I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | 
 
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STANDARD WORKS 
 
 ADAPTED 
 
 to tlje use of tj)c 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHUKCI' 
 
 IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 GIBSON'S THREE PASTORAL LETTERS. 
 HORNE'S LETTERS ON INFIDELITY, AND TO ADAM SMITH 
 
 WITH 
 
 PRfiFACES, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR' 
 
 AND NOTES. 
 
 BY W. R. WHITTINGHAM, A.M. 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE NEW-YORK PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL PRESS, 
 
 At Ihcir Buildings, No. 46 Lumber-street, in 
 rear of Trinity Ciiurch. 
 
 1831. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1831, by John V. Van Ingen, 
 (Hi? Agent of the New- York Protcsiant Episcojial Tress,) in tlic o/lice of the Clerk 
 ' il' the Southern District of New- York. 
 
THREE PASTORAL LETTERS 
 
 PEOPLE OF THE DIOCESE OF LONDON : 
 
 PARTICULARLY 
 
 TO THOSE OF THE TWO GREAT CITIES OP LONDON AND WESTMINSTIR. 
 
 BISHOP OP LONDON, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A COLLECTION of treatises expressly designed, and 
 with consummate skill adapted, for popular instruction, 
 needs little to be said by way of introduction. As much 
 as is known to the editor of the history of Bishop 
 Gibson's Pastoral Letters is stated in the Memoir of 
 the writer's life — with the exception]of the fact that the 
 first two were answered by Tindal, in 1730,* and de- 
 fended in an anonymous publication of the same year.^ 
 Neither of these productions, nor a third, in which the 
 second letter alone is defended, (whether from the same, 
 or some other attack, is not stated,") have been seen by 
 the editor. 
 
 The three letters, though published separately, and 
 at intervals of some months, are evidently parts of one 
 design, and may be considered as forming an entire and 
 connected work. There is neither anticipation nor 
 repetition, further than is necessary for the connexion 
 of the parts ; the development of the author's plan is 
 gradual and consistent. Yet each division of the entire 
 work has its independent basis, and is sufficient of itself 
 to carry conviction to a reasonable inquirer. 
 
 The First Letter contains a luminous view of the 
 evidences of Christianity, condensed into the smallest 
 
 a Two Addresses to the People of the Diocese of London, in rela- 
 tion to Bishop Gibson's Pastoral Letter. 8vo. London. 1730. 
 
 b Two Vindications of Bishop Gibson's Pastoral Letters, in reply 
 to Dr. Tindal. 8vo. London. 1730. 
 
 c A Letter to Dr. Chandler, in vindication of Dr. Gibson's Second 
 Pastoral Letter. By Thomas Jackson. 8vo. Cambridge, 1734. 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 possible compass, and particularly excellent in its state- 
 ment of the real value of the miracles of Christ as evi- 
 dence, and in its representation of the mutual bearings 
 of the several branches of proof. The admirable direc- 
 tions for the examination of Christianity in a proper 
 spirit, with which this view of its evidence is ushered in, 
 and the concluding suggestions as to the observation of 
 due reverence for things sacred, tend greatly to enhance 
 its value, and proportionably increase its effect. 
 
 The Second Letter, calmly, but with irresistible force 
 of argument, sets aside the arrogant pretensions of un- 
 believers in behalf of human reason, and assigns its 
 proper sphere. As regards the insufficiency of human 
 systems of religion, it gives a brief but complete sum- 
 mary of the historical evidence on the subject. Under 
 the sixth head a full and most valuable summary of the 
 distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel is drawn up, 
 principally in the very words of Scripture, with remark- 
 able clearness and precision. The concluding observa- 
 tions on the sin of unbelief, and the still greater criminal- 
 ity and folly of attempts to propagate its negative princi- 
 ples, are such as must command the attention, and one 
 would suppose the assent, of every thinking being. 
 
 The Third Letter treats of a subject, on which, even 
 at the present day, there is far too much ignorance and 
 vagueness of opinion, — the relative importance, and 
 respective claims to divine authority, of the different 
 parts of the New Testament. It would be difficult to 
 point out a treatise in which so much valuable informa- 
 tion on these points is given in as plain a form, aod as 
 narrow a compass. 
 
 In the course of all three letters, the objections of 
 infidels, both a priori against all revelation, and espe- 
 cially against the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are freely 
 and fairly given, and most effectually met. The reader 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 Will find that scarce one among the many which modern 
 hostility to the truth of God has tricked up in the para- 
 pharnalia of novelty, and brought forward with all the 
 pomp of anticipated victory, is unnoticed or unanswered 
 in Gibsons's writings, now more than a century old. 
 
 One peculiarity in the Pastoral Letters perhaps needs 
 a word of explanation. The authority of the cele- 
 brated Locke is appealed to with a frequency, and a 
 degree of deference, which may seem rather incongru- 
 ous in a work explicitly advocating the claims of God's 
 word against the pretensions of all human wisdom and 
 authority. It is not improbably owing to the use thus 
 made of that great philosopher and (we may add it — 
 as most assuredly he would, now — with pride) humble 
 Christian, that he is no longer claimed as a leader by 
 the self-styled advocates of reason. But in Bishop 
 Gibson's day, the case was otherwise. Toland, infe- 
 rior to none in hostility to Christianity, was an acquaint- 
 ance, and claimed (but falsely) to be a friend and inti- 
 mate, of Locke. Collins and Tindal omitted no 
 opportunity of wresting the authority of his great 
 name to the sanction of their attempts to enthrone 
 human reason on the ruins of revelation. The whole 
 tribe of underlings in the work promptly caught their 
 cue, and nothing was more rife in their productions 
 than the praise of that ' great genius' who had ' deve- 
 loped the way to the disenthralment of the intellect of 
 mankind from the chains of bigotry and superstition.' 
 Such extracts as those abundantly given by Gibson 
 were necessary to disabuse the public, and allowing 
 Locke all the reputation which he deserved as the first 
 thorough student of the mental powers and capacities 
 of man, to assert the rightful claim of Christianity to 
 the service of that reputation in its cause. Infidelity 
 has now shifted its ground, and we look back with 
 1* 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 wonder, almost amounting to unbelief, upon the attempt 
 to enlist for it the advocacy of Locke, or Locke's 
 principles. The time will come, — may we not reason- 
 ably hope, shortly ? — when equal contempt will be 
 awarded those who now attempt to juggle into credit 
 their crude systems of materialism and pantheism, 
 which Bacon and Newton would have despised and 
 abhorred, under the stolen mask of Inductive Philo- 
 sophy. 
 
 It may be not amiss to mention, as evidence of the 
 estimation in which these Pastoral Letters have been 
 held, that they are among the publications of the vene- 
 rable Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge— a 
 circumstance of itself enough to rank them among the 
 standards of the Church of England ; and that not- 
 withstanding the extensive circulation thus given them, 
 the late Bishop Randolph deemed them of sufficient 
 importance to be included in his choice selection of 
 tracts entitled Enchiridion Theologicum, designed for 
 the use of students of divinity. 
 
 The same reasons which render further preface unne- 
 cessary, have prevented the addition of many notes. 
 A few appropriate extracts from works not generally 
 accessible, confirmatory of Bishop Gibson's statements, 
 or illustrative of his reasonings, and a few references to 
 popular books for fuller information, have been given ; 
 and little beside. Care has been taken to have the 
 numerous references to Scripture accurate ; and a few 
 corrections, in this respect, have been made. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Bishop Gibson is advantageously known in each of 
 three characters seldom combined in a single individual 
 — the antiquarian., the controversialist, and the prac- 
 tical theologian. To these we might even add, if the 
 distinction did not savor too much of subdivision, a 
 fourth — the ecclesiastical jurist. In each of these 
 widely differing branches of study this learned and 
 industrious writer attained not only distinction, but 
 eminence ; in each he has left works which, if since 
 surpassed, were in his time the best that had yet ap- 
 peared. 
 
 Edmund Gibson was born at Bampton, in the county 
 of Westmoreland, in 1669. From the free school in 
 his native town, he was sent, at the age of seventeen, 
 to Queen's College, Oxford, where he wa;3 admitted to 
 a scholarship. There he formed intimacit's, and entered 
 on a course of studies, which ended only with his life. 
 The learned Dr. HiCKEs,equally celebrated for his non- 
 juring principles, and for his extensive researches into 
 the ancient languages of northern Europe, Dr. Nicol- 
 son, afterward bishop of Carlisle, author of the English 
 and Scottish Historical Libraries, with several others 
 of inferior note and learning, had at that time awakened 
 a considerable degree of interest in the University of 
 Oxford, and more especially in Queen's College, on 
 the subject of the northern languages and antiquities. 
 Young Gibson, among others, entered upon it with 
 ardor, and even when his professional duties had given 
 other studies a claim upon his undivided hours of serious 
 occupation, these still formed his favorite recreation, to 
 which he would recur with avidity and innocent delight. 
 The publication of two humorous productions of Scot- 
 tish poets in the Latin language, illustrated with remarks 
 in the same language and of the same character,^ was 
 
 * Drummondi Polemo-Middiana, et Jacobi V., Regis Scotiae, Can- 
 tilena Rustica. Notis, &c. Oxon. 1691, 4to, 
 
8 MEMOIR. 
 
 the first-fruits of these studies, and his first appearance 
 before the public as an author. The next year, he gave 
 more substantial evidence of his acquirements, in the 
 publication of a Saxon Chronicle, with a Latin transla- 
 tion and notes ;^ — a work undertaken at the suggestion 
 of Dr. Mill, the editor of the celebrated edition of the 
 New Testament in Greek. A more varied learning was 
 manifested in another work, published in the close of 
 the same year, at the request of Dr. Tenison, then 
 bishop of Lincoln, and afterward archbishop of Can- 
 terbury ; in which was given a descriptive catalogue of 
 the valuable collection of manuscripts belonging to that 
 learned prelate, and of those in the Dugdalian Library 
 at Oxford. The connexion thus formed between the 
 young scholar and one of the ablest, as well as the best, 
 of the episcopal bench of that age, was no doubt 
 advantageous to him in every way, and probably a 
 principal assistance in his rise to the high station which 
 he ultimately attained. 
 
 New editions of Quintilian, and of two antiquarian 
 tracts by Somner, were the public fruits of Gibson's 
 labors in thr ^"ext two years. In 1694, he commenced 
 A. M., and n6i long after received holy orders. The 
 publication of an English translation of Camden's Bri- 
 tannia, with considerable additions, in folio, in 1695, 
 attests the continuance of his antiquarian studies, 
 although his health was at the time so feeble as to 
 prevent his acceptance of a valuable living, offered by 
 Lord Somcrs. 
 
 An appointment to the charge of the archiepiscopal 
 library at Lambeth, in 1696, by Dr. Tenison, then pro- 
 moted to that see, was at once the reward of Gibson's 
 former literary services, and an incitement to fresh 
 diligence in similar pursuits. Accordingly, in 1697, he 
 pubUshed a Latin catalogue of the Manuscripts in Eng- 
 land and Ireland, with a Life of Sir Thomas Bodley, and 
 a History of the Bodleian Library, in the same language, 
 prefixed, in two folio volumes ; and in 1698, superin- 
 tended an edition of the remains of Sir Henry Spel- 
 
 »> Chronicon Saxonicum, seu Annales Rerum in Anglia prcecipue 
 gestarum a Christo nato ad annum usque MCLIV dcdudi, &c, 
 Oxon. 4to. 1G92. 
 
MEMOIR, 9 
 
 MAN, relating to the Laws and Antiquities of England, 
 to which he prefixed a life of the author. 
 
 From this period his studies assumed a more profes- 
 sional cast, and his advancement in the Church com- 
 menced. He was made morning preacher at Lambeth 
 in 1697; domestic chaplain to archbishop Tenison, and 
 Lecturer at St. Martin's in the Fields, in 1698; and 
 Rector of Stisted, in Essex, in 1700. A dispute having 
 arisen about this time between the Lower House of the 
 Convocation and the archbishop, respecting his claims 
 to a certain extent of jurisdiction and control in its 
 proceedings, Gibson engaged warmly in his patron's 
 defence, and no less than eleven pamphlets, in quarto 
 and octavo, published in the years 1700-1703, were 
 the evidences of his learning and zeal. The contro- 
 versy, though petty, involved much feeling, and was 
 merely the entering wedge of more serious contentions : 
 it was therefore contested with much warmth, and no 
 small ability, on either side, and afforded ample oppor- 
 tunity for the display of Gibson's antiquarian lore. His 
 diligence and learning were rewarded with the degree 
 of D. D., conferred on him by the archbishop in 1702 ; 
 with the Rectory of Lambeth, to which he was pre- 
 sented in the following year ; and with several minor 
 preferments, following in quick succession. 
 
 But Gibson's share in this controversy was even 
 more serviceable to his interests, by turning his atten- 
 tion to the subject of one of his great works, on which 
 his durable reputation is built. The researches into 
 which his examination of the rights and privileges of a 
 convocation led, were undoubtedly of no small service 
 in the compilation of his ' Code of Ecclesiastical Law' 
 which appeared in two folio volumes, in 1713, and has 
 ever since occupied the rank of a standard in the Eng- 
 lish Church. The high views of spiritual authority 
 which pervade this work called forth numerous animad- 
 versions, and have rendered it unpopular with all the 
 advocates of latitudinarian principles ; but none have 
 denied its author the praise of consummate diligence 
 and erudition. Its utility is, of course, principally 
 limited to the church establishment of which it imbo- 
 dies the regulations ; but the student will hardly ever 
 consult it for information relative to the general princi- 
 
10 MEMOIR. 
 
 pies and ancient practice of church polity and govern- 
 ment, without satisfaction, and never without admira- 
 tion of its method and deep research. 
 
 While engaged in the composition of this work, Dr. 
 Gibson had been preferred to the archdeaconry of Surry, 
 in 1710; and in the discharge of its duties, distinguished 
 himself by unusual diligence. The death of his patron, 
 in 1715, was so far from putting a stop to his advance- 
 ment, that it opened the way for him to a bishopric ; 
 the see of Lincoln, vacated by Dr. Wake's translation 
 to the archbishopric, being bestowed on him at the 
 recommendation of the new primate. His consecra- 
 tion took place in the beginning of the following year. 
 In 1721, he was appointed Dean of the Royal Chapel ; 
 and in 1723, on the death of Bishop Robinson, trans- 
 lated to the see of London. 
 
 This was the summit of Bishop Gibson's elevation. 
 Although for a time his business-talents, diligence, and 
 integrity secured to him the confidence of the ministry, 
 and archbishop Wake, when the infirmities of age pre- 
 vented the full discharge of his ofliicial duties, com- 
 mitted ecclesiastical aflfairs almost entirely to his man- 
 agement, so that he was generally regarded as the pro- 
 bable successor to the highest dignity in the Church ; 
 yet his standing with government was changed before 
 the death of the archbishop, and his prospect of suc- 
 cession blasted. 
 
 The cause of this change was as honorable to Bishop 
 Gibson, as the use which he made of power while 
 in his possession. Almost his first act, upon his suc- 
 cession to the see of London, was a strenuous effort 
 for the suppression of masquerades, then just coming 
 into fashion, and productive of great disorders. He 
 preached and published an eloquent sermon on the 
 occasion, and secured the co-operation of his brother 
 bishops in an address to the throne, with such success 
 that an order in council was passed for the prohibition 
 of that dangerous species of amusement. By this, he 
 incurred the personal enmity of the king, George II, 
 who was much addicted to them. 
 
 Still, his talents and activity secured his influence 
 ivith the ministry, and the appointment of the Whitehall 
 
MEMOIR. 11 
 
 preachers,' in the very next month (February, 1724) 
 gave evidence of its extent; but this also he lost by 
 firm adherence to principle, in his opposition to the 
 efforts made for the removal of the political disabilities 
 of the dissenters — efforts which at that time it was the 
 policy of the government to encourage, as a mean of 
 securing the affections of the dissenting interest to the 
 house of Hanover ; and by a firm and successful resist- 
 ance of an attempt to promote to a bishopric one Dr. 
 Rundle, a man suspected of deistical opinions.'^ 
 
 In the meanwhile, though much engaged in those 
 legislative and judicial occupations which form part of 
 the duties of an English bishop, Dr. Gibson did not 
 neglect the higher obligations attendant on his spiritual 
 ofiice. While yet a parish clergyman, he had proved 
 his interest in the duties of that station, and his qualifi- 
 cations for their discharge, by publishing a tract entitled 
 The Holy Sacrament Explained^ and another. On 
 Family Devotion ; or a Plain Exhortation to Morning 
 and Evening Prayer in Families ; both issued in 1705, 
 and anonymously. Each of these brief, and exceedingly 
 plain treatises, has gone through numerous editions, 
 among the tracts of the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge ; and it is from the last named that the 
 forms of Family Devotion printed Avith our Book of 
 Common Prayer were taken. 
 
 His promotion to the archdeaconry turned his atten- 
 tion to another branch of clerical duty ; and in this also 
 the results of his own reflections and experience were 
 communicated to others by the publication of his Essay 
 on Visitations, Parochial and General, printed to- 
 gether with a Visitation Sermon and some other Tracts, 
 in 1717, after his preferment to a bishopric. 
 
 c Twelve fellows of colleges from each of the universities, appointed 
 by their respective universities, to preach in monthly rotation, two in 
 each month, in the King's Chapel at Whitehall. A small j'early 
 stipend is paid to each. The regulation still continues. 
 
 d Bishop Gibson's vote on the bill to relieve the Gtuakers from tithes, 
 to which AiKix, in the General Biography, aXtTibvites his preterition in. 
 the supply of the vacant see of Canterbury at the death of Wake, dicl 
 not take place until 1736, a year after that event, and must therefore 
 1)6 set out of the question. The Bishop's steady opposition to the 
 dissenting interest is, of itself, a sufficient explanation of Ms loss of 
 favor. 
 
12 MEMOIR. 
 
 Several occasional sermons, and a tract pertaining to 
 his old and favorite line of study, ecclesiastical antiqui- 
 ties, were all that Bishop Gibson published in the 
 interval between the date of his Essay on Visitations, 
 and that of the First Pastoral Letter. This able pro- 
 duction, so strictly accordant with the episcopal office 
 and duties, appeared in 1727. It was printed in a cheap 
 form, and a very large edition was struck off, with the 
 view of rendering its circulation as general and exten- 
 sive as possible. But the demand exceeded all expecta- 
 tion, and the speedy call for a second and still larger 
 edition furnished the best encouragement to the bene- 
 volent author to proceed in his undertaking. It w^as 
 accordingly followed up, at intervals of a iew months 
 each, by the Second^ and Third Letters ; now printed 
 with it. The public opinion of these was not less 
 favorable than that expressed for their predecessor, as 
 was testified by an almost unprecedented demand, con- 
 suming several large editions in the space of eighteen 
 or twenty months.* They were printed collectively, 
 with the addition of some Directions for the Clergy, 
 Visitation Charges, &:c., in 1732. 
 
 Bishop Gibson's next work, though equally pertain- 
 ing to his office, and not less conducive to his fame, was 
 of a very diiferent description. His life had been spent 
 during a period in which the contest between Popery 
 and Protestantism had been waged, perhaps, merely as 
 a controversy, more warmly than ever before or since. 
 The talents and learning of tlie greatest men of the age 
 had been called forth in the reigns of James II., of 
 William, and of Anne, to expose the corruptions and 
 absurdities of the Romish faith, and to resist the effi)rts 
 of its advocates. Tliat the productions thus called into 
 existence might not perish with the interest of the 
 temporary struggle, but might unite their various excel- 
 lences in one formidable bulwark of the faith of the 
 Reformation, Bishop Gibson determined on making a 
 collection of the best, arranging them into a systematic 
 
 • The third eilition of the Second Letter (from which the present 
 reprint is made) is dated 1730, and the second edition of the Third 
 Letter (used for the same purpose) boars the date of 173L Each of 
 the editions is said to have consisted of ten thousand copies. 
 
MEMOIR. 13 
 
 refutation of every prominent error of the Church of 
 Rome, and adding such preliminary and supplementary 
 observations as might seem necessary to fit them for 
 permanent utility. This he accomplished in his Pre- 
 servative against Popery,,^ a work in three large and 
 closely printed folio volumes, published in 1738. The 
 mere labor of compiling and preparing for the press 
 such a body of matter was doubtless very great ; but 
 that of selection from the vast mass of materials fur- 
 nished by the controversies of the preceding century 
 must have been even greater. But Gibson brought 
 to the task a well-ripened judgment, and a thorough 
 acquaintance with his subject ; and his collection, 
 though necessarily, from its character and subject, dry 
 and uninteresting except to the persevering seeker for 
 truth, and from its bulk, unwieldy and expensive, never- 
 theless reached a third edition, and acquired and has 
 maintained the rank of a classic work of reference. 
 
 Another Pastoral Letter, on Reformation of Life, 
 published in 1745,^ and several minor tracts on practi- 
 cal subjects, complete the measure of this industrious 
 writer's benefactions to his country and religion. They 
 form the least ostentatious portion of his labors ; but 
 they have been widely reprinted, and are extensively 
 circulated to this very day, and probably, with the 
 exception of his Three Pastoral Letters, have been 
 more useful than all his more learned and better known 
 productions. It is said that " in the decline of his 
 life. Bishop Gibson received more satisfaction from the 
 repeated calls for these practical pieces, than from the 
 honor conferred on him by his larger works of a disci- 
 plinarian and controversial nature. "•» It was natural 
 that they should : they were ' seed sown for the harvest 
 of the just;' while the others, at best, were but laborious 
 efforts to root out the tares of human error, and repair 
 the thorny hedge around the Saviour's vineyard. 
 
 f A Preservative against Popery ; or a Collection of the Principal 
 Treatises in the Papal Controversy ; digested into proper Heads and 
 Titles, with some Pre/aces by the Compiler. London, 1738, 3 vols, 
 folio. 
 
 = This was the Fifth. I am ignorant of the subject and date of tke 
 JF'ourth. 
 
 ^ Aikin's General Biography. 
 
 Vol. v.— 2 
 
14 MEMOIR. 
 
 At length, Bishop Gibson's naturally vigorous consti' 
 tutioii gave way under the accumulated burthens with 
 which it had been charged. He became sensible of decay 
 and languor, which increased upon him, until in 1748, 
 he ended a life of busy toil at Bath, whither he had gone 
 for the benefit of the waters, at the ripe old age o^ 
 seventy-nine. 
 
 Gibson's writings do not entitle him to the rank of 
 a superior intellect. They contain few, if any traces 
 of originality of invention, profundity of thought, or 
 vividness of imagination. But they every where mani- 
 fest a clear and sober judgment, great accuracy and 
 integrity, and unsparing exertion to be himself master 
 of his subject, and to convey his own stock of know- 
 ledge undiminished to his reader. It does but enhance 
 the deservings of a man who has conferred so many 
 benefits upon posterity, that he was enabled to do it, 
 not by the possession of extraordinary endowments, 
 but by his own assiduous employment of a moderate 
 share of talent. His example may afford just en- 
 couragement to the young student anxious to do his 
 part towards the benefit of his race, but diffident of his 
 abilities. Such a one may derive incentives to exer- 
 tion, and fair hopes of ultimate success, from the life of 
 a man who without fortune, with few friends, and with 
 no uncommon pretensions to distinction on account of 
 mental powers, not only raised himself to the summit 
 of his profession, and established a durable reputation 
 as a writer, but attained the far more enviable character 
 of a benefactor to his fellow-beings — a benefactor of 
 the noblest class, securing the advantages of a reason- 
 able faith and holy profession to thousands and ten 
 thousands who may be ignorant of his dignity and fame,, 
 but know him as the earnest and successful advocate of 
 the Gospel of Christ Jesus. 
 
BISHOP OF LONDON'S 
 FIRST PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PEOPLE OF HIS DIOCESE; 
 
 OCCASIONED BY SOME LATE WRITINGS IN FAVOR OF INFIDELITT. 
 
 The office I bear in the Church of Christ, and my 
 particular relation to this diocese, oblige me to study 
 your spiritual good, and to warn you of any danger to 
 which I see you exposed, either in principle or practice. 
 For though you are committed, as to your spiritual 
 affairs, to the more immediate care and direction of 
 parochial ministers, yet not so, as to cease to be a part 
 of the Episcopal care, especially in cases where the 
 concern is general, and the dangers such as may not 
 fall under the observation of every particular pastor. 
 And I am not without hope, that what I shall say to 
 you, will be more generally attended to, and make an 
 impression somewhat stronger, as it comes to you 
 directly from the hands of your Bishop ; and, being 
 not spoken, but written, you will have better op- 
 portunity to peruse, consider, and apply it, with such 
 care and deliberation as the importance of the matter 
 deserves. 
 
 This method, I own, is uncommon, but so is the 
 occasion too; and nowhere so great and pressing, as 
 in these two large and populous cities ; whether we 
 consider the variety of temptations, or the powerful 
 influence of bad examples ; the corrupt principles and 
 practices which first spring up here, or the quick and 
 easy propagation of them from hence into all parts of 
 the kingdom ; which makes the checking and sup- 
 pressing them here as much as possible, to be truly a 
 national concern. 
 
16 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 They who live in these great cities, or have had 
 frequent recourse to them, and have any concern for 
 religion, must have observed to their great grief, that 
 profaneness and impiety are grown bold and open; 
 that a new sort of vice of a very horrible nature, and 
 almost unknown before in these parts of the world, 
 was springing up and gaining ground among us, if it had 
 not been checked by the seasonable care of the civil 
 administration ; that in some late writings, public stews 
 have been openly vindicated, and private vices recom- 
 mended to the protection of the government, as public 
 benefits ; '^ and, that great pains have been taken to 
 make men easy in their vices, and to deliver them from 
 the restraints of conscience, by undermining all religion, 
 and promoting atheism and infidelity ; and, what adds 
 to the danger, by doing it under specious colors and 
 pretences of several kinds. One, under pretence of 
 opposing the encroachments of popery, thereby to 
 recommend himself to the unwary Protestant reader, 
 has labored at once to set aside all Christian ordinances, 
 and the very being of a Christian ministry and a Chris- 
 tian Church.'' Another, under color of great zeal for 
 the Jewish dispensation, and the literal meaning of 
 Scripture, has been endeavoring to overthrow the foun- 
 dations of the Christian religion. = A third, pretending 
 to raise the actions and miracles of our Saviour to a 
 more exalted and spiritual meaning, has labored to take 
 away the reality of them, and by that to destroy one of 
 the principal evidences of Christianity.'' Others have 
 shown a great zeal for natural religion in opposition 
 
 » [The author refers to the execrable production of Mandeville — 
 The Fable of the Bees, or, Private Vices Public Benefits.] 
 
 •» [ToLAN'D, in his Christianity not Mysterious, 1702: which was 
 subsequently Ibllowed up by several other works more openly attacking 
 all revealed religion, and inculcating atheism or pantheism. IVie 
 Rights of the Christian Church Asserted, a still more specious attack 
 upon Christianity in the garb of Popery, attributed to a club of infidels, 
 appeared about the same period.] 
 
 c [Anthony Collins, in the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian 
 Religion CoJisidered, 1723 — the work which gave occasion to Bishop 
 Suerlock's excellent Discourses on the Use and Intent of Prophecy. 
 Collins attempted to defend himself, and state his scheme more fully, 
 in his Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered, 1726.] 
 
 d [Thomas Woolston, in a work entitled Discourses on the Miraclet 
 of 9ur Saviour, 1727.] 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 17 
 
 to revealed,^ with no other view, as it seems, than to 
 get rid of the restraints of revealed religion, and to 
 make way for unbounded enjoyment of their corrupt 
 appetites and vicious inclinations, no less contrary in 
 reality to the obligations of natural religion, than of 
 revealed. And all or most of these writers, under 
 color of pleading for the liberties of mankind, have run 
 into an unprecedented licentiousness, in treating the 
 serious and important concerns of religion in a ludi- 
 crous and reproachful manner. 
 
 These are things which no serious Christian — I 
 might add, no serious Deist who has any sense of God 
 upon his mind, and any regard to virtue and morality, 
 or even to common decency and order — can behold and 
 reflect on, without a very sensible concern. Much 
 more ought the ministers of the Gospel to be awake, 
 a,nd to double their care over the souls committed to 
 their charge, when they see so many devices set on 
 foot to corrupt and poison them, both in their principles 
 and morals. Accordingly, on this occasion many ex- 
 cellent books have been published in defence of the 
 Christian religion, against those writings in favor of in- 
 fidelity. In which boo^vs the authors have, with great 
 learning, strength, and perspicuity, maintained the cause 
 of religion, and detected the sophistry of its adversa- 
 ries.; — whose art it has been, in some cases, to lay hold 
 on little circumstances, as if tho whole of Christianity 
 depended upon them, and by that to draw the reader's 
 ■attention from the most plain and substantial arguments 
 for the trijjth of it ; and at other times, by perplexing 
 and misapplying the plainest proofs, to make way for 
 their own interpretations, and for imposing them more 
 easily upon unwary and ignorant readers ; and^ which 
 is no less unfair and disingenuous, to misrepresent the 
 sense of judicious writers, and to pick weak arguments 
 out of those who are less guarded, in order to expose the 
 whole as ridiculous. To defeat these indirect arts and 
 endeavors, the same learned writers have taken off 
 those false colors, and placed the evidences of Christian- 
 
 e [Among these TiNDAL, author of Christianity as old as the Crea- 
 Hon, 1730, and Chubb, the writer of several minor tracts^ were pre- 
 eminent.] 
 
 -2* 
 
18 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 ity upon their true foundation ; and, by setting them in 
 their proper and genuine light, and representing them 
 in their united strength, have abundantly shown that 
 no impartial or unprejudiced person who considers them 
 with attention, can doubt of their force and sufficiency 
 to convince any reasonable and well-disposed mind. 
 
 But because these writings are too large and too 
 learned to be read and examined by the generality of 
 people, and consist of such a chain oif reasoning as per- 
 sons of common capacity cannot easily follow and com- 
 prehend ; — who, as they have less leisure as well as 
 fibility to enter into particular examinations, are more 
 liable to be imposed upon, and more like to be attacked 
 by the enemies of Christianity : for this reason I have 
 thought it incumbent upon me to draw up for your use 
 some few rules and cautions, which are short and easy, 
 and which, being frequently perused, and duly attended 
 to, may be a means, under the blessing of God, to pre- 
 serve sincere and unprejudiced Christians from these 
 dangerous infections. 
 
 I. Be sure that you have a mind sincerely de- 
 sirous TO KNOW the m ill of God, and firmly re- 
 solved TO COMPLY with WHATEVER SHALL APPEAR 
 TO BE HIS WILL. 
 
 This is a necessary preparation for the knowledge of 
 divine truths, — to be willing to know, and ready to 
 practise ; without which, men not only may be easily 
 deceived by others, but are in effect determined before- 
 hand to deceive themselves. Where there is an unwil- 
 lingness to part with lusts and pleasures, a\id worldly 
 interests, there must of course be a desire that the 
 Christian religion should not be true, and a willingness 
 to favor and embrace any argument that is brought 
 against it, and to cherish any doubts and scruples that 
 shall be raised concerning it. From a mind so disposed 
 and so prejudiced in favor of the enemy, Christianity 
 cannot expect a fair hearing, but on the contrary all 
 the disadvantage and opposition that lusts and passions 
 can suggest. And therefore our Saviour lays down this 
 as the true foundation of divine knowledge, " If any man 
 will do God's will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 19 
 
 it be of God ;"^ implying that a sincere desire to know 
 the truth, with an honest disposition to conform our wills 
 and affections to it when known, is the best preservative 
 against error in religion, and carries with it a well- 
 grounded assurance of the divine aid, to assist persons so 
 disposed in their inquiries afier truth. And the words 
 do also carry in them this other assertion, — that who- 
 ever is not first sincerely disposed to do the will of God, 
 he shall be in great danger of not knowing the doctrine 
 whether it be of God, and of remaining in a state of 
 ignorance and error. 
 
 II. As A FURTHER PROOF OF YOUR SINCERITY, BE 
 CAREFUL AND DILIGENT IN THE USE OF THOSE MEANS 
 
 WHICH God has afforded you for the right under- 
 standing OF HIS WILL : particularly in reading the 
 Scriptures, and making them familiar to you, and com- 
 paring one part of them with another; by which a mo- 
 derate capacity may make considerable advancement in 
 the knowledge of religion. And you must not fail to 
 pray to God, that in all your searches and inquiries 
 after the truth, he will be pleased to guide and direct 
 you by his Holy Spirit, which he is always ready to 
 vouchsafe to every humble and sincere mind. And if 
 after all your own endeavors, you meet with difficul- 
 ties of any kind, have recourse to some persons of piety 
 and learning, upon whose knowledge and judgment you 
 believe you may safely rely. Only beware that the dif- 
 ficulties be not owing either to a willingness on your 
 part to raise them, or to the indulging yourselves in 
 over-curious and needless inquiries. 
 
 III. After you have secured the sincerity of 
 your own hearts, attend to the LIVES of those 
 who endeavor to seduce you, or whom you see en- 
 deavoring TO seduce others: — Whether, in the ge- 
 neral course of them, they have been sober, and regular, 
 and virtuous; or, on the contrary, vicious and irregular? 
 If the latter, do not wonder that they take so much 
 pains to reason themselves into infidelity, without which 
 their minds cannot be easy in the enjoyment of their 
 
 f John vU. 17. 
 
20 BISHOP GIBSON'S 
 
 vices ; nor that they become advocates for it, and are 
 industrious to gain proselytes, on purpose to keep them- 
 selves in countenance, and to make their vices less infa- 
 mous, by being more fashionable. Take it for granted, 
 that such men are enemies to religion for no other rea- 
 son but because religion is an enemy to their luxury and 
 lusts. For as it has been already observed under the 
 first head, that a mind virtuously disposed and sincerely 
 desirous to understand the will of God is the best pre- 
 paration for the knowledge of the truth, so is a vicious 
 mind, and a willingness and inclination to disbelieve, 
 the natural and necessary parent of error and delu- 
 sion. 
 
 And as some are naturally led by their lusts, to 
 oppose the doctrines of Christianity ; so others are led 
 by pride and self-conceit, to raise doubts and disputes 
 concerning any opinions and doctrines which are gene- 
 rally received and established, how evident soever it 
 may be that the doctrines they oppose are agreeable to 
 all the principles of virtue in general, and of Christianity 
 in particular. Such men disdain to think in the com- 
 mon way ; and valuing themselves upon a more than 
 ordinary share of knowledge and penetration, do ahvays 
 affect novelty and singularity in opinion. Which oppos- 
 ing humor was well expressed by one of our modern 
 advocates for infidelity in what he is reported to have 
 said of one of his fellow-laborers, to this effect, ' that 
 if his own opinions were established to-day, he would 
 oppose them to-morrow.' When therefore you observe 
 any person to be eager and forward in raising doubts 
 and scruples about the doctrines of Christianity, who 
 also on other occasions appears to take a delight in 
 disputing, and wrangling, and opposing the general 
 sentiments of mankind; Avonder not at it, but place it, 
 as you well may, to the account of pride and self-con- 
 ceit ; and the natural effects of these, a spirit of con- 
 tradiction. 
 
 IV. Wheis' totj meet with any book fpon the 
 
 SUBJECT OF RELIGION, THAT IS WRITTEN IN A LUDI- 
 CROUS OR UNSERIOUS manner; take it for 
 
 GRANTED THAT IT PROCEEDS FROM A DEPRAVED MIND, 
 AND IS WRITTEN WITH AN IRRELIGIOUS DESIGJJ. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 21 
 
 Such books are calculated, not to inform the under- 
 standing, but to corrupt the heart. There is no sub- 
 ject, how grave or sublime soever in itself, but may be 
 turned into jest and ridicule ; and by being so turned, 
 may be made to appear mean and despicable. And the 
 promoters of infidelity very well know, that if by this 
 artifice they can take off the reverence that belongs to 
 religion, the minds of the people are easily carried into 
 a disregard of it and an indifference about it ; which is 
 of course an inlet to vice ; and vice quickly improves 
 an indifference about religion, into a prejudice against 
 it, and by degrees into a professed enmity to it. Be 
 sure, therefore, to avoid this snare ; and do not only 
 lay aside, but abhor all such books as turn religion into 
 jest and mirth : for, next to the writing and publishing 
 them, there is not a more certain sign of a depraved 
 and irreligious mind, than the finding any degree of 
 satisfaction and complacency in them. 
 
 V. Be not persuaded to part with revelation, 
 
 UNDER pretence OF RELYING ON NATURAL REA- 
 SON AS YOUR ONLY GUIDE. For reason, without the 
 assistance given it by revelation, has in fact appeared 
 to be a very insuflficient guide. For which we may 
 appeal to the endless and irreconcilable differences 
 among the ancient philosophers, not only in speculative 
 opinions, but in the great rules of duty, as to what is 
 right or wrong, lawful or unlawful ; and even in the 
 chief end or good which man ought to propose to him- 
 self in order to his happiness. And it would be very 
 strange, to suppose that the generality of mankind have 
 suflUcient leisure and ability to enter into the depths of 
 philosophy, and to compare the opinions of the several 
 philosophers, and to determine, upon the foot of natural 
 reason, which of them is in the right and which in the 
 wrong. And much more extraordinary would it be to 
 expect, that for the sake of such an uncertain and im- 
 practicable rule, they should lay aside a plain, clear 
 and uniform scheme of duty, obvious to the meanest 
 capacities, and fully attested to come from God. 
 
 But suppose the philosophers had furnished us with 
 a consistent and uniform scheme of moral duties — which 
 they are very far from having done ; there are many 
 
22 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 other things that revelation has discovered to us, which 
 were either wholly unknown, or known very imper- 
 fectly, to the best and wisest among them, and yet are 
 absolutely necessary to give mankind a full knowledge 
 of their duty, and to make them proceed in it with com- 
 fort and constancy. Such are, — the way in which an 
 acceptable worship may be performed to the deity ; — 
 the certain method of obtaining pardon of sin, and 
 reconciliation to God, and supernatural assistance to 
 enable us to do his will : — and, that most powerful 
 motive to duty and obedience, the full assurance of 
 rewards and punishments in another life, according to 
 our behavior in this ; without a firm persuasion of 
 which (much firmer than any philosopher ever arrived 
 to) it is morally impossible that mankind, in this cor- 
 rupt state, should be restrained from excess and vio- 
 lence, and preserved in a regular and orderly course of 
 duty. 
 
 But the truth is ; natural religion, as set up against 
 revelation by our present advocates for infidelity, is 
 very difierent from that which the wisest of the ancient 
 philosophers discovered by the light of reason ;^ and 
 this in some very material points. With the one, the 
 government of the appetites was their great foundation 
 of virtue and goodness ; but with the other, the great 
 aim seems to be to gratify them ; and so, their main 
 objection against Christianity must be, that it requires 
 self-denial, and lays restraints upon the irregular appe- 
 tites of mankind. The ancient moralists labored by 
 all the arguments they could find, to give themselves 
 what they thought a comfortable hope of the immor- 
 tality of the soul and a future state ; but there is too 
 much cause to believe, that our modern reasoners do 
 
 ^ [The natural religion so miach vaunted by the enemies of Chris- 
 tianity is, in fact, a borrowed light — owing all that it contains intrin- 
 sically valuable to the Gospel. Its views of the Divine nature and 
 attributes, and its system of morality, are derived thence, and then 
 most unfairly set in competition. See more on this point under the 
 2d head of the Second Pastoral Letter; and a full discussion of it, in 
 the admirable treatise entitled The Knowledge of Divine Things 
 from Revelation, by J. Elms : it is there satisfactorily proved, that 
 even the natural religion of the ancient philosophers, inferior as it was 
 to the idol of modern infidelity, was not independent of revelation, but 
 4erived its darkling glimpses of the truth from primitive tradition.] 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 23 
 
 not wish Of desire that these things may be true ; on 
 the contrary, the great aim of all their endeavors seems 
 to be, to root the apprehension of them out of the world. 
 The wisest and most learned of the philosophers of old, 
 saw and lamented their own ignorance, and the imper- 
 fection of the utmost knowledge that natural reason can 
 attain to, and the great necessity there was of some 
 further light.'' But our modern philosophers are self- 
 sufficient — so far from desiring further light of any kind, 
 that it is one part of their character to disclaim all 
 assistance, even though it be from a divine revelation. 
 The ancients preserved the greatest reverence for things 
 sacred ; but their pretended successors in our times, 
 turn every thing that is sacred into jest and ridicule. 
 So that natural religion, as now contended for among 
 us, seems not to be meant for a rule of duty, but only a 
 specious name, to be set up against revelation, and to 
 prove Christianity, not only as to the doctrinal but 
 even the moral part of it, to be a needless institution. 
 And certainly there cannot be a greater sign of a per- 
 verse and depraved mind, than endeavoring to depre- 
 ciate it ; — as it is an institution, that contains in it the 
 religion of nature explained, improved, and raised to 
 greater degrees of purity and perfection;' regulating 
 the inward thoughts as well as the outward actions ; 
 
 ^ [See under the 3d head of the Second Pastoral Letter.'] 
 ' [That is to say, involving in itself, and developing to their full 
 extent and operation, all those principles and precepts, whether relics 
 of early knowledge from revelation or gleanings from the Gospel itself, 
 which have been dignified with the name of * natural religion.' — The 
 Bishop is arguing with the infidel on his own grounds, and admits for 
 the moment, what ought never to be seriously granted, that the Gospel 
 is merely a republication of a previously existing religious system. 
 Nothing has done more towards the degradation of our holy faith from 
 its true rank as " the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus 
 Christ unto all and upon all them that believe,"—" the grace of God 
 bringing salvation" — into a mere lifeless system of abstract speculation, 
 than the incautious admission of such views. All that gives Chris- 
 tianity its value, as the revelation of "the Word made flesh, dwelling 
 among us full of grace and truth," and " giving himself for us that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works," is wholly beyond the stretch of so- 
 called natural religion, and neither an ' explanation,' ' improvement,' 
 nor ' exaltation,' of that system, but an independent revelation of " the 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour," and "the blessed hope" 
 which that love has granted us.] 
 
24 
 
 requiring us to abstain not only from sin, but from all 
 tendencies to it ; not only from evil, but from all ap- 
 pearance of evil ; commanding us to love and do good 
 to our enemies as well as friends ; and enforcing the 
 strict observance both of moral and Christian duties, by 
 motives and obligations stronger by far, than any that 
 natural reason can suggest ; — as it lays down a plain 
 and easy rule of life, adapted to the meanest as well as 
 the highest capacities ; — as the precepts of it are excel- 
 lently calculated for the peace and happiness of man- 
 kind, by laying the strongest restraints upon their 
 irregular passions, (anger, hatred, and revenge,) and 
 every where inculcating the most amiable lessons of 
 meekness, benevolence, and forgiveness ; — as it re- 
 quires and enforces a strict observance of the duties 
 belonging to the several relations of mankind to one 
 another, on which the peace and order, not only of 
 private families, but of public societies, so greatly de- 
 pend ; — as it furnishes us with the best motives and 
 most substantial arguments for comfort in the time of 
 affliction, and enables us to bear all the evils of this life 
 with patience and contentment ; — and finally, as it opens 
 to us a most comfortable view of happiness and immor- 
 tality in a future state. — How such an institution should 
 become the object of their hatred and dislike, is not to 
 be accounted for, but from somewhat very corrupt and 
 irregular in their hearts ; which makes them first averse 
 to the purity it requires, and, for the sake of that, pro- 
 fessed enemies to the institution itself. 
 
 VI. Do NOT RECKON THE TRUTH OF ANY DISPENSA- 
 TION OR DOCTRINE TO BE REALLY DOUBTFUL, MERE- 
 LY BECAUSE SOME MEN AFFECT TO MAKE A DOUBT 
 OF IT. 
 
 There are monsters in mind, as well as in body; and 
 it is an old observation, that there was no opinion so 
 absurd, but what some philosopher had held. The 
 truth is, follies and absurdities in opinion are without 
 end, where men give themselves up to skepticism, and 
 at the same time are positive and conceited, and afraid 
 that they shall not sufficiently distinguish themselves, 
 and transmit their names to posterity with advantage, 
 but by broaching odd and singular notions, and by 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 35 
 
 thinking differently from the generality of mankind ; 
 which leads them of course to oppose whatever is gene- 
 rally received and established. And when the doctrines 
 which they set themselves to overthrow, are such as 
 curb and cross the corrupt and inordinate desires of 
 nature, and their own doctrines come recommended by 
 giving full liberty and indulgence to the irregular appe- 
 tites of men, and by lessening their apprehensions of a 
 future account, it is not to be wondered that they gain 
 proselytes. 
 
 VII. When a revelation is sufficiently attest- 
 ed TO COME FROM GoD, LET IT NOT WEAKEN YOUR 
 FAITH, IF YOU CANNOT CLEARLY SEE THE FITNESS 
 AND EXPEDIENCE OF EVERY PART OF IT. 
 
 This would be, to make yourselves as knowing as God, 
 whose wisdom is infinite, and the depth of whose dis- 
 pensations, with the reasons and ends of them, are not 
 to be fathomed by our short and narrow comprehen- 
 sions. God has given us sufGcient capacity to know 
 him, and to learn our duty, and to judge when a revela- 
 tion comes from him, which is all the knowledge that is 
 needful to us in our present state. And it is the greatest 
 folly, as well as presumption, in any man, to enter into 
 the counsels of God, and to make himself a judge of the 
 wisdom of his dispensations to such a degree, as to con- 
 clude that this or that revelation cannot come from God, 
 because he cannot see in every respect the fitness and 
 reasonableness of it : — to say, for instance, that either 
 we had no need of a Redeemer, or that a better method 
 might have been contrived for our redemption ; and, 
 upon the whole, not to give God leave to save us in his 
 own way."^ In these cases, the true inference is, that the 
 revelation is therefore wise, and good, and just, and fit 
 to be received and submitted to by us, because we have 
 sufficient reason to believe that it comes from God. For 
 so far he has made us competent judges, inasmuch as na- 
 tural reason informs us what are the proper evidences 
 of a divine revelation : but he has not let us into the 
 
 « [The inculcation of this lesson is the design of Bishop Butler's 
 Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion — a work which it is 
 superfluous to recommend or praise.] 
 
 Vol. v.— 3 
 
26 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 springs of his administration, nor shown us the whole 
 compass of it, nor the connexion of the several parts 
 with one another ; nor, by consequence, can we be ca- 
 pable to judge adequately of the fitness of the means 
 w^hich he makes use of to attain the ends. On the con- 
 trary, the attempting to make such a judgment, is to' 
 set ourselves in the place of God, and to forget that we 
 are frail men ; that is, short-sighted and ignorant crea- 
 tures, who know very little of divine matters, further 
 than it has pleased God to reveal them to us, 
 
 VIII. Suffer not yourselves to be drawn from 
 THE MORE PLAIN AND DIRECT proofs of the truth 
 OF Christianity, to proofs, which, however good, 
 
 ARE less obvious TO COMMON CAPACITIES. 
 
 This is an artifice usual with writers who engage in a 
 bad cause ; to labor, in the first place, to fix the merits of 
 the cause they oppose, upon some point which either has 
 little relation to it, or at least is not the main point ; and 
 then to run into such proofs as are most remote and in- 
 tricate ; and both these, on purpose to draw the reader's 
 attention from the true state of the case, and from the 
 proofs which are most plain, strong, and direct. 
 
 There are many sorts of proofs, by which the truth 
 of Christianity is supported: as, 1. Types; 2. Prophe- 
 cies ; 3. THE GENERAL EXPECTATION OF ChRIST's 
 
 coming at that time; 4. the miracles he wrought; 5. 
 his PREDICTIONS of his own death and resurrection, and 
 many other events, which were punctually fulfilled ; and 
 6. the speedy and wonderful propagation of the 
 Gospel, after his death. But all these, though in them* 
 selves cogent and conclusive, are not equally plain anci 
 clear to everj^ capacity, 
 
 I. The Types which the Christian writers of allage$ 
 have insisted on, as prefiguring a suffering Saviour, 
 could not be applied to Christ by the Jews who lived 
 before his coming, because they expected a temporal 
 prince and a triumphant Saviour. But they are ex* 
 pressly applied to him, and represented as centring in 
 him, by the inspired writers of the New Testament, 
 and particularly by St. Paul, who received his inslruc* 
 
FIRSt PASTORAL LEtTER. 2K 
 
 tions immediately from heaven.' The paschal lamb, 
 for instance, which was slain every year at the feast of 
 the passovej, and was by God's special appointment to 
 be " without blemish,""' and to be slain only at Jeru- 
 salem,° and the *' bones of it not to be broken ;"° was 
 most manifestly a type of our Saviour's death ; which, 
 besides an agreement in the circumstances already 
 mentioned, was on the very same day, and on the very 
 same part of the day, that the paschal lamb was appoint- 
 ed to be slain; and, by a signal providence, a bone of 
 him was not broken ; though it was a known custom to 
 break the bones of those who were crucified, and the 
 bones of the two who were crucified with him were 
 actually broken. Well then might John the Baptist 
 say to the pcDple, " Behold the lamb of God ;"p and St. 
 Paul style him, "Christ our passover ;"'3 and St. Peter 
 speak of him, " as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
 out spot."*- 
 
 2. In like manner, the Prophecies of the Old Testa- 
 ment, as foretelling the time, place and other circum- 
 stances of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the 
 Messiah, with many particulars concerning the nature 
 of his kingdom, and the times of it, are not only applied 
 to him by the inspired writers of the New Testament, 
 and by the succeeding Christians in all ages, but were 
 so applied by the ancient Jewish writers themselves, 
 long before ihe coming of Christ into the world. 
 From whence arose that general expectation of his 
 coming at that time, which we find attested by the con- 
 curring evidence of Jewish, Christian, and Heathen 
 writers, s 
 
 ' [Compare what is said on the subject by West, Standard Works, 
 Vol. I. p. 243, ss. ; and in the references there given.] 
 
 ■^ Exodus xii. 5, " Deuteronomy xvi. 5, 6. 
 
 o Exodus xii. 46. — Numbers ix. 12, p John i. 29. 
 
 q 1 Corinthians v, 7. «• 1 Pet. i. 19. 
 
 s [A brief but comprehensive recapitulation of the prophecies on 
 which the expectation of the Messiah among the Jews was founded, 
 is given byHoRNE, Introd. to the Scriptures, Vol. L Chap. IV. Sect III. 
 Class. 3. Comp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. II. Some very curious 
 statements and speculations on the expectation of a Messiah among 
 the Heathen, may be found in Bp. Horsley's Dissertation published 
 with his Posthumous Sermons.'\ 
 
28 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 That a Messiah was promised in the law and the 
 prophets, and that this was universally believed and 
 acknowledged by the Jews, appears by the whole tenor 
 of St. Paul's and St. Peter's discourses to them, as they 
 are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles ; where we 
 see plainly, the only point in dispute between them and 
 the Jews, was. Whether or no that promise was fulfilled 
 in our Saviour ? For as the apostles constantly reasoned 
 with them from the prophecies and predictions of the 
 Old Testament ; so all their reasonings were to prove, 
 that they were fulfilled in him. We do not find, that 
 any doubt was raised by the Jews whether the passages 
 quoted from those books, had been rightly applied to a 
 Messiah by their own teachers, or whether the expecta- 
 tion there was of a great deliverer was well founded in 
 the Scriptures ? The only thing which, the Jews them- 
 selves being judges, wanted to be proved, was, that 
 those Scriptures were rightly applied by the apostles 
 to Jesus of Nazareth, whom their rulers had put to 
 death, but who by the ppwer of God was raised again 
 to life ; of which the apostles were eyewitnesses, and 
 the truth of their testimony was confirmed by the 
 miraculous gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost. This 
 was the great point in their reasonings with the Jews — 
 to prove that Jesus was the person promised ; for which 
 they made their appeals to the Scriptures of the Old 
 Testament, and did it with great success. 
 
 At Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews, 
 St. Paul " went in unto them, as his manner was, and 
 three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scrip- 
 tures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs 
 have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and that 
 this Jesus whom I preach unto you, is Christ.'" At 
 Damascus, he " confounded the Jews which dwelt there, 
 proving that this is the very Christ."" So, in the 
 synagogue at Beraea, he reasoned with them out of the 
 Scriptures ; and it is said in commendation of the Jews 
 there, that " they received the word with all readiness 
 of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether 
 these things were so."'' Of the same kind was his dis- 
 
 t Acts xviii. 1, 2, 3. " Acts vs.. 22. * Acts xvii. 10, U, 12. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 29 
 
 toufse with the Jews at Antioch ; " Of this man's 
 (David's) seed, hath God according to his promise^ 
 raised unto Israel, a Saviour, Jesus : — Because they 
 knew him not (viz. Christ,) nor yet the voices of the 
 prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have 
 fulfilled them in condemning him. The promise which 
 was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same 
 to us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus 
 again ;"'^ — according to what was prophesied by David 
 and Isaiah, which is there set forth at large. Thus also 
 he defends himself before Felix, " This I confess unto 
 thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so 
 w^orship I the God of my Fathers, believing all things 
 which are written in the law and the prophets ;"^ and 
 before Festus and Agrippa ; " I am judged for the hope 
 of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Having 
 obtained help of God, I continue unto this day ; wit- 
 nessing both to small and great, saying none other 
 things, than those which the prophets and Moses did say 
 should come. King Agrippa, believest thou the pro- 
 phets ? I know that thou believest ;" to which Agrippa 
 replied, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. "y 
 And when he was at Rome, " he expounded and testi- 
 fied to the Jews" who came to him, "the kingdom of 
 God ; persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of 
 the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning 
 till evening y^- 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles give the like account of St. 
 Peter, who o\\ the day of Pentecost preached to the 
 Jews upon the evidence of the Scriptures, with such 
 success, that " great numbers gladly received his word, 
 and the same day there were added to them about three 
 thousand souls. "* And a little after, upon his healing 
 an impotent man in Solomon's porch, and the people's 
 running together to him, we have another declaration 
 of his to the same purpose : " Those things which Gon 
 beforehand had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, 
 that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Whom 
 the heaven must receive, until the time of restitution 
 
 Acts xiii. 16, 17. "23. 27. 33, 33. ^ Acts xxiv. 14. 
 
 Acts xxvi. 6. 22. 27, 28. =' Acts xxviii. 23. 
 
 Acts ii. 1—25. 
 
 3* 
 
30 BISHOP gibsonV 
 
 of all things, which God hath spoken hy the mouth of 
 all his holy prophets, since the world began. For 
 Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the 
 Lord your God raise up unto you : Yea, and all the 
 prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as 
 many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these 
 days."'^ — "And many which heard the word, believed : 
 and the number of the men was about six thousand."'' 
 Again, in his speech to Cornelius, and his company ; — 
 *' Him (Jesus) God raised up — and commanded us to 
 preach to the people, and to testify, that it is he which 
 was ordained of God, to be the judge of quick and dead ; 
 to him give all the prophets witness.^^'^ 
 
 The same appeal to the Scriptures is made by St- 
 Stephen : " This is that Moses which said unto the 
 children of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your God 
 raise up unto you. — Which of the prophets have not 
 your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which 
 showed hefore of the coming of the just One, of whom 
 you have been now the betrayers and murderers.'"^ 
 And Philip converts the treasurer of Queen Candace, 
 whom he found reading the 53d chapter of Isaiah, by 
 " beginning at that Scripture^ and preaching to him 
 Jesus ;" upon which he believed, and was baptized.^ 
 And of Apollos it is said, that " he was an eloquent 
 man, and mighty in the Scriptures ; and that he mightily 
 convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing hy the 
 Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ."" 
 
 This then was the reasoning of the apostles, and 
 other holy men, in order to the conversion of the Jcavs : 
 and it is no other than what St. Paul learnt by immediate 
 revelation ; for he tells the Corinthians that he " deli- 
 vered to them, that which he received, how that Christ 
 died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that 
 he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, 
 according to the Scriptures." *» And the other apostles 
 were instructed in the same way of reasoning by our 
 Saviour himself, who a little before his passion " took 
 unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we 
 
 b Acts iii. 18. 21, 22. 24, 25, 26. « Acts iv. 4. 
 
 d Acts X. 43. « Acts vii. 37. 52. 
 
 f Acts viii. 30, 38. e Acts xviii. 24, 25. 
 b I Cor. XV. 3, 4. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 31 
 
 go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are loritten hy 
 the prophets concerning the Son of man, shall he accom- 
 plished" ' But then " they understood none of these 
 things ;" ^ and therefore, after his resurrection, *' he 
 opened their understanding ;" ^ first, of two of them, 
 whom he met going to Emmaus ; " Oh fools, and slow 
 of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! 
 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to 
 enter into his glory ? And beginning at Moses, and all 
 the prophets, he expounded unto ihem in all the Scrip- 
 tures, the things concerning himself :''"'''' and then of the 
 eleven ; — " These are the words which I spake unto 
 you, while I was yet with you, that all things must he 
 fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in 
 the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then 
 opened he their understandings, that they might under- 
 stand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is 
 written, 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."" 
 
 Such frequent appeals to the Scriptures of the Old 
 Testament to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, plainly 
 suppose the promise of a Messiah ; and the success they 
 had, notwithstanding the prejudices the Jews were under 
 against a suffering Messiah, shows the propriety and 
 efficacy of this argument in order to the conviction of 
 that people, to whom the promise was made, and whose 
 earnest desire and expectation of a Deliverer had led 
 them of course to be familiarly acquainted with the 
 prophecies concerning him. 
 
 But because the evidence arising from particular 
 types and prophecies, ° is now by length of time, and 
 
 i Luke xviii. 31. ^ Luke xviii. 34. 
 
 ' Luke xxiv. 45. '" Luke xxiv. 25, 26, 27. 
 
 " Luke xxiv. 44, 45, 4G, 47. 
 
 'J [The cautious expressions of this paragraph are worthy of remark. 
 While the author avoids admitting too much as to the difficulty even of 
 '^^ particular types and prophecies," (respecting the exact application 
 and fulfilment of which some difficulties may undoubtedly arise,) he 
 judiciously leaves wholly out of question the general argument from 
 type and prophecy, viz. the evidence aflbrded by the existence, and 
 mutual relations between the parts, of the collective masses of typical 
 
32 BISHOP GIBSON*S 
 
 distance of place, and change of customs, becornc 
 obscure and difficult to the generality of people, and 
 cannot be thoroughly discussed without a great variety 
 of knowledge concerning the ancient Jewish customs, 
 and the authority of their writings, and the exact calcu- 
 lations of time, — all which require much study, and 
 leave room to ill-minded men to dispute and cavil, and 
 to perplex readers who are unacquainted with the 
 learning and history of former ages, — for these reasons, 
 the promoters of infidelity might well hope to find their 
 account in resting the whole evidence of Christianity 
 upon the types and prophecies of the Old Testament ; 
 partly to furnish wicked minds with objections, and fill 
 weak minds with doubts ; and partly to draw and divert 
 mankind from attending to the more plain, strong, and 
 direct evidences of the truth of Christianity. 
 
 To avoid this snare, fix your mind steadfastly upon 
 the testimony o( facts which are undeniable, and upon 
 consequences flowing from them, which are plain and 
 obvious to the meanest capacities. 
 
 3. As to the FACTS contained in the New Testament; 
 they have the fullest testimony, that an}- ancient nistory 
 can have : — they are transmitted to us by persons who 
 were eyewitnesses of them, or at least contemporary 
 with those that were so, of whom they had diligently 
 inquired ; persons, to whom no fraud, insincerity, or 
 immorality of any kind, was ever objected ; so far from 
 being suspected of design or contrivance, that they 
 were despised both by Jew and Gentile, as simple and 
 ignorant men ; not moved by any prospect of riches, 
 honors, or other temporal advantage, but on the con- 
 trary exposed to continual persecutions upon the single 
 account of their giving testimony to those facts, in 
 which, notwithstanding, they persevered to the last, and 
 were ready to seal the truth of their testimony with their 
 blood, as we are assured several of them did. Nor can 
 there be the least doubt whether those were the verv 
 
 events and institutions, and prophecy. Type and prophecVj regarded 
 (as HuRD, HoRSLEY, and Davison, have ably shown that we must 
 regard them) as one grand whole — a body of evidence comprising 
 within itself every shade of conviction and variety of form, constitute 
 an argument for the truth of Christianity perfectly irrefragable.] 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 33 
 
 persons who recorded the facts as conveyed to us : 
 since we find the books by which they have been con- 
 veyed expressly ascribed to them, and frequently cited 
 under their names by the writers of the very next age, 
 and of every age since ; and not only received as such 
 by the several Christian Churches, but admitted both by 
 Jews and Heathens in their writings against Christianity. 
 We also find, by the numerous passages which they cite 
 from them, and by the early translations of the books 
 themselves into several languages, that they are the 
 same with those we now have ; and are moreover 
 assured, that the original writings of several of them 
 were preserved for some ages, and frequently appealed 
 to by the Christians in their disputes with heretics. 
 These are the known evidences, to prove that any 
 ancient book, whether sacred or profane, was really 
 written by the person whose name it bears ; and it 
 appears by what has been said, that they may be applied 
 with greater strictness and justice to the New Testa- 
 ment, than to any other ancient writing whatsoever ;p 
 {Kirticularly in the point of so many persons laying 
 down their lives, in testimony of the truth of the doc- 
 trines and facts contained in them. 
 
 4. As to the consequences from those facts, and the 
 application of them in order to satisfy yourselves con- 
 cerning the truth of Christianity, begin with the ge- 
 neral EXPECTATION there was of a Messiah, or great 
 Prophet and Deliverer, about the time that our Saviour 
 came. And for the proof of this, you need go no further 
 than the writings of the evangelists. It is said of Simeon, 
 a just and devout man, that he was " waiting for the 
 consolation of Israel. "•i Anna the prophetess " spake 
 of Jesus to all them that looked for redemption in Jeru- 
 salem."'" Upon the appearing of John the Baptist, 
 " the people were in expectation^ and all men mused in 
 
 p [This is very fully shown in the able concluding chapter of Tay- 
 lor's History of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern 
 Times — a work which should be read by every man desirous of know- 
 ing the unassailable stability of the foundation on which he builds his 
 faith — a foundation even more sure than that of any portion of human 
 history or transmitted knowledge.] 
 
 «i Luke ii. 25. »■ Luke ii. 38. 
 
34 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 their hearts, whether he was the Christ or not.'^' 
 The message from John to Christ was, "Art thou he 
 that should come ?"' Art thou that Prophet ? Andrew 
 tells his brother, "We hdive found the Messiah, i. e. the 
 Christ."" The people, seeing the miracle of the 
 loaves, say, " This is of a truth, that Prophet that should 
 come into the world."'' At another time, it is said by 
 the people, " Of a truth, this is the Prophet : this is the 
 Christ. "^^ The woman of Samaria said, " I know that 
 Messiah cometh, which is called Christ."^ The people 
 say, " Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very 
 Christ ?"y The Jews come about Jesus and ask him, 
 "How long dost thou make us to doubt ? If thou be 
 the Christ, tell us plainly."^ Martha saith to Jesus, 
 " I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, 
 which should come into the world. "^ And the high- 
 priest adjures him to declare, "Whether he was the 
 Christ, the Son of God."*' 
 
 These are facts, which plainly show that there was 
 among the Jews at that time a general expectation of 
 a Messiah ; and this expectation could arise from no- 
 thing but a known and general agreement among them, 
 that that was the time which their prophets had fixed 
 for his coming. And even the evasion of the modern 
 Jews, that two Messiahs were foretold, one suffering, 
 and the other triumphant, is an argument from tlie mouth 
 of an adversary, that a Messiah which was foretold by 
 their prophets, is already come ; inasmuch as they find 
 it impossible to apply many passages which their own 
 writers before the coming of Christ expressly applied 
 to the Messiah, to any person but a Messiah in a low 
 and suffering condition. 
 
 5. But let your chief regard and attention be to the 
 testimony of miracles ; those mighty works which 
 were wrought by Christ and his apostles. For this is 
 in its nature a more sure, plain and easy proof; which 
 the meanest capacities are capable of apprehending and 
 
 s Luke iii. 15. ' Matthew xi. 3. 
 
 " John i. 41. ^ John v. 14. 
 
 " John vii. 40, 41. ^ John iv. 25. 
 
 y John vii. 26. j John x. 24. 
 
 * John xi. 27. ^ Matthew xxvi. 63. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 85 
 
 entering into ; and which therefore was evidently in- 
 tended to be the principal means of convincing all 
 mankind of the truth of Christianity. To deny that our 
 Saviour wrought many and great miracles, on all occa- 
 sions, during the whole course of his ministry, before 
 multitudes of people, in the presence of enemies as well 
 as friends, with a bare word, and with real and perma- 
 nent effects, is to deny the evidence of sense, and to 
 destroy at once the truth of all history whatsoever ; 
 and in this particular it is to deny that which the 
 bitterest enemies of Christianity of old had not the 
 hardiness to deny. To say, (as the Jews did,) that those 
 miracles were wrought by the assistance of evil spirits, 
 is to fall into the absurdities with which our Saviour 
 justly charges them, namely, — that Satan casts out 
 Satan ; — that a person whose life was most holy, and 
 his doctrine divine, pure, and heavenly, was all the 
 while carrying on the work of the devil ;— and that a 
 preacher of righteousness, justice, mercy, charity, truth, 
 meekness, patience, and peace, could be enabled to 
 work miracles by any power, but what was divine. 
 
 And therefore we find that Christ himself often ap- 
 peals to his works, or the miracles wrought by him, as 
 full and convincing testimonies of his coming from God, 
 For instance, it is said of John the Baptist, that he 
 wrought no miracles ; upon which our Saviour argues 
 thus with the Jews ; " I have greater witness than that 
 of John ; for the works which the Father hath given me 
 to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me 
 that the Father hath sent me."° At another time, when 
 the Jews came about him and said, " How long dost 
 thou make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us 
 plainly ;" his answer was, " I told you and ye believed 
 not ; the works that I do in my Father's name, they 
 bear witness of me ;"^ and again to the same effect, " If 
 I do not the works of my Father believe me not ; but 
 if I clo, though ye believe not me, believe the VJorks ;^^'' 
 and in another place, '^ Believe me for the very works^ 
 gake,"*" And a little before his ascension, he tells hi^ 
 
 p John V, 36, ^ John x. 24. 25, 
 
 sjohnx. 37, fjohoxiv, IL 
 
86 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 disciples, " Ye shall receive 'power ^^ after that the Holy 
 Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses 
 unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
 and to the utmost parts of the earth.'"' Agreeably to 
 which St. Mark tells us, that " they went forth, and 
 preached every where ; the Lord worMng with them, 
 and confirming the word with signs following."' And 
 it is said in the Acts, that " the Lord gave testirnony 
 unto the word of his grace, (i. e. the Gospel) and 
 granted signs and iconders to he done by their hands :'"' 
 — the miracles they w^ere enabled to work, were the 
 proper and standing evidences of the truth of their 
 doctrine. 
 
 Nor does Christ only appeal to his w^orks, and ena- 
 ble his apostles to do signs and wonders in order to the 
 propagation of the Gospel ; but he grounds the great 
 guilt of the Jews Mho rejected him, on their having seen 
 his works, and yet not been convinced by them ; "If 
 I had not done among them the works which none other 
 man did, they had not had sin."^ And elsewhere he 
 " upbraids the cities wherein most of his mighty works 
 were done, because they repented not.""' And the 
 apostle, to the Hebrews, reasons thus : " How shall we 
 escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the 
 first began to be spoken by the Lord, and w^as con- 
 firmed unto us by them that heard him ; God also 
 bearing them witjiess, both with sigiis and wonders, 
 and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost ?"" On the other hand, we are told by St. 
 John, that when Christ w'as in Jerusalem, at the 
 passover, many believed in his name, " when they saw 
 the miracles which he did."° And Nicodemus, a ruler 
 of the Jews, addresses himself thus to Christ ;" " We 
 knoAv that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no 
 man can do the miracles that thou doest, except God 
 
 = [The word " power" (Swams^ here, as in many other passages 
 (compare Luke i. 35, xxiv. 49. Acts, x, 38. 1 Cor. ii. 4.) signifies 
 ' miraculous manifestation of the power of God, by the extraordinary 
 influence of the Holy Spirit.'] 
 
 ^ Acts i. 8. i Mark xvi. 20. 
 
 k Acts xiv. 3. 1 John xv. 2. 
 
 •» Matt. xi. 20. n Heb. ii. 3. 
 
 • John ii. 23. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 37 
 
 be with him."p Again, " Many of the people believed 
 on him, and said, when Christ cometh will he do more 
 miracles than these which this man hath done ?"q 
 And in another place, the multitude who were fed with 
 the loaves, when they had seen the miracles which 
 Jestjs did, said, " This is of a truth that prophet which 
 should come into the world."' And when the chief 
 priests and Pharisees had assembled a council to con- 
 sider what they should do, their reasoning was this 
 " What do we ? for this man doth many miracles. If 
 we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him."* 
 Upon which, St. Peter might well say, "Ye men of 
 Israel, hear these words : Jesus of Nazareth, a man 
 approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, 
 and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, 
 as ye yourselves also know.'"- 
 
 These appeals which our Saviour makes to his mira- 
 cles, together with the immediate convictions wrought by 
 them, are joint testimonies of the propriety and efficacy 
 of the argument drawn from thence. And since mira- 
 cles could be no testimony at all, if they were not true 
 and real; those appeals and convictions are of them- 
 selves sufficient to show the vanity and wildness of a 
 late attempt," to prove that our Saviour's miracles were 
 merely allegorical ; in which it is hard to persuade one's 
 self, that the author, if in his right mind, can be serious 
 and in earnest. But since the notion he has vented 
 is industriously made use of by skeptics and infidels to 
 stagger and perplex unwary and ignorant people, v/ho 
 easily see that if Christ wrought no real miracles, 
 Christianity has no real support ; — for their sakes, and 
 on no other account, I will proceed to show the absurd- 
 ity of that notion, without any design to convince the 
 author himself, who either is not in earnest, or not ca- 
 pable of conviction. 
 
 What he undertakes to prove, is, that the miracles of 
 our Saviour as we find them in the evangelists — however 
 
 p John iii. 2. b John vii. 31. 
 
 r John vi, 14. s John xi. 47, 48. 
 
 t Acts ii. 22. 
 
 ^ [That of WooLSTON, in the work already specified.] 
 Vol. v.— 4 
 
38 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 related by them as historical truths, and without the 
 least intimation that they are not to be understood lite- 
 rally — Avere not real, but merely allegorical ; and that 
 ihey are to be interpreted, not in the literal, but only 
 in mystical senses ; — which strange and enthusiastic 
 scheme he has pursued throughout in a most profane 
 and ludicrous manner. His pretence is, that the fathers 
 considered our Saviour's miracles in the same allego- 
 rical way that he does ; that is, as merely allegorical, 
 and exclusive of the letter — an assertion so notoriously 
 false, that it requires the greatest charity to think that 
 he himself did not know it to be so. Some of the 
 fathers, indeed, in their explications of Scripture to the 
 people, of which their serm^ons in those days chiefly 
 consisted, being willing to use all means and to omit no 
 opportunities of exciting in ihem a spirit of piety and 
 devotion, did not confine themselves to the bare letter, 
 but endeavored upon the foundation of the letter to raise 
 spiritual meanings, and to allegorize upon them by way 
 of moral application ; and this, not only upon the mi- 
 racles of our Saviour, but upon almost all the historical 
 facts which are recorded either in the Old or New Tes- 
 tament : and the same was also a received method of 
 instruction among the Jews. But would he have us 
 suppose, that the primitive fathers intended to deny the 
 literal facts of our Saviour's miracles, or make them 
 merely allegorical, when he has not produced any one au- 
 thority out of the whole body of the fathers of the first 
 three hundred years after Christ, except Origen, that 
 can be pretended to coimtenance his excluding the lite- 
 ral sense ? He has indeed heaped together a number 
 of quotations, chiefly out of the fiithers and writers of 
 the fourth, iifth, and following centuries : but many of 
 the passages he quotes either expressly affirm, or evi- 
 dently suppose, the literal trutli of our Saviour's mira- 
 cles ; and others of them tell us, that we must not rest 
 in the letter, but endeavor to find out mystical and spi- 
 ritual meanings. Now, as such quotations are far from 
 denying the truth of our Saviour's miracles according 
 to the letter, they can be no manner of service to his 
 cause ; and, therefore, it is hard to say for what end 
 he produced them, unless it was to amuse his English 
 readers with the appearance of a great variety of autho- 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 39 
 
 vities, which he must needs see were nothing to his 
 purpose. 
 
 And as to Origen himself, though he went further 
 into the allegorical way than any other, yet so far was 
 he from not believing and allowing our Saviour's mira- 
 cles in the literal sense, that in many parts of his book 
 Against Cclsus, which consists not of popular dis- 
 courses, but of just and sober reasonings, he directly 
 argues from them in defence of Christianity. — In an- 
 swer to Celsus' boastings of the precepts and disci- 
 pline of the Greeks, he urges, ' that Christianity has a 
 more divine demonstration, which the apostle calls the 
 demonstration of the Spirit and of pov/er : and he ex- 
 plains 'power' to be the miracles of Christ; which, says 
 he, we believe to have been wrought, as from, many 
 other arguments, so particularly from this, that the foot- 
 steps of the same power do still appear.'^ — In several 
 places he takes notice of Celsus' ascribing the miracles 
 of our Saviour to art magic ;''' and having particularly 
 mentioned the restoring of lunatics, casting out devils, 
 and curing diseases, in the name of Christ, he adds, that 
 Celsus, not being able to resist the evidences arising 
 from the wonderful works wrought by him, of which 
 those he named were a few out of many, ascribed them 
 to art magic ; and then he shows at large the absurd- 
 ity of that supposition. '^ He takes notice, that both 
 Moses and Jesus did wonderful works, and such as ex- 
 ceeded human power, y and then expostulates with the 
 Jews for believing the things which Moses wrought, 
 though recorded singly by himself, and rejecting the 
 miracles of Christ, upon the testimony of his disciples; 
 while the Christians, as he adds, were the more ready 
 to believe the miracles of Christ as recorded by his dis- 
 ciples, on account of the prophecy of Moses concerning 
 him. — He argues for the reality of the descent of the 
 Holy Ghost upon our Saviour, from the miracles 
 which he wrought, and mentions the casting out devils, 
 and the curing diseases, in his own time, as one argu- 
 
 V Orig. Cont. Cels. Lib. I. p. 5. ed. Spenc. 
 
 ^ Id. ibid. ; Lib. L p. 7. 30. 34. 53. 
 
 3C Lib. L p. 53. 7 Lib. I. p. 34, 
 
40 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 ment of the truth of those miracles.^ — In proof that 
 Jesus was the Son of God, he urges his healing the 
 lame and the blind, according to the prophecy concern- 
 ing him ; and then proceeds to show the reality of 
 what the evangelists relate concerning his raising per- 
 sons from the dead, and why he raised no more ; and 
 adds, that his miracles were intended, not only to be 
 figures, or symbols, but also the means of converting 
 multitudes to the Christian faith ; thereby plainly ac- 
 knowledging the literal as well as the allegorical mean- 
 ing.^ — He proves the truth of Christ's miracles, from 
 others attempting to work the like ; and makes the 
 same difference between their works and Christ's, that 
 there was between the miracles of Moses and the magi- 
 cians, and says, that a Jew who defends the miracles of 
 Moses, is as perverse as the Egyptians if he rejects 
 those of Christ.^ — He speaks of the miracles of Moses 
 and Christ, as converting whole nations ; and observes 
 that Christ was to overthrow the customs in which the 
 people had been educated, and to deal with a nation that 
 had been taught to require signs and wonders, and there- 
 fore had at least as great need to show them, in order to 
 gain belief, as Moses, who had not those difficulties to 
 overcome.'^ — He says, that whoever should embrace the 
 Christian religion, was required by Christ and his dis- 
 ciples to believe his divinity and miracles.^ — He speaks 
 of the wonderful works of Christ (howsoever disbelieved 
 by Celsus) as the effects of a divine power. ^ And, as 
 to the apostles, he shows how absurd it would have 
 been in them to attempt the introducing and establish- 
 ing a new doctrine in the world, without the help of 
 miracles. f 
 
 Judge now, whether Origen ought to be produced 
 as one who did not believe the miracles of Christ, 
 according to the literal sense, and as full and f roper 
 testimonies of the truth of the Christian religion ; and 
 let this instance convince you, how unsafe it is to take 
 the opinion of the fathers, or of any writers, from par- 
 ticular passages and expressions which may be picked 
 
 » Lib. I. p. 34. a Lib. 11. p. 87, 88. 
 
 ^ Lib. IL p. 91, 92. « Lib. IL p. 91, 92. 
 
 4 Lib. III. p. 128. e Lib. VII. p. 368. ^ Lib. I. p. 30. 34. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 41 
 
 out of them, without attending to the occasions upon 
 which they were written, or comparing them with the 
 other works of the same authors — a liberty, which has 
 been much used of late ; and, if allowed, would put it in 
 the power of designing men to make almost any writer 
 speak Avhat opinion they please. 
 
 At the same time it must be owned, that Origen, 
 and some others, indulged themselves further in the 
 allegorical way than was consistent with sober reason- 
 ing and sound judgment ; for which he, in particular, 
 was greatly blamed, both in his own time, and by many 
 of the fathers of the succeeding ages.^ But their inten- 
 tions were certainly pious : and it could not be imagined 
 that there ever would be such a man in the world, who 
 should make it a question whether any father believed 
 the facts literally understood, who in his defence of the 
 Christian religion against .Tews and Heathens, appealed 
 to the miracles of our Saviour in their plain and literal 
 sense, as the great evidence of his being sent from God^. 
 And as they practised the allegorical method, not only 
 in the point of miracles, but in almost all the historical 
 parts of the Old and New Testament, they are as good 
 authorities for entirely destroying the whole historical 
 truth of both, as that of miracles. 
 
 Though therefore it were granted, that all the ancient 
 fathers of the Church had unanimously indulged them- 
 selves, more or less, in the allegorical meanings ; it 
 would not at all help this writer, unless he could make 
 it clear, that they also denied the literal meaning : and 
 to say that any one who urged the miracles of our 
 Saviour as the great vindication of Christianity, could 
 at the same time deny the literal sense of them, is a flat 
 contradiction ; since, as I observed before, miracles 
 can be no evidence at all in any other meaning, but the 
 literal. Much less will he lind any thing in the fathers 
 to countenance that ludicrous and blasphemous way, in 
 which he has treated Christ and his miracles. 
 
 The truth is, the supposition of an allegorical and 
 mystical meaning, exclusive of the literal, carries in it 
 so many strange absurdities, that nothing could lead 
 any one into it, but either great weakness of under-* 
 
 HuET, Origeniana, p. 170. 
 
42 6ISH0P Gibson's 
 
 standing, or great disorder of mind, or very strong 
 prejudices against the Christian religion. For instance ; 
 — that when Christ appealed to his works, as he often 
 did, to prove his divine mission, he meant only allego- 
 rical and not real works ; — that when the people asked 
 one another, " whether the Messiah, when he came, 
 would do greater works than these ?" they did not mean 
 real, but only imaginary works ; — that when Christ 
 bade the disciples of John the Baptist " tell their master 
 what cures they had seen him work," in order to satisfy 
 him that he was the Messiah as working the same 
 cures Avhich the prophets had foretold the Messiah 
 should work, neither the prophets nor Christ meant 
 real cures ; — that the great number of Jews who were 
 converted upon seeing Christ heal the sick, and raise 
 to life those who had been dead, did not see them first 
 to be sick or dead, and then alive or whole again, and 
 so had no real ground for their conversion ; — that when 
 the multitudes came to be healed, upon their having 
 seen the miraculous cures that Christ had wrought 
 upon others, they had really seen nothing, to induce 
 and encourage them to come to him ; — that when the 
 leper came back to thank our Saviour, he was not 
 really healed, but came to return thanks for nothing ; 
 — that when the people were amazed to see the miracles 
 he did, they were amazed at nothing ; — that when the 
 Jews feared the success of his miracles, and called a 
 council to prevent it, they were only afaid of shadows, 
 and consulted about nothing ; — that when they perse- 
 cuted him and sought to slay him, for healing a lame 
 man on the Sabbath day, he had really wrought no 
 cure ; — that when the people intended to make him a 
 king, on account of his extraordinary works, they had 
 seen no works, but what any other man might have 
 done ; — that when it was urged by the Jews, that he 
 wrought miracles by the help of Beelzebub, any thing 
 could have driven them to that shift, but that they knew 
 the facts themselves to be real and undeniable ; — that 
 when the people were " filled with wonder and amaze- 
 ment'' at the cure of the lame man which was wrought 
 by St. Peter, they did not see him leaping and walking, 
 who before was laid daily at the gate of the temple to ask 
 alms, — and when the council could say nothing against 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 43 
 
 it, nor could deny that " a notable miracle had been 
 done," 710 such thing as a miracle had been wrought, 
 but both council and people were deceived ; — that when 
 Simon Magus desired to purchase the power of bestow- 
 ing the Holy Ghost, he meant to purchase no power 
 but what he had before ; — that when the people of 
 Lystra accounted Paul and Barnabas to be gods, they 
 saw nothing in them more than common men ; — that 
 when the people out of every nation " were filled with 
 wonder, to hear the apostles speak every one in their 
 own proper language," there was really nothing to be 
 wondered at ; — that the conversions made in all nations 
 by the apostles, of great as well as small, learned as 
 well as unlearned, were all made by them without giv- 
 ing any real testimony of a divine mission ; — that when 
 the writers of the Church asserted the truth of Chris- 
 tianity upon the evidence of the miracles wrought by 
 our Saviour and his apostles, the Jews and Heathens, 
 against whom they wrote, if they could have called in 
 question the reality of those miracles, would not have 
 fixed their foot there, but put themselves to the diffi- 
 culty of inventing other causes than a divine power to 
 which they might ascribe them : — in a word, that the 
 whole history of the Old and New Testament, which 
 is all equally capable of being run into allegory and 
 mystery by enthusiastical heads, has no meaning at all, 
 but such as every one shall think fit to allegorize it into, 
 by the mere strength of fancy and imagination. 
 
 These are some of the shocking absurdities, which 
 attend that wild imagination of miracles who]}}' mystical 
 and allegorical, and without a literal meaning. — And as 
 to the blasphemous manner in which a late writer has 
 taken the liberty to treat our Saviour's miracles and 
 the Author of them ; though I am far from contending, 
 that the grounds of the Christian religion, and the doc- 
 trines of it, may not be discussed at all times, in a calm, 
 decent, and serious way (on the contrary, I am very 
 sure, that the more fully they are discussed, the more 
 firmly they will stand,) yet I cannot but think it the duty 
 of the civil magistrate at all times, to take care that 
 religion be not treated either in a ludicrous, or a re- 
 proachful manner, and efi^ectually^to discourage such 
 books and writings, as strike equally at the foundation 
 
44 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 of all religion, and of truth, virtue, seriousness, and 
 good manners ; and by consequence at the foundation 
 of civil society. 
 
 6. But to return. To the miracles of our Saviour, 
 we m^y well add, as further testimonies of a divine 
 power, his predictions of many events, which were 
 afterwards punctually fulfilled ; — that he should suffer 
 at Jerusalem ;»> that there he should be betrayed unto the 
 chief priests, and unto the scribes, who would condemn 
 him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mock- 
 ed, and scourged ;' that Judas was the person who would 
 betray him ;'^ that the other disciples would forsake him ;' 
 that, particularly, Peter would deny him thrice;"^ that, 
 as to the manner of his death, it should be crucifixion;" 
 and that he would rise again the third day.° To which 
 we may add, his foretelling the manner of St. Peter's 
 death, and that St. John should live to see the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem:"? together with the persecutions 
 which should befall the apostles after his death, "^ and 
 the mission of the Holy Ghost to comfort and enlighten 
 them, and to enable them, effectually to preach and pro- 
 pagate the Gospel. "^ 
 
 But most remarkable to this purpose, is his foretelling 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the whole Jewish 
 nation, with the several circumstances of it: as, the 
 time of its coming; the destroying of the city; the 
 demolishing of the temple; the judgments upon the 
 nation in general ; and their final dispersion : — all 
 which were distinctly foretold by Christ; and are at- 
 tested by JosEPHus (a historian of their own nation 
 who lived at the time) to have punctually come to pass, 
 according to the predictions. 
 
 As to the time : — our Saviour having enumerated the 
 dismal calamities that were coming upon the Jews, 
 declares, *' That that generation should not pass, until 
 
 h Luke xiii. 33, 34.— Matt. xiv. 2L i Matt. xx. 18, 19. 
 
 ^ Matt. xxvi. 25. ' Matt. xxvi. 13. 
 
 "' Mark xiv. 30. n Matt. xx. 19. 
 
 «> Matt. xvi. 21. P John xxi. 22. 
 
 •3 Matt. X. 17, 18, 19, 20. r Acts i. 8.— Luke xxi. 12, 14. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 45 
 
 all these things were fulfilled ;"' and he supposes, that 
 some at least of those to whom he spake when he enu- 
 merated the signs of their coming, should be then alive ; 
 " Ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is 
 near, even at the doors ;"' and, after his resurrection, 
 he intimates that St. John should live to see those ter- 
 rible judgments;" which in Scripture are expressej by 
 his coming, and which were all executed, according to 
 those predictions, in less than forty years from the time 
 they were denounced. 
 
 Next, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the circum- 
 stances of it, are thus foretold by our Saviour ; " Thine 
 enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass 
 thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall 
 lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within 
 thee, and shall not leave in thee one stone upon 
 another."^ — " Then shall be great tribulation, such as 
 was not since the beginning of the world to this time, 
 no, nor ever shall be."^ All which was fulfilled, in 
 Titus'^ encompassing the city with a new fortification 
 raised by the soldiers in three days, so that none could 
 come out; upon which there ensued a most dreadfuls' 
 famine, the stores" and granaries having been burnt and 
 consumed before, in the seditious quarrels and fightings 
 among themselves under three several factions endea- 
 voring to devour one another. The city being taken, 
 was levelled^ with the ground, as if it had never been 
 inhabited ; and what by famine, by fire and sword, and 
 by their slaughters of one another, eleven hundred 
 thousand'' Jews were destroyed, besides ninety-seven 
 thousand who were taken prisoners ; the nation at that 
 time being gathered together at Jerusalem, to celebrate 
 the passover. 
 
 The particular destruction of the temple is thus fore- 
 told by our Saviour, " There shall not be left here one 
 stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."<: 
 And JosEPHUs tells us, that Titus ordered the soldiers 
 
 6 Matt. xxiv. 34. — Mark xiii, 30.— Luke xxi. 32. 
 
 t Matt. xxiv. 33. ^ John xxi. 22. 
 
 V Luke xix. 43, 44. ^ Matt. xxiv. 2L 
 
 *^ JosEPHUS, Jewish Wars^ I. VI. c. xiii. y c. xiv. 
 
 ^ JosEPHUs, I. VL c. i. a JosEPHUs, 1. VII,c. xviii. 
 
 ^ JosEPHUs, 1. vn. c. xvii. e Matt. xxiv. 2. 
 
40 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 to lay the temple, as well as the city, eyen with the 
 ground ;'* and another of their writers "^ mentions the 
 fact of Turniis Rufus' digging the very plot of ground 
 on which it stood, with a plough-share. 
 
 The judgments that would fall upon the nation in . 
 general, are thus expressed by our Saviour: "These 
 be the days of vengeance. There shall be great dis- 
 tress in the land, and ivrath upon this people, and they 
 shall fall by the edge of the sword."^ Accordingly 
 they were destroyed,^ to the number of two hundred 
 thousand and upwards, in several sieges, battles, 6lc. 
 in the towns and countries ; besides the grand slaughter 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 The following captivity and dispersion of those who 
 remained, was also foretold by our Saviour : " They 
 shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusa- 
 lem sliall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the 
 time of the Gentiles be fulfilled."^ Accordingly Jose- 
 PHUs,' after he has described the taking of Jerusalem, 
 speaks of them as a people ' dispersed over the face 
 of the earth ;' and particularly tells us,'' that the most 
 graceful of the captives were reserved by Titus to be 
 part of his triumph : that, of the remainder, those above 
 seventeen years of age were sent into Egypt in chains, 
 to be employed in servile offices ; and others of them 
 were sent into several provinces for the use of the 
 theatres and public shows ; and that all under seven- 
 teen years of age were exposed to sale. And ever 
 since, to this day, they have been, and still continue, 
 a people dispersed and scattered among the nations of 
 the earth, without either temple, or city, or govern- 
 ment of their own. 
 
 These particulars concerning our Saviour's death, and 
 the state and condition of his disciples and of the Jewish 
 nation, consequent upon it, are events which are foretold, 
 and which we find to have punctually come to pass, partly 
 from the accounts of our own Scriptures, and partly from 
 a Jewish historian of undoubted credit and authority. 
 
 tl JOSEPHUS. 1. VII. c. xviii. e Maimonides. 
 
 f Luke xxi. 22, 23, 24. 
 
 s See the calculation in Archbishop Usher's Chronology. 
 
 *" Luke xxi. 23, 24. ' Josephus, 1. VII. c. xxi, 
 
 ^ JosEPHU.^;, 1. VII. c. xvi. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER, 47 
 
 And that his predictions, when fulfilled, were intended 
 by him to be proofs of his being the Messiah, we 
 may gather from his own declarations. Having told 
 his disciples that Judas should betray him, he pre- 
 sently adds, " Now I tell you hefore it cow.e, that when 
 it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am Jfe."' 
 And after the prediction of his death, resurrection, and 
 ascension, he says, " And now I have told you before 
 it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might 
 believe,''''"' i. e. says Dr. Hammond, ' that your seeing 
 my prediction fulfilled, may convince you, that all 
 w^hich I have said to you is true, and so make you be- 
 lieve on me.' To the same purpose, is that which he 
 subjoins to his account of the persecutions that would 
 befall his disciples after his death, " these things I have 
 told you, that when the time shall come, ye may re- 
 member that I told you of them.''' " 
 
 7. From the predictions of our Saviour, and the ful- 
 filling of th^m, carry your thoughts to the speedy and 
 wonderful propagation of the gospel ; and there 
 also you will see the clearest evidences of a divine 
 power. A iew obscure and illiterate men, without art 
 or eloquence, making head against the ancient religions 
 of kingdoms and countries, and all the while professing 
 themselves to be the messengers of one who had been 
 despised, and ill treated, and at last crucified in his own 
 country ; and yet, under these disadvantages, prevailing 
 with multitudes every where to be his disciples, and to 
 embrace his religion ; and this, notwithstanding the 
 contrariety of its doctrines to the lusts, passions, and 
 prejudices of mankind, and the fierce opposition it met 
 with from the powers of the world, and the terrible 
 persecutions which for some time were almost the 
 certain portion of the professors of it ; without any 
 
 ' John xiii. 19. "> John xiv. 29. 
 
 "John xvi. 4. — [See the very full statement of the predictions of 
 Jesus, with their several fulfilments, in Hokne's Introduction^ Vol. I. 
 Append. No. IV, Chap. ii. ; and the consideration of the same subject, 
 with reference to its connexion with the general history of Christianity, 
 in Sumner's Evidences of Christiaraty derived from its Nature and 
 Reception, Chap, vi.] 
 
48 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 encouragement to undergo them, but what was future 
 and out of sight. In these circumstances, nothing 
 could lead them to attempt the propagation of it with 
 any hope of success, but a promise of divine assistance, 
 and their firm reliance upon it ; nothing could have 
 given them such success but a divine power working 
 with them : nor can any thing account for so many per- 
 sons sealing the doctrine with their blood, in so many 
 different parts of the w^orld, but an absolute assurance 
 of the truth of what they taught, and a future reward 
 for their labor and sufferings." 
 
 They who require greater testimonies of a divine 
 mission and power, than those I have mentioned under 
 this eighth general head, are never to be satisfied. But, 
 on the other hand, when an honest and impartial mind 
 has satisfied itself, upon those evidences, that our 
 Saviour and his apostles had a divine mission, and that 
 they wrought many and great miracles, and foretold 
 events by a power and inspiration evidently divine ; it 
 follows that the doctrines, for the propagating of which 
 they were sent, and for the confirmation of which those 
 extraordinary powers and gifts were bestowed, must 
 undoubtedly be true, as coming from God, and attested 
 by him. Particularly, their divine mission and power 
 being first established, their express and repeated decla- 
 rations that Jesus urns the Messiah, become to us a 
 full and irresistible .proof of the truth of it. And when 
 a question arises, whether or no this or that prophecy 
 in the Old Testament, this or that type in the Jewish 
 law, had a reference to the Messiah who was to come, 
 and were actually fulfilled in Christ ; it is easy to 
 determine with yourselves, whether you ought to listen 
 to persons divinely inspired, who affirm they had a 
 reference to Christ, or to persons who pretend to no 
 such inspiration, and would persuade you that they had 
 not. 
 
 The evidence arising from ancient types and prophe- 
 cies, has (as I told you before) been fully considered, 
 
 • [Compare Watson's Apology for Christianity in answer to Gib- 
 bon's attempt to account for its propagation by the operation of natural 
 secondary causes ; Paley's Evidences, Part II. Chap. ix. ; and Sum- 
 nek's Evidences, Chap, x.] 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 49 
 
 and cleared from the cavils and objections of infidels, 
 by several very learned men ; it being the proper pro- 
 vince of such, to follow the adversary through all the 
 intricacies of the Jewish learning, and the contempo- 
 rary histories, customs, and modes of speaking and 
 writing. But as persons who are unacquainted with 
 these things, and incapable of entering minutely into 
 such inquiries, may easily be misled and imposed upon 
 by artful and designing men ; so I have shown you 
 under this head, that you need not enter into them, but 
 may receive full and clear satisfaction from evidences 
 much more plain and direct, which lie equally open to 
 all capacities, and are perfectly well calculated for the 
 conviction of all, if there be but an honest and unpre- 
 judiced mind. And whoever shall affirm, that these are 
 not a full and sufficient ground of conviction without a 
 critical inquiry into types and prophecies, must affirm 
 at the same time that no part of the Heathen world, 
 who were all equally unacquainted with the Jewish 
 dispensation, could receive and embrace the Christian 
 faith upon a just and reasonable foundation ; and by 
 consequence, that all who did receive and embrace it, 
 however wise and learned in other respects (which was 
 the known character of many of them) were, in that 
 particular, fools and idiots : — or rather, he must affirm, 
 that it is impossible for God to make any revelation at 
 all, that can rationally be believed. 
 
 But because practice (as I have observed under three 
 different heads) has so great an influence upon principle, 
 and it is to little purpose to convince the mind of the 
 truth of the Christian religion, unless the will and 
 affections be preserved in a right disposition, and care- 
 fully guarded, as well against the many allurements to 
 vice and profaneness which we see in the world, as 
 against the arts and endeavors of wicked men to break 
 down the fences of religion ; I will add one general 
 direction, which being duly attended to, will be a con- 
 stant guard against all such attempts and allurements ; 
 and, by preserving your hearts in a Christian disposi- 
 tion, will at the same time prepare them to continue 
 steadfast in the Christian faith. 
 
 IX. And the rule is this. That you be careful to 
 5 
 
50 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 PRESERVE UPON YOUR MINDS A SERIOUS REGARD AND 
 
 REVERENCE to THINGS SACRED; that i«, to 
 every thing that bears a relation to God and his religion, 
 particularly his word, his name, his day, his house 
 and ORDINANCES, and his ministers. For tliese are 
 visible memorials of God upon earth ; and, as they are 
 the standing means of maintaining an intercouise be- 
 tween God and man, a serious regard to them is a 
 necessary means of keeping up in the mind an habitual 
 reverence of God. On the contrary, there is not a 
 more evident testimony of a corrupt and depraved dis- 
 position, than an irreverent treatment of things sacred, 
 a contempt of any thing that carries on it a divine im- 
 pression, or an obstinate neglect of any of those ordi- 
 nances which the wisdom of God has appointed, to 
 support and preserve his religion in the world. When, 
 therefore, you hear any person depreciating the public 
 duties of religion, and inveighing against ordinances 
 of all kinds, and representing public assemblies, and 
 regular ministers for the administration of those ordi- 
 nances to be useless, or at least unnecessary ; you have 
 great reason to suspect, that their //zaZ aiiii is, by bring- 
 ing these into disuse and contempt, to banish Christi- 
 anity out of the nation. And by the same rule, who- 
 ever is seriously concerned to preserve our religion, and 
 to maintain the honor of it, must take great care to pre- 
 serve in himself, and propagate in others, a constant 
 and serious regard to every thing that bears a relation 
 to God, and to consider it as sacred on that account. 
 
 Particularly, 
 
 1. As to the WORD of God. — Whatever we find de- 
 livered by the prophets in the Old Testament, or by 
 Christ and his apostles in the New, is always to be 
 considered bv us as a message from God to men ; and 
 whoever considers it as such, cannot fail of paying it 
 the highest regard and reverence ; much less can he 
 fail of expressing, on all occasions, his abhorrence of 
 making it the subject of wit and jesting, and of raising 
 mirth from unserious allusions to the language or mat' 
 ler of it ; which, however usual in loose company and 
 among unthinking people, is a very great degree of 
 impiety and profaneness. As the Scriptures contain 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 51 
 
 the will of God, they are certainly entitled to your 
 most serious regard ; and the most proper testimony of 
 your regard is, to read them frequently and with atten- 
 tion ; — to have recourse to them as your great rule of 
 duty, and the treasure out of which religious knowledge 
 of every kind is to be mainly drawn. In them, you 
 find a continued mixture of precepts, promises, and 
 threatenings ; first, to show you your duty and to re- 
 mind you of it, and then to quicken and encourage 
 you in the performance of it. And, together with these, 
 you see the many examples of pious and good men, 
 and the numerous testimonies of God's favor to the 
 righteous, and his judgments upon the wicked. In the 
 same sacred books, you behold the various dispensa- 
 tions of God in the successive ages of the world, and 
 the glorious scenes of providence, opening by degrees, 
 and succeeding one another in a regular order, and at 
 last centring in the Messiah. And, by observing the 
 several ways in which God has revealed himself to 
 mankind, you clearly see the excellency of the Chris- 
 tian revelation above all others, in the purity it requires, 
 and the rewards it proposes. In these and the like 
 ways, do the holy Scriptures at once delight and edify 
 all those who attend to them, and are conversant with 
 them, and who regard and reverence them as the sacred 
 oracles of God. 
 
 2. Ifl like manner, the name of God is to be esteemed 
 sacred, in order to preserve upon the mind an habitual 
 honor and reverence to God himself; by not using it 
 otherwise than seriously, and not mixing it with our 
 ordinary conversation, and much less prostituting it to 
 oaths, and curses, and imprecations. Such a profane 
 use of his name insensibly takes off the veneration that 
 is due to his being ; and by making him less and less 
 feared, emboldens men to be more and more wicked ; 
 and is accordingly seldom heard but in loose company 
 and among men of profligate lives. Wherefore, be 
 careful to abstain from a common and irreverent use of 
 that sacred name, and of all such expressions as signify 
 things of a religious nature, — as our faith, our salva- 
 tion, or the like ; and not only to abstain from the 
 undue use of them yourselves, -but likewise to take all 
 proper occasions to express your dislike and abhor- 
 
53 BISHOP GIBSON'8 
 
 rence of it in others, and especially in those who are 
 placed under your more immediate care. 
 
 3. The Lord's day is to be esteemed sacred, as 
 being sanctified and set apart, for ceasing from our 
 worldly care and labor, and meditating upon God, and 
 paying that honor and adoration which he requires of 
 us, and which belongs to him, as the Creator, Preserver, 
 and Redeemer of mankind. The devout and serious 
 observation of this day, is one of the most effectual 
 means to keep alive religion in the world, both in the 
 outward face of it, and in the hearts and lives of Chris- 
 tians ; and nothing is more certain, than that it would 
 quickly be lost and extinguished among the generality 
 of mankind, if it were not kept alive by the appointment 
 of this day, for reviving upon their minds a sense of 
 God and their duty. Wherefore let this be a day not 
 only of rest from labor, but also of meditation upon 
 God and heavenly things ; partly in a devout attendance 
 upon the public offices of religion, and partly by allow- 
 ing a reasonable portion of the day to the private duties 
 of reading the holy Scriptures and other good books, 
 and instructing your children and servants, and ex- 
 amining your own lives, and praying to God for a 
 supply of your own private necessities, spiritual and 
 temporal. I say, a reasonable portion of the day, 
 according to the condition of particular persons and 
 families. For they who on all other days were confined 
 to hard labbr, or are otherwise obliged to a close 
 attendance on their worldly aflfairs, must be allowed in 
 some measure to consider this as a day of ease and 
 relaxation from thought and labor, as well as a day of 
 devotion : provided it be in a way that is innocent and 
 inoffensive, and that the public offices of religion be 
 duly attended, and the duties of a more private nature 
 be not neglected. But there are many others, whose 
 quality and condition have freed them from the neces- 
 sity of a constant attendance upon worldly business, 
 and to whom all other days are equally days of ease and 
 diversion ; and from them it may well be expected, that 
 they abstain from their diversions on this day, and 
 employ it more strictly in the duties of rehgion ; for 
 which indeed they have greater need than others, to 
 arm themselves against the manifold temptations to 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 53 
 
 which they are daily exposed by ease and plenty. And 
 when they have better opportunity and greater needy 
 than the rest of mankind, to give a strict attendance to 
 the duties of religion on this day ; if they do it not, it 
 is much to be feared that they have a greater relish for 
 the delights and business of this world, than for exer- 
 cises of a spiritual nature. 
 
 4. Next to God's day, his house is to be accounted 
 sacred, as it is a place set apart for the performance of 
 religious offices, and for the public administration of re- 
 lious ordinances, in which all Christians are bound to 
 join. The duty of assembling for the public worship 
 of God, appears to be a necessary part of the Christian 
 religion, as well from the first institution of the Chris- 
 tian Church, as from the general practice of Christians 
 in all ages, and all countries. Our Saviour and his 
 apostles found the Jewish worship every Sabbath day 
 regillarly settled in their synagogues, and were fo far 
 from condemning those assemblies, that they joined in 
 them. After his ascension, we read, that they who upon 
 the i>reaching of the Gospel had "received the word, 
 continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fel- 
 lowship, and in breaking' of bread, and in prayers i'^ and 
 that they " continued daily with one accord in the tem- 
 ple. "p The Christians in particular cities and countries 
 are every where in the New Testament styled ' Church- 
 es,' which probably denotes an assembly of persons called 
 together into one body ; and we find the apostles ordain- 
 ing elders in the Churches planted by them.i which elders 
 are also spoken of as heads of the several Churches, 
 and rulers in them ;'" and one part of the office was, to 
 labor in the word and doctrine, to take heed to the 
 flock, and to feed the Church.' At Antioch, where the 
 disciples were first called Christians, " Paul and Barna- 
 bas assembled themselves with the Church a whole year, 
 and taught much people :"' and afterwards, we read of 
 prophets and teachers in " the Church that was at An- 
 tioch."'^ In other places of the New Testament we 
 find the first day of the week (the day of our Saviour's; 
 
 p Acts ii. 42. 46. q Acts xiv. 23. 
 
 r Tit. i. 5 ; Acts xi. 30; xx. 17. 28; xxi, 18. ^ 1 Tim. v. 17. 
 
 ' Acts xi. 26. " Acts xiii. 1, 
 
 5* 
 
54 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 resurrection) spoken of as the ordinary time of the 
 Christian assemblies ; — " upon the first day of the week, 
 when the diciples came together to break bread, Paul 
 preached unto them."'' And the same apostle gives 
 special direction to the Christians at Corinth, as he had 
 done before to the Churches of Galatia, that " upon the 
 first day of the week every one should lay by him in 
 store as God had prospered him, that there might be no 
 gatherings when he came,"^ In his first epistle di- 
 rected to the same Church, he lays down many rules for 
 holding their assemblies in an orderly manner :^ 1^ 
 first reproves them for their disorderly celebration of 
 the feast of charity, and the Lord's Supper, and tells 
 them, — that they came together not for the better, but 
 for the worse, — that when they ' came together in the 
 Church,' he heard there were divisions among them, — 
 that their behaving themselves as if they were eating 
 and drinking in their own houses, was 'a despising 
 of the Church of God.' After this, he proceeds to give 
 them a particular account of the institution of the 
 Lord's Supper, with the direction of Christ to cele- 
 brate it in remembrance of him ; which he elsewhere 
 calls the " communion of the body and blood of 
 Christ ;"" speaking of it as a symbol of Christian 
 union, or the badge of their relation to Christ, and to 
 one another ; all which is necessarily supposed to be 
 performed in public assemblies. In the same epistle," 
 against speaking in an unknown tongue, he says,"" "how" 
 shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say, 
 Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth 
 not what thou sayest?" At the twenty-third and twenty- 
 sixth verses, he speaks of ' the Church' being ' come to- 
 gether' into one place, and then gives further directions 
 for their more orderly behavior in their assemblies, 
 because, as he adds at the thirty-third verse, " God is 
 not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all 
 Churches of the saints' — which, in those days, was the 
 common name of Christians. At the thirty-fourth verse 
 the * women' are enjoined to ' keep silence in the 
 
 ' Acts XX. 7. * 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2. 
 
 » 1 Cor. xi. y 1 Cor. x. 26, 27. 
 
 » Ch. xiv. * Verse 16. 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 55 
 
 Churches;' and he concludes with this general direction, 
 " let all things be done decently and in order." In the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, the Christians are first exhorted 
 to " hold fast the profession of their faith without wa- 
 vering ;" and then, " not to forsake the assembling of 
 themselves together,"'^ even in times of persecution. 
 And that they strictly conformed to this apostolical rule, 
 we have the testimony of Pliny, a Heathen writer, 
 who, being governor of a Roman province about the 
 year of Christ 104, gave the emperor an account of 
 xvhat he had learned concerning the Christians ; " that 
 they used to meet together on a certain day before 
 light, (for fear of the Heathen persecutors,) when they 
 joined in singing a hymn to Christ, and entered in a 
 solemn engagement not to steal, nor rob, nor commit 
 adultery, nor defraud ;" which plainly refers to the ce- 
 lebration of the Eucharist.' But Justin Martyr, an 
 ancient father, in his Apology for the Christians,'^ about 
 the year of Christ 150, gives a more particular account 
 of their public worship : " that on the day called Sun- 
 day, all the Christians in city and country assembled in 
 one place, where the writings of the apostles and pro- 
 phets were read. That as soon as the reader had made 
 an end, there followed an exhortation to the people ; 
 and after that, prayers and the holy Eucharist ; the per- 
 son who officiated, praying, and the people saying 
 Amen." — To all which we may add, that from the be- 
 ginning of Christianity to this time, no instance can be 
 given of any country, in which the Christian religion 
 has been planted, where there has not also been pray- 
 er and preaching, and administration of sacraments, 
 in an open and public manner ; though it is known 
 to have been planted by several apostles in several 
 countries. 
 
 And it is to be hoped, that there are none among us 
 at this day, who hold religious assemblies to be useless 
 and unnecessary, except the open or secret enemies of 
 Christianity ; who well know how great a means they 
 are to preserve a sense of Gou and religion in the world, 
 and to improve men in the graces and virtues of the Chris- 
 fa Heb. X. 23.25. ' Plin. Lib. X. Ep. 97. 
 Apol. II. 
 
56 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 tiaii life. But if there be any who otherwise bear no 
 ill-will to the Christian religion, and yet are of the 
 number of those who think public prayer, preaching, 
 and other ordinances, to be tilings indifferent and unne- 
 cessary ; it is because they consider not the corrupt 
 state of human nature, nor the common condition of 
 human life — how strongly some are inclined to the de- 
 lights of the Avorld, and to what degree others are swal- 
 lowed up in the cares of it ; how ignorant many are of 
 their duty, and how often it is seen that they who know 
 it, practise it no better than those who know it not ; 
 how little disposition men naturally hav^ to acts of de- 
 votion, and how unmindful they are apt to be of a future 
 state ; — upon the whole, what small hope there is that 
 the generality of mankind would retain just notions of 
 God and religion, if they were not frequently explained 
 to them, — or attend to their duty, if it were not fre- 
 quently inculcated upon them, — or refrain from inordi- 
 nate enjoyments, if they were not frequently warned of 
 the danger of them, — or be influenced by future rewards 
 and punishments, if they were not frequently put in 
 mind of them, — or, lastly, tliat they would duly perform 
 the work of devotion, if they were not called to it, and 
 assisted in it by public offices and ministers appointed 
 for that end, and at the same time excited to serious- 
 ness and attention by the solemnity of the work, and 
 the examples of their fellow Christians :— ^which shows, 
 on one hand, the wisdom of God in providing those out- 
 ward means to check and cure our inward depravities ; 
 and, on the other hand, the folly of those who in their 
 reasonings against instituted rites and ordinances of re- 
 ligion, seem to forget the blindness and corruption of 
 human nature, or rathei to suppose that mankind are a 
 race of angels, wholly freed from the power of tempta- 
 tions, and carried by their own nature, with the greatest 
 readiness and cheerfulness, into all the acts of adoration 
 and obedience. 
 
 Now, if public asse77iblie$ be necessary, the appoint- 
 ment of places for those assemblies is also niecessary : 
 and as the place becomes sacred, by the sacred offices 
 which are performed in it, so the true way of ex])ressing 
 our regard to the place, is a devout and religious attend- 
 ance upon the offices ; to consider, that Ave go to the 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 5T 
 
 house of God, not for fashion's sake, but for the ends of 
 devotion and spiritual improvement ; and accordingly 
 to fix our attention, and to join seriously and devoutly 
 with the congregation in the several parts of divine 
 service. On the contrary, a wilful neglect of the 
 Christian assemblies, or a careless and irreverent be- 
 havior in them, is a contempt and profanation of the 
 house of God, and savors of a mind void of religion. 
 
 5. As the house of God is sacred, on account of the 
 religious offices that are performed in it ; so are the 
 MINISTERS who perform those offices, and who have 
 received a regular appointment to it, as far as they 
 answer the ends of such appointment. By their hands 
 the holy ordinances of the Christian religion are ad- 
 ministered, by their tongues the word of God is ex- 
 plained and enforced, and by their ministry many other 
 blessings and benefits are deriv^ to the people com- 
 mitted to their care. And as to the necessity of a 
 regular mission, without which no person may minister 
 publicly in holy things ; this appears, as well from the 
 first institution of a Christian Church and from the con- 
 stant practice of it in all ages, as from the endless con- 
 fusions that must unavoidably ensue, if every one might 
 set up himself to be a public teacher, and intrude at 
 pleasure into the ministerial office. Whether therefore 
 we regard the nature and original of their office, or the 
 work they are employed about ; they are to be con- 
 sidered as God's ministers, and to be received and 
 respected under that character, unless they forfeit their 
 title to respect, by living unsuitably to their character. 
 In which case, I am very far from recommending them 
 either to your love or esteem, since I know it is im- 
 possible for you to pay either : there being no person 
 ^o truly the object of abhorrence and contempt in the 
 sight of all good men, as a minister of the Gospel, who 
 by his irregular life renders himself unworthy of his 
 function and character. But let me caution you against 
 being drawn into a dislike of the order itself, as un- 
 necessary and useless ; for this will of course draw 
 you into a disregard of the ordinances of Christianity, 
 or rather will abolish the ordinances themselves : and 
 accordingly it has been labored by the promoters of 
 infidelity, as one effectual expedient to banish the face 
 
58 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 of Christianity from among us. Let me also caution 
 you against censuring the whole body of the clergy for 
 the faults of a very few in proportion out of so great a 
 number, and against charging that as vice or immorality, 
 which may in reality be no more than indiscretion or 
 imprudence. In general, let me caution you against a 
 delight in censuring the clergy, and a desire to make 
 them appear mean and contemptible in the eyes of their 
 people, by which you bring upon yourselves the great 
 guilt of disabling them to do good in their several sta- 
 tions. And if you find any who are really immoral, 
 and persevere in it, show your concern for the honor of 
 God and religion, by taking proper methods to bring 
 them under the censures of tlie Church, for the reforma- 
 tion of them, and the terror of others. 
 
 X. Above all things, beware of falling into an 
 UNCONCERNEDNESS and INDIFFERENCE, in 
 
 THE POINT OF RELIGION. 
 
 When a revelation is generally believed to come 
 from God, and has been received and embraced as such 
 by so many successive ages and different nations, and 
 by multitudes of wise and good men in all those ages 
 and nations; — when it lays down rules for o\xy present 
 state, which manifestly tend to holiness, and peace, 
 and the improvement and perfection of human nature, 
 and proposes to mankind a future state of rewards or 
 punishments, both of them unspeakable and endless, 
 according to their obedience or disobedience to the pre- 
 cepts it lays down : — certainly, such a revelation de- 
 mands the regard and attention of a rational creature, 
 so far as soberly to consider it, and to inquire carefully 
 into the grounds of it, as a matter in which he is nearly 
 concerned. Christianity requires no further favor, than 
 a fair and impartial inquiry into the grounds and doc- 
 trines of it; and for men who live in a country where 
 it is publicly professed, and where they have all the 
 proper and necessary means of information, not to 
 attend to it at all, or to consider it with such indifference 
 as if they thought themselves unconcerned in it, is the 
 highest degree of stupidity and folly. Let me there- 
 fore beseech you, to think of religion as a matter of 
 great importance in itself, and of infinite concern to 
 
FIRST PASTORAL LETTER. 59 
 
 every one of you ; and not to suffer yourselves either 
 to be diverted by the business or pleasures of the world 
 from regarding it, or deluded by wicked men into an 
 opinion that it deserves not your regard. 
 
 These, my brethren, are the rules and directions 
 which I would put into your hands, and recommend to 
 your serious and frequent perusal ; hoping that by the 
 blessing of God they may contribute to your establish- 
 ment in the Christian faith and doctrine, against all 
 attempts of atheistical and wicked men to seduce and 
 corrupt you. And that, under the influence of God's 
 Holy Spirit, they may become effectual to that great 
 end, is the earnest prayer of 
 
 Your faithful friend and pastor, 
 
 EDMUND LONDON. 
 
BISHOP OF LONDON'S 
 
 SECOND PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 0CCA8I0NKD BY SOME LATE WKITINGS IN WHICH IT IS ASSERTED, THAT 'REASON 
 
 IS A SUFFICIENT GUIDE IN MATTEKS OF REUGION, WITHOUT THE 
 
 HELP OF REVELATION.' 
 
 The arguments that have been used to support the 
 cause of infidelity, may be reduced to two general 
 heads ; — one, That there is not sufficient evidence of 
 the truth and authority of the Gospel revelation ; — 
 the other, That reason being a sufficient guide in matters 
 of religion, there was no need of such a revelation. 
 The tendency of the first is to persuade men to reject 
 the Gospel ; and the tendency of the second, to satisfy 
 them that they may without danger or inconvenience 
 lay aside and neglect it : and wherever either of these 
 arguments prevails, the work of infidelity is effectually 
 carried on. 
 
 To prevent your being seduced or shaken by any 
 suggestion that the evidences of the truth and authority 
 of the Christian revelation are not full and sufficient^ 
 I endeavored in my First Letter to bring those evi- 
 dences into as narrow a compass as I could ; that, 
 having set them before you in one view, and in their 
 united strength, you might be able to judge for your- 
 selves. And as a chain of evidences so plain and for- 
 cible cannot fail to establish every unprejudiced mind 
 in a firm belief that the Gospel revelation was from 
 God : so, when that is once established, no suggestion 
 either against the need of such a revelation, or against 
 our obligation to receive it, ought to make any impres- 
 sion upon you ; because, to suppose that God makes a 
 revelation which is needless, is a direct impeachment 
 of his wisdom; and to affirm that we are not hound to 
 attend to and receive it, when made, is no less an im- 
 peachment of his authority. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 61 
 
 But since the infidels of our age are endeavoring to 
 lead men into a disregard of all revelation, by magnify- 
 ing the strength of natural reason, and recommending 
 it as a full and sufficient guide in matters of religion ; 
 and from thence infer, that the means of salvation 
 directed by the Gospel, notwithstanding all the evidences 
 of their beii^g God's own appointment, are to be laid 
 aside as super.^titions and human inventions, and every 
 man is to have the framing of his own religion ; — Since 
 also there is great cause to apprehend, that many may 
 give too favorable entertaimnent to a scheme which 
 thus flatters the pride of human understanding, and 
 which, by lessening or removing the terrors of the 
 Gospel, shakes off the restraints that are most uneasy 
 to the corruptions of nature : — For these reasons, it 
 highly concerns those who have the care of souls, to 
 guard them against such fatal errors ; first, by con- 
 vincing them of the insufficiency of natural reason to 
 be a guide in religion, and, by consequence, of the need 
 of a divine revelation, and our obligation to attend to it ; 
 and then, by setting before them the peculiar excel- 
 lences and advantages of the Christian revelation, and 
 the great sinfulness of rejecting it. 
 
 Of these, and some other points which naturally fall 
 in with them, I will endeavor to give you a full and 
 clear view, under the following heads : 
 
 I. The true and proper use of reason, with 
 
 REGARD TO REVELATION. 
 
 II. The insufficiency of reason to be a guide 
 
 IN RELIGION. 
 
 III. The great need, and expedience, of a di- 
 vine REVELATION FOR THAT END. 
 
 IV. The OBLIGATION WE ARE UNDER TO INftUIRE 
 WHETHER ANY REVELATION HAS BEEN MADE, AND WHAT 
 EVIDENCES THERE ARE OF ITS COMING FROM GoD. 
 
 V. The DUTY of mankind to receive for their 
 
 GUIDE, WHATEVER REVELATION COMES FROM GoD ; AND 
 TO RECEIVE IT WHOLE AND ENTIRE. 
 
 VI. The PECULIAR excellences of the Christian 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 VII. The GREAT SINFULNESS AND DANGER OF RE- 
 jecting this revelation. 
 
 Vol. v.— 6 
 
62 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 I. Of the true and proper use of reason, with 
 
 REGARD TO REVELATION. 
 
 Those among us who have labored of late years to 
 set up reason against revelation, would make it pass for 
 an established truth, that if you will embrace revelation, 
 you must of course quit your reason ; which, if it were 
 true, would doubtless be *a strong prejudice against 
 revelation. But so far is this from being true, that it 
 is universally acknowledged that revelation itself is to 
 stand or fall by the test of reason, or, in other words, 
 according as reason finds the evidences of its coming 
 from God, to be or not to be sufficient and conclusive, 
 and the matter of it to contradict, or not contradict, the 
 natural notions which reason gives us of the being and 
 attributes of God, and of the essential differences between 
 good and evil. And when reason, upon an impartial 
 examination, finds the evidences to be full and sufficient, 
 it pronounces that the revelation ought to be received, 
 and as a necessary consequence thereof, directs us to 
 give up ourselves to the guidance of it. But here reason 
 stops ; not as set aside by revelation, but as taking 
 revelation for its guide, and not thinking itself at liberty 
 to call in question the wisdom and expedience of any 
 part, after it is satisfied that the whole comes from God ; 
 any more than to object against it, as containing some 
 things, the manner, end and design of which, it cannot 
 fully comprehend. These were the wise and pious 
 sentiments of an ingenious writer of our own time ; 
 "I gratefully receive and rejoice in the light of revela- 
 tion, which sets me at rest in many things, the manner 
 v-^hereof my poor reason can by no means make out to 
 me."^ And elsewhere, having laid it down for a general 
 maxim, ' that reason must be our last judge and guide 
 in every thing ;' he immediately adds, " I do not mean, 
 that we must consult reason, and examine whether a 
 proposition revealed from God, can be made out by 
 natural principles, and if it cannot, that then we may 
 reject it. But consult it we must, and by it examine 
 whether it be a revelation from God, or no. And if 
 reason finds it to be revealed from God, reason then 
 declares for it, as much as for any other truth, and 
 
 A Locke, Vol. I. p. 573. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 63 
 
 makes it one of her dictates :"b — Which is in effect 
 what St. Peter means, when he commands Christians 
 to " be always ready to give a reason of the hope that 
 is in them."<^ 
 
 Agreeably to this, the bounds of reason and faith are 
 laid out by the same writer as follows : " Reason,'^ says 
 he, " as contradistinguished to faith, I take to be the 
 discovery of the certainty or probability of such propo- 
 sitions or truths, which the mind arrives at by deduc- 
 tion made from ideas which it has got by the use of its 
 natural faculties, viz. by sensation, or reflection. Faith, 
 on the other side, is the assent to any proposition not 
 thus made out by the deductions of reason, but upon 
 the credit of the proposer, as coming from God in some 
 extraordinary way of communication."'^ And again : 
 *' Reason is natural revelation, whereby the eternal Fa- 
 ther of light, and fountain of all knowledge, communi- 
 cates to mankind that portion of truth, which he has laid 
 within the reach of their natural faculties ; revelation is 
 natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries 
 communicated by God immediately, which reason vouch- 
 es the truth of by the testimony and proof it gives, that 
 they come from God.''^ And elsewhere, " Thus far 
 the dominion of faith reaches, and that without any 
 violence or hindrance to reason, which is not injured or 
 disturbed, but assisted and improved by new discoveries 
 of truth, coming from the eternal fountain of know- 
 ledge. "f And, " Whatsoever is divine revelation, ought 
 to overrule all our opinions, prejudices, and interests, 
 and hath a right to be received with full assent. — ■ 
 Such a submission as this, of our reason to faith, takes 
 not away the landmarks of knowledge : this shakes not 
 the foundation of reason, but leaves us that use of our 
 faculties for which they were given."' 
 
 So little did this acute writer dream of the new no^ 
 tions which have been since invented to support the 
 cause of infidelity, 'that God cannot, consistently with 
 the immutability of his nature, make any new revela- 
 tion [though to mutable creatures] by way of addition 
 
 b Locke, Vol. I. p. 334. . « 1 Peter iii. 15. 
 
 ^ Locke, p. 336. •■ Ibid. Vol. L p. 331, 
 
 f Jhid. p, 339. ^ Ibid. 
 
64 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 to the original law of nature ; — that the making any 
 such new revelation would be to deal with his creatures 
 in an arbitrary manner ; — that no evidence from miracles 
 or other external testimonies, upon which any new re- 
 velation claims to be received as coming from God, are 
 to be at all regarded ; — and, that the matter of such a 
 revelation is not to be attended to by any man, further 
 than he sees the fitness and wisdom of it, and can sup- 
 pose it to be part of the original law of nature :' — that 
 is, it is not to be regarded or attended to at all, as a re- 
 velation. — But this, by the way. 
 
 II. Reason, of itself, is an insufficient guide in 
 
 MATTERS OF RELIGION. 
 
 But before I proceed directly to the proof of this, I 
 must caution you against several fallacious arguings 
 upon this point, by which you may otherwise be de- 
 ceived and imposed on. 
 
 One is, the arguing from the powers of reason in a 
 state of innocence, in which the understanding is sup- 
 posed to be clear and strong, and the judgment unbiased 
 and free from the influences of inordinate appetites and 
 inclinations ; — to the powers and abilities of reason un- 
 der the present corrupt state of human nature ; in 
 which we find by experience how often we are deceived, 
 ev^en in things before our eyes, and the common affairs 
 of human life ; and more particularly in the case of re- 
 ligion, how apt our judgment would be to follow the 
 bent of our passions and appetites, and to model our 
 duty according to their motions and desires, if God had 
 left this wholly to every one's reason, and not given 
 us a more plain and express revelation of his will, to 
 check and balance that influence which our passions 
 and appetites are found to have over our reason and 
 judgment. 
 
 Another fallacious way of arguing is, that as reason 
 is our guide in the affairs of this life, it may also be our 
 guide in religion, and the concerns of the next life.. 
 Whereas in one it has the assistance of sense, and expe- 
 rience, and observation, but in the other it is left in 
 great measure to conjecture and speculation. Or if rea- 
 son were equally capable of making a judgment upon 
 things of a temporal, and things of a spiritual nature ; 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 65 
 
 yet there Mall always be a very great difference in the 
 degrees of attention which the generality of men allow 
 to things temporal and things spiritual, to things pre- 
 sent and things future, to things in view and things out 
 of sight : — so that it is usually seen, that the wiser men 
 are about the things of this world, the less wise they are 
 about the things of the next. And as to the sufficiency 
 of reason to be a guide in religion, it is much the same 
 thing with regard to the generality of the world, 
 whether reason be incapahle of framing a complete 
 rule of life, — or the generality be hindered by pleasures 
 or by attendance on their worldly affairs, from eviploy- 
 ing their reason to frame it, which will always be the 
 case of the greatest part of mankind. 
 
 In the next place, therefore, it is very unfair in those 
 who deny the need and expedience of a divine revelation, 
 to argue in favor of reason, as if all mankind were philo- 
 sophers, and every one had sufficient capacity, leisure, 
 and inclination, to form a scheme of duties for the direc- 
 tion of his own life. For it is not enough to say, that there 
 are learned men in the world who are able to form such 
 schemes; since, whatever their own ability may be, they 
 have no right to command assent and obedience from 
 others ; nor can any one rationally receive and embrace 
 their schemes without following them through the chain 
 of reasonings upon which they are built, and judging 
 whether the reasonings will support the schemes ; and, 
 further, (in case those learned men differ,) without judg- 
 ing which of them is in the right, and which in the 
 wrong — a task that the generality of mankind are as 
 unequal to, as they are to the framing the schemes them- 
 selves. And the difficulty is still greater when we find 
 the same philosopher differing from himself — now ad- 
 vancing one opinion, and then again leaning to another, 
 — at one time clear and positive, at another time doubt- 
 ful and wavering upon the very same point ; in which 
 case his opinion on either side can amount to no more 
 in the result than to prove him a guide very unfit for 
 the people to follow. 
 
 No less unfair is it, to interpret the zeal that is shown 
 
 for REVEALED RELIGION, as a disregard of morality. 
 
 This is so far from being true, that the advocates of 
 
 revelation always consider the whole body of the moral 
 
 6* 
 
66 BISHOP GIBSON'S 
 
 law, as an essential part of the Christian institution ; 
 which is so far from having abolished morality, that it 
 enjoins and enforces the practice of it, upon higher 
 motives, for more noble ends, and to greater degrees of 
 perfection, than any scheme of mere morality ever did ; 
 as will be shown more at large in this Letter. But at 
 the same time it is laid down by them as an undoubted 
 truth, ' that God has a right to prescribe the terms and 
 conditions upon which he will grant pardon and favor 
 to mankind ; — that he has fully and clearly declared in 
 the Gospel, what those terms and conditions are ; — and 
 that, therefore, it is great presumption and a vain hope 
 to expect pardon and salvation in any other way.' And 
 to say, in this view, that the precepts of morality, as 
 the product of mere natural reason, are not a sufficient 
 guide to salvation, cannot with any justice be called a 
 disregard of morality. 
 
 No more can the reverence we pay to the revela- 
 tion OF THE Scriptures as a divine direction, be 
 called a disregard of philosophy as the product of 
 natural reason. Persons of leisure, capacity, and atten- 
 tion, in any age, might easily learn from observation 
 and experience, that an immoderate indulgence of the 
 appetites was hurtful to the body and estate, and a like 
 indulgence of the passions equally prejudicial to the 
 inward peace of the mind, and the outward order and 
 regularity of the world ; and while mankind had no 
 other light, the philosophers employed their time 
 worthily, in drawing such rules from reason and expe- 
 rience, as, being duly observed, might make the present 
 life more happy, or rather, what was the great end they 
 aimed at, less miserable. But then, as their notions 
 concerning another life were at best confused and im- 
 perfect, and mere reason could not inform them, with 
 any certainty, that this life, with whatever befalls us in 
 it, is a state of trial and probation in order to another, — 
 they could not tell how to make the pains, miseries, 
 and misfortunes of this world, turn to our account ; nor, 
 by consequence, could they lay a sure and solid founda- 
 tion of ease and comfort against all events. The con- 
 siderations which philosophy suggests, to support us 
 under the pressures and calamities of life, are such as 
 theae ; ' that they are the common portion of mankind ; — 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 67 
 
 that it is possible time may alter things for the bet- 
 ter ; — that at worst death will put an end to them ; — 
 and, that impatience in the mean time will but increase 
 them.' The rules of revelation are ; ' that whatever 
 befalls us, is by the appointment of a wise and good 
 God ; — that he sees afflictions necessary to wean us from 
 the love of this world, and to turn our desires and 
 affections upon a much better ; — that he has promised 
 either to deliver us from them, or support us under 
 them, and by that has given us ground for a full trust 
 and comfortable hope in him ; — that our patience under 
 the afflicting hand of God, is a fresh endearment of us to 
 him, and will be an addition to our future happiness ; — 
 and that, in point of duration, the sufferings of this life 
 are as nothing, when compared with an eternity of joy 
 and glory.' These, we say, are a much better founda- 
 tion of ease and comfort, than any rules that the 
 philosophers either did or could lay down : — but in 
 saying this, ^ve do not condemn the rules of philoso- 
 phy upon that or other points, nor discourage persons 
 of leisure and capacity from entertaining themselves 
 v/ith them, not only as an agreeable diversion, but as a 
 useful exercise of the mind ; some things in them being 
 truly great, and what we justly admire in Heathens, as 
 tending to raise the soul above the pleasures and enjoy- 
 ments of earth. But then we say, that the study of 
 those writings is become useless and unnecessary to 
 the generality of people, since revelation has furnished 
 us Vv'ith rules and precepts, both moral and divine, 
 which are far more perfect in themselves, far more 
 effectual for their several ends, and established by a far 
 higher authority, than any of the rules and sayings of 
 the philosophers can pretend to ; and at the same time 
 are plain and clear to the meanest capacities. 
 
 This points out to us another advantage which the 
 enemies of revelation very unduly take, to advance the 
 strength and power of natural reason in matters of reli- 
 gion : and that is, the taking an estimate of those 
 powers from books upon the subject of morality, that 
 have been v/ritten since the Christian revelation was 
 made ; many of which are clear and uniform both in 
 the measures of duty, and the motives to the perform- 
 ance of it. But this clearness and uniformity are really 
 
68 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 owing to the light of revelation, which has given us a 
 far more exact knowledge than we had before of the 
 nature and attributes of God, from whence many of the 
 duties do immediately flow, and also a far greater 
 certainty of future rewards and punishments, as well as 
 a clearer conviction of the necessity of sobriety, temper- 
 ance, and other moral virtues, as preparations for our 
 happiness in the next life, by perfecting our natures in 
 order to it. And therefore to judge rightly how far 
 reason is able to be a guide in religion, we must form 
 that judgment upon the writings of such of the ancient 
 philosophers, as appear not to have had any know^ledge 
 either of the Jewish or the Christian revelation ; and 
 then inquire, 'what progress they were able to make 
 in the knowledge of divine matters, by the strength of 
 mere natural reason ? — to what degrees of certainty 
 concerning those matters it could and did carry them ? — 
 what agreement and uniformity there was among them, 
 in the main and fundamental doctrines and duties of 
 religion ? — what was the natural tendency of their seve- 
 ral doctrines, in order to the promoting of virtue and 
 goodness ? — and, what influence they had in their 
 several ages and countries, in rectifying the principles 
 and reforming the practices of mankind V For all 
 which purposes, it is but justice to them to suppose, 
 that they had as great strength of reason and judgment, 
 as sincere a desire to find out the truth, and as great 
 diligence in inquiring after it, as any of the enemies of 
 revelation at this day can pretend to. And if it shall 
 appear, — that they were utterly ignorant of many 
 important points in religion, which revelation has dis- 
 covered to us ; — that their knowledge of many others 
 was dark, uncertain and imperfect ; — that the dif- 
 ferences among them, in points of the greatest weight 
 and moment, were endless and irreconcilable ; — that 
 many of them taught doctrines, which directly tend to 
 promote vice and wickedness in the world ; — and, that 
 in fact, the influence they had in rectifying the notions 
 and reforming the lives of mankind, was inconsidera- 
 ble : if, I say, these things appear, they will amount to 
 a full proof, that natural reason, of itself , is not a sufii- 
 cient guide in matters of religion. 
 
 1. The ancient philosophers were utterly ignorant of 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 69 
 
 many important points in religion, which revelation 
 has discovered to us. 
 
 They were strangers to the true account of the crea- 
 tion of the world, and the original of mankind, and to 
 God's administration of the world, and intercourse with 
 mankind, in the most early ages. One sect of philo- 
 sophers*" held, that the world was eternal, and another,* 
 that it was made by chance ; and they who believed it 
 had a beginning in time, knew not by what steps, nor 
 in what manner it was raised into so much beauty and 
 order ; and so, for want of a sure historical knowledge 
 concerning this point, it became a fit subject for the 
 fancy and imagination of the poets. 
 
 They were sensible of a great degree of corruption 
 and irregularity in the nature of man, but could not tell 
 from what cause it proceeded, nor in what state our 
 first parents came out of the hands of God, nor by what 
 means they lost their original perfection. And the want 
 of knowing these things, leads men of course into end- 
 less perplexities, how to reconcile the purity and per- 
 fection of God the Creator, to the uncleanness and cor- 
 ruption of man, the being created ; and tempts them to 
 suppose, either that the nature of God is not pure, or 
 that the soul of man is not of a divine original. 
 
 Much less could the light of nature acquaint them 
 with the method He has ordained and established for 
 the recovery of lost man; — to effect a reconciliation 
 between God and man ; — to exercise his goodness with- 
 out the violation of his justice ; — and not only to make 
 the pardon of sinners consistent with the wisdom of his 
 government, the honor of his laws, and his hatred of 
 sin, so as to render their salvation possible, but to give 
 them the strongest assurances of pardon and favor, 
 upon the plain conditions of faith and repentance. 
 These are things that depend wholly upon revelation ; 
 and without the knowledge of these, mankind must 
 remain in a perplexed and desponding state, as to the 
 pardon of sin, and the favor of God. The comfort 
 they would raise from the mercy and goodness of Gol^ 
 is checked by the consideration of his justice, and 
 nothing is able to fix the guilty mind in a state of solid 
 
 >► The Peripatetics. * The Epicureans. 
 
70 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 and well-grounded comfort, but an assurance that the 
 divine justice is satisfied, and an express declaration on 
 the part of God, upon what terms and conditions he 
 will receive the sinner into favor. 
 
 Then as to the public worship of God : the light of 
 nature might in general suggest to men the reasonable- 
 ness of joining in worship ; but in what manner he 
 would be worshipped, and in what way they might per- 
 form a service that would be acceptable to him, was 
 understood to be a point which the wit and penetration 
 of man could not fix and determine. Insomuch, that 
 the founders of states and kingdoms, who undertook to 
 settle civil administrations by the rules of human pru- 
 dence, found it necessary to ground their schemes of 
 religion upon pretended revelations, as the only way 
 to 2:ive them a proper sanction, and the people an 
 assurance, that their religious performances would be 
 accepted. 
 
 The points of knowledge mentioned under this first 
 head, are evidently such as the philosophers were 
 wholly ignorant of, as not falling within the compass 
 of human reason in its corrupt state ; and the import- 
 ance of them to the comfort and happiness of mankind, 
 shows the vast advantage we receive from revelation, 
 — in removing many doubts and difficulties which 
 would otherwise arise concerning the nature and attri- 
 butes of God, — in showing us the true state of our own 
 original and condition, — and in acquainting us in the 
 clearest manner, upon what terms, and by what ser- 
 vices, we may be sure of his favor and acceptance. 
 To all which we may add, as another point above the 
 reach of human reason, — the comfortable promise He 
 has made us of supernatural aid and assistance in our 
 sincere endeavors to perform what he has revealed to 
 be his will, in order to render ourselves acceptable to 
 him. 
 
 2. The knowledge which the philosophers had of 
 several important points of religion, was dark, imper- 
 fect, and uncertain. 
 
 Many of them, and those of the greatest note, laid 
 it down for a general maxim, — that all things were un- 
 certain, — that truth lay buried in a deep abyss, — and, 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 71 
 
 that the furthest that human wit and understanding 
 could go in search of it, was no more than probability 
 and conjecture :^ and accordingly we find the wisest 
 among them plainly intimating the need there was of a 
 divine revelation, to give mankind a full and certain 
 knowledge of their dutyJ But supposing them to have 
 been able to lay out all the duties and offices of life in 
 the clearest manner ; that which disabled them from 
 reforming the world aiW obliging men to attend to their 
 duty, was the uncertainty they were under about the 
 great and only effectual motives to it, the immortality 
 of the soul, and a future account. 
 
 Cicero"- enumerating the opinions of philosophers 
 upon this head, not only asserts what every one knows 
 to be true, that the whole sect of Epicureans disbelieved 
 the soul's immortality, but adds, that many of the most 
 learned philosophers were of the same opinion : and he 
 particularly mentions two of great note among them ; 
 one, who in his writings had avowedly argued against 
 it; and another who had professedly written three 
 books to confute it. He tells us further, that though 
 the Stoics believed that the soul remained after death 
 for some time, yet they did not believe it was immortal. 
 And even Socrates and Cicero, who were peculiarly 
 favorable to the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, 
 do yet discover some doubt and uncertainty about it. 
 
 Socrates, a little before his death, tells his friends," 
 ' He had good hope of some sort of being, when this 
 life was at an end ;' but after that, he speaks doubtfully, 
 and says, ' Though he should be mistaken, he did at 
 least gain this much, that the expectation of it made 
 him less uneasy v/hile he lived, and his error would die 
 with him ;' and he concludes, ' I am going out of the 
 world, and you are to continue in it ; which of us has 
 the better part, is a secret to every one but God.'° 
 
 And Cicero, speaking of the several opinions con- 
 cerning the nature and duration of the sou1,p says, 
 "Which of these is true, God alone knows ; and which 
 
 It Cicero de Nat. Deor. 1. I. Acad. Qu. 1. 1. See Mmac. Fel. p. 
 112. Lactant. 1. III. c. XX. 
 
 1 See under the Third general Head. ^ Tusc. Quest. 1. I. 
 
 " Plato in Phced. o In Apol. Socratis, 
 
 P Cic, Tusc. Quest. 1. 1. 
 
72 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 is most probable, a very great question." And he 
 introduces one, complaining ' That while he was read- 
 ing the arguments for the immortality of the soul, he 
 thought himself convinced ; but as soon as he laid aside 
 the book and began to reason with himself, his convic- 
 tion was gone.' All which gave Seneca just occasion 
 to say,'3 " That immortality, however desirable, was 
 rather promised than proved by those great men." 
 And if the philosophers doubted even of the existence 
 of the soul after death, much less could they pretend to 
 know any thing of the resurrection of the body, and a 
 solemn day of judgment, and the sentence that will be 
 finally pronounced upon good and bad men at that day. 
 So far from this that the great argument by which they 
 prove that death cannot properly speaking be called an 
 evil, is, ' that it either wholly extinguishes our being, or 
 at least leaves us such a being as is not subject to punish- 
 ment or misery in another state.' And they eased the 
 people of those fears, by exploding the notion of infernal 
 torments prepared for the wicked, as mere dreams and 
 fictions of the poets.'' 
 
 This uncertainty about those great and fundamental 
 truths, was attended with fatal effects both in princi'ple 
 and 'practice. In principle, it naturally led mankind to 
 call in question the providence, justice, and goodness of 
 God, when they observed the prosperity of the v/icked, 
 and the calamities of the righteous, without being sure 
 that either of them should suffer or be rewarded in an other 
 state ; or else to doubt, whether there really was any 
 essential difference between virtue and vice, and whether 
 it did not depend wholly upon the institution of men. 
 In practice, hope and fear are the two things which 
 chiefly govern mankind and influence them in their 
 actions ; and they must of course govern and influence 
 more or less, in proportion to the certainty there is, 
 that the things feared and hoped for are real, and the 
 rewards and punishments assuredly to be expected. 
 And as the corrupt inclinations of human nature will 
 easily overcome any fear, the foundation of Avhich is 
 but doubtful ; so those being let loose and freed from 
 
 «i Sen. Ep. 102. 
 
 r Plut. de Aud.Poct. Cic. Tusc. CluestA. I. Sen. ad. Marc, c, 19. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 73 
 
 the apprehension of a future account, will of course carry 
 men into all manner of wickedness. Nor is it sufficient 
 to say, that they are under the restraint of human laws ; 
 since it is certain, that very great degrees of wicked- 
 ness may both be harbored in the heart and carried 
 into execution, notwithstanding the utmost that human 
 authority can do to prevent it. 
 
 From hence it appears, how great a blessing and 
 benefit it is to mankind, that the Gospel revelation has 
 given us a full assurance of the immortality of the soul, 
 and of rewards and punishments in another life, accord- 
 ing to our behavior in this : and not only so, but has 
 very particularly acquainted us, who shall be our 
 judge ; — what the manner and solemnity of the judg- 
 ment ; — what is to be the rule of judging; — what the 
 sentence that will be passed both upon good and bad 
 men ; — and what will be the state of each in conse- 
 quence thereof. The certain expectation of these 
 things, enforced by the assurance God has given us, that 
 he takes notice of all our thoughts, words, and actions 
 in this life, in order to that future account, conduces 
 greatly, or rather is of absolute necessity, to secure 
 the general peace and order of the world, as well as to 
 preserve the virtue and innocence of particular persons. 
 
 3. The differences among the philosophers in points 
 of the greatest weight and moment, were endless, and 
 irreconcilable. 
 
 This is a truth so well known, and so universally 
 acknowledged, that those among us who have the 
 greatest zeal for natural reason as a sufficient guide in 
 religion, will not deny the fact. A lively description 
 of which, we find in an ancient writer of the Church. 
 " Every sect of them overthrows all others, in order to 
 establish itself, and can allow none to be wise, because 
 by that it would acknowledge itself to be foolish ; and 
 as it overthrows the rest, so is itself overthrown by the 
 rest."* And elsewhere, " To what end should we fight 
 against those who are destroying one another?"' Nor 
 can it be said, that these differences were only about 
 matters of less consequence ; since it is notorious, that 
 
 » Lactantii Instit. c. 4. * lb. «. 
 
 Vol. v.— 7 
 
74 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 the most important points in religion were subjects of 
 the greatest disputes. While some asserted the being 
 of a God, others openly denied it ;" and others again 
 ran into the notion of a multiplicity of gods, celestial, 
 aerial, terrestrial, infernal ;' and as every country had 
 its peculiar gods, so the philosophers made it a general 
 rule, that every one should worship the gods of his 
 own country. While some (as I have shown) were 
 willing to believe that the soul was immortal, and that 
 they should live in a future state, others affirmed it to 
 be mortal, and to die with the body.^^ While some 
 affirmed that virtue and vice, as founded in the nature 
 of things, were eternal and unchangeable ; it was the 
 doctrine of others, that nothing was good or evil, just 
 or unjust, right or wrong, otherwise than as the laws 
 and customs of particular countries determined.^ While 
 one secty affirmed that virtue was the sole good, and its 
 own reward ; another sect,^ rejecting that notion in 
 the case of virtue in distress, made the good things of 
 this life a necessary ingredient of happiness ; and a 
 third"" set up pleasures^ or at least indolence and a free- 
 dom from pain, as the final good that men ought to 
 propose to themselves : upon which differences Tully 
 very justly observes, " That they who do not agree in 
 stating what is the chief end or good, must of course 
 differ in the whole system of precepts for the conduct of 
 life."t Again, while many of them thought it reason- 
 able to believe, that the general order and government 
 of the world could not be maintained without the 
 superintendence of some superior power ; one whole 
 sect^ absolutely denied a providence ; others'^ acknoAv- 
 ledged no more than a general providence'^ which did 
 not respect particular beings ; others, who oMned a 
 
 1 Cia de Nat. Deorr. 1. 1. 
 
 ^ PtATO fZe Leg. 1. IV. Epict. Bnclx. c. 38. Cic. rfe Nat. Deor, 
 1. III. dc Leg. 1. II. 
 
 w DiOG. Laert. 1. II. p. 89. 134. 138 ; 1. IX. p. 581 ; 1. X. p. G71. 
 
 X Max .Tyr. Diss. 1 ; Skn. Ep. L X. p. 97. 303. 
 
 J The Stoics. ■'■ The Aristotelians, or Peripatetics. 
 
 ' The Epicureans. ^ Cic. Acad. Quest. 1. 1, de Fin. 1. V, 
 
 c The Epicureans. d The Aristotelians. 
 
 • Pr,UT. dc Plauiis. 1. II. c. 3 ; DioG. Laert. 1. V. ; Philos. Arrian. 
 1. 1, c. 12. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 75 
 
 particular providence, extended it only to greater^ mat- 
 ters, while the less, in their opinion, were neglected ; 
 others again denied the omniscience" of God, which was 
 little less than the denial of a providence as to the ef- 
 fects it ought to have upon the behavior of mankind. 
 And while some talked of their gods taking vengeance 
 upon the bad and rewarding the good, in order to deter 
 men from wickedness and excite them to goodness • 
 others exploded the notion of the gods being pleased'' 
 or displeased on any account, and by that, entirely re- 
 moved out of the minds of men the desire of pleasing 
 and the fear of displeasing them, and all thoughts of 
 praying to them, or thanking them, for the benefits they 
 either wanted, or enjoyed. Upon which it is justly ob- 
 served by an ancient Christian writer,' that if this prin- 
 ciple, of God's being neither pleased nor displeased, 
 were true, there must be an end of all religion ; since 
 it leaves no foundation either for honoring or fearing 
 the Deity. And yet it is said'-^ to have been the univer- 
 sal opinion of philosophers (not only of those who 
 thought that God did not concern himself with human 
 affairs, but of those who believed he did,) that he was 
 neither angry with men, nor would punish them. 
 
 These and the other differences among them, which 
 would fill volumes, are not mentioned as any reproach 
 to the philosophers in point of ability and understand- 
 ing, since it happened no otherwise to them than it al- 
 ways will do to any number of men who, in this cor- 
 rupt state of things, will depend upon themselves alone 
 in matters of religion. But I mention them to show 
 the weakness and folly of those who, because the phi- 
 losophers now and then indulged themselves in specu- 
 lations of a divine nature, would send us to them for a 
 complete and uniform scheme of religion ; — who, from 
 their having laid down many useful rules grounded upon 
 the natural connexion of things as they appear in daily 
 experience and observation, in order to the wise con- 
 duct of human affairs, and our peace and happiness in 
 
 f Cic.de \at. Dear. 1. II. and III. 
 
 « CiG. de Nat. Dear. 1. I. ; De Div. 1. II. ; De Fato ; MiN. Ffit. 
 g. 10. 
 
 •» Lact. rfe Ira ; Orig. Contra Cels. 1. IV. 
 
 1 Lact. de Ira, c. 6. * Cic. de Office. 1. Ill, 
 
76 BISHOP GIBSON^S 
 
 this life, would infer that they are therefore proper and 
 sufficient guides to our happiness in the next ; — and 
 who, in reality, under this pretext, are doing all they 
 can to gratify and encourage the voluptuous part of 
 mankind, by discharging them from all regard to the 
 laws of Christ (which have the sanction of divine au- 
 thority, and against which there can be no objection, 
 but that they are too pure for appetites so much vitia- 
 ted and depraved,) and leaving them to form a religion 
 for themselves out of this or that philosopher, whose 
 maxims and doctrines they can best relish ; the wisest of 
 which, (how sublime soever some of the thoughts may 
 seem,) were no more than the imaginations and conjec- 
 tures of fallible men. 
 
 But be their schemes of religion what they would, 
 these two things are certain ; — that no one philosopher 
 had more right than another to impose his scheme upon 
 mankind ; — and that, setting aside revelation, no one 
 person at this day has any authority to determine amidst 
 so many different and contradictory opinions, which of 
 the philosophers was in the right, and which in the 
 wrong. Upon this foot, therefore, the greatest part of 
 mankind are left in a state of endless perplexity, without 
 ability to determine for themselves, and without any 
 certain guide on whose determination they may safely 
 rely. And this made one of the best and wisest among 
 them say, " that error was so mixed with truth, and oft- 
 times with such likeness to each other, that there was 
 no way left to determine the judgment ;"^ and " that 
 it would be time enough to blame the skeptic philosophy 
 which doubted of every thing,"" when either the rest of 
 the philosophers were agreed, or some one should be 
 found who could ascertain the truth."" Which shows 
 tlie great advantage of a divine revelation, as well to 
 ascertain our duty, as to engage our attention and re- 
 gard to it ; to give all men, great and small, learned 
 and unlearned, a sure rule, and a clear view, of all they 
 are to do, and effectually to engage them in a steady 
 and uniform pursuit of the great end that such a revela* 
 tion proposes. 
 
 ' Cic.de Nat. Deor. 1. 1. «n Ibid. 
 
 n The Academics. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 7t 
 
 By attending to the matters wherein the philosophers 
 differed, we see clearly that they were points which 
 concerned the very being of religion and virtue ; and 
 that those differences rendered the motives and obligai- 
 tions to both, precarious and uncertain. And this shows 
 how unjust the objection is which infidels raise, upon 
 this head, from the different opinions among Christians, 
 and the several sects and denominations formed upon 
 those differences. As long as men are men, and have 
 different degrees of understanding, and every one a par- 
 tiality to his own conceptions, it is not to be expected 
 that they should agree in any one entire scheme and 
 every part of it, in the circumstances as well as the 
 substance, in the manner of things as well as in the 
 things themselves. The question, therefore, is not in 
 general about a difference in opinion, which, in our 
 present state, is unavoidable, but about the weight and 
 importance of the things wherein Christians differ and 
 the things wherein they agree. And it will appear 
 that the several denominations of Christians agree both 
 in the substance of religion, and in the necessary en- 
 forcements of the practice of it : — that the world and 
 all things in it were created by God, and are under the- 
 direction and government of his all-powerful hand, and 
 all-seeing eye ; — that there is an essential difference 
 between good and evil, virtue and vice ; that there will 
 be a state of future rewards and punishments according 
 to our behavior in this life ; — that Christ was a teach- 
 er sent from God, and that his apostles were divinely 
 inspired ; — that all Christians are bound to declare and 
 profess themselves to be his disciples ; — that not only 
 the exercise of the several virtues, but also a belief in 
 Christ is necessary in order to their obtaining the par- 
 don of sin, the favor of God, and eternal life ; — that the 
 worship of God is to be performed chiefly by the 
 heart, in prayers, praises, and thanksgivings ; — and as to 
 all other points, that they are bound to live by the rule* 
 which Christ and his apostles have left them in the 
 Holy Scriptures. — Here, then, is a fixed, certain, and 
 uniform rule of faith and practice, containing all the 
 most necessary points of religion, established by a di- 
 vine sanction, embraced as such by all denominations 
 of Christians, and in itself abundantly sufficient to pre=v 
 T 
 
78 BISHOP GIBSON^S 
 
 serve the knowledge and practice of religion in the 
 world. As to points of greater intricacy, and which 
 require uncommon degrees of penetration and know- 
 ledge ; such indeed have been subjects of dispute 
 among persons of study and learning in the several 
 ages of the Christian Church ; but the people are not 
 obliged to enter into them, so long as they do not touch 
 the foundations of Christianity, nor have an influence 
 upon practice. In other points it is sufficient that they 
 believe the doctrines, so far as they find, upon due in- 
 quiry and examination according to their several abili- 
 ties and opportunities, that God has revealed them. 
 
 Now this is a state of things very different from that 
 of the Heathen world ; in which their teachers differed 
 about the most important points in religion : and while 
 no one could claim an authority from God, nor any 
 right to require an assent to his doctrines, the generality 
 of people had no certain test to try them by, nor, by 
 consequence, any means to deliver themselves out of a 
 maze of endless doubt and uncertainty ; which is well 
 expressed by an ancient writer," in answer to the ques- 
 tion, did the philosophers then teach nothing that was 
 right ? " Yes," says he, " many things ; but their pre- 
 cepts have no weighty because they are human, and 
 w^ant a divine sanction." They are not believed, be- 
 cause " he who hears, thinks himself a man, as well as 
 he who teaches." 
 
 4. The philosophers taught doctrines which directly 
 tend to encourage vice and wickedness in the world. 
 
 Of this sort were the notions already mentioned, con- 
 cerning Providence, and the omniscience and omnipre- 
 sence of God; and their denying that he was either 
 pleased or displeased with mankind, and their resolvinir 
 the distinctions between good and evil into human au^ 
 thority and appointment. Such also was the doctrine 
 of fate, or men's doing every thing through necessity, 
 and not by choice, which takes away all virtue and vice, 
 and leaves no place for rewards or punishments either 
 here or hereafter : and yet this was the avowed doctrine 
 of one famous sect? among them. And the prevalency 
 "f this doctrine of fate in the Heathen world, together 
 
 " Lactant. Instit. 1. II. c. 27. p The Stoics. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 79 
 
 with the pernicious influence it naturally has upon vir- 
 tue and religion, was the reason why the ancient fathers 
 of the Christian Church took so much pains in their 
 several writings to confute and expose it. 
 
 Nor did they only hold principles destructive of vir- 
 tue, hut also maintained practices of a very vile and cor- 
 rupt nature. Plato'^ taught the expedience and lawful- 
 ness of exposing*" children in particular cases, and Aris- 
 totle' also of abortion. At Athens, the great seat and 
 nursery of philosophers, it was laid down for a rule that 
 infants which appeared to be maimed should either be 
 killed or exposed ; and that the Athenians might lawful- 
 ly invade' and enslave any people, who, in their opinion, 
 were fit to be made slaves. Many of the philosophers 
 maintained the lawfulness of self-murder." Not only 
 the Epicureans and others, but even Plato himself al- 
 lowed fornication, and, which is more shocking, a com- 
 munity of wives \^ and the most famous among them 
 were known not only to approve but practise unnatural 
 lust."^ To which we may add the Cynics, who, laying 
 aside the natural restraints of shame and modesty, com- 
 mitted the acts of lust like brute beasts, openly, and in 
 the sight of the sun ; and the Stoics, who held that no 
 words or speech of any kind ought to be avoided or 
 censured as filthy and obscene.^ 
 
 These are principles and doctrines by which many of 
 the philosophers, and those of greatest note, let men 
 loose from the obligations of duty, and gave them full 
 liberty to indulge their brutal appetites, and degrade 
 human nature into that of beasts, while they were filling 
 their heads with fine notions and exalted speculations. 
 And as these indulgences, so agreeable to the corrupt 
 tions of nature, plainly account for that zeal which is 
 shown for reason and philosophy as our best guides in 
 reHgion : so the great objection against the Gospel re- 
 
 1 Plat, de Rep. 1. V. r Casting out, to perish. 
 
 s Arist. Polit. I. VII. c. 16; ibid. I. VII. c. 17. 
 
 t Ibid. 1. II. c. 14. 
 
 " Arist. Polit. 1. VII. c. 16 ; Cic. de Finibus, 1. I. ; Sen. Epist. 
 13. 28. 58. 70. 
 
 V Cic. pro CcbHo] Plat. Conviv. — de Leg. 1. VIII. ; Athen. 1. XIII. 
 
 *■ Athen. 1. XIII. ; Lucian. de Amore ; Plutarch, de Lib^ Educ. 
 Cic. Tusc. Quest. 1. IV. 
 
 X Cic. Epist. ad Fam. 1. IX. Ep. 26. 
 
velation is, that it expressly forbids uncleanness of all 
 kinds, whether in thought or deed, as that which above 
 all other things poisons and corrupts the soul, and 
 makes it utterly unlit for the spiritual joys and delights 
 of the next world ; for which the pure precepts of the 
 Gospel, and the daily practise of them, are designed to 
 prepare us. 
 
 5. In fact, the influence which the ancient philoso- 
 phers had in reforming mankind was inconsiderable. 
 
 Idolatry was universally practised throughout the 
 Heathen world, and the worship of the gods consisted 
 of the most filthy, absurd, and abominable rites : — 
 strumpets running up and down the streets naked, with 
 obscene speeches and wanton gestures ;y — men inflam- 
 ing themselves with wine, and after that in the dark 
 satisfying their lust promiscuously among a number of 
 women :^ — temples erected to a goddess^ as the patron- 
 ess of lust, and she ministered unto by lewd women, 
 who prostituted themselves before her, and dedicated 
 their gain to her : — with other instances of obscenity, 
 too gross to be mentioned, and yet avowedly made a 
 part of their religious rites. And it is not to be won- 
 dered that uncleanness of almost every kin-d was freely 
 and openly practised among them, when their worship 
 consisted of it, and their philosophers taught it both by 
 their doctrine and their practice.'' The oblation of hu- 
 man sacrifices to their gods was frequently practised ; 
 nor was their own o/sp?*//?^- spared upon some occasions. 
 
 Nothino- could be more cruel and barbarous than to 
 
 take pleasure in seeing men murder and destroy one 
 another, which yet was avowedly practised in their 
 public shows, and persons were trained up to that in- 
 human exercise, and permitted to hire themselves out 
 to the work ; and it is afiirmed by one who wrote an en- 
 tire discourse upon the subject,' that even war itself did 
 not occasion so great a destruction of men^s lives as 
 those shows which they instituted for public diversion. 
 — Nor in private life can we reasonably hope or expect 
 to find among them the great virtues of love, meekness, 
 
 y In the Floralia. * In the Bacchanalia. 
 
 a Venus. '' See under the preceding head. 
 
 e Lipsu Satvrnaiia, 1. I. c. 12. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 81 
 
 and forgiveness, when we find Socrates declaring it 
 neither unjust nor revengeful to rejoice in the calamities 
 of our enemies ;'^ and Cicero expressly approving and 
 professing revenge ;^ and Aristotle speaking of meek- 
 ness not only as a defect of the mind, and as carrying 
 in it too great a disposition to forgive, but calling the 
 patient enduring of reproach, the spirit of a slaved 
 
 When our Saviour came into the world, and for 
 some time before, human knowledge of all kinds, and 
 particularly the study of philosophy, was cultivated and 
 improved in the Roman empire, with the greatest ap- 
 plication, and by the ablest hands. But how little effect 
 either theirs or the writings of the Greek philosophers 
 had upon the generality of mankind, may be learnt 
 from St. Paul's account of the state of the Heathen 
 world, and the cautions he gives the Christian converts 
 against their Avicked and abominable practices. " This 
 I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye hence- 
 forth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanities 
 of their mind ; having the understanding darkened, 
 being alienated from the life of God, through the igno- 
 rance that is in them, because of the blindness of their 
 hearts ; who, being past feeling, have given themselves 
 over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with 
 greediness. s And again, " Have no fellowship with the 
 unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them ; 
 for it is a shame even to speak of those things which 
 are done of them in secret ;"'» i. e. in the celebration of 
 several of their rites and mysteries, which was accom- 
 panied with all manner of lewdness. And in his Epistle 
 to the Colossians, "Mortify, therefore, your members 
 which are upon earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordi- 
 nate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness 
 which is idolatry ; for which things' sake the wrath of 
 God Cometh upon the children of disobedience ; in the 
 which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in 
 them."' Agreeably to this, St. John tells us, that ex- 
 cept the professors of Christianity, *' the whole world 
 
 'J Plato, Phileb. 
 
 • Cic. de Offic. 1. III. ; Tusc. Quest. 1. III. ; Ep. ad Attic. I. IX. 
 
 f Arist. Ethicoi'. 1. IV. c. 11, 
 
 e Ephes. iv. 17, 18, 19. h Ephes. v. 11, 12, 
 
 i Col. ui. 5, 6, 7. 
 
lay in wickedness ;"'f and St. Paul, speaking of the 
 Gentile world in general as living under the law of 
 nature, and having mentioned unnatural lust as common 
 among them, goes on and tells us that they were "filled 
 with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covet- 
 ousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, 
 deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, 
 despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
 disobedient to parents, without understanding, cove- 
 nant-breakers, without natural afiection, irnplacable, 
 unmerciful."' St. Peter also, exhorting the Gentiles 
 who had been converted to Christianity to live as be- 
 came their new profession, tells them, that " the time 
 past of their life may suffice them to have wrought the 
 will of the Gentiles, in which they walked in lascivious- 
 ness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and 
 abominable idolatries. ""» 
 
 And, in truth, between the corruptions of human 
 nature, and the inability of the philosophers to reform 
 them, we are not to wonder that the Heathen world had 
 grown by degrees to such a pitch of wickedness. The 
 philosophers in the several ages were but few ; — the 
 numbers who repaired to them for instruction, were 
 small in comparison, and their instructions confined to 
 their own scholars, who were usually persons only of 
 fortune and distinction ; — the generality of the people 
 had no opportunity to be instructed by them, nor if 
 they had, were they able to understand and enter into 
 the many dark and abstruse notions of their instructers ; 
 — the public rites of worship, which the people did 
 attend, consisted wholly of the ceremonies performed 
 by their priests, without any moral instructions or les- 
 sons of duty ; — though the philosophers had been more 
 clear, few of them had schemes of religion and duty, or 
 any more than scattered notions of morality, added to 
 some private and singular tenets to distinguish them 
 from other sects : — though ihey had given schemes 
 entire and uniform, they had not sufficient authority 
 either to command attention, or require obedience ; — 
 or, whatever authority any one had, it was greatly 
 
 k 1 John i. 5. I Rom. i, 26, 27. 99, 30, 31. 
 
 "> I Pet. iv, 3, 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 83 
 
 diminished by the endless disputes among the philo- 
 sophers themselves; — and though they had been quali- 
 fied to teach in all other respects, little fruit was to be 
 expected from teaching", where it was not accompanied 
 with good living. Which last defect is noted by Tully, 
 in this remarkable passage ; " Scarce any of the philo- 
 sophers," says he, " are formed in mind and manners, 
 according to the dictates of reason ; scarce any, who do 
 not make their institutions rather an ostentation of 
 knowledge, than a rule of life ; scarce any, who obey 
 themselves, and are governed by their own precepts."" 
 And so Aristotle, long before, represented the scholars 
 of the philosophers, as learning to wrangle rather than 
 to live ; and being no more bettered by the moral les- 
 sons of their masters, than sick men would be by the 
 discourses of their physician without taking his pre- 
 scriptions."^ To the same purpose, Quintilian speaks 
 of the philosophers of his own time, that " the most 
 notorious vices were screened under that name ; and 
 that they did not labor to maintain the character of 
 philosophers by virtue and study, but concealed very 
 vicious lives under an austere look and a different habit 
 from the rest of the world."? 
 
 But there is yet another way of judging what the 
 state of religion in any country is like to be, where 
 natural reason is their only guide ; and that is, from 
 the notions and practices that have been found among 
 people who were unknown to the ancients, by the later 
 discoveries of countries, and by others who have tra- 
 velled into those countries. A collection of that sort 
 has been lately made, out of books of travels and other 
 authentic accounts, by a faithful and judicious hand ;4 
 and to let you see more clearly and at one view how 
 absurd and abominable they were, I have here reduced 
 them to their several heads, of worship, doctrine, and 
 
 PRACTICE. 
 
 As to their worship, it may be truly said in general 
 that idolatry has been found in almost every country 
 that has been discovered, and in many of them rites of 
 
 " Cic. Ti-sc. Qluest. I. II, o Arist. Ethic. 1. II, c, 3. P Q,uiN- 
 
 TIL. Inst. 1. I. Prsef. q Millab, Propagation of Christianity^ c. 7. 
 
84 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 worship very wicked and abominable. In somc^ they 
 were performed by women, who, in performing them, 
 laid aside all natural shame and modesty ; and in others,' 
 women prostituted themselves for the maintenance of 
 their idol, and in honor of it. In some places* the peo- 
 ple cut off pieces of their own flesh and threw them to 
 their idol ; and in many others" they were found to of- 
 fer human sacrifices, and vast numbers of them at a 
 time. The objects of their worship were the sun, moon 
 and stars,'' the four elements,'*' the several quarters of 
 the earth, » apes,y elephants,^ serpents, vipers, dragons, 
 tigers, herbs, trees,* birds, fishes, mountains,^ and, in 
 many places, evil spirits. « And together with their ido- 
 latrous worship, sorcery, divination, and magic,'^ were 
 found to be common among them. 
 
 Among their doctrines, and heads of belief, were 
 found these that follow : two gods, one of heaven, the 
 other of earth ;^ two sorts of gods, demons to be feared 
 and conquerors and benefactors to be honored ;^ scve- 
 ral gods presiding over several quarters of the earth ;» 
 one god above the rest, becoming so by first passing 
 through a multitude of bodies ;'^ gods subject to various 
 changes, and limited to certain times of government ;■ 
 providence concerning itself only about the great affairs 
 of the world ;'' the transfiguration of human souls into 
 the bodies of beasts ;' pagods eating and drinking like 
 men ;" the souls of men, after death, needing meat and 
 drink," and other accommodations of life. 
 
 r Formosa, and the Philif)pine Islands. 
 
 « Bisnagar and Nasinga, in the East Indies ; Camdu in Tartary. 
 
 ' Bisnagar, and Nasinga. 
 
 u Ceylon ; Mexico ; Peru ; Terra Firma ; Virginia. 
 
 ^ Tartary ; Philippine Islands ; Guinea ; Ausico and Jagos and Mo- 
 nomotapa (all in Africa) ; Zocotara, an island near Africa ; Peru ; 
 Terra Firma ; Canada ; Florida ; Hispaniola ; Virginia. 
 
 w Ceylon. ^ Tonquin, in the East Indies. y Goa. » Cey- 
 lon, a Congo and Angola, in Africa. t Guinea. 
 
 6 Ceylon ; Java ; Philippine Islands ; .Sithiopia ; Virginia. 
 
 d Tartary ; China ; Terra Firma ; Brazil ; Canada ; Grenada ; His- 
 paniola ; Florida ; Virginia ; New-England. 
 
 « Tartary. ( Japan. ^ Formosa. >> Siam. i IVI^alabar. 
 
 k Malabar ; Ceylon ; Japan ; Florida. 
 
 1 Indians ; Tartars ; Florida. >» The Bramins. 
 
 » Tartary ; Guinea ; Terra Firma ; Canada. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 85 
 
 Many practices have been found among them that 
 are abominable; women burning themselves with their 
 husbands when dead ;s the chief servants of a prince 
 killed at his death, to attend him in another world ;'» 
 eating men's flesh, and shambles for selling it ;' sucking 
 up the blood of wounded and dying persons ;^ feasting 
 upon the bodies of their captives -^^ having a number of 
 wives and concubines, and putting away wives at plea- 
 sure ;' exposing and killing their children if born under 
 an unhappy planet,"* or born before the mother was of 
 such an age,° or if the parents found themselves over- 
 charged," 
 
 These and the like instances of corruption in worship, 
 doctrine, and practice, which have prevailed, and do 
 still prevail, in several parts of the Heathen world, may 
 further show the insufficiency of natural reason to be a 
 guide in religion, and into what monstrous opinions and 
 practices whole nations may be led where that is their 
 guide, without any help from revelation. Nor will it 
 take off" the force of tliis argument to say that these 
 were owing to an undue use of their reason ; which is in 
 effect to beg the question : or that the measure of reason 
 they had was low and imperfect ; since they appeared 
 to be skilful and dexterous enough in worldly matters, 
 in the arts of annoying their neighbors and defending 
 themselves against incursions, in entering into leagues 
 for their mutual defence, and conducting the ordinary 
 affairs of life according to the manners and customs of 
 their several countries. Nor are the absurdities in reli- 
 gion that have been found among them greater than 
 those that have been found among the most polite na- 
 tions before the publication of the Gospel r^ which are 
 a joint proof that no age or country, be it rude or civil- 
 
 ^ East Indies ; Guinea. h Guinea ; Terra Firma. 
 • Jagos (in Africa) ; Brazil ; Hispaniola. 
 j Tartary. k Canada. 
 J Almost every where in Pagan countries, 
 
 •n Ceylon. " " Formosa. » China. — More instances of the like 
 kind may be seen in Mr. Locke's Essay, 1. 1, c. 3. s. 9. 
 1 See before, page 69. 
 
 Vol. v.— 8 
 
86 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 ized, instructed or uninstructed in arts and sciences, 
 infected or uninfected with plenty and luxury, is secured 
 by mere natural reason against falling into the grossest 
 errors and corruptions in religion. 
 
 Hitherto you have seen the pernicious errors and 
 wicked practices into which the world has fallen both 
 in ancient and later days, notwithstanding the light of 
 natural reason, and the lessons of philosophers. But 
 as the Christian institution in its nature and tendency 
 is far better calculated for the reformation of mankind 
 than any teaching or discipline the world had in the 
 days of Heathenism, so in fact it has had a far greater 
 effect in the advancement of true religion, and the re- 
 formation of the lives and manners of men. Not to 
 insist upon the exalted degrees of purity and perfection 
 to which Christianity raised so many of its first profes- 
 sors, — their contempt of the world, — their wonderful 
 courage and patience under persecution, — their morti- 
 fications and self-denials, — their fervent love and charity 
 and devotion ; not, I say, to insist upon these, though 
 the true and genuine effects of Christianity, because it 
 may be said they were effects of an extraordinary \imdi, 
 and wrought only upon particular persons ; let us take 
 a view of it, not as it was embraced by single persons or 
 families, but as it became the received religion of whole 
 countries, and see what effects it had among them. 
 
 It is universally true that wherever Christianity pre- 
 vailed, oracles ceased, idols were destroyed, and the 
 worship of the true God established. And whereas the 
 Heathen worship, as we have seen, consisted of the sa- 
 crifices of beasts and men, and was accompanied with 
 many foolish, cruel, and impure rites, Christianity ba- 
 nished all these, and wherever it was received, did es- 
 tablish a worship suitable to the pure and spiritual na- 
 ture of God — a worship of the heart, consisting of pray- 
 ers, and praises, and thanksgivings, to Him who is the 
 author of our being, and under whose daily protection 
 we live, and who bestows upon us all the good things 
 we enjoy. And there is no Christian country wherein 
 this reasonable service is not solemnly performed by 
 ministers, and attended by the people ; to which, and to 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 87 
 
 the instructions and exhortations of Christian preachers, 
 ii is to be ascribed that the knowledge of the true God, 
 and the duty we owe him, is preserved to such a de- 
 gree upon the minds of the generality of the people, 
 and that several vices which were not only practised 
 but publicly allowed in the times of Heathenism, are 
 scarce known, and never named without abhorrence, in 
 Christian countries.'" Nor can it be said, with any co- 
 lor of reason or truth, that the general order, regulari- 
 ty, and sense of duty, which is found in Christian coun- 
 tries at this day, compared with the cruelties, disorders, 
 and excesses of all kinds, that are generally practised 
 in Heathen nations, is not owing to the Christian insti- 
 tution and worship, and to the certainty of future re- 
 wards and punishments that Christ brought to light ; 
 the sense of which is preserved upon the minds of the 
 people by such public teaching.* And though so great 
 
 =• [See the remarks of Bishop Sumner upon the beneficial influence 
 of the Christian ministry, upon morals and the temporal happiness of 
 mankind, in Standard Works, Vol. II. p. 198. ss., and in his Evidences^ 
 page 293, Am. ed. — The following eloquent passage, from a work not 
 generally accessible to the American public, richly deserves insertion 
 here, 
 
 " Let us look to the lowliest village church in this happy land ; to the 
 humblest pastor, and the simplest flock. Let us remember, as we see 
 them pouring forth from its humble portal, what words have been on 
 all lips, what thoughts in many hearts ; what thoughts of majesty 
 and holiness, what love, what reliance, what confidence, — and then, if 
 we are not faithless to the dignity of that soul, which though deterio- 
 rated, still retains the stamp of its Maker, let us beUeve, if we can, that 
 no good has been eflectcd, no passion softened and checked, no desire 
 for the graces of a Christian temper implanted. Let this sight be com- 
 pared, not with the population that collected, like our barbarous fore- 
 fathers, or hke the savages of modern days, to perform their bloody 
 worship in the sight of the bright sun, or shining stars of heaven; but, 
 with the population, which poured forth from the lofty portals of some 
 splendid temple of the polished Athens, to join in the iniquities of a 
 Bacchanalian procession ; or with that, which, at this very time, assem- 
 bles in the distant realms of Hindostan, sometimes, for deed of cruelty 
 and deatli, sometimes, for services so revolting, that the Bramin of bet- 
 ter mind, hides his face for shame, and sheds the burning tear of an- 
 guish, over the infamy of that religion, of which he is the minister ; — 
 let but this comparison be made, and then let it be asked, what has 
 Christianity done?" — Rose's Christianity Always Progressive^ p. 96, 
 s., London, 1829.] 
 
 « ["Let us consider what must be the necessary effect of that con- 
 
88 BISHOP gibsonV 
 
 is the corruption of human nature, that notwithstandfng 
 those means of instruction and those restraints from 
 wickedness, many disorders and excesses are practised 
 in Christian countries, it is sufficient to our present 
 purpose that if those means and restraints were re- 
 moved, the excesses would evidently be far greater and 
 more general than they are ; — that the commission of 
 them among Christians is by far less frequent, and is 
 attended with much more caution and shame, than 
 among Heathens ; — that, besides those general influ- 
 ences of Christianity, such excesses are in some mea- 
 sure balanced by the extraordinary degrees of piety, 
 purity, and exactness of life and manners which are ob- 
 served by multitudes of people in every Christian coun- 
 try ; — that the design of the Christian institution was 
 not to force men to be good, but only to propose fit 
 motives and proper encouragements and assistances to 
 make them so ; — and our Saviour himself supposes that 
 in his kingdom here upon earth there will always be 
 tares growing up with the wheat, (a mixture of good 
 and bad,) till he himself shall make the final separation.^ 
 Though his kingdom is not of this world, it is in it ; 
 and it is a very unfair inference, that because wicked- 
 ness is found in Christian countries, therefore Chris- 
 tianity has failed of its end." 
 
 victiori which Christianity impresses, that an account must hereafter be 
 rendered before One, who charges the very angels with folly, and in 
 whose sight the heavens are themselves unclean ; — before One, whose 
 piercing eye looks into the most secret chambers of the heart, and reads 
 even the guilty thought before it has strengthened into crime. Let us, 
 again, look to the religions of ancient times, and consider what crimes 
 they tolerated, or, at least, marked by no proscription and no infamy — 
 and then, if we are not dead to all salutary conviction of the force of 
 moral influence, let us estimate, what must be the efficacy of a religion, 
 which, teaching us a strict observance of all the social relations of life, 
 elevates the whole frame of morals ; which teaches us, not to name the 
 very name of vices once openly practised, and generally tolerated j 
 which forbids the heart to conceive, as well as the Hp to utter, or the 
 hand to execute, any evil purpose ; whicli proscribes every guilty pas- 
 sion, and urges on and cheers the human heart, to all that is lovely,, 
 and pure, and gentle, and peaceable, and of good report." — Rose's 
 Christianity Always Progressive, p. 98.] 
 
 ' Matt. xiii. 24. 
 
 » ["Of the most difficult conquests of Christianity, a large portion is. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 89 
 
 III. A DIVINE REVELATION WAS NOT ONLY EXPE- 
 DIENT, BUT HIGHLY NEEDFUL, TO BE A SURE GUIDE 
 IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 
 
 This follows from the particulars which have been 
 treated of under the last head, in relation to the ancient 
 philosophers. For it is agreed on all hands, that the 
 most successful efforts of mere natural reason towards 
 the discovery of divine truths and the duties to be per- 
 formed by us, with our obligations to perform them, 
 were made by the philosophers. And, if they, after all 
 their searches, could never tell in what manner God 
 was to be worshipped, nor by what means sinners might 
 be reconciled to him, and recover his favor ; — if they 
 could never come to a certain knowledge concerning 
 
 overlooked by the human eye. While the evil done in its name, is 
 seen by all, and dwelt upon in triumph by the adversary, — its pure and 
 holy conquests are often effected in stillness and silence ; in the abode 
 of poverty — in the obscurity of humble and retired life. Who is there 
 that has seen a true Christian, in his life and death 1 Who that has 
 seen the calm that sheds itself over that soul, where grace has tri- 
 umphed over passion, where envy, and hatred, and pride are sounds 
 unknown'? Who that has seen the bright and holy glow of devotion 
 diffused over the countenance 1 Who, that has heard the fervid accents 
 of a Christian's prayer'? Who, that knov^^s the joys of a Christian's 
 communion with his Maker, the devout aspirations of a soul which is 
 the temple of the Holy Spirit, adorned and sanctified by his best and 
 richest gifts and graces 1 Who, that has seen the Christian struggling 
 with the storms of life, — though cast down not destroyed ; though per- 
 plexed, not in despair; submitting with humble resignation, to the 
 correction of his heavenly Father ; and gathering the peaceful fruits of 
 righteousness, from the seed which was sown in tribulation and tears 1 
 And yet more, who, that hath seen that sight, on which angels look 
 with joy ; that hallowed bed, where a Christian renders up his soul, 
 as to a faithful Creator ; where with no vain display, no idle rapture, 
 the dying saint, knowing of a truth, that He is faithful who promised, 
 relies, in the last awful scene of life, with humble confidence on that 
 hand which has borne him up through all the storms and struggles of 
 his earthly pilgrimage, and which will now cheer and comfort him, in 
 his passage through the dark valley of the shadow of death '? This is, 
 not what^Christianity can do, but what it does, day by day ; not what 
 it does, for the learned and enlightened Christian only, but what it does 
 to shed light and joy over the humble abode of the lowly and ignorant, 
 I appeal to the conscience of many a minister of God's word, to bear me 
 witness, how often he has stood beside the dying bed of feeble old age, 
 or of youth in all the withered blossom of its beauty ; stood, not to 
 teach, but to learn ; not to offer comfort, or to supply confidence,— but to. 
 gather strength, and hope, and courage, against his own hour of need, 
 and his owrT great and awful change. This all, is the praise of the 
 Gospel : this all, is the triumph, the glory, of the religion of Christ. 
 8* 
 
90 BISHOP GIBSON*S 
 
 the immortality of the soul and future rewards snd 
 punishments, which are the principal motives to the 
 performance of our duty, and the only motives Chat 
 can make it regarded by the generality of mankind ; — 
 if the differences among the philosophers concerning 
 points of the greatest importance in religion, were so 
 many, and so eagerly pursued by the several sects, that 
 instead of informing mankind in their duty, they per- 
 plexed and distracted them, and at last left them under 
 greater uncertainties than they were before ; while no 
 one had more authority than another to prescribe a 
 fixed scheme of duty ; — if many of the philosophers 
 mixed precepts of vice with their precepts of virtue ? 
 
 Of the countless thousands, who have so lived and so died, what would 
 have been the fate, in life and in death, had the Gospel never visitett 
 the world, had the Sun of righteousness never arisen, with healing ort 
 his wings 1 What but this, at best, — that the Christian graces of humi- 
 lity, of meekness, of patience, should not have come to support, to puri- 
 fy, to elevate, and to bless them, in life, — and that in death, the unspeak- 
 able pang of parting here, should have been hushed by no hope 
 of meeting hereafter 1 — that, even if, at that awful hour, no dismay of 
 the judge and the judgment crushed the sinner's heart to the dust, yet, 
 that, to the anxious question, the passionate longing, the restless search 
 and aspiration after some assurance of a future being, after a continu- 
 ance or renovation of a feeble and expiring spark of life, — no voice 
 should answer, and no hope should cheer 1 
 
 If these things be so, it would be almost an insult, alike to Christian- 
 ity and to man, to inquire into facts ; to ask, if a religion, possessing 
 such moral influence, and such powerful motives to forbid and to com- 
 mand, — has produced any effects. It would be to ask, whether man 
 be susceptible of elevated thoughts, of cheering hopes, of ennobling joy, 
 and of salutary fear. The prophet's vision, indeed, the fervid desires 
 of a good man, and the sanguine anticipations of an imaginative 
 one, may doubtless shadow forth a picture of beauty and excellence, 
 which cannot be realized in the Christian world. But can we live in 
 it — with a knowledge of what the boasted reason and strength of an- 
 cient wisdom and morals could effect ; of the recklessness of the holy 
 daims of mao on his brother man ; and of the awful pollution pervad- 
 ing the whole tone of ancient society, and casting her accursed chains 
 even around the poet and the sage, — and then, can we look at the eflectij 
 of that systematic charity which owes its existence to Christianity ; at 
 the purity and sanctity of domestic enjoyments ; at the legible charac- 
 ters in which the sublime truths inculcated by the Gospel are impress- 
 ed on every institution of public life, and on the intercourse of man 
 with man,— can we look at those things, and not blush to question for a 
 moment the salutary and blessed o{)erations of the Gospel ?" — Rose's 
 Christianity Always Progressive^ p. 92. 98. 
 
 Sumnkr's J'Jviderices, chap, xii, may be consulted for a just reucQ- 
 sentation of this subject, with profit.] 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 91 
 
 — and if, in fact, under their direction and discipline, 
 the Heathen world and the generality of mankind in 
 their several ages, remained in a state of gross idolatry, 
 uncleanness, impiety, and immorality of all kinds : — it 
 follows, that either mankind must remain irrecoverably 
 in a state of ignorance and corruption, or that there 
 must be some Divine Revelation to help them out 
 of it. 
 
 And, in truth, it is very absurd to suppose, that either 
 philosophy, or any thing but a divine revelation, could 
 do it. The philosophers plainly saw a great degree of 
 darkness and degeneracy in the mind of man ; their 
 sense of which is well expressed by Tully : " If," says 
 he, " nature had so framed us, as to give us a full and 
 perfect view of her, and an ability to follow her as our 
 guide, then mankind would have needed no other 
 teacher. But now, the light she has given us is no 
 more than little sparks, which we quickly extinguish 
 by corrupt lives and perverse opinions ; so that the 
 true light of nature is nowhere to be found." And 
 then he goes on, and says, " There are in our minds 
 the seeds of virtue, by which nature would conduct us 
 to happiness, if they were allowed to grow up. But 
 now, no sooner are we born, but we fall into a wretched 
 depravity and corruption of manners and opinions."' 
 But though the philosophers clearly saw this corrup- 
 tion and depravity, how could they find a cure for it, 
 when they knew not the cause of it 1 The recovery of 
 mankind depended wholly upon the will and pleasure 
 of God, and the method of it was not to be known but 
 by revelation from him. The means whereby it was 
 to be wrought, was a supernatural assistance ; which 
 being his own free gift, could not be made known and 
 ensured by any other hand. And therefore we find 
 two of the greatest philosophers, Socrates and Plato» 
 despairing of the recovery of mankind out of a state of 
 error and corruption, without some extraordinary as- 
 sistance from God. Socrates, speaking to the Athe- 
 nians of himself, tells them, "That when he is gone, 
 they will fall into an irrecoverable state, unless God 
 shall take care of them, and send them another in- 
 
 Cic. Tuse. Q,uest. I III. Praef. 
 
93 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 structer."" And Plato, speaking of the wrong methods 
 of education among the Athenians, says, " That in such 
 a state of things, whatever is kept right and as it ought 
 to be, must be effected by a divine interposition." ^ And 
 elsewhere,'^ he introduces one of the scholars of So- 
 crates, complaining how difficult it is to discover the 
 truth by human reason, but yet acknowledging it to be 
 every one's duty to employ it, and to rely upon it, 
 ' unless one could find some more sure and safe pilot, 
 such as a divine direction would be.' 
 
 Bt5t we will suppose — what is far from being so — 
 that one or other of the philosophers had in their several 
 writings discovered the whole of religion ; this would 
 not by any means have rendered a Divine Revelation 
 needless : because whatever human reason pretends to 
 discover, must be judged by human reason whether it 
 be true or false, and it was not likely the generality of 
 people should be able to make such a judgment, since 
 there was scarce any one point in which the philoso- 
 phers themselves did not oppose and contradict one 
 another, while no one pretended to have any higher 
 guide than his own reason, nor by consequence any 
 right to advance and establish his own notions in oppo- 
 sition to all the rest. So that, in this case, it is manifest 
 there would still have been wanting a superior authority 
 to give a sanction to some one scheme ; which could 
 only be given, either immediately by God, or by some 
 person who gave evident testimonies of his coming 
 from God : and none of the philosophers pretending to 
 this, mankind were left to be tossed about by contrary 
 waves, without either pilot, or star, or compass, to bring 
 them to their harbor.^ Some of the philosophers had, 
 indeed, an implicit submission paid to their dictates, but 
 
 " Plato, Apol. Socratis. " De Republ. 1. VI. 
 
 * Plato in Phccdon. 
 
 * [This is precisely the point insisted on by St. Paul when distin- 
 guishing the Gospel from the philosophical systems of the Heathen ; 
 1 Cor. ii. 7 — 17. The one, he argues, is derived immediately from 
 God, — is "the mind of Christ," spoken in "words which the Holy 
 Ghost tcachclh," and therefore is in no respect subject to the decisions 
 of human reason, (v. 15,) but is of itself delinitive authority ; the others 
 have no pretensions to acquaintance with the divine character and 
 counsels, (v. 11. 14,) and arc o[)en to the scrutiny of human judgment 
 and rest tor authority on its decision.] 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 93 
 
 that was only from their own scholars, who thought 
 themselves bound to maintain the doctrines of their sect, 
 as such, though without any pretence of divine authority 
 in the founder. But the case was otherwise with our 
 Saviour : He is said by the evangelists to teach "with 
 authority," and to teach " with power ;"y and he had a 
 right so to do, because he proved by his miracles that 
 he had a commission from God, and by that he was 
 fully empowered to declare the will of God, and to 
 deliver to mankind a fixed, certain, and indispensable 
 rule of duty. 
 
 IV. Mankind are obliged to INQUIRE, whether 
 
 ANY revelation HAS BEEN MADE, AND WHAT EVI- 
 DENCES THERE ARE OF ITS COMING FROM GoD. 
 
 If they believe they are the creatures of God, they 
 must think themselves bound to pay adoration to him 
 as their Creator, and cannot but be concerned to know 
 in what manner he will be worshipped, and what is the 
 duty and homage that he requires at their hands ; — if 
 they believe that they are dependent creatures, and 
 need the favor and protection of God, they cannot but 
 desire to know in what way they may most please him, 
 and what are the surest means of obtaining his favor ; 
 — if they believe that God governs the world, and that 
 they live under his providence, they cannot but desire 
 the best light that is to be had, from his own declara- 
 tions and the examples of former times, into the rules 
 of his providence, and the ordinary methods of his 
 dealings with mankind ; — if they believe a state of future 
 rewards and punishments according to their behavior 
 in this life, they cannot but desire to know, wdth the 
 utmost certainty and assurance, what the behavior is 
 which will secure the one, and avoid the other : and of 
 all these things there can be no knowledge or assurance, 
 equal to that which God himself gives. So that while 
 men, out of a zeal for what they call natural religion, 
 are unconcerned whether God has made any revelation 
 of his will or not, they violate the laws of nature in a 
 double respect ; — first, by resisting that natural imprcs- 
 sion which has always carried men to inquire after the 
 
 J Matthew vu. 29; Luke iv, 32. 
 
94 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 declarations of God's will ; and then, by an obstinate 
 unconcernedness for their own safety and welfare, con- 
 trary to the great and fundamental law of nature, self- 
 preservation.* 
 
 No one who believes there is a God, and that he is a 
 being of infinite power, wisdom, and knowledge, can 
 doubt whether he can make a revelation of his will to 
 mankind, which may be fully attested to come from 
 him, by miracles, and predictions of future events, and 
 the like undeniable testimonies of a divine mission. To 
 affirm this, would not only be in effect to deny a God, 
 but to contradict the universal belief that we find in all 
 ages and nations, of divine communications with men ; 
 which shows at least the general sense of mankind, as 
 to the possibility of the thing. And certainly, con- 
 sidering the false and very corrupt notions the world 
 was fallen into concerning God and his worship, and 
 the other duties we owe him, notwithstanding the ex- 
 amples of some good men in the successive ages, who 
 retained upon their minds a sense of religion, and their 
 endeavors to convince mankind of the natural con- 
 nexion there is between virtue and happiness, vice and 
 misery ; in such circumstances, it was very agreeable 
 to the natural notions we have of the divine goodness 
 and wisdom, to suppose that he would make a further 
 revelation to mankind, which might give them a clearer 
 knowledge, and a stronger sense of duty ; — unless we 
 will suppose that he had utterly abandoned them. 
 
 They who think it had been most agreeable to the 
 divine wisdom and goodness, to have given mankind 
 
 ■'■ [Against this dangerous error Bishop Butler has directed the ad- 
 mirable reasoning in the first chapter of the second part of his Analogy 
 of Xatural and Revealed Religion. He takes ground somewhat difier- 
 ent from that occupied by Gibson, viz. the general principles, that " if 
 God has given a revelation to mankind, and commanded those things 
 wliich arc commanded in Christianity ; it is evident at first sight, thatlt 
 cannot in any wise be an indifferent matter whether we obey or disobey 
 those conmiands : unless we are certainly assured that we know all 
 the reasons for them, and that all those reasons are now ceased, with 
 regard to mankind in general, or to ourselves in particular." And that 
 " It is absolutely impossible we can be assured of this; for our igno- 
 rance of these reasons proves nothing in the case ; since the whole 
 analog}' of nature shows, what is indeed in itself evident, that there 
 may be infinite reasons for things, with which we are not acquainted." j 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 95 
 
 one certain rule from the beginning, which should have 
 been a sufficient guide to all future generations, and 
 that the need of a iieiv revelation implies a want of 
 knowledge and foresight in God ; seem to forget, that 
 man was created a free agent, and as such must have 
 it in his power to fall into a state of degeneracy and 
 corruption. And when the generality of mankind were 
 actually fallen into that state, the acquainting them by 
 a spedal revelation how they might be delivered out of 
 it — how their natures might be rectified, and themselves 
 restored to the favor of God — could not surely be any 
 derogation to the characters of wisdom and goodness. 
 As well may we charge a physician with want of skill, 
 for not treating the sound and the sick by one and the 
 same rule ; and, while he is finding out remedies and 
 prescribing regulations to restore a constitution well 
 nigh ruined by debauchery and excess, accuse him for 
 suffer i7ig the patient, who was in a state of liberty and 
 freedom, to run into those pernicious courses. As well 
 may a prince who proclaims conditions of pardon and 
 fdvor to his rebellious subjects, be charged with want 
 of goodness, because he did not chain them up from 
 their cradles, and lay them under an utter inability to 
 rebel. 
 
 I cannot forbear in this place, to take notice of the 
 extreme vanity and presumption of those, who think 
 themselves at liberty to disregard the Gospel revela- 
 tion, till God shall think fit to satisfy them for what 
 reason he did not make it sooner, and why not to all 
 mankind at once ; — as if he were accountable to us for 
 his proceedings and dispensations, and we at liberty to 
 refuse the benefits or deliverances he sends, because 
 they come not at the time or in the manner thai we 
 judge most proper ! Such persons may as well ask, why 
 he made us men and not angels ? why he did not bring 
 us into the world with the perfect use of our reason ? 
 why he did not give to all men the same capacity and 
 leisure to know and learn their duty ? Why he has ap- 
 pointed different degrees of happiness in the next life? — 
 If indeed it appeared, that God would judge men for the 
 transgression of any duty which they did not and could 
 not know to be their duty, and that he would make 
 them accountable for not being influenced by motives 
 
96 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 which he had never acquainted them with ; it would be 
 difficult to reconcile such a proceeding to the divine 
 justice* But since the contrary to this is true, and it is 
 certain God will not punish men for invincible igno- 
 rance ; surely he is at liberty to dispense extraordinary 
 favors at what times, and in what measures, to what 
 nations and to what persons, he thinks fit ! and there 
 can be no doubt, but such persons and nations are bound 
 to receive them with all the gratitude and thankfulness 
 that is due from creatures to their Creator. Are we 
 then to quarrel with God, that he raises us to greater 
 degrees of perfection, in order to advance us to greater 
 degress of happiness and glory ? Can there be a more 
 flagrant instance of perverseness, than to refuse his 
 favors, for the very reason which ought to increase our 
 thankfulness for them, namely, that he vouchsafes them 
 to 7is, and not to others ? As to the Heathens, though 
 the light of reason is but dim, yet they who have no 
 better light to walk by, and who honestly make use of 
 that, as the only guide God has given them, cannot fail 
 to be mercifully dealt with by infinite justice and good- 
 ness. This is the foundation of St. Paul's reasoning 
 upon the state of the Gentile world,'' ' That God did not 
 then leave himself without witness : the regular returns 
 of the seasons of the year, and the former and latter 
 rain coming at their set times and blessing them with 
 plentiful harvests, were visible evidences of his provi- 
 dence and goodnesfe. And though, notwithstanding 
 these evidences, they fell into idolatry, yet because 
 those were times of ignorance, in which they had no 
 other guide but the light of nature, God winked at them, 
 or bore with them, and did not let loose his vengeance, 
 utterly to destroy them.' " But now," (upon the pub- 
 lication of the Gospel) as St. Paul goes on " He com- 
 mandeth all men every where to repent ; because he 
 hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world 
 in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained ; 
 whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
 he hath raised him from the dead." And they who 
 have received this express command from God, and do 
 not regard it, or, in other words, they who enjoy the 
 
 a Acts xiv. 16, 17, compared with xvu. 30, 31. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 97 
 
 clear light of the Gospel, and perversely reject it ; in- 
 stead of being entitled to mercy, have their'guilt greatly 
 aggravated, by shutting their eyes against the light he 
 has given ; — by defeating the measures he has ordained 
 for their salvation ; — by rejecting a dispensation on no 
 other account, but because it is too pure and perfect ; — 
 and by refusing the happiness that God offers, for no 
 other reason, but because they will not come up to the 
 terms and conditions upon which he offers it. 
 
 No less unreasonable are they, who plead that if a 
 revelation is to be regarded, it ought to be made to 
 every person, or at least to every age. For a rule of 
 duty is one and the same, to all persons and in all ages ; 
 and when a standing test is once given to distinguish 
 truth from error, it is equally a test at all times, and in 
 all places ; supposing it to be conveyed to them with 
 sufficient evidence of its coming from God. That this 
 is the case of the Gospel revelation, I have shown you 
 at large in my first letter ; and after God has given such 
 evidence as is abundantly sufficient to satisfy an inge- 
 nuous and unprejudiced mind, it is very unreasonable 
 to suppose that he is obliged to make every age and 
 every country a scene of new miracles, only to satisfy 
 the disingenuity and obstinacy of those, who have 
 already received sufficient evidence, and yet will not be 
 convinced. This is the foundation of what our Saviour 
 says in the parable of the rich man, " If they hear not 
 Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded 
 though one rose from the dead.'"' The spirit of infi- 
 delity is proof against all argument and conviction ; and 
 the Jews are a lasting testimony, how little it avails to 
 be eye-witnesses to miracles, when men have once re- 
 solved to be infidels. <= 
 
 Since then a revelation from God is not only possible, 
 but also probable, and very agreeable to the divine wis- 
 dom and goodness; and we live in a country which 
 
 b Luke xvi. 31. 
 
 c To the remarks of Bishop Gibson we may add, in the first place — 
 that the arrangement required by the objecters to Christianity would, in 
 effect, destroy the evidence of revelation, by making miracles no miracles, 
 but standing rules of Providence, or as we call them, Laws of Nature ; 
 and prophecy as much an order of nature, and as consonant to universal 
 experience, as history ; since both would be exhibited to every individual 
 Vol. v.— 9 
 
98 
 
 avowedly acknowledges and embraces the Gospel revc= 
 lation ; and it is certain, in fact, that the same has been 
 acknowledged and embraced by many other countries 
 for above sixteen hundred years, and still continues to 
 be so, as the great foundation of men's happiness both 
 temporal, and eternal ; to say in this case, that they are 
 not obliged, according to their several abilities and op- 
 portunities, to inquire whether such a revelation has 
 been really made, and what grounds there are to believe 
 that it came from God, is to say, that they are at liberty 
 to renounce all the rules of reason and prudence, as 
 well as all concern for the safety and welfare of body 
 and soul. 
 
 V. It is the duty of mankind to RECEIVE for 
 
 THEIR GUIDE WHATEVER REVELATION COMES FROM 
 God ", AND ALSO TO RECEIVE IT WHOLE AND EN- 
 TIRE. 
 
 . What the evidences are of the Gospel revelation's 
 coming from God, I have shown at large in my former 
 letter ; and I am so far from desiring men to rest im- 
 plicitly upon the belief of any age or country, that the 
 design of the last head is to convince them of the obli- 
 gation they are under, to make a strict inquiry into 
 those evidences, and to see whether they be such as are 
 fit for a reasonable and impartial mind to acquiesce in. 
 And if upon examination, the evidences of the fact ap- 
 pear to be full and strong, and nothing be found in the 
 matter revealed, that is a manifest contradiction in 
 itself, or evidently inconsistent either with the divine 
 perfections, or with our natural notions of good and 
 evil ; then I must add, that we are bound to receive it 
 as a rule of faith and practice, notwithstanding any 
 colorable suggestions to the contrary ; because we are 
 satisfied that it comes from God, who has a right to 
 give us a rule, and who can give no rule but what is 
 
 of the human race : — and, secondly, that even on the supposition of a 
 revelation being made to evey man, it would, if not given in a mode 
 different from that already employed, be as iuefficient as the present 
 plan ; the case of the Jews, cited by GinsoN, being sufficient proof of 
 this : and on the other hand, if so given as to enforce conviction, it 
 would destroy the free agency of man, and so be utterly at variance 
 with the whole analogy of the natural and moral government of God.J 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 99 
 
 true, and just, and good. So argues an accurate rea- 
 soner, upon this head : " Since God, in giving us the 
 light of reason, has not thereby tied up his own hands 
 from affording us, when he thinks fit, the light of reve- 
 lation, in any of those matters wherein our natural 
 faculties are able to give a probable determination ; 
 revelation, where God has been pleased to give it, must 
 carry it against the probable conjectures of reason. 
 Because the mind not being certain of the truth of that 
 it does not evidently know, but only yielding to the 
 probability that appears in it, is bound to give up its 
 assent to such a testimony, which, it is satisfied, comes 
 from one who cannot err, and will not deceive. "'^ For 
 the same reason, we are not at liberty to admit some 
 part of a divine revelation and reject the rest ; we may 
 not, for instance, receive the improvements it makes in 
 the moral law, and shopping there, reject or disregard 
 the methods it provides for the redemption of mankind, 
 nor the ordinances and institutions it lays down for the 
 peace and edification of the Church and every particular 
 member of it, nor, in general, any thing that it requires 
 either to be believed or practised : because, if the whole 
 appear to come from God, every part has equally the 
 stamp of divine authority ; and he who rejects any part, 
 may for the same reason reject the whole. 
 
 And while I am showing you the obligation you are 
 under to receive the Gospel revelation, it will be neces- 
 sary that I caution you against skepticism^ or an unrea- 
 sonable difliculty in believing and suspending the assent 
 of the mind after it has received the proper grounds of 
 conviction. Such skeptics are all they, who will not 
 be content with those sorts of proofs which things are 
 capable of; for instance, will not believe things which 
 were done before their own time, because they did not 
 see or hear them, or because they are not proved to 
 them by mathematical demonstration, of which all his- 
 torical facts whatsoever are in their nature equally in- 
 capable. Such also are they, w^ho are so partial in 
 giving their assent, as to believe the histories of Julius 
 and Augustus Csesar without the least scruple, but are 
 full of doubts about the historv of Jesus Christ, thous^k 
 
 d Locke, Vol. I, p. 328. 
 
100 BISHOP GIBSON*!^ 
 
 supported by evidences far more clear and numerous. 
 To these may well be applied what was said by an ex- 
 cellent writer, in relation to this skeptical humor : 
 *• Those who will pretend such kind of grounds for 
 their disbelief of any thing-, will never be able to per- 
 suade others, that the true cause why they do not give 
 their assent, is not because they have no reason for it, 
 but because they have no mind to it.''^ We are natu- 
 rally very uneasy under a state of suspense about any 
 thing we like and care in earnest to pursue ; and men's 
 willingness to continue in suspense as to the truth of 
 Gospel revelation, is a certain sign that it is a business 
 they do not like, nor care for. And although this is 
 not downright infidelity, yet it makes men indifferent 
 about religion, and inactive in their Christian course, 
 and takes off the force and influence of future rewards 
 and punishments, almost as much as infidelity itself. 
 
 VI. Such, and so many, are the excellences of 
 THE Gospel revelation, that every wise ani> 
 GOOD man must wish it to be true; whether we 
 consider the ends it proposes, or the means for 
 attaining those ends. 
 
 The great ends it proposes, are, — the perfection of 
 human nature, and the happiness of mankind ; — to re- 
 move us from the state of brutes, and advance us to the 
 perfection of angels ; — and, upon the whole, to lay a 
 sure foundation for our peace and happiness, both tem- 
 poral and eternal. 
 
 The means it uses for attaining those great ends, are of 
 several sorts. For instance : fierceness and cruelty, 
 and an unrestrained enjoyment of sensual pleasures, be- 
 ing the distinguishing characters of the brutal nature, 
 the Gospel revelation abounds with prohibitions of an- 
 ger, malice, hatred, revenge, and the like brutal quali- 
 ties ; and also lays the strongest restraints upon sensual 
 pleasures and delights, and strictly forbids the enjoy- 
 ment of them beyond the bounds it has set. And this, 
 not only in the outward acts, but also in the inward 
 thoughts, imaginations, and desires ;f which corrupt the 
 
 • Dr. WiLKiNs, Natural Religion, p. 26. 
 f See the First Letter, p. 23. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 101 
 
 soul, and keep it in a disposition to acts of cruelty and 
 uncleanness, and in a readiness to proceed to the ex- 
 ercise of them, whenever provocations or enticements 
 come in the way. 
 
 And these prohibitions, duly attended to in the in- 
 ward desires as well as outward acts, at the same time 
 that they set us above the condition of brutes, do also 
 lay a foundation for the peace and happiness of our 
 lives ; which experience, as well as the universal con- 
 sent of the wisest men in all ages, proves to be inter- 
 rupted and destroyed by nothing so much, as the in- 
 dulging unruly lusts and passions. And whereas, next 
 to these, the happiness of this life is greatly impaired by 
 sickness, want, oppression, and many other temporal 
 calamities ; Christianity provides for our comfort under 
 all these — not upon the principles of the ancient philo- 
 sophers, ' because they are common to mankind, and we 
 cannot avoid them, and death will put an end to them;'^ 
 but by assuring us, that they come from the hand of a 
 wise and good God, who can and will either deliver us 
 from them or support us under them, and that they are 
 designed by him to wean us from the delights of this world, 
 and to prepare us for the enjoyment of a much better. Of 
 the like tendency are the many precepts of the Gospel, 
 which command us not to set our hearts upon the things 
 of this world, but to pursue them with moderation and 
 indifference, and a constant resignation to the will of 
 God ; as these do not only prevent all the vexation that 
 otherwise attends the loss of them and our disappoint- 
 ments about them, but also disengage the heart from 
 them, and give it greater liberty, as well as a readier dis^ 
 position to attend and pursue the affairs of the next life. 
 
 For though it is certain that the precepts of Christian- 
 ity greatly tend to our comfort and happiness in this 
 life, it is as certain that they are chiefly designed to 
 prepare us for the happiness of another. The rules of 
 the philosophers were many of them wisely calculated 
 for the good of human society and the members of it in 
 this world; but had by no means such a direct tenden- 
 cy and relation to the spiritual enjoyments of the next, 
 as appears to be the general aim and tenor of the rules 
 
 s See before, p. 23. 
 9* 
 
103 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 of the Gospel. And as the precepts of Christianity are 
 preparations for a happiness of a very different nature 
 from that which any worldly enjoyments afford, and 
 have higher views and nobler ends than can be answer- 
 ed or attained by those of mere morality ; in these re- . 
 spects it was necessary that the Gospel precepts should 
 be built upon higher principles than ttiose of morality ; 
 and that they should be of a more pure, refined, and 
 exalted nature, and enforced by higher and more noble 
 motives. 
 
 Accordingly, Christianity first gives us a true know- 
 ledge of the nature of God : that it is not impure, as 
 the greatest part of the Heathens believed, nor yet se- 
 vere and terrible, according to the general tenor of the 
 Jewish dispensation, as given to a ' stiffnecked and ob- 
 stinate people ;' but that he is a Being of a pure spirit- 
 ual nature, and is kind to us, and loves to do us good, 
 and has given the highest proof of it in sending his own 
 Son to die for us and redeem us from eternal death, to 
 the end He might engage our love and obedience to 
 Him, and we by that means procure eternal happiness 
 to ourselves. And by this knowledge of his nature, we 
 are led to see that He must not be worshipped accord- 
 ing to the impure rites of the Heathen services, nor yet 
 by the sacrifices of beasts, which were only types of 
 our redemption by Christ ; but with a steady attention 
 of the soul, and a pure heart, and sincere intentions and 
 resolutions of obedience ; which our Saviour briefly ex- 
 presses by ' worshipping God in spirit and in truth,^^ 
 and which has a natural tendency to fit us for the divine 
 exercises of praise and contemplation in the next life, 
 and, in the mean while, is a means of preserving a con- 
 stant communication between God and us, during our 
 continuance in this world. 
 
 To the same spiritual ends, tend all the duties of life 
 which are either peculiar to the Christian institution, or at 
 least are carried by it to greater degrees of purity and 
 perfection. Such are ; — with regard to ourselves, holi- 
 ness of heart ; a sober use of the enjoyments of life, 
 with mortifications and self-denials as we find occasion; 
 
 » John iv. 23. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 103 
 
 an indifference about the things of this world, compared 
 with our care about the things of the next ; the ' seek- 
 ing those things which are above, where Christ sitteth 
 at the right hand of God ;' the ' having our conversa- 
 tion in heaven ;' the ' laying up our treasure in heaven;' 
 and the keeping a strict watch over our thoughts as 
 well as actions ; — with regard to our neighbor, the for- 
 giveness of injuries ; the loving of enemies ; the doing all 
 the good we can to men for God's sake ; the ' blessing 
 them that curse us ;' the ' praying for them that despite- 
 fully use us and persecute us ;' and the ' overcoming 
 evil with good.' The precepts which relate to our- 
 selves, prepare us for heaven, as it is a place of pure 
 spiritual enjoyments ; and those which relate to our 
 neighbor, prepare us for it, as it is a place where love, 
 and peace, and unity reign, to the greatest degree, and 
 in the highest perfection. And whereas not only the 
 Heathen but also the Jewish worship consisted chiefly 
 in outward rites and ordinances ; there are no more 
 than two of that sort in our Saviour's institution, and 
 those very plain and significant — Baptism, by which we 
 are admitted into the society of Christians, and all the 
 advantages of it — and the Lord's Supper, by which we 
 declare our continuance in that society ; thankfully 
 commemorating the great work of our redemption by 
 Christ, and applying to ourselves the comforts and be- 
 nefits of it ; and at the same time, resolving to live as 
 becomes his disciples, and receiving spiritual strength 
 to support us in that resolution. 
 
 But because, by reason of the corruption of our 
 hearts, we are not naturally disposed to spiritual exer- 
 cises, and the greatest part of mankind have their 
 thoughts employed about the business or the pleasures 
 of this world, and are daily exposed to temptations of one 
 kind or another ; all which indispose them for devotion, 
 and make them ignorant or unmindful of their duty, 
 and very apt to fall into the transgression of it ; as a 
 lit remedy for these evils, the Gospel institution has ap- 
 pointed a 'public worship,^' which every Christian is 
 bound to attend, and a peculiar order of men to explain 
 to the people their duty, and remind them of it, and to 
 
104 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 press and enforce the several obligations they are under 
 to perform it. 
 
 And since the passions and appetites of men lead them 
 strongly to sensual gratifications and delights, and the 
 self-denials which the Gospel requires are so disagreea- 
 ble to weak and corrupt nature, that it is in vain to 
 hope that mankind will be kept to their duty in either 
 of these respects by mere reasoning and exhortation ; 
 the Gospel revelation has provided a balance to our na- 
 tural weakness and corruption, by giving us the strong- 
 est assurances of rewards and punishments in another 
 world — the one to deter us from gratifying our unruly 
 passions and inordinate appetites, and the other to carry 
 us with cheerfulness and resolution through all the self- 
 denials which the Gospel requires. 
 
 And as the love of God is the highest principle of 
 duty and obedience to him, so the Gospel gives us the 
 strongest and most forcible motive to love him ; namely, 
 the sending his own Son into the world to die for us, 
 and by his death to reconcile us to himself, and make 
 us eternally happy. 
 
 And as in all cases example has a very powerful in- 
 fluence in order to practice, we have in our Saviour's 
 life the most perfect pattern of goodness, that ever the 
 world beheld ; of meekness and humility, of patience 
 and contentment, of loving to do good to men, and of 
 an entire obedience and submission to the will of God. 
 
 Since also the Christian institution, which so freely 
 and openly condemns the wickedness of the world, ex- 
 poses the sincere professors of it to reproach and per- 
 secution ; Christ has armed and fortified them against 
 these, not only by general declarations of his ac- 
 ceptance of the services of those who ' confess him 
 before men,'*" and are ' reproached and persecuted for 
 his sake ;''^ but also by special promises, that he will 
 particularly " confess them before God and his angels," 
 and that " great shall be their reward in heaven ;" 
 which his apostles express, by * reigning with him,'^ 
 and by ' receiving from his hands a crown of life.'f 
 
 And because the sense of our natural corruption and 
 
 c Matt. X. 32. d Matt. V. 11, 12. 
 
 • 2 Tiiii. u. 12. f James i. 12. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 105 
 
 infirmity might well discourage us from attempting to 
 live up to the pure and spiritual precepts of the Gospel, 
 and to bring our hearts to a thorough liking of them, 
 and an habitual obedience to them ; therefore the same 
 Gospel ensures a supernatural assistance to all those 
 who shall desire and pray for it, to support them against 
 temptations, and preserve in them a constant desire and 
 endeavor to conform their lives to the laws of Christ. 
 *' If ye," says our Saviour, " being evil, know how to 
 give good gifts to your children, how much more shall 
 your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that 
 ask him :"^ by which Spirit, our natures are renewed,'^ 
 and our hearts sanctified ;' and by the same Spirit we 
 are " strengthened with might in the inner man.''^ 
 
 And, finally, because men, through a consciousness 
 of their manifold offences against God, would be in 
 perpetual dread of the divine justice, and, in a sense of 
 their great failings and infirmites, would think them- 
 selves unworthy to approach^ Being of infinite purity, 
 and despair of recovering his favor when they have 
 oflended him by the transgression of their duty ; there- 
 fore, to comfort sincere Christians, and encourage them 
 to persevere in their duty, the Son of God who took 
 our nature upon him, hath satisfied the divine justice by 
 dying- for us, and is appointed the intercessor between 
 God and man, and the mediator of a new covenant ; by 
 which, all who sincerely desire and endeavor to per- 
 form their duty, are not only assured of supernatural 
 assistance to enable them to discharge it, but also upon 
 a sincere repentance, and faith in him, are entitled to 
 pardon and forgiveness if they transgress it, and assured 
 that upon those terms they shall be restored to the 
 favor of God, and the comfortable hope of eternal life, 
 notwithstanding such transgressions. 
 
 This is the account which the New Testament gives, 
 of the redemption wroni^ht for us by Christ : — that his 
 death was a satisfaction made to the divine justice for 
 the sins of mankind ; — that through faith in him, we 
 are assured of the forgiveness of our sins upon our re- 
 pentance and amendment ; — that being forgiven, we are 
 
 S Luke xi. 13. ^ Rom xii. 2. 
 
 i Rom. vi. 13, k Ephes. iii. 16. 
 
106 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 justified in the sight of God ;— that being justified in his 
 sight, we are reconciled to him ; — that he who recon- 
 ciles us to God, sanctifies our hearts by the holy Spirit, 
 to enable us to perform the will of God, and thereby to 
 continue in his favor ; — that for the same end, he 
 mediates and intercedes for us with God, while we 
 continue in this present life ; — and, that through him we 
 have the promise of life eternal. This is a scene full of 
 comfort to all those who comply with the terms of the 
 Gospel ; and, that good Christians may be assured that 
 this is the true account, and that by consequence the 
 hope and comfort they build upon the redemption 
 wrought for them by Christ, and their trust in him, 
 are well founded ; I will give them in one view, and in 
 the words of Scripture, what is plainly delivered there, 
 upon each of the forementioned heads. 
 
 I. Christ, by his death, made satisfaction to the 
 divine justice for the^sins of mankind. This the 
 Scripture sets forth by the expressions, of dying for 
 us, — of bearing our sins, — of taking away our sins, — 
 of being a propitiation for our sins, — of -purchasing 
 and redeeming or ransoming us with the price of his 
 blood. 
 
 By DYING FOR us : — " He laid down his life for 
 us."' — " He died for our sins."" — " He gave himself 
 for us."" — " He was delivered for our off*ences."° — 
 " He tasted death for every man."p — Agreeably to the 
 prophecy concerning him, " He was wounded for our 
 transgressions, he was bruised /or our iniquities. "q 
 
 By BEARING OUR SINS : — " He was once oflfered to 
 bear the sins of many.">- — " He bare our sins in his 
 own body on the tree."^ — Agreeably to the prophecies 
 concerning him, '' He hath borne our griefs and carried 
 our sorrows — the Lord liath laid on him the iniquity 
 ofusall."^ 
 
 By TAKING AWAY OUR SINS *. — " He was manifested 
 to take away our sins."" — " He put away sin by the 
 
 ' 1 John iii. 16. «" 1 Cor. xv. 3. 
 
 " Titus ii. 14. o Rom. iv. 25. 
 
 P Heb. ii. 9. u Isa. liii. 5. 
 
 r Heb. ix. 2G. * 1 Pet ii. 24. 
 
 t Isa. liii. 4. 6. « 1 John iii. 5, 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 107 
 
 sacrifice of himself." — " He hath washed us from our 
 sins in his own blood."'' — " The blood of Jesus Christ 
 cleanseth us from all sin."^ 
 
 By being a propitiation for our sins: — "Him 
 God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
 his blood. "^ — " God sent his Son to be the propitiation 
 for our sins." — "He is the propitiation for our sins, 
 and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole 
 world." y 
 
 By purchasing, and redeeming or ransoming us, 
 with the price of his blood : — " He purchased the 
 Church of God with his own blood."^ — " He came to 
 give his life a ransom for many."^ — " He gave himself a 
 ransom for all."''— "We are bought with a price. "•= — " In 
 him we have redemption through his blood. "'^ — " He 
 hath redeemed us to God by his blood. "^ — " We are 
 redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. "^ 
 
 2. The divine justice being satisfied, we are assured 
 of the forgiveness of our sins through Christ upon 
 a sincere repentance. His fore-runner, John the Bap- 
 tist, preached " the baptism of repentance for the remis- 
 sion of sins. ^''^ — Christ tells us, " His blood was shed 
 for many /or the remission of sins. ''''^ — After the resur- 
 rection, the apostles are directed by him, to " preach 
 repentance and remission of sins in his name, among 
 all nations."' — Accordingly, their preaching was this ; 
 " Him God hath exalted with his right hand to be a 
 Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, 
 and forgiveness of sins.^^^ — " Repent and be baptized 
 every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
 remission of sins. ''^^ — "Through this man is preached 
 unto you the forgiveness of sins. ^^"^ — " To him give all 
 the prophets witness, that through his name, whoso- 
 ever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.'^"" 
 
 V Heb. ix. 2G. Rev. i. 5. ^1 John i. 17. 
 
 X Rom. iii. 25. 1 John iv. 10. y 1 John ii. 2. 
 
 ^ Acts XX. 28. ^ Matt. xx. 28. 
 
 f> 1 Tun. ii. G. <^ 1 Cor. vi. 20., 
 
 A Eph. i. 7. Col. iii. 4. ^ Rev. v. 9. 
 
 f 1 Pet. i. 18. s Luke iii. 3. 
 
 h Matt. xxvi. 28. ' Luke xxiv. 47. 
 
 ic Acts V. 31. ' Acts ii. 38. 
 
 m Acts xiii. 38. » Acts x. 43. 
 
108 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 — »* God was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."° — 
 " In him we have redemption through his blood, even 
 the forgiveness of sins. ^^^ — And we are commanded to 
 " forgive one another, even as God, /or Christ's sake^ 
 hath forgiven us.^^^^ 
 
 3. Our sins being forgiven, we are justified by 
 Christ in the sight of God. — " By him all that believe 
 are justified.''^'' — " We are justified in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus."* — " We a.Te justified freely by his grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ."' — 
 " Being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from 
 wrath through him."" — " God hath made him to be sin 
 for us^ who knew no sin, that we might be made the 
 righteousness of God in him."^ — " Even the righteous- 
 ness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all 
 and upon all them that believe."'' 
 
 4. Being justified by Christ, we are reconciled to 
 God. — " Being justified by faith, we have peace with 
 God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."^ — " We are 
 reconciled to God by the death of his Son."y — "Us, 
 who were enemies, hath Christ reconciled in the body 
 of his flesh, through death."' — He hath " tnade peace 
 through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile 
 all things unto himself."^ — " God hath reconciled us 
 to himself hy Jesus Christ;'"" — "who suffered for 
 sin, that he might bring us unto God.""^ — And " We 
 are accepted in the Beloved.'"^ 
 
 5. Having reconciled us to God, he sanctifies our 
 HEARTS BY THE HoLY Spirit, to enable us to perform 
 our duty, and thereby to continue in God's favor. — " We 
 are chosen to salvation, through sanctification of the 
 
 ° 2 Cor. V. 19. p Ephes, i. 7. 
 
 q Ephes. iv. 32. r Acts xiii. 39. 
 
 » ICor. vi. 11. t Rom. iii. 24. 
 
 " Rom. V. 9. V 2 Cor. v. 21. 
 
 " Rom. iii. 22. ^ Rom. v. 2. 
 
 y Rom. V. 10. 2 Col. i. 21. 
 
 » Col. i. 20. . b 2 Cor. v. 18. 
 
 « 1 Pet. iii. 18. J Ephes. i. 6. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 109 
 
 SpiRiT"<i— and '' through sanctification of the Spirit, 
 unto obedience."® — " We are sanctified through the 
 offering of the body of Jesus Christ.^'^ — " God hath 
 not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness^ — who 
 hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit."^ — " The 
 Spirit of God dwelletk in i^^,"^ and " our body is the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost,"* — and " we are an habit- 
 ation of God through the Spirit."'' — " We are renewed 
 by the Holy Ghost"' — and " quickened by the Spirit""" 
 — and " strengthened with might by the Spirit in the 
 inner man."" — And it is " through the Spirit that we 
 mortify the deeds of the body"" — by which deeds, we 
 "grieve" and "quench the Spirit."? 
 
 6. He who assists us by his Spirit upon earth, to 
 enable us to do the will of God, and thereby to continue 
 in his favor, is our constant mediator, intercessor, 
 and advocate with God in heaven, to present our 
 prayers for the supply of our wants, and to obtain a 
 compassionate regard to our failings and infirmities. 
 "He is the mediator of the new covenant."q — "There is 
 one mediator between God and man, even the man 
 Christ Jesus.""" — " He makes intercession for us at 
 the right hand of God."' — " He appears in the presence 
 of God for us."' — "No man cometh unto the Father 
 but by him^'' — "He is able to save them to the utter- 
 most who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
 to make intercession for them."^ — "If any man sin, 
 we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous."'' — " He is touched with the feeling of our 
 infirmities, and therefore let us come boldly to the 
 throne of grace, that we may find grace and mercy to 
 help in time of need"* — and " let us draw near with 
 
 d 2 Thes. ii. 13. ' 1 Pet. i. 2. 
 
 f Heb. X. 10. s 1 Thes. iv 7, 8. 
 
 h Rom. viii. 9. i 1 Cor. vi. 19. 
 
 k Ephes. ii. 22. ' Acts ii. 38 ; Tit. iii, 5. 
 
 °> John vi. 63. ° Ephes. iii. 16. 
 • Rom. viii. 13. 
 
 p Eph. iv. 30 ; 1 Thes. v. 19 ; Luke xi. 13. 
 
 1 Heb. xii. 24. >• 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 ^ Rom. viii. 34. ' Heb. ix. 24. 
 
 » John xiv. 6. ' Heb. vii, 25. 
 
 -^ 1 John ii. 1, 2. ^ Heb. iv. 14. 
 YoL. 5.— 10 
 
110 BISHOP GIBSON^S 
 
 a true heart, and full assurance of faith. "y — " In hiirs 
 we have boldness, and access with confidence."* 
 
 7. As it is he who enables us to do the will of God 
 and to preserve his favor in this life, so it is through 
 him that we are made partakers of life eternal. 
 " The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the 
 world"* — " to seek and to save that which was lost"'' — 
 *' that we might live through him'''^ — "that the world 
 through him might he savedj^^'^ — ^" that believing, we 
 might have life through his name, ^^^ — "that whosoever 
 believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting 
 lifey^ — Through him we are " saved from wrathJ'^^ — 
 " He hath delivered us from the wrath to come."'" — 
 " Eternal life is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord."' — " God hath given us eternal life, and 
 this life is in his <So7i,"^ — who is " the Captain of our 
 salvation"' — the "Author of eternal salvation to all 
 them that obey him."™ — " Neither is there salvation in 
 any other : for there is none other name under heaven, 
 given among men, whereby we must be saved."' 
 
 What has been said under this sixth general head, is 
 a short view of the Christian institution, both in the 
 ends it proposes, and the means for attaining those ends ; 
 and it appears in this view, that the method which the 
 Gospel lays down for our salvation, is, throughout, a 
 consistent and uniform scheme, worthy of God, and 
 contrived with the greatest wisdom and goodness for the 
 comfort and happiness of man. It appears also, how 
 unable human reason was to direct us either to the ends, 
 or the means, and that however the due use and ap- 
 plication of our reason may answer the purposes of 
 this life, it is by no means sufficient to guide us in our 
 way to the next. 
 
 But if, after God has made so full and clear a revela- 
 
 7 Heb. X. 22. -^ Eph. iii. 12. 
 
 a 1 John iv. 14. ^ Luke xix. 10. 
 
 c 1 John iv. 9. '^ John xx. 31. 
 
 • John iii. 17. f John iii. 16. 
 
 e 1 Thes. i. 10. h i^ora v. 9. 
 
 i Rom. vi. 23. t 1 John v. II. 
 
 1 Heb. ii. 10. ^ Heb. v. 9. 
 » AcU iv. 12. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. Ill 
 
 tion in what way and upon what terms he will save us, 
 men will resolve to be their own guides, and refuse to 
 be saved in the way that he has appointed ; this is at 
 their own peril. If some will believe that trusting in 
 Christ is their whole duty, and so excuse themselves 
 from the observation of the moral law, and others will 
 affirm that the observation of the moral law ;s sufficient, 
 and so will forego the benefit of Christ's redemption ; 
 if some will contend that Christ has done all, and 
 others that he has done nothing : to both these it is suf- 
 ficient to say, that they are very vain and presumptuous 
 in setting up the opinion and imagination of weak and 
 fallible men, against the infallible testimony of persons 
 sent and inspired by God. The Gospel account is as 
 full and express as words can make it, on one hand, that 
 faith in Christ is the foundation of a Christian's title 
 to heaven, and on the other hand, that repentance and 
 good works are necessary conditions of obtaining it. 
 
 It may not be improper, before I shut up this head, 
 to observe that several of our most eminent divines' 
 after the restoration, set themselves, both by preaching 
 and writing, to enlarge upon the importance of moral 
 duties, and to recommend them, with great earnestness, 
 to the regard of the people ; to such a degree, as to 
 stand charged by others with too great a disregard of 
 the doctrines and duties peculiar to Christianity. 
 Whereas, the case in reality was this. During the 
 times of confusion, many of the preachers had not 
 only forborne to inculcate the duties of morality, but 
 had labored to depreciate them ; to persuade the people 
 that faith was all, and works nothing. And therefore 
 the clergy, after the restoration, in order to take off 
 those unhappy impressions, found themselves obliged to 
 inculcate with more than ordinary diligence, the neces- 
 sity of moral duties in the Christian life, and to labor 
 to restore them to their proper share in the Christian 
 scheme. p But those of them, who with the honest 
 
 • Dr. WiLKiNs, Barrow, Tillotson, John Scott. 
 
 P [The apology which Bishop Gibson makes for the great men in 
 question, is undoubtedly just, and perhaps sufficient. There is abun- 
 dant evidence in their works, that whatever prominence they may have 
 given to moral duty in their statements of Gospel truth, was given 
 because they thought the times and the natural constitution of man 
 
113 BISHOP GIBSON'S 
 
 view I have mentioned, labored the most zealously in 
 that way, were at the same time as zealous to explain 
 to the people the great work of our redemption by 
 Jesus Christ, as the means of salvation which God 
 has appointed : — the corruption and misery into which 
 mankind was sunk by the fall of our first parents ;"5i — the 
 necessity of a mediator, to recover them, and restore 
 them to the favor of God ;'^ — the incarnation of the 
 Son of God for that end ;» — the goodness of God in ap- 
 pointing his own Son to be the mediator between him 
 and us; — the comfort of having a mediator of our 
 own nature ;" — the expiation made for sin by the suf- 
 fering of Christ ;' — the wisdom of God in making 
 Christ a sacrifice for sin ;'' — the inestimable value of 
 his sufferings, for the redemption of all mankind ;* — our 
 justification by faith in him,^ — and sanctification by the 
 Holy Spirit,^ and his intercession for us at God's right 
 hand.' In general ; what can be more express than the 
 doctrine laid down by Archbishop Tillotson,*' con- 
 required it ; not because they were disposed to rob the great doctrine 
 of redemption through the atoning blood of Christ alone, of any of 
 its due pre-eminence in the scheme of salvation. 
 
 Yet they cannot be altogether acquitted of error. In their anxiety 
 to reunite Christian holiness with Christian profession, they did not 
 proceed upon the proper plan for the accomplishment of that object — 
 the plan invariably adopted by the inspired apostles — that of building 
 it ON Christian faith. They strenuously insisted on the Christian 
 graces and virtues as parts of man's duty to his Maker, rather than as 
 fruits of faith in a crucified Redeemer ; and enforced them by consider- 
 ations deduced from the grand distinctions between good and evil, and 
 from the hope of reward and the fear of punishment, more than by 
 those of gratitude to a merciful God, reconciled to us in Christ — of 
 love to the Saviour who gave himself for us — and of obligation to the 
 Redeemer who has ' bought us with a price.'] 
 
 q TiLLOTsox, Vol. III. 303. 320. 321. 589; Barrow, Vol. I. 464, 
 Vol. II. 222, Vol. III. 228. 
 
 r TiLLOTsoN, Vol. II. 129; Scott, Vol. I. 201, Vol. III. 6. 
 
 » TiLLOTsoN, Vol. I. 437. 460, Vol. II. 261 ; Barrow, Vol. II. 235. 
 
 t TiLLOTsox, Vol. I. 445 ; Scott, Vol. III. 2-1. 42. 
 
 " TiLLOTSON, Vol. I. p. 471. 
 
 V TILLOTSON, Vol. I. 477, Vol. II. 361 ; Scott, Vol. III. 187. 
 
 y^ TILLOTSON, Vol. I. 473, Vol. II. 637; Barrow, Vol.1. 464, Vol. 
 II. 339; Scott, Vol. III. 167. 
 
 =^ Barrow, Vol. II. 313, Vol. III. 454. 
 
 7 TILLOTSON, Vol. III. 480 ; Barrow, Vol. II. 71. 
 
 « TILLOTSON, Vol. III. 300. 320. 488. 489 ; Scott, Vol. III. 83. 151. 
 
 "^ Scott, Vol. III. 183. [164. 
 
 ^ Scott, Vol. 11. p. 488. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 113 
 
 cerning our redemption by Christ, " That men are to 
 place all their hope and confidence of salvation in Jesus 
 Christ the Son of God; that is, to believe that through 
 the alone merit of his death and sufferings, God is recon- 
 ciled to us ; and that, only upon the account of the 
 satisfaction which he hath made to divine justice, we 
 are restored to the favor of God, and our sins are par- 
 doned to us, and we have a title to eternal life. Not 
 but that there are conditions on our part to make us ca- 
 pable of these benefits, faith, and repentance, and sincere 
 obedience, and holiness of life, without which we shall 
 never be made partakers of them ; but that the satis- 
 faction of Christ is the only meritorious cause of those 
 blessings." 
 
 And together with the several heads of our redemp- 
 tion by Christ, thus explained and enlarged upon by 
 those who had most distinguished themselves in press- 
 ing the duties of morality ; the people were further 
 instructed by the same persons, that baptism is an 
 institution into a new covenant with God ;<= and the 
 Lord's Supper, a renewal of that covenant ; and they 
 were admonished by them, of the great duties of as- 
 sembling in the public worship of God,"^ and frequently 
 receiving the Holy Sacrament,^ and hearing and reading 
 the Holy Scriptures, as their only sure and complete 
 rule both of faith and practice.*" Concerning all which, 
 one of those writers,^ after having described in a lively 
 manner the excellences of moral duties, goes on thus : 
 "The positive parts of religion are our duty as well as 
 these, and God by his sovereign authority exacts them 
 at our hands; and unless, when Jesus Christ hath 
 been sufficiently proposed to us, we do sincerely believe 
 in him — unless we strike covenant with him by bap- 
 tism, and frequently renew that covenant in the Lord's 
 Supper — unless we diligently attend on the public as- 
 semblies of his worship — there is no pretence of morality 
 will bear us out, when we appear before his dread tri* 
 bunal." To which I must add, that another of those 
 
 c Scott, Vol. 11. 296, Vol. III. 283. 
 <» TiLLOTsoN, Vol. I. 519. 537; Scott, Vol. II. 115. 
 • TiLLOTSON, Vol. I. 248 ; Scott, Vol. H. 294.. 
 f TiLLOTsoN, Vol. I. 308, Vol. II. 243. 
 s ScoTT, Vol. II. 68. 
 IQ* 
 
114 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 divines, who wrote an excellent Treatise of Natural 
 Religion, (i. e. of principles and duties merely moral, 
 and such as are discoverable by the strength of reason 
 exerted and improved to the highest degree that our 
 natural faculties are capable of,) concludes with the 
 fullest declaration of the insufficiency of them to in- 
 struct us in our duty, or to enable us to perform it, or 
 to conduct us to happiness, without those clear lights 
 and supernatural assistances which the Gospel dispen- 
 sation conveys to us. His words are these:'" "Not- 
 withstanding all that can be said of natural religion, it 
 cannot be denied, but that in this dark and degenerate 
 state into which mankind is sunk, there is great want 
 of a clearer light to discover our duty to us with greater 
 certainty, and to put it beyond all doubt and dispute 
 what is the good and acceptable will of God ; and of a 
 more powerful encouragement to the practice of our 
 duty, by the promise of a supernatural assistance, and 
 by the assurance of a great and eternal reward. And 
 all these defects are fully supplied by that clear and 
 perfect revelation, which God hath made to the world 
 by our blessed Saviour." And elsewhere he says, *' It 
 is not the mere performance of such moral duties as 
 are of natural obligation, unless they be done in obedi- 
 ence to Christ as our Lord and lawgiver, and in reliance 
 upon him for his pardon and acceptance as our priest 
 and Saviour, that can make us acceptable to Christ, or 
 entitle us to the name of Christians."" And speaking 
 of the salvation of those Heathens who lived according 
 to the light of nature,* that " when God hath not thought 
 fit to tell us, how he will be pleased to deal with such 
 persons, it is not fit for us to tell him hoAv he ought to 
 deal with them," he adds ; " Only, of this we are suffi- 
 ciently assured, that in all ages and places of the world, 
 aZZ that are saved, are saved by the mercy of God, and 
 by the merits of Jesus Christ, who is the La77ib slain 
 from the foundation of the world; the Scripture having 
 expressly told us, That there is no salvation in any 
 other ; for there is none other name under heaven given 
 among men, ivhereby we must be saved.'"'' 
 
 ' Dr. Wilkins, II. c. 9. » Wilkins' Sermon, p. 51. 
 
 I Natural Religion, p. 397. 
 
 • So, also Barrow, Vol. III. p. 449. 464. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 115 
 
 I have already observed, that the duties of morality 
 were carried by our Saviour to much liigher degrees of 
 purity and perfection, than had been practised before 
 either by Jew or Gentile ; agreeably to the pure and 
 spiritual nature of that happiness which he revealed to 
 mankind, and the necessity of fitting the soul for the 
 full enjoyment of it in the next life, by habituating our- 
 selves to it, during our abode in this. And for the same 
 end, we find throughout the New Testament the prac- 
 tice of moral duties enforced, and the breach of them 
 discouraged, not so much from considerations relating 
 to this worldf or any temporal benefit accruing from 
 thence to ourselves or others, as from the sanctions of 
 dutyj which the civil relations among men have received 
 from God ; — from the manner of God's dealings with 
 men ; — from the example of Christ, our Lord and 
 Master ; — from the regard we owe to our holy profes- 
 sion ; — from the relation we hear to heaven while we 
 live here upon earth ; — from the different spiritual 
 sources of moral and immoral actions ; — and, from the 
 influence which our regard or disregard to the duties of 
 morality, will have upon our future state. 
 
 1. From the sanctions of duty which the civil 
 
 relations AMO^fG MEN HAVE RECEIVED FROM GoD. 
 
 Magistrates must be obeyed, not only for wrath but 
 for conscience sake, because they are the ordinance of 
 God \^ and they must also conduct themselves towards 
 the people, " as the ministers of <jr0D to them for 
 good.""" Husband and wife must inviolably adhere to 
 each other,' because they are joined together and made 
 one hy God, who " at the beginning made them male 
 and female,"y and by whom " whoremongers and adul- 
 terers will be judged. "^ Servants are commanded to 
 be obedient to their masters " in singleness of heart, 
 fearing God ;"^ " with good will doing service as to 
 the Lord, and not unto men,""^ and masters, to be just 
 and merciful to their servants, as •' knowing that they 
 also have a master in heaven.'"'' And in general, 
 
 y Rom. xiii. 2. 5. ^ Rom. xiii. 4. 
 
 ' Matt. xix. 4. 6. ^ Matt. xix. 4. 
 
 z Heb. xiii. 4. » Ephes. vi. 6, ' 
 
 » Col iii. 22. • Ephes. vi. 9. 
 
116 
 
 " whatsoever we do," the Gospel enjoins us to " do it 
 heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ;"o and that 
 " whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we do 
 all to the glory o/God."'^ 
 
 2. From the manner of God's dealings with 
 
 MEN. 
 
 We must be kind to enemies as well as friends, be- 
 cause " God maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on 
 the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the un- 
 just."^ We must "forgive one another, because God 
 for Christ's sake hath forgiven us."f And upon God's 
 having ' manifested his love to us in sending his only 
 begotten Son into the world, that we might live through 
 him,'° is grounded the inference which St. John makes, 
 *' beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one 
 another ;"h and the loving one another is the most con- 
 stant and forcible motive of good offices to one another. 
 
 3. From the example of Christ, our lord and 
 
 MASTER. 
 
 " Learn of we," says he, " for I am meek and lowly, 
 and ye shall find rest to your souls."' And says the 
 apostle, " walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and 
 gave himself for us.'"' " Let every one of us please 
 his neighbor for his good to edif^ation ; for even 
 Christ pleased not himself."' " Let nothing be done 
 through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind 
 let each esteem other better than themselves : look not 
 every man on his own things, but every man also on 
 the things of others ; let this mind be in you, which 
 was also in Christ Jesus."'" ^^ As he that hath called 
 you, is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversa- 
 tion."" 
 
 4. From the regard we owe our holy profes- 
 sion. 
 
 Immoralities of all kinds are forbidden to Christians, 
 because they ought to " walk worthy of the vocation 
 wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and meek- 
 ness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love ; 
 
 c Col. iii. 23. d Cor. x. 31. 
 
 • Matt. V. 44. <■ Ephes. iv. 32. 
 
 s 1 John iv. 9. i> 1 John iv. 11. 
 
 i Matt. xi. 29. ^ Ephes. v. 2. 
 
 J Rom. XV. 2, 3. ^ PJiil. ii. 3, 4, 5. 
 « 1 Pet. i. 15. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 117 
 
 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
 of peace."" They must " walk worthy of God, who 
 hath called them to his kingdom and glory."" They 
 must " walk as children of light."? Their " conversa- 
 tion must be as becomes ike Gospel of Christ. "i They 
 must "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all 
 things ;"'^ and take care that Uhe name of God and his 
 doctrine be not blasphemed, or evil spoken of, among 
 the Gentiles, through them.'« We are to " walk ho- 
 nestly (or decently) as in the day (the day-light of the 
 Gospel,) not in rioting and drunkenness, not in cham- 
 bering and wantonness, not in strife and envying ;" and 
 we must " put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no 
 provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."' 
 
 5. From THE RELATION WE BEAR TO HEAVEN, WHILE 
 WE LIVE HERE UPON EARTH. 
 
 " Our conversation (or citizenship) is in heaven ;"" 
 and because we are only "strangers and pilgrims. upon 
 earth," we must " abstain from fleshy lusts (the inordi- 
 nate enjoyments of this world) which war against the 
 soul ;"^ and we are also put in mind that we are only 
 " sojourners" here, and have " no continuing city, but 
 seek one to come,"^ that we may not set up our rest in 
 this world, nor be too solicitous about the things of it, 
 but may have our heavenly country always in our eye, 
 and make it our greatest concern to arrive safely there. 
 
 6. From the different spiritual sources of mo- 
 ral and immoral actions. 
 
 " Love, peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and 
 temperance," are recommended to our practice, as 
 " fruits of the Spirit,"* and as " the wisdom that is from 
 above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
 easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits." y But 
 " adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ha- 
 tred, variance, emulation, wrath, strife, envying, mur- 
 ders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like," are repre- 
 sented by the Gospel as "works of the flesh,"^ and the 
 
 " Ephes. iv. 1, 2, 3. • 1 Thes. ii. 12. 
 
 P Ephes. V. 8. "^ Phil. i. 27. 
 
 «• Tit. ii. 10. s 1 Tim. vi. 1 ; Tit. ii. 5. 
 
 ' Rom. xiii. 13, 14. » Phil. iii. 20. 
 
 ' IPet. ii. 11. ^ Heb. xi. 16. 
 
 » Gal. V. 22, 23. r James iii. 17. 
 
 « Gal. V. 19, 20, 21. 
 
118 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 fruits of that wisdom which descended not from above, 
 but is earthly, sensual, devilish" == — as proceeding from 
 the corruptions of nature without the guidance of God's 
 holy Spirit, and from the suggestions of the devil, of 
 whom the Gospel every where warns us as an implaca- 
 ble enemy to mankind, who " walketh about seeking 
 whom he may devour,"^ and whose " wiles"^ and 
 " snares"" we must not hope to escape, but by M'atchful- 
 ness and prayer. 
 
 7. From the influence which our regard or 
 
 DISREGARD TO THE DUTIES OF MORALITY WILL HAVE 
 UPON OUR FUTURE STATE. 
 
 St. Paul concludes a large catalogue of sins, fornica- 
 tion, uncleanness, wrath, envy, <fec., with this just but 
 terrible sentence, " of which, I tell you before, as I 
 have also told you in time past, that they which do such 
 things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."'1 On the 
 contrary, the Gospel recommends the practice of humi- 
 lity, by ensuring to it " the kingdom of heaven ;"^ 
 meekness, because it is " in the sight of God of great 
 price ;"f mercifulness, as the means of "obtaining 
 mercy ;"2 temperance, as necessary to the running our 
 Christian course with success ',^ purity of heart, as a 
 necessary preparation to the " seeing God ;"' charity,^ as 
 it is the " laying up in store for ourselves a good founda- 
 tion against the time to come, that we may attain eternal 
 life ;" > patience and perseverance in well-doing, because 
 " our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh 
 for us a far more exceeding weight of glory ; while we 
 look not at the things which are seen, but at the things 
 which are not seen, because the things which are seen, 
 are temporal, but the things which are not seen, are 
 eternal.'''''^ 
 
 This is the true Gospel morality ; which makes all the 
 relations among men, and the duties belonging to them, 
 to centre in God, and connects the offices of this life 
 
 » James iii. 15. » 1 Pet, v. 8. 
 
 v* Ephes. vi. 11. 18. « 3 Tim. ii. 26. 
 
 ■^ Gal. V. 21. e Matt. v. 3. 
 
 f 1 Pet. iii. 4. s Matt. v. X 
 
 »> 1 Cor. ix. 25. i Matt. v. 8. 
 
 k [In the restricted (and indeed improper) sense of alms-givinff.] 
 
 > 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. « 3 Cor. iv. 17, 18, 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 119 
 
 tvith the happiness of the next ; and it is no other in 
 effect, than that which St. Paul more briefly lays down 
 in the following words : " the grace of God that brings 
 eth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, 
 that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should 
 live soberly^ righteously, and godly, in this present 
 world; looking for that blessed hope and the glorious 
 appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem 
 us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself di peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works.'''''' 
 
 I am aware, that in the view of Christianity I have 
 given under this sixth general head, many things arc 
 laid down, which some late writers, who yet disown the 
 name of infidels, have with much confidence pronounced 
 to be superstition. And that the same charge might 
 not be repeated, I judged it necessary to show thus par- 
 ticularly from the plain and express words of Scripture, 
 that this is no other superstition than what was taught 
 by Christ and his apostles. It is indeed to be greatly 
 lamented, that in a Christian country there should be 
 any need to prove, that the work of our redemption by 
 the death of Christ, with the benefits thereby obtained 
 for us, is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. 
 But when we see so much pains taken to represent these 
 things as corruptions in religion, we who have the care 
 of souls, can think no pains too much to explain and 
 inculcate those great and necessary truths, by showing 
 from the whole tenor of the New Testament, that they 
 are the means which God himself hath appointed for 
 the salvation of mankind. 
 
 The excellence of the Christian institution, joined to 
 the evidences of its divine authority as set forth in my 
 former Letter, naturally leads, 
 
 VII. To THE GREAT SINFULNESS AND DANGER 
 
 OF REJECTING IT, OR, IN OTHER WORDS, TO THE GREAT 
 GUILT AND PERVERSENESS OF INFIDELITY. 
 
 For though it is not in any man's power to believe 
 what he pleases, because as things appear at this or that 
 
 « Tit.ii. 11, 13,13,14. 
 
120 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 time to his understanding, so his belief must be, and 
 we can neither be charged with guilt, nor be liable to 
 punishment, for what we cannot help ; yet in searching 
 after truth, there are two things which are in our power, 
 — the use of our faculties ; — and, the due and impartial 
 use of them : — and if we fail of finding out the truth, 
 or fall into error, by not using our faculties at all, or by 
 using them unduly^ we are certainly accountable to 
 God who gave them, and who, as our sovereign Lord, 
 has a right to require a du€ use and to punish the abuse 
 of them. In speculative matters, which no way concern 
 our duty or happiness, men may be as ignorant as 
 they please without danger of guilt : but to be an infidel 
 in religion through sloth and carelessness, for want of 
 examining at all, or through a slight and superficial 
 examination, makes men highly guilty in the sight of 
 God ; both as it is a neglect of using and applying the 
 faculties he has given us, and as it is manifestly contrary 
 to all the rules of right reason, not to use them in a 
 matter which so nearly concerns our safety and interest '^^ 
 especially when the evidences of Christianity lie so 
 open to the general apprehension of mankind, and may 
 so easily be entered into and understood. 
 
 No less guilty are they in the sight of God, who in 
 examining the grounds of religion, sufier their minds to 
 be influenced by vicious inclinations, or by pride and 
 an affectation of singularity, or by any immoral and 
 indirect motive whatsoever. It is every day's experi- 
 ence and observation, how greatly the judgments of 
 men are influenced in temporal matters by their own 
 private convenience, and interest, and other considera- 
 tions, which do not at all belong to the matter they are 
 to judge of; and this maybe much more suspected in the 
 judgment they make of the truth of Christianity, consi- 
 dering how contrary its precepts are to the inordinate 
 desires and inclinations of nature. We cannot enter into 
 the hearts of men, to see upon what motives they act, 
 and under what influences they reason; but when we 
 consider the strength and clearness of the evidences of 
 Christianity, with the advantages aud excellences of the 
 Gospel institution, and the strict restraints it lays upon 
 
 f First Letter, p. 33, &c. 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 121 
 
 excess ^tid uncleanness of all kinds, we cannot but see 
 that it requires the greatest degree of charity, to ascribe 
 their infidelity to any thing but the love of vice, or the 
 love of contradiction. This is what the apostle calls 
 "an evil heart of unbelief:" p and where that is the case, 
 infidelity is a sin of the highest nature ; as it corrupts 
 the reason and understanding which God has given, and 
 subjects it to base and unworthy influences ; — as it de- 
 grades human nature, and carries in it an indifference 
 whether we be immortal or die like beasts, or rather a 
 desire that we may die like them ; — as it is an affront to 
 God, in rejecting his messengers, who come with clear 
 and evident testimonies of their being sent by him ; — as 
 it makes him a liar, and is a manifest contempt of his 
 goodness in sending a revelation, and defeats his gra- 
 cious designs and measures for the salvation of mankind. 
 Well, therefore, might our Saviour denounce damnation 
 against all those who did not receive him and his doc- 
 trine : " He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved, 
 but he that believeth not, (i. e. disbeheveth) shall he 
 damned.^""^ " If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die 
 in your sins.""" " He that believeth not, is condemned 
 already, because he hath not believed in the name of the 
 only begotten Son of God ; and this is the condemna- 
 tion^ that light is come into the world, and men loved 
 darkness rather than light, because their deeds were 
 evil."* " If I had not come and spoken unto them, they 
 had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their 
 sin."' And agreeable to these are the declarations of 
 his apostles. St. John reckons the "unbelieving" 
 among those " who shall have their portion in the lake 
 that burneth with fire and brimstone."" St. Paul tells 
 us, that "God will take vengeance on them that know 
 him not, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ;""" and the author to the Hebrews, "how shall 
 we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at 
 the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was 
 confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; God also 
 
 p Heb. ill, 12. q Mark xvi. 16. 
 
 r John viii. 24. s Johniii. 18, 19. 
 
 < John XV. 22. u Rev. xxi. 8. 
 
 V 2 Thes. i. 8. 
 Vol. v.— 11 
 
122 BISHOP GIBSON S 
 
 bearing them witness both with signs and wonders, and 
 with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost."* 
 And, "he that despised Moses' law, died without mercy 
 — of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he 
 be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son 
 of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, 
 wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath 
 done despite to the Spirit of grace?"* Agreeably to 
 what John the Baptist had declared to the Jews, " He 
 that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him."^ 
 
 I mention these things to show the infidels of our 
 age, that to believe or not believe is far from being a 
 matter of indifference, as they would make it ; and to 
 convince those who are in danger of being seduced by 
 them, how nearly they are concerned, before they give 
 up themselves to such guides, to give the evidences of 
 Christianity a thorough and impartial examination. — 
 For which end, I recommend to them the three follow- 
 ing tests of sincerity. — 1. That they find their hearts 
 sincerely disposed to embrace any doctrine, and follow 
 any rule of life, that shall appear to come from God. — 
 2. That they inwardly wish to find a religion well 
 founded, which provides a remedy for the corruptions of 
 our nature, and ensures to good men a state of happiness 
 and immortality after this life. — 3. That they find in 
 themselves no lust, or other vice or passion, which 
 inclines them to wish that such a religion may not be 
 well founded. Let but men, before they enter upon 
 
 w Heb. ii. 3, 4. ^ Heb. x. 3, 28, 29. 
 
 y John iii. 6. [Several eminent interpreters agree with Bishop Gib- 
 son in attributing this passage to John the Baptist. Indeed, at first 
 sight, its position in the gospel seems to assign it to the Baptist as a part 
 of his testimony to the Jews. — Yet the strong resemblance of the whole 
 passage (from verse 31 to the end of the chapter) to the style of St. John 
 the evangelist, and the great explicitness of its declarations concern- 
 ing Christ, which appears inconsistent with the partial knowledge 
 of Him possessed by the Baptist, render it more probable that this is 
 a part of a series of remarks appended by the apostle to the Baptist's 
 testimony, as suggested by it, and explanatory of its rather obscure 
 intimations. Besides, there appears to be inverse 31 a reference to 
 our Saviour's conversation with Nicodemus (verse 13) ; in verse 32 
 another (to verse 11) ; and in verse 36 a third (to verses 16. 18) : which 
 would be very improbable, were the passage a part of John the Bap- 
 tist's declaration ] 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 13^ 
 
 their examination, put the heart under these guards, 
 and I am firmly persuaded there is not the least danger 
 that infidelity will ever take hold of it. 
 
 But how great soever the guilt of infidelity may be, 
 that of a zeal to promote it is still greater ; as carrying 
 in it not only all the aggravations that attend the disbe- 
 lief of a revelation from God, but also great injustice 
 and uncharitableness towards men. He who endeavors 
 to bring others to a belief of Christianity, approves 
 himself to be a lover of mankind, in showing them the 
 way to an eternity of happiness, and abridging them 
 only of such enjoyments as would be evidently injurious 
 to their bodies and estates, and by making their minds 
 easy and quiet, in a comfortable assurance that at all 
 events they are safe. But the infidel, while he indulges 
 men in enjoyments which the Gospel forbids, cannot 
 assure them that there are not rewards and punishments 
 in another world, which will be bestowed and inflicted 
 by the rules which the Gospel lays down. And as in 
 all cases, to endeavor to persuade men out of the belief 
 of things which for ought we know may be true, is 
 unfair ; so to do this in matters which nearly concern 
 their welfare and interest, is unjust. Nor is it only 
 unjust, but also very uncharitable, to endeavor to 
 deprive men of a belief, upon which the comfort and 
 happiness of their lives depends ; unless such belief 
 were attended with some great calamity or misery in 
 other respects. 
 
 And further, it is both unjust and uncharitable to 
 society and government, to endeavor to root out of the 
 minds of men those powerful restrains from wickedness 
 and violence, that Christianity has laid them under ; 
 the influences of which are a great security to peace 
 and order, and have their eflects in innumerable cases 
 that human laws cannot reach. Add to this, that the 
 highest security that men can give to one another, is an 
 oath; which in Christian countries is taken upon the 
 holy gospels. And as the obligation of the oath so 
 taken is understood to arise from a belief of the truth 
 of those gospels, and of the threatenings and judgments 
 denounced by them, one cannot well conceive how it 
 should take hold of the conscience of an infidel. So 
 that the promoters of infidelity, who so evidently weaken 
 
124 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 if not destroy the bonds of society and government, 
 may well be looked upon as public enemies to mankind. 
 'Tis true, indeed, in exchange for the comforts and 
 advantages they take away from private persons and 
 public societies, they promise a quiet and uninterrupted 
 enjoyment of pleasures which the Christian religion 
 forbids ; but in this too they are unjust, in that they 
 promise what they know they are not able to perform. 
 The utmost progress they can ordinarily hope for in 
 promoting infidelity, is to persuade men that the Gospel 
 revelation, which contains such terrible threatenings 
 against lust and uncleanness of all kinds, is not certainly 
 true; but while they pretend not to prove that it is 
 CERTAINLY not true^ they cannot free a course of 
 voluptuousness from great mixtures of doubts and fears ; 
 and these are perpetually revived and heightened, by 
 seeing such numbers of wise and good men embrace 
 the Christian faith, and act upon it ; giving in their lives 
 a daily testimony of their firm belief of the truth of it. 
 For though this is not a direct proof that the Gospel is 
 true, it is a great presumption that there is a strength 
 in the evidences of the truth of it, which their lusts and 
 passions will not let them see ; and, at the same time, 
 it is a daily warning to them, that the contempt of it is 
 too great a hazard for a wise man to run ; a warning, 
 that the most hardened infidel, in his thoughtless hours, 
 and in the time of sickness, danger, or distress, is not 
 able to resist. 
 
 The evidences of the Christian religion are comprised 
 under two general heads, external and internal. 
 
 The external evidences are those which prove it to 
 be of divine authority, as, the fulfilling of ancient 
 prophecies in Christ ; — the general expectation of the 
 Messiah at that time; — the miracles wrought by Christ 
 and his apostles ; — his foretelling many things which 
 punctually came to pass ; — and, the wonderful propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel after his death. 
 
 The internal evidences are, the need there was of a 
 revelation from God to instruct and reform mankind ;* — 
 
 a [This should rather be termed a priori evidence. Its only effect 
 is to create a probability that the other evidences of the Gospel should 
 be true — to clear the way for their production.] 
 
SECOND PASTORAL LETTER. 125 
 
 the fitness of the Gospel revelation for that end ; — the 
 excellence of the doctrines contained in it ; — and, the 
 visible tendency of the whole to the improvement and 
 perfection of human nature and the happiness of man- 
 kind, in this world and the next. 
 
 In this and my former letter, I have laid before you 
 the evidences of both sorts, to guard you against the 
 attacks of infidels, and to keep you steadfast in the 
 Christian faith ; and I beseech you seriously to peruse 
 what I have written for your use, and to weigh the 
 several parts of it with attention and impartiality, as 
 matters of the utmost consequence to you, and more 
 especially necessary to be attended to in these days, 
 when the cause of infidelity is so openly espoused, and 
 the advocates for it are so industrious to gain prose- 
 lytes. And that God will be pleased to give a blessing 
 to these endeavors for your spiritual good, and dispose 
 your hearts to attend to the means of your salvation, 
 and assist you in your inquiries after the true way of 
 it, is, and shall be, the hearty prayer of 
 
 Your faithful friend and pastor, 
 
 EDMUND LONDON. 
 
 IV 
 
BISHOP OF LONDON'S 
 
 THIRD PASTORAL LETTER; 
 
 OCCASIONED BY THE SUGGESTIONS OP INFIDELS AGAINST THE WRITINGS OF THS 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT, CONSIDERED AS A DIVINE RULE 
 
 OP FAITH AND MANNERS, 
 
 In my two former letters, I have laid before you the 
 evidences of the Christian religion, as drawn from the 
 accounts which the evangelists give us of our Saviour 
 Christ,*- viz. the general expectation of the Messiah 
 at that time, arising from the prophecies concerning 
 him ; the many and great miracles which he wrought, 
 in confirmation of his doctrine and mission ; his pre- 
 dictions of several very remarkable events, which were 
 afterwards punctually fulfilled ; and, the wonderful pro- 
 pagation of the Gospel after his death against all the 
 powers of the world, and the lusts, passions, and preju- 
 dices of mankind. To these I have added ^ the evidences 
 of the great need there was of such a revelation from 
 God ; considering the gross ignorance and corruption 
 of manners into which the world was sunk, and the 
 inability of the philosophers to enlighten and reform it. 
 And this led me to lay before you'^ the excellency of the 
 Christian institution for the effecting what the philoso- 
 phers could not eflfect ; — the great advantage of a divine 
 authority, to ascertain the duties and doctrines it lays 
 ^iown ; — the purity of its precepts, so much higher and 
 more perfect, than those which mere morality pre- 
 scribed ; — the natural tendency of them to fit and pre- 
 pare the soul for the spiritual exercises of the next life ; 
 — the strict restraints which the Gospel lays upon irre- 
 gular enjoyments of all kinds, not only in the outward 
 acts, but in the inward imaginations and desires ; — the 
 
 * First Pastoral Letter. b Second Pastoral Letter, p. 69, 
 
 c Second Pastoral Letter, p. 100, ss. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 127 
 
 full assurance it gives of future rewards and punishments 
 to excite us to obedience, and the supernatural assistance 
 it promises, to enable us to obey ; — the peace and satis- 
 faction it affords the mind, by discovering a plain and 
 certain method of obtaining the pardon of sin, and 
 thereby securing the love and favor of God ; — the 
 solid foundation it lays for ease and comfort under all 
 the calamities of life, and more especially for patience, 
 resignation, and constancy under sufferings and perse- 
 cutions for righteousness' sake ; — the means it provides 
 for preserving an habitual sense of God and religion 
 upon the miods of men, by the appointment of a mi- 
 nistry, and ordinances, and public assemblies, for that 
 end ; — and, upon the whole, the perfection and hap- 
 piness to which it advances human nature, both in this 
 life, and in the next, far beyond any thing that the mere 
 natural powers of body and mind could have discovered 
 and attained to. 
 
 And as a consequence of the clear and undoubted 
 evidences of our Saviour's mission and authority, and 
 of the excellency of the Gospel institution ; I have 
 further shown^ the indispensable obligation we are 
 under to attend to it and embrace it ; together with the 
 folly, perverseness, and sinfulness of not embracing it, 
 and much more of despising and rejecting it. 
 
 Since therefore both the evidences and the excellency 
 of the Christian institution, and of the whole work of 
 our redemption by Jesus Christ, are so fully and 
 clearly laid down in the writings of the New Testament, 
 from whence I drew my accounts of them ;^ infidelity 
 can have no possible refuge, but in a downright disbelief 
 of the truth and authority of those writings :— either as 
 forged from the beginning, or conveyed to us with 
 great corruptions ; or as containing facts related by 
 persons who had no otedit, and doctrines delivered by 
 those who had no authority. This is the refuge to 
 which it was easily foreseen the infidels of our age must 
 have their final recourse, to justify their rejecting the 
 doctrine of our redemption by Christ, and their 
 
 '^ Second Pastoral Letter , p. 119. 
 • Second Pastoral Letter^ p. 105, ss. 
 
128 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 avowed disregard of the writings of the New Testament 
 further than as they contain such moral precepts as 
 natural reason might suggest, and such as may in their 
 opinion be learnt as well, if not better, from Heathen 
 writers. As it is impossible to maintain that scheme, 
 on supposition that those writings are true and genuine, 
 and that the doctrines contained in them subsist upon a 
 divine authority ; the patrons of it must of necessity be 
 driven to deny one or other of those assertions, if not 
 both. The consequence on each side is clear and un- 
 doubted : if the writings of the New Testament be not 
 authentic {i, e. either the writings not genuine, or the 
 authority not divine,) the infidel scheme is well founded; 
 but, on the other hand, if they be authentic in both 
 those respects, Christianity stands unshaken and im- 
 moveable, and all pretences either that it is not well 
 founded, or that it is no more than mere morality, must 
 fall to the ground. 
 
 This is a point which I touched upon in my first 
 Pastoral Letter.' But since that time, the patrons of 
 infidelity have told us openly and without reserve, how 
 little they consider the Scriptures as a rule to men, 
 either of belief or practice. They plead for the reading 
 them with such freedom, as to ' assent or dissent, just 
 as they judge it agrees or disagrees with the light of 
 nature and the reason of things ;'^ and commend those 
 as the only wise men, who ' believe not the doctrines, 
 because contained in Scripture, but the Scripture on 
 account of the doctrines ;'^ who ' admit not any of its 
 doctrines without an examination' by that rule ;' who 
 * admit such things for divine Scripture, as [they being 
 judges] tend to the honor of God and the good of 
 men, and nothing else ^^^ and, who ' do not admit any 
 thing to be writ by divine inspiration, though it occurs 
 ever so often in Scripture, till they are certain it will 
 bear the test'^ they lay down. They insist further, how 
 easily mankind may be ' imposed on' in the point of 
 revelation ; and how little certainty there is or can be, 
 that ' any revelation has been conveyed entire to distant 
 times and places ;' and they rest much upon the great 
 
 ' Page, 32. ^ Christianity as old as the Creation, p. 201. 
 
 »» Ibid. p. 371, i Ibid. p. 192. k ibid. p. 328. • Ibid. p. 185, 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 129 
 
 number of ' various readings in the copies of the New- 
 Testament,' as rendering it uncertain to us what the 
 true text was ;"» and allege, that ' no court of judica- 
 ture admits of a copy, though taken from the original, 
 without oath made by a disinterested person, of his 
 having compared it with the original ;' from whence 
 they conclude, how * unreasonable it is absolutely to 
 depend, in things of the greatest moment, on voluminous 
 writings, which have been so often transcribed by men 
 who never saw the original.'" 
 
 These, and others of the like tendency, are the 
 principles which the infidels of our age are openly and 
 avowedly advancing ; that by destroying the credit of 
 the holy Scriptures, they may make way for their own 
 scheme of natural religion. And there are also others 
 among us, who though they do not dispute our receiving 
 the four gospels as a rule of faith and practice, will 
 not agree that the other books of the New Testament 
 have a right to be considered as part of that rule ; but, 
 on the contrary, have taken great pains to represent 
 some of those books as of doubtful credit. 
 
 Since therefore those sacred writings, as having all 
 of them the stamp of divine authority, are the great 
 charter of Christians, upon the validity of which their 
 faith and their hope are built ; to the end that those 
 whom the providence of God has placed under my 
 care, may be armed at all points against the attempts of 
 infidelity and every approach to it, I have judged it 
 expedient to enter into that matter more fully and 
 distinctly, in order to give you a clear view of the 
 evidences both of the truth and of the authority of those 
 writings. And this I consider as in some sort a duty 
 incumbent on me. For having shown you in my 
 second letter the insufficiency of reason in this corrupt 
 state to be your guide in matters of religion, it may 
 well be expected, that I also show you what is a sujffi- 
 cient guide, and where the directions are to be founds 
 which will acquaint you with the certain way to salva- 
 tion, and upon which you may securely depend, as being 
 the guide which God himself has given you. And this 
 
 » Christianity as old as the Creation, p. 284. 334. " Ibid. p. 324. 
 
130 BISHOP GIBSON'3 
 
 will be effectually done, by making good the following 
 
 positions: 
 
 I. The four Gospels contain a faithful and true 
 account of the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascen- 
 sion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 II. The whole scheme of Christianity or the Gospel 
 dispensation, was not fully opened to the world by 
 Christ himself immediately, in the course of his minis- 
 try ; but many things were left by him to be delivered 
 or explained by his apostles, whom he particularly 
 instructed and commissioned for that end. 
 
 III. The apostles, in virtue of their commission 
 from Christ, being not only to testify and deliver to 
 the world the things which they had seen and had been 
 taught by him, but further to open and explain the 
 Gospel dispensation ; were under the guidance and 
 assistance of the Holy Ghost, which they received, 
 according to his promise, before they entered upon 
 their ministry. 
 
 IV. What the things are, relating to the Gospel 
 dispensation, which the apostles were to open and 
 explain, pursuant to the commission and instruction 
 received from Christ and under the guidance and 
 assistance of the Holy Ghost; must, in conjunction 
 with the gospels, be learned from their preaching and 
 writings, as delivered to us in their acts and epistles. 
 
 V. The books of the New Testament, in which the 
 doctrines delivered by Christ and his apostles are 
 contained, have been faithfully transmitted to the 
 Christians of succeeding ages. 
 
 VI. The doctrines of the apostles, contained in their 
 epistles and in the Acts, together Avith what is taught 
 by our Saviour in the gospels, were designed to be a 
 standing rule of faith and manners to Christians in 
 all ages, and were from the beginning considered and 
 receiv^ed as such, by the Churches of Christ. 
 
 I. The four gospels contain a faithful and true 
 account of the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascen- 
 sion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 W^hen we would be satisfied concerning the truth of 
 any history, the two things we chiefly inquire after 
 are, the knowledge the writer had of his subject, and 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 131 
 
 the character he bore in point of integrity : the first, to 
 convince us that he could not be imposed upon himself; 
 and the second, that he had no inclination or design to 
 impose upon others. Now, that there was such a 
 person as Jesus of Nazareth, who lived at the time the 
 gospels speak of, and who made choice of several 
 persons to be his disciples, are facts, which the greatest 
 enemies of Christianity have never denied ;" and if they 
 had denied them, they would have been effectually 
 confuted by writers of undoubted credit, who lived at the 
 time, and in the age which immediately followed." Of 
 these disciples in general, it is affirmed, and has never 
 been denied or questioned, that they left their several 
 callings and occupations, to the end they might be 
 wholly at liberty to attend Jesus, and receive his 
 instructions : — " He ordained twelve, that they should 
 be with him :"p who, with others, accompanied him 
 *' all the time that he went in and out among them ; 
 beginning from the baptism of John, unto the same day 
 that he was taken up from them :"i and having been 
 " with him from the beginning," they were qualified to 
 " bear witness""- of the things that were done and spoken 
 by him. And what we find particularly declared by 
 one, might be truly said by all of them, wherever they 
 preached, "That which we have heard, which we have 
 seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and 
 
 n [This is no longer true. The idle dreams of Volnet and Drum- 
 MOND, who would explain away the historical facts of the life of 
 Jesus and the transactions of his apostles into an astronomical allegory 
 of the sun and the twelve ecliptic signs (! !), entitle them at least to the 
 praise of originality in their efforts to subvert the everlasting Gospel ; 
 although, as might easily have been predicted, very far from giving 
 them equal claims to that of success. The preposterous speculations 
 of the Frenchman are still sedulously circulated by the enemies of 
 Christianity, who little reck with what tools they do their work : but 
 his disciple has honorably retracted the crude production of his youth, 
 and ranked himself among the defenders of the authenticity of sacred 
 history. — Beside| these learned skeptics, Paine, Carlisle, and others 
 among the rabble of infidelity, with true infidel logic and consistency, 
 have both denied and asserted the reality of the existence of Jesus, as 
 occasion served ; and AVhen they chose the former alternative, without 
 deigning to attempt a rationale of the phenomenon of the existence 
 of Christianity !] 
 
 o [See Standard Works, Vol. I. p. 41. 44.] 
 
 p Mark iii. 14. q Acts i. 21. ^ John xv. 27. 
 
132 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 our hands have handled, declare we unto you."" The 
 things they recorded as said and done by Christ, they 
 heard from his own mouth, and saw with their own 
 eyes, and did not deliver them upon the report of 
 others. Nor did they only see him, so as to have a 
 transient view of him; but they 'looked upon him,' 
 and had long-continued views of him, and conversed 
 familiarly with him. And, that their eyes might not be 
 deceived, either with regard to his person or miracles, 
 they not only touched, but 'handled:' their own hands 
 distributed the loaves ; and after his resurrection, they 
 were all directed, not only to "behold his hands and 
 his feet,"* to satisfy them that it was he himself, but also 
 to "handle" him, that they might be thoroughly con- 
 vinced that he had "flesh and bones," and so could not 
 be a spirit, as they at first suspected. And one of them, 
 who was more distrustful than the rest, was commanded 
 even to "thrust his hand into" the wound "in his side."" 
 The same persons who were thus prepared, by all 
 ordinary and 7iatural qualifications, to give an account 
 of the life and actions of Christ, received also a super- 
 natural assistance for the work, by his sending the 
 Holy Ghost, for this among other ends, that he might 
 "bring all things to their remembrance, whatever he 
 had said unto them."" And two of these, so enabled 
 by all helps natural and supernatural, wrote two of the 
 gospels, namely Matthew and John. As to Mark 
 and Luke, the other two evangelists — it is affirmed by 
 some of the ancients, that they were two of the seventy 
 disciples, whom our Lord "sent before his face to every 
 city and place whither he himself would come ;"'*^ to 
 whom he gave power to " heal the sick," and to 
 "cast out devils;" and said unto them, as he had done 
 to the twelve apostles, "He that heareth you, heareth 
 me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.""" But 
 however that be ; after our Saviour's ascension we 
 find them expressly mentioned as fellow-laborers with 
 St. Paul, to whom the whole Gospel had been immedi- 
 ately revealed from heaven, and one of them with St. 
 
 » 1 John i. 1. t Luke xxiv. 39. 
 
 " John XX. 27. >' John xiv. 26. 
 
 '^ Luke X. L * Luke x. 9. 17. 16. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 133 
 
 Peter, whom Christ chose to be with him in the whole 
 course of his ministry. St. Paul speaks of Mark, as 
 his fellow-laborer in the Gospel, whom we accordingly 
 find with him when he wrote his Epistle to the Colos- 
 sians and that to Philemon ;* and when he commands 
 Timothy to come to him, he directs him to ' take Mark 
 and bring him with him, as one profitable to him in the 
 ministry.'^ St. Peter mentions him in his first Epistle, as 
 then with him, and also calls him "his son ;"* a name 
 which we find applied in the New Testament to those 
 whom the apostles had instructed in the faith and con- 
 verted, and to those who labored with them in instructing 
 and converting others : for in this sense, St. Paul says 
 of Timothy, "as a son with the father, he hath served 
 me in the Gospel ;"* and of Titus, "mine own son after 
 the common faith."'' Luke also is called by St. Paul 
 his "fellow laborer ;""= whom we find accompanying 
 him in his travels, and particularly to have been with 
 him when he wrote his Epistles to the Colossians, to 
 Timothy, and to Philemon.** 
 
 Accordingly, the accounts which the ancients give of 
 those two gospels and the Avriters of them, are as 
 follows. IrenvEUs says, ' that Mark, the disciple and 
 interpreter of Peter, committed those things to writing 
 which had been related to him by Peter, and that Luke, 
 the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel 
 which Paul preached.'" And elsewhere, he says of 
 St. Luke, " that he was an inseparable companion of 
 St. Paul, and his fellow laborer in the Gospel. "^ Ter- 
 TULLiAN says, *that the gospel which Mark published, 
 is affirmed to be Peter's, whose interpreter he was (as 
 writing in Greek what he had heard St. Peter deliver 
 to the Jews in their own language) and that which was 
 drawn up by Luke, is ascribed to Paul.'° Eusebius 
 relates, upon the authority of more ancient writers, 
 ' that the Christians at Rome prevailed with Mark to 
 set down in writing the doctrine which Peter had 
 
 X Col. iv. 10, 11. Philem. 24. y 2 Tim. iv. 11. 
 
 1 1 Pet. V. 13. a Phil. ii. 22. 
 
 b Tit. i. 4. <^ Philem. 24. 
 
 d Acts X. 10. Col. iv. 14. 2 Tim. iv. 11. Philem. 24. 
 
 e Iren. Lib. III. c. i. <" Iren. Lib. 111. c. xiv, 
 
 f Tektull, Contra Marcion. Lib. IV. c. v. 
 
 Vol. v.— 13 
 
134 
 
 preached ; and that afterwards Peter confirmed it, and 
 authorized it to be publicly read in their assemblies.'^ 
 And elsewhere, from Origen, 'The second gospel is 
 that of Mark, who set it down as it was delivered to him 
 by Peter ; and the third, that of Luke, which is com- 
 mended by St. Paul.'' To these we must add what 
 the same Eusebius says, as handed down by tradition 
 to his time, ' that St. John approved the three other 
 gospels, and gave his testimony in favor of them."-' 
 And, 'that copies of these holy gospels were with 
 great zeal conveyed to remote countries, by those who 
 succeeded the apostles in the propagation of the Christian 
 faith :'^ and they were read in the public assemblies 
 and received as the foundation of that faith ;'^ without 
 the least mark of distinction in point of authority. 
 
 Thus stands the evidence of the truth of the Gospel 
 history, with regard to the exact knowledge the writers 
 had of their subject ; which shows that they were not 
 imposed upon themselves. And if it shall also appear 
 that they were persons of integrity^ and had no inclina- 
 tion or design to impose upon others, the evidence is as 
 complete, as can well be given of any ancient facts 
 whatsoever. With this view, let us consider the cha- 
 racter and condition of the persons, — and the time and 
 manner of their writing; with other circumstances, from 
 whence we may judge whether or no they are attended 
 with any marks or suspicions of fraud or design. 
 
 So far were x\ie persons from being artful or designing 
 men, that they were reproached by the enemies of 
 Christianity, as rude and mean, simple and illiterate ; 
 and so far were they from having any worldly views of 
 profit, or pleasure, or honor, after they set out on the 
 work of propagating the Gospel ; that persecution, 
 aflfliction, and reproach, were almost the constant 
 attendants of the propagators of it." As to the time^ 
 they wrote and published their gospels while the 
 matters were fresh in memory, and while many persons. 
 
 h EusEB. Lib. Ill, c. XV, i Ibid. Lib. VI. c. xxv. 
 
 ^ Ibid. Lib, III. c. xxiv. ^ Ibid. c. xxxvii. 
 
 ■1 Just. Mar. Apol. II. Iren. Lib. III. c. xi, xii. 
 n [See SLujidard Works, Vol. L p. 283, s.] 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 135 
 
 were living who wanted not inclination to detect them, 
 if they could have been convicted of falsehood. And as 
 to their manner of writing," it is plain, open, and 
 undisguised ; free from all appearance of art or con- 
 trivance, and carries in it this signal testimony of truth 
 and impartiality, that they freely confess and record the 
 faihngsand weaknesses of themselves and their brethren, 
 viz. the frequent rebukes they received from their 
 master for their ignorance and slowness of understand- 
 ing ; their views of temporal power and grandeur, 
 during their attendance upon him ; and at last, their 
 shameful denial and desertion of him. If we consider 
 the facts contained in the Gospel history, and the ten- 
 dency of them, they are such as overthrow the rehgion 
 both of the Jews and Gentiles, and therefore could not 
 escape the severest scrutiny. p And if we consider the 
 numbers who afterwards undertook to attest and 
 publish those facts, it is incredible that if they were not 
 true, no one of them should be prevailed with, either 
 by hope or fear, to discover the imposture ; and next 
 to impossible to suppose, that all of them should submit 
 to the severest trials, and many ot them to death itself^ 
 rather than deny them. 
 
 These are the evidences that the evangelists could not 
 he deceived themselves, and that they had no intention 
 or desire to deceive others. And we accordingly find 
 all the four gospels under the names of the several 
 evangelists distinctly spoken of by the most early 
 writers of the Church, as the known and undoubted 
 records of our Saviour's life and actions, and as such, 
 received by all Christian Churches, and read in their 
 public assemblies. Clement, the disciple of St. Paul, 
 cites many passages out of them ; and in one place, after 
 having quoted the prophecy of Isaiah, he adds, " and 
 another Scripture saith," and then quotes the gospel of 
 St. Matthew.i In another place, he cites the gospel of 
 St, Luke, with these words immediately prefixed, "The 
 Lord saith in the gospel." Polycarp, a disciple of 
 
 ° [See Standard Works, Vol. I. p. 285, s.] 
 
 p [See Sumner's Evidences^ Chap. II. — Standard Works, Vol I., 
 p. 320, ss.l 
 
 <i Clem. Ep. ad Cor. Ep. II. Sect. 2. 8. 
 
136 BISHOP GIBSON^S 
 
 St. John, mentions these four gospels distinctly and by 
 name, with particular circumstances relating to each/ 
 Justin Martyr, speaking of the institution of the Lord's 
 Supper, says, "The apostles in their records^ which 
 are called gospels, declared that it was commanded by 
 Christ to be so performed ;"' and a little after adds, 
 'that those records were publicly read in the Christian 
 assemblies on the Lord's day :' and in his other works 
 he uses the same style of " the records of the apostles," 
 and cites several passages out of them, as the standing 
 records of the Church/ Ta.tian, the disciple of Justin, 
 reduced the four gospels into one, which in after ages 
 was usually called the harmony of the four gospels.'' 
 Iren^us gives this account of all the four, which hath 
 already been taken notice of in part ;^ " Matthew," 
 says he, " delivered his gospel to the Hebrews, while 
 Peter and Paul preached at Rome ; after whose departure, 
 Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, conveyed 
 to us in writing the things which Peter had preached ; 
 and Luke, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book 
 the gospel which Paul preached. Afterwards, John, the 
 4isciple of our Lord, who also leaned on his breast at 
 supper, published his gospel while he stayed at Ephesus 
 in Asia." The same Iren^eus, speaking of the author- 
 ity of the gospels, says, ' that the very heretics gave 
 their testimony to them, while each labored to support 
 his opinion from them ;' and as to the number, ' that 
 they were neither more nor less than four, and that 
 they who made them either more or fewer, were vain, 
 ignorant, and presumptuous.'* Clement, speaking of 
 a passage cited out of the Egyptian gospel, says, 
 "It is not to be found in the four gospels which have 
 been delivered down to us."y And Origen, mention- 
 ing the writers of the four gospels by name, and in their 
 order, says, *that those alone (and no other gospels) 
 had been universally received in the Church.'' 
 
 r Grabe, Not. in Irenceum. p. 205. ■ Justin. Apol. II. 
 
 < Justin Dial, cum Tryph. p. 327, 328, 329. 331, 332, 333, 334.] 
 " EusEB. Ecc. Hist. Lib. IV. c. xxix. ' Monotessaron J 
 ' Iren. Adv. Hear. Lib. HI. c. 1. 
 
 • Page 133. 
 
 • Iren. Lib. III. c. xi. 
 
 ' Clem. Alex. Strom. Lib. III. 
 
 • Oriqen. Com. in Matt. p. 203. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. IZf 
 
 The faithful transmission of the gospels to future 
 ages, is a point that will fall properly under the fifth 
 general head; and therefore I will shut up this first 
 head, after I have shown in a few words, that several 
 of the facts related in the gospels, receive confirmation 
 from the testimony of other historians, both Jewish 
 and Pagan, who lived at or near the time. I have 
 observed before, that it has never been denied by the 
 writers of either sort, that there was such a person as 
 Jesus, who lived in Judea, and suffered death upon the 
 cross, at the time mentioned in the gospels. The name 
 which the Jews have given him^ with reference to his 
 crucifixion (however reproachfully intended) is an ac- 
 knowledgment of the truth of the fact ; for which, and 
 for other particulars relating to him, the Christians 
 appealed to the accounts transmitted to Rome ;" accord- 
 ing to the known usage of the governors making returns 
 thither of the transactions in their respective provinces. 
 " All these things concerning Christ," says Tertullian, 
 "were reported by Pilate'^ to Tiberius Caesar." The 
 same is attested by Tacitus, a Roman historian of un- 
 doubted credit; who, speaking of the Christians, says» 
 " They take the name from Christ, who was put to 
 death in the time of the emperor Tiberius, by Pontius 
 Pilate."'^ Nor did Julian^ himself, the bitterest enemy 
 that Christianity ever had, deny that there was such a per- 
 son, or affirm that there was no foundation for the truth 
 of the Gospel history : on the contrary, he owns the 
 gospels to have been written by the persons whose 
 names they bear,' and only blames them for magnifying 
 the works of their master beyond measure ; — the truth 
 and reality of which works, Celsus also does in effect 
 acknowledge, when he ascribes them to art magic^— . 
 defences, which neither of these would have had re- 
 course to, if they could have proved that the books 
 themselves were spurious ; nor would they have omitted 
 to take the advantage even of a suspicion of their being 
 spurious, but that they knew there was no foundation 
 for it. 
 
 * The person hanged, b Tertull. Apol. 
 
 e 'ActaPilatii.' d Tacit, ilnnai. Lib. XV. c.xHr, 
 
 « [The Apostate.] f Cyril, Lib. VL & X. 
 
 « FtTst Pastoral Letter, p. 39* 
 
138 
 
 There are many other facts which the evangelists 
 relate, that are also attested both by Heathen and Jewish 
 writers. The Gospels frequently mention the warnings 
 which Christ gave his disciples and followers, that 
 they must reckon upon a state of great trials and suffer- 
 ings for the sake of his religion ; and Tacitus,^ Sue- 
 tonius,' and Pliny,'' are witnesses, how very terrible 
 those persecutions were.' The evangelists mention 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, as foretold by our 
 3aviour ; and the account given of that destruction by 
 JosEPHUs, the Jewish historian,*" which exactly corres- 
 ponds with what they relate from the mouth of Christ, 
 is a testimony to the truth of that relation. As the 
 same Josephus has also confirmed the truth of the 
 Gospel history in general, by the accounts he gives of 
 the Roman governors," and the Jewish economy at that 
 time;° being agreeable both as to persons and things, 
 with the accounts which the evangelists give us of them. 
 
 II. The whole scheme of Christianity, or the Gospel 
 dispensation, was not fully opened to the world hy 
 Christ himself immediately, in the course of his mi- 
 nistry ; hut many things were left by him to he deli- 
 vered or explained hy his apostles, whom he particularly 
 instructed, and commissioned for that end. 
 
 The office of John the Baptist was only to give notice 
 that the kingdom of heaven, or of God, i, e. of the 
 Messiah, was at hand, and to summon men to repent- 
 ance as a necessary qualification to be admitted mem- 
 bers of that kingdom, and to " escape the wrath to 
 come." " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand."p The like commission was given by Christ to 
 the twelve apostles, when he first sent them forth ; 
 " As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is 
 at hand ;"q and to the seventy disciples, when he sent 
 them two and two before his face into every city and 
 place whither he himself would come ; " Say unto them, 
 
 !• Tacit. Ann. Nero. ' Suet ON. Vit Neronis. 
 
 k Plin. Ep. Lib. X. Ep. xcvii. 
 
 ' [Compare Paley's Evidences, Part I. chap, ii.] 
 
 »" First Pastoral Letter^ p. 44. " Pilate, FeUx, Festus, &c. 
 
 • Sanhedrim, &uc,. P Matt. iii. S. 
 
 1 Matt. X. 7. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 139 
 
 the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.'"" In like 
 manner, Jesus himself *' went about all the cities and 
 villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching 
 the Gospel of the kingdom,"^ or the good news of the 
 coming of the Messiah. But he was so far from openly 
 proclaiming or owning himself to be the Messiah, that 
 he industriously concealed it, lest the Jews, who ex- 
 pected a temporal deliverer from the Roman yoke, 
 should break out into rebellion, and make him ob- 
 noxious to the Roman power before the completion of 
 his ministry. When Peter, in the name of the disci- 
 ples, had declared to him their full conviction that he 
 was " Christ, the Son of the living God ;"' the charge 
 he immediately gave them, was, that they should " tell 
 no 7nan, that he was Jesus the Christ."" When the 
 unclean spirits fell down before him, and cried, saying, 
 " Thou art the Son of God," (a known appellation of 
 the Messiah among the Jews) it immediately follows, 
 that " Jesus strictly charged them, that they should not 
 make him known.'"'' After his transfiguration upon the 
 mount, and a voice from heaven declaring him to be the 
 Son of God ; Jesus charges the three disciples who 
 were with him, that " they should tell the vision to no 
 man, until the Son of man was risen again from the 
 dead."^ Nor did he ever make a public profession 
 and acknowledgment that he was the Messiah, till he 
 was arraigned, first before the council of the Jews, and 
 then before Pontius Pilate,* i. e. after he had finished 
 his ministry upon earth, and there was no danger either 
 that the people would raise a sedition upon his account, 
 or that he should be arraigned and put to death before 
 the appointed time. But with regard to the people, the 
 great aim and design of his ministry was, first to con- 
 vince them by his miracles that he was a prophet sent 
 from God ; which being joined to the general expecta- 
 tion of the Messiah at that time, might lead them to 
 suppose that he was the person ; and then, to prepare 
 them for the reception of the Gospel, by taking off the 
 
 »• Luke X. 9. » Matt. ix. 35. 
 
 t Matt. xvi. 16. 20. « Mark iii. II, 12. 
 
 ▼ Luke iv. 41. ■* Matt. xvii. 9. 
 
 3c Mark xiv. 62. Luke xxii. 70. John xviii. 37, 
 
140 BISHOP GIBSOK^d 
 
 carnal and corrupt glosses which the Scribes and Pha- 
 risees had put upon the moral law, and by laying open 
 the pride, covetousness, and hypocrisy of those teachers r 
 and this, in order to convince the people, how unfit 
 they were to be guides in religion ; and by that means 
 to set them at liberty from the influence and authority 
 of persons, whose interest it was, and whose endeavor 
 it would be, to give all the opposition they could to the 
 Gospel, that they might preserve and maintain their 
 power. But what he said to the people concerning the 
 kingdom of heaven or the Gospel state, and the nature 
 and future progress of it, was for the most part delivered 
 in parables ; which he explained to his disciples when 
 they were alone, to let them by degrees into some un- 
 derstanding of the nature and design of that spiritual 
 kingdom which he intended to establish ;y reserving the 
 complete and perfect discovery thereof, till he had 
 finished the great work of our redemption by his resur- 
 rection from the dead, and had fully prepared them for 
 the publication of the Gospel, by sending the Holy 
 Ghost to instruct and strengthen them. For we find in 
 the course of our Saviour's ministry, that notwithstand- 
 ing the lights he occasionally gave them, their know- 
 ledge of these things was very imperfect. He often 
 complains of the slowness of their understanding, in 
 that they did not apprehend the design of his parables,^ 
 nor arrive at a firm and steadfast faith in him, by the 
 frequent opportunities they had of hearing his doctrine 
 and seeing his miracles.'' When he first " began to 
 show them, that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer 
 many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, 
 and be killed, and be raised again the third day;'"* 
 Peter, who before had made so full a confession of his 
 belief that he was the Messiah, " began to rebuke" him 
 for these sayings — " Be it far from thee, Lord ; this 
 shall not be unto thee." Upon which our Lord told 
 him, that ' he savored not the things that be of God, 
 but those that be of men.''^ And on a like occasion St* 
 
 y Matt. xiii. 34. Mark iv, 11. Mark iv. 34. 
 
 2 Matt. XV. 16. Mark vii. 18. 
 
 a Matt. xvi. 8. 11. Mark viii. 14. 17. 21. 
 
 b Matt. xvi. 21. « Matt. xvi. 22, 23. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. l4l 
 
 Luke says, that " they understood none of these things, 
 and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they 
 the things which were spoken."'^ When the Samari- 
 tans would not receive him in his way to Jerusalem, 
 twoother of his disciples, James and John, who, together 
 with Peter, were most conversant with him, desired 
 leave to " command fire to come down from heaven, 
 and consume them," as Elias had done in a like case ; 
 and they received this rebuke from him, " Ye know not 
 what manner of spirit ye are of, (i. e. how different the 
 spirit of the Gospel is from that of the Law,) for the Son 
 of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
 them."e In the whole course of his ministry, they evi- 
 dently reckoned upon his setting up a temporal king- 
 dom, and had strifes among themselves which of them 
 should be the greatest ;^ and even after his resurrection, 
 the question they ask him upon that head, is, " Whether 
 he will at this time restore the kingdom to Israel."^ All 
 which, together with the acts of forsaking and denying 
 him, the difficulty they showed in believing his resur- 
 rection, and that slowness of heart with which he up- 
 braided them for not applying the prophecies concern- 
 ing him even after he had suffered and was risen f'rom 
 the dead ;'» are undeniable testimonies, how imperfect 
 notions they had as yet of the nature and economy of 
 the Gospel state, and how great need there was of 
 those further instructions which he gave them during 
 the " forty days," in which he *' was seen of them" 
 after his resurrection, and spake " of the things pertain- 
 ing to the kingdom of God ;"' arid this, evidently, in 
 order to qualify them for the due discharge of the com- 
 mission they received from him immediately before his 
 ascension into heaven, " Go ye, and teach all nations.""^ 
 — " Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature, teaching them to observe all things 
 whatsoever I have commanded you."' 
 
 ^ Luke xviii. 34. « Luke ix. 54, 55, 56. 
 
 f Matt, xviii. \. ii. 20. 24. Luke xxu. 24. 
 
 ^ Acts i. 6. k Luke xxiv. 25. 
 
 ■' Acts i. 3. ^ Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 > Mark. xvi. 15. [On the subject of this head see Standard Works, 
 Vol. IL p. 22 s. and the references in note ^ ; to which may be added 
 Horne's Introduction^ Vol, IV. Part II. Ch. iii. Sect. 2, — Dr. Whately's 
 
142 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 III. The apostles, in virtue of their commission from 
 Christ, being not only to testify and deliver to the world 
 the things which they had seen and been taught by him^ 
 but further to open and explain the Gospel dispensation; 
 were under the guidance and assistance of the Holy - 
 Ghost, which they received according to his promise, 
 before they entered upon their ministry. 
 
 The frequent assurances they had from our Saviour 
 that they should receive the Holy Ghost, are distinctly 
 recorded in the four evangelists; the truth and authority 
 of whose writings is fully shown under the first head. 
 But because the proof of their having this, and several 
 other promises of our Saviour, punctually fulfilled to 
 them, do all depend upon testimonies fetched from the 
 Acts of the Apostles ; it Avill be proper in this place to 
 establish the credit of that history, in the same manner 
 that the credit of the four evangelists has been already 
 established. And that the writer of it was St. Luke the 
 evangelist, appears evident by comparing the introduc- 
 tion to his gospel with that of the Acts. The gospel 
 begins thus : "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand 
 to set forth in order a declaration of those things which 
 are most surely believed among us, even as they deli- 
 vered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye- 
 witnesses and ministers of the word : it seemed good to 
 me also, having had perfect understanding of all things 
 from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most 
 excellent Theophilus."" With express reference to this, 
 the Acts of the Apostles begin thus : " The former 
 treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus 
 began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was 
 taken up,"" 6lc. After this, by a visible connexion of 
 the history, he proceeds to relate what the apostles did, 
 immediately after our Saviour's ascension ; so that no 
 doubt has ever been made, but that the same person was 
 the writer of both. That he was well qualified to write 
 his gospel, has been already shown under the first head; 
 and the evidences there laid down, conclude yet more 
 strongly for the authority of the Acts of the Apostles ; 
 
 valuable Essays, referred to in Standard Works, Vol. II. are now 
 accessible to the American public ; having been republished at the 
 Protestant Episcopal Press.] 
 
 " Luke i. 4. • Acts i, I, 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 143 
 
 of many of which acts, we are sure, he himself was an 
 eye and ear witness. p Citations out of this book are 
 found in Clement, the companion of St. Paul,^ and in 
 PoLYCARP, the disciple of St. John."" Irenveus, in the 
 second century, writing against the heretical doctrine of 
 two principles (one good, the other evil) argues through- 
 out one whole chapter^ from passages taken at large 
 out of the book of Acts, to show the contrariety of that 
 heresy to the doctrine of the apostles. Eusebius gives 
 an account of the same book as follows : " Luke, a 
 native of Antioch, and a physician by profession, who 
 had lived long and intimately with Paul, and was much 
 conversant with the other apostles, left two books, 
 written by divine inspiration ; one of them, his gospel 
 — the other entitled. The Acts of the Apostles; which 
 he did not write from the relations of others, but as 
 facts that he saw with his own eyes."' And elsewhere, 
 among the books which were universally received, he 
 reckons the Acts of the Apostles next to the four 
 evangelists." 
 
 Having established the credit and authority of those 
 writings which testify the promise of the Holy Ghost, 
 and the mission thereof according to that promise ; I 
 will now proceed to show from the evangelists, upon 
 what occasions and for what ends the promise was 
 made. Our Saviour tells his disciples, a little before 
 his death, "I have yet many things to say unto you, 
 but ye cannot bear them now ;" and then he imme- 
 diately adds, "Howbeit, when he the Spirit of truth is 
 come, he will guide you into all truth :''^''' agreeably to 
 what he had told them a little before ; " These things 
 have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you : 
 but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
 the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all 
 things, and bring all things to your remembrance^ 
 
 p Acts xvi, &c. 
 
 q Clem. Ep. ad Corinth S. xviii. 
 
 r PoLYCARP ad Philip. Sec. I. 
 
 s Iren. Lib. III. c. xii. 
 
 t EusEB. Hist. Ecvles. Lib. IIL c. iv. 
 
 «» EusEB. Hist. Eccles. Lib. III. c .xxv. 
 
 '^ John xvi. 12, 13. 
 
144 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 whatsoever I have said unto you."* Again, "I will 
 pray the Father, and he shall give you another Com- 
 forter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the 
 Spirit of truth -J and, "when the Comforter is come, 
 whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the 
 Spirit of truths which proceedeth from the Father, he 
 shall testify of me."^ When he tells them, they must 
 be brought into the synagogues, and unto magistrates 
 and powers, he bids them "take no thought how or 
 what thing they shall answer, or what they shall 
 say ;" and then adds, " for the Holy Ghost shall 
 teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say r"^ 
 and, " I Avill give you a mouth and wisdom, which all 
 your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist."*^ 
 When he sees them in trouble, and finds that sorrow 
 hath filled their hearts at the thoughts of his leaving 
 them, he comforts them thus : " I tell you the truth, it 
 is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not 
 away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I 
 depart, I will send him unto you."'= When he had given 
 them their commission to preach the Gospel unto all 
 nations, he immediately adds, " 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 :"'^ and, "Ye shall receive power, after 
 that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall 
 be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all 
 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of 
 the earth."^ This promise was fulfilled on the day of 
 Pentecost, when "They were all with one accord in 
 one place, and suddenly there came a sound from 
 heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and filled all the 
 house where they were sitting: and there appeared unto 
 them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon 
 each of them : and they were all filled Avith the Holy 
 Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the 
 Spirit gave them utterance. "'^ And there being at that 
 time "devout men out of every nation" who were come 
 
 ' John xiv. 26, 27. y John xiv. 16, 17. 
 
 » John XV. 26. a Luke xii. 11, 12. 
 
 *> Luke xxi. 15. " John xvi. 6, 7. 
 
 d Luke xxiv. 49. Acts i. 4. • Acts i, 8. 
 ' Acts ii. 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 145 
 
 to Jerusalem to worship, " every man heard them speak 
 in his own language," wherein he was born. And while 
 the people stand amazed at this, St. Peter tells them., 
 that ' Jesus, whom they had crucified, being raised from 
 the dead, and by the right hand of God exalted, and 
 having received of the Father the promise oi the Holy 
 Ghost, had shed forth that which they now saw and 
 heard. '^ 
 
 It appears by these accounts, that the full and final 
 opening of the Gospel dispensation, was to be the 
 work of the Holy Ghost, directing the apostles, and 
 strengthening them in their ministry, and enabling 
 them by his gifts, to convey the knowledge of it to all 
 nations, and to confirm it with undoubted testimoniei? 
 of a divine commission and authority. Whatever they 
 had heard from Christ, or seen him do, the Holy 
 Ghost brought fresh again " to their remembrance ;" 
 the truths which they could not bear in their more im- 
 perfect state, the Holy Ghost instructed them in, and 
 made them fully apprehend ; and by " leading them 
 into all truth," he eflfectually secured them against all 
 error. They were to preach the Gospel to all nations, 
 and He taught them the languages of all. In the course 
 of their ministry, they were to meet with great trouble, 
 difficulty, and persecution ; and He inspired and sup- 
 ported them with suitable supplies of wisdom, courage, 
 and comfort. Thus encouraged, strengthened, and as- 
 sisted, by the Holy Ghost, the apostles " went forth 
 and preached every where ; the Lord working with 
 them, and confirming the word with signs following ;"*« 
 or, as it is elsewhere expressed, " God bearing them 
 witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers 
 miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost."' This is 
 affirmed on many occasions; first, of aZZ the apostles in 
 general, while they continued together at Jerusalem, 
 that " many wonders and signs were done by them :"' 
 that " with great power they gave witness to the resur- 
 rection of the Lord Jesus,""^ — that " by the hands of 
 the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought 
 among the people,"' — that " there came a multitude out 
 
 e Acts ii. 32, 33. h Mark xvi. 20. ; Heb. ii. 4. J Acts ii. 4S. 
 
 hActsiv. 33. 1 Acts V. 12. 
 
 Vol. v.— 13 
 
146* BISHOP elBSON's 
 
 of the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks^ 
 and them which were vexed with unclean spirits ; and 
 they were healed every one :"•" and then, as wrought 
 hy particular apostles ;" — by Peter, in the extraordinary 
 act of power exercised upon Ananias and Sapphira for 
 lying to the Holy Ghost ;° — by Peter and John,? who 
 upon the occasion of curing a man that was lame from 
 his mother's womb, declared by what power they and 
 the other apostles effected their miraculous cures ; " In 
 the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and 
 walk ;"'J and " Be it known unto you, and to all the peo- 
 ple of Israel, that by the name 0/ Jesus Christ of Naz- 
 areth, whom ye crucilied, whom God raised from the 
 dead, by him doth this man stand here before you 
 whole c""^ — and St. Peter, (upon his curing ^neas of the 
 palsy,) " -^neas, Jesus Christ maketh thee Avhole."^ 
 
 Nor had the apostles only the gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost, and of tongues and miracles, bestowed upon 
 them, but these powers were also by their ministry 
 conferred upon others. Our Saviour intimated, that, 
 "believers" should receive gifts of an extraordinary 
 nature ; for St. John, repeating what he had said con- 
 cerning " rivers of water that should flovv^ out" of him,' 
 adds, " this spake he of the Spirit, which they that be- 
 lieve on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was 
 not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified :"« 
 and so our Saviour himself, " Verily, verily I say unto 
 you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall 
 he do also, and greater works than these ; because I go 
 unto my Father."" And it is certain in fact, that by 
 prayer, and laying on of hands, the gifts of the Holy 
 Ghost were bestowed by the apostles upon many of 
 the believers. After Peter and John had related to the 
 brethren at Jerusalem the threatenings of the high 
 priests and council of the Jews, it follows, " And now. 
 Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant imto thy ser- 
 vants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 
 by stretching forth thy hand to heal, and that signs and 
 wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child 
 
 ™ Acts V. 16. » Acts viii. 6. 7. 13.— ix. 32. 35. 39. 40. • Acts 
 
 V. 3. 10. pActs iii. •» Acts iii. 6. ' Acts iv. 10. • Acts ix. 31. 
 
 •John vii. 38. " John vii. 39. ? John xiv. 12. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 147 
 
 Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was 
 sh^dken where they were assembled, and they were all 
 filled with the Holy Ghost."* Again, "When the 
 apostles which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria 
 had received the word of God (by the preaching of Philip 
 the evangelist) they sent unto them Peter and John, 
 who when they were come down, prayed for them that 
 they might receive the Holy Ghost ; then laid they 
 their hands on them, and they received the Holy 
 Ghost. "^ While Peter was speaking to Cornelius and 
 his company, "the Holy Ghost /eZZ on all them which 
 heard the word, and they heard them speak with tongues 
 and magnify GoD."y To these we may add the instances 
 of Stephen and Philip, two of the seven deacons ; of the 
 first of whom it is said, that " he did great wonders and 
 miracles among the people ;"* and of the second, that 
 "Simon Magus himself wondered when he heard unclean 
 spirits crying with loud voices, and saw those who were 
 possessed with them cured, and many taken with palsies, 
 and that were lame, healed. "«• 
 
 There is one thing further observable, concerning 
 the niirafJps wrought by tbfi apostles and others, in tes- 
 timony of their divine mission ; and that is, the numer- 
 ous conversions ^o the Christian faith which were 
 made by them. Upon hearing the apostles speak all 
 sorts of tongues on the day of P^^ntecost, " there were 
 added to them above three thousand souls.'"' Upon 
 the cure of the lame man by Peter and John, and the 
 occasion they took from thence to recommend and en- 
 force the doctrine of the Gospel, "many of them which 
 heard the word believed, and the number of the men 
 was about five thousand. "<= Upon the many signs and 
 wonders which were wrought by the apostles among 
 the people, "believers were the more added to the Lord, 
 multitudes both of men and women."^' Upon Philip's 
 preaching the Gospel at Samaria, " the people with 
 one accord gave heed unto those things which he 
 spake ; hearing and seeing the miracles which he did :"• 
 and even Simon, he who had bewitched them with his 
 
 "^ Acts iv. 29, 30, 31. ^ ^ Acts viii. 14, 15. 17. ^ Acts x. 44. 46. 
 » Acts vi. 8. » Acts viii. 13. 7. b Acts ii. 41. " Acts iv. 4. 
 
 ■4 Acts Y. 13. 14. • Acts viii. 6. 
 
148 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 sorceries, and to whom they had all given heed from 
 the highest to the lowest as the great power of God, 
 was baptized, and " continued with Philip, and won- 
 dered, beholding the miracles and signs which were 
 done."f 
 
 Thus far of the apostles and disciples of our Lord ; 
 ©f the commission they had from him to preach the 
 Gospel, and their qualifications for the effectual dis- 
 charge of that commission, by the instructions they re- 
 ceived from his own mouth, by the further lights which 
 the Holy Ghost gave them, and by the gift of tongues, 
 and the power of miracles, to enable them to propa- 
 gate and establish the truths they preached. 
 
 But as St. Paul also was a glorious instrument in 
 carrying on that great work, and both his commission 
 and instructions were conveyed in a method different 
 from the rest, it will be necessary to give a particular 
 account of both, in order to lay a sure foundation for 
 the authority of the several epistles written by him. — 
 The account of his miraculous conversion is delivered 
 by St. L«iike in tlie Aria of tho Apostles :^ and bv him- 
 self, in the same book, in his two defences before Ly- 
 sias and Festus, first at Jerusalem,'' and then at Cae- 
 sarea.i And his immediate mission from Christ is thus 
 expressed, " I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, 
 to make thee a minister and a witness both of these 
 things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the 
 which / will appear unto thee ; delivering thee from 
 the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I 
 send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from 
 darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 GoD."J And so Ananias, to whom he was directed by 
 the heavenly vision, relates what Christ had revealed 
 to him concerning Paul ; " he is a chosen vessel unto 
 me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Kings, 
 and the children of Israel :"'' and, " the Lord, even Je- 
 sus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, 
 hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and 
 
 ' Acts viii. 9, 10. 13. « Acts ix. 3. h Acts xxii. 3. i Acts xxvi. 12. 
 i Acts xxvi. 16, 17, 18. ^ Acts xxii. 21. i Acts ix 15. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 149 
 
 be filled with the Holy Ghost."' And again, " the 
 God of our Fathers hath chosen thee, that thou should- 
 est know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest 
 hear the voice of his mouth : for thou shall he his wit- 
 ness unto all men, of what thou hast seen and heard.""* 
 And whereas the other apostles style themselves, in 
 the beginning of their epistles, the servants and the apos- 
 tles of Christ, St. Paul's style concerning himself is, 
 " called to be an apostle,"'' " separated unto the Gospel 
 of God, "° "an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of 
 God ;"p and, "an apostle 7iot of man, neither by man, 
 but by Jesus Christ and God the Father."^ And as to 
 his doctrine, he tells the Corinthians, on occasion of 
 his speaking of the institution of the last supper, " I 
 have received of the Lord that which I also delivered 
 unto you ;"■■ and speaking of the death and resurrection 
 of Christ, " I delivered unto you that which I also re- 
 ceived ;"'° and of his doctrine in general, "the Gospel 
 which was preached of me, was not of man ; for I 
 neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by 
 the revelation of Jesus Christ."' 
 
 To this account of his mission and doctrine, we must, 
 add, that both were justified and confirmed by many 
 and great miracles. It is said of Paul and Barnabas 
 when at Iconium, " long time therefore abode they,, 
 speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony to 
 the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders 
 to be done by their hands;"" and at Ephesus, "God 
 wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul ; so that 
 from his body were brought unto the sick, handker- 
 chiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them 
 and the evil spirits went out of them."^ In Cyprus, 
 an act of extraordinary power was exercised on Ely- 
 mas the sorcerer, whom Paul, moved by the Holy 
 Ghost, struck with blindness for endeavoring to turn 
 away the deputy from the faith. ^ At Lystra, he com- 
 manded the lame man to ' stand upright on his feet, and 
 he leaped and walked.'*'^ At Philippi, where was " a 
 damsel possessed with a spirit of divination," Paul 
 
 1 Acts ix. 17- ™ Acts xxii. 14, 15. ° Rom i. 1. 1 Cor. i. 1. 
 •Rom.i. 1. P2Cor. i. 1. Eph. i. 1. Colos. i. 1.2Tim.i. 1. iGal.i. 1. 
 • 1 Cor. xi. 23. ■ 1 Cor. xv. 3. » Gal. i. 11, 12. » Acts xiv, 3, 
 T Acts xix. 11, 12. w Acts xiii. 9. 11. * Acts xiv. 8-10, 
 
 13* 
 
150 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 '^ said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Je' 
 sus Christ to come out of her, and he came out the 
 same hour."y In Mehta, the father of the chief man 
 of the island " lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux ; to 
 whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands 
 on him, and healed him :" and, " when this was done, 
 others also who had diseases in the island, came and 
 were healed.'"'' And for the success of his ministry, 
 thus supported and enforced by the testimony of mira- 
 cles, we may appeal, not only to the particular conver- 
 sions mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as the effects 
 of them,^ but to the number of churches which were 
 founded by him ; many of them in some of the most 
 populous cities and countries. 
 
 One thing more I must observe; that as the rest of 
 the apostles had the power of conferring the gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost upon others, so Paul had the same 
 power: for it is said of the converts to Christianity whom 
 he found at Ephesus, that "when he had laid his hands 
 upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they 
 spake with tongues, and prophesied."^ 
 
 IV. What the things are relating to the Gospel dis- 
 pensation^ which the apostles were to open and explain, 
 pursuant to the commission and instruction received 
 from Christ, and under the guidance and assistance 
 of the Holy Ghost; musty in conjunction with the Gos- 
 pels, be learned from their preaching and writings, as 
 delivered to us in their acts and epistles. 
 
 Some of the doctrines which they were charged by 
 Christ to deliver to the world, are recorded in the four 
 gospels, as being part of the instructions they received 
 from himself; but as it is very certain that all the in- 
 structions which he delivered to his disciples are not 
 recorded in the gospels, so is it no less certain, that 
 many of the things which he did deliver to them during 
 the course of his ministry, were delivered in an obscure 
 manner, and not understood by them at the time; par- 
 ticularly, those relating to the nature of his kingdom, 
 his death, and his resurrection. His ordinary way of 
 
 ' Acts xvi. 18. * Acts xxviii. 8, 9. ' Acts xiil 12. xiv. 1,4. 
 
 xvi. 33. b Acts xix. 6. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 151 
 
 teaching the people, was by parables: — "All these 
 things spake Jesus to the multitude in parables, and 
 without a parable spake he not unto them ;"<' — " with 
 many such parables spake he the word unto them, as 
 they were able to hear it ; but without a parable spake 
 he not unto them.'"* 'Tis added, indeed, that " when 
 they were alone, he expounded all things to his dis- 
 ciples ;"' but they so little understood them, that, as I 
 observed before,^ he often upbraids them with their 
 slowness of apprehension and want of faith : — and, of 
 those expositions, but few are recorded. A little before 
 his death, he tells them, " I have yet many things to 
 say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now ;''^ and 
 then he immediately adds, " Howbeit when the Spirit 
 of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth ;" 
 where he evidently leaves the " many things" he had 
 to say, which they ♦ could not then bear,' to be revealed 
 to them by the Holy Ghost, who was also to bring to 
 their remembrance all that he himself had delivered to 
 them. After his resurrection, he " was seen of" the 
 apostles " forty days," " speaking of the things pertain- 
 ing to the kingdom of God ;'"' but what the things were 
 that he delivered to them in those forty days, is no- 
 where recorded. Nor indeed could the great work of 
 the redemption of mankind, which mainly depended 
 upon his dying and rising again, be set forth and ex- 
 plained, till after his resurrection ; when, upon occasion 
 of their doubts concerning the reality of it, he showed 
 them out of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, 
 that he was to sufter and rise again, and " opened their 
 understandings that they might understand the Scrip- 
 tures."i I will only add as to St. Paul, that the same 
 doctrines which were conveyed to the other apostles, 
 first by the teaching of Christ, and then by the light 
 and direction of the Holy Ghost, were fully made known 
 to him by immediate revelation.'' 
 
 The apostles being thus instructed in the whole will 
 of Christ, were properly his messengers, to convey 
 and deliver it to the world : — " As my Father hath sent 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 34. a Mark iv. 33, 34. « Mark iv. 34. ( Page 140. 
 « John XV. 12, 13. b Acts i. 3. i Luke xxiv. 27. 44, 45. k See 
 before, p. 148, 
 
152 fiisHOP Gibson's 
 
 me, so send I you,"^ — "Go ye unto all the world, and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature,""' — " teaching 
 them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
 manded you."° — And from whom are we to learn the 
 will of Christ, but from his own messengers, whom he 
 fully instructed in it, and intrusted with the delivering 
 it to the world? They were the "ambassadors of 
 Christ to pray us in his stead to be reconciled to 
 God ;"° and from whom therefore, but from them, are 
 we to learn the terms of that reconciliation, and the 
 grounds of that great favor and mercy extended by 
 God to mankind ? They were in a particular manner 
 appointed to be ' witnesses of his resurrection ;'p and 
 from what other hands, but these that were intrusted 
 with publishing the doctrine of the resurrection, can we 
 learn the importance of it, and the benefits accruing 
 to mankind by it ? Those ambassadors and messengers 
 were endowed with the power of working miracles ; 
 and for what end should this be, but to prove the 
 divinity of their commission, and to recommend their 
 doctrines to our attention and belief? In general, the 
 apostles were appointed by Christ to be " the light of 
 the world ;"'3 and how was that light to be conveyed to 
 future generations, otherwise than by their preachings 
 and wrifings?'" 
 
 Supposing then that the writings of the apostles, and 
 the accounts we have of their preaching are true and 
 genuine, i. e. that they were really written by the per- 
 sons whose names they bear ; no doubt can remain, 
 but that the things relating to the Gospel dispensation 
 (which were to be opened and explained by them, pur- 
 suant to the instructions received from Christ, and 
 under the direction of the Holy Ghost) are to be learnt 
 from their acts and epistles, in conjunction with the 
 four gospels. The authority of the gospels and the 
 Acts of the Apostles I have already established, and 
 shall now proceed to show, that the epistles also were 
 the genuine writings of the apostles. 
 
 1 John XX. 21. "" Mark xvi. 15. " Matt, xxviii. 20. ° 2 Cor. v. 20. 
 P Acts i. 22. V. 32. X. 41. 'i Matt. v. 14. ' [Soe the pertinent and 
 lucid observations of West upon this subject ; Standard Works, Vol.1, 
 p. 206. ss.] 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 153 
 
 Eusebius reckoning up the books of the New Testa- 
 ment which were universally received, after mention 
 made of the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, 
 adds, " Next to these we are to reckon the epistles of 
 Paul ;"* every one of which (except that to the He- 
 brews) expressly bea*s his name ; and they are fre- 
 quently cited and referred to by the most early writers 
 of the Church, as has been abundantly shown by many- 
 learned men, and may easily be seen by looking into 
 the writings of Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, in 
 the first century, and after them into those of Iren^us 
 and Tertullian in the second. The same thing is 
 there affirmed by Eusebius of the first epistle of St. 
 Peter, and the first of St. John ; namely, that they had 
 been received universally. And as to the doubts that 
 have been raised concerning other epistles ; it must be 
 premised in general, that no advantage can accrue from 
 thence to the adversaries of the Christian religion, till 
 they point out the particular doctrines relating to faith 
 or manners, which are contained in those, that are not 
 also contained either expressly, or by fair and clear 
 deduction, in the other books of the New Testament 
 which the Church of Christ has universally received. 
 Much less can they reap any advantage from those 
 doubts, if it shall be made appear that in every instance 
 they are ill founded. 
 
 As to the Epistle to the Hebrews ; the main doubt 
 concerning it has arisen from its not being expressly 
 under the name of St. Paul, as all his other epistles 
 are : but this receives a very plain and natural solution. 
 St. Paul was properly the apostle of the Gentiles^ as 
 appears from many passages both in the book of Acts, 
 and in his own epistles. The direction he received 
 from Christ was this, " make haste, and get thee 
 quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy 
 testimony concerning me ;" and, " depart, for I will 
 send thee far hence to the Gentiles:'^ In his epistles 
 he speaks of himself as " the apostle of the Gentiles,'"^ 
 as " the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,'"'' and 
 as " the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles ;"" 
 
 » EusEB. Ecc. Hist. Lib. III. c. xxv. « Acts xxii. 18. 21. _►» Rom» 
 xi. 13. ' Rom. XV. 16. * Ephes. iii. 1. 
 
154 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 as he, " to whom it pleased God to reveal his Son, that 
 he might preach him among the Heathen ;"^ he, " to 
 whom this grace (or commission) was given, that he 
 should preach among the Gentiles ;^^^ he, who was 
 " appointed a teacher of the Gentiles ;^^* he, whom " the 
 Lord strengthened, that by him the preaching might be 
 fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear.''^'- 
 All which are briefly comprehened in the declaration he 
 made to the Galatians ; " The Gospel of the uncircum- 
 cision was committed unto me^ as the Gospel of the 
 circumcision was mito Peter; for he that wrought 
 effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circum- 
 cision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gen- 
 tiles ^^ .'Tis true, the apostolical commission was 
 general^ " to preach the Gospel," — and there are many 
 instances of St. Paul's endeavoring to convert those of 
 the Jewish nation, and of his going into their syna- 
 gogues, and reasoning with them. This he did at 
 Salamis,"^ at Antioch in Pisidia,^ at Iconium,^ at Thes- 
 salonica,^ at Berea,^ at Corinth,"^ and at Ephesus.* At 
 Thessalonica, particularly, it is said that " Paul, as his 
 manner was, went in unto them, and thrp.p sabbath 
 days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures."^ At 
 Ephesus, " he went into the synagogue, and spake 
 boldly /or the space of three months, disputing and per- 
 suading the things concerning the kingdom of God :"^ 
 And he tells the Elders of that Church, that he had 
 testified "both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, re- 
 pentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. "^^ And at Antioch, where the Jews 
 contradicted and blasphemed, he tells them, " It was 
 necessary that the word of God should first have been 
 spoken to them ; but seeing they put it from them, and 
 judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life, he 
 turned to the Gentiles.^'''' And to how great a height 
 the prejudices of the Jews against him had risen by 
 degrees, we may gather from the furious assault that 
 was made upon him at Jerusalem, and their crying out, 
 " Men of Israel, help ; this is the man that teacheth 
 
 * Gal. i. 11. y Ephes. iii. 8. • 2 Tim. i. 11. • 2 Tim. iv. 17. 
 
 *> Gal. ii. 7, 8. • Acts xiii. 5. <i Acts xiii. 14. • Acts xiv. 1. 
 
 t Acts x,!^. 1. B Acts xvii. 10. h Acts xviii. 4. i Acts xviii. 19. 
 
 k Acts xvii. i. I Acts xix. 8. » Acts xx. 21. » Acts xiii. 46. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 155 
 
 all men every where against the people, and the law, 
 and this place;"" while his affection to the whole Jewish 
 nation, and his concern for them was such, as to make 
 him even *' wish that himself were accursed from 
 Christ, for his brethren., his kinsmen according to the 
 flesh."p 
 
 It appears, from the foregoing accounts, how natural 
 it was for St. Paul to write as well as preach to the Jews ; 
 and how natural also, in writing to them, to avoid the 
 authoritative style that he used when he wrote to those 
 Churches which had- been converted by him, or which 
 were more peculiarly within his commission, and to 
 choose to write to them only as his brethren and kins- 
 men, that is, in his own language, as he and they 
 were equally Hebrews,^ and Israelites, and the seed of 
 Abraham.'' 
 
 But, notwithstanding the omission of his name, and of 
 his apostolical character, there are many cogent argu- 
 ments to satisfy us that St. Paul was the author of this 
 epistle, against the contrary suspicions of some learned 
 men. The general scope of it is to prove that the rites 
 prescribed by the ceremonial law were only types and 
 figures of Christ ; and that he being now come, they 
 were of no further use, but were to cease and give way 
 to a dispensation of a much higher and more excellent 
 nature. And what was the accusation brought against 
 St. Paul by the Jews? Why, that he taught "all the 
 Jews which were among the Gentiles, to forsake Moses, 
 saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, 
 neither to walk after the customs ;" and that he taught 
 " all men every where against the people, and the law, 
 and the temple."^ The writer of this epistle uses the 
 style of " our brother Timothy ;"" and this is the style 
 which we find frequently used by St. Paul in his other 
 epistles. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Timo- 
 thy our brother," is the introduction to three of them :^ 
 and writing to the Thessalonians, he says, I have " sent 
 Timotheus our brother ;"" nor do we find this style used 
 by any other of the apostles. The same is observable 
 of another expression towards the conclusion of this 
 
 • Acts xxi. 28. P Rom. ix. 3. i2 Cor. xi. 12. •■ Acts xxi. 21. 28. 
 Heb. xiii. 23. ' 2 Cor. i. 1. Coloss. 1 1. Philem. 1. » 1 Thess. i. 2. 
 
156 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 epistle, " Pray for us ;"' being what we also find in his 
 epistles both to the Colossians and Thessalonians ;"* 
 with others of the same import in those to the Romans 
 and Ephesians, where he beseeches them to " strive to- 
 gether in their prayers to God for him,"^ and to "pray 
 always with all prayer and supplication — for him ;" nor 
 is this used by any other apostle. This epistle, towards 
 the conclusion, has a solemn prayer to the " God of 
 peace," for a blessing upon the Christians to whom he 
 is writing :y and we find the like towards the conclusion 
 of his epistle to the Romans, " The God of peace be 
 with you all ;"' and to the Corinthians, " The God of 
 love and peace shall be with you ;"'' to the Philippians, 
 "The God of peace shall be with you ;"^ and to the 
 Thessalonians, " The very God of peace sanctify you 
 wholly ;"<= and, " The Lord of peace himself give you 
 peace ahvays ;"'^ and the like expression is not only 
 thus frequent in St. Paul's epistles, but is not to be met 
 with in any other. The same is to be said of the term 
 ''Mediator;''^ for though the thing be spoken of in other 
 parts of the New Testament, the term is not found any 
 where but in the writings of St. Paul.*^ In this epistle, 
 he speaks of his imprisonment, under the name of 
 *' bonds ;"^ and he mentions the same at least ten times 
 in his other epistles,** and all of them written from Italy, 
 as this to the Hebrews was : neither do we find that 
 expression used by any other apostle. In this epistle, 
 he pleads the integrity of his heart and conscience ; 
 " We trust we have a good conscience, in all things 
 willing to live honestly ;"' and the same plea is often 
 made by him on other occasions. Thus his declaration 
 before the council was, " Men and brethren, I have lived 
 in all good conscience before God until this day ;"'' and 
 before Felix, " Herein do I exercise myself, to have 
 always a conscience void of offence towards God and 
 
 ' Heb. xiii. 18. * Col. iv. 3. 2Thess. iii. 1. ^ Rom. x\\ 30. 
 
 Ephes. vi. 18, 19. ^ Heb. xiii. 20. * Rom. xv. 33. xvi. 20. 
 
 • 2 Cor. xiii. 11. »> Phil. iv. 9. ' 1 Thess. v. 23. ^ 2 Thess. 
 
 iii. 16. • Heb. viii. 6. ix. 15. xii. 24. f [Gal. iii. 19, 20. 1 Tim. 
 ii. 5.] e Heb. x. 34. h [Eph. vi. 20 ; Phil i. 7. 13, 14. 16 ; Col. 
 iv. 3. 18 ; 2 Tim. ii. 9 ; Philem. 10. 13.— Compare also, in the speeches 
 of the same apostle, Acts xx. 23 ; xxvi. 29.] i Heb. xiii. 18. ^ Acts 
 zxiii. 1. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 157 
 
 towards men;'" and in his epistle to the Romans, *'I 
 say the truth in Christ, I lie not ; my conscience also 
 bearing- me witness ;"" to the Corinthians, speaking of 
 himself, " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our 
 conscience ;"° and to Timothy, " Whom I serve with 
 pure conscience." ° This epistle concludes with a salu- 
 tation to and from the brethren ; which is found at the 
 end of almost every epistle of St. Paul : — and the Chris- 
 tians are here called saints ; which is a style very fre- 
 quently used by that apostle, and almost peculiar to 
 him. 
 
 To this epistle St. Peter may well be understood to 
 refer as written by St. Paul, where he is exhorting the 
 Jewish Christians under persecution, to wait with pa- 
 tience for the "day of God," and to take care to "be 
 found of him without spot and blameless," that it might 
 be " salvation" to them ; and this, in answer to the 
 scoffers of those days, who upbraided them with the 
 expectation of it, as vain and groundless, and, by way 
 of derision, asked, " Where is the promise of his com- 
 ing ?" And then St. Peter adds, " Even as our beloved 
 brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto 
 him, hath written unto you ;" which most probably 
 relates to this epistle, as the only one that he wrote to 
 the Jewish Christians, and as containing in it several 
 exhortations to the same purpose with that which St. 
 Peter is there giving.^ For, not to insist upon his 
 exhortation to the Hebrews to be "followers of them 
 who ihvough. faith and patienceinherhedi the promises," 
 enforced by the example of Abraham, who "after he 
 had patiently endured, obtained tlie promise ;"'' nor upon 
 that other exhortation, " Let us holdfast the profession 
 of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that 
 profnised;"'' not, I say, to rest upon these, it will be 
 hard to find in the whole New Testament any passage 
 to which St. Peter might so probably refer, as this which 
 follows : "Cast not away your confidence, which hath 
 great recompense of reward : for ye have need of pa' 
 tience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might 
 receive the promise : for yet a little while, and he that 
 
 i Acts xxiv. 16. "^ Rom. ix. 1. ° 2 Cor. i. 13. » 2 Tim. i. 3 
 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. i Heb. vi. 12. 15. ' Heb. x. 23. 
 Vol. v.— 14 
 
158 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 shall come, will come, and will not tarry : now the just 
 shall live hy faith ; but if any man draw back, my soul 
 shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them 
 who draw hack unto perdition, but of them that believe 
 to the saving of the 50wZ."^ As to the passage in St. 
 Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which speaks of the 
 *' goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering" of Gon, 
 as "leading to repentance ;"'^ St. Peter cannot be sup* 
 posed to refer to it, for two plain reasons. In that 
 passage, St. Paul addresses himself to the unbelieving 
 Jews ; whereas St. Peter is writing to the believing 
 Jews, and to them only. St. Paul's is a reproof for 
 abusing the goodness and long-suffering of God to a 
 security in sinning, contrary to the effect it ought to 
 have upon wicked men ; but St. Peter's is an exhorta- 
 tion to sincere Christians to wait with patience, in an 
 assurance that it will bring salvation in the end. 
 
 Under the present head of internal testimony, notice 
 must be taken of a passage in this epistle, which may 
 seem at first sight to imply that St. Paul was not the 
 writer of it. Speaking of the salvation of sinners through 
 the Gospel, he says, " which at the first began to be 
 spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them 
 that heard him ;"" whereas St. Paul had the Gospel 
 revealed to him immediately from heaven. But to this 
 there are two plain answers. One, that St. Paul, be- 
 tween his conversion and the time when this epistle 
 was written, had seen and conversed with several of 
 the apostles. " After three years," says he, " I went 
 up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen 
 days ;"'' and he tells us, that at the same time he saw 
 James, the brotlier of our Lord.* — "Then fourteen 
 years after, I went up to Jerusalem, — and communicated 
 to them that Gospel which I preached unto the Gen- 
 tiles ;'"' and there he saw Peter, James, and John,"? 
 and after that he saw Peter, at Antioch.^ So that St. 
 Paul might truly say, that the doctrine of the Gospel 
 was ' confirmed' to him by them that heard Christ ; 
 and he had occasion to say it, lest it should be objected 
 to him by the Jewish Christians that his doctrine was 
 
 ' Heb. X. 35—39. ' Rom. ii. 4. " Heb. u. 3. ' Gal. i. 18. 
 Gal. i. 19. ' Gal. ii. 1, 2. r Gal. ii. 9. ' Gal. ii. 11. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 159 
 
 different from that of the other apostles ; against whom 
 it was a proper defence, that it was no other doctrine 
 than that which had been 'confirmed' by their own 
 apostles, ' who heard Christ,' and had at first preached 
 the Gospel to them. The other answer is, that it is not 
 uncommon with St. Paul to include himself in the number 
 of those to whom he writes, though not concerned 
 equally with them, or not at all : " Let us not commit 
 fornication." " Let 1^5 not tempt Christ."'' "PFe our- 
 selves (speaking of the Gentile state) were sometimes 
 foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and 
 pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating 
 one another.'"' 
 
 Besides the internal proofs that St. Paul was the 
 writer of this epistle, there are proofs external, and 
 those both numerous and express. Not to mention in 
 this place the citations of the most early fathers out of 
 this epistle, as being only proofs of the authority, and 
 not of the author, and made by writers who rarely men- 
 tion the name of the apostle whose words they cite ; — 
 in the second century, Clemens Alexandrinus men- 
 tions it under the name of St. Paul, where, speaking 
 of the Greek philosophy as styled by that apostle 
 * elements or introductions to the truth,' and expressly 
 mentioning him by name, he adds, "and therefore, writ- 
 ing to the Hebrews, he saith, ye have need that one teach 
 you again, which be the elements (or first principles) 
 of the oracles of God.""- And elsewhere, having cited 
 a passage of St. Paul's Epistle to Titus concerning the 
 behavior of the elder women in quietness and sobriety, 
 'that the word of God be not blasphemed,' he immediate- 
 ly adds, " but rather, says the same apostle, follow peace 
 with all men," &c., repeating four verses of the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews.*^ So also Origen, in the third century, 
 having quoted these words out of St. Paul's Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, 'I have fed you with milk, and not with 
 meat,' adds this; "The same person saith. Ye are be- 
 come such as have need of milk, and not of strong 
 meat,"^ and then he goes on to repeat two other entire 
 
 • 1 Cor. X. 8, 9. b Tit. iii. 3. = Clem. Alex. Strom. Lib. VI. 
 § 8. Col. ii. 8. Heb. v. 12. <i Heb. xii. 13, 14, 15. xiii. 4. Clem. 
 
 Alex. Strom. Lib. IV. § 30. * Orig. Cont, Cels. Lib. III. p. 143. 
 1 Cor. iii. 2. 
 
160 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 verses out of this Epistle to the Hebrews."' And else- 
 where, having cited passages out of the other epistles 
 of St. Paul, he adds parallel passages out of the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, with this or the Hke connexion, ' the 
 same apostle saith.'^ In his homilies upon this epistle 
 he accounts for the difference between it and St. Paul's 
 other epistles in point of style, by supposing that the 
 Tnatter was his, but that it was composed and method- 
 ized by some other hand. And therefore he ' commends 
 those Churches which received it as St. PauVs,^ ' be- 
 cause,' as he adds, * the ancients did not ascribe it to him 
 rashly.'^ And that which follows, of some of the an- 
 cients ascribing it to St. Clement, and some to St. Luke, 
 evidently refers to the supposed penman^ and not to 
 the author — to the language only, and not at all to the 
 matter. 
 
 In the next century, the Council of Laodicea enume- 
 rating the known and received books of the New Testa- 
 ment, place in their course "the fourteen epistles of St. 
 Paul ; to the Romans one, to the Corinthians two, &c., 
 and to the Hebrews one :"' — to which I will add the tes- 
 timonies of two writers, one of the Greek and the 
 other of the Latin Church — I mean Eusebius and 
 Jerome ; who had made more nice and strict inquiries 
 than any other about the books of the Old and New 
 Testament, and the writers of them. Eusebius, speak- 
 ing of the received books of the New Testament, deliver- 
 ed his own judgment, that "the fourteen epistles of St. 
 Paul (which includes that of the Hebrews) are known' 
 and clear."'' Afterwards, speaking of Clement's £/?iir?Ze 
 to the Corinthians, "in which," says he, "are inserted 
 several passages out of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and 
 sometimes in the very words," he adds, "from whence 
 it is most evident, that this cannot be a modern writing," 
 (St. Clement having been a disciple and companion of 
 St. Paul ;) and then he goes on, " wherefore it seems 
 with good reason to be added to his other epistles. For 
 St. Paul having written to the Hebrews in their own 
 language, the translation of it (into the Greek tongue) 
 
 f Heb. V. 12, 13, 14. e Qrig. PhilocaL p. 10. 17. Adv. Cels. 
 
 Lib. VII. p. 351, and in other places.— Heb. x. 32. 35. h Euseb. 
 
 Ecc. Hist. Lib. VI. c. xxv. i Concil. Laodicen. Can. 60. k Eu- 
 siB. Ecc. Hist. Lib. III. c. iii. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 161 
 
 is ascribed by some to St. Luke, and by others to Cle- 
 ment.'" Which testimonies warrant what we find in 
 Theodoret, in the preface to his commentary upon this 
 epistle — " Eusebius confessed, that this was the epistle 
 of the most divine Paul, and affirmed, that all the an- 
 cients were of that opinion ;"■« and Photius, a collector 
 in the ninth century, at the same time that he cites an 
 obscure writer ° who had said that Hippolytus and 
 Iren^us did not believe this epistle to be St. Paul's, 
 immediately adds, "but Clement, and Eusebius, and 
 the main body of the divine fathers, reckon this among 
 his other epistles."" And the same Photius mentions 
 that opinion of Hippolytus, as one, among others, of 
 his crude and indigested assertions. p 
 
 'Tis true, Eusebius takes notice, i that some did not 
 receive the Epistle to the Hebrews, because they said it 
 was not received by the Roman Church ; which he par- 
 ticularly affirms of Caius, and adds, in a more qualified 
 sense, that " som.e of the Romans did not suppose it to be 
 his.""- But it must be remembered, that Caius advanced 
 this opinion in a dispute with one,^ who affirmed that 
 Christians falling from the faith,' ought not to be admit- 
 ted to penance ; and who without doubt" alleged against 
 Caius that passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "It 
 is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and 
 have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made par- 
 takers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good 
 word of God, and the power of the world to come ; if 
 they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance." 
 And as this became a common controversy in the Latin 
 Church, which maintained the opinion of Caius for re- 
 storing lapsed Christians, against the Montanists first, 
 and then against the Novatians ; it was natural, in the 
 heat of dispute, to endeavor to weaken the force of that 
 text, by raising a doubt whether St. Paul, whose name 
 was not set to this epistle as it is to the rest, was the 
 author of it. But, that the doubts concerning the au-.. 
 
 1 EusEB. E. H. Lib. VI. c. xx. Lib. Ill, c. xxxviii, »" Theodck 
 RET, Pref. in Ep. " Gobarus. ° Photii Bibliotheca, Cod. 
 
 ccxxxii. P Photii Bibliotheca, c. cxxi. i Euseb. E. H. Lib. in, 
 C. iii. * Euseb. E. H. Lib. VI. c. xx. ■ Proclus, » Lapsi, 
 
 [The lapsed, or apostate.] " Tertull. de Ptidic c. xx. — Heb, vi, 4, 
 5,6, 
 
 14* 
 
162 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 thority of it were not the same in the Latin Church from 
 the beginning, may be fairly presumed from this epis- 
 tle's being inserted among the others, in the ancient 
 Latin version of the New Testament, which was made 
 for the use of that Church. 
 
 St. Jerome, who occasionally takes notice that, 
 though it was received as St. Paul's by some of the 
 I/atin Church, yet many doubted of it, expressly con^ 
 demns them for it, and confronts that doubt with the 
 authority of "the Greek Church and all the Eastern 
 Churches, who unanimously received it ;"^ and who 
 undoubtedly had a better opportunity than the Latin 
 Church, to inquire into the authority of it : which deter- 
 mination, as of a point in question before him, makes it 
 plain, that his mentioning it with tokens of doubt in 
 some other places where he only quotes it occasionally, 
 was not the result of his own judgment, but a deference 
 he paid to the opinion of the Latin Church. And as he 
 expressly declared his own satisfaction, upon the au- 
 thority of the ancients, " that it was rightly ascribed to 
 St. Paul," so has the whole Latin Church shown them- 
 selves to be convinced of their error, by having for so 
 many ages received and inserted it among his other 
 epistles.'' 
 
 That which gave the main ground of dispute concern- 
 ing the writer of this epistle, was the want of St. Paul's 
 name at the beginning, which has been already accounted 
 for ; and this led the critical inquirers into words and 
 phrases, to insist upon the argument from the style 
 and manner of writing in this epistle, as different from 
 that of St. Paul in his other epistles. The manner of 
 writing, say they, is more lofty, and the style raised to 
 a greater height, than in his other epistles. But if it be, 
 the subject also is more lofty and exalted, — the dignity 
 of Christ above the angels; — the glory of Christ at 
 the right hand of God ; — the heavenly tabernacle ; — the 
 everlasting priesthood; — Christ's mediating and inter- 
 ceding for us in the presence of God ; — and, in general, 
 all those high and heavenly things of which the legal 
 performances under the Mosaical law were only types 
 
 ' HiERON. Ep. ad Dardan.—ad Evagr. "» Mill. Proleg. in N. T. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 163 
 
 and figures, together with the wonders wrought by the 
 patriarchs, martyrs, and other famous men, in virtue of 
 their faith. As therefore the difterence in style is of 
 little force in any case, since it is very common for the 
 same writer to vary his style, according to the subject, 
 the occasion, the degrees of earnestness, &c., so here 
 it is of no force at all, when set up in opposition to the 
 testimony of the best and most approved writers among 
 the ancients ;=^ and when it is further considered, that 
 the attempts to ascribe the epistle to others (Luke, Cle- 
 ment, ApoUos) are founded only upon some remote 
 conjectures, and not countenanced by ancient testimo- 
 nies, otherwise than as they are considered under the 
 character of writers and reporters of St. Paul's doc- 
 trine. To which I must add, that those early differences 
 in opinion were not so much about the authority of the 
 book, as about the author ; they who had their doubts 
 whether St. Paul was the writer, readily acknowledging 
 that the epistle came from a person divinely inspired. 
 This was the case with all those of old, who believed it 
 to be written in Hebrew by St. Paul, and translated into 
 Greek by some one of the apostolical persons just now 
 mentioned (which, whether true or not, was a prevail- 
 ing opinion among the ancients;) and also with those 
 others, who supposed it to be drawn up by some apos- 
 tolical person, agreeing to the sense and meaning of St. 
 Paul ; and with Tertullian, who ascribed it to Bar- 
 nabas, an apostle, and companion of St. Paul.y And 
 the same has been the case with more modern writers ; 
 as appears by the declarations of two divines, (both ojf 
 them remarkable for a latitude of thought in religious 
 matters) even while they are giving their reasons, why 
 they do not think it to have been v/ritten by St. Paul. 
 "It does not .seem," says one,^ " to have been written 
 by St. Paul, but neither can it be clearly denied to be 
 his ; for it is probable it was written by one of St. 
 Paul's companions, with his privity, and agreeably to 
 his doctrine :" to which he adds, " I acknowledge the 
 divine authority of this epistle." And, says another,* 
 
 * See before, p. 159. ^^ Tektull. de Pudic. c. xx. Acts xiii. 
 2. 4. * LiMEORCH^ Pre/, in Comm. in Hebr. ' Le Clerc. Uist^ 
 Ecd. Ann. 69. 
 
164 
 
 " Whoever reads it with attention, will see every where 
 
 the apostolical doctrine concerning the controversies 
 between the Christians and Jews, or Judaizing Chris- 
 tians of those days ;" from whence he infers, " That it 
 must be written before the destruction of the temple, 
 because after that, and the extinction of the Levitical 
 worship, and the destruction of a great part of the Jew- 
 ish nation, there could scarce be any occasion for enter- 
 ing into those controversies ; nor is there in it the least 
 footstep of any opinions, disputes, or matters, later than 
 the apostolic age." And again, " Neither the matter 
 nor the manner of explaining, nor the language, breathe 
 any thing but what is apostolical, and of divine inspira- 
 tion ; in which I and all others Avho have written con- 
 cerning this epistle do agree, however we may differ 
 about the author.'"' 
 
 Besides this Epistle to the Hebrews, there were some 
 others that the whole Christian Church did not receive 
 so soon as those already mentioned concerning which 
 there was never any doubt. These are, the Epistle of 
 St. James, the Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Second 
 and Third of St. John, and that of St. Jude. Concerning 
 these, it shall be particularly shown, that each of them 
 was received early ; and there is this plain reason, why 
 they were not received by all Christians so early as the 
 rest, — that they were written either to particular per- 
 sons, as the second and third of St. John; or to the 
 Jewish converts dispersed in several countries, as the 
 second of St. Peter and St. James ; or to the Christians 
 in general, as the Epistle of St. Jude. , And since the 
 satisfaction to be given to particular Churches that they 
 were genuine, depended upon the view of the original 
 letters, and of the evidence of those who carried and 
 those who received them ; it is manifest at first sight, 
 that this satisfaction might be had much more readily, 
 
 b [Few questions relative to the canon of Scripture have created 
 so much discussion as that concerning the authorship of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews. A tolerably full, though ill-digested, view of the diiierent 
 reasonings on the subject, is given by Hornk, Introduction, Vol. IV. Part 
 II. chap. iii. sect. 16. — All the modern objections to the claims of St. 
 Paul, with the multifarious conflicting hypotheses of German critics, 
 are considered, and satisfactorily refuted by Professor Stuart, of An- 
 dover, in the introduction to his Commentary on the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews.] 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 165 
 
 when it was known to what particular Churches this or 
 that epistle was directed, and where the originals re- 
 mained, and both the messenger and they who received 
 it from his hands might be spoke with ; than it could be 
 had where the epistles where directed to Christians in 
 general as dispersed throughout the empire, and while 
 it remained uncertain, in what particular city or country 
 either the originals, or the evidences of their being so, 
 were to be met with. The not receiving these so early 
 and universally as tjhe rest, is an argument of the care 
 taken by particular Churches to be thoroughly satisfied, 
 that what they admitted was really written by persons 
 divinely inspired ; and the receiving them so univer- 
 sally as they afterwards did, is as good an argument 
 that they had received due satisfaction concerning them. 
 Nor can any possible reason be assigned, why the whole 
 Christian Church, Eastern and Western, should for so 
 many ages have put these epistles upon the same foot 
 of authority with the others which had been universally 
 received, but that all ground of doubting was by degrees 
 removed, and every Church had received full satisfaction 
 that they were written by the inspired persons whose 
 names they bore, or to whom they were ascribed. We 
 find this to be the case in the fourth century, when 
 these were received in the Greek Church as of divine 
 authority, by the Council of Laodicea ; and forty years 
 after, the same was solemnly declared to be the sense 
 of the Latin Church in the Decretal Epi«tle of Inno- 
 cent I., which was also confirmed eighteen years after 
 by a public decree of the Council of Carthage. 
 
 But long before these solemn and general recognitions 
 of their authority, they had been received as genuine 
 and authentic by many Churches as well as writers. So 
 EusEBius says of them all, " That however they were 
 reckoned among the doubtful books, they were acknow- 
 ledged by many.^^" 
 
 But to descend to particulars. The same Eusebius 
 says of the Epistle of St. James, that it was publicly 
 read in very many Churches, together with the others.*^ 
 And two peculiar reasons may be assigned why it was 
 
 • EusEB. E. H. Lib. III. c. xxv. a Euseb. E. H, Lib. II. c. xxiii. 
 
166 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 thought spurious by some, and doutbful by others, and 
 not sooner received by all ; one, that though it is ex- 
 pressly under the name o{ James, yet there being more 
 persons of that name spoken of in the New Testament, 
 a dispute arose to which of them it ought to be as- 
 cribed :e and the other, that what he says of the neces- 
 sity of works in order to justify men in the sight of 
 God, seemed to contradict what St. Paul had delivered 
 concerning justification by faith alone ; and St. Paul's 
 epistles being universally received, they who believed 
 or suspected that contrariety in doctrine, must reject 
 the other of course, or at least suspend their opinion 
 about it. But as these doubts vanished in particular 
 Churches, and it appeared that St. Paul and St. James 
 were so far from contradicting each other, that one 
 meant the no necessity of observing the ceremonial 
 law, and the other the necessity of observing the moral 
 law — the one, that works of what kind soever, without 
 faith, are ineffectual to salvation, and the other, that 
 faith without works cannot save ; no scruple was made 
 of putting it upon the same foot with the other epistles 
 in point of authority. Eusebius says, that not many 
 of the ancients mentioned it / and their silence is 
 already accounted for : but Jerome tells us, that it ob- 
 tained authority by degrees ;° and we find it currently 
 cited, like other Scriptures, by the fathers of the fourth 
 century,'' and particularly by Jerome himself,' as written 
 by James the apostle, and the brother of our Lord — so 
 that in the words of a learned commentator, *' They 
 that doubted of it before, did in the fourth century em- 
 brace the opinion of those that received it ; and from 
 thence no Church nor ecclesiastical writer ever doubted 
 of it ; but on the contrary, all the catalogues of the 
 books of Scripture, whether published by general or 
 provincial councils, &c., number it among the canonical 
 Scriptures. "J 
 
 The Second Epistle of St. Peter, has been already 
 observed to be one of those which Eusebius mentions 
 as questioned, but which also were acknowledged by 
 
 • EusEE. Hist. Ecc. Lib. II. c. xxiii. t Ibid. « Hieron. de 
 
 Jacobo. [in Cat. Script. Eccles.] »> Millii N. T. Proleg. p. '24. 
 
 I Hip:ron. Ep. ad Paulin. Contra Jovinien. xxiv. 3 Esthius, as 
 
 quoted by Whitby, Preface to the Epis. of St. James. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 167 
 
 many as genuine.'^ And this shows, that when it is 
 said by him that the ancient fathers acknowledged but 
 one epistle of St. Peter, i. e. the first, it must be meant, 
 universally and without exception — with reference to 
 the second, which was not so acknowledged. St. 
 Jerome grounds this doubt concerning the second 
 epistle, upon the difference from the first in point of 
 style.^ But this is true, in strictness, of the second 
 chapter only, which is as different in style from the 
 first and third chapters, as it is from the first epistle ;"* 
 being, as to the matter of it, manifestly taken from some 
 Jewish book," which gave an account of the scoffers 
 before the flood who derided Noah's prediction of it, 
 and applied by St. Peter to the false teachers who were 
 crept in among the Christians, and derided their ex- 
 pectation of deliverance from the persecutions they were 
 under, grounded upon what our Saviour and his apos- 
 tles had told them concerning the judgments that M^ere 
 to come upon the Jewish persecutors. As to the style 
 of that second chapter, it is throughout lofty and pomp- 
 ous ; and in that respect different from the style of the 
 other two. But is this a suggestion fit to be opposed 
 to the many testimonies of its being St. Peter's ? viz. 
 its bearing the name of Simon Peter, by which he is so 
 frequently spoken of in the gospels ; — the express men- 
 
 k EusEB. Ecc. Hist. Lib. II. c. xxv. L. III. c. iii. L. VI. c. xxv. 
 
 I HiERON. de Petro [in Cat. Script. Eclcs.] 
 
 '" [Yet Bp. ToMLiNE declares, that he " observes no other difference 
 than that which arises from the difference of the subjects. The sub- 
 ject of the second chapter may surely lead us to suppose that the pen 
 of the apostle was guided by a higher degree of iaspiration than when 
 writing in a didactic jnanncr; it is written with the animation and 
 energy of the prophetic style; but there does not appear to me to be 
 any thing, either in phrase or sentiment, inconsistent with the acknow- 
 ledged writings of St. Peter." Introduction to the Study of the Bible, 
 p. 333. Dublin, 12mo.— Certainly the difference is not greater than is 
 discoverable between the historic and [)rophetic parts of the books of 
 Isaiah and Moses, nor even than that between the argumentative and 
 preceptive parts of some of St. Paul's epistles.] 
 
 n [Such was the opinion of Bishop Shkri.ock, maintained at length, 
 and with much plausible reasoning, in the Dissertation on the Autha- 
 rity of the Second Epistle of St. Peter appended to his /Jiscourses on 
 Prophecy. It has since met with very general adoption, although 
 Bishop ToMLiNE speaks of it as a " conjecture entirely unsupported by 
 ancient authority, and in itself very highly improbable."— i76i swpra.] 
 
169 
 
 tion it makes of a former epislle he had witten to them,* 
 and the visible connexion between the two epistles 
 (the second being written to arm the Christians against 
 the uneasiness they were under, upon the delay of that 
 deliverance which the first had promised ;) the mention 
 he makes of his approaching dissolution, " Knowing 
 that shortly I must put oft* this my tabernacle, even as 
 our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me ;"p which 
 probably relates to what our Saviour intimated to St. 
 Peter of the time of his giving testimony to the Gospel 
 by his death, that it should be before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem ;'J and the express mention of what he heard 
 and saw at the transfiguration on the mount,' where 
 none of the disciples were with Christ, except Peter, 
 James, and John.' To all which it must be added, that 
 there is a fair presumption of its being written by an 
 apostolical person, from his using the style of " our 
 beloved brother Paul ;"' and we do not find it was ever 
 ascribed to any other of that character. So far from 
 this, that St. Jerome, where he takes notice of the dif- 
 ference in style as the foundation of the doubts concern- 
 ing it," solves the difliculty — not by denying this epistle 
 to be St. Peter's, which could not be denied for the 
 reasons above mentioned — but by supposing that in the 
 two epistles they were two different hands who ex- 
 pressed his sentiments in Greek. Whether this was so, 
 or not, it shows that in St. Jerome's opinion, the argu- 
 ments for its being St. Peter's could not be got over ; 
 and in this opinion, the writers of that and the following 
 ages, both in the Eastern and Western Church concur, 
 with great unanimity.'' 
 
 The objection, and the only objection, against re- 
 ceiving the Epistle of St. Jiide at first, was his citing 
 the prophecy of Enocli ;*' but it is really hard to find 
 where the force of the argument lies, that because an 
 apostle cites out of another book, (though we suppose 
 it apocryphal) a passage very good in itself, and very 
 apposite to his purpose, therefore he could not be the 
 
 « 2 Pet. iii. 1. p 2 Pet. i. 14. i John xxi. 22. ' 2 Pet. 
 
 i. 16, 17, 18. " Matt. xvii. 1. « 2 Pet. iii. 2. 15. ° Hieron. 
 
 de Petro [in Cat. Script. Eccles.] ▼ Millii Prolegomena, p. 25. 
 
 " HiERON. Cat. Script, in Jud. — Jude 14, 15. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 169 
 
 author of the writing into which the citation is grafted, 
 though such writing bears his name, and is confirmed 
 to be his by ancient authority, as in this case it is by 
 the joint testimonies of Tertullian,'' Clement of 
 Alexandria,y and Origen,'= who expressly cite it as 
 St. Jude's ; wherein also there is a great unanimity 
 among the writers of the succeeding ages, both Greek 
 and Latin.a^ 
 
 The Second and Third Epistles of St. John are so far 
 from being liable to the objection of a difference in 
 style from the First, which was universally received as 
 his, that the manner of writing is remarkably the same 
 in all the three ; and of the thirteen verses which make 
 the whole Second Epistle, several ^ are manifestly 
 the same in sense, and some word for word. None 
 of the three are under the name of John, and in 
 that respect the two last are of equal authority with 
 the first ; but the second and third are written under 
 the style of " Elder," which peculiarly suits the age 
 as well as character of St. John, who was above 
 ninety years old when they were written, and had the 
 direction and government of all the Asiatic Churches. 
 Considering how very short these two epistles are, 
 and that several things contained in them are also 
 to be found in the First Epistle, it is not to be ex- 
 pected that many citations out of them should be met 
 with in the writers of the Church, either ancient or 
 modern. But it so falls out, that Iren^eus in the second 
 century cites three verses, w^ord for word, out of the 
 second epistle, under the name of " John the Disciple 
 of our Lord;"' and that no doubt may remain whether 
 he might not mean John the Presbyter, whom we find 
 mentioned in Eusebius as one of Christ's disciples,^ 
 or any other John but John the Apostle and Evangelist; 
 he cites two other passages to the very same purpose, 
 one taken out of the First Epistle, and the other out of 
 the gospel of St. John, and all the three as taken out 
 
 * Tertull. de Ornat. Mul. Lib. I. y Clem. Alex. Pcedag. 
 Lib. III. c. viii. ^ Origen, Comm. in Matth. Tom. XL p. 223. 
 
 * MiLLii Prolegomena, p. 25. *> [Dr. Lardner says eight.] ° 2 John 
 7, 8. IL Irenjeus, Lib. IL c. xiii. sec. 2. Lib. IIL c. xviii. d Euseb. 
 Hist. Eu: Lib. III. c. xxxix. 
 Vol. v.— 15 " 
 
170 
 
 of the writings of one and the same person. Clemeni^ 
 Alexandrinus, citing a passage out of the First Epistle, 
 calls it his larger epistle f which supposes one, at least, 
 that was not so large. Dionysius Alexandrinus, 
 contending for an opinion he had entertained, that St. 
 John was not the writer of the Apocalypse, « makes it 
 one argument, that the name is set to the Apocalypse, 
 whereas no name is set to the Second or Third Epistle, 
 which he says were then usually^ ascribed to him. And 
 Origen, where he tells us that all did not receive these 
 two epistles, implies that the greatest part did.^ The 
 occasion of writing them is supposed with great proba- 
 bilityh to have been the report made of the liberality of 
 the 'Elect Lady' and of Gains, by certain persons 
 whom St. John had recommended to the Churches of 
 Asia for the furtherance of the Gospel ; and these 
 acknowledgments of the liberality of each, must come 
 from one and the same hand, namely, that upon whose 
 recommendation it was bestowed. 
 
 Although the Book of Revelations is of a different 
 nature from the epistles, as relating more to the state 
 of the Christian Church in future times, than to the doc- 
 trines at first delivered to it ; yet because it is part of 
 the New Testament, and one of the books about which 
 doubts have been raised, whether or no they were writ- 
 ten by the persons whose names they bear, I will here 
 lay down the many cogent reasons there are for con- 
 cluding it to have been written by St. John the Apostle 
 and Evangelist, and not by any other. In the first verse, 
 it is called, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ to his 
 servant John ;" and in the ninth verse, it is said, " I 
 John was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word 
 of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." Now 
 EusEBius, speaking of the persecution of the Christians 
 by the emperor Domitian, mentions St. John the Apos- 
 tle and Evangelist, as then banished to the isle of Pat- 
 mos.' The same is mentioned by Tertullian ;^ and 
 Clemens Alexandrinus' speaks of his return from 
 
 d Clem. Alex. Stromal. Lib. II. « Euseb. Hist. Ecc. Lib. VII. 
 c. XXV. f About the year 260. e Euseb. Hist. Ecc. Lib. VI. c. 
 
 XIV. h MiLLii Prolegomena, p. 18. > Euseb. Lib. III. c. xviii. 
 I« Tebtull. de Prescript, c. xxxvi. i Ecseb. Lib. III. c. xxiii. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 171 
 
 thence to Ephesus after the death of Domitian ; and 
 there is no pretence that any other John was banished 
 to that island. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with 
 Trypho the Jew, expressly ascribes it to " John, one of 
 the apostles of Christ.""" Iren^us mentions it as 
 *' the Revelation of John the Disciple of our Lord ;"• 
 and that he meant St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, 
 appears from what he tells us concerning the time when 
 this revelation was made to him, viz. 'about the latter 
 end of the reign of Domitian,'"' which was the time 
 when he was in the island of Patmos ; and yet more 
 clearly, by telling us it was ' the disciple who leaned 
 upon Jesus' bosom at supper.'? Tertullian also 
 cites it expressly under the name oi John the Apostle ;'^ 
 and Origen, where he speaks of the banishment of 
 John the brother of James into that island, speaks also 
 of the revelation there made to him, and cites the book 
 under his name." Likewise, the style given by the 
 ancients to the writer of this book, and affixed to the 
 title of it, I mean, " The Divine,"' is usually supposed 
 to refer to the first verse of St. John's gospel, in which 
 he asserts the divinity of Christ.' 
 
 In these authorities there are several circumstances 
 which give a peculiar force to them in the present point* 
 In general, what they say is delivered without the least 
 mark of doubt or hesitation. And as to the particular 
 writers, Iren^us was the disciple of Polycarp, and 
 Polycarp of St. John ; and he tells us he had a passage 
 in this book explained to him by those who had seen 
 John face to face. "^ Justin Martyr was converted to 
 the Christian faith within thirty-eight years after the 
 writing of the Apocalypse ; and within fifty-four years 
 from that time he wrote his Dialogue with Trypho the 
 Jew. Those several fathers who give testimony to the 
 authority of the Apocalypse, as Avritten by John the 
 Apostle and Evangelist, did not all dwell in Asia, but in 
 several other parts of the world, whose sense they may 
 be presumed to speak, as well as their own — Iren^us 
 
 •" Just. Mart. Dial, cum Tryph. " Iren. Lib. IV. c. xxxvii. 1, Ibid, 
 Lib. V. c. xxvi. " Ibid. Lib. V. c. xxx. p Ibid. Lib. IV. c. xxxvii. 
 1 Tertull. contra Marc.SJih. III. c. xiv. ' Origen, Comm. in 
 
 Matth. p. 417. » QcdXoyoi. i Utof h Xoyoi. « Iren. Lib. V. c, 
 
 XXX, 
 
172 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 at Lyons in Gaul; Clemens and Origen in Egypt; 
 and Tertullian in Africa. And it is a poor evasion 
 of the authority of those ancient writers, to allege that 
 some of them had their peculiar notions about otJier 
 points ; as if a singularity of opinion in this or that 
 doctrine could render them incompetent witnesses to a 
 matter of fact, which they had so good an opportunity 
 to know ! 
 
 Their authority is further strengthened by this, that 
 there is no ground or color for the two conjectures of 
 the Apocalypse being written by John the Presbyter,^ 
 or by Cerinthus.''' There is no pretence to say that the 
 first was banished into the isle of Patmos ; and as to the 
 second, his principles, that Christ was a mere man, 
 and, that he "was not to rise from the dead till the gene- 
 ral resurrection, are directly contrary to the doctrine of 
 the Apocalypse ;'' and moreover, his millenary state 
 was not the life of saints, as the Apocalypse represents 
 it, but the life of libertines. 
 
 That there were so fcAV copies taken of this book, in 
 comparison with the other books of the New Testament, 
 was owing to the subject matter of it, which was very 
 obscure, and related not so much to the past or present, 
 as to the future state of the Christian Church, in which 
 the generality of Christians were not directly concerned. >' 
 For this reason, it was not joined at first to the evange- 
 lical or epistolary canon, but was considered as a writing 
 by itself, and of a difterent nature from the rest ; neither 
 was it directed to be read publicly in the Church, because 
 of its obscurity, and the little relation it had to the Gospel 
 state in those days. And this, together with the time^ 
 when it was written, accounts for the silence of the 
 most early fathers concerning it, and for its being omit- 
 ted in some of the catalogues of the books of Holy 
 Scripture, particularly that of the Council of Laodicea, 
 the design of which Council w^as to enumerate such 
 books as were to be read publicly in the Church, as 
 appears by the express words of the canon upon that 
 head. 
 
 " EusEB. Hist. Ecc. Lib. III. c. xxviii. ^ Ibid. Lib. VII. c. xxv. 
 * Rev. i. 5. 7, 8. 11 ; xxi. 6; xxii. 13. y Orig. Comm. in Matth. 
 
 p. 220. ' Not before the year 96. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 173 
 
 The difference in style from St. John's other writings, 
 and the mention of his name here and not in the others, 
 are also fairly accounted for by the difference of subject; 
 this being of the prophetic kind, and the prophets usu- 
 ally prefixing their names to the accounts of the visions 
 and revelations they had received from God ; as we 
 find in the instances of Isaiah,^ Jeremiah,'' Ezekiel,= 
 Daniel,*^ and others. But notwithstanding the difference 
 in style, we may observe, in several instances, a coinci- 
 dence in expression between this and his other writings; 
 and this generally, in such expressions as are not to be 
 met with in the whole New Testament, except in the 
 gospel and epistles of St. John. In the Revelations, 
 it is said of Christ that his name is called " The Word 
 of God ;"^ and in the gospel of St. John, he is styled 
 " The Word,'"' and in his First Epistle, " The Word of 
 Life."^ In the Revelations, he is called " The Lamb,"t» 
 and in the gospel of St. John, "The Lamb of God."' 
 In the Revelations, the name of Christ is, "He that is 
 true," — "He that is faithful and true ;"k in the First 
 Epistle of St. John, " He that is true ;"' and in the gos- 
 pel, "full of Truth," and "The Truth."™ In the Reve- 
 lations, 'manna' is applied to spiritual food;" and so 
 it is applied in the gospel of St. John.° In the Revela- 
 tions, it is said from the prophet Zechariah, " Every 
 eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him ;"p 
 and in the gospel of St. John, " They shall look on 
 him whom they pierced."^ In the Revelations, Christ 
 saith, " If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I 
 will come to him, and sup with him, and he with me :"'f 
 in the gospel of St. John, " If a man love me, he will 
 keep my words, and my father will love him, and we 
 will come unto him, and make our abode with him."' 
 
 Thus stands the authority of this book, upon the foot 
 of ancient testimonies. But when the doctrine of the 
 millenary state began to be advanced under the notion 
 of a state in which sensual delights were to be enjoye(i 
 
 * Isa. i. 1. b Jerem. i. 1. " Ezek. i, 3. '» Dan. vii. 3. ^ Rev, 
 xix. 13. f Joh. i. 1. si Joh. i. 1. ^ Rev. v. 6. 12. • Joh, 
 i. 24. 36. k Rev. iii. 7 ; xix. 11. i 1 Joh. v. 20. «" Joh. i. 14 3 
 xiv. 6. ° Rev, ii. 17. ° Joh. vi. 32. p Rev. i, 7, 1 Joh, 
 
 xix. 37. ' Rev. iii. 20. ■ Joh. xiv. 23. 
 
 15* 
 
174 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 in the greatest perfection, and the authority of the Reve- 
 lations was alleged, though very unjustly, in support 
 of that carnal doctrine ;' the zeal of some writers against 
 this doctrine, which was indeed exceeding wicked and 
 corrupt, led them to raise scruples about the authority 
 of the book itself;^ which, though it speaks of Christ's 
 reigning a thousand years with the saints," gives not 
 the least ground to suppose that it will be a state of 
 sensual delights. On the contrary, it supposes the mem- 
 bers of that kingdom to be martyrs and other holy men 
 who had preserved themselves from the corruptions of 
 the world. But after this controversy was over, the 
 scruples vanished,^ and the Christian Church received 
 it among the other inspired writings, upon those ancient 
 testimonies that it was the work of St. John the Apostle 
 and Evangelist ; though not being so proper as the rest 
 to be read publicly in the Church, it might in that respect 
 be considered sometimes in a different light from them. 
 This is not the only instance, in which a particular 
 controversy has led men in the heat of dispute, to call 
 in question the authority of particular books of Scrip- 
 ture, which they thought unfavorable to the doctrine 
 they had espoused : there are instances of this kind, 
 both ancient and modern. The Manichees, who held 
 a monstrous opinion that the God of the Old Testament 
 was not the God of the New, rejected St. Matthew's 
 gospel, on account of the references he makes to the 
 Old Testament, which show both to be the dispensations 
 of one and the same God, and both to centre in the 
 Messiah. The Ebionites, wlio in some sort received 
 the faith, but yet were zealous for the Mosaical law, 
 admitted no gospel but that of St. Matthew, as written 
 particularly for the use of the Hebrews. The Alogi, (or 
 deniers of the Logos,) finding it impossible to reconcile 
 their doctrine to the gospel of St. John, and yet not 
 venturing to except against the authority of an apostle, 
 had no way left, but to deny that he was the writer. 
 The Latin Church, as I have already observed,''' finding 
 themselves pressed by some passages in the Epistle to 
 
 * EusBB. Hist. Ecc. Lib. III. c. xxviii. ' Ibid. Lib. VIL c. xxv. 
 
 MiLLii Prolegomena, p. 19. " Rev. xx. 4, 5. ' Millii Prole- 
 
 gomena, p. 19. w Page 162. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. ITS 
 
 the Hebrews in favor of the Novatian doctrine against 
 the receiving of lapsed penitents, showed too great an 
 incUnation, for some time, to cherish doubts concerning 
 the author of that epistle. And in later days, it is well 
 known that the Antinomians, and others who have car- 
 ried tlie doctrine of justification by faith alone to too 
 great a height, have also endeavored to invalidate the 
 Epistle of St. James, which makes works also a neces- 
 sary condition of our being justified in the sight of 
 GoD.^ 
 
 But however serviceable it may have been thought to 
 the advocates of tliis or that peculiar tenet, to raise 
 doubts about the authority of this or that epistle, as 
 particularly relating to the dispute then in hand ; yet 
 those doubts can be of no service to the cause of infi- 
 delity, as long as the truth of the Christian religion, 
 and the general doctrines of it, are supported by others, 
 whose writings have been universally received both as 
 genuine, and as of divine authority.^ 
 
 It appears by what has been said upon this head, 
 that the books of the New Testament were written by 
 the persons whose names they bear, or to Avhom they 
 have been ascribed, and that those writings are divinely 
 inspired ; — that the greatest part of those books have 
 been unanimously received by all Christian Churches 
 from the beginning ; — that the reason why some were 
 not received so soon as others, w^as, the necessity of 
 particular Churches having satisfaction as to their being 
 written by some apostle, or inspired person, and the 
 difficulty of obtaining such satisfaction in some cases 
 more than in others, by reason of distance of place, or 
 other circumstances ; — that the doubts which have arisen 
 
 ^ [We may add, that the combatants of Antinomian error have, on 
 the other hand, in their dread of the countenance of that gross perver- 
 sion of Gospel truth wrested from the E])istles of St. Paul, even " gone 
 the length of proposing tlnit no part of the Scriptures should be printed 
 for circulation among the mass of the people, except the four gospels : 
 on the ground that they contain all things needful, and that the things 
 hard to be understood in St. Paul's writings would serve only to per- 
 plex and mislead them." Whately's Essays on the Difficulties of 
 St. Paul, p. 69 ; in the second of which admirable treatises this foolish 
 alarm is thoroughly exposed.] 
 
 y See before, p. 153. 
 
176 BISHOP GIBSON S 
 
 concerning some particular books, have generally been 
 the doubts, not of Churches, but of persons, and have 
 been grounded either upon the want of express mention 
 of the writer's name, or there having been two persons 
 of the same name — both which uncertainties are adjusted, 
 and the doubts arising from them fully cleared, by testi- 
 monies ancient and uncontested ; — that the differences 
 of style are either imaginary, or such as the differences 
 in the subjects and occasions fairly account for, and are 
 by no means of weight enough to be opposed to the 
 positive testimony of ancient and authentic writers ; — 
 that those, and the like arguments, weak and inconclu- 
 sive in their nature, haA^e been generally laid hold on, 
 on purpose to favor some opinions which particular 
 persons had espoused, and which had no better argu- 
 ments to support them ; — and, that these having yielded 
 to the force of truth for many hundred years, and the 
 writings of the New Testament having been so long re- 
 ceived by the whole Christian Church as of apostolical 
 authority, nothing more is needful to establish them as 
 such, but to show, that, 
 
 V. The hooks of the New Testament, in which the 
 doctrines delivered hy Christ and his apostles are con- 
 tained, have been faithfully transmitted to the Chris- 
 tians of succeeding ages.^ 
 
 And, in general, it rests upon those who call in ques- 
 tion the fidelity of the transmission in this case, to show 
 that any other book whatsoever has such and so many 
 plain and strong testimonies of a faithful transmission, 
 as the New Testament ; lest while their zeal against 
 Christianity drives them into groundless cavils and 
 doubts about the authority of those books, they involve 
 themselves in the absurdity of rejecting all ancient 
 writings whatsoever, as not only altered from the 
 originals, but altered to such a degree as not to repre- 
 sent to us the genuine meaning and design of their 
 authors. It is well known, how early the Christian 
 religion was carried into almost all parts of the Roman 
 Empire, into regions and countries very numerous and 
 
 * [The subject of this head is fully and ably treated in Taylor's 
 History of the Transmission of Ancient Books, London, 1827, 8vo.l 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 177 
 
 very distant from one another; and as Christianity 
 spread, copies of the New Testament spread with it, 
 and not oiily remained in the hands of numbers of pri- 
 vate Christians, but were publicly received and read 
 in their religious assemblies. So that if one person 
 had attempted to alter and corrupt his copy, it would 
 quickly have been discovered by the rest ; or if a whole 
 country had attempted it, the copies throughout all 
 other countries would have been so many testimonies 
 of the fraud. 
 
 If, therefore, we could suppose the ancient Christians 
 ever so much inclined to alter and corrupt, none of 
 them could have attempted it with the least probability 
 of success. And what rendered it yet more impracti- 
 cable, was, the appeal that might be made, upon any 
 suspicion of forgery, to the authentic writings, remain- 
 ing and kept with the greatest care in the archives of 
 several Churches that had been planted by the apostles ; 
 to which Tertullian^ expressly refers in his reason- 
 ings against the heretics of those times, as then in 
 being, and to be freely consulted. 
 
 But what should tempt or incline the first Christians 
 to corrupt books that contained those truths on which 
 they grounded all their hopes, and for which they were 
 ready to sacrifice their lives ? books, which they kept 
 with so much care, and held sacred to such a degree, 
 that if any Christian happened to be persuaded by 
 threatenings and cruelties to deliver them up to the 
 Heathen persecutors, they were put under the severest 
 penance by the Church ; and we know some chose to 
 die rather than deliver them. 
 
 Many passages, also, cited out of those books, are 
 found in the most early writers of the Church, which 
 appear to be the same that we now have in our printed 
 copies. Controversies arose in the Church as early as 
 the second century ; and as both sides appealed to those 
 writings, so if either had changed and corrupted them, 
 the cheat must have been discovered, and the authors 
 of the corruption exposed by their adversaries ; they 
 
 » Tertuli-. de Prcescript. adv. Hcereticos. [This passage of Ter- 
 TULLiAN is examined, and the interpretation given by Bishop Gibson 
 supported at some length by Faber in an appendix to his Difficulties 
 of Romanism.] 
 
178 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 who were concerned in those controversies being many 
 of them persons who \vanted neither learning nor pene- 
 tration.^ The same writings were early translated out 
 of the Greek into other languages, (Syriac, Latin, &c.) 
 betAveen which and the original Greek there is the 
 greatest agreement in sense and matter. 
 
 Add to all this, that many ancient written copies of 
 those early translations, and also of the original Greek, 
 have been preserved to our own times, and procured by 
 learned men out of the several countries in Europe, 
 Asia, and Africa, where Christianity was planted in the 
 most early ages ; and such copies have been found, 
 upon the exactest collation, to agree with those that are 
 now used in the Christian Church, with much less vari- 
 ation than is allowed, in all other writings, to be fairly 
 placed to the mistakes and oversights of transcribers. 
 
 For as to the objection from the great number of va^ 
 rious readings which have been found upon comparing 
 those copies, it is of no manner of weight. It is indeed 
 
 '' ["This is a circumstance of the utmost significance, and, if not 
 peculiar to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, yet belonging to them 
 in a degiee which places their uncorrupted preservation on a basis in- 
 comparably more extended and substantial than that of any other 
 ancient writings. The Latin authors were barely dispersed over the 
 Roman world, and never in the keeping of separated nations, or hostile 
 parties. The Greek classics were indeed, to some extent, in the hands 
 of the western nations, as well as of the Greeks, during the middle ages. 
 And, if any weight can be attached to the fact, some of these works 
 were also in the keeping of the Arabians : but they were never the sub- 
 ject of mutual appeal by rival communities. 
 
 " The reproach of the Christian Church, its divisions, has been, in 
 part at least, redeemed by the security thereby afforded for the uncor- 
 rupted transmission of its records. Almost the earliest Christian 
 apologists avail themselves of this argument in proof of the integrity of 
 the sacred text. Augustine especially urged it against those who en- 
 deavored to impeach its authority : there never was a time when an 
 attempt on any extensive scale, even if otherwise practicable, to alter 
 the text would not have raised an outcry in some quarter. 
 
 " From the earliest times the common rule of faith was held up for 
 the purposes of defence or aggression by the Church and by some dis- 
 sentient party. Afterwards the partition of the Christian community 
 into two hostile bodies, of which Rome and Constantinople were the 
 heads, afforded security against a general consent to effect alterations 
 in the text. And in still later ages a few uncorrupted communities 
 existing within the bounds of the Romish Church, became the guardians 
 of the sacred volumes." — Taylor on the Transmission of Ancient 
 Books, p. 210. s.] 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 170 
 
 fairly presumed, that the providence of God would pre- 
 serve inspired writings, which were intended for the 
 perpetual instruction of the Church, pure and uncorrupt, 
 as to the doctrines contained in them ; but it is not pre- 
 tended that the transcribers of those writings were se- 
 cured by any extraordinary interposition of Providence, 
 from every the least error in copying them. It was ne- 
 cessary that the books themselves should be written un- 
 der the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit, because 
 the things to be delivered in them were above the reach 
 of natural reason ; and nothing less than divine inspira- 
 tion could make them a perpetual rule to the Church. 
 But the faithful transmission of them to future ages 
 might be sufficiently proved, upon the same foot, and 
 in the same manner, as the faithful transmission of any 
 other ancient writings. <= So that it rests upon those 
 who urge this argument against the books of the New 
 Testament, to show that tliose various readings do at 
 all affect the doctrines of Christianity, or that such 
 variety in any one place renders any one doctrine 
 doubtful, that is not fully and clearly delivered in other 
 parts of the New Testament. On the contrary, I believe 
 it may be safely affirmed, that every single copy would 
 exhibit a true and just account of Christianity ; where 
 there is an honest disposition to learn, and (in order to 
 that) to correct the errors of transcribers, by comparing 
 places of the same import and tendency with one an- 
 other ; making the usual allowances for ordinary slips 
 of the pen.*^ 
 
 If the number of various readings in the New Testa- 
 ment, as they have been published from time to time by 
 learned men, should be granted to be greater than in 
 other ancient writings, as they are not, there are two 
 things that would plainly account for it; — the first, that 
 the copies which were taken of this book before the use 
 of printing, infinitely exceeded in number the copies of 
 any other ancient book whatsoever ; and the more the 
 copies are, the more numerous of course will the vari- 
 
 ' [Of this fact, the work of Taylor, already quoted, furnishes the 
 most conclusive, and indeed superabundant proof] 
 
 ^ [See the extract from Bentley, in the Standard Works, Vol. I. 
 p. 280, s.] 
 
180 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 ous readings be ;^ — the second, that no ancient writings 
 whatsoever have been examined with the same care, 
 and the copies collated with the like exactness, and the 
 various readings set down even to a difference as to syl- 
 lables, letters, and order of words, as has been done in 
 those of the New Testament ; which greatly increases 
 the number of readings, of how little importance soever 
 most of them may he J But at the same time, it is very 
 
 • ["If there had been but one manuscript of the Greek Testament, 
 at the restoration of learning about two centuries ago, then we had had 
 no various readings at all. And would the text be in a better condition 
 then, than now we have 30,000 '? So far from that, that in the best sin- 
 gle copy extant we should have had hundreds of faults, and some omis- 
 sions irreparable. Besides that, the suspicions of fraud and foul play 
 would have been immensely increased. 
 
 " It is good, therefore, you will allow, to have more anchors than one : 
 and another manuscript to join with the first, would give more autho- 
 rity as well as security. Now choose that second where you will, there 
 shall be a thousand variations from the first ; and yet half or more of the 
 faults still remain in them both. 
 
 "A third, therefore, and so a fourth, and still on, are desirable ; that 
 by a joint and mutual help all the faults may be mended; some copy 
 preserving the true reading in one place, and some in another. And 
 yet, the more copies you call to assistance, the more do the various 
 readings multiply upon you ; every copy ha\ing its peculiar slips, 
 though in a principal passage or two it do singular service. And this 
 is fact, not only in the New Testament, but in all ancient books 
 whatever." — Bentley's Remarks on the Discourse on Free Think- 
 ing, pp. 64, G5.] 
 
 f ["Terence is now in one of the best conditions of any of the classic 
 writers : the oldest and best copy of him is now in the Vatican Library, 
 which comes nearest to the poet's own hand ; but even that has hundreds 
 of errors, most of which may be mended out of other exemplars, that 
 are otherwise more recent, and of inferior value. I myself have collated 
 several ; and affirm, that I have seen 20,000 various lections of that 
 little author, not near so big as the whole New Testament ; and am 
 morally sure, that if half the number of manuscripts were collated for 
 Terence, with that nicencss and minuteness, which has been used in 
 twice as many for the New Testament, the number of the variations 
 would amount to above 50,000. 
 
 " The editors of profane authors do not use to trouble their readers, 
 or risk their own reputation, by a useless list of every small slip com- 
 mitted by a lazy or ignorant scribe. What is thought commendable in 
 an edition of Scripture, and has the name of fairness and fidelity, 
 would in them be deemed impertinence rmd trifiing. Hence the reader 
 not versed in ancient manuscripts, is deceived into an opinion that 
 there were no more variations in the copies than what the editor has 
 communicated. Whereas, if the like scrupulousness was observed in 
 registering the smallest changes in profane authors, as is allowed, nay 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 183 
 
 certain that the number of copies greatly strengthens the 
 authority of the books, both by the agreement of such 
 vast numbers, fctch#d from all parts of the world, (just 
 allowance being made to the accidental slips or mistakes 
 of transcribers, which cause no material alteration either 
 
 required, in sacred, the now formidable number of 30,000 [now 100,000] 
 would appear a very trifle." 
 
 "And yet in these, and all other books, the text is not made more 
 precarious on that account, but more certain and authentic. So that, 
 if I may advise you, when you hear more of this scarecrow of 30,000, 
 be neither astonished at the sum, nor in any pain for the text. The 
 New Testament has suflfered less injury by the hand of time than any 
 profane author ; there being not one ancient book besides it in the 
 world, that, with all the help of various lections, (be they 50,000 if you 
 will) does not stand in further want of emendation by true critique ; 
 nor is there one good edition of any, that has not inserted into the text 
 (though every reader knows it not) what no manuscript vouches. 
 
 " Make your 30,000 as many more, if numbers of copies can ever reach 
 that sum ; all the better to a serious and knowing reader, who is thereby 
 more richly furnished to select what he sees genuine. But even put 
 them into the hands of a knave or fool, and yet, with the most sinistrous 
 and absurd choice, he shall not extinguish the light of any one chapter, 
 nor so disguise Christianity, but that every feature of it will still be the 
 same. 
 
 " And this has already prevented the last shift and objection ; that 
 sacred books at least, books imposed upon the world as sacred laws and 
 revelations, should have been exempted from the injuries of time, and 
 secured from the least change. For what need of that perpetual mira- 
 cle, if with all the present changes, the whole Scripture is perfect and 
 sufficient, to all the great ends and purposes of its first writing 1 what 
 a scheme would these men make ? what worthy rules would they pre- 
 scribe to Providence 7 — That in millions of copies transcribed in so 
 many ages and nations, all the notaries and writers, who made it their 
 trade and livelihood, should be infallible and impeccable 1 That their 
 pens should spontaneously write true, or be supernaturally guided, 
 though the scribes were nodding or dreaming 7 Would not tliis exceed 
 all the miracles of both the Old and New Testament ? And, pray, to 
 what great use or design % To give satisfaction to a few obstinate and 
 untractable wretches ; to those who are not convinced hy Moses and 
 the Prophets, but want one from the dead to come and convert them. 
 Such men mistake the methods of Providence, and the very fundamen- 
 tals of religion ; which draws its votaries by the cords of a man, by 
 rational, ingenuous, and moral motives ; not by conviction mathemati- 
 cal ; not by new evidence miraculous, to silence every doubt and whim, 
 that impiety and folly can suggest. And yet all this would have no 
 effect upon such spirits and dispositions : if they now believe not Christ 
 and his apostles, neither would they believe, if their own schemes were 
 complied with." — Bentley's Remarks on the Discourse on Free 
 Thinking, pp. 65, QQ. 71. 76.] 
 
 Vol. v.— 16 
 
184 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 in sense or doctrine,) and by the light arising from the 
 concurrence of many copies (such especially as are an- 
 cient) in one and the same reading, by which we are 
 enabled to determine the true reading upon a sure foun- 
 dation. On the other hand, when the copies are few, 
 the errors of transcribers in many cases are not to be 
 set right upon any other foundation than mere conjec- 
 ture. This is the general sense of learned men, as being 
 evidently founded upon reason and experience ; and it 
 appears to be so, from the great endeavors that are used 
 by all such as undertake to give correct editions of an- 
 cient authors, to procure as many written copies as they 
 can ; and it also appears to be true in fact, that where 
 the copies were few, editions have been very faulty and 
 imperfect ; where many, very correct and accurate ; and 
 in both cases more faulty or more correct, in proportion 
 to the number of copies, such especially as are of great- 
 est antiquity; in which respect, as well as in the num- 
 bers both of copies and translations, the New Testament 
 has vastly the advantage of all other ancient writings 
 whatsoever. 
 
 VI. The doctrines of the apostles, coiitaincd in their 
 Epistles and in the Acts, together with what is taught by 
 our Saviour in the gospels, were designed to be a stand- 
 ing rule of faith and manners to Christians in all ages, 
 and were from the beginning considered and received 
 as such by the Churches 0/ Christ. 
 
 That those writings were designed to be a standing 
 and perpetual rule of faith and manners, appears from 
 what has already been proved ; that is, from the instruc- 
 tion, commission, and inspiration, which the apostles 
 received from Christ, together with the power of 
 working miracles, in proof of their commission from 
 him : and all this, in order to their declaring and open- 
 ing to mankind the whole Gospel dispensation, and 
 every part of it, and their perpetuating the knowledge 
 of it throughout all generations to the end of the world. 
 These were full and sufficient declarations of the will 
 of Christ, that the whole dispensation of his Gospel 
 should be opened by them, and be received by the world 
 as coming from him, who had thus instructed and en- 
 lightened them, and effectually secured them against 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 185 
 
 error and mistake, and commissioned them to act in his 
 name, and ratified that commission by miracles, that no 
 doubt might remain but that they were sent by him on 
 purpose to make a full and clear discovery of that dis- 
 pensation to the world. And the necessary consequence 
 of this is, — in the first place, that whatever they deli- 
 vered concerning the doctrines and duties belonging to 
 that dispensation, was to be received by all Christians 
 as properly coming from Christ ; — and then, that no 
 other persons having been inspired and commissioned 
 to publish the will of Christ, but, the apostles only, 
 what they published was the whole of what he intended 
 to be published. The contrary suppositions plainly 
 carry in them some one or more of these absurdities, — 
 that Christ granted a commission, without full instruc- 
 tions, for the discharge of it, — that persons who acted 
 under the guidance of the Holy Ghost did not discharge 
 it faithfully, — and that all the while he was confirming 
 their doctrine by miracles, he left them liable to error. 
 The inference frotn all which would be, that he came 
 down from heaven to establish a new religion, and 
 empowered special messengers to publish it to the 
 world, but yet left mankind to the end of the world 
 under an uncertainty what his religion was. 
 
 The apostles, to give their writings the authority 
 which justly belonged to them, generally declare them- 
 selves in the beginning of their epistles to be the 
 ^apostles and servants of Jesus Christ,' that is, per- 
 sons sent by him, and specially employed in his service; 
 and in other parts of the epistles, to the same effect, the 
 "ambassadors," the "stewards," and the "ministers" 
 of Christ — all which expressions imply, that they were 
 the persons he had appointed to convey his will to man- 
 kind, and to dispense to them the great truths of the 
 Gospel, which till then were unknown to the world. 
 "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of 
 Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."^ — 
 " By whom we have received grace and apostleship, 
 for obedience to the faith among all nations for his 
 name."'* And the same apostle, speaking particularly 
 
 « 1 Cor. iv. 1. h Rom. i. 5. 
 
186 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 of the redemption wrought for us by Christ, and our 
 reconciliation to God by his death, adds, "and hath 
 given to us the ministry of reconcihation, to wit, that 
 God was in Christ reconcihng the world unto himself, 
 not imputing their former trespasses unto them, and 
 hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation ; 
 now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
 God did beseech you by us.^^' And elsewhere, upon the 
 same subject: "There is one God and one mediator 
 between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who 
 gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time : 
 whereunto 1 am ordained a preacher and an apostle, 
 a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity."'^ And 
 again: "the minister o/ Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, 
 ministering the Gospel of God ;"' and, " I am made a 
 minister of Christ according to the dispensation o/God 
 which is given to me, to fulfil (i. e. fully to preach) the 
 word of God."'" 
 
 Next, as to the doctrines delivered, they are spoken 
 of as the commandments of God and of Christ : — 
 " The things that I write unto you are the command- 
 ments of the Lord;"" and the GospeJ preached was 
 "the Gospel of Christ,"° and the Gospel of God ;"r' 
 " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which, says 
 St. Paul, " was committed to my trust.^^"^ And the same 
 St. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says, " When ye 
 received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye 
 received it not as the word of men, but {as it is in truth) 
 the word of God."'^ But when, upon a particular occa- 
 sion, he delivered only his own private sentiments, he 
 expressly tells the Corinthians, " I have no command- 
 ment from the Lord, yet I give my judgment.'' 
 
 "3 
 
 Next, as the guidance and direction under which 
 their doctrine was delivered, it has been already ob- 
 served,' that after the apostles had received their com- 
 mission to declare and publish the Gospel to all nations, 
 they also received the gift of the Holy Ghost, who 
 
 i 2 Cor. V. 18, 19, 20. ^ 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6, 7. i Rom. xv. 16. 
 
 "" Col. i. 25. " 1 Cor. xiv. 87. ° 2 Cor. ii. 12. 1 Thes. iii. 2. 
 
 p Rom. XV. 16. 2 Cor. xi. 7. 1 Thes. ii. 2. 8, 9. "1 Tim. i. 11. 
 ' 1 Thes. ii. 13. =1 Cor. ^'ii. 25. 40. ' Page 143. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 187 
 
 should ^^ teach them all things^ ?ind bring eM things to 
 their remembrance, whatsoever Christ had said unto 
 them,"" and being "the Spirit of truth," should ''guide 
 them into all truth.'''''' And so it is affirmed by St. Peter 
 of them all, that they "preached the Gospel with (or by) 
 the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;"^ and it is 
 said of the particular doctrine of the Gentiles being 
 fellow-heirs with the Jews, that it was ''revealed to 
 the holy apostles and prophets (in general) hy the 
 Spirit.'^^ It has also been before observed, particularly 
 of St. Paul,y that he received his doctrine by immediate 
 revelation; and though he was not of the number of those 
 upon whom the Holy Ghost descended at the feast 
 of Pentecost, he declares in many places of his epistles 
 that he acted under the guidance of the same Spirit : — 
 " We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery — the 
 things which God hath revealed to us by his Spirit."^ 
 "We have the mind a/ Christ."'' — "He therefore that 
 despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also 
 given unto us his Holy Spirit."*' — We have received, 
 not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of 
 God, that we may know the things that are freely given 
 us of God ; which things also we speak, not in the 
 words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the 
 Holy Ghost teacheth.'^" He tells the Corinthians, that 
 he will give them a " proof of Christ speaking in 
 him;^^^ and describing the order in which the dead are 
 to rise again (viz. those who are dead, and those who 
 shall be found alive at the general resurrection) he 
 declares, "this we say unto you hy the word of the 
 Lord."* And St. Peter affirms, that what St. Paul had 
 written to the Christians, was " according to the wisdom 
 given unto him ;"f and in the same place he sets St. 
 Paul's epistles upon the same foot with the Scriptures 
 of the Old Testament, which the Jewish converts, to 
 whom St. Peter was writing, did most firmly believe to 
 be inspired. 
 
 If it be said that these are the testimonies of persons 
 concerning themselves, it is again to be remembered, 
 
 " John xiv. 26. t John xvi. 13. w 1 Pet. i. 12. ^ Ephes. 
 iii. 5. y Page 148. ^ 1 Cor. ii. 7. 9, 10. » 1 Cor. ii. 16. 
 
 b 1 Thes. iv. 8. ° 1 Cor. ii. 13, 13. i 2 Cor. xiii. 3. • 1 Thess, 
 iv. 15. i 3 Pet. iii. 15. 
 16* 
 
186 
 
 that the writers of the epistles are the same persons 
 whom the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles testify to 
 have been specially commissioned by Christ, and to 
 have received from him the gift of the Holy Ghost, 
 and to have wrought many and great miracles in his 
 name; and all this on purpose to qualify them for pub- 
 lishing his Gospel to the world, and to put it out of all doubt 
 that they were ministers and ambassadors sent by him, 
 and that therefore entire credit might be given to what- 
 ever they delivered in his name, and their doctrine be 
 received by all Christians as a true and full account of 
 the Gospel dispensation, or, in other words, as a divine 
 rule of faith and manners. 
 
 Accordingly, the Christians of the most early ages, 
 declared and asserted in the clearest manner, that the 
 writings of the apostles were divinely inspired, and that, 
 as such, they became of course a rule to all Christians. 
 Clement, a fellow laborer of St. Paul, writes thus to 
 the Corinthians: "The apostles delivered the Gospel 
 to us from our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ 
 from God. "Wherefore Christ was sent by God, and 
 the apostles by Christ. Having therefore received 
 their instructions, and being confirmed in the faith by 
 the word of God and the fulness of the Holy Ghost; 
 they went forth preaching that the kingdom of God was 
 at hand." And he bids them ' consider the epistle of 
 the blessed apostle Paul, which was assuredly sent to 
 them by the assistance of the Spirit. '= Polycarp, the 
 disciple of St. John, says to the Philippians concerning 
 St. Paul, "being present, he taught you the word of 
 truth with all exactness and soundness ; and being ab- 
 sent, wrote an epistle to you, which if you look into, 
 you may be built up in the faith that was delivered to 
 you."*^ Theophilus of Antioch, in the second cen- 
 tury, calls the evangelists 'the bearers of the Spirit.' 
 and says of the prophets and apostles, that they ' spoke 
 by one and the same Spirit.'' Iren^us, in the same 
 century, says, that 'the Scriptures were dictated by the 
 Word of God and his Spirit ;'*' and, that ' one and the 
 same Spirit preached in the prophets, and published in 
 
 « Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Corinth, cap. 42. 47. h Polycarp. Ep. 
 
 ad Philip, cap. 3. i Theoph. ad Autolyc. Lib. III. k Ire.v. 
 
 Lib. II. c. xlvii. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 189 
 
 the apostles.'i And he has one whole chapter,'" to show 
 that the other apostles as well as Paul, had their know- 
 ledge hy revelation from God. He particularly blames 
 those as impious, who presumed to say, that the apostles 
 preached, before they had a perfect knowledge of what 
 they were to preach: for, says he, "after onr Lord was 
 risen from the dead, and they were endued by the 
 Holy Ghost with power from on high, they were filled 
 with all truths, and had perfect knowledge, and then 
 went forth into the ends of the world, publishing the 
 good things which God hath provided for us, and 
 preaching peace from Heaven unto men."" Justin 
 Martyr, in the same century, speaks of the Scriptures 
 as writings "full of the Holy Ghost. "° In the next 
 century, Clemens Alexandrinus says, "The apostles 
 might well be called prophets, one and the same Holy 
 Spirit working in both ;"p and speaking of the pro- 
 phets and apostles jointly, he says " they had the mind 
 of the prophetic and instructing Spirit secretly revealed 
 to them;"*! and he calls the apostles, in particular, 
 " disciples of the Spirit." Origen mentions the gos- 
 pels, as acknowledged to be of divine authority by all 
 Churches; and speaking of the inspiration of the pro- 
 phets, says, that "the same God inspired the evangelists 
 and apostles ;" and he mentions those sacred books, as 
 "not of men, but from the inspiration of the Holy 
 Ghost, by the will of the Father, through Jesus 
 Christ ;" and says, "There is nothing in the prophets, 
 or the law, or the gospels, or the apostles (by which last 
 is meant the epistles) that is not from the fulness of 
 God;" and, that ^' there is an entire harmony and agree- 
 ment between the Old Testament and the New, between 
 the law and the prophets, between the evangelical and 
 apostolical writings, and between the apostohcal writings 
 with relation to one another:" and both he and others 
 frequently style those writings 'the oracles of God,' 
 and ' the voice of God.'"^ 
 
 1 Iren. Lib. III. c. XXV. ™ Irex. Lib. UI. c. xiii. " Iren. Lib. 
 III. c. i. ° Just. Mart. Dial, cum Tnjpho. p Clfm. Alex. 
 
 Strom. Lib. V. «> Clem. Alex. Strom. Lib. V. ' Orig. in Johan. 
 p. 4, 5. Philocal. p. 7. 11. 21. 30.— [For other full testimony to the 
 same effect, see Paley's Evidences, Part I. Prop. I. chap. ix. sect. 3.] 
 
190 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 What has been ah'eady said, and repeated, concern- 
 ing the commission which the apostles received from 
 Christ for publishing his Gospel to the world, and his 
 enduing them for that end with the Holy Spirit, and 
 with the power of working miracles, abundantly shows 
 that whatever they delivered concerning the nature of 
 that institution, and the doctrines and duties properly 
 belonging to it, was intended by Christ and his apos- 
 tles to be a fixed and perpetual rule to the Christian 
 Church. And as they intended it, so the first Christians 
 understood and received it. The gospels were read in 
 their assemblies, as part of their public worship ;' the 
 exhortations of the ministers delivered in the same as- 
 semblies were founded upon the portions which had been 
 read out of those gospels; — they began early to write 
 commentaries upon the' books of the New Testament, 
 as upon a sacred text ; — and controversies were finally 
 determined by what should appear upon examination to 
 be the true meaning and tenor of those books. Upon 
 this foundation it is, that Iren^us attests the truth of 
 his own doctrine against one of the heretics of that 
 time. " Let him," says he, " examine what I have 
 written, and he will find it consonant to the doctrine 
 of the apostles^ and exactly agreeable to what they 
 taught."' The same ancient Avriter speaks of what the 
 apostles taught, as ' the rule of truth ;' and calls the 
 gospels ' the pillar and foundation of the Church ;' and 
 says of the apostles, that 'the Church throughout the 
 world grounding themselves upon their doctrine, per- 
 severed in the self-same sentiments concerning God 
 and his Son :"' — and " We have not known the me- 
 thods of our salvation from any others, than those by 
 whom the Gospel came to us, which the apostles 
 preached, and afterwards, by the will of God, delivered 
 down to us in writing, to be the foundation and pillar 
 of our faith. ^^"^ He charges the heretics with perverting 
 both the evangelical and apostolical writings to such 
 senses as might favor their own doctrines, and with 
 afllrming the things which neither the prophets preached, 
 nor Christ taught, nor the apostles delivered ; and that, 
 
 ' Just. Mart. Apol. II. « Iren. Lib. III. c. xii. ' Iren. Lib. 
 
 in. c. xi. xii. " Iren. Lib. IIL c. i. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 191 
 
 while they went beyond the Scriptures, they destroyed 
 the hounds of truth.^ And so Tertullian ; " Take 
 away from heretics their pagan doctrines, and let them 
 refer their questions to the decision of the Scriptures, 
 and they will not be able to stand." ^'^ And elsewhere 
 he censures those as weak, who think they can discourse 
 of matters of faith otherwise than from the books con- 
 taining that faith.^ To the same purpose, Clemens 
 Alexandrinus says, " Let us not content ourselves 
 with the testimonies of men, but let us confirm that 
 which comes in question by the word of God, which is 
 to be credited beyond all demonstrations, or rather is 
 itself the only demonstration. "y 
 
 Whether therefore we consider what the commission 
 was which the apostles received from Christ, or what 
 the gifts and powers by which they were enabled to 
 discharge it; what they declared concerning their au- 
 thority and the doctrine they delivered ; or what the 
 first Christians believed and declared concerning them : 
 in all and every of these views, we see the clearest evi- 
 dence that the matters and doctrines contained in the 
 New Testament, as coming from persons who were 
 commissioned and inspired by Christ to publish his 
 religion to the world, were designed to be a fixed and 
 perpetual rule to Christians in all future ages. And 
 they were in fact received under that character by the 
 first Christians ; and after the increase of the Gospel, by 
 particular Churches, gradually, as these Churches came 
 to a certain knowledge of the several books being writ- 
 ten by persons divinely inspired; and in process of time 
 by the whole Christian Church, upon a full and general 
 conviction that they were the writings of such persons, 
 and that there was no just or reasonable ground of 
 doubt, either about the books or the writers of them. 
 And as I observed before, the slowness and caution of 
 particular Churches in giving assent, is one good argu- 
 ment that they were faithful and impartial witnesses. — 
 So unjust have been the suggestions of some, who yet 
 bore no ill will to Christianity, that all the books of the 
 
 ▼ "Membra Veritatis," — Adv. Hcer. Lib. I. c. vii. xv. -w Ter- 
 
 TULL. de Resurrect, c. iii. ^ Tertull. de Prccscrip. c. xv. 
 
 y Clem. Alex, Strom. L. VII. 
 
192 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 New Testament became authentic at once, by a solemn 
 act of the Church, and that it was the authority of the 
 Church that made them a rule or canon to all Chris- 
 tians ! On the contrary, particular books were received 
 by particular Churches, sooner or later, according to 
 the time of writing, and according to the different oppor- 
 tunities they had of coming to the knowledge of them, 
 by reason of the different distance of cities and coun- 
 tries from one another, and the different degrees of cor- 
 respondence among them. The rule which determined 
 them to admit the particular books, was the assurance 
 they had, that they were written by persons divinely in- 
 spired ; and upon this (when it became clear to them- 
 upon due inquiry and examination,) they grounded the 
 atithority of each book. From henceforth, writers cited 
 the books in confirmation of the doctrines and duties of 
 Christianity, and the people considered them as a divine 
 rule of faith and manners ; both which we see as early 
 as we have any of their writings. And when, by de- 
 grees, every particular Church was satisfied that all the 
 hooks were written by persons divinely inspired, they 
 publicly declared their satisfaction, in councils occa- 
 sionally assembled to regulate the general afiairs of the 
 Church. The books were not therefore authentic, be- 
 cause those declarations were made, but the declarations 
 were therefore made, because the books were authentic; 
 the Church being considered only as a witness that they 
 were written by the persons whose names they bear, 
 and to whom they are ascribed, and from whose inspi- 
 ration they derive their authority. 
 
 I am well aware, that in later ages there have arisen 
 men who would confine the Christian rule or canon to 
 the writings of the evangelists, and the Christian faith 
 to the single article of believing Jesus to be the Mes- 
 siah; this seeming to have been sufficient at first to 
 gain admittance into the Christian Church, and the 
 truth of that proposition being abundantly attested by 
 the four gospels. But it was not rightly considered 
 by those men, how extensive that article was, and how 
 many more it included in it; the assent to it being, in 
 effect, an acknowledgment that Jesus was the Son of 
 God, and the baptism received in virtue of that assent, 
 an embracing of the doctrine of Father, Son, and 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 193 
 
 Holy Ghost ; and both the assent and the baptism, a 
 general profession of taking Christ for their Master ; 
 and that profession a general engagement to conform 
 to all the doctrines and rules which he should deliver, 
 either by himself or by persons whom he should com- 
 mission, to make further declarations of his will. So 
 that the admission into the Church by baptism, upon 
 the belief of that single article, was properly the admit- 
 ting persons into the school 0/ Christianity, to he fur- 
 ther ^instructed ' and ' huilt up'' in the faith of Christ ; 
 and to consider such admission in any other light, is just 
 as if one should argue that a child is a complete man, 
 because he has all the parts of a man, and will, by due 
 nourishment and instruction, grow up gradually to the 
 stature and knowledge of a perfect man. This is the 
 light in which the apostles of our Lord considered it. 
 St. Peter, writing to the Christians dispersed in several 
 parts of the world, directs them " as new horn babes (as 
 those who were yet tender and young in the Christian 
 faith) to desire the sincere milk of the word, that they 
 may grow thereby."^ And St. Paul tells the Christians 
 at Corinth, to whom he * spake as unto babes in Christ,' 
 "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for 
 hitherto ye were not able to bear it.^'''^ And when he 
 reproves the Hebrews for their slow progress in the 
 knowledge of the Christian faith, he tells them, "When 
 for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that 
 one teach you again, which he the first principles of the 
 oracles of God, and are become such as have need of 
 milk, and not of strong meat ; for every one that useth 
 milk, is unskilful in the word of righteousness, for he 
 is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are 
 of full age, even those who by reason of use (in the 
 margin, it is habit or perfection) have their senses ex- 
 ercised to discern both good and evil.'"' From whence 
 he immediately infers, " Therefore, leaving the princi- 
 ples (or first rudiments) of the doctrine of Christ, let 
 us go on unto perfection,, not laying again the founda- 
 tion of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards 
 God ; of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of 
 
 1 Pet. ii. 2. * 1 Cor. iii. 1, 2. b Heb. v. 12, 13, 14. 
 
194 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal 
 judgment."*: 
 
 A late ingenious writer*! who has traced out the seve- 
 ral steps taken by Christ and his apostles in the first 
 promulgation of the Gospel, had a true notion of this^ 
 and calls the proposition, ' that Jesus is the Messiah,' 
 the first entrance and initiation into the Christian faith ; 
 and adds, that "m the progress of the Gospel, the 
 apostles explained the heads of the Christian faith 
 more fully and openly, to the end that at length by 
 their preaching and ministry the whole will and counsel 
 of God might be manifested; that is, all things which 
 ought to be believed and done to obtain eternal life." 
 And, speaking of the inspiration of the apostles,* he 
 says, ' the Holy Ghost was given them, not only to 
 bring to their remembrance whatever they had heard 
 from Christ, but also, to add all such things as were 
 necessary to fill up and complete the Christian doc- 
 trine.' He says further, that in the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles we have the first lineaments of a rising Church, and 
 as it were the ground-work of the Christian faith ;f and 
 afterwards, where he describes the gradual opening of 
 the Gospel,^ he takes notice, that the apostles, " to 
 whom was committed the expounding of that new re- 
 velation," delivered some doctrines sooner, and some 
 later ; and compares the growth of the Christian dis- 
 pensation to that of a flower, which opens itself gradu- 
 ally; and adds, that some of the mysteries belonging to 
 
 = Heb. vi. 1, 2. 
 
 ^ Dr. Burnet, late master of the Charter-House, in his book Dc 
 Fide cj"' OJlciis, p. 117. — [Dr. Thomas Burnet is perhaps better 
 known as the author of the ingenious Theory of the Earth, first pub- 
 lished in elegant Latin in 1680, and afterwards translated by the 
 author into Eiighsh : one of the earhest and most famous among the 
 multitude of systems of cosmogony. Dr. Burnet was a pupil of TiL- 
 LOTSON. During the reign of James II. he distinguished himself by 
 opposition to the arbitrary proceedings of that monarch. The treatise 
 cited by Bishop Gibson was not published until after the author's 
 death, which took place in 1715, at the advanced age of 80. The 
 work, although in many respects valuable, is by no means unexcep- 
 tionable in point of doctrine. Another by the same writer, jnd pub- 
 lished about the same time, De Statu Mortuorum et Resi.irgc;Uiu\. 
 is even more objectionable.] 
 
 « Page 120. f Page 121. s Page 138. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 195 
 
 it, were more seasonably delivered ' after the first seeds 
 had taken root."' 
 
 An ingenious person, who at his first transition from 
 inquiries merely rational to those of revelation, set him- 
 self to reduce the fundamental doctrines of Christianity 
 to the narrowest compass he possibly could, seems not 
 to have considered enough this gradual opening of the 
 Gospel dispensation, when he made that one article, 
 * that Jesus is the Messiah,' the belief of which was no 
 more than the first entrance into the Christian faith, to 
 be the whole of it — if he meant it in any other sense than 
 as it carried in it a general acknowledgment, that they 
 who made that profession did thereby receive Christ 
 for their master, and were ready to embrace whatever 
 doctrines or precepts should come from him, with a 
 sincere disposition to be instructed in them. And, in 
 truth, that he meant it in this extent, and designed no 
 more than a speculative inquiry about the nature of 
 fundamentals, seems plain from what he adds, that "as 
 for the rest of divine truths, there is nothing more re- 
 quired of a Christian, but that he receive all the parts 
 of divine revelation with a docility and disposition pre- 
 pared to embrace and assent to all truths coming from 
 God ; and submit his mind to whatsoever shall appear 
 to him to bear that character."' This was all that 
 could be required of the first converts to Christianity, 
 to whom the Gospel dispensation was not yet opened ; 
 but it follows not from thence, that no more was neces- 
 sary to be believed by Christians, after that dispensa- 
 tion was fully opened : on the contrary, it follows, that 
 an actual belief of the doctrines of the Gospel, after 
 a full declaration made of them, was as necessary to 
 make men Christians, as a readiness and disposition 
 to receive them was before ; and the way by which 
 both approved themselves to be true and sincere Chris- 
 tians, was an honest disposition to embrace all the light 
 that was afforded them, whether by Christ himself, or 
 by those whom he inspired and commissioned for the 
 opening and publishing his Gospel to the world. And 
 therefore the same author, speaking of the apostles, and 
 
 h Burnet de Fide et OJlciis, page 139. i Mr. Locke's Reason' 
 ableness of Christianity, page 300. 
 
 Vol. v.— 17 
 
196 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 their writings,>f says, " these holy writers, inspired from 
 above, writ nothing but truth, and in most places very 
 weighty truths to us now, for the expounding, clearing, 
 and confirming of the Christian doctrine." And in his 
 later years, when he had more maturely considered the 
 frame and tenor of the Gospel dispensation, he calls the 
 writings of the New Testament, without distinction, 
 ' Holy Scripture,' ' Holy Writings,' the * Sacred Text,' 
 * Writings dictated by the Spirit of God ;'^ and says of 
 the writings of the apostles, that " the doctrines con- 
 tained in them tend wholly to the setting up the king- 
 dom of Jestts Christ in this world."™ Particularly of 
 St. Paul and his epistles, upon several of which he 
 wrote a very useful and elaborate commentary during 
 his retirement in his last years, he says, that as to this 
 apostle, "he had the whole doctrine of the Gospel from 
 God by immediate revelation ; that for his information 
 in the Christian knowledge, and the mysteries and 
 depths of the dispensation of God by Jesus Christ, 
 God himself had condescended to be his instructer and 
 teacher ; and that he had received the light of the Gospel 
 from the Fountain and Father of light Himself;"" and 
 as to his epistles, that "they were dictated by the spirit 
 of GoD."° In his preface to the commentary upon, 
 the Epistle to the Romans, after having enumerated 
 some of the particulars in which that epistle opens the 
 Gospel dispensation to mankind, he adds, " these are 
 but some of the more general and more comprehensive 
 heads of the Christian doctrine to be found in this epis- 
 tle. The design of a synopsis will not permit me to 
 descend more minutely to particulars ; but this let me 
 say, that he that would have an enlarged view of true 
 Christianity, would do well to study this epistle." To 
 induce men to the study of the New Testament in 
 general, he says, " the only way to be preserved from 
 error, is to betake ourselves in earnest to the study of 
 the way to salvation, in those holy writings wherein 
 God has revealed it from heaven, and proposed it to 
 the world ; seeking our religion where we are sure it is 
 in truth to be found."? And, in a letter written the 
 
 ^ Page 297. J Preface to his Commentary. "' Ibid, page 22. 
 Ibid, page 16. « Ibid, page 17. p Und. page 24. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 197 
 
 year before his death, to one who had asked him this 
 question, What is the shortest way to attain to a true 
 knowledge of the Christian religion in the full and just 
 extent of it ? his answer is, " Study the Holy Scripture, 
 especially the New Testament; therein are contained 
 the words of eternal life. It has God for its author, 
 salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of 
 error for its matter.''^ And of St. Paul's epistles, 
 which he was more particularly led to speak of in the 
 preface to his 'Commentary,' he says, that the studying 
 and understanding them aright, will make those who 
 do it to " rejoice in the light they receive from those 
 most useful parts of divine revelation." 
 
 This writer also furnishes us with an answer to the 
 objection usually made by infidels and skeptics, that 
 if the epistles were written upon particular occa- 
 sions only, they would not have been written at all if 
 those occasions had not happened, and that therefore 
 the Christian faith was completely delivered before, in 
 the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. — "The provi- 
 dence of God,""- says he, "hath so ordered it, that St. 
 Paul has writ a great number of epistles (and the same 
 is true of those that were written by other apostles) 
 which though upon different occasions, and to several 
 purposes, yet are all confined within the business of 
 his apostleship, and so contain nothing but points of 
 Christian instruction ; amongst which, he seldom fails 
 to drop in and often to enlarge upon the great and 
 distinguishing doctrines of our holy religion." If the 
 writing of the epistles was ordered by the providence of 
 God, the same providence certainly intended that they 
 should be a rule and direction to the Christian Church; 
 and if the providence of God had not so ordered it, 
 that the epistles should be written, the same providence 
 would have found out some other way to open and ex- 
 plain the Christian revelation in the manner they have 
 done. The question therefore is not, what the state of 
 things would have been if the epistles had not been 
 written (which no mortal can tell,) but the only ques- 
 tion is, how the matter stands, now they are written, 
 and whether we are at liberty to consider them other- 
 
 « Posthumous WorkSf page 344. ' Preface to Comment, page 21. 
 
198 
 
 wise than as openings and explanations of the Christian 
 doctrine, when they come from persons divinely inspir- 
 ed, and commissioned by Christ to publish his Gospel 
 to the world ; in virtue of which (as the other writer 
 before mentioned has truly said) they were enabled . 
 and empowered " to add all such things as were neces- 
 sary to fill up and complete the Christian doctrine."' 
 
 Whatever therefore we find in the writings of the 
 apostles that concerns the doctrine and economy of the 
 Christian dispensation, whether it be further explana- 
 tions of what is more generally delivered in the gospels 
 and Acts of the Apostles, or additions to them ; it is 
 what we are empowered by Christ and enabled by the 
 Holy Ghost to deliver to the world, and so became a 
 rule of faith and practice to Christians to the end of 
 the world. Such are these that follow : — the misery 
 brought upon mankind by the fall of Adam, and the 
 deliverance out of that misery as wrought for us by 
 Christ ; — the insufficiency of the Mosaical law for ob- 
 taining salvation: — the typical nature of the ceremonial 
 law as prefiguring Christ, the end of that law and our 
 great sacrifice, high priest and lawgiver ; — the outward 
 performances of the ceremonial law, represented as 
 emblems of inward purity : — the excellency of the sacri- 
 fice, ministry, and laws of Christ, beyond those of 
 the Mosaical dispensation : — the efficacy of the death of 
 Christ and of the whole Gospel dispensation, for 
 obtaining pardon of sin, reconciliation to God, and 
 eternal life : — the union of the divine and human nature 
 in Christ : — the necessity of his incarnation, to be first 
 a teacher and example, and after that to be capable of 
 dying ; of his death, to take away sin by the sacrifice 
 of himself; of his resurrection, to prove his conquest 
 over death, and to be an earnest of our rising from the 
 dead ; and of his ascension, to be vested with all 
 power in heaven and earth, and to be our mediator, 
 advocate and intercessor at the right hand of his Father : 
 — the universality and sufficiency of the grace promised 
 in the Gospel, decreed by God from the foundation of 
 the world, and revealed in due time in the Gospel, for 
 the salvation of all true believers : — the right of Gen-- 
 
 • Burnet de Fide, &c. p. 120. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 199 
 
 tiles as well as Jews, to be partakers of the mercies and 
 benefits of the Gospel covenant, in Christ : — the justice 
 of God in rejecting the unbelieving Jews and calling the 
 Gentiles ; — the necessity of faith in him, in order to our 
 justification in the sight of God, and the impossibility of 
 obtaining salvation in any other way than through the 
 atonement made by him : — the efiicacy of faith, and the 
 necessity of good works, as the genuine fruits of a true 
 and lively faith : — the sanctification of our nature by the 
 Spirit of God : — the ordinary operations and influences 
 of the Holy Spirit; and the obligation to love, peace, 
 meekness, gentleness, and mutual forbearance, as the 
 fruits of the Spirit : — the power and vigilance of our 
 enemy the devil and his wicked spirits ; and the great 
 sinfulness of envy, detraction, malice, hatred, and re- 
 venge, as properly the works of the devil : — the duty of 
 doing all things to the glory of God, by employing our 
 several gifts and talents for that end : — the duty of re- 
 pentance from dead works ; of dying to sin and living 
 to God ; and of putting on the new man, and living, 
 not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit : — 
 the duties of mortification and self denial, in order to 
 the subduing our inordinate lusts and appetites : — the 
 absolute necessity of holiness, and the utter inconsist- 
 ency of uncleanness of all kinds with the purity of the 
 Gospel : — the duty of preserving the bond of marriage 
 sacred and inviolable : — the nature of the Church of 
 Christ upon earth, and the communion of Christians 
 with him as their head, and with one another as joint 
 members of his body : — the true import, due adminis- 
 tration, and proper eflicacy of the ordinances instituted 
 by him : — the government of his Church, and the ap- 
 pointment of pastors and teachers therein, to minister 
 in holy things, and to explain to the people the doctrines 
 of Christianity, and enforce the duties of it : — the pub- 
 lic worship and discipline appointed in his Church, the 
 first to be attended, and the second to be submitted to 
 by all Christians : — the necessity of union among the 
 members of Christ's Church, and the great mischief of 
 divisions : — the duty of praying for the wants of one 
 another both spiritual and temporal : — the due regula- 
 tion of religious zeal, and the danger of a misguided 
 j5eal : — the duty of preaching and taking up the cross of 
 17* 
 
200 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 Christ; and the mischiefs of corrupting the Christian 
 faith by philosophy and the wisdom of this world :— 
 the extreme danger of infidelity and apostacy from the 
 faith : — the distinguishing reward of those who suffer 
 patiently for the truth of the Gospel, and persevere 
 unto the end : — the relation which good Christians bear 
 to the saints in heaven, while they continue upon earth : 
 — the great happiness that is there laid up for all the 
 faithful servants of Christ : — the order of the general 
 resurrection ; and the changes that will be then made 
 in the bodies of good men. 
 
 These and the like heads of doctrine and instruction 
 which are to be found in the epistles, being added to the 
 light which we receive from the gospels and Acts of 
 the Apostles, give us a complete view of the Christian 
 dispensation and every branch of it ; the one being the 
 foundation, and the other the superstructure, and both 
 necessary to build us up in the t7^ue faith and doc- 
 trine of Christ. And whether these be all equally 
 necessary to be explicitly known and believed, or all 
 equally fundamental, is a useless and idle inquiry. 
 Whoever reads the writings of the apostles, and is per- 
 suaded that the doctrines they delivered were received 
 from Christ, or written by the direction and assistance 
 of his Holy Spirit, cannot but think himself obhged 
 to believe and do whatever he finds delivered in these 
 writings, and to consider them as a divine rule of faith 
 and practice. 
 
 As to the duties merely moral, and such as belong to 
 our several stations and circumstances in this world, no 
 infidel has ever been so hardy as to deny that the epis- 
 tles contain avariety of admirable precepts and directions 
 for our conduct and behavior in the several relations of 
 life, (for magistrates and people, wives and husbands, 
 parents and children, masters and servants,) and also 
 in the several conditions and circumstances of life, 
 rich«s and poverty, health and sickness, prosperity and 
 adversity. Nor need I repeat here what I have shown 
 at large elsewhere.' That these and the hke duties, as 
 laid down and enjoined in those sacred writings, are not 
 only carried to higher degrees of perfection than they 
 
 » Second Pastoral Letter, p. 115. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. 201 
 
 ever were in the schools of morality, but also have far 
 greater weight here, as having the stamp and sanction 
 of divine authority, and as they are enforced by consi- 
 derations relating to our eternal happiness in the next 
 life, and by motives immediately resulting from our 
 relation to Christ, and from the general doctrines and 
 principles of the Christian faith. 
 
 It is true, that the immediate occasion of several of the 
 epistles, was the correcting errors and irregularities in 
 particular Churches and countries. Such were the cor- 
 rupting Christianity with mixtures of Judaism and philo- 
 sophy ; — apostacy from the faith they had received ; — 
 contentions and divisions among themselves : — neglect of 
 the public assemblies and misbehavior in them ; — the de- 
 spising of government ; — the dishonoring of marriage ; — 
 the allowing fornication, &c. — And God knows our OAvn 
 times are a sad instance of the necessity of such cautions 
 in all ages, and the no less necessity of attending to the 
 duties which are directly opposite to those vices and 
 irregularities, and which the apostles take occasion from 
 thence to lay down and enforce. And even their deci- 
 sions of cases concerning meats and drinks, and the ob- 
 servation of the ceremonial law, and other like doubts 
 which were peculiar to the Jewish converts in the first 
 occasion of them ; these rules also are, and always will 
 be, our surest guides in all points relating to Christian 
 liberty, and the use of things indifferent, when the 
 grounds of those decisions, and the directions consequent 
 upon them, are duly attended to, and applied to cases of 
 the Hke nature by the rules of piety and prudence : or, 
 as a learned writer" expresses it, "by analogy and parity 
 of reason, those may be extended very profitably to the 
 general behoof and advantage of other Churches of 
 God, and particular Christians of all ages :" especially, 
 in one point which is of universal concern in life, I 
 mean, the duty of abstaining from many things which 
 are in themselves innocent, if we foresee that they will 
 give offence to weak Christians, or be the occasion of 
 leading others into sin. 
 
 The sum, then, of the sixth head is this ; that the 
 apostles were intrusted by Christ with the making a 
 
 " Dr. Hammond. 
 
202 BISHOP Gibson's 
 
 full and entire publication of his Gospel, and inspired 
 by the Holy Ghost, to enable them to discharge that 
 trust : — that the books of the New Testament were all 
 written or approved^ by them: — that Christians in all 
 ages have thought themselves obliged to consider and 
 understand the nature of the Gospel dispensation, as 
 they found it explained by persons thus authorized and 
 inspired ; — and that, as soon as the several books of the 
 New Testament appeared upon clear and evident proof 
 to be written by the persons whose names they bore, all 
 Christian Churches received them as inspired writings, 
 and as a divine rule of faith and manners. 
 
 The inference from all this, which every one who is 
 a Christian in earnest ought to make to himself is : to 
 consider it as his indispensable duty to peruse and 
 attend to those sacred hooks, as explaining to him the 
 terms of salvation according to the Gospel covenant, 
 and acquainting him with the conditions required on his 
 part in order to obtain it. 
 
 And because the books of the Old Testament are 
 also the oracles o/God, delivered from time to time to 
 the Jewish nation, and are declared by the New Testa- 
 ment to be uritten by divine inspiration, and do contain 
 in them many excellent lessons of duty, and a great 
 variety of mercies and judgments sent upon men and 
 nations, according to their obedience or disobedience to 
 the commands of God, and also the accounts of God's 
 communications with mankind and his dealings with 
 them from the creation of the world ; together with a 
 treasure of devotions and meditations of all kinds and 
 for all conditions, especially in the book of Psalms : — 
 let me therefore further entreat you carefully to peruse 
 those sacred writings, frequently and seriously medi- 
 tating upon the various providences and dispensations 
 of God to men, and learning from thence to praise and 
 adore his power, wisdom, justice, and goodness ; and 
 to be careful above all things to recommend yourselves 
 to his favor and protection, by a strict and uniform 
 obedience to his laws. What St. Paul says of Timothy, 
 is a high commendation of him : " From a child thou 
 
 The gospels of Mark and Luke. See page 132. 
 
THIRD PASTORAL LETTER. ^03 
 
 hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make 
 thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 
 Jesus ;" and then he adds, " All Scripture is given by 
 inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 
 that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good works." ^ And as God has " caused 
 all Holy Scj-iptures," both of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment, "to be written for our learning," as the Liturgy 
 of our Church expresses it ; ^ be you always careful, 
 that (in the words of the same Liturgy) you do " in 
 such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly 
 digest them, that by patience and comfort of his holy 
 word, you may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed 
 hope of everlasting life, which he hath given us in our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 TO CONCLUDE : 
 
 In this and my two former letters, I have given yoii 
 a view of the Christian religion, and the evidences of 
 the truth of it, in as short a compass, and in the plainest 
 manner I was able ; with an eye throughout to the pre- 
 sent attempts of infidels against our common faith, and 
 with a sincere desire to preserve you from the infection, 
 and to establish you in that faith. I have shown you, 
 that the revealed will of God is your only sure guide 
 in the way to salvation ; that a full revelation of his 
 will, concerning the method and terms of your salvation, 
 is contained in the writings of the New Testament; — 
 that those writings are genuine and authentic, and 
 have been faithfully transmitted to us ; — and that, 
 if you neglect the means of salvation which God has 
 appointed, and seek for it in any other way, you will 
 not only fail of it in the end, but likewise render 
 yourselves inexcusable in his sight. 
 
 I beseech you therefore to weigh and consider what I 
 have written for your use, with such seriousness, attention, 
 and impartiality, as the importance of these things most 
 manifestly requires and deserves ; and to take great care 
 
 y 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, 17. ' Collect for second Sunday in Advent, 
 
 Compare 1 Cor. x. 11. 
 
204 BISHOP Gibson's third pastoral letter, 
 
 that your inquiries after truth be wholly free from the in- 
 fluences of profit or pleasure, pride or passion, and from 
 all views and considerations whatsoever, except a sincere 
 desire and intention to know and do the will of God, in 
 order to secure your eternal salvation. 
 
 And that, in the pursuit of this great work, your own 
 endeavors maybe ever accompanied with the Divine 
 direction and assistance, is the hearty and earnest 
 prayer of 
 
 Your faithful friend and pastor, 
 
 EDMUND LONDON. 
 
LETTERS ON INFIDELITY, 
 
 BY GEORGE HORNE, D.D. 
 
 [LATE BISHOP OF NORWICH.] 
 
 AUTHOR OF A LETTER TO DOCTOR ADAM SMITH. 
 
 The doctrine of Epicurus is ever ruinous to Society : It had its rise when 
 Greece was declining, and pei'haps hastened its dissolution, as also that of Rome ; 
 it is now propagated in .France and England, and seems likely to produce the 
 same effect in both.— Gray, Memoir, p. 202. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The tracts which follow were in the first instance 
 published separately, anonymously, and, as the con- 
 tents will show, in an order now inverted. The more 
 general interest and importance of the larger work; 
 and the fitness of the other to leave the reader both in 
 a proper frame of mind, and possessed of clear notions 
 of the contrast between the infidel and his principles 
 on the one hand, and the religion against which he set 
 himself, on the other ; were the reasons for this trans- 
 position. 
 
 The Letter to Dr. Smith was first published from the 
 Clarendon Press, without the author's name, in ITTT." 
 It attracted much notice, and very effectually answered 
 Us end, by awakening the public attention to the true 
 character of Hume and his then increasing school. 
 Several editions succeeded each other with rapidity; 
 and HoRNE, to whom the pamphlet was almost immedi- 
 ately ascribed, received the thanks and applauses of all 
 true friends of religion. 
 
 It was not to be expected that such a severe attack 
 
 * Hume died the 25th of August, 1776. His autobiography, entitled 
 My Own Life^ bears date April 18th of the same year. The Letter 
 from Adam Smith, LL. D., to William Strahan, Esq., which called 
 forth the animadversions of Horne, was published as a supplement to 
 Hume's Life. It is dated Nov. 9, 1776. 
 
 Vol. v.— 18 
 
200 PREFACE. 
 
 would be received in silence by Dr. Smith. An Apo- 
 logy for the Life and Death of Mr. Hume appeared, 
 but how soon, or in what form, I am ignorant. It was 
 confidently attributed to Dr. Smith by the periodical? 
 of the day, although generally allowed to be a weak 
 performance, and unworthy of its reputed author.'' 
 
 This pamphlet was one of the occasions for the ap- 
 pearance of the Letters on Infidelity. Other causes, 
 however, operated more immediately to the same effect. 
 The publication of Hume's pestilent Essays on Suicide 
 and the Immortality of the Soul, as " ascribed to him," 
 in 1783,« and the private, but diligent circulation, about 
 the same time, of the obscure and scurrilous production 
 answered in the eighth and following Letters, aroused 
 the just indignation of Dr. Home, and by affording a 
 fair object for the exercise of his satiric talent, tempted 
 him once more to inflict deserved chastisement upon 
 the enemies of Christianity. Accordingly, in 1784, he 
 at once replied to Dr. Smith's Apology, assumed the 
 new ground of attack on Hume afforded by the posthu- 
 mous publication of his Essays on Suicide,^ and gave 
 
 ^ It does not appear among Dr. Smith's collected works : but as 
 this is also the case with the Letter to Wm. Strahan, Esq., the circum- 
 stance affords no evidence against the correctness of the supposition 
 that he was the author. 
 
 •■' Thirty years before, these Essays had been prepared by their 
 author for publication in a volume which then appeared. But after 
 they had been actually printed, and a few copies privately circulated, 
 iNliller, the publisher, was induced by a threat of prosecution to cancel 
 them, though much against the author's will. The few copies in ex- 
 istence were consequently scarce and dear, until the edition of 1783, 
 in 12nio., made the work generally accessible. To this edition, it 
 is true, the editor pretended to affix "remarks intended as an anti- 
 dote ;" but more probably designed as an evasion of the danger of 
 prosecution. 
 
 d If this posthumous publication had been against the author's will, 
 or even without his consent, he could hardly have been held justly 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 201 
 
 to the Doubts of the Infidels the answer which they 
 merited, in his Letters on Infidelity by the author of 
 * A Letter to Dr. Adam Smith,'' printed, like the ' Let- 
 ter,' at the Clarendon Press, Oxford. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that there are some featm'es 
 in both these tracts which tend to unfit them for re- 
 publication, and lessen their claims to be considered as 
 ' standard works.' There is an air oi personality about 
 them which seems to militate against general utility. 
 The obsure production which occupies so much of the 
 Letters on Infidelity has long since met with its de- 
 served oblivion. The allusions which give some of 
 Horne's sarcasms their poignancy have lost the in- 
 terest which they derived from the affairs of the day, 
 and almost cease to be intelligible. 
 
 Yet there are overbalancing considerations to justify 
 their selection. The Letter to Adam Smith cannot be 
 needless so long as the fact which occasioned it meets 
 with extensive circulation, and insinuates its falsehoods 
 in the public ear. This is the case as yet, and likely 
 so to be ; for Hume's History of England has not 
 been superseded, and to every edition of that work his 
 ' Own Life,'' and Dr. Smith's supplementary Letter, 
 are prefixed. 
 
 The Doubts of the Infidels, against which so large a 
 portion of the wit and reasoning in the other Letters 
 is directed, are, it is true, forgotten. But the arguments 
 which Horne selects from that work for animadversion 
 are the very same — often in the very same language — 
 which are at this day in the mouth of every victim of 
 the seductions of the infidel school. They are invari- 
 
 liable for its contents. But the circumstances stated in the preceding 
 note, on the authority of the Monthly Review^ ("Vol. LXX. p. 828,) 
 show tliat Horne's procedure was entirely fair. 
 
202 PREFACE. 
 
 ably given in the shortest form ; the ridicule thrown on 
 them attaches to the so-called reasoning, not to the 
 vehicle ; the answers are as available now, as when first 
 given; if the references to pages were omitted, the reader 
 would scarcely have grounds to surmise that the quota- 
 tions were not taken from the daily fanfaronade of the 
 modern tribe of doubters. 
 
 On the other hand, the plain, matter-of-fact style of 
 these Letters, — the simplicity and honest openness of 
 their reasoning — the brevity and intelligibility of all 
 the answers given to objections and difficulties started, 
 and the very commonness of those objections and diffi- 
 culties — and, more especially, the lively warmth and 
 rich vein of humor which pervade the whole, abundantly 
 compensate for the slight attendant disadvantages. The 
 work was pronounced by a contemporary critic " well 
 calculated to suit the turn of the age ;" and the recom- 
 mendation still holds good. It will command attention 
 where serious expostulation and sound argument would 
 meet with utter neglect ; and it will furnish the Chris- 
 tian with weapons for his warfare against unbelief, 
 better adapted to the light chit-chat character of the 
 learning and controversy of the day, than even the 
 armor of proof laid up in the storehouses of Leslie, 
 and Lardner, and Butler. 
 
 The letters on the subject of suicide, it may be 
 thought, are hardly defensible, even on these grounds : 
 — Why give so much prominence to silly ravings, too 
 contemptible to deserve notice ? — In the first place, it 
 may be answered, they are worthy of preservation as a 
 specimen of the fruits of infidelity. It is well that, as 
 such, they should be dragged forth to the glare of open 
 day — and if exposed, they must be treated with their 
 due contumely. — Secondly ; bad as they are, these 
 arguments for suicide are the best producible : and 
 
PREFACE. $203 
 
 while instances of the crime continue to occur, and the 
 heartless skepticism, which, more than any thing else, 
 contributes to its perpetuation, still finds proselytes, — 
 there is propriety in exhibiting, again and again, its 
 utter destitution of excuse. 
 
 As vehicles of truth, it is on their reasoning that 
 these tracts must depend for their efiiciency; and in 
 that respect they will not be found wanting. Few 
 treatises of equal brevity comprise more, and more 
 cogent arguments against the cold, heartless system 
 which would degrade man to the level of the perishing 
 brute ; — few exhibit with equal clearness the contrast 
 between the consequences of that system and the effects 
 of the blessed Gospel of everlasting life. The ridicule 
 with which Horne has given such new zest to his 
 defence of revelation, will be useful as a support of the 
 truth thus displayed — a weapon against the error already 
 pointed out. It was thus that he intended it should be 
 regarded — " not as a test of truth," but as a legitimate 
 means of recommending its reception, and warding off 
 the assaults of falsehood. — There are, doubtless, many 
 assailable points of infidelity against which Horne has 
 wielded neither his light shafts of raillery nor his more 
 solid array of reasoning ; there may be many objections 
 which he has neither brought forward, nor attempted 
 to obviate : his design was not to exhaust the subject, 
 but, as it were, by a predatory incursion on the enemy's 
 territory, to show the weakness of his defences. It 
 would have been a hopeless, and in all likelihood an 
 equally useless task, to examine in a similar manner aU 
 that perverted ingenuity has raked together to do de^ 
 spite to the truth of God. The following remarks of 
 W. Jones, of Nayland, with reference to this subject^ 
 are worthy of all attention. 
 
 ^' If Christians are bound to answer ao long as infidels 
 
204 PREFACE. 
 
 will object, who never wish to be satisfied, and are 
 probably incapable of being so, their lot would be 
 rather hard, and much of their time unprofitably spent. 
 The gentlemen of the long robe attend the court, not 
 to answer the scruples which felons may entertain about 
 the principles of justice, but to administer the law; 
 otherwise their work would never be done : — and it is 
 the business of the clergy to preach the Gospel to the 
 people ; it was the part of God, who gave the word, to 
 prove it to the world by prophecies and miracles. The 
 prophecies are as strong as ever ; some of them more 
 so than formerly : and miracles are not to be repeated 
 for proof; after the world hath once been persuaded, 
 all is then left to testimony and education. Before 
 Moses gave the law, he showed signs and wonders ; 
 but when the law was once received, parents were to 
 tell their children, and confirm the truth by the memo- 
 rials that were left of it. It therefore lies upon our 
 adversaries to show, how it came to pass, on any of 
 Ikeir principles, that men like themselves, as much dis- 
 posed to make objections, should receive the Scripture 
 as the word of God in the several nations of the world, 
 and receive it at the peril of their lives : a fact which 
 they cannot deny. Let them also try to account for it, 
 on their own principles, how the Jews have been stroll- 
 ing about the world for seventeen hundred years, as 
 witnesses to the Scripture, and to the sentence therein 
 passed upon themselves. Till they can do these things, 
 it is nothing but an evasion to cavil about words and 
 passages — a certain mark of prejudice and perverse- 
 ness. They know they cannot deny the whole ; but as 
 they must appear to be doing something, they flatter 
 their pride by keeping up a skirmish, and perplex weak 
 people, by raising difficulties about the parts. This 
 was the expedient on which Mr. Voltaire bestowed 
 
PREFACE. 305 
 
 SO much labor. It does not appear to me that he 
 really thought the facts of Christianity to be false ; but 
 that his vanity and perverseness tempted him to ridicule 
 the Bible, without denying to his mind that God was 
 the author of it : in fact, that he was a Theomachistj 
 who hated the truth, knowing it to be such, and braved 
 the authority of heaven itself: or, in the words of 
 Herbert, that he was a man 
 
 " Who makes flat war with God, and doth defy 
 With his poor clod of earth, the spacious sky." 
 
 If a religion to which the nature of man is so hostile, 
 did actually make its way without force, and against the 
 utmost cruelty and discouragement from the world ; 
 that fact was a miracle, including within itself a thou- 
 sand other miracles."^ 
 
 Jones' Life of Home, p. 131, 5.\ cd, Lond. 1799. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 " Dr. Horne was no circumnavigator : he neither 
 sailed with Drake, Anson, nor Cook : but he M^as a man 
 whose mind surveyed the intellectual world, and brought 
 home from thence many excellent observations for the 
 benefit of his native country. He was no military com- 
 mander ; he took no cities ; he conquered no countries; 
 but he spent his life in subduing his passions, and in 
 teaching us how to do the same. He fought no battles 
 by land or by sea; but he opposed the enemies of God 
 and his truth, and obtained some victories which are 
 worthy to be recorded. He was no prime minister to 
 any earthly potentate ; but he was a minister to the 
 King of heaven and earth : an ofiice at least as useful 
 to mankind, and in the administration of which no 
 minister to an earthly king ever exceeded him in zeal 
 and fidelity. He made no splendid discoveries in na- 
 tural history ; but he did what was better: he applied 
 universal nature to the improvement of the mind, and 
 the illustrations of heavenly doctrines. I call these 
 events: not such as make a great noise and signify 
 little ; but such as are little celebrated and of great sig- 
 nification." Thus his honest and warm-hearted biogra- 
 pher consoled himself when reminded of the paucity of 
 event in the life which he had undertaken to narrate. 
 There was reason both for the complaint and for the 
 consolation. Few celebrated men have passed a life of 
 such smooth and even tenor — so wholly destitute of 
 diversifying changes and occurrences, as that of Bishop 
 Horne ; and yet, by making his biography the history 
 of his studies and opinions, Jones'" has rendered it in- 
 
 ' [The Rev. William Jones, generally called (from his last resi- 
 dence, and to distinguish him from his illustrious namesake vSir Wil- 
 liam Jones,) Jones of Nayland, — was born in 1726, being a few years 
 the senior of the man whose history and character he has perpetuated. 
 He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and on the completion of his 
 course, was admitted to deacons' orders in 1749. — In 1751 he took priests' 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 sot 
 
 teresting and instructive in a degree to which few nar- 
 ratives, however replete with incident and varying 
 
 orders and removed to a curacy at Fencdon, in his native county. Here 
 with the assistance of Home, he composed his first w^ork, an Ansxcer 
 to Clayton's Essaxj on Spirit. From that time he devoted himself 
 assiduously to the maintenance and propagation of the Hutchinsonian 
 system, and to the defence of the doctrines and discipline of the Church 
 of England against its enemies of every name. He was a Churchman 
 of the school of Hickes and Leslie, with less learning perhaps, but 
 more knowledge of men and things, and no less shrewdness and ability. 
 His Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity, maintaining that article of faith 
 by a collection and comparison of texts of Scripture, has never been 
 either answered or superseded. It appeared in 1754, and was enlarged 
 by a Letter to the Common People, in ansicer to some popular argu- 
 ments against the Trinity, in 1767. His first philosophical work was 
 published in 17G2, by the title of An Essay on the First Principles of 
 Natural Philosophy, 4to. It led to the establishment of a subscription 
 by persons favorable to the Hutchinsonian views, for the purpose of 
 enabling him to prosecute a course of experiments on an extensive 
 scale, for the elucidation and establishment of the principles developed 
 ' in that view. 
 
 In 1764, he was presented to the vicarage of Bethersden, in Kent, 
 by Archbishop Seeker. There he added to his income, by the tuition 
 of a few pupils in his family. In 1765, the same liberal patron pre- 
 sented him to the preferable living of Pluckley, also in Kent. His re- 
 moval, however, did not break off either his philosophical pursuits, or 
 his engagements as a teacher, both of which he contrived to carry on 
 in addition to the most exemplary discharge of his parochial duties. 
 His Reasonable Caution against Errors in Doctrine, in 1769 ; i?e- 
 marks on the " Confessional," in 1770 ; Zoologia Ethica, in 1772 ; 
 Dissertations on Ldfe and Death, in 1772; Disquisitions on select 
 subjects of Scripture, in 1773 ; and Reflections on the Growth of Hea- 
 thenism, in 1776, all attest his unwearied diligence, and his watchful- 
 ness to resist the inroads of error, while resident at Pluckley. 
 
 In 1776 he removed from Pluckley, to the perpetual curacy of Nay- 
 land, in Suffolk, which he ever after made his residence. He was about 
 this time chosen fellow of the Royal Society. In 1781, the results of 
 his philosophical pursuits appeared in his Physiological Disquisitions ; 
 or Discourses concerning the Natural Philosophy of the Elements, in 
 4to. His celebrated Essays on the Figurative Language of Scripture, 
 pubUshed in 1788, was his next production, and is that by which, next 
 to his Doctrine of the Trinity, he is best known. Several smaller 
 tracts, including his popular Essay on the Church, and his Church- 
 man^ s Catechism, were issued about this period, for the benefit of his 
 parishioners. Two volumes of Sermons succeeded, in 1790. The 
 political commotions of that period involved his active and benevolent 
 mind in fresh efforts to do good. The estabUshment of the British 
 Critic, and the publication of that invaluable collection of tracts, The 
 Scholar Armed, were among the number. 
 
 The infirmities of age now coming fast upon him, obliged him to 
 discontinue the reception of pupils, and to supply the diminution of in- 
 come thus produced, he was presented by another Archbishop of Can- 
 
208 MEMOIR. 
 
 scenery, can pretend.'^ It will be easy to comprise the 
 facts of Bishop Home's history, extracted from that 
 hife, within the narrow compass that can be allotted to 
 this Memoir ; but the spirit of that useful work cannot 
 be so easily preserved. He who would see the scholar, 
 without affectation of learning — the Christian rendered 
 cheerful and companionable by his lively faith, humble 
 without grovelling or meanness, and zealous without 
 bigotry — the minister of Christ fully sensible of the 
 responsibility of his high calling, and unremittingly 
 employed in its duties — the friend true to his affection, 
 and carrying his friendship beyond the bounds of time 
 and temporal relation — the man of wit and eloquence 
 devoting those rare talents with singleness of heart to 
 his Maker's service : — this character, which truly be- 
 longed to Home, he will find displayed to view in 
 Jones' work, and must go there for it — for it is only 
 by entering at length, as he has done, into the studies 
 and professional pursuits of a quiet but useful life, that 
 it can be portrayed in its true colours. 
 
 George Horne was born on the 1st of November, 
 in the year 1730, at Otham in Kent, of which his father, 
 che Rev. Samuel Horne, was rector. From this parent 
 he probably inherited that amiability of disposition for 
 which he was afterwards so eminently distinguished. 
 " He was of so mild and quiet a temper," says Jones, 
 speaking of the father, " that he studiously avoided 
 giving trouble on any occasion ;" and proceeds to re- 
 
 terbiiry to the sinecure rectory of HoIIingbourn in Kent, in 1798. His 
 Discourse on the Use 'and Intention of some remarkable Passages of 
 the Scriptures, published in the following year, closed the long list of his 
 contributions to theological and physical learning. The death of his 
 wife, soon after, plunged hixn in deep affliction, and was followed by an 
 attack of partial paralysis, under which he gradually sunk until Febru- 
 ary 6, 1800, when his honest and useful life was closed by a peaceful 
 death, without sigh or groan, in the 74th year of his age.] 
 
 b [Memoirs of the Life, Studies, and Writings of the Right Re- 
 verend George Horne, D. D., late Lord Bishop of Norwich ; with a 
 Prefatory Epistle to William Stevens, Esq. ; Dr. Home's own Collec- 
 tion of his Thoughts on a variety of great and interesting subjects ; 
 and a Letter to the Hon. L [ord] K [enyon] on the Use of the Hebrew 
 Language. By William Jones, M. A. F. R. S. one of his Lordship's 
 Chai)lains. London, 1795.— A second edition appeared in 1799, with 
 the addition of ^ New Preface, on certain interesting points in Theo- 
 logy and Philosophy.] 
 
MEMOIR. 209 
 
 late a singular instance — that when his son George was 
 an infant, he used to wake him with playing upon a 
 flute, for the purpose of preventing the unpleasant sen- 
 sation of sudden waking. " What impression this early 
 custom of his father might make upon his temper," the 
 biographer remarks, with much naivete, " we cannot 
 say : but certainly, he was remarkable, as he grew up, 
 for a tender feeling of music, especially that of the 
 church." 
 
 Nothing more is recorded of his earliest years, ex- 
 cept that he made good progress in his studies under 
 the tuition of his father, until the age of thirteen, when 
 he was placed in a grammar school at Maidstone, near 
 his native village. There he continued two years, when 
 upon the vacancy of a Maidstone scholarship'' in Uni- 
 versity College, Oxford, he applied for it, succeeded, 
 and, young as he was, went directly to college, at the 
 recommendation of his master. He was admitted on 
 the 15th of March, 1746. 
 
 At college, among many others whom his amiable 
 manners and a community of pursuits attached to him, 
 young Home became intimate with Mr. Jinkinson, 
 afterwards the Earl of Liverpool, and Mr. Moore, the 
 predecessor of Archbishop Sutton in the see of Canter- 
 bury, a connexion which, unquestionably, was in some 
 measure subservient to his advancement in after life. 
 
 His character was such as fully to justify the predi- 
 lection of his friends. It stood equally high Avith all 
 Avho knew him ; of this the manner of his election to a 
 fellowship furnished an agreeable evidence. Shortly 
 after he had taken his Bachelor's degree, (Oct. 27th, 
 1749,) a Kentish fellowship'^ in Magdalen College be- 
 came vacant ; and there was no person in the college 
 qualified to fill it. The senior fellow of University 
 College, hearing of the circumstance, w^ithout consulting 
 Mr. Home, took immediate measures to secure his 
 election to the vacancy, and was successful. This 
 measure, in itself such a pleasing testimony of esteem, 
 both in him who gave the recommendation, and in 
 
 <= A scholarship founded upon condition of its being ahvays filled 
 from the school of Maidstone. 
 
 'I One which, by the founder's prescription, was to be filled with a 
 native of the county of Kent. 
 
210 MEMOIR. 
 
 those who acted upon it, had an important influence on 
 the remainder of his life. Of the society in which, by 
 this election, he became a member, he was subsequently 
 chosen head. His Mastership introduced him to the 
 office of Vice-Chancellor of the University. In this 
 station he became acquainted with the Chancellor, Lord 
 Guilford, (afterward Lord North ;) and of this acquaint- 
 ance the Deanery of Canterbury and Bishopric of Nor- 
 wich were unquestionably the results. Thus was silent 
 and unobtrusive merit the instrument, in the hand of 
 Providence, of procuring its own reward, in the be- 
 stowal of honorable and responsible employment. 
 
 But Home's college friendships had an influence on 
 his studies and principles even more important than 
 that on his professional career. While yet an under- 
 graduate, they engaged him in a course of reading, and 
 led him to imbibe opinions, that were to him as a polar 
 star through life. Jones, his most intimate friend, had 
 been drawn by his fondness for music into an ac- 
 quaintance with some gentlemen of another college, 
 who combined that noble recreation with studies of a 
 severer cast. They were followers of Hutchinson,* 
 and warm advocates of his peculiar opinions. '^ Jones 
 
 ^ [John Hutchinson, a respectable layman, steward to an English 
 nobleman, has become famous rather through the merits of his followers 
 than by his own. The praise of unfeigned piety, ardent zeal for what 
 he deemed the truth, and great ingenuity in its investigation and sup- 
 port, must be unhesitatingly awarded him. His learning, though by 
 no means inconsiderable, was eccentric and ill-digested, and crudely 
 scattered through a strange farrago of philosophical, pbilological, theo- 
 Idgical, and controversial writings, collected in a uniform edition of no 
 less than twelve octavo volumes, in 1748. Hutchinson was horn at 
 Spennythorn, in Yorkshire, in 1674, and died in 1737. — Bate (Julius), 
 Spearman, Parkhurst, the Lord President Forbes, Bishop Horne, 
 Jones of Nayland, Bishop Horsley, and the Rev. T. T. Biddulph, 
 are the best known among the advocates of Hutchinson's opinions, 
 which, however, neither of the four last named adopted in all respects.] 
 
 f [Thee opinions occupy too prominent a place in the life and 
 writings of Horne to be passed over without an attempt at their descrip- 
 tion. Some of them are common to all sincere recipients of the ' faith 
 once delivered to the saints' by Christ and his apostles. Of others, 
 the rank assigned them is the chief peculiarity. Others belong exclu- 
 sively to Hutchinson and his followers. 
 
 A deep reverence for the authority of the Scriptures, and entire sub- 
 mission to their teaching — a disposition to seek for God, to see traces 
 of his goodness, and wisdom, and power, in every thing — an ardent 
 devotion to the study and interpretation of his revealed will — a firm 
 
MEMOIR. 211 
 
 became a thorough convert to their views, and held 
 frequent conferences on the subject with his friend. 
 At first, he found Home reluctant to bestow any atten- 
 tion on the novel, and at that time not only unfashion- 
 able but obnoxious system. Gradually, however, he 
 won upon him, and before their first college year was 
 completed, succeeded in imparting a share of the in- 
 
 belief in the doctrine of the triune godhead — an entire reliance on 
 the atoning sacrifice and mediatorial intercession of Christ Jesus, at 
 the alone procuring cause of our salvation — an humble acknowledg- 
 ment of human depravity and helplessness, and the absolute need of thf 
 renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit : — these are 
 traits of the Hutchinsonian system which must belong to the Christian 
 •characterj wherever it exists in its integrity, but which it is the glory 
 of the Hutchinsonians to have manifested with a distinctness and bold- 
 ness both uncommon and unpopular in their age of cold and lifeless 
 theology. 
 
 The derivation of aZZ religious knowledge from divine revelation, and 
 consequent utter worthlessness of all speculations on pretended natural 
 religion — the uselessness and dangerous tendency of heathen learning, 
 in the extent to which professed philologers often carry its pretension? 
 — the entire correspondence of the Old and New Testaments in doc- 
 trine and precept— the revelation of divine things by means of typet^ 
 and symbols, principally in the sacred history and laws, but to a very 
 great extent in the natural creation, which is thus applicable as a 
 sensible evidence to the truth of Scripture — the inseparable connexion 
 of Christ's promises with his Church — the value and necessity of the 
 ordinances which God has thought proper to associate with his Word, 
 as means of grace and pledges of salvation : — these are points on which 
 the Hutchinsonians, though they hold them in common with many, ii 
 not the majority of devout Christians, lay peculiar stress; never suffer- 
 ing them to be wholly out of view, and regarding them as essential tc 
 the integrity of a system of Christian belief and practice. 
 
 A physico-theological interpretation of Scripture, is the one great 
 distinctive feature of the system, into which all its minor peculiarities 
 may be resolved. The Hutchinsonians receive the naked text of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, associated with the New Testament and interpreted 
 by that completer revelation, as the sole basis of all knowledge of things 
 spiritual and material. They indignantly reject the vowel-points, and 
 Masoretic notes, as Jewish corruptions, and regard the whole body of 
 Rabbinical lexicography and comment with entire abhorrence. They 
 consider the Hebrew language as the primeval tongue, framed by the 
 Creator himself, and perfect in its structure. In consequence of this, 
 they attach great importance to the divine names and the terms em- 
 ployed to designate the relations and dealings of God with man, in the 
 Old Testament; and from etymological interpretations of these, draw 
 many arguments and inferences in support of the distinctive features 
 of the Gospel.— They derive from the Scriptures, and especially the 
 Mosaic account of the creation and the deluge, a system of natural phi- 
 losophy variant in many respects from that of Newton : particularly 
 Vol. v.— 19 
 
212 MEMOIR, 
 
 terest which he himself experienced. A Mr. Watson/ 
 an amiable and gentlemanly scholar, resident in the 
 same college, completed the work, and fixed in the 
 young academician an unalterable attachment to the 
 study of Hebrew, the peculiarities of the Hutchinson- 
 ian philosophy,, and those pure, uncompromising, and 
 
 in denying the possibility of a vacuum, the inertness of matter, and the 
 doctrines of gravitation, and of attraction and repulsion ; and in ascrib- 
 ing all the phenomena of the universe to a triune material agent — fin. 
 existing at the central solar orb — light, which is fire in eflSux — and 
 •spirit, or ether, which is the same on its return to the central orb. On 
 this last particular they lay much stress, as an illustration of the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity,— Lastly, they consider the cherubim, of which 
 mention is made in the Mosaic books and in Ezekiel, as identical with 
 the 'beasts' (a miserable translation of (,wa animals, living things,) 
 in the Revelations, and symbolical of the mysterious union of the three 
 Divine Persons with the human nature of Christ. 
 
 That none of these opinions are untenable as philosophical tenets, 
 and that others are little less objectionable in a historical and critical 
 point of view, will scarcely be questioned. But it must be admitted 
 that, with some rubbish, this system contains much sterling bullion 
 It rather errs in carrying principles, founded on truth, to injudicious 
 excess, than in broaching any thing untrue or hurtful. Its tendency, 
 if experience, the surest criterion at least of practical effect, may be 
 allowed to decide, is good — to promote the love of God and man- 
 and to extend the reign of that wisdom which ' is pure and peace- 
 able.' Its maintainers have been Churchmen of the highest grade and 
 the truest piety — a piety which none have ever dared to call in ques- 
 tion. They have ever been among the most fearless opponents of 
 wickedness in high places and all the delusions of Satan^ combating 
 sin, and infideUty, and error, in every shape, with determined boldness 
 and unwearied assiduity. To borrow the words of Conybeare, in his 
 Bampton Lectures — " they earnestly recommended and diligently 
 practised the study of the sacred language, the comparison of Scripture 
 with Scripture, the investigation of the typical character of the elder 
 covenant, and of the perfect and universal spirituality of the new ; they 
 never lost sight of the soundness of Christian doctrine, or the necessity 
 of grounding evangelical precepts upon evangelical principles. It can- 
 not be remembered, indeed, without gratitude, that their views of the 
 Mosaic and Christian dispensations were the views of men of no com- 
 mon intellects or attainments ; that to this source, under one yet higher, 
 we owe the Christian spirit which attracts, and delights, and edifies, in 
 the pure and affectionate ministrations of Horne, which instructs 
 and convinces in the energetic and invaluable labors of Horsley." 
 
 « Of this gentleman, Jones speaks in the highest terms, (Life of 
 Horne, p. 25-30, 2d ed.) and attributes the first suggestions of Horne's 
 admirable Commentary on the Psalms, to a sermon on the nineteenth 
 Psalm, preached by Mr. Watson before the University soon after the 
 commencement of his acquaintance with the then young collegian, on 
 whom it produced an extraordinary impression. 
 
MEMOIR. 213 
 
 eminently scriptural religious principles which have 
 given lasting value to his character. 
 
 The consequence was, a fresh ardor of devotion to his 
 studies, partly tha|; he might investigate the claims of 
 the new principles he had embraced, and partly with a 
 view to set them in a stronger light, and add new force 
 to their pretensions. His stay at college during the 
 vacation for the better prosecution of these favorite 
 pursuits, and a series of letters to his father, filling 
 thirty closely written quarto pages, in which he detailed 
 their progress, attest his earnestness. 
 
 With the warmth of a new convert, the young Hutch- 
 insonian made his first appearance as an author, in his 
 twentieth year, by an anonymous attack upon the New- 
 tonian philosophy.^ Hutchinson had conceived an 
 opinion that Newton, Clarke, and others, were 
 leagued against Christianity with Toland and their 
 other deistical contemporaries, and that the Newtonian 
 system was to be the great engine for the subversion of 
 the Gospel and the estabhshment of Pantheism on its 
 ruins. To this Home hastily assented, and in the 
 ardor of his zeal, attempted to expose the fancied con- 
 spiracy, in a sarcastic parallel between the Heathen 
 doctrine as exhibited in Cicero's Somnium Scipionis, 
 and the philosophy of Newton. Even Jones does not 
 attempt to defend this juvenile production, but censures 
 its " faulty flights and wanderings," and " impropriety 
 of style and manner." 
 
 Two years passed in the assiduous prosecution of the 
 studies thus begun and publicly espoused, before Home 
 again appeared as a writer. Continual and impartial 
 discussion of the principles which he had adopted, not 
 only with their most distinguished supporters, but also 
 with several of their ablest opponents, had strengthened 
 and settled Home's convictions of their truth, and at 
 the same time qualified him to base their defence more 
 solidly and surely than in his first eager eflfort. Ac- 
 
 h The Theology and Philosophy in Cicero^s Somnium Scipioni* 
 explained ; or a brief Attempt to demonstrate that the Newtonian 
 System is perfectly agreeable to the Notions of the wisest Ancients ; 
 and that mathematical Principles are the only sure ones. Bxo. Lon- 
 don, 1751, 
 
•^14 MEMOIR. 
 
 cordingly, his second production,' devoted to the same 
 object as the first, was of a very different character. 
 Jones has in no respect exceeded the bounds of strict 
 justice, when he describes it as " a mild and serious 
 pamphlet," which " certainly is, what it calls itself, 
 fair, candid, and impartial; and" in which "the 
 merits of the cause are very judiciously stated between 
 the two parties." 
 
 In the mean while, he had taken his Master's degree 
 ill 1752, and had been occupied in diligent preparation 
 tor holy orders, to which he was admitted by the Bishop 
 of Oxford, on Trinity Sunday, 1753. Few assume the 
 sacred office with better qualifications for its apt dis- 
 charge, or better dispositions for a faithful performance 
 of its duties, than he possessed. In church principles, 
 ■A professed disciple of Leslie, Hickes, and Law,^' 
 stored with the theology of Jeremy Taylor and of 
 Jacksox,' with piety kindled, under the gracious influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit, at the torch of Law°^ and 
 AN'DREWs,f^ he presented himself in simplicity and godly 
 
 i Afaii\ candid, and impartial State of the Case between Sir Isaac 
 Newtmi and Mr. Hutchinson ; in which is shoipn, how Jar a System- 
 of Physics is capable of Mathematical Demonstration ; how far Sir 
 haac's^ as such a System, has that Demonstration ; and consequently 
 mhat regard Mr. Hutchinson's Claim may deserve to have paid it. 
 8vo. Oxford, 1753. 
 
 k Life, &.C. p. 69, ^'. " The works of the Rev. Charles Leslie, 
 \n. two volumes foUo, may be considered as a Ubrary in themselves to 
 ;n:y young student — and no such person, who takes a fancy to what 
 he there finds, can ever fall into Socinianism, fanaticism, Poper\', oi 
 liny other of those more modern corruptions. — Every treatise compre- 
 liended in that collection is incomparable in its way," cays Jon'es, 
 ii;iving an account of their discovery by Home. 
 
 1 Life, &c. p. 76. 
 
 " lb. p. 74. HoRXE was far from accompanying that eminent prac- 
 tical writer to the extremes of asceticism and mystic absurdity to which 
 he suffered himself to be seduced. Not only did he carefully draw the 
 line between the devotion of Law and his blameworthy reveries, but to 
 assist others in making the distinction drew up an essay, entitled Cau- 
 tions to the Readers of Mr. Laic, which was published by Joxes in 
 thc Appendix to his Life. 
 
 ° Life, p. 82. Home first met with Bishop Andrews' Manual of 
 Private Devotions in the College Library, and having perused it with 
 riuch delight himself, assiduously recommended it to his friends. He 
 subsequently published a handsome edition of Dean Stanhope's trans- 
 lation of the work, with a recommendatory preface. He also drew ui> 
 a short account of the hfc and character of Bishop Andrews, published 
 
MEMOIR. 215 
 
 sincerity, as one willing to spend and be spent in his 
 Master's service. His prayer was, as he worded it in 
 correspondence with a friend — " May he, who ordered 
 Peter three times to feed his lambs, give me grace, 
 knowledge, and skill, to watch and attend to the flock 
 xvhich he purchased upon the cross, and to give rest to 
 those who are under the burden of sin or sorrow ! It 
 hath pleased God to call me to the ministry in very 
 troublesome times indeed ; when a lion and a bear have 
 broken into the fold, and are making havoc among the 
 sheep. With a firm, though humble confidence do I 
 purpose to go forth ; not in my own strength, but in 
 the strength of the Lord God ; and may he prosper the 
 work of my hands.'-' 
 
 From the very commencement of his ministry, he 
 rendered himself distinguished as a preacher, and by his 
 evident sincerity and earnestness, recommended by an 
 unaffected flowing style, and graceful elocution, ac- 
 quired a popularity not only among those who favored 
 his peculiar opinions, but among persons of every sen- 
 timent and class, which lasted during life. His fertile 
 mind supplied him abundantly with apt illustration and 
 beautiful imagery, while his good sense prevented the 
 abuse of stores so easily misapplied, and preserved a 
 characteristic plainness and simplicity even in his most 
 ornamented discourses. But the Christian humility and 
 zeal which breathed in every line, was, and yet is, their 
 greatest charm. He wrote as one constrained by the 
 love of Christ, living not to himself, but to Him who 
 died for all ! He had imbibed the spirit of the Gospel of 
 salvation, and transmitted it, unalloyed, to those whom 
 it fell to his lot to teach. 
 
 The first three years of his ministerial course appear 
 to have been spent in the quiet seclusion of college-life, 
 occupied in studies appropriate to his profession, ° and 
 
 in the second volume of the Scholar Armed. So great was his admira- 
 tion of that learned and holy man, that he is reported to have said ' he 
 wished no higher place in heaven than to sit at Bishop Andrews' feet.' 
 The attraction was that of kindred character. 
 
 ' The fruit of these appeared in a severe, but just, reproof of the 
 strange vagaries in theology compiled by Shuckford in the supple- 
 ment to his Connexions.-^ Spicilegium Shuckfordianum ; d^c. 13mo. 
 LondoHj 1754. 
 
 19* 
 
216 MEMOIR. 
 
 in the regular routine of university preaching.? That 
 his character as a minister of the Gospel was not sunk 
 in that of a mere student, is evident from the choice of 
 Dumas, an unhappy criminal then under sentence of 
 death at Oxford, who of his own accord requested the 
 attendance of Home, and received his conscientious 
 attention even at the sacrifice of his health, which was 
 considerably affected for a length of lime by the trying 
 .scenes of that most distressing branch of ministerial 
 duty. 
 
 In 1756 he was called once more before the public in 
 vindication of his Hutchinsonian principles — ^or rather, 
 in this instance, of the great doctrines of the Gospel 
 wliich he had preached, in the University or elsewhere, 
 with faithfulness and zeal. An anonymous attack, in 
 wliich he Avas specified by name,'"' gave occasion to his 
 Apology,' a production which, apart from the actual 
 merits of the controversy, did him great credit as a 
 scholar, a Christian, and a clergyman. He had been 
 treated with insolence, but replied with Christian for- 
 bearance and undisturbed good humor. His peculiar 
 opinions he defended with readiness — his friends thought, 
 with triumphant success ; and he showed satisfactorily 
 that they had been merely a cover for the real object of 
 attack — the truth and spirit of Christianity, which he as 
 successfully maintained v/ith argument that to this day 
 retains its interest and value. 
 
 Notwithstanding many attempts to throw odium upon 
 his character, as a propounder of some strange doctrine, 
 and a disturber of the public harmony, Home's reputa- 
 tion for all that is estimable in a scholar and a divine 
 
 p Three occasional sermons, two preached before the Universitj', ant! 
 one in his own coilege, were pubUshcd in the years 1755 and 175G. 
 
 <» A Word to the Hutchinsonians ; or Remarks on three extraordi- 
 nary Sermons, lately 'preached before the University of Oxford, by 
 the Rev. Dr. Patten, the Rev. Mr. Wethercl, and the Rev. Mr. 
 Home : 8vo. This pamphlet was attributed to Dr. Kexnicott, the 
 celebrated collator of the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament. 
 
 ' An Apology for certain gentlemen in the University of Oxford, 
 aspersed in a late anonymous Pamphlet ; tcith a short postscript con- 
 r-erning another pamphlet lately published by the Rev. Mr. Heath- 
 rote : 8vo. Oxford, 1758. Ralph Heathcote, a disciple of the War- 
 burtonian school, had published a pamphlet of considerable bulk, a pro 
 fessed attack on the Hutchinsonians, It received a special answer from 
 Or. Patten, against whoai it had been more particularly directed. 
 
MEMOIR. 217 
 
 grew daily. In 1758 he was chosen Junior Proctor of 
 the University — an office of trust and honor, and when, 
 after an exemplary discharge of its duties, in the course 
 of which he contracted a dangerous illness, his term of 
 office had expired, he received a public compliment of 
 the most gratifying nature. He was yet ill, and unable 
 to resign at the tJniversity meeting in person. The 
 officer whose place it was to state the fact, (Dr. Thiir- 
 low, afterward Bishop of Durham,) did so as follows ; 
 " As for the late Proctor, I shall speak of him but in 
 few words, for the truth of which I can appeal to all 
 that are here present. If ever virtue itself was visible 
 and dwelt upon earth, it was in the person who this day 
 lays dawn his office :" and so well did the public opinion 
 accord with this high eulogy, that it was received with 
 universal clapping ! At this time (April 27th, 1759,) he 
 took the degree of Bachelor in Divinity. 
 
 The next year found him engaged in a controversy 
 which at that time produced more noise, but possessed 
 less abiding interest, than its predecessor. Dr. Ken- 
 NicoTT had issued proposals for a new and very com- 
 plete collation of all the extant manuscripts of the He- 
 brew Scriptures, and to show the necessity of the 
 measure, had published two bulky volumes by the title 
 of Dissertations on the State of the Hebrew Text. 
 ttorne and several of his friends had been displeased 
 with the spirit of these works, and were suspicious of 
 the design itself, which they were intended to support. 
 They feared an ultimate intention to introduce a new 
 Socinianized version of the Scriptures, and an injurious 
 effect of the whole proceeding upon the standing of the 
 sacred text ; while they thought that Dr. Kennicott's 
 writings indicated a wish to find the text corrupt, and 
 that his labors tended to produce an undue regard for 
 literal criticism to the neglect of the true study of the 
 Scriptures as the source of spiritual knowledge. In some, 
 at least, of their suspicions, they were wrong ; and 
 time has proved that their fears were groundless : 
 nevertheless, we cannot but honor the manly zeal and 
 boldness with which Home stepped forth to oppose, (in 
 a spirited tract,*) what he deemed a measure threatening 
 
 A View of Mr. Kennicott's Method of correcting' the Hebretc 
 
218 MEMOIR. 
 
 evil to the Word and Church of God. Still less can 
 we withhold the award of admiration from the Christian 
 spirit with which, when his efforts had proved fruitless,* 
 he not only acquiesced in quietness, but actually con- 
 tracted a friendship with the man whom he had opposed, 
 lived in the interchange of every kind office with him, 
 and left an hereditary intimacy to his family. 
 
 Collegiate offices and controversy did not wholly en- 
 gross the time of Home, during this interval. His 
 Considerations on the Life and Death of John the Bap- 
 tist, one of the most engaging devotional works in our 
 language, were delivered before the University in the 
 form of lectures, on the annual returns of St. John the 
 Baptist's Day, from 1755 to 1762; though first pub- 
 lished in 1772. His Commentary on the Psalms, also, 
 the work by which he will be known, and for which his 
 memory will be loved and honored, as long as pure 
 devotion and the most exalteds piritual attainments can 
 command attention, was commenced in 1758. "The 
 work" he then wrote to his friend and biographer " de- 
 lights me greatly, and seems, so far as I can judge of 
 my own turn and talents, to suit me the best of any I 
 can think of. May he who hath ' the keys of David' 
 prosper it in my hand ; granting me the knowledge 
 and utterance necessary to make it serviceable to the 
 Church !" It was in hand nearly twenty years. On it 
 he concentered all his studies, and bestowed the most 
 assiduous pains, as well to exclude whatever might be 
 unnecessary or hurtful, as to perfect his design. Of 
 his scheme of interpretation there have been, and will 
 be, different opinions : of the practical tendency and 
 value of the book there can be but one — that it is among 
 the best companions for the Christian in the closet or 
 the parlor, a manual for his devotions and guide for 
 meditation. The first edition, in two volumes in quarto, 
 was published in 1776, and five other editions attested 
 its popularity before the conclusion of the century. 
 
 Text, with three Queries formed thereupon, and humbly submitted 
 to the Christian World. 8vo. Oxford. 
 
 ' Dr. Kennicott succeeded in procuring a liberal subscription for 
 the effectuation of his design. His splendid edition of the Hebrew 
 Text, with a very large (though still incomplete) collection of various 
 readings, appeared in two folio volumes, 1776, 1780. 
 
MEMOIR, 
 
 219 
 
 Several single sermons, and a pamphlet on the sub- 
 ject of a 'projected reformation of the Church of Eng- 
 land,' by our author, had appeared in the interval 
 between the year 1760 and 1776. He had also, in the 
 same interval, been admitted to the degree of Doctor 
 of Divinity in 1764 ; elected President of his college, 
 in 1768, on the death of Dr. Jenner ; married to the 
 daughter of Philip Burton, Esq. in the same year ; and 
 advanced to a royal chaplaincy, in 1771. 
 
 In 1776, he was chosen to the Vice-chancellorship of 
 the University ; a dignity which he retained until his 
 preferment to the Deanery of Canterbury, in 1781. In 
 the next year, his Letter to Dr. Adam Smith, though 
 published anonymously, procured him new celebrity, 
 and proved his talents in attack to be fully equal to 
 those which he had already displayed so often in de- 
 fence. This was succeeded by a collection of sermons, 
 in two volumes, published in 1779, and by several occa- 
 sional sermons, appearing at intervals from 1780 to 
 1784. 
 
 The Letters on Infidelity then came out, anony- 
 mously, but with no studied concealment of the author, 
 in 1784. Home was at that time residing alternately at 
 Oxford and Canterbury, beloved and respected by large 
 circles of acquaintances in both places, and preaching 
 frequently ; at Oxford, in his old station, the University 
 pulpit, whence a very large proportion of his published 
 discourses were delivered ; and at Canterbury, in the 
 Cathedral Church. A sermon on the ' Antiquity, Use, 
 and Excellence of Church Music' preached in the latter 
 place, on occasion of the opening of a new organ, in 
 1784: and another recommending Sunday Schools, 
 preached in one of the parish churches of Canterbury, 
 in 1785 ; deserve especial notice, as illustrations of the 
 author's turn of mind : the latter, also, as entitling him 
 to a place among the earliest advocates of the noblest 
 institution of the eighteenth century, and that at a time 
 when the dignified and influential, and in too many 
 instances even the pious and benevolent, were either 
 ashamed or afraid to avow themselves defenders of the 
 novel scheme. 
 
 A Visitation Sermon preached before the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, in 1786, on the Duty of Contending for 
 
320 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 the Faith ; and a discourse, occasioned by the contro- 
 versies of the times, on the Trinity in Unity, which 
 was printed together with i.t ; were the next publications 
 of Dr. Home, and are among the most useful of his 
 works, having been almost immediately adopted as tracts 
 for circulation by the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, and widely distributed both by ity and by 
 similar societies in our own country. 
 
 Not content with thus standing forth as a defender 
 of the faith, Home, at that time, seriously meditated a 
 direct attack upon the heresiarch Priestley, whose 
 versatile talents, indefatigable industry, and consum- 
 mate impudence, had made him conspicuous as the Go- 
 liath of perverted Christianity. Of this he gave notice 
 in an advertisement appended to the Visitation Sermon, 
 and actually entered into a joint examination of the sub- 
 ject, in connexion with his old friend and fellow stu- 
 dent, Jones. '^ The design was prosecuted with gradu- 
 ally declining vigor, for several years, and then, in con- 
 sequence of increasing business and infirmities, wholly 
 dropped.'' 
 
 This was his last literary undertaking of any import- 
 ance. A single occasional sermon, and a pamphlet on 
 that fertile theme. The Case of the Dissenters, with 
 reference to the Corporation and the Test Acts, were 
 all that followed, with the exception of a ' Charge in- 
 tended to have been delivered at his Primary Episcopal 
 Visitation,' and a third volume of Select Discourses, 
 with the publication of which he was amused and so- 
 laced under the infirmities that brought him to his grave. 
 
 The last public aflair in which he was engaged was 
 a work of Christian charity and zeal for the interests of 
 Christ's Church. The Episcopal Church in Scotland, 
 
 ' Home's earliest theological studies had been bestowed in assisting 
 Jones in the composition of his excellent Answer to the Essay on 
 Spirit. In allusion to this, he wrote in 1786: " You sec the task I 
 have undertaken. It is undertaken in confidence of your friendly aid r 
 and I should be happy, as we began together with Clayton, if we 
 might end together with Priestley." 
 
 ^ It was not, however, entirely without fruit. The Letter to the 
 Rev. Dr. Priestley by an Under graduaie, which appeared anony- 
 mously in 1786, a jeu d' esprit very similar to the Letter to Adam 
 Smith, was the production of the same fertile pen. It reached a second 
 issdition the very year of its publication. 
 
MEMotU. 221 
 
 ill consequence o£ ha-rhig long refused the transfer of 
 allegiance involved in the revolution of 1688, lay under 
 civil disabilities and restraints, amounting, in effect, to 
 grievous persecution. The cause of their misfortunes 
 had gradually worn away, and was at length utterly 
 extinguished, by the death of the last branch of the 
 house of Stuart, in 1788. That the removal of the 
 penalty might follow the cessation of the cause, as was 
 just, they made immediate application to Parliament, 
 for full and free toleration of their rites and worship, 
 and for that purpose, three of their bishops visited Eng- 
 land in 1789. Strange as it may seem, a parliament 
 bound to protect an Episcopal Church by law establish- 
 ed in England, could not be prevailed on even to tole- 
 rate the very same Church in the sister kingdom ! The 
 Scottish bishops met with unexpected, and, for the time, 
 insurmountable difficulties. In the midst of these, they 
 received from Home, while yet only Dean of Canter- 
 bury, every kind attention and material service which it 
 was in his power to render — not from mere favor ; still 
 less from ostentatious willingness to patronise; but 
 from conscientious desire to procure for a pious and 
 oppressed people their just rights.^ 
 
 ' " He had considered, that there is such a thing as,a pure and primi- 
 tive constitution of the Church of ChrisTj when viewed apart from 
 those outward appendages of worldly power, and worldly protection, 
 which are sometimes mistaken, as if they were as essential to the being 
 of the Church, as they are useful to its sustentation. The history of the 
 Christian Church, in its early ages, is a proof of the contrary ; when it 
 underwent various hardships and sufferings from the fluctuating policy 
 of earthly kingdoms. And the same happened to the Episcopal Church 
 of Scotland, at the Revolution in 1688 ; when Episcopacy was abolish- 
 ed by the State, and the Presbyterian form of church government estab- 
 lished. By this establishment the bishops were deprived of their 
 jurisdiction, and of all right to the temporalities of their sees. But in 
 this forlorn state they still continued to exist, and to exercise the spirit- 
 ual functions of their episcopal character : by means of which, a regu- 
 lar succession of bishops, and episcopally-ordained clergymen, has been 
 kept up in Scotland, under all the disadvantages arising from a suspi- 
 cion of their being disaffected to the Crown, and attached to the interest 
 of an exiled family. 
 
 " The penal laws had reduced the Scotch Episcopal Church to a con- 
 dition so depressed and obscure, that it could scarcely be known to 
 exist, but by such persons as were previously acquainted with its his- 
 tory. Among these, none entered more willingly and warmly than the 
 then good Dean of Canterbury. As soon as he heard of the arrival of 
 the Scotch Bishops at London, he was anxious to let them know how 
 
222 MEMOIR* 
 
 In 1790, Home's promotion to the bishopric of Nof^ 
 wich gave him additional influence and opportunity of use- 
 fulness — though at a time when his rapidly faiHng health 
 precluded the expectation of his living long to enjoy 
 them, or doing much in the short remainder of his life. 
 He took his seat in the house of Lords in the spring of 
 the ensuing year, and renewed his efforts in behalf of 
 the Scottish Church. But the more appropriate duties 
 of his oflice, the visitation of his diocese and instruc- 
 tion of his clergy in an episcopal charge, he was unable 
 to perform. The charge was written and printed, but 
 never delivered ; the visitation was begun, but never 
 finished. He died, during a visit to Bath for the benefit 
 of the waters, of a paralytic stroke, January 17th, 1792. 
 His death was as his life ; the placid resignation to his 
 Maker and Redeemer of a soul accustomed to commu- 
 nion with Him v/as made with as perfect cheerfulness, 
 and as little perturbation, as attend the most ordinary 
 transaction of life : ' he knew in whom he had believed,' 
 and after having partaken of the memorials of his dying 
 love, breathed out his soul with the expression " Now I 
 am blessed indeed !" 
 
 heartily lie approved of the object of their journey, and kindly offered 
 every assistance in his power to bring the matter to a happy conclu- 
 sion. He paid them every mark of attention both at London and Ox- 
 ford ; and, when they set out on their return to Scotland, without hav- 
 ing attained their object, he expressed, in very affectionate terms, his 
 concern at their disappointment, and told them at parting, not to be dis- 
 couraged ; for, said he, ' your cause is good, and your request so rea- 
 sonable, that it cannot long be denied.' 
 
 " In February, 1791, after having taken his seat in the House^ of 
 Lords as Bishop of Norwich, he wrote a friendly letter to Bishop Skin- 
 ner of Aberdeen, assuring him and the other members of the Commit- 
 tee for managing the business of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, 
 that any help in his power should be at their service : and speaking of 
 their applying anew to both Houses of Parliament, he said, ' It grieved 
 him to think they had so much heavy work to do over again ; but busi- 
 ness of that sort required patience and perseverance.' 
 
 " It was said, about this time, that the Lord Chancellor, Thurlow, 
 withheld his consent to the Scotch Episcopal Bill, till he should be 
 satisfied by some of the EngUsh prelates, that there really were bishops 
 in Scotland. When Bishop Home was waited upon with this view, 
 by the Committee of the Scotch Church, and one of them observed, 
 that his lordship could assure the Chancellor they were good bishops, 
 ho answered, with his usual affability and good humor, ' Yes, sir, much 
 better bishops than I am.' " — Jones' Life of Home, p. 118-I&3. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 
 
 Let no reader take offence, though the subjects de- 
 bated in the following pages be of a serious nature, if 
 the ideas and images employed should sometimes bor- 
 der upon the ludicrous. The contest between Elijah 
 and the votaries of Baal, was a very serious one ; and 
 heaven itself interposed in its decision. Yet strong and 
 pointed is the irony of the prophet — " Cry aloud, for he 
 is a god ; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he 
 is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must 
 be awaked!"^ Impiety provokes a frown; absurdity 
 occasions a smile ; and many who glory in the imputa- 
 tion of the former, cannot but feel when they are con- 
 victed of the latter. Some opinions and arguments 
 become visible on being stated. A portrait is sufficient ; 
 a caricature needless, perhaps impossible. Where sucli 
 is not the case, nothing, it is hoped, has met with this 
 treatment, unless proved to deserve it. Ridicule is not 
 the test of truth, because truth must always be the test 
 of ridicule ; and he who laughs in the wrong place, ex- 
 poses no character, except his own. But, as the learned 
 and ingenious Dr. Ogilvie has well observed, "He 
 who can fairly turn the laugh, when it has been raised 
 against him, will be pardoned readily, provided he has 
 laughed in good humor.'"' 
 
 » 1 Kings xviii. 27. ^ Inquiry into the causes of the Infidelity 
 and Skepticism of the Times, p. 445. 
 
 Vol. v.— 20 
 
LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 To W. S.) Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, — You express your surprise, that after 
 the favorable manner in which the Letter of Dr. Smith 
 was received by the public, and the service which, as 
 you are pleased to say, was effected by it, nothing fur- 
 ther should have been attempted ; especially as an 
 Apology for the Life of David Hume, Esq., made its 
 appearance soon afterwards, and some ' posthumous 
 tracts of that philosopher have been since published, 
 to complete the good work he had so much at heart ; 
 not to mention other productions on the side of infi- 
 delity. A few strictures on the nature and tendency, 
 the principles and reasonings, of such performances, 
 thrown out from time to time, in a concise and lively 
 way, you observe, are better calculated to suit the taste 
 and turn of the present age, than long and elaborate 
 dissertation ; and you see no reason why a method 
 practised by Voltaire (and so much commended by 
 D'Alembert) against religion, should not be adopted 
 by those who write for it. In compliance with these 
 hints, and that you may not think me desirous of lead- 
 ing an idle life, when there is so much Avork to be done, 
 I have formed a resolution to look over my papers, and 
 address what I may happen to find among them to your- 
 self, in a series of letters ; a species of composition much 
 in vogue, and which has these two advantages to recom- 
 mend it, that it admits of matter however miscellaneous, 
 and may be continued or broken off at pleasure. 
 
LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 826 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 I BEGIN, dear sir, with a few observations on the 
 Apology for the Life and Writings of David Hume, 
 Esq., drawn up soon after that work came out, but 
 reserved in expectation of Mr. Hume's posthumous 
 tracts. 
 
 With difficulty I am able to persuade my friends, 
 that this author and myself have not written in concert ; 
 for his Apology and my Letter fit each other like two 
 tallies.^ In his dedication, he expresses his appre- 
 hension, " that the Christian clamor would be raised 
 afresh." A clamor is accordingly raised by " ONE of 
 the people called Christians." Elsewhere he inti- 
 mates his expectations that Mr. Hume's ' affectionate 
 Dr. Smith' would come in for his share. A letter is 
 accordingly written to that very doctor. 
 
 You see, dear sir, how I have done my best to fulfil 
 his predictions. Let us now inquire whether he may 
 not have returned the favor, and been equally kind to 
 me. 
 
 In my Aavcitiociueiii I veniured to suppose, that, by 
 a late publication, the admirers of Mr. Hume imagined 
 religion to have received its coup de grace, and that the 
 astonished public was utterly at a loss to conceive 
 * what they who believed in God could possibly have to 
 say for themselves.' To convert my supposition into 
 matter of fact, he opens his Apology with a kind of 
 funeral oration, most solemnly pronounced over Chris- 
 tianity as a breathless corpse, about to be interred for 
 ever in the grave of Mr. Hume. 
 
 ' David Hume is dead ! Never were the pillars of 
 orthodoxy so desperately shaken, as they are now by 
 that event !' And at p. 9, he speaks of ' the particular 
 circumstances of this event' as 'increasing the aggregate 
 of our consternation /' 
 
 Here the distempered imagination of the Apologist 
 sees Mr. Hume, like another Samson, bowing himself 
 
 " The Apology was written before the publication of the Letter, 
 thouffh sent into the world after it. 
 
226 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER I. 
 
 with all his might between the pillars^ and slaying 
 more at his death than all that he slew in his life. He 
 sees the believing world aghast, the Church tottering 
 from its foundations, and Christians assembling in an 
 upper chamber i with the doors shut, for fear of the phi- 
 losophers. What may be the state of religion upon 
 earth, before the end shall come, we cannot tell. We 
 have reason to think it will be very bad. But let us 
 hope, notwithstanding all which has happened in Scot- 
 land, that the Gospel will last our time. 
 
 Thus again : I scrupled not to assert, that the end 
 proposed in giving an account of Mr. Hume's life and 
 death, was to recommend his skeptical and atheistical 
 notions. Dr. Smith indeed was wary and modest. He 
 gave us a detail of circumstances, and then only added, 
 that, ' as to his philosophy, men would entertain various 
 opinions ; but, to be sure, all must allow his conduct was 
 unexceptionable,' &c. But the Apologist has blurted 
 it all out at once. — David Hume's life was right, and 
 therefore his system cannot be wrong. My friend Dr. 
 Smith will take him to task for this, as sure as he is 
 ahve. 
 
 And now for another piece of com.plaisance on my 
 
 SlCle. HlO ' wiaKoo, only ov»t <x£ ■onrincity, fr» tnoTxr iKo 
 
 unaffected state of our feelings,' (p. 9,) on perusing the 
 account given by Dr. Smith, — As if I had been privy to 
 his thoughts, the wish was no sooner formed than grati- 
 fied by my letter, which communicated to him and to the 
 public the state of our feelings, and in a manner, I do 
 assure him, perfectly unaffected. But it is a difficult 
 matter to please him ; for now he hath seen -me, he doth 
 not like me. 
 
 At the close of his Address, he tells me, that, ' after 
 accurately examining my letter, and carefully recon- 
 sidering the whole subject of the preceding Apology in 
 consequence of it, he sees no occasion to alter a single 
 sentence.' Let us therefore take a view of the Apology, 
 M^hich is pronounced to be unaffected by it. 
 
 ' It is less the design of these papers to defend Hume's 
 principles, than to show, upon the best authority, that 
 he was in earnest in what he wrote ; and that, through 
 every part of his life, even to the very moment of his 
 
LETTER I.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. ^27 
 
 death, he made precept and practice go hand in hand 
 tog ether. '^ — (p. 11.) 
 
 But surely, if the principles are not to be defended; 
 if they are as they have been represented, skeptical and 
 atheistical, does the man who propagated them during his 
 life, and took the requisite measures that they should be 
 propagated after his death — does such a man deserve 
 commendation, because he was in earnest? An apology 
 of this kind may be offered in behalf of every felon exe- 
 cuted at Tyburn, provided only, that by ' dying hard,' 
 he make precept and practice go hand in hand together. 
 And the Apologist very judiciously observes as much. 
 
 ' Many will, indeed, think that this, however perspi- 
 cuously proved, will be doing him no real honor ; since, 
 in proportion to the clearness of the evidence upon this 
 matter, it will only show his impiety and obstinate infi- 
 delity the plainer ; thereby, in the end, incurring upon 
 him a more general disgrace.' — (p. 11.) 
 
 Truly he has hit the mark. This is the very objec- 
 tion, which caused a friend of mine, on reading his 
 book, to say, he should think it a less misfortune to 
 have the disgrace of hanging incurred on him, than to 
 have such an apologist. And yet, in the case before 
 us, he had a reason for making this Apology, namely, 
 that there was no other to be made. The only question 
 is, whether it might not have been better if he had said 
 nothing, and suffered things to take their chance ? 
 However it is now too late. The objection is fairly 
 stated, and we all stand arrectis auribus,^ in expectation 
 of the answer. — Lo, it comes — ' I am of a different 
 opinion. The terms infidelity, impiety, and atheism, 
 should not be lavishly trusted from the lip.' Such a 
 sentence (by the way) should not have been lavishly 
 trusted from the pen. ' We should not presume 
 
 " To deal damnation round the land, 
 On each we deem our foe." ' 
 
 Sir, your very humble servant — I most heartily wish 
 ;^ou a good night, — Here was the juguluin causce, the 
 precise point to be argued, over which I hoped to have 
 had the honor of his good company for the evening. 
 
 [With open ears.] 
 
 20^ 
 
23S LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V 
 
 when in the twinkling of an eye, he slips through my 
 hands, like an eel, and is out of sight in the mud. 
 
 We are not about to deal damnation on any man. 
 But are there not such things as infidelity, impiety, and 
 atheism? And are not the writings of Mr. Hume justly 
 chargeable with them? These are the questions. 
 
 The Apologist knows, as well as I do, that Mr. 
 Hume's essays contain arguments downright Epicurean, 
 against the being of a God. Some of them are men- 
 tioned in the Summary, at the end of the Letter to Dr. 
 Smith, and no notice is taken of the matter. In the 
 Natural History of Religion, Dr. Hurd thought our phi- 
 losopher was approaching towards the borders oi theism. 
 But I never could find that he penetrated far into the 
 country. These same arguments stand to this hour 
 unretracted; the essays which contain them are pub- 
 lished and republished with the rest; whether at the hour 
 of death, he thought there was a God or thought there 
 was none, we have not a single hint given us ; and con- 
 cerning his posthumous papers, the Apologist'' informs 
 us, in his dedication, ' there is every reason to believe 
 they turn upon similar researches with such as liave 
 been already printed ; or, as it is most likely, they may 
 carry his philosophy still nearer to that point, which 
 he might not think it discreet to push too vigorously^ 
 in his lifetime.' New discoveries in irreligion, then, it 
 seems, still remain to be made. They M'ho have duly 
 considered the vigor displayed by Mr. Hume in his 
 lifetime, are rather at a loss to conceive, what that 
 POINT may be, to which, by posthumous efforts, his 
 philosophy is to be carried. It must lie somewhere 
 " Beyond the realms of chaos and old night !" 
 
 Discretion is, undoubtedly, as Sir John Falstaff says, the 
 better part of valor; but really in these days of freedom, 
 there is scarce a possibility of its ever being called for. 
 Something, however, is to come, which the Apologist 
 supposes will occasion more Christian clamor. When 
 we are so severely pushed, he imagines we shall cry 
 out. Certainly, it cannot be thought we are lavish of the 
 
 " These have since been published. — [The Dialogues concerning 
 Natural Religion (certainly not the least objectionable among Humk's 
 writings) ia the work in question.] 
 
LETTER II.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 2^9 
 
 terras infidelity, impiety, and atheism, when we apply 
 them to such proceedings as these. What other termsi 
 can we apply, or would he himself wish us to apply ? And 
 he gravely apologizes for their author, by telling us, he 
 was consistent, he was in earnest, he died as he lived, 
 and left blasphemies to be published after his death, 
 which he dared not to publish while he was yet alive ! — 
 Whom shall we most admire, the philosopher or his 
 Apologist! 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Our Apologist observes, dear sir, * Whatever might 
 be the force of Mr. Hume's faith, no one, it is conjec- 
 tured, will charge him with having neglected good works. 
 I do not pretend (adds he) to say how far those are, or 
 are not sufficient.' — (p. 11.) 
 
 Indeed I believe there will be no absolute necessity, 
 upon this occasion, of going deep in the controversy, 
 concerning faith and works. The character in wiiich 
 Mr. Hume principally appeared, and on Avhich he chiefly 
 valued himself, was that of an author. He passed his 
 life in writing ; the effects of his writing are visible in 
 his worthy apologist, and many others; they are likely 
 to go down to posterity. An unwearied endeavor to 
 propagate the principles contained in those writings, is 
 what we can never consent to dignify with the appella- 
 tion of a good work. To worship, to love, and to serve 
 God one's self, is the first of good works; to teach and 
 incite others to do the same, is the second. To renounce 
 every thing of this kind, one's self, is the first of evil 
 works ; and the second is like unto it, to tempt and 
 seduce others, that they may fall after the same example 
 of imbelief. This is the employment of that person 
 whom the Apologist mentions, as having joined with 
 the dancing-master, ^\\(\ the j^erfumer, in compounding 
 a system of manners, recommended by the late Earl of 
 Chesterfield.^^ He might possibly divert himself in that 
 way, at his leisure hours ; but when he set to business 
 
 J ' A system which seems to he pillaged from the dancing master, the 
 perfumer, and the devil.* — (p. 112.) 
 
230 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER 11. 
 
 in good earnest, the issue was, An Inquiry concern- 
 ing Human Understanding. 
 
 The Apologist is fond of citing two lines, which have 
 often been cited by others, with a similar view — 
 
 For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight," 
 "His can't be wrong, whose life is in the right." 
 
 The Christian's faith, at its first appearance, endured 
 the trial of ten persecutions, and triumphed over the 
 wit, wisdom, and power of the whole Roman empire. 
 Offered openly to the inspection and examination of the 
 world, it has now stood its ground above seventeen hun- 
 dred years. The Apologist hardly expects it should at 
 length fall before a couplet of Mr. Pope. Poets, he 
 knows, are not upon oath; and 
 
 ^^ One for sense ^ and one for rhyme/' 
 
 is often a fair composition. The verses rhyme well ; 
 but as to sense, that is another question. Their au- 
 thor somewhere tells us, that in reading religious 
 controversy, he still found himself to agree wdth the 
 last author he perused. One cannot therefore well 
 take him for a guide in these matters. The bright 
 son of the morning fell from his exalted station in the 
 heavens; and he, who penned "iV/es^zaA,"^ was after- 
 wards unfortunately duped by the sophistry of Boling- 
 broke. 'Evil communications corrupt good manners.' 
 
 As to the verses in hand, I know not that they were 
 designed to extend by any means so far as, by the present 
 application, the Apologist means to extend them. If they 
 were,- the proposition contained in them will be this, that 
 provided a man discharge the relative and social offices, 
 it matters not what deity he acknowledges and worships, 
 or whether he acknowledge and worship any. 
 
 I am sorry I should be obliged to go back to a thing 
 so vulgar and antiquated as my " Catcchism.^^ But so 
 it happens. I cannot forget, that when a boy, / learned 
 two things — my duty towards God, and my duty towards 
 my neighbor. And, from that day to this, it never en- 
 tered my head, that the performance of the latter would 
 atone for the neglect of the former. Surely one might 
 as well say, the performance of \he former would atone 
 for the breach of the latter. But the Apologist will 
 
 • [Pope's celebrated Eclogue, so entitled. 1 
 
LETTER II.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 231 
 
 never allow one ; and we cannot submit to allow the 
 other. What! Shall we make a conscience of dis- 
 charging our duty to men like ourselves, and none of 
 discharging that to our Maker, our Redeemer, our 
 God ? Is it reckoned praiseworthy, generous, noble, 
 great and good, to love and celebrate an earthly parent 
 or benefactor ; and can it be deemed a point of indiffer- 
 ence whether we believe or deny, whether we bless or 
 blaspheme our heavenly and eternal Father and Friend, 
 who gives us life, and breath, and all things, in this 
 world, and invites us to a far more happy and glorious 
 state of existence in another? May we adore Jehovah, 
 or Baal ; the Creator of the universe, or a monkey, or 
 matter, or chance, or nothing, as the whim takes us, and 
 be blameless? Tell it not to the believers; publish it 
 not among the Christians ! 
 
 The matter of fact is — that life cannot be in the rights 
 which is spent in doing wrong. And if to question all 
 the doctrines of religion, even to the providence and 
 existence of a God, and to put morality on no other 
 foot than that of utility — if to do this be not wrong, 
 then farewell all distinction between right and wrong 
 for evermore. To maintain and diffuse the truth of God, 
 is to do his will ; to deny, corrupt, or hinder it, is to 
 work iniquity ; and a life so employed is a vjicked life — ■ 
 perhaps the most wicked that can be imagined. For 
 what comparison is there between one who commits a 
 crime of which he may repent, or, at worst, it may 
 die with him, and one who, though he do not himself 
 commit it, teaches and encourages all the world to 
 commit it, by removing out of the way the strongest 
 sanctions and obligations to the contrary, in writings 
 which may carry on the blessed work from generation 
 to generation ? Let not these errors be called errors of 
 speculation only. Action flows from speculation. No 
 man ventures upon sin, till he has, for^the time at least, 
 adopted some false principle. And ' when men begin 
 to look about for arguments, in vindication of impiety 
 and immorality, such speculations as those of Mr. Hume 
 become interesting, and can hardly fail of a powerful 
 and numerous patronage. The corrupt judge ; the pros- 
 tituted courtier ; the statesman, who enriches himself 
 by the plunder and blood of his country ; the pettifog' 
 
232 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER II. 
 
 ger, who fattens on the spoils of the fatherless and 
 widow ; the oppressor who, to pamper his own beastly 
 appetite, abandons the deserving peasant to beggary 
 and despair ; the hypocrite, the debauchee, the game- 
 ster, the blasphemer — all prick up their ears, when they 
 are told that a celebrated author has written essays 
 containing such doctrines, and leading to such conse- 
 quences ?' Weighed against a conduct like this, the 
 moralities of social life (a system of which, by the way, 
 according to Mr. Hume, every man is left to compound 
 for himself ) are dust upon the balance; they are like 
 the salutation of Joab when he smote Amasa to the 
 heart : ' And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, 
 my brother ? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with 
 the right hand, to kiss hi??!. But Amasa took no heed 
 of the sword that was in Joab's hand ; so he smote him 
 therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the 
 ground.''" In short, if faith in God be not the effect of 
 superstition and imposture, which no man has yet 
 proved it to be, we are bound to regard it as our most 
 valuable possession, and to esteem those who rob the 
 world of it as the worst of thieves, however towards 
 each other they may practice what the Apologist styles 
 the duties, the decencies, and the charities. — (p. 13.) 
 
 * Perhaps it is one of the very worst circumstances 
 against Christianity, that very few of its professors were 
 either so moral, so humane, or could so pliilosophically 
 govern their passions, as the skeptical David Hume.' — 
 (p. 12.) 
 
 And yet, we do not every day hear of a Christian 
 running round a counter with his drawn sword after a 
 Reviewer, or quitting a room on the entrance of his 
 antagonist.^ It appears, from a variety of instances, 
 that Mr. Hume, when his literary character was con- 
 cerned, could by no means ' govern his passion so phi- 
 losophically ' as his Apologist wishes to have it believed. 
 But it is not my desire to depreciate any thing that 
 might be really commendable in him. Thus much only 
 I will venture to assert, that whatever it was, the merit 
 of it is not due to his philosophical principles. These 
 afford no motives to restrain men who have once em- 
 
 f 2 Sam. XX. 9. ^ [Incidents in the life of the philosophical Hume.] 
 
LETTFR II.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 233 
 
 braced them, from any vices to which their constitutions 
 may happen to incline. It is too much for the same 
 person to excel in every branch. It is enough if he 
 point the way. All evil beings are not immoral. Lord 
 Chesterfield's friend himself, roentioned above,' offends 
 not in the articles of eating, wine, or women : he is dif- 
 ferently employed. He is employed in tempting- others 
 to offend. 
 
 The Apologist tells us "Mr. Hume's most abstract 
 researches were in favor of a behavior perfectly irre- 
 proachable. — Whoever is acquainted with Mr. Hume's 
 writings will bear witness that he was a lover of de- 
 cency, order, and decorum. It would be the drudgery 
 of a day to detect a single light sentence in Hume." 
 (pp. 106. 110.) 
 
 I shall transcribe two or three sentences which lie 
 pretty near together, in a Dialogue subjoined to his 
 Enquiry into the Principles of Morals. 
 
 "There is almost as great difficulty, I acknowledge, 
 to justify French, as Greek gallantly ; except only that 
 the former is much more natural and agreeable than the 
 latter. But our neighbors, it seems, have resolved ta 
 sacrifice some of the domestic to the sociable pleasures ; 
 and to prefer ease, freedom, and an open commerce, to 
 a strict fidelity and constancy. These ends are both 
 good, and are sometimes difficult to reconcile ; nor need 
 we be surprised, if the customs of nations incline too 
 much, sometimes to the one side, and sometimes to the 
 other.'"' " It is needle ssto dissemble : the consequence 
 of a very free commerce between the sexes, and of their 
 living much together, will often terminate in intrigues 
 and gallantry. We must sacrifice somewhat of the 
 useful, if we be very anxious to obtain all the agreea- 
 ble qualities ; and cannot pretend to reach alike every 
 kind of advantage. Instances of license, daily multi- 
 plying, will weaken the scandal with the one sex, and 
 teach the other, by degrees, to adopt the famous maxim 
 of La Fontaine with regard to female infidelity, that 
 if one knows it, it is but a small 7natter ; if one knows 
 it not, it is nothing.''''^ Verily, as Lord Foppington 
 
 i [Satan, scUicet.l k Essays Vol. II. p. 397. edit. 1112. i Essayt, 
 Vol. II. p. 402. 
 
2i34 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER 111. 
 
 says to his brother, in the stage play — A nice marali- 
 TY, Tam, stap my vitals ! 
 
 When we consider these sentences as proceeding from 
 the pen of ' the first philosopher of the age,' in his 
 palmary and capital work, designed to settle the princi- 
 ples of morality on their only proper foundation, * it 
 would be the drudgery of a month' to find any thing in 
 the system of Chesterfield and his three associates, ' the 
 dancing master, the perfumer, and the devil,' better cal- 
 culated to multiply new connexions, and dissolve old 
 ones ; any thing that so much deserves the profoundest 
 
 acknowledgments from the gentlemen of doctors 
 
 commons. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 It may still, perhaps, be asked, dear sir, how it should 
 happen, that when Mr. Hume's principles were so bad, 
 his practices should be no worse ? Let me offer the so- 
 lution given of such a phenomenon in the intellectual 
 world, by a very ingenious and sagacious writer, who 
 had not only studied mankind in general, but, as it 
 would seem, had bestowed some pains upon the very 
 case now before us. 
 
 ' This fact hath been regarded as unaccountable : that 
 sober men, of morals apparently unblameable, should 
 madly unhinge the great principles of religion and so- 
 ciety, without any visible motive or advantage. But by 
 looking a little further into human nature, we shall easily 
 resolve this seeming paradox. These writers are gene- 
 rally men of speculation and industry ; and therefore, 
 though they give themselves up to the dictates of their 
 ruling passion, yet that ruling passion commonly leads 
 to the tract of abstemious manners. That desire of 
 distinction and superiority, so natural to men, breaks 
 out into a thousand various and fantastic shapes ; and in 
 each of these, according as it is directed, becomes a 
 virtue or a vice. In times of luxury and dissipation, 
 therefore, when every tenet of irreligion is greedily 
 embraced, what road to present applause can lie so 
 open and secure, as that of disgracing religious belief? 
 
LETTER III.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 235 
 
 especially if the writer help forward the vices of the 
 times, by relaxing morals, as well as destroying /^rmcz- 
 ple. Such a writer can have little else to do, but to new- 
 model the paradoxes of ancient skepticism, in order to 
 figure it in the world, and be regarded by the smatterers 
 in literature, and adepts in folly, as a prodigy in parts 
 and learning. Thus his vanity becomes deeply crimi- 
 nal, and is execrated by the wise and good ; because it 
 is gratified at the expense of his country's welfare. But 
 the consolation which degenerate manners receive from 
 his fatal tenets, is repaid by eager praise ; and vice im- 
 patiently drinks in and applauds his hoarse and boding 
 voice, while, like a raven, he sits croaking universal 
 death, despair, and annihilation to the human kind.' 
 
 But taking the account of Mr. Hume's manners as his 
 friends have given it, to say ' that few of the professors 
 of Christianity ever equalled him in morality, humanity, 
 and the government of their passions,' is certainly go- 
 ing a great deal too far. Thousands in the first ages of 
 the Gospel, gave all their goods to feed the poor ; re- 
 nounced, in deed as well as word, the world and the 
 flesh, and joyfully met death in its most horrid forms, 
 for the love of their Redeemer. On the same principle, 
 unnumbered multitudes, in every succeeding age, have 
 manfully sustained the heaviest calamities of human life, 
 and with faith unfeigned, and hope that maketh not 
 ashamed, yielded up their souls into the hands of their 
 Creator. Scenes of this kind are daily and hourly 
 passing in the chambers of the sick and dying, as they 
 whose office it is to visit those chambers, well know. To 
 others they must remain unknown, for want of biogra- 
 phers to record them. Every Christian who lives in 
 
 piety and charity, does not favor the public with his 
 
 OWN LIFE." Every Christian, who expires in peace 
 and hope, has not the happiness of a Dr. Smith to pen 
 the story of his death. 
 
 " Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear ; 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
 And waste its sv/eetness on the desert air. 
 
 " [Alluding to Hume's curious piece of self-commendation, mentioned 
 in note p. 119.] 
 Vol. v.— 21 
 
236 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER III. 
 
 " Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, 
 Their sober wishes never learn' d to stray ; 
 Along the cool sequester' d vale of life, 
 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way." 
 
 "Christianity," says a learned writer, "has, in every 
 age, produced good effects on thousands and ten thou- 
 sands, whose lives are not recorded in history ; which 
 is, for the most part, a register of the vices, the follies, 
 and the quarrels of those who made a figure and a noise 
 in the world ; insomuch that Socrates," at the close of 
 his work, observes, that if men were honest and peace- 
 able, historians would be undone for want of mate- 
 nals."p 
 
 But, whether the professors of a religion be many or 
 few ; whether they be influenced by the spirit of it, or 
 not; whether they be sincere, or hypocrites; whether 
 they be detected or undetected ; the religion is still the 
 same : it does not change with the changing tempers, 
 dispositions, and interests of mankind, in different times 
 and places ; nor is it to be charged with the guilt of 
 practices, against which it protests in every page. No 
 demonstration in Euclid can be clearer than this. 
 
 To account for the opposition often so visible be- 
 tween the lives and the opinions of Christians, one must 
 enumerate all the various methods by which, in mat- 
 ters of moral and spiritual concern, men are wont to 
 impose upon themselves. Appetite and passion, sloth 
 and interest, will work wonders in this way — wonders, 
 of whicli he has no idea, who has not been accustomed, 
 with this view, to contemplate the conduct of those 
 around him, and impartially to scrutinize his own. The 
 religion of many a person professing Christianity, is, 
 by these means, laid by, like a best coat, for Sundays 
 and holidays. Not a single thought occurs of the ne- 
 cessity there is for its being brought into the daily 
 and hourly concerns of common life. It is a specula- 
 tive belief, deposited in the understanding, to which its 
 owner recurs, when he has nothing else to do ; he finds 
 it where he left it, and is fully satisfied with its being 
 there, instead of bearing it about him, in his heart and 
 
 • [The ecclesiastical historian. 1 
 
 P [JORTIN, Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, I. 438, ed. 1808.] 
 
LETTER III.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 237 
 
 affections, as an active principle, ready for use, to ope- 
 rate at all seasons, and on all occasions. He will even 
 spend his days in discoursing and disputing upon the 
 sublimest doctrines, and most holy precepts of religion, 
 his own life still continuing unreformed. Nay, what is 
 yet more strange, he will preach seriously, earnestly, 
 affectionateh'^, and repeatedly, against a failing, to which 
 he himself is notoriously subject, and every one who 
 hears him knows him to be so. It follows not, necessa- 
 rily, that he is designedly playing the hypocrite, and 
 acting a part. He has some method of concealing him- 
 self from himself, or of excusing himself to himself. 
 He does not see that he is the person against whom ail 
 his own arguments are pointed. He does not think of 
 it. He stands in need of a friend — or an enemy — to 
 tell him, ' Thou art the man.' — This may seem to be a 
 species of madness ; but this is human nature. 
 Let me conclude with a story. 
 
 A friend of mine was much afflicted with a dangerous 
 disorder, part hereditary, and part the fruit of his own 
 industry. He sent for one of the best physicians in the 
 kingdom, who having discoursed, greatly to his satis- 
 faction, on the excellency of medicine in general, and of 
 a medicine proper for that disorder in particular, wrote 
 his prescription, and took his leave. My friend, who 
 was a scholar, had a learned gentleman with him at the 
 time ; and the doctor was hardly out of the door, before 
 a very warm controversy began between them, concern- 
 ing the style of the prescription, whether it were das- 
 sicaly or not. This and the virtues of the medicine 
 were now the constant subjects of my friend's conver- 
 sation, and he inveighed with great zeal and indignation 
 against the folly of those, who would languish under 
 disease, when there was such a remedy to be had. The 
 distemper, meanwhile, increased upon himself, and be- 
 gan to seize upon the vitals. The doctor was again sent 
 for ; and knowing his patient to be a remarkably absent 
 man, ' Pray, sir, said he, give me leave to ask you one 
 question — have you taken the medicine ?' A summons 
 to the bar of judgment could hardly have astonished my 
 friend more than this question. He awoke as one out 
 of a dream, and very honestly owned, — He had been so 
 occupied in talking and writing about it, and recom« 
 
238 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER IV, 
 
 mending it to others, that he had really quite forgotten 
 that part of the prescription. He did indeed recollect 
 to have once tasted of the draught, but finding it rather 
 bitter, a flavor always disagreeable to him, he had set 
 it by again, trusting, it seems, for his cure, to the virtues 
 which might escape the cork, as it stood upon the man- 
 tel-piece. — You see how easy it is for him who possesses 
 the medicine to be like him who possesses it not ; the 
 medicine itself continuing all the while perfectly irre- 
 proachable. 
 
 And now, if you please, dear sir, we will take our 
 leave of the Apology ; for I have no design to meddle 
 with the farrago of extraneous matter which it contains, 
 respecting gallantry, flattery, dedications, &c., &c., 
 &c. ; and as to the crude and angry remarks at the 
 end of it, on the letter to Dr. Smith — valeant quantum- 
 valere possunt /i I will trust any man with them, if, 
 during the perusal, he will only hold in his hand the 
 pamphlet to which they relate. The Apology is, indeed, 
 both for matter and manner, sentiment and language, 
 so mean and wretched a performance, that one cannot 
 sufiiciently wonder how any person, accustomed to 
 write, could permit such a piece to come abroad, with 
 all its imperfections on its head. I have selected those 
 parts which afforded room for enlarging on topics use- 
 ful to be discussed, and have now done wdth it for 
 ever. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 I AM truly concerned, dear sir, to hear that your old 
 constitutional complaint, a depression of spirits, has of 
 late been more than usually troublesome, and wish I 
 may succeed in the medicine I am going to administer, 
 if not for the removal, at least for a temporary allevia- 
 tion of it. The famous Dr. RadclifTe was once called 
 in to a person almost suffocated by an imposthumated 
 swelling in the throat. The case required immediate 
 relief; and the doctor sent his servant into the kitchen, 
 
 1 [Let them pass for what they are worth.] 
 
LETTER IV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 239 
 
 to order and bring up a large hasty pudding. Upon its 
 arrival, falling into a violent passion, because it was not 
 made to his mind, he flung a handful of it in the fellow's 
 face, who returned the compliment, and an engagement 
 ensued between them, till the ammunition was all spent. 
 The sick man, who had been raised in his bed to see 
 the battle, was forced into a violent fit of laughter ; the 
 imposthume broke, and the patient recovered. 
 
 In the present case, the philosophy contained in Mr. 
 Hume's posthumous work, styled Dialogues on Natural 
 Religion, shall be our hasty pudding ; and I will intro- 
 duce a couple of gentlemen of my acquaintance, to toss 
 a little of it backwards and forwards for your enter- 
 tainment. — May the eflect prove equally salutary ! 
 
 A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THOMAS AND TIMOTHY, ON PHI-^ 
 LOSOPHICAL SKEPTICISM. 
 
 Timothy. Whither away so fast, man ? Where art 
 thou going this morning ? 
 
 Tom. I am going to be made a Christian. 
 
 Tim. The very best thing I should have dreamed of. 
 But, pray, who is to make you one ? 
 
 Tom. David Hume. 
 
 Ti7n. David Hume ? Why, I thought he was an 
 atheist. 
 
 To7n. The world was never more mistaken about 
 any one man, than about David Hume. He was deemed 
 a sworn foe to Christianity, whereas his whole life was 
 spent in its service. His works compose altogether a 
 complete Preparatio Evangelica.'' They lead men 
 gently, and gradually, as it were, to the Gospel. 
 
 Tim. As how, Tom ? Be pleased to take me along 
 with you. 
 
 Tom. Why, look you ; here is chapter and verse 
 for you. Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, p. 
 263. ' To be a philosophical skeptic, is, in a man of 
 letters, the first and most essential 3tep towards being a 
 sound believing Christian."* 
 
 Tim. When David was at Paris, I have heard the 
 wits there should say he was a very worthy gentleman» 
 
 [Introduction to the Gospel.] 
 19* 
 
240 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER IV, 
 
 but had his religious prejudices, like other people. As 
 folks are quick scented in that country, perhaps they 
 smelled a rat. Indeed, in a Supplement to the Life of 
 Mr. Hume, we are told that a brother of his used to say 
 of him, ' My brother Davie is a good enough sort of a 
 man, but rather narrow minded.'' — Well, I cannot tell 
 what to say to it : there are abundance of pretty fancies 
 stirring. I suppose there may be different ways of be- 
 coming a Christian. A man of letters enters, belike, 
 at the back door, and so goes round the house to come 
 at it ; a compass we plain folk do not think it necessary 
 to take. One thing is certain, that if skepticism be the 
 road to Christianity, Mr. Hume is a very proper person 
 to keep the tm-npike gate upon it. But what progress 
 must one make, if one had a mind to try the experiment, 
 in this same philosophical skepticism, before one could 
 become a good sound believing- Christian ? Must one 
 doubt of every thing ? 
 
 To7n. Of every thing, in this world, and that which 
 is to come, as I do myself at this present speaking. It 
 is the most agreeable process in life ; a charming, de- 
 lightful suspense of judgment. I doubt whether there 
 be any such thing as matter ; I doubt likewise whether 
 there be any such thing as spirit; that is, I doubt whe- 
 ther there be creature or Creator ; and whether I myself 
 am any thing more than a bundle of perceptions, with- 
 out eitiier body or soul. We modern philosophers, you 
 must know, consider matter and spirit as so much lum- 
 ber which should be cleared out of the way. There 
 would then be a noble field open for speculation ; and 
 we might all set out afresh. I doubt whether the world 
 (supposing, for a moment, that there is one) did not exist 
 from eternity, or whether it did not make itself; whe- 
 ther it be not a huge animal, somewhat like an ostrich, 
 which lays now and then an egg, to be hatched into a 
 young world ; or whether it be not an overgrown vege- 
 table run to seed. 'As a tree sheds its seed into the 
 neighboring fields, and produces other trees ; so the 
 great vegetable of the world, or this planetary system, 
 produces, perhaps, within itself certain seeds, which, 
 being scattered into the surrounding chaos, vegetate 
 into new worlds. A comet, for instance, is the seed of 
 a world ; and after it has been fully ripened, by passing 
 
LETTER IV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 241 
 
 from sun to sun, and star to star, it is at last tossed into 
 the unformed elements which every where surround 
 this universe, and immediately sprouts up into a new 
 system.'* 
 
 Tim: Vastly ingenious ! and really, upon the whole, 
 not improbable ! — But, pry'thee Tom, if you are not in 
 too great a hurry to be made a Christian, do stop for 
 half an hour, and instruct me a little further in this New 
 Week's Preparation of Mr. Hume : for the specimen 
 you have given me is so exquisite, that it makes my 
 mouth water for more. What is the plan of the famous 
 Dialogues concerning Natural Religion ? 
 
 Tom. You shall have it in few words. — Once upon 
 a time, then, there was a promising young man, whose 
 name was Pamphilus. He was brought up by a philo- 
 sopher called Cleanthes. Philo, a brother philosopher, 
 came to spend a few days with Cleanthes. The Dla- 
 logues are supposed to contain the substance of a con- 
 versation which passed between these personages, by 
 way, among other things, of preparing young Pam- 
 philus in a proper manner for the reception of the 
 Gospel, by first making him a thorough skeptic. Pam- 
 philus, who, as a hearer only, was to learn and be wise, 
 relates this conversation in a letter to his friend Her- 
 mippus. There is a third speaker in the Dialogues, 
 styled Demea, one of your old fashioned orthodox gen- 
 try, who both firmly believes the existence of a Deity, 
 and is rather disposed to speak well than ill of his 
 Maker. But the two philosophers so astonish and dis- 
 compose him, draw him into so many ambuscades, and 
 raise so thick a metaphysical dust around him, that at 
 the close of the eleventh Dialogue, the old gentleman is 
 glad to take a French leave, and vanishes so very sud- 
 denly, that, whether he went out at the door, or up 
 the chimney, nobody knows to this hour. It would 
 do your heart good to see the fun they make of him. 
 
 Tim. Before you go any further, let me just ask you 
 one question. Pray, do you act upon this principle of 
 philosophical skepticism in common life ? 
 
 Tom. Oh, by no means. If we did, we should walk 
 into a horsepond, or run our heads against a wall, and 
 
 Hume's Dialogues, p. 132. 
 
242 LETTERS ON INFIDF.LITY. [LETTER IV. 
 
 the boys would laugh at us. ' No, no, to whatever length 
 any one may push his speculative principles of skepti- 
 cism, he must act, and live, and converse, like other 
 men ; and for this conduct he is not obliged to give any 
 other reason, than the absolute necessity he lies under 
 of so doing.' *■ 
 
 Tim. I think it would be hard upon him if he were 
 obliged to give any other reason ; for absolute necessity 
 is an exceeding good one. But what, then, is it you 
 are all about, spending your pains in constructing a sys- 
 tem which you are necessitated to contradict and pro- 
 test against, every time you go down a ladder or get 
 over a style? Surely you ought to be set in^a corner, 
 with fools' caps upon your heads, like the misses at a 
 boarding school ! In the name of common sense, what 
 can you mean? 
 
 Tom. It is an amusement — 'If a person carries his 
 speculations further than this necessity constrains him, 
 and philosophizes either on natural or moral subjects, 
 he is allured by a certain pleasure and satisfaction which 
 he feels in employing himself after that manner.' " 
 
 Tim. Suppose he were to play at push-pin, or span- 
 farthing, would it not be more to the purpose? And 
 then he would not disturb his neighbors. But that man's 
 heart must be as wrong as his head, who can 'find a 
 certain pleasure and satisfaction' in endeavoring to per- 
 suade his fellow rationals, that they are without God in 
 the world. However, if amusement be the word, let 
 us believers have some too. If philosophers will amuse 
 themselves with talking nonsense, they must give us 
 leave to amuse ourselves by laughing at it. On our side 
 of the question it is possible to be merry and wise, as 
 well as to do some little service to the world by show- 
 ing it what stuff these dreams are made of. Come Tom, 
 you shall represent the genius of Philosophical Skepti- 
 cism. And now let us have some of those strong 
 reasons which induce you to deny the existence of a 
 Deity. 
 
 Tom. Bless us! you shock me ! I do not mean to 
 deny the being, but only to philosophize a little con- 
 cerning the nature of God.'' 
 
 Dialogues, p. 24. " Ibid, ' Ibid. p. 42, 
 
LETTER IV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 243 
 
 Tim. Well, then, be it so ! Philosophize away ! 
 
 Tom. Our reason, Tim, is very weak — very weak 
 indeed — we are poor, finite, frail, blind creatures. Our 
 knowledge of the things around us is extremely limited 
 and imperfect — we ought to humble ourselves^ — 
 
 Tim. There is always mischief in the wind, when a 
 philosopher fallcth down and humhletli himself. But 
 what is your inference from all these lowly considera- 
 tions ? 
 
 Tom. That it is presumption in such worms of the 
 dust to argue about the nature and attributes of God. 
 
 Tim. But you will allow poor reason to exercise 
 herself in her own province, and when she is furnished 
 with premises to draw a conclusion ? 
 
 Tom. Ay, ay ; there is no harm in that. 
 
 Tim. When we see a house calculated to answer 
 various purposes of beauty and convenience, and having 
 in it all the marks of wisdom and design, we know it 
 could not build itself. The senseless materials could 
 never have prepared and arranged themselves in such 
 order. The timber conld not dance, cut and squared, 
 out of the forest, nor the marble meet it, hewn and 
 polished, from the quarry. The house, therefore, must 
 have had a builder. We apply the same argument, a 
 fortiori^ to the case of the world, and its Maker, God : 
 and TuLLY, if I remember right, makes no scruple to 
 assert, that he who denies his assent to it, does not 
 deserve the name of a man. This is the argument 
 called a 'posteriori, and lies open to the common sense 
 of all mankind. Now, then, let us try the sincerity of that 
 declaration of yours, that ' the question is not concern- 
 ing the being, but the nature of God !' For if you con- 
 trovert this argument, you certainly mean to shake our 
 belief in the existence of a Deity. You must of course 
 attempt to show, that the world might have been as it 
 is, without one ; and if that be the case, you will next 
 defy us to prove that there is one. 
 
 Tom. Fiat justitia, mat ccElum.' I must stick to 
 the truth, let what will come of it ; I am not bound to 
 answer for consequences. I must own I look upon 
 the argument to be inconclusive. 
 
 y Dialogues, p. 42. ' [Let justice be done, if the heavens should fall.] 
 
244 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER IV. 
 
 Tim. All very well ; but why could you not say so 
 at first? What occasion to be mealy-mouthed, in an 
 age like this ? Now matters are in a train, and we can 
 proceed regularly. What is your objection to the argu- 
 ment ? Wlierein does it fail 1 
 
 Tom. It will fail, d' ye see, if there be not an exact 
 similarity in the cases. You will not say, that there is 
 an exact similarity between the uniA^ erse and a house, or 
 between God and man.* 
 
 Tim. Why really Tom, I never imagined the world 
 had a door and a chimney, like a house ; or that God 
 had hands and feet like a man. Nor is it at all necessary 
 that it should be so for the strength and validity of ihe 
 argument, which is plainly and simply this: — If stones 
 and trees had not thought and design to form themselves 
 into a house, there must have been some one who had 
 thought and design, to do it for them ; and so, as I said 
 before, a fortiori, with respect to the universe, where 
 the thought and design appear infinitely superior to 
 those required in building a house, we have no occasion 
 to suppose a resemblance of the universe, or of God to 
 man in every particular. 
 
 Tom. But why select so minute, so weak, so bounded 
 a principle, as the reason and design of animals is ' found 
 to be upon this planet ? What peculiar privilege has 
 this little agitation of the brain which we call thought, 
 that we must thus make it the model of the whole uni- 
 verse ? Our partiality in our own favor does indeed 
 present it upon all occasions ; but sound philosophy 
 ought carefully to guard against so natural an allusion."' 
 
 Tim. It is not ' our partiality in our own favor that 
 presents it to us upon all occasions,' but the necessity 
 of the case. There is no other way of speaking upon 
 the subject, so as to be understood. Knowledge in 
 God and man, however diflerent in degree, or attained 
 in a different manner, is the same in kind, and produces 
 the same effects, so far as relates to our present purpose. 
 The knowledge of God is intuitive and perfect ; that of 
 man is by deduction, and is therefore imperfect, either 
 when his premises are false, or when passion and preju- 
 dice enter into his conclusion. But wisdom, which con- 
 
 Diulogucs, p. 50, 51. 58. b Page 60. 
 
LETTER IV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 245 
 
 sisls in fixing upon proper ends, and fitly proportioning 
 means to those ends, is wisdom, in whatsoever object, 
 mode, or degree, it may exist ; and there is therefore 
 no illusion, in saying, " Every house is builded by 
 some man, but he that built all things is God." • You 
 speak of thought, reason, or design, as ' a little agita- 
 tion of the brain ;' as if you imagined, that " Paradise 
 Lost,'^ or " The Advancement of Learning,'"'' might at 
 any time be produced, by simmering a man's brains 
 over the fire ! Certainly an author cannot compose 
 without brains, heart, liver, and lungs ; but I am of 
 opinion something more than all four must have gone 
 to the composition of even the Dialogue concerning 
 Natural Religion. 'Minute, weak, and bounded, as 
 this principle of reason and design is found to be in the 
 inhabitants of this planet,' it can form and frustrate 
 mighty schemes ; it can raise and subvert empires ; it 
 can invent and bring to perfection a variety of arts and 
 sciences ; and in the hand of some very worthy gentle- 
 man of my acquaintance, it can set itself up against 
 God, and revile the works of the Almighty through 
 three hundred and sixty-four pages together. 
 
 To?n. I cannot but still think, there is something of 
 partiality and self-love in the business. ' Suppose 
 there w^ere a planet wholly inhabited by spiders (which 
 is very possible ;) they would probably assert, with the 
 Bramins, that the world arose from an infinite spider, 
 w ho spun this whole complicated mass from his bowels, 
 and annihilates afterwards the whole, or any part of it, 
 by absorbing it again, and resolving it again into his 
 own essence. This inference would there appear as 
 natural and irrefragable as that which in our planet as- 
 cribes the origin of all things to design and intelligence. 
 To us indeed it appears ridiculous, because a spider is 
 a little contemptible animal, whose operations we are 
 never likely to take for a model of the whole universe.'"* 
 Tim. Possibly not; but I should take that 'little 
 contemptible animal' for an exact model of a skeptical 
 philosopher — 
 
 " It spins a flimsy web, its slender store : 
 And labors till it clouds itself all o'er." 
 
 [Bacon's masterpiece.] ^ Dialogues, p. 142. 
 
246 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER IV. 
 
 And were there a planet wholly inhabited by these 
 same philosophers, I doubt not of their spinning a 
 cosmogony worthy an academy of spiders. — And so, 
 Tom, the voluntary humility which discovered itself at 
 your setting out, ends at last in degrading man to a 
 spider ; and reason is either exalted to the stars, or de- 
 pressed to the earth, as best serves the course of infi- 
 delity. In this particular, however, you are at leeist 
 as bad as ' the parsons. 'e But let us proceed. What 
 have you more to say against the argument of the 
 house ? 
 
 Tom. I say, that arguments concerning facts are 
 founded on experience. I have seen one house planned 
 and erected by an architect, and therefore I conclude 
 the same with regard to others. But ' will any man 
 tell me, with a serious countenance, that an orderly uni- 
 verse must arise from some thought and art like the 
 human, because we have experience of it ? To ascer- 
 tain this reasoning, it were requisite that we had ex- 
 perience of the origin of worlds. 'f 
 
 Tim. Truly I know not how that well can be ; for 
 worlds are not made every day. I have heard of the 
 production of none since our own, and man could not 
 see that made, because he himself was made after ; and 
 he could not exist before he was made. The contrary 
 supposition was indeed once ventured on, by the master 
 of a Dutch puppet show — whether he were a metaphy- 
 sician, I never heard. In the beginning of his ingenious 
 drama, Mi*. Punch posting over the stage in a very large 
 pair of jack-boots, and being asked, whither he was going 
 at so early an hour, replies, / am going to be created. 
 His evidence, if you can procure it, is very much at the 
 service of skepticism, and may go near to determine the 
 matter. — In the mean time, I shall presume my argu- 
 ment to be still good, that if a house must be built by 
 thought and design, a world cannot have been built 
 without ; though I have seen the one, and never was 
 so fortunate as to see the other. Let me add further, 
 that if in the general contrivance and construction of 
 the world there be evident demonstration of consum- 
 mate wisdom, that demonstration cannot be set aside 
 
 *• Sec Dialogues, p. 37. f Page 66. 
 
LETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. t547 
 
 by seeming or real inconvenience in some parts, which, 
 for good reasons, were either originally designed, or 
 may have been since introduced, for the trial or pun- 
 ishment of its inhabitants, or for other purposes un- 
 known to us. — This is the plain conclusion formed by 
 common sense, and surely ten times more rational than 
 to talk of eggs^ and seeds, and spiders, necessity of 
 seeing the world made, in order to know that it had a 
 maker ! 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 I SHALL not pursue any further, at present, the wild 
 ramblings of the spirit of superstition in the Dialogues 
 on Natural Religion. If your disorder should return 
 hereafter, dear sir, we may take another handful or two 
 of the hasty pudding. Let us advert, in the mean time, 
 to something more mischievous than the Dialogues, 
 because more intelligible to the generality of readers : 
 — I mean an Essay on Suicide, in which that practice 
 is vindicated, and recommended to his majesty's liege 
 subjects, not only as lawful and innocent, but as con- 
 taining and comprehending, in many cases, almost the 
 whole duty of man. 
 
 This Essay opens with a panegyric on philosophy, as 
 the only remedy for superstition. But may not the 
 remedy prove worse than the disease ? A young gen- 
 tleman, some years ago, suffered himself to be seduced 
 to popery. His friends sent him to the sage of Ferneyi 
 for a cure ; and a most effectual one indeed was wrought. 
 He came home a confirmed infidel ; and has employed 
 himself ever since in writing against Christianity. 
 Popery may be bad, but irreligion is not better. 
 
 Mr. Hume laments that ' men endowed with the 
 strongest capacity for business and affairs, crouch 
 all their lives under slavery to the grossest supersti- 
 tion.' — (p. 1.) Superstition surely is not the failing 
 of the present age, in Great Britain. We have reason 
 to wish that there was a little more of it than there is ; 
 
 « [Voltaire.] 
 Vol. v.— 22 
 
248 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V. 
 
 since by ' the grossest superstition' philosophers often 
 mean nothing more nor less than the Christian religion. 
 
 ' The fair sex feel many of their joys blasted by this 
 importunate intruder.'— (p. 2.) And lo ! Mr. Hume, in 
 his panoply of ' sound philosophy,' sallies forth as their 
 champion, to slay the giant, and deliver the captive 
 damsels. But of what kind are the female 'joys' here 
 alluded to 1 Innocent ones are heightened by religion ; 
 and those that are otherwise ought to be ' blasted.' Mr. 
 Hume, we have been told, delighted much in the com- 
 pany of women that were modest ; though the system 
 of morals with which he favored the world, was by no 
 means calculated to make or to keep them such. If 
 they were edified by his conversation, I am heartily 
 glad of it. 'I do rejoice; yea, and will rejoice.' 
 
 * Superstition being founded on false opinion, must 
 immediately vanish, when true philosophy has inspired 
 juster sentiments of superior powers.' — (p. 2.) But 
 where is this same 'inspiring true philosophy' to bd 
 found ? In the writings of the ancient Heathens ? As- 
 suredly not. They were not agreed whether there were 
 many gods, one God, or no god. In the writings of 
 Mr. Hume ? Alas, his famous Dialogues on Natural 
 Religion show, that by studying their works, he had 
 brought himself, and wished to bring his readers, into 
 the very same uncertainty. ' Just sentiments of superior 
 powers' can be 'inspired' only by those powers. From 
 the apostacy of the nations to the coming of Christ, 
 philosophy labored at the task in vain ; and if she has 
 succeeded in any respect better since, it is because she 
 has borrowed light from revelation, and not been honest 
 enough to own it. Christianity is founded, not upon 
 * false opinions,' but facts, the truth of which all Mr. 
 Hume's philosophy has never been able to disprove. 
 
 To the direful effects of superstition enumerated by 
 Cicero, Mr. Hume adds one still more direful ; that a 
 man under its dominion, ' though death alone can put 
 a full period to his misery, dares not fly to this refuge, 
 but still prolongs a miserable existence, from a vain fear 
 lest he offend his Maker, by using the power with which 
 that beneficent Being has endowed him. The presents 
 of God and nature are ravished from us by this cruel 
 enemy ; and, notwithstanding that one step would re- 
 
LETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 249 
 
 move us from the regions of pain and sorrow, her 
 menaces still chain him down to a hated being, which 
 she herself chiefly contributes to render miserable.' — 
 (p. 3.) The superstion intended by Cicero, is pagan 
 superstition. But what is that ' superstition' which in 
 these times is understood to prohibit suicide? Evidently 
 it is the Christian religion. It is this, therefore, which 
 by Mr. Hume is called ' the modern European supersti- 
 tion.''^ This is the 'virulent poison,'^ the 'cruel enemy,''^ 
 the 'inhuman tyrant," that 'chiefly contributes to ren- 
 der life miserable;' and the Deity is complimented by 
 him as a ' beneficent Being,' because he has ' endowed 
 a man with power' to cut his throat, or blow out his 
 brains, in order to escape. The same beneficent Being 
 has endowed a man with ' power ' (if that be all that is 
 wanted) to cut the throat, or blow out the brains, of his 
 neighbor, should he judge that neighbor to be the cause 
 of his misery. Upon the principles advanced by Mr. 
 Hume, it is no easy matter to give a good and sufficient 
 reason why he should not do so. For if he has a right 
 to kill himself when any great evil befals him, or when 
 he is under the apprehension of it, why may he not have 
 an equal right to kill another, who, as he apprehends, 
 has brought evil upon him, or who, as he fears, will do 
 it ? — So, again, if he may kill himself because he seems 
 no longer of any use to society, why not, out of charity, 
 kill another whom he finds, or fancies to be, in the same 
 predicament ? If such be Mr. Hume's philosophy, the 
 Lord preserve us from it, and bless us with a little com- 
 mon sense, and common honesty ! 
 
 Mr. Hume undertakes to prove that suicide is no 
 breach of our duty to God : and now let us attend to 
 him. ' In order to govern the material world, the Al- 
 mighty Creator has established general and immutable 
 laws, by which all bodies are maintained in their pro- 
 per sphere and function.' — (p. 5.) Without doubt he 
 has established an agency of second causes, which we 
 call the course of nature, operating, under his own super- 
 intendency, regularly and uniformly, unless when, for 
 special reasons, he sees fit to alter or suspend it, as on 
 many occasions he has done. Very well ; now to pro- 
 
 Page 15. i Page 2. ^ Page 4. ' Page 5. 
 
250 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V, 
 
 ceed : — ' To govern the animal world, he has endowed 
 all living creatures with bodily and mental powers; 
 with senses, passions, appetites, memory, and judgment, 
 by which they are impelled or regulated in that course 
 of life to which they are destined.' 
 
 Here we must stop a little. And first, we will dis- 
 miss the other ' animals' from their attendance, because 
 the question proceeds solely upon man. This done, 
 we ask, whether there be really no difference between 
 the two cases ; whether man be not endowed with a 
 will to choose and refuse ; and whether he be not ac- 
 countable for his actions ? If not — if he be necessarily 
 ' impelled and regulated in his course,' as a planet is in 
 that marked out for it, by ' general and immutable laws,' 
 there is at once an end of the morality of human actions, 
 and neither suicide nor any thing else can be a crime» 
 You will judge by what follows, how far it is Mr. 
 Hume's intention to inculcate this idea. 
 
 ' All events, in one sense, may be pronounced the 
 action of the Almighty ; they all proceed from those 
 powers with which he has endowed his creatures.' — 
 (p. 7.) The murder of Abel ' proceeded from those 
 powers with which God had endowed his creature' 
 Cain; since, if Cain had not possessed such powers, 
 he could not have exerted them. But what is the 'one 
 sense' in which ' that event may be pronounced the 
 action of the Almighty V The power is from God ; 
 but let man be answerable for the use and the abuse 
 of it. 
 
 ' When the passions play, when the judgment dic- 
 tates, when the limbs obey ; this is all the operation of 
 God.' — (p. 7.) The same fallacy. That the passions 
 can play, the judgment can dictate, and the limbs can 
 obey, is of God ; but that these several faculties operate 
 by righteousness unto life, and not by sin unto death, 
 man, assisted by divine grace, is competent to provide ; 
 and it is at his peril that he do provide. Otherwise 
 God is made the author of all the evil in the world. 
 
 ' Men are intrusted to their own judgment and dis- 
 cretion, and may employ every faculty with which they 
 are endowed, to provide for their ease, happiness, or 
 preservation.' — (p. 8.) In subordination to the laws of 
 God, and the duties he has enjoined, not per fas atque 
 
S,ETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 351 
 
 nefas."^ There are cases in which we ought to give up 
 our own ease, happiness, and even preservation, for 
 the benefit of others — our friends, our country, our reli- 
 gion ; and we shall in nowise lose our reward. 
 
 We are now coming to the point. ' What is the 
 meaning then of this principle, that a man who puts an 
 end to his own life to avoid pain and misery, has incur- 
 red the indignation of his Creator by encroaching on 
 the office of Divine Providence, and disturbing the 
 order of the universe?' — (P'9') Mr. Hume has been 
 careful to insinuate repeatedly in the course of his argu- 
 ment, 'that the providence of the Deity appears not 
 immediately in any operation, but governs every thing 
 by the general and immutable laws above mentioned ;''• 
 that there is no event exempted from them, or peculiarly 
 reserved for his own immediate action and operation ;''^ 
 and that if general laws be ever broken by particular 
 volitions of the Deity, 'tis after a manner which entire- 
 ly escapes human observation.'? — But God may act 
 mediately, though not immediately; he may direct, 
 though he does not control. The agency of second 
 causes proceeds not by chance, or by a blind impulse; 
 it was created by God's power, framed by God's wis- 
 dom, and is guided by his providence. We have better 
 authority for affirming, than Mr. Hume can have for 
 denying, that not a sparrow falls to the ground without 
 our heavenly Father. If he regards the life of a bird, 
 he cannot be indiffijrent to that of a man. The infer- 
 ence is made by the same authority — ' how much more, 
 O ye of little faith' — quite contrary to another favorite 
 position of Mr. Hume, that in the sight of God ' every 
 event is alike important, <i and that the life of a man is 
 of no more importance to the universe, than that of an 
 oyster.'*" 
 
 If God be not inattentive to inferior animals, it must 
 be because he had some view in giving them existence. 
 And shall we suppose that man, the noblest of his crea- 
 tures, the lord of this lower world, was formed without 
 any view or design at all ? No, surely ; he is sent upon 
 earth, for a certain time, to perform a certain part, to act, 
 
 "> [For right or for wrong.] " Page 7. • Page 8. p Page 8, 
 Page 8, ' Page 11. 
 
352 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V. 
 
 or to suffer as God for wise and just reasons shall be 
 pleased to ordain, till the part shall be finished, and he 
 shall be released and dismissed by the same hand. The 
 Lord of nature gives, and takes away. It is the glory of 
 a man to resign himself to the divine dispensation, and 
 to wait his discharge with faith and patience. There 
 is something more rational and manly and comfortable 
 in all this, than in the notion of our being subjected 
 only to the 'general laws of matter and motion,' and 
 whenever we happen to be out of humor with the 
 world and ourselves, flying at once for relief to the 
 sword or to the pistol. 
 
 But in this case, says Mr. Hume, * it would be equal- 
 ly criminal to act for the preservation of life, as for its 
 destruction.' — (p. 11.) By no means. GoD.has implant- 
 ed in every creature an instinct for the preservation of 
 life, and great pains must be taken to oyercome that 
 instinct, before we can bring ourselves to. effect its de- 
 struction. 
 
 The reason assigned is, that in one case as well as 
 the other, ' we disturb the course of nature, and infringe 
 the general laws of matter and motion.' — My dear 
 philosopher, let us obey the law of God, and leave 
 ' laws of matter and motion' to thefnselves. 1 am afraid 
 it is impossible you should have imposed upon your 
 own understanding, when you risked this argimaent. 
 
 ' A hair, a fly, an insect, is able to destroy this mighty 
 being, whose life is of such importance.' — (p. 12.) Un- 
 doubtedly. Now for the inference, — 'Is it an absurdity 
 lo suppose that human -prudence may lawfulhj dispose 
 of what depends on such insignificant causes.' — But is 
 life of less importance while it continues, because by 
 insignificant causes it may be taken away ? Or because 
 it may be so taken away, are we therefore authorized to 
 extinguish it by our own act and deed ? The considera- 
 tion of its frailty can only render it more precious, in- 
 citing us to make the best use of it while we have it, 
 and to take all possible care lest we lose it. 
 
 P. 12. 'It would be no crime in me to divert the Nile 
 or Danube from its course.' — None at all. Some oppo- 
 sition might arise from the inhabitants of certain coun- 
 tries perhaps, when they were likely to lose their rivers. 
 But I wish you had been so employed, instead of writing 
 
LETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 253 
 
 fessays in defence of suicide. — 'Where then is the crime 
 of turning a few ounces of blood from their natural 
 channel?' — (p. 12.) The public prints informed us some 
 time ago of a man who killed his wife and children, as 
 well as himself, to prevent them from being unhappy. 
 And where was the crime 1 It was only in * turning so 
 many ounces of blood from their natural channel.' — 
 This, it seems is the philosophical idea of murder; 
 somewhat similar to the notion once entertained of per- 
 jury by an Irish witness — 'Who would not smack the 
 calveskin,^ said he, ' for a friend V 
 
 But more curiosities await us. We are now to be 
 informed that resignation and gratitude are with the 
 suicide ; and that it belongs to the poor foolish Christian 
 only to murmur and be thankless. 'Do you imagine 
 that I repine at Providence, or curse my creation, be- 
 cause I go out of life, and put a period to a being, which, 
 were it to continue, would render me miserable?' — (p. 
 12.) I do really imagine, from all that I have observed 
 and heard, that this is the disposition of mind in which 
 many of those leave the world, who become their own 
 executioners. Suicide is the refuge most frequently 
 recurred to by pride, lust, and ambition, when disap- 
 pointed in their schemes, or reduced to beggary by their 
 own folly and extravagance. Sour, gloomy, and des- 
 perate, they put themselves upon the forlorn hope of 
 atheism and annihilation, dash from the world, and 
 plunge into eternity, at a venture. Melancholy, if it 
 proceed from the above mentioned causes, partakes of 
 their criminality. If it be constitutional, it is a disease, 
 and must be judged of according!}-. As to the supposed 
 instances of suicide, to escape from pain and sickness, 
 they very seldom happen. In that school of affliction 
 men learn patience, and with patience many other good 
 lessons. But from whatever cause such a resolution 
 may proceed, he who throws back his life, the gift of 
 God, in the face of the donor, and in effect says he will 
 have no more of it, most certainly ' repines at Provi- 
 dence,' and cannot be far from 'cursing his creation.' 
 How would the despised Christian virtues of humility, 
 repentance, faith, and charity, in every trial, set all 
 right, and reconcile us to our sufferings and our duty ! 
 ;Put let us hear Mr. Hume. ' Far be such sentiments 
 
254 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER V, 
 
 from me — I thank Providence, both for the good which I 
 have already enjoyed, and for the power with which I am 
 endowed, of escaping the ill that threatens me.' — (p. 12.) 
 A very fine piece of still life, for one about to commit 
 such an act of violence upon himself! A most amiable 
 and gracious portrait of self-murder, after the manner 
 of the Stoics ! Suppose, instead of thanking Providence 
 for a ' power' which you are going to employ in a man- 
 ner never intended by your Maker ; when you are upon 
 your knees you should entreat for grace to bear your 
 misfortunes Hke a man, and improve them to the pur- 
 pose for which they were sent — would not this conduct 
 display more piety and resignation than cutting your 
 throat to escape them ? Mr. Hume is of a different 
 opinion. * To you it belongs to repine at Providence, 
 who foolishly imagine that you have no such power, 
 and who must still prolong a hated life, though loaded 
 with pain and sickness, with shame and poverty.' — 
 (p. 13.) Pardon me, sir: the accents of a Christian in 
 such circumstances, are very different indeed. 'Thou 
 hast sent me sickness, and I have borne it with patience, 
 without murmuring ; great losses, and I have blessed 
 thy holy name ; calamities and afflictions, and I have 
 received them with thanksgiving.' 
 
 'Do you not teach, that when any ill befalls me, 
 though by the malice of mine enemies, I ought to be 
 resigned to Providence ; and that the actions of men 
 are the operations of the Almighty, as much as the 
 actions of inanimate beings?' — (p. 13.) Certainly they 
 are all under his direction : and now again for the in- 
 ference. ' When I fall upon my own sword, there- 
 fore, I receive my death equally from the hands of the 
 Deity, as if it had proceeded from a lion, a precipice, 
 or a fever.' That is, because I must be resigned to 
 God's providence, when, in the course of his dispensa- 
 tions, my life is taken from me, therefore I may kill 
 myself! This is an '' argaV that would have disgraced 
 the grave digger in Hamlet ! In the one instance we 
 employ our utmost exertions to preserve life ; in the 
 other we ourselves destroy it. 
 
 But it is said, ' If my life be not my own, it were 
 criminal in me to put it in danger, as well as to dispose 
 of It.'— (p. 13.) When it pleases God to call for life, 
 
LETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 255 
 
 in the way of duty, it must willingly be sacrificed. But 
 suicide never lies in the way of duty. And no two cases 
 can be more essentially different than that of the hero, 
 who dies in the cause of his country, his king, or his 
 God, and that of the wretch who, through pride, impa- 
 tience, and cowardice, lays violent hands upon himself. 
 Attempt not for the credit of philosophy, to confound 
 the two characters ; for heaven and hell are not farther 
 asunder. 
 
 ' There is no being — which by ever so particular 
 an action can encroach upon the plan of the Creator's 
 providence, or disorder the universe. Its operations 
 are his works equally with that chain of events which 
 it invades, and whichever principle prevails, we may 
 for that very reason conclude it to be most favored 
 by him.' — (p. 14.) Rare news for pick-pockets, profli- 
 gates and cut-throats ! — A lady has paid a visit to a 
 neighbor, and in the evening is returning to her home, 
 which in the natural 'chain of events,' she could reach 
 in peace and quietness. But a man, 'exercising the 
 po-wers with which his Creator has invested him,' ra- 
 vishes, robs, and murders her. This is the ' irregular 
 action, which invades the chain.' Be of good courage, 
 my boy ! ' Its operations are equally the works of God 
 with the chain of events invaded by it, and whichever 
 principle prevails, we may, for that very reason, con- 
 clude it to be the most favored by him.' — ' God sees 
 no sin in his eZeci,' says the fanatic: but according 
 to the new philosophy, God sees no sin, (for if this 
 mode of reasoning be just, there neither is or can be sin) 
 in any man. 
 
 ' When the horror of pain prevails over the love of 
 life ; when a voluntary action anticipates the effects of 
 blind causes, it is only in consequence of those powers 
 and principles which he (the supreme Creator) has im- 
 planted in his creatures.' — (p. 14.) Does not the argu- 
 ment prove too much ? May not the same be said of 
 numberless desires which arise in the heart of man, as 
 at present circumstanced, and which, according to all 
 the rules of true philosophy, as well as true religion, 
 ought to be controlled and overruled by a superior prin- 
 ciple ? Will not the same plea be as valid in the case 
 of him who finds himself strongly excited to revenge. 
 
266 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V. 
 
 to intemperance, to lust, &c. <Slc. &c. as of him who is 
 tempted to destroy himself? All, it may be said, hap- 
 pens 'in consequence of those powers and principles 
 implanted in us.' The truth is, that human actions 
 must be directed, because they will be judged, by other 
 measures than our pains or our pleasures. On one side 
 is my propensity ; on the other, the law of God. Can 
 it be a matter of inditference, w^hich of the two prevails? 
 According to those arguments, as Rousseau has justly 
 observed, ' there can be no crimes which may not be 
 justified by the temptation to perpetrate them ; and as 
 soon as the impetuosity of passion shall prevail over the 
 horror of guilt, a disposition to do evil shall be consi- 
 dered as a right (o do it.''' 
 
 'Divine providence is still inviolate, and placed far 
 beyond the reach of human injuries.' — (p. 15.) Certain- 
 ly. When Judas betrayed his Master, it was foreseen 
 that he w^ould do so, and all things were ordered accord- 
 ly : ' Providence was still inviolate' — but Judas was not 
 therefore guiltless. 
 
 It is affirmed that ' to divert rivers from their course, 
 to inoculate for the small pox, to put a period to our 
 own life, to build houses, to cultivate the ground, or sail 
 upon the ocean, are actions equally innocent, or equally 
 criminal.' Why? Because 'in all of them we employ 
 our powers of mind and body, to produce some innova- 
 tion in the course of nature; and in none of them do 
 we any more.' — (p. 15.) 1. As to the actions of 'di- 
 verting rivers, building houses, cultivating the ground, 
 and saihng upon the .ocean,' there is no occasion to 
 discuss their legality. — 2. The intention of inoculation 
 is to preserve life, that of suicide can be only to destroy 
 it; so that there is a material difference between them. 
 — 3. No one ever rested the morality of human actions, 
 merely on the circumstance here stated of 'producing 
 some innovation in the course of nature' ! Otherwise 
 one might argue, after the manner of Mr. Hume, 'Jack 
 kills a hog, and Dick kills a inan. They must be equally 
 innocent, or equally criminal. Jack employs his pow- 
 ers to produce some innovation in the course of nature ; 
 ^n<\ Dick does no more. Each turns a few ounces of 
 
 * Eloisa, Letter cxv. 
 
LETTER v.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 257 
 
 blood out of their natural channel ; and the blood of a 
 hog makes as good puddings as that of a man.' 
 
 * But you are placed by Providence, like a sentinel, 
 in a particular station ; and when you desert it without 
 being recalled, you are equally guilty of rebellion against 
 your almighty sovereign, and have incurred his displea- 
 sure.' (p. 15.) — This is an argument urged against sui- 
 cide by Heathen as well as Christian writers. How does 
 Mr. Hume overthrow it? — ' I ask why do you conclude 
 that Providence has placed me in this station ? For my 
 part, I find that I owe my birth to a long chain of causes, 
 of which many depended on the voluntary actions of 
 men. — (p. 16.) Here we should answer, but that Mr. 
 Hume, like the mother of Sisera, returns answer to him- 
 self: — ' But Providence guided all these causes, and no- 
 thing happens in the universe, without its consent and 
 co-operation.' — (p. 16.) 
 
 Now comes Mr. Hume's reply : — ' If so, then neither 
 does my death, however voluntary, happen without its 
 consent.' If by consent Mr. Hume mesins permission, all 
 the evil ever perpetrated on earth has been perpetrated 
 by God's permission ; for otherwise it could not have 
 been perpetrated at all. But if he means approbation, 
 we must deny the proposition. Many things are per- 
 mitted, which are not approved of. Of his approbation 
 or disapprobation we have other rules by which to 
 judge. — ' And whenever pain or sorrow so far overcome 
 my patience, as to make me tired of life, I may con- 
 clude that I am recalled from my station in the clearest 
 and most direct terms.' — (p. 16.) Then every man may 
 put an end to his own life when he thinks proper. The 
 ' patience' of some people is soon ' overcome ;' and 
 perhaps there are iQw Englishmen, who have not found 
 themselves ' tired of life,' in one part or other of the 
 month of November ; but happily prevented from 
 hanging themselves by a sense of higher obligation, 
 they have returned to business, and done excellent ser- 
 vice to their country, in the month of January. The 
 station of a sentinel is not, nor is it supposed to be, a 
 station of ease, but of duty. A good soldier endures 
 hardship ; and a good Christian must do the same. 
 Affliction is ' a call, in the most clear and express 
 terms,' not to sullenness and suicide, but to the exercise 
 
358 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER V, 
 
 of patience, resignation, and fortitude. " For even 
 hereunto are we called," and our commander himself 
 has set us the example. Let us follow him with alacrity 
 and cheerfulness, and we shall one day sit down with 
 him " at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens." 
 This is a philosophy that has some comfort in it, and 
 is worth cultivating. 
 
 ' 'Tis Providence surely that has placed me at this 
 present in this chamber : but may I not leave it when I 
 think proper, without being liable to the imputation of 
 having deserted my post or station V — (p. 16.) Is there 
 no difterence, then, between your walking out of life, and 
 your walking out of one room into another ? — ' When 
 I shall be dead, the principles of which I am composed 
 will still perform their part in the universe, and will be 
 equally useful in the grand fabric;, as when they com- 
 posed this individual creature.' — (p. 16.) They may be 
 so. Your clay, like that of Alexander, "may stop a 
 bung hole." — 'The difference to the whole will be no 
 greater than betwixt my being in a chamber and the 
 open air. The one change is of more importance to 
 me than the other ; but not more so to the universe.' — 
 This is the old argument, that 'the life of man is of no 
 greater importance to the universe than that of an 
 oyster.' As far as this argument goes, then, there 
 would be no harm done, if the whole species were to 
 take arms, and, like Bayes' troops in The Rehearsal, 
 " all kill one another." But we know that the life of 
 man is no insignificant matter in the eye of God : and 
 Mr. Hume himself seems to think it of some importance 
 to the person concerned. 
 
 LETTER VL 
 
 We are next to inquire, whether suicide be any 
 breach of duty towards our neighbor. 
 
 ' How does it appear that the Almighty is displeased 
 with those actions which disturb society? By the prin- 
 ciples which he has implanted in human nature ; and 
 which inspire us with a sentiment of remorse if we 
 ourselves have been guilty of such actions, and with 
 that of blame and disapprobation, if we ever observe 
 
LETTER VI.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 259 
 
 them in others. Let us now examine whether suicide 
 be of this kind of actions.' — (p. 17.) 
 
 Before we enter upon the examination here proposed, 
 it is obvious to remark, that there is no instinct, or 
 ' principle implanted' in human nature, which seems to 
 be more universal and more forcible than that of an 
 aversion to suicide. For a man to destroy himself, is 
 directly against the voice and the very prime inclination 
 of nature. Every thing desires to preserve itself. "No 
 man hateth his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth 
 it." And therefore nations in general, as taught by the 
 immediate voice of nature, by the very first accents 
 which she utters to all, have abhorred men's laying 
 violent hands upon themselves : and to show their 
 abhorrence, have decreed to pursue self-murderers, 
 after their death, with the highest marks of ignominy. « 
 The argument from 'implanted principle,' therefore, 
 militates very powerfully against suicide. 
 
 But however, the truth is, that in this, as in many 
 other cases, these implanted principles, by due labor 
 and pains, may be overruled and suppressed. On which 
 account, it becomes necessary for us to have some other 
 criterion of moral rectitude evident to all, and to be 
 eluded by none ; lest obduracy should be deemed a 
 proof of innocence, and because a man feels no remorse 
 he should apprehend no guilt. For us Christians, this 
 matter is settled by a law, which we esteem to be wise, 
 and just, and good, and most friendly to the interests 
 of society. By the leave of the new philosophers, we 
 will take it with us ; and I am apt to think, it v.ill ap- 
 })ear to great advantage, on this part of our subject. 
 Holding this light in our hands, then, let us enter the 
 dark labyrinth of Mr. Hume's sophistry, and it will 
 bring us safely out again. 
 
 * A man who retires from life does no harm to 
 society.' — (p. 18.) There are two ways of imposing upon 
 mankind through the abuse of words ; when a good 
 thing is disgraced by a bad name, or a bad thing digni- 
 fied with a good one. Mr. Hume in this Essay affords 
 us a striking instance af the latter mode of deception. 
 
 • See Bishop Taylor's Dudor Diibitantium, Book 11. Chap. ii. 
 Rule 3. 
 
 Vol. v.— 23 
 
260 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VI. 
 
 The self-murderer is sometimes said by him to * dispose 
 of life,' as a pedlar would sell two pennyworth of inkle ; 
 at others, to * retire from life,' as a gentleman, when he 
 has a mind to leave company, makes his bow, steps 
 gracefully out of the room, and shuts the door. — It naay 
 be urged, perhaps, that as we understand Mr. Hume's 
 meaning, it is needless to dispute any further about his 
 language. — Be it so. Proceed we then to consider the 
 sentiment. 
 
 ' A man who retires from life does no harm to society.' 
 Aristotle thought otherwise, and, as it should seem, 
 better, upon this point. It was his opinion, that they 
 who destroy themselves (without the command of God 
 or the public) are injurious to the commonwealth ; from 
 whose service they withdraw themselves if they be inno- 
 cent, and whose justice they evade, if they be guilty.' 
 But surely the suicide ' does harm to society,' by setting 
 a detestable example, which, if generally followed in 
 times of calamity and distress, would desolate a country, 
 instead of defending it. Suicide originates in despair, 
 of all evils, political or moral, the greatest, as cutting 
 off every resource of help and deliverance. Wisely, 
 therefore, as well as bravely, did the Romans return 
 public thanks to their general who had been vanquish- 
 ed in a dreadful battle by the enemy, because he had 
 nevertheless not despaired of the commonwealth. In 
 the instance before us, example is particularly conta- 
 gious. Once, as history relates, it became a fashion 
 among the young women of a certain city in Greece to 
 make away with themselves ; nor could the magistrates 
 put an end to the horrid practice, till having ordered the 
 dead bodies of the culprits to be dragged naked through 
 the streets, they overcame this most unnatural love of 
 death by the dread of shame. In our own country, and 
 it is said, of late, upon the continent, partly by the ex- 
 amples of profligates, and partly by the writings of phi- 
 losophers, the same fashion is more and more diffusing 
 itself among all ranks of people, and the state is con- 
 tinually losing members, who might otherwise have 
 lived long to serve it, and then have died in the faith 
 and fear of God. It is not true, therefore, that the sui- 
 
 ' Sec Bishop Taylor, uhi supra. 
 
LETTER VI.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 361 
 
 cide * does no harm to society.' He does irremediable 
 harm, and may continue to do so, to the years of many 
 generations. 
 
 * He only ceases to do good ; which if it is an injury, 
 is of the lowest kind.' — (p. 18.) To cease to do good is 
 not so criminal as to do harm ; but it is criminal not- 
 withstanding. We were sent into the world to do 
 good ; and we should do it to the end. The portion of 
 the " unprofitable servant" is not to be envied. 
 
 ' But when I withdraw myself altogether from soci- 
 ety, can I be bound any longer V — (p. 18.) It is not pos- 
 sible to * withdraw yourself altogethel* from society.' 
 There will always be some about you, whom you may 
 improve by your conversation and example, and who 
 may improve others by the relation of them. — ' I am not 
 obliged to do a small good to society, at the expense of 
 a great harm to myself.' — (p. 18.) Be not afraid, where 
 no fear is. The 'harm' is not 'great' of bearing your 
 afflictions as God requires you to bear them, who sends 
 the trial, and will send the strength; and in a stage of 
 our existence where so large a part of our duty lies in 
 suffering, the ' good' is not ' small,' of showing your 
 companions in tribulation (and such more or less are 
 all mankind) what it is to suffer and die like a Christian, 
 in piety and patience, cheerfulness and resignation. 
 
 'If upon account of age and infirmities, I may law- 
 fully resign any office, and employ my time altogether 
 in fencing against those calamities, and alleviating, as 
 much as possible, the miseries of my future life; why 
 may I not cut short these miseries at once by an action 
 which is no more prejudicial to society V — (p. 19.) Sui- 
 cide is in reality far more 'prejudicial to society,' as we 
 have already shown, because it exhibits a bad example 
 of impatience and despair, which may be copied by any 
 man, who, in the hour of gloom and melancholy (he 
 being always judge of his own case) shall fancy himself 
 in circumstances which will justify the action. How 
 many have still continued to the last in various ways to 
 do service to their families and to the public, during the 
 intervals of pain and sickness ! And when they could 
 no longer teach their friends how to live and act, have 
 taught them, (as before mentioned, but it cannot be 
 
"462 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VI, 
 
 mentioned too often,) that other equally necessary and 
 important lesson — to suffer and to die. 
 
 Mr. Hume is resolved to die hard. — 'But suppose that 
 it is no longer in my power to promote the interest of 
 society.' I repeat it once more, that while you have 
 breath, it will be in your power to do so. — ' Suppose 
 that I am a burden to it.' If the society be Christian, it 
 will readily, charitably, and kindly, support the burden. 
 ' Suppose that my life hinders some person from being 
 much more useful to society.' As it is your duty to 
 bear your afflictions, it is that of others to assist, and 
 minister to you in your necessities ; and they cannot be 
 'more useful to society' than while so employed. 'In 
 such cases my resignation of life must not only be inno- 
 cent, but laudable.' 
 
 Neither 'laudable' nor 'innocent,' believe me, if by 
 'resignation of life' you mean suicide, for the reasons, 
 many and good, above assigned. 
 
 'Most people who lie under any temptation to abandon 
 existence, are in some such situation : those who have 
 health or power, or authority, have commonly better 
 reason to be in humor with the world.' — (p. 19.) Yet 
 this is by no means always so. There are seasons when 
 the world, with all its pleasures, and all its glories, will 
 fail him who has nothing else to depend upon. Ac- 
 cordingly we have had instances, where, for want of 
 the rehgious principle, ' health, power, and authority,' 
 have proved insufficient to keep their possessors ' in 
 humor;' and through the prevalence of pride, avarice, 
 intemperance, caprice, and spleen, men have despatched 
 themselves — some, because they had taken a wrong 
 step, and were blamed for it ; some, because they had 
 eaten too much, and therefore life was insupportable ; 
 some to defraud their creditors ; some, because they 
 were tired of buckling and unbuckling their shoes ; and 
 some to save charges. Poor unhappy man ! How art 
 thou tost upon the ocean of life, when once driven from 
 the helm, wliich should direct thy course through time 
 to eternity. 
 
 Mr. Hume states the following case. — 'A man is en- 
 gaged in a conspiracy for the public interest; is seized 
 upon suspicion ; is threatened with the rack ; and knows 
 from his own weakness that the secret will be extorted 
 
LETTER VI.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 263 
 
 from him: could such a one consult the public interest 
 better than by putting a quick period to a miserable 
 life?' — (p. 20.) 1. To avoid so untoward a situation, 
 before a man 'engages in a conspiracy,' let him be very 
 well assured that it is indeed ' for the public interest,' 
 that he is in the way of his duty ; and that the law of 
 his God will bear him out in the undertaking. — 2. This 
 point being secured, and the action of suicide supposed 
 to be (as we apprehend) malum in se," then the reso- 
 lution of the question is clear; we are not to 'do evil 
 that good may come;' it were better the conspiracy 
 should be discovered than that the man should commit 
 a sin, for the reason assigned elsewhere by Mr. Hume 
 himself, that ' the damnation of one man is an infinitely 
 greater evil than the subversion of a thousand millions 
 of kingdoms. '^ Let the man therefore continue in his 
 integrity, and trust God for the event. — 3. He who is 
 invited to take a part in a dangerous and desperate 
 enterprise, should consider consequences possible and 
 probable, and weigh well his own strength, beforehand; 
 and if he suspects himself likely to fail in the day of 
 trial, let him by no means engage. A case of this kind 
 may doubtless be imagined, which will seem extremely 
 hard; and mankind will be disposed not only to excuse, 
 but even to honor him who thus falls by his own hand, 
 to save his companions, and his country. The behavior 
 of some Christian virgins in the early ages, who chose 
 rather to inflict death upon themselves, than suffer the 
 violation of their purity by their ruffian persecutors, has 
 obtained in its favor the suffrages of the Fathers, as a 
 case exempted from the general rule ; and we cannot 
 readily blame those, who to preserve their honor, de- 
 spised their life. They committed one sin, to escape 
 another which they deemed greater; (though as their 
 will would not have been concerned, they were perhaps 
 mistaken ;) and destroyed the temple to avoid its profa- 
 nation. But these extraordinary instances, whatever 
 may be thought of them, cannot prove that to be lawful 
 which is in itself unlawful. ^ 
 
 As to the other case stated by Mr. Hume in the same 
 
 " [Evil in itself.] ^ Essay on the Immortality of the Soul. p. 33, 
 w See Bishop Taylor, ubi sujrra, 
 23* 
 
'ZGi: LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER VIl, 
 
 page, that of ' a malefactor justly condemned to a shame- 
 ful death,' there can be no difficulty. It is the duty of 
 him who has transgressed the laws of his country, to 
 make the satisfaction they require. The virtues called 
 forth upon the sad occasion, of repentance and faith in 
 the divine mercy, consequent thereupon, are of the 
 highest benefit to himself in his most important con- 
 cerns ; while his example at his death undoes, as far 
 as in him lies, the evil perpetrated in his life; and by 
 warning others not to offend, is of eminent service to 
 the community. I am astonished that Mr. Hume should 
 ask, ' can any reason be imagined why he may not an- 
 ticipate his punishment ?' and assert, that 'he invades 
 the business of providence no more than the magistrate 
 did who ordered his execution ;' and, that ' his volun- 
 tary death is equally advantageous to society.' — It is 
 an unparalleled outrage at once upon common sense, 
 the laws, and the religion of his country. 
 
 We may now, I believe, venture to conclude, notwitli- 
 standing all that Mr. Hume has said to the contrary, that 
 suicide is a breach of our duty to our neisrhbor. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Let us consider, in the last place, M'liether suicide 
 be not a breach of that duty we owe to ourselves. On 
 this head Mr. Hume is short, and therefore we need not 
 be long. 
 
 The argument lies in a narrow compass. Man is 
 subject to misery, and suicide is the way to escape it. 
 'Tliat suicide may often be consistent with interest, and 
 with our duty to ourselves, no one can question, who 
 allo\vs that age, sickness, or misfortune, may render 
 life a burden, and make it worse even than annihilation.' 
 ^p. 20.) That they ' make it worse than annihilation,' 
 is not the general opinion, because, however afflicted, 
 few seem disposed to choose annihilation (if they thought 
 they could obtain it) in preference. That the calamities 
 of human life are many and great, there is neither room 
 or occasion to dispute. They have employed the pens 
 of poets, orators, and historians, from age to age. They 
 
LETTER VII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 265 
 
 are frequently, without doubt, ' a burthen.' But the 
 burthen has often been borne ; and what has been done 
 may be done again. It is laid upon us by our sins, and 
 is no more than we deserve ; therefore it ought to be 
 borne patiently. It will last but a little while ; there- 
 fore it should be borne cheerfully. Through the mer- 
 cies of a Saviour, it will terminate in everlasting feli- 
 city ; and therefore it should be borne joyfully. This 
 is the ground upon which we stand. These are the 
 principles by which we abide. Admit them ; they solve 
 every difficulty, and disperse every cloud. Through 
 the valley of the shadow of death they open a fair and 
 lovely prospect, extending far and wide beyond it. At 
 their presence sorrow brightens into joy, light arises in 
 darkness, and the mass of human wretchedness melts 
 away before it, like the morning mist upon the moun- 
 tains. — If the philosophers possess any principles that 
 are better founded, let them be communicative; if not, 
 let them embrace these with us, and not be faithless,, 
 but believing. Whoever they may be of them that read 
 this, 'almost,' I think, they are, at the moment, 'per- 
 suaded to be Christians.' Would to God that every 
 one who reads it, might become not only almost, but 
 altogether such ! 
 
 If, on the other hand, unhappily seduced by the sub- 
 tlety and sophistry of Mr. Hume, men determine to^ 
 adopt what he calls his philosophy, that is, to doubt 
 concerning the immortality of the soul, the resurrection 
 of the body, and a future state of rewards and punish- 
 ments ; whether there be any providence, concerning 
 itself with human aftairs ; and whether the world be 
 governed by a good or an evil Being, or by any Beintf 
 at all — then may they, with Mr. Hume, esteem suicide 
 ' to be no crime, but the only way in which we can be 
 useful to society, by setting an example which, if imi^ 
 tated, would preserve to every one his chance for hap- 
 piness in life, and would effectually free him from all 
 danger of misery.' 
 
 But according to a common saying, we are to look 
 for the business of a letter in the Postcript. Subjoined 
 to the Essay is a Note, in which Mr. Hume asserts, 
 and endeavors to prove, ' that suicide is as lawful under 
 the Christian dispensation, as it was to the Heathens*' 
 
266 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VII. 
 
 If this be the case, we must beg his pardon for having 
 supposed that Christianity was glanced at above, as the 
 superstition which kept men in bondage, and prevented 
 them fom taking this short method to escape the evils 
 of life. The Gospel, it seems, allows of suicide. It must 
 be the gospel, not according to St. Matthew, St. Mark, 
 St. Luke, or St. John, but according to Mr. Hume. I 
 know of no single text that will prove the point, though 
 I once heard of a gentleman who did effectually prove 
 it by two texts judiciously laid together — "Judas de- 
 parted, and went out, and hanged himself" — " Go, and 
 do thou likewise." 
 
 But though there be no text that enjoins it, (as, con- 
 sidering the importance of the subject, might have been 
 expected,) Mr. Hume is clear, ' there is not a single text 
 which prohibits it.' — ' That great and infallible rule of 
 faith and practice,' continues he very gravely, ' which 
 must control all philosophy and human reasoning, has 
 left us in this particular to our natural liberty.' 
 
 The 'liberty' of destroying himself cannot be thought 
 very ' natural,' by any one believing in a God who 
 placed him here, and placed him here with some view 
 or design. Much less can a Christian, while he con- 
 tinues in his senses, imagine himself left at this liberty 
 by the Gospel ; since above all things, it enjoins and 
 exhorts him, after the example of his Saviour, to suffer 
 in patience, that he may reap in glory. Every precept 
 of this sort is a virtual prohibition of suicide, which 
 argues the last degree of impatience. 
 
 ' Resignation to Providence is indeed recommended 
 in Scripture ; but that implies only submission to ills 
 that are unavoidable, not to such as may be remedied 
 by prudence or courage.' — ' Prudence and courage' are 
 both excellent things ; they are two of the cardinal vir- 
 tues. But that suicide is a display of them, is a propo- 
 sition hitherto unknown to Reason, Law, and Gospel. 
 There could be no occasion to preach patience under 
 sufferings, if it were so, because then no man could be 
 under a necessity of suffering. He might avoid it at a 
 moment's warning, by the knife or the halter. There 
 could be no such things as ' unavoidable ills ;' and the 
 Gospel precepts would be about as absurd as Mr. Hume's 
 note, 
 
LETTER VII.] LETTERS ON IN'FIDELIT Vf. 267 
 
 ' Thou shalt not kill, is evidently meant to exclude 
 only the killing of others, over whose life we have no 
 authority. Magistrates punish criminals capitally, not- 
 withstanding the letter of the law.' Magistrates have 
 authority over the lives of others ; but have we autho- 
 rity over our own, to put an end to them when we please ? 
 Surely not ; and therefore suicide is justly accounted 
 and treated by our laws as one species of murder, for- 
 bidden by the commandment. 
 
 'But were this commandment ever so express against 
 suicide, it would now have no authority; for all the law 
 of Moses is abolished, except so far as it is established 
 by the law of nature. And we have already endeavored 
 to prove, that suicide is not prohibited by that law.' 
 This is modest — ' We have endeavored to prove.' But 
 the endeavor, it is humbly apprehended, has been in 
 vain, and ever will be so, while there shall be piety 
 enough left on earth to acknowledge God as the Lord 
 of life and death ; for so long men will judge it their 
 duty to adore his power, and wait his pleasure. A tri- 
 fling alteration in our religious services might perhaps 
 answer Mr. Hume's purpose, without the abolition of 
 any part. Let that little article not be expunged from 
 the Commandments, and inserted in the Creed. 
 
 " In all cases Christians and Heathens are upon the 
 same footing." — They very soon will be so, when Mr. 
 Hume's philosophy shall once become the established 
 religion. — 'Cato andBrutus,Arria and Portia acted hero- 
 ically ; those who now imitate their example ought to 
 receive the same praises from posterity.' — Christianity 
 inculcates a far nobler heroism. It teaches us, when 
 we are engaged in a good cause, to die for it like men, 
 but not by our own hands ; to " endure the cross, despis- 
 ing the shame." Cato had not patience to do the one, 
 and Brutus was too proud to do the other. That forti- 
 tude is not complete, which cannot do both. But surely, 
 Cato might have lived, though Ca?sar conquered ; and 
 Brutus have left the world with a quiet conscience, 
 though he had foreborne to stab the dictator, or himself. 
 Of the Roman ladies, nil nisi bonnm.^ But there have 
 been martyrs of that sex among us Christians, who could 
 
 [We will say nothing but good.] 
 
268 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VIII. 
 
 have shown to them likewise " a more excellent way." 
 There cannot be a finer or more just representation of 
 this matter than that given by Mrs. Chapone, in the 
 story of Fidelia, first published in " The Adventurer,'" 
 No. 77, ifcc, and afterwards reprinted in a little volume, 
 entitled, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse. Every fe- 
 male, who, on account of her crimes, her miseries, or 
 both, may be tempted to put a period to her life, should 
 read that story. She m.ay read it again and again, with 
 increasing pleasure and improvement. Nor let me omit 
 this opportunity of recommending to general perusal, 
 a charming ode, published among the poems of Mr. 
 Warton, styled " The Suicide,-'' in which the best 
 poetry is applied to the best of purposes. 
 
 'The power of committing suicide is regarded by 
 Pliny as an advantage which men possess even above 
 the Deity himself.' — Shame upon Pliny for uttering 
 such a sentiment ! But more shame upon Mr. Hume 
 for retailing it in a Christian country ! The thought is 
 equally blasphemous and absurd. Blasphemous, in ex- 
 alting man above the Deity, on so wretched an account ; 
 absurd, because as God is liable to no calamities, he 
 cannot need the means to escape them. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Since the appearance of the unbelieving fraternity 
 among us, in these latter days, they have been cele- 
 brated for many extraordinary qualities : but their cha- 
 racteristic virtue, I think, has been modesty. A remark- 
 able instance of this virtue has manifested itself in their 
 conduct respecting the publication of a certain edifying 
 pamphlet, entitled Doubts of the Infidels : or Queries 
 relative to Scriptural Inconsistencies and Contradictions 
 — Submitted to the consideration of the Bench of Bishops. 
 By a weak Christian. It stole abroad in so humble 
 and reserved a manner, without the name of printer, or 
 vender, that it was a long time before I knew there was 
 such a pamphlet in being. Informed, however, by a 
 friend, that there certainly was such a thing, and that he 
 had actually seen it, I made application to several book- 
 
LETTER VIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 269 
 
 sellers of note in town ; but they declared, they knew 
 nothing of the matter. As I am one of those who love 
 to learn what is stirring, I was not to be easily put by ; 
 and therefore rested not till I had made myself master of 
 a copy. Happy in my prize, with my hand in my pocket, 
 I betook myself immediately home, and having provided 
 the implement necessary for the purpose, began to open 
 the leaves. 
 
 In the process of this operation, the first words that 
 caught my eye were the following, in page 5 of the 
 epistle dedicatory to my lords the bishops — 'Inner 
 chambers of the holy inquisition — whips, cords, pullies, 
 screws, wheels, iron crows, and red hot pincers.' — 
 Having no predilection for good things of this particular 
 kind, I resumed my work, determined not to peep any 
 more, till I came to the top of page 20, where my atten- 
 tion was again arrested forcibly by the expressions — 'Rip- 
 ping women with child, dashing infants to pieces against 
 the rocks, and broiling men to death with slow, fires.' 
 
 I now laid down the pamphlet, and considered with 
 myself, what had happened lately among us, to occasion 
 this lamentable yelping. Sometimes I thought the 
 archbishop of York, in the course of his last visitation, 
 must have wedged some northern hierarch under the 
 screw, and with one turn of the machine, to the great 
 diversion of the company, cracked all the bones in his 
 skin, like the claws of a lobster. At other times I con- 
 cluded (though no mention had been made of it in the 
 Morning Chronicle) that his grace of Canterbury had 
 invited the bishops to dine with him upon a roasted 
 infidel, whipped to death by his chaplains. That one 
 of these events had taken place, there seemed to be little 
 doubt, though it was impossible to say which. 
 
 I finished, however, my task of leaf-opening, and began 
 to read regularly ; when I found that a deed had been 
 done still more atrocious and petrifying than either of 
 the above ; for that, by an act of parliament, procured 
 by these same bloody-minded prelates of ours, the infi- 
 dels are now obliged, on a Sunday evening, to blaspheme 
 
 IN PRIVATE ! ^ 
 
 * [The allusion is to an act passed at the instigation of Bishop Por- 
 TEus, in 1781. The following account of its occasion and character is 
 
270 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VIII. 
 
 This is a falling off^ to which my memory furnishes 
 me with nothing similar, unless it be the story of a man 
 much given to the use of the long- bow, who asserted one 
 morning, to his family, that he had just seen forty cou- 
 ple of dogs running through the yard. It being denied 
 that so many were kept in the country, ' Nay,' cried he, 
 
 extracted from a statement drawn up by the Bishop himself, and pre- 
 served in his Life by Mr. Hodgson. 
 
 " The beginning of the winter of 1780 was distinguished by the rise 
 of a new species of profaneness and dissipation. A set of needy and 
 profligate adventurers, finding every day, and abnost every hour of the 
 week, occupied by some amusement or other, bethought themselves of 
 trying what might be done on a Sunday. It was a novel and a bold 
 attempt ; but not the less likely to succeed in this country, and in 
 these times. They therefore opened, and publicly advertised, two dif- 
 ferent sorts of entertainments for the Sunday evening. One of these 
 was at Carlisle House, and was called a Promenade. The other was a 
 meeting at pubhc rooms hired for the purpose, and assumed the name 
 of Christian Societies, Religious Societies, Theological Societies, 
 'ITicological Academies, i^^c." 
 
 "The business, or, as it should rather be called, the amuseynent, 
 proposed at the Sunday Debating Societies, was to discuss passages of 
 Scripture, which were selected and given out for that purpose ; when 
 every one present, ladies as well as gentlemen, were to propose their 
 doubts, receive explanations, and display their eloquence, on the text 
 proposed. It was to be, in sliort, a scliool for metaphysics, ethics, pul- 
 pit oratory, church history, and canon law. It is easy to conceive what 
 infinite mischief such debates as these must do to the younger part of the 
 conmmnity, who, being unemployed on this day, would flock to any 
 assembly of this sort ; would look upon every doubt and difficulty 
 .started there as an unanswerable argument against religion, and would 
 go home absolute skeptics, if not confirmed unbelievers. Thus, as tlie 
 Promenade tended to destroy every moral sentiment, the Theological 
 Assemblies were calculated to extinguish every religious principle ; 
 and both together threatened the worst consequences to public morals." 
 
 In the course of the history of the passage of the bill, the Bishop 
 gives the following, among other arguments urged by him in its 
 favor in the House of Lords : — 
 
 " It has been said, indeed, that this bill is a restraint upon religious 
 liberty. It is no such thing. It restrains no one from professing that 
 nio<le of religion, and joining in that form of public worship, which his 
 conscience best approves. It restrains no one from speaking, con- 
 vrrsing, or writing, upon religious ssihjects. It imposes no other re- 
 .straint than this, which is surely no very great hardship, that no one 
 shall cither pay, ur be paid for, talking blasphemy or profaneness in 
 a public room on the Lord's day. It takes away, in short, no other 
 liherty but the liberty of burlesquing Scripture, and making religion a 
 j>ul.lic, amusement and a public trade, which I was inclined to think 
 ihiir lordships would not consider essential marks of religious fVeedom." 
 Houoso.N's Life of Portcus, j)p. 55. 57. G3, Am. edit.] 
 
LETTER VIII.] LETTERS ON INriDELITY. 271 
 
 * I am sure there were twenty /' The audience still con- 
 tinuing skeptical, 'Why, then,' said he, with perfect 
 gravity, ' it was our little brown cur /' 
 
 For such 'cruel, barbarous, and inhuman' usage, 
 these gentlemen are determined, it seems, to have their 
 revenge upon the Church, and really think themselves 
 able, at this time of day, to write revelation out of the 
 world, in a twelve-penny pamphlet. — Take this whole 
 business together, and it is enough to make the weeping 
 philosopher laugh. 
 
 In the thirty sections of their pamphlet, they have 
 produced a list of difficulties to be met with in reading 
 the Old and New Testament. Had I been aware of 
 their design, I could have enriched the collection with 
 many more, at least as good, if not a little better. But 
 they have compiled, I dare say, what they deemed the 
 best, and, in their own opinion, presented us with the 
 essence of infidelity in a thumb-phial, the very fumes of 
 which, on drawing the cork, are to strike the bench of 
 bishops dead at once. 
 
 Let not the unlearned Christian be alarmed, "as 
 though some strange thing had happened to him," and 
 modern philosophy had discovered arguments to demo- 
 lish religion, never heard of before. The old ornaments 
 of deism have been "broken off" upon this occasion, 
 " and cast into the fire, and there came out this calf." 
 These same difficulties have been again and again urged 
 and discussed in public ; again and again weighed and 
 considered by learned and sensible men, of the laity as 
 well as the clergy, who have by no means been induced 
 by them to renounce their faith. 
 
 Indeed, why should they? For is any man surprised 
 that difficulties should occur in the books of Scripture, 
 those more particularly of the Old Testament ? Let him 
 reflect upon the variety of matter on which they treat ; 
 the distance of the times to which they refer ; the wide 
 difierence of ancient manners and customs, from those 
 of the age in which we live ; the very imperfect know- 
 ledge we have of these, as well as of the language in 
 which they are described ; the conciseness of the narra- 
 tives, sufficient for the purpose intended, but not for 
 gratifying a restless curiosity ; above all, the errors and 
 defects of translations, 
 
 Vol. V,— 34 
 
273 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER VIII. 
 
 Many and painful are the researches sometimes neces- 
 sary to be made, for settling points of that kind. Pert- 
 ness and ignorance may ask a question in three lines, 
 which it will cost learning and ingenuity thirty pages 
 to answer. When this is done, the same question shall 
 be triumphantly asked again the next year, as if nothing 
 had€ver been written upon the subject. And as people 
 in general, for one reason or another, like short objec- 
 tions better than long answers, in this mode of disputa- 
 tion (if it can be styled such) the odds must ever be 
 against us ; and we must be content with those of our 
 friends who have honesty and erudition, candor and 
 patience, to study both sides of the question. — Be it so. 
 
 In the mean time, if we are called upon seriously for 
 satisfaction upon any point, it is our duty to give the best 
 in our power. But our adversaries will permit us to ob- 
 serve, that the way they are pleased to take (the way, I 
 mean, of doubts and difficulties) is the longest way about : 
 and I much fear they will never find it the shortest way 
 home. For if they really have determined with them- 
 selves, not to become Christians, till every difficulty that 
 may be started concerning the revealed dispensations of 
 God, or any part of them, be fully cleared up, I will 
 fairly tell them, that I apprehend they must die deists. 
 I will likewise further tell them, that if they should re- 
 solve not to believe in the existence of God, till every 
 question can be solved, relative to the works of creation 
 and the course of his providence, I verily believe they 
 must die atheists. At least, I will not undertake their 
 conversion in either case. For in the first place, whe- 
 ther the solution be satisfactory to themselves, none but 
 themselves can be the judges ; and their prejudices will 
 not sufler them to judge fairly. In the second place, if 
 they produce a hundred objections, and we can solve 
 ninety-nine of them, that which remains unsolved will 
 be deemed a plea sufficient to justify their continuing 
 in incredulity. In the third place, it is impossible in 
 the nature of things, that we should be equal to the so- 
 lution of every difiiculty, unless we were well ac- 
 quainted with many points of which it has pleased God 
 to keep us in ignorance, till the last day shall open and 
 unfold them. Nay, in some instancee it is impossible. 
 
LETTER IX.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 2TfS 
 
 unless we could see and know, as God hiniself sees; and 
 knows. 
 
 But it is an axiom in science, that di^culties are of 
 no weight against demonstrations. The existence of 
 God once proved, we are not in reason to set that 
 proof aside, because we cannot at present account for 
 all his proceedings. The divine legation of Moses, and 
 that of Jesus Christ, stand upon their proper evidence,, 
 which cannot be superseded and nullified by any pre- 
 tended or real difliculties occurring in the Jewish and 
 Christian dispensations. If we can solve the difficulties, 
 so much the better ; but if we cannot, the evidence is 
 exactly where it was. Upon that evidence is our faith 
 founded, and not upon the ability of any man or set of 
 men, to explain particular portions of Scripture, and to 
 answer the objections which may be made to them. 
 Otherwise, our faith, instead of resting on the power of 
 God, would rest on the weakness of man, and might be 
 subverted every day. Now the evidence that may be 
 produced for the divine missions of Moses and of 
 Jesus Christ, is such as never was produced in favor 
 of any others laying claim to divine missions, since the 
 world began ; and it is such as no person can reject, 
 without being obliged to believe a series of absurdities 
 and impossibilities, that, in any other case, would choke 
 the faith of the greatest bigot in Christendom :'^ which 
 is bringing the matter as near to demonstration as a 
 matter of this kind is capable of being brought, or as 
 any reasonable being would desire it to be brought. 
 
 Thus much premised, to prevent mistakes, I shall 
 proceed in the next letter to the consideration of the 
 iirst section, the subject of which is miracles. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 The substance of this section, thrown into an argu- 
 mentative form stands thus — ' miracles are not wrought 
 now ; therefore they never were wrought at all.' 
 
 h [The entire truth of this assertion is abundantly proved by Faber, 
 in his Diffi,c\dties of Ivfidelity.'] 
 
274 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER IX. 
 
 One would wonder how the premises and the con- 
 clusion could be brought together. No man could in 
 earnest assert the necessity of miracles being repeated, 
 for the confirmation of a revelation, to every new 
 generation, and to each individual of which it is com- 
 posed. Certainly not. If they were once wrought, 
 and duly entered on record, the record is evidence ever 
 after. This reasoning holds good respecting them, as 
 well as other facts ; and to reason otherwise, would be 
 to introduce universal confusion. 
 
 It is said ' They are things in their own nature far 
 removed from common belief.' 
 
 They are things which do not happen ev^ery day, to 
 be sure. It were absurd, from the very nature of them, 
 to expect that they should. But what reason can there 
 be for concluding, from thence, that none ever were 
 wrought ? Why should it be thought a thing more in- 
 credible, that the ruler of the world should interpose, 
 upon proper occasions, to control the operations of 
 nature, than that he should direct them, in ordinary? 
 It is not impossible that a teacher should be sent from 
 God. It may be necessary that one should be sent. 
 If one be sent, he must bring credentials, to show that 
 he is so sent ; and what can these credentials be but 
 miracles, or acts of almighty power, such as God only 
 can perform ? — In the case of Jesus, common sense 
 spake by the mouth of the Jewish ruler, and all the 
 sophistry in the world cannot invalidate or perplex the 
 argument — " Master, thou art a teacher come from 
 God ; for no man can do the miracles which thou doest, 
 except God were with hira."'^ 
 
 ' They (miracles) require something more than the 
 usual testimony of history for their support.' 
 
 Why so ? If they may be wrought, and good rea- 
 sons are assigned for their having- been wrought upon 
 any particular occasion, ' the usual testimony of history' 
 is sufficient to evince that they were wrought. But the 
 truth is, that they have ' something more than the usual 
 testimony of history ;' — they have much more ; for no 
 facts in the world were ever attested by such an accu- 
 mulated weight of evidence, as we can produce on 
 
 • John iii. 2. 
 
LETTER IX.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 275 
 
 behalf of the miracles recorded of Moses and Christ ; 
 insomuch that the mind of any person tolerably well 
 informed concerning them, till steeled against convic- 
 tion by the prejudices of infidelity, revolts at the very 
 idea of their being accounted forgeries. 
 
 ' When LivY speaks of shields sweating blood, of its 
 raining hot stones, and the like, we justly reject and 
 disbelieve the improbable assertions.' — (p. 3.) Doubt- 
 less. But what comparison can be properly instituted 
 between these hear-say stories concerning pagan pro- 
 digies, and a series of miracles, like those openly and 
 publicly wrought, for years together, in the face of the 
 world, by Moses and by Christ T*^ The historical facts 
 related by Livy may be true,^ whatever becomes of his 
 prodigies ; but, in the other case, the miracles are in- 
 terwoven with, and indeed constitute, the body of the 
 history. No separation can possibly be made ; the 
 whole must be received, or the whole rejected. 
 
 ' Neither is any credit given to the wonderful account 
 of curing diseases by the touch, said to be possessed by 
 Mr. Greatrix, though we find it in the Philosophical 
 Trans actions >'' 
 
 Mr. Greatrix's general method of curing diseases was 
 not, as I remember, simply and instantaneously by the 
 ioucli, but by the operation of stroking the part affected, 
 and that being long continued, or frequently repeated. 
 Sometimes, it is said, this stroking succeeded, and some- 
 times it failed. If (as we are informed in a note) Boyle, 
 WiLKiNs, CuDwoRTH, and other great men, attested 
 the fact, that there were persons who found themselves 
 relieved by this new device, undoubtedly there were 
 such persons. But whether this relief were temporary ; 
 whether it were owing in any, or what degree, to the 
 working of the imagination, or to the real physical change 
 effected by the application of a warm hand, or any particu- 
 
 d [See Standard Works, Vol. I. p. 25-38.] 
 
 « [The late researches of Niebuhr 9.nd others who have trodden in 
 his steps, have shown that little more ci^dit is to be given to the history 
 of Livy (at least in its earlier portions) than to the prodigies which 
 are so plentifullv interspersed. On the contrary, researches of the same 
 description (I allude particularly to those of Sir W. Drummond, in his 
 Origines, and of the MM. Champollion in Egypt) are daily fur=. 
 nishing new evidence in confirmation of the Scriptures.] 
 24* 
 
276 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER IX, 
 
 lar temperament in the constitution of the stroker — these 
 are points, which the reader may find discussed in Mr. 
 Boyle's letter to Henry Stubbe, written upon the occa- 
 sion ; in which he reproves Stubbe, as he well might, 
 for supposing there was any thing necessarily miracu- 
 lous in the affair. Mr. Valentine Greatrix, by all ac- 
 counts, was an honest, harmless, melancholy country 
 gentleman, of the kingdom of Ireland, who after having 
 gained great reputation by stroking in England, re- 
 turned to spend his latter days quietly and peaceably 
 in his native country, and was heard of no more. He 
 had no new doctrine to promulgate, pretended to no 
 divine mission, and, I dare say, never thought of his 
 cures being employed to discredit those of his Saviour. 
 The wonders reported to have been wrought formerly 
 by Apollonius Tyan^us,*" and more lately at the tomb 
 of Abbe Paris, have been applied to the same pur- 
 pose.^ But their day is over, and now all depends upon 
 poor Mr. Valentine Greatrix. 
 
 ' The miracles of the Old Testament were all per- 
 formed in those ages, of which we have no creditable 
 history.' — (p. 3.) Pardon me — there cannot be a more 
 creditable history than that of Moses ; since it is impos- 
 sible that he could have written or the Israelites re- 
 ceived his history, had it not been true. Would he, 
 think you, have called them together, and told them to 
 their faces, they had all heard and seen such and such 
 wonders, when every man, woman, and child, in the 
 company knew they had never heard or seen any thing 
 of the kind ? What ? not cue honest soul to cry out 
 priestcraft, and imposture! Let these gentlemen try 
 their hands in this way. Let one of them assemble the 
 good people of London and Westminster, and tell them, 
 that on a certain day and hour, he divided the Thames, 
 and led them on dry ground over to Southwark ; ap- 
 pealing to them for the truth of what he says. I should 
 like to see the event of such an appeal. ' There are 
 many such appeals recorded by Moses to his nation ; 
 and the book, in which these appeals are so recorded, 
 contains the municipal law by which that nation has 
 
 f fSee Standard Works, Vol. I. p. 51. 82— 86. J 
 « [See Foley's Evidences, Prop. II.] 
 
LETTER X.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 277 
 
 been governed, from the days of Moses to the dissolu- 
 tion of their polity. This is a fact without a parallel 
 upon earth ; and let any man produce an hypothesis to 
 account for it, consistently with the idea of Moses being 
 a deceiver, which will abide the test of common sense 
 for five minutes. If the deists can reason us out of our 
 faith, let them do so : but we are not weak enough, as 
 yet, to be sneered, or scoffed out of it. 
 
 ' What reply can be made to those who affirm, that 
 miracles have always been confined to the early and 
 fabulous ages ?'— (p. 3.) The reply is easy — that mi- 
 racles were performed, by Christ and his apostles, in 
 the age of all others esteemed the most polite and 
 learned ; and that the adversaries of Christianity, in 
 those days, never thought of denying the facts. It was 
 a piece of assurance reserved for these latter times. — 
 ' That all nations have had them ; but that they disap- 
 peared in proportion as men became enlightened, and 
 capable of discovering imposture.' Many nations have 
 had them, true or false ; the false disappeared, when 
 discovered to be so ; but the true will abide for ever. 
 The Jewish rulers had their senses about them, as much 
 as other people ; and those senses sharpened to the ut- 
 most, by envy and malice. Yet were they obliged to 
 confess — " This man doth many miracles.'"' It may 
 be added, that had there been no genuine miracles, 
 there would have been no counterfeits. 
 
 Upon the whole — in this section, on so leading an 
 article, the infidels have made no considerable progress. 
 Rather, they can hardly be said, in the nautical phrase, 
 to have got under way. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Our infidels seem inclined to deny that Moses was 
 the author of the books that go under his name. To 
 this purpose, they observe (and the observation is cer- 
 tainly a judicious one) that he could not have written 
 
 h John xi. 47. 
 
'^78 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER X. 
 
 the account of his own death, which occurs in the last 
 chapter of Deuteronomy. There are likewise, as we 
 all very well know, a few other passages, here and 
 there, allowed both by Jews and Christians, to have 
 been inserted since his time. But these will never pre- 
 vent us from looking upon him as the author of the 
 Pentateuch, any more than a few interpolated passages 
 in the works of Josephus prevent us from ascribing 
 those works to that author. The Pentateuch and the 
 institutions it prescribes have been in being ever since 
 the days of Moses : how, when, and by whom, could 
 they have been forged ? 
 
 But they themselves do not build much on this part 
 of their performance ; for they say, p. 4, ' Supposing 
 these and all other objections of the like nature remov- 
 ed,' — which they therefore suppose may be removed — 
 ' the Scripture is frequently contradictory with regard 
 to facts.' — Perhaps not. At least we must have some 
 proof; and so, in their own words, vide infra. — 'And 
 represents the all-wise Creator as angry, 'arbitrary, and' 
 in short, 'as a demon.' That it represents him as ' an- 
 gry' and 'repenting,' is true; it likewise 'represents 
 him' as 'coming down,' and 'going up'— all in conde- 
 scension to our capacities, and 'after the majiner of 
 men,' as every child knows among us. Nor can we 
 speak of the Deity in any other manner, if we v.^ould 
 speak intelligibly to the generality of mankind.' 
 
 That the Scripture should represent God as 'unjust, 
 arbitrary, and a demon,' is very bad indeed. Let us 
 hope better things than these of the Scriptures, how- 
 ever. When the several charges are brought forward, 
 we must endeavor to answer them ; and notwithstand- 
 ing the jokes of these gentlemen about the jJiUory^ one 
 or other of us, I am afraid, will be found to deserve it. 
 
 ' Did God create light before the sun V — (p. 5.) Most 
 assuredly. Why not ? When the orb of the sun Mas 
 formed on the fourth day, it became the appointed re- 
 ceptacle of light, from whence that glorious fluid was 
 to be dispensed, for the benefit of the system. •-' Before 
 
 ' Se€ a remarkable acknowledgment of this point by Collins^ in 
 LF.i.ANn's View of Dcistical Writers, Letter xxix. Vol. II. p. 125. 
 
 k [The advanced discoveries of modern physiologists relative to the 
 nature and agency of ' caloric,'' its existence in a state denominated 
 
LETTER X.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 279 
 
 the formation of the solar orb, light was supported in 
 action by some other means, as seemed good to the 
 Creator. The earth might be made to revolve by the 
 same agency, and then another question is answered, 
 *How could time be divided into days, before the cre- 
 ation of the sun, since a day is the time between sun- 
 rise and sunrise V 
 
 'How could God divide the light from darkness, since 
 darkness is nothing but the mere privation of light?' — 
 (p. 5.) The light was divided from the darkness, as it 
 is now, by the interposition of the earth. This is plain, 
 because it follows, ' God called the light Day and the 
 darkness he cal||pd Night.' Day was the state of the 
 hemisphere, on which light irradiated ; and Night was 
 the state of the opposite hemisphere, on which rested 
 the shadow projected by the body of the earth. I see 
 no absurdity in all this. But the assertion that ' dark- 
 ness is nothing but the mere privation of light,' may be 
 controverted. When Moses says, that ' darkness was 
 upon the face of the deep,' he did not mean that nothing 
 was there. Of the darkness in Egypt it is said, that it 
 'might be felt.^ And if the fire at the solar orb could 
 be suddenly extinguished, the whole body of the celes- 
 tial fluid would in all probability instantly become a 
 torpid congealed mass, and bind the creation in chains 
 of adamant. At the beginning 'light was formed out 
 of darkness ;' and therefore the truth seems to be this. 
 In Scripture language, light is the celestial fluid, in a 
 certain condition, and a certain degree of motion ; and 
 darkness is the same fluid in a different condition, and 
 without that degree of motion, or when such motion is 
 interrupted by the interposition of an opaque body. A 
 room, for example, is full of light : close the shutters, 
 and that light instantly disappears. But what is become 
 of it ? It is not annihilated. No : the substance, which 
 occasioned the sensation of light to the eye, is still pre- 
 sent, as before, but occasions that sensation no longer.^ 
 
 latent, and its connexion with li^^ht, render this objection not only 
 nugatory, but perfectly ridiculous. It proceeds, moreover, upon the 
 assumption of an interpretation of the Mosaic history of the creation 
 which is far from being either necessary, or universally received.] 
 > [The reader may perceive in this paragraph, and occasionally in 
 
280 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER X. 
 
 ' How could the firmament be created, since there is 
 no firmament, and the false notion of its existence is 
 no more than an imagination of the ancient Grecians V 
 — (p. 5.) Never again let critics, while they live, under- 
 take to censure the writings of an author, before they 
 understand something of the language in which he 
 wrote. The Greek version of the LXX. has indeed 
 given us the word g-;psw|xa, which has produced in our 
 translation the corresponding word Jirviar/ient. But 
 these terms by no means furnish us with the true idea 
 of the original word, which is derived from a verb sig- 
 nifying, to spread abroad, expand, enlarge, make thin, 
 <SfC, The proper rendering then is, thd^jmnsion. But 
 expansion of what ? Doubtless, of the celestial fluid 
 before mentioned, of light, air, ether, or whatever you 
 please to call it. In Scripture it is styled the heavens. 
 — " Who stretcheth forth the heavens Hke a curtain.""' 
 " That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and 
 spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."" How far 
 this expansion of the heavens extends, is another ques- 
 tion. That portion of it diffused around the world is 
 well known by the name of the atmosphere ; and its 
 force may at any time be felt by the hand, when laid 
 on the aperture of an exhausted receiver. Sir Isaac 
 Newton appears to have thought that it might reach 
 to the orb of Saturn, and beyond, even through all the 
 celestial spaces. It seems to go out from one part of 
 the system, and circulate to another, and nothing is 
 hidden from its influence ; to be in every place, and to 
 possess powers which nothing is able to withstand. 
 The Royal Society, by its late worthy president, ear- 
 nestly requested Dr. Priestley to make inquiry after 
 this same wonderful substance, so that, by and by, it is 
 likely, we may hear more of it ;" and gentlemen may 
 
 some that follow, traces of the scheme of philosophy called the Hutcli- 
 insonian. It will be observed, however, that they are introduced, not 
 as the basis of argument, but in illustration. Let them pass for what 
 they are worth.] 
 
 "' Ps. civ. 2. " Isa. xl. 22. 
 
 ° Many curious particulars concerning that, and other subjects con- 
 nected with it, have already been communicated to the world by the 
 Keverend ami learned Mr. Jonks [Wm. Jones, of Navland] in his very 
 
LETTER X.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 281 
 
 by degrees be induced to entertain a more favorable 
 opinion of the Jewish legislator ; as it is said of a great 
 man, some years ago, that having, in the decline of life, 
 accidentally dipped into a Bible, he declared, " He 
 found Moses to be a clever fellow ; and if he had met 
 him a little sooner, he did not know but he might have 
 read him through." 
 
 ' How shall we explain the business of the tree of 
 knowledgeof good and evil, and of a tree of life?' — (p. 6.) 
 As my lords the bishops have kindly taken so much 
 pains to bring the infidels into a good way of spending 
 their Sunday evenings at home, I think it would not be 
 amiss, if they were now and then, at such times, to read 
 a sermon. Let me therefore recommend to them four 
 discourses, by the present Dean of Canterbury, on the 
 creation of man, the garden of Eden, the tree of life, 
 and the tree of knowledge." It may appear, })erhaps, 
 that the Mosaic history is not necessarily so pregnant 
 with absurdities, as they are apt to suppose ; but that a 
 rational account may be given of man's primeval state, 
 as there described, and of that trial to which he was 
 subjected by his Maker. 
 
 In another part of the pamphlet, (p. 39,) it is objected 
 to us, ' that Adam was threatened with death on the day 
 of his transgression, but lived at least eight hundred 
 years afterwards.' The execution of the sentence, then, 
 was respited in consideration of his repentance, agree- 
 ably to the proceedings of God with his descendants, 
 both individuals and communities, in numberless in- 
 stances upon record. Transgression rendered him 
 mortal, and his life was henceforward a gradual pro- 
 gress, through labor, pain, and sorrow, towards death. 
 
 valuable work entitled Physiological Disquisitions, or Discourses on 
 the Xatiiral Philosophy of the Elements. -^[Bp. Horxe's anticipations 
 have been more than realized. Dr. Priestley's investig^ions opened 
 the way to the extraordinary accessions since made to our knowledge 
 of the airs, (or gases, as they are now termed,) — accessions which, at 
 the least, may serve to silence the cavils of skeptics, by proving how 
 much we have yet to learn even concerning the constitution of the 
 globe that we inhabit.] 
 
 [Four of Bp. Horne's own Sermons.] 
 
282 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XI. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 ' Is the account of the fall of man, in the book of 
 Genesis, physical or allegorical V — (p. 3.) I apprehend 
 it to be an historical narrative of what really passed in 
 the garden of Eden. With regard to the parties con- 
 cerned, there is no dispute concerning three of them, 
 the Creator, the man, and the woman. But there ap- 
 pears a fourth, whose nature is not so easy to ascertain. 
 He is called the serpent ; but is throughout repre- 
 sented as an intelligent being, and treated as such. He 
 proves himself also to be the tempter. Can we doubt 
 for a moment, who this being is? The serpent,? the 
 OLD serpent,'' the dragon,' are the appellations be- 
 stowed in the New Testament, upon the great adver- 
 sary of mankind, the tempter," the deceiver,' the ac- 
 cuser," the murderer.^ One question remains — whe- 
 ther, upon the occasion before us, he assumed the form 
 of the natural serpent, or be only described under the 
 name, and by imagery and expressions borrowed from 
 the corresponding nature and qualities of that creature, 
 and applied to him by analogy ? Either way, it is be- 
 yond all controversy with us who believe the Scrip- 
 tures, that HE is the principal agent in the whole affair : 
 HE is all along intended and addressed ; on him was 
 the weight and force of the tremendous sentence to 
 light ; between his seed and that of the woman was the 
 enmity to subsist ; and his head was finally to be 
 crushed by the victorious Messiah. However Christians 
 may have differed in their interpretation of particular 
 words and phrases, this is the substance of what always 
 has been, and always must be maintained among them, 
 upon the subject. If all be confined to the natural ser- 
 pent, or beast of the field, the account must then be, as 
 Dr. Middleton^ contends, an apologue, or fable, with 
 
 p Rev. xii. 9. 14, 15. 1 Rev. xx. 2. ' Rev. xiu. 2. xx. 2. 
 
 » Matt. iv. 3. 1 Thess. iv. 5. ' Rev, xii. 9. John viii. 44. » Rev. 
 xu. 10. T John viii. 44. 
 
 * [CoNYERs MiDDLETON, D. D., Librarian of the University of Cam- 
 bridge, who died in 1750 :— a man who, while he bore the clerical 
 character, and professed the Christian faith, employed his talents and 
 
LETTER XI.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 283 
 
 a moral couched under it. But the writers of the New 
 Testament ever refer to it as a true history, and invari- 
 ably declare Satan to have been the serpent, who 
 " through his subtlety deceived Eve." The account of 
 man's redemption is no apologue^ but true history, 
 built upon and presupposing the truth and reality of his 
 temptation and fall, effected by the wiles of his enemy ; 
 who for that reason, was to be crushed, together with 
 his works, by the power of the Redeemer. As to the 
 change wrought in the natural serpent after the fall (a 
 subject on which the infidels divert themselves more 
 than they divert any body else) no man can deny that 
 a change might take place ; and no man can precisely 
 ascertain the nature of such change, unless he knew the 
 form in which that species of creatures was originally 
 made. Nor does the sentence (so far as it may relate 
 to the natural serpent) imply, that he should choose dust 
 for his food, or that it should be his only food. They 
 who grovel in dust, must sometimes come in for a 
 mouthful. The expression intimates to us the very 
 lowest degree of prostration, humiliaiion, and the most 
 abject wretchedness, similar to that other of the prophet, 
 ' His enemies shall lick the dust.'' — Let gentlemen take 
 care, that they are not of the number. The history of 
 man's fall is no fable, and will hereafter be found no 
 jest.^ 
 
 ' A tree of life, which God was obliged to guard by 
 Cherubim and a flaming sword, lest man should eat of 
 the fruit, and become immortal.' — (p. 6.) The passage 
 here alluded to has long been a subject of ridicule among 
 unbelievers. It may perhaps cease to be so, when the 
 following particulars are duly weighed and considered. 
 1. There is no reason in the world for supposing the 
 Cherubim here mentioned to have been different from 
 those described at large, as exhibited in vision to Ezekiel, 
 figures of which were placed in the tabernacle and tern- 
 
 learning (both considerable) in the cause of infidelity, and by his 
 writings did more perhaps to injure the cause of Christianity than the 
 most notorious infidel of the age. See an anecdote of him in Standard 
 Works, Vol. I. p. 9.] 
 
 ^ [See the full discussion of the subject of this paragraph in the ex- 
 tract from Sherlock's Discourses on Prophecy^ in Standard Works:, 
 Vol. I. p. 227. ss.] 
 
 Vol. v.— 35 
 
284 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XI. 
 
 pie. Moses says, ' God placed Cherubim.^ The people 
 for whom he wrote were perfectly well acquainted with 
 the nature, form, and design of them. The prophet, 
 upon beholding them in vision, declares, " I knew that 
 they were the Cherubim.''- 2. The words rendered in 
 our translation, " A flaming sword turning every way," 
 may, and it is apprehended, ought to be rendered, " A 
 devouring fire, turning or rolling upon itself;" as the 
 Cherubim, which Ezekiel saw, are said to have stood in 
 the midst of a fire, ' catching or infolding itself.' The 
 expressions are equivalent, and correspond exactly. 3, 
 This body of fire, generally attended by, and subsisting 
 in a cloud, is styled " the glory of the Lord ;" and 
 always accompanied the appearance of the Cherubim. 
 4. The most ancient expositions left in the world, which 
 are the two Jewish Targums, paraphrase the verse 
 thus : " And he thrust out the man, and caused the glory 
 of his presence to dwell of old, at the east end of the 
 garden of Eden, above the two Cherubim." 5. If such 
 be the real import of the passage, and it relate only to 
 the manifestation of the Divine presence, by its well- 
 known symbol, above or between the Cherubim, may 
 we not fairly and reasonably conclude, that the design 
 of such manifestation, at the east end of the garden of 
 Eden, was the same as it wa^ confessedly afterwards, in 
 the tabernacle and temple : viz. to reveal the will of 
 God for the conduct of his people ; to accept the sacri- 
 fices ofiered to him ; and favorably to regard the prefi- 
 gurative atonement made by " the sprinkling of blood, 
 without which there was (after the fall) no remission ?" 
 And all this was done to " keep," or preserve, "the 
 way to the Tree of Life," immortality being now the 
 object of a new covenant, with other conditions. There 
 were good reasons why our first parent should not be 
 suficred, in the state to which he had reduced himself, 
 to " put forth his hand, and take, and eat." The dis- 
 pensation of Eden was at an end. Old sacraments were 
 abolished and. new ones were to be instituted. In the 
 spirit of repentance and faith, the delinquents were to 
 wait, 'till one happier man should regain the blissful 
 seat,' and open "the kingdom of heaven to all be- 
 
 Ezek. X. 20. 
 
LETTER XII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 285 
 
 Ijevers;" himself the true tree of life in the para- 
 dise OF God. ' 
 
 To the learned and candid of all denominations these 
 remarks are submitted. If there be any thing in them, 
 the text in question, which has been so long the butt of 
 infidels, and the stumbling block of believers, not only 
 becomes cleared of its difficulties, but throws a light and 
 a glory over the whole patriarchal dispensation. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 ' The account of the flood is very embarrassing.' — 
 {p. 7.) Possibly it may. There was a great deal done in 
 a little time ; and neither these gentlemen nor myself 
 were present to see how it was done. 
 
 'From whence came the water?' — (ib.) From the 
 place to which it returned, and in which it has remained, 
 (God be praised !) ever since. The globe of the earth, 
 as the Scriptures inform us, is a shell, or hollow sphere, 
 enclosing within it a body of waters, styled ' the great 
 deep,' or abyss. The earth, at the creation, was covered 
 on all sides with water, which, at the command of God, 
 retired to this abyss beneath, from whence, at the same 
 command, it came forth in the days of Noah ; and having 
 performed its task, was again dismissed, as before. 
 " The fountains of the great deep," by the divine power, 
 were " broken up ;" gravity, for a time, was suspended, 
 or overcome ; the waters were violently thrown up- 
 wards into the atmosphere, and descended in torrents 
 and cataracts of rain. If we measure the circumference 
 of the earth, and guage its contents, we shall find water 
 enough, I dare say, to answer every purpose mentioned 
 in the book of Genesis."- The shells, and other marine 
 bodies, deposited in the bowels and on the tops of the 
 highest mountains, all the world over, afford sufficient evi- 
 dence that the waters have been there. If any one can give " 
 
 * "Some are puzzled to find water enough to form a universal deluge : 
 to assist their endeavors it may be remarked, that was it all precipitated 
 which is dissolved in the air, it might probably be sufficient to cover the 
 surface of the whole earth to the depth of above thirty feet." Watson's 
 Chemical Essays, Vol. III. p. 87. 
 
286 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XII* 
 
 a better account than Moses has done, when and how 
 they came there, e'en let us have it.'' A learned and 
 respectable person expresses his surprise, that the 
 shell-fish should transport themselves from the bed of 
 the ocean, where they were much better accommodated, 
 to so uncomfortable a situation as the summit of a barren 
 mountain. Alas, worthy sir, it was no party of pleasure ! 
 Whenever they took the journey, depend upon it, it was 
 — " upon compulsion, Hal !" ' Neither can we easily 
 persuade infidels, that the windows of heaven were 
 opened, while they know it has no windows.' — (p. 8.) 
 They can know nothing- of the matter, till they know 
 the meaning of the phrase, and its usage in the Scrip- 
 tures, where the heavens are said to be opened when it 
 rains, and shut when rain is withholden, and the like. 
 What is more common than such modes of expression 
 are in all languages ? Suppose, to describe an uncom- 
 mon fall of rain, I should say, ' the sluices of heaven 
 were opened,' would it not be the height of absurdity to 
 reply, that ' the sluices of heaven canno.t be opened, 
 because it has no sluices V Every body knows the ex- 
 pression to be metaphorical. But the truth is, that the 
 original word" does not signify windows, according to 
 the modern idea, but rather clefts, fissures, passages : 
 these were opened — the clouds were rent, as we say. 
 The waters rising from beneath met the rains descend- 
 ing from above, and, uniting their forces, they deluged 
 the world. 
 
 ' It (the flood) ceased not by annihilation of the wa- 
 ters, but they were evaporated by a wind.' — (p. 7.) 
 There was no occasion for annihilating the waters. 
 They returned to the place from whence they came. 
 And as to the wind, which God caused to pass over the 
 earth, it was not intended to merely evaporate, but, like 
 that which moved upon the chaos at the creation, to 
 separate the waters from the earth, and carry them 
 down to their former habitation. We have no adequate 
 idea, perhaps, of this element, the air, and of what 
 
 •^ [The insurmountable difficulty which the mass of evidence in 
 proof of a universal deluge throws in the way of infidels, is clearly 
 exhibited by Faber, Difficulties of Infidelity, Sect, iii.l 
 
LETTER XII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 287 
 
 mighty things it can effect, when employed in full force 
 by its Creator. 
 
 ' It seems strange, that so vast an assemblage of ani- 
 mals could be enclosed in an ark or chest.'' — (p. 8.) But 
 why chest ? The Hebrew word is used only for this 
 ark of Noah, and that in which the child Moses was 
 committed to the Nile ; both hollow vessels, constructed 
 to float upon the waters. But there was something 
 pleasant in the notion of the whole animal world being 
 shut up in a chest ; and the temptation was not to be 
 resisted. ' Which had but one window (which window 
 was kept shut for more than five months) without being 
 stifled for want of air.' 
 
 ' All this,' the infidels say, ' seems strange.' — It does 
 so ; but it is not more strange than true. That air would 
 be necessary to support the life of the creatures enclosed 
 in the ark, was as well known to Him who enjoined it to 
 be built,, as it can be to them. Our conclusion therefore 
 is, that either a proper supply of it w^as conveyed in some 
 manner from without, or else the air within, by meaiis 
 natural or preternatural, was preserved in a state fit for 
 respiration. There might be various contrivances in 
 and about the ark, which are not mentioned in so concise 
 a history. The general facts, of which it concerns us 
 to be informed, are these two ; that the world was 
 destroyed by a flood ; and that one family, with a num- 
 ber of animals sufficient to replenish the earth, was 
 preserved in a vessel constructed for that purpose. 
 
 It is asked further, 'how the small family in the ark 
 could give due attendance to the wants of so many 
 creatures ; and how the carnivorous animals were 
 supplied with food proper for them?' — Many more 
 questions of a like kind might easily be asked, if one 
 were to set one's wits to work upon the subject. But it 
 should be considered, that the author who relates this 
 transaction, relates it to have been carried on under the 
 immediate direction and inspection of God. By Divine 
 power the creatures were brought to Noah, and the 
 fierce dispositions of the wild kind overruled and 
 mollified, that they might live quietly and peaceably 
 with one another, and with those of the tame sort, for 
 the time appointed. Otherwise, instead of asking how 
 they were taken care of and fed in the ark, it should 
 ^5* 
 
288 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER XIU 
 
 first have been asked, how they came into it, or staid at 
 single moment in it, before the flood began ? — When 
 " the wolf thus dwelt with the lamb, the lion might eat 
 hay like the ox." — We should not recur to miracles upon 
 every occasion; but if the event under consideration took 
 place at all, it must from the very nature of it, have 
 been miraculous, and out of the common course, as it is 
 said to have been. Some means of preserving the fish 
 might therefore be provided by their Maker, notwith- 
 standing the dilemma to which the learned and respect- 
 able writer above mentioned hath reduced us. 'The 
 water at the deluge (says he) was neither fresh nor 
 salt: now the sea fish could not have lived in the former, 
 nor the river fish in the latter.' — Close and clever! 
 
 It is argued in the 8th section, that according to the 
 laws ofreflection and refraction established in the system 
 of nature, the phenomenon of the rainbow must have 
 been produced, as it is now in certain circumstances, 
 from the beginning of the world ; and therefore could 
 not have been first set in the cloud 
 rovena;nt with man, after the flood. 
 
 But do the words necessarily imply, that the rainbow 
 had never appeared before ? Rather, perhaps the con- 
 trary. The following paraphrase of the passage is sub- 
 mitted, as a just and natural one. ' When, in the com- 
 mon course of things, I bring a cloud over the earth, 
 under certain circumstances, I do set my bow in it. 
 That bow shall be from henceforth a token of the cove- 
 nant I now make with you to drown the earth no more 
 by a flood. Look upon it and remember this covenant. 
 As certainly as the bow is formed, by the operation of 
 physical causes, in the cloud, and as long as it continues 
 to be thus formed, so certainly, and so long shall my 
 covenant endure ; standing fast for evermore, as this 
 faithful witness in heaven.' Jacob, we are told,'' 'took 
 a stone, and set it up for a pillar, and said, This pillar 
 be witness.' God in like manner, (if we may so ex- 
 press it) 'took the rainbow, and said. This bow be wit- 
 ness.' Neither the stone nor the rainbow were new 
 created for the purpose. When the Jews behold the 
 rainbow, they bless God, who remembers his covenant, 
 
 J (icncuis xxxi. 45. 52. 
 
LETTER XIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 289 
 
 and is faithful to his promise. And the tradition of 
 this its designation to proclaim comfort to mankind 
 was strong among the Heathen ; for according to the 
 mythology of the Greeks, the rainbow was the daughter 
 of Wonder, ' a sign to mortal men,''' and regarded 
 upon its appearance, as the messenger from the ce- 
 lestial deities. Can we any where find a more striking 
 instance of the sublime, than in the following short 
 description of it ? " Look upon the rainbow, and 
 praise him who made it : very beautiful it is in the 
 brightness thereof: it compasseth the heavens about 
 with a glorious circle ; and the hands of the Most High 
 have bended it !" 
 
 LETTER XHI. 
 
 'What answer shall we give to those who are inclined 
 to deny, that an all powerful and just God could make 
 use of the most unjustifiable means to attain his great 
 purpose of aggrandizing the posterity of Abraham?' — 
 (p. 10.) The answer, without doubt, must be, either 
 that the means in question (all circumstances duly known 
 and considered) were not unjustifiable; or, that they 
 were used by man, and only permitted by God. For 
 men often make use of means to attain their own pur- 
 poses, by which they unwittingly become the instru- 
 ments of carrying into execution the counsels of God; 
 yet they are not hereby justified in the use of such 
 means. All the actions of holy men of old are not 
 blameless, because related in Scripture, or because re- 
 lated of them; though there may often have been cir- 
 cumstances, imperfectly known at this distance of time, 
 which rendered them less blameable than they now ap- 
 pear to be ; and therefore they are not to be judged of, 
 without great caution and circumspection. These, per- 
 haps, are in no instances more necessary, for that rea- 
 son, to be observed, than in reviewing those parts of 
 sacred story, which relate to the birthright and blessing" 
 of the ancient patriarchs. 
 
 e Tepaj jiEponiiiv av^pwn'ojv. — HOMER. 
 
290 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XIII. 
 
 'Could this benevolent and just being approve of the 
 ungenerous advantage which Jacob took over his faint 
 and hungry brother V — That the crime of Esau, in being 
 so ready to part with his birthright, was of a more 
 atrocious nature than at first sight it may seem to have 
 been, is evident from the remark subjoined in the narra- 
 tive ; 'thus Esau despised his birthright ;' as also his 
 being stigmatized by St. Paul with an epithet denoting 
 profaneness and impiety,^ qualities which w^erc there- 
 fore manifested in the act of lightly and wantonly 
 parting with the birthright, and those high and hea- 
 venly privileges annexed to it. I say lightly and wan- 
 tonly; because, though he returned faint and hungry 
 from the field, there could be no danger of his starving 
 in his father's house. He parted with it, as men often 
 do now, for the sake of gratifying a liquorish appetite 
 towards that which was his brother's, ' for one morsel 
 of meat,' one particular dish, which he vehemently 
 affected. There was no reason why a privilege thus 
 rejected should be again conferred. Like the Jews, in 
 an instance somewhat similar, he 'judged himself un- 
 worthy.' He cast it from him, and it became another's. 
 — With regard to the part borne by Jacob, in buying 
 what Esau was so ready to sell, there seems no necessity 
 for pronouncing him faultless. The fact is related, like 
 many others, without approbation or censure ; and the 
 designs of God were accomplished by the free agency 
 of man. To his own master he standeth or falleth, 
 respecting this and every other action of his life, 
 
 'Could this omnipotent and upright Spirit adoi)t no 
 method of distinguishing his favorite Jacob, but that of 
 fraud and lies, by which he deprived the same unsus- 
 pecting brother of his father's blessing V — {ih.) The fol- 
 lowing considerations may assist in directing us to form 
 a right judgment of this matter. — 1. The proposition of 
 deceiving Isaac originated not with Jacob, but with Rebe- 
 kah. Jacob remonstrated against it, as likely to bring a 
 curse upon him rather than a blessing; nor would consent 
 to perform his part till she engaged to take all the blame 
 on herself — 'On me be the curse, my son: only obey 
 my voice.' — 2. From this speech, and from the earnest- 
 
 D£6>?Xoj. Hcb. xii. IG. 
 
LETTER XIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 291 
 
 ness and solicitude discovered by Rebekah, it may not 
 unfairly be presumed, that she had some special reason 
 lor what she did ; that Isaac was about to take a wrong 
 step in a concern of great moment, which ought to be 
 prevented, and could be prevented by no other means. 
 — 3. The rectitude of Rebekah's judgment seems evi- 
 dently to have been recognised and allowed by Isaac, 
 at the conclusion of the matter. For though he had 
 blessed Jacob, intending to bless Esau, yet, as if recol- 
 lecting himself, he confirmed and ratified that blessing 
 in the strongest terms ; 'yea, and he shall be blessed.' 
 Still further — at sending him away, he again repeated 
 the benediction in the most solemn and affecting manner; 
 ' God give thee the blessing of Abraham !' It is hard to 
 assign any other reason, why, if so disposed, upon dis- 
 covering the fraud, he might not have reversed the 
 proceeding. Nay, by the kind meeting of the brothers 
 afterwards, one should be inclined to think that Esau 
 himself acquiesced at length in the propriety of what 
 had been done. — 4. If such were the case, Isaac was only 
 deceived into what was right, and what himself acknow- 
 ledged to be so in the conclusion. The deception was 
 ■ like those often practised by physicians for the benefit 
 of their patients, and casuists must decide upon it in the 
 same manner. The ofience of Jacob is certainly alle- 
 viated, if not entirely taken off, by the circumstance of 
 Rebekah pledging herself to bear the blame ; as the 
 conduct of Rebekah seems justified by that of Isaac 
 ratifying and confirming to Jacob the blessing originally 
 intended for Esau. Upon the whole, if there were an 
 ofl^ence, it was one that might be forgiven ; and if God, 
 notwithstanding, continued to bless Jacob, he did for- 
 give it, and had reasons for so doing.s 
 
 ' In short, how shall we justify God for the continual 
 distinction he is said to have bestowed on a people, who 
 from their own annals appear to have been unparalleled 
 for cruelty, ingratitude, inurbanity, &:c.' — {ib.) The 
 article of cruelty, for proof of which we are referred, 
 in a note, to the acts of Joshua, may be deferred till 
 we come professedly to consider those acts. Their 
 
 s [This concluding remark is an abundantly sufficient answer to the 
 cavil : — more satisfactory, perhaps, than the reasoning which precedes.] 
 
292 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XIV. 
 
 ingratitude towards God their Saviour was indeed 
 liagrant ; but might perhaps be matched elsewhere. As 
 to the charge of inurbanity, it was brought against them 
 by Voltaire, who spake of them as a " wretched na- 
 tion, ever ignorant and vulgar, and strangers to the art^.' 
 The following reply was made to him. When the infi- 
 dels shall have duly considered it, we shall hope to be 
 favored with their sentiments upon it. 
 
 " Does it become you, a writer of the 18th century, to 
 charge the ancient Hebrews with ignorance ? A people 
 who, while your barbarous ancestors, whilst even the 
 Greeks and Latins, wandering in the woods, could 
 scarcely procure for themselves clothing and a settled 
 subsistence, already possessed all arts of necessity, and 
 some of mere pleasure ; who not only knew how to feed 
 and rear cattle, till the earth, work up wood, stone, and 
 metals, weave cloths, dye wool, embroider stuffs, polish 
 and engrave on precious stones ; but who, even then, 
 adding to manual arts those of taste and rejfinement, 
 surveyed land, appointed their festivals according to 
 the motions of the heavenly bodies, and ennobled their 
 solemnities by the pomp of ceremonies, by the sound 
 of instruments, music, and dancing ; who even then 
 committed to writing the history of the origin of the 
 world, that of their own creation and their ancestors i 
 who had poets and writers, skilled in all the sciences 
 then known ; great and brave commanders ; a pure 
 worship ; just laws ; a Avise form of government ; in 
 short, llie onlj'- one of all ancient nations, that has left 
 us authentic monuments of genius and literature. Can 
 this nation be justly charged with ignorance and in- 
 urbanity i""^ 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 'Unbelievers affirm, that a just God could not 
 punish Pharaoh for a hardness of heart, of which he 
 
 ^•[Lcticrs of certain Jews to M. Voltaire, p. 381, ed. Philad., 1795. 
 This work, replcto with sound sense and keen satire, well deserves to 
 he consulted by any one who has been perplexed by the flippant cavils 
 of infidels against the Old Testament history.] 
 
LETTER XIV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 293 
 
 himself (God) was evidently the cause.' — (p. 14.) When 
 we meet with an assertion apparently contrary to all the 
 truth and equity in the world, it is but common justice 
 to any writer, human or divine, to suppose that we mis- 
 take his meaninfif, and that the expression employed to 
 convey it is capable of an interpretation different from that 
 which may at first present itself. We cannot for a mo- 
 ment imagine that God secretly influences a man's will, 
 or suggests any wicked, stubborn resolution to his mind, 
 and then punishes him for it. We are therefore to con- 
 sider by what other means, not incompatible with his 
 nature and attributes, he may be said, in a certain sense, 
 and without impropriety, to harden a man's heart. 
 
 There are many ways by which we may conceive 
 this efiect to be wrought, without running into the ab- 
 surdity and impiety above mentioned. The heart may 
 be hardened by those very respites, miracles, and mer- 
 cies, intended to soften it; for if they do not soften it, 
 they will harden it. — God is sometimes said to do that 
 which he permits to be done by others, in the way of 
 judgment and punishment; as when his people rejected 
 his oAvn righteous laws, he is said to have ' given them' 
 the idolatrous ones of their Heathen neighbors, 'statutes 
 that were not good.' — The heart may be hardened by 
 his withdrawing that grace it has long resisted ; men 
 may be given up to a reprobate mind ; as they would 
 not see when they possessed the faculty of sight, the 
 use of that faculty may be taken from them, and they 
 may be abandoned to blindness. But all this is judicial, 
 and supposes previous voluntary wickedness, which it 
 is designed to punish. The case of Pharaoh is exactly 
 that of the Jews. God is said to have " blinded their 
 eyes, and hardened their hearts." But how ? As it is 
 here represented ? Would he do this to his own people ? 
 Was HE the cause of their rejecting their Messiah ? Or 
 does he — can he intend to say that he was so? Let us 
 hear no more of this, for the sake of common sense and 
 common honesty, if such things aft yet left among us. 
 
 But it is asserted, that when the objection is urged by 
 unbelievers, ' we (Christians) usually answer, that the 
 potter has power over his clay, to fashion it as he lists;' 
 to which the infidels, in the gayety of their hearts, tri- 
 umphantly reply, that, ' if the clay in the hands of the 
 
294 LETTERS ON INEIDELITY. [LETTER XIV. 
 
 potter were capable of happiness and misery, according 
 to the fashion impressed on it, the potter must be malevo- 
 lent and cruel, who can give the preference to inflicting 
 pain instead of happiness.' The similitude of the potter 
 is employed by St. Paul ; but it does not stand exactly 
 in his writings as it does in the pamphlet before us. By 
 him it is adduced in proof of one single point only, that 
 when men are become sinners, and obstinate sinners, 
 God has a right of dealing with them according to his 
 pleasure, and as may best answer the purposes of his 
 dispensations, respecting others as well as themselves. 
 The comparison is first used by God himself, (Jer. xviii.) 
 and applied to the power by him exercised of de- 
 stroying or preserving an offending people, as they 
 should either continue in sin, or repent and amend. 
 It is applied precisely in the same manner by St. 
 Paul, (Rorn. ix. 9,) to show, (as appears by the verses 
 immediately following,) that God might without injus- 
 tice deal with the Jews, as he had before dealt with and 
 hardened Pharaoh ; and for the same reason ; because 
 they had refused to hearken to his voice, as Pharaoh 
 had done. He might reserve them for a more signal 
 destruction, which would display his glory, and forward 
 the conversion of the nations ; while at the same time 
 he showed the riches of his mercy to such, whether 
 Jews or Gentiles, as embraced the Gospel ; whom he 
 owned as the spiritual seed of Abraham, and his peculiar 
 people. Whoever will condescend with candor and 
 attention to peruse Dr. Whitby's annotations on Rom. 
 ix. 9, cannot, I think, have the shadow of a doubt left 
 on his mind, respecting either the drift of St. Paul's 
 reasoning, or the truth of it.^ 
 
 ' We know it is our duty to believe that Aaron's mira- 
 cle was performed by th,e power of God ; but we are at 
 a loss to discover by what power the miagicians per- 
 formed theirs.' — (p. 12.) It is a pleasure to me to find 
 these gentlemen solicitous about the performance of 
 duty ; and thereforedet me address to them a word of 
 consolation and encouragement. — Be not swallowed up 
 by over much uneasiness, as touching this matter. Rest 
 
 ■' [For a more clear explanation of this much misunderstood passagp, 
 .jce standard Works, Vol. II. p. 33—39.] 
 
LETTER XIV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 295 
 
 satisfied that whatever may be determined concerning 
 the wonders wrought by the magicians — whether they 
 are supposed to have been wrought in reality, or in 
 appearance only ; by legerdemain or the power of evil 
 spirits, through the permission of God, willing to make 
 his power known in this grand contest — either way, the 
 argument drawn from miracles,. in support of revelation, 
 will remain in its full strength. The superiority of the 
 God of Israel was manifested, and the contest yielded 
 by the adversaries, who could not protect themselves or 
 their friends from the maladies and plagues inflicted by 
 Omnipotence. Whatever the magicians did, or however 
 they did it, it appeared evidently they might as well have 
 done nothing. Mankind can never be ensnared by pre- 
 tences of this sort, when they see such pretences con- 
 trolled and overruled by a superior power. You are 
 men of too much sense, I am sure, to be found on the 
 side of Jannes or Jambres, or to take a retainer from 
 Simon Magus. 
 
 ' Where did the magicians find water to practise their 
 art upon, since Aaron had already turned it all into 
 blood V — (p. 13.) Not all, gentlemen, by your leave. 
 The Egyptians, not being able to drink of the water of 
 the river, "digged round about it (as you are told,') for 
 water to drink." And depend upon it they found some, or 
 it had been very bad with them indeed. But the truth is, 
 that nothing is more common among writers, both sacred 
 and profane, than the use of the word " all,"" not in an 
 absolute but a relative or comparative sense, as implying 
 many, some of all sorts, &c. "!3y adverting to this sim- 
 ple and obvious consideration, you might have spared 
 yourselves the trouble of laboring in vain through three 
 or four pages, to be witty on the subject of Pharaoh's 
 cattle being killed more than once, and such like plea- 
 sant conceits. These are poor jnddling doings ; but 
 we shall have some slashing by and by, to make 
 amends. 
 
 * Some weak believers ar-e in doubt, whether so mean,' 
 so ungenerous, and so dishonest an act, as borrowing the 
 jewels of the Egyptians, without any intention of re- 
 turning them, did not rather originate in that disposition 
 
 Exod. vii. 24. 
 Vol. V.--26 
 
296 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XIV. 
 
 which characterizes the Jews to this day, than in the 
 command of the just God, who certainly could need no 
 such tricks to accomplish his intentions.' — (p. 15.) Much 
 reason have we to wish that some among the unbe- 
 lievers would take the pains to acquire a mtJderate stock 
 of Hebrew, that so he ' might have to give,' upon such 
 occasions as these, * to him that needeth.' For that the 
 Israelites, in the proper sense of the English word, bor- 
 rowed these jewels, or gave the Egyptians reason to 
 expect a return of them, does by no means appear from 
 the original, to which a man, when he is disposed to 
 play the critic upon an author, should always have re- 
 course, if he be solicitous to deserve the character of 
 an honest man and a scholar. The general signification 
 of the word ^ is to ask, to require, to demand. In the 
 three texts^ relative to this transaction, the LXX,™ and in 
 the two former, the Vulgate," render it by a term of simi- 
 lar import. It is said, " the Israelites spoiled the Egyp- 
 tians :" they took these jewels, vessels, &c. ; and the 
 Egyptians gave them, as the spoil of a conquered enemy, 
 glad to escape with life, and to dismiss a much injured 
 people ; they took these spoils, as wages due, and with- 
 holden, for immense labor undergone ; as a recompense 
 for long and cruel oppression ; some of them, probably, 
 as insignia of the vanquished Egyptian deities, to be 
 afterwards employed in the service of the true God, 
 whom Egypt as well as Israel, ought to have acknow- 
 ledged and adored : who, as the great Lord and Pro- 
 prietor of all things in ^heaven and earth, taketh from 
 one and giveth to another, according to his good plea- 
 sure, founded evermore in wisdom, truth, and righteous- 
 ness ; who at the beginning foretold ° that the Egyptians 
 should be spoiled, and when the time came directed his 
 people to spoil them. " God gave them favor :" the act 
 was his, and the Israelites were instruments only in his 
 hands. If men are pleased to concern themselves at all 
 with the history, they must take the whole as it stands, 
 neither blaming those on whom no blame can properly 
 fall, nor accusing their Maker of iniquity, who can be 
 guilty of none, but at a future day, to the confusion of 
 
 k *7Njy. 1 Exod. iii. 22. xi. 2. xii. 35. "^ Atnw. " Postulo. 
 ' Exod. iii. 22. 
 
LETTER XV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 297 
 
 all his blasphemers, will be fully 'justified in his saying, 
 and clear when he is judged.' 
 
 One cannot but bless one's self to see how ready these 
 writers are, at every turn, to give sentence against the 
 people of Goi), in favor of their enemies ; as if they 
 emulated the same set of worthies in the fifth century, 
 called Cainites; who, having reprobated the Saviour of 
 the world, his prophets and apostles, are said to have 
 adopted into the catalogue of their saints, and paid espe- 
 cial honors to the memories of Cain, Korah, Dathan, 
 Esau, the Sodomites, and Judas Iscariot. 
 
 As to their intimation, at page 17, that because Egypt 
 was a country intersected by canals, there never were 
 any horses or chariots in it, they ought for this to take 
 their part in the next general flogging, at Westminster 
 School. During the operation, perhaps, the captain of 
 the school will be enjoined by the master to read aloud 
 the following short passage from Rollins' Ancient 
 History. 
 
 * Foot, horse, and chariot-races were performed in 
 Egypt with wonderful agility ; and the world could not 
 show better horsemen than the Egyptians.'p 
 
 In the next letter we shall proceed to the consideration 
 of a topic entirely new — Balaam's ass. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 The first difficulty here is, ' why God should be an- 
 gry with Balaam, for going, when he had given him 
 leave to go V 
 
 To be sure, all circumstances continuing the same, 
 it would be strange, — it would be passing strange. 
 But if circumstances varied, the Divine conduct might 
 vary too. " Go," says God, but — observe — "the word 
 which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.'"^ Balaam 
 seems to have set out with a resolution to obey ; for 
 like a man, and like an honest man, he had boldly and 
 nobly said, "If Balak would give me his house full of 
 silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the 
 
 p Vol. I. p. 48. 1 Numb. xxii. 20. 
 
298 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XY* 
 
 Lord my God to do less or more."' However, it is? 
 possible, that upon the road, either by the persuasive 
 arguments of the princes of Moab who accompanied 
 him, or by the wicked suggestions of his own deceitful 
 heart, an alteration had taken place in his mind, and 
 interest had gained the ascendency over duty. I say, this 
 is possible ; considering his character it is probable : 
 but a passage in the history itself seems to make it 
 certain. "I went out to withstand thee, because thy 
 way is perverse before me."* But what way ? Not 
 merely his journey, for he had leave to take it, condi- 
 tionally. Way must necessarily be understood in its 
 moral acceptation. Something was wrong in the course 
 of his thoughts, his imagination ; in his design and in- 
 tention, now changed from what they were at setting 
 out. " The foolishness (or wickedness) of man per- 
 VERTETH his WAY."' Therefore God was angry, not, 
 as it is in our translation, "because he went;"" but 
 "as he was going — while he was on the road."^ Upon 
 Balaam's humbling himself, and offering to return, leave 
 of proceeding is again granted, but with a significant 
 repetition of the original proviso — " Only the word that 
 I shall speak unto thee, that shalt thou speak."y *Go 
 on; but remember, to me your heart is open, your 
 desires are known. If you betray your trust, the drawn 
 sword of the angel waits to punish your duplicity as it 
 ought to be punished.' — This appears to be a fair and 
 reasonable solution of the first difficulty. 
 
 As to the second, it is observed, p. 17, that ' the ass ex- 
 hibited a specimen of penetration and prudence, of which 
 the asses of modern times seem to be divested.' — This ob- 
 servation brings, to my mind one made upon the subject 
 some years ago by that father of the faithless, Dr. Tindal. 
 "What a number of ideas must Balaam's ass have (says 
 he) to be able to reason with her master, when she saw 
 and knew an angel?" — Will these gentlemen do me the 
 favor to accept Dr. Waterland's answer? — "Now, 
 as to the number of ideas which the ass must have ; I 
 believe she had as many as asses commonly have : and 
 he may please to count them at his leisure for his own 
 
 ' Numb. xxii. 18. « Ver. 3-2. ' Prov. xix. 3. " Numb, xxii^ 
 n"7in >3. y Ver. 35. 
 
LETTER XV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 899 
 
 amusement." ' If they have ever an anatomist among them, 
 I dare say he could very easily demonstrate, from the 
 configuration of its organs, the impossibility of the crea- 
 ture's ever speaking at all. And his demonstration would 
 just be as much to the purpose as Tindal's question. The 
 plain truth is this — If it pleased God to take this par- 
 ticular method of " rebuking the prophet's madness,"* 
 the severest philosophy cannot question his power to 
 produce sounds articulate and significant, either with 
 the organs of any animal, or without them. A voice 
 proceeding from a dumb creature was made upon this 
 occasion, to teach a lesson similar to that deduced, upon 
 another, from the example of the same creature — "The 
 ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib ; 
 but (man) d©th not know, (a prophet) doth not con- 
 sider."'^ If it be objected, that the occasion was not 
 worthy; that it was not dignus vindice nodus; we shall 
 certainly take the liberty to think that God Almighty 
 was a much better judge of that matter than the infidels 
 can possibly be, even were they ten times wiser than 
 they are. The whole transaction, in which Balaam 
 bore so conspicuous a part, is of very great moment, 
 and the history which relates it, full of deep instruction, 
 as well as abounding in the beautiful and sublime. <= 
 
 A predecessor of these gentlemen, Mr. Chubb, I re- 
 member, called the Supreme Being to a very severe 
 account for his conduct respecting the Canaanites ; and 
 they seem disposed to do the same, in a bitter, sarcas- 
 tical, canting section, (p. 19, &c.) the drift of which 
 is to compare the Israelites in Canaan to the Spaniards 
 in Mexico, and represent the former as the more detest- 
 able people of the two. The objection will perhaps be 
 obviated, and its futility evinced, by proposing the few 
 following queries. 
 
 1. Has not the Almighty a sovereign right over the 
 lives and fortunes of his creatures 1 
 
 2. May not the iniquity of nations become such, as 
 to justify him in destroying these nations ? 
 
 * Scripture Vindicated, I. 42. ' 2 Peter ii. 16. b See Isa. i. 3. 
 - = ' Nihil habet Poesis Hebrsea in ullo genere limatius aut exquisitius,' 
 LowTH de Sacra Poesi Heb, Prael. XX, ad fin. 
 26* 
 
300 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER XV, 
 
 3. Is he not free to choose the instruments by which 
 he will effect such destruction ? 
 
 4. Is there more injustice or cruelty in his effecting it 
 by the sword, than by famine, pestilence, whirlwind, de- 
 luge, or earthquake ? 
 
 5. When these latter means are employed, do not 
 women, and children, and cattle, perish with the men ? 
 
 6. Does not God take away thousands of children 
 every day, and perhaps half the species, under the age 
 of ten years ? 
 
 7. Does not the circumstance of a divine commission 
 entirely alter the state of the case, and distinguish the 
 Israelites from the Spaniards, as much as a warrant 
 from the magistrate distinguishes the executioner from 
 the murderer ? 
 
 8. May not men be assured of God's having given 
 them such a commission ? 
 
 9. Were not the Israelites thus assured ; and is there 
 not at this day incontestible evidence upon record, that 
 they were so ? 
 
 This is a fair and regular distribution of the subject 
 into its several parts. Whenever the infidels shall find 
 themselves in a humor to discuss all, or any of them, 
 we must consider what they may offer further upon 
 this topic. 
 
 In p. 18, they cite the following passage from Judges 
 i. 19. " The Lord was with Judah, and he drove out 
 the inhabitants of the mountain : but could not drive 
 out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had cha- 
 riots of iron." They subjoin — ' It is difficult to con- 
 ceive how the Lord of heaven and earth, who had so 
 often changed the order, and suspended the established 
 laws of nature, in favor of his people, could not suc- 
 ceed against the inhabitants of a valley, because they 
 had chariots of iron !' 
 
 At the end of this sentence is placed a single note of 
 admiration. There ought to have been at least half a 
 dozen ; for never was any thing more truly wonderful ! 
 The ' difficulty of conceiving it' is very great indeed ! 
 so great, that one should have thought', for very pity's 
 sake, our adversaries would have looked about them a 
 little, to see whether they undestood the text, and 
 whether there were no possible way of bringing us off. 
 
LET-fER XV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 301 
 
 As they have not been kind enough to do it for us, we 
 must e'en try what we can do for ourselves. 
 
 We apprehend, then, in the first place, that when it 
 is said, " he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, 
 but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley;" 
 the antecedent is Judah, not Jehovah ; because Jehovah 
 had often displayed much more eminent instances of 
 his power ; and he that effected the greater, could cer- 
 tainly have effected the less. In the second place, 
 though it pleased God to give success to Judah in one 
 instance, it does not necessarily follow, that therefore 
 he should give it in all. . So that there is no more ab- 
 surdity in the passage, than there would be in the 
 following speech, if such had been addressed to the 
 Sovereign by one of his commanders returned from 
 America — ' By the blessing of God upon your Majesty's 
 arms, we overcame General Greene in the field ; but 
 we could not attack General Washington, because he 
 was too strongly intrenched in his camp.' There is no 
 reason, therefore, for supposing that ' the Jews consi- 
 dered the God of Israel, their protector, as a local 
 divinity; who was in some instances more, and in 
 others less powerful, than the gods of their enemies.'*^ 
 
 Nor is it altogether ' thus' that ' David in many 
 places compares the Lord with other gods :' since he 
 compares him with them, only to set him above them ; 
 as sufficiently appears by the passage quoted — " The 
 Lord is a great God, and a great king above all gods.^^^ 
 In the Heathen world there were " gods many, and 
 lords many." An Israelite acknowledged one only 
 God, the maker of heaven and earth, and of all the 
 supposed deities therein. " All the gods of the Hea- 
 then," so styled by them, " are but idols ; but it is the 
 Lord that made the heavens." 
 
 Such, as an Israelite, must have been the sentiments 
 of Jephthah, as well as David ; and therefore the cita- 
 tion from his address to the king of the Ammonites 
 will avail nothing to the purpose for which it is adduced. 
 — " Wilt thou not possess that, which Chemosh thy god 
 giveth thee to possess ? So whomsoever the Lord our 
 God shall drive out from before us, them will we pos« 
 
 d Page 19. • lb. 
 
302 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XV. 
 
 sess."^ It cannot seriously be thought, that Jephthah, 
 a judge of Israel, intended to acknowledge the real 
 divinity of the Ammonitish idol, Chemosh. No : the 
 argument is evidently of the kind which logicians style 
 argumcntum ad hominenit an argument formed upon 
 the principles of the adversaries, and therefore conclii- 
 sive to them. — 'You deem yourselves entitled to any 
 possession acquired, as you imagine, by the assistance 
 of him whom you call your god, and cannot reasonably ■ 
 expect us to yield that, which we know the Lord our 
 God has awarded to us.' Jephthah, in a negociation 
 with the Ammonites, had no occasion to discuss the 
 subject of theiii idolatry, or tell them what he thought 
 of Chemosh ; but states the matter according to their 
 own ideas, supposing them, for a moment, to be true, 
 though he believed them to be false, as is done every 
 day. 
 
 Voltaire has amused himself much with this text, 
 and between one and another of his manifold publica- 
 tions, kept it up, like a shuttle-cock. He struggles 
 hard for it — but in vain. " The words of Scripture,'- 
 says he, " are not, Thou thinkest thou hast a right to 
 possess^ d^c, but expressly. Thou hast a right to pos- 
 sess, i^c.i for that is the true interpretation of the Hebrew 
 words, otho thirasch.^^° Aye, my little man, so it. is, 
 according to the Vulgate, — " Tibi jure debentur." But 
 any modern school-boy would have informed thee 
 better, and told thee, that the words, in very deed,- 
 denote neither more nor less than, " Thou wilt possess 
 it." — Are we to give up our Bible, and pin our faith 
 upon the sleeve of such a man as this ? 
 
 After Balaam's Ass, the Canaanites, and Chemosh, 
 one naturally expects — and lo, she is at hand — the 
 
 WITCH OF ENDOR. 
 
 It was not unusual among us here in England some 
 years ago, for an old woman, if she had the misfortune 
 to live at the corner of a common, to be suspected of 
 witchcraft, and tossed into a horse pond, to see whether 
 she would sink or swim. To put an end to such ridi- 
 culous barbarities, as well as some others of a more 
 serious and solemn nature, the legislature of Great 
 
 f Judges xi. 21. < it^^yp^ i-|N Treatise on Toleration, Chap. xii. 
 
LETTER XV.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 303 
 
 Britain very wisely ordained, by an Act of 9 G. II. ch. 
 5. that no person should in future be vexed, or prose- 
 cuted, under that notion ; and that whoever pretended 
 to any thing of the kind, should, on conviction, be ad- 
 judged to the pillory. These gentlemen have their 
 fears, upon this occasion, for the authority of the Bible. 
 I cannot say, for my part, that I feel any such appre- 
 hensions. ' The witch of Endor, and the Jewish Law, 
 both prove by divine argument (whatever that may be) 
 the existence of such professors, though like miracles, 
 they have now ceased to appear.' — (p. 25.) But the 
 nonexistence of miracles at present is no proof that 
 they never existed ; for they most certainly once did 
 exist, if evidence be evidence. The argument therefore 
 is full in their own teeth ; and there might be witches, as 
 well as possessed persons, formerly, though there may 
 be none now. The Bible may be true, and (blessed be 
 God) the parliament not infidel. They ' deplore the 
 infidelity of that parliament.' Bold words these, indeed ! 
 — I would not have said such things of any parliament, 
 for the world. — They are apprehensive of persecution 
 — Let them take more care, another time ! 
 
 It appears by the Jewish Law, that there were then 
 men and women, who in the language of our transla- 
 tion, are styled "diviners, observers of times, enchant- 
 ers, witches, charmers, consulters with familiar spirits, 
 wizards, and necromancers."^ These practices, are 
 said to be " the abominations of the heathen ;"' and we 
 know they were continued, lower down, among the 
 Greeks and Romans, whose philosophers were some-- 
 times puzzled how to determine concerning them. 
 With the idolatry of their neighbors, the Israelites, 
 frequently adopted these its appendages. That there 
 was in them much of juggling and imposture, may be 
 true ; but that all was so, is more than many wise and 
 learned men have thought proper, upon a due consider- 
 ation of the matter, to assert ; because, that there are 
 no evil spirits, or that mankind never had any commu- 
 nication with them, are negatives not easily proved. 
 
 Respecting the transaction at Endor, the case, in few 
 words, stands thus. Convinced by proper evidence of 
 
 h Deut, xviii. 10. i Verse 9. 12. 
 
304 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XV. 
 
 the authority of the book in which it is related, we of 
 course believe (having as we judge, good reason to be- 
 lieve) that the several incidents happened, as they are 
 said to have happened. By what power or agency they 
 were brought about, or how the business was conducted, 
 is another question, which we must endeavor to solve, 
 if we can do it ; if not, it must remain as it is, being 
 confessedly to us, at this distance, of an obscure and 
 difficult nature. 
 
 That God should permit evil spirits, employed by a 
 wretched woman, to summon, at pleasure, his departed 
 servants from the other world, is not to be imagined. 
 It remains therefore, either that the whole affair of 
 Samuel's appearance was a contrivance ; or that, by the 
 interposition of God, there was a real appearance, 
 which the enchantress did not expect, nor could have 
 effected. The surprise and alarm occasioned in her, 
 seem to point us this way, and there are two instances 
 recorded in Scripture of a proceeding somewhat similar. 
 When king Balak had recourse to sorceries and divina- 
 tions, hoping to procure some relief, or fair promises at 
 least from them, God himself interposed, and so over- 
 ruled Balaam and all his divinations, that Balak could 
 obtain no favorable answer from them, but quite the 
 reverse. k In like manner King Ahaziah had sent to 
 consult Baalzebub, the demon of Ekron, to know whe- 
 ther he should recover of the sickness he then lay 
 under, hoping, no doubt, to obtain a favorable answer 
 there, as probably he might have done ; God himself 
 took care to anticipate the answer by Elijah the pro- 
 phet, who assured the messengers, meeting them by the 
 way, that their master Ahaziah should not recover, but 
 should surely dieJ Thus, probably. Was it in the case 
 of Saul : when he hoped for a kind answer from Samuel, 
 and it is likely would have had a very favorable oiie 
 from some pretended Samuel, God was pleased to dis- 
 appoint both the sorceress and him, by sending the 
 true Samuel, with a true and faithful message, quite 
 contrary to what the v/oman and Saul had expected : 
 which so confounded and disordered him, that he in- 
 stantly fell into a swoon, and could no longer bear up 
 
 " Numb, xxiii. i 2 Kings i. 
 
LETTER XVI.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 305 
 
 against the bitter agonies of his mind. The sense of 
 the Jewish Church, about three hundred ye^.rs before 
 Christ, is given by the author of the Book of Ecclesi- 
 asticus, when, speaking of Samuel, he says thus — 
 *' After his death he prophesied, and showed the king 
 his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in pro- 
 phecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people."™ This 
 author plainly enough supposed, that it was Samuel 
 himself who appeared in person, and prophesied to 
 King Saul, 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 We now come to some observations on the character 
 and conduct of David. And here, the extracts are more 
 scanty, than one should have expected, from Messrs. 
 Bayle, Morgan, and Co., or rather from the last retailer 
 of this sort of ware, the Historian of the Man after God's 
 own Heart.'' 
 
 David is scoffed at for his cruelty towards the Am- 
 monites, shown by "putting them under saws, and under 
 harrows of iron,"° &lc. — (p. 21.) Whatever the words 
 in the original may signify, it seems but reasonable to 
 conclude, that if David inflicted on these people punish- 
 ments extrordinarily severe, there must have been some 
 extraordinary cause. We read in the book of Judges, 
 that the men of Judah, " pursued after Adonibezek, 
 and cut off his thumbs and his great toes." Had no- 
 thing more been related, this would have appeared a 
 strange instance of wanton barbarity. But what says 
 the suffering prince himself? — "Threescore and ten 
 kings having their thumbs and great toes cut off, gath- 
 ered their meat under my table; as I have done, so God 
 hath requited me."p The cruelties practised by the 
 Ammonites upon others might be returned, by the just 
 judgment of heaven, upon themselves. There is no 
 
 "» Ecclus, xlvi, 20. 
 
 n [One of the blasphemous publications which gave occasion to 
 Bishop Horne's Letters, bore the title The History of the Man after 
 GocPs own Heart. There have been men foolish and wicked enough 
 to reprint and circulate this trash in America but a few months since.] 
 
 ° 2 Saia. xii. 29. p Judges i. 6, 7. 
 
306 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVI. 
 
 ground for supposing that David treated them worse 
 than they would have treated the Hebrews, or than 
 prisoners of war were treated in those times ; and Dr. 
 Chandler, it is apprehended, has given very good 
 reasons why the passage should be rendered in the 
 manner following — "He brought forth the inhabitants, 
 and put them to the saw, and to iron mines, and iron 
 axes, and transported them to the brick kiln," or rather 
 " to the brick frame, and hod, to make and carry bricks ;" 
 that is, he reduced them to slavery, and put them to the 
 most servile employments. See Chandler's Life of 
 Davids Vol. H. p. 227, a book which should be carefully 
 perused by those who are disposed to favor us with any 
 fresh disquisitions on the subject of it. But we must 
 proceed to David's sentence on the Amalekite. 
 
 The two accounts of the manner of Saul's death, 
 one given in the course of the history, at' the close of 
 the first book of Samuel, the other by the Amalekite, 
 at the beginning of the second, are so different, that 
 'one of them' the infidels say, 'must be false.' — (p. 26.) 
 Very well; suppose it so to be, and what then? Why 
 then, they put the following resolution of the difficulty 
 into the mouth of their Tom Fool of a Christian, as 
 they call him. ' To this we can only answer, as it he- 
 comes the faithful in all such cases of seeming difficulty; 
 namely, that they were both written by the pen of in- 
 spiration, consequently must both be true, however 
 contradictory or absurd they may seem to human 
 reason.' — Well said, Tom ! — But let me ask these gen- 
 tlemen, what mortal, beside themselves, Tom's elder 
 brethren, ever imagined the Amalekite to have been 
 inspired, when he told his story to David ? — An idle, 
 pickthank fellow, who stripped Saul of his diadem and 
 bracelets, and ran away M'ith them full speed to David, 
 to let him know that all was safe, his old enemy was 
 fallen, and he had put him out of his pain ! David saw 
 through the character of this man, and from his for.- 
 ward officiousness in the affair, probably concluded, he 
 had taken some undue advantage of Saul in his wounded 
 state, and slain him, on purpose that he might find 
 favor with his successor in the kingdom, by bringing 
 him all this good news. "As the Lord liveth, who hath 
 redeemed my soul out of all adversity (says he upon 
 
LETTER XVII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 301^ 
 
 another occasion) when one told me, saying, Behold 
 Saul is dead, [thinking to have brought good tidings,) 
 I took hold of him and slew him, in Ziklag, who thought 
 that I would have given him a reward for his tidings. '"^-^ 
 But whether David suspectr '^ it, or not, as the narrative 
 of Saul's death given in the .^ourse of the history is 
 true, the story told by the Ama^akite is certainly false 
 in some particulars, which are i'lconsistent with that 
 narrative. Nay, it is not probable, if indeed it be pos- 
 sible, that the main circumstance of all should have 
 been true. — Saul desires his armor bearer to kill him, 
 who refuses ; he falls upon his sword ; and the ser- 
 vant, seeing his master dead, does the same. Now 
 where is the interval, or opening, for the scene 
 between Saul and the Amalekite to take place ? Or 
 would the armor bearer, who refused to kill Saul, 
 stand by and suffer an Amalekite to kill him? — But 
 though David judged this man unworthy to become his 
 friend, he may make a very good figure in the unbe- 
 liever's catalogue of saints, and I would recommend 
 him to occupy a niche in that temple. — Let us, how- 
 ever, foramoment, suppose, that David had judged other- 
 wise ; that he had rewarded him handsomely, and pro- 
 moted him to honor. What would have been said, 
 then? Why, that poor Saul had escaped the sword of 
 the Philistines, but, 'this ruffian,' (such is the courtly 
 appellation bestowed upon David)"" had employed an 
 assassin to despatch him, during the hurry and confusion 
 of the retreat ! Oh, it had been a delicious morsel, ex- 
 actly seasoned to the palate of infidelity ! 
 
 The infidels are much disconcerted, it seems, about 
 the hook of Jasher : (p. 27:) it was extant previous to 
 the writing the book of Joshua, and was not finished 
 till after the accession of David to the throne of Israel ; 
 so that, as they apprehend, either the author of Jasher 
 must have lived upwards of four hundred years, or the 
 book of Joshua was not written till after the time of 
 David. — Here again a little Hebrew would have done 
 us no harm. It does not appear that Jasher was the 
 name of an individual, or that the book so styled was all 
 written in the same age, by the same man. The tranF- 
 
 « 2 Sara. iv. 9, 10. ' Page 25. 
 Vol. v.— 27 
 
308 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER XVIf, 
 
 actions of the times were regularly entered in a public 
 register, by a person denominated the Recorder^ or 
 Historiographer, a staled officer to the Jewish kings.* 
 And "?Ae book of Jasher was the standard, authentic 
 book, in which they were entered by authority, and 
 from which extracts w(!re made, as occasion required. '^ 
 Some difficulties are started (p. 29) relative to the 
 history of David numbering the people. In our trans- 
 lation we read, 2 Sam. xxiv. that 'Hhe Lord moved 
 David to number Israel ;"" and 1 Chron. xxi. that 
 ^^ Satan moved him to doit." — Nothing is more com- 
 mon with the sacred writers, than to represent God as 
 doing that which, in the course of his providence, and 
 for the purposes of either mercy or judgment, he per- 
 mits to be done by the instrumentality of second 
 causes, animate or inanimate, corporeal or spiritual. In 
 the case of Ahab, 1 Kings xxii., he is represented 
 after the manner of men, and in condescension to our 
 capacities, as a king keeping his court, with spirits of 
 all kinds in wailing before him, prepared to execute his 
 will upon earth. One of these spirits is commissioned 
 to influence the false prophets, and they persuade Ahab^ 
 who will not listen to the true prophet of God. Taking- 
 the matter, therefore, as it stands in our Enolish trans- 
 lation, the import of both passages laid together, accord- 
 ing to a fair explanation, would evidently be, that for 
 good and sufficient reasons, known to himself, God per- 
 mitted Satan to tempt, and David to yield lo the tempta- 
 tion, in this instance. But if we consult the original, 
 we shall find there is no necessity to suppose that David 
 was excited either by God, or by Satan. The word 
 Satan, though often denoting that person who is em- 
 phatically styled THE Adversary, signifies only, in gene- 
 
 ' n^DTD. See Samuel viii. 16. 1 Kings iv. 8. 2 Kings xviii. 18. 
 2 Chiun. xxxiv. 8 
 
 * Lk Ci.krc seems to have ima<iin^d that this record was kept in 
 verse — " Crediilerim Librum Recti fuise collectionem hymnorum aut 
 carminum de rebus gestis HebrfEorum, f.)rte non uno tempore factum." 
 Clkr. in Jus. X. 13. — We read indeed of "psahnsand ()roverbs, which 
 the men nfJvdah copied out.^' [Several other hypotheses concerning 
 the Biiok of Jasher have been tiiven to the public ; any of them as 
 Batisfaetory as could be expected in the scarcity ol" information on tho 
 8ubj(?ct, and abundantly sulHcient to silence the cavils of the infidels. 
 On the whole, the opinion of Le Clerc appears to be the most probable.] 
 
LETTER XVII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 309 
 
 ral, An Adversary ; and therefore the passage, 1 Chron. 
 xxi., may very properly be rendered, ' An adversary 
 stood up against Israel, and excited David.' This adver- 
 sary might be some counsellor, adviser, &c. The other 
 passage, 2 Sam. xxiv., may as properly be translated, 
 'The anger of the Lord was 'kindled against Israel; 
 and one excited David,^ or David was excited by some 
 one, (the person mentioned in Chronicles) saying. Go, 
 number Israel.' 
 
 Of the different kinds of punishment offered to David 
 for his choice, upon this occasion, one is a famine for 
 seven years, according,to 2 Sam. xxiv. ; but for three years 
 only, according to 1 Chron. xxi. It has been observed 
 by some learned men, that the year in which this hap- 
 pened was the fourth year since a famine had com- 
 menced, on another occasion, mentioned 2 Sam. xxi. 1. 
 This circumstance considered, the question, as it is 
 worded in one place, — " Shall seven years of famine 
 come unto thee in thy land ?" is tantamount to saying, 
 " Wilt thou choose three additional years of famine," 
 &.C., which removes the apparent contradiction. It 
 may be urged, that ' The prophet delivered the message 
 no more than once, and therefore must have said either 
 seven or three : he could not have said hoth.^ True ; 
 but the sacred, like other historians, often relate the 
 same conversation in different terms ; that is, they give 
 the sense and substance of what passed, varying the 
 phraseology. Instances frequently occur in both testa- 
 ments. If no other satisfactory solution of the difficulty 
 could be assigned, candor and common sense surely 
 would suppose that the word seven, in 2 Samuel xxiv., 
 was originally three, especially as three is the word in 
 the Greek version of the LXX." 
 
 But, * If David only sinned, why should the punish- 
 ment fall upon the 'people?'' Such is the union between 
 king and people, like that between the head and body, 
 that this happens continually in the natural order of 
 things; and therefore, why not judicially ? What greater 
 misfortune can befall a king or a father, than the loss of 
 his subject, or his children ? ' It is possible, however, 
 that such might not be altogether the case, in the pre-. 
 
 »» Ta rpto Jirtif 
 
310 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIf, 
 
 sent instance ; though David, like a true patriot king 
 and most affectionate father, intercedes for his people, 
 and desires to receive in his own person and family, 
 the stroke that was ready to descend on them. " I have 
 sinned, and done wickedly : these sheep, what have 
 they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be upon me, 
 and upon my father's house." Notwithstanding all 
 this, I sa}^, it should seem that the people were by no 
 means without fault. For the history opens thus : "The 
 anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and" — 
 as a consequence of it — " David was excited to number 
 Israel." 
 
 But of what nature, then, after all, was this act of 
 numbering the people, and why should it have been 
 followed by a plague ? I am persuaded that we are 
 much in the dark upon this point. If any light can be 
 thrown upon it, that light must proceed from, a passage 
 in the book of Exodus, (ch. xxx. 12,) where God says 
 to Moses, " When thou takest the sum of the children 
 of Israel after their number, then shall they give every 
 manaransom forhissoul unto the Lord, when thou num- 
 berest them, that there be no plague^among them when 
 thou numberest them." To number the people, then, was 
 not, as it should seem, merely to count them out of 
 curiosity, or vain glory. It was a religious rite, it w^as 
 a muster, a review, or visitation, an inquistion into their 
 conduct, into the religious and moral state in which they 
 at that time stood before God. For upon such inquisi- 
 tion something came out, or appeared against them, 
 which required an offering, by w^ay of atonement or 
 ransom for their souls. " They shall give a ransom, 
 that there be no plague amongst them when thou num- 
 berest them:'''' — a very observable expression ; for when 
 David numbered them, this was the very thing that hap- 
 pened ; there was a plague among than, in consequence 
 of their being 7\umbered. They might be in such a 
 state, that God would not accept them or their offerings. 
 It is not improbable that they should be in such a state, 
 if we consider what corruptions must needs creep in 
 under Saul's wicked reign, and David's long wars, 
 during most of which time the country had been over- 
 run by the Philistines, &c., who would propagate their 
 idolatry with its flagitious concomitants. In short, 
 
S^ETTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY, 811 
 
 Israel had provoked God ; for otherwise his anger 
 would not have been kindled against them, as we are 
 informed that it was : their offences called for punish- 
 ment, and on numbering the people, an opportunity 
 was taken for inflicting it. Joab appears to have been 
 aware of the consequence, as a known case. " Why 
 (says he) will my lord the king be a cause of punish- 
 ment" — trespass or forfeiture'' — " to Israel?" As if he 
 knew, that upon a visitation, they must be punished 
 who should be found guilty ; and was unwilling that 
 the number of the king's subjects should be lessened. 
 But David might think it necessary, and his zeal pre- 
 vailed. Otherwise, it is extraordinary that such a man 
 as Joab should see what David either could not or 
 would not see. This account of the transaction was 
 offered to the public, many years ago, by a learned 
 writer, well skilled in biblical knowledge and criticism. 
 That it is entirely free from objection, or will solve all 
 difficulties, is more, perhaps, than can be affirmed. But 
 it is curious, and certainly deserves attention. 
 
 On the whole, to adopt the words of Dr. Chandler, 
 " If they who object, credit the history of the Old Testa- 
 ment in this part of it, and think it is true, that one of 
 these three plagues was offered to David, as the punish-^ 
 ment of his offence ; that he chose the pestilence ; that 
 it came accordingly, and was removed upon his inter- 
 cession ; they are as much concerned to account for 
 the difficulties of the affair, as I or any other person 
 can be. If they do not believe this part of the history, 
 as the sacred writers represent it, let them give us the 
 account of it, as it stands in their own imagination ; and 
 tell us, whether there was any plague at all, how, and 
 why it came, and how it went and disappeared of a« 
 sudden." 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 A FEW more doubts remain, touching the prophecies^ 
 and some passages in the New Testament. 
 
 *The great evangelical prophet could foretell tlie^ 
 
 ^ nDjy.s'?. I Chron. xxi. 3. 
 
 27* 
 
312 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIII, 
 
 downfall of Babylon by Cyrus, but would not tell the 
 name of the Messiah.' — (p. 39.) Who enabled him to 
 foretell the downfall of Babylon by Cyrus ? ' He might 
 take the advantage of writing that prophecy after this 
 events took place,' say the infidels, (p. 40.) But how 
 so ? Isaiah spake of Cyrus at least a hundred years 
 before his birth. Had a history of Cyrus been among 
 the books of Scripture, under the name of Isaiah, they 
 would have placed the author, for longevity, in the 
 same class with their friend Jasher. ' Isaiah could not 
 tell the name of Messiah.' He could have told it, had 
 it been communicated to him, as that of Cyrus was. He 
 has described Messiah in a manner not to be mistaken. 
 There might be very good reasons why the name was 
 not declared beforehand. And as God did not see 
 proper to do it, there certainly were such reasons. But, 
 ' if Christ were intended by the name of Immanuel, 
 the prophet was mistaken, for he was never called by 
 that name.' The first commentator one opens will in- 
 form one, that in Scripture language to he called^ is the 
 same as to he. Thus, of Messiah it is said, (Isa. ix. 6,) 
 *' His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, <fec., 
 though he was never called by any of the names there 
 enumerated : of the same person, ( Jer. xxiii. 6,) " This 
 is his name whereby he shall be called. The Lord our 
 Righteousness ;" — of Jerusalem, (Isa. i. 26,) " Thou 
 shalt be called. The City of Righteousness.'^'' No man 
 should presume to criticise a book, if he will not be at 
 the pains to study the phraseology peculiar to it. 
 
 ' If the prophecies are evident and clear, how hap- 
 pened it that the whole Jewish nation, together with 
 the angel Gabriel, should mistake, and suppose the 
 kingdom of Messiah to be temporal?' — (p. 40.) The 
 angel Gabriel was certainly under no mistake upon this 
 point, because of Christ he says expressly, (Luke i. 33,) 
 "He shall reign for ever, and of his kingdom there 
 shall be no end." And as to the case of the Jews, it is 
 treated of at large in a discourse under that title, by the 
 author before-mentioned at page 282, to which these 
 gentlemen are referred. 
 
 'Could not these inspired writers, who prophesied 
 concerning things of no consequence, as the thirty 
 pieces of silver, and the casting lots for Christ's gar- 
 
LETTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 313 
 
 ments, have predicted with equal certainty the more 
 'important circumstance of his death and resurrection]* 
 —(p. 40.) The death and resurrection of Christ are 
 predicted in the strongest terms, Ps. xxii. ex. Isa. liii. 
 And what can add more weight to this kind of evidence, 
 than the prediction of particulars so minute and circum- 
 stantial as those of the thirty pieces, and the division 
 of the garments by lot? One would think, at the con- 
 templation of them, all infidelity would stop its mouth, 
 instead of opening it. 
 
 * In short, they beg to be shown a single prophecy, 
 concerning which divines are agreed.' — (p. 41.) What 
 TuLLY said of philosophers may be true perhaps of 
 divines, considering the multitude of them that have 
 lived from the days of the apostles to the present time; 
 namely, that there never was an opinion, however 
 absurd, which has not been maintained by some one or 
 other. And therefore, to reject the evidence of pro- 
 phecy, till all divines shall agree exactly about it, ar- 
 gues a conduct as wise in the infidels, as if they should 
 decline sitting down to a good dinner, till all the clocks 
 in London and Westminster struck four together. 
 
 * They desire to know why the revelation of St. John 
 should be more obscure and enigmatical than any which 
 was written during the typical and shadowy dispensa- 
 tion of Moses?' — (p. 41.) Much valuable instruction 
 in the doctrines and duties of religion, may be gathered 
 from the revelation, in the most clear and perspicuous 
 manner : witness the Moral Reflections on that book, 
 by Pere Quesnelle."^ Of the predictions in the 
 
 ^ [PAsauiER Q^UESNEL, a Priest of the Oratory at Paris, is hardly more 
 celebrated for his devotional writings, which have commanded the ad- 
 miration of pious men in every comtimnion of Christians, than for the 
 persecutions which his peculiar religious opinions brought upon him, 
 from the rulers of his own Church, In 1681, he was banished from 
 Paris to Orleans, whence, in 1685, he was obliged to retreat to Flan- 
 ders. Even there, he was not allowed to ren.ain in quiet, but was 
 thrown into prison by tlie Archbishop of Brussels, in 1703 : he escaped 
 in the same year, and fled to Holland, where he died, in 171!), aged 86. 
 He was condemned for contumacy, in 1704. His Moral Reflections 
 on the New Testament (the very work which has perpetuated his 
 fime as a writer of the deepest piety and spiritual niindcdncss) received 
 the general condemnation of Pope Clement XI. in 1708 ; and in 1713, 
 the famous Constitution, called (from the first word) Unigenitus, de- 
 nounced one hundred and one propositions contained in it, as false and 
 
314 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVlfl. 
 
 former part of it, many have been explained to general 
 satisfaction, and others may be so explained hereafter ; 
 as by the studies and labors of different persons, the 
 symbolical language of Scripture becomes better under- 
 stood, and the events predicted are brought forward in 
 their order. If sufficient reasons may be assigned why 
 prophecy should be in some degree obscure for a time, 
 they will hold, with regard to those of the New, as well 
 as those of the Old Testament.^ Let gentlemen bestow 
 due attention on the evidences of Christianity so often 
 set before them. When they shall thereby be happily 
 induced to believe, it will be time enough to argue with 
 thiem on such points as the obscurity of St. John's reve- 
 lation, and the doctrine of the Trinity, which is scoffed 
 at in a very unbecoming manner, in page 32. 
 
 Thus much for prophecy. We proceed to some ob- 
 jections against particular passages in the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 Of these, the first respects the difference between 
 the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ, as given by 
 St. Matthew, and that given by St. Luke. On this 
 subject, let it be observed, — 
 
 1. That genealogies in general, and those of the Jews 
 in particular, with their method of deriving them, and 
 the confusion arising from the circumstance of the same 
 person being called by different names, or different 
 persons by the same name, are in their nature, and must 
 be to us, at this distance of time, matters of very com- 
 plicated consideration, and it is no wonder they should 
 be attended with difficulties and perplexities. 
 
 2. The evangelists, in an affair of so much import- 
 ance, and so open then to detection, had there been any 
 thing wrong to be detected, would most assuredly be 
 careful to give Christ's pedigree as it was found in the 
 authentic tables, which, according to the custom of the 
 nation, were preserved in the family, as is evident from 
 
 heretical, condemning both the work itself, and every thing written in 
 its defence! I 
 
 * [Since tlie time of Bishop Hornr, the sensible and judicious work 
 of Dean Woodhousk, on the Apocalyy>se, has done much towards les- 
 sening the load of ol)loquy wliicli co'iDmentators on the revelation had 
 brouglit upon themselves and the hook they pretended to interpret, by 
 their fauluslic and inconsistent expositions.] 
 
LETTER XVIII."! LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 315 
 
 JosEPHUS, who says, " I give you this succession of our 
 family, as I find it writlen in the pubhc tables." 
 
 3. As it was well known the ^ilessiah must descend 
 from David, the genealogical tables of that family- 
 would be kept with more than ordinary diligence and 
 precision. 
 
 4. Whatever cavils the modern Jews and others 
 make now against the genealogies recorded by the 
 evangelists, the Jews their cotemporaries never offered 
 to find fault with, or to invalidate the accounts given in 
 the Gospels. As they wanted neither opportunity, ma- 
 terials, skill, nor malice, to have done it, and it would 
 have afforded them so grea.t an advantage against the 
 Christians, this circumstance alone, as Dr. South well 
 remarks, were we not now able to clear the point, ought 
 with every sober and judicious person to have the force 
 of a moral demonstration. 
 
 Thus much premised, let us hear the objection. 
 'Matthew reckons twenty-seven generations from Da- 
 vid to Christ ; Luke reckons forty-twft ; and the names 
 totally disagree. Matthew tiaces the descent from Solo- 
 mon, and Luke from Nathan, both sons of David. 
 According to our feeble notions, twenty-seven cannot 
 be equal to forty-two; neither can Nathan be imagined 
 to be Solomon.' — (p. 33.) But were the objectors never 
 informed, that, in the opinion of those who have most 
 considered this question, and were best qualified to 
 ansvi^er it, St. Luke deduces the genealogy of our Sa- 
 viour, not, as St. Matthew does, on the side of Mary, 
 who by Jews and Christians is agreed to have been the 
 daughter of Heli. If, therefore, Jacob, according to 
 St. Matthew, were Joseph's father hy nature, Heli, who 
 is said by St. Luke to have been his father, could only 
 have been his father-in-law, by his marriage with Mary 
 the daughter of Heli, whose genealogy is there given 
 by St. Luke ; to show that every way Christ " sprang 
 from Judah," as was evident (by the testimony of the 
 author of the Epistle to the Hebrews) to all of that age ; 
 and that he was "of the seed of David;" his real mother, 
 no less than his supposed father, being "of the house 
 and lineage of David." Disputes may be raised and 
 maintained to the end of the world, on many other diffi- 
 culties which occur in the two genealogies. " But those 
 
316 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [lETTER XVIII. 
 
 who are acquainted with the customs of the Jews know 
 there are many genealogies which seem repugnant, and 
 yet are not so. And that may happen various ways, 
 as may easily be proved from books which the Jews and 
 we jointly acknowledge. There are several methods 
 of reconciling these difficulties, though it be often hard 
 to say which is the best, at the distance of so many 
 ages, all records, and even memory, of these things 
 being utterly lost.'"" 
 
 I would gently admonish the infidels, if they touch 
 upon this subject again, to behave with better manners 
 than they have done in their 34th page. 
 
 The excellent Pascal has observed, as many others 
 have done before and after him, that the evangelists, by 
 differing in some things from each other, have afforded 
 us a proof of their not having written in concert, and 
 that such difference is so far an argument in their favor. 
 The observation is sensible and just. Not so the infer- 
 ence drawn by the objectors, (p. 35,) that therefore, 
 * contradiction in evidence is a mark of truth.' For 
 Mr. Pascal did not allow, or suppose, any more than 
 we do, that the evangelists, when rightly understood 
 and explained, really contradicted each other. His 
 words, as cited by themselves, are, " Les foible sses les 
 plus APPARENTEs sout <}e foTces,^^ &-C. This is a piece 
 of coin from the mint of Ferney," and bears strongly 
 impressed upon it the image and superscription of the 
 coiner. 
 
 'When Christ was baptized by John, the heavens 
 were opened, and a voice was heard, declaring his di- 
 vine origin : such a prodigy must have awakened the 
 attention of all Judea ; yet we find the historians per- 
 fectly silent.' — (p. 35.) What historians ? A pagan 
 historian would not concern himself with the report of 
 a Jewish prodigy ; nor could a Jewish historian have 
 related a circumstance favorable to Christianity, unless 
 he had himself become a Christian. But would any 
 writer of common sense have hazarded the relation of 
 
 ♦> Dr. Trapp on the Gospels, p. 82, second edit. See likewise Dr. 
 SouTH's seventh sermon, in his third volume, and Macknight's 
 Harmony. 
 
 • [The residence of Voltaire.] 
 
LETTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 317 
 
 sudi a fact, as having happened in the presence of a 
 multitude of witnesses, if it never had so happened? 
 
 *It is strange that the horrid massacre of the children 
 by the command of Herod, should be totally unnoticed 
 by JosEPHUs.' — (p. 35.) It was too nearly related to 
 the birth of the wonderful child which occasioned it, 
 and concerning which Josephus thought that questions 
 might be asked. For otherwise, is it not equally strange^ 
 that he should be totally silent concerning the life and 
 death of Christ, and the appearance of a new religion 
 which had extended itself to Rome, and attracted the 
 notice of the historians there ? Yet, if the celebrated 
 passage '^ be an interpolation (as these gentlemen deem 
 it to be) of such events has Josephus said nothing, 
 though falling within a period the transactions of which 
 are by him minutely and exactly related. But though 
 Josephus was silent, and had good reasons for being 
 so, it evidently appears from the often cited passage of 
 Macrobius, that Herod's slaughter of the infants in 
 Judea was a thing well known in his time, and was not 
 contested by Heathens. <= We may add, as in the case 
 above, that St- Matthew must have been out of his senses 
 to have told such a story as this, had it been otherwise 
 than true; nor is there any thing in the character of 
 Herod that renders it improbable — quite the contrary. 
 
 As to the sneers upon interpolations and pious 
 frauds, in p. 36, I am sorry occasion has ever been 
 given for them. We want no such aids. Magna est 
 Veritas, et prcBvalehit. I only wish that our adversa- 
 ries, in their representations of the Scriptures and 
 Christianity, were never guilty o{ frauds which are not 
 quite so pious. 
 
 The purport in a few words, of all the parade and 
 flourish, p. 37, is this. ' Our Lord and St. Paul fore- 
 told the end of the world, as an event that should 
 happen in their time. It did not so happen ; therefore 
 
 d [Jewish Antiquities, Book xviii. Ch. iii. § 3. See a defence of tho 
 genuineness of this passage in Horne's Introduction to the Scriptures^ 
 Vol. II. Part I. ch. vii. No. .3.] . • 
 
 * " Inter pueros, quos in Syria Herodes Rex Judceorum intra bina~ 
 tumjussit occidiy — .Macrob. Saturnal. Lib. IT. cap. 4. See at large 
 on this subject, Lardnrr's Credibility, Part I. B. II. ch. ii., and Find^ 
 LAY against Voltaire^ p. 541. 
 
318 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIII. 
 
 they were under a mistake and delusion.' — Our Lord, 
 Luke, xxi., in that figurative and majestic style well un- 
 derstood by those who understand the language of 
 Scripture, describes the destruction of the Jewish 
 polity and system. The terms may, and do apply to 
 the end of the world, for this obvious reason, that the 
 two events are in many instances parallel and ana- 
 logous. His own declaration shows plainly of which 
 he was primarily and immediately speaking — " This 
 generation shall not pass away, till all these things are 
 fulfilled ;" and the figures are those usually employed, 
 in like case, by the prophets of old. The charge 
 against St. Paul is founded solely on his use of the 
 first person, in 1 Thess. iv. 16. " We, who are alive 
 and remain, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the 
 air." But how common is it for us, when speaking of 
 a society, an army, a nation, to which we belong, to 
 say, we went, or came, or did such a thing, or shall do 
 so and so ; though we ourselves neither had nor shall 
 have any personal concern in the matter; though the 
 event happened before we were born, or is to happen 
 after our decease ? Thus, in the Old Testament, Ps. 
 Ixvi. 6. " They went through the water — there did we 
 rejoice :" — Hosea xi. 4. " Jacob found God in Bethel ; 
 there he spake with tis.^^ By the terms " we who are 
 alive," the apostle means no doubt, those of us Chris- 
 tians who shall then be alive. In another place, 1 Cor. 
 iv. 4. he says, " We know that he who raised up the 
 Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also." He could not be- 
 lieve contradictory propositions, that he should die, 
 and that he should not die. But, what is decisive upon 
 the point — in the second Epistle to the same Thessalo- 
 nians, written only a i'ew months after the first, he most 
 earnestly admonishes them not to be deceived, as if by 
 any thing that had fallen from him, either in speech or 
 writing, they were to imagine " the day of God was at 
 hand ;" since the grand apostacy and other events, 
 which required much intervening time for their accom- 
 plishment, were first to take place in the world. See 
 2Thess. i. 2. Nay he reminds them, verse 4, that he had 
 told them as much, while he was yet "with them;" 
 that is, before either e()i.stle was written. 
 
 * How came it to pass that Christ should curse a fig 
 
L1STTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 319 
 
 tree for being without fruit in March ; or be ignorant 
 that it was not the season for figs V — (p. 41.) 
 
 1. It is certain in fact, that one sort of figs was ripe 
 at that time of the year, namely, at the passover. 
 
 2. By the season of figs may be meant the season 
 o( gathering figs, as in Matt. xxi. 34. " When the time, 
 or season, of the fruit drew near," that is plainly, the 
 time for gathering the fruit, " the lord of the vineyard 
 sent his servants to receive the fruit." If therefore one 
 sort of figs was ripe about that time of the year, and 
 yet the time for gathering them was not fully come, 
 Christ might with reason expect to find fruit on the 
 tree. In construing this passage thus interpreted, as 
 Mr. Macknight observes, the latter clause must be 
 joined with the words he came if haply he might find 
 any thing thereon, and the intermediate words thrown 
 into a parenthesis, thus — He came if haply he might 
 
 find any thing thereon {and when he came to it he 
 found nothing but leaves) for the time of figs -^-'^ 
 gathering figs — was not yet. That this is the true cor • 
 struction (adds Mr. Macknight) is plain, because th 
 evangelist is not giving the reason why there were no 
 figs on the tree, but the reason why Jesus expected to 
 find some on it. He tells us the season for gathering 
 figs was not yet come, to show that none had been 
 taken oft* the tree ; and consequently, that havino- its 
 whole produce upon it, there was nothing improper in 
 Christ's expecting fruit on it then. Whereas, if we 
 shall think the reason why he did not find any figs was, 
 that the time of them was not come, we must acknow- 
 ledge, that the tree was cursed very improperly for 
 having none. This interpretation makes a trajeciion 
 necessary ; but there is one of the same kind in Mark 
 xvi. 3, 4. where the clause, for it was very greaty 
 namely the stone at the door of the sepulchre, does not 
 relate to what immediately precedes it, and must be 
 considered parenthetically, but to the remote member 
 — They said amongst themselves, Who shall roll us 
 away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? (and 
 when they looked, they saw the stone rolled away)— for 
 it was very great. 
 
 I cannot help here observing, once more, that when 
 in any writer we meet with absurdities so glaring and 
 
 Vol. v.— 38 
 
330 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIII. 
 
 palpable as this and others imputed to the evangelists, 
 it is but doing him common justice, whoever he be, to 
 take it for granted that, by some means or other, we 
 misapprehend his meaning ; and mere candor should 
 induce us, instead of cavilling and squabbling, gladly to 
 accept of any fair and equitable interpretation of his 
 words, that may serve to clear them of such supposed 
 absurdity, and to set him right in our opinion. 
 
 Our Saviour is scoffed at, for having affirmed, ' that 
 wheat does not produce fruit except it d/e.' — (p. 41.) A 
 grain of corn, when laid in the earth, swells, putrifies, 
 suffers a dissolution of its parts, shoots its fibres, and 
 disappears. This is a death and resurrection sufficient 
 to answer all the purposes for which the illustration is 
 adduced by our Lord and St. Paul. 
 
 ' John the Baptist being asked if he were Elias, an- 
 swered I am not; but Jesus affirms the contrary.' — 
 (p. 42.) He was Elias in spirit and in power ; but he 
 was not the personal Elias, or Elijah, whom the people 
 erroneously expected, and the priests meant when they 
 asked him, ' Art thou Elias V 
 
 * Out of forty gospels we receive four as canonical. 
 — Why do we receive them, and not the rest V — (p. 42.) 
 For the best reasons in the world, assigned at large by 
 Dr. Lardner in his Credibility,^ &c., a work which 
 these gentlemen should answer, or for ever hold their 
 peace upon this subject. The true gospels are shown 
 by proper evidence to have been written at the time when 
 they are said to have been written, and by the persons 
 whose names they bear. It matters not how many 
 others were written, if upon their appearance, after 
 due examination, they were found to be spurious, and 
 rejected as such. 
 
 The primitive Christians are complained of (p. 43.) 
 for ' preventing the arguments against their religion 
 from being exposed to view.' — I hope there is no ground 
 for any such complaint now.^ There is no argument 
 
 ( See the review of his work in the 12th volume. [The 9th chapter 
 of Part I. of Paley's Evidences is a brief, but luminous statement of 
 the substance of Lardner's argument.] 
 
 « [Bp, HoRXE, it may be presumed, refrained from giving this objec- 
 tion a more direct answer, on account of its absurdity. It is well known, 
 that for more than three centuries it was not at the option of * the prirai- 
 
LETTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 321 
 
 yet devised against Christianity, we may presume, 
 which has not been proposed in public ; and there is 
 none, we may affirm, which has not received its answer. 
 
 The few remaining pages of this pamphlet are spent 
 in enumerating some particulars in the history of our 
 Lord's passion and resurrection, which are differently 
 related by the four evangelists. But how many times 
 have these objections been considered, and replied to ? 
 Have the infidels the modesty or the conscience to ex- 
 pect, that we are to draw up a new harmony of the 
 gospels, as often as one of them shall think proper to 
 ask a few old questions over again ? If any Christian 
 find himself perplexed by difficulties of this sort, let him 
 carefully peruse the gospels as they lie in Macknight's 
 Harmony and Commentary, and weigh well the solu- 
 tions of such difficulties with which that book will fur- 
 nish him.^ 
 
 These gentlemen tell us in plain terms that ' the 
 event of Christ's resurrection bears every mark of a 
 forgery ;'~(p. 46.) and speak of the apostles as men ' en- 
 gaged in the attempt of forming a sect or party ;' that 
 is, as men who had projected a plan (and thought them- 
 selves able to execute it) of persuading the world that 
 
 tive Christians,' whether or not the arguments against their religion 
 should be exposed to view. It was mucli, if they could obtain a hear- 
 ing for their own apologies. 1 
 
 h [Perhaps the end would be even better answered, by a reference to 
 Archbishop Newcome's excellent Harmony and Observations. Even 
 to this, objections may be made, and it is prt)bable, some that will hardly 
 admit of answer; but it may be most confidently asserted, that they 
 are neither more in number, nor greater in kind, than may be drawn 
 from the comparison of any four narratives of a single series of events 
 by profane historians ; nor do they, in any case, affect matters essential 
 to Christian faith or practice. — West's admirable work on the Resur- 
 rection, though it is devoted to the consideration of only one of the 
 great events of our Saviour's hfe, will be found abundantly sufficient, 
 if carefully peru.sed, to remove every difficulty arising from apparent 
 discrepancies in the gospel narratives. It shows how completely such 
 difficulties vanish under patient and sagacious investigation, and how 
 perfectly futile objection^ mu.st be, which have tlieir foundation in the 
 mere external aspect of the history. Had every point in the harmony 
 of the Gospels undergone examination as thorough and as able as that 
 which West has given to the history of the resurrection, the cavils of 
 infidelity would have been (not silenced^ for that is hopeless, but) proved 
 utterly worthless and absurd.] 
 
322 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIII, 
 
 their Master was risen from the dead, when he was not 
 risen, and of propagating over the earth a new reHgion, 
 upon the strength of that persuasion. We can know 
 no more of the apostles than the gospel history with 
 great simplicicily and evident sincerity informs us. Let 
 any man duly consider their characters and qualifica- 
 tions as there described ; let him then stand forth, lay 
 his hand upon his heart, and say, that he can possibly 
 bring himself, for a single moment, to believe, they 
 could ever have entertained the thought of projecting 
 and executing such a plan. I should be glad to see 
 that man. I would subscribe handsomely towards 
 erecting a statue to his memory. For take him either 
 as a fool, or as a knave, he is at the top of his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 But if no such plan by such persons were or could 
 be concerted, then the evidence of the apostles and 
 disciples (lo five hundred of whom Christ appeared at 
 once, and among whom he walked in and out for forty 
 days together) is as good and valid for the fact of his 
 resurrection, as for any other fact concerning his life 
 or his death. Nor is it true, that ' God chose to deprive 
 all mankind of the proper evidence of the resurrection, 
 because the Jews of that age were sinners.' Whatever 
 evidence it had pleased God to vouchsafe to 'the Jews 
 of that age,' "'all mankind' besides could have received 
 it only upon testimony ; and they now enjoy, upon tes- 
 timony, more and better evidence for the resurrection 
 of Christ, than ever was produced for any one trans- 
 action that has happened, from Adam to the present 
 hour. The descent of the Spirit on the day of Pente- 
 cost; the propagation of the Gospel by instruments 
 otherwise totally inadequate to the work ; the conver- 
 sion of so many thousand Jews ; the destruction of 
 Jerusalem; and the establishment of the Christian 
 Church, in opposition to the efforts of the whole Roman 
 empire — all these considerations, added to the original 
 positive evidence for the fact, and the futility and ab- 
 surdity, of the arguments then and since employed to 
 invalidate it, form such a moral demonstration in its 
 favor — the only demonstration we can have, in cases of 
 this kind — that there must be something very wrong 
 iadeed in the head or the heart of him, who, at this 
 
LETTER XVIII.] LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. 323 
 
 time of day, sets himself to deny and blaspheme it. 
 With joy and pleasure I desire to risk upon the truth of 
 it every thing that is dear to me, in this life and that 
 which is to come. 
 
 It is asked (p. 47) whether God expects that we 
 should 'show our faith and reliance on him by making 
 a sacrifice of our reason, and believing, not by an act 
 of the understanding, but of the will ?' 
 
 How necessary, in many cases, the concurrence of 
 the will is towards the production of faith, daily expe- 
 rience may convince us. We see men rejecting the 
 strongest evidence, when opposed by interest, prejudice, 
 and passion; and accepting the slightest, which falls in 
 with them. The best arguments in the world avail no- 
 thing on one side, when pride, pleasure, and profit are 
 engaged on the other. Hope of what is deemed good, 
 and fear of what is deemed evil, will find means to 
 elude the force of all the syllogisms which the most 
 skilful disciple of Aristotle can frame. "This man,'* 
 said the ruler of the Jews, " doeth many miracles." — 
 Acknowledge and receive him, therefore, as a man 
 sent from God. — 'No: we will apprehend and crucify 
 him,' — For what reason? — Because " if we let him 
 alone, all men will believe in him ; and the Romans 
 will come and take away our place and nation." — But 
 he has raised Lazarus from the dead. — ' Why then, we 
 will put Lazarus to death again.' — What can be done 
 with such people as these? Or what effect would 
 the appearance of Christ among them after his resur- 
 rection have produced, but that of provoking fresh 
 blasphemies, and fresh insults ? 
 
 And thus you see, dear sir, we are come round to the 
 point from whence we set out. Assent to proper evi- 
 dence is an act of the highest reason. Such evidence 
 for revelation, once established, is not to be set aside, 
 or invalidated, by any difficulties, supposed or real, 
 w^hich may occur in the matter of that revelation. Malice 
 and ignorance will always find room for objections, 
 and they will never believe, who have no mind to be- 
 lieve. The infidels, therefore, have not ground for the 
 surmise, that we want to 'deprive them of God's best 
 gift.' We wish only to teach them the right use of itu 
 ^8* 
 
334 LETTERS ON INFIDELITY. [LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Reason is not ' the first and only revelation from God;' 
 for it is, properly speaking, no revelation at all. Man, 
 at his creation, was not left so much as a single day to 
 reason. It is the eye, not the light. It can with cer- 
 tainty know nothing concerning the things of another 
 world, but by information from thence. To this truth 
 the writings of the best and wisest among the Heathen 
 philosophers bear a testimony irrefragable and insur- 
 mountable. It is the faculty which enables us upon 
 proper evidence to receive, and after due study to under- 
 stand such information. And blessed is he, who, at the 
 return of his Lord to judgment, shall be found to have 
 so employed it. 
 
 The production which has thus passed under our 
 consideration, from the low and illiberal manner in 
 which it is penned, has been by many accounted to be 
 beneath notice. But nothing is beneath notice which 
 is calculated to deceive and seduce the ignorant and 
 the unwary, among whom, though even now scarce 
 known in the shops, this pamphlet has been privately 
 spread, and recommended as a chef d'o^uvre ; and 
 though the execution be coarse and mean, the ob- 
 jections, in substance, are such, as continually oc- 
 cur in writings of a much higher class, which make 
 a part of the furniture of every circulating library 
 through Great Britain, from whence they pass into 
 the hands of our idle young people of fashion, while 
 under the discipline of the friseur, in the metropolis, or 
 at the watering places. The answers published by No- 
 NOTTE, Bergier, and others, to the books of Voltaire 
 Rousseau, Helvetius, Boulainvilliers, &c., &c., 
 have been much called for, and done eminent service, 
 upon the continent : and it is humbly hoped, the fore- 
 going strictures may not be without their use here in 
 England. 
 
A LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 ADAM SMITH, LL. D. 
 
 ON 
 
 THE LIFE, DEATH, AND PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 OF HIS FRIEND, 
 
 DAVID HUME, ESQ. 
 
 BY GEORGE HORNE, D. D. 
 
 LATE BISHOP OF NORWICH. 
 
 Ibatit obscuri, sola sub node, per umbram, 
 
 Perque domos Ditis vacuas, et inania regna.— Virg-. 
 
LETTER, &a 
 
 Sir, — You have been lately employed in embalming" 
 a philosopher ; his body, I believe I must say ; for con- 
 cerning the other part of him, neither you nor he 
 seem to have entertained an idea, sleeping or waking. 
 Else it surely might have claimed a little of your care 
 and attention ; and one would think, the belief of the 
 soul's existence and immortality could do no harm, if it 
 did no good, in a Theory of Moral Sentiments.'^ But 
 every gentleman understands his own business best. 
 
 Will you do an unknown correspondent the honor, 
 !iir, to accept a iew remarks in a free and easy way, 
 upon the curious Letter to Mr. Strahan, in which this 
 ever remarkable operation of embalming is performed ( 
 Our philosopher's account of his own life will likewise 
 be considered as we go along. 
 
 Trust me, good Doctor, I am no bigot, enthusiast, or 
 enemy to human learning, — Et ego in Arcadia.^ — I 
 have made many a hearty meal, in private, upon Cicero 
 and Virgil, as well as Mr. Hume.'' Few persons 
 (though perhaps as Mr. Hume says, upon a like occa- 
 sion, " I ought not to judge upon that subject") have a 
 quicker relish for the productions of genius, and the 
 beauties of composition. It is therefore as little in my 
 intention, as it is in my power, to prejudice the literary 
 character of your friend. 
 
 From some of his writings I have received great 
 pleasure, and have ever esteemed his History of Eng- 
 land to have been a noble effort of " matter and mo- 
 tion.'"'^ But when a man takes it into his head to do 
 mischief, you must be sensible, sir, the public has 
 always reason to lament his being a " clever fellow." 
 
 " [The celebrated production of that name, pubHshed by Dr. Smith.] 
 b [I, too, was bred in Arcadia.] ° Li-fi, P- 5- 
 
 <! [The constituent principles of man, and therefore of Mr. Hume, 
 upon his own theory.] 
 
328 LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 
 
 I hope it will not be deemed vanity in me likewise to 
 say, that I have in my composition a large share of 
 that, which our inimitable Shakspeare styles ** the 
 milk of human kindijess." I never knew what envy 
 or hatred was ; and am ready, at all times, to praise, 
 wherever I can do it in honor and conscience. David, *= 
 I doubt not, was, as you affirm, a social, agreeable per- 
 son, of a convivial turn, told a good story, and played 
 well at " his favorite game of whist."f I know not 
 that John the painter^ did the same. But there is no 
 absurdity in the supposition. If he did not, he might 
 have done it. — Doctor, be not offended — I mean no 
 harm, I would only infer thus much, that I could not, 
 on that account, bring myself absolutely to approve 
 his odd fancy of firing all the dock yards in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Concerning the ■philosophical opinions of Mr. Hume, 
 you observe,'^ that " men will no doubt, judge variously." 
 They are certainly at liberty so to do, because the au- 
 thor himself did the same. Sometimes, to be sure, he 
 esteemed them ingenious, deep, subtle, elegant, and 
 calculated to diffuse his literary fame to the ends of the 
 world. But at other times, he judged very differently ; 
 very much so indeed: " I dine," says he, " I play a 
 game at backgammon, I converse and am merry with 
 my friends ; and when after three or four hours' amuse- 
 ment, I would return to those speculations, they appear 
 so cold^ so strained, and so ridiculous, that I cannot 
 find in my heart to enter into them any further."' Now, 
 sir, if you only will give me leave to judge, before din- 
 ner, of Mr. Hume's philosophy, as he judged of it after 
 dinner, we shall have no further dispute upon that sub- 
 ject. I could indeed wish it were possible to have a 
 scheme of thought which would bear contemplating, at 
 any time of the day ; because, otherwise, a person must 
 be at the expense of maintaining a brace of these meta- 
 
 « [Hume.] f Life^ t^-c. p. 43. 
 
 ^ [A lunatic, who about the time when this Letter was published, 
 had wrought himself into celebrity by the mad scheme mentioned in 
 the text.] h Life, tf-c. p. 58. 
 
 i Treatise on Human Nature, Vol. I. p. 467. In the postscript to 
 this letter a view will be exhibited of the Human system, taken exactly 
 as it appeared to its author at six o'clock in the evening. 
 
LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 329 
 
 physical hobby-horses, one to mount in the morning, 
 and the other in the afternooon. 
 
 After all, sir, friend as I am to freedom of opinion, 
 (and no one living can be more so,) I am rather sorry, 
 methinks, that men should judge so variously of Mr. 
 Hume's philosophical speculations. For since the de- 
 sign of them is to banish out of the world every idea of 
 truth and comfort, salvation and immortality, a future 
 state, and the providence, and even the existence of God, 
 it seems a pity, that we cannot be all of a mind about 
 them, though we might have formerly liked to hear the 
 author crack a joke over a bottle in his life time. And 
 I could have been well pleased to have been informed, 
 by you, sir, that before his death, he had ceased to 
 number among his happy effusions tracts of this kind 
 and tendency. 
 
 For — let me come a little closer to you. Dr., if you 
 please, upon this subject — don't be under any appre- 
 hensions — my name does not begin with a B' — Are 
 you sure, and can you make us sure, that there really 
 exist no such things as a God, and a future state of re- 
 wards and punisJiments ? If so, all is well. Let us, 
 then, in our last hours, read Lucian,'^ P^^^y ^^ whist, and 
 droll upon Charon and his boat;' let us die as foolish 
 and insensible, as much like our brother philosophers, 
 the calves of the field and the asses of the desert, as we 
 can for the life of us. But— if such things be — as they 
 most certainly are — is it right in you, sir, to hold up 
 to our view, as " perfectly wise and virtuous,"*" the cha- 
 racter and conduct of one who seems to have been pos- 
 sessed with an incurable antipathy to all that is called 
 RELIGION ; and who strained every nerve to explode, 
 suppress, and extirpate the spirit of it among men, that 
 its very name, if he could effect it, might no more be 
 had in remembrance? Are we, do you imagine, to be 
 
 s [A humorous allusion to Dr. Beattie's Essay on Truth, a refuta- 
 tion of Hume's principles, which had greatly annoyed the philosopher 
 and his followers. J 
 
 h [The celebrated Greek burlesque writer, who employed all the 
 powers of keen and varied wit in ridiculing the Heathen mythology, 
 while he was, nevertheless, a Heathen by profession.] 
 
 • Life, p. 47, et. seq., [where it is stated that such were the occupa- 
 tion of Hume's last hours.] 
 
 k Ibid., p. 50. 
 
^30 tETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 
 
 reconciled to a character of this sort, and fall in love 
 with it, because its owner was " good company," and 
 knew how to manage his cards ? Low as the age has 
 fallen, I will venture to hope ii has grace enough yet left 
 to resent such usage as this. 
 
 You endeavor to entertain us with some pleasant 
 conceits that were supposed by Mr. Hume to pass be- 
 tween himself and old Charon. The philosopher tells 
 the old gentleman that " he had been endeavoring to 
 open the eyes of the public ;" that he was " correcting 
 his works for a new edition," from which great things 
 were to be expected ; in short, " if he could live a few 
 years longer, (and that was the only reason why he 
 should wish to do so,) he might have the satisfaction of 
 seeing the downfall of some of the prevailing systems 
 oi superstition.^'' ' 
 
 We all know, sir, what the word "superstition" de- 
 notes in Mr. Hume's vocabulary, and against what reli- 
 gion his shafts are levelled, under that name. But, Dr. 
 Smith, do you believe, or would you have us to believe, 
 that it is Charon who calls us out of the world at the 
 appointed time ? Doth not He call us out of it who 
 sent us into it ? Let me, then, present you with a para- 
 phrase of the Wish, as addressed to Him to whom it 
 should, and to whom alone, with any sense and pro- 
 priety, it can be addressed. Thus it runs : 
 
 "Lord, I have only one reason why I would wish to 
 live. Suffer me so to do, I most humbly beseech thee, 
 yet a little while, till mine eyes shall behold the success 
 of my undertaking to overthrow, by niy metaphysics, 
 the faith which thy Son descended from heaven to plant, 
 and to root out the knowledge and love of thee from 
 the earth." 
 
 Here are no rhetorical figures, no hyperboles or ex- 
 aggerations. The matter is even so. I appeal, in the 
 face of the world, sir, to yourself, and to every man who 
 can read, and understand the writings of Mr. Hume, 
 whether this be not, in plain, honest English, the drift 
 of his philosophy, asit is called, for the propagation of 
 which alone he wished to live ; and concerning which 
 you are pleased to say coolly, " men will judge vari- 
 
 ' Life, p. 50. 
 
LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 331 
 
 ousiy, every one approving or condemning these opinions, 
 according as they happen to coincide or disagree with 
 his ovvn.""" Our thoughts are very naturally carried 
 back, upon this occasion, to the author o( ihe first phi- 
 losophy, who likewise engaged to open the eyes of the 
 public. He did so ; but the only discovery they found 
 themselves able to make, was — that they were naked. 
 
 You talk much, sir, of our philosopher's gentleness of 
 manners, good nature, compassion, generosity, charity. 
 Alas, sir ! whither were they all fled, when he so often 
 sat down calmly and deliberately to obliterate from the 
 hearts of the human species every trace of the know- 
 ledge of God and his dispensations ; all faith in his kind 
 providence and fatherly protection ; all hope of enjoy- 
 ing his grace and favor, here or hereafter ; all love of 
 him, and of their brethren, for His sake; all the patience 
 under tribulation, all the comforts in time of sorrow, 
 derived from these fruitful sources ? Did a good man 
 think himself able, by the force of metaphysic incanta- 
 tion, in a moment to blot the sun out of heaven, and 
 dry up every fountain upon earth, — would he attempt to 
 do it? TuLLY had but a faint glimpse of the country 
 to which we are all travelling; yet so pleasing was any 
 the most imperfect and shadowy prospect into futurity 
 that TuLLY declared no man should ravish it from him.» 
 And surely Tully was a philosopher as well as Hume! 
 Oh, had he seen the light which shone upon Hume, he 
 would not have closed his eyes against it ! Had the 
 same cup been offered to him, he would not have 
 dashed it untasted from him ! 
 
 " Perhaps our modern skeptics are ignorant, that 
 without the belief of a God, and the hope of immortality, 
 the miseries of human life would often be insupportable. 
 But can I suppose them in a state of total and invinci- 
 ble stupi(]ity, utter strangers to the liunian heart and to 
 human aiiairs ? Sure they would not ihaniv me for !»uch 
 a supposition ! Yet this I must suppose, or I must be- 
 
 "> Ibid., p. 5f). 
 
 " '"Cluud si ill hoc erro, quod animos hominnm immortales esse cre- 
 tlam, liiKMiter erro ; ncc milii hune erroroin, quo (lelector, dum vivo, 
 extorqueri vo!o." — [If I err in believing the souls of men to be immor- 
 tal, I err vvilhii;^ly ; nov will I be robbed of this pleasing error while T 
 live.] — De Senectxite, ad fin. 
 
 Vol. v.— 29 
 
332 LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 
 
 lieve them to be the most perfidious and the most pro- 
 fligate of men. Caressed by those who call themselves 
 the great, engrossed by the formalities of life, intoxi- 
 cated with vanity, pampered with adulation, dissipated 
 in the tumult of business, or amidst the vicissitudes of 
 folly, they perhaps have little need and little relish for 
 the consolations of religion. But let them know that, 
 in the solitary scenes of life, there is many an honest 
 and tender heart pining with incurable anguish, pierced 
 with the sharpest sting of disappointment, bereft of 
 friends, chilled with poverty, racked Avith disease, 
 scourged by the oppressor, whom nothing but trust in 
 Providence, and the hope of a future retribution, could 
 preserve from the agonies of despair. And dothey with 
 sacrilegious hands attempt to violate this last refuge of 
 the miserable, and to rob them of the only comfort that 
 had survived the ravages of misfortune, malice, and 
 tyranny ? Did it ever happen, that the influence of their 
 execrable tenets disturbed the tranquiUity of virtuous 
 retirement, deepened the gloom of human distress, or 
 aggravated the horrors of the grave? Is it possible 
 that this may have happened in many instances ? Is it 
 probable that this hath happened in one single instance f 
 Ye traitors to human kind ! ye murderers of the human 
 soul ! how can ye answer for it to your own hearts ? 
 Surely, every spark of your generosity is extinguished 
 for ever, if this consideration do not awaken in you the 
 keenest remorse, and make you wish in bitterness of 
 goul — But I remonstrate in vain. All this must have 
 often occurred to you, and as often been rejected as 
 utterly frivolous. Could I enforce the present topic by 
 an appeal to your vanity, I might possibly make some 
 impression. But to plead with you on the principles 
 of BENEVOLENCE or GENEROSITY, is to addrcss you in a 
 language ye do not, or will not, understand ; and as to 
 the shame of being convicted of absurdity, ignorance, 
 or want of candor, ye have long ago proved yourselves 
 superior to the sense of it. But let not the lovers of 
 truth be discouraged. Atheism cannot be of long con- 
 tinuance, nor is there much danger of its becoming uni- 
 versal. The influence of some conspicuous characters 
 hath brought it too much into fashion, which, in a 
 thoughtless and profligate age, it is no difficult matter to 
 
LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 333 
 
 accomplish. But when men have retrieved the powers 
 of serious reliection, they will find it a frightful phan- 
 tom ; and the mind will return gladly and eagerly to its 
 old endearments. One thing we certainly know — the 
 fashion of skeptical and metaphysical systems passeth 
 away. Those unnatural productions, the vile effusions 
 of a hard and stupid heart, that mistakes its own rest- 
 lessness for the activity of genius, and its own captious- 
 ness for sagacity of understanding, may, like other 
 monsters, please awhile by their singularity ; but the 
 charm is soon over; and the succeeding age will be as- 
 tonished to hear that their forefathers were deluded, or 
 amused, with such fooleries." 
 
 You, sir, have read the preceding paragraph ° before ; 
 but this letter may come into the hands of many who 
 have not. It is the alarum bell to the admirers of Mr. 
 Hume ; and should be rung in their ears till succeeded 
 by the last trumpet. 
 
 And now, sir, will you give me leave to ask you a few 
 questions ? Why all this hurry and bustle ; this eager- 
 ness to gratify the pretended "impatience of the public,"? 
 and satisfy it that our philosopher lived and died per- 
 fectly composed and easy ? Was there, then, any sus- 
 picion in Scotland, that he might not, at times, be quite 
 so composed and easy as he should have been? Was 
 there any particular book i written against him, that 
 shook his system to pieces about his ears, and reduced 
 
 ° [It is extracted from the Essay on Truth, Part III. chap. iii. 
 (p. 343 s. eighth ed., Edinb., 1807.) 
 
 James Beattie, the author of this work, was Professor of Moral 
 Philosophy and Logic in Marischal College, Aberdeen, from the year 
 1760, until his death, in 1799. He is well known as the author of 
 several works on moral and mental philosophy, and of a deservedly 
 popular summary of the evidences of Christianity ; but still better, as 
 the writer of The Minstrel, one of the most pleasing and universally 
 popular poems in the English language. 
 
 The Essay on Truth lirst appeared in May, 1770. It met with a 
 very rapid sale, and drew forth expressions of the warmest approbation 
 from almost every individual of note whose approbation was to be de- 
 sired, at the same time that its manly warmth and fearlessness of repre- 
 hension excited bitter indignation in Hume and his admirers.] 
 
 1' Preface to Life, &c. 
 
 °- [In this and the following sentence, Horne again alludes to the 
 irritation /e/f and expressed by Hume, on the publication of Dr. Beat- 
 tie's Essay.] 
 
334 LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 
 
 it to a heap of ruins, the success and eclat of which might 
 he supposed to have hurt his mind, and to have affected 
 his health? Was there any author, whose name his 
 friends never dared to mention before him, and warned 
 all strangers that were introduced to him against doing 
 it, because he never failed, Avhen by any accident it was 
 done, to fly out into a transport of passion and swear- 
 ing ?r Was it deemed necessary or expedient, on this 
 account, that he should represent himself, and that you 
 should represent him, to have been perfectly secure of 
 the grow^th and increase of his philosophic reputation, 
 as if no book had been written, which had impaired it ; it 
 having been judged much easier to dissemble the fall 
 of Dagon, than to set him upon his stumps again ? I 
 am a South Briton, and consequently not acquainted 
 with what passes so far in the opposite quarter. You, 
 sir, can inform us how these things are ; and likewise, 
 when the great work oi benevolence and charity, wisdom 
 and virtue, shall be crowned by the publication of a 
 treatise designed to prove the soul's mortality, and 
 another to justify and recommend self-murder ; ' for 
 which, without doubt, the present and future age will 
 bless the name of the gentle and amiable author! 
 
 Upon the whole, Doctor, your meaning is good ; but 
 I think you will not succeed this time. You. would 
 persuade us, by the example of David Hume, Esq., that 
 atheism is the only cordial for low spirits, and the 
 proper antidote against the fear of death. But surely 
 he Avho can reflect, with complacency, on a friend thus 
 misemploying his talents in his life, and then amusing 
 
 ' '•! was a man of mild disposition, of command of temper, little sus- 
 ceptible of enmity, and of great moderation in all my passions : even 
 my love of literary fame, my rulino; passion, never soured my temper." 
 Life, p. 32. Yet, even by what is said of the Reverends and Right 
 Reverends — Bishop Warburton, Bishop Hurd, "the Zealots,'' (that 
 is the Christians) and of the resolution once taken to "change his 
 name and to settle in France," because his writings did not meet with 
 sufficient encouragement — by these circumstances, 1 say, there seems 
 to have been something of the irritable in.his constitution. But these 
 are trifles. My quarry lies not this way at present. The atrocious 
 wickedness of diliusing atheism through the land, is a subject which 
 concerns every body. 
 
 * [Hl:mk's Essays on Suicide and the Immortality of the Sovl, 
 published in 1783, six years after the first appearance of the Letter.] 
 
LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 335 
 
 himself with " Lucian," " whist," and "Charon," at 
 his death, may smile over Babylon in ruins ; esteem 
 the earthquake which destroyed Lisbon, an agreeable 
 occurrence ; and congratulate the hardened Pharaoh on 
 his overthrow in the Red Sea. Drollery in such cases, 
 is neither more or less than— 
 
 Moody madness, laughing wild 
 Amidst severest wo. 
 
 Would we know the baneful and pestilential influences 
 of false philosophy on the human heart ? We need only 
 contemplate them in this most deplorable instance of 
 Mr. Hume. 
 
 These sayings, sir, may appear harsh ; but they are 
 salutary. And if departed spirits have any knowledge 
 of what is passing upon earth, that person will be most 
 regarded by your friend as rendering him the truest 
 services, who, by energy of expression, and warmth of 
 exhortation, shall most contribute to prevent his writings 
 from producing those effects upon mankind, which he 
 no longer wishes they should produce. Let no man 
 deceive himself, or be deceived by others. It is the 
 voice of ETERNAL TRUTH, which cricth aloud, and saith 
 to you, sir, and to me, and to all the world — He that 
 believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that 
 heUeveth not the Son, shall not see life ; hut the wrath 
 of God abideth on hiin.^ 
 
 By way of contrast to the behavior of Mr. Hume, 
 at the close of a life passed " without God in the 
 world," permit me, sir, to lay before yourself, and the 
 public, the last sentiments of the truly learned, judi- 
 cious, and admirable Hooker, who had spent his days 
 in the service of his Maker and Redeemer. 
 
 After this manner, therefore, spake the author of the 
 Ecclesiastical Polity, immediately before he expired : 
 
 " I have lived to see that this world is made up of 
 perturbations ; and I have been long preparing to leave 
 it, and gathering comfort for the dreadful hour of mak- 
 ing my account with God, which I now apprehend to be 
 near. And though I have, by his grace, loved him in 
 my youth, and feared him in mine age, and labored to- 
 have a conscience void of offence towards him, and to- 
 
 John iii. 36,. 
 
 29* 
 
33G LETTER TO ADAM SMITH. 
 
 wanls all men ; yet if thou, Lord, shouldest be extreme 
 to mark what is done amiss, who can abide it? And 
 therefore where I have failed, Lord, show mercy to me ! 
 for I plead not ray righteousness, but the forgiveness of 
 my unrighteousness, through His merits who died to 
 purchase pardon for penitent sinners. And since I owe 
 thee a death, Lord, let it not be terrible ! and then 
 take thine own time ; I submit to it. Let not mine, O 
 Lord, but thy will be done ! — God hath heard my 
 daily petitions ; for I am at peace with all men, and He 
 is at peace with me. From such blessed assurance I 
 feel that inward joy which this world can neither give, 
 nor take from me. My conscience beareth me this 
 witness; and this witness makes the thoughts of death 
 joyful. I could wish to live, to do the Church more 
 service; but cannot hope it; for my days are past, as 
 a shadow that returns not." 
 
 His worthy biographer adds : " More he would have 
 spoken, but his spirits failed him ; and, after a short 
 conflict between nature and death, a quiet sigh put a 
 period to his last breath, and so he fell asleep. — And 
 now he seems to rest like Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. 
 Let me here draw his curtain, till, with the most glori- 
 ous company of the patriarchs and apostles, and the 
 most noble army of martyrs and confessors, this most 
 learned, most humble, and most holy man shall also 
 awake to receive an eternal tranquillity, and with it a 
 greater degree of glory, than common Christians shall 
 be made partakers of." 
 
 Doctor Smith, when the hour of his departure hence 
 shall arrive, will copy the example of the believer, or 
 the INFIDEL, as it liketh him best. I must freely own, 
 I have no opinion of that reader's head or heart, who 
 will not exclaim, as I find myself obliged to do — 
 
 Let ME die the death of the righteous^ and let mv 
 last end be like his ! 
 
 T am, Sir, your very sincere Well-wisher, and 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 One of the people called Christians. 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 As it is possible, sir, nay, probable, that this little 
 tract, because it is a little one, may be perused by many 
 who have not leisure or inclination to go through large 
 volumes, and yet wish to know what Mr. Hume's phi- 
 losophical system is ; I shall here subjoin a short but 
 comprehensive summary of the doctrines which com- 
 pose it, drawn up, some few years ago, by a learned 
 gentleman, for his amusement, with proper references 
 to those parts of our philosopher's works where such 
 doctrines were to be found. And though I never heard 
 that the compiler had the thanks of Mr. Hume for so 
 doing, yet neither could I ever find that he or his 
 friends disputed the fidelity and accuracy with which it 
 was done." 
 
 A SUMMARY OF MR. HUME S DOCTRINES, METAPHYSICAL 
 AND MORAL. 
 
 Of the Soul. 
 
 That the soul of man is not the same this moment 
 that if was the last ; — that we know not what it is ; — 
 that it is not one, but many things ; — and that it is 
 nothing at all. 
 
 That in this soul is the agency of all the causes that 
 operate throughout the sensible creation ; and yet that 
 in this soul there is neither power nor agency, nor any 
 idea of either. 
 
 That matter and motion may often be regarded as 
 the cause of thought. 
 
 Of the Universe. 
 
 That the external world does not exist ; or at least, 
 th?it its existence may reasonably be doubted. 
 
 » Soe Dr. Bkattie's Essay on Truth, Part II. Chap. I. Sect. I. and 
 Part III. ch. ii. 
 
338 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 That the universe exists in the mind, and that the 
 mind does not exist. 
 
 That the universe is nothing but a heap of percep- 
 tions, without a substance. 
 
 That though a man should bring himself to believe, 
 yea, and have reason to believe, that every thing in the 
 universe proceeds from some cause ; yet it would be 
 unreasonable for him to believe, that the universe itself 
 proceeds from a cause. 
 
 Of Hmnan Knowledge. 
 
 That the perfection of human knowledge is to doubt. 
 
 That we ought to doubt of every thing, yea, of our 
 doubts themselves, and therefore the utmost that philo- 
 sophy can do, is. to give us a doubtful solution of doubt- 
 ful doubts.^ 
 
 That the human understanding, acting alone, does 
 entirely subvert itself, and prove by argument that by 
 argument nothing can be proved. 
 
 That man, in all his perceptions, actions, and voli- 
 tions, is a mere passive machine, and has no separate 
 existence of his own, being entirely made up of other 
 things, of the existence of which he is by no means 
 certain ; and yet, that the nature of all things depends 
 so much upon man, that two and two could not be 
 equal to four, nor fire produce heat, nor the sun light, 
 without an act of the human understanding. 
 
 Of God, 
 
 That it is unreasonable to believe God to be infinitely 
 wise and good, while there is any evil or disorder in the 
 universe. 
 
 That we have no good reason to think that the uni- 
 verse proceeds from a cause. 
 
 That as the existence of the external world is ques- 
 tionable, we are at a loss to find arguments by which we 
 
 ' The fourth Section of Mr. Hume's Essays on the Human Under- 
 standing is called, Skeptical Doubts concerning the operations of the 
 Human Understanding ; and the fifth Section bears this title, Skep- 
 tical Solution of those Doubts. 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 339 
 
 may prove the existence of the Supreme Being, or any 
 of his attributes. 
 
 That when we speak of power, as an attribute of any 
 being, God himself not excepted, we use words without 
 meaning. 
 
 That we can form no idea of power, nor of any be- 
 ing endued with power, much less of one endued with 
 infinite power; and that we can never have reason to 
 beHeve that any object, or quaHty of any object, exists, 
 of which we cannot form any idea.y 
 
 Of the Morality of Human Actions. 
 
 That every human action is necessary, and could 
 not have been different from what it is. 
 
 That moral, intellectual, and corporeal virtues are 
 nearly of the same kind : in other words, that to want 
 honesty, and to want understanding, and to want a leg^ 
 are equally the objects of moral disapprobation. 
 
 That adultery must be practised, if man would obtain 
 all the advantages of life ; that, if generally practised, it 
 would in time cease to be scandalous ; and that if prac- 
 tised secretly and frequently, it would by degrees come 
 to be thought no crime at all. 
 
 Lastly, as the soul of man, according to Mr. Hume, 
 becomes every moment a different being, the conse- 
 quence must he, that the crimes committed by him, at 
 one time, cannot be imputable to him at another. "^ 
 
 I BELIEVE, Dr. Smith, the reader is now fully pre- 
 pared to enter into the spirit of your concluding sen- 
 tence, which shall therefore be mine. 
 
 y Tlie poor prodigal Gentile, in the parable, was hardly reduced to 
 feed upon such husks as these. How (rood, and how joyful a thing it 
 must be, for one that has been so reduced, to return to the house of his 
 heavenly Father, where there is bread enough, and to spare — to knoio 
 the onhj true God, and Jesus Christ vhom he hath sent! 
 
 * 'Ll/y Inqviry concerning the Principles of Morals is, of all 
 writings, histol•ii^'^l, philosopliical, or Uterary, incoinparably the best" — 
 Hume, in his own Life, p. 1(>. 
 
340 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 " 1 have always considered Mr. Hume, both in his 
 lifetime and since his death, as approaching; as nearly 
 to the idea of a wise and virtuous man, as perhaps 
 the nature of human frailty will permit ! ! " 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abraham, covenant wkli, 289. 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, 194 — authenticity 
 of the book, 142 ss. 
 
 Allegorical interpretation of the mira- 
 cles of Christ, 41 ss. 
 
 Alogi, 174. 
 
 Andrews, Bishop, 214. 
 
 Antinornians, 175. 
 
 Apology for the Life, &.C., of Hume, 
 225 ss. 233. 
 
 Apostles, authentic writings of, 177 — 
 commissioned to make a full revela- 
 tion of Christianity, 142 ss. 185 ss 
 — conversions by their preaching, 
 147 — doctrine oi] 150 ss. designed 
 for a standing rule of faith and duty, 
 184 ss — inspiration of, 145, 186 s — 
 office and qualifications of, 131 s 
 — their use of the prophecies in 
 preaching Christ, 28 ss. 
 
 Aristotle, quoted, 83. 
 
 Ark of Noah, 287. 
 
 Assemblies for public worship, 53 ss. 
 
 Atmosphere, 2S0. 
 
 B. 
 
 Balaam, history of, 297 s. 
 Beattie. Dr. James, 333 n. 
 Belief in the Gospel a duty, 121 s. 
 Boyl^s Letter to Stubbe, 276. 
 Brutus' suicide, 267. 
 Burnet, Dr. Thomas, 194. 
 Butler's Analogy, 25 n. 94 n. 
 
 Cains, his doubts concerning the Epis- 
 tle to the Hebrews, 161. 
 
 Camden's Britannia, 8. 
 
 Canaan, conquest of, 299 ss. 
 
 Canon of Scripture, how established, 
 192. 
 
 Catholic Epistles, 164 ss. . 
 
 Cato's suicide, 267. 
 
 Cerinthus, 172. 
 
 Champollion, MM., 275 n. 
 
 Chandler's Life of David, 306. 
 
 Chapone, Mrs., quoted, 268. 
 
 Cherubim, 212 n. 283 s. 
 
 Christ, baptism of, 316 s—bore our 
 sins, 106 — died for us, 106 — design 
 of his personal ministry, 139 — ex- 
 ample of, 116 — genealogies of, 314 
 ss — imparts life eternal, 110 — our 
 Mediator, Intercessor, and Advo- 
 cate, 109 s — a j)ropitiation for our 
 sins, 107 — predictions of, concerning 
 future events, 44 ss. 47 n — reality 
 of his history, 131 — reconciles us to 
 God, 108 — redeems or ransoms us, 
 107 — resurrection of, 321 s — sancti- 
 fies us by his Holy Spirit, 108 s — 
 takes away our sins, 106 s — teach- 
 ing of, 93, 140, 151, did not fully 
 reveal the Gospel, 139 ss. 
 
 Christianity, defences of, 1 7 — demands 
 of, 58 — distinct from so-called Natu- 
 ral Religion, 23 n — effects of, 86 ss. 
 236— evidences of, 26, 48, 124, 27^ 
 — facts of, how proven, 32 s — con- 
 sequences from, 33 s — iundamental 
 principles of, maintained by all 
 sects, 77 — grounds of opposition to, 
 20 — imparts the only true spiritual 
 knowledge, 102 — objections to, 95 s 
 — taught gradually, 193 s — to be 
 learned from the Epistles, 196 — 
 tends to render this life happy, 
 100 s. 
 
 Christians, manners of, 235 s — profes- 
 sionof, il6. 
 
 Chubb, the Deist, 299. 
 
 Churches, reverence due them, 53. 
 
 Cicero, quoted, 71, 74, 76, 83, 91. 
 
 Clement, of Alexandria, quoted, 159, 
 189, 191— of Rome, quoted, 135, 
 188. 
 
 Clergymen, ungodly or immoral, how 
 to be treated, 58. 
 
 Collins, 5, 16 n. 
 
 Controversies, effect of, in the prescr- 
 valion of the New Testament, 177 s. 
 
 Convocation, controversy concern- 
 ing, 9. 
 
 Conybeare, quoted, 212 n. 
 
 Corruption of man, causes of, 69. 
 
 Corruptions in the books of the New 
 Testament impossible, 177. 
 
342 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Creation, 243 ss — unknown to the an- 
 cient philosophers, 69 — Mosaic ac- 
 count of, 27S ss. 
 
 Darkness, 279. 
 
 David, history of, 305 ss. 
 
 Death, infliction of, on Adam, 2S1. 
 
 Deluge, universal, 285 ss. 
 
 Dialogue on Skepticism, 239 ss. 
 
 Dialogues on Natural Religion, 
 Hume's, 241. 
 
 Difficulties in the Scriptures, 271 ss. 
 
 Dionysius, of Alexandria, 170. 
 
 Divine nature taught by the Gospel, 
 1 02 — example, a foundation of Gos- 
 pel morality, 116. 
 
 Divinity of the Church of England 
 after the restoration, 111 ss. 
 
 Doctrines of the Apostles, the standing 
 rule of Christianity, 184 ss— of the 
 Gospel, proved by its facts, 48, more 
 fully taught in the Epistles, 198 s — 
 of Heathenism, 84. 
 
 Drumraond, Sir William, 131 n. 275 n. 
 
 Drummondi Polemo-Middiana, 7 n. 
 
 Ebionites, 174. 
 
 Ellis' Knowledge of Divine Things 
 from Revelation, 22 n. 
 
 Endor, Witch of, 302 ss. 
 
 Epicureans, opinions of, 71, 74. 
 
 Epistle of James, 165 ss — of John, 
 Second, 169, Third, 169— of Jude, 
 168 s — of Peter, Second, 166 ss. 
 
 Episdes, authenticity of, 153 ss — Ca- 
 tholic, 164 — design of, 197 s — occa- 
 sions of, 201— of Paul, 175 n. 196 s. 
 
 Error, speculative, dangerous, 231. 
 
 Esau, his crime, 290. 
 
 Essays on Suicide, Hume's, 200, 202 s. 
 247 ss. 334. 
 
 Evangelists, qualifications of, 132 s — 
 discrepancies of, 316, 321 n — not 
 impostors, 134 ss. 
 
 Evidences of Christianity, classifica- 
 tion of, 26, 48 s. 124 — not designed 
 for constant repetition, 97 n — inter- 
 nal, 126 s— rules for their study, 18. 
 19, 20, 21, 24, 2o, 26, 49, 58. 
 
 Eusebius, quoted, 133, 143, 160, 166. 
 
 Fable of the Bees, 16. 
 
 Pacts affording evidence to Christian- 
 ity, 32 ss. 
 
 Faith, distinguished from reason, 63 
 —modes of; 230— required of Chris- 
 tians, 195, 323. 
 
 Pall, history of the, 282. 
 
 Family devotion, 11. 
 
 Fathers, their opinions concerning mi- 
 racles, 38. 
 
 Pig tree cursed, 319. 
 
 Firmament, 280. 
 
 Flood, the, 285 ss. 
 
 Forgiveness of sins through Christ, 
 107. 
 
 Fundamentals, 195, 200. 
 
 G. 
 
 Genealogies of Christ, 314 ss. 
 
 Gibson, his character, 14 — his life, 7 
 ss — Code of Ecclesiastical Law, 9 
 s — Family Devotions, 1 1 — Pastoral 
 Letters, design and plan of, 3 ss., 
 history of, 1, 12, reputation of, 6. 
 Fifth, 13 — Preservative against Po- 
 pery, 12 s. 
 
 God, existence of, 243 — how spoken 
 of in Scripture, 278. 
 
 Gospel, (see Christianity.) designed 
 ends of, 100— duties of, 103 — moral- 
 ity of, its foundations, 115 ss — per- 
 versions of, 111 — propagation of, 47 
 s — scheme, 105 ss. 
 
 Gospels, the four, attestation to, by the 
 primitive Church, 135 — authentic, 
 130 ss. 320 — confirmed by profane 
 history, 137 s., by Josephus, 138 — 
 not a full revelation of Christianitv, 
 138ss— style of, 135. 
 
 Greatrix, Valentine, 275 s. 
 
 H. 
 
 Heathen, abominations of, 39 ss — dif- 
 ferences among, on religion, 73 ss, 
 78 — expectation of a Messiah by, 27 
 n — state of, at Christ's coming, 81 
 s — worship of, 83 s. • 
 
 Hebrews, Epistle to the, author of, 153 
 ss— doubts concerning, 162 s — tes- 
 timony of the fathers concerning, 
 159 ss. 
 
 Hickes, 7, 214. 
 
 Historical proof, nature of, 99 s. 
 
 Holiness the fruit of faith, 112 n. 
 
 HoLV Spirit, gilts of, 146 — promise 
 of, 143 s. 
 
 Hooker, his dying hours, 335. 
 
 Home, his birth, 208, education, 209, 
 college friends, 209, studies, 210 ss., 
 election to a fellowship, 209, promo^ 
 tion, 210, ordniation, 214, preach- 
 ing, 215, principles, 215, character 
 of'his life, 206 s., death, 222— his 
 controversy with Kennicott, 217, 
 with Priestley, 220 — liis Apology 
 
INDEX. 
 
 343 
 
 ifor the Hutchinsonians, 216 — Com- 
 mentary on the Psahns, 212 7i, 218 
 — Considerations on John the Bap- 
 tist, 218— Letter to Dr. Smith, 199 
 — Life of, by Jones, 207 s. 
 
 House of God, reverence due \fi it, 
 53. 
 
 Hume, 199— his morals, 233, 328, 
 331, 334, opinions, 328, writings, 
 327, dying thoughts, 330, system of 
 philosophy, 337 ss — passionate, 232 
 — Apology for his Life, 225 — Natu- 
 ral History of Religion, 228 — Es- 
 says on Suicide, 200, 202 s, 247 ss, 
 . 334 — Dialogues on Natural Reli- 
 gion, 241. 
 
 Hurd, Bishop, 228.' 
 
 Hutchinson, John, 210 n. 
 
 Hutchinsonians, opinions of, 210 w, 
 279 n— Apology for, 216. 
 
 Immortality of the soul, unknown to 
 Heathen philosophers, 71. 
 
 Indifterence to the claims of revelation 
 criminal, 58 s, 93 ss, 231. 
 
 Inductive philosophy abused, 6. 
 
 Infidelity, guilt of, 119 ss — injurious 
 to civil government, 123 — practical 
 effects of, 233 ss — zeal to promote 
 it, 123, 231, 331 ss. 
 
 Infidels, doubts of, 201, 263 ss — objec- 
 tions of, 4, 204 s, not new, 271 — va- 
 rious attacks of, 16, 272 — lives of^ 
 19 s. 
 
 Innocents, massacre of, 317. 
 
 Inquiry concerning revelation, a dvity, 
 93 ss, 120. 
 
 IrensBus, quoted, 133, 136, 143, 170 s, 
 188 s, 190. 
 
 Isaiah, his prophecy concerning Cy- 
 rus, 312. 
 
 Jacob, his conduct to Esau, 290, to 
 
 Isaac, 290 s. 
 James, Epistle of, 165 ss. 
 Jasher, Book of, 307 s. 
 Jerome, quoted, 162, 166, 167. 
 Jerusalem, destruction of, 44 ss. 
 Jews, overthrow of the nation, 46. 
 John, author of Revelations, 170 ss — 
 
 Second and Third Epistles of, 169. 
 Jones, of Nayland, 206 n — quoted, 204 
 
 s, 280 n. 
 Jude, Epistle of, 168 e. 
 Julian the Apostate, quoted, 137. 
 Justification through Christ, 108. 
 Justin Martyr, quoted, 55, 136, 171. 
 
 Vol. v.— 30 
 
 K. 
 
 Kennicott's collation of the Hebrew 
 
 text, 217. 
 Knowledge, human, limits of, 25 s — 
 
 nature of, 244. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lactantius quoted, 73, 75, 78. 
 Lardner's Credibility," &c., 320. 
 Law, William, his opinions, 214 n. 
 Le Clerc, quoted, 163, 308 n. 
 Leslie's Works, 214 n. 
 Letter to Dr. Smith, Home's, 224. 
 Letters on Infidelity, Home's, 200 ss. 
 Light, creation of, 278. 
 Limborch, quoted, 164. 
 Livy, History of, 275. 
 Locke, 5, 195— quoted, 62 s, 99, 196. 
 Lord's day, how to be kept, 52. 
 Lucian, 329. 
 
 Luke, qualifications of, as an evange- 
 list, 132 ss. 
 
 M. 
 
 Macknight, quoted, 319. 
 
 Macrobius, quoted, 317. 
 
 Magicians, Egyptian, 294 s. 
 
 Mandeville, 16 n. 
 
 Manichees, 174. 
 
 Mark, qualifications of, as an evange- 
 list, 132 ss. 
 
 Masquerades, 10. 
 
 Means to be diligently used, 19, 56 — 
 of grace, 103 s. 
 
 Mediator, a term peculiar to St. Paul, 
 156. 
 
 Mediatorial character of Christ. 
 109 s. 
 
 Messiah, belief in, 192 ss — general ex- 
 pectation of, 27 ss, 33 ss — prophe- 
 cies concerning, 28 ss. 
 
 Middleton, Conyers, 282 n. 
 
 Millennium, doctrine of, 173 s. 
 
 Ministers, unworthy, how to be treat- 
 ed, 58. 
 
 Ministry, reverence due to, 57 ss. 
 
 Miracles, evidence from, 34 ss, 273 ss 
 — of Christ, reality of, 37 ss — of 
 Paul, 149— of Moses, 276— of the 
 Apostles, 146 s. 
 
 Moral duties taught in the Epistles, 
 200 s. 
 
 Morality of the Gospel, a fruit of faith, 
 112 72, 114, peculiar, 115 ss— of the 
 Heathen, defective, 80 ss, 85 — of 
 later Heathens, derived from Chris- 
 tianity, 67 s. 
 
 Moses, author of the Pentateuch, 277 
 
344 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Name of God, reverence due to it, 
 51 s. 
 
 Natural religion, 22 s, 114, 211 n. 
 
 Newcome's Harmony, 321 n. 
 
 New Testament, authenticity of, 127 
 s — faithfully transmitted, 176 ss — 
 fixed and perpetual rule for Chris- 
 tians, 191. 
 
 Newtonian philosophy, attacked by 
 Home, 213 — compared with Hutch- 
 insonianism, 214. 
 
 Nicolson. 7. 
 
 Numbering of Israel, by David, 3 OS 
 
 Oaths, 123. 
 
 Old Testament, duty of Christians to 
 study it, 202. 
 
 Origen, his opinions concerning mira- 
 cles, 33 ss— quoted, 136, 159, 189. 
 
 Pascal, quoted, 316. 
 
 Paschal lamb, 27. 
 
 Paul, author of the Epistle to the He- 
 brews, 153 ss — commission and 
 doctrine of, 148 s — epistles of, fool- 
 ishly dreaded, 175 n, Locke's opi- 
 nion of, 196 — peculiarities of his 
 st5ne, 156, 159. 
 
 Peter, Second Epistle of, 166 ss. 
 
 Pharaoh, his hardening, 293. 
 
 Piiilosophy, differences in, 73 ss — fatal 
 effects of, 72, 78 ss— limits of, 66 ss 
 — ineffectual for reformation, 80 s — 
 of the Heathen, 22 ss, 65 ss, causes 
 of its iiiefhcacy, 82 s, 
 
 Photius, quoted, 161. 
 
 Plato, quoted, 71, 92. 
 
 Pliny, his account of the worship of 
 the Christians, 55. 
 
 Polycarp. quoted, 183. 
 
 Pope, on modes of faith, 230. 
 
 Porteus, Bishop, 269 n. 
 
 Power, use of the term, 36 n. 
 
 Practice, why not more affected by in- 
 fidel principles, 234 s. 
 
 Preaching of the Gospel, effects of, 87 
 B — of the apostles, 167. 
 
 Pride, a cause of infidelity, 20. 
 
 Priestley, 220, 280. 
 
 Prophecies, 27 ss, 31 n — clearness of, 
 
 312 s — Tjf Chuist, 44 ss, 47 n. 
 Providence, 251 s. 
 
 PiialuH, Home's Commentary on, 212 
 n, 218. 
 
 a. 
 
 Qucsnel, Pere,"313. 
 Quintilian, quoted, S3. 
 
 Rainbov/, employment of, in the cove- 
 nant with Noah, 283. 
 
 Randolph's Enchiridion, 6. 
 
 Reason, distinguished from faith, 63 — 
 how to be examined, 64 ss — an in- 
 sufficient guide, 21 ss, 64 ss — needs 
 sanction of revelation, 92 s — use of, 
 with regard to rfevelation, 62 ss, 
 324. 
 
 Redemption, how made known in the 
 Gospel, 105 — unknown to the an- 
 cient philosophers, 69. 
 
 Relative duties, how taught in the 
 Gospel, 115 s. 
 
 Religion, causes of enmity to, 20 — in- 
 jured b}^ inconsistent professors, 236 
 — its most important points un- 
 known to Heathen philosophers, 71 
 ss— natural, 22 s, 114, 211 n — not 
 to be set in opposition to morality, 
 65 s — positive institutions of, 113 — 
 rules for inquiry concerning, 18, 19, 
 
 20, 21, 24, 25, 2'6, 49, 58. 
 Resurrection, of Christ, differing 
 
 accounts of, 321 — of the body, un- 
 known to Heathen philosophers, 72. 
 
 Revelation, changes in, 94 s — circum- 
 stances of, 95 s — demands careful 
 scrutiny, 58 s, 93 ss, 120 — made but 
 once, 07 — need of, 60 s, 89 ss — not 
 to be judged by our views of expe- 
 dience, 25 ss — possibility of, 94 — 
 relation of, to reason, 63 — subjects 
 peculiar to it, 22, 66 s — the only 
 clear rule of dut}^, 76 — to be receiv- 
 ed whole and entire, 98 ss. 
 
 Revelations, Book of, its authenticity, 
 170ss— Its value, 313 s. 
 
 Reverence for things sacred, 50. 
 
 Ridicule, employment of, by infidels. 
 
 21, 43 s— how used by Home, 203 
 — use of, in defence of religion, 223. 
 
 Rose's Christianity always Progress- 
 ive, 87 n. 
 Rousseau, quoted, 256. 
 
 s. 
 
 Salvation, plan of, 105 ss. 
 Sanctification through the Spirit, 
 
 109. 
 Satan, 308 s. 
 
 Satisfaction of Christ, 106. 
 Saul, accounts of his death, 306. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 345 
 
 Scotland, Episcopal Churcli in, 220 
 ss. 
 
 Scriptures, difficulties in, 271 ss — how 
 treated by infidels, 128 — reception 
 of, bj?^ the first Christians, 190 — re- 
 gard for, no injury to philosophy, 
 66 — reverence due to ihcm, 50 s — 
 testimony of the early fathers to 
 their inspiration, 188 ss — tlieir na- 
 ture, 51. 
 
 Sects, among Christians, no objection 
 to the Gospel, 17 — have tended to 
 preserve the New Testament uncor- 
 rupt, 178 n. 
 
 Serpent, the, 282. 
 
 Sherlock, 167 n. 
 
 Shuckford, criticised by Home, 215 «. 
 
 Sincerity, tests of, 122. 
 
 Skepticism, 24 s, 99 s — Dialogue on, 
 239 ss. 
 
 Smith, Dr. Adam, 199 ss, 327. 
 
 Socrates, felt the need of revelation, 
 91 s. 
 
 Suicide, causes of, 253 — criminality 
 of, 249 ss — Hume's Essays on, 200, 
 202 s, 247 ss, 327. 
 
 Sunday evening meetings, 270 n. 
 
 Sunday Schools, advocated by Home, 
 219. 
 
 Superstition, 247 s — falsely charged, 
 119. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tacitus, quoted, 137. 
 
 Taylor's History of the Transmission 
 
 of Ancient Books, 33, 176. 
 Temple, destruction of, 45 s. 
 Tenison, Archbishop, 8. 
 TertuUian, quoted, 133, 137, 177, 191. 
 Texts explained or illustrated : — 
 Genesis i. 2—279. 
 
 " iii. 24— 283 s., 
 Exodus iii. 22—296. 
 " vii. 24—295. 
 " xi. 2—296. 
 " xii. 35—296. 
 '" XXX. 12—310. 
 Numbers xxii. — 297 ss. 
 Judges i. 19— 300 s. 
 
 " xi. 24—302. 
 2 Samuel xii. 29—305. 
 
 " xxiv.— 308 s. 
 Paalm civ. 2—280. 
 Matthew xi. 14—320. 
 " xxi. 19 ss— 319. 
 
 Matthew xxiv. — 45 ss. 
 Luke xviii. 34 — 141. 
 John i. 21 ss— 320. 
 
 " iii. 36—122. 
 
 " vii. 17—19. 
 
 " xii. 24—320. 
 
 " xiv. 29 — 47. 
 Acts i. 8—36. 
 
 " xiv. 16 s— 96. 
 Romans ii. 4 — 158. 
 
 " ix. 9—294. 
 1 Corinthians ii. 7 to 17—92 m. 
 1 Thessalonians iv. 16— 3lS. 
 Hebrews ii. 3— 15S. 
 
 1 Peter ii. 2—193. 
 
 ■' iii. 15—63. 
 
 2 Peter i. 14—168. 
 
 " iii. 15, 16—157. 
 Theodoret, quoted, 161. 
 Theophilus, of Antioch, quoted, 188. 
 Tillotson, quoted, 113. 
 Tindal, 3, 5, 17 ?z, 298. 
 Toland, 5, 16 w. 
 Tomline, quoted, 167 n. 
 Tree of Life, 283 s. 
 Types, 26 s, 31 n. 
 
 u. 
 
 Utility, no proper principle of morals, 
 231. 
 
 Various readings of the New Testa 
 
 ment, 178 ss. 
 Volney, 131 n. 
 Voltaire, 204 s, 292, 302. 
 
 w. 
 
 Wake, Archbishop, 10. 
 
 Warton's poem. The Suicide, 268. 
 
 Watson, Mr., 212. 
 
 West, on the Resurrection, 321 n. 
 
 Whitehall preachers, IF. 
 
 Wilkins, quoted, 100, 1 14. 
 
 Witch of Endor, 302 ss. 
 
 Woodhouse, on the Apocalypse, 314. 
 
 Woolston, 16 n, 37. 
 
 Word of God, reverence due to it, 
 50 s. 
 
 World, end of, how foretold, 317 s. 
 
 Worship, of the Heathen, 83 s — pub- 
 lic, 53 ss, 87, 103, not settled by 
 philosophy, 70. 
 

 
 ERRATA 
 
 
 Page 
 
 122, 
 
 Note y, 
 
 read John iii. 36. 
 
 " 
 
 201, 
 
 line 10, 
 
 " 
 
 obscure. 
 
 " 
 
 " 
 
 " 18, 
 
 " 
 
 tract /or- fact 
 
 
 207, 
 
 " 3, 
 
 [( 
 
 Pinedon. 
 
 
 209, 
 
 " 22, 
 
 •-' 
 
 Jenkinson