1^ b 'Ik PRINCETON, N. J. % ji^i^/^^^s^-^/6^ -y/:-^ Division . Section . Shelf. Number.. i%5-h ^ ,fi w ^ c^^ aXO V ^Y" DEFENCE O F T H E Chriftian Revelation, O N Two very important Points ; As contained, in One TREATISE, intituled, Obfervations on the History and Evidences O F T H E Resurrection of Jesus Christ; By GILBERT 'iVE S T, Efq^ Clerk Extraordinary of His Majefty's mod Honourable Privy Council : And in Another, intituled, Obfervations on the Converfion and Apoftlefliip of St. T J U L, By the Honourable GEORGE LTTTELTON, Efq; Member of Parliament, and One of the Commiflioners of the Treafury. In a LETTER to Gilbert West, Efq; Blame not before thou hajl examined the Truth ; underjland firji^ and then rebuke. Ecclus. xi. 7. LONDON: Printed by voluntary Subscription ; In order to be difptrfed in His Majefty's Colonies Uiid Illands in America. M DCC XLVill. ,p^ fr^» TESOLOG). '&^^-ii^^^^j5 iiMl^ PREFACE. H E Two enfLiing Difcourfcs have been lately publifh'd here, and been receiv'd with general Approbation, as excellent Defences of the Christian Revelation, on the Two im- portant Ponits which they fcvcrally treat of. And, befidcs the Clearncfs and Force of thcRcafonini^s that are found in Both, They receive an additional Strength from their being the Performances of Laymen ; and fo are not liable to the malicious Suggeftions of Sceptics^ and other Infidels, againfl: Defences of Religion which come from the Clergy as pleading their own Caufe j and fo, not to be confidcr'd as impartial Writers. We find by our Accounts from AM ERIC Ay that great Diligence is us'd by the Enemies of Chriftianity here, in fending over Infidel Books to our Plantations ; which the Clergy there, as Eye and Ear Witncfles, muft be more fcnfible of, than iv PREFACE. tlian we can be at this Diftance. But our Care of Religion, and Concern for the Prefervation of it from fuch dangerous Infedions, is not confined to our own Country : And therefore, by way of Antidote, an Edition of thefe Two Excellent Treatifes has been printed by voluntary Contribu- tions i and they are tranfmitted thither, in order to be difperfed, in fuch manner, as may moft effec- tually anfwer the great and good End they are dcfign d for. The T>ifperfing of them mufl: be chiefly the Care of the Clergy, into whofe Hands the Books will be jirft put, to be by them communicated to fuch of the Laity, as they think moft proper j and thefe., when they have perus'd and attentively confidcr'd them, will not fail to communicate them to their Neighbours. Into whofe Hands foever they come, I earneftly, dcfire that They may be read with fuch Serioufnefs and Attention, as the great Importance of the Subjeds re- quires ', and then, with the Blcfling of God, They cannot fail of Succefs. EDM LONDON". OBSERVATIONS O N T H E History ^//^Evidenges O F T H E RESURRECTION O F JESUS CHRIST. [ »i] INTRODUCTION. .v^w//^«^ I-I E followlns; Obfervations took tiieirRife " jO^ from a Pamphlet, intituled, Ihe Refur- P^ r^^/zc« ilie faw a Vifion of Angels, fhe was ftanding without, at the Se- pulchre, weeping j — ihatfooping down, and looking (not going) into the Sepulchre, fhe faw two Angels in White, ftting, the one at the Bead, the other at the Feet, where the Body of ]e[[is had lain-, who faid no more to her than, Woman-, why weepefi thou ? To which fhe anfwered, Becaufe they have taken away ■my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. From all which Circumftances ic appears, adly. That neither after her Return to the Sepulchre with Teter and John-, was ilie with thofe Women who went into the Sepulchre, &c. that fhe had noc heard any thing of Chrifl's being rilen from the Dead ; and that therefore thofe Women, who were told by an Angel that he was rifen, were not at the Sepulchre when ilie returned thither with Feter cf the Refurredtlon. 1 1 TeteT and Join. And indeed from the v/holc Trnor of the above cited PalTage of Sr. John's Gorpcl, throughou: which no nicniion is made of any other Woman bclidcs Mary Magdalen^-, it is more than probable fhe was alone, when llic f.iw the Angels, and when Chrii^i appeared lo her immediately af;er. That flic was alone when Chnfl appeared to her, is plainly implied in v/hat Sr. Mark * fay>', who tells us cxprcHy, thatC^r// appeared fr^ lo MiX) Magdalene-, which, had llic been accompanied by the other \Vomenj could not have been fpokcn of her with any Pro- priery of Speech. In the 3d Place, it is plain from the above Relat on, that the Angels were not always vidble, but appeared and difappeared as they thought proper j for John and Feter going into the Sepulchre faw no Angels j hniMaryy after their Departure, looking in, faw two, one li ting at the Head, and the oihtr at the Feet, where the Body of Jefus had lain. §. 2. LUKE, Chap. xxiv. 13. The fame Day tivo of them [the Difciple.s] iveJit to a Ullage called \Lmvc\z\^s J 'u.hlch uwr/row Jerufalem about three (lore Fur- lof/gs, at/d they talked together of all thefsThingi that had hap" pe7icd. And it came to pafs that liihile they communed together^ ajid reafonedy Jefus himfelf drcu) near^ and ijjent irith them ^ hut their Eyes -uere holdcn that they jhould not hww him. And he faid unto them, What manner of Communications arc tl^eje, that ye have one to another, as ye ivalk and are fad ? And one of them, whofe Name it'^; Qeopas, anfjjering^ j'aid unto him ^ Art thou 071 ly a Stranger in Jerufalem, and hafl not knovin the Things ijhich are come to fafs there m thefe Days ? And he faid u?tto thej/i. What Things 1 And they faid mito him. Concerning Jefus of Nazareth, nx:hich -was a Prophet ?nighty in Deed and Ward before Gody and all the People -^ and how the Chief Priefs and our Rulers delivered him to be condemfied to Death, and have crucified him. But lae trujled that it had been He li-huh jljould have redeemed Ifrael : And befde all this^ To-day is the third Day fncc thefe Thi7igs luere done. Tea, and certain Women alfo of our Company fnade us afonijhed^ ivhich ivere early at the Sepulchre ; andvjhen they found 7iot his Body, they came., faying, that they had alfo feen aFifon of Angels, 'which faid that he -was alive : And cer- tain cf them 'which 'were with us, 'went to the Sepulchre^ and found It even Jo as the Women had faid; hut him they fa'w not. The latter Part of thisPaflage, which contains an Abridgment of a Report made by fome Women to the Apoftles before thefe two Dilciplcs had \c\tyerujale7n^ iuggells the following Obfer- vaiions : iff, The Angels feen by thele Women at the Sepulchre * Chap. xvi. 1-cr. 9. told f 2 Ohfervattons on the Hiflory, ^r. told them \\\ViJe[us was alive, whence ic followsj that this Re- port was not made by Mary Magdalene-^ for the Angels, which file faw, faid no fuch thing to her. adly. As there is no Notice taken of any Appearance of our Saviour to thefe Women, ic is alfo evident, that this Report could not have been made by the other Mary and Salome^ to whom, as they v/ere going to tell the Difciples the MelLge of the Angel which they had feen at the Sepulchre, Jefus appeared, as I fhall prefently fhew from Sr. Mattkevj. 3cl!y, There were therefore feveral Reports made an different Times to the Apoftles, and by different Women. Ac different Times; for the two Difciples, who, before they left Jerufalern^ had heard the Report now under Confideration, had not heard tliofe of Mary Magdalene^ of the other Mary and 5^- lome. — 3y different Women j for it having beenjuft now proved, that this Repo! t could not belong to either of the laft-mentioned Women, it mufl have been made by fome other ^ and no orher being named by any of the Evangelifts but J-oayina^ it came in all Likelihood from her, and thofe that attended her. 4thiy, Some of the Difciples, upon hearing this Report, '•xent to the Sepulchre-, and found it even fo as the Women had faid; i.e. in the tnoft obvious Senfc of thefe Words, They faw the Body was gone, and they faw fome Angels. But I fhail not infift upon this Inter- pretation, but only obfervcthat if Feter befuppofed to have been one of thofe Difciples, who, upon this Information of the Wo- men, went to the Sepulchre, this mufl have been the fecond Time of his going thither. That Teter went a fecond Time to the Sepulchre I fhall fhew more at large, when I come to con- lider the former Part of this Chapter of St. I^uke. Thefe feveral Conclufions being admitted, I think it will be no difficult Matter to defend the Evangelifls againfl the Impu^a- tion of contradidring each other, in the Accounts they have given of what happened on the Day of the Refurreilion. For unlefs Authors, who relate different and independent Parts of the fame Hiftory, may, for that Reafon, be faid to contradict each other, the Evangelifts, I will be bold to fay, ftand as clear of that Charge, at leaft in that Part of their Writings v/hich we are now examining, as any of the mofl accurate Hiftorians ei.her ancient or modern ; as I fliall now endeavour to prove, by con- fideringand comparing the feveral Relations of this Day's Events in the Gofpels of St. Matthew^ Sr. Mark, S:. Luke, and Sr. yohn. That written by St. yoh7i I have already produced, fo that there will be no Occafion for inferring it again in this Place ^ thofe of St. Matthe-jj and St. Mark, I fhall produce and examine together, for Reafons which will be evident hereafter. • §. 3. MATTH. of the Re fii rrc6llon . 1 3 §. V MATTH. Chap, xxviii. In the End of the Sabbath^ as it bc7,an to da-wn towards the frft Day of the IVeek^ came Mary MioJalenc, ar.d the other Mary, to fee the Sepulchre : Ajid behold, there ivas a great Earthquake ; for the Avgelof the Lord defcejidcd f ovi Heaveft, and came and rolled back the Stove from the Door-, avd (at uprm it : His Countenance iras like Lightnings avd his Raiment white as Snowj and for Fear of him the Keepers d'd jhake^ and became as dead Men- And the Angel anfxcred avd fsid unto the IVo- vien: Tear not je ; for I know that je fcek Jcfus, which was crucified: He is not herej for he is rifen-, as he faid.^ come fee the Place where the Lord lay : And go quickly and tell his Difciples that he is rifen fro7n the Dead'-, and behold^ he gocth before you into Galilee, there (hall ye fee him : Lo^ I have told )ou. And they departed quickly from tloe Sepulchre with Tear and great Joy-, and did run to bring his Difciples iVord. And as th'y went to tell his Difc/pUs, behold., Jclus met them, faying-, All kail I And they came a?id held hirn by the Feet^ and worjljipped him. Then faid Jefus unto them., Be not afraid : Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee, a»d there Jhall they fee vie. Now when they were going-, behold^ fome of the I'Vatch came into the City, and joewed unto the Chief Triefls all the Thingt that were done. And when they were ajfemUed w:th the Elders, and hsd taken Counfel., they gave large Money unto the Soldiers, jayi7?g-, Say ye^ His Difciples cav.c by Night, a?id fole hiin away while we fept. And if this come to the Governor s Ears^ we will perjuade him^ a?id fe cure you. So they took the Money, and d'd as they were taught : And this Saying is commonly reported amovg the Jjws until this Day. Then the eleven Difciples went away into Galilee, into a Mountain where Jefus had appointed them. A/idwken they faw hijn, they worjljipped him : But fome doubted. MARK, Chap. xvi. And when the Sabbath was pafi, Mary Magdalene, andMixy the Mother o/Jame«, <2Kjry in the Sepulchre, or there \s an Inaccuracy in the Exprcflion j for the Words, U'omcn^ and fear not ye-, being plural, imply there were more than one. I grant it, and Sr. Mark informs us that Salome was there. — But then, inftead of one Inaccuracy to be charged upon St. Matthevj-, here arc two ,* Mary Magdakvc^ who wos not prcfcnt when the orher Mary faw the Angel, is, by the natural Conllrudtion of his Words, faid to be there; and Salome^ who was prcfcnt, he takes no notice of at all. — I allow it, and let thofe who are given to objed, make the moft of it: But let it at the fame time be remembered, that the greatell Part of the Evangelical Writers were illiterate Men, not skilled in the Rules of Eloquence, or Grammatical Niceties againlt the Laws of which it is eafy to point out many Faults in the Writings of moft of them. The other PafTage I purpofed to make fome Remarks upon, affords another Inftance of the fame Kind ; it is as follows : Thni th? Eleven Dijciples "j.?;// a-vjay irito Galilee, into a Mountain^ "jjhere Jefus had appointed thenij and li'heTt they fatu h:?n, they icorfJjiped him j but fojne doubted. Here the Words, /o//7c doubted, by the ft rid Rules of Grammar, muft be underftoodof fome of the Eleven Difcipla?, who immediately before are faid, when they ^asNjefu!-, to have luorjljipcd him ^ which furely is not very confiftent with their doubting,- neither is it very probable that a Writer, however illiterate, fliould mean to contradid himfelf in the Compafs of three Words. Another Interpretation therefore, though i: be nor To ftndly agreeable to the Grammar Rules, is to be fought after, fince it is a Icfs Crime to offend againft Grammar th.-in againft common Senfe. Some doubted.^ maft mean fome befidcs the Eleven, who were prefent upon that Occafion, doubled. And indeed had St. Matthew^ in the former Part of this Narra- tion, taken notice that others bcfides the Eleven were there, there would have been no Difliculty in underftanding, even ac- cording to theftrideft Laws of the Sytitax, to whom the Joz/ie doubted did belong j 0; S'i, and 0/ cTe fct in Oppoiition to each other, and fignifying fome and others^ thefe and thofe^ are fre- frequenliy ;o be met with in Greek Authors of the greateft Au- thority ; and no Reafon can be given, v.'hy, accordmg to this Manner of Speaking, the hi S'i hXiHA uci.%-ac Faith ot Chriflia7is are both vain, if Chrifi be not riicn from the Dead. It was therefore abfolutely necelTary for the Apoftles and Preachers of the Gofpel to prove the Re- furrcdlion ,• this they did as well by their own Teftimony, as by that of others, who had feen Jefus after he was rifen. Thus § St. Paul relates feveral Appearances of Chriji to Cephas and others, and clofes all with his own Evidence ; adding, ^W Infl of all he iras feen of me alfo. The Evangelifts in like manner produce many Inltances, of the fame Nature. St. Mattheia fpeaksof two, St. Mark oi three, St. Luke oi as many, and St. yohu of four ; each of them felefting fuch as befl fuired with the Purpofe they had in View v/hen they wrote their Gofpels. Ic is evident at leatl that St. Matthew did fo. For in what better Manner could he prove to ihcjevjs the Refurredtion of C/jr//?, than by referring them to the Tellimony of fome Hundreds ot * I Cor. Chip. XV. 6. f St. Paul's I ft Epift. to the Cor'tnthiavs was written A. D. 5 7. See Mr. Locke, ad locum. The Gofpel according to St. Mat- thru, about the Year 5 3 . § 1 Cor. XV. 5, 0. B 3 \hd\ 22 Obferoations on the Hiftory, &c, their own Countrymen, who had all feen him after his Death, and were To well convinced of the Reality of his Refurredtion, that they believed and embraced his Dodcrine ? This furely was fufficien- to convince thofe, who required a Number of Wic- nelTes i and was- among the Jeivt at lead, the beft Anfwer to thofe, who on the Credit of a few %oman Soldiers, pretended that the Difciples had ftolen the Body. Upon this Fa6t therefore he feems to reft his Caufe, and with it clofeshis Gofpel, adding only the CommilTion given by Chrift to the Apoftles, and confe- qucntly to himfelf as one of them, to go and teach all Nations, and his Promife of hing 'with them always even unto the End of the IVorld. Thus, upon the Suppofition that St. Matthew wrote his Go- fpel for the Jewijh Converts, which St. Chryfopovz poiitively alTcrtSj I have endeavoured to account for fome Defe6ts and Omiffions obfervable in his Writings, as alfofor his having given us the Hiftory of the Guarding the Sepulchre, e^c. and of Chrijl's appearing to the Eleven Difciples in Galilee, of which the other Evangelifts make no mentioh. I fhall now make a few Remarks upon the Particulars related by St. Markj and of which no no- tice is taken by St. Matthew ^ but that I may not wander too far from my Purpofe, I fiiall confine them to fuch only, as belonging ro the Fadls related by the latter, and having been mentioned only by the former, have induced fome People to charge thefe two Evangelifts with contradiding one another. The Circum- ftances then that I now intend to conlider, are, ift. That of the Womens having bought Spices ■> that they might come and anoiiit the Body of Jefus ; 2dly, That of Salome's being one of thofe Women; and ^dly. That of their entering into the Sepulchre^ and feeing a young Man (itting on the right Side cloathed i?i a long white Garment, and their being affrighted. I have already ob- ferved, that St. Mark wrote his Gofpel for the Ufe of the Egyptian Chriflians j fome fay the Roman, but whether Roman or Egyptian is not material to the prefent Queftion. It is certain they were Gentiles., and Strangers to the Jewifj Cuftoms and Re- ligion, as may be inferred from feveral little explanatory Notes dropt up and down in his Gofpel. In order therefore to give thefe Strangers a perfedl Intelligence of the Fadt he thought pro- per to relate, it was neceffary for him to begin his Account with that Circumftance of the Womens having bought Spices to anoint the Body of Jejus.^ that they might underftand what Bu- fmefs carried them fo early to the Sepulchre, and fee, by the Pre- parations made by thofe Women for the embalming the Body of Jefus., and the little Credit given by the Apoftles to the Re- ports of thofe, who had feen our Lord on the Day of the Re- furrecVion (which he mentions afterwards) that his Rifing from ihe of t/jc Kcfurrc0.lon. 23 the Dc:id, was an Event not in the Icaft cxpedcd byanyofthcm> and not behevcd by the Apoftk-s even after fiich Evidence, as ye/us upbraided ihcm for not aiTentinp; to ; from all which it was n.ULiral for them to conclude, that this Fundamental Article of their Faith was neither received nor preached but upon the fullcfl Conviction of its Truth. — But of this lafl: Point I fhail rpeak more largely hereafter. For his mentioning Salome (which was the fecond Thing propofed to be coniideredj no o:her Reafon can be given, and no better I believe will be required, than that flic was there : And as to the third Circumflance, I'iz. that of their e?/tcrif/g into the Sepulchre^ and feeing an Angel there fitting on the right Side^ &c. I fhall Ihew under the fecond Head, which I come now to confider, that though St. Mark has been more particular in his Relation of it, yec the principal Points are implied in the Account given by Sc. Mat- thew. § 4. The 2d Head contains the Circumftances in which thefe two Evangclifts agree : And they are thcfe : ift. The Women.s going to the Sepulchre early in the Morning on the firll: Diy of the Week: adly, Their being told by an Angel that C/;r//? was rifen, &c. I have nothing to add to the Remarks I have already made upon the firfti but upon the fecond I mufi: oblerve, that the feveral Particulars put into the Mouth of this Angel at the Sepulchre by thefe two Evangelifts, are precifely the fame, ex- cept the Addition of Py feek ye the Living among the Dead? he is not here, but is rifen. Remember hoiv he [pake unto }0u^ ivhen he ivas yet in Gjiiiee» faying^ The Son of Alan mufl he delivered into the Hands of fin- ful Men, and be crucified, and the third Day rife again. And they remembered his Words, and returjied from the Sepulchre^ and told all theje Things u?ito the Eleven, and to all the refl. It 'was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the Mother of Jame?, and other Women that "were 'with them, 'which told ihcfe Things unto the Apoftles. And their Words feemed to them as idle Tales, and they believed them 7tot. Then arofe Perer a^id ran unto the Sepulchre, and fioopiiig down he beheld the Linen Clothes laid by themfelves^ and departed^ 'wondering in himfelf at that "which -was come to pafs. In this Relation of Sc. Luke's are many Particulars that differ greatly from thofc mentioned by the other Evangelifts. For, I ft, The Women entering into the Sepulchre fee neither An- gel nor Angels : And 2dly, Not finding the Body of the Lord Jefus, they fall inro great Perplexity, ^dly. In the midlt of this Perplexity there flood by them fwo Men in fhining Garments ; Who, 4thly, Say ro them Words very different from thofe fpoken by the Angel in St. Matthe'w and Sc. Mark. 5thly, Wiieti thofe Women return from the Sepulchre, and tell all thele Things unto the Eleven and all the reft, Sr. Feter is made to be pre- fent, and upon their Report to rife immediately and run to the Sepulchre, &c. Thefe Marks of Difference, one would imagine, were fufficient to keep any one from confounding the Stories above-cited of Joamia and St. Veter, with thofe concerning the Maries and that Difciple relaced in the other Gofpcls ,* efpe- cially as they have been obferved and acknowledged as well by the Chriftian as the Infidel ■, the lat:er of whom hath produced them to fupport the Charge of Inconfiftcncy and Contradidlion, which he hath endeavoured to fix upon the facred Wrirers ^ while the former, fcduccd and dazlcd by fome few Points of Refemblance, hath agreed with him in allowing thefe different Fadts to be the fame ^ but denying hisGonclufioo, bach laboured to 30 Obfervations on the Hiftory, &c. to reconcile the Inconfiftencics, by Rules and Methods of In- terpretation, which, as they are ftrained and unnatural, tend only to difcover the Greatnefs of his EmbarrafTment. Whereas the true Way, in my Opinion, of anfwering this Charge, is to Aew that it is founded upon a Miftake, by fliewing that the Evangelifts relate different, but not inconfiftent Facts j and that inftead of claflaing and difagreeing, they mutually confirm, illu- ftrate and fupport each other's Evidence. This therefore I fhall now endeavour to do, by making a few Remarks upon the fe- veral Articles above-mentioned. I iliall begin with that relating to St. Peter J becaufe the fettling of that will fettle many other Points. Then arofe Peterj and ran tmto the Sepulchre^ and fioop- ing doivn he beheld the Linen Clothes laid hy the7r2felves^ and de- partedf 'wondering in hiinfelf at that liihich orts. Here then is a ftrong Argument in favour of what I have be- fore advanced concerning the Womcns coming at different Times to the Sepulchre, and particularly about the Maries coming rhither earlier than the reft. The Reafon for their fo doing I have already pointed out in my Obfervations upon St. Marky and have fhcwn, that upon the Suppofition of that Reafon's being the true one, their whole Condudt was proper and confiftcnt : Which leads me to confiJer that of Joanna and the other Wo- men, who came fomewhai later, agd with another Purpofc, to C the 34 Ohfervatio?2S on the Hidory, G?r. the Sepulchre. The former came to take a Vie-jj or Survey of the Sepulchre-, as St. Matthew exprefly fays j the latter came to embahi or anoint the 'Lord's Body^ and for that End not only brought the Spices^ which they had prepared:^ but were aifo ac- companied by other Women. 0/^er Women, muft mean fome befides thofe who followed Jefus from Gajileej of whom alone St. Luke fpeaks in the former Part of this Verfe, and the latter Part of the preceding Chapter. By thefe therefore, as contra- diftinguifhed from the Galilean Women, he probably means the Women of Jerufalem, a great Company of whom followed Jefus as he was going to his Crucifixion, bewailing and lament- ing him. [See the 27th Verfe of the preceding Chapter.] But what Number of them went upon this Occafion wiih the Wo- men of Galilee^ is not any-where faidj neither, of thefe, are any named belides Joaima-^ Mary Magdalenej and Mary the ' Mother of James^ though many others followed Jefus from Galilee X-oJerufalem-, as both Matthew (c. 27. v. 55.) and St. Mark (c. 15. v. 41.) inform us, and were prefent at his Cruci- fixion. It is therefore very probable that moft, if not all, of thofe who were wont to minifter tohim in G^///ee, who attended him to Jerufalemjznd accompanied him even to Mount Calvary, contributed to this pious Office of embalming their Matter's Body, either by buying and preparing the Unguents and Spices, and carrying them to the Sepulchre, or by going to affift their Companions in embalming the Body and rolling away the Stone, for which Purpofe I fuppofe the Women of Jerujalem princi- pally attended, fince none of them feem to have made any Pur- chafe of Spices for embalming the Body •■, and for this laft Pur- pofe it is farther probable they thought their Numbers fufficienr. Accordingly we do not find them faying among themfelves, Who fliall roll away the Stone for us } as the Maries did j nor do we find the Maries bringing the Spices which they had bought, as is here related of Joanna and thoje with her ; and doubtlefs the Evangelifts had a Meaning in their Ufe and Application of thefe Expreffions, the former of which is very agreeable to the Pur- pofe that carried the Maries fo early to the Sepulchre, as is the latter to that of Joanna, who coming to embalm the Body, brought with her all that was neceflary for performing that Bu- iinefs, viz. the Spices, and other Women to affift her in rolling away the Stone, .) Then he took unto hitn the Twelve, and faid unto thew, Behold ive go up to Jerufalem, and all Things that are writ- ten by the Prophets concerning the Son of Man fjall be accompli/bed. For he f Jail be delivered unfo the Gentiles, and (ball be mocked, and fpitefully entreated:, and fpitted on\ and they fl: all fcourge him, and put hint to Death, and the third Day he fjall rife again. The Words of the Angels thefe two Difciples had heard from the Women, before they left Jerujalem ; and as they were walking towards Emmaus, and talking over all the wonderful Things that had come to p^fs, they feem at laft to have fallen into a Debate upon the Subject of thefe Words, and the Prophecies referred to by them, juft as our Saviour drew near. That they were engaged in fome Argument or Difquifition, I infer, not only from the Greek Word cv^^nuv, which fignifies to difcufs, ex- amine, or inquire together j but from our Saviour's Queftion, who, apparently, having over-heard fome Part of their Difcourfe, asks them, TiVj? o\ h'oyoi irot af dvTilixKKZTi 'Tr^oi «tAAHAKf ; IVhat Arguments are thefe, that ye are debating one with ajtother while ye walk and are Jad ? The Subjeifl of their Argument appears in their Anfwer to this Queftion, in which they give him to underftand that they were reafoning upon the Things that had come to pafs concerning Jefus of Nazareth, whom, fiy they, alluding plainly to the Words of the Angels, the Chief Priefis avd onr Bulers have delivered to be condcrnnedto Death, and have crucified him. And hence arifes all our SadneQ, for we trufied that it had been He which fjould have redeemed Ifrael j and over avd above all thefe Things, to day is the third Day ftncc thefe Things were done (another Allufion to the Words of the Ange's) j and to-day fome IVomen of our Company aftonifhed us with an Ac- count of their having bcci) early at the Sepulchre, and, not find- C 5 105 38 Obfervatiofts on the Hiftory, &c. ing theBody of7?y«x, having there been told by Angels that he was rifen fron:i the Dead. And fome of our Companions, run- ning immediately to the Sepulchre, found the Report of the Women to be true j hut kim they faw not. The Sufferings, and Death, and Refurredtion of Jejus were the Subjecfts of their Debates, foretold, as the Angels bade them remember, out of the Prophets, by Cbrift himielf i and the Scope of their Inquiry was how to reconcile thefe Events with the Prophecies, to which they were referred. Part of them th^y had feen accomplifhed in the Sufferings and Death of Chrifi j and that ought to have affured them of the AccompliOiment of the other Pare : But either from not underftanding, or from a Backwardnefs in believing all that the Prophets had faid, they flopped fhort of this Conclufion. For this Ignorance and Backwardnefs Chrifi reproves them ^ asks them whether (according to the Prophets) Chri[l ought not to have fujfered thefe Thi?2gs^ and to enter into his Glory, i. e. to rife again j and ihen hgifming at Mofes ajid all the Prophets, he expou7ids to them 171 all the Scriptures the Things concerning him- felf. The Connexion is vifible ; at the Beginning of che Chapter the Angels refer the Difciples for the Proof of the Refurrefrion to the Prophets j and here, Chrifi joining two of thofe Difciples on the Road, is, by their Difcourfe upon that Subjecft, led to explain thofe Prophecies, and prove from them that the Mefiiah was certainly rifen from the Dead. And in the like Manner is the remaining Part of this Chapter to Verfe the 46ch, connected with this and the preceding. For thefe two Difciples returning to yerufalemj relate to the Apoftlcs and the reft, whom they found gathered together, what had paffed between Chrifi and them upon the Road to £«?/'»', among whom was Mary *< Magdalene^ <^c. So it is again Mark xv. 40. — Sc. Luke having " laid in general Terms, that the Women who followed from " Galilee, were Spedaiors of the Crucifixion, goes on with the *' Account (xxiv. i.) of their coming to the Sepulchre, feeing '' Angels, and returning to telhhe£/eirH and all the reft. But to *- give Credit to their Report, and to correal the Omiffion in not *' defcribing them before, he tells us who they were : And how *' does he dclcribe them ? Why, bv faying they were of the *' Company of Mary Magdalerie : 'Wjctv J^i n MiyJ^ctAmi) ^c. '' xxiv. 10. which Verfc admits, perhaps requires, a diftcrent « Reading from that in our Tranflation. *' T hefe Confiderations feem to account for her being men- ** tioned in the Tranfadtions of thefe Women, tho' not always ** prefent herfelf. St. Luke fays (xxiv. i.) thatbelides the Wo- *' men from Galilee, there were other IVoieeu there. To diftin- *' guifli thofe who made the Report to the Difciples, from the '' other Women., he adds the Words already referred to *. * The Words of St. Luke deferve a particular Examination ; they run thus in the Greek: — K*/ Cyio^^i-^cLtTAi diro t» lu^n/zsiB d-nny- [HACtV TrtUTtf. TToil'Tct Toli 'H'J^iKX KAl 'TTO.O'l Toit i hWTrO.i. ' H^Ctf cT^ }; ^ia.yS'Ahm'i) Mdpi* >y 'Iuolvva kui Mrf.p(et 'IcckuC)i, k] dt KoiTcii cvv diTiii, ail ^htyov 'TrpU raf aToroAsi/; TctuTat. In EngHjhy And turning back from the Sepulchre, they told all thefe Things to the f.le-ven, and to all the rejl. Kon.u they, %vho related thife Things to the Jpojlles, ivere Ms.ry Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the Mother o/ James, and the reft ivith them, i. e. of their Company. As the Account of the Proceedings of the G The Matter of the Evidence ; and 3dly, The Charadcrs and Dilpofitions of the Pcrfons whom it was intended to convince. By thefe I chiefly mean the Apoftlcs, and Difciples of Jcfus, who were to be theWitnelTes of the Reilirrccftion to all the World. By the Manner, I undcrftand the Method and Order in which the feveral Proofs were laid before them: And by the Matter, the feveral Fads of which the Evidence confiilcd. I lliall begin with the Apoftlcs and Difciples, for whole Con- vidion the miraculous Appearances of the Angels, and ofChriJi himfelf to the Women, were principally defigned •■, and the Knowlcge of whole general Charaders, as well as of the parti- cular DiVpofitions of their Minds at that Time, will throw a Light upon the other Points propofed to be conhdered. The greateft Part, if not all, of the Apoftlcs and Difciples of Jefitsj thofe at leaft who openly and avowedly followed him, were Men of low Birth and mean Occupations, illiterate, unac- cuftomed to deep Inquiries, andabftradtcd Reafonings; Men of grofs Minds, concraaed Notions, and ftrongly poltclled whh the felhlli, carnal, and national Prejudices of the Je-vjijh Re- ligion, as ic was then taught by the Scribes and Pharifees. And hence, although ic is evident from feveral Pailages in the Gofpel Hiftory, that, convinced by the Miracles performed by ycfm of Nazarethj and the Accomplifliments of many Prophecies in him, they believed him to be the Mcjjiahy yet their Idea of a Mejfiab was the fame with that of their Brethren the Jews j who, by not rightly underftanding the true Meaning of fome Prophecies, expeded to find in the Mejjiah^ a Temporal Prince, a Redeemer and Ruler of Ifrael, who fliould never die. And fo deeply was this Prejudice rooted in the Minds of the Apoftles, as well as the reft of the Jeivs, that although our Saviour con- ftantly difclaimed the Charader of a Temporal Prince, and upon manyOccafions endeavoured to undeceive his Difciples, yet they could not wholly give up their Opinion, even after they had fecn him rifen from the Dead, and received that inconteftablc Proof of his being the Mcjjiaby and of their having miftaken the Scnfe of the Prophecy about his being never to die. For in one of his Conferences with them after his Refurre6lion, they ask him. Whether he would at that Time * reflore the Ki7igdom to Ifrael ? With fo much Obftinacy did they adhere to their former Prejudices. This therefore being their fettled Notion of the I^eljiah^ can we wonder their former Faith in him fhould be extinguifhed, when they fawhim fuffering, crucified, and dying; and inftead of faving others, notable to fave himfelf? To pre- pare them for thefe Events, he had indeed moft circumftantially * Afts, ch. i. Vcr. 6. D foretold fo enervations on the Hiftory, ^c, foretold his own Sufferings, Death, and Refurredion : But the Apofties themfelves affure us that they did not underftand thofe Predictions, till fome time after their Accomplirtiment i and they made this Confeflion at a Time, when they were as fenfible of their former Dulnefs, and undoubtedly as much amazed ac it, as they now pretend to be, who object it againft them ; fo that their Veracity upon this Point is not to be queftioned. Im- mortality therefore and Temporal Dominion being, in their Opi- nions, the Charafteriftics of the Mefjiah^ the Sufferings and Death of Jefus muft have convinced them before his Refur- redtion that he was not the Mejjiah, not that Perfon, in whom they had trufled as the Redeemer and King of Ifrael. And having, as they imagined, found themfelves miflaken in their Faith as to this Point, they might with fome Colour of Reafon be cautious and backward in believing any Predidions about his Rifing from the Dead, had they underflood what thofe Pre- didions meant. The State of Mind therefore, into which the Apofties fell upon the Death of their Mafter, muft have been a State of Perplexity and Confufion. They could not but refled upon his miraculous Works, and his more miraculous Holinefs of Life, and were not able to account for the ignominious Death of fo extraordinary a Perfon. — A State of Dejedion and Defpair : They had conceived great Expedations from the Perfuafion that he was the Chrifi of God : But thefe were all vanifhed ; their pro- mifed Deliverer, their expeded King was dead and buried, and no one left to call him from the Grave, as he did Lazarus. With his Life, they might prefume, ended his Power of work- ing Miracles, and Death perhaps was an Enemy he could not :fubdue, fince it was apparent he could not efcape it ; and hence proceeded their Defpair. It was likewife a State of Anxiety and Terror. The yews had juft put their Mafter to Death as a Ma- Jefador and Impoftor ; what then could his Followers exped from his inveterate and triumphant Enemies,but Infults and Reproaches, and Ignominy, Scourges, Chains, and Death ? The Fear of the Jeius made them defert their Mafter, when he was firft feized ; made Peter, the moft zealous of the Apofties, deny him thrice^ £ven with Oaths and Imprecations ; and made the Apofties and Difciples, when they met together, on the Day of the Refur- xedion, to confer upon the Accounts they had received of Chrifi's being rifen, retire into a Chamber, and fhut the Door, left they fhouid be difcovered by the Je'ws. Such then was the State of the Apofties Minds upon the Death of their Mafter, full of Prejudice, Doubt, Perplexity, Defpair, and Terror : Dif- temperatures that required a gentle Treatment, lenient Medi- cines, and a gradual Cure. Which leads me to confider in the next Place the Manner, i. e. the .Method and Order of that Evidence by which they were recovered into a State of Sanity ; .and of the Reliirrection. 5" I and from Dcferters of their Mailer, converted into Believers, Teachers, and Martyrs of the Goipd. §. u . The firft Alarm they received was from Mary Magdalene^ wlio early in the Morning, on the third Day from the Burial of our Saviour, came running to inform ?eter and John^ that fhe had found the Stone rolled from the Mouth of the Sepulchre, and that the Body of the Lord was taken away. This Information carried thofe two Apoftles thither, who entered into the Sepulchre, and found the Linen Clothes, in which his Body had been wrapped, and the Napkin, that was bound about his Head, folded up, and lying in different Parts of the Sepulchre. Thefe Circumftances, trifling as they may fecm at firll fight, were, if duly confidered, very awakening, and very proper to prepare their Minds for fomething extraordinary j lince nothing but the kefurreftion of Jcfus could, in right Reafon, be concluded from them. The Body they faw was gone \ but by whom could it be taken away > and for what Purpofe ? Not by Friends ^ for then in all Probability they would have known fomething about it : Not by the Jc'ivi^ for they had nothing to do with it. Filatey to whom alone the Difpofal of it belong'd, as the Body of a Malefadlor executed by his Orders, had given it to his Difciples, who laid it in the Sepulchre but two Days before i and where- fore fliould they remove it again fo foon ? Not to bury it ; for in that Cafe they would not have left the Spices, the Winding- (heet, and the Napkin behind them. Whoever therefore had removed the Body, they could not have done it with a Defign to bury it; and yet no other Purpofe for the Removal of it could well be imagined. Befides, it mull: have been removed in the Night by Stealth, and confequently in a Hurry : How then came the Winding-fhcet and the Napkin to be folded up, and difpofed in fo orderly a Manner within the Sepulchre ? Add to all this, that the Stone was very large, and therefore many Prople muft have been concerned in this Tranfadion, not one of whom was there to give an Anfwcr to any Qjaeftions« Thefe, or fuch-like Reflections could not but rife in their Minds, and thefe Difficulties could not but difpofe them to exped fome extraordinary Event. His Life, they knew, was a Life of Miracles, and his Death was attended with Prodigies and Wonders i all which could not but come crouding into their Memories i and yet none of them at that Time (excepting Johfi) believed that he was rifcn from the Dead ;, for as yet (as that Apoftle aifures us) they l-ne-w jiat the Scripture, that he muft rife again from the Dead -^ that is, they did not underftand from the Prophets that the Mc/Jtah was to rife again from the Dead, being on the contrary perfuaded, that thefe very Prophets had foretold the Mejfiah Ihould not die, but abide for ever. D a The 52 Obfervations on the Hiftory, &c. * The next Information they received was from Joanna^ and the Woman who accompanied her to the Sepulchre, who ac- quainted them wuh two new and very furprixing Particulars, njiz,. That they had there feen a Vidian of Angels^ and that thole Angelj * I have placed this Report oi Joanna next to the Relation above- cited made by Mary Magdalene, and before the fecond Report made by her, and that of the other two Maries ; becaufe, by what the two Difciples, who were going to Emmaus, fay to Je^tts, it is evident that they had heard the Report oi Joanna, and had not, when they left the reft of the Difciples, heard either of the laft-mentioned Re- ports. Farther, by their ufmg the firft Perfon plural in fpeaking of thofe, to whom this Report was made, as fome Women of our Company made us aftonilhed, compared with what St. Luke feys at the gth Verfe, of the Women returning and telling all thofe Things to the Eleven and all the reft, it looks as if they were of the Num- ber of thofe, who were prefent when this Report was made ; and that St. Peter was of that Number is evident, and fo, I think, were all the Eleven, and many other of thofe called Difciples, affembled together probably by John and ?eter, as was before obferved. Thefe feveral Points being admitted, it will follow, that the Report of Joanna and thofe •vjith her, was made' to the Ele-ven and all the rell, previoufly to the fecond Report oi Mary Magdalene, and that of the other two Maries, tho' the Events, which gave occafion to the two latter, were in Order of Time prior to that related by Joanna ; for if any of thofe, who were prefent when Joanna related what had hap- pened to her at the Sepulchre, had heard that Chrift had appeared to Mary Magdalene and the two other Maries, they would doubtlefs have mentioned it upon that Occafion, in which Cafe it muft have been heard, and would as certainly have been mentioned by the two Difciples, in their Converfation with Jefus on the Way to Emmaus ; and even fuppofing they were not prefent when Joanna made her Re- port, but received it only from fome who were, it is probable that tliey who told them the Particulars relating to y(?a«««, zn^ Peters fecond Vifit to the Sepulchre, would at the fame Time have informed them of the Accounts given by Mary Magdalene and the other Maries, had they at that Time heard any thing of them. There may indeed be fome Difficulty in accounting for this, efpecially as the Appearance of Chrift to Mary Magdalene was very early ; and it is faid John xx. i 8. that ftie went and told it to the Difciples ; and ftill more exprefly by St. Mark xvi. 20. and if her Zeal and Hafte in carrying the News of the Stone's being removed, and the Warmth of her own Temper, and the exprefs Command oi Chrift to her to acquaint his Difciples, be confidered, it will appear very probable that {he went on this Errand immediately ; and it is very natural to think that fhe went direftly to Peter this fecond Time, as (he did the cf the Refurredlon. 53 Angels had rold them cha' Jffus was rifen, and hid moreover re- minded them of what himlllf had formerly fpoken to h'S Difciplcs concerning his Sufferings, his Dc.uh, and his Refiir- rcdion on the third Diy, being foretold by the Prophets. What various Reflections mull thcfe two ama/.ing CircumlUnces immediately fugizjctt to them! The great DitHculiy, abou: the Bo.iy of their Mailer being miffing, which had (o much alarmed and puzzled them, was at once folved. Angels told the Wo- men he was rifen from the Dead ; and to induce chem the mo'C ealily to believe ^o aftonilliing an Event, bade them remember that Chri^ himfelf had, not only fiom the 8pi it of Prophecy, with which they knew he was endowed, but from the Prophets alio, prcdiclied his own SufKrings, and Death, and Rifing agiin from the Dead on the third Day. The Words of their Malter they well remembered, and were fo far conv.nc'd that the Women fpoke Truth. Thnfe Parrs alfo of this Prcdidion, which related to his Sufferings and Death, they had feen moll evacflly accomplillied; and that was a powerful Argument for their believing thit the reft might be fo too: 13elidc>>, this was the third Day, the very Day on wliich J^'f-n had told them he fnould rife from the Dead. The Argument therefore drawn from the Teflimony of the Prophets, upon which their Dii- belief of the Refurredion was principally founded, was here attacked j and the Interpretation of their Maftcr, verified in mod of the Particulars by the Event, was here fet up in Op- poii:ion to that of the Scribes and Fb.irifcesy whofe Leaven they had fo frequently been cautioned againfl. But then they did not underftand what was meant by his Rifmg from the Dead. the firft ; and that Apoftle, when he left her at the Sepulchre, went direftly home, as did alfo John, Johny-X. lo. But if he and P//^r were gone to acquaint the other Difciples with the Lord's Body being mining, as is above fuppofed, her not finding them immediately is eafily accounted for ; bcfides which many other Things might hap- pen unknown to us to bring Joanna, and thofe with her, to fetcr and the other Difciples, before they faw Mary Magdalene after her fecond Vifit to the Sepulchre, and before the other two Maries came with their Meflage, who, notwithflanding their Nearnefs to the City when Chrijl appeared to them, and the early Date of that Appear- ance, might polfibly not be enough recovered from their Fright to deliver their Meflage immediately ; or if they were, they might, for the Reafon above given, mifs that Apoflle \?cter'\ to whom they were particularly commanded to deliver it, and to whom therefore, in all Probability, they went direftly. All thefe Things, however, are mere Conjeilures, and as fuch I fubmit them to the J udgment of ^he Reader. D ^. VVa3 54 Ohfa"vation5 on the Hiilory, ^c. Was he once more to live with them upon Earth ? If Coy Where was he ? Nobody had as yet feen him, neither the Wo- men, nor thofe among them, who, upon their Report, had gone to the Sepulchre. By his Riling from the Dead therefore might be meant, that God had taken him into Heaven, as he did Enoch and Eljah • and could they hope he would return from thence to be the Redeemer and King of Ifrael ? To ob- viate thefe feveral Difficulties, and proceed one Step farther to- wards explaining to them the Meaning of the Refurredion, they were probably acquainted in the next Place by Mary Magdalene^ that (lie had feen, not Anoels only, but Chriji himielf, who had appeared unto her as fhe flood weeping at the Sepulchre i that at firft indeed fhc did not know him, taking him for ihe Gardener y that upon his calling her by her Name fhe knew him^ that having offered to embrace him, he forbade her, giving het for a Reafon that he was not yet afcended to his Father : But bidding her go, and tell his Difciples, that in a fhort Time he fliould afcend to his Father and their Father^ his God and their God. In this Relation of Mary Magdaleneh were three Articles of great Importance, ift, A ftronger Proof than any they had hitherto received, of Chriji^s being rifen from the Dead : Mary Mag- dalene had feen him. 2.diy, He toM her he was not yet afcended to his Father-^ by which there feemed to be fome Hopes given them, that they alfo might have the Satisfaction of feeing him. 3dly, The Words, J ajcend to my Father-, g^r. plainly referred to a Converfation he had with them before he was betrayed, in which he told them that he fhould go to his Father^ &c. By thefe Words, therefore, they were not only reminded of another Predidion of his, but called upon to expert the great Things, which were to be the Confequence of his going to the Father^ viz.. The Coming of the Comforter ^ a Pov/er of working Miracles ; and what would be an Earned of all thefe Things, the Joy of feeing him again,* all which he had promifed them in the Con- verfation alluded to in this Meflage *. Yet fome Doubts and Difficulties ftill remained. Nobody but Mary Magdalene had feen him ^ and flie did not know him at firft, but took him for the Gardener. Perhaps the whole was Illufion ,• but allowing it was Chrifi whom fhe faw, Why was (he commanded not to touch him "> It was probably an Apparition, and not Chrift him- felf. Belides, Wherefore did he not appear to his Difciples, who, according to his own Promife, were to fee him again ? The whole Story therefore might ftill appear to them an idlQ vifionary Tale. * Sec John xiii. 14, Tq ' of the Refurretflion. 5f To deliver them from thefc Perplexiries nothing could be belter calcularcd, than the Account given by the other Mary and Salome^ which imported, that ihey alio had been at the Se- pulchre, where they had fccn an Anji;cl, who not only affurcd them tliat Chrift nvas rifen^ but ordered them to tell his Difciples, that they ihould m-et him /w Galilee, agreeably to v/hat he him- lizlr had Wwd to them in his Life-time : Thatrhcy were loamaz-ed and terrified at this V'ilion, that they Hcd Irom the Sepulchre with the u-moll Precipitation, intending to communicate thefe Thing; tq the Apoftlcs, as the Angel had commanded them, but were lb overcome with Fear, that they had not the Power to tell what they had feen and heard to lome, whom they Taw in the Way : That as they were going, Jefus Chrijl himfelt" met them, and faluting them with an All hail ! bade them not he afraid, but go and tell his Brethren that they Jhould go into Galilee, and that they jhould fee him there ^ to which they added, that they niient and held him by the Feet., and '•jjorfjiped him : And farther they informed Peter^ that the Angel had ex- predy injoined them to deliver this Meflage to him in particular. Had the Apoftles and Difciples given Credit to this Account of M.iry and Salome^ they could have had but one Scruple lefr. Jf^fus had now appeared to two Women befides Mary Magdalene ^ had permitted thofe Women to embrace his Feet, and given thereby a fenfible Proof that it was himfelf, and not an Appari- tion, and had alfo appointed a Place, where they themfelvcs were to fee him. The only Scruple therefore, that now remained, arofe from their nor having feen him themfelves ,• and till they did, they feemed rcfolved to fufpend their Belief of his being rifen from the Dead, and treated all thefc fcvcral Vifions of the Women as fo many idle Tales. It is obfervable that all thefe miraculous Incidents followed clofe upon the Back of one another, and confequenlly were crouded inro a fmall Compafs of Time; fo that we ought to be the lefs furprized at the Apoftles not yielding at once to fo much Evidence. Such a Heap of Wonders were enough to amaze and overwhelm their Underftandings. They were therefore lefc for a Time to ruminate upon what they had heard ; to compare the feveral Reports together; to examine the Scriptures ; and recoiled the Predidtionsand Difcourfesof their Mifter, to which they were referred both by the AngeJs and himfelf. But the Ex- amination of the Scriptures was a Work of fome Time i and in the Situation in which they then were, their Minds undoubtedly were in too great an Agitation to fettle to fuch an Employment, with the Compofure and Attention that was nccefl'ary. Bcfide?, it muft be remembered, they were a Company of illiterate Men, not vcrfcd in the interpretations of Prophecies, nor accuftomcd D ^ so 56 Obfer'vations on the Hiftory, &c, to long Arguments and Dedudlionsj and were moreover under the Dominion of an inveterate Prejudice, authorised by the Scribes and Pharijeesj the Priefts and Elders, whofe Learning and vvhofe Dodrines they had been inftruded early to revere. To affift them in their Inquiries, and lead them to the true Senfe of the Scriptures, the only rational Means of conquering their Preju- dices, Chrifi himlelf appeared that fame Day to twa of his Difci- ples, who were going to Emmaus, a Village about threefcore Furlongs diftant from Jerufalem^ and whom he found difcourfuig and reafoning, as they went, upon thofe very Topicks. Thefe Difciples, as I have already fhewed, had left Jerufalem^ before any of the Women, who had fecn Chrifi, had made their Report ; at leaft that Report had not come to their Knowlege. All they had heard was, that fome Women who had been early at the Se- pulchre, had there been informed by Angel?, that he was rifen from the Dead, and put in mind that he himfelf had formerly predicted his Refurreftion, by fhewing out of the Prophets that Co it was to be. This Argument were they debating, when our Saviour joined them ; who queftioning them upon the Subjedfe of their Debate, and the Affliction vifible in their Countenances ; and underrtanding from the Account they gave, that they were ftill unfatisfied as to the main Point, and feemed to put the Proof of his being rifen from the Dead, upon his fhewing him- felf alive, rebuked them firft for their Ignorance and Backward- ?iefs in believing all that the Prophets had fpoken ; and then be- ginning at Moles and all the Prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the Things concerning himfelf. During this whole Converfation they knew him not j their Eyes ivere holden^ as St. Luke informs us, and for what Reafcn is very plain. The Defign of Chrifi in entering into fo particular an Expofition of the Prophets was to fhew, that, by making a proper Ufe of their Underftanding, they might, from thofe very Scriptures, whofe Authority they allowed, have been convinced that the Mefiiah ought to have fuffered, as they had f.:en him fuffer, i37id to rife from the Dead on the third Day. That is, Chrifi chofe rather to convince them by Reafon, than by Senfe ,• or at leaft fo to prepare their Minds, that their aflenting afterwards to the Teftimony of their Senfes fhould be with the Concurrence of their Realon. He had proceeded in the fame Manner with the other Difciples at Jerufalem, from all of whom he had hitherto with-holden the Evidence of Senfe, having not appeared to any of them, excepting Peter, till after the Return of thefe two Difciples to Jerufaleyn. This Proceeding, at once fo becoming the Lord of Righteoufnefs and Truth, and the Freedom of Man as a Reafonable Being, muft have been prevented, had Chrifi difcovered himfelf to them at his firft appearing. Wonder and • " Aftonifhmeiic of the Refurredtion. 57 Aftoniflinnent in ihac d'.c had taken place of Reafon, and lefc them, perhapa, when the hrlt llrong Imprclfion vvasahctle worn away, in Doubt and Sccpricifm. But now having duly prepared them to receive the Tdtimony of their Senles, he diicovercd himfclf to them, and that by an A(ft of Devotion, in breaking of Bread, which amoiif^ the Jews was always attended with a Thankl- giving to God, the Giver of our daily Bread. But there fccms to have been fomething peculiar in this Action, upon which Ac- count it was mentioned by St. Luke in his Narration of this Hiftory, and by tiie two Difciples thcmrdvcs", when they related to the Apoftles at Jerul'alevi-, what had happened to them at Emmaus. The Manner undoubtedly of breaking the Bread, and probably the Form of Words in the Thankfgiving, were parti- cular to our Saviour^ and thefc latter perhaps were the very fame with ihofe made ufe of by him at the lad Supper. Ac leaft, thefe two Anions are defcribed by St. Luke in the fame Words, iiiz. He took Bread., and gave Thanks^ and brake it^ and gave to them. If fo, how ftrongly were they called upon by this Adion to remember their Lord, who had inftiturcd that very Form in Remembrance of his Death I and how properly did it accompany that Difcovery of himfclf which he now thought fit to make to ihcm I Accordingly they were convinced, and returned that Jame Hour to Jcrufalem, where they found the Apoftles aflembled together and debating, apparently upon the fcveral Reports they had heard that Day, and particularly upon what Peter had told them, to whom fome time that Y>iy Chrjfl had appeared. But as neither the Time, nor the Particulars of that Appearance are recorded by the Fvangelifts, I fliall not pre- tend to fay any thing more about it, than that the Apoftles feem to have laid a greater Strefs upon that alone, than upon all thofe related by the Women. For upon thefe two Difciples coming into the Chamber, they accofl them immediately, without wait- ing to hear their Story, with The Lord if rifen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon, but make no mention of any of his Appear- ances to the Women. After which the two Difciples related what had happened to them in the Way to Emmaus^ and ho'-jj he "^as knoinn of them i?i breaking of Bread. But St. Mark^zysy * they did Jiot believe thefe two Difciples any more than they had done the others, to whom Chri^ had appeared ; which Words feem to contain a Sort of a Contradidtion to whu they th^felves feem to acknowlege in faying, The Lord is rifen in- deed., and hath appeared to Simon. Let us therefore examine rhefe two PafTages with a litrle more Attention. The whole PafTjge in S:. Mark is this : ylfer that, he appeared in another * Chap. xvi. 13. Form 58 Ohfervatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. Form to t'wo of them^ as they 'walked^ and wefit into the Coun- try, and they ■we7it and told it u7tto the Refducy neither believed they them. To which I muft add the following: * Aftervjard he appeared unto the Eleven.^ as they fat at Meat, and up- braided thern with their Unhelief a?id Hard?!efs of Heart, becaufe they believed mt them nvhich had feen htm after he ivas rifen. By comparing thefe l^affages in St. Mark with the parallel Paf- fage in St.Luke, it will appear what the Belief of the Apofties was, and what their Unbelief. The Parallel to the firft has been already confidered. The Courfe of my Narration leads me now to confider that to the fecond ; and in doing of this, I fliali lake Occafion to obferve how they illuftrate and explain each orher, and thereby vindicate thefe two Evangelifts from the Sufpicion of contradicting one another's Account. The Apoftlesj by the feveral Relations of the Women, which they received early in the Morning, and upon which they had had fufficient Time to comment and refiedl (for it was now Night), and afterwards by thofe of Peter and the two Difciples from Emmaus, being ripe for Conviftion, Chrifi vouchfafed to give them that Evidence they feemed fo much to defire, and which having been granted to others, they had fome Reafon to hope for and expeft. Accordingly,, as the Difciples from Em~ maus had juft finiflied their Story, ]t^\xshimfeif flood in the midft of them, and faith U7ito them. Peace be unto you j afid they 'were terrified and affrighted, and fuppojed they had fee?i a Spirit. Here then was their Error, and in this confifted their Unbelief. They acknowleged indeed that Chrift was rifen from the Dead, but did no: believe that he had bodily appeared to thofc, who pretended to have feen him, and to have had fufficient Evidence upon that Point. Thefe, Si. Mark hys^ they did not believe^ and we learn from St. Luke^ that when he appeared to them, they did Tiot believe even their own Eyes, but fuppofed they had feen a Spirit. That this was the Unbelief, for which, as we read in St. Mark., our Saviour rebuked them, is evident from what follows afier in St. Luke. A?2dhefaid unto them^ Why are ye trou~ bled? And vjhy do Thoughts [Reafonings, A{AKoyi(riy.oi'] arife i» your Hearts ? Behold my Hands and my Feet ! that it is I myfelf: Handle me and fee ,• for a Spirit hath not Flefl} and Bones .^ as ye fee me have. And ivheft he had thus fpoken^ he Jheijoed them his Hands and his Feet. We may judge of the Diftemper by the Remedy. He bade them feel and fee that it was no Spirit, but he himfelf. Why ? becaufe they doubted of it: And he up- braided them with their Unbelief a?idHardnefs of Heart., becaufe they doubted of it, notwithftanding the Teftitnony of People, * Mark xvi. 14. whofe of the Refurreiflion. 59 whofc Veracity they had no Reafon to fufpctSl, and who brought Credentials with thenrij that could not be forged. It being evi- dent from thcle Pallages, thus compared together, that the Un- belief of the Apoftles, mentioned by St. Mark^ and the Belief which they profclled, according to Sr. Luke-, were both partial, thofe two Evangelifts are thus pcrfct^cly reconciled. But if any one fhould Ihll inhfl: that theic Words of the Apoltlcs and Difciples, Tt-v Lord is rijeu hidcedj avd hath ap- peared to Simon, imply that they then had a full and explicit Be- lief of the Refurrection of Chrifi^ as from the Force of the Word indeed I am myfelf inclined to think, and fliould demand how they came afterwards to disbelieve the t-wo Difciples^ and to fufpedt even that Appearance which themfclvesfaw ? lanfwer, that in the Appearance of Chriji 10 the fwo Difciples, and in that afterwards to themfelves, were fomc Circumflanccs, which ac firft, and till more fatisfadtory Proofs were given, might natu- rally tend to confound and unfettle the Faith, which they had taken up upon the Evidence of Peter: Bccaufc C^r//? appearing firft to the two Difciples in another Form, and njaJiijbing out of their Sight as foon as he was made known to them, feemed better to fuit with the Idea of his being a Spirit, than S living Body ^ and his entering into the Room where they were afTcm- bled, the Boon being Jhut, rather confirmed that Idea, in the firft fuddcn Impreflion it made upon their Minds j which Mil- take, in both Cafes, arofe from their not attending fufficiently lo the miraculous Powers belonging to Chrift j to the Operations of which his bcin^ in the Body was no Impediment. This In- advertency, and want of due Confideralion in the Apoftlcs and Difciples, juftifies our Saviour's rebuking them for 7iot believing them 'vjhich had feen him. But the Doubts occafioned by it were foon overcome by thofe farther Proofs of the Reality of his Body, which he afterwards vouchfafed to give them : And by this Explanation, as well as by the former, the Evangelifts arc cleared from contradicting each other. However, neither did thefc Proofs intircly fatisfy them ,• for, as the Hiftory goes on, While they yet believed not for Joy-, and fwondered, Chrift faid unto them.^ Have ye any Meat 1 A?id they gave him a Tiece of a broiled Fifj, and an Honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them. So much CompaHion did he Jhew for their Infirmity ! and fo much Care did he take, that not even a Shadow of a Scruple fhould remain in their Minds, upon a Point of the utmoft Importance to the great Bufinefs-he came about ! And perceiving now that every Doubt was va- nifhed, and they were perfectly convinced, he (aid to them (purfuing the Argument begun by the Angels, and carried on by bimfelf with the two Dilciples in the VVay of Eimnaus), Thcfe are 6o Obfer'-oatiom on the Hiftory, &c. are the Words ivhichl fpake unto you., while I iv^s yet ivith you^, that all Things tnuft be fulfilled^ which were written in the Law cf Moles, and in the Prophets ^ and in the Ffalms concerning me. Then opened he their UnderJlandingSy that they u/tght under fiand the Scriptures.) and [aid unto them^ Thus it is written^ and thus it behoved Chriii (i. e. MefTiah) to fuffer^ and to rije from the Dead on the third Day ^ and that Repentance and Remiffion of Sins JJjould be preached in his Nam?y beginning forty Days nfter his Pafjton., and fpeakijig of the Things pertain- ing to the Kingdom of God. But as hitherto all the Appearances of Chrifl feem to have been intended only for the Convidion of his Apof^les ; and thofe that follow rather for their Confirma- tion and Inllrudion in the Faith and Dodrines of the Gofpel, the facrcd Writers, who have been very particular in the Accounts they give us of the former, have mentioned but very few of the latter : I fay few ; for I think it highly probable that the Ap- pearances of Chrifl to his Apofbles for the remaining thirty Days, were more than they have thought proper to record. And the Reafon of this different Proceeding is very obvious. The Apo- ftles are to be confidered both as IVitneJfes of the Miracles and the Sufferings, the Death and the Rcfurre(flion of Jefus Chrifl, sndTeachers avd Preachers of his Dodlrine. In theCha- radcer of IVnnefl'es, a circumibnMal Account of the Means and Opportunities they had of knowing certainly the feveral Fadts at- tefted by ihcm, mufl: needs give great Force and Credit to their Evidence ; whereas in that of Preachers ic is fufficient if their Auditors were fatisfied in general that the Do6trines taught by them were derived from the Inftrudlions, and authorized by the Commiflion given them by their Mafter to teach ali Nations ; and of this, the various Gifts of the Holy Spirit, poured outnoc upon the Apoftles only, but by them upon all Believers, were full and unqueliionable Proofs. But among the lalt-mentioned Appearances of Chrifl there are two, which, by reaibn of their Connexion wuh the former, ought by no means to have been omitted : The hrft relates to Chrifl's meeting his DUcipleS in * A&.S, ch. i. Vt 3. 62 Ohfervatiom on the Hiflory, ^c. Galilee, which was foretold by Chrift himfelf before his Death, repeated by the Angels to the Women at the Sepulchre, and afterwards confirmed to them again by Chrifl. The Accom- plifliment of this Prophecy it was certainly necefifary to fhew^ accordingly we have it in Matthew^ who fays, Then the E/eve7t Difciples ivent into Galilee, imto a Mountain, luhere Jefus had appointed them-, and 'whe7i they favj him they luorpipeJ him : but others doubted. The fecond, in like manner, correfponds ■with what was fpoken by our Saviour to Mary Magdalejze in thefe Words : But go to my Brethren, and fay unto them, I afcend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your Gody which Words, as I have already obferved, referred to a Converfation he had with his Difciples the Night before he was betrayed, wherein he told them, ift. That he fhould go to his Father j 2dly, That he would come to them before he went to his Father; gdly, That after he was gone to the Father, he would fend them a Comforter^ even the Spirit of Truth, who would teach them all Things, a7id bring all Things to their Remembrance, ivhatfoever he had /aid unto them. And 4thly, That whofoever believed on him fhould have the Power of working as great, nay greater Miracles than he did. The fulfilling of which feverai Promifes or Prophecies I fhall now fee down, only premifing, that the fecond Article was abundantly accomplifhed by the feverai Appearances above-mentioned, as we have already feen. The firft, a«'z. his Afcenfion into Heaven, came to pafs in this Manner : — * And being ajfembled together ivith them, he com- manded them that they fhould not depart from Jerufalem, but 'wait for the Promife of the Father, 'which, faith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized tuith Water, but ye fljall he baptized luith the Holy Ghofl not many Hays hence. When they therefore 'were come together, they asked of him, faying. Lord, fwilt thou at this Time re fore the Kingdom to Ifrael ? And he faid U7ito them. It is not for you to kno'W the Ti7nes or the Seafons^ ,'which the Father hath put in his own Power; but ye pall re- ceive Power, after that the Holy Ghoft is come upon you ; a7id ye fhall be Witne/fes unto me, both /;/ Jerufalem, been put to Death by the Rulcis of the ycws^ as an Impoftor • one, who by the Authority of Beelzebub caft out Devils, and by afluming the Charader of the Mefjiah blafphemed God. His Sepulchre alfo was guarded by a Band of Soldiers, under the Pretence of preventing his Difciples from carrying on the Im- poliure begun by their Mafter, by ftealing away his Body, and giving out that he was rifen from the Dead, in confequcnce of what he had faid before his Crucifixion. Under thefe Circum- ftances the Atteftation of Heaven was neceflary to fliew that God, though he had fuffercd him to expire on the Crof?, had nor forfaken him ; but on the contrary had co-operated with him even in his Sufferings, his Death, and Burial, and Refurreftion from the Dead on the third Day ; having, by the fecret Work- ings of his Providence and his Almighty Power, accomplilTied in every Point the feveral Predidions of Jcfus relating to each of thofe Events: Events, which at the Time of thofe Predictions, none but God, or an Eye enlighten'd by his omnifcient Spirit, could forefecj and which nothing lefs than his all-controuling Power could bring about. The Defcent therefore of the Angel of the Lor^ from Heaven, and his rolling a'-o: ay the Stone from the Sepulchre, was a vifible Proof that the Finger of God wa j in the great Work of the Rcflirredcion, was a proper Honour done to him, who claimed to be the Son of God, and unin- fwerably refuted the impious Calumnies of thofe, who upon Ac- count of that Claim ftiled him an Impoftor and Blafphemer. §. 13. What has beeti juft faid of the Propriety and Neccffity of an Angel's d-jfccnding from Heaven, upon the prefent Oc- calion, is applicable in general to the feveral Appearances of An- gels fcen by the Women, which I fliall examine in the nexc E 2 Place, 68 Obfervations on the Hiftory, &c. Place, taking it for granted, that the Miraculoufnefs of fuch Ap- pearances will be no longer urged as an Argument againft their Poffibility. The only Thing then remaining to be confidered in this Examination is the internal Evidence, which thefe feverai Vifions carry along with them of Reality and Truth ; for by feme they have been treated as pure lUufions, and by others as down- right Falfhoods. The principal Argument made ufe of to prove their Falfliood is founded upon a fuppofed Contradidion and In- confiftency in the feverai Accounts given of them by the Evan- gelifts; which Argument having been thoroughly dircuffed in the foregoing Part of this Difcourfe, I muft refer the Reader thither for an Anfwer to it. That thefe Appearances were lUufions, the Effects of Superftition, Ignorance and Fear, hath been infinuated rather than afferted j but hath never, that I knov/ of, been at- tempted to be proved. I fhall not therefore amufe myfelf with a vain Search after Arguments, which, I prefume, are not eafy to be found ; or they would have been produced by thofe, who have laboured with fo much Diligence to expofe and ridicule the Faith of Chriftians ^ but leaving fuch to make good their AfTertion, who fliall think fit to maintain it, I fhall proceed to lay down a few Obfervations, tending to prove the Reality and Truth of thefe Appearances of the Angels to the Women. The Angel firft feen by the Women was that defcribed by St. Mark, in the Form of a youvg Man fating [within the Se- pulchre] OH the right Side-, cloathed in a long 'white Garme?ity at the Sight of whom the Women \_Mary and Salome'] difcovering great Signs of Fear, he faith unto them, Be not affrighted-^ ye feek Jefus of Naxareth, which nvas crucified ; he is rifen^ he is not here. Behold the Flace 74 Obfcrvationi on the Hiflory, ^c, leen, had no Communication with each other during the Time of thele Appearances, as is evident from the whole Tenor of this Hiftory : Mary and Salome were fled from the Sepulchre before Mary Magdalene returned i and Mary Magdalene was departed from thence again, before Joamta, and thoje ijoith her^ came thither j fo that they could not catch thelllufion from one an- other ^ and that their Minds, at the Time of their coming to the Sepulchre, were very far from being difpofed to form Imagina- tions of Chrifi's being rifen from the Dead, is evident from rhe Bufinefs that carried them thither. They came to perform the lafl Offices ufualiy paid to the Dead ,• and by embalming the Body, to complete the Interrment of their deceafed Mafter ; which, by the coming on of the Sabbath, they had been obliged to leave unfinifhed j and when, upon entering into the Sepulchre, they found not the Body, it was more natural for them to think, with Mary Magdaleiie^ that fome Perfons had taken it away, and laid it they knew not where, than to conclude it was rifen from the Dead : And it is plain, that Joanna-, and thofe with her, were in this Way of Thinking j for ivhen they entered in, and found not the Body of the Lor^ Jefus, they-, fays St. Luke, loere much ■perplexed thereabout ^ /'. e. they knew not what was become of the Body, could not account for its being miffing, and were therefore in great Diftrefs and Anxiety about it j which would not have happened, had they believed that he had rifen From the Dead. If, from what has been faid, it may feem reafonable to con- clude, that the Appearances of the Angels were not the EfFedrs of Illufion, the Phantoms of a diftemper'd vifionary Mind, it will, I think, be more eafily granted, that they were not the Operations of Artifice and Impofture. For, without examining who could be the Adtors, or what the Motives of an Impof- ture of this Kind, there are Evidences enough, arifing from the Circumftarices of thefe feveral Appearances, to fhew, that the Powers that produced them were more than human : Such, for Example, is the Earthquake occafioned by the Defcent of the firft Angel, the amazing Brightnefs of his Countenance, which, St. Matthevj tells us, iJjas like Lightning-, and the prodigious Strength, which appeared in his fingly rolling away a Stone, that was large enough to clofe up the Entrance into the Sepulchre •-, and what was common to all the Angels, the Faculty of becoming vifible or invifible as they thought proper. Thefe certainly were charaderiftical Marks of an Agent endowed with Privileges and Powers fuperior to the limited Abilities of Man, whofe Opera- tions cannot go farther than his Knowlege of the Laws and Powers of Nature j and how far fhort of fuch wonderful Effcdrs as of the Refurredlion. 75 as thct'c that Knowlege would carry him, I leave the moft in- genious Profcfibr of natural Magic to dcccrmine. 2. I corac now, in the fecond Place, to confidcr the Appear- ances of Cbri(l himfclf to the Women, which v/crc two, the (irft 10 Mary Magdalette^ the fecond to the other yVArry and Salofne. But I rtiall not have Occalion to dwell long upon this Mead, lince the Appearances of the Angels having been proved to be real, put tliefc Appearances o^Chrifl more out of Doubt and Sufpicion. The Angels affirmed that he was rifm from the Dead j and if he was rifcn, it was natural to cxpecft he would appear. The main Difficulty confided in his getting ioofe from che Bands of Deach, and breaking the Prifon of the Grave ^ and therefore, whoever upon the Teftimony of the Angels believed the Refur- revfcion (as all thofc muft have done who acknovvleged them to be real Angels) would not, if they faw Chrift himlelf, be very apt to call in queftion the Reality of his Appearance. But tho' the Teftimony of Angels, affirming that Chriji was rifen from the Dead, renders his appearing afterwards lefs liable to Doubt and Queftion i yet, before we admit the Reality of every fuch Ap- pearance as may be precended, I grant it is rcafonable to expect ibme farther Proofs, tho' perhaps not fo many or fo ftrong, as if no fuch previous Evidence had been given. And in the Ca(c of Mary and Salome it may be fuggelled, that their very Belief of the Reiurredlion of C/^r///, joined to the Dilbrder and Amazement they were then under, might hetp to convince them too eafily of the Reality of his Appearance, tho' at the fame time it might be nothing but a Spcdrc of their Imagination, and a mere Illufion : Let us therefore examine what Evidence may be collected from the Account given of this Appearance, to induce us to think, that thefe Women were not deceived ; and the Evidence, I believe, will h)e found fufficient. They had the Atteftation of their Sight, their Hearing, and their Feeling : \},yf the two firft the Voice and Countenance of their Lord might be known j and by the laft they might be allured, that it was no Spedire which they heard and faw, but a Body confifting of Fiefh and Bones. One of thefe Proofs indeed was wanting to Mary Magdalene-i Chrift forbade her to touch him j and ycr, any one who conilders with due Attention the Circumftances of this Appearance, will find fufficient Reafon to be perfuaded that ic was chrift himfelf who appeared to her. For firft, he had ftood by her fometime, had fpoken to her, and CnQ had anKvered him, before Ihe knew him to be Chrift j on the contrary, fhe took him for the Gardener : By all which it is manifeft, that the Speiftre, jf it was one, was not of her creating. * Her Mind wasother- • See the preceding Article. wife y6 06/ervatIom on the Hiftory, zic. wife engaged ,* and had it been eicher at leifure, or difpofed to raife Apparitions, it is moft likely fhe would have called upfome Perfon, with whom flie had more Acquaintance and Concern than a Keeper of a Garden, whom probably fhe had never known nor feen before, adly, He called her by her Name ; by which as it appeared that he knew her, fo did fhe, it feems, difcover him j for turning immediately about, fhe accofled him wiih the refpedtful Title oi'Rahbouni^ my Mafter ; and, as may be in- ferred from the enfuing Words of Chriflj offered to embrace him. His Voice and his Countenance convinced her that it was Chrifl himfelf. ^dly, In thefe Words, Touch me not-, for I am not yet afce7tded to my Father ; but go to my Brethren-, and Jay to them, I afcend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God^ is contained a moft clear Proof that it was Chriji himfelf who uttered them. To underfland this, it muft be remembered, that thefe Words allude to a long * Difcourfe which our Saviour held to his Difciples the very Night in which he was betrayed ; wherein he told them, that he fhould leave them for a fhort Time {a little ivhile and ye Jhall not fee me) and that he would come to them again, tho' but for a iTiort Time (and again a little ivhile, and ye pall fee me) becaufe (added he) J go to my Father. By the Phrafe I go to my Father ^ Chrijf meant his final quitting the World, as he himfelf explained it to bis Difciples, who did not then underftand either of the above- cited Expreffions. f I came forth from the Father, fays he, and am come itito the World: Again, I leave the World ajid go to the Father. But left they fliould fall into Defpair at being thus forfaken by him, for whom they had forfaken all the World, he at the fame Time promifed to fend them a Comforter.^ even the Holy Spirit, who fliould % teach them all Things, bri?/g to their Minds Father ,• a Variation in the Phrafe, which I am perfuaded had its particular Meaning, and that not very difficult to be diCcovered. I'or as by the former FA'prcflion he intended, as we have feen, to Agnify in general bis final Departure out of this World, To by the latter is the par- ticular Manner of that Departure intimated i and doubtlels with a View of letting his Difciples know the piecifeTime, after which they fhould no longer expedl to fee and converfc with him upon Earth, but wait for the Coming of that Coinforter^ which he promifed to fend them in his room j and who, unlefs he departed from them, was not to come. Jcjus made fre- quent Villts to his Difciples after his Paflion, * being fee?t of them J fays St. Lukej forty Daysy avd fpeakitig of the Things per - taining to the Kivgdoin of Cod. Between feme of thefe Vilirs were pretty long Interval, f during which he feems to have difappeared, ;. c. not to have refided upon Eanh. Had Chrifl therefore left his Difciples without any Mark or Token, by which they might be able to diftinguifh his final Departure from thofe that were only temporary, they would probably have taken each Vific for the laft \ or have lingered, after his final Departure, in a fruitlefs Expectation of feeing him again j either of which States of Uncertainty, and efpecially the laft, were liable to many Inconvcnicncics, to Doubts, and Jcaloufies, and Fears, which ic was Goodnefs, as well as VVifdom in our Saviour to prevent. Nor was the preventing thefe Evils the only Advantage that flowed from this early Intimation of the Manner oiChrift\ final Departure out of this World, implied in the Words I ajcend to my Father, and verified in his Afcenfion into Heaven. For as this could not have been effedled without the Power of God co- operating with him, fo neither could it have been foreknown by him, without the Communication of that Spirit, which only knows the Counfels of God. When the Difciples therefore be- held their Maimer § takeji up into Heavey, a):d received out of their Sight hy a Cloud of Glory, they could not but know afTuredly, that diis v/as the Event foretold abcut forty Days be- fore to Mary Magdalene-, and knowing that, could no longer doubt whether it was Chrt^ himfelf who appeared and fpoke thofe prophetick Words to her; how little Credit focvcr they had given to her, when llic firft told them Ihe had feen the Lord. * At\s, ch. i. & iii. f See John xx. 21. § AOs, chap, i.ver. 9. See JVhiihy on this Place. V 2 Aad S4 Obfervations on the Hiftory, &c. And thus (as I have endeavoured to make appear), in thefe comprehcnfive Words of Chrifi fpoken to Mary Magdalene^ Touch me 7iot^ for I am not yet afcended to my Father^ but go to my Brethren^ and fay to them^ I afcend to my Father-, are implied three Particulars, ift, A Renewal of the feveral Promifesmade by him to his Difciples, the Night in which he was betrayed j one of which was the Proraife of coming to them again before his final Departure out of this World. Of his Intention to per- form which Promife, I take his forbiding Mary Magdalene to touch or embrace him, to be an Earneft or Token. 2dly, An Intimation, that as his Death and his final Departure out of the World were two diftind Things, the latter of which was yet to come ;, fo by his rifing from the Dead, they were to underftand his returning and being in the World, in the fame Manner with thofe, who have not yet quitted the World by Death, and con- lequently that he was really, that is bodily, rifen from the Dead ; of which his appearing to Mary Magdalene and faying thofe Words, was an undoubted Evidence. And gdly, A prophetical Account of the Manner of his departing finally out of the World, viz. By afcending into Heaven. From which feveral Particulars it was impoffible, as I faid before, for the Difciples to draw any other Conclufion than that it was Chrifi himfelf who appeared and fpoke to Mary Magdalene. I do not fay the Di- fciples muft neceffarily have perceived, at the very firft hearing thefe Words, the feveral Inferences which I have drawn from thenij but when they came to confider them attentively, tore- fied upon what their Mafter had faid to them, the Night in which he was betrayed (to which thefe Words evidently referred), and when, after having handled his Feet and Hands, they were by their own Senfes convinced that he was bodily rifen from the Dead; and laftly, when they had feen thofe Words, I afceyidto my Father^ verified in his afcending into Heaven before their Eyesj then, I think, they could hardly avoid perceiving the feveral Inferences, and drawing from them the Conclufion above- mentioned. For if it was not Chri^j who appeared to Mary Magdale7ie^ it muft have been either fome Spirit good or bad ,• or fome Man, who, to impofe upon her, counterfeited the Per- fon and Voice of Chrifi ; or laftly, the Whole muft have been forged and invented by her. The firft of thefe Suppofitions is blafphemous •■, the fecond abfurd \ and the third improbable. For allowing her to have been capable of making a Lye, for the carrying on an Impofture, from which flie could reap no Benefit, and to have been informed of what our Saviour had fpoken to his Difciples the Night in which he was betrayed, which does not appear, it muft have been either extreme Madnefs or Folly in ber to put the Credit of her Tale upon Events, fuch as the ap- pearing of the Refurrecflion,' 85 pearing of Chr\(i to his Difciples, and his afcending into Heaven, which were fo far from being in the Number of Contingciiciei, that they were not even within the Powers and Operations of what are called natural Caufes. The fame Anfwcr may be made to the Suppofuion, tha: the Appearance of Cbri^ ro the other Mary and Salome was likcwifc a Forgery of thofe Women j and with this I llial! conclude the fecond Head. §. 15. 3dly, Of the many Appearances of C^r//? to his Difciples, for the forty Days after his PalTion, the facrcd Writers have mentioned particularly but very few,- imagining, doubtlcfs, thofe few fufficient to prove that fundamental Article of the Chriftian Faith, the Refurredtion of Jefus. And indeed whoever attends TO the Nature and Variety of the Evidence contained even in thofe few Particulars, which they have tranfmitted to us, cannot, I think, but acknowlcge that thofe, who were appointed to be the Wilnefies of the Refurredtion, had every kind of Proof, that in the like Circumftances, either the moft Scrupulous could de- mand, or the moft Incredulous imagine. This I doubt not but to be able to make appear, in the Courfe of the following Ob- fcrvarionsj in which I fhall confine myfelf to the Examination of thofe Appearances only, whofc Circumftances the Evange- lical Hiftorians have thought proper to record, and upon which the Faith of the Apoftles was principally eftablifhed. The firft ofthele, though but barely mentioned by * ^i. Mark, is very particularly related by f St. L/v/re, in the following Words : A7!d beholdy tiuo of the?n nuent the fame Day to a Vil- lage cj//ei^Emmaus, 'which lyjj /r^^wjerufalem about threefcore Furlongs j and they talked together of all thefeThi7igs ivhich had happened j and it came to pafs-, that 'while they communed to- gethery and reafoncd^ Jefus hi?nfelf drenv near, and 'went •with the?n : But their Eyes 'were hofden that they Pjould not hnovj him. A7id he faid unto them-, What manner of Coiiimuni cations are theje^ that ye hai'e one to another-^ as ye •walk and arc fad ? And one of them^ 'whofe Name 'was Cleopas, a7if'weringy faid to himj Art thou only a Strajiger ;»Jerufalem, ajid hajl not kywwn the Things 'which are come to pafs there in thefe Days ? And he faid unto thcm^ What Thi7igs ? A7id they faid U7ito hnn, Co7t- (erning Jefus of Nazareth, 'which -was a Prophet 77iighty in Deed and Word before God and all the People ; and ho'W the Chief Priefli and our Rulers delivered hi7n to he conde7mied to Death ^and have crucified him. But 'we trufied that it had been He 'who fhould have redeemed Ifrael : A7id befde all this^ to-day is the ■^hivd Day fmce thefe Things 'were done. Tea-, and certain Women Ch. xvj. t Ch. xxiv. F 5 «{/♦ 26 Ohfervdtions on the Hlftory, ^c, alfo of our Company made us afiomfljed^ 'which were early at the Sepulchre j and -when they found not his Body, they came-) faying^ that they had alfo feen a Vifion of Angels^ which faid that he nuas aJi've. And certain of them that were with uSj went to the Sepulchre^ and found it even fo as the Women had faid j hut him they faw 7iot. Then he faid unto them^ O Foo/f, and flow of Heart to believe all that the Prophets have fpoken I Ought not Chrifl; to have fujfered thefe Things^ and to enter into his Glory ? And begin7iing at Mofes and all the Prophets^ he ex- pounded u?ito thejn in all the Scriptures the Things concerning himfelf And they drew nigh unto the Village whither they wenty and he made as though he would have gone farther. But they conf rained him, faying, Abide with us-, for it is towards Even- i?ig, and the Day is far fpent. And he went i?i to tarry with them. And it came to pafs as he fat at Meat with them^ he took Bread and blejfed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their Eyes were opened, and they knew him • a7id he va- nifJjed out of their Sight. And they faid one to another. Did not our Hearts burn within uSj while he talked with us by the Way^ and while he opened to us the Scriptures ? And they rofe up the fame Hour^ and returned to Jerufalem, and found the Eleven gathered together.^ and them thai were with them^ faying. The LiOrd is rifen indeed^ a7id hath appeared to Simon. Ajid they told what Things were done in the tVay^ and how he was knovjn of them in breaki?ig of Bread. Two Objedions have been made to the Credibility of this Fa£t : ift. That thefe Difciples knew not Jefus during the whole Time of his walking, converfing, and fitting at JVIeat with them : 2dly, That when upon his breaking Bread, &c. their Eyes were opened, and they are faid to have known him, he va- niflied fo fuddenly out of their Sight, that they feem not to have had Time enough to fatisfy thofe Doubts, which muft have arifen from their having converfed with him fo long without knowing him. To the firft of thefe Objeftions the Evangelift himfelf furnifhes us with an Anfwer, telling us, that their Eyes were- holden that they pould not know him ,• which, as it will not be pretended to be above the Operation of Him, whom the Apo- file of the Gentiles ftiles * the Power of God, Co have I already, fhewed it to be a Proceeding not unworthy of Him, whom the fame infpired Writer, in the fame Place, calls alfo the Wifdoin of God. He threw a Mift before their corporeal Eyes, that he might, by the pure and unprejudiced Light of Reafon only, re- move from before their internal Sight, that ftrong Delufion, which held their Underftanding from knowing the true Import of thofe Types and Prophecies, by which his Sufferings, Death and * Vide fup» Refiirredioa of the Refurredion. 87 Refurre^niion were forefhcwn. He difguifed himfelF, but laid open the Scriptures ; which till then had appeared to them in another Tcorni \ and having by an Expofition of Mofes and the Prophcrs, which made their Heartt burn -within them^ ftript oft tholb Veils and Colours, which the worldly and carnal-minded Scribes and Pharifees had laid over them, and fet them before their Eyes in their genuine Shape and Luftre, he in the next Place difclofed himfelf, and left them convinced, as well from the Scriptures, as from their Senfes, that he was rifen from the Dead. Which leads me to confider the 2d Objedtion, founded on his vanifliing out of their Sight fo foon after his difcovering himfeU to them. And here I fhall obferve, ift, That it appears they had no doubt but that the Perfon, who joined them on the Way to Emmausj and opened the Scriptures to them, was the fame, whom, upon his breaking of Bread, c^r. they took to be Jcjitf- 2dly, That upon their taking him to be Jejus, they mufl: have been fenfible of fome Alteration, either in thcmfclves or in him, by which they were enabled to difcover the Miftake they were under while they knew him not. 3dly, That Alteration mu(t to them have appeared fupernatural and miraculous, as it is im- plied to have been in this Phrafe, their Eyes -were opened^ a/id they knew Imn j as muft alfo his vanilliing (or difappearing) from their Sight. And as from thefe Particulars it could not but be evident to them, that the Perfon, whom, when their Eyes ijjere opened^ they, from his Countenance, "ice is mentioned by three of the Evangelifts, one relating one Particular, and another another j out of each of whofe Gofpels I fhall therefore take fuch Cir- •Cumftances as are not related by the others, and putting the fcattered Parts together, compofe from all of them one intire Relation. + Then the fame Day {viz. the Day of the Refurredion) at Evening^ being the frji Day of the Week, nvhe-a the Doors luere jjjut, inhere the Difciples ivere affembled for fear of the JewS) ** 'while they fat at Meat [immediately after the two Diiciples from Emmaus had finillied their Relation,] capjejeihs and food in the Midfl^ and faith unto them-, Peace be inith you. fj But they ivere terrified and affrighted^ and fuppofed that they had feen a Spirit. :\. Aiid he {upbraidi?tg them luith their Unbelief and Hardnefs of Heart) becaufe they believed not them^ ivho had feen him after he ivas rife-ri) [aid to them-, § Why are yon troubled, and vjhy do Thoughts arife 171 your Hearts ? Behold my Hands and Feet, that it is I m)felf: handle me and fee, for a Spirit hath * In locum. See alfo Drufius, ibid. f John xx. ver. 19. ** Mark xvi, ver. 14. || Luke xxiv. 36. J Mark xvi, 14* § Luke xxiv. 38. , of the Refurrecftlon. 89 not Flep (jvd Bones as ye fee me have. And ivhen he had t hut fpoketi, he (hewed them his Hands afid his Feet. And ivhile they yet belie'vednot for Joy-, and ivojideredy he f aid to thewj Have ye here arty Meat ? And they gave him a ?tccp of a broiled Fi/hy and of an Ho7ieycomb j a?id he took itj and did eat it before them. * Then ivcre the DJfeiples glad vjhen they fi'-jj the Lord. \ And he /aid to them, Thefc are the Vl^ords which I fpake unto you., •while I ivas yet vjith youy that all Things muft be fulfilled tvhich vjcre "Written in the Lavj of Mofes, and iji the FrophetSy and m the Ffalvis-, concerning me. Then ( 1| breathing on them, and faying. Receive ye the Holy Ghofl) ope7ied he their Under flan dings ^ that they might under fl and the Scriptures j aitd fiid to them^ Thus it is 'Written, and thus it behoved Chn^ to fuffer j and to rife from the Dead the third Day. — And ye are Witnejfes of thefe Things. To this I Hiall add the Appearance of Chrif to St. Thomas.^ that I may bring all the Proofs of the RefurrecStion under one View. § But Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didymus, -was riot with them when Jefus came. The other Difciples therefore [aid to him.^ We have feen the Lord : But he f aid to them. Except 1 pall fee in his Hands the Print of the Nails, a?id put my Finger into the Frint of the Nails, and thrufi my Hatid into his Side, I will not believe. A?id after eight Days, again his Difciples were within, and Thomas with them \ then came Jefus, the Doors being fjut, a?id flood in the Midji, a?:d faid, Peace be unto you. Then faid he to Thomas, Reach hither thy Finger, and behold my Hands j and reach hither thy Hand.^ and thrufi it into my Side j and be fiot faithlefs, but believifjg. And Thomas an- swered avd faid unto him. My Lord, and my God! ]e^\is faith M7itohini, Thomas, becaufe thou hafi feen me, tbou hafi believed : Blejfcd are they that have not feen ^ ayid yet have believed. The Proofs of Chrifs being rifen from the Dead, here ex- hibited to the Difciples, as fet forth in the above-cited Paflages, may be comprized under four Heads, ift, The Teftimony of thofe who had fee?i htm after he was rifen. adly, The Eviden- ces of their own Senfes. ■^dly. The cxadt Accomplifhment of the iVords which he hadfpoken to them, while he was yet with them. And 4thly, The julfilling of all the Things which were written la the Law of Mofcs, a?id m the Prophets, and in the * John XX. 20. f Luke .xxiv. 44. || John xx. 22. § John XX. 24. Ffalms, c>o Obfervatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. Tfalms-t concerning him. The Conclufivenefs of all winch Proofs I lliall endeavour to fliew in fome Obfervations upo» each of them. Upon the Firft J have nothing to add to what 1 have written already under the fecond general * Head, and the Beginning of this, excepting that our Lord, by upbraiding his Dlfciples for not believhzg thofe who had feen him after he was rlfen^ cook from them all Poffibility of doubting afterwards of the Truth and Reality of thofe Appearances, thus confirmed and verified by his own irrefragable Teftimony. Under the Words, thofe "who had feen him after he was rlfen^ is comprehended likewife his Appearance to Slwoji, mentioned both by f St. Lt4ke and § vSt. Faul^ as alfo that to the two Difciples on the Way to Bmtnaus. Upon the fecond Head {viz,, the Evidence of their ownSenfes), it might, one would imagine, be thought fufficienc to obferve, that the Difciples had the fame jt infallible Proofs (as the Author of the ABs calls them) of Chrlji's being alive after his Paffion, as they had ever had of his being alive before it. They faw him, faw the particular Marks of Identity in his Perfon and Countenance, in his Hands, Fee:, and Side, which had been pierced at his Crucifixion j and one of them, who had refufed to believe except he put his Finger vito the Print of ths NallSy andthruji his Haizdinto his Side, had chat farther Satisfac- tion, unreafonable as it was, granted him j they law him alfo eat, what they themfelves gave him, a Piece of a broiled Flp and an Honeycomb ; they heard him fpeak, and were by him com- inanded to handle hlm^ and fee that he had Fielli and Bones , a Command ** which, doubtlefs, they obeyed. And yet all thefe infallible Tokens or Proofs, thefe TiKyAi^ta., certa & Indubltata fgnay nave been fee alide by fome pretended Phiiofophers and philofophizing Divines, upon no better Grounds, than their own vain Inferences from thefe Words of St. yohn. Then f^7;;e Jefus, the Doors being flnit^ and food In the Mldfl : For taking for granted, what as Phiiofophers it better became them to have proved, that it is fuggefled in thefe Words that Jef^s paiTed thro' * See the zd Head, Of the Appearances of Chrifl to the Women ; an 1 the 3d, Of his Appearance to the two Difciples on the Way to Emmaus. -}- Chap. xxiv. 34. § i Gor. xv. 5. 11 Afts i. 3. IV 'TsoKKoii rsx/y.He/o/f, by many certain and un- doubted Proofs or Tokens, ^intllian from Arijhtle lays, TiKufi- Sio, are ijidubitafa ^ certijfima ftgna, as the AAions of fpeaking, walking, eating, and drinking are the Tsjc^ai'ie/^i [undoubted Signs] of Life. ** The Words as ye fee me ha^je, ftrongly imply, that they had receifcd the Satisfaction offered them by feeling his Hands and Feet. the c/' /Z/^ Refurredlion. pr the Walls, or Doors, while they remained fliut, without eirhcr fuffering in his own Body, or cauling in ihcm any Change, during his fo paffing i and having difcovercd, " that for one *' lohd or material Body to paG thro' another folid or material '* Boay, without injuring the Form of either, both the pafTivc « and pafiTmg Body remaining the lame, ij contrary to all the ' Laws of Nature," they have concluded, that the Body of Chriji was not a real, ;. e. a material Body, and confequently was incapable ot being felt by St. Thomas, 6cc. From whence It will follow, that the whole Story is abilird and falfe. In Anlwer to this, I deny that the Words, Jcfus came, the Doors hewgjhut, and ftood /« the Mtdft, imply that Jejus paffed through the If^alls or Doors, -while they rej;/awed Pjut^ -without either J ufferwg tn his own Body, or caufmg in them any Chav-re during his jo pajftvg. They Iccm, indeed, to imply, that he came in miracuioudy, though not by a Miracle that contains a Contradidfion or Impombiliry ^ and I am perfuaded that had not St. John intended to fignify that he came in miraculoully he would not twice have mentioned that otherwife trifling Cir- cumrtance of the Doors being (Ijut. But tho' a Denial without ^root be a proper and fufficient Anfwer to an AfTertion without Troof, yet I will give fome Reafons why the Interpretation contended for by thefe Philofophers cannot be the true one. i' T^'-'r "?^ ^° ^^ prefumed, that St. Johri, who with the other pifciplcs had received fenfible Evidence of the Reality t. e. the Materiality of Chri^\ Body, fliould be abfurd enough to imagine at the fame time, that it was a fpiritual Body ^ which he mult have done, had he thought that Jefus palTed through the Walls or Doors, while they remained Oiur, without cither luxiering in his own Body, or cauling in them any Chan'^e, during his fo paffing ; it requiring no great Depth of Philolo- phy to undcrftand it to be impofTible, even to Omnipotence, to caufe the Body of a Man to penetrate thro' a Wall or Door, without cauhng fome Change or Alteration in the one or the other. Neither (-dly) is it to be prefumed, that St. Joh7i, in- tending, as It IS plain he did, by relating the Srory of St. Tho- Vi^s, to acquaint the World, that he iThomas-] as well as the other Difciples, had by feeling and examining his Maftcr's Body feniible Evidence of his being really, /. e. bodily, rifen from the Dead, Ihould be weak enough to infert in his Relation a Cucumllance, which tended to prove that the Body which St. T/.?ow^f IS luppofed to have felt, was not a material but a fpiritual Body, and conlequently incapable ot being felt and handled. Contradidions and Abfurdiries are not to be prefumed in any Writer. On the contrary, as it is fuppofed that every Man in pis Senfes has lomc Meaning in what he fpeaks or writes, lo by that p^ Ohfewatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. that Meaning only (which is beft coUefted from the Drift and Tenor of the whole Difcourfe) is theSenfe of any anibiguous Word or Sentence in it to be determined \ and every Interpre- tation of luch ambiguous Word or Sentence, as can be fhewn to be inconfilient with the plain Meaning of the Speaker or Writer, is, for that Reafon, to be rejected. This Juftice, Candour and Common Senfe require, ^dly, By the Way of Reafoning made ufe of upon this Occafion by thefe free-rcafon- mg Philofophers, the Spirituality of the Walls, or Doors, may as well be inferred as the Spirituality of Cbrift''s Body ; for Cbrifi's Body being proved to be material, by being handled by his Difciples, &c. and it being admitted that he penetrated through the Walls or Doors, while they remained fliut, without fuffering, &c. it will follow that the Walls or Doors had fpiritual Bodies j fince it is contrary to the Laws of Nature, that one folid or material Body fhould pafs, 4« Ohfervations on the Hiftory, ^c, convince them that he was really, /. e. bodily, rifen from the Dead ? The Difciples therefore, who by the mighty Signs and Wonders done by him before his Padion, were convinced that God was with him, could not, upon this Occafion, but draw the fame Conclufiion from his entering miraculoully into the Room while the Doors were fhur, and as miraculoufly perceiving the fecret Doubts and Reafonings of their Hearts : And tho', not under- ftanding what was meant by rifing from the Dead, they had at firft fufpeded him to be a Spirit i yet having been fatisfied of the contrary by handling his Body, they had no more Reafon to dif- truft the Evidence of their Senfes, than they had formerly, when after having feen him inalk upon the Waves *, and having from thence fallen into the like Imagination of his being a Spirit^ they had been convinced of their Miftake by the fame Kind of Proofs, *viz.. by feeing, hearing, and feeling him, eating and converfing "with him in the fame Manner as with other Men. And indeed there is no Intimation in the facred Writers of their having had, upon either of thefe Occafions, any Sufpicion of Fraud or Im- poflure. They were (imple plain Men, Strangers to vain and vifionary Speculations j and went upon thofe Grounds, upon which all Men aB^ however fome may talk^ who have reafoned themfelves out of all the Principles of Reafon. Having there- fore throughout all their paft Lives trufled to the Information of their Senfes, they could not avoid believing them upon the pre- fent Occafion, eipecially when they were commanded to believe them, by one whofe tranfcendent Knowlege and Power mani- iefted him to have a thorough Infight into the Frame of Man, as well as a fupreme Authority over the Laws of Nature. §. 17. 3dly, The exaft Accomplifhment of the Words, in which our Saviour foretold to his Difciples his Sufferings, Death, and Refurred:ion, will evidently appear by comparing the Words of thofe Prophecies with the feveral Circumftances of thofe Events. And therefore, to enable the Reader to make this Comparifon with the greater Eafe, I fliall firft fet down the feveral Particulars of the PalTion, and Death, &c. of Chrifi^ and then produce the Prophecies correfponding to them. The Sufferings of Jefus-, properly fo called, took their Begin- ning from the Treachery of f Judas-, one of the Tijoelve^ nvho (as it is related by all the Evangelifts), having received a Band of Soldiers^ &cc. from the Chief Priejis, with whom he had bar- gained for thirty Pieces of Silver to deliver him up, ivent vjith them to a Garde?:, ivhiiher he k7ienu Chrift ivas accufomed to re- * Matt. xiv. i" Matt. xxvi. Mark xiv. Luke xxii. John xviii. Jort, cf the Refiirrcflion. 9f /irf, and there by the Sign agreed on [a Kifs) having pointed him out, put him into their Hands, who fcizingon him immediately, carried him before the Hi^h PrieJ}, &c. This Fad was leveral times foretold by Jefus -^ at firfl; more obfcurely, as in thefe Words, * Have vot I chojoi yuu T-welve ? and one of you is a Devil-, Aid(io\i^, an Informer? and in cherc> f The So7i of Man /ball he betrayed ifiio the Ha fids of Meyt • and in others of the fame general Import; then more plainly at his laft Supper, to his Dii'ciples, who, upon his laying, || Verih I fay unto you that one of you jhall betray me^ were exceeding jbr- rov:fulj and began every one of them to fay to him^ Lord is it I ^ la Anfwer to which he faid, He that dippeth his Handvjitb vte 171 the Di/h) the fame fjall betray me. Thefe Words, as Grotius 4: obfervcs, muft be taken to come fomewhac nearer to a Declaration of the Perfon who was to betray JcjitSi than ihofe others, 0;ie of you f Jail betray v/e : " Wheretoie, adds •' that learned Commentator, I am perluaded that Jtid^s fat '' near to Chrip:., fo as to eat out of the fame Difh or Mefs *' with him, there being feveral Diflies or Mcfl,es on the Table." This Conjedure is indeed very probable, and gives great Light to this whole Matter : Upon v^hich we may obfervc flill far- ther, that as the Difciples, even after this Declaration, were frill in Doubt of whom he fpake, it is evident there muft have been others befides Judas-, who § dipped their Hafids if/ the fame Dijh vjith Jefus-, otherwife that Defcription had fufficienrly made him known, and there had been no Occafion for Simon Peter to have beciconed to that Difciple, vjho was leaning on the Bojom of Jejus-, that he fliould a^ him of whom he fpoke * In Compliance therefore with this Demand made to him by Sr. yohn in the Name of all his Difciples, and to put an End at once to all their Doubts, Jef»i told them he would point out the very Perfon to them, faying, He it is-, to whom 1 Jhall give a Sop ay/v« J have dipped it j and when he had dipped the Sop^ he gave it to Judas Jfcariot the Son of Simon ; who appearing I'urprized at be- mg thus pronounced a Traitor, cither for his farther Satisfaction, or to diflemble the Wickedncfs of his Heart, himfelf asked Jefas^ if it was He ; To whom Jefus anfwered, Thou fayefl. " And " thus (concludes Grotius) Chrifi gave Proofs of his Forcknow- ** lege by Degrees; firft including the future Traitor in the *' Number of the Twelve; then in the leflcr Number of thofc *' who fat next to him ; and laQIy, by certain and precife Marks, " pointing out the very Perfon himfelf." To which I muft add, that in order to imprint this Prophecy ftrongly on the Minds * John vJ. 70. ■\ Matt. xvii. 22. || Matt. x.wi. 21. Mark xiv. x8. Lukexxii. 21. % See Grot, iji loc. § John xiy. 22. ot" 96 Obfervations on the Hiflory, Gfr. of his Difciples, he introduced it with applying to himfelf a Paf- fage of the Pfalms, * He that eateth Bread 'with me, hath lift up his Heel agaiiifi me ; and with thefe remarkable Words, Now I (ell jou before it come^ that •wheti it is come to pajs ye ma believe that I am he. 2. The next Incident is the Defertion of the Difciples, who, as we learn both froth St. Mattheiu \ and St. Mark §, upon their Matter's being feized by the Soldiers and Servants of the Chief Prieft, who came with Judas^ all immediately forjook him and fed. Of this their Defertion Jefus had forewarned them but a very fliort time before it came to pafs, and that in the very Pride and Confidence of their Faith upon their profeffing to believe, that II he came forth from God: Then faith Jeiiis to them. All ye (Jjall be offended becaufe of me this Night, or (as it is in St. John) Jball be fcattered every Man to his own Home ; for it is written, I will fnite the Shepherdy and the Sheep of the Flock fjall be fcattered abroad. The third Particular is Peter's difowning Chrifl, recorded in all the Evarigelifts; by whofe Accounts it appears, that Teter, following Chrijl at a Diftance to the Palace of the High Prieft, was let into the Court by the . Means of St. John, who fpake to her that kept the Door, a?id brought in Peter ; where ilandino^ among the Croud while his Mafter was under Examina- tion, he was three fcveral times charged by fome who were about him with belonging to Chrifij which he as often denied, zffirming with Oaths and ImprecatioHSj that he did not fo much as know him ; and immediately after his third Denial the Cock crew t and then the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter, and Peter reTne?nbered the Word of the Lord — andwe7it out and wept Utterly. The Prophecy is as follows : ** Verily 1 fay to thef fPeter], This Day, even this Night, before the Cock crow twice thou fJjalt deny [or difown] me thrice. Here we fee the Nature, the Time, and the Repetitions of Peter's Offence precifely de- fined and limited. And I take the Suddennefs and Sincerity of his Return to his former Faith in his Mafter, implied in his weeping bitterly upon the Recolleftion of his Crime, and of his Matter's Words, to be fore-fagnified in this PafTage of St. 4- Luke, And the Lord f aid, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath de fired to have you, that he tnay fift you as Wheat ; but I have prayed for thee^ that thy Faith fail not, and whefi thou art fow- ffr/e/[£7r/rpi4«tf, returned back again to the Faith], y?y^;;^//:'e» thy Brethren. * Pf. xli. 9. t ^^^"- ^-"^vi. 56. § Mark xiv. 50. II Matt. xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27. compared with John xxvl. 32* t Lukexxii. 61. ** Mark xiv. 31. > 4- Ch. xxii. 31, ^■^ ■*■ 4. The of the Refurredlon. ^j 4 The fourth Event foretold by Chri^^ is his being delivered to the High Priefts, and by them to Vontius Filate ihe Roman Governor, together with many Particulars of his Sufferings, from that Time ro his Crucifixion. All which Things are re- lated by the Evangelifts, as follows : * Avd they that had laid hold on Jefus led him a'vjay to Caiaphas the High Friefi^ where the Scribes and the Elders were afifembled \ who, after having examined fome Witnefles, from whofe Evidence nothing criminal could be made out againft him, at length adjured him by the living God to tell thevt^ Whether he -was the Chrift the Sofi of God. To him Jefus faith. Thou hajf faid. Then the High Triefi rent his Cloathsj faying. He hath fpoken Blafphemy : What farther Need have ive of Witnejfes ? Behold noiv you have heard his Blafphemy i What think ye ? They anfivered and faid-, He is guilty of Death. Then did they fpit in his Face, and buffeted him-, and others fmote him with the "Palms of their Hands-, f^yi^Zy Prophejy to uSj thou Chrift, ivho is he that fmote thee. f Andivhen they had bound him,they led him away to Pontius Pilate, the (Roman) Governor j who, overcome by the Clamours of a tumultuous Multitude, at laft delivered him to be crucified, after having declared him innocent five feveral times, and endeavoured in vain to prevail upon the Jews to let him go free, or to be contented with his having fcourged him. Then the Soldiers of the Governor took Jefus into the common Hall, and gathered to him the whole Band of Soldiers ; and they f ripped him^ and put on him a Scarlet Robe ; and when, they had platted aCrownofTfoorns, they put it upon his Head^ and a Reed in his Right Hand. And they bowed the Knee before him, afid mocked him, Jaying, Hail King of the Jews. And they fpit upon him, and took the Robe off from him, and put his own Raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. The Words, in which many of thefe Particulars were fore- told, are thefe \ Beh»ld, we go up to Jerufalem, a?id the Son of Man fball be betrayed to the Chief ?rie(ts, and to the Scribes, and they Jhall condemn htm to Death. Andjhall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock.^ and to fcourge, and to crucify him. \\ Iq St. Mark it is, They [the Gentiles^ pall mock him, and jh all fcourge him^ and jhall fpit upon him, and (hall kill him. § In Sr. Luke, For he Jhall be delin^ered to the Gentiles, and (ball be mocked, and fpitefully entreated, and fpit on^ and they fhall fcourge him, and put him to Death. Of hiJ Sufferings from the * Mat. xxvi. 57. Mar. xiv. 53. t Mat. xxvii. :J: Mat. «x. 18. II Ch. ix. 34, § Cb. xviii. jz. G Elders c)8 Ohfervations on the Hiftory, ^c. Elders and Chief Priefts he fpoke in chefe Words : * Trom that Time forth began Jefus to fjeiu to his Difcibles hanv he mu(i go to Jerutalem, andfuffer many Things of the Elders and Chief Pritfis, and Scribes J and be killed^ &C. 5. His Crucifixion and Death are mentioned in every one of rHe laft-cited PafTages, and in many others up and down the Evangelifts, either in exprefs Words, or in Figures and Allufions, which I chink it is not neceflary to infert, no more than the Re- lation of thofe Events, which are too well known to be dif- pured. One Proof however of his Death I fhall here beg leave to mention, becaufe it has not been much attended to by common Readers. Sl John, Chap. xix. ver. 33, 34, after having rela- ted that the Soldiers brake the Legs of the ttvo Thieves, who 'U'ere crucified with Jefus, adds, But ivhen they came to Jefas, and Ja'w that he luas dead already-^ they brake ?iot his LegSy but one of the Soldiers nvith a Spear pierced his Side^ and forthwith came thereout Blood a7id Water j and he that faw it, bare Re- cord, &c. Upon thefe Words Beza makes the following Ob- fervarion. Among the Reafons that induced St. John to aflert this Fad: with fo much Emphafis, this ought not to be paffed over, which Erajmus alfo touches upon ; namely, that by this Wound the Death of Chrifl is fully proved. For the Water flowing out of that Wound in the Side, was an Indication of the Spear's having penetrated the Tericardium, in which that Water is lodged, and which being wounded, every Animal muft neceffarily die immediately. This Fadt therefore was inferred to obviate the Calumnies of the Enemies of the Truth, who might otherwife pretend that Jefus was taken down from the Crofs before he was dead, and thence call in queftion the Reality of his Rcfurredlion from the Dead. 6 Of his Rifing from the Dead I need not here again pro- dnce the Proofs, having fet them forth fo copioufly in all the preceding Parts of this Difcourfe i but concerning the Evidence of his rifing precifely on the third Day, I think it proper here to add an Obfervation or two. That he did not rife before the third Day, is evident from what St. Matthew relates of the Watch or Guard being fet at the Door of the Sepulchre. The PaiTage is this : f Now the next Day, that followed the Day of the FreparatiojZf the Chief Friefis and Fharifees came together to Pilate, faying. Sir, we remember that that Deceiver faid, whilfi he was yet alive, After three Days I will rife again : Command therefore that the Sepulchre be made fure until the third Day, * Mat: xvi. 20. f Chap, xxvii. 63. left o/* //'^ Refurredion. P9 left his Dijlif/es come l?y Night and /lejl him away^ and fay to the People^ He is rijhi from the Dead; Jo the laji Error jball he luorjc than the firjt^ &c. From tlicfc Words I obfcrvc, ill, That the Watch or Guard was i'et at the Sepulchre the next Day after the Death and Burial oiChrift. zdly, It ii mofl: probable this was done on, what we call, the Evening oF that Day ,• bc- caufe that was a Hi^h'day, not only zSahhath, but the Pajfover-^ and it can hardly be imagined that the Chief Priefbs, and cfpe- cially the Pharifees, who pretended to greater Stridnefs and Pu- rity than any other Seft of the Jews-, lliould, before the Religious Duties of the Day were over, dehle themfelves by going to Pi- late ; for that they were very fcrupulous upon that Point appears from what • St. John fays of their not entering inro the Hall of Judgment (the Praitoriumy where Pilate^ Tribunal was) the Day before, Icfi they fbouU be de-filed^ and fo kept from eating the PaflTover. And if it fhould be faid, that the Pafchal Lamb being always eaten in the Night, all their Scruples upon that Account were over, and they at Liberty to go to Pilate in the Morning, or at what other Time they pleafed; I anfwer, that allowing the Objection, it is ftill farther to be confidered that this was the Sabbath Day j and can it be fuppofed that the Pharifees, who cenfurcd JeJ'us for healing-, avd his Dijciples for plucki?7g and eat' it/g the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath Day-, would profane that Day, and defile themfelves, not only by going ro Pilate^ but wi'h the Soldiers to the Sepulchre of ChriJI, and fetting a Seal upon tiie Door of the Sepulchre, before the Religious Duties of that folemn Day were paft ? efpecially as they were under no kind of Necellity of doing it before the Evening i though it was highly expedient for them not to delay it beyond ih.it Time. Both whicri Points I fliall now explain. ye/fts had faid, whilft he was yet alive, that he fhould rife again from the Dead on the third Day ; which Prophecy would have been equally falfified by his rifing on the firft, or fecond, as on the fourth. If his Body therefore was not in the Sepulchre at the Clofe of the fecond Day ^ the Chief Priefts and Pharifees would gain their Point, and might have afiTcrted boldly, that he was an Im- poftor^ from whence it will follow, that it was Time enough for them to vifit the Sepulchre at the Clofe of the fecond Day. On the other hand, as he had declared he fiiould rife on the third Day ^ it was neceffary for them (if they apprehen led what they gave out, that hisDifciples would come and flc^I him away) to guard againft any fuch Attempt on that Day, znafor that Day only. And, as the third Day began from the Evening or Sliutting-in of the (e- Cpnd, according to the Way of computing ufcd among the Jei:^iy * Ch.xviii. 28. X G 2 iC I'OO Obfervattons on the Hiflory, ^c. it was as neceflary for them not to delay vifiting the Sepulchrej and fetting their Guard, till after the Beginning of that third Day ; for if they had come to the Sepulchre, though ever fo fhort a Time after the third Day was beguny and had found the Body miffing, they could not from thence have proved him animpoftor. And accordingly St. Matthew tells us they went thither on the Jecond Day, which was the Sabbath ; and though the going to Pilate^ and with the Roman Soldiers, to the Sepulchre, and fealing up the Srone, was undoubtedly a Profanation of the Sabbath, in the Eyes of the ceremonious Pharifees, yet might they excufe themfelves to their Confciences, or (what feems to have been of greater Con- sequence in their Opinions) to the World, by pleading the Ne- ceffity of doing it that Day. And furely nothing could have car- ried them out on fuch a Bufinefs, on fuch a Day, but the urgent Neceffity of doing it thea, or 7i0t at all. And as I have fhewn above, that this urgent Neceffity could not take place till the Cloje of the feco7id Day-, and juft, though but one Moment^ before the Beginning of the third j it will follow, from what hath been faid, that in the Eftimation of the High Priefts and Pharifees, the Day on which they fet their Guard was thz fecondDzy -^ and the next Day confeauently was the third -^ to the End of which they re- quefled Titate to command that the Sepulchre might be made lure. Here then we have a Proof, furnifhed by the Murderers and Blafphemers of Cbri^ themfelves, that he was not rifen before the third Day ; for it is to be taken for granted, that before they fealed up the Sepulchre, and fet the Guard, they had infpeded it, and feen that the Body was ftill there. Hence alfo are we enabled to anfwer the unlearned Cavils that have been raifed upon thefe Expreffions, three Days and three Nights, and after three Days- For it is plain that the Chief Priefts and Pharifees, by their going^ to the Sepulchre on the Sabbath Day, underftood that Day to be the fecoTid:, and it is as plain by their fetting the Guard from that Time, and the Reafon given to Pilate for their fo doing, viz. tefi the Difciples Pjould come in the Night ajtd fieal him away, that they conftrued that Day, which was juft then beginning, to be the Day limited by Chrift for hisRifing from the Dead, i.e. the third Day. For had they taken thefe Words of our Saviour, The Son of Man pall be three Days and three Nights in the Heart of the Earth, in their ftridl literal Senfe, they need not have been in fuch Hafte to fet their Guard ; fince, according to that Inter- pretation, there were yet two Days and two Nights to come; neither, for the fame Reafon, had they any Occafion to appre- hend ill Confequences from the Difciples coming that Nighty and ftealing away the Body of their Mafter. So that, unlefs it be fuppofed that the Chief Priefts and Pharifees, the moft learned Sed among the yews, did not underhand the Meaning of a Phrafe of the Refurrcdiion. loi Phrafe in their own Language ; or that they were fo impious and impolicick as to profane the Sabbath and defile themfclves without any Occafion ; and fo fenfelefs and impenincnt as to ask a Guard of ?':late for watching the Sepulchre that Night andDay^ to pre- vent the Difciples ftealing away the Body of Chriji the Night or the Day following ; unlefs, I fay, thefe ftrange Suppofitions be admitted, we may fairly conclude, that in the Language, and to the Underftanding of the Jetvsy three Days and three Nights, and after three Days, were equivalent to three Days, or in three Days. That he rofe on tne third Day, the Tcllimony of the Angels, and his own Appearances to the Women, to Simon, and to the two Difciples on the Way to Emrnaus^ which all happened on that Day, are clear and fufficient Proofs. The Prcdidtions of Chriji, relating to this miraculous Event, are many ; fome of which only I fhall here fet down, for Bre- vity's fake. * Aiid as they (the three Difciples) came do-wnfrom the Moun^ tain (where Chri^: had been transfigured) Jefus charged them, fay- ing. Tell the Vifion to no Man^ until the Son of Man be rifen again from the Dead. f But after I am rifen^ I will go before you into Galilee. ^ From that Time forth began Jefus to (hev) to his Difciples, hoiu that he mufi go Jerufalem, and fuffer many Things of the El- ders and Chief Priejis and Scribes, and be killed, and be raifed again the third Day. H Behold ive go up /o Jerufalem, and the Son of Man fhall be betrayed to the Chief Priefts, and to the Scribes, and they fljall C07idemn him to Death, and Piall deliver him to the Gentiles-, to viock and to fcourge^ and to crucify him^ and the third Day he /ball rife again. I fhall defer what Remarks I have to make upon thefe Pre- dictions, and their AccompliOimenr, till I come to confider the Prophecies contained in the Writings of Mofes, and the Trophets^ and the Pfalms^ relating to the Sufferings, and Death, and Refur^ reclion of Chriji ; for thofe only belong to the prefent Subjedt. §. 1 8. 4.thly, The fourth Evidence appealed to by our Saviour, was the Teftimony of the Scriptures j in which are contained, not only the Promifes of a MefTiah, and Saviour of the World, but the Marks and Defcriptions by which he was to be known. Of thefe there are many, and thofe fo various, fo feemingly in- • Matt. Kvii. 9. I Chap. xxvi. 32. J Chap. xvi. zzi tl Matt. xjc. 18, 19. G 3 compatible I02 Obfervatiom on the Hiflory, &c» compatible in one and the fame Perfon, and exhibited under fuch a Multitude of Types and Figures, that as it was abfurd for a mere Mortal to pretend to anfwer the Charader of the Mefliah in all Points, fo was it difficult to thofe, who by fome Expref- iions of the Prophets were filled wiih the Idea of a glorious, pow- erful, and triumphant Deliverer, to underftand the Intimation given in others of his Sufferings and Death. But this Difficulty proceeds rather from the Prejudices and Blindnefsof the Interpre- ters, than from any Degree of Obfcurity in the latter more than in the former. His Sufferings and Death, and bis offering him- felf up as a Sacrifice for Sin, are as plainly fee forth in the Wri- tings of the Prophets, and in the Types of the Mofakal Ceremo- nies, as his Power and his Priefthood : And if the Jeivs^ and even the Difciples, poflefled with the like vain and carnal Imagina- tions, turned their Views and Expe '' prefented of the Refurredion. 103 « prefented by the Serpent-, and God. Difagrec we could not '' about their Icvcral Parts. The Serpent is evidently the Tempter ; " the l^lan and the Woman are the Offenders • God the Judge oi *' all three. The Punilhmcnts inflidlcd on the Man zndWoma?* '' have no Obfcnrity in them ; and as to the Serpent's Sentence, *' we fhouid think it reafonable to give it fuch a Senfe as the " whole Series of the Story requires. " Tis no unreafonable Thing furcly to demand the fame '' Equity of you in interpreting rhc Scnle of AlofeSy as you would " certainly ule towards any o'hcr antient Writer. And if the '' fame Equity be allow'd, this piain Fa^ undeniably arifes from " the Hil^ory; That Man was tempred to Difobedience, and " did difobey, and forfeited all Title to Happinefs, and to Life " irfelfj That God judged />/'w, and ihc Deceiver Jiiri;K whore it fhall be. Laftly, let the Prophets teach us, § " that he fjall he brought like a Lamb to the Slaughter, and <« be cut off out of the Land of the Living ; all the Evangelifis *' will declare how like a Lamb he fufFered, and the very Jews « will acknowlege that he was cut off." Thefe Inftances, I imagine, are fufficient to fhew, that ac- cording to the Prophets, thus it behoved Chrift to fuffer, and to die. That his Burial alfo, and his Refurredion, were in like manner foretold, will appear by the following PafTages. Ijaiah, in| the above-quoted Chapter, Ver, 9. fpeaks of his Burial in thefe Words, yind he made his Grave with the Wicked, and -with the Rich in his Death, the circumftantial Accomplish- ment of which is too remarkable not to be taken notice of. 4. The Power of Life and Death had been taken from the yews, and lodged in the Hands of the Row<»» Governor, from the Time that Augup:us annexed Judea to the Province of Syria , which was done fome Years after the Birth of Chrifi. The Chie£ Priefts therefore and Rulers of the Jews were obliged to apply to Pontius Pilate^ not only to put Jefus to Death, but for Leave to take down his Body and thofe of the two Malefaftors exe- cuted with him, that they might not remain upon the Crojs ott the Sabbath Day. For among the Romans (with whom Cruci- fixion was the ufual capital Punifhment for Slaves, Robbers, <^c. under the Degree of Roman Citizens) it was cuftomary to let the Carcafe hang on the Crofs till it was either confumed by Time, or devoured by Birds and Beafts. Upon a Petition however of the executed Perfons Friends or Relations, Leave to bury them was feldom or never refufed; and hence Pilate without any Difficulty yielded to the Application of the Jews for taking down the Bodies, and gave Permiflion to Jofeph of Arimathea to bury that of Jefus. What became of the Bodies of the two Thieves * Pf. Ixix. 21. f John xix. 28. Matt, xxvii. 48, (I Pf* xxii. 1 8. X John xix. 23, 24. ^ If. liii. 7, 8. 4. See Pearfon on the Creed, Article 4^ after of the Refarredion. 1 15 afcer they were taken down from the CroG is nor mentioned by any of the Evangelilb. That they were buried is almoll cerrain ; becaufe not only the Cuftom of the Jc-^s^ but the cxpreii Words of Mefei * required, If a Man have coviniittcd a Sin -worthy of Death-) ayta he he put to Death., avd thou hatig him on a Tree^ his Body jhall not reviain all Ni^ht upon the Tree^ but thou (halt 171 any ivife bury him that Day-, that thy Land be not defiled. Which Precept was doubtlefs the Rcafon of their petitioning FiUte to have the Bodies taken from the Crois that Day, enforced by the additional Confidcration of the par;icular Solemnity and Sanctity of the Pafchal Sabbaih then immediately enfuing. And that they were buried in or near the Place of Cru- cifixion isj I think, moft probable for the following Reafons. Firft, The Place where they were executed was called Golgotha^ i. e. t <» Place of a Skull, a Name in all likelihood derived to ic from the Number of Skulls, which (if it was the ufual Place of Execution, as from this Inftance it is molt reafonable to conclude it was,) might frequently have been found there, either fallen from Bodies left to putrity on the Crofs, or turned up by the openmg the Ground for fuch Malefadlors as the Governor permitted to be buried. Secondly, The Pafchal Sabbath J was drawing on apace. For as among the Jews the Day was always reckoned to commence from the Evening, fo, for the greater Caution, were they acculiomed to begin the Sabbatical Reft from all kind of Work an Hour before Sun-fet ; but on this Day, which was the Preparation of the Paffover, the holy Hours (if I may fo fpeak) began ftiil earlier • becaufe the ** Pafchal Lambs were aKvay.s llain between the ninth and eleventh Hours, within which Space of Time the whole Multitude of Jewi repaired to the Teinple ff , where alone the Paffjver was killed, and having there otlered the Blood and Entrails of the Pafchal Victims, they brought back the remaining Carca(e to drefs and eat it at their own Homes, ac- cording to the Mofaical InOitution. The Jcjjs could not then be much prefled in Time, for the ninth Hour was begun before our Saviour expired, and the Soldiers coming after that Time to the two Maiefaclors found them not yet dead i and theretore by a cruel kind ot iMercy to put an End to a painful Life, and to difpatch them the more fpcedily, broke their Legs ^^^ Coup^de Grace obtained for thofe miferable Wretches of the Roman Go- vernor by the Jeivs, and intended likewifc for hirn, who, tho' innocent, and delivered up by their Malice to that infamous and horrid Death, yet v/ith a Benevolence and Generoiity unparal- lelled, interceded for thctii even upon thcCiofs, in thwic con> * Deut. xxi. 22,23. f Matt, xxvii. 33. J Grotiu?, ad ver. 58. xxvii. Mat. *^ Ibid.xxvi. Mat. z. ft Lamy Dii- kri. de Pafc^. H paCGonj.i« 114 Obfervations on the Hiftory, &c. paflionate Term?, * Father^ forgive them^ for they hiO'V) not rvhat they do ! Now as Jefti^-, and confequently the two Thieves, did nor expire till after the ninth Hour, as the jenvs were obliged to repair to the Temple before the eleventh Hour, at the Ex- piration of which the Sabbatical Reft from all kinds of Work be- gan y and as they were follicitous that the Bodies fhould be taken down and buried before the Commencement of that high and. folemn Day ; it is moft likely they buried them at or near the Place where they were crucified,* becaufe they had not Time to carry them to any great Diftance^ becaufe Golgotha, from its Name, feems to have been a Place of Burial for thofe who had been executed there ^ and becaufe the Want of Time is the very Reafon given in the Evangelift for laying the Body of Je/us in the Sepulchre of Jofeph of Arimathaa^ which was near adjoin- ing, as St. John tells us in thefe Words : \ Now in the Place inhere he nuat crucified there 'was a Garden, and in this Garden a neiv Sepulchre) ivherein luas never Man yet laid. There laid they Jefus therefore becaufe of the Jews Preparation, for the Sepulchre was nigh at hand. Here then we may fee and admire the exacfl Completion of this famous Prophecy of Ifaiah : He 7/iade his Grave with the IVicked, and with the Rich in his Death. He was buried like the Wicked Companions, of his Death under the general Leave granted to the Jews for taking down their Bodies from the Crofs ; and was like them buried in or near the Place of Execution. But here the Diftindion forefeen and fore- told many hundred Years before, took place in favour oi Jefus ^ who, though numbered with the Tranfgrefforst had done no Vio- lence., neither was there any Deceit in his Mouth : For Jofeph of Arimathaa :^, a rich Man, and an honourahle Counfellor, ** and Nicodemus, a Man of the Pharifees, a Ruler of the^ews, a Ma- fierofKrzclj confpired f-f to ?nake his Grave with the Rich, by wrapping his Body in Linen- cloths, with a Mixture of Myrrh and Aloes., about an hundred Found Weight, and laying it in a new Sepulchre hewed or hollowed into a Rock, which Jofeph of Ari- matkaa had caufed to be made for his own Ufe ,• Circumftances which evidently fhew, that he was not only buried by the Rich, but like the Rich alio according to the Prophecy. The Words oi David %% foretelling theRefurredtion ofChrijiy together with St. Petefs e-omment upon them, I (hall infert in- t re as they ftand in the Second Chapter of the J^s, the 25 th and following Verfes. * Luke xxiii. 34. f Chap. xix. 41, 42. % Mat. xxvii. 51. ** Mark xv. 43. +f Ifa, xxxi. 10, 19, 39, 40. 4^ P^^« ^^'^^ 8, &c. For of the Refurrection. 1 15 For David fpeaketh conrer7ting him^ I forefaw the Lord al-w^ys hrfore fnyF,:ce; for he ts on my Right- ha?td^ that I Ihouldnot be moved: Therefore did my Heart rejoice^ and myTongue 'ixjjs glad y moreover aljo my Flefh Jball reji in Hope^ becaufe fhou ivilt not leave viy Soul i7i He/l, jieithcr iv:/t thou fuffer thy Holy One to fee Corruption. Thou hajl 7>iade knovjn to me the Ways of Life : Thou hafi made me full of Joy •vjith thy Countenance. Alen and Ere' threv.^ let me freely fpcak to you of the Patriarc'y David, that he is both dead and buried, and his Sepulchre is -with us to this Day ; therefore beif/g a Prophet., and knowing that God had fiuorn "ju.t'j an Oath to him^ that of the Fruit of his Loinsy according to th$ Flefhy he ivould raife up Chrift to fit upon his Throne \ he feeing this before.^ fpaks of the UefurreSiion made good to them by the Comina; of ihe Holy Gholt. Upon thelc two Points I beg Leave to (ay a few Words, for the better underftanding fomc Palfagcs relating to them in St. Matthew, St. Lukcy and the ^i^s of the Apoftics. §. 20. All the Males among the yews were by the Law of Aloja Xj commanded to repair thrice every Year to Jerufaleyn.^ to appear, as ir is expreffed, before the Lord -^ viz,, at the three great Fc-alo , the Paflbver, called aifo the Fcaft of unleavened Bread, the Feaft of Weeks, named Pcntecoff, and the Feaft of Tabernacles. Each of thefe Solemnities lalicd a whole Week. The Apofties therefore, and Difciples, who had come up to Jerujalcm from Galilee, their native Country, not merely to at- tend upon their Mafter, but in Obedience to the above-cited Law of Ahfcs, to keep the PafTovcr, continued, as they wcic obliged ro do, at Jerujalem^ till the End of that Feftival. And there Jejus appeared ro them a fecond Time (eight Days after his firfl Appearance): || Sr. Thovias being with them. The next Appearance of Chri^: to any Number of his Difciples together, was at the Sea of Tiberias, called alfo the Sea di Galilee j and this is exprefly faid, by Sc John.^ to be the third time that Jefus fievied himjelf to his Difciples, after that he was rifipt frorn the Dead]-; from v;hence it is evident, that the Appearance on a Moiintam in Galilee mentioned by St. Matthew, was fubfe- qacnt to thi? fpoken of by Sc. John, and was alio in a difforenc Place, on a Mountain, whereas the latter was by the Sea of Ti- berias. Three Reafons may be alTigned for our Saviour's meet- ing his Difciples in Galilee. Galilee was the Country in which he had redded above thirty Years, from his Infancy to the Time when he firfl began to preach the Kingdom of God : There did he fii ft begin to declare and evidence his Million by * Matt, xxviii. i6, 17. f Afts i. 4. ij, 4. X Exod. xxxiii. 17. Deut. xvi. 16. II Jolui XX. 26, 4- ]^^^ x^'- 24- Miiacies, 124 Ohferiiatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. Miracles, and in the Cities of that Region did he perform the greateft Part of his mighty Works ; fo that he mutt neeeffanly have been more known, and have had more Followers in that Country, than in any other Region of Jndea. And therefore, one Reafon for his (hewing himfelf in Galilee after he was rifen from the Dead feems to have been, that, where he was perfon- ally known to fo many People, he might have the greater Number of competent WitneCTes to his RefurrecHrion. Accord- ingly, Saint PW tells us that he was fecn of above five hundred Brethren at once, which therefore in all Probability happened at the Mountain in Galilee^ where St. Matthe^w fays, Jefus ap- pointed his Difciples to meet him, as I have obferved once be- fore. 2dly, Galilee was alfo the native Country of the greateft Parr, if not of all his Apoftles and Difciples. There they dwelt and fupported themfelves and Families, fome of them at leaft, by mean and laborious Occupations. So ftrait and fo necelli- tous a Condition of Life, muft needs have rendered a long A'o- fence from their own Homes highly inconvenient to them at that Time efpecially, when the Barley-Harveft, which always fell out about the Time of the PafTover, was either begiin, or cpon [he point of beginning. As foon therefore as the PaCchal Solemnity was over, which detained them neceiTarily at Jerufz- Ie?n for a whole Week, it was natural "to fuppofe that they would return into Galilee. Upon which Suppofition our Saviour, before his Death, promifed, after he was riien, he -jjould go be- fore them into Galilee ; which remarkable Expreflion was again made * ufe of by the Angel after his Refurreclion j who bade ftie Women tell his Difciples, that he \yejus'\ luould go before them i?ito Galilee^ i. e. would be in Galilee before them, and would meet them there. Chrijl indeed, afterv/ards, commands them by the fame Women to go into Galilee, adding a Promife, that they ihould fee him. But this Command mull: not be underftood to imply a Sufpicion, that without thefe peremptory Orders of their Mafter, they would have continued at Jeruja- lem^ where, after the Feftival was over, they had nothing to do. It ought rather to be taken as a Confirmation of his Pro- mife of meeting them in Galilee^ and a ftrong Encouragement to them to depend upon the Performance of it in the due Place and Seafon. The Time of their entering upon the Apoflolical Office, of preaching the Gofpel to all the World, v/as not yet come ^ neither were they yet fully prepared or qualified for that important Work j which, after they had once undertaken it, was to be not only the fole Employment of their Lives, feuc the.Occaiion of their leaving their Fathers^ their Children, * Matt, xxvlii. 7. their of the Refurredion. 1-2 f their Country, and their Friends, to travel up and down the World, expolcd to Hardfhips, Danger;., Pcfccuiion, and Death, in unknown and remote Corners of the Karth. Of all which their Miller had frequently forewarned them before his Death, and particularly in that affectionate Dilcourle he held to them the Night in which he was betrayed. To prepare them there- fore by Degrees for a Scace of fo much AfHidtion and Mortifi- cation, and to give ihetn an Opportunity of feeing and providing, in the be(l Manner they were able, for their Relations and Families, to whom ihey were foon to bid Adieu for ever j their gracious Lord, who knew how to indulge, bccaufc he had himfelf felt, the Affections and Infirmities of human Nature j and who, * by recommending his Mother, even from the Crofs, to tlic Care of his beloved Difciplc, had taught them what Regards were due to thofc tender Tics of Nature, not only permitted them to return into Galilee^ but promifcd to meet ihcm there, and did in fadt meet them there, not only once, but feveral Times ^ as may be inferred from what St. Luke fays of his having fhewn himfelf to them \ for jorty Days after his PaJJioft, com- pared with what St. John fays of the Appearance by the Lake of Tiberias, which he expreily calls the third Tune that Chnfi fliewed himfelf to his Difciples after his Refurrcdion. Aficr this St. Mattheiu fpcaks of another Appearance in Galilee, on a Aiountain^ where, adds he, Jcfus had appointed his Difciples. When this Appointment was made, there is no Intimation given in any of the Evangelifts. If it was not at the Appearance at the Lake of Tiberias, which there is no Reafon to imagine it was, St. John faying nothing of any fuch Matter, it was pro- bably at fome other Appearance in Galilee^ between this laft and that mentioned by St. Matthe-j:. And as there was a great Number of Brethren prefent upon that Occaiion, it is rational to conclude, that timely Notice was given, as v;cll of the Day, as of the Place of Meeting. But however this might have been, I am perfuadcd that the greatefl Part of the Appearances of Chri^ for the forty Days after his PalTion were in Galilee^ fince the Reafons that required the Apottles to return thither, were as llrong for their continuing there, till the Approach of the Feaft of Weeks or Fentecofi fliould call them back to Jeru- jalern. Another Reafon for meeting his Difciples in Galilee, and for concluding that the Appearances mentioned in the Ads were chiefly in that Country, and that there were many of them, may be deduced from what (| St. L.uke tells us of the Suhjedts upon which our Saviour fpoke to his Difciples on thefe Occalions, • Jehnxix, 26, 27. f Afts i. !{ Ail», Chap. i. 3. 126 Obfervatioj'tS on the Hi/lory, ^c. viz. Of Things pertai7mg to the Kingdom of God. Before they fet ouc upon the great Work of preaching the Kingdom of God to all the World, it was neceflary that they fhould be fully inftru6ted in the Doflrines they were to preach, and in the leveral Fundlions of the Apoftolical Office : That they lliould thoroughly underftand the Intentions of their Mailer, and have Tome View of the Means and Affill:ances by which they Hiould be enabled to perform a Task fo apparently above their Abilities, and fome Hopes and Encouragements to fupport them under the Profped: of thofe Difficulties and Dangers they were given to ex- pad: in propagating the Gofpel. In order to all this, many in- veterate Prejudices relating to the Law of J\1ofs and the Je-vjijlj Nation were to be rooted out ; the Scheme of God in the univcr- fal Redemption of Mankind was to be laid open to them j many human AfFedlions, Reludances and Terrors were to be fubdued, and their Hearts to be fortified with Courage and Con- flancy, a Difregard and Contempt of Hardfliips, Perils, Pain and Death. To thefe feveral Purpofes nothing could more conduce than frequent Vifits from their Lord ; whofe Refurrec^ /i(?» (of which every Appearance was a frefli Proof) was an unqueftionable Evidence of his Power ^ whofe every Appear- ance was an Inftance of his Affe(3:ion and Condefcenfion to them, and of his Fidelity in performing the Promife he had made before his Paffion of coming to them again after his Death, and being with them for a little ivhile before he ivent to his Father ; and whofe Fidelity and Exadnefs in thus per- forming his Promife, was an infallible Earneft and Security for the coming of .that Comforter who was to fupply his Place, to guide thejn into all Truth-, to bring to their Remembrance luhatever he had fpoke7t to them.^ to enable them to do greater Works than he had done., and to fill their Hearts 'with that Joy., which it jjjould not be iii the Foiuer of Ma7t to take from them. Add to this the Weight and Authority derived to his Precepts and Inftru(flions from their being delivered by himfelf in Perfon j and the great Meafure of Strength accruing to their Faith from their having frequently before their Eyes the Cap- taijz of their Salvation^ who after having fought with the Powers of Darknefs, and triumphed over Sin and Death, was ro ft down thejiceforth at the Right-hand of God^ invefted with the Power of affifting thofe, who fhould fight under his Banner, and rewarding their Toils, their Sufferings, and their Death, with a Crown of immortal Lii^e. And if nothing could more effec- tually bring about all thefe great Effects than Chrifl's frequently meeting his Apoftles, it will evidently appear that no Place could be more proper for thofe Meetings than Galilee ; if we conlider, that the Apoftles having their, Habitations in that Country, o/' /Z)^ Refitrredtion. 127 Country, mighc relide there without any Sufpicion, an^l adem- ble without any Fear of the Perfccutors and Murderers of their Mafter, the Chief Priclts and the Roviau Governor : * For Ga- like was under the Jurifdiclion oi Herod. Whereas hid they remained in Jerujalcju., and continued to aflemble frequently together, while the Report of their Matter's beinpj rifen from the Dead was frcfli and in every Body's Mouth, the Chief- Priefts and Elders, whofc Hatred or Apprehenfions of Jcfui Chrifi were not extinguilhcd by his Blood, as appears by their perfecuting and murdering his Followers long after ^ thefe Rulers of the yeajj-, I lay, would undoubtedly have given fuch Interruptions to thofe Meetings, and thrown fuch Obflacles in the Way, as muft have neceflitated our Lord to interpofe his miraculous Power to pre- vent or remove them. Now as all thefe Inconveniences might be avoided by our Saviour's meeting his Difciples in Galilee., it; is more agreeable to the Wifdom of God {ijhichy as Mr. f Locke obierves, is not ufually at the Expence of Miracles., but only m Cajes that require them) to fuppole thefe frequent Meet- ings to have been in Galilee rather than in Jerufalcm.^ and more analogous to the Proceeding of our Lord himfelf, who being in Danger from the Scribes and Pharifees, refrained from appear- ing publickly in yeruJaUm for fome Time before the Hour ap- pointed for his SufFeriiigs and Death was come, and lualked in. Galilee., as St. John % tells us, for he 'mould not ivalk in Jewry, becauje the Jews fought to kill him. From thefe Conliderarions I think It clear, that all the Appearances of Chnfi to bis Diici- pies, from that ioS^.Thowas mentioned xnSi.John., to that laifc in Jerufalefn, on the Day of his Afcending, mentioned by Sr. Luke both in his Gofpel and in the Aiis, were in Gal/lee .• From "whence when the Apoltle.? returned afterwards lojerufalem., they Were covered from the Apprehenfion of giving any Umbrage by reliding there, for the Ihort Space to come between their Re- lurn and the Time ot their entering upon their Apoftolical Of- fice, by the Obligation they were under in common with the relt of their Brethren the Je^jjs^ to repair to that City for the Ce- Jebration of the Feaft of § Weeks, called alfo Pentecoft : Upon the mod folemn Diy of which Feftival they were, accoramg to the Promife of their Mafter, filled with the Holy Ghoft, and endued with Power from above to defy all Danger, and I'ur- mount all Oppofition in preaching the Gofpel oi Chrift. And hence we learn, that all the latter Part of the 24th Chap- ter of St. Luke's Gofpel, from the 49rh Verfe to the End inciu- five, relates to what happened at Jerufalem^ &c. after the Return • Luke xxiii. 7. f Reafonab. of Chxillian p. /oS. Fol. Edit. t JoliD vii. I, ^ Acl') ii. 1, &c. of 12 8 Obfervatiom on the Hiftory, ci?r. of the Apoftles from Galilee : Of whofe Departure into Galilee after the Refiirredlion of Chrijl^ or of his Promife of going thi- ther before them, this Evangel) ft having not thought it to his Purpofe to make any mention, thought it as needlels to fay any thing of their leaving Jerufahm j iince the Scene of the laft Ap- pearance, as well as of the former related by him, was in that City ; and fince to thofe, who by any ocher Means fhould come to be acquainted with the whole Hiftory of our Saviour, there would be no Danger of confounding thofe two Appearances. As to thofe who fhould happen co meet with no other Account but his Gofpel, (if fuch a Thing could be fuppofed) no great Da- mage could arife from their miftaking them to be one and the fame. §. 21. By this long and fcrupulous Examination of the feveral Particulars, which conftitute the Evidences of the Refurredlion, I have endeavoured to fhew, that never ivere there any VaBs that could better abide the Tefl. And if I have in any Degree fucceeded in my Endeavours, I fhall neither repent my own Labour, nor apologize to the Reader for having dwelt fo long upon this Subjed : Since the Conclufion that will inevitably follow from this Propofition is, that ne'ver ivas there a Fati tfiore fully proved than the Refurre^iort ofjefus Chrift. For be- fides the Teftimony of fome, who may be fuppos'd to have had no Prejudices either for or againft the Refurredlion, I mean theRoman Soldiers, who reported that his Sepulchre was miracu- loufly opened by an Angel, or a Divinity, (for fo they muft have ftiled that Celeftial Apparition:) And befides the Tefti- mony of others, who were apparently prepoiTeffed with No- tions contrary to the Belief of Chriji's being rifen from the Dead, and yet affirmed that they were not only told by Angels that he was rifen, but that they themfelves had feen him, talked with him, and handled him : Befides this human Teftimony, I fay, which confidering all the Circumftances attending it, rouft be allowed to have been fufficient to prove any Event, that was not either impoffible or improbable in the higheft Degree, there were (as it was reafonable to exped there fhould be) other Evidences as extraordinary and miraculous as the Refurredion itfelf Of this kind are the Predidions contained in the Writings of Mofes, the Prophets, and the Pfalmifl^ i'etting forth che Defign and Pur- pofe of God to redeem Mankind by the Righteoufnefs, Sufter- mgs. Death and Refurredion of the Seed of the Woman. With- out the Refurredion, this great Scheme of Divine Mercy had been uncomplete,* by That it was perfetfled, and the Triumph over Death added to That over Sin j the Meffiah thereby ac- complilliing all that the Scriptures foretold of his Glory and Power. of the Refurredion. 129 Power. When therefore one Part of the Promifes relating to y^y^f hid been fo cxacftly made good in his Life and Death, it is reafonable to conclude, that God did not fail to fulfil the others in his Relurrcdtion. In the fame Clafs of Evidence may alfo be ranked the Pro- phecies of Jefus himfclf, relating to his rifing from the Dead, which coming from one, whofc other Predidions (of which there had been many) had been always accomplillicd, deferved to be credited no Icfs than the others, and were not only verified by the Event itfelf, but confirmed by other fubfequent Events, foretold likewifc by him before his Paffion, and linked with and depending upon that great Proof of his Divine Power. Such, tor Inftance, were his meeting his Difciples in Galilee^ his being with them a little while before he went to his Father, his Afcen- fion into Heaven, and his fending to them the promifed Com- forter, with all the glorious Faculties and Powers they received upon his Coming. With fo various, fo aftonifliing, fo well- connected and irrefragable a Chain of Evidence is this import- ant Article of the Refurredlion bound up and fortified. But all thefe Proofs were not exhibited to all the Je'ws j for mt to all the People nvas Jefus Jbeivn alive after his Padion, but to lyitnejjes chofc7i before of God ; to Us CfaithSt. Peter) mho did eat and drink 'xith him after that he arofe from the Dead *. That Chrifi made Choice of a feledl Number of Difciples, and particu- larly of Twelve, (who were called Apoftles) to bcWitnefles of the great Adlions of his Life, and cfpecially of his Refurredion, and Preachers of his Gofpel to all the World, is a Thing too well known to need any Proof. To qualify them for this double Office, he not only, upon many Occalions both before and after his Crucifixion, difcourfed to them in particular of the Things pertaifiing to the Kingdom of Godj and poured upon them all the various Gifts of the Holy Spirit, but gave them every kind of Evidence of his being rifen from the Dead, which the moft Scrupulous and Sceptical could imagine or require j fhe'wing bimfelf ali-vc to them hy vtaiiy ijifallible Proofs^ fuch as eating and drinking wich them, ^c. for forty Days after his PaJJion. And indeed it is highly expedient that Thofc, upon whofe Tefli- mony and Credit the Trmh of any Fadt is to be eftabliflied, fhould have the fullcll and moft unexceptionable Evidence of it, that can be had ^ becaufc their having had all pofiible Means of Information, mult needs add great Weight and Authority to their Dcpofition..-. Hence then we may learn iheRcafon of our Saviour's appearing fo often to his Difciples after his Refur- redtion, of his requiring them to handle him, and fee that it was he himfelf, of his eating and drinking with them, of his refer- 1 ring * Ads X. j-i. 1 3© Ohfer-vatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. ring them to the Scriptures, to his own Predidions, and to \ht Teltimony of thofe to whom he had appeared, before he came to them^ and laftly, of his fatisfying the unreafonable Scruples of St. Thomas., who being one of the chofen WitnelTes, (one of the Twelve) it was proper he fliould have an equal Knowlege of the Fadl he was to atteft with his other Brethren the Apoftles. That this perfect Knowlege of the Things they were to give Teftimony to, was neceffary for thofe, who were ordained to be Apoftles, is farther evident from the following Words of St. Veter *; who after the Afcenfion of our Lord, propofmg to the reil of the Difciples to fill up the Vacancy made by the Tranf- greffion and Death of Judas, by electing one to take Part with them in their M'mijiry and Apofileffjip, defcribes the Qualifica- tions requifice in an Apoftle, by limiting their Choice in thefe Words : Wherefore of iheje Men^ that have accompanied 'with us all the Time that the Lord Jefus iJjent ;>/ and out amo7!gfl us-^ bcgi?mtng fro?fi theBaptifm of John, ti7ito that fame Day that he •was taken up from us-, 7/Jufi one be ordained to he Witnefs iL^ith Us of his RefurreBion. Hence alfo it is plain, that all thefe in- tallible Proofs were not vouchfafed by Chriji to his Difciples,. merely out of a particular Favour and Regard to them, that they might believe and be faved ,• but with a farther View, that others aUb, through their Teftimony founded on the completeft and exadteft Information, might likewife believe and be faved. The Reproof of Chriji to St. Thomas, for not believing without the Atceftacion of his Senfes, implied in the Bleffing pronounced by him on Thofe, ivho havhig 7iot feen had yet believed^ is a clear Argument, that pur Saviour thought his Difciples had fufficienc Gaufe to believe he was rifen from the Dead, even before he n^ewed himfelf to them. And that they had fo in fact, I have above endeavoured to prove j and that St. John did believe, be- fore he faw his Mafter, he himfelf alTures us. Had Chrifi there- fore intended nothing more, than to bring his Difciples to a Be- lief of his Refurreclion, he might have left them to the Tefti- mony of the IRovian Soldiers j to that of the Women ^ to the Writings of Mofes and the Prophets j to his own Predidions; to the State of the Sepulchre, and that wonderful Circumftance of his Body's being no-where to be found j to all this Evidence he might, I fay, have left them, without appearing to them him- lelf, and left them without Excufe, had they ftill continued faith- lefs and unbelieving. But though the Apoftles had upon this Evi- dence believed their Mafter to be rifen from the Deadj yer? without thofe other infallible Proofs mentioned by St. Luhc:, they would certamiy have not been fo well qualifie, but the Sign of the Prophet Jonas i for as Jonas v:as three Days and three Nights in the Whale's Belly., fo Jhall the Son of Man, Scc. In which (it is laid) Chrifi promifed to appear, after he was rilen, to that evil and adulterous Generation^ that ij, to the y civs )dons ; who, inftead of being his Difci- ples, had rejected his Dodtrine, and put him to Death as an Im- poftor and Blafphemer ; and inftead of fhewing any Difpofition to embrace or propagate his Gofpel, oppofed it with all their Power j and by Threats and Punifhments, forbad his Apoftles to preach any more in his Name. That Mary Magdalejie was convinced that it was Jejus who appeared to her, I have already /hewn very fully ,* and that was all that was neceffary for her fmgle Self. Suppofmg therefore that fhe never had afterwards the Permiflion of touching or embracing her Mafter j (which by the way cannot be proved) neither had me, nor any one elfe Reafon to complain or cavil, fince neither her own Faith, nor that of any other Perfon, depended upon her having that Proof of the Refurredtion of Chrif: ', for ftie was not an ^pojile, nor one of the chofen Wttnejfes. And it is very remarkable, that none of the Apoftles, either in preaching to the unconverted Jeijjs or Geri- tileSy or in their Epiftles to the Church, ever make any Men- tion of the Appearances o^ChriJi to the Women : And the Evan- gelifts feem to have related them only upon account of their being conneded with other more important Parts of the Hi- ftory of the Reforredtion. The Truth is, the Teftimony of the Women, though of great Weight with the Apoftles, and with thofe who received it from their own Mouths, was but a fecond-hand Hear-fay Evidence to thofe, who had it only from the Apoftles Report i who, for that Reafon, infifted always upon their having themfelves feen their Mafter, after that he tuas r:fe7i fropi the Bead:, a Circumftance, as far as I can recoiled, not omitted by any of them, in their Arguments upon theRefur- reftion o^Jefus; as may be feen in the Paflages of Scripture that give any particular Account of thofe Difcourfes. And thus t St. Pauly in his Epiftle to the Corinthians., after enumerating many Appearances of Chrift to the Twelve Apoftles, and others, * A£ls iv. ic. ^ -1 Cor. xv. 8! clofes of the Refurrcdion. 135 cloGrs ail vvich faying, And Lift of all he was feen of me alfo. So much Care did they take ro give reafonable Evidence for the reafonablc Faith ihey required. §. 22. All that has hitherto been faid relates chiefly to the Pioufs of the Refurrcdion of Jefut Chriftj as they were laid before the Apolllcs, thofe chofejt IVitnejJes of that great and allonilliing Event. And I hope, upon a ferious and attentive View of the tair and unimpoling Manner in which thofe Proofs were oftercd to their Confideration, and of the Number and Certainty of the Fadts upon which they were grounded, every judicious and candid Inquirer after Truth will allow, that, to the Apoftles at leaft, the Refurredion of Jefus was moll: fully and moft uncKceptionably proved. I fliall now proceed to lay before the Reader fome Arguments (for I cannot enter into all) that may induce us, who live at fo remote a Diflance of Time from that Age of Evidence and Miracles, to believe that Chrijt rofc from the Dead. The firfl. and principal Argument is, the Tcflimony of thofe choftrn Witneflirs, iranfmitced down in Writings, eirher penn'd by themfelves, or authorized by their Infpeftion and Approba- tion. The fecond is, the Exiftence of the Chriftian Religion. Before we admit iheTeftimony of thefe chofen Wttnejfes con- tained in the Gofpels, the Affs, the Epifiles, and the 'RevelationSy it may be proper to confider, in the firft Place, what Reafons there are for our believing this Teftimony to be genuine,* or in other Words, believing them to be the Authors of thofe Books, which are now received under their Names : And in the next Place, what Arguments can be offered to induce us to give Credit to this Teftimony, fuppodng it genuine. To prove the Apoftles * and Evangelifts to be the Authors of * I ufe thefe two Words Apoftles and E'vangelijls in this Place, to denote and diftinguifh the Authors of the four Gofpels, the Adls, and the Epiltles, l^c. though they might all have been comprehended under the general Term Apoftles, by which Title not only the Twelve, fo called by Chrift himfelf, but Matthias afterwards and Paul, and all the feventy or feventy-two Difciples, are mentioned by fome of the Fathers. Of this lail Number were the Evangelifti Mark and Luke (as Dr. Whitby has fhown from Origm and hpipha- nJHs) and as fuch were qualified by their own perfonal Know lege of molt of the Fads, and by the Infpiration of the Holy (jholf, to write their Ciolpels, without the Infpodion of the two great Apoilles Peter and Paul, which yet (as we are told by fome of the Fathers) was a farther Authority given to them, and fuch as would have fuf- ficed tho' thc-y had not beeu ihcmfclves particularly infpireJ. I 5 thofe 154 Obfervations on the Hiflory, ^c, thofe Scriptures, which are now received under their Names, we have the concurrent Atteftation of all the earliefb Writers of the Church, deduced by an uninterrupted and uncontrouled Tradition, from the very Times of the Apoftles. Which is fuch an Authentication of thefe facred Records, as is not to be over- turned by bare Prefumptions, and a furmifed and unproved Charge of Forgery. But for the Proofs of this Proportion, I fliall refer the Reader to the * Difcourfes of thofe learned Men, who have treated more particularly upon this Subjedt, and fliall concent myfelf with oflFering in Support of thofe Proofs the following Confiderations^ in which. I fhall endeavour to fliew, ift, The Probability of the Apoftles having left in Writing the Evidences and Dodrines of the Religion they preached, and of their Difciples having preferved and tranfmitted thofe Writings to Pofterity : 2dly, The Improbability of iny Books forged in the Names of the Apoftles efcaping Detedtion. Firfi^ If the Precepts and Examples of Jefus Chrifi and his Apoftles were to be the Rules, by which all thofe, who in fuc- ceeding Ages fliould believe in him, were required to govern themfelves, it feems moft confonant to the Wifdom of God, be- caufe agreeable to what he himfelf prailis'd when he gave the 'Laiv to the Ifraelites^ to commit thofe Rules of Salvation to Writing, rather than to the unfure and treacherous Conveyance of oral Tradition j which cannot with any Safety be depended up- on for fcarce fo much as one or two Generations. It is there- fore highly reafonable to fuppofe that the fame Spirit, which in- cited and enabled the Apoftles to preach the Gofpel, and bear Witnefs to the Refurredion of Jejus Chrifi in every Nation of the known World, fhould likewife incite and enable them to de- liver down to Pofterity, in a Method the leaft liable to Uncer- tainty and Error, that Teftimony, and thofe Precepts, upon which the Faith and Pradlice of Afcer-times were to be eftablifh- ed, efpecially when it is (in the fecond Place) confidered, that all Revelation (Revelation I mean of the Doctrines and Syftem of the Gofpel) was confined to the Apoftles, and con- fequently ended v/itb them. The Power of working Miracles, fpeaking with other Tongues, cafting out unclean Spirits, &c. was frequently, if not univerfally given to the firft Converts to Chriftianity j and feme of thefe Gifcs were continued for many Generations in the Church. But to the Apoftles only was our Saviour pleafed to reveal his Will. Accordingly, in the Epiftles * See Dr. Whithy'z Prefatory Difcourfes to his Annotations upon the Gofoels, Aft?, ^c. See alfo UAbadie de la Religion Chrbitme^ Tom. II. of cf the Rerurre<5lion. 135- of * St. Vaul wc foe that rhofe Chrirtians, who were endowcvl with many and vai ioii-; Gifts of the Holy Spirit> ftood however in need of the Inllruulions nnd Diiedions of chat Apoftle, in many Points both of Faith and Pradlice- and the earHert Writers after the Aportlci', tho' poirclVcd thcmfelves of many of thofc miraculous Powers;, inftead of pretending to immediate Reve- lation, have upon all Occafion? recourfc ro the Holy Scriptures, which they acknowiege to have been written by the Afliltance of the divine Spirit, as to that Fountain, from whence alone thty could derive the Waters of Life : Both which Appeals, as well that made to the Apolllcs by their Coremporarics, as thofc made by fucceeding Chriftians to the Scriptures, would have been un- necellary, had they, like the Apoftlcs, been taught: ail Things by Revelation, and been guided into all Truth by the fioly Spirit. This being the Cafe with thofe Chriftians who were convert- ed to the Faith by the Preaching of the Apoftles themfclves ; and who were to tranfmit to Uicceedin.:^ Ages that Gofpel, upon which, according to their Belief, the Salvation of Mankind du-pended ^ is it no: natural to imagine they would take the milt effedtuil Means to fupply thofc Defects, which they were fcnfible of in thcmfelves j and to guard againft thofe Errors, which through the Imbecillity of the human Mind they had fallen into, even while the Voices of the Apoftles ftill founded in their Ears j and to which their Poftcrity muft of necelTity be Itill more liable? And what more effectual Means could they purfuc, than either to obtain in Writing from the Apoftles thcmfelves, the Evidences and Dodrines of the Chriftian Faith j or, which amounted to much the fame thing, to write them down from their Mouth-;, or under their Inlpeftion and Ap- probation i or laftly, to Iranfcribc from their own Memories what they could recolleol of the Dotflrines and Inftructions of the Apollles ? Of thefe three Methods, the two firlt were un- queftionably the beft ; the laft was fubjeft to many Imperfec- tions and Milfakes: For tho' our Saviour promifcd to enable his Apoftles by the Holy Spirit, to call to mind -vjhatevcr he had fiid unto tbevi^ I do not find, that the Memories of thofc wio licird the Apoftles, were ever afiiftcd in the like miracu- lous Manner. If the Apoftles therefore had not, either from tivjir Care for ihclloulboid of Faith ^ or from the Suggeftions of th; Holy Spirit, tranfmicted the Proof*; and Doclrines of the Gifpel to Pollerity in one of the two hrft-mentioned Way;, it is to be prefumed they would have been called upon to do It by thofc, v^ho looked upon them as Teachers commini<"tned ani inipircd by the Spirit of Truth, anJ luho alone h.ni the See particularly the Epillles to the Coiintbians. 1 4 Words I j5 Obfervatlom on the Hiftory, ^c. Words of eternal Life. And if neither of thofe two defirablc Things could have been obtained, Recourfe would undoubt- edly have been had to the laft. And indeed it is evident, from St. Luke's Preface to his Gofpel, that many Writings of this Kind were current among the Chriftians of thofe Times : None of whichj that I know of, having come down to us, it is to be prefumed they were fuperfeded by Writings of greater Authority ; that is to fay, Writings either penn'd by the Apoftles themfelves, or authorized by their Infpedion and Approbation ^ becaufe this feems to be the beft Account that can be given for the different Fate that hath attended thefe feveral Writings i the former having difappeared and died foon afrer their Birth ; and the latter having furvived now almoft feven- teen Centuries, in the fame Degree of Efteem and Veneration, with which they were at firft received by the Converrs of the Apoftolick Age : For that the Difference between thefe Wri- tings was made in that Age is very probable; ifV, Becaufe thofe very Cotemporaries of the Apoflies flood themfelves in need of their Inftrudions, Admonitions, and Exhortations for their own Diredion and Encouragement : And 2dly, for the Conviction of the next Age, who were to receive the Gofpel from their Hands, they wanted the Teftimopy and Authority ot thofe Perfons, to whom the Fadts upon which their Faith de- pended, were the moft completely proved ; and who alone, in Matters of Dodrine, were guided into all Truth by the infallible Spirit of God. For by their own Evidence, they could prove no more than what fell within the Compafsof their own Know- lege, which could extend no farther than to what they had themfelves feen 6f the Apoftles, or heard from their Mouths : And this Evidence of theirs could acquire no farther Authority by having been committed to Writing. The ^pofiles alo?ie could prove, what they only knew, and were the only authen- tick Preachers of thofe Dodlrines, which they alone received from Cbrifi^ or after his Afcenfion, from the Holy Spirit. Their Succefforsj befides bearing Teftimony to their Charaders, and giving Evidence perhaps of fome collateral Fads which had fallen under their own Obfervations, could do no more than luitnefs their Depoftions; that is, that thefe and thefe were the Fads, and thefe and thefe were the DoBrines delivered by the Apoftles. If the Apoftles therefore, either from the fecret In- ftigation of the Holy Ghofi, or from their paternal Care and Affedion for the Houjhold of Faith, or at the Requeft of their Children in Chrifi Jefus-, did commit to Writing the Proofs and Dodrines of the Chrillian Religion (as it is reafonable to fup- pofe they did) it is as reafonable to conclude, that what they either of the Refurredlon; 137 either writ or approved, mull necefTarily have been preferred to all other Writings whatever. And as the Writings oi the Apoftlcs muft, for the Reafons above-mentioned, have been of great Weight and Importance to the Chriftians of their Times j and of itill creator to thole of the fucceeding Ages, who could notj like their PrcdcceiTbrs, upon any Occalion, have Recourfe to the living and infallible Oracles of God ; it is natural to imngine that the Perfons, in whofe Hands thofc facred and invaluable Treafures were de- pofited, would preferve and guard them with the utmoft Fi- delity and Carei would impart Copies of them to fuch of their Brethren, who could not have Accefs to the Originals j and would, from the {iime Principle of Chriftian Benevolence and Fidelity, fee that thofe Copies were tranfcribed with all that Exadtncfs, which human Nature, ever liable to Slips and Errors, was capable of. The fame Care, under the fame Al- lowances, it is to be fuppofed would be alio taken by thofe who fhould tranllate them into the feveral Languages fpoken by Chrillians of different Nations, who did not underftand that in which the Apoftles wrote. Thcfc feveral Seeps appear to me (b natural and obvious, that I cannot but think any Set of reafonable and honcft Men could not fail of making them, under the fame Circumftances, as attended the firft Preachers and Converts of Chriitianity. And from hence arifes a ftrong Prefumption in favour of thofc Accounts which inform us, — That the Apofbles and Evangelifts were the genuine Authors of thofe Writings, which are now received under their Names. — That aUho' ma7i)\ even in the Apoftles Times had taken iji Handy as St. Luke exprelles it, to fet forth hi Order a Declaratiojr of thofe Things which ivere viofi furely believed amof/^ft Chriftians, even as they delivered the?/!-, njjho were Eye-iuitjiejfes and Minifiers of the Word:, and although fome Years after the Deaths of the Apoftles, man/ Gofpels, Epiftles, <^c. appeared, which were afcribed to The?^, to the Virgin Mary^ and even to Jefus Chrifl himfelf j yet thofe only, which we now account Canonical, were admitted as fuch, from the very earlieft Ages of Chriftianity. — Thacthcfe Canoni- cal Books were preferved and kept, with the moft fcrupulous and religious Care, fy the feveral Churches or Societies of Chriilians ; who did not, and indeed upon their Principles could not, prefume to add to them, or to take from them the ieaft Tittle. — That Copies of them were immediately difperfed throughout the whole Chriftian World ^ the Af>oflles (faith Ire- 7iicus-) Lib. :;, c l.) firfi preaching the Gofpel-, and afterwards^ hy the Wilt of God, deliverivg it to us in the Scriptures-, to be theucrfoticard the Pillar avd Foundation cf our Faith. And the frfi 138 Ohfervatiom on the Hiftory, ^c. fir ft Succejfors of the Apoftles (as Eufebius informs us, Hift. Ecckr Lib. ill. C. 37.) leaving their Countries^ preached to them ivho had vot yet heard of the Chriftian Faith, a7id then delivered to them^ as the Foundation of their Faith, the Writings of the Holy Evar- gelifts. — That the Originals of the Epiftles wereiflill prelerved in rhe refpeftivc Churches to which they were directed in the Time oUTertullian, who, writing to the Hereticks of his Age, viz.. of the third Century, bids them go to the ApoftoUcal Churches, vjhere the authentic Epiftles of the Apoftles (faith he) are ftill recited.-— That, laftly, Tranflations of thefe Scriptures were made fo early, as to precede the general Admiffion of feme Parts of them, which were afterwards received as genuine; the 5/rM(: Verfion, for Inftance, being fo antienr, that it leaves out the Tecond Epillle of Peter, the fecond and third Epiftles of John, and the Re- •velatioiis, as being, for a time, controverted in fome of the Eaftern Churches j which, by the way, fhews hov/ TcrupuIouS thefirft Chriftians were about admitting into the Canon of Scrip- ture, Writings, which, though bearing the Names of the Apoftles, and received by fome Churches as genuine, were yet queftioned and fufpcded by others. To all which we may add ftill farther, that thefe feveral Accounts, relating merely to Facts, rend only ro eftablifh another Fadt, viz. that the Apoftles and Evangelifts did compofe the Gofpels, Epiftles, &c. afcribed to them ; which Fadt is capable of being proved by the fame kind of Evidence as any other Fad of the fame Nature. — That the Evidences of this Fad cannot be overturned, but upon fuch Principles as will equally fubvert the Proofs of all Fa6tg, that exifted at any great Diftance of Tigne from the prefent. — That we ought therefore either to admit this Fad, or rejed all thofe without Diftindion, which ftand only upon the Credit of Hiftories and Records i of the Truth of any of which we can have no ftronger AfTurances, than we have of the Authenticity of thefe Holy Writings *. §. 23. The next Point to beconfidered is, the Improbability of any Books forged in the Names of the Apoftles efcaping Detedion. The Reafons giveh under the foregoing Article, to fhew the Probability of the Apoftles having left in Writing the Evidences and Dodrines of Chriftianity, and of their Difciples having pre- ferved and tranfmitted thofe Writings to their SuccefTors, will lead us to difcover the Improbability of any Books forged in the Names of the Apoftles efcaping Detedion. For if it was ne- * The Reader, who is inclined to fee the Authorities, upon which thefe feveral Articles were founded, may confult IVhithy's Preface to the Gofpels, b'f. . . _ cefTary of the Refurredion.' 139 cefTary for the Chrillians, even of the Apoftoiic Age, ro have in Writing the Diredions and Inftrudionsof the Apoftlcs in many Points both of Faith and Pradtice, as is evident it was from al- moll all the KpKtles, it was as neccirary for chcin to be afllircd, that what was delivered to them in the Name of an Apoftlc, was certainly of his inditing. And this was to be known many Ways- for furcly we may have uncioubted Proof of fuch a one's being the Author of fuch a Book or Letter, without having lecn him write it with his own Hand, or having heard from his own Mouth that he wrote it. The Apoft/es ((aith Irenicus) havhi^ firfl preached the Gofpcl^ delivered it nfter-wards to us in the Scriptures. Now, as we have no Reafon to believe, from any Accounts that can be depended upon, that any of thofe ftilcd Apoftles, bcfides the * lix whofc Works we now have, left any thing in Writing, if thefe Words of Ireft^us be taken to relate to the whole Number of the Aportles, it will follow from them, that even thole Apoftles, who wrote nothing themfelves, did yec deliver to their Children in Chrift fuch Parts of the Scriptures, as had come to their Hands. In which Cafe thofe Scriptures, thus delivered and recommended by an Apollle, muft have been al- lowed to have the fame Authority, as if they had been written by that Apoltic himfelf ^ lince He, as well as his Brethren who wrote them, was under the Infpiration and Guidance of that Holy Spirit, who, according to the Promifc of Chrift, was to lead them into all Truth ; and therefore could not be ignorant whether the Matters contained in thofe Scriptures were true or faife. But if the general Term Apojiles be limited to fuch of them only, as ■compol'ed the Writings, called, by Irenxus^ the Scriptures j ths Meaning of his Words will be, that the Apoftles, when they had preached the Gofpel (/. e. the whole Syftem of Fadls and Do- dlrincs, which it was necellary for Chriftians to know and believe), committed it to Writing for the Ufe of the Churches, to ferve thenceforward, as he ex'prefies it, for the Pillar and 'Foundation of their Faith in Chn^ 7^f"^- Thofe Churches, therefore, were the proper Evidences to prove the Apoftles to be the Authors of thofe Writings, which they received from them. And the Tefti- mony they gave to that Marter of Fae% as, on the one hand, it does not appear to have been liable to any Sufpicion of Fraud \ lb, on the other, it feems equally free from any Probability of Error, or Mifinformation. For they muft have had certain Knowlege of the Charadcr and Credit of the Perfons who de- * Thefe fix are Matthen.v, Johiy Pcter^ Paul, James, and jfude. Mark and Luke, though fuppoi'ed, with good Reafon, to be of the Number of the feventy-two Difciples, were not Apollles, in the Ai'ic^ and limited Senfe of chat Word. livered 140 Obferikitions on the Hiflory, Q?r. livered thofe Writings to them in the Name of any of the Apo- ftles *, and many other indubitable Proofs, both external and internal-, to convince them of their being genuine, pr to difcover the Falfhood, if they were not. Allowing, tor Inftance, the Epiftles which now pafs under the Name of St. Taul^ to have been received during his Life by the Churches to which they were direfted ^ there are, in all of them, many Circumftances, by which they might certainly have known him to be the Author. Thefe Circumftances the Reader, if he has either received or wrote any Letters of Bufinefs to or from his Acquaintance and Friends, may eafiiy fuggeft to himfelf, and may as eafily difcover them upon perufing thole Epiftles, But it will, nay it muft be faid, by thofe who deny thefe Scriptures to have been written by the Apoftles, whofe Names they bear, that they were forged after their Deaths, and, confequently, could not have been received by the Churches during their Lives. This, doubtlefs, Infidels will fay (for what elfe can they pretend ?) : But I am at a Lofs to think how they can fupport their ACfertion, fince not only the Tefti- mony of all the earlieft Writers of the Church, but common Senfe itfelf is againft them. For can it be imagined, that the Corinthians^ for Example, would have received, as genuine, an Epiftle not delivered to them till after the Death of the Apoftle whofe Name it bore j and yet appearing, from many Circum- ftances therein mentioned, to have been written feveral Years before ; unlefs fuch an extraordinary Delay was very fatisfadlo- rily accounted for ? Is it not to be prefumed, that in a Matter of fuch Importance, not only to themfelves, but to all Chriftians, they would have demanded of the Perfon,_ who firft produced it, How he came by it } How he knew it was written by St. Paul, and addreffed to Them } Why it was not fent at the Time it was written, efpecially as it was evident, upon the Face of the Epiftle itfelf, that it was written upon Occafion of fome Dif- turbances crept into that Church, and in Anfwer to fome Qiie- ftions propofed to that Apoftle^, which required a fpeedy Re- formation and Reply } Thefe Queftions, and many more, which * Thus Tychicus, mentioned by St. Paul in his Epiftle to the Ep^e- fiani, as fent by him, and moft probably the Bearer of that Epiftle, and of that to the ColoJJians f, where he is alfo mentioned as fent to them by that Apoftle, together with Onefimus ; Tychicus, 1 fay, and Onefimus, were doubtlefs able to give fuch Proofs of St. PaaZ's being the Author of thofe two Epiftles, as the Chriftians of thofe Nations muft have been fatisfied with, could it be fuppofed that they wanted ether Reafons to convince them of it ; but this Suppofition, I believe, jio one will think it reafonable to make. f Chap. iv. 7, 8, 9. . the o/' /Z'^ Refiirrevfllon. J41 the Particulars referred to in the Epiftle muft have fuggeft- ed, the Corinthians would, in common Prudence, have asked ^ and it the Impoltor could not (as it is molt realonable to con- clude he could not) return a fatisfactory Anfwcr to thole Quc- flions ; can we believe the Cormthians would have admitted, upon his bare Word, or even upon probable Prcfumptions, an Epiftle, which, if they acknowlcged it to have been written by St. Faul^ they niuft thenceforward have regarded as the infallible Rule of their Faith and Practice ? This is fuppoling, that the hrfl: Chriftians (as their candid Adverfaries are indeed apt to fuppofc) aded with much Icl'sWifdom and Circumfpcdtion, than any Men would now adl upon any momentous Affair in ordinary Life. And let it not be forgotten, that Chriftianity, at its firft Appearance in the World, very deeply afFedted the Temporal Concerns of its Profcllbrs. The Profcflion of Chriftianity did not then, as ic does now in fome Parts of the World, intitle Men to, and qualify them for. Honour and Preferments. Chriftians, upon barely confefting themfelves luch, were many times, without any Crims alleged, put immediately to Death j all the Advantages they reaped from a Life of Faith and Virtue, were the Peace of a quiec Confcience here, and the Hopes of a blefled Immortality here- after. The profeiling Chriftianity therefore was a Matter of Temporal Deliberation. And why is it more reafonable to ima- gine, that the People of thofe Ages would give up all their worldly Views and Interefts, without being convinced thar it was worth their while to do it, than it is to imagine, that a Man in his Scnfes, either of this or any paft Age, would, without a valuable Conlideration, farrender his Eftate to a Stran- ger, and leave himfelf a Beggar ? I fay this to thofe People, who feem to confider all the Primitive Chriftians, either as Fools or Knaves, Enthuhafts or Impoftors^ without being able to aftign any Reafon for their Opinion, but that there have been Fck)1s and Knaves, Enchufiafts and Impoftors, among the ProfefTors of all Religions whatfoever. But in order to prove a Man a Fool, or an EnthuGaft, for embracing this or that Religion, it will be neceftary to ftiew, in the firft Place, that he took up his Faich without duly examining the Principles, or Fadls, upon which it is founded i that his Faith was not properly deducible from thofe Fads or Principles ^ or, that thofe Principles and Fads were iu themfelves abfurd and faU'e. Thefc Points, I fay, arc not to \x pre fumed-, huz proved. And, with regard to the Qtieftion now under Confideration, unlefs it is proved by pofi- tive and undeniable Evidence, that the Scriptures, upon which the Chriftians who lived immediately after the Times of the Apoftles built their Faith, v;ere either forged or falfified (that is, forged in pari), it cannot, I apprehend, be fairly concluded, I4i Ohfervafiom on the Hiftory, G?r. that they a61:ed like Fools or Madmen, va for faking all-y and taking up the Crofs of Chrifi. Let this Point be once proved^ and it will readily be allowed, that they took up their Faith without due Examination ; (met it muft be owned, that if we, at this Di- ftance, are able to difcover the Forgery, they, who lived at the very time when thofe Writings firft appeared, could not have wanted the Means of detedling it, had they thought proper to make ufe of them- For as it is evident from the Teftimonies of the oldeft Chriftian Writers, fome of whom lived very near the Times of the Apoftles ihemfelves, that thefe Scriptures were cited, read, and generally received a? genuine by the Chrillians of their Age, and even before, they mult have been forged either in the Life-time of the Apoftles, or very foon after their Deaths. That they were forged, and generally received as authentic, while the Apoftles were yet living ; no-body, 1 imagine, will venture to afferr, who confiders the many Circumftances and Fads therein related, concerning the Apoftles themfelves, and numberlefs other People then living ^ any one of which being faUified, muft have utterly deftroyed the Pretence of their having been compofed by an Apoftle, whom fome of thofe Scriptures affirmed to have been under the Guidance and Infpiration of the Spirit of Truth. If they were forged and publiftied foon after the Deaths of the Apoftles, there was ftill great Danger of the Fraud's being deteded, if not by many living Witnefles, yet by fuch a Tradition of Fads and Dodrines, whether oral or written, as, if it had been found to clalTi with that fuppofed Gofpel or Epiftle, muft have rendered its Authenticity fufpeded, un- lefs fupported by better Evidence than the bare Name of an Apoftle prefixed -to it. And if it could be fuppofed, that the bare Name of an Apoftle was, in thofe Times, of Weight fuffi- cient to eftablifli the Authority of any Writing, though otherwife liable to Sufpicion ^ how came it to pafs, that thofe cunning Im- poftors, who wrote the Gofpels of Mark and Luke-, did not publifh them under the venerable and all-fandifying Names of the Apoftles ? If thefe Scriptures therefore were forged and publiftied in either of the above-mentioned Periods (and, for the Reafons before given, the Forgery could not have been of a later Date), it is highly improbable that the Impofture Ihould have efcaped Detection i and had it been detected, it is equally im- probable, that Chriftians, Vi^ho ftaked their All upon this Truth of the Gofpel, fhould receive as genuine, and acknowlege as divinely infpired. Writings which were known or even fufpeded to be forged. But it will perhaps be urged, that the Cheat was difco- vered and known only by a few of the wifer Sort ; who, for the Ad- vancement of a good Caufe, thinking it at leaft a venial Sin, a Fraud which might even be ftiled fwus, to impofe upon their weaker Brethren^ of the Refurrec^lion. I4'» Brethren, recommended to them, under ihc Name of an Apoftlc, a religious Treatilb, which tended only to improve their Piety, and ftrengthen their Faith. But this Sulpicion will appear as ground- lels and improbable as any of the former, if it be conlidircd, chat the Abettors, as well as the Au.hors of tha Forgery, mull have been Chrilfians (Chrilfians I mean, as contradiltinguiilied from Jeivs^ Heathens, and Hereticks), and Men of Capacities and Knowlege Uipenor to the Vulgar. As Chriitians, they could nor, in thofe Ages of Perfecution, have any worldly Intcreft in pro- moting the Caufe of Chriftianity, and therefore could have no J\Io- tive to induce them to impofc upon their Brethren, but a Perfua- lion that it was lawful at leafl: to do Evrl, that Good might come of it : A Principle, which, as Men of Parts and Knov.'lege, they could not but be fenfible was unworthy of a Difciple of the Lord of Truth and Righteoufnels i and which is e.xprefly con- demned in theEpillle to the Ji.omavs*\ which Epiftle therefore cannot be fuppofed to have been forged by Men, who acknow- leged that Principle, and proceeded upon it. Bcfides, as far the greater Number of the Books of Scripture contain Fads, as well as Precepts and Dodrines, thcfe Impoftors, however well-inten- tioned, could not be afTured that their Impofture would not turn more to the Prejudice than Advantage of ChriHiianity ; lince, though they might think themfelves fccure in the Acquief- ceiice of their weaker Brethren, and the Fidelity of their Partners in the Fraud, they had Reafon to apprehend the Zeal and Abi- lities of I heir open and avowed Enemies, Heathens, Jews and Hereticks; who wanting neither the Means nor Inclination to examine the Principles of a Religion, which with their urmoft Power they endeavoured to fubvert, might very probably dif- cover their Impofture; and would certainly take every Advan- tage, which fuch a Difcovery could fumifli them with, of de- crying a Religion, which they might then with fome Colour have fjggefted, could not be maintained without Fraud. This Danger, which with the fame Penetration that enabled them to difcover a Cheat that had pafTed upon the Vulgar, they mult undoubtedly have forefeen, would, it may be fuppofed, have checked their Zeal^ and rendered them cautious, how they ventured upon an Impofture, the Succels of which was lb very precarious. Since therefore no Motive can be affigncd of Force fufficicnc to induce any Chriftians of thofe Times, either to contrive or liipport a Forgery of this Kind ; fincc had any of thofe Scriprure* attributed to the Apoftles, and elpecially the EpiftlesofSt. Paul^ beep forged and publi(hed fo early, as the- Wri:iDgs of the molt • Rom, iii. 8. ancient 144* Obfervatiom 07i the Hiftory, ^c. ancient Fathers fhew them to have been known and received, it is nexc to impoflTible that the Fraud fliould have elcaped Detec- tion ; and fince the Chriftians of thofe Ages muft, in Confequence of fuch a Detedion, have neceflarily difowned and rejedled thofe Scriptures as fpuriousi may we not from their having acknow- leged them as authentick, conclude for the feveral Reafons above given, that the Apoftles and Evangelifts were the un- doubted Authors of the Writings now received under their Names ? But allowing the Chriftians of thofe early Ages to have been able to difcover the genuine Works of the Apoftles, from any fpurious Writings forged in their Names ^ and allowing thofe Books, now received into the Canon of the Holy Scriptures, to have been written by thofe Authors, whofe Names they bear i it may be demanded how we at this Time can be aflTured, that> among the great Number which have iince been afcribed to them, they wrote only thefe ? or that in fuch a Succeftion of Ages thefe are come down to us pure and uncorrupted ? To the firft of thefe Queftions I anfwer, that as the Chriftians of thofe early Ages muft be acknowleged for competent Judges of the Authority of any Books or Writings afcribed to the Apoftlesj fuch Book or Writing as they allowed to be genuine, hath an indifputable Title to that Charader. But to this Title no other Writings afcribed to the Apoftles, befides thofe now received into the Canon of Scripture, can pretend j fince of moft of them, efpecially the falfe Gofpels, we find no mention till the fourth Century. For an Anfwer to the fecond Queftion, I fhall refer the learned Reader to Dr. Whitby s Examen Variantium LeSiionum D. Mil- lii) publiflied at the End of his fecond Volume of Annotations on the NewTeftamenr, where he will find that the various Read- ings, upon which the Adverfaries of Chriftianity (among whom I reckon the Clergy of the Church of Ro?ne) have laid fo great a Strefs, will be of little Service to their Caufei the greateft Part of them being abfolutely infignificant, and none of them, faith that learned Writer, eiiher changing or corrupting any Article of Faith, or Rule of Life *. And although confidering the great Length of Time that is paft fince thefe Scriptures were written, and the Number of Opies and Tranflations that have been made of them, it is no Wonder that many Errors fhould have crept into them, either from the Ignorance or Inadvertency of Tranfcribers and Tranf- lators, all of which have helped to fwell the Sum of various Read- ings ■■, yec confidering on the other hand the Number of Here- • See Whitby % Prefatory Difcourfe to the four Gofpels. fies, of the Refurredion. 14^ fies, that have fprung up in every Age of Chriftianity, all of which pretended to derive their Opinions from the Scriptures j coniidering alio the VVatchfulnds of the Jevji and HeathcTts^ thole avowed Enemies of the Gofpcl, who, as appears from their Writings, were no Strangers to the Scriptures, it would be a flill greater Wonder that any material Alccrauon fhould have been made in them \ fince whoever had attempted any luch Al- teration, whether Chriftian, Herctick, Jevi-, or Heathen, could not but know it was impoflible it fliould efcape the Obfervation of fo many Eyes, as were continually prying, though wich dif- ferent Views, into thefe important Writings. And this feems to me the only Reafon for their having pafled uncorrupted through the treacherous Hands of the Church of Rome-i who had them fo long in her keeping. She was rellrained from altering the Scriptures, by the Fear of being detedted by the Eaftern Churches, who difowned her Authority \ and yet there is little Queftion to be made that fhe would have done it, had fhc not fallen upon that lefs dangerous, though more abfurd Expedient of locking them up from the Laity, and aHiiming to herielf the fole Right of expounding them : A Right which llhe hath affertcd and maintained with all the Artifices and Cruelty that Fraud and Tyranny could invent. This Expedient however, though it hath hitherto preferved Popery, hath iaved the Scriptures, and with them Chriftianily. For confidering the Duration, Extent and Abfolutenefs of her Power in ihc Welt, had fhe altered the Text of Scripture, according to the Comments fhe had made upon it, Chriftians (could there have been any really fuch at this Time, and in thefe Parts of the World) muft have been reduced to con- tend with the Church o^Rot/ie, noz from the Scriptures, but for the Scriptures themfelves. And what Advantages Infidelity and Scepticifm would have had in the mean time, is eafy to imnginei fince they are bold enough to difpute even now the Genuineneis of thofe Scriptures, which the very Perfons, whofe DoiSrines arc the moft oppofix to them, have been neceffitated to acknow- ledge and maintain. §. 24. I am now to confider what Arguments can be offered to induce us to give Credit to the Teftimony of the Apoftles and Evangelifts. Two Qualities are requifite to eftablifli the Credit of a Wit- nefs, t'iz. a perfedt Knowledge of the Fade he gives Teftimony to i and a fair and unblemifhed Charader. After what has been faid in the preceding Parts of thi" Dif- courfe concerning the Evidences of the Refurredtion of y^fut Chrifi., it will, I l\opc, be granted t*hat the Apoftles were duly qualified to be Witnclles, in point of Knowledge of the Fadt, K which 14^ Ob/ervatiom on the Kdoryy &V. which they are brought to give Teftimony to. It remains then that we enquire into their Charadters, which may very clearly be coUedted from the Tenor of their Lives and Condudt, as Preachers of the Gofpel, and the Purity of the Dodtrines they taught i not to infift in Favour of them upon the Conclulion, which may be drawn from their very Enemies not having been able to fix upon them any Stain or Blemifh, which they themfelves have not acknowledged and lamented. Their Lives then, after they had embraced Chriftianity, were not only irreproachable, but holy j and their Conduct, as Preach- ers of the Gofpel, difinterefted, noble, and generous, in the moft exalted Degree. For they not only quitted their Houfes, their Lands, their Occupations, their Friends, Kindred, Parents, Wives and Children, but their Countries alfo, every Purfuit, and every Endearment of Life, in order to propagate, with infinite Labour, through innumerable Difficulties, and with the utmoft Diingers, in every Corner of the known World, the Salvation of Mankind ; certain of meeting, in every new Region, with new Enemies and Oppofers j and yet requiring of thofe, who through their Preaching were become their Friends and Brethren, nothing but a bare Subfiftence ; and fometimes labouring with their own Hands, to fave them even from that light and reafonable Bur- then; difclaiming for themfelves all Authority, Pre-eminence, and Power •, and teaching thofe ignorant and fuperfticious Peo- ple, who, taking them for Gods, would have v/orfhiped them, and facrificed to them, that they were Men like themfelves, and Servants of that One God, to whom alone Worfhip was due. Would Jmpoflors, who are moft commonly interefted, vain- glorious and artibitious, have afted in this Manner > No certain- ly; but it may be faid, Enthufiafts would. Be it fo. But how can it be made appear that the Apoftles were Enthufiafts } If Chriji did not rife from the Dead, moft alFuredly he did not preach to them after his Crucifixion : Upon which Suppofition, I apprehend it will be very difficult to account for their return- ing to their Faith in that Mafter whom in hisDiftrefs they had abandoned and difowned. But if Cbriji did rife from the Dead, and did, after his Refurredion, converfe with his Apoftles, I fuppofe it will be eafily granted, that they had fufficient Reafon for believing in him, and for ading in Obedience to the Com- mand given them by him, to preach the Gofpel throughout the World, efpecially when they found themfelves fo well qualified for that important Commiffion, by the miraculous Powers con- ferred upon them by the Holy Ghoft:, and particularly theGifs of Tongues, fo apparently .and fo wifely calculated to carry on that great, that univerfal Service. If this, I fay, was the Cafe, then furely the Apoftles were no Enchufiaftsj fince they neither believed of the Refurrecflion. I47 belTevcd themfclves wirhouc reafonable Proof, nor pretended to Jnfpirarion and a divine Commiirion, without being able togivc to OLhcrs fufficicnt Evidences of both *. Of all the admirably pure and truly divine Doftrines taiighc by the Apoftle«, I fliall conlider only two, as more peculiarly relative to the prefcnt Argument i an(i they are, the Belief of a Judgment to come, and the Obligation of fpcaking Truth. ThaC God will judge the World by Jej'us Cbri'fij is a neceflary Arti- cle of the Chriitian Faich ^ and as fuch, is ftrongly and ficqucn'ly inculcated in the Writings of the Apollles and Evangcluls, of which it is ncedlcis to produce Inftances. And that Chriftians were required by thefe Preachers ofllolincG to fpcakTru'h up- on all Occafions, the following Texts will clearly evince. In Ephef. iv. 25. the Aportic comm.mds that, puttiyig away Lyingy they [peak every Man Truth "with his Neighbour. And again, ColoJJ. iii. (J. Lye not one to another. Nay that even the Man who lyes through Zeal for the Glory of God, is, according to their Ellimation, to be accounted a Sinner, may be inferred from thefe Words in Kow. iii. 7,8. — If the Truth of God hath more abounded through my Lye unto his Glory^ -why yet am I aljo judged as a Sinner ? And fwt rather as we be Jlandcrou/Iy reported^ and as fame affirm that we fay. Let us do Evil that: Good may come 1 IVhofe Damnation is ]uft. That the ApoftleS themfelves were fully perfuaded of the Truth of thefe two Pro- pofitions, nobody can deny, who will call to mind that they chofe to fufiFer Perfecution and Death irfeif, rather than not fpeak the Things which they had feen and heard', and that, if in this Life only they had Hope, they were of all Men the mojl mifer- able. Now, that any Men, who firmly believed that God would punifh them for fpeaking an Untruth, though for the Advance- ment of a good Caufe, (liould, at the Hazard of their Lives, and without any Profped of Gain, or Advantage, afiTcrt Fads, which at the fame time they knew to be falfe ■■, fhould, for In- ftance, affirm, that they faw and converfed with Jefus Chrijf after his Refurredion, knov/ing or believing that he was not rifen from the Dead, and yet exped to be judged hereafter by that very Cimcjefus., is too improbable to gain Credit with any, but thofe great Believers of Abfurdities the Infidels and Scep- ticks. §. 25. But befides the many infallible Tokens and Evidences of the Integrity of the Apofbles and Evangcllfts, that may be colleded from their Lives and Dodrines, there are alfo in their Writings feveral internal Marks of their Veracity : Some of • See Mr. Lode's Chap, on Enthufiafm, K z which 148 Ohfer'oations on the Hiftory, &c» which I {hall now endeavour to point out, confining myfelf to fuch Parts of their Writings as belong to the prefcnt Subjed. The Contradictions and Inconfiftencics, which fome imagine they have difcovered in the Evangelical Accounts of the Refur- redtion, have been urged as Arguments for fetting afide the Au- thority, and rejedling the Evidence of the Gofpels. But thefe fuppofed Contradidions having been confidered in the foregoing Parts of this Difcourfe i and having, upon a clofe Infpedion, and comparing the feveral Narratives with each other, been fhewn to be fliadowy and imaginary, and to lie no deeper than the Super- ficies and Surface of the Words: We need not be afraid of ad- mitting thefe appearances of Inco7ififlency ; fince from them it may be inferred, to the Advantage of the Evangelifts, that they did not ivrite in Concert. For had they agreed together upon giving an Account of the Refurredion of Chrifi ; and each of them taken, by Allotment, his feveral Portion of that Hiftory, it is probable they would fomewhere or other have dropt fome Intimations, that the Particulars omitted by them were fup- plied by others ; and that fuch and fuch Parts of their Narra- tions were to be conneded with fuch and fuch Fads, related by their Brethren ; or they would have diftinguifhed the feveral Incidents by fuch ftrong and vifible Marks, and Circumftances of Time and Place, &c. as might have been fufficient, at firil Sight, to difcover their Order, and keep them from being con- founded with each other : Some, or all of thefe Things, I fay, they would probably have done, had they written in Concert. And doubtlefs they would, nay they muft have written in Con- cert, had they endeavoured to impofe upon the World a cun- ningly-devifed Fable j and had they not trufted to the Truth and Notoriety of the Fads they related. Truth, likeHonefty, often- times negleds Appearances. Hypocrify and Impofture are al- ways guarded. . And as from thefe feeming Difcordances in their Accounts, we may conclude they did not write in Concert, fo from their agreeing in the principal and moft material Fads, we may infer that they wrote after the Truth. * In Xtphilin and Theodofius, the two Abbreviators of Dio CaJJius, may be obferved the like Agreement and Difagreement i the one taking notice of many Particulars, which the other paflTes over in Silence, and both of them relating the chief and moft remarkable Events. And as from their both frequently making ufe of the very fame Words and Expreffions, when they fpeak of the fame Thing, it is ap- parent that they both copied from the fame Original i fo I be- lieve nobody was ever abfurd enough to imagine that the Par- ticulars mentioned by the one, were not taken out of Dio Caf- fmSy merely becaufe they are omitted by the other. And ftill more * Vide Dio. CaiT.Hift. edit. Leunclav. Fol. Hanov. 1606. of the Refurre(ftion. 149 more abfurd would it be to fay, as fome have lately done of the Evangclilh, that the Faifcs related by Theodopm arc contradiifled by Xjp/:i/i?jy becaufc the latter fays nothing of them. Butagainft the Evangclifts, it fecms, all Kinds of Arguments may not only be employed, but applauded. The Cafe however of the facred Hiftorians is exadlly parallel to that of thefe two Abbreviators. The latter extracted the Particulars related in their fcveral Abridgments from the Hillory of Dio Cajjius^ as the former drew the Materials of their Gofpcls from the Life o^jejus Chrifl. The two laft tranfcribed their Relations from a certain Collecftion of Fads contained in one and the lame Hiflory j the four firft from a certain Colledlion of Fatfts contained in the Life of one and the fame Perfon, laid before them by that Spirit, which was to lead ihem into allTruth j and why the Fidelity of the four Tranfcribers fhould be called in Queftion for Reafons which hold equally ftrong againft the two who are not fufpcdtcd, I leave thofe to determine v/ho lay fuch a Weight upon this Objecflion. Another Mark of the Veracity of the Evangelifts appears in their naming the Time, the Scene of Acftion, the Actors, and the \Vi(nc(Tes, of moft of the Fa6ts mentioned by them j which I fliall give a remarkable Inftance of in one relating to the pre- fentSubjedt, the Refurredion j viz.. the guarding the Sepulchre of Chriji. The Time was that of the Celebration of the PafT- over, the mofl: folemn Feftival oi t\\e Jews ; the Scene was in Jerufalem^ the Metropolis oijudea:, and at that Time crouded v/ith /^tuj-, who came thither from all Parts of the Earth to keep the Paflbver : The Adlors and WitnefTes were the Chief Priefts and Elders, Pontius Pi/ate the Rowaji Governor, and the Roman Sol- diers, who guarded the Sepulchre. Now if the Story of guarding the Sepulchre had been falfe, it is not to be doubted but tne Chief Priefls and Elders, who are faid to have obtained the Guard, and fealed the Door of the Sepulchre, would by fomeauthencick Adt have cleared themfclves of the Folly and Guilt imputed to them by the Evangelift, who charges the Chief Priefts wi:h having bribed the Soldiers to tell not only a Lye, but an abfurd Lye, that carried its own Confutation with it^ the Soldiers with confelfing a Breach of Difcipline, that by the military Law was punifhable with Death; and the Governor, v/ith the Sufbicion at leaft of being capable of overlooking fo heinous a Crime, at the Inftigation of the Chief Priefts, ^c. All thefe fevc- ral Charges upon the whole Government of Judej^ might have been anfwered at once by an Atteftation from the Chief Priefts, fetting forth that they never demanded a Guard to be fet at the Sepulchre, confirmed by theTeftimony of all the Roman Oflficers and Soldiers (many of whom were probably aC Jerufalem when this Gofpcl was written) denying that they were ever upon that Guard. This not only the Reputation of the K ; Chief I fo Obfervatio'm on the Hlftory, &c. Chief Priefts, but their avowed Malice to Chrifi^ and Averfioni to his Doctrine and Religion required ^ and th;s, even upon the Suppofidon of the Story of guarding the Sepulchre being true, they would probably have done, had they been at Liberty to propagate and invent what Lye they pleafed : But that a Guard was fat at the Sepulchre, was in all Likelihood, by the Difperfion and Flight of the Soldiers into the City, too well known in Jeru- [alem for them to venture at denying it j for which Reafon, as I have before obferved, they were obliged to invent a Lye con- fident with that known Fad, however abfurd and improbable it might appear when it came to be confidered and examined. Now as the Report put into the Mouths of the Uoman Soldiers by the Chief Priefts and Elders, is no Proof of the Falfhood of this Fad, but rather of the contrary, fo does the naming the Time, the Scene, the Adtors, and the Witnefles, form a very ftrong Prefumption of its being true, fince no Forger of Lyes willingly and wittingly furnifhes out the Means of his own Dete6lion ; efpecially when we confider that this Story is related by that Evan- gelift, who is faid to have v/ritten neareft the Time, and to have compofed his Gofpel for thofe Chriftians who dwelt in Judeay many of whom then living v/ere probably at Jerufalem when this Thing was done. The ftridt Attachment and Regard to Truth, of all the Evan- gelifts, is farther manifefted in their relating of themfelves and their Brethren many Things, that in the Opinion of the World could not but turn much to their Difhonour and Difcredit, Such at their denying and deferting their Mafter in his Extremity, and their Dulnefs in not underftanding his Predidions about his rifmg from the Dead, tho' exprefTed in the plaineft and moft: intelligible Words. A Man's Confeffion againft himfelf, or his Friends, is generally prefumed to be true. If the Evangelifls therefore be allowed to be the Authors of thofe Gofpels which bear their Names, or if thofe Writings are fuppofed to have been forged by fome Friends to Chriftianity, they muft in thefe In- ftances at leaft be acknowledged to relate the Truth, till fome other good Reafon, befides that of their Attachment to the Truth, can be affigned for their inferting fuch difgraceful and difhonourable Accounts of themfelves and their Friends. But there is nothing that fets the Veracity of the facred Wri- ters fo much above all Queftion and Sufpicion, as what they tell us about the low Condition, the Infirmities, the Sufferings, and the Death of the great Author and Finilher of their Faith, Chrifl Jefus. He hungered, they fay, he was poor, fo poor, as rot to have 'where to lay his Head:, he wept, hid himfelf for Fear of the Jews who fought to kill him ; and when his Hour drew nigh, he was dejedted, forrowful, exceeding forrotaful, eveft MntQ of the Refu rredion. 151 unto Death : He prayed, that the Cup of Affli and his Life, they had acknowledged him to be the Mefliah, they were fo offended at what he told them of his SuflFerings and Death, that they refufed to believe him ; * arid Peter took him^ and began to rebuke himy faying^ Be it far from thee^ Lord., this fiall not be unto thee. The defpicable Condition, the Sufferings and Death of Chrifij being admitted, I think it impoflfible to give one probable Rea- fon for fuppofing that the Apoflles and the Evangeiifts invented the other more than human Pare of his Charader. Had he wrought no Miracles, had he not rifen from the Dead, their Religious Prejudices, as they were Jewi, muft have with-held them for ever from acknowledging him for their Mefliah ; and yet it is notorious, that not only they themfelves acknowledged him as fuch, but endeavoured to perfuade their unbelieving Bre- thren, thzt God had made that fame ]e{\iSi whom they had cruci- jied-i both Lord and Chrift. This was the great Article, the Foundation-ftone, upon which the whole Superftrudure of Chriftianity was raifed ^ and to prove this Article, they appealed to his Miracles, as fo many Evidences of his divine Miflion. But here 7«(7«Vn; Unbelievers {for Celfus, who lived neareftthofe Times, admits all the Miracles of Chrij% but imputes them to his Skill in Magick) come in wirh their Sufpicions, and pretend to call in Qucftion the Accounts given us of thefe Miracles in the Evangeiifts j which, without any Proof, they are pleafed to take for Forgeries : In Anfwer to which, (not to infift upon the Improbability that any Man, or any Set of Men in their Senfes, fliould venture to appeal to their Enemies for the Truth of Fadts, which they themfelves knew to be falfe, efpecially when thofe Enemies had not only the Means of detedling them, but the Inclination and Power to punilh them for their Impoftures : Not 10 infift, I fay, upon this Topick, nor upon that which I juft now mentioned ot its being impoflible to aflign any Motive that could induce them to be guilty of fuch a Forgery,) I fhall only obferve, that allowing them to have been fo fliamelefs and fo wicked as to invent and propagate a Set of Lyes in order to get Credit to their Mailer and his Religion, it is ftrange they fhould not go one Step farther, and fupprefs at leaft, if not deny his Infirmities, his Sufferings, and his Crucifixion, and To remove that Stumbling-block, which they could not but know would be the greateft Obftacle to the Advancement of their Religion, as well among the Gentiles as the jfews. But it will be urged per- haps) that his Sufferings and Crucifixion v/ere too publick to be denied ^ » Matth, xvi. 23. ' of the Refiiiredlion.' 153 denied j and fo, fay the Evangelifts, were moft of his Miracles: And this undoubtedly was the Rcalon why they were acknow- ledged by Celfus. To fuppofe therefore that the Evangelills, for P"car of being dcredted, would confcfs Truths, which manifcftly prejudiced iheir great Defign of propagating the Faiih in Chriji Jefus^ and yet would not by the lame Fear of Detection be re- ftrained from relating Untruths, bccaufe they might imagine them to be advantageous to their Caufe, is no Mark of Equity and Candour, but of Partiality and Prejudice. But it will pofn- bly be faid (for what will not Infidels /^'^ ? and I will add, how ftrange foever it may found, what will they not helieve ?) thac the Scriptures were forged lon^ after the Events recorded in them, and confequently long after all the P>idences of their Truth or Fall"hood were extindt and loft. In Anfwer to this it may be again demanded, as in the Cafe of the Evangelifts, how came thefe later Forgers to chufe the fufifering crucified Jefus for the Author of their Religion ? And why, iince they were at Liberty to fay what they pleafed, without any Apprehenfion of being difcovercd, why, I fay, did they relate fuch Things both of Him and his Difciples, as, in the Opinion of the World, could not fail of dif(:rediting the Faith they preached in his Name, and by an Authority pretended to be derived from him and his Difciples? But without entering into thefe Confidera- tion?, it may be fufficicnt barely to deny this Charge, till they, who infift upon it, iliall be able to make it good, by fhewing either from authentick Teftimonies, or even probable and pre- fumptive Arguments, when they were forged ? by whom ? and to what End } Till they arc able to do this (which I will ven- ture to pronounce will never be), we have a Right to infift for the Realbns above given, that the Scriptures of the New Tefta- ment were written by thole whole Names they bear, and that ali the Fads related in them are nx)ft unqucftionably true. Before I quit this Subject, I cannot forbear taking Notice of one other Mark of Integrity which appears in all the Compofi- lions of the Sacred Writers, and particularly the Evangelifts, and that is, the fimplc, unatFedled, unornamcntal, and unoftentatious Manner, in which they deliver Truths fo important and lublime, and Fads fo magnificent and wonderful, as are capable, one would think, of lighting up a Flame of Oratory, even in the dulleft and coldeft Breafts. They fpeak of an Angel defcending from Heaven to foretel the miraculous Conception of Jefus^ of another proclaiming his Birth, attended by a Multitude of the Heai'enly Ho(i praifing God, and faying^ Glory to God in the highefl, ajid on 'Earth Peace, Good PFill towards Men : Of his Star appearing in the Eaft; of Angels miniftring to him in the VVildcrnefs j of his Glory in the Mount ■, of a Voice twice heard from 154 Ohfervdfions on the Hiiloiy, &c. from Heaven, faying. This is my beloved Son ^ of innumerable Miracles performed by him, and by h\s Difciples in his Name j of his knowing the Thoughts of Men ; of his foretelling future Events ; of Prodigies and Wonders accompanying his Crucifixion and Death ; of an Angel defcending in Terrors, opening his Se- pulchre, and frighting away the Soldiers, who were fet to guard iti of his fifing from the Dead, afcending into Heaven, and pouring down, according to his Promife, the various and mi- raculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit upon his Apoftles and Difciples. All thefe amaxing Incidents do thefe infpired Hiftorians relate nakedly and plainly, without any of the Colourings and Height- enings of Rhetorick, or fo much as a (ingle Note of Admiration ; without making any Comment or Remark upon rhem, or draw- ing from them any Conclufion in Honour either of their Mafter or themfelves, or to the Advantage of the Religion they preach- ed in his Name i but contenting themfelves with relating the naked Truth, whether it feems to make for them or againft them, without either magnifying on the one hand, or palliating on the other, ihey leave their Caufe to the unbiaffed Judgment of Mankind, feeking, like genuine Apoftles of the Lord of Truth, to convince rather than to perfuade ; and therefore comhig^ as St. Taul fpeaks of his own Preaching, not luith Excellency of Speech^'— ~not 'ujith enticing Words of Man's WtfdonZy but -with De- wonflration of the Spirit, and of Po-ojer, that, adds he, your Faith Jbould 7iot jiand in the IVifiom of Men, but in the Poiver of* God. And let it be remembered that he who fpeaks this, wanted not Learning, Art, or Eloquence, as is evident from his Speeches recorded m the Adts of the Apoftles, and from the Teftimony of that great Critick Longinus, who in reckoning up the Grecian Orators, places among rhem Paul of Tarfus f ; and furely had they been left folely to the Suggeftions and Guidance of human Wifdom, they would not have failed to lay hold on fuch Topicks, as the Wonders of their Mafter's Life, and the , tranfcendent Purity and Perfedtion of the noble, generous, be- nevolent Morality contained in his Precepts, RrniChed them with. Thefe Topicks, I fay, greater than ever Tully, or De- mofhenes, or Piato were poffefTed of, mere human Wifdom would doubtlefs have prompted them to make ufe of, in order to recommend in the ftrongeft manner the Religion of Chrifi Jefus to Mankind, by turning their Attention to the Divine Part of his Charader, and hiding as it were in a Blaze of heavenly Light and Glory, his Infirmities, his SufiFerings, and his Death. And had they upon fuch Topicks as thefe, and in fuch a Caufe, called in to their Affiftance all the Arts of Compofition, * I Cor. ii. 2. iv. 5. f Vide Long.- Frag. Edit. Pearce. Rhetorick of the Refurredion. ij^ Rhetorick and Logick, who would Havc blamed them for it ? Not thofc Perfons, I prefume, who d,i7,7.1?d and captivated with the glittering Ornaments of human Wifdom, make a Mock at the Simplicity of the Gofpel, and think ic Wit to ridicule the Style and Language of the Holy Scripture;. But the all-wife Spirit of God, by wh >m thcfc Sacred Wrucrs were guided in- to all Truth, thought fit to diredl or permit them to proceed in a different Method ; a Method however very analogdus to that, in which he hath been pleafcd to revc:!l himfclf to us in the great Book ot Nacure, the ftupendous Frame of the Univerfc ; all whofc Wonders he hath judged it fufficient to lay before us in Silence, and expects from our Obfervations the proper Com- ments and Deductions, which, having endued us with Rcafon, he hath enabled us to make. And tho' a carclefs and fuperficial Spefta'or may fancy he perceives even in this fair Volume many Inconfiftencies, Defedis and Superfluities ; yet to a diligent, un- prejudiced, and rational Inquirer, who will take the Pains to ex- amine the Law.",, confidcr and compare the feveral Parts, and regard their Ufe and Tendency, with reference to the whole Defign ot this amazing Strudlure, as far as his fhort Abilities can carry him, there will appear in thofe Inftsnces, which he is capable of knowing, fuch evident Characters of Wifdom, Goodnefs and Power, as v/ill leave him no room to doubt of their Auchor, or ro fufpecft that in thofe Particulars which he hath not examined, or to a thorough Knowlege of which he cannot perhaps attain, there is nothing but Folly, Weaknefs and Malignity. The fame Thing may be faid of the -written Booh^ iht jecoiid FoluTne (if I may fo fpeak) of the Revelation of God, the Holy Scriptures. For as in the Firft, fo alfo in this are there many PalVages, that to a curfory unobferving Reader appear idle, unconnected, unaccountable) and inconfiftcnt with thofe Marks of Truth, Wifdom, Juftice, Mercy and Benevolence, which in others are fo vifible, that the moft Carelefs and Inattentive can- not but difcern them. And even Thefe, many of them at leaft, will often be found, upon a clofer and ftrictcr Examination, to accord and coincide with the other more plain, and more intel- ligible Paflages, and to be no heterogeneous Parts of one and the fame wit'e and harmonious Compolltion. In both indeed, in the Natural ^s well as ihz Moral Book of Gody there are, and ever will be many Difficulties, which the Wit of Man may never be able to refolvej but will a wife Philofopher, becaufc he cannot comprehend every thing he fees, rejcdt for that Reafon all the Truths that lie within his Reach, and let a few inexplicable Diificulties over-balance the many plain and infal- lible Evidences of the Finger of God, which appear in all Pares, both of his created and 'written IVorks ? Or will he prefume fo 2^6 Ohfervations on the Hiftory, G?^. fo far upon his own Wifdom, as to fay, God ought to have exprefled himfelf more clearly ? The Point and exadt Degree of Clearneft, which will equally fuit the different Capacities of Men in different Ages and Countries, will, I believe, be found more difEcalt to fix than is imagined ^ lince what is clear to one Man in a certain Situation of Mind, Time and Place, will in- evitably be obfcure to another, who views it in other Pofitions, and under other Circumftances. How various and even contra- didory are the Readings and Comments, which feveral Men, m the feveral Ages and Climates of the World, have made upon Nature ! And yet her Charadters are equally legible, and her Laws equally intelligible in all Times and in all Places ^ there is no Speech nor "Language luhere her Voice is not heard. Her Sound h gone out through all the Earthy and her Wordi to the Ends of the World. All thefe Mifmterpretations therefore, and Mifcon- flrudlions of her Works are chargeable only upon Mankind, who have fet themfelves to fludy them with various Degrees of Ca- pacity, Application, and Impartiality. The Queflion then ihould be. Why hath God given Men fuch various Talents ? And not, Why hath not God exprefTed himfelf more clearly ? And the Anfwer to this Queftion, as far as it concerns Man to know, is, that God will require of him according toAvhat he hath, and not according to what he hath nor. If what is neccflary for all to know, is knowable by all ; thofe Men, upon whom God hath been pleafed to beftow Capacities and Faculties fuperior to the Vulgar, have certainly no juft: Reafon to complain of his having left them Materials for the Exercife of thofe Talems, which, if all Things were equally plain to all Men, would be of no great Advantage to the PoiTefTors. If therefore there are in the Sacred Writings, as well as in the Works of Nature, many PafTages hard to be underflood, it were to be wifhed that the Wife and Learned, inilead of being offended at them, and teaching others to be fo too, would be perfuaded that both God and Man expedl that they would fet themfelves to confider and ex- amine them carefully and impartially, and with a (incere Defire of difcovcring and embracing the Truth, not with an arrogant unphilofophical Conceit of their being already fufficiently wife and Knowing. And then I doubt not but moft of thofe Ob- jedtions to Revelation, which are now urged with the greateft Confidence, would be cleared up and removed, like thofe for- merly made to Creation, and the Being and Providence of God, by thofe mofl ignorant, mofl abfurd, and yet mofl felf-fufScienc Pretenders to Reafon and Philofophy, the Atheifls and Scepticks. J. 2(>. To thefe internal Evidences of the Veracity (and may I not add Infpiration ?) of the Apoifle^.and Evangelifts, I fliall beg of the Refurredion. 157 beg leave to fubjoin two external Proofs of great Weight in an Inquiry into the Realbns we have for giving Credit to their Teltimony, the one negative, the other pofitive. The negative Proof is contained in this Propofition, "jtz. That icable Work to compafs the who^j City with a Wall " yet Titus animating his Soldiers to attempt it., th^y, in three " Days.^ built a Wall of thirty-Jiin'' Furlongs, having thirteen '- Caflks on it; and fo cut of} all Hopes, that a?iy of the}cv7S *' "joitbin the City Ibould efcape. " In the 2ift Chapter of St. Lukc^ Chriji, fpeaking of the *• Dertrudlion o^ Jerufalem., fjy?, {l^er. ii.) And great Earth- " quakes flhiH be in divers Places ^ and V amines, and Peflilejices.^ *' and fearful Sights, and great Signs jhall there be from Heaven. " Now to omit the frequent Earthquakes that happened in *' other Places in the times of Claudius and Nero, Jofephus in- ^' forms uSj that there happened, in Judea and Jcrufalent, an " immenfe Te^pefl, and vehement Winds, luith Rain., and fre- " quent Lightnings, a7id dreadful Thunder-ing., and extreme Roar- " ings of the quaking Earthy 'which manifejled to all, that the " World 'Was dfurbfd at the Dejlruiiion of Men ; and that thefc " Prodigies portended no fmall Mifchiefs. Jofephus hath a '' particular Chapter of the manifell Signs of the approaching *' Defolation of \.\\cje'ws :, which Tacitus., a Roman Hiftorian of " Age, almoli epitomizes in thefe Words: Armies feemed to " meet in the Clouds, avd glittering Weapons 'were there feen ^ " the Temple feemed to be in a Fla^ne., 'with Fire ijfuing from the '' Clouds., and a Voice more than human vj.is heard, declariitgy *' that the Deities -were quitting the Place ', 'which "was attended '^ 'With the Sound of a great Motio7i, as if they -were depart i?/g. Jo- " fephus adds, what Tacitus alfo touches upon, That the great '' Gate of the Temple, which twenty Men could fcarccly ihut, " and which was made i3& by Bolts and Bars, "was fen to open *' of its Qvm Accord: That a S'word appeared hat/^in^ over the k 3 " ^"J^ i66 Obfervations on the Hlftory, ^cl *' City : That a Comst ivasfeeji pointing doivn upon it for a ivhoh *' Tear together : And that Irefore the Sun nvent doivn, there nvere " feen Armies /« Battle-array-, and Chariots compajjing the Coun- *' try, and i-avefling the Citks : A thi7igJofirange, faith he, that it " ivould pafs for a Fable, 'were there not Men living to attefi it. *' So particular an Account have we of the fearful Sights^ and " Signs from Keauen, mentioned by our Lord. " Our bleflfed Lord is as exprefs in the Predictions of the " Miferies which fliould befal that fmful Nation ; Miferies fo ** great, as to admit no Parallel. * There fiall be, faith he, great *' Tribulation^ fuch as never happened from the Beginning of the «' World to this Time. Which Words Jofephus feems to have '' tranfcribed, when he (ays, Never -was any Nation more nuickedy " nor ever did a City fuffer as they did. Nay, in another Place, " he goes fo far as to fay, All the Miferies ivhich all Mankind '^ had fuffered from the Beginning of the World, nvere jiot to be *' compared vjith thofethejewiih Natioft did then fuffer. And *^ indeed, the Account he gives of the Numbers who perifhed in *' that Siege is almoft incredible; and much more fo is what " the Talmud^ and other Jewifl) Writers,.mention of the Slaugh- *' ter which Hadrian's Army made of them fifty-two Years after, " when they rebelled under Barchochebas, and were befieged in '' the City Bitter. And yet our Saviour having farther faid, *' That vjhere-ever the Carcafe ivas [i. e. the Jews^ there fhould *' the Eagles [i. e. the Roman Armies] be gathered together f ; *' they were accordingly harrafled and deftroyed throughout the *' Roman Empire^ When, {ikh Jofephus, the Romans hzdnoEne- ** mies left mjudea, the Danger reached to many of them living *' the remoteft from it : For many of them periilied at Alexandria^ *' at Cyrene^ and in other Cities of Egy^t, to the Number of *' fixty thoufand, in all the Cities of Syria. In a Word, Eleazar, '' in Jofephus, having reckoned many Places where they were " cruelly flaughtered, concludes with faying, It ivould be too '* long to fpeak of thefe Places in particular. " Again, our Saviour adds. That they pould be led Captives *« into all Nations. Accordingly, Jofephus informs us, That the *' Number of ]ew'[(h. Captives -was ninety- feven thoufand: That '' of them Titus fent many to Egypt,' and mofi of them he di' « fperfed into the Roman Frovi'dces j and fo exadtly fulfilled this « Predidlion." The Duration of the Calamity of the Jev^s, and their Reftora- tion, are fignified in thefe Words : 1| Jerufalem pall he troddett dawnX of the Gentiles, till the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. * Matt. xxiv. 21. f Matt. xxiv. 28. || Luke xxi. 24. J The Greci Word is TTATny-m, pofTefled and trodden by the Feet of the Gentiles. " This t of the Rcrurrc(5lion.' 167 ^' This {o exaflly came to pafs, that Vefp^jfian commanded the ^' whole Land of Judea to be fold to thofc Gentiles that would " buy it i and HaJriau, about ilx'ty-thrcc Years after, made a *' Law, that i/.\Jt nojev^poufj come into the Region round about *' JeruHjlem, as Arijio Pe!/.cus, who was himfelf a Jewj and '* flourilhed in tlie very Time of H^idriafi, relates. Thus-, faith *' Eu/chiu^t it ca?/je to paffy that the Jews being bamfljed theme *' and there being a Cojifux thither of Aliens^ it became a City '' and Colony of the Romans, and luas^ in Honour of the Empe~ ** ror [Hadrian], named JE\h. Jerujalem, faiih Chrifi^ [hall ** be thus trodden down^ or fubjeift to the Gentiles, till theTimes *' of the Gentiki be fulfilled ^ that is, till by the Converlion of *' the Jeii^s to the Chritlian Faith, the Fulnefs of the Gentiles to *' be converted to it, fhould come in with them : Tor Blindnefs *^ faith the * Apoftle, hath happened to the Jews, till the Fulnels ** of the Gentiles Jball come in^ and then all f frael Jhall be faved ; " and with them alfo the yet Heathen Gentiles. For if faiih he f , *' the Cafling a'vjay of the Jews ivas the Reconciling of the IVorld^ *' luhat Ihall the Receiving of them be to it, but even Life for '' the Deadl And again ||, if the Fall of them 'were the Riches of *' the World, and the Bimijiilhing of them the Riches of the Gcft- ^ tiles, how much more fj all their Fulnefs be />b^ Fulnefs of the *' Gentiles ? Now here it is efpecially obfcrvable, thai Julian the *' Apoftate, defigning to defeat this Prophecy of Chrifi, refolved *^ on the Rebuilding of the Ciry and the Temple of Jerujalem *' in its old Station, which was till his time left in Ruins, jElia, '' being built without the Circuit of it. For in hisEpiftle co the '' Community of the Jews-, he writes thus : The Holy City of '^ Jerufalem, luhich you have fo lo7!g d"fred to fee inhabited, re- *' building by my own Labours, I will dwell in. This he began " with an Endeavour to build that Temple, in which alone the " Jews would offer up their Prayers and Sacrifices: But the im- *' mediate Hand of Providence foon forced the Workmen to de- *' (ill from that unhappy Enterprize. Ammianus Marcellinus, ** an Heathen, who lived in thofe very Times, gives us the Story *' thus : That Julian endeavoured to rebuild the Temple at Jeru- " falem with vafl Expence^ and gave it in Charge to Alypius of " Antioch to hafleu the IVork, and to the Goverfior of the Pro- *' vince to ajjifi him /';; it ; ;>/ which Work, when Alypius was " earnejily employed, and the Governor of the Province was af- '' ffing, terrible Balls of Flame biirfting forth near the Founda- " tlons with frequent hifults, and bumnig divers times the Work- <' men, rendered the Flace inacceffiblc ; and thus the Fire obfii- '* nately repelling theviy thi Work ceaftd. » Rom.ii. 25, 26. t Ibid. rer. 15. jj Ver, 12. L 4 <■' The 1 68 Ohfervafhns on the Hiftory, ^c, *' The Story is very fignal, and remarkable for many Clrcum- ** fiances ; as, ift. The Pevfons that relate it j Ammianus Mar' *' cellmus^ an Heathen j Zejuuch David a Jeisj, who confefres> *' that Julian was, Divinitus impeditus^ hindered by God in this *^ Attempt; Nazianzen and Chrjfoftom, among the Greeks • St. *' Amhrofe and Euffinus, among the L,atins^ who fiouriflied at *^ the very time when this was done , Theodoret and Sozome7Z) or- '' thodox Hiftorians j Thilofiorgius, an Arian ; Socrates-, a Fa- *' vourer of the Novatiafis, who writ the Siory within the Space " of fifty Years after the thing was done, and whilft the Eye- '' wicnefle? of the Fad; were yet furviving. " 2dly, The Time when it was performed ^ not in the Reign *' of Chriftian Emperors; but of the moft bitter Enemies of *' Chriftiansj when they were forced to hide, and had not Liberty *' of fpeaking for themfelves. Obferve, " 3dly, With what Confidence Chriftians urge this Matter of ** Fad againfl the JetoS) as a convincing Demonftration of the " Expiration of their legal Worfhip, and of the Certainty of *' Chriftian Faith againft the Heathen Philofophers, inquiring, *' iVhai the ivife Men of the World can fay to thefe thi7igs ? ** And againft the Emperor Theodofusj to deter him from re- *' quiring them to rebuild a Synagogue, which had been lately " burnt by a Chriftian Bifhop. " 4thly and laftly, The unqueftionable Evidence of the Thing : <* Thisy fay the Chriftians, all Men freely do believe andfpeak of;, 'tis '' in the Mouths of all Men, and is not denied even by the Atheifis '' themfelves • and if it feem yet incredible to any one-^ he may '' repair for the Truth of it both to the Witneffes of it yet living, *^ and to them ivko have heard it from their Mouths j yea^ they " may vievt) the Foundations lying fill bare and naked ; and if you ** ask the Reafon-, you luill meet vjith no other Account befdes *' that -which I have given ^ and of this all ive Chriflians are '* Witneffes-, thefe things being done not longfince in our ovjn Ti?ne* « So St. Chryfofiom." The Reader, who is inclined to fee many Particulars of the Predidlions of our Saviour, which relate to this remarkable Ca- taftrophc, and which I have omitted for Brevity's fake, and how they were verified by the Event, will do well to confult Dr. Whitby's Preface, from whence the above Articles are taken. The Obfervations I have to make on thefe Prophecies are as follow : I ft. The common Objedion made to Prophecies in general, that they are fo obfcure and figurative, as not to be expounded but by the Event, cannot be urged againft thefe, which are (ionceived in Words as fimple and intelligible as thofe made ufe of of the Refiirredlion.' 169 of by the Hiftorian, who relates the Evenrs corrcfponding with them. 2dly, Tt is very remarkable, that of the four Evangelifts, St. yohn alone, who is faid to have furvived the Deftrudlion of Jerufalevi^ make>- no Mention either of thel'e Prophecies, or their Accomplifhmcnt. OF the other three, in whofe Gofpels they are to be found, Sr. Matthew and St. Mark died confclTedly be- fore that Period ; the Time of Sc. Luke's Death is uncertain. JVIay we not then from hence very fairly conclude, that this re- markable Silence of the beloved Difciplc, wi:h regard tp Pro- phecies of fuch Importance to the Credit of his Lord, and his Religion, was ordered from above, left Unbelievers fliould fay, what fome had faid of the Predidions of Daniel^ that they were written after the Event ? 3dly, As to the Prediilion relating to the Duration of the Calamity of the Jewijh People, and their Rcftoration, though that is the only one of all thofe above-cited not yet pcrfetfily accomplillied ; I beg Leave however to obferve, that not only the miraculous defeating of the Emperor Julian's Attempt to rebuild the City and Temple of Jcrufalem^ but the prefent ex- traordinary Condition of the Jcv^Sj is fuch a Warrant and Proof, that this Prophecy alfo will have its Accomplifhmenc in due time, as cannot fail of powerfully flriking thofe who will open their Eyes to view ir. To induce the unobfcrving and unthink- ing People of this Age to do this, and to afTift them in confider- ing this living Evidence of the Truth of Chriftianiry, which lies within their Notice, and even at their very Doors, I fliall lay before them feme Obfcrvations of an excellent * 'French Author upon this Subject, whom I chufe rather to tranflate than to give his Arguments in my own Words. §. 29. '' t But neither the Difperfion of the Jewt into all " Nations, nor the general Contemp: into which they are fallen, " are fo extraordinary as their Prefervation for fo many Ages, " notwithftanding this their Difperfion throughout theEarth, and *' the univerfal Contempt which all Nations have for them. " Without a fingular Providence, a People difunired, and df- *' vided into an infinite Number of diftindt Families, banilTied '' into Countries whofe Language and Cuftoms were different '' from theirs, muft have been mingled and confounded with " other Nations, and all Traces of them muft, thefe many Ages *' paft, have intirely difappeared. • Principes de la Foy Chretiennc, torn. i. ch. i6. •j" See the preceding Chapter. For fiyo Obfervations o?i the Hlftory, ^cl " For they not only fubfift no longer in a Body Politickj but « there is not lingle City, where they are allowed to live accord- " ing to their own Laws, or to create Magiftrates of their own j « neither are they held together by any publick Exercife of Re- <« ligion. Their Priefts are without Employment, their Sacri- « fices are fuppreflfed. Their Feafts cannot be folemnized but *' in one only Place, and to that they are not permitted to re- ." pair. *^' By what Miracle then have they been preferved amid fo " many Nations, without any of thofe Means which keep other *' People united ? How comes it to pafs, that, having been *' fcattered, like fo many imperceptible Grains of Dull, among <^ all Nations, they have notwithftanding been able to fubfilt *' longer than any, and even to furvive the Extindlion of them <^ all ? '' Who can at this Day pick out the ancient 'Romans from the '' numerous Crouds of People, who have thrown themfelves into *' Italy ? Who can point out one fingle Family of old Gauly " from thofe of another Original? Who can make the likeSe- *^ paration in Spain^ between the ancient Spaniards^ and the Goths ^^ who conquered it ? The Face of the World is changed, both '* in the Eaft and Weft; and all Nations are mixed and blended " in a hundred different Manners : It is only upon Ccnjcdures, *' and thofe oftentimes very frivolous, that a fingle Family can *' trace up its Original beyond the publick Revolutions of the \' State. " But the JsTi^h by a Tradition which no Calamity, whether " publick or private, hath been able to interrupt, can go back '' as far as the ancient Stock of Abraham. They may be mif- <' taken in allotting themfelves to this or that Tribe, bscaufe, " lince their Difperfion, they have not any publick Regifters " (which, by the way, is a Proof that their Law is abolifhed, *' fince neither the Priefts nor Levites can afcertain, by any cer- " tain Monuments, that they are of the Family of Aaroriy and "^ of the Tribe of LeTyi) : But every Father hath taken care to *■'■ tell his Children, that he had an Original different from that *' of the Gentiles j and that he defcended from the Patriarchs « who are celebrated in the Scriptures. *' The general Contempt into which they have fallen, fliould, ** one would think, have induced them to confound themfelves " with thofe People, under whofe Dominion they lived, and to '' fupprefs every thing that tended to diftinguilli them. By fe- " paraning themfelves from thofe who were in Power, they " only drew upon themfelves their Hatred and Deriiion. In " many Places they expofed themfelves to Death, by bearing « the c/* //5^ Refurredlon." 17 1 « the exterior Mark of Circutncifion. Every human Tntcrcfl « led them to efface the ignominious Stain of their Orif^inal. *' They faw every Day their MefTiah ftill farther removed " from them^ that the Promifcs of their Dodors about his " fpeedy Manifeftations were falfe j that the Predidions of the " Prophets, whom they could now no longer underlland, were *' covered with Obfcuriry ^ that all the Suppurations of Time " either terminated in Jcjus Chrifi, or were without a Period ; " that fomc among them loft all Hope, and fell into Incredu- « Jity, with regard to the Scriptures. <' And yec notwichftanding all this, they ftill fubfift, they " multiply, they remain vilibly feparatcd from all other People j " and in fpite of the general Averhon, in fpirc of the Efforts of *' all thofe Nations who hate them, and who have them in their " Power, in fpite of every human Obftacle, they are prelerved " by a fupernatural Proredion, which hath not in like Manner *' prefcrved any other Nation of the Earth. " One muft furely have very little Senfe of what ought to " give one Aftonilhment and Admiration, if this Prodigy does *' not ftrike one j and one muft have a ftrange Idea of thePro- " vidence of God, to think he had no Hand in all this. " But the Holy Spirit was not willing to leave us under any " Uncertainty upon this Head ^ and hath declared to us by his " Prophets, that the Prefervation of the Jevji is his Work. '' Fear thou ?iot^ O Jacob my Servant-, faith the Lord-, for I am *' luith thee., for 1 'will make a full End of all the Nations, -whi- " ther I have driven thee j but I ivill not make a full End of « thee^ but correEi thee in Meafure, yet vjill I not leave thee *' luholly unpuniJJjed*. « This Promife v/as made to the old Patriarchs, to whom *' God hath referved Children, Heirs of their Faith, and to the '- Remnant of Ijraelj who in the End of the Ages fhall believe " \v\JeJusChrift. " It is for their Sakes that the unworthy Poftcrity of the Un- *' believing is fuffered ; and it is to maintain the Communica- " tion between the firft Fathers and their lateft Succeffors, that: " the Nation is preferved notwithftanding their Iniquity, and in " the midft of Punifliments, that threatened to overwliclm *' them. " But let it be obferved, that this Promife was made to the " Nation of the Jevjs only ^ that all others Hiall be either ex- " terminated, or fo confounded with each other, as to be no " longer diftinguifhed ■ and that it is the Efficacy of the Word «' ©f God, which prelerves the Jevis amidft every Thing, that - ^ <' in 1/2 Obfermations on the Hifloiy, ^c, '* in all Appearance would otherwife have funk them entirely,' " and fwailowed them up. *' Thus faith the Lord, If my Covenant be not 'whh Day and " Nighty and if I have not appointed the Ordinances of Heaven *' afid Earth ; then ivill I cap away the Seed o/" Jacob and Da- " vid my Servant j — for I ivill cauje their Captivity to return, *' and have Mercy on them *. This I iay is the Promife, and *' the End of the Procnlfe. The yei]Js fhall one Day be recal- " led through Mercy,- and for the Sake of Thofe who fliall one '' Day be recalled, the Patience of God fuffers all the reft, and " his Power preferves them. " Thus faith the Lord, which giveth the Sun for a Light hy ** I>ay^ and the Ordijtances of the Moon and of the Stars for a *' Light by Night, which divideth the Sea, when the Waves *' thereof roar ; the Lord of Hofls is his Name. If thofe Ordi- *' nadces depart from before me, faith the Lord, then the Seed of *' Ifrael alfo fljall ceafe from being a Natioit before me for ever. *' Thus faith the Lord., If Heaven above can be meafured, and *' the Foundations of the Earth fearched out beneath, I will alfo *' cafl off all the Seed 0/ Ifrael, for all that they ha-oe done, faith *' the Lord f . " That is to fay, Heaven and Earth fhall pafs away fooner *' than the Jews fhall ceafe to be a difttndt People. The fame *' Power, which hath given Laws to Nature, watches over their " Prefervation. And the unheard of Crime, which they have '^ committed in crucifying the Saviour promifed to their Fa- " thers, and which hath filled up the Meafure of their former '' Iniquity, willnot move God to retrad his Promife, and to " rejed entirely, and without RefourcCj the Pofterity of, Ja- *« cob. " With what Light were the Prophets illuminated to pre- " fume to fpeak in fo great and lofty a Strain of a Thing fo little '•^ probable as the Duration of a People, weak, difperfed, uni- " verfally hated, and guilty of the greateft of all Crimes? *' Who would queftion the other Prophecies, after feeing the " Accomplifhment of this ? What more aftoniOiing Proof can *' any one defire of the Truth of the Chriftian Religion, than '' thefe two Events joined together, the Difperfion of the Jews " into all Nations, and their Prefervation for fixteen hundred *' Years .^ One of thefe Things taken feparately and by itfelf was " incredible -, and they became ftill more fo by being united ; « but both thefe Prodigies were necelTary to prove that Jejus « Chrifi was the Meffiah, '' It was neceflary that thofe who had rejeded him fliould be • Jerem. xxxlii. 25, 26. f Ibid. xxxi. 35, 36, 37. *' baniflied of the Refurredllon; 175 •* banifhed into all Regions, fhould into all Parts carry with •' them the Scriptures, and fliould every where be covered with *< Ic!;noniiny. " But that the Promifes made their Fathers might be accom- ** plil"hed, it was necclTary that their banifhed Family fliould be *' recalled, and that, their Blindnefs being diHTi pared, they fliould *^ adore him, whom * Abraham had defired to fee, and whom *' he had adored with a holy Tranfport of Joy and Gratitude. " The yp-wX puniflied and difperfed, bear WitncH; to Jefas *' Chriji. The Je'-jjs recalled and converted, will render hicn *' a Teftimony itill more awful and ftriking. The Jews prc- *' fervcd by a continual Miracle, that they may preferve to Jefus " Chrift the Stock and SucceiFion of thofe who fliall one Day *' believe in him, bear Witnefs to him continually. *' Had they been only puniflied, they would have proved his " Jurtice only: Had they only been preferved, they could have *' proved nothing but his Power. Had they not been referved " to worfliip him one Day, they could not have proved his *' Mercy and Fidelity, nor have made him any Reparation for " their outrageous Crimes. *' Their Difperfion proves that he is come, but they have " rejected him : Their Prefervation demonftrates that he hath '■ not rejeded them for ever, and that they fhall one Day believe " in him •■, and they declare by both that he is the Mefliah, and *■' the promifed Saviour. That their Miferies proceed from their *' not having known him, and that the only Hope they have *' left is, that they fhall one Day come to the Knowiege of »' him. « We ought not to demand why God fupports them To long *' v.'ithout enlightening them ; and why he leaves lb great an ** Interval between the faithful Fathers, and the Children that ** will hereafter become fo too. To pretend to examine the « impenetrable Judgments of God, and the Abyflcs of his Wif- *' dom, is to pretend to fneafure the Height of Heaven^ and to <' Jcarch out the Foundations of the Eirth. f God hath fee *' Bounds to the Incredulity of the Jews^ and to the Ingrati- " tude of the Gentiles : His Mercy and his Juftice fucceed " each other ; and no one knows at what Time he will execute " what he hath promifed to the lateft Poflerity of IJrael^ al- " though his Promifes are infallible. «' X Thus faith the Lord that created thee-, O Jacob, and he '' that formed thee^ O Ifrael : Fear not^ for I have redeemed '' thee i I hanie called thee by thy Name^ thou art 7»ine. When • John viii. 56 f Rom. xi. 32, 33. ^ Ifeiah .\liii, *' thou 1/4 Obfervatio7ts on the Hiftory, ^c', *^ thou pajfefi through the Waters, I all iheRoman Emperors, who had appropriated to themfelvcs the Authority of the whole Empire, formerly divided among feveral Officers, after the Examples of Julm Ca/ar and Augufius, either adtually took upon them the Office, or at leaft the Title of Tontifex Maximus-, Chief Prieft; that is, according to the Defi- nition of Fsflus-i fudex atque arbiter rermn huma?2artim divina~ rumque j the Judge and Arbitrator of human and divine Affairs. And hence thofe wife, as well as humane Emperors Trajan, and the Two Antonines-) might podibly think themfelves under a double Obligation, as Chief Magiftrates and Chief Priefts, of perfecuting the Chriflians, whom they apparently confidered as Innovators with regard to the Conftitution, as well as Religion of the Empire. This, tho' no fufficient Excufe for fuch bar- * Vol. IV. p. 169, &feq. ■ . baCfOus of the Refurredio/i,' 179 barous and inhuman Proceedings, may fcrve however to lefll-a the Aftoninimcnt: vvc arc apt to fall into, upon hearing thac fo virtuous a Religion as thac of the Chriitijns was perfecuced by fo virtuous a Prince as Ajitoninus the Vhilofopher-^ though it mud at the fame time be acknowleged, that there was in him a grcac Mixture of Superftition, however incomparible that is thou«hc to be with Philofophy. This may alio fcrve to fliew us the di- ftrelsful Situation of Chriftianity, aojainlb whofe Progrcfs not only the fuperltitious Zeal of the Multitude) the Laws and Policy of almolt every State and Kingdom, but the feeming Duty of even good and jull Magiftratcs were fatally combined. If to politick and pious Princes, Religion and the Laws of the State might fcrve for a Realbn or Pretence for oppofmg Chriftia- nity, to wicked Emperors there was yet another Motive diftincb from any Confideration either of Duty or Policy, or even of their Vices; and that was, their own Divinity. After all the Power and Dignity of the Roman People, and their feveral Magiftratcs, was devolved upon the finglc Perfon of the Empe- ror, the Senators, by a Tranficion natural enough to Slaves, from Counfellors becoming Flatterers, had not only eftablifhcd by Law the abfolute Authority of their Tyrants ; but fo far con^ fecrated their Perfons, even in their Life-time, as to eredt Altar> to their Names, to place their Statues among thofe of the Gods, and to offer to them Sacrifices and Incenfe. Though ihefe im- pious Honours were conferred upon all alike without any Di- ftindtion of Good or Bad j yet the latter, not being able from their own Merit to acquire tothemfelves any Refpedt or Venera- tion, had nothing to ftand upon but the Power and Prerogatives of their Office j of which therefore they became fo jealous, as to make it dangerous for any one to neglect paying them tholcouc- V/ard Honours, however extravagant and profane, which either the Laws, or their own mad Pride required. And hence adoring the Image of the Emperors, fwcaring by their Names, &c. be- came a Mark and Teft of Fidelity, with which all who fought their Favour, or feared their Power, moft religioully complied ; all thofc efpecially who held any Magitfracy under them, or governed the Provinces. And thefe, by their Offices, were yet farther obliged to take care, that within the Limits of their Juril- didlion, that moft eirential Part ot^ the Duty of Subjjds to bad Princes, exterior Refpeft and Veneration, was moft puniflually paid. Now, as the Doftrines of Chrifl v/ere intirely oppolirc to all kinds of Idolatry, Chriftians were by this Teft, with which they could by no means comply, rendered liable to the Guilt of that kind of Treafon, which Tyrants and their Minlftcrs never pardon, how apt foever they may be to overlook Crimes againft Religion or the State. And that this Tcft was, among others, M z made 1 80 Obfervatlons on the Hlftory, ^c, made ufe of againft the Profeflbrs of Chriftianity, even in the bell Reigns, is evident from a Paffage in the famous Epiftle of Thny to Trajan, in which he relates his Manner of proceeding with thofe who offered to clear themfelves of the Charp:e or Su- fpicion of being Chriftians, in the following Words : * " Pro- " pofitus efi libellus fine autore-, multorum nomina continens^ qui " negant fe ejje Chrijiia7ws, aut fuijje : Cum praeunte me Deos *' appellarent-i ^ imagini tu^e {quam propter hoc jufferam cum '' fimulacris numinum ajferri) thure ac vmo fupplicarent j pra^ " terea maledicerent Cbriflo j quorum nihil cogi pojje dicuntur^ qui " fu7it revera Chrifiiani ; ergo dimittendos putavi. Alii ab in- *' dice nominati, eJJe fe ChriJiia?ios dixerunt^ <^ mox negaverunt ; *' ftiijfe quidem^ fed defiijfe ^ quidam ante triejimum, quidam ante ** plures annos : non 7iemo etiam ante vigijzti quoque. Omnes ^ « i7nagi7iem tuam, deorumque fmulacra venerati funt ,■ it <^ <« Chriflo maledixeruTzt. A Paper was fee forth, wiihout a Name, *' containing a Lift of many People, who denied that they cither " were, or ever had been Chriftians. Now thefe Perfons hav- '' ing, after my Example, invocated the Gods, a7id ivith Wine *' mnd Incenfe paid their DevotioTis to your Image {-which I had *« caujed to be brought forth for that Purpofe, "with the Images of « the Gods)^ and having moreover blafphertied Chrift {any one of *' which ThiTigs it isfaidno real Chrifian ca7t be compelled to do), " I thought proper to difmifs them. Others, who had been in- " formed againft, confefTed that they were once Chriftians, but *' denied their being fo now, faying they had quitted that Re- " ligion, fome three Years, others more, and fome few even '' twenty Yearjf ago. All thefe loorjhiped both your Image^ a7id <' thofe of the Gods, and did alfi blafpheme Chrift." To thefe powerful Patrons of Superftition, and Enemies of the Gofpel, may be added others, whofe Authority, tho' inferior and fubfervient to the former, at leaft within the Limits of the lRoma7i Empire, was however of very great and extenfive In- fluence •■, I mean the Priefts, Diviners, Augurs, and Managers of Oracles, with all the fubordinate Attendants upon the Temples and Worftiip of almoft an infinite Number of Deities i and many Trades-, if not intirely depending upon that Worfhip, yec very much encouraged and enriched by it, fuch as Statuaries, Shrine-makers, Breeders of Vidtims, Dealers in Frankinccnfe,c^f. All of whom were by Jntereft, to fay nothing of Religion, ftrongly devoted to Idolatry. It may not be improper alfo, under the Article of Religion, to mention the CirceTtfiatt, and other Speftacles exhibited among the Romans, the Four Great Games of Greece, the Oly?»pia7tj * Epift. xcvii. 1. 10. Pjthiarfj o/' //6^ Refurredion. i8i P)'th:a?!j Ijlhtn'tan and Ner//ea7i ; with many Others of the fame Kind, celebrated with great Magniiiccncc in every Country, and almort in every City of Greece both in Europe and ylfa, all of which were fo many religious Fellivals, which by the Allure- ments of Pomp and Pleafurc, not to mention the Glory and Ad- vantages acquired by the Conquerors in thofc Games, attached many to ihc Cauleof Superflition. But Superflition, univcrfal and powerful as it was, by its Union with the Interefts and Pleafures of a confiderable Part of Mankind, was not the only nor the greateft Obftacle that Chrifti- anity had to contend with. Vice leagued againft it a ftill greater Number. The Ambitious and Luxurious, the Debauched and Lewd, the Mifer and Extortioner, the Unjuft and Oppreflive, the Proud and the Revengeful, the Fraudulent and Rapacious were all Foes to a Religion, that taught Humility and Moderation, Temperance and Purity even of Thought, Liberality and Cle- mency, Juftice, Benevolence and Mecknefs, the Forgiving of Injuries, and the doivg that only toothers-, ijjhicb --jje luould have them to do to us. Virtues agreeable indeed to Reafon, and dif- coverable in Part by the clear Light of Nature j but the Diffi- Gulry lay in bringing thofc to hear Reafon, who had abandoned themfelves to Superftition. And how was the almoft extin- guiflicd Ray of Nature to be perceived, among the many falfe and glaring Lights of Religion, Opinion and Philofophy, which recommended and fanftified many enormous Vices ? 'I'he Gods, like dillulute and defpotick Princes, who have often been very properly compared to them, were themfelves the great Patrons and Examples of Tyranny, Lewdnefs and Revenge, and almoft all Kinds of Vice. And Opinion had magnified Alexander^ and deified Julius C<£far for an Ambitionj which ought to have ren- dered them the Objeds of the Deteftation and Curfcs of all Man- kind. Neither was Philofophy fo great a Friend to Virtue, or Enemy to Vice, as fhe pretended to be. vSome Philofophers, on the contrary, denied the Being, at leaft the Providence of God, and future Rewards and Puniflimencs, and, as a juft Confequence of that Opinion, placed the Felicity of Mankind in the Enjoy- ment of this World, that is, in fcnfual Pleafures. Others affoCl- ing to doubt and queftion every thing, took away the Diflinttion- of Virtue and Vice, and left their Difciples to follow elrher, as their Inclination diredcd. Thcfe were, at leaft indireifily, Preachers of Vice. And among thofc who undertook to lead their Difciples to the Temple of Virtue, there were fo many dif- ferent, and even inconfiftcnr Opinions, fome of them fo para- doxical and abfurd, others fo fubtilized and myflerious, and all of ihem lb erroneous in their Firft Principles, and fo dctetflive in M 3 raany l%2 Ohferijations on the Hiftory, ^cl many great Points of Religion and Morality, that it is no Won- der that Philofophy, however venerable in her Original, and noble in her Pretenfions, degeneraied into Speculation, Sophiftry, and a Science oF Difputation, and, from a Guide of Life, became a pedantick Prefident of the Schools, from whence arofe another Kind of Adverfaries to the Gofpel : A Set of Men, who, from feeing farther than the Vulgar, came to fancy they could fee every thing, and to think every thing fubjeit to the Difcuffion of Reafon ; and, carrying their Inquiries into the Nature of God, the Produdlion of the Univerfe, and the Eflence of the humati Soul, either framed upon each of thefe, or adopted fome quainc or myfterious Syftem, by which they pretended to account for all the Operations of Nature, and meafure all the A6bions of God and Man. And as every Sedt had a Syftem peculiar to it- felf, fo did each endeavour to advance their own upon the Ruins of all the reft ; and this engaged them in a perpetual War with one another, in which, for want of real Strength, and folid Arguments, they were reduced to defend themfelves, and at- tack their Adverfaries, with all thofe Arts, which are commonly made ufe of to cover or fupply the Deficiency of Senfe and Reafon j Sophiftry, Declamation, and Ridicule, Obftinacy, Pride, and Rancour. Men of this Turn, accuftomed to reafoii upon Topicks, in which Reafon is bewilder'd j fo proud of their Sufficiency of Reafon, as to think they could account for every thing ; fo fond of their own Syftems, as to dread Convidtion more than Error ; and fo habituated to difpute pertinacioufly, to aflert boldly, apd to decide magifterially upon every Queftion, that they were almoft incapable of any Inftrudion j could not but be averfe to the receiving for their Mafter a crucified Jeiv^ and for Teachers a Parcel of low obfcure Perfons of the fame Na- tion, who profefled to glory in the Crofs of Ghrift, fo hionv no- th'mg hut him crucifiedy and to negledl and defpife the fo much admired Wifdom of this World ^ and who moreover taught Points never thought of by the Philofophers, fuch as the Re- demption of Mankind, and the Refurredtion of the Dead ; and who, though far from forbidding the due Exercife of Reafon, yet confined it within its proper Bounds, and exhorted their Dif- ciples to fubmit with all Humility, and to rely with all' Confi- dence upon the Wifdom of God, inftead of pretending to ar- raign his Proceedings, whoje Judgvie^zts are unfi arch able ^ andf tuhofe IVays are paft finding out. From this View of the yeivifj and Ge7ttile World, it is evident, that every thing that moft ftrongly influences and tyrannizes over the Mind of Man, Religion, Cuftom, Law, Policy, Pride, In- tereft, Vice, and even Philofophy, was united againft the Gofpel : JEnejnies in their own Nature very formidable and difficult to, ' ^ be of the Refurredion.' 1 83 be fubducd, haJ they even fufFcrcd themfclvcs to be attacked upon equal Ground, and come to a fair Engagement. But nor relying upon their own Strength only (for Prejudice and Falf- hood are always diffident and fearful), they intrenched themfclvcs behind that Power, which they were in Poircflion of, and ren- dered thcmfclves inaccdibie, as they imagined, to Chriftianity, by planting round them not only all Kinds of Civil Difcourage- ments^ but even Torments, ChainN, and Death : Terrors which no one could defpife, who had any Views of Ambition or In- terefti and who was not even contented to rcfign, what he might othcrwife have enjoyed in Peace, and without a Crime, his Reputation, bis Eafe, his Fortune, and his Life. Thcfe were the Difficulties which Chriftianity had to ftrugglc with for many Ages, and over which llie at length fo far prevailed, as to change the whole Face of things, overturn the Temples and Altars of the Gods, filence the Oracles, humble the impious Pride of Emperors, thofe earthly and more powerful Deities, confound the prefumptuous VVifdom of Fhilofophers, and intro- duce into the greateft Part of the known World a new Principle of Religion and Virtue. An Event apparently too unwieldly and ftupendous to have been brought about by mere human Means, though all the AccompliChments of Learning, all the infinuating and perfuafive Powers of Eloquence, joined to the profoundeft Knowlege of the Nature and Duty of Man, and a long Pra- iftice and Experience in the Ways of the World, had all met in the Apoftles. But the Apoftles,excep'ing Vaid^ were ignorant and illiterate, bred up for the moft part in mean Occupations, Na- tives and Inhabitants of a remote Province of ///. 9. -^ '-^ 20th Chapter of St. Johnj \ft^ not to have feen any Vifion of Angels before (Tie ran to Feter, and, confequently, not to have been of the Number of thofe Women who went into the Sepulchre, and were there told by an Angel that Jefus was rifen. ^dly-, Not to have been with them after her Remrn to the Sepulchre with Feter and John, ri^dlyy Angels not al- ways vifible. %.2.p .II. Shewing, from Part of the 24.th Chapter of St. Luke., ifi. That the Report there mentioned was not made by Mary Magdalene j nor, 2.dly^ by the other Mary and Salome ; and that therefore, 3^/y, There were feveral Reports made at different times to the Apoftles, and by different Women. This Report probably made by Joa7ma^ and thofe with her. Teter went twice to the Sepulchre. §. 3. />. 13. Obfervations on the 28th Chapter of St. Matthe'U}, and the i6th Chapter of St. Mark, under three Heads, i/. Of fuch Circumflances as are related by one of thefe Evan- gelifts, but omitted by the other. 2dly, Of fuch as they both agree in. ^dly, Of fuch as feem to clafh and difagree with each other, i/?, Circumftances mentioned by St. Matthew only : Earthquake, Defcent of the Angel, his rolling away the Stone, fitting upon it. Terror of the Soldiers, Appearances of Chrift to the Women, and to the Eleven in Galilee. Flight of the Soldiers into the Cityj Tranfadtions between them and the High Priefts. Circumftances mentioned only by St. Mark : Of the Womens having bought Spices j Of Salome's being one of thofe Women j Of their entering into the Se- pulchre, and feing there a young Man fitting on the right Side, cloathed in a long white Garment j Of the Appearance of Chrijl to Mary Magdalene., to the two Difciples who were go- ing into the Country, and to the Eleven as they fat at Meat. §.4.. CONTENTS. jpx §. 4. p. 2'\. Circumflances in which the two Evangelifls a;^rec. i/^, TheWomcns ^o'mg to the Sepulchre early in the Morning on the fir ft Day ot the Week. 2. Their being told by an Angel that Chriji was rifen, (^c. 3. The Terror and Flight of the Women. §.5. p. 25. Circumftanccs which feem to clafli and difagrcc with each other. Different Accounts of the Time, when the Women came to the Sepulchre, adjufted. Date of the Rc- iurredion fertled. Remarks on the Word nf«<. Signifies not only earljj but over-ear ly^ before the appohited Time. Im- portance of the Words, laent to fee the Sepulchre^ in St. Mat- thew, and, JVbo (hall roll away the Stone for us ? in St. Marl:, pointed out. Women knew nothing of the Guard at the Se- pulchre. §. 6. p. 29. Obfervations on the firft Part of the 24.th Chapter of St. Luke. Particulars in St. Luke's Account differing from thofe of the other Evangelifts noted. St. Peter fhewn to have gone twice to the Sepulchre; the firft time upon Mary Magdalene's hrft Report ; the fecond time upon the Reporc of Joanna^ and thoie with lier. Peter prefcnt when Jo^nma made her Report. Reafon for Si. Luke's naming Marj Atag- dalene-, and the other Mary^ with J-oanna anJ thole widr her, who told thefe things to the Apoillcs. Reports of the Women farther fhewn to have been made feparately, and at different Times. Women went to the Sepulchre at differen;: Times. Reafons for their going at differenc Times. Condu(5t of Joanna^ &c. confidered. §• 7- V- S*^- Obfervations on the latter Part of the 24th Chapter of St Luke. Connexion of this with the preceding and liib- fequent Parts of this Chapter pointed out, §. 8. p. 39. Appearances of Chrjfl to the Women fhewn to be diftindt and different, and to refer to two different and diftinft Events j wz. The Afcenfion of C^r//?, and his meeting his Difciples in Galilee. Recapitulation of the fevcral Points proved in the foregoing SedVions. i/, That the Women came at different Times, and in different Companies, to the Se- pulchre. 2. That there were feveral diftind: Appearances of Angels. V That the Angels were not always vifible, but ap- peared and difappeared as they thought proper. 4. That thefe feveral Facls were reported to the Apoilles at different Times, and by different Women. 5. That there were two diftinft Appearances of Clm^ to the Women. G. That St. Peter was twice at the Sepulchre. Obfervations of a very eminent ami judicious Perfon on Mary Magdalenc\ being named by all the EvangeliftSj c^r. 1^2 CONTENTS. , §. 9- p- 43- The feveral Incidents in theHiftoryof theRefurrec- tion, fee down in the Order in which they appear to have arifen. §. 10. p. 48. Two Reflexions upon the Order of the feveral Incidents. Three Points propofed to be confidered. i/?. The Manner [i. e. the Method and Order) in which the Proofs of the Refurreftion arifing from the foregoing Incidents were laid before the Apoftles. 2. The Matter {i. e. the Fads) of which thofe Proofs conlift. t^. The Characters and Difpo- fitions of the Apoftles i and firft of the Charafbers and Dilpo- litions of the Apoftles at the Time of Chriji's Death. §. II. /». 51. The Method and Order in which the feveral Proofs of the Refurredtion were laid before the Apoftles. Mary Mag- dalene's firft Report. Report of Joanna and thofe with her. Mary Magdalene\ fecond Report. Report of the other Mary and Salome. Appearance of Chriji to the two Difciples at Emviaus. Appearance of Chri/i to the Eleven as they fat at Meat. Difference in the Accounts of Mark and Luke recon- ciled. Appearance of Ckriji to St. Thomas. Appearance of Chri^ to the Difciples in Galilee. Chrifi's Afcenfion. De- fcent of the Holy Ghoft at Fentecofi. Miracles wrought by the Apoftles, e^tr. §. 12. p. 64. The Facts which conftitute the Evidence of the Refurredtion confidered under three Heads, i/, The Ap- pearances of the Angels. 2dly, The Appearances of Chrift to the Women. 3^/y, The Appearances ofChrifi to the Difci- ples and Apoftles. Four Appearances of Angels : ifi. To the Bo?K an Soldiers. 2. To the other Mary and Salome. 3, To Mary Magdalene. ^. To Joanna. Of the Appearance to the Homan Soldiers. Propriety and Neceffity of this Appearance. The Miraculoufnefs of it, no Objection to its Credibility. §. 13. />. 67. The Appearances of the Angels to the Women (ly?, To the other Mary and Salome; 2. To Mary Magdalene j And, 1.T0 Joanna and thofe with her) examined, and (hewn to have been real, and not the Effedts of a diftempered Ima- gination, or the Operations of Artifice and Fraud. §. 14. />. 75. Of the Appearances of Chrift to the Women j the Words of Chrift to Mary Magdalency Touch me not-, &c. ex- plain'd. Different Behaviour of Chrift to Mary Magdalene^ and to the other Mary and Salome accounted for. Import of the other Words fpokcn by Chrift to Mary Magdalene^ viz. But go to my Brethren, and fay to the?», 1 afcejid to my Fa- ther, &CC. Obfervations on the Word ajcend. §. 15. p. 85. Of the Appearances of Chrift to the Apoftles and Difciples. Appearance to the two Difciples at Emmaus con- fider'd. Two Objcdtions to this Appearance ; ift, That thefe Difciples knew not Jefus during the wljole Time of his walk- ing? CONTENTS. i. 88. Of the Appearances of Chrifl to the Eleven and thole with them.— To Saint Thomas. The Proofs ariling from the Appearances of Chrift to the Women and Apoftles, or referred to by Chrifl himfelf, propofed to be conlidcred under four Heads, i. The Teftimony of thofe who had feen him after he was rifen. 2. The Evidence of their own Senfcs. 3. The Accomphfhment of the Words he had fpoken to them, while he was yet with them. 4. The Fulfilling of all the Things which were written in rhe Law of Mofes, and in the Prophets, and in the Ffalms, concerning him. For the firft, fee the two preceding Sections. The fecond, -viz.. the Evidences of their own Senfcs, confidered. Two Objecflions : I. That C/ri/J's Body was a fpiritual Body, and conlequencly incapable of being handled, ^c. 2. That the Apoftles were impofcd upon by Senfations miraculoully imprinted on their Minds, examined and anfwer'd. §. 17. p. 94. Of the Accomplifhment of the Prediftions of Chrifl relating to his Sufferings, Death, and RefurrecTcion. Several Particulars of the Paffion and Death, (^^c. of Chrifl, and the Prophecies correfponding to them produced. Proof of the Death of Chrifl from the 19th Chapter oljohn-t 33d and 34th Verfes, viz.. One of the Soldiers pierced his Side, and forthwith came thereout Blood and Water. Proofs of Chrifl\ riling precifely on the third Day. Cavils on the Phrafes three Days and three Nights.^ and after three Days, aafwered. $. 18. p. 10 1. Of the Prophecies and Types, &c. contained in the Law of Mofes^ the Prophets, and the Pfa/ms., concerning the Sufferings, Death, and Refurredtion of Chrifl^ and their Accomplifhment. Prophecy from the third Chapter of Ge- vefls, i5h Verfe. Quotation from Sherlock's Difcourfes on Prophecy, c^f. Prophecy from the 53d Chapter of /pM/:'. Prophecies from the other Prophets and the Pfa/ms. Par- ticular Accomplifhment of the Prophecy from Ifaiah^ relating to the Burial of Chrifl. Prophecy of David concerning the Refurredtion of Chrifl., cited by St. Petcr^ from A^s ii. 25, &c. Or" Types and Figures. §. 19. /». 117. Refledlions on the Evidence arifing from the exad Accomplilliment of the Prophecies of Mofes., &c. and the Predidions of Chrifl himfelf relating to his Sufferings, Death, and Refurrcdion. N § io. t94 CONTENTS. §. 20. p. 123, Of the Departure of the Difciples into Galilee after the Refurredion of Chrifi-, and of their Return to Jerufalem at the Feaft of Pentecoji. Reafons fdr their going into Galilee^ and for their returning to Jerufalem^ affigned. Ail the Ap- pearances of Chrifi to his Difciples, from that to St. Thomas related by St. John^ to the Time of his Afcenfion, were pro- bably in Galilee. AH the latter Part of the 24th Chapter of St. Luke-t from the 49th Verfe to the End, relates to what happened at Jerufalem after the Return of the Apoftles from Galilee. §. 21. ^. 128. Short Recapitulation of the Proofs of the Refur- redtion. Reafons of Chriji's appearing fo often to his Apo- ftles, ^c. Cavils about Chrifi's not appearing to the Jeivs, and forbidding Mary Magdalene to touch him-, anfwered. §. 22, p. J 3 5. Reafons for our believing at this Time thziChrifi rofe from the Dead. ThefeareTwo: i. TheTeftimony ©f the Apoftles contained in the Scriptures : 2. TheExiftence of the Chriftian Religion. Proofs of the Genuinenefs of the Scriptures: i. The concurrent Atteftation of all the carlieft Writers of the Church: 2. The Probability of the Apoftles having left in Writing the Evidences and Doctrines of Chrifti- anity : 3. The Improbability of any Books forged in the Names of the Apoftles efcaping Detedtion. Probability of the Apo- ftles having left in Writing the Evidences and DocStrines of Chriftianity, moved thereto either by the Holy Spirit, or by their Care for the Church, or by the Solicitation of their Children in Chriftt who not having in themfelves the Words of eternal Life, muft naturally have encieavxDured to obtain them from the Apoftles themfelves in Writing, or have wrote them down from their Mouths, or under their Infpe<5tion j or laftly, have tranfcribed from their own Memories what they could recolle5> ] LETTER T O GILBERT WEST, Efq; S I R, N a late Converfation wc had together upon the Subjedl of the Chriftian Rchgion, I told you, that befides all the Proofs of it which may be drawn from the Prophecies of the Old Tefta- ment^ from the neceffary Connexion it has with the whole Syftem of the JewiJIj Religion, from the Miracles of Chriflj and from the Evidence given of his Re- furredtion by all the other Apoftles, I thought the Converlion and the Apoftlefliip of St. Paul alone, duly confidered, was of itfelf 2 Dcraonftration fufficient to prove Chriflianity to be a Divine Revelation. As you feem'd to think that fo compendious a Proof might be of Ufe to convince thole Unbelievers that will not attend to a longer Series of Arguments, I have thrown together the Reafons upon which I fupport that Propofition- In the 26th Chapter of the A^s of the Apo/ila, writ by a co- temporary Author, and a Companion of St- Paul in Preaching the Gofpel (as appears by the Book itfelf, Ch. xx. Ver. 6, 13, 14. Ch. xxvii. Ver. i.&c.) St. Paul is faid to have given him- felf this Account of his Converfion and Preachiu^j to King N 4 ^iri£^4 200 Obfervations on the Converfion Agrippa and Veflus the Row