the gospels; it is not thus that men invent 
 —this is the important observation that con- 
 tinually occurs ; the whole is simple, unaffect- 
 ed, undisguised truth. The evangelists anti- 
 cipated no objections—never seem to have 
 supposed that there could be any—in short, 
 thought of nothing else, but stating the facts. 
 
 In continuance of this subject of the in- 
 ternal evidence, Paley’s observations are quite 
 invaluable. Of course they will be well me- 
 ditated, as indeed the whole of his works must 
 be, by any inquirer. Thus he has a chapter 
 on the Candour of the Writers of the New 
 Testament :— 
 
 ‘¢T make this candour,” he says, ‘* consist 
 in their putting down many passages, and no- 
 ticing many circumstances, which no writer 
 whatever was likely to have forged ; and which 
 no writer would have chosen to appear in his 
 book, who had been careful to present the 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 975 
 
 story in the most unexceptionable form, or who 
 had thought himself at liberty to carve and 
 mould the particulars of that story, according 
 to his choice, or according to his judgment of 
 the effect. , 
 
 “ A strong and well-known example of the 
 fairness of the evangelists, offers itself in their 
 account of Christ’s resurrection; namely, in 
 their stating, that, after he was risen, he ap- 
 peared to his disciples alone...... Peter is 
 made to say, ‘ Him God raised up the third 
 day, and showed him openly, not to all the 
 people, but to witnesses chosen before of God, 
 even to us, who did eat and drink with him 
 after he rose from the dead.’. . . . If the apos- 
 tles had thought of anything but of the truth 
 of the case, as they understood and believed 
 it, they would, in their account of Christ’s se- 
 veral appearances after his resurrection, at least 
 have omitted this restriction.” ‘‘ Again, ‘ From 
 that time,’ says St. John, ‘ many of his disci- 
 ples went back, and walked no more with him.’ 
 Was it the part of a writer who dealt in sup- 
 pression and disguise, to put down this anec- 
 dote?” 
 
 Other instances are given. Paley notices 
 also ‘‘ the extreme naturalness of some of the 
 
276 EvIDENCES 
 
 things related in the New Testament. ‘ Jesus 
 said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things 
 are possible to him that believeth. And straight- 
 way the father of the child cried out, and said 
 with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine 
 unbelief.’” I was myself always particularly 
 struck with this passage, which Paley has 
 brought forward ; it is vivid reality. In like 
 manner I was always very much struck by the 
 following passage in the 12th chapter of Acts 
 —“* And as Peter [who was supposed to be in 
 prison] knocked at the door of the gate, a 
 damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And 
 when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not 
 the gate for gladness ; but ran in, and told how 
 Peter stood before the gate. And they said 
 unto her, thou art mad, but she constantly af- 
 firmed, that it was even so. Then'said they, 
 itis hisangel. And Peter continued knocking, 
 and when they had opened the door and saw 
 him, they stood astonished.” ‘ She opened 
 not the door for gladness”— what nature, what 
 reality, what truth ! 
 
 Again, “the eagerness of the people to 
 introduce Christ into Jerusalem and their de- 
 mand, a short time afterwards of his cruci- 
 fixion, when he did not turn out what they 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. O77 
 
 expected him to be, so far from affording mat- 
 ter of objection, represents popular favour in 
 exact agreement with nature and with expe- 
 rience, as the flux and reflux of a wave.” 
 There is a beautiful chapter, which could 
 have been written only by Paley, on what he 
 calls the Identity of Christ’s Character. Thus 
 he observes, that though St. John wrote after 
 the other three evangelists, and though the 
 actions and discourses ascribed to Christ by 
 St. John, are different, yet still, that the man- 
 ner is the same; which indicates that the ac- 
 tions and discourses proceeded from the same 
 person. This agreement of manner is most 
 visible in our Saviour’s mode of teaching, in 
 his raising reflections from the objects and in- 
 cidents before him; thus—‘“ Suffer little chil- 
 dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, 
 for of such is the kingdom of God: verily I 
 say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the 
 kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not 
 enter therein:” Mark x. ‘‘ Verily I say unto 
 you, ye seek me not because ye saw the mi- 
 racles, but because ye did eat of the loaves 
 and were filled. Labour not for the meat 
 which perisheth, but for that meat which en- 
 dureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of 
 
278 EVIDENCES 
 
 man shall give unto you:” John vi. Other 
 instances are given, and Paley then observes, 
 ‘it was a very unlikely manner for any forger 
 or fabulist to attempt; and very difficult for 
 any writer to execute, if he had to supply all 
 the materials, both the incidents and the ob- 
 servations upon them, out of his own head.” 
 
 Again—Christ calls himself the Son of 
 Man, in all the Gospels—but the term is ne- 
 ver used of him, or towards him, by any other 
 person. 
 
 Again—all the different evangelists repre- 
 sent Christ, as withdrawing himself out of the 
 way, whenever the behaviour of the multitude 
 indicated a disposition to tumult. 
 
 Again—in all the evangelists it appears 
 that the disciples never could understand our 
 Lord, when he spoke to them of the future 
 part of his history, especially of what related 
 to his passion and resurrection—in St. John, 
 as in the rest, there is the same difficulty of 
 apprehension, the same curiosity, and the same 
 restraint—the disciples, no doubt, like the rest 
 of the Jews, could think of nothing but of his 
 temporal greatness—“ that it was he, who 
 was to have redeemed Israel.” 
 
 Again—“ the meekness of Christ during 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 279 
 
 his last sufferings, which is conspicuous in the 
 narrative of the first three evangelists, is pre- 
 served in that of St. John under separate ex- 
 amples.” Again, the three evangelists record 
 the devotion of the Saviour in the garden, im- 
 mediately before he was apprehended ; and he 
 is made to pray, ‘that the cup might pass 
 from him.” St. John does not give the scene 
 in the garden, but he represents the Saviour 
 as using the same metaphor, when reproving 
 Peter—* the cup which my father hath given 
 me, shall I not drink it?” This is a coincidence 
 between writers, in whose narrative there is no 
 imitation, but great diversity. 
 
 Again—there is a correspondency too, about 
 destroying the temple. The three evangelists 
 inform us not, upon what circumstance this 
 accusation of the Jews was founded. St. John, 
 however, mentions, that the Jews asked the 
 Saviour—“ What sign showeth thou unto us?” 
 and that he answered, “ Destroy this temple, 
 and in three days I will raise it up.” 
 
 Again—“ the first three evangelists have 
 related the appointment of the twelve apostles; 
 and have given a catalogue of their names 
 in form, John, without ever mentioning the 
 appointment, or giving the catalogue, supposes, 
 
280 EVIDENCES 
 
 throughout his whole narrative, Christ to be 
 accompanied by a select party of disciples ; 
 the number of these to be twelve; and when- 
 ever he happens to notice any one as of that 
 number, it is one included in the catalogue of 
 the other evangelists.” “ All this” says Paley, 
 “ bespeaks reality.” This is a faint sketch of 
 the chapter; but it will give some notion of it. 
 
 In the next chapter it is observed by Paley, 
 and very justly, that if Christ had been an en- 
 thusiast, his enthusiasm would have fallen in 
 with the general delusion, that the Messiah 
 was to be a temporal prince ; and if an impos- 
 tor, that it was his business to have flattered 
 the prevailing hopes, which were to be the in- 
 struments of his attraction and success; and 
 that the fact was that all the pretended Mes- 
 siahs did so—according to Josephus there were 
 many of them. A mission, the operation and 
 benefit of which was to take place in another 
 life, was a thing unthought of, as the subject 
 of these prophecies: nor can it be explained, 
 why Jesus, coming to the Jews, as their Mes- 
 siah, should come under a character, totally 
 different from that in which they expected 
 him, and deviate into pretensions absolutely 
 singular and original. The conclusion is, that 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 28] 
 
 he was neither an enthusiast nor an impostor, 
 and that he was the Messiah, that should have 
 been acknowledged by the Jewish nation. 
 
 “ One argument, which has been much re- 
 lied upon, (but not more than its just weight 
 deserves,) is the conformity of the facts occa- 
 sionally mentioned or referred to in Scripture, 
 with the state of things in those times, as re- 
 presented by foreign and independent accounts ; 
 which conformity proves, that the writers of 
 the New Testament possessed a species of lo- 
 cal knowledge, which could belong only to an 
 inhabitant of that country, and to one living 
 in that age. This argument, if well made out 
 by examples, is very little short of proving the 
 absolute genuineness of the writings.” “ And 
 the argument is stronger when applied to the 
 New Testament, than it is in the case of almost 
 any other writings, by reason of the mixed 
 nature of the allusions which this book con- 
 tains. The scene of action is not confined to 
 a single country, but displayed in the great- 
 est cities of the Roman empire. Allusions are 
 made to the manners and principles of the 
 Greeks, the Romans, and the Jews. This va- 
 riety renders a forgery proportionably more 
 difficult, especially to writers of a posterior 
 
 00 
 
589 EvIDENCES 
 
 age. A Greek or Roman Christian, who lived 
 in the second or third century, would have 
 been wanting in Jewish literature; a Jewish 
 convert in those ages would have been equally 
 deficient in the knowledge of Greece and 
 Rome.” 
 
 But this is an argument that depends en- 
 tirely upon an induction of particulars. These 
 particulars are amply exhibited by Paley, who 
 has collected them, he says, from “ the first 
 part of Dr. Lardner’s Credibility of the Gospel 
 History.” “ The writer principally made use 
 of in the inquiry, is Josephus. Josephus was 
 born at Jerusalem four years after Christ’s as- 
 cension. He wrote his history of the Jewish 
 war some time after the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem, which happened in the year of our Lord 
 70, that is, thirty-seven years after the ascen- 
 sion, and his history of the Jews he finished 
 in the year 93, that is, sixty years after the 
 ascension.” 
 
 Forty-one instances are then produced, ab- 
 breviated from Lardner; and the agreements 
 between the representations of the New Tes- 
 tament and those of independent writers, ap- 
 pears not only in articles of public history, but 
 sometimes in minute, recondite, and very pe- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 283 
 
 culiar circumstances. Take one instance— 
 the first : 
 
 ““ Matthew ii. 22. ‘When he (Joseph) 
 heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea, in 
 the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to 
 go thither; notwithstanding, being warned of 
 God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts 
 of Galilee.’ In this passage it is asserted, that 
 Archelaus succeeded Herod in Judea; and it 
 is implied, that his power did mot extend to 
 Galilee. Now we learn from Josephus, that 
 Herod the Great, whose dominions included 
 all the land of Israel, appointed Archelaus his 
 successor in Judea, and assigned the rest of 
 his dominions to other sons ; and that this dis- 
 position was ratified, as to the main parts of 
 it, by the Roman emperor. Saint Matthew 
 says, that Archelaus reigned, was king, in Ju- 
 dea. Agreeably to this, we are informed by 
 Josephus, not only that Herod appointed Arche- 
 laus his successor in Judea, but that he also ap- 
 pointed him with the title of king; and the 
 Greek verb which the evangelist uses to denote 
 the government and rank of Archelaus, is used 
 likewise by Josephus. The cruelty of Arche- 
 laus’ character, which is not obscurely inti- 
 mated by the evangelist, agrees with divers 
 
984 EVIDENCES 
 
 particulars in his history, preserved by Jose- 
 phus :—-‘ In the tenth year of his government, 
 the chief of the Jews and Samaritans, not be- 
 ing able to endure his cruelty and tyranny, 
 presented complaints against him to Cesar.’ ” 
 
 Of the other instances, many of them are 
 very striking; they quite make out that the 
 writers of the New Testament lived at the time 
 when we suppose them to have lived—in the 
 midst of the facts to which they allude. Under 
 this general subject of internal evidence may 
 be ineluded the argument which Paley has 
 drawn out in such an admirable manner in his 
 Hore Pauline. Between the Epistles of St. 
 Paul and the history of St. Paul in the Acts of 
 the Apostles, there exist many notes of corre- 
 spondency, and the undesignedness of the 
 agreements demonstrates that they have not 
 been produced by meditation or by any frau- 
 dulent contrivance, and in fact it is thus shown, 
 that the history in the Acts is a genuine his- 
 tory, and the Epistles genuine epistles—that 
 both have truth for their foundation. The 
 work has always been thought a master-piece, 
 and with great reason. Whatever we may 
 think either of the transactions in the Acts, 
 or of the contents of the Epistles, it is impos- 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 285 
 
 sible not to see, that the transactions really 
 took place, and that the epistles were really 
 written. 
 
 To be united to the celebrated work of Pa- 
 ley, the late Dr. Tait published a continued 
 history of St. Paul’s proceedings and move- 
 ments, and the two together may be considered 
 as a perfect whole. St. Paul was the great 
 propagator of Christianity—the great asserter 
 of the important doctrine of the new covenant, 
 that the Jewish dispensation had passed away, 
 and that the Gentiles were now to be called 
 in to partake, as well as the Jews, of the be- 
 nefit of the Christian dispensation. He always 
 called himself the apostle of the Gentiles. He 
 certainly added much to Christianity, as it 
 was left by the Saviour. No doubt, when the 
 Saviour had died upon the cross, had been 
 publicly executed, had risen the third day, and 
 had commissioned his disciples to go and 
 preach the Gospel, much was necessarily add- 
 ed, which could not before have been pro- 
 duced—many important doctrines had been 
 verified, and could now be contended for, in 
 a manner not possible before ; and St. Paul by 
 his vehemence, his decision, and his activity, 
 the ardour and the evident sincerity of all he 
 
286 EvIDENCES 
 
 said and wrote, was remarkably fitted for the 
 introduction of these new doctrines into the 
 world. 
 
 Archdeacon Lyall considers his own argu- 
 ment, that the call of the Gentiles was pro- 
 phesied, and therefore the truth of Christianity 
 shown, when it prevailed in the world, as 
 abundantly illustrated and proved by the 
 writings of St. Paul. 
 
 Leslie's Short and Easy Method with the 
 Deists, was a book published in 1698, and is 
 worth reading: the first part is addressed to 
 the Deists, the second to the Jews; and both 
 parts are drawn up on the same principles and 
 appealing to the same arguments that we have 
 already noticed. The second part, which is ad- 
 dressed to the Jews, is longer and more valu- 
 able, because here is to be found an exhibition 
 of the arguments that were made use of by the 
 learned Jew Orobio in his conference with 
 Limborch—a conference which has always 
 been thought of great importance. Both these 
 parts are learned and able, the style vigorous 
 and unceremonious; but the second, to the 
 Jews, is full of learning not very accessible to 
 a modern inquirer. On the whole, the reasons 
 which have induced the Jews to reject the 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 287 
 
 Messiah seem to be entirely overthrown. Why 
 they rejected the Messiah in the first instance 
 has been fully explained by Archdeacon Lyall, 
 in his Propedia Prophetica; and the argu- 
 ments, on which they now depend, are satis- 
 factorily answered in this book of Leslie. In- 
 deed, when Priestly had it at heart to convert 
 the Jews, he met no controversial resistance 
 of any consequence. I have already men- 
 tioned that he urged the prophecy of the 
 seventy weeks to Levi, and that Levi could 
 make no reply, but that the prophecy referred 
 to Antiochus, not to Christ—an answer that 
 seemed quite a surrender of the question. 
 Leslie was a native of Ireland, a J acobite, in 
 the time of King William, and a voluminous 
 author of acknowledged learning, and pro- 
 bably by his politics prevented from rising’ to 
 eminence in the church. 
 
 I will now refer to a circumstance that I 
 have already mentioned, and that on the whole, 
 it may be as well to consider a little more dis- 
 tinctly. Why did not the Saviour show him- 
 self after his resurrection to all the people ?— 
 why only to witnesses chosen before of God? 
 
 The first is what would naturally be ex- 
 pected ; but upon consideration, it will appear 
 
988 EVIDENCES 
 
 that the other mode of proceeding was the 
 most effectual means of propagating his reli- 
 gion through the world. Let us suppose that 
 our Saviour had shown himself as openly, as 
 before he suffered. His former miracles had 
 not effectually converted the body of the peo- 
 ple, nor would this; they might have been 
 startled at the time, but why should this amaze- 
 ment have lasted. Had our Lord appeared 
 in public, but few could have touched him 
 and certified to themselves, that it was he him- 
 self; few, comparatively, in a great multitude 
 could so have seen him, both before and after 
 his death, as to be adequate witnesses of the 
 reality of the miracle—it would have been 
 open to the greater number of them still to 
 deny, that they really saw the person who had 
 been crucified, dead, and buried; the miracle 
 would have been resolved into some general 
 supposition of imposture or magical illusion ; 
 the chief priests would not have been moved 
 at all; and the populace, however they might 
 have been moved at the time, would not have 
 been lastingly moved, nor practically moved, 
 nor so moved as to proclaim to the world what 
 they had heard and seen. The very reason 
 why Christ showed himself at all was in order 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 289 
 
 to raise up witnesses to his resurrection, 
 ministers of his word, founders of his church; 
 but how in the nature of things could a popu- 
 lace ever become such. A few were selected, 
 because (humanly speaking) only a few could 
 be made instruments, to be proper witnesses 
 of his resurrection ; it was requisite to have 
 known our Lord intimately before his death, 
 it was necessary that they should be certain 
 it was he himself, the very same, whom 
 they before knew. ‘‘ Him God raised up 
 the third day, and showed him openly, not 
 to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen 
 before of God, even to us, who did eat and 
 drink with him after he rose from the dead ;” 
 (Acts x. 40, 41;) and this they did for forty 
 days. Nor were they required merely to know 
 him, but the thought of him was to be stamped 
 upon their minds, as the one master-spring of 
 their whole course of life for the future; it 
 was to produce all the phenomena of their un- 
 paralleled sufferings, privations, labours, and 
 abandonment of all their former habits and 
 associations, which it really did produce. 
 And now that I am taking leave of difficul- 
 ties and objections, I must remind my reader 
 of what must be very obvious to him, that 
 PP 
 
290 EvIDENCES 
 
 revelation was not given to us to satisfy doubts, 
 but to make us better men; and it is, as we 
 become better men, that it becomes light and 
 peace to our souls. To all those who are per- 
 plexed in any way soever—who wish for light 
 but cannot find it—one precept must be given 
 —obey; it is obedience which brings a man 
 into the right path—it is obedience keeps 
 him there and strengthens him in it. “ Wait 
 on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall 
 exalt thee ;” go about your duty; mind little 
 things as well as great; do not pause; it must 
 be right to serve God—“ blessed are they that 
 keep his commandments.” ‘ He that hath 
 my commandments,” saith the Saviour, “ and 
 keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he 
 that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, 
 and I will love him, and will manifest myself 
 to him:” John, xiv.21. This text it must be 
 observed gives a more definite sense to the 
 term of “loving” God, than is generally found 
 in the Gospel of St. John—more definite and 
 more attainable—and on the whole of this 
 subject of mysteries and difficulties certainly 
 no assistance is afforded by the Gospel. The 
 Saviour never satisfied any curiosity. 
 
 We will now allude to the language of the 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 291 
 Old and New Testaments. First, of the Old 
 
 Testament. ‘ The Hebrew may or may not 
 have beén the primitive language of mankind ; 
 but it is the most ancient of any with which 
 we are conversant. The antiquity of the vow- 
 el points can scarcely be contended for. The 
 Talmud, not finished, according to some, but 
 in the year of Christ 500, never speaks a word 
 of them; but they represent, as they now 
 stand, the traditionary meaning assigned by 
 the Jewish church, to many passages of the 
 sacred authors. There must be at least 500 
 years between Moses and Homer. The He- 
 brew language, or that which was in use among 
 the descendants of Abraham, continued with- 
 out any substantial alteration, till the tribes of 
 Judah and Benjamin were carried away to 
 Babylon, 606 years B. c. There they con- 
 tinued, till they were permitted by Cyrus to 
 return in 536—conformably to a prophecy de- 
 livered by Isaiah above 150 years before. 
 During this captivity of seventy years, the first 
 remarkable change took place in the Hebrew 
 lanouiage. .... The tribes of Judah and Ben- 
 jamin continuing in Babylon and the adjacent 
 country, insensibly adopted the inflections and 
 pronunciation of the Chaldee tongue...... 
 
2992 EVIDENCES 
 
 Hence it became necessary, when the law was 
 read in the synagogues from the original work 
 of Moses, that a paraphrase or explanation 
 should be at the same time read in the Chal- 
 dee dialect. To these paraphrases the name 
 of Targum has been appropriated.” 
 
 “ After the success of the Macedonians un- 
 der Alexander, the Jews, as well as other na- 
 tions of the East, became reconciled to the 
 use of Greek. Alexander founded a city in 
 Egypt, still called after his name. He and 
 his successors invited settlers, and the various 
 colonists infused variety into the dialect of 
 Greece, spoken by the founders. The Jews 
 appear to have been in a moral, as well as po- 
 litical view, far superior to the degraded vas- 
 sals of oriental despotism. It became the po- 
 licy of their conquerors, instead of destroying 
 or selling them into slavery, to transplant them, 
 as settlers and subjects, and make them a va- 
 luable accession to their own dominions. Thus 
 Alexander and his successors, the Ptolemies, 
 anxiously endeavoured to increase the Jewish 
 population of Alexandria. The first comers 
 by degrees forgot a considerable portion of the 
 Hebrew or Chaldee which they had brought 
 with. them;..... those who were born in the 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 293 
 
 new settlement would naturally acquire a know- 
 ledge of the Greek language, as it was spo- 
 ken.” It was natural to be expected, “ that 
 the Jews should be anxious to have a transla- 
 tion of their ancient scriptures into Greek ; or 
 at least, that they should readily accede to the 
 wish of King Ptolemy, when he desired to 
 have a version made of the books of Moses, 
 for the purpose of being placed in the library ; 
 which he had for some time, with equal mu- 
 nificence and judgment, been collecting at 
 Alexandria.” 
 
 Kither at the end of Ptolemy Soter’s reign, 
 or in the beginning of Philadelphus’, about 48 
 years after the foundation of Alexandria, the 
 version of the Pentateuch into Greek was un- 
 dertaken and completed. Afterwards a ver- 
 sion of all the canonical books of the Old Tes- 
 tament into Greek was made, during the reign 
 of the same Philadelphus, not by seventy-two 
 interpreters, but by a few. The name of 
 ‘‘ Septuagint” was probably derived from the 
 sanction given to the version by the Sanhedrim, 
 or great council of seventy, residing at Jeru- 
 salem. Subsequent to the translation of the 
 Hebrew into Greek at Alexandria, another al- 
 
294 EVIDENCES 
 
 teration took place in the language. ‘“ Amidst 
 the quarrels which arose among the successors 
 of Alexander, the kings of Syria, Antiochus 
 Epiphanes in particular, seized upon the coun- 
 try of Judea. In consequence of the closer 
 communication which took place by the inter- 
 mixture of Syrians and Jews, the Chaldee di- 
 alect imbibed Syrian idioms and inflections ; 
 and, at the time of our Saviour, the language 
 of Judea —that in which our Lord spake and 
 taught—is considered to have been properly 
 denominated Syro-Chaldaic; the original He- 
 brew, modified by a mixture of Syriac as well 
 as Chaldee.” 
 
 ‘« After the Macedonian conquest, the Jews 
 were accustomed to call all foreigners, conse- 
 quently all heathens, by the general name of 
 FTellenes, Greeks. To imitate Greeks or fo- 
 reigners, by adopting their customs, or speak- 
 ing and writing their language, is termed, ac- 
 cording to a Greek form of expression, to Hel- 
 lenize. ‘The person who thus imitates, as in 
 the case of Jewish sojourners in foreign coun- 
 tries, is an /Zellenist; and the language used 
 by such a person becomes known by the ap- 
 propriate term, Hellenistic. This is the pecu- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 995 
 
 liar species of Greek in which the Septuagint 
 version and the Scriptures of the New Testa- 
 ment appear.” 
 
 Many peculiarities arose from the infusion 
 of the Hebrew idiom into Alexandrine Greek ; 
 and these, scholars can observe. A competent 
 judge will perceive, that the Hebrew idiom is 
 not so strongly adhered to in the New Testa- 
 ment as in the Septuagint. In the former he 
 will see an increased influence of the Chaldaic 
 dialect and freer use of the Syriac, in conse- 
 quence of the subjection of the Jews to the 
 sovereign of that country. But the greatest 
 cause of variation in the Greek of the New 
 Testament from the Septuagint version of the 
 old, is derived from the introduction of Roman 
 words and phrases. This might naturally be 
 expected ; and thus we have “ denarion” “cen- 
 turion,” and other words, actually Latin words, 
 occurring in the Greek Testament. The names 
 of coins, military terms, places of distributing 
 justice, current in a conquered country, might 
 naturally be expected to be incorporated into 
 the language, and this may be observed to 
 take place, and can be distinctly marked by 
 men of learning. 
 
 “Thus a strong internal evidence arising 
 
996 EVIDENCES 
 
 from the language, idiom, and general form 
 of composition, both in the version of the Old, 
 and the original writings of the New Testa- 
 ment, corresponds in a most remarkable man- 
 ner with the character and pretensions of the 
 writers. The Septuagint version professes to be 
 the work of the Jews, who had for some time 
 been resident in Alexandria under the Ptole- 
 mies. We find the translation of these sacred 
 records executed in such a way, as to shew a 
 clear insight into the idiom of the original ; 
 while the language, into which they translated 
 the Hebrew, bears plain marks of Greek, 
 written and spoken at Alexandria. Again: 
 the New Testament is said to have been the 
 production of Jews, acquainted with the Greek 
 language from the study of the Septuagint, 
 and from intercourse with Greeks of different 
 countries. It is evident that the writers of 
 these books were well versed in the Septua- 
 gint; and that they wrote in Helenistic Greek, 
 though not so strongly impregnated with the 
 Alexandrine dialect, as the old version. We 
 find also a sprinkling of Syriasms, the vernacu- 
 lar lancuage of Judea; with some expressions 
 peculiar to Cilicia, in which was the native 
 country of one principal writer of the Epistles. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 297 
 
 There is moreover an accession of Latin words ; 
 which shows that the books were written after 
 the occupation of Judea by the Romans. On 
 the other hand, this is a species of language 
 which was not likely to be in use any long 
 time after the destruction of Jerusalem, be- 
 cause the Jews then adhered more pertina- 
 ciously to the Hebrew, and the new Christians 
 betook themselves to the cultivation of Gentile 
 literature. In fact, with very inconsiderable 
 exceptions, there are no specimens of language 
 exactly resembling that of the New Testament. 
 Yet is it precisely the sort of compound, that 
 we might expect to be produced in Judea, 
 within twenty or thirty years of the very date, 
 which, from external and indubitable testi- 
 mony, is affixed to this collection of writings.” 
 
 This argument which can only be thorough- 
 ly felt by scholars, is still intelligible to ordi- 
 nary inquirers, and is a powerful addition of 
 evidence to the genuineness and authenticity 
 of these sacred writings. 
 
 Now, not only are the books of the New 
 Testament written in a language which is no- 
 where else to be found, but learned divines 
 make important remarks with respect to the 
 language of the Old Testament. Certain it is, 
 
 QQ 
 
998 EVIDENCES 
 
 that marks of distinction are apparent between 
 different portions of the Old Testament, sufh- 
 ciently characteristic to shew that they were 
 the production of different ages, and even to 
 point out those, as in reality, the most ancient, 
 which the generally received opinion, founded 
 upon historic testimony, has referred to the 
 remoter period. In the Pentateuch and the 
 earlier historical books, expressions occur of 
 a more antiquated form, nor are any traces 
 of the Chaldaic or Syriac to be discovered ; 
 whereas in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, indications 
 are found of Chaldee significations and inflec- 
 tions, while in Daniel whole chapters are 
 written in that dialect. But even as regards 
 these later works, whilst they exhibit traces of 
 an era posterior to those of Moses and David, 
 yet do they still claim an antiquity surpassing 
 that which can be assigned to the earliest 
 extant historical work of the Greeks. The 
 Babylonish captivity, from which the regular 
 decline of the ancient Hebrew may be dated, 
 was two hundred years, and the book of 
 Daniel more than one hundred years prior to 
 the age of Herodotus. 
 
 It is observed by Eichhorn, a daring Ger- 
 
 man critic, “That the Old Testament was not 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 299 
 
 the forgery of a single impostor is proved by 
 every page. What variety in language and 
 expression ! Isaiah does not write like Moses, 
 nor Jeremiah like Ezekiel, and between these 
 and any of the minor prophets, there is again 
 a great diversity of style. The style of Moses 
 is distinguished by its scrupulous, grammatical 
 correctness ; the book of Judges is filled with 
 provincialisms and barbarisms : in Isaiah we 
 meet with old words under new inflections : 
 Jeremiah and Ezekiel have their Chaldaisms ; 
 and in short, as we trace the succession of 
 writers from the earlier to the later ages, we 
 find in the language a gradual decline, till it 
 finally sinks into a dialect of broad Chaldee. 
 Then, too, what diversity in the march of ideas 
 and range of imagery! In the hand of Moses 
 and Isaiah, the lyre is deep and loud ; but its 
 tone is soft when touched by David. The 
 muse of Solomon is decked in the splendours 
 of a luxurious court, while her sister wanders 
 with David, in an artless dress, by streams 
 and banks, through the fields and among 
 flocks. One poet is original, like Isaiah, Joel, 
 and Habakkuk; another is imitative, like 
 Ezekiel. One strikes out the untrodden path 
 of genius, while another strolls by his side in 
 
300 EVIDENCES 
 
 the beaten foot-way. Rays of learning beam 
 from one, while his neighbour never emits a 
 spark of literature. In the oldest writers we 
 see strong lines of Egyptian tint, which grow 
 fainter and fainter on the canvass of their 
 successors, and at last disappear. Finally, in 
 the manners what a beautiful gradation! At 
 first all is simple and unaffected, as in the 
 poems of Homer, and among the Bedouin 
 Arabs to this day. By degrees this noble 
 simplicity declines into luxury and effeminacy, 
 and vanishes at last in the court of Solomon. 
 Nowhere is there a violent transition, but a 
 gradual and progressive course throughout. 
 It is but an ignorant thoughtless sceptic, who 
 can think the Old Testament is the fiction of 
 a single impostor.” 
 
 Eichhorn is considered a very learned, but, 
 as I have already intimated, a very daring 
 critic of the German school. 
 
 It is observed by Marsh, in his short tract 
 on the Authenticity of the Pentateuch, that 
 ‘‘ Hebrew ceased to be the living language of 
 the Jews during the Babylonish captivity, and 
 that the Jewish productions after that period 
 were in general either Chaldee or Greek. The 
 Jews of Palestine, some ages before the ap- 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 301 
 
 pearance of our Saviour, were unable to com- 
 prehend the Hebrew original, without the 
 assistance of a Chaldee paraphrase; and it 
 was necessary to undertake a Greek transla- 
 tion, because that language alone was known 
 to the Jews of Alexandria.... The several 
 parts of the Hebrew Bible are found to differ 
 not only in regard to style, but also in regard 
 to character and cultivation of language; if 
 the one discovers the golden, another the sil- 
 ver, a third the brazen, a fourth the iron age, 
 we have strong internal marks of their having 
 been composed at different and distinct pe- 
 riods. No classical scholar, independently of 
 the Grecian history, would believe that the 
 poems ascribed to Homer were written in the 
 age of Demosthenes, the orations of Demos- 
 thenes in the time of Origen, or the commen- 
 taries of Origen in the days of Lascaris and 
 Chrysoloras. For the same reason it is certain 
 that the five books, which are ascribed to 
 Moses, were not written in the time of David, 
 the Psalms of David in the age of Isaiah, nor 
 the prophecies of Isaiah in the time of Malachi. 
 But it appears from what has been said above, 
 in regard to the extinction of the Hebrew 
 language, that the book of Malachi could not 
 
302 EvIvpENCcEs 
 
 have been written much later than the Baby- 
 lonish captivity ; before that period therefore 
 were written the prophecies of Isaiah, still 
 earlier the Psalms of David, and much earlier 
 than these the books which are ascribed to 
 Moses.” 
 
 The Pentateuch, he observes, “ contains a 
 system of ceremonial and moral laws, which, 
 unless we reject the authority of all history, 
 were observed by the Israelites from the time 
 of their departure out of Egypt till their dis- 
 persion at the taking of Jerusalem. These 
 laws, therefore, are as ancient as the conquest 
 of Palestine. It is also an undeniable historical 
 fact, that the Jews in every age believed their 
 ancestors had received them from the hand of 
 Moses, and that these laws were the basis of 
 their political and religious institutions, as 
 long as they continued to be a people. We 
 are reduced therefore to this dilemma, to ac- 
 knowledge either that these laws were actually 
 delivered by Moses, or that a whole nation, 
 during fifteen hundred years, groaned under 
 the weight of an imposture, without once de- 
 tecting, or even suspecting the fraud.” “It is 
 impossible that the Jews could have received 
 in a later age a set of writings as the genuine 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 303 
 
 work of Moses, if no history and no tradition 
 had preserved the remembrance of his having 
 been the author.” , 
 
 The Pentateuch existed in the time of Christ 
 and his apostles; they quote it; and Ezra 
 expressly ascribes the book of the Law to 
 Moses—‘‘ and they set the priests in their 
 divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for 
 the service of God, which is in Jerusalem, as 
 it is written in the book of Moses:” Ezra vi. 
 8; see also Ezra iii. 2; and Nehem. xiii. 1; 
 “ The Pentateuch existed not only before the 
 time of Ezra, but before the division of the 
 kingdoms of Israel and Judah. For it was not 
 only accepted as genuine by the Samaritans, 
 as well as by the Jews, but was equally in 
 both nations the basis of their civil and reli- 
 gious institutions. It must have been written, 
 therefore, before the division of the kingdoms 
 had taken place; for if it had been forged in 
 a later age among the Jews, the perpetual 
 enmity that subsisted between the two nations 
 would have utterly prevented its being adopted 
 by the Samaritans ; and had it been a spurious 
 production of the Samaritans, it never would 
 have been received among the Jews.” 
 
 Nor could it have been written between the 
 
304 EvIDENCES 
 
 age of Joshua and Solomon; for the whole 
 Jewish history presupposes that the book of 
 the law was written by Moses ; it is described 
 as such in the Chronicles, in Kings, and es- 
 pecially in Joshua. “ Only be thou strong,” 
 it is said in Joshua, ‘and very courageous, 
 that thou mayest observe to do all according 
 to the law, which Moses my servant com- 
 manded thee—this book of the law shall not 
 depart out of thy mouth.” It is to be observed, 
 too, that the copy of the book of the law, as 
 written by Moses, was entrusted to the priests 
 and the elders, preserved in the ark of the 
 covenant, and read to the people every seventh 
 year. ‘And Moses wrote this law, and de- 
 livered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, 
 who bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 
 &e.” Deut. xxxi.9. The books we have are 
 the same work, which was translated into 
 Greek, and is now the Septuagint; and they 
 agree with the Samaritan Pentateuch—all 
 being derived from the original Hebrew. 
 
 The mode of writing in the four last books 
 discovers an author contemporary with the 
 facts which he relates. The legislative and 
 historical parts are so interwoven with each 
 other, that neither of them could have been 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 305 
 
 written by a man who lived in a later age. 
 “The language itself is a proof of its high 
 antiquity, which appears partly from the great 
 simplicity of the style, and partly from the use 
 of archaisms, or antiquated expressions, which 
 in the days even of David and Solomon were 
 obsolete. But the strongest argument that can 
 be produced to show that the Pentateuch was 
 written by a man born and educated in Egypt, 
 is the use of Egyptian words; which never 
 were, nor ever could have been used by a 
 native of Palestine: and it is a remarkable 
 circumstance, that the very same thing which 
 Moses had expressed by a word that is pure 
 Eeyptian, Isaiah, as might be expected from 
 his birth and education, has expressed by a 
 _ word that is purely Hebrew”—in the Septua- 
 gint both words are translated by the same 
 Greek word. 
 
 The transcribers of MSS. have often put 
 into the margin words of their own to explain 
 the text; and these spurious additions some- 
 times got into the texts by the mistake of 
 subsequent transcribers. Marsh gives two 
 instances of this, as specimens, of what he 
 thus says—one from the Epistle to the Corin- 
 thians and one from St. John: indeed this 
 
 RR 
 
306 EvIDENCES 
 
 source of error is well known to scholars, and 
 produces difficulties ; a few in the Pentateuch, 
 as well as in the classical writings. 
 
 The first part of these observations is taken 
 from Two Sermons by Dr. Maltby, the latter 
 from a short publication by Professor Marsh— 
 the first writer, one of the most distinguished 
 Greek, and the other, one of the most distin- 
 guished Hebrew scholars of his time. 
 
 And it is thus that in every part and in 
 every view of the evidence for the truth of 
 Christianity there is a consistency and a har- 
 mony which could not possibly be found, if 
 that truth was not real—the prophecies, the 
 miracles, the internal evidence, the language 
 of the Scriptures, the great facts of history, 
 everything answering each to the other, and 
 together constituting an harmonious whole, 
 surely fitted to engage the assent, to occupy 
 the thoughts, and to fix the belief of any 
 rational mind. Judea was the rock, (how can 
 it be doubted’) from which the water broke ; 
 and the world around it was, and still is, the 
 wilderness, through which it flows; and the 
 moral change that has been produced is the 
 greatest known in the history of the world. 
 We are born in the midst of this religion, and 
 
oF CHRISTIANITY. 307 
 
 cannot possibly estimate the extent and mag- 
 nitude of that moral change ; but in the midst 
 of all our stormy passions and selfish interests 
 it is the civilizer of the world without, and the 
 teacher of the heart within. Its influence, 
 wherever felt, is always salutary, and the ex- 
 tension of that influence, in its mild form, and 
 its gentle and holy nature properly preserved, 
 is the great cause of humanity. 
 
 Of the evidences of this faith, the reader of 
 these pages may now perhaps form some gen- 
 eral notion. The evidences of Christianity are 
 like those of natural religion. The fabric of 
 the world is full of the marks of the Creator’s 
 agency, wisdom, and goodness ; but if scepti- 
 cism fall upon weak parts of this great argu- 
 ment, we must appeal to the structure of the 
 world at large, and to the copiousness and 
 ubiquity of the demonstration. And so it 1s 
 with the evidences of revealed religion, the 
 whole conspiring system exhibits, on the whole 
 and in mass, the proper reason of the faith of 
 a Christian. The proof of Christianity gathers 
 light and strength from the concentrated force 
 of all its evidences, and the whole must be 
 laid together, and the aggregate of these con- 
 
 as > 
 current evidences must close the investigation. 
 
308 EvIDENCES 
 
 It is to be observed, too, that even if any one 
 of these descriptions of evidence had arisen 
 from fraud or accident, they could not add 
 have so arisen—they could not al/ have con- 
 verged—they could not a// have run up to- 
 gether, so as to invite conviction ; miracles, 
 prophecies, morals, success—these may indeed, 
 as we see, unite; but could not have been 
 made to do so by human art, or by the mere 
 effect of accident. The evidence of Christi- 
 anity is drawn from testimonies differing in 
 kind, but. conspiring in effect; and yet so 
 differing in kind, as to indicate by their accu- 
 mulation, the interference of a superintending 
 Providence, and the question at which we are 
 now arrived is this—When such a mass of 
 evidence is in existence, is it possible, that the 
 religion should not be true? We may not 
 understand the dispensations of the Almighty, 
 but we can understand the nature of moral 
 evidence, and is it possible, I repeat, that the 
 religion should not be true ? 
 
 Let any man, however sceptical, suppose, if 
 he pleases, that the religion is not true, and 
 let him go, with that supposition, into the 
 consideration of the facts which in the evi- 
 dences are to be found, and let him then 
 
or CHRISTIANITY. 309 
 
 observe by what impossibilities he will be 
 surrounded, and. how irresistibly he will be 
 driven back into a conviction, that, after all, 
 a revelation must have been vouchsafed to us, 
 by the Almighty Being that created us, and 
 that Christianity must be true. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM, CHISWICK. 
 
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