Djyisic 
 
 
 rs - 
 
•i«-l 
 
 A 
 
 DISCOURSE :?x 
 
 O N T H fe 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 SAVIOUR, 
 
 In View of the Prefent 
 
 Controverfy between Infidels 
 and Apostates. 
 
 •^-^-Noftnim eft taut as ccmponere Lites* 
 
 ^j)e^econD €i3i(ioi!. 
 
 By T H o M AS Wo o L s T o N, fometimc 
 Fellow o^ Sidney -College in Camhridge, 
 
 L O N "B N: 
 
 Printed for the Author, Sold by him near 
 MooY'Gatey and by the Bbokfeilers of London 
 and IVeJlminJler, 1727. 
 
 [Price One ShilHng.] 
 
T O T H E 
 
 Uicrht Reverend Father ill God 
 
 EDMUND, 
 
 Lord Bilhop of L o N d o N, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 foon to 
 of it. 
 
 PON no other View do I 
 
 make a Dedication of this 
 
 Difcourfe to your Lordlliip, 
 
 than to fuhmit it to your 
 
 acute Judgment i expeBing 
 
 hear of your Approbation or Dijlike 
 
 if it fo happen, that you highly 
 
 A 1 approue 
 
iv De Die at ion. 
 
 approve of tf^ I beg of yhu to he f faring 
 of your Commendations y leajl I Jhould he 4 
 puffed up njoith them. 
 
 In my Moderator, fame ExpreJJtons 
 dropt from my Pen about the Miracles 
 of our Sa^vioWy ibhich, for loant of lU 
 luJiratwnJhefif ga'v^ your Lordfbip Jome 
 O^cficey avd hrought upon me more Trou- 
 hle : Buty ha'v'mg no^ fully and clearly 
 expl^rd my/ felf Out of the Wither f 'y I 
 hope, you II be reconciled to me \ ayid as 
 
 of It. 
 
 I 
 whether your Profecuttcm^^of mty'for 
 the . Ni oderator y 'wa .r mil , msd^'e^^fo:^'^ 
 dhy til hot difpiite 'here, hc^i^islready 
 expofiithted that Matter ndilif^ W fe^ 
 ^erat Letters.^ td^ 'which yoii.'nvould not 
 cofidefcend to gfue me ariy Anf'vjer, For 
 'Vjhat Reafon yqu iDasJilent,. is heft hjoiun 
 to your felf . Buty in my ovjn Vtiidica- 
 t:o7iy I hopCy T may pitUifi "without Of- 
 ' ' fence, 
 
feficey that your tahng me for an Infidel, 
 'was fuch a Mijlakcy as I thought no 
 Scholar covld haue made y and the In- 
 jitry done to my Reputation and lew For- 
 ties, by tJy^ .ProfecMtiofiy fo confiderahky 
 that the kajt i expe&ed from your Lord- 
 iljip, luas a courteous Excise, if not an 
 dmple Comfmfatm?, for it:.\^m '^\ 
 
 ^s to the Expediency of profecuting 
 Infidels • jfi>r their Writings (in ivhofe 
 Caufe I am the farthejl of any Man 
 from being engaged) I 'will here fay no' 
 thing. The Argument y pro and con, has 
 already y hy one or other, been copioufly 
 liarjled. And I dofit knonji but I might 
 hcy ivith your Lordlhip, on the perfecu' 
 tmg fide of the ^eflion j hut that it 
 looks, as if a Man ^as dijlrufiful of the 
 Truth of Chrijiiamtyy and confcious of his 
 ouun Inability to defend ity or he m^ould 
 led've that good Caufe to God himfelf, 
 and the S'word of the Spirit, ^without cal- 
 ling upon the Civil Magiftratc for his 
 Aid and Ajftjlance, 
 
 That 
 
vi Deojjcation; 
 
 ^":-\ 'f-\ 
 
 That fcurbj Writer of the Scheme 
 of literal Prophecy, ^c. ivhich your 
 Lord/hip mujl ha^e heard of, "would 
 injinuaiey that they are only atheiflical 
 Priefts, "who, for fear of their Interejls 
 in the Churchy fet Perfecutions on foot : 
 But after your Lordlhip has publijh'd 
 a jirenuous Defence of Chrijiiariity to 
 the Purpofe of our prefent Contro'verfyy 
 Vll have no fuch Sufpicions of you. 
 
 Tour LordQiipV perfecuting {or, if 
 you. "VJiIly prof ecutlng) Humour , is repu- 
 tedly all pure Zeal for Gods Glory, 
 and, ivith > all my Heart, let it he fo 
 accounted, whether it he according to 
 Knowledge or not. Againjl Popery and 
 Infidelity you are all Ardency I Who does 
 not commend you? Who can que [lion the 
 Sincerity of the Zeal of a Proteftant Bi- 
 fjiop, and of a Proteflant Clergy, "when 
 they perfccut€ the Enemies of their Church, 
 that co7iftders their oiijn Steadinefs to Prin- 
 ciples ag-amjl In t ere [I, under all Changes, 
 
 ftnce 
 
Dedication, vii 
 
 fince the Reformation ', and their Ahhor^ 
 rence of Extortion upon the People, for 
 the Duties of their Fun&iony in and ahout 
 this City, Such Honejly and Cmjlancy 
 in their Profefton, is a Proof of the In- 
 tegrity of their Hearts y or I knoav not 
 'where to find one. 
 
 But that your Lordfliip'x Zeal for 
 Religion is 'very remarkable and fuccefs- 
 fuly I could pro've by many Injtances ; 
 one is, that of your routing a turbulent 
 SeU of Peripateticks out of St. PaulV 
 Cathedral, and if you could as effeBually 
 clear Chrift'j Church of Infidels, lijhat 
 a glorious Bijhop luould you be I 
 
 And 'what Pitty is it, that Infidels 
 like'wife ate not to be quell d ^ith your 
 Threats and Terrors! uohich (without the 
 Weapons of Jharp Reafonings, and thump- 
 ing Arguments y that others are for the 
 Ufe of) 'nvotlld tranfmit your Fame to 
 Poflerity, for a notable Champion for Chri- 
 Ji'mityy as certainly asy that your judi- 
 cious 
 
ems Vmfemtlon of the Moderator .^ 
 hifideUty.k bke rmemherd hj, - 
 
 ', ^''~i "T- 
 
 .^«r. ■ 
 
 
 My lord, 
 
 - 
 
 The Admirer of 
 
 
 Your Zeal, .- 
 
 1 V 
 
 Zondojjj 
 jpril if' 
 
 Wiflom and 
 
 Cbnduift, 
 
 Thomas Woolfimi. 
 
 
Si^^Ftii^ 
 
 A, 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 SAyiOUR,8cc. 
 
 F ever there was an ufeful 
 Coatrovcrfy flarted, or re- 
 vived in this Age of the 
 Church, it is this about 
 the MefiahjJoip o^the holy 
 Jefiis, which the T)ifmirfe 
 of the Gminds^ &c. has of 
 late raisM. I believe this Controverfy 
 will end in the abfolutc Demonftration of 
 Jefus's Me[fiahfljip from Prophecy, which 
 IS the only way to prove hin^ -o be the 
 
 B Melfmb^ 
 
[ -] 
 
 Mejfiahj that great Prophet expeded by 
 the Jews^ and promifed under the Old 
 Teftament. And tho' this way of Proof 
 from Prophecy feeriis to labour under many 
 Difficulties at prefent, and tho' fome Wri- 
 ters againft the Grotmds^ being diftreffed 
 with thofe Difficulties, are for feeking Re- 
 fuge in the Miracles of our Saviour j yet 
 we muft perfift in it, till what I have no 
 doubt of, his Mejfmhjhip ihall be clearly 
 made out by it. 
 
 And the way in Prophecy that I would 
 take for the Proof of Jefus\ Mejfiahjhipy 
 fhould be by an allegorical Interpretation, 
 and Application of the Law and the Pro- 
 phets to him i the very fame way, that all 
 the Fathers of the Church have gone in ^ 
 and the very fame way, iw which all the 
 ancient Jews fay their Mejfiah was to ful- 
 fil the Law and the Prophets : But this 
 way does not pleafe our cfclpiialiical//^|- 
 ters in this Controverfy, neither, will they 
 at prefent give any ear to it. •, ' .; 
 
 The Way in Prophecy that they are for 
 taking, is by. a literal Interpretation and 
 Application of fome Prophecies of the Old 
 Teftament to our Jefus^ but they ar€ hi- 
 therto unfuccefsful in this Way. The Au- 
 thors of the Groimds^ and of the Scheme^ 
 grievouily perplex them with their Ob- 
 jedions againft this way of Proof, fo far as, 
 
 being 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 being fenfibic, I fay, of alraoft infupcrablc 
 Difficulties in it, they are flying apace to 
 the Miracles 'of our Saviour, as to their 
 fole and grand Refuge. 
 
 But to fhdw that there's no Sanduary 
 for them in the Miracles of our Saviour, I 
 write this Difcourfe ; And this I do, not 
 for the Service of Infidelity, which has no 
 Place in my Heart, but for the Honour of 
 the Holy yrfris^ and to reduce the Clergy 
 to the gc'od old way of interpreting Pro- 
 phecies, which the Church has unhappily 
 apoftatis'd from, and which, upon the Te- 
 ftfmony of the Fathers, will, one Day^ be 
 the Convcrfion of Jews and Gentiles, 
 
 For this Opinion, that there is no Sanc- 
 tuary in the Miracles of our Saviour, I 
 chanc'd to fay in the Moderator^ {i)That 
 Jefus's Miracles, as they are now-a-days 
 tmderfiood^ make nothing for his Juthoritv 
 and MeJJiabJJjip: And again, \i) That'll 
 helie've^ upon good Authority^ jome of the 
 Miracles if Jefus^ as recorded by the 
 E'-jangelifts^ were ne'ver wrought^ hut are 
 only related as prophetical and parabo- 
 lical Narratives of what will he fnyjieri- 
 on fly and more wonderfully done hy him: 
 Which Exprcllions gave Offence to fomc 
 of our Clergy, and brought upon me their 
 
 CO Page 44. (,) Page 53. 
 
 B 2 Indig- 
 
Indignation -and I>ifpleafare. I fee no Rea- 
 fon to depart Srom the faid ExpreiEons, or 
 fo much as to palliaie and foften them, 
 much lefs to'retracfi themj but in Mainte- 
 nance of my Opinion, -to the Honour of our 
 M^J/kiby ,m-}d.the Defence of Chriftianity, 
 I write this.U'reatife on Jefus's Miracles, 
 and 'take this Method following. 
 
 T;of:::H CKii lol "j;c! , , , ! '^r^ ■■■ . p;.., ' 
 I. -I wiil fliow, that the Miracles of heal- 
 ing all manner of bodily Difeafes, which 
 Jefus'. was juftly. farned for, are none of the 
 proper Miracles, of , the Mijftah^ neither 
 are they fo much as a good Proof of his 
 Divine Authority to fbuiid a Religion. 
 
 - 11. That the literal Hillory ot many of 
 the Miracles of Jefus, as recorded by the 
 £vangelifts, does imply Abfurdities, Im- 
 probabilities, . and Incredibilities , confe- 
 quently they, either in whole or in part, 
 were never wrought, as they are com- 
 monly believed now-a-days, but are only 
 related as prophetical and parabolical Nar- 
 ratives of what would be myfterioufly and 
 _mpre wonderfully done by him. 
 
 III. I.iliall coniidcr what Jefus means, 
 when he appeals to his Miracles as to .a 
 Teftimony and Witnefs of his Divine Au- 
 thority, and fhow, that he could not pro- 
 perly 
 
[ J ] 
 
 pcrly and ultimately refer -ttf^ thofe he 
 then wrought in the Flefi^^ but to thofe 
 myftical ones, which he would do in the 
 Spirit i of which thofe wrought in the; 
 Fjelli are but mere Types and Shadows. 
 
 In treating on thcfe Heads, I IJiall not 
 confine my fclf only to Reafon, but alfo 
 to the cxprefs Authority of ttie Fathers, 
 thofe holy, venerable, and learned Preach- 
 ers of the Gofpcl in the fir ft Ages- of the 
 Church, who took our Religion from the 
 Hands of the Apoftles, and of apoftolical 
 Men, who dy'd, fome of them, and fuffer'd 
 for the Doiirine they taught , who pro- 
 feiledly and confefTedly were end^d with 
 divine and extraordinary G'lhs of the Spi- 
 rit ^ who confcquently can't be fuppofed 
 to be Corrupters of Chriftianity, or Teach- 
 ers of falfc Notions about the Miracles of 
 our Saviour, or fo much as miftaken about 
 the apoftoiical and evangelical Senfe and 
 Nature of them. I know not ho\^ it comes 
 to pafs, but I am -a profound Admirer, and 
 an almoft implicit Believer of the Au- 
 thority of the Fathers, whom I look upon 
 as vaft Philofophcrs, very great Scholars, 
 and moft orthodox Divines. Whatever 
 they concurrently aflcrt, I firmly believe. 
 And tho' they are, for the moft part, myf- 
 terious Writers out of. the Reach of the 
 
 Capacities 
 
[ « ] 
 
 Capacities of many, who flight them,- yet 
 I, who have had the Honour and Happi- 
 nefs of much of their Acquaintance, fancy 
 my fclf well apprifed of -their Meanings; 
 If at any time I read a Paflkge in them 
 which I don't prefently apprehend, I fa- 
 lute it with Veneration for all that, till 
 my Underftanding is opened to receive the 
 Senfe of it. If I meet with but a iingle 
 Opinion in any one of them, I pay my 
 Refped^s to it ,•' but where there is an Har- 
 mony and Agreement of Opinion amongft 
 them, it is with me, and ought to be with 
 all Chriftians-,' of fuch Weight, as to bear 
 down all Prejudice, Oppofition, arid Con- 
 tradi(5ti()h before it ; or the Authority of 
 no Man, whether ancient or modern, is to 
 have any Regard paid to it ; and of what 
 ill Coiifequence to Religion fuch an utter 
 Reje(5tion of Authority will be, I need not 
 fay. 
 
 This I thought fit to prcmife, concern- 
 ing the Authority of the Fathers, to abate 
 of the Prejudice beforehand, which fome 
 m.ay conceive againft the following Dif- 
 courfe about the Miracles of Jejits. I don't 
 queftion, but "fome may be (iartled at the 
 foregoing Heads, as if, what is the fartheft 
 of any thing from my Heart, the Service 
 of.Inlidelity was in Viev/ ,• but craving the 
 Temper and Patience of fuch Readers for 
 
 a while, 
 
[7] 
 
 awhile, and they fliall find, that its no 
 other than juft Reafoning, clear Truth, 
 and primitive Dodrine about /fefus\ Mi- 
 racles, that I advance ; Or if it iliould fo 
 happen, that none befides my felffhould 
 difcern the Reafoning and Truth ofthe Ar- 
 gument j yet I hope it will not be thought 
 a Crime to revive primitive Dodrine, 
 which none will be able to deny it to be, 
 whether they like it or not. If I err, I err 
 upon Choice with the Fathers, of whofe 
 Faith I am. And if any are offended at 
 what follows about the Miracles o^ Chrift^ 
 let them turn their Difpleafure and Indig- 
 nation againft the Fathers, for whofe ex- 
 prefs or implicit Opinions 1 can be defer v- 
 ing of ho Blame. 
 
 1 am ferry for the Occafion of fuch a 
 Preface againft Offence, which the Apof- 
 tacy of the Age, and its Unacquaintednefs 
 with the Fathers, has made necefTary. So 
 I enter upon the particular handling of the 
 Heads foregoing. And 
 
 I. I will fliow that the Miracles of heal* 
 ing all manner of bodily Difeafes, which 
 Jefus was juftly famed for, are none of the 
 proper Miracles of the Mefllah, nor are 
 they fo much as a good Proof of Jefus's 
 divine Authority to found and introduce a 
 Religion into the World. 
 
 And 
 
[8 3 
 
 And tod© thisj let us confider, firft^ ia 
 general^' what was the Opinion of the F^^ 
 thers about the Writings oHht'JEt^angeliftsy 
 in which the Life <^ Chrifi is recorded 
 Eucherius _ i2i^s^ (3) That the Script ttres 
 of the New as well as Old T'eftament^ are 
 to be Tni&t'preted in an allegorical Senfe, 
 And this his Opinion, is no other than the 
 common oneofthefirft Agesofthe Church, 
 as might be proved by many, the Hke Ex- 
 preflions of other Fathers. AsinfuchEx- 
 preflions, they do not except the Writings 
 of tht E^'angelifts', fo they muft inchide 
 the Hiftory of Chriffs Miracles, which as 
 well as other Parts of the -Hiftory of his 
 Life, is to be allegoriz'd for the fake of 
 its true. Meanings confequently the literal 
 Story of Chrift's Miracles proves nothing. 
 But let's hear particularly their Opinion 
 of the A-iiions and Miracles of our Saviour. 
 
 Mrigen fays, that {^) What fo ever Jefm 
 did in the 'Plefl?^^ w^asl hut ' typical and 
 
 fymholical of what-^be would do- in the 
 
 " '(."5)"Utijv^rraTn porro' SatrliiTi Scripturam tarn 
 Novi quanv Veceris T^ftamertti ad allegoricum 
 fenfum efle fumendam , adniepet nos vel illud, 
 Aperiam o» meum in P:iraboliS, . tti '\Prafat. ad 
 Form. Sfir.it. Intel!. 
 
 , (4) Si quidem Symbola quxdam erant quae 
 tunc gerebantur eorum, qux Jcfu virtute femper 
 perficiuntur. J?i Mat. ti^.'xv. 
 
 Spirit ; 
 
spirit; and to our Purpofe, (5) that r^jf 
 federal bodily T>ifea[es which he healed^ 
 were no other than Figures of the fpiri- 
 tiial Infirmities of the Soul, that are to' 
 he cured by him. St. Hilary \s of the fame 
 Mind with Origeii^ as any one may fee by 
 the (6) ExprefTions referr'd to, and his 
 Commentary on St. Matthew. St. Ati- 
 gtiftin, (7) and St. John (8) of Jerufalem:, 
 both fay, that the Works of Jefus import 
 farther Myfteries; and with them, the reft 
 of the Fathers agree, making the Miracles 
 that Jefus did then, no more than the 
 Shadow of fome more j)owerful and myfti- 
 cal Operations to be done by him, as I 
 could fhow by more Citations out of them, 
 if it was needful. But from the foregoing 
 Citations out of the Fathers it is plain, in 
 their Opinion, that our modern T)itines 
 are in the wrong of it, to lay much Strefs 
 on any of the Operations of Jefifs^ which 
 
 (5) Omnis languor & omnis Infirmitas quam fa- 
 navit falvator tunc in Populo rcferuntur ad Infirmi- 
 tatcs fpirituales Animarum, ^c. hi Mat. C. xvii. 
 
 (5) Chriixi Gefta aliud portendunt. Jn Mat, C.xii. 
 Evangelicis geftis eft interior Senfus, C. xiv. Hacc 
 licet in prajfcns gcOa funt, quid tamen in ^iturum 
 fignificent contuendum eit, C. x. Peragunt formam 
 futuri geila prasfentia, C. xxi. 
 
 (7) Quae a Jelu fada funr, alicujus fignificantia 
 eranr. Serm. 77. 
 
 (8) Omne quod fecit Jefus, Sacramenta lunt. 
 Homil. ;i. /?; Marc. 9. 
 
 C he? 
 
[ IG ] 
 
 he di<i in the Flefli, for the Proof of his 
 divine Authority and MeJJiahJhipy which 
 is only to be proved by his more myfteri- 
 ous Works, of which thofe done in the 
 Fleih are but Type and Figure. 
 
 But to come clofer to the Purpofe, let's 
 fee how indifferently, I had aim oft faid 
 contemptibly, the Fathers fpeak of the Mi- 
 racles of Jefus ^ and particularly of his 
 Power of healing all bodily Difeafes, which 
 by modern Writers is fo much magnified 
 and extoll'd. St. Iren^us fays, (9) that if 
 we confider only the then temporal life of 
 Jefus's Tower of Healings he did nothing 
 grand and wonderful ,- confequently. Ire- 
 naus could not hold, that Jefiis's Miracles 
 then wrought, were a fufficient Proof of 
 his divine Authority, much lefs of his Mef- 
 fiahjhip. Origen fays ( i o^ that thv many 
 were hrotight to helie've in yefiis upon the 
 Fame of * the Miracles which he did once 
 among the Jews, yet (what implies the In- 
 fufhciency of them' for the Converfion of 
 Men) he intimates that his greater and 
 myftical Works do proz'e his Authority, 
 St. Johno{Jerufalem fays, (11) that Je- 
 
 (9) Si eiiim tcmporaJis erat ab eo Utilitas, nihil 
 grande prajftitit iis, qui ab eo curati funr, L. V^ 
 
 C. 12. S.6. 
 
 (\6) Contra Celfum, L. \i. 
 - (rr) Ccecum curavir, magnum quidem eft, quod 
 fecit, fed niiit quotidie fiat, quodolim faftum, no- 
 bis quidem magnum efle ceflavit. liomil. 5c. 111 
 M.irc. <,>. fuss 
 
I " ] 
 
 fus's Cures performed upon the "Blind^ &c. 
 were ind-ted confiderahle and great ^ but 
 unlefs he do daily as mighty Works in his 
 Churchy we ought to forbear our Jdmira- 
 tion of him. St. Jiiguftin not only fays 
 (12) that // we examine into Jefush Mi- 
 racles by humane Reafon^ we Jloall find he 
 did nothing great^ considering his AU 
 mighty ^ower^ and considering his Good' 
 iiefs^ what he did was but little ^ but he 
 tells us alfo, that {if) fuch Works as Je- 
 fus did^ might be imputed to^ and eJfeUed 
 by Magic Art. And accordingly Mofes 
 and our Saviour himfelf eonfefs, that falfe 
 Prophets, and falfe Chrift's, will do Mi- 
 racles j and Anti-Chriji himfelf, according 
 to St. Vaid^ will do them to the Decep- 
 tion of Mankind, Nay, the Fathers (14) 
 fny, what I believe, that Anti-Chrifi will 
 imitate and equal Jefus in all his Miracles 
 which he wrought of old How then can 
 we diftinguifli the true Prophet from the 
 falfe, the true Chriji from the Anti-chrifi 
 by Miracles? Our "Divines will find it 
 
 (12) Si humano captu & ingenio confidcremus 
 Jelutn facientem, & quod ad potellatcm non mag- 
 num aliquid fecit, & quod ad benignitatcm, par- 
 vum fecit. J71 Johan. Cap. v. I'raB. i-j. 
 
 (15) Etfi atteftabantur Miracula, non dcfuiflent 
 ( ficut & nunc muflitant) qui magica: potentias 
 xunda ilia tribuerent. Co?ir. Jr'aujl. L. XII. C 45. 
 
 (14) l^id, Sanftum Auguflimim dc Jiiti-chri(lo. 
 
 C 2 har4 
 
hard to do it, if what the Fathers fay of 
 Jnti'Chrift be found true. Moreover Hif^ 
 tory affords us Inftances of Men, fuch as 
 of Afollonius "Tyanatis^ Vefpafian^ and of 
 the Irijh Stroaker^ GreatreXy who have 
 miraculoufly cured Difeafes to the Admi- 
 ration of Mankind, as well as owv Jefus: 
 But if any of them, or any other greater 
 Worker of Miracles than they were, fhould 
 withal 1 aflume to himfelf theTitie of a Pro- 
 phet, and Author of a new Religion, I 
 humlaly conceiveji we ought not to give 
 heed to him, „- .. . 
 
 Neither is there the leaft Reafon that 
 we fhould ; for the Power of doing Mira- 
 cles Is no certain, nor rational Seal of the 
 Cprpmifllon and Authority of a divine Law- 
 giver. St. Taul fays (15) there is a T>i' 
 verfity of the Gifts of the Spirit y for to 
 one is gi<ven by the Spirit^ the Word of 
 Wifdom; to another the Word of Know- 
 ledge i to another the Gift of Healing ^ 
 to another the working of Miracles ^ to 
 another Prophecy ; to another difcerning 
 of Spirit ^ to another divers Kinds of 
 ^O/igues ,• to another the Interpret ation of 
 T'ongties. Thefe Gifts may be given a- 
 part and feparately. One of them may be 
 conferred on this Man, and another of them 
 
 (15) I Cor. C xii. 
 
 pn 
 
[ M ] 
 
 on his Neighbour. There is no NecefTity 
 that any two or more of thefe Gifts fhould 
 meet in one Man. To argue then, that a 
 Man, who has one of thefe Gifts jHiuft have 
 the other ; that is, that he muft needs have 
 the Gift of Wifdom, or of Prophecy, or 
 of difcerning of Spirits, or of divers Kinds 
 of Tongues, becaufe he has the Gift of 
 Healing and of working Miracles, is very 
 inconclufive, and falfe Reafoning : And yet 
 this is the Reafoning of our modern Wri- 
 ters who would prove jfe/m's Authority, 
 to found a Religion, from his Miracles. I 
 don't queftion but Jefus had all the fore- 
 faid Gifts and Powers of the Spirit in a 
 moft fupcrlative Degree; but then it is 
 unreafonably inferred, for all that, that a 
 Man, becaufe he of Certainty has fome of 
 them, muft of confequence have the other. 
 St. Jiigiiftin (i6) cautions us againft being 
 deceived into a good Opinion of a Man's 
 Wifdom, becaufe of his Power to do Mi- 
 racles. And I think accordingly, that we 
 may as well fay, that the ftrongeft Man is 
 the wifeft ; or that a good Phyfician muft 
 needs be a good Cafuift ^ or that the beft 
 
 (i5) Atque illud ad Rem maxime partineat, ne 
 decipiamur tendentes ad Contemplationem Veri- 
 tatis — Arbitrantcs ibi ofTe invifibilem fapientiam, 
 ubi Miraculum vifibile viderimus. In Scnn. ^om. 
 in monte^ Lih. z. Sc^. 84. 
 
 Mathc- 
 
[ m] 
 
 Mathematician is the ablefl: Statefman, as 
 that Jefus^ becaufe he was a Worker of 
 Miracles, fuch as his are, and a Healer of 
 all manner of Difeafes, ought to be recei- 
 ved as the Guide of our Confciences, the 
 Dire(5tor of our Underftanding, the Ruler 
 of our Hearts, and the Author of a Reli-* 
 gion. 
 
 What then will the Writers againft 
 the Grounds do to prove yefus's Autho- 
 rity and Meffiahfhip from his Miracles ? 
 Or how by his Miracles will they be able 
 to diflinguifh him from an Impoftor, a falfe 
 Prophet, and the Juti-chtiji ? Why, they 
 will fay perhaps, 
 
 I. That belides Greatnefs of Power, there 
 was nothing but Goodnefs, Kindnefs, and 
 Love to Mankind iliewn in Jefus\ Mira- 
 cles. As to the Miracles of falfe Prophets 
 and Impoftors, if they be, many of them, 
 of a kind and benevolent Afpe6t, yet the 
 5Dm/s Foot, if we look well to it, will 
 difcover it felf in feme ludicrous and mif- 
 chievous Pranks : But 'Jefus's Miracles were 
 all of a benehcent Nature ; he went about 
 doing good, healing all m.anner of Difeafes 
 among the People, and did no Wrong to 
 any one ; which is a good Argument, they 
 fay, of his divine Authority, or God would 
 not have fuffer'd , nor the 1)eml have 
 work'd fuch a Teftimony in Behalf of it. 
 
 On 
 
[ -5 ] 
 
 On this Head our twines are copious and 
 rhetorical, and many notable and florid 
 Harangues have they made on it. But 
 
 In anfwer to them, they don't feem to 
 have their Memories at hand, when they 
 declaim at this rate. The Fathers, upon 
 whofe Authority I write, will tell fuch 
 Orators, that Jefus^ if his Miracles are to 
 be underftood in the literal Senfe, did not 
 only as foolifli Things as any Impoftor 
 could do, but very injurious ones to Man- 
 kind. I ihall not here inftance in the 
 feemingly foolifh and injurious Things 
 which Jeftts did for Miracles, intending 
 under the next Head to fpeak to fome of 
 them : But they are fuch, if literally true, 
 as our T>hin€S do believe, as are enough 
 to turn our Stomachs againft fuch a Pro- 
 phet J and enough to make us take him for 
 a Conjuror^ a Sorcerer^ and a Wizard^ ra- 
 ther than the Meffiah and Prophet of the 
 moft High God. But 
 
 2. To prove the MeJJiahfljip of the holy 
 Jeftis from his Miracles, our T>mnes urge 
 the Prophecies of the Old Teftament, fuch 
 as that of Ifaiab^ C, xxxv. V. 5, 6. lljen 
 the Eyes of the "Blind flmll he opened^ and 
 the Bars of the T)eaf JJjall he tmjiopp'dy 
 thenfljall the lame Man leap as the Hart, 
 and the Tongue of the T>umh fittg ; and fay 
 that thcfe Prophecies were accurately ful- 
 
 fiird 
 
■ [ 16, ]; 
 
 fiird by our '^efiis in the fcveral fpecificat 
 Cures of BJindnefs, Deafnefs, Lamenefs^ 
 and Dumbnefsj which he often perform'it 
 upon one, or other ; and^ inafmuch as our 
 Saviour feems to appeal to fuch Prophecies, 
 do conclude this his Accompiiihment of 
 them, to be no lefs than a Demonftration 
 that he was the true Mejftahy that great 
 Prophet^ who was to come into the World. 
 To which I anfwer, 
 
 Firji^ That the Accomplifliment of Pro- 
 phecies that can neither be given forth by 
 human Forefight, nor fulfilrd in a Coun- 
 terfeit, are good Proofs of Jefus's Mefflab^ 
 Jhip : But then, what fliall we fay if others 
 befides yefm Ihould do the like Cures and 
 Miracles ? It is faid of J?iti- cbrifl^ and I 
 believe it, that he will not only do all the 
 Miracles that Jefus did, but will appeal 
 to the like Prophecies too. How then we 
 are to diftinguifli the rme Chrift from the 
 faife Chrift by Miracles and Prophecies in 
 this Cafe, is the Qiieftion, which I leave 
 with our Tihines to confider of an An- 
 fwer to, againft the Time that it is proved 
 that Anti'Chrift does all thofe Miracles 
 which 'Jefm in the Flefb wrought. But 
 
 Secondly^ The forefaid Prophecies, and 
 others mentioned in Ifatah^ neither were, 
 nor could be Prophecies of the miraculous 
 Cures of bodily Difeafes which Jefus then 
 
 did. 
 
[ >7 ] 
 
 did. And this may be made appear, not 
 only from the Context of thole Prophe- 
 cies which received then no Accomplilh- 
 ment from Jefus^ who ought to have ful- 
 fill'd one Part of the Prophecy as well as 
 the other, or is not to be taken for the 
 Fulfillcr of either, but from the Opinion of 
 both Jews and Father Sj who adjourn the 
 Accomplifliment of thofe Prophecies to 
 Chrift's fpiritual Advent. But 
 
 T^hirdly^ The Prophet Jfaiah^ in the 
 Place above cited, fpeaks not of bodily 
 Blindnefs, (jc. which the MeJJiah is to 
 heal, but of the fpiritual Diftempers of the 
 Soul, metaphorically fo called ; as may be 
 eafily proved, not only from the Prophe- 
 cies thcmfelves, but from the old Jews^ 
 who were allegorical Interpreters of thofe 
 Diftempers, and from the antient Fathers, 
 (17) who fo underftood them. Confe- 
 quently our Jefuss healing of thofe bo- 
 dily Difeafes, was no proper Accomplifli- 
 ment of thofe Prophecies. It is true our 
 Saviour, Matt, xi. 4, 5. feems to appeal 
 
 . (17) Interim completur &; Ifaias Prophetia non 
 tantum in corporalihus, verum ctiam in fpirituali- 
 bus, Origcn. In Matt. Cap. xv. Aperiontur igitur 
 Oculi Ciecorum, aures lurdorum audicnt, nam qui 
 quondam divinis icrmonibus reje£lis myfticam Sanc- 
 torum Inftitutionem reciperc non ftuduerunr, libcn- 
 tor earn admitienr. St. Cyril in Loc. l(. Vide ^ 
 Sau^ium Hieronymum m Loc. Ifai, 
 
 D to 
 
[x8] 
 
 to thofe Prophecies, and to make his Cure 
 of corporal Diftempers an Accompiilliinent 
 of them: But he means not in the literal 
 SenfCj that our divines take him in, as I 
 ihall fhow hereafter, when I come to con- 
 fider what yefits means, by appealing to 
 his Works and Miracles, as bearing Wit- 
 hefs of him. 
 
 Our Chines then may admire and adore 
 yefus as much as they pleafe for his Mira- 
 cles of healing bodily Diftempers, but I am 
 for the fpiritual Mejftah that cures thofe 
 Diftempers of the Soul, that metaphorically 
 pafs under the Names of Blindnefs, Lame- 
 ilefs, Deafnefs, (jc. And the Cure of thefe 
 fpiritual Difeafes, is the proper and miracu- 
 lous Work of the true Mefflah-^ for the fake 
 of which, fays (18) St. Jtignfiin^ ^efus 
 condefcended to do thofe little Miracles 
 of healing bodily Diftempers, which were 
 but the Type and Shadow of his more ftu- 
 pendous Miracles of curing fpiritual Di- 
 feafes. The Cure of fpiritual Infirmities 
 is a God-like (19) Work, above the Imi- 
 tation of Man or o{ Anti'Chrifis, infinitely 
 
 (18) Et nunc majores fanitatcs operatur, propter 
 quas non ell dedigoatus tunc exhibere iilas mino- 
 res. hi Scrm. 88. 
 
 (19) In quibusSpiritualibus maxime Chrifti Per- 
 fona erniner. Augnjl. ^iccjl. 2. m Lucam. 
 
 more 
 
more miraculous than the healing any bo- 
 dily Diftcmpers can be. 
 
 Whether our Jefus be at this Day fuch 
 a fpiritual MeJJiah^ I leave to our T>mnes 
 to confidcr, with thofe ipintual Diftempers 
 of the Church, that feem to want his mi- 
 raculous Hand and Touch. The Fathers 
 of the Church faid, that Jefus was /;; 
 ffart fuch a fpiritual MeffiaJo in their time, 
 and argued (20} his Meffiahjloip^ not from 
 bodily CureSj but from his mod: miracu- 
 lous Cures of the Difeafes of the Soul : 
 But there was another and future Time, ni 
 which he would be fuch a fpiritual and 
 glorious MeJJiah to the greateft Perfeaion. 
 In the mean while, no healing of corporal 
 Diftempers can prove Jeftis to be the Mef- 
 fiah^ nor any other of his miraculous Works 
 recorded in the Evavgelifts : So far from 
 it, that 
 
 11. I fliall prove that the literal Story of 
 many of Jefiis\ Miracles, as they are re- 
 corded in the Rvangelifts^ and commonly 
 believed by Chriftians, does imply Impro- 
 babilities and Incredibilities, and the grof- 
 feft Abfurdities, very difhpnourable to the 
 
 (;o) Modo Caro caeca non apcrit oculos miraculo 
 Domini, fed cor cxcum aperit oculos Scrmoni Do- 
 mini. Modo non refurgit mortalc cadaver, fed rc- 
 furgit anima qua; mortua jucebacin vivo Cadavcrc, 
 ^c. Attgnft. Serm. 88. S. 3. 
 
 D 2 Name 
 
[ ^° ] 
 
 Name of Chriftj confequently, they, in 
 whole, or in part, were never wrought, 
 but are only related as prophetical and pa- 
 rabolical Narratives of what would be myf- 
 terioufly and more wonderfully done by 
 him. 
 
 The reading of this Head will, I doubt 
 not, ftrike with Horror fome of our fquea- 
 mirii ^miieSy who, notwithftanding they 
 will facrifice almoft any Principles to their 
 Interefi, will not bear that our literal evan- 
 gelical Hiflory of fuch renown'd Miracles 
 fliould be thus called in Qiieftion, and con- 
 temptuoully fpoken of. What does this 
 Author mean, will fome fay, thus to do 
 Service to Atheifm and Infidelity ? Away 
 with him I Our Indignation is moved againft 
 hi.i 1 No Cenfure and Punifliment can be 
 toe r vere for fuch Impiety, Profanenefs, 
 and i^j'Tp^emy, as is aim'd at, and imply *d 
 in this Propohtion. 
 
 To calm Lherefore the Spirits, and abate 
 the Prejudices of fuch Accufers, I mult 
 proceed with the greater Caution, and with 
 Reafon and Authority well fortify myfelf 
 before and behind, or I fhall feel the Weight 
 of the Difpleaf xe of our 'Di'vineSj who are 
 prepoiTefs a of the Belief of the literal Story 
 of all J-efus's Miracles. 
 
 Before then I enter upon tHe particular 
 ExaiTiination of- any of his Miracles, I will 
 
 premife 
 
[ ^' ] 
 
 prcmife two or three general Affertions of 
 the Fathers about them. And firft Origen 
 (21) fays, that in the hiftorical Part of the 
 Scriptures, Inhere are fome Things inferted 
 as Hiftory^ which were never tranfaUed^ 
 and which it was impofjihle 'flmtld he 
 tranfaUed -, and other Things^ again^ that 
 might pojfih/y he done^ hut were not. This 
 he aiferts of the Writings of the Evange^ 
 lifts^ as well as of the Old Teftament, and 
 gives many Inftances to this Purpofe. St. 
 Hilary (22) fays. There are many hijio- 
 rical Taffages of the New Teftament^ that 
 if they are taken literally ^ are contrary to 
 Senfe and Reafon^ and therefore there is 
 a Necejfity of a 7nyjiical Interpretation^ 
 And St. Auguftin (23) fays, that there are 
 hidden Myfteries in the Works and Mira- 
 cles of our Saviour J which if we incauti- 
 
 (21) Hiftoria Scripturae intcrdum interferit quae- 
 dam vel minus gefta, vel qua: omnino geri non 
 poffunt, internum quK poflunt geri, nee tamcn 
 getta funt. De '^Principis^ Lib. 4. 
 
 (22) Multa funt, quae non ilnunt nos fimplici 
 fenfu dida evangclica fufcipere. Interpofitis enim 
 non nuUis Rebus qu.-c ex Narura humani fenfus flbi 
 contra ria funt j Rutionem quasrcre ca:lefl:is IntelU- 
 gentiac admonemur. In Matt. Z. xx. S. 2. 
 
 (23) Evangclica Sacramenta in Chrifti fadlis fig- 
 nata omnibus non patent, & ea nonnulli minus di- 
 ligentcr intcrpretando afferunt plerumquc pro fa- 
 lute Pcrnicicm, & pro Cognitionc Vcntatis Erro- 
 rem, •(^c. "He .^ftejl 'Divers. J^icjl. 84. 
 
 ou/ly 
 
oufly and literally interpret^ wejhallrun 
 into Errors^ and make griemus blunders. 
 Of the fame Mind are the reft of the Fa- 
 thers, as might be proved by exprefs or 
 implicit Citations ^ but, ftudying Brevity, 
 I think thh threeTeftimonies above, enough 
 to cool the Rage, and afwage the Preju- 
 dices of my Adverfaries againft the Propo- 
 (ition before us, which I now come to a 
 particular Confideration of,- that is, to fhew 
 that the Story of many o^yefus% Miracles 
 is literally abfurd, improbable, and incre- 
 dible. And 
 
 I . To fpeak to that Miracle of 'Jefuss 
 driving the 'Buyers and Sellers out of the 
 Teniple^ which all the ( 24) four Evange- 
 lifts make mention of. 
 
 I have read in fome modern Author, 
 whofe Name does not occur to my Me- 
 mory, that this was, in his Opinion, the moft 
 ftupendous Miracle that Jefus wrought. 
 And, in truth, it was a moft aftoniOiing 
 one, if literally true, and Jejus muft ap- 
 pear more than a Man, he muft put on an 
 awful and moft majeftick Countenance to 
 effect it. It is hard to conceive, how any 
 one in the Form of a Man, and of a dif- 
 
 (24) Matt. xxi. Mark xi. Znke xix. John 
 ii. 
 
 pifed 
 
[ M J 
 
 pifed one too, (and we don't read that .7^- 
 fiis chang'd his human Shape) with a Whip 
 in his Hand, could execute fuch a Work 
 upon a great Multitude of People, who 
 were none of his Difciples, nor had any 
 regard for him. Suppoiing he could, by 
 his divine Power, infufe a panick Fear in- 
 to the People, yet what was the Rea- 
 fon that he was fo eaten up with Zeal 
 againft the Profanation of that Houfe, 
 which he himfelf came to deftroy, and 
 which he permitted^ 1 may fay command- 
 ed, to be filthily polluted not long after. 
 But not to form by my fclf an Invedive 
 againft the Letter of this Story, let's hear 
 what the Fathers fay to it. 
 
 Origen makes the whole but a (25) Pa- 
 rable. His allegorical Expofitions of it, are 
 frequent, and one time or other he gives 
 us the myftical Meaning of every Part of 
 it. By the lemple^ he underftands the 
 Church : By the Sellers in the Temple, he 
 means fuch Treachers who make Merchan- 
 dize of the Gofpel, whom the Spirit of 
 Chrift, fomc time or other, would rid his 
 Church of. He \s fo far from believing 
 any thmg of the Letter of this Story, that 
 
 (25) In Comment, in Matt. xxi. 
 
 he 
 
[ M ] 
 
 hehasform'd a (26) large Argument agalnft 
 it : The Subftance of which is, that i^ Je^ 
 fus had attempted any fuch thing, the Peo- 
 ple would have refifted, and executed their 
 Revenge on him ; if he had etfe(^ted it, the 
 Merchants of the Temple might have re- 
 proach'd him with Damage done to their 
 Wares j and would have juftly accufed 
 him of a Riot againft Law and Authority. 
 Whether there is not Reafon in this Argu- 
 ment of Origen^ let any one judge. 
 
 (s(J) Porro cui cur^ eft accuratior Inquifitio con- 
 liderabit, anjuxta dignitatem prasfentis Vits erat, 
 ut Jefus rem talem auderet facere, extrudere vide- 
 licet Mercatorum Multitudinem, qui ad Diem fe- 
 ftum afcenderant, Diftributuri boves ditioribus, & 
 tanto populo oves ma£tandas per domos familiari- 
 um, qua multorum millium complerent numerum; 
 atque eos qui in rebus talibus gloriantes produfturi 
 erant in medio Columbas , quas multi empturi 
 erant, ceu in Conventu celeberrimo convivaturi. 
 Confiderabit hie etiam, an Numniulariorum erat 
 non accufare Jefum contumeliofe propter fuas ipfb- 
 rum effufas pecunias & menfas fubverfas. Quis 
 autem flageJlo e funiculis verberatus & expulfus ab 
 eo, qui penes eos habebatur vilis, hunc adortus non 
 inclamaffet totis viribus fefe ulcifcens ? Cum prx- 
 fertim haberet tantam multitudinem eorum, qui 
 fibi 5f^que contumeliam fieri credebant, faventem 
 iibi adverfum Jefum ? Infuper cenfideremus, Dei 
 fiiium funiculos fumentem ; fibique flagellum te- 
 nentem ad extrudendum e templo, annon rcprae- 
 fentet Praeter audaciam & temeritatem, inordina- 
 turn etiam quiddam ? In Johan. Tom. XI. 
 
 ^t, Hilary 
 
[ M ] 
 
 St. Hilary \s. of the fame Mind with 
 Origeiu He fays that this Story is only a 
 (27J Priefiguration of what wili be done 
 in Chriil's Church upon another Occafion. 
 And he admonifhes (28) us to fearch into 
 the profound and myftical Import of every 
 Part of it ; particularly he hints that (29) 
 by the Scats of thofe who fell T>0'ves^ may 
 be undcrltood the Pulpits of Preachers 
 who make Sale of the G\hs of the Spirit, 
 .which is reprefcnted by a Dove. As to 
 the Letter of the Story, he is plain enough, 
 that there was no fuch (30) Market kept 
 in the Temple o^Jerufalem: And if any 
 Hiftorians befides the Bvangelijis had af- 
 fcrtcd it, 1 know of none, who would have 
 been fo foolifli as to believe that Oxen and 
 Sheep and Goats were there fold. 
 
 St. Amhrofe too is for the Myftery, and 
 againft the Letter of this Story, faying, 
 f 2 O what fhould be the Reafon that '-^efm 
 ^' E fliould 
 
 (^7) Pficfiguratio futurorum diftis prjefentibus 
 continctur. J71 Afjrt. xxi. 
 
 (2.8) Admonemur altius Verborum Virtutes in 
 illius modi fignificationibus contuendas, il^id. 
 
 (29) In Cathedra eft facordotii fcdcs ; & eorum 
 qui Spiritus fandi Donum vcnale habent, Cathe- 
 dnis evcrtcr, ibid. 
 
 (y)) Kon habcbant Jud«i quod venire poflent, 
 ncquc crat quod emere quis poflet, ibid. 
 
 (;i) Cathedra autem Vendentium Columbascur 
 cverterit ? Secundum Litteram non intelligo. Ad- 
 
 monet 
 
I ^« ] 
 
 flioiiid overturn the Seats of thofe that fold 
 Doves ? This muft be, fays he, a figura- 
 tive Story, and fignifies nothing lefs than 
 the future Ejedion of Priefts out of his 
 Church, who fhall make Gain and Mer- 
 chandize of the Gofpel. 
 
 St. Jerome^ as his manner is in other 
 Cafes, gives us a literal Expofition of 
 this Miracle, as far as it will bear it : But 
 then corre(5ts himfelf again, faying, there 
 are (32) Abfurdities in the Letter ^ but, 
 according to its myftical Meaning, Jefus 
 will enter hi? Temple of the Church, and 
 caft out of it Bifhops, Priefts, and Deacons, 
 who make ia Trade of Preaching. And in 
 another Place he tells us of the myftical 
 (3.3) Whip, that y^y^/j- vi^ill make ufe of 
 to this Purpofe, 
 
 St, Jiigujim alfo is againft the Letter 
 of the Story of this Miracle, faying, (34) 
 ( ■ _ , 
 
 ' jnonet Typo eje£lorum de Teraplo hujufmocli 
 Mercatorum, in Eccleiia Dei Oonfortium eos ha- 
 bere nun pofle, qui fandi Spiritus Gratiam nundi- 
 nentur. In Loc. Liic. 
 
 (5a) Juxta fimplicem Intelligentiam — quod pe- 
 nitus abfurduni — cjfeterum fecundum Myfticos lu- 
 lelledus Jefus ingreditur Templum Patris & ejicit 
 otnnes Epifcopos, Presbyteros, & Diaconos, ^c. In 
 Loc. Mat. 
 
 (35) Faciet Dominus Flagellum de Scripturarum 
 Textuum Teftimoniis. In Zechar. C. xiv. 
 
 (34) Non magnum Peccatum, fi hoc vendebant 
 in Templo, quod emebatur, ut ofierre^ur inTemplo. 
 J,7i Loo. Johan^ 
 
 Where 
 
[ i7 ] 
 
 Where could be the great Sin of felling 
 and buying Things in the Temple, that 
 were for the Ufe of it, and offered as Sa- 
 crifice in it ? We muft therefore, fays he, 
 look for the Myftery in this (3 5) figura- 
 tive Story, and enquire what is meant by 
 the Oxen, and Sheep, and Doves, and who 
 are the Sellers of them in Chrift*s Church ; 
 and he is very pofitive that Ecclefiafticks, 
 who are felfilh, and make worldly Gain 
 of the Gofpel, are here meant. And as to 
 the Exprcllion of turning the Temple into 
 a T>en of Thieves^ he fays it has Refpe(^ 
 to the (35) Clergy in Time to come, who 
 would make fuch a Den of Chrift's Church; 
 Laftly, with the foregoing Fathers agrees 
 St.Theophyla'cij who is an AUegorift too 
 upon this Miracle, faying, that thofe (37) 
 who fell Doves, are the Priefts who fell 
 fpiritual Gifts ,• and that Chrift fometime 
 or other would overturn their Seats, and 
 clear his Church of them. In another Place 
 
 •C35) Qui funt tameri qui boves vendunt? ut in 
 Hgura quaeramus Myflerium facli , qui f'unt qui 
 Ovcs vendunt & Columbas? ipfi funt qui fua quje- 
 runt in Ecclefia, non qus Jefu Chrifti. Ibid. 
 
 (3(J) Vos enim feciftis Domum meum, Domum 
 Negotiat.ionis & fpeluncamLatronum, fignificat fu- 
 tures in Ecclefia. Z. 11. Eva?ig. ^/eefl. ^lajl. 48, 
 
 (37) i^iS'a.tTKctk©- ay, ov KcCJAyyihAH Kayov^ ti y.n xsf- 
 «ra< i-yji, kaI touIov tyiv TpetTj^ecy ttVATflTTet o Kyft/@*. 
 
 Injohvj. C. ii. 
 
 E 2 he 
 
[ ^8] 
 
 he intimates what are meant by Oxen and 
 Sheep, ^viz, the literal Senfeof the Scrip- 
 tures. And if the literal Senfe be irratio- 
 nal and nonfeniicalj the Metaphor we muft 
 allow to be proper, inafmuch as now-a- 
 days, dull and foolifh and abfurd ftufif we 
 call Bulls, Fatlings, and Blunders. 
 
 Beh6ld a wonderful Harmony among the 
 Fathers in their Rejedion of the literal, 
 and Efjioufal of the myftlcal Senfe of this 
 Miracle. It is faid of the Church in her 
 firft Ages, that ihe was infpired ; and fo 
 Ihe was, or before an Hire for the Prieft- 
 hbod was cftablifhed, and pleaded for, ihe 
 could never have written in this Faihion. 
 If the Fathers had lived now, and written 
 thus, we ihould have thought the Spirft 
 o{ ^idkerifm was gotten amongft them, or 
 they would never have given fuch an Ex- 
 pofition of this Story to favour an Enmity 
 to an Hireling ^rieflhood. 
 
 How and when Chrift's Power, accord- 
 ing to the Figure and Parable before us, 
 will enter his Church, and drive out of 
 he'r thefe ecclefiaftical Merchants, is not 
 tlie'Queftion. But when ever it does fo 
 effedually, it will be a ftupendous Mira- 
 cle, much greater than the typical one is 
 fuppofed to be,- and not only a Proof of 
 Chrift's divine Power and Prefence in his 
 Church, but an abfolute Demonftration of 
 
 his 
 
[ ^9 1 
 
 his Meffiahjhip^ from his Accomplifhmcht 
 both or the forefaid Prophecies of the Fa* 
 thers, arid of other remarkable ones of the 
 Old 7'eftameut^ which will be then clearly 
 iinderftood, and which it is not my Biift- 
 nefs here to apply or mention. 
 
 Againft the aforefaid Ejipofition of this 
 Miracle, perhaps it may be obje(5ted, that 
 (excepting a little Reafoning againft the 
 Letter of it) this is only the chimerical and 
 whimilcal Dream of the Fathers, whofe 
 Notions ai'e obfolete, and Avho (38) hd-ve 
 adulterated Chrtftianity 'with their Cant 
 and Jargon j and that ilonc of our Pr^?- 
 tefta7it znd Orthodox divines have ever 
 given into their Opinion. 
 
 I confefs, that none of Our Proteftant 
 ^i^jtjiesj whom I know, do embrace the 
 forefaid Expofition of the Fathers, but it 
 may be nothing the worfe for all that : 
 And tho' their Expofition may be very dif- 
 agreeable to the Priefthood of this Age, 
 yet I can tell them of the greateft Man of 
 thefe laft Ages, and that was Eraftmis^ 
 who, cautioully expreffing himfclf for fear 
 of giving Offence to the Clergy^ is of the 
 fame Mind with the Fathers j or he would 
 
 Cs?) Chm(ilcr\ Vindication, ^r. p. 145. 
 
 not 
 
not fay that (3^) tbat Work <?/ Jefus did 
 
 prefigure fomewhat elfe : For Jefus could 
 not he zealous againft the Trophanation 
 of that T^emple of the Jews, which was 
 foon to he deftroy d^ hut meant to Jhew his 
 ^ijlike and Hatred of ecclefiaftical Co- 
 tvetoufnefs^ which^ after the Way of the 
 ^ype^ he would take his Opportunity to 
 rid the Church of. 
 
 Before I difmifs this Miracle^ I muft ob- 
 ferve, that if the Fathers are right above, 
 then our Latin and Englijh Tranflations 
 of the Place in St. Matthew err in a main 
 Point. Inftead of readings a7id Jefus caji 
 out them that fold and hought^ it Ihould 
 be, thofe who fold and preach d ^ that is, 
 fold what they preach'd : For the Word 
 ctyo^A^tiv, does more properly fignify to 
 preach than to huy j and in this Senfe 
 here, according to the Fathers, it fhould 
 be conftrued. 
 
 Again, I muft obferve, that our Com- 
 mentators are, a little perplex'd to know 
 
 '•:..(3p) Hoc fa£lo longe aliud fignificabat Jefus, 
 riec enim ilium tantopere commovebat Templum 
 illud mercimoniis Bourn, Ovium, Hircorum & Co- 
 lumbarum profanatum j fed oftendere voluit Ava- 
 ritiam Sc Qyasftum fore capitalem Peftem Eccle- 
 fiac, quam Templum, cujus Religio mox erat abo- 
 lenda, figurabat — In nullum Hominum Genus acri- 
 us faeviit Jefus, fed hos ipfe fibi fervavit ejiciendos, 
 cum videbitur. //; Zoc, Matt. xxi. 
 
 who^ 
 
[ J' ] 
 
 who, and what thofe K.AA.s,rw; Mofm- 
 Changeri, were. The Greek Uo) Word 
 does import thofe who have a Knack to 
 barter away httlc bafe and Brafs Money, 
 With the Effigies of an Ox or Bull on it 
 in exchange for good Coin. How appli! 
 
 t}lu'^^°i "^'V" «"y Merchants of 
 the old Temple at Jenfalem, is hard to 
 conceive. But it is very agreeable to our 
 ecc efiaftical CollyMfts, wh^, as I may ap- 
 peal to Freethinkers, vend their brafeii- 
 faced Bulls and Blunders at an extravagant 
 
 tonttated Tables, does properly fignify^i ) 
 
 Tlilptts, who can help.it? S""y^4''' 
 
 So much then on the Miracle of 7^^/A 
 
 Temple. And now I appeal to our 2)i- 
 f'Z'^ whether it be not an abfurd, imwo- 
 bable, and incredible Story acco^drnj to 
 the Letter, and whether it be any other 
 han, as the Fathers faid of it, a LJh^ 
 tical and parabolical Narrative of what 
 
 fpeak to a "^ *° ^ '^°'^^ t" 
 
 i. Second Miracle of Jefus, and that is, 
 Uo)^id. Suiccrum in K.AM,S/r»f. 
 
 th^t 
 
[ 3-3 
 
 that of his (42) cafiing the De'Vils out of 
 the Madman or Madmen^ and permitting 
 them to enter into the Herd of Swine ^ 
 %s^hicb thereupon ran dojziou a Trecipice^ 
 0id were all choaked in the Sea, 
 
 To exorcife, or caft Devils out of the 
 PolTGfs'd, without confidering the Nature 
 pf fuch a PofTeilion, or the Nature and 
 Povver of the Devil, we'll allow to be not 
 o^ly a kind and beneficent Ad; but a great 
 Miracle, But then, be the Miracle as great 
 9S can be imagined, it is no more than what 
 falfe Teachers, (43 ) Workers of Iniquity^ 
 and even fome Artifts amongft the JewSy 
 have done before.,- confequently, fuch a 
 ,^oi^k of E^oreifm in. our Saviour, could 
 •be no Proof of his divine Authority. And 
 if there was no more to be faid againft this 
 Miracle, this is enough to fet it afide, and 
 tp fpoii the Argument of Jefiiss divine 
 Power from it. But there are many Cir- 
 xumftances in the Story literally confider'd, 
 that would induce \:kS to call the Truth of 
 the whole into queftion. How came thofe 
 Madm.en to have their Dwelling amongft 
 the Tombs of a Biirying-Ground ? Where 
 was the Humanity of the People, that did 
 not take Care of them, in Pity to them, 
 
 (4.2) M^tt. viii. Mo-rk v, Ltikc viii. 
 (45) Luke xiii. v. 27, 
 
 as 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 Ej well as for the Safety of others ? Of if 
 no Chains, as the Text fays, which is 
 hardly credible, could hold them, it was 
 polTible furely, as Well ^s lawful, to dif- 
 patch them, rather tha;n their Neighbours 
 and PafTensfers fhould be in Danger from 
 them. Believe then this Part of the Story 
 who can ? But what's Worfe, its not cre- 
 dible there was any Herd oi Swine in that 
 Country. If any Hiftorians but the E'V'an-*, 
 gellfts had fa id fo, none would h^ve be- 
 lieved it. The '^ews are forbidden to eat 
 Swine's Flefh ^ what then fhould they do 
 with Swine (which are gOod for nothing 
 till they are dea:d) Who eat neither Tigj 
 ^ork^ nor "Bacon"? Some may fay that 
 they were kept there for the Ufe of Stran- 
 gers : but this could not be, becaufe that 
 after the Time of Antiochus^ who polluted 
 the Temple with the Sacrifice of an Hog, 
 the Jews (44) forbad, under the Pain of 
 an Anathema^ the keeping of any Swine 
 in their Country. Perhaps it may be faid, 
 that the Gadarens^ fo call'd from the 
 Place of their Abode, were not Jews^ 
 but neighbouring Gentiles^ with whom it 
 was lawful to eat, and keep Swine. We 
 will fuppofe fo, tho' it is improbable j but 
 then its unlikely (without better Reafon 
 
 .(44) Spe?jcer de Legibus Hebra:, /. ijy. 
 
 F than 
 
[h] 
 
 than at prefent we are apprifed of) that 
 ©ur Saviour would permit the Devils to 
 enter into a Herd of them to their Deftruc- 
 tion. Where was the Goodnefs and Juf- 
 tiee of his fo doing ? Let our ^imnes ac- 
 count for it if they can. It is commonly 
 faid of Gur Saviour, and I believe it, that 
 his Life was entirely innocent, that his 
 Miracles were all ufeful and beneficial to 
 Mankind, and that he did no Wrong to 
 any one. But how can this be rightly faid 
 of him, if this Story be literally true ? The 
 Proprietors of the Swine were great Lofers 
 and Sufferers ^ and we don't read that Je- 
 fus made them amends, or that they de- 
 ferv'd fuch Ufage from him. The Propri- 
 etors of the Swine, it feems, upon this 
 Damage done them by Jefus^ defire him to 
 depart out of their Coafts, to prevent far- 
 ther Mifchief ^ which was gentler Refent- 
 ment, then we can imagine any others 
 would have made of the like Injury. I 
 know not what our 'Ditiiies think of this, 
 Part of the Story, nor wherefore yefus 
 efcaped fo well j but if any Exorcift in this 
 our Age and Nation, had pretendfed to ex- 
 pel the Devil out of one poifefs'd, and per- 
 mitted him to enter into a Flock of Sheep, 
 ^thc People would have faid that he had 
 bewitch'd both j and our "Laws and Judges 
 
 too 
 
'i 31 ] 
 
 too of the laft Age,^ would have made him 
 to fwing for it. \ ' ' 
 
 Without Offence, I hope, I have argued 
 againft the Letter of this ftrange Story of 
 the holy Jefus ; I fhould not have dared 
 to have faid fo much againft it, but upon 
 the Encouragement of Origen and other 
 Fathers, who fay, we ought to expofe the 
 Abfurdities of the Letter, as much as may 
 be, to turn Men's Heads to the myftical 
 and true Meaning. 
 
 Let's hear then what the Fathers fay to 
 this Miracle. Origens Commentaries on 
 this Part of St. Matthew^ and St. Lukes 
 Gofpel, are loft ? otherwife unqueftionably 
 he would not only have told us, that he 
 believed no more of the Letter of this Sto- 
 ry,, than he did of the Devil's (45) taking 
 our Saviour to the Top of a Mountain, 
 and fhewing him all the Kingdoms of the 
 World J but, as he is an admirable A/);/??^? 
 would have given us curious Light into 
 the Allegory and Myftery of it. But with- 
 out Origen^ we have enough in the other 
 Fathers againft the Letter of this Story. 
 
 St. Hilary reckoning up all the Parts of 
 this Miracle together, fays of it, that it is 
 (46) typical and parabolical, and written 
 
 (45) Lib. IV. De Principiis. 
 
 (46) Hanc habeant Caufam, ut efifet in rebus 
 gercndis futuri plena meditatio. /;/ Loc. Matt. In 
 hoc Typica ratio fervata cit. Ibid. 
 
 F 2 for 
 
[ 3f ] 
 
 for our Meditation of what would be donie 
 hereafter by the holy Jefus, According 
 to him, and other Fathers, the Madman 
 i§ Mankind^ or if they were two, they 
 were Jew and Gejitile at Chrift's coming, 
 ,who may be faid to (47) be poffefs'd with 
 tDevilsy in as much as they were under 
 the Rule of diabolical Sins, and fubjed to 
 theWorfhip of a^/uoi/vwc, falfe Deities, which 
 we tranflate devils. They were fo Jierce 
 (48) ^J no Chains could hold them ^ be- 
 cause of their moft furious Rage and En- 
 mity to the Church, whom no Bonds of 
 Reafon could reftrain from doing Violence 
 to the Chriftians. They axe faid to be (49) 
 naked^ becaufe they were deftitute, of the 
 Clothing of the Spirit, and of Grace. And 
 may be faid to be among the (50) 7ombs ; 
 becaufe they were dead in Trefpaflfes and 
 Sins. After that Jefiis had exorcis'd thefe 
 diabolical Spirits out of the Gentiles^ and 
 brought them to their right Scnfes, which 
 
 (47) Significat^ funt gentes qux multis jdasmoni- 
 bus ferviebant. Aiigujlui in Luc. ^i<e(i. 13. ' 
 
 (4R) Humanum genus ad Adventum Domini 
 vexibatpr furore dementi, rumpens vincula ratio- 
 iiis. St. Jmh. in Loc. Luc. 
 
 (49) Nudus quicunque teguraentum Nature fua 
 6c Virtutis amifit. Ami. Jhid. 
 
 (50) In tumulisSepulchrorum 5 quid enitn aliud 
 funt Corpora periidorum, nifi quadam defundorum 
 iSepulchra in quibus Dei verbum non habitat. Ihid. 
 
 was 
 
[ ?7] 
 
 was upon their Converfion to the Faith ; 
 then 2L good Way off^ fome Ages after, did 
 the hke l^evils^ by divine PermiiTion, enter 
 into 3(51) Had of Swinc^ i. e. into Hs' 
 rettcks of impure Lives, and furious Na- 
 tures. What fort of Hereticks are meant, 
 or whether they are not to be underftood 
 of Chriflians in general, let our twines 
 confider. But one would be apt to think 
 that Miniflers of the Letter are included, 
 becaufe the Letter of the Scripture is myf- 
 tically call'd (52) Swines Food. I am not 
 obliged to purfue the myftical Interpreta- 
 tion of this Parable (for fo I will call it) 
 thro' all its Parts, nor to fay what is meant 
 by the Sea, that the Swine are to be abforp't 
 in \ but leave our 'Dwines to chew upon 
 this myftical Conftrudion given them ia 
 part, and to confider, whether there's not 
 p Neceffity for fuch an Interpretation to 
 m*ke the Story credible. 
 
 And thus have I given you the Opinion 
 and Expofition of the Fathers upon this 
 Miracle, which they turn all into Myftery. 
 If our 'Diz'ines^rft ftill for adhering to the 
 
 (51) Videntes Dxmones non fibi jam locum in 
 gentibus derelinqui, ut patiatur habitare fe in Hse- 
 reticis deprecantur. Hilar, in Loc. Matt. 
 
 (52) Litera ert Palea, & frequenter evenit, ut 
 homines hujus fceculi myftica nefcientes, fimplici 
 '^'-ripriwarum Lef^ione paftuntur. Hicroji. i?il(a.x\. 
 
 Letter 
 
[ 38] 
 
 Letter of this Story, let them! account for 
 the Diflficulties it is involv'd with. To cui^e 
 Men vioiently diftracfted, and poffefs'd with/ 
 ^emh^ is^ whether it be miraculous or nOt, 
 a. good and grieat Work ^ but to fend the 
 DemlS:^ who without jfefu/s Permilfion 
 could not go, into the &r^ ^/ *Sz2;/;/^5 was 
 an Injury doneito the Proprietors, and un- 
 becoming of the Goodnefs of the holy ye- 
 fus. Neither is there any other Way^ to 
 fblye the Difficulty, than by looking upon 
 the whole,, with the Fathers, as Type and 
 Figure. :. 
 
 ( If this miraculous Story had been record- 
 ed oi Mahomet ^^ and not o^Jefus^ our T>i^ 
 mnes^ I dare fay, would have work'd it 
 up to a Confutation of Mahomet anifm, 
 Mahomet fliould have been, with them, 
 nothing lefs than 2. Wizard^ an Enchaifter'^ 
 a 2)^^/^K with familiar Spirits, a fworn 
 Sla've to the Devil; and h\s^ Muj[ulmen 
 W0UI4 have been hard put to it to write a 
 good JDefence of him. 
 
 When > our Saviour was brought before 
 'Pilate t6 be arraigned, try'd, and condem- 
 ned, Pilate put this Queftion to the "Jews^ 
 faying, Wh^f Biil'hath Jeftts done? If 
 both, or either of the Stories above, had 
 been literally true of y^/^^j, there had been 
 no need of faife Witneiies againft him. The 
 Merchants of the Temple were at hand, 
 
 who 
 
cc 
 
 who could have fworn ^^ that he was the 
 '^ Author of an Uproar and Riot, the like 
 '^ was never feen on their Market-Day^ 
 *^ that they Were great Sufferers and Loft 
 " fers in their Trades ; and, whether he 
 "or his Party had ftoleh any of their 
 *' Goods or not^ yet fome were embcz- 
 " zled, and others damaged ; and all thro' 
 the outragious Violence of this unruly 
 Fellow, againft Law and Authority." 
 If fuch Evidence as this was not enough 
 to convi(5t' him of a capital Crime, thert 
 the Swine-Herds of the Qadcirenes might 
 have depofed, " how they believed him tb 
 " be a Jp!tzard^: and had loft Two thou- 
 " fand Swine through his Fafcinations : 
 '"^ That he bid the Devils to go into our 
 " Cattle, is not to be deny'd. And if he 
 *' cured one or two of our Countrymen 
 " t)f a violent PolTcflion, yet in as much as 
 '^ he did us this Injury in our Swine, wc 
 '' juftly fufped him of diabolical Pra6tice^ 
 " upon both." 
 
 Upon fuch Evidence as this, 'Pilate asks 
 the Opinion of Jews^ laying, TFbaf think 
 <\'Oji ? If they all had condemn'd him to be 
 guilty of Death, it is no wonder, {ince 
 there is not a ynry in JEvglaJid would 
 have acquitted any one arraigned and ac- 
 cufed in the hke Cafe. 
 
 It 
 
[ 40 ]J 
 
 It is well for our literal DoBors, that 
 fuch Accgfations were not brought againft 
 yefus ; or their Heads would have beeil 
 fadly puzzled to vindicate his Innocence, 
 and to prove the Injuftice and Undeferved- 
 nefs of his Death and Sufferings. But fot 
 this Reafon, if no other , that no fuch 
 Crimes were laid to his Charge, I belie v6 
 little or nothing of either of the feemingly 
 miraculous Stories before us, but look upon 
 them both as prophetical and parabolical 
 Narratives of what would myfterioufly and 
 more wonderfully, and confidently with 
 the Wifdom and Goodnefs of yefus^ be 
 done by him. And fo I pafs to a 
 
 3. Third Miracle of Jefus^ and that is 
 his ^transfiguration (53) on the Mount. 
 And this is the darkeft and blindefl Story 
 of the whole Gofpel, which a Man can 
 make neither Head nor Foot of j and I 
 queflion whether the Conceptions of any 
 two thinking T>oUors do agree about it. 
 To fay there is nothing in the Letter of 
 this Story, we Believers muft not, becaufe 
 St. Teter (54) fays he was an Eye-witnefs 
 of Jefuss Majefty, faw his Glory on the 
 Mount, and heard the Voice out of the 
 
 (5 3) Matt. xvii. Mark ix. Luke ix. 
 (54} i "^et, i. 15, 17, 18. 
 
 Cloud. 
 
[4i ] 
 
 Cloud. But as Infidels will be prying la-, 
 to the Condud o^ yefus*s Life, and fornir 
 ing their Exceptions to the Credibility or 
 Probability of this or that part of it, fo we 
 Chriftians fhould be ready at an Anrwcr. 
 that might reafonably fatisfj^ them — ana 
 not forcibly bear down their Oppolition, 
 which will mike no (incere Converts of 
 them. And 1 believe they would eafily 
 diftrefs lis with Difficulties and Objedions 
 to the Letter of this Story. . ' ,, 
 
 St. /JiiPnjfiin himfelf (55) owns, that the 
 whole of it might be perform'd by Magic 
 Art^ and we know, in thefe oiir Daysi, 
 that fome Jugglers are ftrange Artifts at 
 the Imitation of a Voice, and to make it 
 as if it came from a far off, when it is ut- 
 tered clofe by us, and can caft themfelves 
 too into different Forms and Shapes, with- 
 out a Miracle, to the Surprife and Admi- 
 ration of Spectators. 
 
 But what, I trow, do our 'Dhines mean 
 by yefiiss T'ransfiguratioiu We read that 
 his Countenance did fliine like the Sun, 
 and his Rament was made as white as 
 Snow, and that's all. And in this enough 
 can we think, to demonflrate that Tranf- 
 adion, a miraculous TrctnsfigUtationl Phl- 
 
 C55) Poflunt Infidcles iftam Vocem delaram de 
 Cxlo, per conjefturas humanas & illicitas Guriofi- 
 rates ad magicas Artes referre. In ^erm. xliii. ^_. 5. 
 
 G lofophers 
 
[ 4t ] 
 
 lofophers will tell us, that the Refledions 
 of the Light of the Sun, will change the 
 Appearance of Colours, and to none mor^ 
 than Whitenefs ^ , ancl Sceptics will fay, that 
 its no Wonder if the Countenance of Jefus 
 look'd Kuhicuvd^ when the Sun might 
 ihine on it. 
 
 The Word in the Original for transfi- 
 
 gttredj is /y.5l«//op?<y.&n, that is, he was meta- 
 
 morphofed, transform'd, or, if you will, 
 
 transfigured. And what is to be und'er- 
 
 ijood by a Met amor phojis-, we are to learn 
 
 iiot only from the natural Import of the 
 
 Word, but from the ancient Ufe of it. 
 
 Accordingly, it fignifies nothing lefs than 
 
 the Change or Transformation of a Perfon 
 
 into the Forms, Shapes, and EfTences of 
 
 Creatures and Things of a quite different 
 
 Species, Size, and Figure : But Jefus^ it 
 
 is conceived, was not {q transfigured* Our 
 
 *I)imnes^ I fuppofe, would not have him. 
 
 thought fuch a Tojitire-M after for the 
 
 whole World. If I, or any one elfe, fhould 
 
 afTert, that Jefus upon the Mount tranf- 
 
 form'd himfelf into a Calf, a Lyon, a Bear, 
 
 a Rarn, a Goat, an Hydra, a Stone, a Tree, 
 
 and into many other Things of the animate 
 
 and inanimate World , I dare fay there 
 
 would, among our orthodox©/:'///^/, be 
 
 fuch Exclamations againft me for Blafphe- 
 
 my, as the like were never heard of. They, 
 
 to 
 
[45 ] 
 
 td be fure, will ript hear of fuch a Tranf- 
 figuration ; nor, like good plain Believers, 
 will bear any thing more than that Jefui^ 
 Countenance did jhine like the Sun, and 
 the Colour of his Veftments was changed; 
 which whether \t comes up to the Import 
 of a Metamorphofis or not, they don't care.' 
 But to clofc with our T^mnes^ and ac- 
 knowledge that the glorious Change of 
 Jefiis\ Countenance, and of the Colour of 
 his Veftments, was a true and proper Tranf- 
 tiguration, and that it was as real and 
 wonderful a Miracle as could be wrought : 
 But then we may, I hope, ask them, what 
 was the particular Reafon and Ufe of this 
 Miracle ? Was it a Miracle only for the 
 fake of a Miracle > That's an Abfurdity in 
 the Opinion of (56) St. /Juguftin^ who fays, 
 what IS reafonable to think, that all and 
 every one of Jefuss Miracles had its par- 
 ticular End and Ufe -, or he who is the 
 Wifdom as f^eli.as Power of God, had ne- 
 ver wrought it. And what, I pray, was the 
 Ufe of this Miracle ? Of that the evange- 
 lical Hiftory is filent, and our T>mnes^ 
 with all their rcafoning Faculties, can fay 
 nothing to it. 
 
 C5O Ncque entm Miracula propter Miracula fa- 
 ciebat, fed ut ilia qua: facicbat, mira efTcnt viden- 
 tibus, ^era cfTent intelligcntibus. In Senn. xcviii. 
 Se5i, 5, 
 
 ^ 2 And 
 
[44] 
 
 ,\nd )vhat did Mofes.^nd ^lias. on the? 
 Mount with jfefus ? Was it m their own 
 broper Pqrfons that they appeared ? or were 
 they only fome Spedres and Apparitions in 
 fefeniblance of them ? It is faid, that they 
 ivere talking with Jefits -, what then did 
 tjhey talk about? The three greateft Pro- 
 phets and Philofophers of the Univerfe 
 ijpurd not pollibly meet and confer together, 
 ■put on the moft lublimc, ufeful, and edify- 
 ing Subje<^, Its ftrange th^t the Apoftles, 
 who ovpr'-heard their Confabulation, did 
 hot make a Report of it, and tranfmit it to 
 Pofl^rity for our EdiHcation and Inftru(ftion. 
 St» Liikey as o^r BvgliJJo Tranllation has it^ 
 feein.s to fay that they talk'd together of 
 'yefiis^i ^eceafe which he fiQuld accom- 
 pUflo at yeriifakm ^ but this can't be the 
 iMeaning o{^x.,Zjukes (57) Words, whicU 
 fc interpreted, gre no lef^ than a ^arhar 
 fijjhy 2ind'j I appeal to our Greek Criticks^ 
 an improper Expreflion of fuch Significa- 
 tion. We mu ft then look for a more pro- 
 per Conflru(5cion of the Phrafe in St. J^iike^ 
 or we muft remain in the park, as to the 
 •Jubjeft that Mofes ^nd IB^Uas talked with 
 ^efiis about. 
 
 But further. Why could not this Mira- 
 cle :have been wrought in the Valley as 
 
 ■V.'3i. 
 
 well 
 
[45 ] 
 
 V^ell as upon a Mountain, whither Jefm 
 and his three Apoftles afcended for the 
 Work of it ? Naughty Infidels will fay, it 
 was for the Advantage of a Cloud, which 
 often moves and rclts on the Tops of Moun- 
 tains, to difplay his Pranks in. And why 
 was it not done in the Prefence of the Mul^ 
 titude, as well as of his three Apoftles? The 
 more Witnelfes of a Miracle, the better it 
 is attefted, and the more rcafonably credi- 
 ted i and there could not furely be too 
 many Witneffes of this, any more than of 
 others of Jeftiss Miracles, if real ones. 
 Ought not the unbelieving Multitude, for 
 many Unbelievers unqueftionably were a- 
 mongft them, to have had a Sight and 
 Hearing of this Miracle, as well as the 
 Apoftles ? Who fhould rather fee the Mi- 
 raclcj than thofe who wanted Convidion ? 
 Were they .to take the Report of the Mi- 
 racle upon the Word of the Apoftles, who 
 were Parties in the Caufe ? Our 'Dwines 
 may p ofTibly fay they ought : But Infidels 
 and Free-thinhers would cry out againft: 
 them, for juggling Tricks, and pious Im- 
 poftures. 4 
 
 Thefe are all Difficulties and hard Q;ie- 
 ftions about the Miracle of Chrift'sTranf- 
 figuration, which our Clergy^ who are Ad- 
 mirers of the Letter of that Story, are 
 obliged to account for j and I believe it 
 
 will 
 
[40 
 
 wiU he long enough before they give a 
 proper aiid Jatisfsi^ory Anfwer to many of 
 
 ' Xet*s here then' what the Fathers fay to 
 this miraculous Story of Jefus\ Transfi- 
 guration. And it is agreed amongft them, 
 that the whole is but a Type, (58) Prefi- 
 guration, and ( 59 ) ^enigmatical Referii- 
 blance of a future and more glorious and 
 real Transfiguration. And whenever they 
 fpeak of any Part of the Story, they never 
 explain to us how the Matter went upon 
 Mount ^ahoTy but tell us of what this or 
 that Part of it is figurative and emblema- 
 tical ^ and how it is to be underftood, and 
 will be fulfiU'd in future Timd. As thus, 
 hy the {60) fix ^Days, they underftand fix 
 Ages of the World, after v^^hich a real and 
 myfterious Transfiguration will be exhibi- 
 ted to our intelledual Views. By Mofei 
 
 (58) Regni cceleftis Honor prefiguratur. St. Hi- 
 lar, hi Loc. AfdXt.. In Transfiguratione futura Reg- 
 ni Praemeditatio & Gloria demonftrata eft. St. ///"- 
 trom. in Loc. Matt. 
 
 inTransfig. Dom. 'T'§oJ',t'.yuA nn </^o^m« iKetvhs. St.Qh'ry- 
 jifi. ii^-Loc. Ma:f. 
 
 I^^^d)' Sexr millium fcilicet Annorum Temporibus 
 rvolutis. St. Hilar, in Loc. Matt. Sic poft Sexaeta- 
 tes Domijius a perfe6lis Famuiisconfpicietur. ■ iZ)/- 
 
 ojiyf. Jlex. apTid 7}amnfceu, i?2 Orat, de T'ramfig. 
 
 and 
 
[47 ] 
 
 and Elias (5i) talking with Jefus^ they 
 mean the Law and the Prophets, upon an 
 allegorical Interpretation, bearing Tefti- 
 mony unto Chrili as the FulfiUer of thenu 
 By the (62) Mountain on which this fu, 
 ture Transfiguration will be exhibited, they 
 understand the fublime and anagogical 
 Senfe of the Law and the Prophets. By 
 his Transfgtirathiz it felf, they mean his 
 taking upon him, and paiTing through the 
 Forms of all the Types of him under the 
 Law, as of a Lambj a Lion, a Serpent, a 
 Calf, a Rock, a Stone, and of many o- 
 thers, which he is to fulfil, and which wiii 
 then be clearly difcern*d by us. By the 
 black Cloud (63) that at prefent obftru^ts 
 this Vifion, they underftand the Letter of 
 the Old Teftament. By the white (64) 
 Veftments of Jefus^ they mean the Words 
 of the Scriptures, which will then ihine 
 
 (di) Et Mofes & Elias apparuerunt in Gloria, 
 cum Jcfu colloquentes, in quo oftenditur Legem 5c 
 Prophetas, cum Evangeliis confbnare Sc in eadem 
 Gloria fpiritualis intelligentiac refulgcre. Origen.in 
 Epift. ad Rom. c. i. 
 
 (tfa) Montem afcendit ut te doceat, ne quaeras 
 eum nifi in Legem & Prophetarum montibus. 
 Ongen tn Cantic. Cantic. Horn. 5 . 
 
 (<f5) Per nubcm tetram intejljge opacitatem Lc- 
 
 gis. 2)amafceii. in Orat. dc 'Jtran^giir. 
 
 (64.) Veftimenta Candida Jefu funt Sermones & 
 Scripta Evangeliorum. On^cu in Loc, Matt. 
 
 clear 
 
[ 48 ] 
 
 clear and bright. By the Voice out of thd 
 Cloud, they mean, with St. Teter^ the 
 Word of Prophecy, that will found in the 
 Ears of our Apprehenfions. And laftly, 
 they tell us, that the Way to attain to the 
 Sight of this glorious Vifion, is by afcend- 
 ing (not by local Motion, but by Reafon) 
 to the Tops of the Mountain of the myfte- 
 rious and fublime Senfe of the Law and the 
 Prophets. If we continue in the Plains 
 and Vallies (65) of the Letter, like the 
 Multitude under the Mountain, we fhall 
 never fee Jefus in his fhining Veftments, 
 nor how he was transform'd into the Types 
 of the Law, nor Mofes and Elias talking 
 with him ; nor the Law and the Prophets 
 agreeing harmonioufly in a Teftimony to 
 him. 
 
 After this fafhion do the Fathers, one or 
 other of them, copioufly treat on every 
 Part of this Transfiguration of Jefus, I 
 eould colled an almoft infinite Number of 
 PalTages out of their Writings to this Pur- 
 
 (cf 5) Si quis Litteram fequitur, & deorfum eft to- 
 tus, hie non poteft videre Jelum in verte Candida j 
 qui autem fequitur Sermonem Dei 8c ad montana, 
 id eft, excelfa Legis confcendit, ifti Jefus commu- 
 tatur — Quamdiu Litteram fequimur occidentem, 
 Mofes & Elias cum Jefu non loquuntur ; fin fpiritu- 
 aliter intelligimus, ftatim Mofes & EJias veniuntj 
 id eft Lex & Prophetac & colioquuntur cum Evan- 
 gelio. J^oba», Hierof. Hom> 32. 
 
 pofe : 
 
pofe i ■ But from thefe few it is plain^ they 
 look'd on the Story of Chrift's Transfigu- 
 ration, but as a Figure and Parable j an4 
 they were certainly in the right on't, in as 
 much as this their Senfc of the Matter^ and 
 no other, will folvc the Difficulties before 
 flarted againfi: the Letter, as any one may 
 difceniy if. he attentively review and com- 
 pare one with the other : As, for inftancc, 
 this their Senfe and Interpretation lets us 
 into the Reafon of Mofes and Elias's ap- 
 pearing, on the Mount with yeftis j and 
 gives us to underfland what they talk'd 
 about, and that was, not on Jefus\ Z)^- 
 cea[e which he would accompHfl:> at Jeru- 
 falem, as our Tranllation has it, but on the 
 Prophecy of the Old Teflamenti particu- 
 larly, as St. Luke fays, on Mofes s Book of 
 Exodus^ and how he would julfill it at the 
 New Jerufalem, 
 
 Whether any, befides my felf, does real- 
 ly apprehend, and is willing to underfland 
 this Story of Chrift's Transfiguration, as I 
 do, I neither know nor care. I am not 
 bound to find others Ears, Eyes, and Ca- 
 pacities. What I have faid is enough to 
 fhew the Senfe of the Fathers about this 
 Matter. If any dillike their concurrent 
 Opinion of Jefus% Transfiguration's being 
 an Emblem, an Enigma, and figurative 
 Reprefentation of a future and moft glori- 
 
 H ous 
 
ous^ Traasfiguration, ,fa<?h a Qnjs^s they 
 
 J^ik 'bF'j ' let him account for *t±ie'bifti'cul-i 
 
 ti6s '^ri'c!; Objedions which I have before rai- 
 
 fe^ againft the/Lettdr of this 'Sto'f yl In'tlid 
 
 tne^li tfme'I fhaUthink it/litefilly3";aa 
 
 furd, /irnprobatle'j and incredible one, arid 
 
 nootto thari^k prophptical and parabob"- 
 
 eai''Hatrative' of what will be myftendufly 
 
 'atiif niOre wonderfully don^ by Jefus* 
 
 ^''^j'^iLiid thiis 1 have 'cod fidered ^^J^r^^ of the 
 
 Miracle;s of pur. Saviour, an4 Aiewp how 
 
 ,tllifey' ^Ve.Abi'iil'^ities^' according V6 tfe.Let- 
 
 ter^ cohfequently do liiake nothing for his 
 
 'Authority an-d MeffinhlJoip, I can and will 
 
 do as much- by his other Mii-acles^ for I 
 
 ^ould not have ahy one think!' am' gotten 
 
 to the End of my Tedder, but for fome 
 
 Reafons beft k:n6wn to my felf,, I publilli 
 
 thefe ^Remai:^s 'on thefe three fir ft." 'After 
 
 the Clergy havechew'd upon thefe" a, while, 
 
 I wmU take .into Examination fome others 
 
 of '7<?///j'sMhacres; which for thdir 'literal 
 
 Story are admired "by the]?!. As for In- 
 ilanc^^'' '^^^'^^^"^ in.^dJ .0 x'lojr . .:: 
 
 -^-I'\^ll take^^4^srhis;Mir?icle;ti^y% 
 "'dhmmiig Waler'j^hh Wine\ at a Marriage 
 'in 'Ciifa of Gamete-, which was the bcgin- 
 ^hing ''6^'-y^eftiJs'^\\ti<Msy \vk^ fhould by 
 - fig ht ^ Jia ve 'bceii, flriVfpok^n to j bat I am 
 
almoittoo grave tb handle the Lett/er ^f 
 tkis Story as I ought i and if I had trQat;ed 
 it as ludicro'ufly as it deferve^ I don't know 
 but at fettling out, I fliouid have put the 
 Clergy ^^ti^ out of all Temper. .1 would 
 not now for/ the World be fo impious and 
 prophane^; as to believe, with o\xt^i-;:ineSy 
 what is contain 'd and imply 'd in the, Lettei: 
 of this Story. \^ ApoIIomus Tyauaus^ "arid 
 not jefiiSy had been ti e Author of this 
 Miracle, wc fliould often have reproached 
 his Memory with it. It is faid oi Afoila-- 
 vim TyauduSj that a l^able was all on a 
 fudden, at his Command , miraculoufly 
 fpread with Variety of nice Difhes for. the 
 £ntertainmcnt of himfelf and his Guefts j 
 which Miracle, our T^lvines can tell him, 
 makes not at ail to his Credit, in as much 
 as it was done for the Service and Pleafurc 
 of luxurious Appetites. But W Apollonins 
 had done, as our Jefiis did at this Wed- . 
 d.'ng, they ^ would have faid much worfc 
 of him j and that, modcftly fpeaking, he 
 delighted to make his Friends thoroughly 
 merry, or he would not be at the Pains of 
 a Miraclj^tQ turn fo much Water into 
 Wine, after, they had before 'well dranh 
 iFtheTathers then don't help us out at the 
 myftical and true Meaning of this Miracle, 
 fuch farther Objections may be form'd a- 
 V H J gainft 
 
in) 
 
 gainft the Letter^ as may make our T^i'vines 
 arfhamy ofit. 
 
 ' IwiU y folate into Examination ^f/^^/s 
 Miracle (67) o^ feeding many Ithoufands 
 in the Wilder nefs with a few Loa'ves and 
 FiJIhesi which, according to the Letter, are 
 moft rqmantick Tales. I don't in the leaft 
 queftion'3^^^/j s Power to magnify or mul- 
 tiply the Loaves, and, if he pleas'd, to me- 
 liorate the Bread : But that many Thou- 
 fands of Men , Women , and Children , 
 fliould follow him into the Wildernefs, 
 and flay with him three Days and Nights 
 too, without eating, is a little againft Senfe 
 styrd Reafon. Whether the Wildernefs was 
 hear to, or far from the People's Habita- 
 tions, the Difficulties attending the Story 
 are equally great. I wonder how Jefus 
 amufed them all the while, that they had 
 the Patience to ftay with him without 
 Food ; but I much more wonder, that no 
 Viftuallers befides the X^^ with his Loaves 
 and Fiilies, of whom, and his Occupation, 
 whether it was that of a 'Baker or Fijh- 
 pjonger -, and of his Negle<5t of his Mafter's 
 Buimefs here j and of the Reafon that" he 
 met with no hungry Chapmen for his 
 Bread before, we fhall make fome En- 
 quiry i but particularly why he alone, I 
 
 (<57) Afatt, C. xiv« and xv. ^c. 
 
If 
 
 n.} 
 
 fay, and no other Vid^aljers^ .^o other R,Q- 
 talers of Cdkcs ah^ Cingerbrcad fGllov^ed 
 the Camp. In iKort, for all the imaginary 
 Greatnefs of the Miracle (which there is a 
 way to reduce and leffen) of y/?/z^j's feed-, 
 ing his Thoufands Vith a few Loaves_, there 
 muft be fbmc Fafcination or Enchantment 
 (condemn d by the Laws of the Jezivs as 
 well as of other Nations) in the Matter ; 
 or the People, if ^hey had ftay'd one Day,^ 
 would not two, much lefs three to fdinty 
 but would, efpccially the Wonien aqd Chil- 
 dren, have been for returpiBg the firfl 
 Night home. We muft then feek to the 
 Fathers (who fay the five Books of Mofes 
 are the five Parley Lm'ves^ &c. and the 
 feptiformM Spirit, t\\Q feven Loaves^ ^c) 
 for a good Notion of this Miracle, and if 
 they don't make it a Parable ; do wh^t 
 our divines can, it will turip to the, Diflio- 
 nour of the holy Jcfus. ^ . 
 
 I will alfo confider the Miracle oljefiiss 
 (<^8) ctmng the Manfick of the ^alfy^ for 
 "johom the Roof of the Hotife was broken 
 ppy to let him down into the Room where 
 Jefus was^ hecatife his bearers could not 
 enter in at the i)oor for the Vrefs of the 
 People. This literally is fuch a Rodomo?i- 
 tddfi^ that were Men to ftretch for a Wa- 
 
 {69,) Mark ii. Lnkc v. 
 
 ger. 
 
ger' dgaitift Reafon ^d Tfiith; none cbuld^ 
 oiit^b^lt."''^(ier^ wifi^ Humanity ojC 
 the Pp^le,; kHa wherefore did they fp tu-^ 
 mUltiiate ag^i^ff the D6or of the Houfe ^ 
 ItsJ^rajige t^y had not fo much Compap. 
 ^6n on th6 5?^^/l)f/r/&j' as to give way to 
 him: Its more fir an^e that his Bearers 
 could ;g€t jtb 'the Top of the Houfe witfr' 
 him arid hii'Bedtoo^ when they could, hot 
 get.tbth^ l)<)pt-, nor the Sides of it : 'Its 
 yet ,firangef^ that the good Man of thb^ 
 Houfe ^6111(1 fuffer his Houfe to be broken 
 up5 whdn 'it ^cb.uld not be long ^ere the 
 Tumfrlt' of^ the People would be appeas'd : 
 But mOft 'fi)%%ze^ that J^/^/i, Vvho could 
 drive his Thjbufands out of the Temple be- 
 fore hinip ahd^ ^raw as many after him in- 
 to "the /Wil:djdfnefs, did. not, by Force 6r 
 Perfuajilon, make'the People to retreat, but 
 that fdch ne^dl^fs Trouble and Pains muft 
 be taken fqr the miraculous Cure of this 
 poor Manv ■;l36t's think; of thefe Things 
 againft the Time, that out .of the Fathers I 
 prove this StoVy to be a Parable, 
 
 I will alfo take into C^nli^deration the 
 Miracle of ^^^/^//s.curing the (^69) hlind 
 Man, for whom, Eye-Salve'"^z2:ias made af 
 Clay ana ^/>ir///f ^ whrch' Eye- Salve, whe- 
 ther it was balfamick or not^ does equally 
 
 (dp) John ix. 
 
 affea 
 
[ H ] 
 
 affcdl the Credit of the MiPapjlr. If it was 
 naturally medicinal, tf^^re's am tnd of thq 
 AG^acle ; aniif it Was not at aU^^diciiiaL 
 it wlis ^fpoliflily ar(d impertinently appjy'ci, 
 and can be no othprwire accqWfid for 
 
 Dead^ and/.witW|^^'<^ His at^ual 
 
 bringing, of th^^Dc^d;;©; r^ifq agaiK \viU 
 prove froni thje Orbumte ce^^ 3ft hof^StCK 
 licsy fhatthexard parabolical^ snd are not 
 literally, to be ajjpJyl'd^^otheTrobf of 5^/i^js 
 Jivine Autbqrity and MeiTiahfliip i or, for 
 Inftance,^ Jf/ks, when he ralfed Jairuss 
 (.70) Daughter from the!Dea<i; would ne- 
 yer^h^aye. tM)med\tf>e People, out 'of. the 
 HcJufe/ who mdiiM Have been his b'di and 
 propcrcft Witn<^fc-. 'iVV^cV'^'^^ • ^ ' t7 
 J will alfoconfider-Mfeacleo?^^^^ 
 {li)curjwg tbe Fig-Tree, for its notbear* 
 mg Fruit out of ScaTon ; which, upoh'the 
 bare mention of it,, appears to ,be a foolifh, 
 
 ^^^^4^??^ .#S"\^Hs'A'a> if not Egura- 
 tive, , ' ■ •', ^^, ■' *: ■• - 
 
 I Will alfo coii/ider the (7^2) Journey of 
 the Wifemen out of the £afl, with their Hi- 
 
 Xio) MarkW Wyi^ Miitt. xxl. Mark xi 
 
 ■ -f '• -id 001 -r;:.!:>.ff> t ^ te^Iy) 
 
m-all^jfenf^fs ^hd 'Meul<5\is PrefcnU of 
 'Framincehce znd Myfrbey'to a new-bbrh 
 BAe.' 'If^iiriththekGaiJ, which could t^ 
 but-lfttfej^tliey had brojught their Do'i'M 
 of Sugar, Sbap, and Candles, which would 
 have been of Ufe to the Child and his poor 
 Mother in the Straw^ they. had aded like 
 wife as well as good Men.' jBut wHar, I 
 pray^ w^s the Meariing and Reafohrof a 
 Star, ife6 a mU-a-WMfp^ f6v tlieir <^ui^^ 
 to the Pkce, where tW holy Infant lay: 
 Could' not fiod, ty divine Impulfe, in a 
 Vifion ot' "4^^ i, Dream, as he ordered their 
 Retutrt hbifiS, We fetit them on this im- 
 bdrtaiJt £rrand: but that a Star mufl: be 
 taken," or tiiiade put 6f CoUffe:^t6 this Fur^^ 
 pofe ? rwofider what Conrnuhication p^af* 
 red b^tweein.thefe Wifemeh and'the Star, oi: 
 how they came to kilbw one fmothefrs Ufe 
 and Iii.tention. But the Fathers (hall ipeak 
 here^ft^r farther to ^he Senfejefsnefs of this 
 Stbi^Vfiterklty, and make out the Myilery 
 jind feiie Meaning of it". ^' //' / '; 
 
 '^'fjt'fill alfo, by the Leaye/'prouf 25^- 
 clift^s^' t^kjt agatn' into Consideration the 
 .miraculous Conception rof the Virgin Mary^ 
 ^d thp Jleifurrediion otjefus from Ihe 
 Dead. ' ' f'^b believe, i^' ft'lnay fo pleafe 
 our T^imies^ that fe/us was ' born ^of a 
 pure Virgin, and that he aroie from thie 
 Dead : But fpeaking too briefly, in the 
 
 Moderatofy 
 
[ 57 ] 
 
 Moder*dtory to thefe two Miracles, they 
 took Offence. I will therefore give them 
 a Review^ and fpeak home to thein j par- 
 ticularly to Chrift s Refurredtion, the e- 
 vangclical Story of which literally, is fuch 
 a Complication of Ahfurdities, Incoheren- 
 ces, and Contradictions, that unlefs the 
 JFathers can help us to a better Under- 
 flanding of the E'vangelijis than we have 
 at prefent, We mufl: of Neceflity give up 
 the Belief of it. 
 
 Thcfe and many ( 73 ) other of the hi- 
 ftorical and miraculous Parts of yefus's 
 Life, will I take into Examination, and 
 fhew, that none of them literally do prove 
 his divine Authority ; fo far from it^ that 
 they arc full of Abfurdities, Improbabili- 
 ties, and Incredibilities ^ but that his whole 
 Life in the Flefh, is but (74) Type, Fi- 
 gure, and Parable of his myfterioiis and 
 fpiritual Life and Operations in Mankind. 
 
 In the End of this Head, it will be a 
 curious and diverting Siibjedt to examine 
 the Miracles of yefns^ as they are literally 
 underftood, by the Notions which our 
 
 (7^) Alia quam plurima his fimilia in £vange- 
 liis invcniet, quicunque attentius legerir. Origen. 
 de ^Princif'iii^ lib. iv. 
 
 C74) Qu« Enarratio erit Evangelii fenfibilis,' nili 
 accommodctur ad intelligibile & fpirituale ? Nulla 
 fane. Onge7i, in \Pr<£fat. ad i/U\v2. Evmig. 
 
 I 'Dwines 
 
[58] 
 
 ^iiines have advanced abojut Miracles ; 
 and to fhew_, that even their Notions com- 
 pared with Chrift's Miracles, are deftruc- 
 tive of his Authority, and fubverfive of 
 Chriftianity. This, I fay, would be a 
 tnoft diverting Undertaking, and it will 
 be ftrange, if fome Free-Thinker y that loves 
 Pleafurfe of this kind, does not take the 
 Hint, and fnatch the Work out of my 
 Hands. If I do it my felf, I tliall have ef-' 
 pecial Regard to the Writers againft the 
 Grounds^ without palTing by Mr. Chand- 
 lers EJJdy on Miracles -^ on which the 
 more Remarks will be made, if it be but 
 to pay rriy Refpecfts to the Archhijhofs^ 
 Judsment,- and to fliew my Admiration at 
 thole extravagant Praifes which his Grace 
 2.% Lainheth has Beftowed on that Author, 
 i^mong otiier his notable Notions of a Mi- 
 tacle (and the Jrthhijhop fays he has (75) 
 fet the Kotion of a Miracle upon a clear 
 and. [lire Fowulation) one is, (76) That 
 Miracles pmdd he Things probable as well 
 as. pojfihle'^' that /'they do mt carry along 
 "With them the [.appearance of Romance 
 and Fahle\ which would unavoidably pre- 
 judice Men againji helie'Ving them* This 
 
 (75) ■'^t^ .,^rchhiJJ:}Op Wake'5 Mantifcript Letter 
 to Mr. Chandler, ivhich is handed aboiit'Io-wn and 
 Country. 
 
 {j6). Chandler's FJ?.'d/catio», Sic. p. bi. 
 
 is 
 
[5P] 
 
 is certainly a good and right Notion of a 
 divine Miracle,- and I don't doubt, but 
 according to it^ Mr. Chandler and the 
 Archhifl)Op think, they can juftify the lite- 
 ral Story of our Saviour's Miracles, againft 
 the Charge of Fahle and 'Komance : But 
 whether they are able to do it or not, I 
 fliall go on, in fome Difcourfes hereafter 
 to be publifh'd, to prove that our HDkineSy 
 by efpoufing the Letter of Chrift's Mira- 
 cles, have deceived themfelves into the 
 Belief of the moft arrant ^lixotifm that 
 can be devifed and palm'd upon the Un^- 
 derftandings of Mankind. I fay, they have 
 deceived themfelves , for neither the Fa- 
 thers, nor the Apoflles, nor even Jefus 
 himfelf, meant that his Miracles, as record- 
 ed in the B.'vangelifts^ fliould be taken in 
 a literal Senfe, but in (77) a myftical, fi- 
 gurative, and parabolical one. And this 
 lliould bring me to the 
 
 III. Head of my Difcourfe ^ that \s^ to 
 confider what Jefas means, when he ap- 
 peals to his Works and Miracles, as to a 
 Witncfs and Teftimony of his divine Au- 
 thority; and to fhew, that he could not 
 properly and truly refer to thofc fuppofed 
 
 C77) Dominus nofter ea quE facicbat corpora- 
 liter, ctiam fpiritualitcr volebat intelligi, ^c. An- 
 giif. Serm. xcviii. ScB. 5. 
 
 1 2 to 
 
to be wrought by him inthe Flejh^ hut to 
 rhofe myftical ones he would do in the 
 Spirit^ of which thofe feemingly wrought 
 by him in- the Fiefh, are but Types and 
 Shadows. 
 
 But this Head can't be rightly fpoken 
 to, till I have more amply difcufs'd the 
 former, which, by God's Leave, I promife 
 to do : And if my courteous Readers will 
 be fo kind as to truft me till that Time, I 
 affure them to prove, that no Ignorance 
 and Stupidity can be greater, than the Ima- 
 gination that yefus really appeal'd to his 
 Miracles, fuppofed to have been wrought 
 by him in the Flefli, as to a Witnefs and 
 Teitimony of his divine Authority , and 
 Mejfiahjhip, 
 
 In the mean Time our twines may go 
 on in their own Way, if they think fit, 
 and admire Jeftis of old, and celebrate his 
 Power and Praifes for heahng of bodily 
 Difeafes, and doing other notable Feats 
 according to the Letter of the evangelical 
 Story ; but I am for the fpiritual yefus and 
 Me[fiah^ who cures the worfe (78) Dif- 
 tempers of the Soul, and does other myf'- 
 terious and moft miraculous Works, of 
 which, thofe recorded in the Evangelifts, 
 
 (78) Quos in corporibus morbos fanavit Chriflus, 
 hi in animabus exiftunt, & fupernam ejus opem re- 
 jjuirunt. Johan. Nept, Hierof. Horn. LXI. 
 
 are 
 
arc but Figure and Parable. This is tlie 
 primitive and concurrent Opinion about the 
 true Meffiah^ which the Fathers univer- 
 fally adher'd to. Whether our Jefus^ at 
 this Day, be fuch a fpiritual Me0ab to 
 his Church, or whether fhe does not (land 
 in need of fuch a one, is the Qiieftion that 
 our T>m}ws are to fee to. But I will add 
 here, what I believe, and ihall have ano- 
 ther Opportunity to prove, that God on 
 purpofe fuffer'd or empower'd falfe as well 
 as true Prophets, had as well as good Men^ 
 fuch as Apollonius^ Vefpnfian^ and many 
 others to cure Difeafes, and to do other 
 mighty Works, equal to what are literally 
 reported of Jefus^ not only to defeat us of 
 all Diftin^ion between true and falfe Mi- 
 racles, which are the Objed of our bodily 
 Senfes, but to raife and keep up our 
 Thoughts to the conftant Contemplation 
 of yeftis\ fpiritual, myfterious, and moft 
 miraculous Works, which are the Objed^ 
 of our Underftandings, and loudly befpeak 
 the Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs of 
 God, and which are to be the abfolute 
 Dcmonftration of Jefuss divine Authority 
 and Meffiahjlnp to the Convcrfion oijews 
 and Lijidels, 
 
 I have no more to do at prefent, but, 
 like a Moderator ^ to conclude with a fliort 
 Addrefs and Exhortation to Injidels and 
 
 Jpojlates^ 
 
E ^- 1 
 
 [Apoftates^ tlie two contending Parties in 
 the prefent Controverfy. And 
 
 Tirji, ^O'Apoftates^ I mean the Writers 
 againft the Grounds and Scheme* Whether 
 you, gra've Sirs, who account your felves 
 orthodox H^wines^ tho' there is little but 
 Gontradi(5tion and Inconliftency amongft 
 you, do like the Name of Apofiates which 
 is given you, I much queftion : But it is 
 the propereft, I could think of, for your 
 Defertion of primitive Dodtrine about Pro- 
 phecy and Miracles. I could, not impro-' 
 perly, have given yOu a worfe Title ^ but I 
 was willing to compliment you, rather 
 than reproach you with this. 
 
 But fetting afide the Title of Apofiates^ 
 whether it be, in your Opinion, opprobri- 
 ous or not J you may plainly perceive, that 
 I am, SirSyOXi your Side, as to the Truth 
 of Chriftianity j and if you'll accept of my 
 Afliftance for the Proof of y^/^/j's Mefliah- 
 fhip from Prophecy, upon the Terms of 
 the allegorical Scheme propofed in my 
 Moderator^ you fhall find me your hearty 
 Abettor. Upon the allegorical Scheme, I 
 don't doubt but we fhall foundly drub and 
 mawl Infidels^ and beat them out of the 
 Field of Battle. If you, being wedded to 
 the literal Scheme, will not accept of my 
 AlTiftance, you may go on in your own 
 
 Way, 
 
[ ^5 ] 
 
 Way, and fee the Event of the Contro- 
 vcrfy, which in the End will turn to 
 your DiAionour. \ 
 
 You, Sirs^ can't but be fenfible, how 
 thofe tw;o great Generals, Mr. Grotmds; 
 and Mr. Scheme^ with their potent Armies 
 of Rcafons and Authorities againfl your li- 
 teral ProphecieSj have grievoufly diftrefs'd 
 and gall'd youj and, if you don't make an 
 honourably Retreat in Time, and feek to 
 Allegorifts for Help, will gain a compleat 
 Vi(5tory and Triumph over you. ' nofl 
 
 Iiiftead of the Help of Jlkgorijis^ you, I 
 find, under the Difappointment of your li- 
 teral Scheme, chufe rathpr, to have Re- 
 courfe to Jejii5\ Miracles : But what Ht-r 
 tie DependanCe there is upon his Miracles, 
 in your Senfe, I have in part proved ia 
 this Difcourfe, and this I have done (give 
 me leave repeatedly to declare it) not for 
 the Service of your unbelieving Adverfa- 
 ries, but to reduce you to the good old 
 Way of interpreting Oracles, which, upon 
 the Teftimony of the Fathers, will, one 
 Day, be the Converfion of the Jews and 
 Qe utiles, ■ > 
 
 Whether you, Sirs^ will be plcas*d with 
 this ihort Difcourfe on Chrifr s Miracles, 
 I much queflion. But before you put your 
 fclvcs into a Rage againft it, \ beg of you 
 to read St. Tbeophilus oi Antiocb^ Origen, 
 
 St, Htfary^ 
 
C <^4 ] 
 
 St. Hilary^ St, An^uflm^ St. Jmhrofiy St 
 J^rome^ St. €hr^foftom^ St. John of Jerti^ 
 falem^ St. Theophyla'vty and other occafi^ 
 onal ancient Pieces on one part or other of 
 the 'E'vangeUfis. j and you'll find how they 
 countenance fuch a Difcourfe as this on 
 Miracles, and will abundantly afftft me in 
 the Pro&cution of it. ■■■-' ^cJj^r o. - i . 
 
 I expe^j Sirs^ that foifee of you will be 
 ready to rave againft me for this Difcourfe ^ 
 but this is my Comfort^ that if your Paf- 
 lion Ihould arife to another Profecution of 
 me, you can't poflibly feparate any of mine 
 from the Opinions of the Fathers to ground 
 a Profecution on : And what Diflionour in 
 the End will redown to Proteftant and pre- 
 tendedly learned twines of the Church 
 of Efigland^^ to perfecute again the Fa- 
 thers for primitive DoiSlrine^ I de/ire you 
 to think on. 
 
 But, as I fuppofe, you'll have more Wit^ 
 SirSy than to profecute me again for this 
 Difcourfe ; fo I hope you'll have more In-^ 
 genuity, than odioufly (after your wonted 
 manner) to reprefent me to the Populace, 
 for Profanenefs, Blafphemy, and Infidelity. 
 If you diflike the whole, or any part of 
 this Difcourfe, appear like Men and Scho- 
 lars_> from the Trefs againft it. Ufe me as 
 roughly in Print as you think fit, I'll not 
 take it ill. 
 
 Veniam 
 
 i 
 
[ <^5 1 
 
 Ventam petimus^ dahimufq^ vicijfm* 
 
 I defire nothing more than to be furioufly 
 attack'd from the Trefs^ which, if Lam not 
 much miftakcn^ would give me a long'd for 
 Opportunity to expofe your Ignorance to 
 more Advantage. 
 
 Be not longer miftaken, good Sirs, The 
 Hiftory of yefuss Life, as recorded in the 
 E'vat^elifis^ is an emblematical Reprefen- 
 tation of his fpiritual Life in the Soul of 
 Man I and his Miracles are Figures of his 
 myfterious Operations. The four Gofpels 
 are in no Part a hteral Story, but a Syftem 
 of myftical Philofophy or Theology. 
 
 If you are refolved not to come into this 
 Opinion, I beg of you again, before you 
 break forth into a PaiTion, to try to vindi- 
 cate the literal Story of the three Miracles 
 fpoken to in this Difcourfe, mz. thofc of 
 JefusV driving the "Buyers and Sellers out 
 of the Temple-, of his exorcifing the T>e'vil 
 out of the Madman i and of his Itrafisjigu-' 
 ration on the Mount ^ which if you are able 
 to defend againft the Fathers, and my Ob- 
 jedions, Til give up the Caufe to you, and 
 own my fclf (what I am far enough from 
 being) an impious Infidel and Blafphemer, 
 and deferving of the worft Punifhment. In 
 the mean time, I make bold again to affert, 
 that the literal Story of Chrift s Life and 
 
 K Miracles, 
 
Miracles, is an abfurd and incredible Ro- 
 mance, full of Contradidions and Incon- 
 {iftencies , and that modern Paraphrafes 
 are not only a confequential Reflection on 
 the Intelleds of the E'vangelifts, and their 
 divine Gifts of the Spirit, as if they could 
 not write an intelligible and coherent Piece 
 of Biography without your Help at this 
 Diftance of Time ; but have even darken'd 
 and obfcured the feemingly native Simpli- 
 city of the Story of the Life oijefus. So 
 leaving you to chew upon this, I turn 
 
 My Addrefs to Infidels ^ particularly to 
 the two moft renown'd Writers of the Par- 
 ty, Mr. Grotivds^ and Mr. Scheme, I 
 fhould, Gentlemen^ by right, falute you 
 with the Title of Free'Thinkers^ a proper 
 Name for your philofophical Seft, who are 
 for the free Exercife of your Reafon about 
 divine and fpeculative Points in Theology. 
 And I had diftinguifli'd you by this Title 
 from your apoftatical Adverfaries, but that 
 I had a mind to oblige my old Friends the 
 Cler^y^ in giving you a no more honoura- 
 ble Title than I do them. And I truft you 
 will not be oftended at the Title of Infi- 
 dels^ fince not only your Writings fccm to 
 have a Tendency to Infidelity j but, if there 
 be any Fault in your Principles, you know 
 how to charge it on your Adverfaries, the 
 pretended Advocates for C'- riflianity, whofe 
 
 Abfurditiesj 
 
Abfurditles, falfe Reafonings, Ihconfiftcn- 
 cies, and foolifh GloiTcs on the Scriptures, 
 have occafioned your Departure from the 
 Faith inChrift. ''''^' \ 
 
 i- I thank Mr. gcJbeme for the noble Pre- 
 fent of his Book, which 1 received and read 
 with Plcafure. But inftead of one, he 
 fliould have fent me a 7)oze?t for the Ufe 
 of Friends and Borrowers, who arc very 
 curious and importunate for the Perufal of 
 it. For what Reafon he envies the Book- 
 fellers the publick Sale of his Work, chu- 
 ling rather to give it zvi^iy gratis, than that 
 they fhould reap any Profit by it, 1 know 
 not. Surely it is not to bring an Odium 
 on the Clergy for Perfecutors, as if fuch an 
 ufeful and philofophical Piece might not 
 appear publickly without Danger from 
 them : If fo, I hope the Clergy will re- 
 fent the Indignity, and invite him to a 
 Publication of his Book, with a Promife 
 of Impunity, which would wipe off the 
 Reproach, which this clandef^ine Method 
 of difpofing of it has caft on them. 
 
 I once almoft defpair'd, Sirs, of feeing 
 fuch another Piece fi'om your Qiiarter. I 
 was afraid the Profecution of the Modera- 
 tor, would have deterr'd you from the 
 Prcfs, whereby our excellent Controverfy 
 on Foot muft have been drop't : But the 
 fudden and unexpcaed Appearance of Mr. 
 
 K 2 Scheme, 
 
Scheme^ has revived mc^ and rejoiced the 
 Cockles of my Heart. Go on then, great 
 ^JrS:, in this Gontroverfy , which Mr. 
 Grounds happily conimenc'd j and if you 
 are deny'd the Liberty of the Prefs, and^ 
 publick S^le of your Books, I hope you 11, 
 for all that, as occaiion offers it felf, oblige 
 the Learned and Curious with fome more 
 of your bright Lucubrations, tho' you print, 
 them, and difpofe of them in t|ii? clanculaf. 
 and fubtil Method. '. ; : - - • 
 
 - It is not that 1 wifli well to your Caufe 
 of Infidelity, that I thus encourage you. 
 You have more Senfe and Reafon, than to 
 fufpe(5t me tainted with unbelieving Prin- 
 ciples. Chriftianity will Hand its Ground 
 againft your battering Armour,- and the 
 Church of Chrift will be the more firmly 
 eftablifh'd on a Rock of Wifdom, for that 
 Oppofition you make to it. Tho' you will 
 entirely vanquifli the literal ^chemifts^ ancj 
 ride in Triumph over them, yet other De- 
 fenders of the Faith, call'd Allegorijis^ will 
 arife to your Confutation and final Over^ 
 throw. 
 
 If I am not miftaken, ^/Vj-, your Advert 
 faries, the literal Scbemifts^ whom I call 
 Jpoftates^ are about making a Retreat, 
 and yeilding the Field of Battle to you. 
 The "BifloQp of LicJjfield^ the greateft Ge- 
 neral on their Side, will not only find it 
 
 hard 
 
[^0 1 
 
 hard to levy any more Forces in Defence 
 of his twehe literal Prophecies ; but he 
 knows that, if he draws his Sword any 
 more againft you, he muft attack too the 
 Authority of the Fathers for the allegori- 
 cal Interpretation of fomc of thofe Prophe- 
 cies, already urg'd in my Supplements to 
 the Moderator -, or, if the Fathers are neg- 
 lected by him • they and I, keeping out of 
 the Reach of his 'Biig-'Bear^ will treat him 
 with fuch familiar Language, as never was 
 given to one of his Order. 
 
 Mr. Scheme feems to promife us a Dif- 
 courfe on the Miracles in the Scriptures ^ 
 I hope he'll be as good as his Word, and 
 'ere long publifh it. This Difcourfe of 
 mine can't poffibly fuperfede his. As I 
 queftion not but hisThoughts and Remarks 
 on Miracles will be very confiderable ,• fo 
 I fhall be a little impatient till I fee them. 
 But be his Difcourfe on Miracles of what 
 Kind foever, I believe it will hardly be an 
 Obftrudtion to my Undertaking in Hand, 
 which I intend, by God's Leave, to go on 
 with, to the Honour of the holy Jeftis^ 
 our fpiritual Mejfiah^ to whom be Glory 
 and Praife for ever and ever, ^meth 
 
 FINIS. 
 
\{f!n Lie. o „ ii c ijI 
 
 -I* r-o-* '^'^'^•t'tJi "f^' 
 
 lo 1 
 
 'I'c; 
 
 r:- ' > \ 
 
 li :): 
 
 
 II 
 
^ K S written by Mr, Woolston, 
 and fold by him near Moor-Gate, and 
 the 'Bookfellers of London and Weft- 
 minfter. 
 
 I. np H E old Apology rcviv'd, l^c. 
 
 JL II. Diflbrtatio de Pontii Piiati Epiftola ad 
 Tiberium circa Res '\ci\x Chrifti geftas. 
 
 III. Origenis Adamantii EpiilolK duae circa Fi- 
 dem vere orthodoxatn & Scripturarum Interpre- 
 tationem. 
 
 IV. The exaa Fitnefs of the Tiine of Chrift's 
 Advent, demonftrated by Reafon, againft the Ob- 
 jedlions of the old Gentiles, and modern Unbe- 
 lievers. 
 
 V. Four Free- Gifts to the Clergy, or Challenges 
 to a Diiputation on this Queftion, Whether the 
 Hireling Pricits of this Age, who are all Minifters 
 of the Letter, be not Worfli'ppers of the Apola- 
 lyprical Bcaft, and Minifters of Anti-Chrift. 
 
 VI. An Anfwcr to the faid Four Free-Gifts. 
 
 VII. Two L Jtters ro Dr. 'Bcmiet, on this Quef- 
 tion, Whctnr t 'C Pt-oplc call'd ^nakcrs^ do not 
 the nearcli o; a y otticr Sc6l in Religion, refem- 
 ble the priniit vc Chr.lli.i.s in Priiici^4e aiid Prac- 
 tice. 
 
 VIII. An Arfwer t r^e fai-' two Letters. 
 
 IX. The Mol^r or b.tw en ^.n Infidel and an 
 Apoltatc: o: the Conti' ver'y' b' twcci. the GiOimdi 
 and his eccl'd^ ical Opponents, let in a clear 
 Lig'it, i^c. 
 
 X. 1"W0 'Yi'-rf- r., , .. , ^^. 
 
 XI. A 1 -rh under- 
 /;;(( Legion, ■ ;;Uwr:aiiuu o: h Mur xMoyic 
 Elli3 
 
 f 
 
A SECOND 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 S A !^ I U R, 
 
 111 View of the Prefcnt 
 
 Controverfy between Infidels 
 and Apostates. 
 
 Audendum efl^ ut illuftrata Veritas patent y 
 
 7mdtjqi ab Error e liber cnttir, Ladtanc. 
 
 * . I 
 
 By Thomas WooLSTON, fometime 
 Fellow of Sidney-College in Cambridge. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for the Author, Sold by him, next Door 
 below the Star in Aldcrmnnbury, and by the 
 Booklellerb" of London and iVcjlmiAjUt . ijij. 
 
 [Price One Shllling.J 
 
■«K' 
 

 ■ifiS 
 
 TO THE 
 Right Reverend Father in God 
 
 ED WARD, 
 
 Lord Bilhop of Lichbielr 
 
 Mir Lord, 
 
 P^OUR Fame for that celebrated 
 Book, call'd the 'Defence of Chrif" 
 tianitjy is the Occafion of this 
 Dedication. 1 need not tell you, 
 what vaft Reputation you have acquir'd 
 by it : You have been not only often 
 applauded from the Prefs, but have met 
 with large Compliments and Hianks 
 from ycur Clergy for it. And though 
 Mr. Scheme has very untowardly written 
 againlt you^ yet this is fliU your Ho- 
 A 7 nLJur. 
 
iv Dedication. 
 
 nour, that you are an Author^ not un- 
 worthy of his Regard and Notice. 
 
 1 am in Opinion with the Fathers, 
 againft an eftablilli'd Hire for the Prieft- 
 hood, thinking it of Differvice to true 
 Religion : But when 1 conlider'd the 
 Utetulnefs of your Lordfhip's Epifcopal 
 Riches and Honours to this Controverfy, 
 I almoft chang'd my Mind. Your exalted 
 Station in the Church, has given Credit 
 and Authority to ycur Work, which, if 
 it had came from the Hands of a poor 
 Prieil, had never been fo much admir'dy 
 neicher would Mr. Scheme^ I believe, nor 
 m\ ielf, have paid fo many Refpefts to it. 
 For this Reafon, 1 wifh fome more of 
 your Order would appear in this Contro- 
 veiiy, that the World might fee what 
 fariious Men are our Bijhoj)Sj and of 
 what Ufe their Hundreds and Thoitjands 
 a-Year are to the Defence of Chriftia- 
 nty; which, if fuch able Hands were 
 not amply hued to its Support^ might 
 be in Danger, as certainly as, that Men 
 of low Fortunes muft needs be Men of 
 poor Parts, little Learning, and flender 
 
 Ca- 
 
Dedication. v 
 
 Capacities to write in Vindication of it. 
 
 Some have conceived Hopes that the 
 great Btjhop of London, from his laft 
 Charge to his Clergy^ will fecond you 
 in this Controverly; if fo, there's no 
 Doubt on't, but his Performance will 
 be commenfurate to his State and Reve- 
 nues. Of his Zeal in the Controverfy, 
 he has already given a notable hiftance, 
 when he profecuted the Moderator; and 
 I dare fay, he'll vouchfafe us a more re- 
 markable Specimen of his Knowledge in 
 it, as foon as he can fpare Time for't; 
 and then ( Oh my Fears !^ he'll pay me 
 off for my Objedtion againft Chrill's Re- 
 furredtion, which he would have per- 
 fuaded the Civil Magiltrate to have done 
 for him. 
 
 But whether the Bi/Ijojf of London fe- 
 conds you or not, it's 1 nne, my Lord, 
 to expedt another Volume from you, in 
 Anfwer to Mr. Scheme, which, for all the 
 Reports that are fpread of your intended 
 Silence, 1 hope loon to fee publifli'd. 
 What will the People lay, if that Thi. 
 liliin goes off, giving you the lail Blow 
 
 in 
 
vi Dedication'. 
 
 in the Controverfy? Nothing lefs thari 
 that he has gotten the better of the lear- 
 ned BiJ})o^ of hkhficldj arid has refuted 
 Chriftianity to the Conviftion of the 
 Bifhop himfelf, who would renounce it 
 too, but for the temporal Advantages 
 he enjoys by it. 
 
 Think, my Lord, on , the Difhoilour 
 of fuch Refledions, and refume Cou- 
 rage againft the Adverfary. I look upon 
 you as a more fturdy Gladiator than for 
 one Cut on the Pate, to quit the Stage 
 of Battle. Though Mr. Scheme has 
 unluckily hit you on a foft Place, and 
 weaken'd your Intelleduals for a while- 
 yet he is a generous Combatant, and 
 gives you Time to recover your wonted 
 tStrength of Reafon. At him again then, 
 mj Lord, and fear not, in your Turn, to 
 give him fuch a Home-lhruft, as will 
 pierce his unbelieving Heart. 
 
 And when your Lordjhij) engages him 
 again from the Trejs, 1 hope you'll be 
 more explicite for liberty of Debate. 
 Through godly Zeal for Church, you 
 unhappily made a Slipj in your ^edica^ 
 
 twn 
 
Dedication. vii 
 
 tion to the lG?igj on the perfecuting Side 
 of the Queftion, which had hk'd to 
 have fully 'd the Glory of your whole 
 Work. Such a grand Philofopher, as 
 you are, (hould truit alone to the Good- 
 nefs of your Caufe, and the Strength of 
 your Reafonings, in Defence of it : Such 
 a potent Champion for Chriftianity, as 
 you are, (hould difdain the Affiftance of 
 any, but of God to fight for you. The 
 Ufe of the Civil Sword on your Side, is 
 not only a Difparagement to your Parts, 
 but a Difgrace to our Religion. 
 
 I know not what your hordjlnp may 
 think on't, but the Frofecution of the 
 Moderator was, in the Judgment of others, " 
 more than of myfelf, fome Reproach to 
 you : becaufe of a few flender Animad- 
 verfions 1 made on your renown'd Book, 
 fome think 1 fuffer'd a Frofecution, which 
 you, in Honour, fhould have difcourag'd. 
 ! 1 am willing to acquit you as much as 
 may be; and would, if 1 could, impute 
 it to your Forgetfulnefs, rather than your 
 Malice, that you ftep'd not between me 
 and Danger. 
 
 Whe. 
 
viii Dedication. 
 
 Whether this Difcourfe will be ac- 
 ceptable to your Lord/hi^, is fomewhat 
 uncertain ; I am afraid it will be a little 
 difguftful to your nice and delicate Tafte 
 in Theology, which relifhes nothing bet- 
 ter than the plain and ordinary Food of 
 the Letter of Chrifl's Miracles : But how- 
 ever, you will readily interpret this 'De- 
 dication to your Honour, and if you fhould 
 make me a large Prefent of Gold for it, I 
 fincerely affure your hordJJji^^ it will be 
 more than I aim'd at ; neither do I de- 
 fire any other Return for it, than to be 
 indulged the Liberty and Pleafure to pay 
 my cuftomary Refpefls to your Writings; 
 and upon proper Occafions to teftify tp 
 the World how much I am, 
 
 My LORT), 
 
 The Admirer of jour JVit^ 
 
 Zjcarnr/tg and Orthodo.\yy 
 
 London, 0£l, 
 
 Tho. WoolftoD. 
 
A Second 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 SAVIOUR, &c. 
 
 *»^i"^'',•^.r 
 
 , HERE publidi another *£);/■: 
 ^S I ,ri courft on our Saviour's Mira- 
 ^Wv£^ cles, which I am not only 
 •^^^^sJ*^^ obhg'd to, by the Promile I 
 made in my former ; but am encouraged to 
 it by the Reception which ihut met with. 
 If any of our Clergy were, and befides 
 them, few or none could be otfended at 
 my former T)ifcourfe^ they ihould have 
 printed their Exceptions to it, and, if poi- 
 B fibls, 
 
( ^ ) 
 
 r.ble, their Confutation of it, which might 
 perh-ps, have prevented me the giving 
 them nnv more Trouble of this Kind. 
 
 In my former "Z^/y^w/r/-? 1 fairly declard, 
 that if the Lie p could difprove my Argu- 
 ments againfl the Letter^ and for the Frp^rit 
 of ihc Miracles T chcrc took to task J would 
 nnt only defiil from iwz Frofecution of my 
 Defign, but own mylelfan impious /v;f<r/^/ 
 and Blalpkeyner^ and deferving of the 
 worft Punifhmcnt: V'i\xi (xwcz they 2re all 
 mute and filcnr, even in this Caufe, which 
 in Honour and Tntcrcft they Hiould have 
 fpokcn out to, they ought not to be an- 
 gry, if I proceed in it. I have given 
 them Time enough to make a Replv, if 
 they had been of Ability to do it: What 
 mull I think then upon their Silence? No- 
 thing lefs than that my Caufe is impreg- 
 nable, and my Arguments and Authorities 
 in Defence of it irrefragable ; and though 
 they don t profefTedly yield to the Force 
 of them ; yer they have nothing to fay in 
 Abatement of their Strength or it had 
 certainly Hen the Li^ht before now. 
 
 I go on then in my Undertaking to write 
 againfl: the literal Story of our Saviour's 
 Jvliracles, and againfl the life that is 
 commonly made of them ro prove his di- 
 vine Authority and MeiriahiT'ip: And this 
 I do, I folemnly again declare it, not for 
 
 the 
 
( ? ; 
 
 the Service oFInfidcliry, bur for the Ho- 
 nour of the Holy Jcliis, nnd to reduce the 
 ( lerjry ro the good oil ll'tiv, and the (mfy 
 Wd) of proN tiit^ his Mclliahfhip, and that 
 is, by the allegorical Interpretation or the 
 Law and the Prophets. Therefore, wirli- 
 our any more Preamble, 1 rdumc again 
 the Confideration of the three Heads of 
 Dilcourfe, before propofed to be treated on 
 to this Purpolc. And they are, 
 
 I. To (licw, Thar the Miracles of heal ■ 
 ing all manner of Bodily Difcafcs, which 
 jfffus was jurtly fam'd for, are none of 
 the proper Miracles of the iMeJJiuh, x\c\. 
 ther are they lb nuicli as a good Proof 
 of his divine Authority to found a Reli- 
 gion. 
 
 IT. That the literal Hiflory of many of 
 the Miracles of Jtfus^ as recorded by the 
 Evavicchlis^ does imply Abiurdities, Im- 
 probabilities, and Incredibilities ; confe- 
 quently they, either in wliolc or in pare, 
 were never wrought, as they arc common- 
 ly believed now a days bur are only re- 
 lated as propiietical and parabolical Narra- 
 tives of what would be myflcrioufly, and 
 more wonderlully done by him. 
 
 B X III. 
 
(4; 
 
 IIT. To conilder, whnt Jefus means, 
 when he appeals to his MiracIeS; as to a 
 Tcflimony and Wicnefs of his divine Au- 
 rhonty ; and lo fiiew that he could noc 
 properly 2nd ukiniately refer to thofe, he 
 then wrought in the tlejlo^ but to thofe 
 myflical ones, which he would do in the 
 Spirit^ of W'hich thofe wrought in the 
 Flelh are but mere Types and Shadows. 
 
 I have already fpoken, what I then 
 thought fr.ilicient to the firll of chefe 
 Heads ; and though I could now much en - 
 large my Reafons, and multiply Authori- 
 ties upon it to the fame Purpofc ; yet I 
 lliall not do it ; but only, by Way of 
 Inticdudion to my following ^Difcourfe, 
 fay, that if it had been intended by our 
 Saviour, that any rational Argument for 
 his divine Authority and MeJJiaLjhip fhould 
 be urged from his miraculous healing 
 power ; the Difeafes which he cured, 
 would have been accurately defcribcd, and 
 liis Manner of Operation fo cautioufly ex- 
 prefs'd, as that we might have been fure 
 the Work was fupernatural, and out of 
 the Power of Art and Nature to perform ; 
 But the Evanzelifts have taken no fuch 
 Care in tlieir Narrations of Clirift's Mira- 
 cles. As for Inflance, 'jejus is fuppofed 
 
 oftea 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 often miraculoufly to cure Lan/enefs ; but 
 there is no Account of the Nature and De- 
 gree of Lamenels he cured ; nor are wc 
 certain, whether the Skill of a Surgeon^ 
 or Nature itf^lf, could not have done the 
 Work without his Help. If the Evange- 
 Itjls had told U3 of Men, that wanted 
 one or both their Legs, (and fuch niilc- 
 rable Objedfs of Chri.i's Power and Coiji- 
 paQjon. were undoubtedly in thofe Days 
 as well as in curs) and how ']e(ns com- 
 manded Nature to extend itfelf to the en- 
 tire Reparation of fuch Defedls y here 
 would have been flupendous Miracles in- 
 deed, which noSccpticifm, nor Infidelity 
 icfclf could have cavilld at,* nor could I, 
 nor the Fathers themfelves have told how 
 to allegorize, and make Parables of them. 
 But there is no fuch Miracle recorded of 
 Chrifl, nor any thing equal to \x. ; fo far 
 from it, that the beft and greatcfi: Miracles 
 o^ ]efus^ which mud confcircdly be thofc 
 related at large, i^ for no Body can fuppofc 
 he did greater rhan thofe more particularly 
 fpccifyd) are liable to exception, being lo 
 blindly, and lamely, and impcrfediy re. 
 ported, as that, by Rcafonings upon the 
 Letter of the Stories of tliem, they may 
 b? dwindled awny, and reduced to no 
 Wonders,* which brings mc co treat again 
 on the 
 
 11. 
 
( 6 ; 
 
 IT. Second Head of my Difcourfe, and 
 chat is, ro iliew, that the literal Hiilory 
 of the Miracles of Jejus^ as recorded in 
 the Eva72gelijts^ does imply Ablurdities, 
 Improbabilities and Incredibilities ,• confe- 
 <]uently they, in whole or in part, were 
 never wrought, but are only related as pa- 
 rabolical Narratives of what would be my- 
 llcriouily, and more wonderfully done by 
 him. 
 
 To this Purpofe T, in my former Dif- 
 cnu'fc, cook inro Examination Mr^f of the 
 Miracles of Jcfiis, njiz,. thole, of hts driv- 
 inv the Buyers and Sellers out of the Tem- 
 ple -y Of hts exorcijing the T)evtls out of 
 the Madmen^ and fending them into ihe 
 Herd of Siotne -, and Of his Transfgu- 
 ration on the hloiint. How well T per- 
 form'd on thefe Miracles, which have been 
 admir'd for their literal Story, lee others 
 judge and iay. 
 
 I will now take into Confideration 
 three others of J^fis's Miracles, viz, 
 thofe. Of his healing a Woman that was 
 {iffiicied "Uiith an Ijjue of Bloody tw-lve 
 2 ears ; Of his curing ihe IVornan that 
 labour d tinder a Spirit of hifirmity^ eigh^ 
 teen Tears ; and O^ his telling the Sama- 
 ritan IFcman her fortune of having had 
 fi'uc Husbands ^ and living then m Adul- 
 tery 
 
(7 ) 
 
 tery with another iMa.i: Which arc, all 
 three, reputedly moll miraculous and ad- 
 mired Scones, The two fo. mcr, they fay, 
 arc Arguments oF Jelus's mighty Power ; 
 and the latter, of his immcnl^ Knowledge: 
 But how htde of certain Power and 
 Know edge th.re is in any of them, ac- 
 corumg to the Letter, will be fcen in 
 the .Sequel of this Dilcourfe. Infidels, I 
 dare lay, if they had not wanted Liberty, 
 would e'er now have facctioufly cxpofcd 
 thole Stories. If I (hatch that Work out 
 of their Hands, our Llerny ought to be 
 glad, bccaulc whnt T do in it, is to the 
 Honour of the Holy J^fits, and to turn 
 thofe pretendedly miraculous Stories into 
 divine Myfteries. 
 
 In my former Dilcourfe I gave my Rca- 
 dtrs fome Rcafon to cxped", that in this 
 I would treat on fom: oijefns^ Miracles, 
 which I there mcntion'd, I'iz,, On his turn* 
 injf il'ater into li me at a Marriage in 
 Cana of Galilee; and On his feeding of 
 ThoN lands' ::ith a few Loaves and hifh^'s 
 in the IVddemefs ; and O71 his Litre of 
 the 'Parahtick, for 'ujhoyn the Roof of 
 the Houft 'usas br ken up to Ut him do-ji-n 
 into the R<iom'-ji'hi'e ]c\'vs '■^-as, &c. And 
 I then really did dcfij^n to fpcak to cliclc 
 JVlJncIes; bur upon Conf'drrnnon, find- 
 ing them mod ludicrous Subjcits according 
 
 to 
 
f 8 ) 
 
 to the Letter, I forbear ic at prefent, hav- 
 ing no Inclination to put the Clergy quite 
 out of all Temper. If any ihould fay, 
 this is Fear and Cowardice in me, I can't 
 help it : But, for all that, now I have the 
 Clergy in a tolerable good Humour for 
 Liberty, I'll endeavour to keep them in 
 it, and not diftu.b them by an hafty and 
 unnecellary Provocation of them. Who 
 knows not, that the Clergy, like an ut\- 
 tamcd Colt, that I have a mind to ride, may 
 be apt to winch and kick, and may give 
 me a Fall before I come at the end of my 
 Journey, to the Difappointment of my 
 Readers i They Ihall therefore be gently 
 handled and flroak'd, till they are a little 
 more inur'd to the Bit and Saddle : And 
 for their Sakes will I poftpone fuch Mira- 
 cles as are moft obnoxious to Ridicule, 
 and at prefent chufe the aforefaid three^ 
 that of almoft any in the Gofpel may be 
 moll inoffenfively treated on. I begin 
 then, 
 
 I. To fpeak to that Miracle of J e fuss 
 
 (i) healing a Woman difeafedwith an If- 
 
 fite of Bloody twelve Tears, To pleafe 
 
 our T)ivmes^ I will allow as much of the 
 
 Truth of the Letter of this Story, as they 
 
 (l) Uatt. Ch, ix. Luke, Ch. viJi. Mark,, Ch. V. 
 
 can 
 
(9; 
 
 can dcfirc. The Fathers themfclves, who 
 arc for turning the whole Hidory of Je- 
 fus's Life into Allegory and Myftery, 
 don't deny that a Woman was cured of an 
 Hamorrhaffe^ after the Manner that is 
 here defcribed by the Evangelifts. St. Au- 
 guftm fays (x) of this Miracle, that it 
 was donCy as it is related ; and I have 
 a greater Veneration for his Authority, 
 than to gainfay it. But for all that, 
 Infidels may and will take into Examina- 
 tion the Nature of this Miracle, and if 
 poflible make little or nothing of it. And 
 if I do this for them, it is not to do Ser- 
 vice to Infidelity, but to turn Mens Heads 
 to the myfticai Ufe of it, for which it is 
 recorded. 
 
 As there is a particular Narration of 
 this Miracle among the few others, that 
 are ipccificd ; ib Rcafon fliould tell us, 
 that if the Letter of the Story of ChrilVs 
 Miracles, 2S out 'D retries \\o\d^ is only to 
 be regarded, this is one of the grearcH: 
 that Jcfus wrought, or it would not be 
 related by itfclf, but thrown into the 
 Lump of all manner of Difcafcs, which 
 He hcal'd. And how then IhiU we 
 come to the Knowledge of the Grcatnefs 
 
 (t) Factum quidem el}, &, ira ut riirraU'.r, 
 xmpletum. in Som. ixxviii. Scci. 7. 
 
 C of 
 
( JO) 
 
 of this Miracle > Why, there are but two 
 Ways to ic, and they are, 
 
 F^r/l, By confidering the Nature of the 
 Direafc, or the lamentable Condition of 
 the Pauent before Cure. And 
 
 Secondl/y 'By confidering the Manner or 
 Means by which the Cure was performed. 
 
 If one or both of thefe Confiderations 
 don't manifeft the Certainty of a xViiracle, 
 Infidels may conclude there was none 
 ill it. 
 
 Firfi, As to the Nature of the Difeafe 
 of this Woman, we are much in the Dark 
 about it, and very uncertain of what Kind 
 and Degree ic was. Sz> Matt hew wcltmg 
 of it, lays the Woman was a^y^jsepy^-j that 
 is, okioxious to bleeding', Si. Mark and 
 ht. Luke fay of her, that yrsc ev pevyjli 
 cu!^'^y ilie was in an EfHux or running of 
 Blood. Biu neither one nor the other of the 
 Evarjgeiifts fignify of what Degree her 
 Hemorrhage was, nor from what part of 
 her Body ic proceeded, nor how often or 
 Icldom \'i\Q was adJided to ic. Ic might be, 
 for ought we know, only a little Bleeding 
 ac the Nofe, that now and then flie was 
 fubject to : Or it might be an Obnoxiouf- 
 nefs to an Evacuation of Blood by Siege 
 cir Urine : Or it was, not improbably, of 
 
 the 
 
( " ; 
 
 the mcnflruous Kind^ Any of tlicfc might 
 be the Cafe of this Woman for what's 
 written ,• and I don't find that any of our 
 'Dtvincs have dcrermin'd of what fort it 
 was. But a great Miracle is wrought, 
 they think, in her Cure, without know- 
 ing the Difeafe ; which Infidels will fay, 
 is aficrred at Random and without Reafon, 
 in as much as it is ncceflary to know the 
 Nature of the Diftempcr, or none truly 
 and properly can fay, there was a great, 
 much Icls a miraculous Cure wrought. 
 
 But fuppofing \\\\% Hemorrhage proceed- 
 ed from what Part of ihe Body our ^Z)/, 
 ^vines think fit ; How will they make a 
 grievous Diflemper of it in order to a Mi- 
 racle ? The Woman fubfificd too long un- 
 der her IfTue of Blood, and bore it too 
 well, for any to make h.er Cafe very grie- 
 vous. Beza (3) will have it, that it was 
 a conflant and incclTant Rflufion of Blood 
 chat the Woman labour'd with. But tliis 
 could not be, nor was it pofTiblc, as I 
 ilippofc ''Phyfictans will agree, for Nature 
 to endure it fo long, or the Woman to 
 live twelve Days, much Icfs twelve Years 
 under it. 
 
 No more then, thnn fomc flight Indif- 
 pofition can reafonably and niuurally be 
 
 (:}) On Mat. Chnp. ix. 
 
 C 1 mads 
 
( lO 
 
 made of this Woman's Diflcmper. And 
 it would be well, if Infidels would reft 
 here with their Objedions againfl it. But 
 what if they iliould fay, that this Ha- 
 morrhage was rather of Advantage to the 
 Health of the Patient, than of Danger to 
 her, and that the Woman was more nice 
 than isjife^ or flie would never have fought 
 fo much for Kelp and Cure of it ? Some 
 Hamorrhdges are better kept open than 
 ftop'd and dry'd up ; and if Infidels fhould 
 fay, tliac this was a Prefervative of the 
 Life of the Woman, like an Ifjite^ at which 
 Nature difcharges it felf of bad Humours, 
 Who can coniradid: them ? Nay, if they 
 iliould lay that Jefuss, Cure of this Wo- 
 man's Hccmorrhage was a Precipitation of 
 her Death, for fhs died fome time after itr, 
 rather than a Prolongation of her Life, 
 for Ihe lived twelve Years under it, and 
 was of good Strength, vi^hen ilie applied 
 to our Saviour for Cure, or ilie could ne- 
 ver have born the Prefs of the People to 
 come at him ; Who can gainfay them? 
 It is true flie was very follicitous for a 
 Cure, and uneafy under her Diftemper, 
 or ilie would never have fpent all die had 
 on Thyficians; which is a Sign, fome 
 may fay, that her Difeafe was grievous, 
 irkibme, and dangerous, as well as in- 
 curable 
 
( >? ) 
 
 curable by Arc. But Infidels will fay, 
 not 'io ; for there are fomc flight cutane- 
 ous Diilcmpers, fometimes iifuing with 
 a little purulent and bloody Matter, 
 that nice Women will be at a great 
 Expcnce for Relief, and are always tam- 
 pering, and often adviUng about them, 
 though to no Purpofe : And if they 
 fliould fay that this was the worll of the 
 Cafe of this VVoman, Who can difprovc 
 it? 
 
 In fliort then here is an uncertain Di- 
 flemper both in Nature and Degree ; how 
 then can there be any Certainty of a Mi- 
 racle in the Cure of it ? Mr. Moore^ the 
 Apothecary^ accurately defcribes the \^\. 
 fcafcs he pretends to have cured ; and he 
 is in the right on't fo to do, or he could 
 not recommend his Art, and aggrandize 
 his own Fame. So the bodily Dileafe of 
 this Woman fliould have been clearly and 
 fully reprefented to our Undcrflanding, or 
 we can form no Conception of Chrift's 
 Power in the Cure of it. And I can't 
 but think that the EvangeUfts, cfpecially 
 St. Lake the Thyjtcian^ had made a better 
 Story of this Woman's Cafe, if ChriiVs 
 Authority and Powder had been to be urg'J 
 from the Letter of it. It's enough to make 
 us thinkjChrifl; cur'd no extraordinary and 
 
 grievous 
 
( H ; 
 
 grievous Maladies, or the Evangelifts 
 would never have inftanced in this, that 
 io much Exception is to be made to. As 
 then, reafonably fpeaking, there was no 
 extraordinary Difcafe in thisWoman cured, 
 and confcquently no greauMiracie wrought ; 
 fo let us now, 
 
 Secondly^ Confider the Manner of the 
 Cure, and whether any Miracle is to be 
 thence proved. The IVoman [aid isuith- 
 in her f elf ^ ('4) that tf jloe could but touch 
 the Hem of Jefuss Garment^ (he jhould 
 be made iL'hole. And I can't but com- 
 mend her, at this Diflance of Time, for 
 the Power of her Faith, Perluafion, or 
 Imagination in the Cafe, which was a 
 good Preparative for Relief, and without 
 which^ it's certain, fne had continued 
 under her Difeafe. The Power of Imagi- 
 nation, it's well known, will work Won- 
 ders, fee Viflons, produce Monllers, and 
 heal Difeafcs, as Experience and Hiftory 
 doth tcdify. There being many In^ 
 ftanccs to be given of Cures performed 
 by frivolous Applications, Charms, and 
 Spells, which are unaccountable any other 
 Way, than by the Imagination of the Pa- 
 tient. Againft the Reafon and Judgmcnc 
 
 (4J yuitt. Ch. hi, v.zi. 
 
 of 
 
( '5; 
 
 of a Thyficiany fometimes the difeafcd 
 will take his own Medicines, and find Be- 
 nefit. And I don't doubt, but Stories 
 may be told of Cures wrought, the Ima- 
 gination of the Patient helping, by as mean 
 a Trifle as tlic Touch of Chriit's Gar- 
 ments, and no Miracle talk'd on for it. 
 Even in the ordinary, natural, and ratio- 
 nal Ufe of Phyfick, it is requifirc, that 
 the Patient have a good Opinion of his 
 ^hyfic'tan and of his Medicines. A good 
 Heart in the Sick, tends not only to his 
 Support, but helps the Operation of Prc- 
 icriptions. As Defpair and Dejedion of 
 Mind fometimes kills, where otherwife 
 reafonably fpeaking, proper Medicines 
 would cure ; fo a good Conceit xw the Pa- 
 tient at other times, whccher the Medi- 
 cines be pertinent or not, is almofl: all 
 in all. And if Infidels fliould fay that 
 this was the Cafe of this Woman in the 
 Gofpcl ; if they fliould fay as St. John of 
 Jenifalem (5]) did, that her o-jin Imngi- 
 •nation cured her ft If; and fliould urge the 
 Probability of it, becaufe Jclus coulJ do 
 no Cures and (6) Miracles ?ig:\\n{i Un- 
 belief, Who can help \z> In this Cafe our 
 'Divines muft prove, that this Woman*s 
 
 {<;) Non Qiirem Fimbria Jcfu, fed ejus Cogltatlo 
 earn falvam fecit. In Loc. Marci. 
 (6) Matt. C/;.xiIi. 1/. 58. 
 
C 16 ) 
 
 Hamonhage was of that ]^m^y that no 
 Fiiich nor Fancy in herlelf could help her 
 without the Divine Power ; but this is im- 
 pofTible for them to do, unlefs there had 
 been a more certain Defcription of her Dif- 
 eafe than the Evangeltfts have given of it. 
 
 Our l^ivines will indeed tell us, what 
 I believe, that it was the Divine Power 
 co-operating with the Faith and Imagina- 
 tion of the Woman that cured her ; be- 
 caufe Jefus lays that Virtue had gone out 
 of him to the healing of her: And I v/ifii 
 infJels would acquiefce here, and not 
 fny, that Jeftiss VirLue hung very loofe 
 on him, or the Woman's Faith, like a Fai- 
 cination, could never have extraded it a- 
 gainfl his Will and Knowledge : But what 
 if they iliould fay, that Jefus^ being fe- 
 crecly appriz'd of the Woman's Faith, 
 and Touch of him, took the Hint ; and 
 to comfort and confirm her m her Conceit, 
 and to help the Cure forward, faid, Vtr- 
 tue isaas gone out of htm ? This would 
 be an untoward Suggeftion, which if In- 
 fidels iliould make, our Divines mufi look 
 foe a Pvcply to it. 
 
 It is faid of the Tope^ when he was 
 Lift at Bene vent 0; that he wrought three 
 Miracles, which our Protedant Clergy, I 
 dare fay, believe nothing at all of. But 
 for all that, it is not improbable, but that 
 
 fome 
 
( -7 ) 
 
 fomc difcafcd People, confidcring their 
 fupcrilicious Vcncrarion for the 'Pope^ and 
 their Opinion of the Sandticy of the Prefent^ 
 might be perfuaded of his Gift of Miracles, 
 and dcfirous of his Exercife of vi ; and if 
 they fancyfully or a(5tually received Bene- 
 fit by his Touch, T don't wonder, without 
 a Miracle. And what if we had been told 
 of the ?opes curing an Hemorrhage like 
 this before us? What would Protcflants 
 have laid to it ? Why, " that a foolifh, 
 " credulous, and fuperftitious Woman had 
 " fancy'd hcrfclf cured of fome flight In- 
 " difpofition ; and the crafty jP<?^^ and his 
 " Adherents, afpiring after popular Ap- 
 " plaufc, magniiied the prefumcd Cure 
 " into a Miracle. If they would have us 
 *' Troteftants zohdicYc the Miracle, they 
 " (liould have given us an exader Defcrip- 
 " tion of her Difeafc, and then wc could 
 '' better havejudg'd of it". The Appli- 
 cation of fuch a fuppofcd Story of a Mi- 
 racle wrought by the 'Pope, is eafy ; and 
 if Iiifidcis, Jcjas, and Mahometans, who 
 have no better Opinion of Ji-fns, than 
 wc have of the ^Pope^ fliould make it, 
 there's no Help for ir. 
 
 And thus have I made my Defcancs on 
 this fuppofcd Miracle before us, and ar- 
 gued, as much as IcoulJ, againft the Mi- 
 raculculacls of ix., hoch from the Nature 
 D of 
 
( '8 ) 
 
 of tlic Difeafe, and the Manner of the 
 Cure of it. Whether any one ihall think 
 I have faid any thing to the Purpofe or 
 not, is all one to me. My Defign in what 
 I have done, is not to do Service to Infi- 
 delity, but, upon the Command and En- 
 couragement of the Fathers, to turn Mens 
 Thoughts to the myftical Meaning of the 
 faid Miracle, which I come now to give 
 an Account of. 
 
 None of the Fathers (excepting St. 
 Chryfoflom (7 J, who writes here more like 
 an Orator than a Vhyficiari) ever trouble 
 themfeives, when they fpcak of this Mi- 
 racle, about the Narure of the Difeafe, 
 literally, in this Woman, or the greatnefs 
 of the Cure of it -, but alone bend their 
 Studies to the myflical Interpretation, for 
 the fake of which, this Evangelical Story 
 was written, and originally tranfadted. 
 
 Accordingly, they tell us that this Wo- 
 man is a Type (8) of the Church of the 
 Gentiles in After-times. And as to her 
 Hemorrhage or IJJue of Bloody they un- 
 
 (7) In Locum Mrff^' 
 
 ^ (8) Ilia vero Mulier quae Fluxum Sanguinis pa- 
 tiebatur, Ecclefiam figurabat ex Gentibus. St. 
 jiuguji. in Serm. h'xvii Se^i. 8. Prssparatur igitur 
 ^4ulier, in cujus Typo univerfalis Ecclefia fub fpe- 
 cie derignetur. Fafchaf. J^ittiert. in hoc. MatK 
 
 derfland 
 
( 19 ; 
 
 derftand it of the (9) Impurity and Cor- 
 ruption of the Church by ill Principles 
 and bad Morals, that Ihc would //^uyic'/r^. 
 Some of the Fathers, as (10) Gregory 
 Naz,ianzerp^ and (11) Eufeb'ms Gallic a^ 
 nus, will have the Iffue of Blood to be a 
 Type of the icarlet Sin of Blood-guilti- 
 nel's in the Church : If fo, wc mult un- 
 derhand it of the Effufion of Chriftian 
 blood by War and Perfecution. 
 
 The t--jjelve Tears of the Woman's Af- 
 flidtion with her Hemorrhage is a typical 
 Number of the Church's impure State for 
 above tijvelve Hundred Tears. And whe- 
 ther fome of the primitive Church did 
 not, by the faid t-joehe Tears of the Wo- 
 man, underltand twelve ylges^ I appeal 
 to (11^ Irenetis, to whom I refer my 
 
 (9} Hsec Muller, i. e. SanfVa Ecclcfia de Genti- 
 bus congrcgata qux lapfu Criminum depcrlbac 
 San6li Ambicfii in Loc. Luc. Ut Mulier, quaj 
 fluxum ranp,uinis patiebatur, &c. ita otnnis Anima 
 percufl'a incurablli Vulnere Peccati, habens fontem 
 pravarum Cogitationum, &c. Macarii Egypt, in 
 Horn. XX. 
 
 In Or/jt. xl. 
 
 (11) Qux eft: cnim hxc Mulier nifi Ecclefia Gen- 
 tium Fluxum Sanguinis patiebatur, quia in lii- 
 
 orura Peccatorum Sanguine verfabatur; quia San- 
 guinum Raplna Sc Occlfione nutricbatur. In Do- 
 minic. XX iv. 
 
 (iij Advcrfus Hzerefes. Lib. I. Cap. iif. 
 
 D z Readers 
 
 / 
 
C lO ) 
 
 Readers. Accordingly this typify'd Wo- 
 man of the Church, fliould be the fame 
 with the Woman C13) ^^ the Wildernefs, 
 that, as St. J-'-hn lays, was cwelye Hun- 
 dred and fixty Days or Years there fuilain- 
 cd ; and by vvhom many Prcteilants, as 
 wen as the Fathers, underiland the Church 
 univerfal. When the faid twelve Hundred 
 and fixty Days or Years of the Church's 
 being in the Wildernefs, did commence 
 or wiii end, is none of my Bufineis to en- 
 quire or afccriain. But as this Woman 
 in the Gofpel is faid after tivehe Tears 
 Afilidion, to be cured of her Difeafe by 
 JefdS ,• fo it is the Opinion of the Fathers, 
 t!i2t the Church univerfal, after ti^elve 
 Hundred Icars of her Wildernefs State, 
 will bepuriFicd and fancftified by the Gifts 
 of the Spirit of Chrid, and enter upon a 
 more holy, peaceable, and happy Condi- 
 tion/abiolucely freed from her Jffue of Bloody 
 which through Pcrfccution and War, llie 
 has for many Ages labour'd under. It is 
 not my Concern to col!e(5t all the Autho- 
 rities of the Fathers to this Purpofe ; but 
 only fay, that if at the End of twelve Hun- 
 dred and fixty Days or Years, the Church, 
 like the Woman, be notcur'd of her H£- 
 viorrhrige and m^^xcAWotmds «nd Sores \ 
 
 (i^) F^vcL Cb^p. xii. v. 6. 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 if her prcfenc impure and unfound State 
 be not chang'd into an holy, healthy, and 
 peaceable one; many good Protefiants^ as 
 well as the Fathers, are miflaken, and 
 abundance of Prophecies of the Old and 
 New Tcflamcnt, thac have been hereunto 
 urged, will lolc their Credit. 
 
 But w'lo are meant by the Thyficians 
 of the Woman, that have had the myfti- 
 cal Hemorrhage and Dilcafes of the 
 Church under Cure all this while ? Who 
 iiiould, but pretended Minifters, of the 
 Gofpei ? Miniftcrs of the Gofpel are not 
 only by the Fathers call'd metaphorically 
 (14^ fpiricual Thyficians ; but our 2)/- 
 vmes and Preachers of all Denominations 
 like the Metaphor, and think thenifelves 
 able 'Pky/ida?2S at the Difcafes of the 
 Church, which they are forward to pre- 
 fi:ribe and apply Medicines to, whenever, 
 in their Opinion, flie flands in need of 
 them. Whether our 'Divines like to be 
 accounted the 'Thyjiciiins of the Text be- 
 fore us, I much queflicn j but it is cerrafn 
 that [^1$) Eufihus Gallicanus cxprcfiy 
 
 fays, 
 
 C14) Excellentcs Verbi Praedicatores ranqaam 
 
 magni Medici. Snncli AiigUjQ. in Pfni Lxxxvii. 
 
 Sect 10. 
 
 (15) Per hos enim Medico;;, Ariulos & PhlIon>.: 
 phos intelllgere pofTumus, quorum pcrfuafionihus 
 
 ccetcrl 
 
( " ) 
 
 fays, that our ^/i;/«^j and pretended Phi- 
 lofophers are meant by them ; and vene- 
 rable Be^e (i6) upon the Place is of the 
 fame -Mind too. 
 
 The Woman of the Gofpel is faid (17) 
 to fijfer many Things of mafiy Thyfictans^ 
 and'xas nothing better d^ but rather grew 
 '■jowrfe; that is, llie grew worfe not in Time 
 only, but through the Ufe of her "Phyfi- 
 cians^ who were her (18) Tormentors. 
 So the Difeafes of the Church in Time 
 have increafed, for all the Ufe fhe has 
 made of her fpirituai . Phyficians, the 
 Clergy, In every Age has the Church 
 been degenerating in Morals andPrinciples, 
 as any one knows, that is able to make an 
 Eftimate of Religion in Times paft; and 
 all along have her ecclefiaflical ^aack 
 *T>oBors contributed to her ill State of 
 Health. As many Phyficians with their 
 different Applications tormented the poor 
 Woman ; fo our many En?pericks in The- 
 ology with their different Schemes of 
 
 cscteri crcdentes a fidei Vcrltate aberrantes adt 
 Animsc Sanitarem atiingere non valebant. In 
 Dominic xxlv- 
 
 (16) Per lylecllcos intellige falfos TheoiOgos. In 
 hoc. Marci. 
 
 (11) Ma}\, Ch. V. V. 16. 
 
 (18) Medici MolelHam potlus quam Sankatem 
 aegrotant! prosbenres. Ephrxtr.- Syri- p- 6^, 
 
 Church 
 
( n ) 
 
 Church Government and various Syfiemsot 
 Divinity, like fo many Prclcriptions for 
 Cure, have incrcaled the Divifions, wi- 
 dened the Wounds, and inflamed the Sores 
 of the Church. And if the Woman's If- 
 fue of Blood be, according to the Fathers, 
 a particular Type of the Blood of the 
 Church, that is ilicd in Perfecution and 
 War; ourTheological Pretenders to Phy- 
 fick, have been fo far from providing and 
 prefcribing a good Stiptic in this Cafe, 
 that they have been the Occafion of the 
 Effufion of much Chriflian Blood ; there 
 having been many a War and Perfecution, 
 that thefe Inctfion Dodtors, who fliould be 
 all Balfam., have been the Caufe of. 
 
 The Woman fpeyit all her Living, all 
 her yearly Income, upon her Phyficians, 
 and, as it feems, to a bad Purpofc -, fo very 
 great and large Revenues of the Church, 
 are expended on her Ecclefiaftical Doctors 
 in fpiritual Phyfick : And to what End 
 and Purpofe ? Why, to open and widen 
 the bleeding Wounds of the Church, 
 which they Ihould heal and falve up. Ic 
 is now about twelve Hundred Tears, like 
 the tvoelve T^ars of the Woman, that the 
 Clertiy, our Pradicioners in Theological 
 Phyfick, have received of the Church 
 vaftFees, Stipends and Gratuities (for be- 
 fore that Time her T>oflors prcf crib'J free- 
 ly; to take Care of her Health and Wel- 
 
 - fare : 
 
( H ) 
 
 fare ; but unlcfs God provide iti due Time 
 a Medicine of iiis own, flie is likely to 
 continue in a diieafed and forrowfui Con- 
 dition for ail tbem. 
 
 One would think that the Woman of 
 the Gofpei might have had more Wit than 
 to lay out all llie was worth upon Pbyfi-^ 
 dans CO no good Purpofe; one would think 
 that after lome Experience of their In- 
 fui^ciency to cure her, fhe might have 
 forborn feeing them, and referved the Re- 
 mains of her Eilate for better Ufes : So 
 the Fees and Revenues of the Church, af- 
 ter due Experience of the Inability of her 
 Spiritual Dodtors to heal her Sores, might 
 have been, in my Opinion, better employed, 
 and the Church of Chriil more ouc of 
 Danger of Wounds and Sicknefs, by Sin 
 and Error. Certain it is, that many an IJfue 
 of Blood, through Perfecution and War, 
 had hQzn prevented ; if fuch barbarous 
 and blood thirily Dodorsof Ecclefiallical 
 Phyfick, had never been io fzzd. and hired 
 to take care of the Welfare of the Church, 
 which, for all their Spiritual Medicines, 
 U'ill continue in a languiOiing Condition, 
 till heal'd by the Virtue and Graces of the 
 Spirit of Chrifl, in his forelaid appointed 
 Time. 
 
 So much then to the myfdcal Interpre- 
 tation of the Story of the Cure of the 
 
 Jffue 
 
( ^5 ) 
 
 Iffue of Blood in this Woman. Every mi- 
 nute Circumftance of ic is thus to be al- 
 legorized, if need was. Whether the 
 Clergy will hke this parabolical Exphca- 
 tion of it, I neither know nor care. They 
 have their Liberty with Atheifh and Infi- 
 dels to believe as little of it as they think 
 fit; and I hope they'll give me Leave with 
 the Fathers of the Church to believe as 
 much of it as I pleafe. But whether they 
 approve of this allegorical Interpretation 
 of thisfuppofed Miracle or not,- they mud 
 own, that if the Church, after the forc- 
 faid twelve yJges, fliould be purified and 
 fand:ified ; if her Errors and Corruptions, 
 of which the Woman's Uncleannefs is a 
 Type, fliould be heald ; if War and Pe - 
 fecution, typified by Iier Ijfiie of Blood, 
 fhould then entirely ccafe j if all Chri- 
 flians fhould then be united in Principle, 
 Heart and AfFed:ion, and made to walk in 
 a peaceable and quiet State, as the Wo- 
 man was (19) bid to go in Teace ; if the 
 Church iliould then come beh'md Jefus 
 (which (lo) is a Figure of future Time) 
 and rightly touch by Faith, and apprc- 
 
 (19) Mtfi-Zc, C/j. V. V. ^4. 
 
 (lo) Dei l-'ofteriora lunt novIfli.Tia tempera." 
 Origen in Pfa!. xxxvi. 
 
 • E hml 
 
( '^'o ) 
 
 hcnd his (ir) Giirments or Words df 
 I'lophccy, iiboac which Chrillians have 
 b.^rhcrco been prefjini^ and urgent; and if 
 rhe Gifts ot rhc Spirit, like Virtue on the 
 iVonum, fiiouid rhcn be poured forth upon 
 rhe Church to riie ?bfoiuce Cure of her 
 pre-CMC Difcaks, we muft, I fay, allow 
 riie Storv of this Worjian to be an admi- 
 rable Eir:b';eni and typical Reprelenta- 
 tjoii ; and the Accompliilimenc of it men: 
 nvirncufous and iiupv ndous ; and not only 
 <;ii jndifpunH^lQ Proof of the Power and 
 r'rcfcncc of Chrift with his Church, but 
 a DeirjOiitlfation of his Meffiahfiip^ in as 
 nuich as an alnjod infinite Number of 
 i'rOHbecies ot tiie Old I'eftament, will 
 riKJCUpon receive that Accompliiliment, 
 uhicii ijidicrro by no Shadow of Reafon, 
 Cm be pretended to. 
 
 After fuch a myflical Healing of the 
 H ceynorrhage of tlie Church, there's no 
 doubt on't, but the Srory of this Womaa 
 in the Gofpcl will be allow'd to be typical 
 ■c\\\Q emblem !tic:ni. In the mean time, with- 
 our makitip a ParaV'e of the Story of her, 
 f aflert, there is little or nothing of a 
 Miracle to be made of her Cure, unlefs 
 we were at a greater Certainty about the 
 
 (tx) Vcn-lmenra Jefu funt Sermones & Scripra 
 Evaiigclioiuiu, Oiigi-ninMait.Ch xvii. 
 
 Nature 
 
( ^7 ) 
 
 Nature of her Difcafc, and the Mann'r 
 rationally Ipcaking, ot Jefnis> healing oK 
 it. And lo I pal's to the ConliJcratioii 
 of 
 
 1. Anotlicr Story of a mirarulons Cure 
 pcrform'd by J^'fus on another VVomn:% 
 and that is on her, who ( zi) had a Spi- 
 rit of Infirmity y eighteen Jears^ and 'zc-as 
 bo'di/d tooetker^ and could in no 'ni^e 
 
 lijt up htrfeif bang bound of Sn. 
 
 tan^ &c. This too, as ! fuppole, is wirh 
 our IDivin^s a great Miracle, and one 
 of the greateil that 7c ///.<■ wrought, 
 or it had not been fpcciFv d, but call 
 indifcriminately into the Number of n!l 
 manner of Difealcs, which he heal'd. 
 And for the fake of the Leri-er, and to 
 pleafe our 'Divines, whom I would not; 
 offend wilfully, T will allow, that 'Jefhs 
 might lay his Hands on, and fpcak com- 
 fortably to fuch a drooping, ftooping, ?A\d 
 vaporous Woman, full of Fancies of the 
 'Z)^^'//■s Temptation and Power over her; 
 and Ihe might thereupon recover, and be 
 afterwards of a niore chcarfui Henrr, and 
 ered: Counccr.anc'e, freed from the whip> 
 fical Imagination oi hd'r>g S.At::n rir'dm : 
 And what of all that > Where's the Mi- 
 
 (ri) Lul{c, Ch, xiii. 
 
 F. 2. raclc? 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 racle ? If the Story of fuch a Miracle had 
 been related of any Impojfor in Religion, 
 of an Arch-lleretkk^ or Topifi Exorcifl^ 
 owt 'Divines would have flouted at it; 
 they would have told us, there was no- 
 thing fupernatural and uncommon in the 
 Event, nor any thing at all to be won- 
 dcr'd at in it. Taking the T^evil out of 
 this Story, and therc*s no more in it, than 
 what's common fo4r a fimple, melancholy, 
 and drooping Woman to be chear'd and 
 elated upon the comfortable Advice and 
 Admonition of a reputedly v/ife and good 
 Man. And the putting the *Devil into 
 the Story, in another Cafe, our T)ivinei 
 would have faid was only the Fancy of 
 the Woman, or the Device of the Mira- 
 cle-Monger^ to magnify his own Art and 
 Power. And if Infidels^ "j^wsy and Ma- 
 ho?neta7u^ lliould fay fo of this Story of 
 j'efus^ they would J3e no more unreafo- 
 nable in their Conjectures and Solutions 
 of this Miracle, than we fnouid have been 
 in another and parallel Cafe. 
 
 The 'Pope, when lad at Benevento, is 
 faid ro have cxorcis'd a ^)^mon out of a 
 young Maid, which our Divines no more 
 believe than Infidels do. But it is not at 
 nil impofTible or improbable, that a young 
 Woman migli!: be troubled with Vapours, 
 and go drcopingly upon it, whom the 
 
 holy 
 
( ^9 ) 
 
 holy Father, of whofc Prayers and Sanc- 
 tity (he had a good Opinion, might re- 
 lieve with his Talk, and give another Turn 
 to her Thoughts and Temper : And if flic 
 fancy'd herfelf before poffefs'd with a T>de^ 
 mon^ or rather, if the 'P<?/'^'s Partizans per- 
 fuadcd her fo, it's not unlikely to make a 
 Miracle on*t. Jufl: fo may Infidels^ with 
 their Defcants on this Miracle before us, 
 reduce and leflen it : And what mufl we 
 Believers do then? Why, we mull find 
 out a Way to afcertain the Truth and 
 Greatnefs of the Miracle, or give it up. 
 We mufl determine certainly what was the 
 Woman's Diftemper, and how the Cure 
 of it by ordinary Means was impoflible, 
 or make no more Words about it. 
 
 And how can we come at the Know- 
 ledge of this Woman's Difeafe, but by 
 the original Words of the Evangelifi, 
 St. Luke fays, llie was one irvsvfj^ ^X"^ 
 a^svciOA^ that had a Spirit of l^reaknefs 
 that is, was poor Spirited and pufilani- 
 mous ; and if flie was ovv^n^Muu.^ bo-jud 
 do-jjn upon't, it*s no more than might be 
 cxpcded ofadifconfolate, melancholy and 
 dcjc(5tcd Perfon. Here then is the Difcafc 
 of the Woman : If it had been r.'orfe, St. 
 Liike^ the Phyfician, if he was of Suffi- 
 ciency in his Art, lliould better have cx- 
 prcfsd himfelf ; fo as to give us another 
 
 Con- 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 Conception of it. And if Satan had not 
 been brought into the Tale, whom it is 
 eafy, by reafonining as above, to exorcife 
 out of it^ here is a no more grievous Di- 
 ftemper, than what upon the comfortable 
 Exhortations of a wife Man may be cured. 
 And do what our Divines can, they can 
 make literally no more of this Story. 
 
 It is faid, that for eighteen Tears the 
 Woman labour'd under this Difeafe. And 
 ilie might be hipp'tjh and drooping for a 
 longer time, and be no lefs eafily at lafl 
 cured. It's pity the Evangeliji had not 
 told us how old this Woman was, when 
 the Diflemper firfl: feiz'd her ; then we 
 could have made better Conjedlures about 
 the Nature and Cure of it. If there was 
 any room to fuppofe, either from the 
 Words of Scripture, or extra-fcripturai 
 Hillory, that fhe was about fifty oifixty, 
 \yhen ilie firfl: began to dioop, and the 
 ^evil got upon her Back ; here had been 
 Scope for a mod flupendous Miracle ,• and 
 our T>2vmes might have aflerted, what 
 no Body could have coiitradidcd, that 
 jefiis had made an old Woman, who was 
 bq-jjd do'jDn^ not onl};' under the Weight 
 of Satan^ bur under the Burthen of fc- 
 venty or eighty Years, young again ; and 
 had reitored her to the Health, Vigor, 
 and Beauty of one of Fifteen. Here would 
 
 have" 
 
( 3' ) 
 
 have been a mighty Miracle indeed. And 
 I don't doubt, but our ^tvines would 
 willingly get into fuch a Notion of this 
 Miracle, and would heartily efpoufe it, 
 but for the Offence they muft needs give 
 to dccrepid old Women, who may be out 
 of Conceit with themfelves upon it, as if 
 they carried xhc'Devil on their Shoulders, 
 as the Caufe of their Decrepidnefs and 
 Incurvity. And fuch an Offence would 
 be of in Confequence. 
 
 Rcalbnably then fpeaking, there was 
 not much in the Difeafc and Cure of this 
 Woman. Excepting that Part, which Sa- 
 tan bears, in the Story, there is nothing 
 wonderful in it. And fuppofing Jefus 
 might exorcifo the Devil out of this Wo- 
 man, or difmount him from off her 
 Shoulders ; yet even this makes nothing 
 for his Divine Power and Authority, in 
 as much as many Exorcijls among the 
 Jews^ and even among Pnpfts, if Prote- 
 Hanrs, had not more Wit than to believe ir, 
 could do as much. And after all, J don'c 
 behevc the Evangeltfi intended, that our 
 Saviour fnould be had in Admiration for 
 the Letter of this Miracle, or Sx., Luke 
 would accurately have dcfcribed the Dif- 
 eafe, ^o as to put it out of the Power of 
 Nature and Art to heal it, and of the 
 W^it of Irficlcls to cavil at tiie miraculous 
 
 Cure 
 
( 3> ) 
 
 Ciirc of if. Neither do I find that the 
 Fathers of the Church ever trouble them- 
 felves about the Letter of this Story, 
 which is fome Argument, that no great 
 Heed is to be given to it ; but are only 
 curious about the Myflery, for which this 
 Miracle was related, and which I come 
 now to give an Account of. 
 
 As the Fathers faid of the Woman with 
 her IJfae of Bloody that Ihe was a Type 
 of the Church; fo fay they of this Wo- 
 man with her Spirit of Infirmity^ that Ihe 
 is a C23) Figure of the Church too. 
 
 As the Woman was bow^d together ; fo 
 the Church, as the Fathers do interpret, 
 may be faid to be ^^'4) bowd down to the 
 Earth, when fhe is prone and bent to, and 
 intent on the literal or earthly Interpre- 
 tations of the Scriptures ; and can in no 
 
 (i^) In Mullere Infirma eft Figura Ecclefiae. 
 Theoph. Antiocb. in hoc- Lucx. Unde intelligitur 
 :11a Mulier in Typo Ecclefise a Domino fanata & 
 eredta, quam curvaverat Infirmitas, alligante Sa- 
 rana, SanEli Auguft' de Trinit. Lib. 4- Se^- 7. In 
 Typo Ecclefiae faemlnam falvat. SanBi Ambrof. in 
 hoc. Lticx- 
 
 ^r^.) Totum Genus humanum tanquam ifta Mu- 
 lier curvatum eft ad terram, Diabolus & Ange- 
 
 li ejus Animas hominum curvaverunt ad terras, 
 id eft, ut pronae in ea quoe terrena, fuperna non 
 quaererent. SanHi. Augufi. in Serm- cccxcii- Qiil 
 occidentem fequuntur Liceram terrena (apiunt. Snritli 
 Hieron in Lib. AmoSj Ch. i. 
 
 wife 
 
(33; 
 
 wife lift tip herfelf like the Woman, 
 that is, can't raife her Thoughts to the 
 Contemplation of the caeleftial, fpiritual, 
 and TubHrnc Senfe of them. Hence we 
 fee the Propriety of the Name of the Wo- 
 man's Difeafe, calld ^Trvan^^ cc^epeiai, a 
 Spint of IVcaknefs^ which is not properly 
 fignificative of any bodily Diftemper, but 
 fuccindtiy is very cxprelTiveof the Church's 
 fVeakneJs at the dptrit of Prophecy, which 
 at this Day llie labours under. 
 
 As it was eighteen Tears that the Wo- 
 man was griev'd with her Spirit of Infr- 
 mity^ for io long had her Diftcmper been 
 growing on her ; lb it is abnoft eighteen 
 (hundred^ Years, or the eighteenth Cen- 
 tury of Years, that this Infirmity of the 
 Church ac the Spirit of Prophecy has been 
 coming on her : And (he is now fo bent 
 to the Earth of the Letter, that nothing 
 lefs than the Hand and Power of Jcfus, 
 that crcdted the Woman, can raife her ro 
 myftical, divine, and fubHme Contempla- 
 tions on the Law and Prophets. St. An- 
 gnflin (^25) will have thefe eighteen eigh- 
 teen Tears of the Woman's hifirmity^ as 
 
 (15) Qiiid ilia Muller ofi-odfcen Annos habens 
 In Infirmi'-are. Sex Dieb"? Deus pref;cit opera 
 fua Ter feni decern £\. octo faciuru Qi.iod ergo 
 fignificavir triennlum in Arborc, hoc odto dccem 
 Anni in ilia Mulierc. In. Serm. ex. 
 
 F (he 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 ilie is a Type of the Church, to be fyn^ 
 chronical with the (16} three Tears of the 
 Fig-Tree's Unfruitfulnefs. I don't rightly 
 apprehend his mydical Arithmetic. But this 
 is certain, upon the Authority of the Fa- 
 thers, that thofe two Numbers, with the 
 twelve Tears of the Woman's Iffm of Bloody 
 are all conterminous, and will end toge- 
 ther : Confequencly at the fame time, that 
 the Woman of the Church will be cured 
 of her Iffue of Bloody Ihe will be heal'd 
 of her Infirmity at the Sp'tr'tt of Prophe- 
 cy ; that iSy at the Conciufion of certain 
 grand Periods of Time, flic will enter up- 
 on a blelTcd Srate of 'Teace and Fifion; 
 which is the concurrent Dodrine of the 
 Fathers, as any one may difcern, that has 
 dip'd into them, and is a good Confirma- 
 tion of our prefent Expofition, and my- 
 flical Application of the miraculous Story 
 before us. 
 
 St. Luke fays, that the Woman could 
 not life up herfelf g<5 td r,,z^r'iMi, ^'. ii. 
 which, without animadverting on our Eng* 
 lifi Tranflation, ihould be rendered, until 
 all was pc'rfc'^ed^ or until the Terfefiion 
 cfTime^ which, the Apoflle (273 and the 
 Fathers agree, is the Time for the Church 
 CO be cured of her Weaknefs^ and to be 
 
 (%(s) Luke^ r^\ xiii. 7. 
 (a7y I Cor- Ci. xiii, 9, 10. 
 
 endu'd 
 
( iS ) 
 
 endu'd with Po^u:;er at the Spirit of Pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 As the Woman was heal'd by Jefis on 
 the Sabbath- Day ; fo the Church, upon 
 the ample Authorities of the Fathers, 
 which Men of Reading will excufe me 
 the Proclndiori of, is certainly to be heal'd 
 of hiT fpirhual Infirmity, at the Under- 
 Handing of Prophecy againfl the myftical 
 and Qi?>) grand Sabbath, which, accord- 
 ing to the Fathers, commences at the Ex- 
 piration of her eighteen ^hundred} Years 
 iVeaknefs. 
 
 But the Ruler of the Synagogue is faid 
 to be moved iL'ith Indignation, ver. 14. 
 at this charitable Work of Jefus, in heal- 
 ing of the Woman, becaufe it was done 
 on the Sabbath-Day ; which in my Opi- 
 
 (i8) lit Deus fex Dies in tanris Rebus fabri- 
 candis laboravit; ita &■ Religio ejus & Veritas in 
 his fex milllbus Annorum laboret, necefle eft, nia- 
 litia dominante & prevalente Ec rurlus, quoni- 
 am pcrfe6lis operibus requievit Die fcptimo, eum- 
 que bencdixit ; necefle eft, ut in fine (exri mil- 
 lefllmi Anni Malkia omnis abolearur e terra & 
 regnet per Annos mille juftitia ; fitq; rranquiliras 
 & rcquies a Laboribus, quos Mundus jamdiii pcr- 
 pellus eft. hi LnnHant. Injlit. Lib. VII. Ch. xiv. 
 Dies feptimus etiam nos ipfi erimus quando 
 (Chriftlj Bencdi£tione &" fan6lificatione fuerimus 
 pjeni & rePedi ; ibi vacantes vidcblmus, quont- 
 am ipfe eft Deus. Sanili Au^uj}. de L'ivit. Dfi. 
 Lib. XXII. Ch. XXX. 
 
 F 2 nioi^ 
 
( ?6 ) 
 
 nion, can*c be literally true : ThoXigh I 
 am willing enough, to pleafe our ©/- 
 'vineSj to allow as much as may be of the 
 Letter of this Story, yet I except againft 
 this Part of it. Ortgen fays, there are 
 fome Things of the Gofpel related as Fa(5ts, 
 which were not done ; and I believe this 
 of the Ruler of the Synagogue to be one 
 of them. Human Nature, 1 think, is not 
 capable of fuch bafe and unnatural Re- 
 fenrmenc. Works of NcccfTity, and re- 
 quifite Oilices of Kindnefs and Charity to 
 Man and Bead, were allow'd by the Law, 
 zx\A pradifed by x.\\tjews on the Sabbath : 
 And the Cure of this Woman, though on 
 the Sabbath-Day, was fuch an A6t of Bene- 
 ficence and CompalTion in the Holy Jefus^ 
 that I can't but think bad^ as well 2iSgood 
 Men, would rather glorify God, that had 
 given fuch Power unto Man, than find 
 fault with it. But in the Myftery of this 
 Part of the Story, there is clear Scnfe 
 and Truth. Who then is this Archify- 
 n^gogus, or Ruler of the Synagogue, that 
 will be full of Indignation at the heal- 
 ing of the Church of her forefaid Infr^ 
 ratty at the Smit of Prophecy ? Origen 
 fays that the (19} right Interpretation of 
 
 (19) Contemnenda non eft accurata circa Nomi- 
 na Diligentla ei qui voluerit probe intelligere facras 
 Literas. In Jchan. Evang. Tom. 8. 
 
 the 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 the Names of Perfons and Places in Scrip- 
 ture is of good Ufe to the myftical Ap- 
 phcation. Accordingly Archifynagogus 
 does fignify the Chiefs of our Congregations : 
 And who Ihould they be then but the 
 Clergy ? And if this ben't enough to 
 fix this Name and Charad:cr upon them, 
 then let Theofhanes Cerameus fpeak here, 
 who fays, that the ArchifynagognSy is a 
 C30) Type of all Triefis, who will be 
 againft the iorefaid miraculous Healing of 
 the Church. And why will the Clergy 
 be mov'd with Indignation at the curing 
 the Church of her Infirm^ and refloring 
 her to 2i found S\imK. of Prophecy > Becaufc 
 as St. Aiigufim fays, (31) they are not 
 only bowd down to the Letter thcmf elves ; 
 but becaufe this Infirmity of the Church 
 will be a Reproach to them, in as much 
 as it is a Proof of their Apoftacy and In- 
 fufliciency at Prophecy j and the Cure of 
 it will be attended with fuch Confequcnces, 
 as affe(St their Reputation and Intercfls. 
 Who can queflion but the Clergy^ who 
 are the Archifynag^gus of the Text, and, 
 who arc for the Church's bending and 
 
 C^o) Jam Archi Synagogus adumbrat omnes Sa- 
 cerdotes, &c. /«. How. xii. 
 
 C^i) Caluminabmrur autera erigenti, qui, nifi 
 CUrvI ? In Scrm. cccxcii. 
 
 floopirg 
 
( 38 ; 
 
 flooping to the low Senfe of the Letter of 
 the Scripture, will be averfe to her being 
 rais'd, lifted up, and eredl:ed to the Con- 
 templation of the fublime, anagogical, 
 and heavenly Senfe of it ? Such an Heal- 
 ing and Ercdion of the Church will vex 
 . them at the Heart, as it will L ring Shame 
 and Lofs of Interefl along with it ; and 
 they will undoubtedly be Adverfaries to 
 this good Work of Chrtfi^ which, upon 
 the Teilimony of all Antiquity, is co be 
 done on or againft the Evangelical and 
 great Sabbath. 
 
 Our Saviour is fuppofed to reprove the 
 Ruler of the Synago^^ue, for his Indigna- 
 tion at the Cure of the Woman on the 
 Sabbath- Day, faying, v. 15*. Thou Hypo- 
 crite^ doth not each one of you on the 
 Sabbath loofe his Ox or his Afs from the 
 Stally and lead him away to Watering ? 
 And ought liot this JVoman to be loosd 
 from this Bond on the Sabbat h-'T} ay ? 
 There is Force in this Argument according 
 to the Letter : And the Ruler of the Sy- 
 'nagogue, and other Jefits^s Adverfaries 
 hereupon, might well be a^am'd for find- 
 ing Fault with fuch a merciful and benefi- 
 cent Work done on the Sabbath ; when 
 they themfelves did Works on the Sab^ 
 hath of much lefs Confequence. But to 
 
 C30 
 
( 39 ; 
 
 Cji) the Myftery. What may be faid to 
 our Minifters of the Letter, of whom the 
 Archifynagogus is a Type, for their A- 
 verfenefs to the healing of the Church in 
 like manner ? Why, that they are Hy- 
 pocrites^ that is, fupcrficial Criticks on 
 the Scriptures, and don't confidcr that the 
 Law is fpiritual, and how againfl: the 
 Evangehcal Sabbath every Man is to be 
 releafed from his Bondage and Servihty to 
 irrational Principles (for which he has been 
 like an Ox and an Afs') and to be condud:ed 
 to drink of the Waters of Divine Wifdom : 
 For this grand Sabbath will be a Day of 
 abfolute Liberty, perfed Reft, immcnfe 
 Knowledge, real Vifion and Contempla- 
 tion on God and his Providence, as the 
 antient Jews and Fathers fo copioufly de- 
 clare, that they who are ignorant herein, 
 may be afhamed i confequently they 
 might know, that the Church is to be 
 cured of her Spirit of Weaknefs at Pro- 
 phecy on that Day. 
 
 But Satan is faid to have v. 1 6. bound, 
 and, as is luppofed, bow'd down this Wo- 
 man ; the literal Truth of which I much 
 
 (^i) Sed nefciebat Archi Synagogus vel hoc vel 
 illud multo excellentius facramentum, quod Sab- 
 bato curando Dominus intimabar, quia fcilicet pr ft 
 fex hujus feculi ^^Lrates pcrperuae Virje Inimortalls 
 Crat gaudia daiurus. Fenerab. Led. in Lcc. 
 
 qucfiion; 
 
f 40) 
 
 quedion : But how then has Satan bound 
 and bow'd down the Church : This, feem- 
 ingly, is the great Difficulty in the myflical 
 Application of this Story, and mud be the 
 great Curiofity of my Readers to know 
 how I will account for it. If the Fathers 
 don't help me out at this dead Lift, and 
 that clearly and intelligibly too, I Ihall 
 abate of my Veneration for them. If they 
 don*t tell me, and make me to apprehend, 
 what this Satan is, that for many Ages 
 has bound and opprefs'd the Church after 
 the fuppofed Manner of the typical Wo- * 
 man, I had better have held my Peace, / 
 and faid nothing to this parabolical Mi- 
 racle. 
 
 The Writings of the Evangelifls fo a- 
 bound with Stories of Satan^ Belzebub^ 
 the ^eutl, and of greater and lefs Num- 
 ber of ^evils^ and of T)amons, and of 
 unclean Spirits^ more than any Hiflories 
 before, as one would think, if thefe Sto- 
 ries were literally to be underftood, that 
 was the Age in which Chrifl: came, that 
 HeU firft 'broke loofe, and then prima- 
 rily infefted Mankind ; and that upon the 
 Deftru(5tion of Judaa, and Propagation 
 of the Gofpel, the ^Devils accompanied 
 the Jews in their Difperfion, or the ^po- 
 pies in their Travels, and have beeo the 
 
 Tempters, 
 
(4> ; 
 
 Tempters, Seducers, and Tormentors of 
 other Nations ever iince. 
 
 Arnobius (33) fays, That before Chrijl^ 
 devils "-juere things U7iknown to the World; 
 by which Arnobms mud mean, either that 
 they ivere hardly talk'd of before, or that 
 their Nature was not underftood, till 
 Ciirift inform'd us of it. In both thefe 
 Senfes, I believe, Arnobms may be taken, 
 'Viz,, that there was not only little Talk 
 of Satan and the ^e-jil, but lefs of his 
 Nature apprehended, before C^r//? by his 
 Parables and parabolical Miracles, rightly 
 interpreted, inftruded us in it. And i£ 
 after Ages have departed from the true and 
 original Dodirine of T)evils^ making a 
 literal Story of that, which is only myfli- 
 cal and cabaliilical; and have formed to 
 themfclves Ideas of hideous and horrible 
 Fiends, Morfnos and Hobgoblins^ it fliall 
 not diflurb me: 
 
 As to the Place and State of Hell^ ma- 
 ny are the Notions of \Divines of feveral 
 Ages part, as well as of the prefenr. I 
 fliall not recount them all here, much lo.i's 
 refute any of them. But there is an an- 
 ticnr, rational, and cabaliflical Notion of 
 Hell, which I have learned of the Fa- 
 thers, who fignify, that the Babylontfi 
 
 {■\7,) Ante Chrlftum in cognlci & a folo fciente 
 dere^i. In Lih 11- aiv. Gentes. 
 
 O and 
 
( 4^ ) 
 
 and bcwildtrd State of Chrift's Church 
 may be call'd Hell^ becaufe, as the 
 Word cth\i does import, it is a StdlQ with- 
 out Vifion. Hence Ortgen fays, C34) that 
 whoever can form to himfelf an idea of 
 the Church in time to come, when Ihe 
 will be dignified with the Title of the 
 New Jerufalem^ for her Peace and Vifion, 
 may underftand what is meant hy HeU^ 
 and all that is written of it. 
 
 As then the Fathers had a cabaliftical 
 Notion of Hell, which modern Chines 
 are Strangers to; fo they had of Satan^ 
 and the i>e'vil and his Angels. I own 
 myfelf at a Lofs for an exprefs Teftimony 
 out of the Fathers about Satan in the 
 Text before us; but according to their 
 Explications of Satan in other Places, no- 
 thing more is meant by him here than, 
 " That furious Principle and Temper in 
 *' Man, that is not only averfe to Liberty 
 " in Religion, but for binding, reftraining, 
 " and tying down the Church and Chri- 
 ** flian People to certain Opinions and 
 ** Ways of Worihip." In fuch a State of 
 Bondage has the Woman of the Church b:en 
 kept, by fuch zSatan, in one Order of Men 
 
 (^4} Confequens autem efl: ei, qui cognolcir quaJ 
 fic Hierufaiem in divifione verae Hacrcditatis filio- 
 nim Ifrael, ut intelligat Sermonem de Gehenna* 
 in Mate Ch, xxiii. 
 
 or 
 
( +? ; 
 
 or other, for all Ages pad. And that this is a 
 right and primitive Notion of .y^^^w,! could 
 prove by Authorities enough. Ortgen tells 
 us (^ 5'3 of the Names of Kings in propheti- 
 cal Scripture, which would be Enemies to 
 Chrift's Church ; but fuch Kings never did, 
 nor would perfonally exifl: ; their Names, 
 according to Interpretation, Handing only 
 for fo many Sins and Vices, reigning in 
 Mankind. To the fame Purpofe he fays, 
 (36} human Vices are T>evils : And Sa^ 
 tan himfelf, Cas the Word fignifies Adver- 
 fary) is with him (37^ and the anticnc 
 Jews too, no other than an Averfenefs in 
 Man to the Will of God. I could quote 
 other Fathers to this Purpofe ; but being 
 fparing of my Pains at prcfent, I refer 
 
 {1$) Ego puto quod noniina haec Scrlptura rlivina 
 non pro Hiftoria narraverit fed pro Caufis & Rebus 
 non enim tarn Regum quam Vitiorum Nomi- 
 na, qux regnant in hominibus referuntur. In Ktu 
 
 tfif^. Ch. XXX i. 
 
 (^6) Quid ergo mlrum videtur, fi per ilngula 
 genera Pcccatorum finguli Daemones dcribuntur. 
 In Lib. Jofti. Ch. xi. 
 
 (^7) Sed in alio quodam Libello, qui apcllarur 
 Teftamentum duodecem Patriarcharum, tnleni 
 quondam fcnfiim invenimus, quod per fingulos 
 peccantes, finguli Satanx intelligi debeant. Evi- 
 . dentius autem & ipfa Nomir.is ejus interpreratir) 
 hoc idem fignilicare videtur *, Satnna namq; Ad- 
 verfarius dlcitur. Omncs ergo qui adverlantur del 
 voluntati, Satanx polTunt dici. Ibid. 
 
 G 1 my 
 
' ( 4+ } 
 
 my Readers to my former (^2) T>ifcourfey 
 in which they will fee the Opinion of the 
 Fathers about the Devils in the Madman, 
 and afterwards in the Herd of Swine ; from 
 wliich let tliem judge, whether the Fathers 
 could have any other Notion of Satan 
 here, than what I have reprcfented. It 
 is certain, and may be eafily prov'd, that 
 by Satan^ the Dragon and the Devil, 
 mentioned in the Revelations, nothing 
 more is ro be underllood, than a furious, 
 perfecuting, fatanical, and diabolical Tem- 
 per in Man ,• and if what St. John writes 
 of Satan be cabaliflical and allegorical ; 
 the other Aflcrtions of the Evangelifts and 
 ApofUes about him will of Courfe come 
 under tliat Denomination; or the primitive 
 , Rule of Interpretation of Scripture accord- 
 ing to the natural Signification of theNames 
 of Perfons and Places is not good. 
 
 As then the IVoman cf th^ Gofpel was, 
 ns is fuppofed, ver. j6. bound by Satan, 
 /.;f, for eighteen Tears ; So the forefa^d 
 furious Principle in Man, which is a my- 
 llical Satan^ an Adverfary to Liberty, has 
 bound the Church, loe^ to the eighteenth 
 Century of Years: But fhe is to be en- 
 tirely rcieafed from this fpiricual Bondage, 
 
 (ijo) On Miracles, ^ ^6. 
 
. C 45 ) 
 
 and fee at (39') perfefi Liberty againfl the 
 acceptable and Evangelical Sabbath. And 
 here it is to be noted out of St. Au^tiftm^ 
 and moft worthy of Obfcrvation it is, that 
 at the i.\o) fame time, in which the Church 
 will be loofed from her Bondage \ ibatan 
 himfclf wiU C4^3 ^^ bound and chain d for 
 a (41) thmifand Tears ^ the time of the evan- 
 gelical Sabbath, that is, fays Ephram Synts 
 (43) ^^^ ^^^^- -^"^ how will our myftical 
 Satan or the "2)r/3r^^« be bound and chain'd? 
 Not with Chains or Links of Iron or other 
 Metal ; but Vinculis PMionis^ with the 
 Chains of Reafons and Arguments for 
 Chriftian Liberty, which will reflrain tlic 
 Adverfary^ SataUy from any more Impo- 
 fitions and Pcrfecutions of the Church. 
 And I can't here but applaud the great 
 
 (^9) Qiiamdiu vera Pax veniar, 5c Sabbatifmu;?, 
 
 flc Sepcem decadarum Numcrus. EccleHa ncn 
 
 plcnam reclpiat Libcrtarcm. SnvBi. Hicron. in 
 X^echar. Ck.\. 
 
 (40J Ilia Mulier curvara intelilgitur figurarc Ec- 
 clefiam, quam in Sextn Msauii '/Etate a Caprivltate 
 DIaboli Jcfus liberabir. In ^.fft. ay. Dialog. Ixv 
 
 (41.) Vidl Angeliim habcnrctn Clavem &: Gate- 
 
 nam ad ligandum draconem. /" Scxtn yUworum 
 
 Millenario hxc Res .agitur. De Civit, Dei. L. XX. 
 Ch. vli. 
 
 (41) Revel. Ch. XX. v.r- 
 
 (4^) Propter Infinltatcm Annorum MUle Annps 
 flixlc. In Serm. ds ?>tKi:cuiia, 
 
 Mr, 
 
( 46 J 
 
 Mr. Grounds and Mr. Scheme]^ for their 
 Work and Labour of Love to Mankind, 
 in making Chains of Argumentations for 
 Liberty, which I hope will prove of fuf- 
 ficienc Strength to bind Satan, and reftrain 
 him (in Dr. Rogers^ Bifliop G-^bf — », 
 and others his Angels) from giving any 
 more Moieftationto Chriftian Philofophers 
 in their Enquiries after, and Lucubrations 
 on Divine Truth. All the Honour that I 
 aim at in that Work is, by the Help of 
 the Fathers, to point out that Anti- Chri- 
 ftian Principle or Temper in the Clergj 
 (^44) which, for its Averfenefs to Liberty, 
 is called Satan ; for its Calumnies^ is cal- 
 led the "Devil I for its Furioufnefs^ is cal- 
 led the Dragon ; and for its llnreafona- 
 hlenefs^ is called the Be aft ^ to the intel- 
 ledual Views of Mankiad, and to dired 
 them how to apprehend and lay hold on it. 
 
 Our Saviour, according to Origen^ had 
 never call'd Teter^ (45) Satan^ if Satan 
 had been any thing elfe than Man-averfe 
 %o the Will of God. 
 
 And thus have I fpoken to the Miracle 
 of J e fuss healing the Woman of her Spi- 
 rit of Infirmity i whom Satan had bound 
 
 (44) DIaboli Formara afllimimus — Leonis Per- 
 fonam induimus & Draconis, — quando erudeles ^ 
 calUdi fumus, Origen. in Luc. Horn, vhu 
 ■ (4$-) Mark,, Cb. viii. v. ^l. 
 
 an 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 and boixjd do'ujn^ which, according to 
 the Letter, is no Miracle at all ,• and 
 fome Parts of the Story are improbable 
 and incredible ; but the myftical Comple- 
 tion of it will be moft prodigious, and a 
 Demonftration not only of Chrift's Power 
 and Prefence in his Church, but of his 
 MeJJiahJhip, in as much as a vaft Number 
 of Prophecies of the Old Teftament^ more 
 than can foon be coUeded to this Purpofe, 
 will thereupon receive their Accomplifh- 
 ment. And fo I come to a 
 
 3. Third miraculous Story of Jefus*s^ 
 that is of his telling (^John iv.) the Wo- 
 man of Samaria her Fortune, of having 
 had five Husbands^ and being then an 
 Adidterefs^ &c. in which there is a nota- 
 ble Miracle difplay'd, in the Opinion of 
 o\xTT>ivineSy that proves Jefus's Omnifci- 
 ence, or he could not fo have fearch'd 
 into the Heart of this Woman, and told 
 her fuch Occurrences, that concerned her 
 Life paft. I thought once of tranfcribing 
 here entirely this Story ; and fo I would, 
 but that it is a long one, and might have 
 fet fome Readers, who are by this time 
 awaken'd to pry into the Abfurditics of 
 the Letter, a laughing, before I had time 
 my felf regularly to animadvert on it. 
 
 Whether 
 
U8 ) ' 
 
 Wliether theris was any Truth at all in 
 tlic Letter of this Story, I lliould much 
 have quellioiied, but that fome Fathers 
 write of it, as if they beHeved it Jiterally, 
 tho' they make a myflical and allegorical 
 ExpUcaiion of the whole and every part 
 of it. And 1, having a fincere Veneration 
 for the Fathers, will not contradid: them, 
 (and I hope this Conceffion will pleafe the 
 Clergy) but, for all that, can't like any 
 part of this Story literally, but could al- 
 moft wilh, that the Fathers, for the Ho- 
 nour of y^fis, had made the whole no 
 othe-r than a Parable. 
 
 It's (Irange, that no Jews or Infidels 
 have as yet ludicroufly treated this Story 
 to the, almoH:, Confutation of our Reli- 
 gion. If th.eir Tongues had not been ty'd 
 by the aforefaid Satan or Adverfary to 
 Liberty, I can't think but they mud have 
 made fome pleafant Animadverfioos upon 
 ic before now. If fuch a broken, ellip- 
 tical, and abfurd Tale had been told of 
 any other Impoflor in Religion; the Wirs 
 of our Clergy had been at work to expofe 
 ii plentifully ; and indeed there's no need 
 of much Wit to make this Tale naufeous 
 and ridiculous to vulgar Underflandings. 
 
 I (h<Vl not myfcif here make all the Re- 
 marks I can to the Difadvantage of this 
 Scory : I am not as yet fo difpofcd to make 
 
 Scoffers 
 
(49) 
 
 Scoffers and Infidels laugh at the Clergy 
 for their Adherence to the Letter of it. 
 All I fliall do now, is to make my Ob- 
 fervations on the two Ufes, that the 
 Clergy very ferioufly put this Story to, 
 and they are, 
 
 F/r/?, To prove the Expedation that 
 there was amongfl: the Samaritans^ of a 
 MeJJiah to come^ And 
 
 Secondly^ To prove Jefiis's Omnifcience, 
 or he could not have enter'd into the 
 Heart of the Woman, and told her, that 
 fhe had had five Husbands, and was then 
 an Adulterefs. To thefe two Purpofes, 
 I find this Story urged by our T^ivmes^ 
 and I mud needs fay, as to the 
 
 Ftrft of them ; it is rightly from hence 
 af '-^ by the ('46^ Btjhop of Lichfield 
 ana och^ iS, that the Samaritans had an 
 Expedtation of a Aleffiah .• But why then 
 did not the Bifhop and others, who are 
 now in Quell after Arguments of Jefiis% 
 Mefliahfhip, prove him hence to be the 
 Mejfiah^ becaufe he told the Samaritan 
 Woman her Fortune ? If this was a real 
 and fubflantial Argument to her of Jefhs's 
 McJJiahjhip^ it ought to be urged by the 
 Clergy at this Day. The Controveriy 
 about "Refills s> MefTiahfhip is now on Foot ; 
 
 C46) Defence of Chrlftlanlty, ^_%. 
 
 H why 
 
( 50) 
 
 Why do the Advocates for it overlook thi's 
 Proof of it? Why, becaufe, as I fuppofe, 
 they are aware that Infidels would make 
 Sport with it. But if Jefus's telling the 
 Woman her Fortune was no real andcon- 
 clufive Argument of his being the Mef- 
 J?ah', St. ychn has told us an impertinent 
 Tale of a fimple Woman, upon whofe 
 Credulity and falfe Notions Je/us palm'd 
 himiclf as the true Mejjiah \ and whether 
 he did not ill thus to banter and deceive 
 the Woman, let any one judge. 
 
 But let us here behold the Difference 
 amofigft the ^Jews and Samaritans ^ as to 
 the Expedation of a Mejjiah, Some of 
 the old J^^'j, like the Apoftles, expedJed 
 the Miffiah would be a temporal Prince, 
 a great Warriour and Conqueror of the 
 World. Ochers (47^ of them, like the 
 F;uhcr<?, expedled he would be a Prophet 
 like Myjes in all Things, and deliver his 
 
 (47) Do.f^iorlbus Inter Judseos notiillmum eft, 
 
 « quod Mofes qui primus fuit Salvator Ifraelis 
 
 etii^m in omni Vita & Operibus fuis fuetk Typus 
 & Figura ukimi Redemptoris. Chriftian. "Meyer 
 de Gen. Chrijii, p. 145'. Judsei Veteres expe£tabant 
 iirnilem ^Egypiiticae L.iberationem, ut fcilicec Pha- 
 raoh & omnia ejus Exercitus qui per 4^0 Annos 
 Populum Dei Captivum tenuit, in Mari Rubro 
 fuhmerfus eft; fic eriam Romani qui eodem An- 
 nr^rum Numero Judosos poffciTuri, lUtione Domini 
 ticieantur. SantH I^ieron. in "Jcvl. Cb, V. 
 
 People 
 
( 5" ) 
 
 People our of another E^ypt .• Bur here 
 the darnarttans cxpcded he would be a 
 Conjurer and Fortune teller ; or there is 
 no ^Qn'Cc in wlut the Woman faid to the 
 Men of tlie City, v. 29. Cothp and fee a 
 Alan that has told me all that 1 have 
 done^ particularly my Fortune of having 
 had five Husbands, and being now an 
 Adulterefs, Is not this the Uonjl'^ Whac 
 could Hie mean, but that the Mejjiah 
 would be a flroling Fortune-teller^ to in- 
 form People of the Events of their Lives 
 part and to come? And Jelus. to humour 
 the Woman iw her Conception of himlclf 
 and of the Meffiah^ fays to her, v. 26. 
 / that (peak unto thee^ am He. Whe- 
 ther our TDvvmes like J^'fus the better for 
 this Story of him literally, I can t tell ; 
 but I am furc they didike the Fortune- 
 telling Trade at this Day in others, and 
 believe it to be all Fraud, and arc for pu- 
 nifliing flroling Gypfys for Cheats, who 
 pradife it; and in the la ft Age were in- 
 tent on the (49} Profecution of judicial 
 Aflrologers, who pretended to it; And if 
 antientHiflory bad funiilh'd us with anln- 
 (lance of the Punifliment of a pretended 
 Fortune- teller in the Reign of Twenus^ 
 they could not have found Fault with jt. 
 Wheiher any Accufations were laid a- 
 
 (49 j Sec the Life of trillitim Lilj. 
 
( 50 
 
 gainft Jefus for fuch his Delufions of the 
 People, we know noc. Evangelical Hiftory 
 is fiienc, or the Evangelifts have prudently 
 fupprefled it. But I much wonder, that 
 our Gypfys^ from this Story, don*t account 
 themfelves the genuine Difciplcs of JefuSy 
 being endu'd with the like Gifts, and ex- 
 ercifing no worfe Arts, than he himfelf 
 prac5tiied. 
 
 If the Samaritans did not expecft: the 
 Mejjiah would be a Fortune-teller'^ how 
 came the Thought into the Woman's Head, 
 that J Jus was the Mejfiah^ becaufe he 
 had told her, her Fortune? What can our 
 T>rj'tnes fay to it ? Why, they muft either 
 fay, that his telling the Woman her For- 
 tune was a real Proof of his Alcjfiahjhipi 
 or that the Woman was foohfh and cre- 
 dulous, and drew a falfe Conciufion ; and, 
 if Ihe had not been an impudent and 
 gracelels Whore, would have gone away 
 blufhing, and never have divulg*d, as the 
 Text fuppofes flie did, her Shame to the 
 Men of :sychar, who too had but little 
 V^ix.^ or they had never ilir'd from their 
 Homes, to fee fuch a Fortune-teller up- 
 on the Report of a poor Whore. 
 
 But the Men of the City had their For- 
 tunes too told them by Jefus ^ and they 
 concluded him to be the Mejftah upon it ; 
 or there is no Senfe in what they 'V^^-h.fa'td 
 
 to 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 to the IVomariy Now we believe^ not be- 
 caufe of thy Sayings for we have heard him 
 ourJelveSj and know that this ts indeed 
 the Chrift : What could they hear, but 
 their Fortunes, as the Woman had bcForc? 
 And if Jtfiis, whofe Ability at aU fair 
 Qucftions in the magic Art I don't quc- 
 flion. did tell them their Fortunes ; I hope 
 he had more Prudence than to talk to 
 them in common of their Fornications 
 and Adulteries, which might occafion do- 
 meftick Jarrs, and the Breach of good 
 Neighbourhood amongfl them ; but if he 
 directed any of them to find their loR 
 Cattle, and heipd them again to their 
 flolen Goods, he did weD, and they alone 
 did amifs, to conclude thereupon, that he 
 was indeed the Chrifi. Let our 'Divines 
 now judge whether I have not made a na- 
 tural and excellent Comment on this Part 
 of the Story, which relates to the Ex- 
 pedation and Opinion, which the Saytia- 
 titans had of a Meffiah to come. But, 
 
 Secondly^ From this Story literally our 
 divines prowc Jefus's(^$o') Omnifcicnce; 
 and Cardiognoftick Power to cell what was 
 in the Hearts and Thoughts of Man. Bi;: 
 how fo ? Is it becaufe he told a Woman, 
 that flic was an Adultcrcfs, and liad had 
 
 f^o) See Dr. Hammond on the Place. 
 
 five 
 
(54; 
 
 five Husbands ? Where's the Confequcncc i 
 ^Duncan Campbel, and other Moorfields- 
 judicial - Aftrologers have done greater 
 Feats at Conjuration than /^/r, and never 
 were thought to be Omnifcient. And for 
 any Thing appears in this Srory of our 
 Saviour, it might be all Cheat and Fraud in 
 him. If Infidels iliould afTert it, our T>i' 
 *vines could not difprove ir. If they 
 iliould fay, it was poffible for J-fus to 
 get Intimations of thefe and other Circumr 
 Sances of the Woman's Life, before he 
 attempted to cell her, her Fortune ; we 
 can't fay, that this is an impious and un- 
 reafonable Suggeftion, fince it is the com- 
 mon Subtilty of delufive Fortune-tellers, 
 to get what Intelligence they can by Infi- 
 nuations and Informations, before they ut- 
 ter their Oracles, and ambiguous Refpon- 
 fes to fimple poor Folks. And there is one 
 Circumflance in this Story, that looks very 
 ill upon "jefus, and is enough to make 
 him fufpedted for a Cheat in his pretended 
 Art, and that is, he feems to draw the 
 Woman in by a (51) IFile to hear her For- 
 tune, faying to her, nj. 16. JVoman go^ 
 call thy Husband i upon vvhofc denying 
 
 ilie had any Husband, Jefus was forward, 
 
 » 
 
 {f^i) Percontando de Viro, Occafionem cepit oc- 
 culta revel andi. San^i Cyril, Aley. in Loc. 
 
 very 
 
(55 ; 
 
 very forward to furprize her with his 
 Knowledge of her having had five Huf- 
 bands, and living then in Adultery; which 
 raifing the filly Woman's Admiration of 
 his prophetick and foothfaying Talent, he 
 doles with her Conceptions, and whac 
 upon other Occafions, before wifer People, 
 he was (52) backward to own, fays to 
 her, that ke was the Mejftah ; and fo 
 he pafs'd for the Meffiah with her and 
 the Men of Sychar^ who had no more 
 Wit than to receive him for fuch, upon 
 luch Proof, and gave him Entertainment 
 for no lefs than v. 40. tisoo ^ays. I am 
 glad we hear of no Money, he fqueez'd 
 out of them for the Excrcife of his pro- 
 phecick Art, which our Chines would 
 have made an Argument of their Divine 
 Right to Tythcs, Fees, and Stipends for 
 their Divinations. 
 
 But no more of this filly Story accord- 
 ing to the Letter. To point at it is e- 
 nough to expofe it to the confiderace 
 and unprejudiced. I could not help fay- 
 ing fo much as I have; becaufe it is ne- 
 clFary to form fome Invedlivc ^gainft the 
 Letter, to make way for the Reception of 
 tlie myftical and allegorical Interpretation 
 of it, which I am now to fpcak to. 
 
 {^1) John Ch. X. v 14, 
 
 Tho' 
 
(S6) 
 
 Tho' the Fathers, againfl: whofe Autho- 
 rity I dare not write, or I fliould be tempt- 
 ed to it in this Cafe, acknowledge the 
 Letter of this Story, fufpedling only fome 
 (53) particular Paflages of it; yet they 
 look upon the whole, for all that, as a (54) 
 typical Narration, and endeavour at the 
 myflical Conftrudtion of all and every 
 part of it. St. Augtijim^ as if he was 
 afraid fomeChriftians ofAfter-times Ihould 
 efpoufe, as our Divines do, only the Let- 
 ter, prefaces his Expofition of this Story 
 with thefe Words, faying, (5^) There are 
 Myftenes in all the Sayings and Anions 
 of our Saviour y particularly in the Story 
 of the Woman of Samaria, and whoever 
 carelejfly and imprudently (meaning lite- 
 
 ^5:^) Fortafle verum non erat, Judaos cum Sama- 
 
 ritanis Commercium non habere^ ac ne illud qui" 
 
 dem verum, ne^ne Haujiorium hahes^ (3 Ptiteus alius 
 
 e/?, fortafle etiam neque illud, quod Jacob ex 
 
 Puteo biberity &? filii ejusy i3 Pecora ejus. Origen. in 
 Loc. 
 
 (^54) Plena Myfteriis & gravida Sacramentls. 
 Saniii Auguji. in Johan. Ch. iv. 
 
 (5^) Evangelica Sacramenta in Domini noftri 
 Jefu Chrifti diftis fa^tifqi fignata non omnibus pa- 
 tent, & ea nonnuUi minus dillgenter, minufq; fbbrio 
 interpretando, afferunt pleruo^q; pro falute Perni- 
 ciem, & pro Cognitione Veritatis Errorem, inter 
 quse illud eft Sacramcntum quod Scriptum eft de 
 hac Samaritana, ^c In .Q^'^/?. 6tJ, de Lxxxiii. ^ejl. 
 
 Ily) 
 
 ra 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 rally) interprets it, will advance erroneous 
 and pernio tons Dofirine ; which, if modern 
 Commentators had any Regard for the 
 Authority of St. Augiijhn^ is enough to 
 deter them from their htcral Expoficions. 
 The mod Hteral Interpreter among the Fa- 
 thers, whom I knovy of, is St. C>r//, and 
 he fays (56) there is a Type and Parable in 
 this Story. But to defcend to Particulars. 
 By the Woman of Samaria is to be un- 
 derftood an (57) heretical and adulterous 
 Church, which Jefus, being wearied with 
 her (58) corrupt State, will meet with 
 in the fixtb Hour, that is in (59) the 
 Jixth grand Age of the World. So, by 
 the By, according to the Fathers, ^cfiis 
 will come to, and meet with the Samari- 
 tan Church to her Edification, at the 
 fame Time that he cures the Church of 
 her IJJtie of Blood and Spirit of Infrrnity* 
 
 (S^) Cli €v TUTTW 'TnxXiv nfMv -^ Si auyiyuJJ(^ 
 V7n)^ei->cveui. In Loc. Johan. 
 
 (')7) lUa MuHer Typum gerebat Ecclefiae, qua; 
 
 Ventura erat ex Gencibus Eccleiiss non jufti- 
 
 Hcatac, fed juftificandx. SnnUi Augufi- in Loc. Johan» 
 
 (58) Tunc fatlgatur Chriftus, quando nullam 
 Virtutem in Populo fuo recognofcir. StinHl Augufr, 
 in Serm. xcili. Appcn. 
 
 (5:9) Hora fexta id eft, fexra yEtare Generis Hu- 
 mani. San^i Ai/gujl, in (^4xji. 64. IxxxIIi. g«f/, 
 
 I And 
 
C 58 ) 
 
 And where did Jefus meet with the 
 Woman of Samaria ? At Jacob's Welly 
 where die was for Water to quench Third : 
 So at the (60) Well of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, whofe Senfe Hes deep as in a Well, 
 and flows with Knowledge as with Water, 
 will Chrift then ^nd. his Church, drawing 
 and drinking of the (61) Waters of the 
 Letter, which could riot quench the 
 Thirlt of the Soul hitherto : But in the 
 Perfecftion of Time, (Ignified by thtftxth 
 Hott7\ will Chrift, according to the Fa- 
 thers, enable her to draw out of this 
 Weil of the Profundity of the Scriptures, 
 fpiritual Waters of divine Knowledge, 
 which will daily more and more, like the 
 Fountains of the Waters of Life, arife 
 and flow in upon the Soul, and conftant- 
 ly recreate and refreih her with Wifdom, 
 to her Delight and Satisfad;ion 5 fo as flie 
 
 (60) Puteus eft dlvlna Scriptura, fci'entia fcatens, 
 ur aqua, cujus putei Profunditas funt plena Myfte- 
 riis Symbola. In Thecph. Ceram Homil, xxxviii. de 
 Samnritana. 
 
 (61) Lex fedindum Literam efi: aqua amara.' 
 Jilercyiym. in E^ekjel. Ch. xlvii- Qui bibit ex hac 
 aqua fitiet rurfiis, id eft, qui participat profundi- 
 rraem humanx fapientije, prudenrefq;, Rationes, re- 
 cepiis Intelligentiis judicio fuo inventis, tamen rur- 
 ius (ecundo cogrtans, dcnuo dubirablt de his in qui- 
 bus requieveriit. Origcn. in hoc. "^chtin, 
 
 may 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 may be faid never to third more, after the 
 manner fhe docs now. 
 
 And Jefus then told the Woman of i^^- 
 mana all that fie had done : So will 
 Chrift: mthc Jixth Hour, that is, tou'ards 
 the latter End of the fixth Age of the 
 World, give the Woman of the Church 
 to underftand all that fie has done, ac- 
 cording to the Writings of Mofes and the 
 Prophets, who, upon the Tcftimony of 
 the Fathers, have written a prophetical 
 Hiftory of her, in Types, Symbols and 
 Parables J which Underftanding of the 
 Things that have been prophcfy'd of her, 
 will enable her, of Confcqucnce, to prove 
 and declare to the World, with Joy and 
 Pleafure, that Jefus is the true Mefllah, 
 the Chrift, and Fulfillcr of the Law and 
 the Prophets. 
 
 But particularly, ps Jefus then told 
 the Woman that fie had had five Hnf- 
 bands, and is: as then an Adult ere fs with 
 one who was not her true Husband : 
 So the Church will be made to appre- 
 hend, according to (6i) Origen and (63) 
 St. Augufitn, and others, how Ihc \\\% 
 I -L had 
 
 (6a) In Locum Joh^n. Evang. 
 
 (6"^) Qiilnque enim Viros habuiRi, !k nunc quern 
 habrs non cp, Vir tuns. Sed non funt hxc carnabiter 
 
 acci- 
 
( 6o ) 
 
 had five Husbands of the five bodily 
 Scnfcs, that is, metaphorically fpeaking. 
 has been ijuedded not only to lenfuai Plea- 
 fures, but to the fenfible Things of the 
 Letter of the five Books of iVIofes j and 
 thar at prefent, confequently, (he lives in 
 Adultery (64^ vt^ith Anti-Chrift, v^^hom 
 the Fathers call the Devil, inftead of the 
 Spirit of Chnft, the Spirit of the Law, 
 who (hould be her true Spoufe, whom Ihe 
 fiiould call for, and believe in. 
 
 And not only the Woman of Samaria^ 
 but the Men of the City, Sychar^ beHeved 
 Ji'fus to be the Mefliah, v. 41. upon what 
 he laid to themfelves as well as to her ; 
 So the Minilters of the Letter, who are 
 ^ychar'ttes^ according to Origen and The- 
 opbanes Ctrameus, will be clearly con- 
 vinced, and b;; able to convince others, 
 that Jejiis is the Chrtfi or Mefflab^ when 
 
 accipienda, ne huic ipfi Mullen Samaritanse firr.!Ies- 
 videamur—Perquinque Viros, quinque Libros Mo- 
 fis nonniilll accipiunt — fed quinque Viri intelligun- 
 rur quinque Corporis (enfus. Ei quia naturales funt 
 ipfi Senilis, qui aeratem primam regunt, re£i:e dicun- 
 tur Mariti. In Quxjl. IS4. de Ixxxiii. ^rf/?. 
 
 (64) ^^ ^""^ ^usm bahes non eft Vir tuns ; Quia 
 non ell In te (Ecclefia) Spiritus qui Intelligat Deum, 
 cum quo leglcimum potes habere Conjugium; fed 
 Error Diaboli potius dominatur, qui te adulterlna 
 Contamioatione corrumplt, Ven, Bed.c in Locum. 
 
 they 
 
(6, ; 
 
 they iliall hear, learn and apprehend from 
 the Spirit of the Law and the Prophets, 
 that the Church and all flie has been do- 
 ing, was foretold and prophcly'd of. 
 
 Laftly, Jefus's Difciples t.i;. are faid 
 U ?»aruel that he talkd iz'tth the JVoman. 
 What in the Name of Wonder, literally, 
 could be the Meaning of this? Did they 
 marvel at Jefus's Condefcenfion to fpeak 
 to a Woman, as if the Sex was beneath 
 his Care > Or did they marvel that he 
 who was very bafliful, had Courage to 
 fpeak to one ? Or did they marvel at his 
 Converfation with a Whore, for Fear of 
 his being tempted by her ? Some one or 
 other of thefe muft be the marvel of the 
 Difciples ; but how abfurd and ridicu- 
 lous they all arc, according to the Let- 
 ter, let a reafonable Man judge. But 
 myftically, the true Difciples of our Lord, 
 who underlland the Myfteries of the King- 
 dom of Heaven, will, when they are ap- 
 prized of Jefus's fpiritual Converfation 
 with hisChu ch, and of all the Things 
 that file has done according to Prophecy, 
 marvel with rnprurous Aftoniflimcnt ac 
 the Wifdom and Power of God in the Ac- 
 comphlhment-of the Scriptures. 
 
 After fuch a myfiical and allcgoricnl 
 Manner-, is every minute CircumPiancc of 
 this Story of the Samaritan Woman to be 
 
 ap- 
 
( 6a ; 
 
 0pply'd. St, Augujiin (6f) fays there arc 
 fo many greac Myfteries contain'd in it, 
 that they require much Time to go thro' 
 them all. I find it fo, and that no lefs 
 than a Volume might be written of them, 
 out of the Fathers. But what I have 
 briefly here touch'd on, is enough to con- 
 vince any one of the Abfurdities of the 
 Letter of this Miracle, which confided in 
 the telling aWoman her Fortune, and fuch 
 a Fortune, as Jefus by Craft might come 
 to the Knowledge of. The/efore, for the 
 Honour of Jefus, let us look upon the 
 whole Story as a typical and parabolical 
 Reprefentation of what would be myfteri- 
 oufly and more wonderfully done by him. 
 And thus I have fpoken to the three 
 Miracles, propofed to be treated on in this 
 Difcourfe. Before I enter upon my third 
 general Head, which is, to conjider what 
 Jefus means when he appeals to his Mi- 
 racles as to a Witnefs of his (divine Au- 
 thority \ I mud take to Task fome more 
 of his pretended Miracles, even till I have 
 ^ot left him a good, credible and fubftan- 
 tial Miracle, according to the Letter, to 
 appeal to. The Canfequencc of which 
 will be, that his myfterious Operations 
 
 (65') Magna quidcm aola funt Sacramenta, fed 
 i^nguftum Tempus eft, ut omnia pertradentur. In 
 
 Sf^rm. xd- Scci. 2.. ~ ' • • ■ 
 
 are 
 
(63 ) 
 
 are to prove his Authority and McfTiahfhipJ 
 or we mud give up him and his Rchgion 
 for a Piece of Fraud and Impoflurc. 
 
 What Miracles will be the Subject of 
 my next Difcourfe, I can't certainly fore- 
 tell, but there are many Hiflorical as well 
 as miraculous Pares of Jefus's Life, that 
 according to the Letter, are to be call'd 
 into Queftion ; fuch as 
 
 The Hiftory of his riding on an Afs to 
 Jerufalem. I have given fome Offence on 
 this Point already in my Moderator^ and 
 ought to excufeor juftify myfelf, by calling 
 the Fathers to Account for laughing at the 
 Letter of that Story. It was an uncoward 
 Saying of St. 'Jerome^ that I there cited, and 
 funered a Profecution for : But it is a worfe 
 Intimation of St. John of Jerufalem^ who, 
 if there was any literal Truth in the Peo- 
 ples pulling off their Garments and 
 Branches of Trees, and ftrewing them in 
 the Way of Jefus^ will needs have it not re- 
 fpedtfuily, but mifchievoufly done, ro make 
 the Coir flumble, and fo difmount his Ri- 
 der. And according to him it may be que- 
 ftioned, whether the Hofanmbs of the 
 People were of any more Refpedt to 'jeftis, 
 than the Huz^zahs of a Mob would be ro 
 
 the Bifhop of L n, !f to fliew his 
 
 Mceknefs and Lowlincfs, h. Hiould ride 
 upon an Afs, in his Tontificaubtts through 
 
 this 
 
( H) 
 
 this City. But I have here a momentous 
 Controverfy to decide about the Beaft Je^ 
 Jus rode on. St. Matthew feems to fay, 
 he rode upon both Afs and Colt together. 
 St. Mark and St. Luke fay, he rode upon 
 the Colt^ on which Man never before fat. 
 The Bifhop of Lichfield fays, he rode 
 upon the Afs (on which Man had before 
 fat) and the Colt ambled after. St. Cyril 
 and St. Chryfoftom fay, he rode upon the 
 Colt^ and the She-Afs trotted after. Sx., 
 yohn the Evangelift fays, he rode upon 
 a Mule^ or an oyae^oj/ Afs-Hke Creature of 
 the neuter Gender. The Jewifio Cabaltjls 
 fay, their Meffiah was to ride on a great 
 huge y//j, big enough to carry him and 
 all true Ipraelites^ and that the Minifters 
 of Antichrift would then hang an A-fs. 
 So do the great Dodrors of the World 
 differ ! To whom I fhall decree the Prize 
 of Orthodoxy, I fhan't foretel ; but am 
 inclined to famour the Opinion of the 
 Cabalifts. However, I (hall be very grave 
 as well as learned on this Head*: And if I 
 can, I will, to oblige Dr. Sherlock, hook 
 in a Digrefllon about Shilo's binding his 
 Fole to the Vine^ and his Affes Colt 
 to the choice Vine. The Accompliilimenc 
 of which literal Prophecy feems to have 
 been drop'd in the Providence of God, or 
 
 the 
 
r <J5 J 
 
 the 'Dean otChicheJlcr (67) had never 
 fiopt at it. I will endeavour to look it up^ 
 in lomeCorner of Hiftory ,if it be but to me- 
 rit the Praifcs of the Maftcr of the Temple » 
 I mufl alfo fometime take into Confi-- 
 deration the Story of Jejns*^ Abode iii 
 the Wildernefs, forty Days, in Company 
 of the T^ev'tl^ who tempted him. This 
 literally, as ouv^ivines underftand ic, is 
 a fcandalous Story. The Jews^ in our 
 Saviour's Time, faid, that thro' Belze- 
 bub^ he caft out "Devils \ and their Po- 
 Iterity have afTerted, that he learned the 
 inagick Art of a Dainon, This Story, 
 gives tdo much Grounds for fuch a Sufpi- 
 cion. Our Divines^ who fliould know 
 bed, talk of abundance of Mifchicf; the 
 Devil has been permitted to do in the 
 World ever fince,- I hope it was not by 
 Compadl and Agreement between them; 
 but it would have been of ibme Satisfac- 
 tion to the contrary, if the EvangeUft had 
 told us exprefly upon what Terms they 
 met and parted. As Fables go, it is faid 
 to the Honour of Sz. Dunjtdn. that he 
 took the Devil by the Nofc, when he 
 tempted him ; and if "Jefus had takc:i him 
 by the Collar^ and thrud: him into hia 
 
 (dj) In his Dijfertatlon on the BlcjTing of Judah. 
 
 K Dun- 
 
(66) 
 
 Dungeon^ and there chain d him, and fliut 
 Hell Gates upon him ; I appeal to honefl 
 plain Chriftians, whether fuch an Hercu- 
 lean Labour would not have pleafed them 
 well. Ever fince I read of Martin Lu- 
 ther s Converfation with the T>evil, I have 
 had but indifferent Thoughts of his Tro- 
 tejiantifnii and unlefs the Fathers turn 
 this Story before us into Myftery, Alle- 
 gory and Cabalifm, I ihall think ill of 
 Chridianity. 
 
 I (hould alfo take into Examination the 
 Story of an Angel's appearing to the Shep- 
 herds, and faying to them 5 Behold I 
 bring you Tidings of great Joy^ &c. If 
 there was any Truth literally in this Sto- 
 ry, and in that of a Star's appearing to 
 the wife Men, there mud be a great Mif- 
 take in the Report of both of them. St. 
 jviattheiv and St. Luke have both blun- 
 der'd. It was the Star that appear'd to 
 the Shepherds by Night ; and the Angel 
 (I fpeak upon Reafon and Authority) that 
 was fent to the wife Men. What then 
 ro do with thefe two Stories, and to falve 
 the Credit of the Evangeltfls^ I knew 
 nor, till the Fathers direded me to the 
 Ufe of a mythological Metamorphofis : 
 And then I prcfentiy learn'd the Trick 
 en c, to transform Stars into Angels, and 
 Shepherds too, or Padcrs of ChriiVs Flock 
 
 (which 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 (which was the Difficulcy^ into wife M:ii; 
 and fo I made one Moral or Mydcry of 
 the two Fables. 
 
 I muft alfo fomctime take to Task the 
 Story of the many dead Bodies of the 
 Saints^ that upon Chriffs Refurreclion, 
 came out of their Graves^ and appeared 
 unto many; which is too impcrfcdiiy re- 
 lated to merit Credit. The Evan^cl/j?^ 
 if he would have a reafonable Man believe 
 his Story, fhould have told us, whothofc 
 Saints were, and what Numbers of them ; 
 and whether they appear'd to the converted 
 or unconverted Jews; whether they were 
 fome of the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, 
 or fome lately departed Difciplcs, who, for 
 all Jefus's healing Power, died in the 
 Time of his Miniliry ; and whether there 
 were any Women among thofe Saints ; and 
 whether they appeared naked (as Jcfns 
 modcftly did to Mary Magdalen, unlefs he 
 flip'd himfelf by Stealth into the Clothes 
 of theGardener,which might be i he Rcafon 
 of her Miflake, for flie luppofed Hie faw 
 the Gardener) and whecher they recurn'd 
 again to Corruption, or afcendcd into 
 Heaven. For want of thcfc fpccifical Cir- 
 cumflances, the E'vangelifl has told us a 
 Tale, that has neither Head nor Foot to ic: 
 and unlefs the Fathers myfiically anfwer, 
 to Satisfaction; every one of the aforefaid 
 K z 9jie- 
 
( 6§ ) 
 
 Queries, I'll rejed this Story for mere 
 Komance and Impollure. 
 
 Thele and many other hiilorical and 
 fecmingly miraculousStories of thcGofpel, 
 are fometime to be taken into Confidera- 
 tion; for I will not give this Work over, 
 nil I have dcmonflrated beyond all Con- 
 fradidion, that the evangelical Writings 
 3re b^t the Shadow of divine Myfleries; 
 find that liccral Interpreters, whom (6^) 
 Qri^/n calls ^oiilgdT Capacities^ are under 
 fi Miilake, if they think they underftand 
 any Thing, as they ought, of the four 
 Pofpcls, 
 
 I diould conclude now, as it becomes a 
 Mvderafor^ with an Addrefs to Infideh 
 and Jpojjates^ the great Combatants in 
 this Concroverfy. But I have not Room 
 to be ss large, as I would, in my Exhor- 
 tations to them diftindly, fo I can only 
 defire them to connnue the Controverfy 
 with Zeal and Vigour, not doubting buE 
 sr will end to the Honour of Jefus, the 
 Good of his Church, and the Happinefs 
 pf Mank'iid. The blclTed Fruits of this 
 Controyerfy are already feefj and felt ia 
 
 (68) Ut Lex Umbram continet futurorum bonq- 
 fum, qu?e declarantur'ab ea Lege; fie etiam Evan,- 
 eelium, quod vcl a quibufq; vulgarlbus inrelligi ex- 
 jftimarur, Umbram docet Myflerlorum Chrifti. ht 
 
 die 
 
( 69) 
 
 the almofl: Cure of a mofl: malignant Dif- 
 tempcr, called Bigottry, which has been 
 the Bane of human Society, and in Times 
 pad more dcftrudive of the World than 
 cither War or Peftilence. Go on then, 
 great and good Sirs, till the Cure is per- 
 feded. And as you merit Praifes and Re- 
 wards for your feveral Labours j fo I hope 
 you 11 meet with them. The Nobility 
 and Gentry of the Kingdom, as I learn, 
 are fenfibiy touch'd with the Ufefulnefs of 
 this ConLTOveify; whereupon it is to be 
 hoped the Legtflative Authority will foon 
 give Thanks to the great Mr. Grounds and 
 Mr. Scheme for their Pains m it ; and noc 
 forget to do Juflice to the Bifhops and 
 Clergy according to their Merits. But I 
 can't flay here to talk more on this Head, 
 being obHged co make an Epiftolary 
 
 *P. S. To Mr. r. Ray, the Author of 
 a T)iJcourfe^ call'd Our Saviour s Mira- 
 cles vindicated^ &c. As T, Sir, cnrerM 
 the 'Frefs, you came forth, or I mighc 
 pofTibly have paid more of my Refpcds to 
 yoLi anotherWay. But upon mature Con- 
 fidcration, I found a propercr Reply could 
 not be made to you, than is the foregoing 
 pifcourfe ; which, if you arc noc fick of 
 your former Performance, will find you 
 Jbme more Work, And that you may 
 
 Writs 
 
(7°) 
 
 write more pertinently againfl: this Dif- 
 courfe, than you did againfl my other, 
 I'll give you fome Inftrudions, 'viz, if you 
 think of writing to the Purpofe, you mufl 
 prove thefe two Things ; FtrX that the 
 Fathers did not hold the Stories of Jeftts's 
 Miracles to be typical and figurative; and 
 Secondly^ chat Jeftts's Miracles neither 
 will nor can receive a myflerious and more 
 wonderful Accompiilliment. But you have 
 not faid one Syllable to eirher of thefe 
 Points; confequently have written nothing 
 to the Purpofe againfl me. As for In- 
 fiance ; in the Miracle of Jefiis's driving 
 the Buyers and Sellers out of the Te^npk : 
 You fliould prove, Firft^ chat the Fathers 
 don't hold that Miracle to be typical of 
 the future Ejedion of Bijhops^ Triefts^ 
 and T>eacons out of the Church, thac 
 make Merchandize of the Gofpel : And Se^ 
 condly^ thac it was impoffible that the 
 Miracle fliould receive fuch an Accompli (h- 
 ment. But you have done nothing of this. 
 So, if you Hiould attempt again to write 
 againfl this Difcourfe, as for Inflance, a- 
 gainfl my Explication of the Miracle of 
 'Jefuss healing the Woman, that had an 
 Iffue of Blood', you mufl prove that that 
 Story neither was, in the Opinion of the 
 Fathers, typical, nor could receive a myf- 
 tical AccompliHimenc j or you may as 
 
 well 
 
( V ) 
 
 well hold your Peace. And after all, whe- 
 ther year Rcafonings for the Letter of 
 Chrift'sMiracles, are equal to mine againfl 
 it, let our Readers judge, who will cafily 
 difcern, that you jump over my choicefl: 
 Invectives againfl the Letter, as if you 
 was afraid of being touch d by them. 
 
 As to your charging me falfly in one or 
 two Places, with Mifreprefcnrations of 
 the Fathers, I'll expoftulate that Matter 
 with you, when I hear that the Btjhop of 
 London gives your Performance, the Repu- 
 tation of a folid, and fubftantial one, by 
 a Change of your Cloak into a Gown^ 
 which you feem to aim at ; or you had 
 never fo bcfmear'd the Bijhop with your 
 Compliments, nor had been fo mealy- 
 mouch'd as to the Point of Liberty. 
 
 But what need you, Sir, have told the 
 World, that you take me for an Unbelte-- 
 'ver of the Scriptures. If the Btfhop's 
 wife Profccution of me for an Infidel had 
 not given you the Hint, you could never 
 of yourfclf have made that Difcovery. 
 And why did you not join the Fathers 
 with me in Unbelief? I thought I had 
 b en of the fame Faith with them. A 
 Man of your Penetration into another's 
 Principles, will, I fuppofc, from this 
 prefent Difcoutf;, conclude me to be a 
 
 down- 
 
f 70 
 
 downright Atheift. And what muft I ^o 
 then to clear myfelf ! 
 
 If you write any more, Bir^ I defire 
 you, without making niore Hafte than 
 good Speed, to be as expeditious as you 
 can; or you will not prevent my Pub- 
 lication of another Difcourfe, like thefe 
 two, to the Honour of Jefus^ to whom 
 be Glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
A Third 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 Of Our 
 
 S 4V I U R, 
 
 In View of the Prefent 
 
 Controverfy between Infidels 
 and Apostates. 
 
 L'ttteratos grav'tjjimo Somno ftertere con- 
 vine am, HiERON. 
 
 By Thomas Woolston, ibmetime 
 Fellow of Sidney 'College in Cambridge. 
 
 LQ NT> N: 
 
 Printed for chc Author, and Sold by him 
 next Door below the Star in Alders 
 manbury, and by tbc Bookfcllcrs o( 
 J^ondon and lf\fmmfter. 1718. 
 f Price One Shi ling] 
 
[.: 
 
to THE 
 
 Right Reverend Father in God 
 
 R I C H A R D, 
 
 Lord Bifhop of St. David's. 
 
 My Lor o, 
 
 N your Scrnign before 
 ; the Society for Refor- 
 mation of Manners, 
 you are plea fed to give 
 a Charader of my for- 
 mer 'Dijcoitrjc'on CbrifFs Miracles*^ 
 which, tho' 1 don't at all lik^, yet I 
 thank you for the Favour of tak- 
 ing Notice of them; a Fdvony that 
 1 have long'd for from a conliJera- 
 ble Clergy mm', but could not flat- 
 
 A a tcr 
 
iV Dedication. 
 
 fe myftlf with the Hopes of receiv- 
 ing it from fo great a Trelate, 
 
 Some of the inferior C/^rg;jK5 whom 
 I defpife for their Ignorance and 
 Malice, have before in their Con- 
 verfation reprefented me as an im- 
 pious and blaf^hemoiis Infidtl ; and I 
 have met with Affronts for it : But 
 1 never imagin'd that any, much lefs 
 your hordjhip^ would have ventur'd 
 iuch a Charadler of me from the 
 Trefs^ for fear of a Refentment, 
 which would not be agreeable. Sure- 
 ly your hordjhi[> has not read my 
 i>ifcourJeSy but has taken a Report 
 of them upon Truft, from fome 
 EcelefiaiHcal Noodle y or you couM 
 never have been fo much miftaken 
 about my Deiign in them. 
 
 1 took myfelf to be a Chriftian 
 of the fame Faith with the Fatliers 
 of the Church ; and, without Va- 
 liity, think, 1 have publifh'd fome 
 Traits^ in Defence of Chriftianity, 
 
 equal 
 
Dedication. v 
 
 equal, if not fupcrior to any Thing 
 this Age has produced. 1 repeat- 
 edly alfo in my ^Dijcourjcs on Mira- 
 cles^ to obviate the Prejudices of an 
 ignorant Clergy^ made folemn Pro- 
 teftations of the Sincerity of my 
 Delign, not to do Service to h]fieie- 
 \\ty^ but to make Way for the De- 
 monrtration of '^cjus\ Meffiahlhip 
 from Prophecy ; But all thefe Afleve- 
 rations of the Integrity of my Heart, 
 it feemSj Itand for nothing ("and I 
 don't wonder at it j with the Clergy^ 
 who in their Principles, their Oatlis, 
 and Sublcriptions are lb accullom'd 
 to prevaricate w4th God and Man. 
 1 fliall make no more lerious Pro- 
 teflations, of my Faith, but expedl 
 your Lordfldij) fliould ibon publilh a 
 Defence of your foul Charge a* 
 gainll me, that I may fee what 
 Skill you have in the impious and 
 blafphemous Writings of an Infidel. 
 
 And if your nuUng Accvfa'-ion be 
 not tborn followed with a Diflerta- 
 
 tation 
 
vi Dedication. 
 
 tation of more Reafon, I ftial] in- 
 fift on a publick Reparation of the 
 lujury done to my Reputation by 
 your vtle and jlandcrous Sermon ; 
 and appeal to the worfhipful Societies 
 for Reformation of Manners, whe- 
 ther it be not juft and reafonable^ 
 you fliould do one or the other. 
 
 Now 1 have laid hold of your 
 Lordjmp^tb^n whom I could not have 
 wifii'd for an Advcrjaryj that will 
 do me more Honour to overcome, 
 1 will hold you fail:; and you 
 muit exped to be teaz'd and inful- 
 ted from the Trejs^ if you ente]^ 
 not the Lifts againll me. 
 
 A clear Stage, my Lordj and no 
 favour. If you have the Sword of 
 tlie Spirit in your Hand, cut as 
 fharply as you can w^ith it. i had 
 conceiv'd a great Opinion of your 
 Learning, and fhould have been a 
 little apprelienfive of the Power of it; 
 if you had not in your Sermon be- 
 
 tray'd 
 
Dedication. vU 
 
 tray'd as great Weaknefs and Ig- 
 norance, as could be in a poor CV 
 rac ; or you had never afferttd that 
 the Greek Commentators adher'd 
 more ftriftly to the Htteral Senle of 
 the Holy Scriptures, as if you knew 
 not, that St . I bcvpl^lus of /Intioch, 
 and even Origen himfelf and others, 
 the greateft Allegonfls^ if a Com- 
 parifon may be made, were Com^ 
 mcntators ot the Greek Chiuch, 
 
 Theiooner your Lprdililp appears 
 from the Trejsj the better, in as 
 much as you may pollibly prevent 
 my Publication of more 'Dtjcoujjes 
 of this Kind. And that it may not 
 be long tirft, 1 will accept of a 
 Diflertation from you, on ajiy two 
 or three of the Miracles, 1 h ive 
 handled, as fufficient for all. Jake 
 your Choice of them : but don'c 1 
 beleech you, toucli the Miracle of 
 J^ejus's driving the Bujers and Sellers 
 out of the femple, becaufe it is 
 •^ hot Qiie, and may poffibly bum 
 
 your 
 
Vlll JLI EDI CATION* 
 
 yaur Fingers. The Miracles, that 
 I have moft ludicroufiy and of 
 cotifequence moft offenfively hand- 
 led, are the two of this prefent 
 Dircourfe. If you pleafe, my hordy 
 let them be the eafy and fhort 
 Task impofed on you. If you 
 can defend the Letter of the Stories 
 of thefe two Miracles, I'll quietly 
 give up the Reft to you. 
 
 So heartily thanking your Lord- 
 fhip for the Favour done me, in 
 taking Notice of my 'Difcourjes on 
 Miracles^ which (hall be turn'd to 
 good Ufe and Advantage, 1 fub^ 
 Icribe myielf, 
 
 Humble Servant, 
 
 Tho. Woolftoix 
 

 i;; 
 
 ir^C^^ 
 
 --'w^--' - ■jfy I'; -^.w.' w 
 
 »1»«.iM».^i « i r«J i«il > II i i I I > II 
 
 .-t^^vvc N.vc<v N;*covorvxv»>v.4»Pvv - 
 
 A Third 
 
 DISC o u R s E 
 
 On Tlic 
 
 MIRACLE 
 
 Of Our 
 
 SAVIOUR, 8cc. 
 
 Y zwo former Difcourfes 
 ' having nice with a fovoura- 
 blc Reception, I am cncou- 
 rag'd ro go on and publiih 
 another j which, without any 
 more Preface, 1 cater upon, 
 by a Repetition of the three general 
 Heads, at,iir(t propofcd to be fpoken to, 
 and they were, 
 
 B I 
 
r o 
 
 I. To fhow that the Miracles of heal- 
 ing all Manner of bodily Difeafes, which 
 Jejus was juftly Amcd for, are none of the 
 proper Miracles of the MeJJtah^ neither are 
 they fo much as a good Proof of his divine 
 Authority to found a Religion. 
 
 IT. To prove, that the literal Hiflory of 
 many of the Miracles ofjefus, as record- 
 ed by the Evangel'tfts^ does imply Abfur- 
 diries, Improbabilities, and Incredibilities; 
 confequentiy they, either in whole or m 
 parr, were never wrought, as they are 
 commonly believed now-a^days, but arc 
 only related as prophetical and parabolical 
 Narratives of what would be myflerioufly 
 and more wonderfully done by him. 
 
 III. To confider, what Jefus means, 
 •when he appeals to his Miracles, as to 
 a Tedimony and a Wirnefs of his divine 
 Authority ; and to fliow that he could not 
 properly and ukimately refer to thofe he 
 then wrought in the FlejJo^ but to thofe 
 Myftical ones, that he would do in the 
 Spirit^ of which thofe wrought in the Flcili 
 are but meer Types and Shadows. 
 
 Tho' I have nlrcaoy fpoken, what may 
 be thought iuiticicni, to the fird of thefe 
 Heads ; yet I have Icvcral Things Hillj both 
 
 from 
 
( ? ) 
 
 from Reafon anJ Auchoricy, to add to it ; 
 but having not here a convcaienc Place for 
 that Purpofc, I defer it to a becccr Op- 
 portunity; and fo pafs immediately to the 
 Rcfumption of my 
 
 II. Second general Head, and that is, to 
 prove, that the hteral Hidory of many of 
 the Miracles of Jejus^ as recorded by the 
 Evangeltflsy docs imply Abfurditics, Im- 
 probabilities and Incredibilities i confc- 
 qucnlly they, either in whole or in pare 
 were never wrought, as it is commonly 
 believed now-a days, but are only related, 
 as prophetical and parabolical Narratives 
 of what would be myftcriouHy and more 
 wonderfully done by him. 
 
 To this Purpofe I have taken into Exa- 
 mination fix of the Miracles olJefuSy viz, 
 chofc, 
 
 I. Of his driving the Buyers and Sel- 
 lers out of the Temple. 
 
 1. Of his cxorcifing the 'Devils out of 
 the Mad-men, and fending them into 
 the Herd of Swine. 
 
 3. Of his Trans figuration on theMounc. 
 
 4. Of his healing a Woman, that had an 
 liTuc of Blood, twelve N'cars. 
 
 5-. Of his curing a Woman, that had a 
 Spirit of Infirmity, eighteen Years, and 
 B 1 6. Of 
 
(4) 
 
 6, Of fii^tcWmgih^ Samaritan Woman' 
 her Fortune of having had five Husba'ncfe, 
 and being then an Adultereft withanrochcr 
 Man. 
 
 Whether T have not prov'd the Story^ 
 of thefe Miracles, either in whole or in 
 parr, to confiTl: of Abfnrdiries, Improba- 
 bilities, and Incredibilities, according to 
 the Propoiicion before ns, I leave my JR^ea- 
 ders ro judge ; and now will rake in Hand 
 
 7. A Seventh Miracle of Jefus ,• 'viz^ 
 that Ci) of Jots cnrfing the Figtree, for not 
 bearing Fr lilt out of Secifon: which Miracle, 
 upon the bare mention of it, appears to be 
 flich an abfurd, foolifh, and ridiculous, if 
 not malicious and ill natured hOi'mJefuSy 
 thatlqueRicnj whether, for Folly and Ab- 
 furdity, it can be equalled in any Inftance 
 of the Life of a reputed wife Man. The 
 Fathers, fuch as Ot'igcn^ St. Aiignftin, ^x.. 
 J,ohn ofjeriifdlem^ and others, have all faid 
 a^s fmarr Things, as the w'ittyeft Infidels 
 can, againddie Letter of this Story. S\:» 
 Auguftin (t) very plainly fays, that this 
 Fail in Jefus, upon Suppofition that it Was 
 done, was afoolijh one. If therefore I treac 
 
 (i)' Man. Chap, xxi: M^r^, Chap. xl. {%) Hoc 
 fa6lurn, nifi figuratutn, ftultum invcnitur. In Serm, 
 
 this 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 tilts Scory s Htclc more hudicnoufly tlran 
 ordinary, and expofc the Folly of clic Fad! 
 as well asofchcmod'eriTBclicfofit, I hope 
 their Authority and Exannplc will plead 
 my Ex<;ure for ic 
 
 Jefus was Hungary, it feems, and being 
 difappoinccd of Figs, to the Satisfaction of 
 his Appetite, curfed the Figtrcc. Why fo 
 pecviih and impatient? Oar IJivineSy 
 when they pleale, make Ji'fks the mod 
 patient, refign'd and eafy under Sufferings, 
 Troubles and Difappoincmencs, of any 
 Man. If he really was fo, he could hard- 
 ly have been fo much out of Elumour, for 
 want of a few Figs, to the Allay of his 
 Hunger. But to curfe tiie Figcrec upon k^ 
 was as foolifhly and pafTionacely done, 
 as for another Man to throw the Chairs 
 and Stools about the Houfc ; becaufc his 
 Dinner is not ready at a critical Time, or 
 before ic could be got ready for him. 
 
 But Jefus was hungry, fome will fay, 
 and the Difappointment provoked him. 
 What if he was hungry? He ihould, as 
 he knew the Return of his Appetite, 
 have mide a better and more certain 
 Provifion for it. Where was Jiii^as his 
 Steward and Caterer with his Bng of 
 Viduals as well as Money ? Poor Fore- 
 
 cafl 
 
CO 
 
 cafl, and Management amongft them, or 
 'Jefus had nevet trufted to the uncertain 
 Fruits of a Figtree, which he efpy'd at a 
 Diflance, for his Breakfaft. 
 
 And iVJefus wasfruftratcd of a long'd- 
 for Meal of Figs, what need he have fo 
 reveng'd the Difappointment on the (3) 
 fenflefs and faultleis Tree ? Was it, be- 
 caufe he was forc'd to fad longer than ufual 
 and expedient > not fo, I hope neither : 
 Could not Angels, if lie was in a defert 
 Place, have adminiftred unto him? Or 
 could not he miraculoufly have created 
 Bread for himfelf and his Company, as 
 he multiplied or increafed the Loaves for 
 his Thoufands in the Wildernefs? What 
 Occafion then for his being out of Hu- 
 mour for want of Food ? If he was of Pow- 
 er to provide Bread for others on a fud- 
 den, he might fure have fupply'd his own 
 Neceflities, and fo have kept his Temper, 
 without breaking into a violent Fit of PaiTi- 
 on, upon prei'ent Want andDifappointmenr. 
 
 But what is yet worfe, the Time of 
 Fi^s iz'as not yet^ when Jefus look'd and 
 long'd for them. Did ever any one here J 
 
 (:^) Nulla effet Llgnl Culpa, quia Lignum fine 
 fenfu non hibebat Culpam, Auguftin in Serm, 
 Ixxxix. 
 
 or 
 
r 7 ) 
 
 Of read of any Thing more (4) unreafon- 
 ablc than for a Man co cxpccfl Fruicouc of 
 Scafon ? '^efus could not but know this be- 
 fore he came to the Tree, and if he had 
 had any Confidcracion, he would not have 
 cxped-cd Figs on it, much lefs, if he had 
 regarded his own Reputation, as a wife 
 Man, would he have fo rcfcnrcd the 
 Want of them. What, if a Teoman of Kent 
 fliould go tolook for Tipins in his Orchard 
 at Eajter^ Cthe fuppofed Time (5) that 
 Jefus \GUg\M for thelc Figs^ and, becaufc 
 of a Difappointmcnt, cue down all his 
 Trees? What then would his Neighbours 
 make ofhim ? Nothing lefs, than a Laugh- 
 ing-Stock ; and if the Storv got into our 
 publick News, he would be the Jeil and 
 Ridicule of Mankind. How Jefits falv'd 
 his Credit upon this his wild Prank; 
 and prevented the Laughter of the Scribes 
 and Pharifees upon it,I know not; but! can- 
 not think of this Part of the Letter of this 
 Story, without fmiling at it at this Day ; 
 and wonder our T>ivmes arc not laugh'd 
 
 (4) Quaerit poma ; neccfciebat rempus nondum 
 efle ? quod Cukor Arboris fclebar, Creator Arboris 
 nefciebar? Auguflini in Serm. Ixxxix. 
 
 (5") Hoc ideo probamus, quia PalHonis Domini 
 Dies propinquabat, cr fcimus quo tcmijorc pafTus fir. 
 Jbid. 
 
 out 
 
( 8 ; 
 
 out of Countenance for reading it gravely, 
 and having "Jefiis in Admiration for it. 
 
 Again, I would gladly know, whofefig- 
 tree this was, and whether 'Refits \\2id any 
 legal Right to the Fruit, if hatply he had 
 found any on it, or any Leave or Authority 
 to finite it with a Curfe for its Unfruitful- 
 nefs ? As .to the Tree's being J^uss *Pro- 
 perty, that could not be. For he was fo 
 far from being either Landlord or Tenant, 
 that it's faid he had not where to lay his 
 Head. During the Time of his Miniftry, 
 he was but a Wanderer, like ,a Mendicant 
 Fryar, or an itenerant Preacher, and before 
 that Time was no better than a Journey- 
 man Carpenter fof whofe Workmanlbip, I 
 wonder, the Church of Rome has no holy 
 Relicks, not fo much as a Threes footcd- 
 ftool, or a Pair of Nutcrackers ;} confe- 
 qucntly he had no Houfe nor Land of his 
 own by Law, much lels any Figtree, and 
 lead of all this which he efpy'd at a di- 
 fiance in his Travels. How then had he 
 any Right to the Figs, if he had met with 
 any ? I hope he ask'd Leave beforehand of 
 the- Proprietor, or Infidels ^\\\ fay of him, 
 that if he had had an Opportunity he 
 would have been a Rob-Orchard. And if 
 he had no Right to the Fruit, much lefs lo 
 fmirc the Tree v.ich a Curfe -, where was 
 ; his 
 
(9 ) 
 
 his Honour, (6} his JuHicc, his Good- 
 nefs, and his Honcfty in this Ad: > Thc^^ 
 njangeltlisy if they would have us to think, 
 Jefits did no wrong to any Man, fliould 
 have left uslomewhatupon Record, to Sa- 
 tisfadion, in this CaTc} or Infidels^ who 
 have here i>cope for it, will think worfc 
 of '}e[us^ than pofiibly he may defcrve. 
 Whether Jefus, niodeftly fpeaking, mee 
 with any I^iame or Reprimand from the 
 Proprietor, for his Ad: of Execration, none 
 c^n affirm or deny. But if any one io 
 fpitefuUy and malicioufly (hould deftroy 
 almoft any other Tree, whether fruitful 
 or not, of another Man's, in this Coun- 
 try, he would have good Luck, if he c- 
 fcaped the Houfe of Corredion for it. 
 
 And what now have our T^tvines to fay, 
 to all this Reafoning againft: the Letter of 
 this Story ? Nothing more than ** That 
 " the Ad of Gurfing the Figtree, whe- 
 '* ther it be at this Diftance of Time re-> 
 *' concilcablc to Reafon, Juftice and Pru- 
 ' dcncc or not, was a fupernatural Work, 
 ** above the Power of Nature or Art to 
 ** imitate, confequently it was a Miracle, 
 *' and they will admire and adore Jefui 
 
 (6) Arbor non ?ft juft^ ficc:aia yohfin HIerofol. ia 
 Loc. MArsi, 
 
 C *5 for 
 
( lo ; 
 
 '^ for it." And to agree with tliem ac 
 prefcnt, that it was a real Miracle, and 
 a fupernatural Event, yet I hope, they'll 
 Sacknowledge, that if Jeftis^ as St. Au- 
 guftin (7) lays, had, inftead of curfing the 
 Figtree, m-Kie a dry, dead and withered 
 one, immedj'^tcly to bud, flouridi and re- 
 vive, and \u an Inllant to bring forth 
 ripe Fruits, oar of Seafon, it would have 
 pleafed them much beicer. Such an In- 
 flance of his Power had been an indif- 
 putable Miracle : Such an Tnftance of his 
 divine Power had carry d Goodnefs along 
 wich it, and none of the forefaid Excep- 
 tions could have been made to it : Such 
 an Inftance of his Ahnighty Power, had 
 been a Dcmonllration of his being Lord 
 of the Crearion, and Author of the Fruits 
 of the Earth for the Ufe of Man, in 
 their Scafon, or he could not have pro- 
 duced them out of Seafon. In luch 
 
 (y) Si miraculum fuerat tantummodo commen- 
 dandum, et non alquid prophetice figurandum, 
 iliulto clementius dominus et fua mifericordia dig- 
 nius fpcerar, SI quam aridam invenerit, viridem redj 
 deret, ficut languenres fanavit. Tunc vero e con- 
 trario, quafi adverfus Regulam Clementiac fJjse in- 
 venit Arborem vlremem, praeter tempus fru(Su3 
 nondum habenrem, non tamen fru£lum agrJcolac ne- 
 ganrem, et aridann fecit. In Serm. Ixxxix Set^. ?. 
 
 an 
 
( 'i ) 
 
 an Inftancc of Power, his divine Care 
 and Providence againft [hunger and Want 
 would have been vifiblc ; and ic would 
 have been an Admonirioii to us, to de- 
 pend daily upon him for the Comfofcs 
 and Neceaarics of Life : Such an Inilancc 
 of his Power would have been, as St. 
 Angullin fays above, li^<.c his Miracles of 
 healing Difeafes, of making the Lan^u'd, 
 i^ound', and the Feeble, Strongs and we 
 might more certainly have inferd from 
 one with the other, that both were the 
 Operations of a good God. But this 
 Inftance of his curfing the Figtree in this 
 Fafliion fpoils the Credit, and lullies the 
 Glory of his other Miracles. Iti-in its own 
 Nature of fuch a malevolent Afped, that 
 its enough to make us fufpcc^t the Bene- 
 ficence of Qhrifl in his other Works, and to 
 queftion whether there might not be fomc 
 latent Poyfon and diabolical Dcfign under 
 the Colour of his fairer Pretences to Al- 
 mighty Power. Ic is fo like themnli^nant 
 Pracflices of IVttchc's^ who, as Stories go, 
 upon Envy, Grudge, or Dillafle, fmite 
 their Neighbours Cattle with languiiliing 
 Diftcmpcrs, till they die, that it's hard, 
 if not impofllblc, to diftinguilh one from 
 the other in Spice and Malice. \^ Maho- 
 met^ and not Jcfits^ had been the Author 
 C 2. of 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 of this Miracle, our divines would pre- 
 fencly have difcover'd the 'Devit^ Foot 
 in w^ and have laid that Satan drew him 
 into a Scrape, in the Execution of this 
 mad and foplifh Frolick, on purpofe to ex- 
 pofe htm for a Wizard and his Muflel- 
 irien of all Ages fince for Fools in be- 
 lieving on him. The Spirit of Chrifi^ 
 ^vho is all Love and Mercy, Ihould, one 
 would think, breath forth nothing but 
 Goodnefs and Kindnefs to Mankind ; buc 
 phat fuch a peftilential Blaft, like a morti- 
 ferous North-Eaft Wind in fome Seafons, 
 fliould proceed from his Mouth, to the 
 Deflrudion of anotherMan's harmlefs and 
 ^nofTenfive Tree, is what none upon Earth 
 pah account for. 
 
 Our Divines, one or other of them, 
 have publifli'd feveral notable Notions a- 
 bouc Miracles, and have laid down good 
 Rules to diflinguiHi true from fa/fe ones ^ 
 but none of them, as far as I perceive, 
 have taken any Pains to iliew the Con- 
 fidence o^ Jefuss Miracles to their own 
 Rules and Notions. Mr. Chandler, (who 
 as the Archbifhop fS) fays, has righdy 
 Vi^lQ<^ the Notion of a Mil'acle) among 
 
 (8) See Arch-blfhop Wakeh Letter to Mr. Chani- 
 hr^ which is handed about Town and Country. 
 
 his 
 
( >? ) 
 
 his Rules of judging by whom Miracles 
 arc pcrform'd, fays, (^9} Thi^t the Things 
 pretended to be done^ are te be fiich^ as that 
 tt ts confiflent with the Terfethons of God 
 to interejl himfelf in ; and again, thty miifl 
 be Inch as anfmer to the Qharafier of God 
 as a good and gracious Being ; and again. 
 It feems reafonable to believe , that whenever 
 the firjl and be ft of Beings is pleafed to fend 
 an ixtraordtnary Mejfenger with a Revela- 
 tion of his IVtll^ he will furnifh him with 
 fuch "Proofs of his Mtf/ton, as may argue 
 not only the Power of him in whofe Name 
 he comes-, but his Love to Mankind^ and his 
 Inclination to do them good. I have noDif- 
 like to thefe Notions j of Mr. Chandler ; 
 but as it is not to be queftioned, that he 
 (and the Archbijhop too) had this Mira- 
 cle of Jefus's curfing the Figcree, and 
 fome others, as o^ his boifterous drivmg 
 the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple ; 
 of his finding the T)evils into the Herd 
 of Swine ; of his turning Water into I Vine 
 for the Ufe of iMen^ who had before well 
 drank^ &c. in his View, when he gave 
 forth the forcfaid Rules ; for acute and 
 learned Writers in Theology are luppofed 
 to have their Wits about them ; fo it is 
 
 (9J Vindication of the Chriftian Religion, p. 8z. 
 
 to 
 
(h) 
 
 to be hop'd that he or the ArM'tfhop wiil 
 foon publifli fomewhat to reconcile thefe 
 Miracles of Jefus to their own Notions 5 
 tho' I don'c expedl it before latter Lam- 
 mas, 
 
 But after all, it may be queftioned, if 
 Infidels fhould go about it, whether this 
 Work of J ejus was miraculous ; and whe- 
 ther there was not more of tlie Craft of 
 Man, than of the Power of God in it; 
 or to ufe Mr. Chandlers (lo) Words, 
 whether it don't look like the little Tricks 
 and cunning 'Deceits of Impoftors. ^i, Mat- 
 thew fays, frefently the Figtree '-jvithered 
 away ; but this prejently is an indetermi- 
 nate Time, and may be underftood of a 
 t)ay, or a Week or twq, as well as of the 
 Moment in which the Words were fpoken ; 
 Let no Fruit grow on thee henceforward for 
 ever. St. Mark fays, that in t%e Morning 
 as the Difciples paffed by^ they faw the 
 Figtree dry'd up from the Roots, which 
 was at leafl: the Day Ci i.) ^^c^r the Curfe 
 was utter'd, fo that there was certainly 
 four and twenty Hours for its withering ; 
 and if it is faid th^Lt tho Tree dry* d up from 
 the Roots, it docs not imply that the 
 Trunk of it periili'd, or was reduc'd to 
 
 (\6) Ibid. (11) Quod fecjuentl die viderint cxa- 
 ruifle ficum. Theo^hylnH. in Locum Ma ret. 
 
 nothing 
 
( '5 ) 
 
 nothing ; but only that the green Leaves 
 of the Whole, and of every Part of it, 
 were in a withering Condition: And might 
 not all this be done without a Miracle > 
 What if 7^'-^'-f ^nd Infidels fhould fay, that 
 y^///j, being minded to impofe on hisDif- 
 ciples and Followers, took a fecret Op- 
 portunity beforehand to lay his Carpen- 
 ter's Ax to the Root of this Tree, and fo 
 imperceptibly circumcifed it, as that the 
 Leaves did, what they will do, wither in 
 a Night and a Day's Time. God forbid, 
 that I fhould think, 'Jefus did lb; but as 
 to the PoHibility of fuch a Fraud in an 
 Impoflor, none can doubt of it. 
 
 I am fo far from thinking there was any 
 fuch Fraud in this fuppofed Miracle oije* 
 fus^ that I don*t believe it was at all done 
 by him accordmg to the Letter : And for 
 this I have not only a clear and intrinfick 
 Proof from the Story itfclf ; but the Autho- 
 rity of the Fathers. Si.Ambrofe^ treating on 
 the Parable of the Figtrce in (^17.) St. 
 Luke^ intimates, that what St. Alatthe-ju 
 and St. Alark write of Jejttss curfing the 
 Figtree, is but (11,) Part of the fame Pa- 
 
 (ix) Chap. xiii. (r^j Quid fibi vu!t, quod 
 
 in Evangeiio fuo Dominus Fici Parabola m frequen- 
 ter inducit ; Habes cnim alibi, quod juflu Domini 
 Virldirasomnis hujui Ligni frondemis aurcric. In 
 Loc, Lucx, 
 
 rablc. 
 
( i6 ; 
 
 fable. And St. yohn of yeru/alem (i^") 
 fays expreisly enough, that the three E- 
 'vangelijis write of one and the fame Fig- 
 tree, confequently parabolically, and that, 
 what St Matthew and Sr. Mark write of 
 It, was no more a lircralTrarifad^ion, than 
 the Parable in St. Luke. Thanks to thefe 
 holy Fathers for their ridding us of the 
 Belief of the Letter of this i>tory, which 
 otherwife might have perplex'd us with its 
 Abfurdicics before urg'd. And to theit 
 Opinion I dcfire it may be added and coo- 
 fidered, whether it be not as reafonabid 
 in itfclf to take what the three Evan^t- 
 Itfis write of this Figtree, as Part of one 
 Story, as well as, what they write of the 
 IVoman with her Iffue of Blood, and of 
 Jefuss cafting the devils out of the Mad' 
 men, and of other Miracles which are but 
 ievcral Relations of the fame Story, Para- 
 ble or Miracle. Neither is it any Argu- 
 ment for a literal Tranfadion of this Mi- 
 racle, that the Evangeitfls fpeak pf it, as a 
 Thing done : For as Ortgen fays, there arc 
 fome Things fpoken of in the Eva/igeitJlSf 
 as Fa(Sls, which were never tranfad^ed -, fo 
 it is of the Nature of Prophecy ("and our 
 
 (14) Vidiamus, ubi alibi fcrfptum de ift-aiicu} 
 in Evangelio fecundura Lucam legimus, &c. In Loc, 
 
 Saviour 
 
( n ) 
 
 Saviour in his whole Life prophcfied^ to 
 fpcak of Things to come, as if they were 
 already paft; bccaufefuch Prophecies are 
 not to be underftood till after their Ac- 
 comphfhment, and then the Reafon of 
 the VCe of the/r^/^r, inftcad of the fu- 
 ture Tcnfe, in Prophecy, will be vifiblc. 
 But what, in my Opinion, is an abfo- 
 lute Demonftration, that there's no Truth 
 in the Letter of this Story, is, what our 
 Saviour adds, upon the Difciples wonder- 
 ing at the fudden withering of the Figtree, 
 faying, O5) that if they had Faith^ 
 they fhouid not only do what ijuas done to the 
 Figtree; but Jhould fay to this Mountain, 
 (that was near him, I fuppofc) be thou 
 removed and cajl into the Sea^ and it fhall 
 be done. But thefe Things were never iit- 
 terally done by them, confequencly Jefus 
 himfeifdid not licterally curfc the Figcrec ; 
 or the Difciples wanted Faith for the 
 doing the faid Miracles, which is an Ab« 
 furdity to fuppofe ; or Jefus calked idly 
 of a Promife to inveft them with a Power, 
 they were never to be poflefs'd oL Bun of 
 what ill Confequence to Religion, cirhei! 
 of thefe Suppofitions is, let the old Ob- 
 
 (i^r) Matth, Chap. xxi. -xi. 
 
 D je^ion 
 
( '.8J ^^ 
 
 jedion in Vafchnfim RatberUis (jiC) fpeak,* 
 which I flia}] not llay here to urge and 
 revive; buc only fay at prefent, that if 
 Jefiis adually curfed a Figtree, his Difci- 
 ples ought CO have done fo coo, and to re- 
 move Mountains. If we adhere to the 
 ■Letter in one Cafe, we mult in the other 
 alfo ; biK wc arc only to look to the 
 My fiery in both, or SK..'Av.gtift'in (ly) will 
 tell us, that Jefiis utter'd vain, empty and 
 infignificant Words and Promifes. 
 
 Sr. Augtiftm^ who believes no more 
 of clTcLerccr of this Story, than I do, fays, 
 that the Works of Jefus are all figurative 
 and of a fpiritual Significacion, which is fo 
 manifefl from his hh of curfing the Figtree, 
 •as Men mud, (]i8^ whet her ^ they rsjiU or 
 not acknowledge it. But he is miftaken : 
 *.Tho' there might be none m his Time 
 
 (i6) Quanqunm igltur juxra Llte'ram hacc fa6Va 
 r.on leganrur ab Apoltolis, ficut quidam Paganorum 
 calumniarl funr, et garriunc contra nos, eriam in fuls 
 fcriptis afferentes ApodoloSnon habuifle fidem, quia 
 inonres non tranftulerunt nequcFiculneas verbo exfic- 
 ■ carunt. In Loc. 'hUttb. (ij) LegiroOS Apollolorum 
 rniracula,nii(quram autem legimus arborera(ab his are- 
 ■facftam, aut montem in mare tranflaruni ; quxra- 
 itius ergo in myfterio ubi fa6ium fit, non enim 
 Verba Domini vacare potuerant. In Serm. Ixxxix. 
 
 (iS. Sed futurimi aliquid Miraculo comm^ijd AlTe, 
 niuita func qux nosadmc-rfcanc, nobifqj perfuadeant, 
 iDio ab" invith cxtfrqueant. U'jd, 
 
 who 
 
( «9) 
 
 who would qucftion, that this fuppofcd 
 Fadofy^/z/j had a myilicaj i>igrii[icari- 
 011 ; ycc if he had liv"d in our Days, he 
 would have met with ^Dtvmesy who, for all 
 the forcfaid Ablurditics and their Cogen- 
 cy to drive us to Allegory, do adhere to 
 the Letter only, whether the Truth, Cre- 
 dibility and Rcalbnablencfs of it be defeii- 
 fjblc or not. But then to do Jullicc to 
 St. Aiigii[this Aflcrtion, he would have, 
 met With others, who a^ninft their JViils^ 
 interpret this Miracle figuratively, fuch 
 as Dr. Hammond and Dr. IV hit by ^ who 
 fay, J(^fus curled the Figcrec by way of 
 'Type of the Dedruiftion of the Je--ji'iJJj. 
 State, which declined and walled away 
 after the Similitude of this withering Tree. 
 But why then don t thefe Commentators al- 
 legorically interpret and apply other Mi- 
 racles of our Saviour ? Bccaufc they think, 
 the Letter will (land good and abide the 
 Ted without an Allegory. An-d why dothey 
 allegorife this Miracle only ? Bccaufe of, 
 the Dificuhies and Abfurdities of the Let- 
 ter, which they can't account for. And 
 are thcfe Rcafons good \ No, certainly : 
 The Evanfc^dijls fliould have made the Dif- 
 tindion fc-r them. They fliould have told 
 us, which Miracles arc to be allcgoris'cl 
 and myftically npplied, and which are not; 
 or we are to allegorife all or none at all. 
 D i Aa4 
 
{ 20 ) 
 
 liow came thefe modern Allegories of this 
 Miracle to apply it as they do, and to 
 make it a myftical Reprefencation of the 
 Ruin of the Jewifo State ? Did they take 
 up this Notion of their own Heads, or did 
 they borrow it of the Fathers > Why in all 
 Probability they took the Hint from the 
 Fathers ; wherefore then don't they, what 
 none of them do, cite and acknowledge 
 their Authors for it? Becaufe, like Men 
 of Subtilty, they would be thought to 
 devife itof themfelves; for if they had quo- 
 ted the Fathers for it, the Fathers would 
 have oblig'd them, upon their Authority, 
 to allegorife the reft oi Jefuss Miracles, 
 in the way that I have interpreted fome of 
 them J but this would not have agreed with 
 their Stomachs for many Reafons. No 
 Thanks then to the aforfaid Commenta- 
 tors for their allegorical Application of this 
 Miracle, which they are again to defert, 
 or abide the Confequence of allegorifing 
 others aifo, which for their Interefts and 
 Reputations they will not do. Therefore 
 let them return again to the Letter of 
 this Miracle, and fay for it, what is all 
 that is to be faid for it, with Vi^Ior An- 
 tiocheniis^ an Apoflatical Writer of the 
 
 fiftl^ 
 
C ai ; 
 
 fifth Century, (19) that "johenrre read this 
 Paffage of Scripture concerning the Ftgtree 
 Jcfus curfed^ we ought not curioujly to en- 
 quire whether it was wifely or juftly done 
 of Jcfus, or not ; but we ought to contem- 
 plate and admire this Miracle^ as well as 
 that of JefusV drowning the Swine^ not- 
 withftanding fome think it void of the Face 
 of Jujiice. Ay, ay, our T>ivines muft al- 
 legorifc all Jefuss Miracles, or becakc 
 tbcmfelves to this Opinion of VtEior-^ which 
 ih\s free-thinking Age will hardly let them 
 quietly reft in. So, fuppofing our T>i. 
 'vines to be, what they generaUy are, ftill 
 Minifters of the Abfurdity of the Letter, 
 I pafs to the Confideration of the Autho- 
 rity of the Fathers, and to fee, whether 
 we can't learn of them this Parable of the 
 Figtree. 
 
 Who or what is meant by the Figtree 
 feems not to be agreed among the Fathers ; 
 or, more properly fpeaking, they are not 
 agreed, all of them to apply it always to 
 
 (19) Porro quando in hunc locum Incfdimus, 
 nemo curios^ inquirat, aur anxie difpurer, juftene 
 an fecus fadlum hr; fed Miraculum edirum contem- 
 pletur et admiretur. Nam de fubmerfis Porcls quoq^ 
 nonnulli htnc quseftionem moverant, fa6lumq; lufti- 
 tiae colore deftitutum prsedicarc veriti non funt. 
 In Ltc, MATci. 
 
 one 
 
(77) 
 
 one and the fame Thing. Some, as f 20) 
 Gregory the Great ^ fay Human Nature 
 or Mankind is typified by the Figtree. 
 Others, as (xi) St. Hilary^ fay the 
 Jewtjh Church or State is meant by it. 
 Others, as (zz) Ongen fay, it is a Type 
 of the Church of Chrift. So do the Fa- 
 thers feem to be divided in their Opinions^ 
 but it is without any DifFero4ice or Incon- 
 fi(lency with each other. Fot as there is, 
 according to the Fathers, Myftery upon 
 Myftery in all the Actions of Jefiis ; fo 
 I behevc the Figtree here, as a Type, may 
 be properly enough apply'd to the forefaid 
 three Purpofes. And if the Fathers had 
 been ask'd their Opinion in this Cafe, I 
 dare fay, they would have faid fo too. 
 This is certain that Origen (x^) under- 
 ftands it as applicable to the Jewifi as 
 well as the Chrijiian Church. And St, 
 Auguftm^ as Occafion offers itfclf, takes 
 it m the forefaid three Senfes. When they 
 underhand it as a Type of all Mankind, 
 they fay that the three Tears of its Un- 
 
 {-Lo) Quid Arbor fici, nifi huruanam naturam 
 defignet ? J« Ho^Tj;/. xxxi. (ii) In Ficu, Sy- 
 
 r.ogogx pofitum Exemplum eft. In Loc. Mntt, 
 
 (vi) Abfit a nobis, ut, Jefu venlente ad nos et vo- 
 lente manducare de ficu {j^cclefix) v\on inveniaturFru- 
 dus in ea. In Mntth. Tmci. xxx. _ (x^) Potefi: 
 eutcm ficus ilia intelligi populus Circuracifionis. 
 Ibid; 
 
 fruitfulnefs 
 
fruicfulnefs ak to be interpreted of the 
 (14) three grand Periods of the World; 
 the one before the Law of Mofes ; another 
 under the Law; and the //:?/r^ under the 
 Gofpel; at the Conclufion of which third 
 Period, as ic was an ancient and common 
 Opinion, Jefus \\\ Spirit would come to 
 his Figtrce of Mankind, and animadvert 
 on them for their Unfruitfulnefs, not by 
 any Dcftrudlonof human Nature, but by 
 a CelTation of irs Unfruitful State, which' 
 theti will wither away, and beturn'dinto a 
 fruitful one againd the grand Sabbath, or 
 acceptable Year, which is the Year llgni- 
 fied in the Parable, that it is to be let alone" 
 to brin^ forth Fruit m. They that undcr- 
 ftand the Figtrce as a Type of the Je'jutjh 
 State, mean by the three Tears Jefus came- 
 to it, the three lears. of his preaching a-- 
 mong the Je'-j^s; at the End of which, af- 
 ter Qhriji'% PalTion and Rcllirrec^ion, the' 
 Jew'tfi State, like the Figtree, withered a--' 
 way, and, for its Unfruitfulnefs, was root-^ 
 cd up. They that underfland the Figrree 
 as a Figure of the Church of Chri't^ by 
 the three Tears, mean the apocalyptical 
 
 (14) Arbor ficulnea Genus humanum efl, 
 
 Triennium aurem trla func Tempora, unum aurc 
 Legem, aircrum fub Lege, tcrtium Tub gratia. St. 
 yiii^ujlin in Serm. ex. 
 
 twelve 
 
( H ) 
 
 twelve hundred and Jixty Days ^that is^ 
 three Years and a half) of the Church's 
 barren and unfruitful State in the Wildef- 
 nefs, at the Conclufion of which, the Fa- 
 thers fay Jefus will come again to his 
 Church or Figtite, feeking Fruit on it. 
 
 Some perhaps may be ready here to 
 interpofe with a Queftion, and fay, how 
 will Jefus then come to his Church ? 1 
 have carefully perufed the Fathers upon 
 this Queftion, and can't find that they 
 mean any more by Chriji's fecond or fpi- 
 ritual Advent, than that clear Truth^ right 
 Reafon and divine JVifdom ^which are the 
 myftical Names of Jefuf) will defcend up- 
 on the Church, on the Clouds of the 
 Law and the Prophets, to the Removal 
 of her unfruitful and unprofitable Errors, 
 and to enable her to bring forth the Fruits 
 of the Spirit, againft the grand Sabbath. 
 Neither can any reafonable Man con- 
 ceive how ocherwife {"l^) the Lordjhould 
 conie^ (not with ten thoufand of his Saints^ 
 as our Tranflation has it, but) g^j^to^/ao-w 
 ccyioLii aJley, that is, as Ortgen interprets, iii 
 his holy thoufands of Allegorifts TroiMo-ai x^*- 
 <riv, to critictfe upon all the Scripture, and 
 to convince Mmifiers of the Letter of their 
 
 (i')) Jude,vtv. 14, 
 
 abominable 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 abominable Errors, and of their horrid 
 Blafphcmies fpoken, preach'd, and prin- 
 ted againft the Holy (Ghoft or) Spirit 
 of the Law and Prophets. As to that 
 licteral and common Pulpit-Story C^i^^ 
 all its Appendages) of 'Jefus's fecond Com- 
 ing on aechcrial Clouds, as on a Wool- 
 fack, in his human, tho' glorious and ma- 
 jeftick Appearance, for the Refurrediort 
 of Mens Bodies, by Soundof aTrumper, 
 in the Audience of (he Dead, &c. ic is the 
 moft ablurd, nonfcnfical and unphilofophi- 
 cal, (fuch groundlcfs and worchleis SLufT 
 have ihcClergy fold and preach'd to God's 
 People!) that ever was told again(t Rcafon, 
 againft prophetick and evangelical Scrip- 
 ture, and againfl other ancient and good 
 Authority. It is no Place here to multiply 
 Teflimonics and Arguments to cither of 
 thefe Purpofcs, which my Renders, if they 
 do but attend, will fee no Occafion for. 
 But if our divines (liould think I have 
 put a fallb Glofs on the Text of St. Judi 
 above, I have a Bundle of Arguments and 
 Tcftimonics to produce in Defence of ic, 
 at their Service. 
 
 In the Parable of St. Luke, it is fr. id, 
 Lo, thefe three Tears come 1 feekin^^ Fruit o?s 
 this Figtree ; as if yefiis ccmc annually and 
 fucccdively for f^^ri?.? lears together; hue 
 according to the Original, it ought to be 
 E rcavl 
 
read, Z,o^ it is three Tears and I now comet 
 or Lo, the three Tears are no'jj pafi^and I 
 come. And Iicrc it is to be noted, that 
 Vi'hethcr wc underlland the Figtree, as a 
 Figure of the Church in particular, or of 
 Mankind in general ; the myftical Num- 
 ber of three Tears will terminate about 
 the fame Time, againfl: the Evangelical 
 Sabbath, on which the Unfruitfulnefs of 
 rhc Church, or of Mandind, according to 
 the Fathers, is to have an End put to it. 
 x4nd ^/efns, when he came to the Fig- 
 tree : found riothtn^z thereoyi but heaves on- 
 ly : So Jcfiis^ when he comes to his Church, 
 v;ill find nothing in her but Leaves only. 
 And what is here meant by Leaves? Let 
 the Fathers, fuch as (25) St. Htlarj^ St. 
 johnizy) of Jerufalcfn, and C^8) St. Theo- 
 J-hylaci tell us, who by Leaves underfland 
 a vain and empty Appearance of Wif- 
 dom and good Works, or the Words and 
 Letter of the ScripeDres, which are the 
 Leaves of the Oracle, without any Figs of 
 
 {iG) Invenietmfxcundam, foliis tanromodo veft»; 
 tam, id eft Verbis inanibtis gloriantem, fed fru6li 
 bus vacuam, Operibus quippe bonis fterilem. hr 
 i-oc. Mate 
 
 (zj) Habcnrcm folia et non ^ruS:^ ; Verba, non 
 Scnfiis; Scripruras, noninteliigentiam Scrlpturaruni 
 Jn Loc Marci. 
 
 C-2.8) Folia fo!a habenrem, hoc eft, apparentem 
 Litteram, non Fru(?LUS Spiriits. In Ice- Mate. 
 
 fpiritiia 
 
I 
 
 ( ^7 ) 
 
 fpiritual Interpretations of them. And wlic- 
 \r2!i this bcn't the Cafe of the Church at 
 prclcnt, our 'Dm^wj arc to confidcr. The 
 Figs that J<^fus' may be fuppofcd to look 
 for at his Coming, arc not only the Fruits 
 of the Spirit mcntion'd by St. PaaJy but 
 (29) fpiritual Interpretations of the Scrip- 
 tures, which St. Jerome (]o) fays arc 
 myflical F/j^s ; becaufe, as ripe Figs arc 
 fwect to the Palace of our Mouths, io are 
 they no lets delicious to the Soul of Man. 
 hut J c fits is laid to be hungry after 
 Figs : lb will Jefus in Spirit hunger for 
 the mylHcai Figs of his Church, that is, 
 3iS Origen (^i) rightly interprets, he will 
 Garneltly uel'irc, like a Man that is hun* 
 gry, the Fruits of tiie Spirit m his Church, 
 which will be as grateful to him as Figs 
 can be to a Mannnrurally. To underfland 
 this Exprcilion o^Jefus^Hmiger literally, is 
 fuch a mean Circumllancc of Life, thnc 
 unlefs it be, what's next to impodible, ne- 
 ecHarily introdudory to ibme noble Tranf-* 
 
 (19) QiiGcrens non Senfiles Fru:^us fed inrelle6i:l- 
 lem ex Lege cc Prophetis dulccmq; Fxcunditatem. 
 Cxfnr'ti in Dir.lo'^. 40. 
 
 r^o) FIcus (unr dona diilciillma Spirirus Sanest, 
 Splritualia dogmata cc Sclentia Scripturp.rum. In 
 Aggx\ Crt/' _ii. 
 
 ['\i) Elurilt autcm Jefus femper in juftis, volcns 
 nandt-icarc Fruilum Spiritus San£li inel.3. In hUtt^ 
 Ti/ict, XXX. 
 
 E z acHiion 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 a(^icn, it*s unfic to be remembered of a 
 Sainc in Hiftory. T>hg€nes Laertius would 
 have difdaind co mention fuch a frivolous 
 Circumflance in the Life of a Philofopher 
 as this of Jejiis. But if we underftand 
 this ^linger in 'jefas myftically, and fi- 
 guratively of his Defires of the Fruits of 
 the Spirit in his Church, it is fublime 
 and noble ; and the Emblem confeiledly 
 proper and inftrudive. 
 
 But Jefus is laid to come to the Fig- 
 tree at an unfcafonable Time; For the 
 Time of Fi'^s '■juas not yet j which Expref- 
 fion has been the Perplexity of Commen- 
 tators^ who with all their Wit and Saga- 
 city ci{\z get well over it. I fhall not 
 mention here all or any of their pretend- 
 ed Solutions of this Difficulty; bucletus 
 fee whether we can't eafily and at once 
 unlofe ic. St. Markv> Words are ovyx^ 
 r)v y.ccip'^ cvxfcv, which are and have been 
 f ommonly tranflated, fir the Time of Figs 
 is not yet. But if we change the 'Potnt- 
 into an Ijiter rogation,^ and read thus, jor 
 was it not the Time of Figs? the Difficulty 
 vaniOics as certninly, as that \i is abfurd 
 to fuppofe Chrijl ihould come to his Fig> 
 tree and look for Fruit, when he could 
 not rcafonably exped?: -aw/- This my So- 
 Uition of this Difficulty certainly ferves 
 t-hc Purpofe of the myftical Interpretati- 
 on ,• 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 on; and if ic docs not tire litccral, I an- 
 fvvcr, wc arc noc to heed chc Letter, which 
 feldom or never has any .Senle or Truth 
 in ic. But, by the by, it docs chc htcc- 
 ral coo, fuice there are no Grounds from 
 the Text to chink, whac has been the 
 common Opinion, chac ic was about the 
 Jr^'tfi Paflbver that Jefus came to the 
 Figtree. If this my Solution of the Dif- 
 ficulty don't plcafe, I mufi: fay with (^x) 
 Heinfiits^ that it mud be Icfc as a Knoc 
 for Elias to untie-, who, according to the 
 (3^ ) ancient Jews^ is firftro gather Fruits 
 oft this myftical Figtree, and pre font them 
 to the incelle(5lual Tafte of Mankind. 
 Buc, chat my Solucion is good, will appear 
 by whac follows. 
 
 And Jefus finding Leaves only fays, 
 i\\ St. Matthe'ji\ co che Figcrcc, Let no 
 Fruit gro-jD on thee henccfoYo^ard for e- 
 'ver-^ which (with its parallel Place in Sc. 
 Alark) is in my Opinion a falfc Tranfla- 
 tion: The Original is, Muxe^i e-n. sov x.ap- 
 TTi^ yevttroci «$ Toy. ccioovat, and ought to be 
 
 C^zMd quern (Locum) Inrelllgendum, ut opor- 
 t.er, expe^andum cfle Eliae, ut nonnunquam lo- 
 quunrur Veterea de Locis obfcuriliimis Advcjiturat 
 I/i Excrcitat. Sac. Lib. ii. cnp. 6. 
 
 {7,^) Frudt'us dulccs omne genus de arbore VIrac 
 comedendum prabeblc Elias, ^fud Buxtorf. Sj*^ 
 
 cnglifli'd 
 
r 3° ) 
 
 englillied, not as yet, or not untill mw, 
 (that 1 came) againft the (grand) Age (of 
 the Sabbath) has Fruit grown on thee. So 
 that the Miracle of Jefus was to make 
 the Figtree of the Church fruitful; and 
 if her preceeding unfruitful State, which 
 (in St. Mark) Jefiis is faid to curfe, or ra- 
 ther to devote to Ruin, wailed away, it 
 was by Confequence. 
 
 But what Time of Day was it that 
 Jefus came to the Figtree ? It was in the 
 Morning, And of what Day > That is un- 
 certain as to the Letter, but according to 
 themyftical Extent of the TT;/^^ 2>^rj-,whe- 
 ther we underftand the Figtree as a Type 
 of the Church, or of all Mankind of all 
 Ages, it will be on the Morning of the 
 great Sabbath, when, upon theAppcarance 
 9f the Light of Chrill, like the Rifing of 
 the Sun, an unfruitful and erroneous 
 Church mufl needs wither away. And 
 the Difciples on the faid Morning will, 
 as Origen (34) fays, with their intellectu- 
 al Eyes behold her wafle with Admirati- 
 on. And then too, they under Chrid 
 lipill do '-j::hat is done to the Figtree, of the 
 Church, and remot'e Mountains of Anti- 
 chriftian Power, that exalt thcmfelves a- 
 
 (:?4) OcuHs Spiritallbus yiderunt Myflenun% 
 fici ticcais:. Man, Tracf. xvt 
 
 gainfl 
 
( V ) 
 
 gainfl him, as the Fathers interpret, and 
 Inccd not explain. 
 
 And what is meant by the Means, which 
 St. Luke fpeaks of, to make the Figtrec 
 of the Church fruitful on the Sabbatical 
 Year ; the Tear it is to be let alone to 
 bear Fruit in 1 There muft be digging a^ 
 bout it ^ that is (35) into the Earth of the 
 Letter of the Scriptures, and dunging of 
 it, that iscalHng(39Uo Remembrance her 
 Sins and Errors of the Time pad, which 
 rationally Ipcaking will make the Church 
 to bring forth good Fruir. 
 
 After this Faihion is the reft of the Pa- 
 rable of the Figtrce to be allegorized out 
 of the Fathers. St. Gregory (37; the Great ^ 
 and St. Auguflin^ make ihefe two Stories 
 or Parables, ^ciz., of the Figtrce, and of 
 the Woman with her Spirit of Infirmity^ 
 as they are blended together in St. Luke^ 
 to be Figures of the lame Myftery. The 
 
 ('^5') EfFodlentes Literam Legls. C>tj7. Glaphyr'. 
 L. I. P I. 
 
 (q6) Mlrtlrur ergo Cophlnus Stercons ad Radi. 
 cem Arborls, quando pravitatls fuae Confcic-nria tan- 
 gltur memoria Coglcationis. Gregor. M. in Horn. 
 XXXI • 
 
 (^7) Sed hoc fignificat Ficulnea Infrii^luofa, quod 
 Mulier inclinata ; ec hoc Flculneii rcfervatq, quod 
 Mullcr cre£ta. Hoc autem ct o£lodea-m Annorum 
 Numero fignatur, quod tcrtio die Dominus Vinex 
 Ficulncam vcnlfle pcrhibetur, In Umil xxxf, 
 
 eight'. £72 
 
( ?a ; 
 
 eighteen Tears of the Womian's Infirmiry 
 and the three Tears of the Figtree's Un« 
 fruitfuhiefs, they will have to be myfli- 
 caily fynchromical. And the Woman's In^ 
 cur-vity to the Earth is, they fay, fignifi- 
 cative of the fame Thing with the JJn- 
 frmtfulnefs of the Figtrcc. And the E- 
 reel ton of the Woman on the Sabbath is of 
 the fame Import With the Refervation of 
 the Tree for Fruitfuhiefs oh that Day. 
 And let any one fee, if they don*t admi- 
 tally agree, as I have interpreted thcfe 
 two Parables. 
 
 Before I difmifs this Story of the Fig- 
 tree, I can't but adore the Providence of 
 God, that the Miracle has been hitherto 
 placed m the withering i^^vay of the Tree. 
 Il the Miracle had been a plain Story of 
 a dead and wither'd Tree's being made 
 to bring forth Leaves and Fruit oh a fud- 
 den ; this would have been fuch a mani- 
 f-llly fupernaturai Work, and fo agreea- 
 ble to modern Nocionifts about Miracles, 
 that Mens Thoughts would have been fo 
 ubforpi: in the Confideracion of the Letter, 
 as xhzy would never have extended them 
 to the Contemplation of the Mydery. And 
 our Divines would have made fuch a Noifc, 
 m our Ears of the Excellency and Mar- 
 velloufners of fuch a Miracle, as thac 
 th:re wo a id bs no bciu'ing of it. But 
 
 as 
 
( n ) 
 
 But a3 the E'Vangelifls have in a gooJ 
 Meafure flipprcfs'd all mention of the af« 
 ter Fruicfulncfs of the Tree j arid the StO-* 
 ry, by Miibonftrudtion, is clog d With thq 
 forel'aid Difficulties and Abfurdicie>, we 
 are of Ncecllity driven to the fearch aftec 
 Myftcry for good Senfe and Truth in it. 
 
 And thus have I fpoken enough to th^ 
 Miracle of Jefus's curfing the Figtree^ 
 which according to the Letter is a foolifli 
 and abfurd Story : But the myflical 
 Operation, of which the Letter is a 
 Shadow, will be ravifliing, rriarvclous 
 and ftupendouSi and not only a Proof 
 of Chn/Fs Power and Prelbncc in his 
 Church, but a Denlonftration of his Meffi- 
 ahflupy in as much as an infinite Num- 
 ber of Prophecy s upon Prophccys, will 
 thereupon be difccrn'd to be accom- 
 plifii'd, or the Church can't bring forth 
 the Fruits of the Spirit, that is Spiritu- 
 al Interpretations of the bcripturcs, like 
 ripe Figs. And fo I pafs to an 
 
 8. E'Xhth Miracle of Jifus^ and that 
 is, C^8^ " of his hciling a Man of arl 
 *' Infirmity, of thirty ei^hc Years Dura- 
 " tion, at the Pool of Bctbefda^ that had 
 " five Porches, in which lay a great Mul- 
 " titude of impotent Folk, blind, halt, 
 *' withered, waiting the troubling of the 
 
 (:?8) John, Chap, v. 
 
 F Warcra 
 
*' Waters, upon the Dcfcent of an An- 
 *• gel, who gave a SanativeVirtue to them, 
 '* to the curing of anyone, be his Diftem- 
 ** per of what kind foever, who firft 
 " ftept down into them. 
 
 This whole Story is what our Saviour 
 calls a Camel of a monftrous Size for 
 Abfurdiries, Improbabilities and Incredi- 
 bihties, which our 'Divines^ and their im- 
 phcit Followers of thefe laft Ages, have 
 fwallowcd without chewing; whilft they 
 have been draining at Knats in Theology, 
 and hefitating at frivolous and indifferent 
 Ihings of the Church, of no Confe- 
 quence. 
 
 As to Jefuss Miracle in this Story, 
 which confided in his healing a Man, of 
 no body knows what Infirmity, there nei- 
 ther is nor can be proved any Thing fu- 
 pcrnatural in it, or there bad been an 
 exprefs Defcription of the Difeafe, with- 
 out which it is impolTible to fay, there 
 was a miraculous Cure wrought. As far as 
 one may reafonably guefs, this Man's /«- 
 firmity was more Lazynefs than Laj?ienefs, 
 and Jefits only fliamed him out of his 
 pretended Illnefs, by bidding him to take 
 up his Stool and walk off, and not lie a- 
 ny longer, Hke a lazy Lubbaid and Dif- 
 fembler, among the Difeafed, who were 
 real Objeds of Pity a^idCompaflion:' Or, 
 
 if 
 
( ?5 ) 
 
 if he was no Deflcmblcr, he was only 
 fancy fully fick, and Jcfus by Ibmc proper 
 and fcafonablc Talk touch'd his Heart, to 
 his Relief; and fo, by the Help of his own 
 Imagination, he was cured, and went his 
 Way. This is the worfl that can be 
 made of this infirm Man's Cafe; and the 
 beji that can be faid of Jejiis^s Power 
 in the Cure of him, as will appear, by and 
 by, upon Examination into \z. But the 
 other Parts of the Story of the healing 
 Virr.ue of the Waters, upon the Dcfcent 
 of an Angel into them, is not only void 
 of all good Foundation in Hiftory, but 
 is a Contradiction to common Senfe and 
 Rcafon, as will be manifeft after an In- 
 quiry into the Particulars of it. 
 
 St. John was the beloved Difciple of 
 our Lord, and I hope helov'd his Mailer; 
 or he was worfc than an Heathen, who 
 loves thofewho love him: But this Story, 
 and fome others, that are peculiar to his 
 Gofp'el, fuchas, of Jefuss telling the Sama- 
 ritan JVoman her Fortune ; of his healing 
 the blind Man '-jvith Eye Salve made of 
 Clay and Spittle i Of his turning IVater 
 into limine for the Ufe of Men, "Ji'ho had 
 before 'luell drunk ; and of ^/j raifing La^ 
 ^arus from the 'Dead^ arc enough to tempt 
 us to think, that he wilfully dcfign'd, ci- 
 ther to blafl the P.cpuratign of hu Maftcr, 
 
 F z cr 
 
( 5^ ) 
 
 or to try how ht tb^ Credulky of Mefi, 
 who through blind LoVe were runoing a^ 
 pace into Chfiftianicy, might be ^mpoled 
 on ; or he had never related fuch idle Tales, 
 which > if the Priejlh^od^ who flloyld be the 
 philofophical Part of Mfinkind, had not 
 been amply hired into the Belief of thcirft, 
 would certainly have been rep(5^ed with 
 Jndignarion and Scorn before now. 
 
 be. '}ohn wrote his Gofpcl rrsany Yea^s 
 •^ftcr ^hc Other Evangckfls : Whar. cheii 
 •(liould have been his peculiar Bufinefs ? 
 Certainly nothing more, than to add fotiie 
 remarkable Paffages of Life, to Jeftis'^ Ho- 
 nour, which they had omitted ; and to con- 
 firm the Truths which they had before re** 
 ported of him. But Sr. ^ohn is fo far from 
 doing this, that the Stories, he has parti- 
 cularly added, are not only derogatory 
 to the Honour of Jefus^ but fpoil his 
 Fame for a Worker of Miracles, which 
 the other E-vangelijls Would raife him to. 
 By reading the odier Evangeltlfs^ ont 
 would think, that Jefns was a Healer of 
 all manner ofDifcafes, however incurable 
 by Art and Nature, and that whcre-evet 
 he came, all the Tick and the maim*d 
 (excepting a few Infidels} were perfectly 
 cured by him. But this Story before us 
 will be like a Demonflration, that Jefus 
 was no fuch Worker of Miracles and 
 
 Heale$: 
 
( ?7 ) 
 
 ffealcr of Difcafcis, as he is commonly 
 believed rd have been, and that he wrought 
 not near the Nunfiber of Cures, he is fup- 
 poled to have done, much Icfs anygrcat ones. 
 The bed Conception that an impartial Rea- 
 der of the Golpel can form of jFf/^j, is, that 
 he was a tolerable good natural Orator^ and 
 could hdndlomely harangue the People 
 off hand, and was according to the Phi- 
 lofophy of the Times a good Cabalifi; 
 and his Admirers finding him cndcwed 
 with the Gift of Utterance, which was 
 thought by them more than human, they 
 fahcy'd he muft have the Gifc of healing 
 too, and would have him to excrcifeit^ 
 which he did v/ith Succcfs, upon the Fan- 
 cies and Imaginations of many, who mag- 
 nified his divine Power fot it. And the 
 Apodles afterwards, to help forward the 
 Credulity and Delufion of the People, 
 amplified his Fame with extravagant Af- 
 ferrions and ftrange Stories of Miracles, 
 paffing the Belief of confiderate and wife 
 Men. Whether this Reprefentation of the 
 Cafe, according to the Letter of the Gof- 
 pels, be falfe and improbable, let my 
 Readers judge by the Story before us, 
 which I come now to didcd", and make 
 a particular Examination into the feveral 
 Partis of it. Accordingly it is to be ob- 
 
 fCKV'd, 
 
 Firfi, 
 
( a8 ; 
 
 Firfti that this Story of the Pool of 
 Bethejda^ abftrad^edly confjdered from 
 Jefus's Cure of an infirm Man at it, has 
 no good Foundation in Hillory : It merits 
 no Man's Credit, nor will any reafonabJc 
 Perfon give any heed to it. St. John is 
 the only Author that has made any 
 mention of this Story ; and tho' his Au- 
 thority may be good, and better than an- 
 other Man's in Relation to the Words 
 and A(5tions of Jefus, in as much as he 
 was mofl familiar and converfant with 
 him ; yet, for foreign Matters, that have 
 no immediate Refped: to Jefus'^ Life, he's 
 no more to be regarded than another Hijio' 
 riajiy who, if he palm upon his Readers 
 an improbable Tale of fenflefs and abfurd 
 Circumftances, will have his Authority 
 qucfticned, and his Story pry'd into by 
 the Rules of Criticifm^ and rejected or 
 received as it is found v/orthy of Bc- 
 h'ef and Credit. If there had been any 
 Truth in this Story before us, I cannot 
 think but Jofephus or fome other Jewtjh 
 Writers, it is fo remarkable, pecuhar and 
 alloniihing an Inftar.ce of the Angelical 
 Care and Love to the diftrciTcd of 'jeu- 
 falem, would have fpoken of it; But I don't 
 find they have ; or our modern Commen- 
 tators would have refer'd to them, as to 
 a Tellimony of the Credibility of the 
 
 Gofpc!- 
 
( 39) 
 
 Gofpcl-Hiftory. Jofephus has profefTed- 
 ly written the Hiiflory of the Je\z'ijh 
 Nation, in which he leems to omit no- 
 thing that makes for the Honour of his 
 Country, or for the Manifeftation of the 
 Providence of God over it.. He tells us 
 of the Converfation of Angels with the 
 Patriarchs and Prophets, and intermixes 
 Extra-Scriptural Traditions, as he thoughc 
 them fit to be tranfmitted to Pofterity. 
 How came he then and all other Je-iZtJh 
 Writers to forget this Story of the Pool 
 of Bethefda? I think, we may as well 
 fuppofe that a Writer of the natural H<- 
 flory of Somerfetjhire would ncglcdl to 
 fpeak of the medicinal Waters of Bath^ 
 as ']ofephus ihould omit that Story, which, 
 if true, was a fingular Proof of Gods di- 
 ilinguilhing Care of his peculiar People, 
 or an Angel had never been frequently, 
 as we fuppofe, lent to this Relief of the 
 Difeafcd amongft them. Is then St. John% 
 fingle Authority enough to convey this 
 Story down to us? Some may fay, that 
 there are feveral Prodigies, as well as po- 
 litical Events of ancient Times, that, tho* 
 jhey are reported but by one Hiftorian, 
 meet with Credit; and why may not Sr. 
 Johns Teftimony be equal to another 
 Writer's ? I grant it ; and tho* it is hardly 
 probable but that this Story, if true, before 
 
 us. 
 
f 4=* ) 
 
 Us, muft have had the Fortufle to be told 
 by others ; yet St. Johns fingle Authori- 
 ty Ihall pafs fooner than another Man's, 
 if the Matter be in itfelf credible and well 
 circumftancd. But were it is bhndly, m» 
 perfed-ly and with monftroufly incredible 
 Circumrtances related, like this before us, 
 it ought to be rejeded. Which brings me, 
 SecorMy^ To ask, what was the true 
 Occafion o{ the Angel's Defcent into this 
 Pool ? Was it to wafli and bath himlelf > 
 Or, was it to impart an healing Qiiality 
 to the Waters for fome one difeafed Per- 
 lon ? The Reafon, that I ask the firft of 
 thefe two Queftions, is, becaufe fome 
 ancient Readings of v. 4. fay (3^) the 
 Angel €\qubJo was wajhed, which fuppofes 
 fome bodily Defilement or Heat contradl- 
 ed m the Cscleftial Regions, that want- 
 ed Refrigeration er Purgation in thefe 
 Waters : But how abfurd fuch a Thought 
 is, needs no Proof. To impart then conj- 
 paflionately an healing Power to the Wa- 
 ters for the Benefit of the Difeafed was 
 the fole Defig?i of the Angel's Defcent ia- 
 to them. And God forbid, that any (houljd 
 philofophically debare the Matter, and 
 enquire how naturally the Waters dcriv'4 
 that Virtue from the Angel's corporaj 
 
 . (39^ Vid. Milll. Nov. Teft. In Uc. 
 
 Prefence 
 
(4« ) 
 
 Prefcncc. The Thing was providential 
 and miraculous, our 'Divmes will lay, and 
 fo Ice icpals. But I may fairly ask, why 
 one dilcalcd Pcrlon only at a Timereap'd 
 the Benefit? Or why the whole Num-* 
 bcr of impoccnc Folks were not at onca 
 healed ? I have a notable Anfwer pre- 
 Icntly to be given to thele Qtiedions i but 
 I am afraid beforehand, our Divines will 
 not approve of it: Therefore they arc to give 
 one of their own, and make the Matter 
 confiflent with the Goodnefs and VVifdoni 
 of God ; or the laid Qiicftions fpoil the 
 Credit of the Story, and make an idle 
 and ridiculous Romance of it. And when 
 their Hands are in, to make, what is im- 
 poffible, a iatisfad:ory AnAver to the 
 laid Qiicftioas j I wiOi, that, for the fake 
 of Orthodoxy, they would determine, whe- 
 ther the Angel dcfcendcd with his Head 
 or his Heels forcmoll, or whether he might 
 not come fwauping upon his Brcaft into 
 the Waters, like a Goolc in:o a Horie- 
 pond. Bur, 
 
 Thirdly^ How oficn in the Week, the 
 Month or the Year did the Angel 
 vouchfafe his Dcfccnt into the Pool? 
 And for how many Ages before Chr:it\ 
 Advent, and why not hncc and cvcnC40) 
 
 (41) Qiiare modo non movctur »\qua ? St. Am 
 I'rof, d: Sn:rnm:nt. Lib. C, x. 
 
(40 
 
 7iowj was this Gracious and Angelical Fa- 
 vv'our granted ? St. John fiiould have been 
 {iarricular as co theie Points, which he could 
 not but know Phiiolbphers would be cu- 
 rious to enquire about. If it was but once 
 i'A the Year, as St. Chryfcjiom (41) hints, 
 little Thanks are due to him for his Cour- 
 tcfy. One would think fometimes, that 
 his Dcfcent was frequent j or fuch a Mul- 
 titude of impotent Folk, varioufly dif- 
 ordcr'd had never attended on it. And 
 ^g?An at other Times, one would think 
 that his Dcfccnc Vv^as feldom, or the Dif- 
 cafcd as faft as they came, which could 
 not be fader than the Angel could dabble 
 himfelf in the Waters, had been charita- 
 bly diijnifTcd with reflor'd Health. Here 
 then is a Defect in St. 'johns Story, and a 
 Blocks at which wife and confiderate Free- 
 Thinkers will flumble. Bur, 
 
 Fourthly^ Flow came it to pafs, that 
 there was not better Care taken, either 
 by the Providence of God, or of the 
 Civil Magid rates of Jemfakm about 
 the Difpofai of the Angelical Favour to 
 chis or that poor Man, according to his 
 Ncce/Tities or Dcfcrts : But that he, who 
 
 TnScruu c:)7itrt: Elcrletr.H-m, 
 
 could 
 
( 4U 
 
 Could forcunarcly catch lIic Favour, was 
 ^o have ic. Juft as he who runs fallen: 
 obraiiis the Prize : So here the Dilcafed, 
 who was mod nimble and watchful of 
 the Angels Dcicent, and could firll: plunge 
 himfelf into the Pool, carried off the Gift 
 of Sanation. An odd and a merry Way of 
 conferring a divine Mercy. And one would 
 think that the Angels of God did this 
 for their own Divcrfion, more thm to 
 do good to Mankind. Juif as Ibmc 
 throw a Bone among a Kennel of Hounds, 
 for the Pleafure of feeing them quarrel 
 for ic ; or as others caft a Piece of Mo- 
 ney among a Company of Boys for the 
 Sport of iceing them Icramble for it: So 
 was the Paftimc of the Angels here. Ic 
 was the Opinion of fome Heathens, that 
 Ho77iines fnnt Lnfus ^Deorum^ the Gods 
 fport themfclvcs with the Mifcrics of 
 Mankind ; but I never thought, before 
 I confidercd this Story, that the An- 
 gels of the God of the Jc^s did fo too. 
 But if they dclighrcd in ic, rare fporc 
 ic was to them, as could be to a 7<:7xv2- 
 Mobb, For as the poor and di.Qrefled 
 Wretches were not to be fuppofcd to 
 be of fuch a police Convcrraticn, as in 
 Compiaifancc to give place to their bet 
 ters, or in Compafiion to make \\'ay 
 far the mcll: mifcrablejbuc upon tlie Si^hc 
 G 1 or 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 or Sound of the Angel's Fall into the Pool, 
 would wichoutRefped:of Perfons drive who 
 fliould be fir ft : So thofe who were behind 
 and unlikely to be cured, would like an 
 unciviliz'd Rabble^ puHi and prefs all 
 before them into it. What a Number 
 then, of feme hundreds perhaps, of poor 
 Creatures were at once tumbled into the 
 Waters to the Diverfion of the City Mob, 
 as well as of God's Angels ? And if one 
 arofc out of ic, with the Cure of his Dif- 
 eafe, the reft came forth likedrown'd Rats^ 
 to the Laughter of the forefaid Speda- 
 tprs ; and ix. was well if there was notfome- 
 timcs more Milchicf done, than the heal- 
 ing of /???c^ could be of Advantage, to thofq 
 People. Believe then thisPart of thcSrory, 
 Je: him that can. If any Angel was con- 
 cern'd in this Work, it was an Angel of 
 Satan Vvho delights in Mifchief^ and if 
 be healed one upon fuch an Occafion, he 
 did it by way of Bait, to draw others 
 into Danger of Life and Limb. But as 
 our 'i)/-u77/rj will not, I fuppofc, bear the 
 Thoughts of it's being a bad Angel ; fo 
 I leave them to confidcr upon our Rea- 
 fonings, whether ic was credible that ei- 
 rher a good or a bad Angel was concern- 
 ed, and defirc tlsem to remember to give 
 ^•iie abetter R-cafon, why but one at a' 
 Time was healed. 
 
 If 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 If nny Pool or Ciftcrn of Warcr abouc 
 this City o{ London was ib bleflcd with the 
 Dcfccnt of an Angel to Inch an End, the 
 Magillratcs,liich is their Wifdom, would, if 
 God did not dired:, take care of the pru- 
 dent Difpofal of the Mercy to the bed 
 Advantage of the Diieafcd. And if they 
 fold it to an infirin Lord ox Merchm7t,yN\\o 
 could give for it moft Money, robe diflri- 
 bured among other Poor and diflrcls'd Peo- 
 ple, would it not be wifely done of them ? 
 To fuppofe they would leave the Ange- 
 lick Favour to the Struggle of aMukitude, 
 is abfurd and incredible. And why then 
 ihould wc think otherwife of the Magi- 
 flrates of Jerufalem ? Away then with 
 the Letter of this Story ! And if this be 
 not enough to confute it. Then, 
 
 Fifthly, Let us confider, to its firthcr 
 Confutation, who and what were the 
 impotent Folk, that lay in the Porches of 
 Bethefda^ waiting the Troubling of the 
 Waters. St. John fays they were Blind^ 
 Halt^ JVithered^ and as fome Manufcripts 
 C42,) have ir, 'Paralyticks. And what did 
 any oF thcfe there? How could any of 
 them be fuppofed to be nimble enough of 
 Foottoflcp down firfl: into the Waters, 
 and carry ofF the Prize of Sanation, be- 
 
 {^■^) Vid. MlUi, Nov. Teft. hi Lcc. 
 
 fore 
 
( +6 ; 
 
 fore many others of various Diflempers ? 
 Tho' the troubled Waters might beof 
 fuch medicinal Force as lo heal a Man of 
 whatfoevcr Difeale he had ,- yet none of 
 the forefaid Perfons for want of good Feet 
 and Eyes could exped the Benefit of ic. 
 Tho' the Ears of the Blind might ferve 
 him to hear, when the Angel plumper 
 like a Stone into the Waters, yet through 
 "want of Sight for the guidance o'i his 
 Steps, he would by others be joilied out 
 of the right Way down into them. And 
 if the Lame had good Eyes to diJcern the 
 the Defcent of the Angel, yet Feet were 
 all in all to this Purpofe : Confequcntly 
 thefe impotent Folk, fpecified by Si. Jokn^ 
 might as well have ilay'd at Home, as re- 
 forted to BetkefcLi for Cure. I know nor 
 what Fools the DiCc:i^ed ,o£ Jem fa/em of 
 Old might be, but if there was luch a Prize 
 of Health to be firoye for, by the Dillem- 
 pered of this City, I appeal to all Men 
 of common Scnfe, whether the BlmJ, the 
 Lame^ xhQ'withinJ 2,nd Paralytkks would 
 olTer to put in for it. '^i, Jchn then for- 
 got himfelf, or clfe blundered cgregiouHy, 
 or put the Banter upon us, ro try how 
 far an abfurd Tale would psfs upon the 
 World with Credit. There might be, if 
 there was any littcral Sqw^^ in the Story, 
 many of other Diilempvt^, but there could 
 
 be 
 
( M ) 
 
 be neither bi'mdy halt nor 'ucithcrcd^ with- 
 out 7«f/; an Abfiirdity^ as abfolutcly dif- 
 paragcs the Story, blafls the Credit of 
 the Relator^ or rather brings to mind the 
 Aflcrtion of St. Amlrofe^ that the Letter 
 of the l^civ as well as the Old Te ft anient 
 lies abominably. If what I have here 
 faid docs not overthrow the Letter of this 
 Story ; Then what I have, 
 
 Si.\thi}\ To add, will do it more cflcc- 
 tually, and that is, of the certain Man^ that 
 had an Infirmity thirty and eight Tears ^ and 
 lay at this Pool for an Opportunity co be 
 cured of ic. TXvS thcfc thirty and eight 
 Years are, in our EnglifJo Tranflation pre- 
 dicated of this Man's Infirmity, yet more 
 truely, according to the Original, are they 
 fpoken of the Time he lay there ; and the 
 Fathers lb undcrftood St. John's Words. 
 What this Man's Infirmity was, we arc 
 uncertain : For a^g^fta ITeaknefs or Infirmity 
 is a general Name of all Didempcrs, and 
 may be equally apply'd to one as well as to 
 another: Vv hereupon, tho' we can't certain- 
 ly fay from this Man's Infirmitiy, that he 
 was a Fool to by there lo long, cxpcding 
 that Cure, which it was impoilibie for 
 him to obtain,' yet what he lays to our 
 Saviour, I have no Man, izhcn the Haters 
 are trDubled to pit 7ne into tie T^coh but 
 "juhile I am comings another Jlej pet h dcnn 
 
 before 
 
( 48 ; 
 
 before me, does imply his Folly fuiltcient- 
 ly, or rather the Incredibility of the whole 
 Story. What then did this infirm Man ^t 
 this Pool, if he had neither Legs of his 
 own good enough, nor a Friend to affift 
 him, in the Attainment of Sanation. ? Was 
 he not a Fool, if it was poiTible for any 
 to be fo great a ojie, for his Patience > 
 Would it not have been as wifely done 
 of him CO wait, in the Fields fo long, the 
 Falling of the Sky, that he might catch 
 Larks ? The Fathers fay, this Man's In- 
 firrnity was the ^alfy^ but whether they 
 iaid {o for the Sake of the Myftery, or 
 to expofe the Letter, I know not. But that 
 Diftcmper after thirty and eight Years 
 Duration, and Increafc, if it was more 
 curable than another at firll, had in that 
 time undoubtedly fo weakened and render'd 
 him uncapable to ftruggle with others 
 for this Relief, that it is without Senfe and 
 Reafon to think he lliould wait fo long for 
 it. Our ''Divines^ if they fo pleafe, may 
 commend this Man for his Patience, but 
 after a few Years, or rather a few Days 
 Kxperiencc, another Man would have 
 been convinc'd of the Folly and Vanity 
 of his Hopes, and returned Home. If 
 he could not put in for this Benefit, with 
 Prolpeft ofSuccefsin his more youthful 
 D:iys, when the Didcmpcr was young too, 
 
 much 
 
(49) 
 
 much lefs Reafon had he to hope fof !C 
 in hi- old Age, after thirty and eight Tears 
 Afflicftioti, unlcfs he drcam'd of, what wii 
 not to be imagined, an Opportunity, with- 
 out Mole nation and Competition, to go 
 ofT witli it. Whatever then our "Divines 
 may think of this Man and his Patience^ 
 I will not believe there ever was iuch ^ 
 Fool ; and for this Reafon will not fup- 
 pofe St. John could iictcrally lb ro- 
 mance, unlefs he meant to bambouzlfi 
 Mankind into the Belief of the grcatefl 
 Ablurdity. A Man that Lies with a Grace 
 to deceive others, makes his Scory fa 
 hang together, as to carry the Face and 
 Appearance of Truth along with ifj 
 which this of Sz. John^ that for many 
 Ages has been fwallowed, for the Rcafott 
 before us, has not But what is the worffc 
 of all againfl: this Storv is, 
 
 Seventhly, That which follows, andi 
 abfoluccly deflroys the Fame and Credit 
 oijefui for a Worker of Miracles And 
 V. I, ^y ^. Jefus '■juent up to Jentfalem^ 
 v:here there izas by the Shstpi\iarhty a 
 Pooly called Bethefda^ having fije 'torches^ 
 in '•ji'hich lay a ^reat iMuUitnde of impo- 
 tent Folk^ blind, halt, '■jvnhered. Why chcjf 
 did not j^fns heal diem ? Here was a 
 rare Opportunity foe the Difpiay of his 
 Healing and Almighty rowers and why 
 H did 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 did he not exercife it, to the Relief of 
 that Multitude of impotent Folk? If 
 he could not cure them, there's an End 
 of his Power of Miracles ; and if he 
 would not, it was want of Mercy and 
 Companion in him. Which way loever 
 we rake this Cafe, it turns to the Difho- 
 nour of the Holy Jeftis. What then was 
 the Reafon, that of fo great a Multitude 
 of difeafed People, Jefus exerted his 
 J^ower, and extended his Mercy, on only 
 fine poor Para ly tick ? St. Auguflm (44^ 
 puts this Qiieftion and Objediion into 
 my Mouth ; and tho' neither He nor I 
 flart it for the Service of Infidelity, but 
 to make Way for the Myftery ; yet I 
 know not why Infideh may not make Ufe 
 of it, till Miniflers of the Letter can give 
 a facisfad-ory Anfwer and Solution to it. 
 The Evangelifls, Matthe'-Ji\ Marky and 
 Luke:, tell luch Stories of Jefiis^ healing 
 Power, as would incline us to think he 
 cured all where-cver he came. He heatd^ 
 they fay, all Manner of Difeafes among 
 the People, and they make mention of 
 particular Times and Places, where all 
 the Difeafed were healed by him, which 
 
 (44) Tot jacebant et unus cnratus, cum pofTet una 
 Verbo omnes erigere. Quid ergo intelligendum elt, 
 nlfi quia Poteftas ec Bonitasilla magis agebat, ^s. 
 In Loc. Johnn, 
 
 Aflertions 
 
(5' )_ 
 
 Affcrtions imply, that Jefus's healing Pow- 
 er was mofl: cxtcnfivc and (excepting to 
 an hard-hearted and unbelieving Pharifee 
 now and then) univcrlal ; lo far that it 
 might be queftion'd, whether any died, 
 during the Time of his Minidry, in 
 the Places where he came : And our 
 'Dtvmes have lb harangued on Jefus's Mi- 
 racles, as would confirm us in fudi afi 
 Opinion : I3un this Story in St. Jobi 
 confures and confounds all. St. John m 
 no Place of his Gofpci talks of Jefus'^ 
 healing of many, nor of all manner of 
 Difeales, much Jcls of all that were Dil- 
 eafed ; which, if it be not like a Contra- 
 didtionrothe other EvayijieltjU^ is IbmeDi" 
 minutionof their Authority, and enough to 
 m;ike us lufpect, that they ilretch'd much 
 in prnife of their Mafler, and laid more 
 to his Honour than was ilridly true. But 
 this Place before us is a flat Contradidi- 
 on to chcm, and Je(iis is not to be fup- 
 poled to heal many in any Place, much 
 lefs all manner of Dileafes, or he had never 
 Jet fuch a Multitude of poor Wretches 
 pafs without the Exercilc of his Po\y- 
 er and Pity on them. Some good Rea- 
 'iow then mull be given for Jefus's Con- 
 dud here, and fuch a one as will adjuft 
 it to the Reports of the other Evange- 
 jids ; or Injidcls will think, thit cither 
 
 H 2 thcy» 
 
( 5' ) 
 
 they romanc'd for the Honour of their 
 M after, or that St. John in Spice rold 
 this Story to rhe Degradation of him. 
 I can conceive no better of this Mat^ 
 fcr according to the Letter, 
 
 The B'tfiop of Lichfield very remark- 
 ably fays, (45-^ ^^^^^ J^f^^^ 'where-ever 
 joe 'n'c nti I. e,- k d all tk ^t came to him iLUh- 
 out T>tltintlmL^ the irppotent^ halt^ '[sjither' 
 ed. He cerrainly had this Text of St. 
 John in his Eye, when he faid Jo, bccaufe 
 Impotent^ Halt^ ll'^tthered^ are only men- 
 fion'd here, where Jcfus cured none of 
 ihcm ; Whereupon if his Lordpip had 
 made but a marginal Reference to this 
 Text, it would have been the bed Jcft and 
 Banter, with a Sneer, that ever was puc 
 upon Jefiis and his Power of Miracles : 
 As it IS, it's a very good one, and I 
 dcf.rc my Readers to take Notice of 
 jc, im.t his Lordlhip may not lofe the 
 Credit and Piaife of it. It's for fuch Cir- 
 cumfpedion of Thought, Exa(9:nefs of 
 Fxprelhon, and Acutcnefs of Wit, that 
 I admire that Frclite, and muft needs fay 
 of him, whether he ever be rranflatcd tp 
 Canterbury or Torkj or not, that he's an 
 atch Bifliop. - :;.! 
 
 (4^"^^ Defence oF Cliiidlanlry, P. 415'. 
 
 Buc 
 
( 5? ) 
 
 But to return and go on. The Con- 
 duct of Jefiis^ to all Appearance, is not 
 only blamcabie, his Power of healing dif- 
 pucablc, and his Mercy indefenfibJe, for 
 chat he cured but one infirm Man out of 
 a Multitude, at Bethefda^ bur, 
 
 Eighth ^ and iafily, it may rcafonablybc 
 qucftioned, whether he wrought any Mi- 
 racle in the healing of this one Man. 
 Miracles (to lay nothing of the ridicu- 
 lous Dillindtion between divine and dia- 
 bolical ones) are Works done out of the 
 Courfe of Nature, and beyond the Imi- 
 tation of human Art or Power. Now 
 whether the Cure of this infirm Man can 
 be brought under this Definition of a Mi- 
 racle, may be doubted. What this Man's 
 Infinnity^ which is a general Name for 
 all Diflempers, was we know not. How 
 then can we fay he was miraculoufly 
 cured, unlefs we knew his Difcafe to be 
 incurable by Art, which none can affirm ? 
 The worft that we know of this Man's 
 Cafe, is, tli;it it was of a long Conti- 
 nuance, no \z^s than of eight and thirty 
 Years: And the BiP^op of Lichfield and 
 others in their florid Harangues o^Jeftis's 
 Works, make the Cure of fuch Chroni- 
 cal Difeafcs ro be mirnculous : But why 
 f o ? Mr.ny InfLincc^ may be given of In- 
 firmities of human Nature, of a Icng Du- 
 ration, 
 
( 54 ; 
 
 ration, which m Time, and efpccially in old 
 ^ge, wear off! If fuch Infirmites don*c 
 occur to the Memory of our 'Divines^ I 
 could put them in Mind of them. And 
 who knows but this was the Cafe of 
 this impotent Man, whofe Infirmity Jejus 
 obferving to be wearing off', bid him to 
 be gone, and take up his Couch, for he 
 would foon be made whole. 
 
 The Fathers indeed call this Man's 
 Infirmity the Palfy, which in truth is ge- 
 nerally worfe than better by Time, and 
 after thirty and eight Years, muff needs 
 be very deplorable, and incurable with* 
 put a Miracle. But why do they call 
 it the P^lfy ? They have no Authority for 
 it from the Text, without which, as our 
 Iitteral T^ociors will not fubfcribe to their 
 Opinions \n other Cafes ; fo why ihould 
 I here ? In Ihort, the Fathers had never 
 call'd it the ?a[f,y, but for the fake of the 
 Myftcry ; and I am not bound to own 
 that to have been the Diffemper, any 
 more than it was wanf of Legs ; for that 
 would be making of Miracles for Jefiis^ 
 without Reafon and Authority. 
 
 If Jifiis here had healed the whole 
 Multitude of i'mpotent Folk ; without En- 
 quiry what Numbers there might be of 
 them, I fliould have believed that he 
 wrought there many great Miraclcii, in as 
 
 much 
 
f 55 ) 
 
 much as in fuch a great Multitude, there 
 mull needs, in all Probability, be lomc 
 incurable by Art or Nature : 15ut fmce he 
 cured only this one Man, it affords Mat- 
 ter of Speculation, whether he was the 
 mofl or the leafl difealcd amongft them. 
 Our 'Drcines, for the fake of the Miracle, 
 may pofnbly fuppolc him to be the moft 
 grievioudy affliaed of any ; but Infidels, 
 on the other hand, will fay, not fo : 
 but with their Cavils will urge that this 
 infirm Man was either a Diflemblcr, whom 
 Jefus llramed out of his pretended Dif- 
 eafe, or that he was only hippifh, and fan- 
 cyfully more than really diftemper'd of 
 a long Time, whom Jejus by fuitablc Ex- 
 hortations and Admonitions, working up- 
 on his Imagination, perfuaded into a 
 Belief of his Cure, and bid him to walk 
 off: Certain it is, that InfiMs will fay, 
 it was not a Power of Miracles in Jefus 
 which heal'd him, or he had ufed it then 
 and there for the Sanation of others alfo. 
 And thus have I fmiih'd my Inveaivc 
 againft the Letter of this Story ; which, 
 if any are offended at, they enjoy, what 
 is the mofl rcafonable Thing in the World, 
 the fame Liberty to write for the Letter, 
 which I have ufed agninft it: And fo I 
 pafs to the Confidcration of the Opini- 
 ons 
 
( 50 
 
 Otis and Expofitions of the Fathers ori 
 this flrange Story. 
 
 The Fathers, upotl whofe Authority 
 I form'd my preceding Inve<51:ive a- 
 gainft the Letter, fo univerfally betake 
 themfclves to the my (Ileal Interpretacion 
 of this Story, that it may be queflion'd, 
 whether any of them, more than myfelf, 
 bchev'd any Thing at all of the Letter 
 of it, St. Chryfojlom^ who is as much a 
 hcteral Interpreter of the Scriptures as 
 any of them, here incirely dilcards the 
 Letter, faying admirably thus, (46^ what 
 a firange Way and Story of healing the 
 Diftafed is here ? kit what ts the Myjlery 
 of it? that we are to look to. The Mat* 
 t'^r could not he foftmply and unadvifedly 
 tranfa^ed Ittterally^ as it is related. There 
 mild be fomewhat future here^ as by a Type 
 and Figure^ fignifyd ; or the Story ^ it ii 
 jo incredible in itfelf^ will give Offence ta 
 many, St. Chryfofiom was certainly ia 
 the right on*t j and I wonder, for which 
 no Reafon but want of Liberty can be 
 
 (40) Quis htc Carationis modus ? quid hoc nobi'i 
 m/fterlura fignificatur ? non ccirAcai nee i^'x-n haec* 
 iti fatura nobis, tanquam imagine et fi^ura qua- 
 d.irrv d'ifcribuniur, ne res nimium incredibilis et m 
 ««pe:1ita, accedence fidei Virtuce, Mukitudini* 
 A.ii.n>3 oifinierec. In Loc Jolwh 
 
 given 
 
(57) 
 
 given, that Infidels have not before now, 
 with their Jcfts and Cavils, ridiculed this 
 Story. St. Au^^tift'm, to the fame Purpofe, 
 fays, (47) Can any one believe^ that thefe 
 Maters of Bethefda iJiere wont to he 
 troubled in this FajhioHy and that there 
 was not Myfhry^ and a fpirittial Stgnifica-^ 
 tion m /■/? Yes, I coiiid tell St. Augu- 
 (Im, that our modern T>ivmes fcem to 
 "believe it, tho' he, if he was now alive, 
 would laugh at them for it. But to come 
 to the profound Myflery figniHed by 
 this Story, which to ufe the Words of 
 (48) St. 'Avgiijiin, as God fhall enable me, 
 I will now Ipcak to. 
 
 Our Enz^lijh Vcrfion fays, 7here is at 
 yerujalem ly the Sheep- Market, a VooL 
 How our Tranftators came by the Notion 
 of a Market hctc, \ can'c imagine, fmce 
 there is nothing to favour it in the Ori- 
 ginal, which flands thus, tri t« xpoCa7/jt/i 
 xoAt'itxCwGpa : By xoAt^jw-CwGpa, the Fathers wn- 
 derfland (49) Baptifm,or the fpiritual La- 
 
 (47) Aqua turbata credas hoc Angelica Vlr- 
 
 tute fieri (blere, non tamcn fine figniikante aliquo 
 Sacramenro ? In I.cc. Johan. 
 
 (48) Cti)us Rei etcujus ngniprofundum myflcri- 
 um. quantum Domlnus donare dignatur, Icquar ut 
 porero. Ihii 
 
 (49) rifcina ilia Baptifmum dcfignat. Thrrt-hy!, 
 Jn Loc. Qiisenam igitur hxc defcriptio ? Fururuni 
 erat B-iprlfm I plenum maxlmx Potc'.Luis ct Gratiai 
 fiurgaturum peccata. Chryfofu in Lc(. 
 
 I ^ef 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 I'cr of Regeneration ; and wlio is' tliat for, 
 but the Fiock of Chhil, fignified by Trpo- 
 ^xfiK}) ? So we hive another and clearer 
 Interpretation of thefe two Words. And 
 as to BethcfJa^ that is a myflical Name 
 of the Church, which according to the 
 Signification of Bethefda^ is the Houfe 
 of Grace. And if it is faid to be at Je- 
 rufalem, it is not to be underllood of the 
 Old Jerufalem, but of the New and Apo- 
 flolical jerufalem, at the Entrance into 
 which the Fiock of Chrift will be baptiz'd 
 by the Waters of the Spirit, as in myfti- 
 eal Laver. 
 
 Bethefda is faid to have five Torches^ 
 that is, as the Fathers C50) agree, the 
 five Books of Mofes^ w^hich are as fo 
 many Doors of Entrance into the Houfe 
 of Wifdom, or of the Grace of Chrifi. 
 
 At thefe five torches of the five Books 
 of Mofes lay a great Multitude cf impo- 
 tent Folk J blind^ halt ^wtt her ed. And who 
 are thefe myftically ? The ignorant, er- 
 roneous, and unliable in Faith and Prin- 
 ciple, as the Fathers often undcrfland them 
 fpirirually. And what is the Reafon of 
 jhcfc their myflical Difeafes ? Bccaufe, as 
 
 (5"o) Per qulnque Portlcus, quinque Libros Mo- 
 ils inrelligd, St. Theophil. Antioch. in Loc Quin- 
 qiie Porticus func quinque Libri Mofis. St. Augnjt. 
 in Loc. 
 
 SI4 
 
( 59 ; 
 
 St, Augujlin ('51) and other Fathers fay. 
 they relt on the Letter of che Law, which 
 throws them into various Errors, Hkc 
 Difeafes, of ditrercnt Kinds, of which 
 they can't be cured without the Defccnt 
 of the Spirit, Hke an Angel, to inftrudt 
 them myllically to interpret. 
 
 With thefe impotent Folk lay a certain 
 Man -juho had an Infirmity, And who is 
 this infirm Man ? Mankind in general, 
 lay St. Cyril (51) and {'^X) St, ^a;^«/^^w. 
 And what is his Infirmity ? The Fathers 
 call it the (5:4) Ta^fy^ bccaulc of his In- 
 flability, and Unflcauinefs in Faith and 
 Principles, which is no v the Cafe of 
 of Mankind. St. "John calls it oL^trnxv 
 a ITeaknefsj which being a general Name 
 
 (fi) N'lofis qulnque Libros fcripfit, fed in 
 quinquc Portlcibus Pifcinam clngtrirlbus languidi 
 jacebanr, et curarl non poterant. Vide quomodo 
 manct littera, convlncens euin non falvans iniquuni. 
 Illis cnimquinque Porticibus, in Hgura quinquc Li- 
 brorum prudebaiuur potius q jam ranibanrur xgroti.^ 
 Ergo quicLinque amatls lltteram (me gratia, in Por- 
 ticibus rcnianebiiis, aegri eritis, j.iccntes non con- 
 valefcentes, de littera enim praefumicis. i« Pfal- 
 Ixx. 
 
 (41) Ell Flgura Popull In ultimis tcmporlbus 
 fanandi. In Loc. Joh/^n. 
 
 (5^) Languldus ille, de quo in Evangelio legi- 
 mus, quia jacebar, Typum Generis humanl habere 
 videbatar. In Scrm. cclxxlv. Append. 
 
 Cfr4) Paralyticum qui juxta Nuiatoriam jaccbaf 
 Jrenxi. Lib. ii. Cap. ii. 
 
 I 1 of 
 
of all Diftempers, we can*t guefs what 
 might: be here the fpecifical one. Buc rea- 
 Ibnably fpeaking, according to the Rule 
 of Incerpretatidn, this Man's Infirmity is 
 the fame wich the Woman's Spirit cf In- 
 firmity, and chat is a VVeaknefs at the 
 Spirit of Prophec)^, which Mankind, as 
 well as the VVoman of i\\z Church, is to 
 be cured of in the Pcrfedlion of Time. 
 
 And how long ^\A tliis Man with his 
 Infirmity lay in thefe Porches of Belhefda ? 
 Thirty eiji^bt Jears : So has Mankind with 
 his Weaknefs at the Spirit of Prophecy 
 Jay eight and thirty (hundred) Cf 5) Years, 
 reckoning two thoufand under the Law, 
 and eighteen hundred fmcc under the 
 Gofpek St. Ai'igufiin.(s6) has an ingeni- 
 pus and more myUical way of Compu- 
 tation of thefe thtriy and e.i^rht Jears ^ 
 which pleafes me too, buc pollibly Tome 
 Readers may not fo eafily apprehend 'v:^ 
 unlefs they are well acquainted with the 
 MyHery of Prophetical Numbers. 
 
 (5^) Tempus et Annus funt centum Anni. Tichonii 
 in l^e^. 5-^. 
 
 {s6) Quod auteni tn'ginra et ocko Annos In Lan- 
 guoribus pbluus erat, do ilio Qiiadraginta nume- 
 fo, quern fupra diximus duo minus habens; cc 
 <lujc funt i(ia duo, nifi duo prascepta, diledio Det 
 et ProximJ. Ifta duo, in quibus tora Lex pendec 
 ft Propherre, fi non habuerit, hr.guidus et Para- 
 iyticus iac2t. In Pf. IxMxiii. 
 
 And 
 
( 6i ; 
 
 And how is Mankind to be cured of 
 his Iniirmicy ac the Spirit of Prophecy > 
 By being inllruded, by the Spirit of 
 Truth, who is to come ar the Conclufion 
 of the laid thirty and eight myflical Years, 
 to arife and take up his bed and ivalky that 
 is, to raife his Thoughts to the Contem- 
 plation of the divine Myflericsof the Law, 
 and to life up his Bed of the Letter, on 
 which he has hitherto refted^ into a fub- 
 limc ^zk\{q^ and then he will walk up- 
 rightly and iteadily in the Faith, with- 
 out wavering like a Paralycick. 
 
 And ac what Scafon did Jefus come to 
 this infirm Man ? Ic was at a Feaftof the 
 Je-jvs. Iren£us^ Chryfofiom^ Theophvla^i^ and 
 Cyrtl call it the Fealt of Penticofl:. And 
 the grand Feafl: of Penticoft is, as St. 
 Cyril (57^ fays upon the Place, at the 
 Perfecflion of Time, the Time of the E- 
 vangclical Sabbath, and of y^/7/j-'s fpiricual 
 Advent, which will be a Time of feafling 
 on incelledual and divine Myfteries, of Tee- 
 ing Vifions and of dreaming Dreams j con-^ 
 ftquently at that Time, as the ancient Jeujf 
 2iVLd Fathers adcrr, Mankind will be cured of 
 this Infirmity at the Spirit of Prophecy. 
 
 iSJ) Qiiod aurem fub finem Hcbdomadum 
 Sandtae Pentecoftcs Ipfe revertlttir Hierofolymam, 
 figurace et xniftmatlce fignificat futurum noftri Sal- 
 varorl: Reveriionem ultlm.'s praelentis %vi tempo- 
 fibus. In Lcc Johiin. 
 
 vl;i'•^ '•• And 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 And this too is the certain Seafon, that 
 the Angel '■jjiU defcend and trouble the 
 Waters, By Angel is here meant (5:8) 
 the Spirit of Chrift. And by Wa- 
 ters the Fathers undcrlbnd, (59) the Peo- 
 ple cf all Nations. But how will the De- 
 fcent of the Spirit of Truth, like an An- 
 gel, trouble thefe Waters, that is, give 
 finy Molcflations "^^^ Diflurbance to 
 the People ? Is there not a Miftake in 
 the Oracle > If the Clergy will be but 
 greater Lovers of Truth than of their In- 
 terefls ; if they, who ihould be Teachers 
 of Forbearance of one another m Love, 
 will but keep their Temper, there would 
 be found a midake in it. But alas! 
 
 Laftly^ The 'Je^-jus^ as is intimated, 
 feem to have been mov'd with Indignati- 
 on at the Cure of the infirm Man, fay- 
 ing to him, V. 10. // is the Sabbath^ 
 it is not lawful for thee to carry thy 
 Bed 5 which litterally could not be true. 
 The ^ews wxre not fuch precife Obfer- 
 vcrs of the Sabbath ; nor fo ftupid and 
 foolifif as St. Cyril, (^o) fays, as to 
 
 (58) Turbabat Angeliis, ... di6tus eft Domi- 
 nus magni confilii Angelus, /iugufiin in Seym, 
 cxxv Seci. ■^. ' ■ 
 
 (59) Turbavit Aquam, id eft, mrbavit Popu- 
 lum. Ejufdcm in Pf. cii- 
 
 (60) Sabbatum eft ec Grabatum non licer tol- 
 hre. Qi>id ftupidius aut incrtiuseife pottft ? In Lcc. 
 Johan.' •' •• . 
 
 think 
 
( 6? ) 
 
 think the taking up and carrying a Stool 
 to be a Breach of it. But myflically, it 
 is to be kar'd, this will be mod true, 
 and that the Ckrgy^ who would h<:^eiz;s 
 inwardly, and the Circunicifion in Spi- 
 rit, will be bitter Enemies to Man's 
 Exaltation of his Couch of the Letter of 
 the Scriptures onoragainfl: the Evangeli- 
 cal Sabbath, and will make it, '\^ pofiible, 
 an unU'-jiful Work -, becaufc it will brin'j 
 to them Shame, Diflionour and Lofs of 
 Interells along with it. 
 
 After this Manner is every other Cir- 
 cumflance of this Story to be all.gori- 
 cally apply'd out of the Fathers. The 
 Moral or Myftery of the whole, in (liort, 
 is this, that at the Perfedion of Time, 
 fignificd by the Sabbath, the Tentecoff^ 
 the End of thirty eight Tears^ the Spirit 
 of Truth will dcfcend on Mankind, to 
 their Illumination in Prophecy, and to the 
 healing of their Errors, calld 'Difeafes ; 
 which is admirably rcprcfcntcd by the 
 Parable before us, that according to the 
 Letter has neither Realbn nor common 
 Senfe in it. 
 
 A nd thus have I fpoken to eight of the 
 Miracles of Jefiis -, and whether I have 
 not (liew'd therr., in whole or Part, ac- 
 cording to the Propofition before us, to 
 
 confift 
 
. ( (^\) 
 
 toiifift of AfefurdicieSj Improbabilities, 
 and Incredibilities; and whether they are 
 not prophetical and parabolical Narratives 
 of what will be rtiyflerioufly, and more 
 wonderfully done by J^fus^ I appeal to 
 niy Readers, 
 
 After another Difcourfe of fome other 
 Miracles, I intend to take into Examinati- 
 on the fevcral Stories of Jefus's raifmg of the 
 Dead as of Laziru^, Jairufs Daughter, 
 and the Widow's Son of iV^m ; which 
 reputedly are Jefuss, grand Miracles ; 
 but, for all thefeeming Grearriefs and Ex- 
 cellency of them. I don't doubt but to 
 give the Letter of thele Stories a Tofs out 
 of the Creed of a conftderare and W'ffe Man ; 
 at ieail fliow their Tnfu/Hcienc/ for the Pur- 
 pofj for which they Jiave been hitherto 
 apply'd. And if I ihould afterwards, by 
 the Leave and Patience of the BiJJoop of 
 London^ give my Ob3edio.n againfl Chrt/i's 
 'iRefurredion a Review, and fome more 
 \oTcZj then what will become of the 
 Argument of Chri!i\ Power, Authority, 
 and Meffiahfhip from his Miracles ? 
 
 But, befides Jefus's MircXcics, Jam, as 
 Opportunity ferves, to take into Conft- 
 deracion fome of the Pliflorioal Parts of 
 his Life; and i]i?w them t obe no kfs fenfe- 
 fels, abiUrd and ridiculous than his Mi- 
 racles. 
 
 And 
 
( 65 ; 
 
 And why may I not romccimcs treat 
 on the Parables of Jiftis^ and fliow what 
 ncnlenfical and abfurd Things chcy arc^ 
 according to the Expoficions of our mod; 
 famous Commentators of thcfc laft Ages. 
 Jeftis was certainly the abfolute, and moft 
 confummate Perfcdion of a Cabaliji^ 
 Myjttjly a Taraboiifl and EnigmaUft ; but 
 according to modern Commentaries and 
 Paraphrafcs, he was the mereft Ideot and 
 Blockhead that ever opcn'd his Mouth, 
 in that fort of Learning, to the Inllrudi- 
 on of Mankind. And I am oblig'd a 
 little to fpeak to the Abfurditics of CZtz/^'s 
 Dodrine and Parables, bccaufe one Article 
 of the Profccution againll: me was for fiiy- 
 ing, that any of the ^P h:lofophers of the Gen^ 
 tiles ^ or any rational Man (meaning accord ^ 
 ing to modern Expofitions^ '■j:jould make a 
 better Teacher^ than 'Jefus '-Ji'as. 
 
 What a great deal of Work have I up- 
 on my Hands, which, if God fparc my 
 Life and Health, I intend to go on with: 
 If what I have already done in it be not 
 acceptable to the Clergy^ their Way to pre- 
 vent the Profecution of this great Un- 
 dertaking, is to battle me upon what's 
 pad. Who knows but they may write, if 
 they would try their vStrength, fo acutely 
 in Defence of the Letter of Jefus' s Mi- 
 racles already dilcufs'd, as may clTcdu- 
 K ally 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 sally flop my Mouth, and prevent my giv- 
 ing them anymore Trouble of this Kind ? 
 -''^nd I ruppoie I have now gotten an 
 -Advcrfary in the Bijhop of St. 'David' Sy 
 who has already difcharg'd one Fool's Bok 
 at me. 
 
 There has nothing been a more com- 
 mon vSubjcd- of Declamation among the 
 the Clergy than the Reafonablenefs of Chri- 
 flianity, which mull be underftood of 
 th-c Hiilory o't Cbrift's Life and Dodrine, 
 or the AppHcacion of the Word Reafona- 
 blenefs to the Chriflian Religion is im- 
 pertinent. But if I proceed, as I have 
 begun m this Work, I fliail iliew Chiftiani- 
 ty, as it is underflood, to be the moll 
 iinrcafanablc and abllird Story, that ever 
 was told ; and our modern Sydems of 
 Theology groLindlefs and fenflcfs in al- 
 mofl every Fare of them. Mahomet am fm^ 
 Without OfTcncc be it fpoken, is a more 
 realonabieK^\\\f\ow than the Chrillian, up- 
 on modern Sche?nes and S)ftems. 
 
 ;JfwhatIhere lay is offenfive to our 
 ^ivines^ the Trefs is open for them as well 
 as for myfclf, and they may, if they can, 
 Hievv their Rcfcntment of it. Thanks un- 
 to God and our moil: excellent Civil Go- 
 vernment for fuch a Liberty of the Prefs : 
 A Liberty that will lead and condud: us 
 to the Fountain of.Wifdom and Philofb- 
 phy, which Rcllraint is a down-right E- 
 
 nemy 
 
(67) 
 
 iiemy co. And that this BlclTing of Liber-, 
 ty may be continued, for all Btpop Smal- 
 brook and Dr. Rogers's Hobbtfm^ is, I dare 
 fay, the Dcfirc of the curious, iriquifitivc, 
 and philofophical Part of Mankind, if 
 this Liberty Ihould be taken away, what 
 a notable Figure will our divines make 
 from the Trefs and Tiilpit^ declaming 
 onthe Rcafonablcncrs, Excellency and Per- 
 fcdlion of the Chriftian Religion, without 
 an Advcrlary ; and telling their Congre- 
 gations, that all, their bitccrcft and acuteft 
 Enemies can obicd, is clearly anfvvered! 
 The Trefs, of late Years, has been pro- 
 du(5tivc of fo many cogent and pcrfuafive 
 Arguments for Liberty of debate, and the 
 Advocates for this Liberty, in the Judg- 
 ment of the impartial and confidcrate, 
 have fo far gotten the better or thcit 
 Adveriaries, that I wonder any one can 
 appear in behalf of Pcrfccucion. If I was 
 ^ Bifloop or T)OL^or in -Divniity, I Ihoud 
 chink It a Difgracc to my Station and E- 
 ducation to ask the AlTidancc of the Ci- 
 vil Authority to proced: my Religion: I 
 flioutd judge my lc!f unworthy of the 
 Wages and Emoluments I enjoy d, for ths 
 Preaching and Propagation of the Gofpcl, 
 if I was unable to give at Anlwcr to a- 
 ny one, that ask'd a Rcafonof my Faith : 
 Or if I was lb Shallow- paced, as co 
 K X think 
 
( 6S ) 
 
 think HcrcfiC and Infidelity punifliableLy 
 the Civil Magiftrate, 1 ^ould think my- 
 fclf as much oblig'd to confute by 
 Reafon^ ^s he is to punilh by the Sword. 
 If the Btfiop of London had taken this 
 Courfe with me ,- if he had pubHih'd a 
 Refutation of my fuppofed Errors, as 
 well as endcavcut'd at a Profccurion 
 of me for thera, I had forgiven him the 
 Wrongs and Injuries done me, and made 
 no repeated Demands of Satisfaction for 
 them. 
 
 Chriflianity is, as I bcHeve, founded 
 on a Rock of^Wifdom ,* and whacks more, 
 has an omnipotent and omnifcient God 
 on its Side, who can incline the Hearts 
 of Men to believe, and open the Eyes of 
 their Underllanding to difcern the Truth 
 of it ; confcquefjtiy there can be no Dan- 
 ger in the Attempts of our Adverfarics, 
 whether Jeiis^ Turks or Domcflick In- 
 fdelsy againfl it. But Perfecution implys 
 Wenknels and Impotency in God to defend 
 his own Caufe J or his Prieds would not 
 move for the Help of the Arm of Flefli in 
 Vindication of it. And if, at this Time 
 of Day, after fo many Treatifes of Infi" 
 dels^ and feme of them as yet unanfwered, 
 againd our Religion, this good Caufe 
 fliould be taken out of the Hands of 
 Gcd, and comrairted to the Care of tlie 
 
 Civii 
 
(6? ) 
 
 Civil Magiftratc ; if inllcad of Rcafon, 
 the Clergy fliould have Recourfc to Force, 
 what will By- (landers, and even WcIL 
 widicrs CO Chriflianity fay ? Nothing icfs 
 than that Infidels had gotten the better of 
 Chri[l\ Minifters, and beaten them ac 
 their own Weapons of Reafon and Argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Tlie two great Pleaders for Pcrfccu- 
 tion, to the Difgracc of thcmlclves and 
 Diflionour of our Religion, that have 
 lately arofc are Dr. Rogers and the Bt- 
 fiop of St. 'David's, Dr. Rogers s chief 
 Reafon againfl Liberty of Debate, is be- 
 caufc, as he fays, it is pernicious to the 
 Peace and Welfare of the Community, by 
 unfettling the Minds of the People about 
 the Religion edabliflicd : But here's noCon- 
 fequencc, unlefs it could be proved, that 
 fuch as the great Mr. Grounds and Mr. 
 Scheme^ have it in their Hearts to raife 
 Mobbs upon the Government, and to beat 
 out the Brains of the Clergy. All the 
 Harm, or rather Good, they aim at, is to 
 cxercife the Wits of the Clergy v.'itli their 
 Doubts and Objciflions ; and if the Pafli- 
 ons of onr Ecclejja/lkks are not raifcd up- 
 on it, to the doing of Violence to thcfe 
 Gentlemefi, the Peace of the Publick will 
 never de difturb'd. As to myfclf, tho' 
 I have a vail :ind numerous Parry cii 
 
 my 
 
( 7^ ) 
 
 my Sida, no lefs than all the Fathers and 
 primitive Chriftians for fome Ages ; yet 
 as we were peaceable and quiet SubjecSts 
 of old, and paffively obedient to the Empe- 
 rors of Rome ; fo we will continue to the 
 Civil Authority of this Nation. We on- 
 ly take the Liberty to awaken the Cler- 
 gy out of a Lethargy of Dulnefs and Ig- 
 norance ; and hope the Civil Magiftrate 
 will confider the Goodnefs and Charity 
 of our Intentions, and guard Us againft 
 their Infuks for it. 
 
 The Bi/hop of St. 'T>avidh (61) fays, 
 " It isabfurd to affert, that the Liberties 
 " of any Nation will allow, with Impu- 
 " nicy, a Set of diflinguifli'd Infidels to 
 " infult and treat with the greateflCon- 
 ** tempt and Scorn the mod facred and 
 " important Truths, that are openly pro- 
 ** felled, by the whole Body of the Peo- 
 " pic, of whatever Denomination.'' By 
 & Set of Infidels, I fuppofe, he means me 
 and the Fathers : And by treating 'with 
 Contempt and Scorn the mo fi facred and im- 
 portant Truths^ he means, our burlefquing, 
 bantering and ridiculing the Clergy for 
 their Miniftry of the Letter : And for this 
 he would, I conceive, have incenfed the 
 Societies for Reformation of Manners to a 
 Profccution of me. And if they had noc 
 
 (61) SfrniDii before the Society for Reformation, 
 $^j. p. II. 
 
 b ce« 
 
r 7' ) 
 
 been wifcr, nnd more merciful than tlieir 
 Preacher, I mull; have gone to Por. Bun 
 why fliould the BrJJjop diilike ihis way of 
 Writing ? Don't he know, that the Fathers 
 of the Church iifcd to j eft and Icof! at the 
 Gentiles and their Priciis for their fooUih 
 Superftifions ? Don't he know, that our 
 Reformers bantcrd and ridicul'd Pope- 
 ry out of Doors, and almoft within the 
 Memory of Man, it was reckon'd but 
 a dull Sermon, that was not well 
 humm'd for its Puns and Jefts on the 
 Papiits ? why then fliould the Bijhop be a- 
 gainft that way of writing, which was of 
 good life to the Reformers, and firft Chri- 
 jiians} The grand Subjed" for B^criefque 
 and Banter^ in my Opniion, \% Infidelity '^ 
 and x\\'\\. BifJoop^ who can't break two Jefts 
 upon Infidels for their one upon Chrifti- 
 anity, has but a imall Share of Wit. The 
 Chriftian. Religion according to the BifJwp^ 
 will abide the Teft of calm and fedate Rea- 
 foning againft it, but can't bear a Jeftj O 
 ftrange ! 
 
 Bur to leave thefe two Contenders for 
 Pcrfccution to the Chaftifement of acuter 
 Pens. What I have here pleaded for Li- 
 berty is not through any Fears of Danger 
 to mylelf, but for the Love of Truth and 
 Advancement of Chriftianity, which, with- 
 out it, can't be defended, propagated and ' 
 
 Cncercly 
 
r 70 
 
 fincerely embraced. And therefore hope, 
 that the Controverfy before us, between 
 Infidels and ApoftatesyNiW be continued by 
 the Indulgence of the Government, till 
 Truth arifes and (liines bright to the Difli- 
 parion of the Mifts of Error and Ignorance ; 
 like the Light of the Sun to the Difperfion 
 of the Darknefs of the Night. I will by 
 God's Leave, go on to bear my part in the 
 Controverfy ; And, if it was not more a- 
 gainfl: the Interefls than Reafon 6f the 
 Clergy to believe me, would again folemn- 
 ly declare that what I do in it is with a 
 View to the Honour of JefuSy our fpiritual 
 MeJJiah^ to whom be Glory for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
A FOURTH 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 SAVIOUR. 
 
 In View of the Prefent 
 
 Controverfy between Infidels 
 and Apostates. 
 
 Canes qui oblatrant contra Inqwjluonem 
 Verhatis. Cleiii. Alex. 
 
 €^c &econD (tuition. 
 
 By Thomas Woolston, fometime 
 Fellow oi Sidney- College in Cambridge. ^ 
 
 L O NT> O N: 
 
 Printed for the Author, and Sold by him 
 next door to the Star, in Aldermanbinj. 
 and by the Bookiellcrs of Londoih and 
 
 JVeftm'inJier, 1728. 
 
 [Price One Shilling-l 
 
^mm^^^^'^M^^'^mi^^^^^i^ 
 
 T O T H E 
 
 Right Reverend Father in God 
 
 FRANCIS, 
 
 Lord Bifhop of St. AsaPh. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 F the Convocation had 
 been fitting, I mould 
 have made this Dedica- 
 tion to them, and hum- 
 hly implored of them^ 
 'what for their Love to 
 the Fathers^ they would readily have 
 granted^ a Recommendation of the fa my 
 Difcourfes on Miracles to the Clergy : 
 But being unhappily df appointed of a 
 SefUon of that Reverend and Learned 
 ^ -^ A a . Body, 
 
iv Dedication. 
 
 Bodjfj for whofe "wife T)ehates and oY^ 
 thodox f^otes I have ftich a J^eneration, 
 as is not to be exprefs^d in a few Words^ 
 I prefently turnd my Thoughts on *jonr 
 Lordfiiip, to whom a Dedication is 
 due J lecauje of your RefpeSl^ often de^ 
 dared ^ for the Authority of the Fathers^ 
 which induces me to think^ you now ap^ 
 p'ove of the Ufe I have made of them. 
 
 But "vi'hat I am here to applaud fjour 
 Lordfhipjfir, eV, your Difcourle caWd 
 Difficulties and Difcouragements, ]^c. 
 That admirable Satire aguinft modern 
 Orthodoxy and Terfecution ! How was 
 I tickled in the (perufal of it ! It is 
 plainly the Senfe of your Soul^ or *jou 
 had fet your Mame to it : And if the 
 Temptation of 'Praife for it^ had not 
 heen too great to he refifted^ I could 
 have vpifhd you had always conceal d 
 your felf ; and then you had not written 
 ao^ainjl the Grain^ an aukward Piece on 
 Church Poweiy like a RetracHation^ 
 to reinoratiate your jelj with fome Ec^ 
 clefiajiical Noodles, whom you no more^ 
 than ly need to care for. 
 
Dedication, v 
 
 I have fomctmies wondered^ My 
 Lord, where and when the Great A/r. 
 Grounds imVibed his notable Motions 
 ahoiit Religion and Liberty ; for he 
 flicKd them not in with his Mothers 
 Milk^ who^ I fuppofe^ train d him zip 
 in the Belief of Chrijlianity: But when 
 Iconfider^d^ that he was once the Pupil 
 of Mr. Hare at Cambridge, my won^ 
 der ceased. Under your Lordfhip'j- 
 Tuition^ it feems he laid the Founda^ 
 tion of his dijlmgnifh' d Learning and 
 Opinions I His Tupil/age will he your 
 immortal Honour \ I wonder^ none of 
 the Writers againjl him have as yet ce-^ 
 lebratedyour Traife for it ! How does 
 he imitate and refemhle his Tutor in 
 principles I I cant fay^ he furpaffes 
 you^ Jlnce there is fuch a 'freedom of 
 Thought and E^prejffion in your Diffi- 
 cultie?, }^c. fo flrongly favouring of 
 Infid'-ty^ that he has not as yet equaWd, 
 
 Upon your Lord(hip\ Advancement 
 to a Bifhoprick^ Difficultys and Dif- 
 couragements not withjlanding^ I 
 wi/h\l^ "-juithout prefcribing to the iVif^ 
 
 dom 
 
vi Dedication. 
 
 dom of the Government in the choice of 
 a learned Trelate, that the great Mr, 
 Grounds, for the good of the Church 
 toOy might be foon confecrated: And I 
 fiould not have deffair^d of it^ hut that 
 he is a Gentleman of real Trohity and 
 Confcience^ and might pofflhly boggle at 
 Suhfcriftions^ unlefs you and Bifiop 
 Hoadly could help him to fome of your 
 Referves and Diftindions, ^wherewith 
 you mujl be both "well Stockd^ to over^ 
 come that Difficulty, jind why fiould 
 not Dean Swift for his Writings^ as 
 ivell as fome others^ be made a Bifiop ? 
 IJhoidd like to fee him one 5 if the then 
 Right (Reverend Bifhof Grounds 
 'isbould not thinks him^ for his Tale of 
 a Tub, too loofe in the Faith^ jor his 
 Company. 
 
 ^ont imagine^ My Lord, that I ani 
 forming of Schemes for my jelf to be a 
 Bifiop. "Tho thefe my Difcourfes en 
 Miracles are of very great Merit^ as 
 *well as your Lordfiips Difficulties, 
 O'c, yet you may be affured^ J have no 
 fuch f^iew^ "when I tell you, that the 
 
 Honour^ 
 
Dedicat ion. vii 
 
 Jiomwr^ the Fathers have exalted w< 
 to^ of a Moderator in this Controverfy 
 Jets me above all Ecclejiajlicd Trefer^ 
 merit excefting the Arch^Bifhoprick 
 of Canterbury, ^hich Tm afraid 
 voill "we voidy before the King is ap^ 
 frifed of my fingular Worth and Ra- 
 tifications for tt, t 
 
 But hovpevper^ ^f f^ch excellent Pre- 
 lates, as Grounds^ Hoadly, Swift, 
 Hare and my felf were at the Head of 
 Ecclefiajlical Affairs^ "what ^ould we 
 do ? JVhat Jhould loje not do ? What 
 "wotdd not this free^thinhing Jge expeS 
 from us ? Nothing kfs^ than that^ ac^ 
 cording to our 'principles ^ we fioidd en- 
 deavour to fet Mankind at perfedl Li- 
 lerty^ and to lay open the dirty Fences 
 of the Churchy caWd Suifcriptions^ 
 which are not only the Stain of a goodCon^ 
 fcience, hut the Difcouragements, your 
 Lordlliip hints at^ in the Study of the 
 Scriptures : And tf we made a Tufb 
 
 for an Act of T 1 to turn thd 
 
 Glergy to Grafs^ after King Henry 
 yillth's Monks and Fryars ; ^here 
 
 would 
 
viii DedigaTion. 
 
 ipould he the Harm of it ? N'ay^ the 
 Advantage to the ^ullick^ as "well as 
 to Religion^ tvould he great^ if their 
 'Revenues rose apply d to the Tayment 
 of National l^eks ; mth a Referve to 
 our f elves {remember^ My Lord J of 
 hrpe Emoluments out of them^ accord^ 
 ing'to our great Merits^ other wife 
 worldly-^wife Men will repute us imfo^ 
 litick Fools ^ which you and Bifiop 
 Hoadly^ I humbly prefume^ mil never 
 mdure the Reproach of. 
 
 So, hoping your Lord/hip will accept 
 of this Dedication to your Traife, in as 
 much Sincerity as it is writ ten^ I fui^ 
 fcrile myfelfy 
 
 My LOR D, 
 
 ^""^"n't' The Admirer of your 
 Difficultys and 
 Difcouragements, 
 
 T/jo. Wooljtorh 
 

 
 ^0'~-» -r--.i/''i 
 
 -ir^ 
 
 •,->M><:^,i.' 
 
 ,:^' 
 
 Sffl^::)ciii^idi^dim^i^:^^^e&(^ 
 
 A FOURTH 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N THE 
 
 MIR A C L E S 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 SAF LOUR, Sec. 
 
 ' ^V( tl) (1 ^f , : ';'.?;;' 
 
 'MOT 
 
 O W for a /^z/;-/^/:? Dif- 
 cpurfe on Jeftts^s Mira- 
 cles, vvliich, as before, I 
 b?gin with a Repititioii 
 of the three gener^il Heuds, 
 at iirlt. propufed to be 
 treated on , and- they are. 
 
 !♦. To (how, thit the Miracleg of h.cal- 
 irig^ 'all manner of bodily Difeafcs, which 
 
 B Jefus 
 
(2 ) 
 
 Jefils was famed for, are none of the pfo- 
 ^per Miracles of the Mejftah ^ neither are 
 they fo much as a good Proof of his di- 
 vine Authority to found a Religion, 
 
 II, To prove that the literal Hiftory of 
 many of the Miracles of Jefus, as record- 
 ed by the Evangelijls^ does imply Abfur- 
 dities^ Improbabilities and Incredibilities ; 
 confequently they, either in the whole 
 or in part, were never wrought, as it is 
 commonly believed now-a-days, but are 
 only related as prophetical and parabolical 
 Narratives, of what would be myfteriouily, 
 and more wonderfully done by him. 
 
 III. To confider what Jefus means, 
 when he appeals to his Miracles, as to a 
 Teftimony and Witnefs of his divine 
 Power ;, and to Ihow that he could not 
 properly and ultimately refer to thofe he 
 then wrought in the FlejJj^ but to the ray- 
 ftical ones, he would do in the Spirit ; of 
 which thofe wrought in the Flefti are but 
 mere Types and Shadows. 
 
 I am upon the fecond of thefe Heads, 
 and according to it, have, in my former 
 DifcoTtrfes, taken into examination eight 
 of the Miracles of Jefus^ viz, thofe : 
 
 I. Of 
 
1. Of his driving the Buyers and Sel- 
 lers out of the Temple. 
 
 2. Of his exorcifing the Devils out of 
 the Mad-men, and fending them into the 
 Herd of Swine. 
 
 9. Of his Transfiguration on the Mount. 
 
 4. Of his healing a Woman, that had 
 an Iflue of Blood, twelve Years. 
 
 5. Of his curing a Woman, that had a 
 Spirit of Infirmity, eighteen Years. 
 
 6. Of his telling the Samaritan Woman, 
 her fortune of having had five Husbands, 
 and being then an Adultcrefs with another 
 Man. 
 
 7. Of his curfing the Figtree for not 
 bearing Fruit out of feafon. And, 
 
 8. Of his healing a Man of an Infirmity 
 at the Pool of Bethefda. 
 
 Whether it be not manifefl:, that the 
 Literal and Evangelical Story of thefe 
 Miracles, from what I have argu*d and rea- 
 fon*d upon them, does not conlift of Ab- 
 furdities. Improbabilities, and Incredibi- 
 lities, according to the Propofition before 
 us, let my Readers judge ; and fo I come to 
 the Confideration of 
 
 9. A ninth Miracle of y«?/z/j, viZ' that 
 (i) of his giving fight to a Man who was 
 
 (0 John ix, 
 
 B 9 born 
 
04) 
 
 borti blind, by the means of Eye-falve, 
 made of Dirt and Spittle. 
 ^ Blindners, as far as one may guefs by 
 tfee Evangelical Hi flory, was the Diflcm- 
 pcr that Jefiis frequently exercis'd' his 
 P&wet'^oni And there is no doubt to be 
 i^ade,- bat hehealM many of one VVeak- 
 nefs, Defed and Im perfection, or other in 
 their Eyes j but whether he wroaght any 
 Miracle upon any, he is fuppofed to have 
 cured^ 'is uncertain. There are, a's it's no- 
 torious, m'lny kinds of Blindnefs, that are 
 .incurable by Art or Nature; and there are 
 other kinds of it, that Nature and Art 
 will frlieve a Man iti. ; But wksthec 'J^efiis 
 u{rd hi^ healia? Potver agjainft the former, 
 aswt-iUas the latter fort of ''Blmdnefs, is 
 more than can be affirmM, or at leaft proved 
 by our Divhies.. 'Andi unlefs we knew of 
 a'c rtainty, that the- fore or blind Eyes, 
 J- e'fiis' cured, were abfolutely out of the 
 reach of Art'"' and Nature^ hifid^h will 
 imagine, ~ and fugged,' that he was only 
 Mafler of a good Ointment for fore Eyes, 
 and being fuccefsful in the ufe of it, igno- 
 rant People would needs think, lie Wroaght 
 -Miracles. ;;.::;;-:■ .• 
 
 The World is often blefs*d 'With excel- 
 lent Oculifts^ who thro' Study and Prac- 
 tice have attain'd to wonderful Skill in 
 pye- Maladies, which ■ tho they are of va- 
 rious 
 
( 5; 
 
 rious fort?, yet, by Ciiftom of Speech, 
 all pafs under the general Name of Blind- 
 nefs. And fometiincs we hear of famous 
 Chhnce DoEiors^ like Jefiis^ who by a Gift 
 of God, Nature, or Fortune, without any 
 Skill in the Structure of the Eyes, have 
 been very fuccefsful in the Cure of one 
 Diftemper or other incident to them : Such 
 was Sir Willhim Read, who, thono Scho- 
 lar, nor of acquirM Abilities in Phj/ick and 
 Surgery^ yet cured his Thoufinds of fore 
 or blind Eyes •, and many of them too to 
 the furprife and aflonifhmcnt of profefs*d 
 Snrgeom and Fbjficians. W hcthcr He, or 
 Jefus^ cured the greater number of Blind- 
 nels may be quellion'd. To plcafe our 
 Divines^ it (hill be granted that Jefns cu- 
 red the greater Numbers ^ bur that he cu- 
 red worfe or more difficult DKlempers in 
 the Eyes, can't be proved. Sir William 
 indeed met with many Cafes of blind and 
 fore Eyes, that were out of the reach of 
 his Power-, and fo did "Jefus too, or he had 
 never let great Multitudes of the blind, and 
 otherwife diftemper'd People, go unheaTd 
 by him. Our Divines will here fiy, that 
 it was never want of Power in Jefus^ but 
 want of Faith in the difeifed, if he did 
 not heal them ; b Jt in other Surgeons and 
 Phyficians^ it is confelTcdl/ their own In- 
 fijfficicncy : To which I have only this 
 
 Anfvvcr, 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 Anfwer, that our Pbyjrcians and Surgeon^ 
 are to be commended for their Ingenuity, 
 to impute it to their own Defed of Power, 
 and not to lay the Blame upon their Pa- 
 tients, when they can't cure them : And 
 it is lucky for us Chriftians, that we have 
 this Salvo for the Credit of Jefus^s mi- 
 raculoufly healing Power^ that it was not 
 fit, he fhould exert it againft Unbelief j 
 othcrwife, reafonably fpeaking, He, with 
 Sir William Read, Greatrex, Vefpajian^ 
 our former Kings oi England^ and Seventh-. 
 Sons^ mud have pafs'd but for a Cbancei-i 
 DoEior, 
 
 But to come to the particular Confidera-! 
 tion of the Miracle before us. Jefns re- 
 ftored, it feems, a blind Man to his Eye- 
 fight, by the ufe of a peculiar Ointment, 
 and wailiing of his Eyes, as direded, in 
 the Pool of Siloam, Where lies the Mi- 
 racle > I can't fee it • but hope our D/- 
 vines will take their opportunity to point 
 it out to me. Our Surgeons with their 
 Ointments and WaQiings can cure fore 
 and blind Eyes of one fo^t or other •, and 
 Jefus did no more here ^ and yet he mud- 
 be reckon*d a Worker of xMiracles •, and they, 
 but artiucial Operators : where's the Senfe 
 and Fveafon of this difference between 
 them > If Mr. Moor, the Jpotbecary^ for 
 ^he notable Cures he performs, by the 
 
 jnean^ 
 
(7) 
 
 means of his Medicines, fliould write him- 
 felf, and be accounted by his Admirers, a 
 Miracle-worker ^ he and they would be 
 but laugh'd at for it : And yet Jefus for 
 his curing the fore Eyes of a poor Man 
 with an Ointment, muft be hid in ve- 
 neration for a divine and miraculous Ope- 
 rator, as much as if by the breath of his 
 Mouth, he had removed an huge Moun- 
 tain / 
 
 A Miracle, if I mlflake not the Notion 
 of our Divines about it, is a fupernatural 
 Event, or a Work out ojf the power of Na- 
 ture or Art to eflFed:. And when it is fpo- 
 ken of the Cure of a Difeafe, as of Blind- 
 nefs or Laracnefs, it ought to be fo repre- 
 fented, as that skilful and experienced Swr- 
 geons and Phyficians^ who can do ftrange 
 and furprizing Cures by Art, may give it 
 upon their Judgment, that no Skill of 
 Man could reach that Operation ^ but that 
 it ought to pafs for the Work of a divine 
 and almighty Hand and Power : But 
 there is no fuch care taken in the De- 
 fcription of any of the Difeafes, which 
 Jefiis cured ; much Icfs of this before us ^ 
 againft the miraculoufncfs of which, con- 
 fequently, there are thefe two Exceptions 
 to be made : 
 
 Firjlj That we know nothing of the 
 
 Nature of this poor Man*s Blindnefs j nor 
 
 ^ what 
 
\vhat was the defed of his Eyes , nor whe^ 
 ther it was curable by i\rt or not : With- 
 out which Knowledge, it is impoflible and 
 unreafonable to aiTert, that there was. a 
 Miracle wrought in the Cure of him. If 
 his blindnefs or weaknefs of Eye-light 
 was curable by human means, and Jefus 
 did ufe thofe means, there's an end of the 
 Miracle. \{ xht Evangelift had given tis 
 an accurate Defcription of the Condition 
 of this Man s Eyes before Cure, we could 
 have judg'd better : But this is their con- 
 flant neglect in all the Diftempers y^/r/j- 
 heaPd, and is enough to induce us to doubt 
 of his miraculous Power, There are, as I 
 have faid, fome forts of fore or blind Eyes 
 curable hy Art, as Experience does teflify ^ 
 and there are others incurable, as Fhyjl- 
 cians and Patients do lament. Of which 
 fort this Man's was, we know not. The 
 word that we know of his Cafe, is, that 
 he was blind from his Birth, or Infancy, 
 which might be ; and yet Time, Nature 
 and Art, may give relief to him. As a 
 Man advances in Years, the difeafes pf 
 Childhood and Youth wear off. What we 
 call the King^s-Evil, or an Inflamation in 
 the Eyes, in time will abate of its Malig- 
 nity. Nature will not only by degrees 
 work the Cure it-felf, but the feafonable 
 help of a good Octtlijl will foon expedite 
 
(9 ) 
 
 it, tho in time of Infancy he could be of 
 no ufc. And who knows but this might 
 be the Cafe of this blind Man, whofe 
 Cure Jdfus by his Art did only hi(icn 
 and help forward. However, there are 
 Grounds enough to fufae6l, that it was 
 not divine Power which heal'd this Man, 
 or Jcfits had never prepared and order'd 
 an Ointment and IVap for him. 
 
 Should our Divines fuppofe or de- 
 fcribe, for the Evangelijl, a (late of 
 Blindncfs in this Min, incurable by Art*, 
 that would be begging the Queftion, 
 which no Unbeliever will grant. But 
 to pleafe them, I will yield, without 
 Enquiry into the Nature of this Mao's 
 Blindnefs, that, if Jefns had ufed no 
 Medicines ^ if with only a word of his 
 Mouth he had cured the Man, and he 
 had inftantaneoufly recover'd, as the Word 
 was fpoken:, here would have been a 
 real and great Miracle, let the Blindnefs 
 or Imperfection of the Man's Sight be- 
 fore, be of wliat kind or degree focver. 
 But 'Jefush ufe of Wafliings and Oint- 
 ments abfolutcly fpoils and deftroys the 
 Credit of the Miracle, and we ought 
 by no means to afcribe that to the im- 
 mediate Hand and Power of God,, which 
 Medicines and Balfans are apply'd to the 
 EfFed of. And this brings me to the 
 
 C Second 
 
( lo ; 
 
 Second Exception againft the miracu- 
 loufnefs of the Cure of this blind Mm, 
 which is, that Jefus ufed human means, 
 for the Cure of him 5 which means, 
 whether they were at all proper and et- 
 feclual in themfelves, do affecl the Credit 
 of the Miracle, and give occafion of fuf- 
 picion, that it was Art and not divine 
 Power that heaPd him, or Jefus, for 
 his Honour, had never had recourfe to 
 the ufe of them. And what were thofe 
 Means, or that Medicine, which Jefus 
 made ,ufe of? Why, *' He fpat upon the 
 " Ground, and made a Balfam of Dirt 
 " and Spittle, and anointed the poor 
 " Man's Eyes with it, and he recovcr'd." 
 A flrange and odd fort of an Ointment, 
 that I believe was never ufed before, nor 
 fince, for fore and blind Eyesl I am 
 not Student enough in ?hyfick and Sur^ 
 gery to account for the natural and ra- 
 tional ufe of this Balfam •, but wifh that 
 skilful ProfeiTors of thofe Sciences would 
 help me out at this difficulty. If they 
 could rationally account for the ufe of 
 this Eye-falvc, tho it was by fuppofing, 
 that Jefus imperceptibly had in his Mouth 
 a proper uncluous and Balfamick Sub- 
 ftance, which he diifolv'd into Spittle, 
 they would do great fervice to a certain 
 Caufe ; and I wonder none of them 
 
 whether 
 
( II ) 
 
 whether well or ill afFecled to Religion) 
 have as yet bent their 1 houghts to it. 
 
 In the frndikc o[ Pby/ick and Surgery, 
 there are fometimcs very odd and un- 
 accountable Medicaments made ufe of*, 
 and now-and-then very whimfical and 
 feemingly ridiculous ones, by old Women, 
 to good Purpofe: But none of them are 
 to be compared to Jc'fus^s Balfam for 
 fore Eyes. 1 have heard of a merry 
 Mountebank of Diftindion, whofe ca- 
 tholick Medicine was Hafty-Fudding^ 
 which indeed is a notable Remedy againft 
 the Efuriency of the Stomach, that the 
 Poor often labour under. But Jefus's 
 Eye-Salve, for Abfurdity, whim, and in- 
 congruity, was never equall'd, either in 
 jeft or in earneft, by any jQj^tack-DocIor, 
 Whether Infidels think of this Ointment 
 of the Holy Jefus with a fmile :, or re- 
 flect on it with difdain, I can't guefs. 
 As to myfelf, I ihould think with St. 
 Chryfofiom (2), that this Eye- Salve of Je' 
 fus would fooner put a Man's Eyes out, 
 than reftore a blind one to his Sight. And 
 I believe that our Divines^ for the Cre- 
 dit of the Miracle, and our Surgeons^ 
 for the Honour of their Science, will 
 
 (2) Quid Lutum illinere oportet ? hoc potius cxcum 
 redderc, cjcLs unquam hoc pado curatus ell ? In Loc. 
 "^cban, 
 
 C 2 agree. 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 agree, that it could not be naturally ope- 
 rative and effective of the Cure of the blind 
 Man. 
 
 What then was the Reafon of Jefus^s 
 ufing this ftrange Eye- Salve, when, for 
 the fake of the Miracle, and for the ho- 
 nour of his own Power, he fhould have 
 cured the Man v/ith a word fpeaking ? 
 This is a Queftion and Objeclion in St. 
 Cjiril (5) againft Minifters of the Letter, 
 who are obliged to give an Anfwer to it, 
 that Will confifi; with the Wifdom and 
 Power of Jefus^ othcrwife they mufl 
 give up the Miracle, or make him a 
 vain infigniticant and trifling Agent. St. 
 CynU of vvhofe Mind I am, fays (4) that 
 the Reafon of the ufe of this Balfam, 
 made of Dirt and Spittle, is to be fetch'd 
 from the Myftery. But, in as much as 
 our Divines will never agree to that, 
 which would be of ill Confequcnce to 
 their Minidry, they muft give a good 
 Reafon of their own, which I defpair of 
 feeing, that will comport with the Let- 
 l^er. 
 
 C^) QiJam ob caufam dicet aliquis, cum omnia folo 
 TVerbo prxitare poilit, nulloque ncgotio, Lutum quidem 
 fpiitp macerat /• In Loc. ^ohaa, 
 
 (4) Sed Rationem qiandam m\n.icam habet Vis Rei 
 ^ftius d^ fpupo, Jtid, 
 
( I? ) 
 
 St. hen mis too, fays ($), that the Clay 
 and Spittle was of no fervicc to the Cure 
 of the bUnd Man ^ and yet Jefus did 
 not ufe it in vain. Is not this an In- 
 confiftency ? How will our Diviiies ad- 
 jufl: it ? With Iren^us, I am fure they'll 
 not inyftically folve the Difficulty ^ there- 
 fore if they dont provide another So- 
 lution of it to fatisfadion, cither their 
 Miniftry of the Letter, or the Reputa- 
 tion of Jefus, and this Miracle, mufl 
 fufFer for it. 
 
 I am puzzled to think, how our 
 Divines will extricate themfelves out of 
 this Strait, and account for the ufe of 
 this Eye-Salve, without any Diminution 
 of the Miracle. Surely, they will not 
 fay that Jefus ufed this fenflefs and in- 
 fignificant Ointment to put a Slur upon 
 the Praclice of Pbyfick and Surgery, as if 
 other Medicines were of no more avail 
 than his Dirt and Spittle, They have 
 more wit than to fay fo ; lead it in- 
 cenfe a noble and raoft ufeful Profeflion, 
 not fo much againft themfelves, as a- 
 gainft Jefus, and provoke them to a 
 
 (5) Ei autem qui crcus faerat a Nativitate, jam non 
 per fermonem fed per operationem prxftitit vifum ; 
 ron vane, neque prout evenit, hoc faciens, fed ut often- 
 ^erct manum Dei, earn qu2 ah initio plafmavit PJomi* 
 rem, ^c. Contra Haeref. L. v. c. 15. 
 
 nicer 
 
(H) 
 
 nicer and flri^ler Enquiry than I can 
 make into his Miracles, the Difeafes he 
 cured, and his manner of Operation ^ 
 and to infer from thence, that he 
 could be no miraculous Healer of Dif- 
 eafes who ufed Medicines ; nor his Evan- 
 geli[is orthodox at Theology, who were 
 fo inexpert at Anatomy and the Defcrip- 
 tion of bodily Diflempers. This might 
 be of bid Confequence to Religion: And 
 yet I wonder that none of tliem, who 
 may be fuppofed a little difaffeded to 
 Chriftianity, have taken the Hint from 
 this pretended Miracle before us, and fome 
 others, to endeavour at a Proof of Jefus\ 
 being little better t\\TiXi2iQitack-DoSlor. 
 
 If I wa?, what I am not, an Infidel, 
 I fhould think, from the Letter of this 
 Story, that Jefus was a juggH^^g Inipof- 
 toi'y who would pafs for a miraculous 
 Healer of Difeafes, tho he ufed under- 
 hand proper Medicines. The Clay and 
 the Spittle he made an open fbew of, as 
 what, to x'Vdmiration, he would cure the 
 blind Man with •, bat in referve he had 
 a more fanative Balfam, that he fubtilly 
 llipt in the room of the Clay, and re- 
 peatedly to good purpofe anointed the 
 Man*s Eyes with it. But as the Autho- 
 rity of the Fathers, and their myftical 
 Interpretation of this Story, is alone my 
 
 fafe- 
 
( «5 -) 
 
 fife-guard againfl fuch an ill opinion of 
 Jefus ^ fo I would now gladly know 
 upon what Bottom the Faith of our 
 Divines can ftand, as to this Miracle, and 
 Jefiis'^s divine Power in it. 
 
 I have perufed fome of our Covmieyi* 
 tators on the Place, and don't perceive 
 that they hefitate at this ftrange Eye- 
 Salve ^ nor make any Qucdions about 
 the pertinent or impertinent Ufe of it. 
 Whether it is, that they deep over the 
 Story, or are aware of greater Difricultys 
 in it, than can be eafily farmounted, and 
 therefore dare not touch on't, I know 
 not. But now that we enjoy Liberty 
 of Debate, which will make us Philo- 
 fophers, and I have taken the Freedom 
 to make a ftrider Scrutiny than ordinary 
 into Jefus*s Miracles, and to coniider what 
 Abfurditys, their Storys, and this in par- 
 ticular, are clog'd with :, it is incumbent 
 on our Divi?ies to anfwer folidly thefe 
 Qiieftions, -u/'as. What was the ReaCon 
 of Jefus'* s Ufe of this Eye-Salve made 
 of Clay and Spittle ? Whether, if it was 
 of fervice to the Cure of the blind Man, 
 it does not deftroy the Miracle ? And if 
 it had no Effed in the Cure of him, 
 whether Jefiis was not a vaifi and trifling 
 Operator, making ufe of iniignificant and 
 impertinent Medicines to the Diminution 
 
 of 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 of his divine Power > Thefe Queftions 
 are not ludicrous, but calm and fedate 
 Rea fining, which Bifiop Smalbroke (6) 
 does not difapprove of. Therefore a grave, 
 rational, and fubftantial Anfwer is expec- 
 ted to them, fuch as will be a Vindi- 
 cation of the Wifdom and Power of 
 Jefids, without any Diminution of the 
 Miracle. 
 
 Should our Divines fay, that this 
 Matter was an Ad of unfearchable 
 Wifdom, and muft be left to the Will 
 of our Saviour, and not curioufly pry'd 
 into, any more than fome other Dif- 
 penfations of Providence, that are pad 
 finding out ; This Anfwer, which I be- 
 lieve to be the befl, that can be given, 
 will not do here. The Miracles of 
 Jefiis are, as our Divines own, Appeals 
 to our Reafon and Senfes for his Autho- 
 rity ; and by our Reafon and Senfes they 
 are to be try'd, condemn'd or approved 
 of. If they will not abide the teft of 
 Reafon and Senfe, they are to be rejec- 
 ted, and Jefns*s Authority along with 
 them. Therefore a more clofe, pertinent 
 and ferious Anfwer is to be given to the 
 faid Queftions ^ which as I believe to 
 
 i6) See his Sermon before the Socktys [or Rcjormatiorty 
 
 p. 12. 
 
 be 
 
be impofTibte, confidently with the Let- 
 ter^ fo our Divines muff of ncccflity go 
 along with me to the Fathers for a myf- 
 tical and allegorical Interpretation of the 
 Story of this Eye-S live ^ or the Miracle 
 will fall to the Ground, and Jefus^s 
 divine Power be in great danger with 
 it. 
 
 St. Cyril^ (who is one of Bip^op SmaU 
 hroke^s Greek Commentators, that fhould 
 ftridly adhere to the Letter) fignities, 
 as I before obferv'd, that Jefuss Ufe of 
 this Clay and Spittle would be an Ab- 
 furdity, if it was not to be accounted for, 
 from the Myflery. 
 
 Eiifebius Gallicanus^ treating on this 
 Miracle, fays (7) •, " that our Saviour 
 ^' apparently manifefts that his Miracles 
 " are of a fpiritual and myftical Signiti- 
 " cation, becaufe irl the Work of them, 
 " he does fomewhat or other, that iite- 
 ^* rally has no Senfe nor Reafon in it. 
 " As for Inftance, in the Cure of this 
 " blind Man, what occafioii was there 
 
 (•j) Ipfe falvator noRer apcrtiffime ofleii^it. quod cju? 
 Miracula aliqaid fignificent ; dum ea thcicndo aliquid 
 agit, quod Ratione c.irere videitur. N.(i cnim aTqaid 
 l)gnificar«t, quid nccefTarium fuit, in hujus cxci IHumi- 
 ratione, ut Lutum faceret, quo oculoslejiis liniret, cut 
 folum diccre fafficteris erat. Qurramus igitur figmFca- 
 tionem, & videamusquid crcusirtc fignificCt. In homi}* 
 fuarta pj} ^uartam Dominiiam. 
 
 D " foe 
 
** for Clay and Spittle to anoint his Eyel, 
 *' if it was not of a myftical meaning, 
 " when with a Word of his Mouth, 
 *' Jefiti covXdi have cured him> Let us 
 *' then fet afide the Letter of the Story, 
 " and fearch for the Mydery, and con- 
 " fider who is meant by this blind 
 ^' Man, &c:'' 
 
 Origen too, upon occafiott of this 
 Miracle, and its Abfardity according to 
 the Letter, fays (8)^ *' that whatever 
 *' J e fits did in the Flefh was but Type 
 " and Figure of what he would do in 
 " Spirit, as is apparent from the Mirack 
 *' of his curing a blind Man, which no- 
 ** body knows why it was fo done, if 
 '* it be not to be underflood of a myf- 
 ** tical Ointment to open the Eyes of the* 
 " blind in Underflanding,'* 
 
 And who then is this blind Man myf- 
 tically? St, AjigufihiQ))^ St. Jerome (\6)^ 
 
 (%) Simllitudo erat & Typus futurorum unumquocJque 
 quod fiebat in Corpore. Veluti nefcio qiiis a Nativitate 
 C3ecus Vifum recuperavit. Vers autem cxcus i lie erat a 
 Nativitate Gentiliuni Populus, cui Salvator reddidit Vi- 
 fum^ Saliva fua ungens oculos ejus & mittens ad 6';7o<iw, 
 quod interpretatur miflTus, mittebat quippC illos quos fpi- 
 fitu unxit ad Apoftolos. In Jfai. c. vi. 
 
 (g) Genus humanum eft ifle c^cus. In Loc. ^ohan, 
 
 (lo) Cscus humanum Genus Ggnificatur, In Com. 
 ^okan. 
 
 Eufebhis 
 
( '9 ) 
 
 £ufebms Gallicanus (ii), St. TheophtUis 
 o{ /inriocb (12), Origen (13), St. Cyril o^ 
 Alexandria(^\^), and St. TheophyLiBC^i'^')^ 
 (Four of them, Bijkop i^jtialbroksh Greek 
 anJ literal Commentators!) fay, \h\s blind 
 Man is a Type of Mankind of all Nations, 
 who in the Perfection of Time fignitied 
 by the Sabbath (16) in the Story, is to 
 be cured of this Blindnefs in Underftand- 
 
 ing. 
 
 And what is Mmkind*s Blindnefs here 
 fignitied> St. Augufiin (17), St. C)'ri/(i8) 
 and St. ThyophylaB (19), fay, it is Igno- 
 ranee. Error and Infidelity, or the want 
 of the intelledual Sight and Knowledge of 
 
 (11) Cxcus iftc a Nativitate, Genus hutnanum eflc 
 videtur ^ primo homine."-Hxc enim cjecitas non Corpo- 
 ris fed Animx eft. In Loc fupra laudat. 
 
 (12) Per caecum naturaliter non videntem & illumina- 
 tum lignificat Genus humanum. /« Loc. ^ohau. 
 
 C13) Vcrc autem cxcus iftecrata Nativitatc GentlUutn 
 Populus. Inlfai. c.vi. 
 
 (14) Cici hujusCurationemin figuram& typuravoca- 
 tionis Gentium accepimus. In Loc. Johan, 
 
 (!<;; Intellige hoc Miraculum fpiritualiter. Nam cx- 
 cus quidem crat omnis homo a Nativiute, id eft, ab 
 Initio Mundi. In Loc Johan. 
 
 (16) In Sabbato cftfiguraultimi Tcmporis. St, Cyril 
 in Loc. Jahan. 
 
 (17) Cjcitas eft Infidelltas. In Lot. 
 
 (\i) Cxcus qui dcftituitur divino Luminc, De AioraU 
 p. 414. 
 
 C19) Carcus qui [fcdet in tcnebris omnis Ignorantis 
 & non potuit viderc Conditorcm Mundi. In Lcc. Jokav. 
 
 D 2 God 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 God and his Providence. Origen (20), 
 St. Jobfi o^ Jeriifalem (21), and St. Theo- 
 phylaEi (22), (Still Bijhop Smalbroke*?> li- 
 teral and Greek Commentators/) tell us 
 the Reafon of this fpiritual Blindnefs of 
 Mankind, and that is, becaufe they adhere 
 to the Letter of the Scriptures. 
 
 And how will Jefusy or right Rea- 
 Jon and Truths which are his myftical 
 Names, cure Mankind of this his fpiritual 
 Blindnefs? By his myftical Spittle tem- 
 per'd with myftical Dirt, And how ihall 
 we do to underftand this inyilical Oint- 
 ment, fo as to make it a Proper Medi- 
 cine for Mankind's fpiritual Blindnefs.^ 
 St. Theophilus of Antioch (23), has an 
 allegorical Interpretation of this Clay and 
 Spittle of our Lord , but as it is hard to 
 aporehend his meaning, I fhall not here 
 infiii on it. Origen fays (24), that the 
 anointing of the blind Man's Eyes with 
 
 (2©) Literam Legis fequentes, in Errorcs, Supcrftitio- 
 res & Infidelitatem incurrunt. In Matt. TraS, xxvi. 
 
 (2f) CaFcus ifle eft carcus in Litera, & hoc ftatu Sanart 
 Tion poieft. Jn Marc. c. viii. 
 
 . (2i) Caeci qui imperiti Scripturarum. In Let. ^ohan* 
 
 ('23) Lutum vero fa£ium de Saliva oris Domini, ac 
 pofitum fuper oculos cxci, fignificat hie, quod naturae 
 deerat, opere fuo implere Figukim. In Loc.^ohati. 
 
 C24) Saliva fua ungens Oculos cxci & mittens ad 
 SiJoam quod interpretatur Mijfus, mittebat quippe illos, 
 ■quos fpiritu unxit, &c. In Ij'ai. c. vi. 
 
 Spittle^ 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 Spittle, is to be undcrftood of the Unc- 
 tion of the Spirit of Chrifl. But this 
 does not give us rightly to underlhnd the 
 Metaphor and Figure. Sr, John of Jeni- 
 fale?n fays, that by the Clay and Spittle 
 is meant (25) perfect DoElrine^ which in 
 Truth may open the Eyes of Mens Un- 
 derftanding : But what is perfeEl Do&rine .^ 
 Why, to help the Fathers out here, with- 
 out departing from their Opinions, by the 
 Spittle of Jefus muft be underftood the 
 JFater of the Spirit inftiird into the 
 Earth of the Letter of the Scriptures, 
 which temper*d together, docs, in the 
 Judgment of them all, make perfe^ Doc- 
 trine to the opening of the Eyes of our 
 Underftanding in the Knowledge of the 
 Providence of God of all Ages •, which 
 Knowledge, Light, Sight, or Illumination, 
 Mankind has hitherto wanted. 
 
 St. Ireudius (26), gives an excellent and 
 myftical Reafon, by himfelf, for the ufe 
 
 (25) Saliva eft perfciSta Doftrina. lu Marc, c. viii. 
 
 (26) Ei aut?m qui caccusfuerata Nativitate, jam non 
 per fermonem led per operationem priftitit Vifum ; non 
 vane neque prouc evenit hoc faciens, fed ut ollenderst 
 nianum Dei, earn que ab Initio plafmavit hominem. 
 Quapropter cxpuit in Terram & fecit Lutum, & fuper- 
 linivit illud Oculis, offenders antiquam Plafmationem, 
 iquemadmodum fafta eft, & manuni Dei maniPeftans his 
 qui intelligere polfunt, per quam « Limo plafmatus eft 
 homo. Cont. Hjirefes. L. v. f. 15. 
 
 of 
 
{ 21 )' 
 
 of tliis Ointment o^ Clay and Settle, to 
 the Cure of this Wind Man, which 1 fiiall 
 not flay to illuftrate, but only have cited 
 it for the Meditation of the Learned and 
 Curious. 
 
 The Story of the blind Man, as St, 
 John has related it, is long, and would 
 take up more time, than 1 have to fpare 
 at prefent, to go thro' all the Parts of 
 it. What I have done at prefent is enough 
 to awaken others to the Confideration, not 
 only of the Abfurdities of the Letter, 
 f)ut of the myftical Interpretation of the 
 reft. 
 
 The Miracle, which confifted literally 
 in the Cure of a blind Man by the ufe 
 of an Ointment made of Dirt and Spittle, 
 is abfurd, fenflefs and unaccountable; but 
 in the Myftery, there is Wifdom and 
 Reafon. And the Cure of Mankind of 
 the Blindnefs of his Under/landing, by 
 the Spirit^ being temper'd with the Let- 
 ter of the Scriptures, which is the myfti- 
 cal Eye-Salve^ will not only be a moft 
 ftupendous Miracle, but a V roof of J efus*s 
 MeJ/iabfiip beyond all contradidion, in 
 as much as by fuch an opening of the 
 Eyes of our Underftanding?3 which have 
 been hitherto dark, we fliall fee, how 
 he is the Accomplifliment of the Law and 
 the Prophets. And fo I pafs to a ' 
 
 io» Tentl| 
 
( 2? ; 
 
 10. Tenth Miracle of Jefus, vi^, (27) 
 That of his tuniiu^ Water into Windy ac 
 a Marriage in Cana of Galilee. This 
 is callM the beginning o( Jefus's Mira- 
 cles^ but whether it is to be underflood 
 of the Firji of his whole Life, or of the 
 Firjl that he wrought in Cana of Galilee^ 
 is not agreed amongft Divines, I fhall 
 not enter into the Difpute, which as it_ 
 is of no Confequence to my Caufe in 
 hand J fo I fhall pafs it -by, and not 
 urge any Arguments for or againft either 
 fide of it. 
 
 Tho I would not for the World be 
 fo impious and profane as to believe, 
 what is contain'd and imply'd in the 
 Letter of this Story ; yet I am flill too 
 grave to handle it as ludicroufly as I 
 ought ^ and it is now againft the grain, 
 that I write fo freely as I fhall againft 
 it, being unwilling, not only to put the 
 Clergy out of all Temper, but, to give 
 Scoffers and Infidels fo great an Ad van- 
 take againft their Miniftry of the Letter, 
 Some may wonder that I, who have 
 gone fo far in the ludicrous difplay of 
 the grofs Abfurdities of fomc other Mi- 
 racles, fhould boggle at this. But to be 
 ingenuous, and fpeak the Truth fincerely, 
 
 (i7) Johnii, 
 
 I am 
 
( H ) , 
 
 I an! ftiU a Chriftirn (for all what 
 the Bi^^o^ of St. David's, (28) Jrch- 
 deacon Stiihhs^ and others v/ould make of 
 me) upon the Principles of the Fathers, 
 and have a greater Veneration for the 
 Perfon of the Holy Je^us, than to be for- 
 ward to raake fuch fport with him, his Mo- 
 ther, and his Difciples, as this Story affords 
 Scope for. And if it was not for the necefli- 
 ty of turning theC/^r^ys Heads to the Gon- 
 iideration of Myfterys, this Miracle fhould 
 have been pafs'd by in fitence. 
 
 There were fome antientiy, whom St. 
 Chryfoftdm (29) writes of, whether Jezvs; 
 Gefitiles, or Hereticks, I know not, who 
 took great offence at the Story of this 
 Weddings accounting it, from what is re- 
 lated in St. John, as a riotous Feaft, 
 and that Jefits and his Mother, and his 
 Difciples, not only bore a part in the 
 Revellings, but v/ere mod: to blame for 
 them* or he fhould not have countenanced 
 them with his Prefence, much lefs pro- 
 moted them, by the Change of a large 
 quantity of Water into Wine for the ufe 
 of a Company, who were already dru?ik 
 
 (28) See his Speech in Convocation^ printed, in the Poft- 
 Boy </ March the "^oth, 
 
 (7S) Rurfus hoc in loco calumnlantur nonnulli hunc 
 f brioforum Hiiflc Conventum, CS'f. In Loc. ^ohan. 
 
 with 
 
( ^5 ) 
 
 with it. Bat I, with St. Chryfnpom, am 
 inclined to believe, that, if Jefus did 
 grace this Weddin^^ with his Piefcnce, 
 there was no Excefs encouraged, or fo 
 much as fufFer'd at it. If he did accept 
 of the Invitation of the BrJde:>room, it 
 was for an opportunity, not fo much to 
 turn Water into Wbie^ ws to make a pro- 
 per Difcourfe to the People uf conjugal 
 Duties ; and, as he was a fearcher of the 
 Hearts, fecretly to admonilh the Married 
 of the Sin and Mifchief of Adultery ^ 
 tho we read not of a feafonable and 
 good Word fpokcn at it. 
 
 And the Emptefs Eiidocia, a nurfing 
 Mother of the Church, has given us a 
 Poetical, atid I hope a hclitious Dcf:rip- 
 tion of this Wedding. She makes ^ a 
 fumptuous and voluptuous Feaft of it^ 
 and writes (30) of Mnjick and Dancing 
 in abundance, enough to make us think 
 of fuch Mirth and Paftime here, as was 
 unbecoming of a Company of Saints to 
 be prefentat. Whether it was, that this 
 
 ('30) Puerl aut Saltatores volutabantur, in his autem 
 
 Tibix, Lyracque Vocem b;ibcbant. Mulicres autem 
 
 Cantum accipientes, volvebantur per medias 
 
 Quxcunquc optimatum crant uxores attiuc filiae. 
 
 llli vero ad Saltationem & dehdcrabilem Cantum 
 
 Converfi ddciflabantur, &c. 
 
 In Homiro.Centon, 
 
 E Emprefs^ 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 Fmprefsj being only accufloni'd to tlie 
 Excc llVs of a Court, could form no mea- 
 ner Conceptions of a Country Weddings 
 pr whether flie had any excra-fcriptural 
 Authority for what fhe writ, I know 
 not : Bit I believe, that, if Jefus was at 
 all at a Mirriage-Feafl, the whole was 
 conduded with Decency, Order, and So- 
 briety ; and if he there wrought any Mi- 
 racle, it was to manifeft his Glory, to the 
 Converlion of fome, and Contirmation of 
 the Faith of others. 
 
 And our Tranflators of the Bible too 
 have given occalion to fufped fome- 
 wh^t of Excefs at this Wedding-, or 
 fhey need not have made the W^terpots 
 to hold two or three Firkins apiece. If 
 I had been the Tranflator, they Ihould 
 not h:ive held above two or three ?ints 
 apiece, which Meafure is as agreeable to 
 the Original as Firkin-^ neither can I 
 imagine, that Jsfus^ if he did convejt 
 W;^ter in^o vVinc, would do it in fo large 
 a Meafure, for fear of an intemperate 
 abufe of it, but only gave the Company 
 a.<:aft of his miraculous Power, and a 
 little tafte of his Love and Good-will to 
 them. 
 
 Such are the Conceptions," that, to the 
 Honour of Jeftts^ 1 am willing to form 
 of. 'this Wedding j and wifh that the 
 
 Letter 
 
( 27 > 
 
 Letter of the Story did fuggjefl: no worfe 
 Tlioaghts of it to u?. I Hiould e \Ac sM, 
 if no Infidel really could, what 1, bat 
 for the fake of the Myftery mod un- 
 willingly (hould, write any ludicrous 
 Defcants on it. But if this Story had 
 been related of Apollonius Tya?idius^ as 
 it is of our Jefus^ I would have ridi- 
 cul'd and fatiriz'd it to the utmoft of 
 my Power, and have rcnder'd him and 
 his Difciples of all Nations, as contemp- 
 tible as 1 could, for the Belief of it; 
 and I don't doubt, bat our Chriflian 
 Vriefts would have given me ample- Prai- 
 fes and Commenditions fjr fo doing. It 
 is faid of Apollonius, tint for the Knter- 
 tainment of his Friends, he comminied 
 variety of nice Difhes of Meat, tog'^ther 
 with Bowls of cholceil: Wi.ic, all on a 
 fadden to defcend upon his Tible and 
 range themfelves in good Order. Whe- 
 ther there was any Truth in this Mira- 
 cle of ApoUonius^ is not the Qjieltion • 
 bat Mr. Chandler (j,\') could fee a Fault 
 in it, (tho none in Jefus's Wine at this 
 Wedding) as if it was done for the Plea- 
 fure of luxurious Appetites, tho we read 
 of ,no Intemperance at ir, which can't be 
 faid of the Wedding-Feaft before us. Our 
 
 00 Viniication of thi Chrifiian Keliiion. p. 82. 
 
 E 2 Divines 
 
^ .8 ) 
 
 Div'mes I fappofe, no more than myfelf^ 
 believe any thing cf the faid Miracle in 
 ApoUon'ius \ but, if it was really wrought, 
 I fancy, I could have lampoon'd him for 
 it, and would have m.ade it a diabolical 
 \Vork, like that, as Fables go, of the 
 Feaftings of Wizards and Witches j and 
 our Dhmes (pafling by Jefm'^s, Whie 
 here) would readily, as they are Believers 
 of the Story s of Witchcraft, have ilruck 
 in with me. 
 
 But fetting afide that miraculous Story 
 o^ Apollonhis^ which has but <?w^ Voucher ; 
 the Cafe before us is Jefush turning Wa- 
 ter into Wine for the ufe of Men, who 
 had before well drank. How (hall I 
 force Nature and Faith to ridicule this 
 Story } How fnall I lay afide that pro- 
 found Veneration for the Holy Jefus, 
 which Converfation with the Fathers, 
 more than the Prejudice of Education 
 has begotten in me, and ludicroufly here 
 treat him and his Miracle too, as is in- 
 cumbent upon me, to make way for the 
 My i^ cry? in fhort, I can't do it, in my 
 own Name; but having met with a fati- 
 rical Inveclive of a fuppofed Jewifh Rahiii 
 to this purpcfe, I here publifli it, that 
 pur Clergy, as well as myfelf, may 
 think of an Anfwer to it, and fo pre- 
 vent that Mifchief it may do by being 
 
 handed 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 handed ribout among Jews and Infidels \n 
 Manufcripr. It is as follows j 
 
 " You Chriftians pay Adoration to 
 *' Jefusj whom you believe to be a di- 
 '* vine Author of Religion, fent of God 
 *' for the Inftrudion, Reformation and 
 ** Salvation of Mankind ^ and what In- 
 *' duces you to this Belief of him, is, 
 ** (befides fome obfcure Prophecies, which 
 " you can't agree upon, and which nei- 
 ** ther your felves, nor any body elfe 
 " underftands the Application ofj the 
 ** Hiftory of his Miiaclcs: Bit I won- 
 *' der, you jfhould have a good opinion 
 ** of him for his Miracles, which, if he 
 " wrought no better than whnt are re» 
 *' corded of him, by your Evangelifls^ 
 *' are if duly confider'd, enough to a- 
 " lienate your Hearts from him. I can't 
 •' fparc time now to examine into all of 
 •' them, but according to the carfory 
 " Obfcrvation I have made on them, there 
 *' is not one fo well circumftanced, as to 
 *< merit a confiderate Man's belief, that 
 ** it was the Work of an omnipotent, 
 *« all-wife, juft and good Agent. Some 
 '* of them are abfurd Tales, others foo- 
 " lifh Fads, others unjufl Anions, others 
 " ludicrous Pranks, others jagling Tricks, 
 <* others magical Enchantments , and if 
 
 l\ many 
 
( 30 y 
 
 f« many of them had been better and 
 *' greater Operations than they are, and 
 ^' of a more ufeful anJ flapendous na- 
 " ture than they feem to be , yet the 
 *' firft Miracle that Ije wrought, viz, 
 '^ that of his Uiming Water into Wine 
 *' at an extravagant and voluptuous Wed- 
 " ding at Cana of Galilee, is enough to 
 *^ tarn our Stomachs againll: all the reft. 
 " It is in itfelf enough to beget in us 
 " an ill opinion cfjefus, and to prepoffefs 
 " us with an averlicn to his Religion, 
 ^' without farther Examination into it, 
 *« It is enough to make" us fufped his o- 
 *' ther Miracle?^ of what name foever, 
 *f to be of a bafe, magical, and diaboli- 
 " cal ExtraQ:lon5 or he had never fet 
 " up for a Divine worker of Miracles 
 *?, with fo ill a grace? Would any fo- 
 *' ber, grave, ferious and divine Perfon, 
 " as you Ghriftians fappofe Jefids to have 
 '* been, have vouchfiM his Prefence at 
 '^ a Wedding, where fuch Levities, Di- 
 '* verfions and Exceifes (in our Nation of 
 " the Jews, as well as in all others) 
 " were indulged on fuch Occafions, as 
 " were not ht to be feen, much lefs 
 " countenancM by the Saint, you would 
 " make of him. If your J^fns, his Mo- 
 •< ther, and his Dif iples had not been 
 '« merry Folks in themfelvesj they would 
 
 " have 
 
( 3t ; 
 
 " have decline! the Invitation of the 
 
 *< BriJdgroom , nay, if tliey had been at 
 
 " all graver and more ferious People 
 
 " thin ordinary, no Invitation had been 
 
 " given to fach Spoil-Sports: But bojn 
 
 " Com pinions they were, and of comi- 
 
 *' cal Cjnverfation, or there hid b:en 
 
 '' at a Wedding no Room fjr them. You 
 
 " Cliriftims miy fancy, what you pleafe, 
 
 '« of fdjus and his Mother's Sjintlhipj 
 
 " but the very Text of the Story im- 
 
 ^.pliesi they were Lovers of good Fel- 
 
 '"^^lovvihip and . cxcefs too, upon occa- 
 
 <«; (ion ; or he hid never, upon her Inti- 
 
 '^'''^iii ition, tura'd fo large a quantity of 
 
 ^«' Water into Wine, after all or mod of 
 
 ^ "the Com piny were far gone with it. 
 
 ''^.Ypa, iniv^ fippofe, if you pleafe, that 
 
 ■^'all were' f b.T, and none intoxicated, 
 
 *!" .and thit the want of Wine pro- 
 
 '*' deeded from tlie abundance of Com- 
 
 " pany, rather rhin excefs in drinking; 
 
 "but wiiv then did 'foh?i the Evange- 
 
 ^^ Uft "uie the word fjn^^jct. which nn- 
 
 *< plies rh ■v^ were m^re than half feas 
 
 " Qv.er? \ni if Ji'fifs and his M ither 
 
 *'' had n ■' ooth a mind to top them up ^ 
 
 " the 1' would not have requefted, noc 
 
 <' the o her, have granted a iVliracle to 
 
 " thnr ourpofe. Whether Jefns and his 
 
 ** Mother themfelves were at all cut, as 
 
 " were 
 
 C( 
 
(?2 ) 
 
 <^ were others of the Company, is not 
 
 « fo certain. She might be an abftcmi- 
 
 <' ous Dame for ought we know; tho if 
 
 «* old Stories are true of her familiarity 
 
 " with a Soldier^ of whom came her 
 
 *' chara Detim Soboles^ in all probabi- 
 
 *' lity, fhe would take a Dr^;« and zBot- 
 
 •* tie too. Bat it looks as if Jefus him- 
 
 " felf was a little ifi for*r, or he had 
 
 *' never fpoke fo wafpiftily and fnap- 
 
 *' pilhly to his Mother, faying, Womauy 
 
 " what have I to do with thee? mine 
 
 *' Hour is not yet come * which was ve- 
 
 •' ry unbecoming of a dutiful Son, who, 
 
 *' excepting when he ran away from 
 
 •* his Parents, and put them to (32) 
 
 " Sorrow and Trouble to look him up, 
 
 *' was, and is ftill in heaven, fay the 
 
 " Roman Catholicksy a moft obedient Child. 
 
 •* You modern Chriflians may put what 
 
 *' Conftruftion you can upon the words 
 
 *' above of Jefits to his Mother, to falve 
 
 *' his Credit j but the Fathers of your 
 
 *' Church (93) confefs them to be a (harp 
 
 " and farly Reply to her, which, if it 
 
 " did not proceed from the natural bad- 
 
 (32) Luke ii. 4S. 
 
 (■?3) Chri:!us afperius refpondit, quid tibi & mini 
 Mulicr? ^'/. Cbry[on, in Loc, ^ohan» Vide C? Theophj- 
 Ja^, itt Zoe, 
 
 «' nefs 
 
( ?9 ). 
 
 " riefs of his Temper, derived, <?.vr;Wwr^j» 
 " from his fuppofed Father yer, was cer- 
 " tainly the effed of Drinking j and 
 ** that's the more likely, becaufe it is 
 " a broken and withfs Sentence, fuch as 
 " FuJcUecapf utter by h:3lves, when the 
 *' Winers in, and the }Vic''s out. Your 
 '' modern Commsntators are fidly puz- 
 led to make good Senfe of this bro- 
 ken and abrupt Sentence oijefus^ and 
 a pertinent Reply of it, to what his 
 Mother fjid to him, they have no 
 Wine : If you will bear with me, I'll 
 help you oat at this dead lift, and 
 ^ give you the true meaning or it thus, 
 ^ Jefus^s Mother being apprifed of a 
 ^j deticiency of Wine, and willing, as well 
 ^j as the Bridegroom, that the Company 
 ^j fhould be thorowfy merry before they 
 jj parted, intimates to her Son, (whom 
 ^t llie knew to be initiated in the My- 
 ^j flerys of Bacchus^ that they had no 
 „ Wine: But before the could tinilh her 
 ^^ Reqaefl: to him, He, iniftaking her 
 „ meaning, imagines, fhe was caution- 
 <c ing againd drinking more Wine, and 
 ^t exhorting him to go home, where- 
 upon he takes her up Ihort and quick, 
 ^^ faying, Woman y what have you to do 
 with me / (for that too is the E?iglijli 
 ** of the Greek) I'll not be interruprei 
 F '' m 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 <' ia my Cups, nor break Company '^ 
 « for mine Hour is not yet come to de- 
 «' part : But after he rightly apprehended 
 <« her, he goes to work, and rather than 
 t« the Company fliould want their jp///, 
 <« by trick of Art, like a Pimcb-maker^ 
 '« meliorates Water into what they call'd 
 " Wine. That this is the obvious Inter- 
 *' pretation, and natural Paraphrafe of the 
 *' Words before us, {hall be try'd by the 
 " abfurd Comments now-a-days put up- 
 ** on them, that are enough to make a 
 « confiderate Man laugh, if not hifs at 
 «« them. 
 
 . " Some antient Hereticks (34), very 
 «' gravely infer'd from this ExprefTion, 
 li Woman^ what have I to do with thee, 
 tc that Mary was neither a Virgin, nor 
 << Jefus her Son •, or he had never ac- 
 <« cofted her with fuch blunt Language, 
 «' thit imply?, they could not be fo a- 
 <' kin to each other. This was a per- 
 <« plexity to St. Aitgujlin^ and gave him 
 t' fome trouble to explain the Expref- 
 '« fion, confidently with her Virginity 
 <« (for all fhe cohabited with the old Car- 
 « penter) and his Filiation. But this 
 <* being a quibble, that has been long 
 " fince dropt, I (hall not revive, nor in- 
 
 (34) Vide San(aum Auguftinum. In Lot:, ^ohan. 
 
 « fill 
 
f 35 ) 
 
 *' fifl: on it. But that the ExprcfTion 
 " above do's fappofe a little Inebriarioti 
 ** in Jefns^ I may averr, neither is 
 ** there a better Solution to be mide of 
 « it. 
 
 " The Fathers of your Church, be« 
 
 <« ing fenlible of the abfurdity, abrupt- 
 
 <« nefs, impertinence, pertnefs, and fcnllcf- 
 
 «< nefs of the PaiTi^e b^fjre us accord- 
 
 ^ ing to the Letter, had recourfe to a 
 
 <' myftical and allegorical Interpretation, 
 
 ■*• as the only way to make it confift nt 
 
 •" with the Wifdom, Sobriety and Duty 
 
 *' of the Holy Jefus, But you MoJi^ms., 
 
 " abandoning Allegories and Myllcries in 
 
 Miracles, have endeavour'd, I fay, to 
 
 put other Conftruclions upon it, as m^y 
 
 comport with the Letter and Credit of 
 
 ^^ Jcfus: But how infipid and fcnllcfs 
 
 ^■^ they are, I appeal to a reifjnible Man, 
 
 who will give himfelf the trjuble to 
 
 confult them, upon the PI ice, and 
 
 fave me the pains of a tedious and 
 
 naufeous Work to recount thcin for 
 
 " him. 
 
 " But to humour the Chriflian Pricft- 
 *' hood at this Day, I will fuppofethat 
 '* jf^/wj, and his Mother, and Difciples, 
 *' tho Fidiermen, to have been all fober, 
 *' grave, and ferious at this Wedding, fui- 
 ^' tably to the Opinion that their Fol- 
 F 2 lowers 
 
( 3^ ) 
 
 *« lowers now would have us to enter- 
 « tain of them. But then it is hard to 
 « conceive them, lefs than Spectators and 
 <c even Encouragers of h^xcefs and Intern- 
 ee perance in others; or Jejus^ after their 
 tf more than fufficient drinking for the fa- 
 «c tisfaclion of Nature, had never tarn'd 
 a W t r into Wine, nor would his Mo- 
 «f ther have requefted him to do it, if, I 
 « fay, they had not a mind, and took 
 « Pleasure in it too, to fee the Company 
 «=« quite Jiitclji^d up* 
 
 " A fober, prudent and wife Philofo- 
 *' pher or Magician, in the place of 
 '' y<///J-, if he had an Art or Power to 
 <■<■ tira Water into Wine, would never 
 « have exercisM it upon fuch an occa- 
 " (ion ^ no, not to pleafe his bed Friends, 
 « nor in obedience to the moft indul- 
 «f gent Parent. What would he have 
 <« fiid in fich a Cafe > That the Com- 
 " pany had drank fufficiently already, 
 " and there was no need of more Wine : 
 ?« The Bridegroom had kindly and plen- 
 « tifull7 entertain'd his Guefls, and he 
 ^f would net for the Honour of God, 
 f« who had endowM him with a divine 
 " Power, be at the Ex pence of a Mi- 
 "■" ricle to promote the leaft Intemperance, 
 •^ Whether fuch a Speech and Refolu- 
 f tion in J^f^is, upon this occafiow, 
 
 ^' would 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 " would not have been more commen- 
 *< dable, than what he diJ, let any one 
 •* i'^dge. 
 
 " if I was a Chriftian, I would, for 
 « the Honour of Jefus^ renounce this 
 « Miracle, and not magnify and extol 
 ** it as a divine and good Acl, as many 
 " now-a-days do. I would give into, 
 « and contend for the Truth of that 
 <« Glofs^ which the Gentiles of old (35) 
 « by way of Objedion put upon it, 
 « viz,. That the Company having eX" 
 «< ban fled the Bridegroom^ s Stock of IVijiCy 
 « and being in ExpeBation of morCj 
 « Jefus, rather than the Bridegroorn fljonld 
 « be put to the Blujlo for deficiency^ 
 ** palm\i a falfe Miracle, by the help 
 « of the Governoiir of the Feafl^ iipon 
 ** a drunken Creiv^ that is, havtjig fome 
 *« fpirituous Liquors at hand, mingled 
 «* them with a quantity of JVater, which 
 " the Governour of the Feaft vouched 
 " to be incomparable good WinCy fnira- 
 *' cidoujly made by Jefus : and the Com- 
 " pany beings thro* a vitiated Palate, 
 " uncapable of diflinguijhing better from 
 " worfe, and of dif covering the Fraud, 
 " ad?nired the Wine and the Miracle ^ 
 " and applauded Jefus for it, and fer* 
 
 C35) ApiJd St. Chr)'foftomum in Loc, Johan. 
 
 haps 
 
( 38; 
 
 ?* haps became his Difciples upon it. If 
 «* I, I fay, was a Difciple of Jefus^ I 
 *« would give this Story fuch an old 
 « ■ Turn for his Credit And I appeal 
 « to indifferent Judges, whether fuch a 
 « daubing of the Miracle, to remove the 
 << Offence of Infidels at this Day, would 
 « not be polytically and wifely done of 
 «« me. Whether modern Chriflians may 
 •« be brought into fuch a Notion of 
 f' this fuppofed Miracle, I know not^ 
 •« but really there is Room enojigh to 
 '" fufped fuch a Fraud in it. 
 
 " But fuppofing Jefi4s'*s Change of 
 '^ Water into Wine to have been a real 
 " Miracle-, none commiflion'd of God 
 ** for the Reformation and Inftrudion 
 *' of Mankind would ever have done it 
 ** here. Miracles (as Mr. Chandler (^6) 
 " fays excellently well) niufl be fuch 
 " things, as that it is confifietit with 
 " the perfeciions of God^ to interefi 
 *' himfelf in *, and again, they mufl ar- 
 " giie not only the Power of God, but 
 *' his Love to Mankind, and his Inclina- 
 " tion to do them good-^ which this of 
 *' Jefus is fo far from, that it has 
 an evil Afped and Tendency, as is 
 above reprefented ^ confequently it is 
 
 (36) Vindication of the CbriUianReJi^ion^ p. 82. 
 
 " to 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 cc to be rejeftel, an J no longer efleem'd 
 « a divinr Miricle; neither is Jefus to 
 cc be received as a Reveller of God's 
 « Will for it, as Mr. Chandler will bear 
 « me witnefs. 
 
 "No dojbt on't, but you Chriftian 
 
 « Priefts wouli hive us Jews and In- 
 
 <f fidels^ to believe the whole Com- 
 
 €t piny at this Wedding, for all what 
 
 «< is intimated by St. John to the con- 
 
 «« trary, to conlift of fober and demure 
 
 *< S lints. I will fuppofe fo > but then, 
 
 " what occiiion had they at all for 
 
 ** Wine? What reafon could there be 
 
 ** for God's Power to interpofe and make 
 
 " it, efpccially in fo large a quantity, 
 
 ** for them? 1 can conceive none. If 
 
 ** any of the Company had been taken 
 
 " with fainting Fits^ and J ejus iot 
 
 " want of a Cordial Bottle, had created 
 
 ** a chearing Dram or two, I could not 
 
 " h^ve fjand fault with it; tho even 
 
 «< here, if he had reftored the Patient 
 
 " with a word of his Mouth, it had 
 
 **^ been a b.tter Miracle than making 
 
 « ot Wine for him; 13ut thjt he (hould 
 
 <* make for a Company of Sots, a large 
 
 «* q-nntity of Wme, of no lefs than 
 
 " twelve or eighteen Firkins of EnghjJj 
 
 " Meafure, enough to intoxicate the 
 
 " whole Town of Cana of Galilee^ is 
 
 " what 
 
(+0 ) 
 
 i' what can never be accounted for by 
 *' a Chriftian, who (hould, one would 
 " think, wifh this Story, for the Repu- 
 " tation of Jefus expunged out of the 
 *^ New TeflaiTient. 
 
 " Bolides, if Jefus had really and mi- 
 " laculoully made Wine, which no Power 
 *' or Art of Man could do, he fhould, 
 " to prevent all fufpicion of deceit in 
 *' the Miracle, have done it without 
 *' the ufe of Water. You Chriftians fay, 
 " he is the original Caufe of all Things 
 " out of Nothing*, why then did he 
 *' not (57) create this Wine out of no- 
 *' thing? why did he not order the 
 " Pots to be emptied of their Water, 
 «' if there was any in them, and then 
 <* with a word of his Mouth command 
 *' the filling them with Wine inftead of 
 " it? Here had been an unexceptiona- 
 " ble Miracle, which no Infidels could 
 <* have caviTd at, for any thing, but the 
 *' needJejfnsfs of it. But this fubjed: 
 *' Matter of Waters fpoils the Credit of 
 " the Miracle. The Water-Pots, it feeins, 
 ** are to be filFd before Jefus could do 
 
 (I'j) Scd quanam gratia, antequam implerentur, non 
 fecit Miraculum, quod longe futflTet admirabilius? Siqui- 
 dem aliud eft fubjeilje Materia qualitatem mutare, ali- 
 ud ipfam fubftantiaiu ex nihilo facere. Chrjifof, in Loc. 
 
 « the 
 
. ( 4. ) 
 
 ^' ttic notable Feat; is not this cnougli 
 " to make us think, that Jefus was but 
 *' an artiticial Pioich-maker ^ Could not 
 " he create Wine without Water for a 
 '* Tranfinutation > Yes, you'll fay hd 
 '* could : what was the Rcafon then, that 
 *' he did not ? This is a reafonable Quef- 
 *' tion to a learned Prielt hood ^ and a ra- 
 ** tional Anfwer ftiould be given to 
 ** it. And a Qjieflion too it is that 
 " heretofore has been under debate. 
 « Some faid that the Water might be 
 '' ufed to abate of the (38) immenfity 
 '< of the Miracle, which otherwife for 
 '^ its greatnefs might have furpafs*d all 
 *' belief. But this Reafon will not do. 
 *' A Miracle can't be too great in itfelf, 
 <' if well attefted, to tranfcend Credit.- 
 *' but it may eafily be too little to con- 
 *' ciliate the Faith of a Free-Thinker. 
 " The Fathers of your Church fetch'd <i 
 " Reafon, for the ufe of Water here, 
 *' from theMyftery^ but fmce MyfteryS 
 ^' on Miracles are fet afide by the Priefl- 
 '* hood of this Age, they are to afligri 
 *•' another and good Reafon of their own ; 
 *' or this Miracle is to be rejected, as a 
 *' piece of Art and Craft in the Cpe- 
 
 P (38) Sxpe oheft Magnitudo, re Miracula creditu C\t\t 
 ficiMi. Theopkjla^. in Lcc. 
 
 G " rator, 
 
r 40 
 
 *< rator, if for no other Reafon than this, 
 '* that J ejus ufed Water to make Wine. 
 
 " Ail that 1 have to fiy more to this 
 
 ** Miracle, is^ that it J3 to be wilh'd, if 
 
 " J^fr^ could turn Water into Wine, that 
 
 *' lie had imparted the Secret and Power 
 
 ** to his Difciples of the friefthood of 
 
 " all Ages (ince, whicli would have been 
 
 *' of greatefl Advantage to them in this 
 
 " World. He has empowered them, they 
 
 *' fay, to remit Sins^ which few old 
 
 " Sinners think themfelves the lefs ia 
 
 ^^ danger for : And he has enabled them, 
 
 " fome fay, to tranfubftantiate Bread in- 
 
 *' to Flefli, and Wine into Blood , 
 
 *' which none but foolifh and fuperfli- 
 
 ** tious Folks believe they ever did : 
 
 *' And he promifed to invell them with 
 
 " a Power to do greater Miracles than 
 
 *' himfelf, , even to remove Mountains, 
 
 *' and to curfe Trees ; but I thank God, 
 
 " they never were of fo flrong a Faith, 
 
 " as to put it in Praclice, or we might 
 
 '' have heard of the 7Mf7ir^/ ftate, as well 
 
 *' as v/e do now of the civil ftate of fome 
 
 " Gountrys, ruin'd and overturned by 
 
 ^' them. But this Power to tranfmute 
 
 '' Water into Wine, without Labour and 
 
 " Expence, would have been of better 
 
 ** worth to them, than all their other 
 
 " Prieftiy OiHces. Not, that our Con- 
 
 . " duits 
 
f 4? ) 
 
 ** duits would thereupon run with Wine, 
 *' inflead of Water ^ or th ir Wine would 
 
 " be cheaper and more plentiful thm it 
 
 " is now, excepting among themf^lves, 
 
 *' if they could withal curfe Vineyards. 
 
 " They would make the bed Penny they 
 
 *' could of their divine Power. And as 
 
 *' furely as they can now fell the Water- 
 
 *' drops of their Fingers at a Chriflening, 
 
 *' at a good Rate, they would fet a better 
 
 " Price on th.ir miraculoufly made Winc^ 
 
 " and give a notable Reafon for its deir- 
 
 *' nefs, viz. that Miracles fliould not be 
 
 *' cheap, which would bring them into 
 
 " Contempt, and leifen the Wonder and 
 
 " Admiration of them.'* 
 
 So ends the Invedive of a fuppos'd 
 Jewi(h Rabbi againd this Miracle-, which 
 our Divines, as well as myfclf, are to 
 confider of an Anfwer to. Whether they 
 lliall think themfelves able to anfwer 
 the rational Parts of it, confidently with 
 the Letter, I know iiotj but I own my- 
 felf unable, and believe it impolliblc for 
 them, to do it : And therefore they muffc 
 of necedlty go along with me to the 
 mydical Interpretation of the Fathers; 
 or this Miracle will turn to the dif- 
 honour of Jefiis, and difad vantage of his 
 Religion. 
 
 G 2 J^fpii^ 
 
( 44- ) 
 
 Jiilim Martyr (39) fays, it is abfurd to 
 take the Stories of the Marriages and Con- 
 cubinages of the Patriarchs of the Old 
 Teftament in a literal Senfe. And indeed, 
 literally confider'd, they are feme of them 
 too lufcious Tales to be related by divine 
 and infpired Penmen : whereupon he, as 
 well as St. ?aul and ?hilo Jud&us (40), 
 turn thofe Stories, for the Honour of God 
 and Edification of his Church, into an 
 Allegory. Confequently, if Jvftin had 
 had an occafion to fpeak of this Marriage 
 before us, there's no doubt on't, but he 
 would have made Myftery of all and 
 every Part of it. 
 
 To the famepurpofe Origen (41) fays, 
 " That (ince the Law is a Ihadow of 
 " good Things to come, and writes fome- 
 " times of Marriages and of Husbands 
 " and Wives ^ we are not to underftand 
 *5 it of Marriages according to the Flefti, 
 " but of the fpiritual Marriage between 
 *< Chrift and his Church. As for Inflance, 
 *' Abraham had two Sons, &c, here we 
 " ought not to confine our Thoughts to 
 " carnal Marriages, and their Offsprings ; 
 f but to extend them to the Myfteries 
 
 ^39) In Dialog, cum Try phone, p. 3^4. 
 
 (40) In Lib. de Abrahamo. 
 
 (41) In Matt, Trail. xxVu 
 
 " here 
 
( +5 ) 
 
 ^f here fignified. And there are almoft a 
 ^» thoufand other places in Scripture about 
 " Marriages, but in every place (itjinf- 
 *' qiiifque Locus cajltmi & div'inum de 
 " Nuptiis continet hitelleEittm fecundwn 
 *' Expofitionem moralem') is to have a di- 
 *' vine, moral, and myftical Conftrudion 
 *f put on'r, Whoever therefore reads the 
 " Scriptures about Marriages, and under- 
 *' (lands no more by them, than carnal 
 ** Marriages ; he errs, not knowing the 
 " Scriptures nor the Power of God.*' 
 From hence may be eafily concluded, 
 what was Origeii's opinion about this 
 Marriage in Can.t ofGalileej if there were 
 no other PalTages in him for a Conlir- 
 mation of it. But to come clofer to the 
 Purpofe. 
 
 St. Auguftin (42) fays, there is Myf- 
 tery (ignified in the Story of this Marriage, 
 as in all Jefus^s Miracles, which it be- 
 comes us to open and fearch for ;, till, if 
 poflible, we are viebriated with thefpiri- 
 tual and invidble Wine, that Jefus made 
 
 (42^ AHquid enim & in {p(is fa<ftls innuit nobfs, puto, 
 quia non fine caufa venit ad Nuptias. Exct-pto Mira. 
 culo, aliquid in ipfo fafto Myfterii & Sacramenti latet. 
 Pulfemus ut apcriet & dc Yino invifibili inebriet nos. 
 JnLec, Johan, 
 
 it 
 
at this Feaft. And again (43) fays, Let 
 us then confider the feveral Particulars of 
 the Story, and what is meant by the fix 
 Waterpots , and the Water that is turn'd 
 into Wine-, and the Governor of the 
 peafl^ and who are the Bridegroom and 
 the Bride-, and who is the Mother of Jefus 
 in a Myftery ; and what is to be under- 
 ilood by the Marriage. 
 
 And again, fays St. Augitjlin (44) there 
 is Myftery in this Marriage, or j^/?/x up- 
 on no invitation had gone to it. The 
 Bridegroom is our Lord himfelf, to whom 
 it is faid thou haft referv'd the good Wine 
 of the Gofpel until now^ that is, until the 
 typified Time of the Celebration of this 
 myftical Marriage, which according to Sto 
 Jugujlin (45) is to be on the fixth Age 
 of 'the World, (ignified by the fix Water- 
 Fcts, holding two or three Firkins apiece, 
 
 (43^ Nihil dicemus, quid (ibi velint Hydris, quid 
 Aqua in Vini-mi couverr-i, quid Architridinius, quid 
 Sponfus, quid Mater Jefu in Myfterio, quid ipfae Nup- 
 rin ? Ibii. 
 
 (44.) Pf^r hoc invitatus Dominus venit ad Nuptias, 
 ut olienderetur Sacramentani Nuptiarum, ■Illarum 
 
 Nuptiarum Sponfus Perfonam Domini figurabat, cui dic- 
 tum eli, fervafti bonum Vinum ufque adhuc, Bonum 
 Vinum id e:t Evangelium fervatii ufque adhuc. IbiL 
 
 (4')) Sex Hydrls funt fex States Temporum capientes 
 Prophetifim pertinentem ad omnes gentes five in duobus 
 generibus hominum, id eft, Jud.tis & Gfxcis, five in 
 tribus propter Noe tres Filios. lbii» 
 
 that 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 that is, all Minkind, as they are divided 
 into the two iorts of Jews and Gentiles 
 or into tbree^^ as they are defccnded of the 
 three Sons of l^Joah. 
 
 And in another Phce, the fame Sf. 
 Jngujlin interpreting this Story, Hiys (46) 
 thus •, '' Our Saviour is invited to a M ir- 
 ** riage -^ what can that mean but that the 
 ^ Holy Spirit is courted and invocated by 
 " the Church, wifliing to be efpoufed to 
 " him ? 5^^/«^ comes with his Difciples, 
 " thir is, into a holy Place of a Company 
 *' of Saints. Mary the Mother of our Lord 
 " (i'^nitics to him, that they have no fVine'^ 
 ** fo the Church makes known to him, 
 *' the Deficiency of the Spirit, which fhc 
 " waits for the Power of. And if Jefus 
 " calls Mary, a Woman ^ he means the 
 " Church, who by Transfiguration may 
 *• be a Virgin, the Mother, the Spoufe of 
 « Chrift, and a Whore too." 
 
 046) Voc'tiir Salvator ad Nuptias, hoc eft, Ecclefi;c 
 votofpiritus f.tniaus invocatur.— — Venit cum Difcipulis 
 fuis. id cl^, in ^vOco iando, Turba fanifloruni. Mirabi- 
 lia I)ci Maria Mater expedtat. hoc efl:, virtutem Chrifti 
 
 expedtat tcdefia Maria ait, ecce Vina delkiant, hoc 
 
 eft. Vinum Spiritiis tcclelia optat excipere. — — Num- 
 quid Mulierem dicit Jcfu Mariam, qjx Virgo poll 
 Paftum iiiveiita eil ? 5td Ecclcham alloquitur, qux non 
 ful.^m jviulier, fcdmeretiix nur.cupatur. In Sermca xcii, 
 Jippcni. 
 
 And 
 
( 48 j 
 
 And again St. Azigitjlin explaining (47) 
 what is meant by the Water, and the 
 Wine that it wou'd be turn'd into, at 
 the Time of the fpiritual Celebration of 
 this Marriage of Chrift with his Spoufe of 
 the Church, fays plainly enough^ that by 
 Water is meant the Letter of the Scrip- 
 tures ^ and by the beft Whie is to be un- 
 derftood fpiritual Interpretations, which 
 would tranfport the undsrftandings of Men 
 with divine knowledge - and warm their 
 Hearts and AfFedions into a fpiritual hi- 
 ebriation-^ after the (imilitude of Wine 
 natural. 
 
 St. Theophilus o£ Antiocb, a itiofl antient 
 Greek Commentator (who according to 
 Bijhop Smalbroke ihould ftridly adhere to 
 the Letter) fays (48), that by this Mar^ 
 
 C47) Vinum multis Locis acciplmus Scripturas Sanftas 
 meraciflimum Vigorem coeleftis fa{5ienti2 continentesj 
 quibus incalefcant fenfus & inebrisntur Affeftus. Opc- 
 rante Chrifto hx Cana Galileae Vinum defecit & Vi- 
 num fit, id eft, Umbra removetur & Veritas prxfenta- 
 tur. Recedit Lex, Gratia fuccedit. Carnalia fpiritua- 
 alibus commutantur. Bonum quidem Vinum eft vctus 
 Teftamentum, fed fine fpirixuali Intelleftu vanefcit iti 
 Litera. In Serm. xc. Append. Sed illud quod in Li- 
 tera Legis aquam fapiebat, dum fpiritualiter intelligi fe- 
 cit, aquam in Vinum convcrtit. In Sermon xci. Af' 
 pend, 
 
 ^49") Per Nuptlas, Conjunftionem ChriftI & Ecclefis 
 hoc eft Veteris & Novi Teftamenti Traditionem debc- 
 mus accipere. Spoufus eft Chriftus, Architridinius eft: 
 Mofes. In Lcc, Johan» 
 
 riage 
 
( +9 ) 
 
 ih^e is meant the Conjunction of Chrifl 
 flni his Church, as it is the Tradition of 
 the Old and New Teflament. And that 
 Jdfus hiinfclf is the Bridep;room j and 
 Alops the Governor of the Feaft. 
 
 Other Fathers, fuch as St. Cj^nl, St. 
 Theopbylaci and St. Jisrorne ire of the faine 
 mind about the myftical Interpretation of 
 this Marriage, as might be prov'd by Paf- 
 fages out of them, if 1 had room here to 
 cite them. But I mufl obferve here, that 
 according to the Fathers, the Story of this 
 Marriage is but another Emblem of the 
 Marriage of the Lamb with the Bride of 
 the New Jerufalem, fpoken of in the Re- 
 velationsy to which all the Fowls of the 
 Air will be invited, that is, fpiritual and 
 heavenly minded Chriftians, who (49) foar 
 and fly aloft in their divine and fublime 
 Contemplations on the anagoglcal Senfe 
 of the Scriptures, which will exhibit thofe 
 irttellcclual Dainties, they arc there to bo 
 entertain'd with. 
 
 What I have here fjid out of the Fa- 
 thers to the Story of this Marriage, is 
 enough to c[uicken our Divines to fearch 
 for the like myftical Interpretation of 
 the whole. The Part of it that's moft 
 
 ("49) Volucres Coeli funt ver^ puri & ad cxleftis fa- 
 pientix Co^nltioncm evolarc parati. Ckm. AUx.Strcm. 
 X.iv. 
 
 H difficult 
 
r 5°; 
 
 difficult to be fpiritually expouncled, is 
 that faying of Jefus to his Mother, 
 Womariy what have I to do with thee ^ 
 jti'ine Hour is not yet come. For the clear 
 Interpretation of which, I own, I mee^. 
 with little in the Fathers. But St. An- 
 gufttn (50) aifures us, there's latent My- 
 flery in the words. How then fliall we 
 come at it ? Why, if we caft away the 
 Ifitenogation, and look upon the Sen- 
 tence, as ellyptical, like an infinite num- 
 ber of prophetical ones, the Senfe para- 
 phraflically, and agreeably to the reft of 
 the Myftery, arifcs thus: In anfwer to 
 the Woman of the Church's Expectation 
 of the Wine of the Spirit ^ J^f'ts will 
 tell her or make her to underdand of 
 what importance it is to her (and him- 
 felf) to be fupply'd with that myftical 
 Wine to her Edification, which it was 
 not his time to pour forth upon the 
 Church, till the Celebration of his Nup- 
 tials with her. 
 
 And thus have I done with the Mi- 
 racle of Jefus*?, turning Water into Wine 
 at a Marriage of Gz/z/z of Galilee. Whe- 
 ther it be not an abfurd and offenfive 
 Story acording to the Letter, let any 
 
 C^O) Quid tnihi & tihi eil, Mulier ? Procul dubio, 
 Fraires, lat:t ibi aliquid Myfterii. In Loc^ohan. 
 
 one 
 
(50 
 
 one judge. If the fuppofed Jcwilli R^^^i 
 has forced a worfe Senfe upon it, than 
 it will naturally bear, our Clergy m;iy 
 expoftulate with him for it, which they 
 hardly will any otherwife than by Ex- 
 clamations again ft him, without Reafon 
 and Authority. But in the myftical Ope- 
 ration of this Miracle at the Marriage of 
 Chrift with \m Church, there will be 
 the Wifdom and Power and Goodnefs of 
 God vifible. And it will be a demon- 
 ftration of Jefits^ MeJJiabjJjip^ in as much 
 as the Water of the Letter of the Law 
 and the Prophets can't be turn'd into the 
 "Wine of fpiritual Interpretations, but we 
 muft difcern how he is the Accomplifher 
 and Fulfiller of them. And fo I pafs to 
 an 
 
 II, Eleventh Miracle of Jefus, vix, 
 ($i) That of his healing a Paralytick, 
 for whom the Roof of the Houfe was 
 broken up to let him down into the Room 
 where Jefus was. 
 
 And this Story (without excepting that 
 of the Pool of Bethefda) is the itjoH: 
 monftroufly ablurd, improbable and in- 
 credible of any according to the Letter. 
 There is not one Miracle of Jefus fpe- 
 cjfically related, tliat does not labour un- 
 
 (^i) Matrix. Mark ii. Luke v. 
 
 H 2 der 
 
C 50 
 
 der mojre or lefs Abfurdities, either in 
 Sabftance or Circumftance : But this, for 
 number and greatnefs of AbfurditieSj I 
 think farpafTes them all : And the Ab- 
 furdities of it too are fo obvious and flare 
 a Man in the Face, that I wonder they 
 are hitherto overlooked, and that confi- 
 derate and intelligent Pcrfons have not 
 before now hefitared and boggled at them. 
 If Intereft had not blinded the Eyes of 
 our learned Clergy, they would eafily 
 have defcry'd the Incredibilities and Ab- 
 fardities of this Story ; and in another 
 Impoflors Cafe prefently have pointed 
 them out to the ridicule of his Admirers 
 and Adorers. 
 
 if a Man was to torture his Brains for 
 the Invention of a'romantick Tale of im- 
 probable and furprizing Circum fiances, 
 that he might, withil, hope to palm foj: 
 a Truth, if it Vv\as but for a Week or a 
 Da'y, 'Upon the Faith and Underftanding 
 of the Credulous ; he could never have 
 prof Limed, I think, fo far upon the weak- 
 nefs of their Intellecls, as to imagine any 
 thing fo grofly and notorioufly contradic- 
 tory to Senfe and Reafon, would have 
 gone down with them, as is this before 
 us, which has pafsM currently thro' ma- 
 ny Ages of the Church, has been read 
 with attention by the Learned, and re- 
 ^' ■ > ■ ' ••■■-■'■'■.' vered 
 
^ 5? ) . . 
 
 ycred by the reft of Chriflians, without 
 any exception, hefitation, or doubt of 
 the Truth of it. In fliort, fo palpjiblc is 
 the falfity of the Story of this Miracle, 
 that it requires no Sagacity to deted ic , 
 and was it not for the fake of the My- 
 ftery more than to expofe the Folly of 
 the Clergy in believing of it, I had never 
 beftovv'd the following Pains on it. 
 
 The People, it feems, fo prefs'd and 
 throng'd about the Door of the Houfe, 
 where Jefus was, that the Paralytick and 
 his Bearers could not get near it. What 
 did they fo throng and prefs for? Was 
 it to fee Jefns^ who was without Form 
 and Conielinefs, according to the Prophet 
 Ifaiah-^ or, who was one of the mofl: 
 graceful of the Sons of Men, as Painters 
 and 'Ptiblius Lentnlus do defcribe him? 
 This could not be the Reafon of the 
 Croud. Tho a Perfon extraordinary, ei- 
 ther for Beauty or Deformity may at- 
 trad the Eyes of the People, and oc- 
 cafion too a Throng about him^ yet this 
 could be no Reafon for a Frefs ab)ut 
 Jefusy at Caperjiawn, where he dwelt, 
 and was commonly feen and well known. 
 
 Was it then to hear him preach? 
 Nor this neither. Tho an excellent 
 Preacher does fometimes, and a very in- 
 different one does oftener draw multi- 
 tudes 
 
( 5+ ) 
 
 tudes after him •, yet Jefns^ as a Pro- 
 phet, was without Honour at Capernaum, 
 his own Country^ confequently, it is 
 not to be fuppofed that, for his Doc- 
 trine, he was fo much follow'd here, tho 
 we read, that he prsachhl the Word unto 
 them. 
 
 Was it then to behold him working 
 of Miracles and curing of the difeafed? 
 This is the likelieft Reafon of the Crouds 
 and Throng about him. And perhaps 
 it was a Day appointed beforehand for 
 his healing of the difeaCed, which might 
 occafion a more than ordinary Concourfe 
 of the People. But then this Reafon 
 would have induced the People to make 
 way for the La?ne, Blind^ and Paraly- 
 ticks to come to Jefus ; or they fruftra- 
 ted their own Hopes and Expectations of 
 feeing Miracles wrought^ and aded more 
 unreafonably than ever Mob did, or car> 
 be fa npo fed to do. 
 
 But whatever was the Reafon of this 
 tumultuous Crouding, which is hard to 
 be accounted for ; it's faid, the poor 
 Faralytick with his Bearers could not 
 get to the Door of the Houfe for the 
 Frefs, and therefore in all hafte is he 
 haul'd to the Top of the Houfe, and let 
 down, thro' a breach of the Roof, into 
 the Room where Jefus was. What need 
 
 was 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 WIS there of fucli hafte and pains to get 
 to Jefits for a Cure ? It was but wait- 
 ing a while, not many Hours, and in 
 alJ probability the Tumult would be ap- 
 peased, and accefs eadly had to him. 
 But that the Bearers of the poor Man 
 fhould enterprife a trouble and difhcuhy, 
 that could not require lefs Time, than 
 the Tumult could be fuppofed to lad, 
 is a little ftrange and fomewhat incredi- 
 ble. 
 
 St. Chnfoftom fays (52), that the Fa- 
 ralytick faw that the Market-place or 
 Street was throng'd with People, who 
 had obftruded all PafTage to the Houfe, 
 where J ejus was^ and yet he did not 
 fo much as fay to his Friends and Bea- 
 rers, " What's the Reafon of this Tu- 
 *' mult? Let's ftay till it is appeas'd, 
 *' and the Houfe clear'd of the People, 
 " who ere long will depart^ and then 
 *' we (hill privately and quietly get ad- 
 *' m it ranee to Jefus," But why did he 
 not fiy fo? Any one betide himfelfand 
 his Bearers, if they had any Reafjn and 
 
 (<^7) Paralyticus repletum vidcrct Theatrum, Aditus 
 
 irterclufos, '^ Ttum obfcptum, Non tamcn dixit 
 
 Propinqjis U's, quid hoc Rei eft? ExpeAemus, quouf- 
 que Do.nus evacuctur, Theatrum dimittatur, recedenr, 
 qui congregati fant, poterimas privatim ad ilium acie- 
 dere. In HomiU de hoc Para/jt, 
 
 Senfes 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 SenfeS about them, would have fo ar- 
 gued. St. Chryfojlom fays, it was their 
 Faith that made them in fuch hafte to 
 get to Jefus : But I fhould have thought 
 their Faith might have work'd Patte?ice, 
 and difpofed them to flay till Jefus could 
 come out to them, or they get in to him : 
 And it is an Addition to the ftrangenefs 
 and incredibility of the Story, that it 
 did not. 
 
 But fuppofing this Varalytick in fuch 
 hafte and danger of Life, that he could 
 not wait the difperfion of the Tumult, 
 but, for want of a free entrance at the 
 Door, is, coft what it will, to be rais'd 
 to the top of the Houfe, and a breach 
 muft be there made for him. The Quef- 
 tion i?5 whether fuch an Enterprize was 
 or could be feifable and pradicable ? I 
 have no Conception of the poffibility of 
 it. If they could not get to the Door 
 of the Houfe for the Prefs^ of confe- 
 quence they could not come at the Sides 
 of it. How fhould they ? over the Heads 
 of the People? That's not to be ima- 
 gined^ confequently here's another dif- 
 ficulty in the Story, that renders it yet 
 more ftrange and incredible. 
 
 But, without qaeflioning the pofTibi- 
 lity and eafinefs of getting the Faraly'* 
 tick and his Couch over the Heads of 
 
 the 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 the Mob, to the fides of the Houfe j thi- 
 ther he is brought, where .'we now behold 
 him and h)p Bearers with .their. Pullics, 
 Ropes, and Ladders (that were not an 
 iiand, nor could fu.(;id,pn]y' be procured) 
 hauling and heaving liiip , to the top of 
 the Houfe. Of what height the Houfe 
 was, is not of rauchConfcquehce. Some 
 for ' the Credit of the Story may fay 
 (53)) ^^ ^'^^ ^ very low one'^ tlio antient 
 and modern Commentators are pretty well 
 agreed, that it was an atpp^r-Room, where 
 Jefus was \ confequently the Houfe was 
 at lead two Stories high : But if it was 
 much higher. Til allow that Art . and 
 pullies (which they wanted for the pre- 
 fent) would raife the Man and his Bed 
 to the top of it : So we will not dif- 
 pute nor differ upon that matter. On 
 the top of the Houfe then, we are now 
 to behold the Faralytkk and his Bearers 
 with their Hatchets and Hammers, &c. 
 (which they forgot to bring with them, 
 for they could not think of any ufc 
 they (hould have of them) uncovering 
 the Roof of the Houfe , breaking up 
 Tiles, Spars, and Rafters, and making a 
 Hole, capacious enough for the Man and 
 
 C(;3) Dicetaliquls valdediminiim fuiflc Locum, a quo 
 per Teg'il is depofuerunt Paralytlci Leaum. fohan, Ne- 
 pott Hurof. in LccLuc, . 
 
 I hi9 
 
/ 58 ) 
 
 his Bed to be let thro'. An odd, ftrange, 
 and unaccountable Work tbis, which, if 
 they had not been cunning Fellows, would 
 hardly have enter'd into their Heads to 
 proje&. But at .work they are, when it 
 was. well, if Jefus and his Difciples e- 
 fcaped with only a broken Pate, by the fal- 
 ling of Tiles, &c^ and if the reft were 
 hot almoft fmofher'd with the Duft -, for 
 it was. over their Heads that the breach 
 was m'^de. ,. Where was the good Man of 
 the Houfe all this while ? Would he 
 iufFer his Houfe to be thus broken up, 
 '•and not command them to defift from 
 their foolifli and needlefs Attempt, till 
 tlie Mob was quelFd, and there was a free 
 entrance at the Door of his Houfe, which 
 could not be long firft > Is there nothing 
 in all this, of' difitculty and obftrudion 
 in the way of the belief of this Story > 
 
 Some modern Commentators^ being a- 
 ware of thefe difficulties in this Story, 
 and willing to reconcile Men to the ea- 
 fier belief of it, fay, as Brufius (54.) did, 
 that the Houfes of JudAa were fiat- 
 roopd^ and not rid^d : And Dodors, 
 Lightfoot and Whitby f 55) fay, there was 
 
 (54; Judxorum TeAa plana erant, & non in Coni 
 formam taftigiata. In Loc, Luc. 
 
 (S^) In Zoi. Marci, 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 a Door on their flit Roofs, by which the 
 Jezvs ufed to afccnd to the top of their 
 Hocfcs, where they difcours'd on the 
 Law and religious Matters , and that it 
 was thro' fuch a Door, by a Uttle wide- 
 ning of the fides of it, that the Fara- 
 lytick was let down in the prefence of 
 jefiis. To which Opinion I would yield, 
 if it was not liable to thefe Objcciions, 
 vix>. that it is not reconcilable to what 
 St. Luke fays, of their letting the Fam- 
 iytick down thro'* the Tiling with his 
 Conchy in the midfi^ where Jefus was-^ 
 nor hardly confident with what St. Mark 
 fays, of their imcoveri?ig and breaking 
 ftp the Roof of the Hoiife: which Ex- 
 prcflions the Evangel if} had never ufed, 
 if their had been a Door for him to de- 
 fcend by. But to indulge Lightfoot and 
 Whitby in their Notion •, I may ask them, 
 what occafion was their then of wide- 
 ning the door-way, and breaking down 
 the fides of it.<? They'll fay, becaufe the 
 Falfage otherwife was too narrow, for the 
 Mans Couch to get thro.' Why then 
 did not they take him out of his Coucli 
 and let him down in a Blanket, a Chair, 
 or a Basket ? Or rather, why did not 
 Jefus^ to prevent this Trouble and Damage 
 to the Houfe, afcend thro' this Door, to 
 the Top of it, and their fpeak the healing 
 1 2 Word 
 
( «o ) 
 
 Word to this poor Man? To fay, that 
 Jefits could not or would not go up to 
 the Paralytick, I would not, for Fear of 
 an Imputation of Blafphemy againft me. 
 Our Div'mes therefore are to look for, 
 what they'll hardly find, an Anfwer to 
 the fa'd Qjueftion, which will confift with 
 the Wifdom, the Goodnefs and Honour of 
 Jejtis-^ or here will be another and in- 
 fuperabie Bar to the Credibility of this 
 Story. 
 
 In fhort, there are more and greater Dif- 
 ficultys aifeding the Credit of this Mira- 
 cle, on the fide oijeftis, than any before 
 urg'd. Could not he, as it was antiently 
 (56) obje^led, have made the Accefs to 
 himfelf more eafy? Could not he, to pre- 
 vent all this Trouble and Pains of getting 
 to the Top of the Houfe •, and of breaking 
 up the Roof of it, have defired or even 
 forced the People to make way for this 
 poor Man and his Bearers } This was not 
 impoflible for him to do. If it was hard 
 for another-, it was not for him, who was 
 omnipotent. He that could drive his 
 Thoufands 'before him out of the Temple^ 
 and draw as many after him into the wil. 
 dernefs, might farely, by Force or Per- 
 
 (^6) Numquid enim facilem ilH potuit Accefllim red- 
 derc ? jJpud Cbryfoflom, de hoc Paraljt. 
 
 fuafion 
 
( 6t ) 
 
 faafion have made the People, how unreal 
 fonably mobbifli foevcr, to retreat. And 
 why did he not? Without a good and fa- 
 tisfaclory Anfwer, which I can*t conceive, 
 to this Queftion, here is the mod unac- 
 countable and incredible part of the whole 
 Story, that rcfleds on the Wifdom, the 
 Power and Goodnefs of Jefus, If there 
 had been no other abfurd Circumftances of 
 it, this is enough to fpoil its Credit, fo 
 far as that I believe it impoflible for 
 Miniflers of the Letter, with all their 
 Wit, Penetration and Sagacity to get o- 
 ver it. 
 
 Believe then the Story of this Miracle, 
 thus taken to Pieces, who can > It is fucli 
 an Accumulation of x\bfurdities, Impn ba- 
 bilities, and Incredibilities, that a Man of 
 the mofl cafy Faith, if he at all think, 
 can't digeft. Its not credible, I faid, to 
 fuppofe, the People of Capernaum, where 
 Jefus dwelt, and was well known and 
 little admired, would at all pyefs to fee 
 or hear him : And if the occafion of their 
 Concourfe was to behold his Miracles ; 
 it is lefs reafonable to think they would 
 tumultuate to their own difippointment^ 
 but rather make way for the difeafed, for 
 the fatisfaclion of their own Curiofity, to 
 come to him: And if they did mob it 
 to their own difappointment, about the 
 
 Door 
 
(6. j 
 
 Door of the Houfe j, it was next to im- 
 poflible for the poor Man and his Couch 
 to be heav'd over their Heads, and rais'd 
 to the top of it; More unreafonable yet 
 Xo think, the mafter of the Houfe would 
 fuffer the Roof of it to be fo broken up; 
 But mod of all againft Reafon to fup- 
 pofe, Jefits would not give forth the heal- 
 ing word, and prevent all this Labour, 
 or by his divine Power difperfe the Peo- 
 ple, that the Paraljtick might have prefent 
 and eafy accefs to him. 
 
 Whether all this be not abfolutely 
 fliocking of the Credit of this Story, let 
 my Readers judge. In my Opinion, no 
 Tale more monilrouily romantick can be 
 told. 1 don't here queftion Jefus'^s Power 
 to heal this Paralytick, nor the miracu- 
 loufnefs of the Cure of him : The trou- 
 l)le of that Q,ueftion is faved me, by 
 the many other incredible Circumftances 
 of the Story, which are fuch a Contra- 
 didiion to Senfe and Reafon, as is not to 
 be equall'd, in any thing, that's com- 
 monly receiv'd and believ*d by Mankind. 
 Cicero fays, that there is nothing fo ab- 
 furd, which fome of the Philofophers have 
 not held. And they might and did, fome 
 of them, hold grofs Abfurdities. But the 
 Letter of the Story of this Miracle be- 
 fore us, v/hich is the Object of the Faith 
 
 of 
 
( H ) 
 
 of our learned Prieflhood at this Day Is 
 a match for the worfl of them. 
 
 Bat as abfurd, as this Stor}^ is, I cx- 
 'pe'd that our Clergy will be difguftcd at 
 my, .ludicrous diiplay of it^ and that 
 Arch -Deacon Stubbs in particular will a- 
 gain be ready to exclaim againfl: me, and 
 1^^^^ that this is turning a miraculous 
 raBy and a divins 'TeJli?nony of our Re- 
 ligion into Ridicule. Whcrepon it is 
 .to be wifh*d, that Arch-Deacon would 
 Vrit^j what would be a Pleafure to fee, 
 a 'Vindication of this Story. If he can 
 'account for the poflibility and credibi- 
 lity of the Letter of it, he fhall have 
 my leave to make anoth(5r dull Speech 
 ■in Convocation againft me. And it is not 
 unlikely, but he may fay as much for 
 it, as another Man : For as the Story is 
 fenfclefs, fo it is the better faitcd to his 
 Head and Brains. But if he don't, I 
 much queftion, whether any other Cler- 
 gyman of more Wit will, appear in De- 
 fence of it. 
 
 So abfurd is the Letter of this Story, 
 that for the Honour of Jefus^ and Cre- 
 dibility of his Gofpcl, it is abfolutcly 
 necelTary to turn it into Allegory. To the 
 Fathers then, let us go for their help in 
 this Cafe. If they did not read m.e a better 
 Lecture upon this Miracle, than do cur 
 
 modern 
 
( H ) 
 
 modern Commentators^ I fhould be almoft 
 tempted to renounce my Religion upon 
 it : But as they have, rationally and 
 rightly inftruded me in its true meining, 
 fo I retain my Chriftian Faith, and ad- 
 mire the Sublimity of the Myftery, which 
 I am now to give an account of. 
 
 By this Paraljitick, St. Hilary CSJ^ 
 fays, is to be underflood Mankind of all 
 Nations, which opinion too the Father? 
 held of the Paralytick, "Who was heal'd 
 at the Pool of Beth ef da. And by, his 
 Palfy is not meant any bodily Diftemper, 
 but the fpiritual Palfy of the Soul, that 
 is, as St. Augufl;in (58) and St. Jerome 
 (59) interpret, a diffolutenefs of Morals, 
 and an unfteadinefs of Faith and Princi- 
 ples, which is the Condition of Mankind 
 at prefent, who wants Jefiis's help for 
 the Cure of it. Enfebius QalUcaiius 
 (66) fays, our Saviour's words fignify, 
 
 (<iy) In Paralytico Gentium unlverfitas oflfertur me- 
 denda. /« JLoc. Matt. 
 
 (^%) Paralyticus potefl: intellig,i Anima diflbluta Metn- 
 bris, id eft, bonis operibus. Inter. Qua^.EvAng, 
 
 (59) Paralyfis Typus eft Torporis, quo piger jacet in 
 Malitia Garnis, habens defiderium Salutis, & Torporis 
 Ignavia &duplis Cogitationibus, ac fi enervatus MembriS 
 Oliendit. In Loc. Marci. 
 
 (60) In hoc enim quod ait, remittuntur tibi Peccata, 
 Interiorem "hominem, id eft, fpiritum paryliticum effs 
 demonftrat. Hoc enim ron dixifll-t, fi ad Corporis In- 
 firmitatem refpexiflTet. Non ideo , orpus fanatur, quia 
 Anima a peccatis liberatur. In homiU in Domifiit' ^^^* 
 
 foji Pentecofi» 
 
 that 
 
{ 6, ) 
 
 tint it is not a bjJily but n fpiritual 
 Difeafe here meant; or he had never 
 fiid to the Paralyrick, Son, thy Sins tire 
 forgiven thef, which words rcfped the 
 inward Min, and demonflnte the Paify 
 here to be a dircaCe of the Soul. 
 
 The Min lick of the Palfy h^dfoi& 
 Beatrrs. And who are th. y myftically 
 in this Cafe> Why, the Fathers (6i) 
 underfland by thcin the four Ev mgelifls^ 
 on whofe Faith and Doclrine Mankind 
 is to be carry *d unto Chrift \ for no 
 Soul cin be brought unto him, for the 
 Sanation of his Sms and Errors, but by 
 X.\id<i four. 
 
 But to the top of the Houfe is Mankind, 
 thus paralytically difeafed, to b^ carry'd 
 by the four Evangcliits, his Bearers. And 
 what then is this Houfe and its Top > 
 The Houfe of Jefus is the intelleclual 
 Edifice of the World, .othcrwife calTd 
 Wifdom'3 Houfe, of the beautiful Build- 
 ings of which the Scriptures prophetically 
 
 f6i) Sed qui funt ifti quatuor, qui hunc Paralyticum 
 
 riortant & Domino otTerunt. Per hosenim refcio, qui rr.e- 
 ius qu^im qjatuor EvangeliH:^-' intelligi polliirt. Nulla 
 enim Anima nifi per iftos Domino ofiertur, nulla Arima 
 nifi per illorum hdem fanatur. Eufeh. GaWcan. ibid. 
 Sum Paraliticus, quia non operantur & imnvobiles f.int 
 "Vires kn'\n\£ mex ad borum, fed li a quatuor tvjnge- 
 liUis geltatus & adduftusfuero ad Dominum, tuncaudiam, 
 lemittunturPcccata. Theo^hyUii, in Lcs, Mar.i. 
 
 K treat : 
 
( 66 ; 
 
 treat : therefore to the fuhlime Senfe of 
 the Scriptures, calPd the Top (62) of the 
 Houfe, is a Man to be taken : He is not 
 to abide in the low and literal Senfe 
 (63) of them, where People prefs and 
 ftrive in vain to coine to Jefus. But if 
 he is taken to the Sublimity of the Scrip- 
 tures and there open (64) the Houfe of 
 Wifdom, he will prefently be admitted to 
 the Prefence and Knowledge of Jefus, 
 
 Venerable Bede, who is altogether a 
 Tranfcriber of the Fathers, for which 
 Reafon I cite him among the Fathers, 
 fays (65), that by the Tiles of the Houfe 
 
 (62) Teftum Domus qua Chriflus dccet, afcendenclum, 
 id eft, Sacrae Scripture Sublimitas eft appetenda. *Beda 
 in Loc. Luca. 
 
 (63) Non utique in Infimiy exterius, qua turbs tumul- 
 tuantur remanendum, fed Teftum Domus, &c. Ibid. 
 
 (64) Patefafto'Tefto xger ad Jefum fummittitur, quia 
 referatis Scripturarum Myfteriis, ad Notitiam Chiifti 
 pervenitur. Bedx in loc Marci, Eft Paralyfis interior, 
 ut pervenias ad Chriilum forte enim latet Medicus 6c 
 intus eft, hoc eft, ifte veriis lutelledus in Scripturis occul- 
 tus eftj exponendo quod occultum eft aperi Teftum, & 
 depone Paraliticum. Jiuguflin, In Serm. XLVI. iVS. 
 1 3, Impediri turbis ni/i Tefte id eft operta Scripturarum 
 aperiat, ut per ha:c ad Notitiam Chrifli perveniat, 
 EjufJam in Quafl. 4.ta in Evangel. Lucx. 
 
 C6$^ Et bene Domus Jefu juxta alterius Ev.angeliftre 
 Narrationein teguliselTe coctefta reperitur, quia fubcon- 
 temptibili Literarum Velamine, (i adiit, qui referet, di- 
 viria fpiritaalis Gratix Virtus invenietur. Denudatio 
 etenim I'egularum in Dome Jefu, Apertio eft, in utili- 
 tate Literi", fenfus fpirituaUs & arcar.orum coeleftium. 
 In Loc. Marci, 
 
 fpoken 
 
( 6? >; 
 
 fpolccn of in St. Liike, is meant tlie Let- 
 ter of the Scriptures, which is to be 
 laid open for the manifeftation of Chrifl 
 and of divine Myfteries to the healing 
 of Man's fpiritual Palfy,- the unftcadi- 
 ncfs and dilloltitenefs of his Morals and 
 Principles. 
 
 So much, in fliort, then to the myftical 
 Interpretation of the Story of this Mi- 
 racle, The literal Senfe of it is fo en- 
 cumber'd with romantick Circumftances, 
 as are enoug^h to turn a Man's Heart 
 againft Chriftianity it felf: But in the 
 Myftery there will be a mod ftupendous 
 Miracle, which will be not only an Ar- 
 gument of Jefiis'^s divine Power, but of 
 his Mejfiahjhip, as certainly as his Houfe 
 of Wifdom, of which the Scriptures 
 write, is open'd to the Manifeftation of 
 his Prefence, and to the Cure of Man- 
 kind of his paralytical Difeafe, calPd an 
 inftability of Faith and Principles. 
 
 And thus have I, in this B'lfcoiirfe, 
 taken into Examination three more of 
 Jefus'^?, Miracles-, which I fubmit to the 
 Judgment of my ^Readers, whether the 
 literal Story of them does not confilT: of 
 Abfurdities, Improbabilities and Incredi- 
 bilities -according to the Propofition be- 
 fore us ; and whether there is not a 
 necefilty, for the Honour of jF«/?/.% ^^ 
 K 2 turn 
 
C <J8 ) 
 
 turn them into prophetical and parabo; 
 lical Narratives of what will be inyfle- 
 riouily and more wond erf ally done by 
 him. 
 
 My next D/fcowfe, if my mind hold, 
 fh 11 treu on the three Stories of Jefus^s 
 raifinvT of the dead, 'viz>** of the Widow 
 ct t^ ami's Son, of Jainij*^ Daughter, and 
 o^ Lazarus \ after which I will give the 
 literal Hiftory of Chrift*s Refarredion, 
 that fmdy Foundation of the Church, a 
 Review ;> and fo conclude my Difcourfes 
 on the Miracles of our Saviour. 
 
 To run thro' all the Miracles of Jefits, 
 and handle them in the manner 1 have 
 done the foregoing, would be a long and 
 tedious Work. But if our Divines Ihall 
 think, I have felecied only thofe Mira- 
 cles, which are obnoxious to Cavil and 
 Ridicule ; and have omitted others, that 
 literally are a more unexceptionable 
 Teftimony of J^fus's divine Power, and 
 Authority^ I will, for their Satisfadion 
 take more of them to 'lask, and give 
 the Letter of their Stories, the like ludi- 
 crous treatment, li Jjp miftake not, the 
 Miracles already fpoken to, together with 
 thofe of Jo'fii/s railing of the dead, and 
 of his own Rerurredion, are the mofl 
 famous and remarkable of any others : 
 And according to the Obfcrvation I have 
 
 made 
 
( h ) 
 
 mad^ on the reft, they are no lefs but ra* 
 ther more liable to Ridicule and Excep- 
 tion. But if any are of a contrary Opi- 
 nion, and will let me know, which in 
 their Judgment are more unexceptio- 
 nable Miracles, I will vouchfafe them 
 an Examination. 1 am fure there is not 
 one Miracle, which the Fathers of the 
 Church did not turn into Allegory^ and 
 if we don t at this Day make myftical 
 Operations of them, they will none of 
 them according to the Letter, ftand their 
 Ground, nor abide the Teft of a critical 
 Inquiry into them. 
 
 I don't exped, that this Difcourfe will 
 be any more pleafing and acceptable to 
 t\\Q Clergy^ who are Minifters q{ i\\Q Let^ 
 ter of Jefus*s Miracles, as well as of the 
 jProphecies of him, than any of my for- 
 mer : But their Difpleafure in the Cafe 
 will give me no Difturbance, nor am I 
 concern'd about any Refentment, they 
 can make of it. If they are offended at 
 thefe Difconvfes^ they fliould as they came 
 forth, have written folid Confutations 
 of thein, and fo have prevented my Pub- 
 lication of any more of this kind.* But 
 inftead of ferious and potent Reafonings 
 againft me, I have met with little cKb 
 but oral Railings, Exclamations, Defa- 
 mations, and attempts for Profecution^ 
 
 which 
 
( 7° ) 
 
 which have been fo far from terrifying 
 msy that they give me a fecret Plea- 
 fare, and animate me to proceed in the 
 Undertaking in Hand. 
 
 I did not much queftion but the J5/- 
 fjop of St. Davids, whom I look*d up- 
 on as a Perfon of Ingenuity and Learning, 
 would before this Time, have publifh'd 
 fomewhit in Confutation of one or other 
 of my former Difcourfes, Whether he 
 was not obliged to it, or to make me 
 fome publirk Reparation of the Injury 
 done to my Reputation, by his llande- 
 rous Sermon, I appeal now to the wor- 
 fliiptul Society s for Reformation of Man- 
 ners*, to whom, and to other Civil Ma- 
 giflntes, I hope his Sermon, without 
 Reafon, will be a Caution, that no Pulpit- 
 Invedive move them to profecute or think 
 the worfe of any Author 
 
 Liberty of thinking, writing and judg- 
 ing for our felves in Religion "is a natural, 
 a Chriftan, and a proteltant Righu It is 
 a Right that the Magiftratcs as well as the 
 Subject are interefted in, and are to fee 
 to the Confei-vation of, or their Under- 
 ftindings as well as their Purfes will be 
 ridden and opprefs'd by an ignorant and 
 tyrannical Priefthood. I urge not this 
 for my own fecurity againfi: Profecution 
 for Infidelity and Blafphemy, declaring 
 
 that 
 
( 7« ) 
 
 that if the EiJJjops o^ ■ London, St. Da- 
 v'nlsy or Arch-Deaco7i Stuhbs, who are 
 zealous for Perfecution, will bat engage 
 ine on the Stage of Controverfy, and 
 make good their Accufations againfl me, 
 I will fubmit to the worfl: Punilhincnr, 
 tliat caa be inflided on the worfl Offen- 
 der. 
 
 In the mean time I will go on with 
 my Undertaking, to the advancement of 
 Truth, and demonftration of the Mefjiah' 
 JJnt? of the Holy Jefus, to whom be 
 Glory for ever, Amen, 
 
 FINIS. 
 
^00 KS writteji by Mr, Wootsxoit, 
 and fold by him next Door below the 
 Star hi Aldermanbury, and by the Book- 
 fellers ^/London and Weftminfter. 
 
 I.^nr^HEold Apology revlv*d. ^c, 
 
 X II. Diflertatio de Pontii Pilati Epiftola ad Tibe- 
 rintn circa Res Jefu Chrifti gefias. 
 
 III. Origenis Adamantii Epiltola: dux circa Fidem vere 
 ortbodoxam & fcripturarum Interpretationem; 
 
 IV. The exaft Fitnefsofthe Time of Chrift's Advent, 
 demonftratcd by Reafon, againft thcObjeftionsof theold 
 Gentiles, and modern Unbelievers. 
 
 V. Four Frce-Gifcs to the Clergy, or CbaMenges to a 
 Difputation on this Qiieftion, Whether the Hireling 
 Prieils of this Age, who are all Miniftcrs of the Letter, 
 be not Worfhippers of the Apocalyptical Beaft, and Mi- 
 rifters of Anti-Chrifl- 
 
 VI. An Anfwer to tbe {aid Four Free-Gifts. 
 
 VII. Two Letters to Dr. Bennei^ on this qucfiion, 
 Whether the People, call'd Quakers, donotthe neareii of 
 any other Scft in Religion, refemble the primitive Chrif- 
 tians in Principle and Pradiice. 
 
 VIII. An Anfwer to the faid two Letters. 
 
 IX. The Moderator between an Infidel and ah Apo- 
 fiate ; or tbe Controverfy between the Grounds and his 
 ecclefiaftical Opponents, fet in a clear Light, ^c. 
 
 X. Two Supplements to the Moderator, C^r. 
 
 XI. A Defence oi the Miracle of the Thundering Legion^ 
 againft a Diflertation o( iValter Mqyle Efq; 
 
 XII. Four Difcourfes on the Miracles of our Saviour* 
 
A r I F T H 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 S A V I U R, 
 
 In View of the prefent 
 
 Controver fy between Infidels and 
 Afo/latcs. 
 
 Ridkulu7n acri 
 
 Fcrtim (J melius magnas ■pknwuji fecat Res. 
 
 By T H o M A s W o o L s T o N, B. D. fometime 
 Fellow of Sidney-College in Cafnbridge. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for the Author, and Sold by him next 
 door to tht Star, in AUlermanbury, and by the 
 ^Qokfellers of London and JVcftminjler^ 1728. 
 
 [Price One Shilling.] 
 
TO THE 
 
 Right Reverend Father in God 
 
 THOMAS 
 
 Lord Bifliop of Bangor. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 Hatcver -zt^^^^^r Authors 
 may fometimes pretend tOy 
 by the 'Dedication of our 
 Works to GitdiX Men\ it's 
 certain ive aim at nothing lefs than Re- 
 awards and preferments, ivhcthcr isue 
 dejerve them or not : That this is my Dc- 
 f/gn in Dedications, is [o aj)parent, that 
 it's to no TPurpoje to deny or dijjcmhlc it. 
 Wherefore clje have I made Choice of 
 fome of our Learned and Wealthy Bi- 
 fliops for the.1?atrons of thcje DiU 
 courfes, lojhich I forejazzj "would be 
 grateful to their nice and critical Ta- 
 A -2 lates? 
 
iv DEDICATION. 
 
 lates? Wherefore elfe have I heenfo 
 frofufe of fuch Comjjliments on their 
 Lordiliips, as I "was fiire^ they "would 
 take great Tleajure in ? Wherefore elje^ 
 My Lord, do I infer the this to your 
 Right Reverend Name^ but that I 
 €>:^ecl your Approbation ofit, and hope 
 for a Recom^encej equal to the Honour^ 
 that IS here done you, 
 
 Some^ "who are envious-^ My Lord, of 
 my good Fortune in Epifcopal TatronSy 
 "Will not believe that I have rcceivdfo 
 much as one Purfe of Gold for any of 
 my Dedications ; but I "would have 
 fuch Malignant s to kno"Wy that the lefs 
 J have receivdj the more there is be- 
 hind : jdnd lean moreover afjure them, 
 that their LordHiips have it in their 
 Heads and their Hearts too, highly to 
 advance me in the World ; and if their 
 Endeavours for my promotion fail noty 
 IJhall be a very Great Man. 
 
 Such primitive 'DoSlrine, My Lord, 
 as Ihave revivdy mujlj in the'^itdg- 
 
 ment 
 
DEDICATION. v 
 
 nicnt of our Bifhops, be dcfcrvinfy of 
 their dijlinguijh'd Favours: And if 
 they jhould ""Defignjor mcjucb a myfti- 
 cal Cro^wn of Glory, as the Gentile 
 Priefts hclfd fome of the Fathers of the 
 Church to ; 1 p'ofcjs isDtthout T^ijfimu- 
 lation, thaty for all my Love to Myfte- 
 ries, it "will be more than I amamli^ 
 tious of: But if the Honour is forced on 
 me, it 'Will be my 'Duty to their Lord- 
 fliips, to Jound an ^^i\\i^gov'\cA Trumpet 
 of their Fame, that their Names, i^hich 
 might otheri^jije be joon forgotten, may 
 he everlaflingly remember d for their 
 Love andGood -will towards me. 
 
 But the chief Foundation, My Lord, 
 of my Merits lies, they fay, in my Treats 
 ment of the Miracles of our Saviour, af^ 
 ter the Manner you handled a Scripture^ 
 *Projjhecy, of a Alan's kicking aSerpcnt 
 on the Pate, for biting him by the • 
 Heels : And if your Lordfliip got a 
 Welfli-Bifhoprick upon it, "what may 
 not I csOed for my more meritorious 
 
 JVorks 
 
vi DEDICATION. 
 
 TVorks of the fame hind? The Great 
 Mr. Scheme has celebrated your Traijc 
 for that Effort of your Wit : Andlmujl 
 needs fay ^ to your LordlliipV A^plaufe, 
 that "were not your Thoughts unhapply 
 fhacUed "with Interefl and Subfcrif- 
 tions, (an Unhappinefs you fadly la- 
 ment I) you "would endeavour to make as 
 ^leafant JVork "with the Letter of the 
 Old, as lean do "with that of the New 
 Teflament. 
 
 I have not here Roomy My hord, for 
 afufficient amd defervd Encomium on 
 your Ufe and Intent of Prophecy ; 
 therefore mufl be content to fay of it, in 
 fhorty that it is a mofl curious 'Piece of 
 liuhat the Fathers call, Engaftromii- 
 thifm ; or fuch afingular Specimen of 
 a IVebbyf^un out of a Mans own Bow- 
 els, as one offe^wer Brains in his Head 
 can hardly equaL 
 
 It was 'wifely done of your Lordfhip 
 
 ^tQ caution your Readers againfl taking 
 
 your Book for an jflnf'wer to Mr, 
 
 Grounds \ otherwife it had not been 
 
 im-' 
 
DEDICATION. vii 
 
 tm^offible, butfome others as "well as the 
 Worfhipful Benchers of the Temple 
 might have mi/lakcn tbeUtc and In- 
 tent of it. 
 
 After I had gone., thro your beau^ 
 tifully-printed IVork , I ^ifh'd. My 
 Lord, yi?r ^jw^f/j^r Decoration ofit^ that 
 fomc Annotations out of the Fathers had 
 been fubjoind to it. Ho'w 'would jour 
 Motions then and Theirs about 7ro^he^ 
 cy have flood as a Foil to each other ! 
 HowJJjould I then have admired the 
 ^Difference bctzveen a Rich Bifljop and 
 a Poor Father as to Wit and Senje I 
 How Jlooidd I then have contemplated 
 the Ufcfulnefs of Rcclefiajlical Wealth 
 in our Cltrgyjor the Under flanding of 
 the Infpirations of the ^oor old "Pro* 
 ^hcts ! 
 
 When your Lordfhip is calfd upon for 
 another Edition of your Book ^ Vouchfafe 
 vie the Favour of making fojne marginal 
 d^emarkj on /f, which jhali not be without 
 their good UJe. ^s you k^iow, fa'Voury 
 Siiwce ffiakes fome fort of Food go down 
 
 the 
 
viii DEDICATION, 
 
 the better ; Jo a little more of that Salty 
 which Mr, Scheme has too fparingly 
 fprinkled en your Work, will ^iye your 
 Readers, a right ^elip? of it : !But whe^ 
 ther I ayn indulgd this Favour ^ or not 5 1 
 fl'iall take another opportunity^ according to 
 (promtje elfewhere 7nadey of tejlifying to 
 the IVorldy how much 1 am^ 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 The Admirer of your 
 
 Oaober 25. UJe and 
 
 1728. 
 
 Intent of Prophecy, 
 
 Thomas Woolfton. 
 
^... . - 
 
 A FIFTH 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 SAVIOUR, ScQ. 
 
 Ccording to Promife in my 
 laft VHcoiirfe, I am in this 
 to take into Examination 
 the three Miracles o^ Jefus's 
 raiiing the dead, T'S. OF 
 Jaims's Daughter (i) ; of 
 the Widow of Nairn's Son (2) ; and off 
 Lazarus {7,) : The litteral Stories of which 
 1 fhall ihow to confift of Abfurdities, Im- 
 
 (r) Matt. ix. Mark ▼• Luke viii. 
 
 (2) Luke vii. 
 
 (3) John xi. 
 
 Rfo- 
 
probabilities and Incredibilities, in Order 
 to the myftical Interpretation of them : 
 And becaufe fome of our Bijhops and Cler- 
 gy were a little difgufted at the ludicrous 
 Treatment of the Letter of iome foregoing 
 Miracles, I will handle thefe with the 
 more Caution j being as unwilling, as any 
 Man of my primitive Faith can be, to 
 offend weak Brethren. 
 
 Whether Jefm rais'd any more from the 
 dead^ befides the forefaid three Perfons. is 
 uncertain from the Evangelical Hiftory. 
 St. Auguflin (4) thinks, he rais'd many 
 others ; and he founds his Opinion on the 
 modeft Hyperbole of St. JohUy who fup- 
 pofes (5) the World it felf could not con* 
 tarn the Books that might belVritten ofjefus. 
 And Eufebius Gallicantis^ of whole Mind 
 entirely I am, fays (6) the Reafon lies in 
 the Myftery, why thefe three^ and no 
 more than thefe three Miracles of this Kind 
 
 (4) Quot autem mortuos vifibililer fufcltaverat, 
 quis novit ? non enim omnia quje fecit fcripta funr, 
 'Jolannti hoc dicir, multa alia fecit Jefus, qu» fi 
 Icripta effcnt, arbitror totum Mundum non poffe 
 Libros capere. Multi ergo funt alii fine dubio fu- 
 fcitati, fed non fruftra tres coiiimeraorati. In Serm. 
 xcviii. 
 
 (5) John xxi. 25. 
 
 (6) Non autem vacat a Myflerlo, quod, cum 
 plures Dominus fufcitaverat, tres tantum Evange- 
 lic x eum fufcitaffe fcripferunt. In Homil. Firia qiun- 
 ta poji Dominic, /^tanh 
 
 arc 
 
(3) 
 
 are recorded by the Evnnji^elip. But fince 
 our Divines are averfe to Myfteries on Mi- 
 racles, I would gladly know their Opinion, 
 whether Jefm rais'd any others from the 
 dead, or not : I have made fome fearch in- 
 to modern Writers for their Opinion in 
 this Cafe, but cannot find it: And unlefs 
 I knew their Opinion, it would be loft 
 Labour to argue againft either Side of the 
 Queftion, and much more againft both 
 Sides of it : But I can alfure our Droines,^ 
 that, which Side of the Qiieftion foever 
 they fhould hold, the Conlequence upon 
 the Argument would be neither better nor 
 worfe, than that they muft of necelfity 
 efpoufe the myftical and allegorical Inter- 
 pretation of the'e Miracles, or grant that 
 'Jefm litterally rais'd none from the dead 
 at all. 
 
 But waving that fort of Argument for 
 the prefent againft the Letter ; thefe three 
 Miracles are reputed the greateft that Jefiis 
 wrought : And 1 believe, it will be 
 granted on all hands, that the reftoring a 
 Perfon, indifputably dead, to Life again, 
 is a ftupendous Miracle ; and that two or 
 three fuch Miracles well circumftanced, 
 and credibly reported, are enough to con- 
 ciliate the Belief of Mankind, that the 
 Author of them was a divine Agent, and 
 inverted with the Power of God, or he 
 
 B 2 could 
 
 <o 
 
 yfs 
 
( + ) 
 
 could not do them. But God knows, 
 (and for the fake of the M\ fiery, I am not 
 lorry to fay ir) this ii far fioni being the 
 Caie of thefe three Miracles before us, 
 or of any one ot them. 
 
 That thefe three Miracles are not equal- 
 ly great, but differ in Degree, is vilibie 
 enongh to anyone, that but curforiiy reads, 
 and compares their Stories one with ano- 
 ther. The Fathers oi the Church (7) 
 have taken Notice of fuch a Difference 
 amonft them. The greateft of the three, 
 and indeed, the (8) greateft Miracle, that 
 Jefiif is fuppos'd to have wrought, is that 
 of Lazariis's Refurrc<5tion -, which, in 
 Truth, was a mod prodigious Miracle, if 
 his Corps was putrified and (lank ,* or if 
 there were no jufl Exceptions to be made 
 to the credibility of the Story. Next to 
 that, in magnitude, is Jeftis's railing of 
 
 X"]) Sufcitaverat Domlnus filiam Jairl Principis, 
 Synagogue, fed adhuc mediante morte, adhuc viante 
 Spiritu, adhuc Anima Clauftra Tartiri nefciente. 
 S.Tfcitavit & unicum Matris filiuni, fed he ut reti- 
 neretPhererrum, ut anticiparet Sepulchrum, ut Cor- 
 ruptionem fufpenderet, et prsveniret fietorem; ut 
 ante moituo Vitam redderet, quam rota inorruus 
 jura Mortis intraret. Circa Lazarum vero quod 
 geritur totum fingubre ei^ quern c rca Vis tota 
 Morris implera eft. In Pet. Chryfol. Sr/m. IxMi. 
 
 (8) Inttr omnia Miracula quae fecit Dominus no- 
 fler JefuChriilu5, Lazari Refurreftioprarcipuepras- 
 dicatur. 6:. yiti^nft. in Loc. ijohan. 
 
 the 
 
(5) 
 
 the Widow's Son, as they were carrying 
 him to his Burial : And a great Miracle it 
 was to bring him to Life again ; if none be- 
 fore or (ince had been miftaken for dead, 
 and carried to their Graves alive ; or if 
 po Impoftor and his Confederates could 
 frame fuch a feemingly miraculous Scene, 
 as is that whole Story, to his own Glory. 
 The leafl: of the three is that of his raifing 
 lairus's Daughter, which in Appearance 
 is fo far from a Miracle, that according to 
 the Story itfelf, Ihe was but alleep, or by 
 the fhrieks of By-flanders frighted out of 
 her Sf nfes for the prefent. 
 
 But however it really might be with 
 thefe three fuppofed dead and revived Per- 
 fons; the Cafe of none of them was well 
 enough circumftanced to ferve the Purpofe 
 of our Di'vincs, I am apt to believe with 
 the Fathers, that "Jefm adually did raife 
 the dead ,• but then as thefe Miracles are 
 only recorded for the fake of the Myftcry^ 
 I affirm that none of them, as to the 
 Letter^ will abide the Teff of a critical 
 Examination, nor /land its Ground againft 
 luch Exceptions as may be made to it. 
 If Jefuf was to raife any dead Bodies to 
 Lite, for a Teftimony of his divine Power 
 and Authority, he would and fhould have 
 made Choice of otiier dead Perfons, un- 
 der other Circumdances of Death i and 
 
 the 
 
(6) 
 
 the Hlftory of their Refurredion lliould 
 have been more credibly and carefully 
 tranfmitred to Pofterity, fo as there Ihoiild 
 have been no Room left to make a reafon- 
 able Doubt of the Truth of it. But this, 
 I fay, is not the Cafe in the Refufcitation 
 of any of thefe Perfons, as will appear 
 from the following Remarks and Obfer- 
 vations upon them. And 
 
 I. Obferve, that the unnatural and pre- 
 pofterous Order of Time, in which thefe 
 Miracles are related, judly brings them all 
 under fufpicion of Fable and Forgery. 
 The greattft of the three is indifputably 
 that of Lazarus's Refurre6:ion -y but (ince 
 this is only mention'd by St. John^ who 
 wrote his Gofpel after the other E'vange- 
 liftsy and above fixty Years, according to 
 the beft Computation, after our Lord's 
 AfcenfiOn ; here is too much Room for 
 Cavil and Qjaeftion, whether this Story be 
 not entirely his Invention. What could 
 be the Reafon that Matthew^ Mark^ and 
 Luke^ who all wrote their Gofpels before 
 Jobrj, and many Years nearer to the 
 Death of our Saviour, fhould omit to re- 
 cord, this remarkable and moft illuftrious 
 Miracle of Lazartif ? They could not for- 
 get it, nor be ignorant of it, if the Story 
 had been really true : and to alTign any 
 
 other 
 
other Reafon than Ignorance or Fogetful- 
 nefs, is hard and inipoirible. To aggran- 
 dize the Fame of their Mafter, for a Worker 
 of Miracles, was the Deh'gn oi all the Evan- 
 gclifls^ efpecially of the three firlf, who 
 may be preiumed to make a Report of 
 the greateft, if not of all, that Jefiis 
 wrought : But that there fhould come 
 after them an E'vangelift with an huge and 
 fuperlatively great Miracle, and meet with 
 Credit for it, is againft all Senfe and Rea- 
 fon j neither is there any Story, fo dilor- 
 derly told, in all Hiftory, that Critics will 
 admit of the Belief of. The firft Writer 
 of the Life of an Hcro^ to be fure makes 
 mention of all the grand Occurrences of 
 it, and leaves no Room for Biographers af- 
 terwards, but to enlarge and paraphrafe 
 upon what he has written, with fome 
 other Circumftances and Additions of lefs 
 Monient. If a third or a fourth Eiogra- 
 pher after him fhall prefumeto add a more 
 illuftiious Tranfadion of the Hero's Life, 
 it will be rejed:ed as Fable and Romance, 
 tho' for no otlier Reafon than this, that the 
 fit ft Writer muft have been appris'd of ity 
 and would have inlerted its Story, if there 
 had been any Truth in it. And whether 
 St. John's Story of Lnzartis's Refurredion, 
 that Miracle of Miracles, ought not to be 
 fubieded to the like Criticifm upon it. 
 
Chriftians may confider, and Infideh will 
 judge. 
 
 What then was the Reafon, I ask again,' 
 that the three fiift E'vangelifts negledled to 
 record this renown'd Miracle of Lazarus^ 
 And why too (may I enquire here) did 
 not Matthew and Mark mention the Story 
 of the Widow of Nairn's Son, as they 
 could not but know of it, if true, more 
 certainly than Luke, the Companion of 
 Paul, who alone has made a Report of 
 it? Grotius fays, (9) it may fee?n ftrange 
 that this illuftrious Miracle of the Widow's 
 Son was omitted by Matthew and Mark : 
 And what is the Reafon that Grotius gives 
 for this ftrange Omiffion? Why, he tells 
 us (10), that thefe two Evangelifts were 
 content with one miraculous Inftance of this 
 Kind^ by which Chriftians ?night judge of 
 JefusV Power in others alfo. And is this 
 Reafon fufficient ? True it is, they were 
 content with one Inftance ,- but if they 
 had made a Report of two or three more 
 of the fame fort, no body would have 
 thought their Hiftory of Chrift overcharged 
 With impertinent and tautological Repeti- 
 
 (9) MIrum videri poteft Hiftoriam hanc tarn il- 
 luftrem a Matth.eo et ?^arc9 omifl*am. I« Loc. Luc. 
 
 (10) Sed videtur mihi borum uterq; contentus' 
 fuiffe uno Exemplo redd ita: "Vita: in Jairi filia eiquo' 
 iiBiilia alia po£func intelligi. In Loc. Luc, 
 
 tions. 
 
(9) 
 
 tJons. But one Inflance of a Perfon rmd 
 from the dead, they were, fays GrotttUi 
 content with : And I'll grant one to be 
 fuflicient : But which then ihould they, as 
 wife and confiderate hiftorians have m.ide 
 Choice of, the greateft or the Icaft Mira- 
 cle ? The greateft, to be fure, and that 
 was of Lazaruf^ or of the Widow's Son, 
 ifthey knew of either. But inftead of either 
 of thefe, they tell us the Story o^ Juinn's 
 Daughter, that is (i i) an imperfed, and 
 difputable Miracle, in Comparifon of the 
 other Two, which confequently they 
 know nothing at ail of, or they would have 
 preferred the Report of theni 
 
 If Matthew, the firft Writer, had re* 
 corded only the Story of Lazarus, whofe 
 Refurredion was the greateft Miracle ; 
 and if Luke had added that of the Wi- 
 dow of Nahns Son -, and Job7t laft'y h.id 
 remembred us of Jariiis^s Daughter, which 
 tlie o.her E'vangelills, not through Igno- 
 rance or Forge tfulnefs, but ftudying Bre- 
 vity, had omitted, then all had been 
 wellj and no Objct^tion had hence lain 
 againft the Credit of any of thefe Mira- 
 cles, or againft the Authority of the E-» 
 'vangelifti : But tiiis unnatural and pie- 
 
 (ii) Nondum perfe£la Mors eft in PucUa. ^^f^r 
 Auguji. in Serm, xcviii. 
 
 C pofterous 
 
( lo) 
 
 pofterous Order of Time, in which thefe 
 iVIiracles are recorded (the greateft being 
 poflponed to the leaft) adminifters juft 
 Occafion of fufpicion of the Truth and 
 Credibility of all their Stories. And it is 
 Jucky for Chriftianity, that JeWf and /«- 
 fidels have not hitherto hit upon the Ahfur- 
 dify of this prepofterous Narration, or 
 they might have form'd a cogent Ob- 
 jedion againft thefe Miracles thus, fay- 
 
 in<^ 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Jefuf^ it is manifeft, rais'd not the 
 dead at all. The only Perfon, that 
 *' Chriftians can reafonably pretend, he 
 " did raife, was j^<3/V/^/s Daughter, whom 
 " Matthew writes of j and flie, according 
 *^ to the Story, was only in a Sleep, or an 
 " Extacy, when Jefm revived her. But 
 *^ the Galileam, who were after a Time 
 <^ caird '.hriftians^ finding their Account 
 *' in a Refurredion- Miracle ^ L«Xv, for 
 ** the further Advantage of the Caufe, dc- 
 *' vifed another Story of better Circum- 
 *' fiances, in the Widow of Nai?n*s Son : 
 *' But this not being fo great a Miracle, as 
 '^ the Church ftill wanted , John^ when 
 '' no body was alive to contradid and ex- 
 *^ poftulate with him for ir, trumps up a 
 " long Story of a thumping Miracle, in 
 '^ Jefus^s raifing of Lazarm^ Who had 
 " been not only dead, but buried fo long 
 
 « that 
 
c II ; 
 
 *^ that he flank again. But to prove the 
 ** Story of this Miracle to be falle and fa- 
 *^ bulous, we need fay no more than that 
 *' it was laft recorded. If there had been 
 ^^ any Truth in it, the firft Evangelift 
 ^ would have remeniber'd us of it. 
 
 " We don't fuppofe, that you Chri/lians, 
 *' becaufe of your Prejudices, will fub- 
 " fcribe to this Account, that we thus 
 *' give of the Rife of thefe Miracles : But 
 " this is certain, that if thefe three Mira- 
 *' cles had not been reported of jejufy 
 '' but of Maho?net, in the fame diforder of 
 " Time, by three different Hiftorians, 
 '^ you would prefently have fcented the 
 *' Forgery and Impofture : You would 
 " juftly have affirm'd that the three Stories 
 " were apparently three Fables and Falf- 
 '' hoods ; and that the three Hiflorians 
 *' vifibly ftrove to outftretch each other : 
 " That the firft was fparing and modeft in 
 *^ his Romance ; and the fecond, being fen- 
 '' fible of the Infufficiency of the former's 
 " Tale, devifes a Miracle of a bigger 
 '' fizei which ftill not proving fufficient to 
 '' the End propofed j the third Writer, 
 *' rather than his Prophet's Honour fliou Id 
 '^ fink for want of a Refurrcdion- Miracle, 
 " forges a Story of a monftroufly huge 
 '' one } againft which it is, and always will 
 ** be Objcj^ion enough, that it was not 
 C 2 *' related 
 
(12) 
 
 " related by the firft Hiflorianl So would 
 
 '^ you Chriftians argue againft thefe three 
 
 " Miracles in another Impoftor's Cafe ; 
 
 '' and there is not a judicious Cmic in the 
 
 '' Univerfe, that would not approve of 
 
 " the Argument, and applaud the Force 
 
 '' of it, tho you will not endure the 
 
 " Thoughts of it 'in the Cafe of your 
 
 " But to come nearer home to you j 
 " fuppofing John (who was then above a 
 ^^ Hundred, and in his Dotage) had not 
 *' reported this Miracle o^ Lazarm ; but 
 ^' that Cle??ient (joining it with his (12) in- 
 '' credible Story of the Refurredion of 3. 
 " Th^nix) or Ignatm^ or Polycarp^ or the 
 '-^ Autnor of the Afcftulkal Confthutions 
 '' had related it ; would not your Chri- 
 " ftian Critics have been at Work to ex^ 
 ^' plode it ? There is not an ancient extra- 
 *' evangelical Tradition of any Note about 
 " J'-'fi^-^y ^^'^'^^ ^^"^^^ *^^ other of your G/- 
 ^' tics have not boggled at ; but fuch a 
 '•^ Story as this of Lazarus would have 
 " been received by none. I queftion, 
 " whether yir. Whifion would not have 
 'f rejeded the Omjlitutions upon fuch a 
 '*^ Stoiy in them ; or if his Fancy for fome 
 *' other Things in them had overcome his 
 
 (li) In Epift ptlma ad Corinth. Cap. xxv. 
 
 " Heafoq 
 
03) 
 
 Reafon againft this ; yet BiJIjop S?naU 
 broke^ who has written ngainil: the Ca- 
 nonicalnefs of the Conftitutiom, with 
 his judiciotis Animadverfions upon this 
 Story, would abfolutely have over- 
 thrown their Authority. And what 
 ^vould he have fa id here ? Not only 
 that the Miracle fmellsrankly of Forge- 
 ry and Fraud, or the E'vangelijif^ efpeci- 
 ally Matthew^ had never forgotten to 
 record it ; but he would have reminded 
 us of intrinfic Notes {hereafter to be vien^ 
 tiond) of Abfurdity, and Incredibility, 
 that would for ever have cafhier'd the 
 Belief of it. And whether we InfideU 
 ought not to take the fame Liberty to 
 criticife on Johns Gofpel, which you 
 do on your Apoftolical Fathers, who 
 wrote before him, let the impartial and 
 unprejudiced, judge : If in juAice we ^^ 
 
 ought to take it ; we are lure we could 
 give two or three notable Reafons (but 
 that We will not now put Chriftians 
 out of Temper with them) why 'John 
 may be fufpeded of a Miftake or Fraud 
 in this Miracle, rather than any other 
 Chriftian Writer of the firft or fecond 
 Century." 
 
 To fuch an unhappy Objedion, arifing 
 from the unnatural and prepofterous Order 
 ot Time, in which they are recoriied, 
 
 are 
 
( H) 
 
 are thefe three Miracles before us obnoxi- 
 ous. And I am thinking how Ministers of 
 the Letter will be able to get over it. As 
 for my felf, who am for the myftical Inter- 
 pretatioa of thefe Miracles, I have a folid 
 and fubftantial Anfwer at hand to tne fore- 
 fa id Objedion, an Anfwer that curioufly 
 accounts for the Order of Time in which 
 the Miracles are related -, but my Anfwer 
 will not pleafe our Dhines, nor^ftand them 
 in any ftead ; therefore they mufi: look up 
 another good one of their own, that will 
 comport with the Letter ; or the faid Ob- 
 jedion, improved with another prefently 
 a^ainik Lazaruf*sRt{nne£tlon, will be too 
 bard, not for Chriftianity it felf, but for 
 their Miniflry. 
 
 Grotius^ being aware of the fbrefaid 
 Objedion, has given us fuch a (13) Solu- 
 tion of it as then occurred to his Thoughts. 
 Dr. Whhbyy not being fatisfied with Gro- 
 
 (13) Qaa»ri folct, cur hanc tarn nobllem Hiftori- 
 am priores Ev.-.ngelii fcriptoresnon attigerint. Mihi 
 hoc fuccurrit, cum illi fcnberent, vixifife refufcita- 
 tutu Lazarum, & perlculum ei fuiffe a judxis, fi 
 quod illi accideraf, paUm vulgaretur. Nam etiani 
 mox narratur C. xii. lo, ob hoc ipfum ftrmftas ei 
 infidias. Q^iare vifum illis hoc ad tempus fubticeri 
 poffe, cum alia Exempla refufcitarorum fuppeterent. 
 Ac mortuo Lazaro, cum jam nemini Periculum ex 
 fei Narratione fieri poflet, additum hoc a Johanne in 
 hacquafi praterpiifforum Colleftione. InLoc.'johan, 
 
 tiui's 
 
in ) 
 
 tills* s Solution, has given us (14) another: 
 But how weak and infufficient both their 
 Solutions are, I will not fpare Time to 
 confider, till Tome Writer fhall appear in 
 Defence of the Sufficiency and Strength of 
 one or other of them. And fo 1 pafi to a 
 
 2 . Second Obfervation, by Way of Ob- 
 jedtion to the Letter of tliefe Miracles, and 
 that is, by enquiring, what became of 
 thefe three Perions a;ter their Relurredtion ? 
 How long did they live afterwards ? And 
 of what U(e and Advantage were their 
 reftored Lives to the Church or to Man- 
 kind? The Evangelical and Ecclcfiaftical 
 Hiftory is entirely filent as to thefe Que- 
 ftions, which is enough to make us fulped 
 their Stories to be merely romantick or 
 parabolical ; and that there were no fuch 
 Perfons raised from the dead ; or we muft 
 have heard fomewhat of their Station and 
 
 (14) The laji of the three Evangelifts ivr'tting hut 
 fifteen Ymrs after our Ltrd's yifcenjlon^ might tbinl{^ it 
 needlefi to mention a Miracle concerning a Ferfon^ living 
 fo near Jerufalem, wbtrt there ti'as fo great a Fam» 
 thereof and fo many living Witneffes, St. John, vr»- 
 ttng his Gofpel^ fay the j4nc'unt$^ above fixty Years after 
 our Lord^s Jfcenfton^ "whm hy the Death of the Perfon^ 
 and moji of the U'itneffes that "were prefent at his Kefur- 
 redion^ the "Memory and Fame of it might be much im- 
 f>air*dt had great Reafon to perpetuate the Memory rf ir^ 
 hy this large Rehearfal of it. In Loc. Johan. 
 
 Con- 
 
( 16) 
 
 Converfation in the World afterwards. 
 It's true, t\ut Epphanius (15) fays, what 
 he found among Traditions, that Lazarus 
 lived thirty Years after his Refurre^ion : 
 But how did he fpend his Time all that 
 while ? Was it to the Honour of Jefuy^ 
 to the Service of the Church, and Propo- 
 gation of the Gofpel ? Of that we know 
 nothing ; tho in Reafon and Gratitude to 
 ^efm^ his Benefa(5lor, it ought to have 
 been fo fpent , and if it had been fo em- 
 ploy'd, Hiflory furely would have inform'd 
 us of it. According to ttie Opinion of 
 Grotius^ in a Citation above, Lazarm for 
 the reft of his reftored Life abfconded, :and 
 skulk'd about the Country for Fear of the 
 Jewi^ who lay in Wait for him ; which is 
 a Suggeftion, not only difhonourable to 
 Jefus^ as if the fame Power, that rais'd 
 him irom the dead, could not proted him 
 againft his Enemies ; but reproachful to 
 Lazavm himfelf, who Ihould have chofen 
 to fulfer Death again, rather than not bear 
 an open Teftimony to Jefiti^ the Author 
 of^ his Refurrei^lion. However it was, we 
 hear no more o^ hazarus^ than that he 
 lived thirty Years afterwards, which Tra- 
 
 (15) Quln & illud inter traditiones reperimustri- 
 ginra turn Annos natum fuiCTe Lazarum, cum a mor- 
 tuis excitatus eft ; atq j idem- il!e poftea trigin- 
 ta allis annis vixit, InH^eref \xvi. §. 34. 
 
 ditiOHj 
 
ditlon, without other Memorials of his 
 Life, brings the Miracle more under fufpi- 
 cion of Fable, than if he had dy'd foon 
 after it. And of y^m^A Daughter, and o£ 
 the Widow ot Nairn s Son, which is afto- 
 nilhing, we read nothing at all. Does not 
 this Silence in Hiftory about tiiem, make 
 their Miracles queftionable, and but like 
 GuHi'verian Tales of Perfons and ThinC5, 
 that out ot the Romance, never had any 
 
 J ejus did but {i6)call/i lit tie Child) and 
 fet himm the viidft of his Difciples ^ and 
 that Ad was remembered in the Piety and 
 Zeal (17) of Ignatius^ who made a re- 
 nown'd Biihop. But the Favour and Blef- 
 fing conferr'd on thefe three rais'd Perfons 
 was exceedingly greater i and one might 
 have expeded, that ILazarHs and the Wi- 
 dow's Son would have been eminent Mi- 
 nifters of the Gofpel. But inftead of that, 
 their Lives afterwards were p:;fs'd in Ob- 
 fcurity, or, what's as bad, Eccleliaftical 
 Hiftory has negieded a Report of them. 
 What can any one hereupon think lefs, 
 than that the Favour of the Miracles was 
 loff on undeferving Perfons, which I ab- 
 hor the Thoughts of j or that their Stories 
 
 (i^) Matr. xvlii. 2. 
 
 (ryj In Nicephor. CalHft. Eccl. Hift. L. ii. c. 3^ 
 
 D are 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 are but Parables, which I rather incline tOi 
 Minifters of the Letter may here fay, 
 " That the Ecclefiaftical Hiftory of the A* 
 " poftolical Age is very fcanty ; and that 
 " many Memorials of other Perfons and 
 " Tran factions are loft and buried in Ob- 
 *' livion : Which unhappy Fate has at- 
 '' tended the after-Lives and Actions of 
 " thefe raised Perfons, or undoubtedly we 
 *' ihould have had a famous Record of 
 " them." This is not impofTible; tho' 
 in the Wifdom of Providence it is hardly 
 probable, but that fome more Rjemeni- 
 brance muft have been left of one or o- 
 ther, if not of all the three Perfons -, in as 
 much as fuch a Remembrance of them 
 would now-a-days have no lefs gain'd a 
 Beleif of the Miracles, than this Hiftorical 
 Silence tends to the Difcredit of them. 
 
 It's fbmewhat ftrange, that we hear no 
 tnore of the after-Fame and Life of any 
 of the difeafed Perfons, whom Jefus mi- 
 raculoufly cured ,• excepting of the Wo- 
 man, heai'd of an Ifl'ue of Blood ,• who, 
 tho* ihe [pent ALL fie bad, even ALL 
 J:}er Lhing upon Phyficia?JS; yet out of 
 the Remains of it ereded, fays (i8) Eu^ 
 febius, at C^farea Philippic two moft coft- 
 ly Statues of Brafs, to the Memory of 
 
 (i8 InEccl. Hid. L. vil. c. iS. 
 
 Jefus 
 
( 19) 
 
 Jefuf and of heifeJf, and of the MiracJe 
 wrought by him : Which Dr. iVhitby (19) 
 as if he was tainted with Infidelity, endea- 
 vours to make an idle Tale of. But ex- 
 cepting, I fay, this Story of this Woman, 
 we hear nothing of any other heal'd Per- 
 fon ; which is Matter of fome Speculati- 
 on : But that the Perfons rais'd from 
 the dead fliould not at all be mentioned 
 in Hiftory for their Labours and Lives 
 afterwards to the Honour of Jefui, is ab- 
 folutely unaccountable. Whether fuch a 
 profound Silence in Hiflory about them be 
 not Ihocking of the Credit of the Mira- 
 cles, let our Divines confider. 1 am of 
 Opinion that i£Je fus really rais'd thefe Pci- 
 fons from the dead i this and no other Rea- 
 fon, in the Providence of God, can be gi- 
 ven for the Silence ot Ecclefiaftical Hifto- 
 ry about them afterwards, than to make 
 dead-letter d Stories of their Miracles, in 
 order to turn our Heads entirely to the 
 Coniideration of their myflical Significati- 
 on, without which the Letter, for the Ar- 
 gument before us, fs deferving of no Re- 
 gard nor Credit. But 
 
 3. By way of Objedion to the Lcftei: 
 of thefe three Miracles, let us confider the 
 
 (i^) In Loc. Matthaei. 
 
 D 2 Con-^ 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 Condition of the Perfons rais'd from the 
 dead ; and whether they were at all pro- 
 per Perfons for J'fru to work fuch a Mi- 
 racle upon, in Teftimony of his diyine 
 power. If they were improper Perfons 
 according to the Letter^ it's not credible 
 that He, who was the Wifdom of God, 
 would raife them j or if he did, it wa^ 
 becaufe they were the propereft to make 
 ^nyftical Emblems of their Stories. 
 
 That Jefus ought to have rais'd all that 
 (dy'd, where-ever he came, during the 
 Time of his Miniftry, none, I prefume^ 
 can hold. Two or three Inftances of his 
 almighty and miraculous Power of this 
 Kind will be allow'd to be fuflficient: 
 But then they muft be wifely and judici- 
 onfiy miide Choice of, out of a vaft Num- 
 ber of Perfons, that muft needs dye in 
 ^hatTime. Where then was his Wifdom 
 and Prudence to chufe thefe three Perfons 
 above others to that Honour ? Why wer^ 
 all of them, or indeed any one of them 
 preferr'd to other Perfons of a different 
 Age and Condition in the World ? Nay, 
 if the Letter of their iStories is only to be 
 regarded, were not all thefe three 5^er- 
 ibns almoft the impropereft and moft un- 
 fit of any for Jefm to exercife that Power 
 on? 
 
 Jarius^s 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 Jairmh Daughter was an infignificant 
 Girl of twelve Years old: And there 
 could be no Reafon for raifing her, but to 
 wipe Sorrow from the Hearts, and Tears 
 from the Eyes of her Parents, who ought 
 to have been better Philofophers, than im- 
 moderately to grieve for her. And was 
 here a good Reafon for Jefus to interpofe 
 with his Almighty Power? No certainly ; 
 a Le^ure of Patience and Refignation in 
 this Cafe had been enough. And tho* 
 Jefm could raife her from the dead i yet 
 for as much as that Favour was to be con- 
 ferred but on a few j and his Miracles 
 ought to be ufeful as well as confpicuous, 
 flie fhould have been pals*d by, as an im- 
 proper Obje(5t of his Power, in Compari- 
 (bn of many others, prefently to be na- 
 med. If therefore a better Reafon, than 
 what's difcernible in the Letter^ is not to 
 be fetch'd from the Myflery i 1 can't fuppofe 
 that 5^/«^ ^he Wifdom of God would 
 raife this Girl; but that the modern Be- 
 leif of her Refufcitation, exclufive of the 
 myftical Signification, is, as Ihall be by and 
 by argued, altogether ground lefs. 
 
 The Widow of Nairn's Son too was 
 but a veayia-icos Touth^ and whether any 
 thing older than the Girl above is doubt- 
 ful ; but his Life certainly was of no 
 more Importance to the World after, than 
 
 b.- 
 
( 22 ) 
 before his Refurredion. And why was 
 he then one of the three to be rais'd from 
 the dead? Why had he this Honour done 
 him, before others of greater Age, Worth, 
 and Ufe to Mankind ? Some will fay, for 
 the Comfort of his forrowful Mother, 
 And is thi^ Reafon fufficient? A Difcourfe 
 on the Pleafures of Abrahams Bofom, 
 where ihe would e er long met her Son, 
 had been enough to chear her Heart. If 
 therefore the Fathers don't help me to a 
 folid myfticai Reafon, why the Son and 
 only Son of a Widow was to be rais'd by 
 Jefus^ as thy were currying him to his Bu- 
 rial, I'll not beieive He would raife this 
 dead Boy rather than many others, for the 
 Manifeflation o*^ his Power; but that the 
 Story of his Refurre(^ion, as ihall foon be 
 reafonably proved, was all Sham and Cheat. 
 Lazarus indeed was Jefus's Friend, 
 whom he Loved j and as *i will not que- 
 ftion but Jefus's Affedion was wifely and 
 defervedly placed on him; fo here, to 
 Appearance, was a better Reafon for the 
 rai/ing'of him, than of either of the other 
 Two. But even this Reafon, fuppofing 
 Jefm was to raife but three Perlons, is 
 not fufficient againft the Cafes of many 
 others, that may be put for the Mani- 
 feftation of his Power, for the llluftration 
 of his Wifdom and Goodnefs, and for the 
 
 Con- 
 
( ^? ) 
 
 Converfion of Unbelievers : Confequent- 
 ly, if this Story of Lazarus bo not para- 
 bolical, the litterai Fadl is difputable, and 
 obnoxious to (uch Exceptions prefently to 
 be obferved againft it, as will not be ea- 
 fily got over. 
 
 Jeftis raisM the dead, and wrought o- 
 ther Miracles, fay our Divines often, noc 
 only to manifeft his own Power and Glo- 
 ry, but his Love to Mankind, and his 
 Inclination to do them good : For which 
 Reafbn his Miracles are uleful and bene- 
 ficial as well as ftupendous and fupernatu- 
 ral Acts, on purpole to conciliate Men's 
 AfFedions as well as their Faith to him. 
 On this Topick our Di'vines are copious 
 and rhetorical, when they write on Jefus's 
 Miracles, as if no more ufeful and won- 
 derful Works could be done, than what 
 he did. And I do agree with them, that 
 (what Reafon befpeaks) the Miracles of a 
 pretended Author of Religion ought to be 
 both as ufeful and great as well as could 
 be. But fuch were not jfefus's Miracles 
 according to Letter^ and leaft of all his Ads 
 of raifing the dead. For if we confider 
 the Perfons raisM by him, we fhall find, 
 he could hardly have exerted his Power 
 on any of lels Importance to the World, 
 both before and alter their Reiurredion. 
 A young Girl indeed is fitter to be rais'd 
 
 than 
 
( H ) 
 
 than a deci*epid old Woman, who by the 
 Courfe of Nature was to return to Cor- 
 ruption again, as foon as reftored to Life : 
 And a Boy rather than an infirm old Man 
 for the fame Reafon : And Lazarus the 
 Friend of Jefusy perhaps, and but perhaps, 
 rather than his profefs'd Enemy. But 
 what are thefe three Perfons in Compari- 
 fon of many others of other Cirpum- 
 ftances ? Inftead of a Boy and a Girl and 
 even of Lazarusy who were all of no 
 Confequence to the Pubiick, either before 
 or fince ,- I Ihould think Jefus ought to 
 have raised an ufeful Magiftrate, whofe 
 Life had been a common Biefling ; an in- 
 duftrious Merchant, whofe Death was si 
 pubiick Lofs; a Father of a numerous 
 Family, which for a comfortable Subfift- 
 ance depended on him. Such dead Ob- 
 jeds of Jefus*s Power and Compaffion 
 could not but offer themfelves, during the 
 Time of his Miniflry, and if he meant to 
 be as ufeful as he could, in his Miracles, 
 he would have laid hold on them. If a 
 few Perfons only were to be rais'd from 
 the dead^ the forefaid were the propereft, 
 whofe Refurrec^ion and Return to Life 
 would have begotten the Applaufe as well 
 as the Wonder of the World ; would 
 moft extenfively have fpread Jefus's Fame ; 
 and would kave gain d him the Love and 
 
 Dif- 
 
Difciplcfhip of all that heard of his being 
 fo great a Benefjdor to Mmkind. Such 
 liifhinccs of his Power would have de- 
 nionftrated him to be a moft benig'n as 
 well as a mis^hty Agent:, and none. in In- 
 tereft or Prejudice could have op.^n d their 
 Mouths aj^ainit him, tlpccially it the Per- 
 lons rais'd from the dead were iekaed 
 upon the Rccomn.cndacion of the People 
 of this or thiit City. But that an infigni- 
 cant Boy and a Gnl, (lorfooth J) and the 
 obfcure Lazarm, are preteir'd by Je\'^(^, 
 to (uch publick and more dtlerving Per- 
 Tons is unaccountable. Their Story tliere- 
 fore, upon this Argument, favours of Ro- 
 mance and Fraud ; and unlels the M^ftery 
 help us to, what the L^Z/^y can't, a good 
 Realonfor yc'j//A Condu(^t here, the Mi- 
 racle^ may be'htnce juftly quedion'd, and 
 the Credibility or" their Report difputed. 
 
 But now I am fpeakin,;^ of the Firncf^ 
 and Unfitnefs of decealed Pcrfons to have 
 this grand Miiacle wrought on theni ; it 
 comes into my Head to ask, why jeftis 
 rais'd mtjohn the Baptifl to Life again > 
 A Pcrlon of greater Merits, and more 
 worthy of the Favour of jcfii^ and ot 
 this Miracle, could not be. If J [us 
 could raife any irom the dead, he would 
 farely have raifed him ; and why did he 
 not ^ This is a reafonableQiieQion^ and an 
 
 E An- 
 
( 26; 
 
 Anfvver ihould be thought on for it. Was 
 it a Thing out of J efits's Power ? Not fo j 
 He was Omnipotent, and could by Force 
 or Perluafion have refcued yohris Head out 
 of the Hands of his Enemies ; and the 
 tacking it again to his Body, and the infu- 
 fing new Life into him was no more dif- 
 ficult to JefuSy than the Refufcitation of a 
 ftinking Carcafs. If Jefuf had here exer- 
 ted his Power, and rais'd his deareft Friend 
 and choiceft Minifter for the Preparation, 
 if not Propagation of the Gofpel, none 
 could queftion his Ability to raife any 
 others, tho' he had rais*d no more. But 
 in as much as John the Baptift, one of his 
 lingular Merits and Services to Chrift^ was 
 overlook'd and negled:ed by him ; and 
 three uielefs and inhgnificant Perfons had 
 this Honour done them, the Fads may rea- 
 fonably be called into queftion, and, if 
 the Myfteries don't folve the Difficulty, 
 their litteral Stories may hence be account- 
 ed foolifh, fiditious and fabulous j efpe- 
 cially if we confider, 
 
 4. That none of thefe three rais'd. Per- 
 fons had been long enough dead to ampu- 
 tate all Doubt of Jefus's miraculous 
 Power in their Refurredion. As to Jaims*s 
 Daughter, fhe was but newly expired, if 
 at all (i^Qdid^ when J ejus brought her to 
 
 Life 
 
r^7 ; 
 
 Life again. 'Jcfm hinifelf fays, fhe was 
 but afleep. And according to Tl.^eophanef 
 Cerawcuf (2o\ and Thcop^'ylacf (21) there 
 is Room to llifpeti that this Girl was only 
 k>7(xv(2h bifide herfelf. And it is not im- 
 pofTible, but the pailionate Skreams oF tlie 
 Feminine by-ftander^ might fright her into 
 Fits, that bore the Appearance of Death ; 
 otherwife why did jfefuf turn thefe inor- 
 dinate Weepers out of the Houfe, before 
 he could bring her to her Senfes again ? And 
 why did he tell* her Parents, that fhe was 
 only in aileep, but to comfort them with 
 thePoffibilityJof his awakening her out of it? 
 Is not this deflrudlive of the Miracle, and 
 making no more o^ it, than what another 
 Man might do? And is there notfome 
 Probability, that here's all of this Scory ? 
 But fuppoiing Ihe was really dead, yet tor 
 the fake of an indifputable Miracle in her 
 Refui region, it muft be granted, that fhe 
 ought to have been much longer, fome 
 Days if not Weeks, dead and buried. 
 
 As to the Widow of Naiin sSon^ there 
 was fome what more of the Appearance ot 
 Death in him, than in Jairia's Daughter. 
 He was carried forth to his Burial, and fo 
 may be prefumed to be really a dead* 
 
 (20) PucUam ex illo Tumultu plangentiuin ftu- 
 pore correptaai effe, non vcro defunft.un. In Homil. 
 tie Jiiinji.iii, 
 
 ^iij In Loc. Matt^^. 
 
 E % .Corpff. 
 
( .8 ) 
 
 Corpfe. But might not here be Fran d or 
 Miftake in the Oife ? Hiflory and com- 
 mon Fame affords Inftances ot the mifta- 
 ken Deaths of Perions, who Sometimes 
 have b^en iinforrunat-ely buried alive, and 
 at other Times happily, by one means or 
 other, reftored to Liie: And who knows 
 but ye\u^^ upon lome Information cr 
 other, mTght fufped this Youth to be 
 in a lethargick State, and had a Mind to 
 try, if by chafeing, d^c he could not do, 
 what fucce(sfuliy he did, bring him to his 
 Senfes again : Or might not a Piece of 
 Fraud be here concerted between j'^'^/"''^-''? 
 a fubtil Yor.ch, :w\^ his Mother and others; 
 and all the Formalities of a Death and Bu^ 
 rial contrived, that ^e^iv-, whofe Fame lor 
 a Worker of Miracles was to be rais'd, 
 might here have an Opportunity to make a 
 f!iew of a grand one. The Mourning of 
 the Wirlow, who had her Tears at Com- 
 mand, and Jefm's cafual meeting of the 
 Coipfe upon the Koad, looL^ 1 ke Contri^. 
 v^Tuce to' put the l:>etter Face upon the 
 Matter. God forbid, that 1 ihould fu- 
 Iptd, there was any Fraud of this Kind 
 here ; but of the PolTibility of it, none 
 can doubt. And where there is a Pof- 
 fibility of Fraud, it is Nonfence, and 
 mere Credulity to talk of a real, certain 
 and flupendous Miracle, efpecialiy where 
 
( ^9) 
 
 the Juggler and pretended AVorker of Mi- 
 Vddt'b hub been detctttcd in ion^ of his 
 otlier Tricky All that 1 liave to fay here 
 to this Matter, is, that if Jefus had a 
 Mind to raife tiie Son of this Widow, in 
 Teftiniony of his divine Power, he Ihould 
 have luffer'd him to have been buried two 
 pr three V/eeksfirf^i otherwil'e, it the 
 My/iery don't account for Jefm's flopping 
 the Bearers of the Covple upon the Road, 
 here is too much Room for fufpicion of 
 Cheat in the Letter of the Story. 
 
 Lazarus\ Cafe feems to be the lefs ex- 
 ceptionable of three. He had been buried 
 jour Days^ and luppofed to be putrified in 
 the Opinion of his Sifter Mary^ and of mo- 
 dern Chrillians : And if fo, his Refufcita- 
 tion was a mofl ^rand and indifputable 
 Miracle. And I could have wilh'd, if I 
 had not loved the Myftery rather than 
 the Letter, that no Cavil and Exception 
 could have been made to it. Whether La- 
 zarusy who was Jefm'a Friend and beloved 
 Difciple, would not come into Meafures 
 with his Lord, for the Defence of his Ho- 
 nour, and Propagation of his Fame, Jrifi" 
 delf^ who take Cliriffianity for an Impof- 
 ture, will notqueftion: And whether he 
 would not conient to be interred alive, in 
 a hollow Cave, where there was only a 
 Stone laid at the Mouth of it, as long as 
 
 a 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 a Man could faft, none of them will doubt. 
 Four Days was almoft too long for a Man 
 to faft without danger of Health; but if 
 thofe ^our Dav are numbered according to 
 the Arithmetick of JefusV three Days in his 
 Grave, they are reducible to two Days and 
 three Nights, which Time, if no Victuals 
 were fecretiy convey'd with him, a Man 
 might fa ft in Lazarm's Cave. As to the 
 funking of Lazaruiii Carcafs j that, InfideU 
 will l^iy, was but the Aifertion of liis Sifter 
 beforehand like a Prologue to a Farce. 
 Kone of the Spectators at his Refurre(5tioa 
 fay one Word o his ftinking. And as to 
 the Weepings and Lamentations of Jefuf 
 and of Lazarus^ Sifters, they will fay 
 that was all Sham and Counterfeit, the 
 better to carry on the Juggle of a feign'd 
 Refurrediion. And what's worft of all, 
 they will lay, that tho' '[fefus did call La- 
 zarus forth with a loud Voice ^ as if he had 
 been as deaf as a dead Man j yet his ¥ace 
 was bound about with a Napkin^ fo that 
 the Spectators could not difcern what was 
 of the Eflence of the Miracle, the Change 
 of his Countenance from a dead to a live 
 one, which is a plain Sign, that it was all 
 Fraud and Impofture. 
 
 God forbid, that I fhould have the fame 
 fenfe with Infidels^ of this Matter ; but to 
 bejufttotheir Suggeftions and Imaginati^ 
 
( 31 ; 
 
 tions here, I nnift needs fay, there nre iomt 
 other unhappy Circumftances, prefently to 
 be con/ider'J, in this Story, which, if they 
 are not emblematical, make it the moft 
 notorious Cheat and Impofture that ever 
 was put upon Mankind. In the mean 
 Time, horn what is here argued, it is 
 plain, that Lnzarm was not fo long dead 
 and buried, as that there is no Room to 
 doubt of the Miracle of his Refurredion. 
 Now whether thefe Arguments againft 
 thefe three Miracles, drawn from the 
 Shoitnefs of the Time, in which thefe 
 Perfons lay for dead, have any Force in 
 them, let our Dhines consider. U no- 
 thing ot all this is in their Opinion aflfeft- 
 ing of the Credit of the Miracles ; yec 
 they muft allow that Jejiu^ if he could 
 raile the dead, might have made Choice of 
 other Inft'ances of Perfons, more unquefti- 
 onably dead, who had lain longer in their 
 Graves, and were ina vifibleState ot Putie- 
 fudion. And if this grand Miracle of raiding 
 the dead was to be wrought by 'Jefm for 
 the Manifeftation of his Glory, and in 
 Teftimony of his Authority ; he Ihould 
 have exercifed his Power on fome fuch 
 Perfons, nominated by the Magiftratcs of 
 this or that City, who with the People 
 ihould be prefent at the miraculous Ope- 
 ration, beholding the putrefied Bodies, 
 
 (with- 
 
( 3i ) 
 
 (without a Napkin before their Faces) and 
 how they were fuddenly enlivened and in- 
 vigorated with new Fleih, after the Simi- 
 litude of their priftine Form, when in 
 Health and tull Strength. Becaufe that je- 
 fui rais'd not fome fuch Perfons to Life, 
 1 muft take the Stories of the three Miia- 
 cles before us to be but typical of more 
 myfterious Works; or beleive them for 
 the Arguments above to be downright 
 Cheats and Fables. And what is enough 
 to induce a modern Divine to this Opini- 
 on. Is 
 
 5. The Confideration, that none of 
 thefe raised Perfons did or could, after the 
 Return of their Souls to their Bodies, tell 
 any Tales of their feparate Exiffence ; o- 
 therwife the Evangelifts had not been li- 
 lent in this main Point, which is of the 
 EiTence of Chriffianity. Are -not our D/- 
 i:ines here reduced to an unhappy Dilemma^ 
 either to deny the feparate Exigence ot the 
 Sou!, or the pjecedent Deaths of thefe 
 rais'd Perfons c* hs Chriflians, we profefs 
 to believe both, which feemingly are in- 
 compatible J or the Evangelifts had made 
 fuch a Relation, as their returned Souls had 
 given of the other World. Was any Per- 
 Ibn, in this Age, to be rais'd to Li'C, that 
 bad been any time dead ; the firft Thing- 
 
 that 
 
r 33 ) 
 
 that his Friends and Acquaintance would 
 enquire of him, would be to know, where 
 iii.s Soul had been , in what Company ; 
 and how it had fared with him ^ and Hif- 
 toridns would certainly record his Narra- 
 tive. The fame Cm iofity could not but 
 polfefs People of old, when tijefe Miracles 
 were wroui^ht, and if the rais'd Perfons 
 had told any Stories of their feparate Ex- 
 iftance, the Evangelifts no lefs *unquef- 
 tionally would have reported them ; in as 
 much as luch a Report would have been, 
 not only a Confirmation of that Dodrine, 
 which is of the tflcnceofour Religion j but 
 an ablblute Confiitation of the Sadducca 
 and Sceptifti of that Age, and of the Ma- 
 terialifis o£ this. But this their Silence in 
 this Cafe is of bad Coniequence either to 
 the Dodrine of the Soul's Exigence in Se- 
 paration from tiiC Body, or to thcfe Mira- 
 cles themielves, fince we muft hereupon 
 nlmoft neceffarily hold, that thefe rais'd 
 Perfons were not at all dead, or that their 
 Souh dy'd with them. 
 
 The Author of a Sermon, afcrib'd to 
 
 St. Angujim tells us (22) that Lazarm af- 
 
 F ter 
 
 (it) Atque ut miraculum dlvinse Virtutis accrt'f- 
 cerer, dum Convivis incerrogantibus triitia Loca 
 ps^naruni, fedefq; aim noc^e Temper obfcuras, La 
 zxTus indicat liiligcnci rairirionc per ordincm. Diu 
 
 quarfiti 
 
( 3+ ) 
 
 ter his Refurredion made a large Report of 
 Hellj where he had been : but as this is a 
 mere Fi(5bion of that Author, without the 
 leaft x^uthority from Scripture ; fo I pre- 
 fume it will be accounted a Blunder in 
 him, to fuppofe the Soul of Lazarus ^ the 
 Friend and beloved of Jefus^ was in Hell. 
 The Soul of y^^^J indeed, for Reafons beft 
 known to himfelf, upon his Death, de- 
 fcended into Hel!, when fome think he 
 fhould rather have gone with the penitent 
 Thief into Paradife. But the Thoughts, 
 that any of Jeftis's Friends fhould go to 
 Hell, I fuppofe will not be born with > 
 or what will become of the Preachers of 
 this Age, who would be accounted Men 
 of that Denomination, And if hazarus's 
 Soul had been in Paradife, it was hardly 
 a good Work in Jefus to recall it, for thir- 
 ty Years afterwards, to the Miferics and 
 Troubles of this wicked World. I wifh 
 therefore our Divines could determine, 
 where ]Lazanis\ Soul was for the four 
 Days of his Burial ; becaufe I can t pofli- 
 bly conceive any thing elfe, than that he 
 was not really dead, or that his Soul dy'd 
 with him, or went to a bad place, other- 
 wiie after his Refurre<5tion he had never 
 
 r,ua:ilri longifq^temporibus ignoranti invenerunt tan- 
 dem- Inferi Proditorem. /« Snm. cxvi. J^^end. St. 
 
 ab- 
 
( 35 )_, 
 
 abkonded for fear ot the Jew^^ zs if he 
 was unwilling to die again, and retuin to 
 the Place from whence he came. 
 
 But however it was with the Souls of 
 thee r.iis'd Peiions before their Re- union to 
 their Bodies, here is another Difficulty and 
 Objedion againft thefe Miracles ,• and how 
 will our Divines get over it ? Perhaps they 
 may fay, that tlio' thefe rais'd Perfons were 
 before really dead ; yet their Souls were 
 not as yet L;one to their Places prepared of 
 God for them, but continued hovering 
 about their Bodies, like the Flame about 
 the Snuffof a Candle, with defires 
 
 itmimqi rexerti 
 
 Coffora- 
 
 to be again rejoin'd to them. And with- 
 all my Heart let this Anfwer pafs, if our 
 D/'U/w;and InfideU can fo agree upon it. As 
 for my own Opinion, it is this, that thefe 
 Miracles of J ejus are Parables, and that it 
 was befide the Purpofe of the Parable, 
 andoF the Evangelifis to fay any thing ot 
 the Place and the State ol" the Soul upon 
 its ieparation from the Body ; other wife 
 the Letter of their Stories is manifeft ly ob- 
 noxious to the Obje(51:io;i above, or the. 
 Deaths of thefe pretended rais'd Perfons, 
 upon Chriftian Principles, are qneltionable,. i 
 But . V-; 
 
 F 2 6. And 
 
(36) 
 
 6 And laftly, Let us confider the in- 
 trinfick Abfurdities and Incredibilities of 
 the feveral Stories of thefe three Miracles. 
 And fuch Abfurdities fhall we find in them, 
 that, if they had been intended as Tefti- 
 monies of Jejus's divine Power, had never 
 been inferted in their Narratives. 
 
 As to '^aiYm\ Daughter, and her Refur- 
 redion from the d^id^ St Hilary (23) 
 hints; that there was no fach Perfon as 
 Jairus whofe Name was fiditious, and 
 eoin'd with a fpiritual Signification for the 
 Uie of the Parable ^ and he gives this 
 Reafon, and a good Reafon it is, why he 
 thought fo, becaufe it is elfewhere (34) 
 intimated in the Gofpel, that none of the 
 Rulers of the Synagogues confefTedly be- 
 lieved on Jefus. Is not here then a ftum- 
 bling- Block at the Threfliold of the Let^ 
 ter of this Story ? But vvhy did Jefus fay, 
 this Girl was but in a Sleep? If he was 
 going to work a Miracle in her Refufcita- 
 tion, he fhould not have calfd Death, 
 
 (25) Princeps hie, Lex efle intelligliur, quae 
 Dominuni orat pro Plebe, qu:im ipfa Chrifto pra:di- 
 cara ejus Advenfus ExpeOatione nutriverat, ut 
 Vitini t3inrtus reddat. Nam nullum Principem cre- 
 <^id;ffe legiinus, ex quo Perfona hujus principis o- 
 fanris mrrito in Tvpum aprabitur. In Loc. Matt^ 
 
 j^i43 John vii. 48. and ^ii, 42, 
 
 ' Steffi 
 
( 37) 
 
 Sleep i but if others had been of a contra- 
 ry Opinion, he fliould firfthavc convinced 
 them of the certainty of her Dcatl), be- 
 fore he did the great Work on her. And 
 why did he char^'e the Parents of the Girl, 
 not to fpeak of the Miracle ? If he meant 
 it as a Teftimony of his divine Power, 
 he ihould rather have exhorted them, ki 
 juftice to himfelf to publifh it, and make 
 It well known. And why, as St. /Inhrofe 
 (25) puts the Queftion, did he turn the 
 People out of the Houfe, before he would 
 raife her ? The more Witnelles are pre* 
 fent at a Miracle, the better it is attefted, 
 and the more readily believed by others ; 
 and who ihould be prefent at the Miracle 
 rather than thofe who were incredulous of 
 his divine Power ? Are not all thefeCir- 
 cumftances, (b many /ibfurditief^ which, 
 it they are not to be accounted for in the 
 Myftery, are (o fir dcftrudive of the Let- 
 ter, as that it is Nonfenfe and Foliy in our 
 Dmnes to talk of a Miracle here, againft 
 Jefus's exprefs Word and Prohibition to 
 the contrary. 
 
 A5 to the Story of the Widow of Nuhns 
 Son, excepting what is before obferved of 
 
 (25) QujE ramen tantae diverfitatis Caufa ? Supra 
 publice Viduoc filius fufcicatur, hic removentur plu- 
 ses arbitri. In Loc. Luc. 
 
 the 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 the iliortnefs of the Time, in which he lay 
 dead, and of the Unfitnefs oF his Perfon 
 to be rais'd before an Husband and Father 
 of a Family, to the Comfort of his Wife 
 and Children, (which are enough to over- 
 throw the Creoiiity of the Miracle) I have 
 here no more 1 ault to find in the Letter 
 of it. 
 
 But the long Story o£ Lazarus is fo brim- 
 ful of Abfurdities, that, iKthe Letter alone 
 is to be regarded ; St. Jokm^ who was then 
 above a hundred, when he wrote it, had 
 lived beyond his Reafon and Senfes, or he 
 i:ould not have committed them. 
 
 I have nor room here to make Remarks 
 on all thefe Abfurdities, which would be 
 the Work of a Volume ; but Ihall fingle 
 out three pr four of them at prefent, re- 
 {erving. the reft for another Opportunity,, 
 when the whole Story of thii Miracle will 
 appear to be fuch a Contexture of Folly 
 and Fraud in its Contrivance, Execution, 
 and Relation, as is not to be equall'd in 
 ail Romantick Hiftory ; and our Dhines 
 will find themfelvesfo diftrefs'd upon the 
 DifTedibn and Difplay of it, as that they 
 muff of Neceinty allovv^ this Story to be 
 but a Parable ^ or, what's moft grievous 
 to think on, give up their Religion upon 
 it- 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 Firft then, obferve that yefe{s is faid to 
 have wept and i^roand for the Death of 
 Lazarm : But why To, fays {:6) S^BcifiR 
 Was not this an Abfnrdity to weep at all 
 for the Death ot him, whom he could, 
 and was about to recover to Life again t* 
 Another Man may as reafonably grieve 
 for the Abfenceof his Friend, whofe Com- 
 pany and Prefence he can retrieve in an 
 Inftant, as that Jefus ihould.fhe.i Tears 
 for Lazarus in this Cafe. If Jcfsiy could 
 not or would not raife him from the dead, 
 he ought not, as a Philofopher, who knows 
 Man is born to die, to betray fo much 
 Weaknefs as to weep for him. Patience 
 and Refignation unto God upon the Death 
 of our deareft Friends and Relations is 
 what all Philofophers have rightly taught ; 
 and y^/wj, one ihould think, fhould have 
 been the moft Heroical Example of thefe 
 Graces^ and how came he to fail of it 
 here? A Stoical Apathy had better be- 
 came him than fuch childifh and effemi- 
 nate Grief^ which not only makes him a 
 mean and poor-ipirited Mortal i but is a 
 grofs Abfurdiiy and Incredibility upon Con- 
 lideration of his Will and Power to fetch 
 
 (i^) Qua ioitiir Ritione, qui tanta haec ent fac- 
 turus, id quod evenir, judiciflet mt*rito Lacryniis 
 cfl'e profequenduiu ? In H»niil. de GrattatrHtn Jctio»t. 
 
( 4o) 
 
 Laznrm to Life again. If there be not, 
 according to tli Fathers, Myftery in thefe 
 Tears ot Jefur^ they are a fooliih and un- 
 natural Prelude to a Farce, he was at^jng 
 in the pretended Kefufcitation o[ Lazarus. 
 
 Some ancient Cathohcks, not being ap- 
 prifed of the Myftery, were fo offended 
 at thefe Words^JdJus wept^ that as Epi- 
 fhanius (27) fays, they expunged them out 
 of their Bibles ; and I wonder, they have 
 notj before ^now, dift urb'd the Faith of 
 Minifters of the Letter, to the utter Re- 
 je<5tion of the Miracle. 
 
 Secondlj^ Obferve that John fays, it was 
 with a loud Fcke^ that Jefia call'd Laza- 
 rus forth out of his Cave. And why, I 
 pray, a louder Voice than ordinary ? Was 
 dead Lazarus deafer than Jairus^s Daugh- 
 ter, or the Widow*s Son? Or was his 
 Soul at fo great a Diftance from his Body, 
 as he could not hear a frill and low Voice ? 
 Some fuch filly Realon as this muft be gi- 
 ven for this loud Voice here j but how ab- 
 furd it is according to the Letter, Infidels 
 will judge, till Chriftians can allign a bet- 
 ter. The dead can hear the Whifper of 
 the Almighty, if Power go along w^ith it, 
 
 (27) Lacrymatus ej} Jefus, quod aliquando erafutn 
 foifle a Catholicis quibufdam fcribit Epiphanius. 
 Vid. Drujium in Lvc. Johan. 
 
 as 
 
(40 
 
 as foon as the Sound of a TrifnipeC. 
 St. ynhn then fhould not h:ive written of a 
 loud Voice^ unlefs he meant to adapt his 
 Story to the Capacities and Conceptions of 
 the Vulgar, who have no Apprehenlions 
 of God's Power, out of fenfible and hu- 
 man Hcprefentations of it. 
 
 TJjirdlyy Becaufe that a Miracle fhould 
 be well guarded againft all fulpicion of 
 Fraud, I was thinking to make it an Ab- 
 fnrdify^ that the Napkin, before Jefuf rais'd 
 Lazarm^ was not taken from his Face, that 
 the Spe^ators might behold his mortified 
 Looks, and the miraculous Change of his 
 Countenance from Death unto Life. What 
 hfideh thii k of this Circumffance I know 
 not : I hope, it is not with them a Token 
 of Fraud and Impofture i tho' i mufl needs 
 fay, that if the Fathers did not let me in- 
 to the Myflery of the Napkin about Laza^ 
 rus's Face when ^efiis calfd him forth, I 
 ihould jQOt myielf like it. 
 
 Fotcrthly, and laftly, Obferve, St. John 
 fiys V. 45, that 7nany of the Jew;, ixho 
 had feen the Things that Je^in did here j 
 belehed on him ; and fome of them v. 46, 
 who did not beleive, went their Wayi to 
 the Fharifees and told them what Things 
 Jeftii had dvne m this pretended Miracle, 
 G and 
 
(40 
 
 and %o\v the Bufinefs was tranra(5led: 
 Whereupon the Chief Priefts and Phari- 
 fees were lb far incens'd as v. 53, fro?n that 
 Day jorth they took Council together to put 
 him to Death; and Ch. xii. 10. conftdted^ 
 that they might pit Lazarus alfo to Death. 
 Jefus therefore (and his Difciples and La- 
 zarus fled for it, for they) v. 54. walKd 
 no more openly among the "Jews^ but went 
 theme into a Country^ near to the Wildernefi 
 (a convenient hiding Place) and there con- 
 tinned with hisDiJciples; otherwife in all 
 Probability they had been all facrificed. 
 
 1 dare not argue upon thefe Circum- 
 flan ces, neither would I, for the Honour 
 of Jefm, have mention d them i but that 
 my old Friend, the Jevvifli Rabbi ^ who 
 help'd me to the Satirical Invedive againft 
 jF^/«j's Miracle of turning Water into Wine^ 
 has hence form'd an Objection againft La- 
 zaruis Refurredion, and fent me a Letter 
 upon it, defiring me to publilh it, and ex- 
 hort the Llergy to anfwer it ; otherwife he 
 would clandeftinely hand it about to the 
 Prejudice of our Religion; Whereupon I, 
 rather than Chriftianicy fliould fo fuffer, do 
 here publilli it, and it is as follows. 
 
 '' Sr, When we laft difcours'd on Jefui\ 
 '^ Miracles, I promifed to lend you my 
 *' Thoughts on Lazarm^s Refurredion, 
 *' which I look upon as a notorious Im- 
 
 " pofture^ 
 
( o) 
 
 '^ pofture, and for the Proof if, need go no 
 " farther, than to the Circumftances of its 
 " Story^which your E'^angelijls has related. 
 
 " If there had been an indifputable Mi- 
 '* racle, wrought in 'Lazarus s Refurredti- 
 " on i why were the Chcif-Pricfts and Pha- 
 " rifees fo incen^'d upon it, as to tah 
 ^^ Council to pit both Jefus and Lazarus to 
 " Death for it ? Where was the Provoca- 
 " tion? 1 can conceive none. Tho' the 
 '' Jews were ever fo canker'd with Ma- 
 " lice and Hatred to Jefus before i yet 
 '' fuch a moft ftupendous Miracle was e- 
 " nough to flop their Mouths, and turn 
 " their Hearts : Or if their Prejudices a- 
 '^ gainft Jefus were infupcrable, and they 
 " hated him but the more for the Num- 
 " ber and Greatnefs of his Miracles ; yet 
 ^^ why is poor Lazarus^ inoffenfive Laza- 
 '^ r«f, upon whom this good and great 
 '' Work was wrought, an Objedt of their 
 ■^ Hatred too? Your Divines are to give a 
 " credible and probable Account ot this 
 " Matter, fuch a one as will comport with 
 " Reafon and Senfe ; or we fhall conclude, 
 " thatit was JV77w^, detcded in this pre- 
 " tended Miracle, which juftly provoked 
 '• the Indignation of our Anceftors. 
 
 " To fay, what is all you can fay, that 
 '^ it was downright Inhumanity, Barbarity 
 ^' ;ind Brutality in the Jews to hate La- 
 
 Q 2 ^' ZiVHi 
 
^^ zarui as well as ^efiu^ will not do here. 
 '^ Tho' thib may pafs with many Chrifth ns, 
 *' who are ready to Iwallow, without 
 <^ chewing, any evil Reports of our Na- 
 *^ tion ; yet it can't go down with rea- 
 *^ fonable and unprejudic'(i Men j who 
 *' muft have other Conceptions of human 
 ^' Nature in all Ages and Nations, than 
 *' to think it poffible, that -x Vlan, in La- 
 *' zares's Cafe, can be hated and perfecu- 
 '' ted for having had ilich a good and won- 
 '^ derful Work done on him. And why 
 *' then was he hated and perfecuted ? I 
 *' fay, forths, and no other Reafon, than 
 " becaufe he was a Confederate with 'Je- 
 " [us in the wicked Impofture, he was put- 
 " ting upon Mankind. 
 
 " But fuppofing, what is never to be 
 " granted, that the 'Jews of old were fo 
 " inhuman, brutilh, and barbarous as to 
 " hate and perfecute Lazanis as well as 
 <^ Jefus for this Miracle ; yet why did 
 '• Jdfus and his Difciples, with Lazarus, 
 *' run away and ablcond upon it i for they 
 " V. 54. walJCd no more openly among the 
 «^ Tewj, hut went thence into a Omntvynear 
 *• to thcWildeY}2cj}^ and there ]ei\\scont hmed 
 ^^ with his Di^cifles. Is nor here a plain 
 " Sign of Guilt and of Fraud > Men, that 
 " have Cod'i Caufe, Trurh and Power on 
 ^* their Side, nev^r want Couras^e and Re- 
 
 '" foiution 
 
(45 ) 
 
 " folution to (land to it. And however 
 " your Chiiftiun Priefti may palliate the 
 '' cowardly and timerous Condud of Je- 
 " fus and his Confederates in this Cafe ; 
 " yet with me, it's like Demonftration, 
 " that there was a difcover'd Cheat in the 
 " Miracle, or they would undauntedly 
 " have faced their Enemies, without Fears 
 " and Apprehenfions of Danger from ti)em. 
 
 " Our Anceftors then, who unquef- 
 **^ tionably deteded the Fraud, were in the 
 " right on't to prolecute with Severity, 
 " the whole Party concerned in it : And it 
 " they had aveng'd the Wicked nefs of it 
 " upon Lazaruf as well as they did upon 
 '*^ y^/^^J", 1 fiiould have commended them 
 '' for it. Whether fuch a monflrous Im- 
 "" pofture, as was this pretended Miracle, 
 '' happily difcover'd does not call aloud for 
 " Vengeance and moft exemplary Punifh- 
 '^ mcnt ; and whether any Nation of the 
 '' World would fuffer the like with Im- 
 '^ punity, let any Man judge. 
 
 '' For all the Reports of your Gofpels, 
 " it is unnatural to hate a miraculous 
 '' Healer of Difeafe.>, and there nuift be 
 '^ fomewhat fuppreft about the Inveteracy 
 " of the Jews to Jefiify or his healing 
 " Power, if it was fo great as is imagined, 
 *' muft have reconciled them to him : But 
 
 that they Ihould hate not only jfcfm for 
 
 *"- railing 
 
 ^c 
 
C40 
 
 '' ralfing the dead, but the Perfon rais'd 
 " by him, is improbable, incredible, and 
 ^' impoiTible. 
 
 " If Hiftorians can parallel this Story of 
 *' the Malignity of the Jews towards 
 *' y^fi^^ ^^'^^ L^dz-arm upon fuch a real Mi- 
 " racle, with Thing equally barbarous 
 *' and inhuman, in any other Sed or Na^ 
 ^^ tion ; we will acknowledge the Truth 
 " of it againft our ancient Nation : Or if 
 " fuch Inhumanity, abftradedlyconfider'd, 
 " be at all agreeable to the Conceptions any 
 " one can form of human Nature in the 
 " moft uncivilised and brutifh People, we 
 ^' will allow our Anceftors, in this Cafe, 
 ^' to have been that People. 
 
 *-' Was fuch a real and indifputable Mi- 
 '• racle, as this of Lazarus is fuppoled, to be 
 " wrought at this day in Confirmation of 
 '^ Chriftianity, I dare fay, it would bring 
 " all us Jews^ to a Man, into the Belief 
 '^ of it : And I don't think it poirible, for 
 " any People to be (o begotted, byafs'd, 
 '' and' prejudiced, as not to -be wrought 
 «<= on by it. Or if they would. noNpart 
 " with their Intereds and Prejudices upon 
 " it, they would have more Wit and 
 '^ Temper, than to break forth into a 
 " Rage againft all or any of the Perlons 
 ^' concern'd in it. And, for my Life, I 
 " can entertain no worfe Thoughts of our 
 ^- Old Nation. " Sup- 
 
(47) 
 
 ^' SuppofingGod Ihould fend an Am- 
 <' balfador a^this day, who, to convince 
 '' Chriftians of the Mifchicfs and Incoii- 
 '' venience of an hireling Fricfthood^ 
 '< fhould work fuch a Miracle as was this 
 '' ot L^:3 j-«/s Relurredion, in the Pre- 
 *^ fence of a multitude of Spe<^ators ; how 
 «' would your Biflio^^ and Clergy behave 
 '' themfelves upon it ? Why, they would 
 <^ be as mute as Tiflieb ; or it they did 
 "^ fret and grieve inwardly for the Lofs 
 « of their Interefts ; yet they would have 
 " more Prudence (ask them elfe,) than to 
 *' Hiow tlieir Anger openly, and perfecute 
 «' both Agent and Fatient for it. Wherc- 
 " fore theii are they fo ccnforipus and un- 
 *' charitable as to preach and believe ano- 
 « ther Notion and Dodrine of our An- 
 " ceHors i 
 
 " But if a falfe Prophet, for the fubver- 
 «<^ fion of an Hireling Frtefihnod, Ihould, 
 " in fpite to the Ucrgy, counterfeit inch a 
 " Miracle, andbedetcaed in the Opera- 
 " tion ; how then would Priefts and Peo- 
 <« pie, Magiftrates and Subjefts behave up- 
 " on it ? WhVj they would be full ot In- 
 " dignation, 'dnd from that daj forih zvotdd 
 '' take Conned to pit the Impoftor and his 
 " Confederate to Death, of which they 
 « would be mod deferving ; and if they 
 <* did not abfcond and fly for it, Yikcje/hr 
 
 " and 
 
r 48 ) 
 
 *^ and his Difciples to a fFildernefs in the 
 ^^ Country to hide themfelves, the Rage of 
 " the Populace would hardly wait the 
 " Leifure of Juftice to difpatch and make 
 *-^ terrible Examples of them. Was not 
 ** this exadly the Cafe of Jefms Impo- 
 '^ fture in the Refurredlion of Lazanif^ 
 '^ and of the Puniihment he was threaten*d 
 *' with, and atterwards moft juftiy unaer- 
 *^ went for it ? 
 
 '^ Mankind may be in fome Cafes very 
 '' obdurate, and fo hard ot Belief, as to ftand 
 '^ it out againft Senfe, Reafon and De- 
 *^ monftration : But I will not think worie 
 <* of our Anceftors than of the reft of 
 " Mankind ; or that they any more than 
 " others would have withftood a clear and 
 " indifputable Miracle in Lazartis's Refu- 
 <' fcitation. Such a nianifeft Miracle, let 
 " it be wrought for what End and Pur- 
 '' pofe, we can poffibly imagine, would 
 '« ilrjkc Men with Awe and Reverence ; 
 <' and none could hate and perfecute the 
 ^^ Author of the Miracle; leaft He who 
 '' could raife the dead, fliould exert his 
 ^^ Power againft themfelves, and either 
 '^ wound or fmite them dead with it. 
 " For which Reafon, the Refurredion of 
 " LazaruSj on the certain Knowledge of 
 '^ our Anceftors, was all Fraud, or they 
 " would reverenc'd and adored the Power 
 "■ of him, that did it. '' It 
 
cc 
 
 r49) 
 
 ^f It may be true, wliat John fays, that 
 many of the Jews, who hadfeen theThings 
 that Jefus dtd^ believed on him, that is, 
 " believed that he had wrought here a 
 " great Miracle : But who were thfefe ? 
 •' the ignorant and credulous, whom a 
 « much lets juggler than Mr. F^iiyA'^/ could 
 " eafily impos'd on. But on the other 
 «' hand, it is certain, according to Chrifti- 
 *' a?i Commentator f, that fovie of them did 
 « not believe the Miracle, but weJ2t their 
 " wayf to the Pharifees and told them what 
 " Things Jefus had done, that is, told 
 '^ them, after what manner the Intrigue 
 *' was managed ,• and complain'd of the 
 '' Fraud in it. How they came to hifpe(5b 
 ^' and difcover the Fraud, was not J ohji's 
 " Bufinefs to relate -, and for want of 
 " other ancient Memorials, we can only 
 " guefs at it. Perhaps they difcern'd fome 
 " motion in Lazarius Body, before the 
 '' Word of Command, to come forth, wis 
 " given ; perhaps they difcoveiM fome 
 '' Fragments of the Food, that for four 
 *' days in the Cave, he had fubfifted on: 
 '' But however this was, they could not 
 " but take Notice oF the Napkin about hi 
 «' Face all the while j which Jefus, to pre- 
 " vent all fufpicion of Cheat, Ihould have 
 " firft order'd to be taken off, that liis 
 mortify 'd Countenance might be vicw'd, 
 H ^^- 
 
( 5o ) 
 
 ^« before the miraculous Change of it to 
 " Life was wrought. This negled in 
 *' J^fi^^ (which I wonder John had no 
 " more Wit than to hint at) willbea laft- 
 *^ irig Objedion to the Miracle. Jefus 
 " was wifer, than not to be aware of the 
 •' Ubjedion, which he would have obvi- 
 *^ ated, if he durft, by a Removal of the 
 *^ Napkin, to the fatisfadtion of all Spec* 
 *^ tators there prefent. Becaufe this was 
 '^ not done, we Jews now deny, there 
 *^ was any Miracle wrought ; and, whe- 
 ^^ ther our Unbelief upon this Circum- 
 *^ ftance be not well grounded, we appeal 
 •' to Chriftian Priefts themfelves, who 
 ^^ muftown, that, if there was a Miracle 
 " here, the Matter was ill conducted by 
 " J^J^^i or foolifhly related by his E'van- 
 
 " It is a fad Misfortune, that attends our 
 *^ modern enquiry after Truth, that there 
 *' ar*e no other Memorials extant of the 
 '' Life and Miracles of Jefm^ than what 
 '' are written by his own Difciples. Not 
 " only old Time has devour'd, but Chri- 
 " ftians themfelves, (which in the Opini- 
 "-^ on of the impartial makes for us) when 
 " they got Power into their Hands, will- 
 " fully deftroy'd many Writings ofour An- 
 " ceftors, as well as of Celfm and Porphi- 
 " r) and others, which they could not an- 
 
 '' fvver; 
 
(5i ) . 
 
 fwer ; otherwife I doubt not but they 
 would have given us clear Light into 
 the Impofturc oF Lazarm's Refurre(5ti- 
 on : But if Jefus^ according to his own 
 Evnngelifls^ was arraign'd for a Decei' 
 ver an I Blafphemer^ in pretending to the 
 Sonfhip and Power of God by his Mi- 
 racles; in all Probability this Piece of 
 Fraud in Lazarus was one Article of -the 
 Indidmentagainft him; and what makes 
 it very likely, is that the Chief Friefts 
 and Pharifees^ from the Date of this pre- 
 tended Miracle, took Council together to 
 put him to Death, not clandeftinely or 
 tumultuoufly to murder him, but judici- 
 ally to punidi him with Death, which, 
 if they proved their lndi(5tment by cre- 
 dible and fufficient WitnefTes, he was 
 mod: worthy of. 
 
 '' As it is plain from the Story in Johrjy 
 that there was a Difpute among the By- 
 ftanders at Lazarufs Keiurredtion, whe- 
 ther It was a real Miracle or not ; fo it 
 is the Opinion of us Jews^ which is ot 
 the Nature of a Tradition, that the 
 Chief Prie ft i and civil Magiftrates of Bc- 
 thany^ for the better Determination of 
 the Difpute and quieting of the Minds of 
 the People^ requir'd that J^fus fhould 
 rea<a the Miracle upon another Perfon, 
 there lately dead and buried. But Je^ 
 H 2 Juf 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 ^« [us declining this Teft of his Power, the 
 '« whole Multitude of Believers as well as 
 " oi Unbelievers before, queftion'd the 
 <^ RefurredionofilrtZ.^rwj; and were high- 
 f« ly incens'd againft both him and Je- 
 <« jus for the Deceit in it. And this was 
 «' one Reafon among others of that vehe- 
 '« ment and univerfal Outcry and Demand, 
 « at Jefus^s Tryal, for his Crucifixion. I'll 
 «' not anfwer for the Certainty of this 
 " Tradition or Opinion, but as the Expe- 
 f' dient was obvious, fo it has the Face of 
 " Truth and Credibility; and for the 
 " Proof of it, I need only appeal to Chrif- 
 ^ tain Friefts and Magtjirates -, whether, 
 f^ under a Difpute of a Miracle of that 
 ^' Confequence, they would not require, 
 " for full Satisfadion, it fhould be aded 
 " over again ; and, if the Juggler refufed, 
 ^' whether there would not be a general 
 ^' Clamour of People of all Ranks for his 
 '^ Execution. 
 
 " Matthew^ Mark and Luke^ who knew 
 <t as miKh of this Sham-Miracle as John^ 
 « had not the Confidence to report it j 
 " becaufe, when they wrote, many Eye- 
 " WitnefTes of the "Fraud were alive to 
 *' difprove and contradi(5t them ,• therefore 
 " they confined their Narratives to Jefus^s 
 ^' lefs juggling Tricks, that had pais'd more 
 *' current: But after the Jewijh State 
 
 '^ was 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 was diffolved, their judicial Records were 
 ' deflroy'd, and every Body dead that 
 
 * could confute him, John ventures a- 
 
 * broad the Mory ot this Miracle; and if 
 ' the good Providence ot God had not 
 ^ infatuated him, in the Iniertion of the 
 ' Circumftances here obferved, it might 
 ' have pafs'd through all Generations to 
 ' come, as well as it has done for many 
 = paft, for a grand Miracle. 
 
 " Thus, Sir^ have you a few of my 
 " Thoughts on the pretended Miracle of 
 ' Lazarus's Rerurre(5tion. I have more to 
 beftow on it, but that I would not be 
 tedious. There's no need to argue a- 
 gainft the other two Rcfurredion-Stories. 
 You know oi?me lua'jm mltidit wima^ 
 and if the greatefl of the three Miracles 
 be an Impofture, the two lefs ones of 
 Confequence aie Artifice and Fraud. 
 And rather than the Miracle of Ldzarus 
 ihall ftand its Ground, I'll have t'other 
 Bout at it from fome other Circum- 
 ftances i the Confideration of which will 
 make it as fooliili and wicked an Impo- 
 flure, as ever was contrived and tran- 
 fadted in the World ,• fuch a wicked hn^ 
 pofture of moll: pernicious Confequence to 
 the Welfare of the Publick, that it is 
 no Wonder, the People, by an unani- 
 mous Voice, cali'd tor the Releafment 
 
 "of 
 
Hi 
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 o^Barmhaf, a Robber and Murderer^ 
 before Jefm, I don't fuppofe thefe Ar- 
 guments againft this Miracle will be con- 
 vmcing of yoi^r Chriftian Clergy^ who are 
 hired to the Belief of it. But howe- 
 ver, a Bijhop of many thousands a Year 
 to believe, can't in Confcience deny, 
 that the Arguments above are a fufficient 
 Juftification of our Jewijh Disbelief of 
 it. 
 
 " If you, Sir, ihould write a Difcourfe 
 againft the Letter of the Story of Je- 
 fus*s Refurredion, I beg of you to ac- 
 cept of a few of my Conceptions on that 
 Head, which, I proniiie you, fhall be 
 out of the common Road of thinking. 
 YovLV Divines think they have exhaufted 
 that Subjed:, and abfolutely contuted 
 all Objedions that can be made againft 
 it, but are much miftaken. Sometimes 
 w^Jews dip into their Writings on this 
 Head, and always Imile with Indigna- 
 tion at their foolifh hive^ives againft the 
 Blindnefs of the Eyes, and Haidnefs of 
 the Hearts of our Anceftors. If they 
 would but favour us with a Liberty to 
 writp for our felves, a reafonable Liber- 
 ty, which in this Philofophical Age we 
 don't defpair of, efpecially under fo wife, 
 juft and good a Civil Adminiftration, as 
 this Nation is happily blefi'd with, we 
 
 " would 
 
(55) 
 " would cut them out fome more Work, 
 " which they are not aware of. In the 
 " mean Time I am your allured Friend, 
 
 N.N. 
 
 So ends the Letter of my Friend, the 
 JewiJJj Hahbi^ which confifts of calm and 
 j'edate Reafoning, or I would not have 
 piibliih*d it j for I am refolv'd he fhall no 
 more impofe upon me with his ludicrous 
 and bantering Stuff, like his Satirical In- 
 vedive againft Jefm^s Miracle of Hiniing 
 Water into Wme^ fo offenfive to our Godly 
 Bijhops. And becaufe it confifts of calfn 
 and fedate Reafoning, which Bifiop Smal- 
 broke allows of, I hope his LordJJjip will 
 take it into Confideration, and write an 
 Anfwer to it, which I, without the Help 
 of the Myftery, can't do. 
 
 If the forefaid Letter be offenfive to our 
 Qergjy who don't judge it meet that the 
 ^ews ihould take this Liberty to write 
 againft the Miracles of our Saviour, and in 
 Vindication of their own disbelief of Chri- 
 ftianity, I beg of them, for the Love of 
 Jejuf^ not to let their Difpleafure be vifi- 
 bly feen ; becaufe the JeiVf will then laugli 
 in their Sleeves, and perhaps openly infult 
 and triumph upon it : But if tliey will pri- 
 vately acquaint me with their Difpleafure 
 
 at 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 iat It, ril promife them to hold no more 
 Correfpondence withfuch Jezvijh Rahbies; 
 neither will I ever hereafter publilli any other 
 Objedions againft Chrift's Religion and Mi- 
 racles, than what come from the Hot en- 
 tots and Tawawers : and then it will be 
 flrange, if our dignified Clergy^ of moft 
 grave and demure Looks, can't folidjy 
 confute the worft, that fuch ignorant and 
 illiterate People can urge againft them. 
 
 And thus have I done with my Objec- 
 tions againft the Letter of thefe three Mi- 
 racles. If our Dhinei fliall think there is 
 little or nothing of Force in them ; then 
 an Anfwer, which 1 fliould be glad to fee^ 
 may the more eafily be made to them. 
 As for my part, without being conceited 
 of the Acutenefs and Strength of any of 
 the Objections, I think it impollible latis- 
 fadorily to reply to them, without having 
 Recourie to the Opinions of the Fathers, 
 that thefe three Miracles, whether they 
 were ever litterally tranfa^ed or not, are 
 now but emblematical Reprefentations of 
 myfterious and more wonderful Opera- 
 tions to be perform'd by Jefus, 
 
 To the Fathers then let us go for theJr 
 myftical Interpretation of thefe Miracles. 
 St. Auguftin^ in his Introdudion to a Ser- 
 mon on the Widow of Naim\ Son, fays 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 f 29) thus, " There are fome fo fllly as to 
 tc ftand amazed at the corporal Miracles 
 c< ofjefufj and have no Confidcration of 
 cc his greater and Ipiritual Miracles, (igni- 
 te fied by them : but others who are vvifer 
 « can hear oK the Things that jfefus did 
 « on Men*s Body, without being aftonifh'd 
 « at them, chiifing rather to contemplate 
 « with Admiration his more wonderful 
 *f Works on Men's Souls, after the.fimili- 
 *' tude of bodily Miracles. And thefe are 
 " the Chriftians that conform their Studies 
 " to the Will of our Lord ; who would 
 *' have his corporal Miracles, fpiritually 
 *' interpreted ; For He wrought not Mi- 
 *' racles in the Fleih, for the Take of fuch 
 " Miracles abftra^edly confider'd j but 
 
 (ip) Quldatn corporalia ejus Miracula rtupente's, 
 majora intueri nori norunt. Quidam vero ea, qua: 
 gefta audiunt inCorporibus nunc amplius in Aniniis 
 admirantur.- ■■ Dominus enini noiter Jcfus Chtif* 
 tus ea qu:e faciebat corporalirer, etiam fpiritalirer 
 votebat inrelligi ; nequc enim Mincula propter Mi- 
 racula faciebat, (ed ut illa quae faciebat, mira efTent 
 
 Videntibr.s, vera cffent Intelligcntibus. Alii & 
 
 fada mirati ct intelleOa aflecuti. Tales nos efle 
 debcmus in Schola Cbrlfti. — Hoc dixi (de ficu 
 arefidla) ut perfuaderem Dominum Jefurn Chrif- 
 tum ideo Miracula fcciffL-, ut aliquid illis Mjricull* 
 fignificaret 5 Ut cxccpto eo, quod mira Si magna Sc 
 divinaerant, aliquid inde etiaui difceremas. Vide- 
 amus ergo quid nos difcere volulc in tribus mortui^s, 
 i]tuo$ fufcitavit. In Serm. xcviii. 
 
 I '' tint 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 « that, if they were furprifing to fome 
 
 « Mens Senfes, they fhould be more afto- 
 
 *' niihing to the Underftanding of others, 
 
 « who apprehend the fpiritual Meaning of 
 
 " them. And they who by Contempla- 
 
 " tion can attain to the myftical Sygnifi- 
 
 *« cation of Jeftiss Miracle:., are the beft 
 
 *' Scholars and moft learn'd Difciples in 
 
 «' his Church and School. And, ([paling 
 
 *' of the Ahjurdity of Jefus'i curfing the 
 
 " Figtree according to the Letttr) prefent- 
 
 *' ly after lays, that this he obferv'd, that 
 
 *' he might perfuade his Hearers to think, 
 
 «' that our Lord J ejus therefore wrought 
 
 *' Miracles, that he might {ignify fomewhat 
 
 «' by them, which he would have his Di- 
 
 *' fciples to learn and conllder of. Come 
 
 " now, fays he^ and let us lee what wc 
 
 " are miftically and fpiritually to under- 
 
 " ftand by the Stories of the three Per- 
 
 ** fons rais'd from the dead." 
 
 There are two Ways, that the Fathers 
 took in the moral and myftical Interpreta- 
 tion of thefe Miracles : One was from the 
 "Number three^ and the Difference in Mag- 
 nitude. According to which they faid 
 with St Augufiine (30) that thefe three 
 
 forts 
 
 ^50) Ilia tr!a Genera Mortuorum, funt tria Ge- 
 nera Peccatorum, quos hodie fufcitat Chriilus. — 
 
 Sunt 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 forts of dead Peifons, fo raisM to Life; 
 are Figures of three forts of Sinners, 
 whom y'fuf niifeth from tlie death of Sin 
 to the Life of Righteoufnefs. They who 
 have conceiv'd Sin in their Hearts, and 
 have not brought it forth into Ad ; are 
 figured by Jairus*s Daughter, who lay 
 dead in the Houfe of her Father, and was 
 not taken forth to her Burial. Others, 
 who after Cogitation and Confent, pals into 
 actual Sin are figured by the young jMan, 
 carried towards his Grave, but thofe 
 Sinners, who are habituated and long ar- 
 cuftom'd to Sin, are like Lazarus bury'd, 
 and in a (linking Condition under the Cor- 
 
 Sunt ergo inftar filia: SynagogtE Princlpis, qui pec- 
 catuni intus in Corde habtnt, in facto nondum ha- 
 bent. Condemnatur Confcnfus ad Iniquitarem ; re- 
 fpiratur ad Salutem atq; JuiHtiani. Suri;it mortuus 
 in Domo, revivifcit Cor in Cogitationis Secreto. 
 Fafta eft ifta Refurreflio Anima: mortuac intus intra 
 Latebras ConfcicntiaJ, tanquim intra Domeft'cos 
 Parietes. -- Alii poll Conft-nfuin eunt in fa6^um, 
 t^nquam efferentes morruum, ut quod latcbat in 
 Secreto, appareat in puhlica. Nonne illi juvcni 
 didum eft, Tiyi dicoy fur^e & reddirus eft Matri ^ 
 fie qui jam fccerit, fi forte admonitus & commotus 
 Verbo Veritatis ad Chrifti Vocem refurgir, vivu«! 
 redditur Kcdefias. .— Qui auteni facicndo quod 
 malum eft,. etiam mala Confuetudine fe implicanr, 
 tales Confuetudine m lignj prefll, tanquam Tepuhi, 
 ita fepulti ut de Lazaro di(5lum eft, jmi ^utet. In 
 germ, xcviii. 
 
 I 2 ruption 
 
(6o) 
 
 riiption of if i whom Jefus, for all that, 
 with the loud Voice of the Pr^edication of 
 his Gofpe], will call forth out of the 
 Death and Grave of their Sins to a new 
 Life, So does St.Auguflin make thefe threq 
 dead Perfons and their Refurre<5tions Em- 
 blems of the faid three Sorts of Sinners, 
 who are dead in Trefpaflfes and Sins, and 
 by the Power of Jefus quickened to a Life 
 of Righteoufnefs. And to this Opinion 
 of St. Augujlin^ do St. Ambrofe^ Eufebius 
 Gallkanui^ and Venerable Bede agree. 
 And according to this Notion of thefe 
 Miracles they defcend to a particular Ex- 
 plication of the feveral Parts of their Sto- 
 ries. As to give you two or three In- 
 ftances. 
 
 The People who were turn'd out of the 
 Houfe, upon the raifing o^Jarm^ Daugh- 
 ter, which is an /Ihjurdity according to the 
 Letter are, fays (31) Bede, a Multitude 
 qT wordly and wicked Thoughts, which, 
 except they are excluded from the Secrets 
 of the Heart, are a Hindrance of the Re- 
 lurredion of a Sinner to a new Life. 
 
 (51J Cutn ejeda ejjet Turha, tntravit. Moraliter 
 non refurgit Anima, qu« inrrinfccus jacet mortua, 
 jiifi Driu.s a fecretioribus Cordis excludatur inoppor- 
 tunalscubrsum Cogitationum Multitudo. In Loc. 
 TAait. 
 
 The 
 
(6i ) 
 
 The Bearers of the Young Man (3 2) to 
 his Burial are Vices, evil Spirits, Hxre- 
 ticks, and Seducers; and the Wiriow^ his 
 Mother, to whom he was reftored, is the 
 Churchy who mourns for the Death of fuch 
 Sinners, as are typified by that Young 
 Man. 
 
 Jefus*s weeding for dead Lazarus^ which 
 is an Abfurdity according to the Letter^ 
 is a Sign (33) of the deplorable State, 
 that habitual Sinners are in, enough to 
 excite the Sorrows and Mournings of good 
 Chriftians, who have the Spirit of Chrifty 
 for them. And the Stone that lay at the 
 Grave of Lazarus^ is (34) a figure of the 
 Hardnefs of the Heart of fuch a Sinner 
 
 (32) Mali ifti Portltores, qui ad fepeliendum ho- 
 fnincra ferunr, funt Vitia & maligni fpiritus, Ha:re- 
 tici & fcduflores. Hos enitn niii Dominus fifterer, 
 quofcunqf femel accipcrent, fepulturx & cerernae 
 Damiiationi traderent. Sufcitatus igitur Adolefcens 
 feder, loquitur & Matri rcdditur, quia ad Parni- 
 tcntiani converfus in Ecdefia: pace quicfcit, Dei 
 Magnalia loquitur, fua pcccata confiteturj & £c- 
 clefijB regonciliatur. Enfeh. Gallic, in Hemil. Faic 
 quinine j^oji Domin. ^tam. 
 
 (55) E.Z lacyytnatus eft Jeft(s. Lacrymemur igitur 
 8< nos pro omnibus illis, quns in Fxtore Vitiorum 
 jacere fentinius. Etifeh. Gallic, in Homtl. Fnix ^t.c 
 poji Domin. i^tam. 
 
 (54) Lapis autem revolutus a Monumento flgni- 
 ficat Infidelitatis Duritiam ab Hominum Corde lub- 
 motam. Tbeo^b. Jmioch. in Loc. 'Johan. 
 
 which 
 
(62) 
 
 which mufl: be taken away before Jefiis 
 will call him to a new Life. So do the 
 Fathers moralife and allegorife every Mi- 
 nute Circumftance of thefe three Miracles, 
 as any one, who will confult them, may 
 find, and fave me the Trouble of a tedi- 
 ous Recital oi their Authorities. 
 
 But the other myftical Way of interpre- 
 ting thefe three Miracles is by making 
 them Types of three great Events at the 
 Time of Chrift''s fpiritual Advent. Accor- 
 dingly the railing of Jairius Daughter is 
 a Type of the Converlion of the Jew^ at 
 that Day, as ^ufebim GdUcanm (^5) and 
 venerable Bede (36) and others expound 
 it. By Jarus, the Ruler of a Synagogue; 
 is meant Mo fes (37),* and by his Daugh- 
 ter is to be underftood the Jcwijh Churchy 
 which, being at prefent in a State of Spi- 
 ritual Death, will be revived and conver- 
 ted in the Perfection of Time. And to 
 the myftical Refurrei^tion or Reftitution of 
 tlie Jewijh Synagogue, calFd Jairus's 
 
 (55) Qyf^f' enim tunc tcmporls fiflum eft in una 
 Puella, hoc in fine Teniporum futurum eft, ut fiat 
 in rota Synagoga, In Homtl. Ferine ^ta poj} Domin. 
 
 (36) Synigoga circa finem faeculi erit reftltuta 
 faluti. ht Loc. Matt. 
 
 (37) Jairus illuniinatus vcl illuminans, Mof?? 
 m:e!ligitur. Be^. in Lor. Miitt. 
 
 Daughter 
 
( 63; 
 
 Daughter, will Jeftis come (38) at the 
 fame Time he heals the Woman of the 
 Church ot her llTue of Blood. And this is 
 the Reafon that the Stories of thefe two 
 Minxles are blended together by the E'va?i^ 
 geliftc^ with their iynchronical Numbers oi 
 the Age of the Girl and of: the Difeale of 
 the Woman ; becaufe they are Types of 
 that bleifed Scene of Affairs at the Conver- 
 fion of the Jews^ when the Fulnefs of the 
 Gentiles is come in. Concerning which 
 bleffed ftate of the Church, Origen (39) 
 fays, Jcjui wrought many Miracles, by 
 Way of Type and Figure. 
 
 Among all the Miracles that Jefm 
 wrought, and are recorded by the Eran- 
 gelifti^ 1 think, as far as 1 have 4iad Occa- 
 fion to obferve, the Fathers are moft fcan- 
 ty in their Interpretations of that of the 
 
 C38) Ad hanc ergo Principis filiam dum properat 
 Dei Vcrbum, ut f.ilvos faceret filios Ifracl, fanfti 
 Ecclefia de Gtntibus congregata, qua: inferioruni 
 Lapfu Criminum deperibar, paratam aliis fide pr«- 
 ripuit Sanitatcm. Hi. yftnbrof. in Loc. Luc. Quod 
 vero poll reltirutam inmmndx Mulieri Valetudi- 
 nem, defundta Puella a mortuis rcftituiturj ne hoc 
 quidcm ab exquifita AUcgoria alienum. Nam Rel- 
 liquix filvar fiant, juxra Apollolum, cum ingrefli 
 fuerit Genrium Plenitudo. Theo^. Ceram. in HomiL 
 de yairia. Jiha. 
 
 (99) Quarum Rerum Caufu multa fuere Jefu Mi- 
 
 rjcula. i» ^ohan. Cap. XI, 
 
 Widow 
 
,(H ) 
 
 Widow of Nairn s Son : Excepting what 
 is before noted of his being a figure of a 
 Sinner dead in actual, tho' not habitual 
 Sin, I Hnd very little. But if Origens 
 Comments on this Miracle had been ex- 
 tant, J dare fay he would have given us 
 this following Interpretation of it. This 
 Widow, he would have call'd the Church ; 
 and her only Son or mafculine Ofspring, he 
 would have cali'd the Spiritual Senfe of 
 the Scriptures, which is now dead, and 
 that the Minifters of the Litter^ who are 
 his Bearers, are for interring him within 
 the Earth of the Letter; But Jefus^ upon 
 his Spiritual Advent will put a flop to the 
 Intention of fuch Bearers, by reviving the 
 Spiritual S^fe of the Scriptures j and by 
 reftoring it, like a quicken d Son^ to the 
 Comfort of his Mother, the Church ; who 
 has been in a forrowfui and lamentable 
 Condition upon the Death and Want of 
 it. This, I am fure, would be Origens 
 Interpretation of this Miracle, which, if I 
 had Room here, by a little Circumlocuti*' 
 on, I could prove. 
 
 As toLazarus's Refurredion, it is in the 
 Opinion of the Fathers (40) a Type of the' 
 
 general 
 
 (40) Per Lazarum Genus humanum oflenditur. 
 Thsop. ^ntioch. in Loc. ^ohan. Noftra Refurreftio 
 fi^uiatut per Lazari Rcfurre^ionem, -" Speluncs 
 
 five 
 
general and myftical Refurredion of Man- 
 kind in the Perfection of Time. But this 
 is a moft copious Subjedj and unlefs I 
 could here througlily handle it, I had much 
 better fay nothing. 
 
 And thus have I done with the three 
 Refurredtion Stories. If the Convocation^ 
 next Seflion, would determine by an Or- 
 thodox Vote, whether Jeftty rais'd any 
 more, than the faid three Perfons, flom 
 the dead or not ; I would prefent them 
 with a new and more entertaining Chain 
 of Thoughts againftthefe Miracles J fuch 
 a Chain of Thoughts, as, upon the Con- 
 clufion, let them hold which Side of the 
 Qiieftion they pleafe, will neceflarily in- 
 duce us to hold the myftical Meaning of 
 thefe Miracles, or to grant that Jefus 
 rais'd none from the dead at all. 
 
 My next and laft Difcourfe on Jefuf's 
 Miracles fhall be againft the Letter of the 
 Story of his own Refurredtion, in which, 
 if our Bifljops will keep their Temper 
 and Patience, till I publifli it. I'll cue 
 out fuch a Piece of Work for our Boy- 
 
 five Sepulchrum Lazari Litteram Legis umbratilem 
 
 defignar. Ma^na, Vtce clamavit Jefus^ id eft, 
 
 Praedicario Evangeliipcr quam humana Natura Pec- 
 catoruDi Vinculis & in Sepulchro Infidelitatis jicens 
 •vocatur ad Viura. T^eop. Oram, in Homtl. de 
 Laiaro. 
 
'( 66 ; 
 
 led'aLe^lures^ as Ihall hold them tug, lo 
 long as the Mif^iiflry of the Letter and an 
 mel'mg Fmftbood Ihall Lift. If Chrift be 
 notn[en^ then, according to the Inference 
 of St. Vauly is their Preaching vain ; and 
 why fhould the People be any longer 
 charg'd with the Maintenance of an igno- 
 rant and idle Order of Men, to no Ufe and 
 Purpofe ? 
 
 If 1 had not had Experience of it, I 
 could never have believed that, for all the 
 ludicrous Nature of thefe Difcottrfes^ our 
 dignified Clergy could have been fo foolifh 
 or malicious as to profecute me for an /«- 
 fidel and Blafphemer upon them. How a 
 Man may be miftaken in himfelf! I took 
 my felf for a real Advocate for the Truth 
 of Chriftianity ,• and was fo vain as to ima- 
 gine, thefe Difcourfes tended to a Demon- 
 ftration of '^efiis's Mefiahihip: And tho' 
 the Bij%o^ of London may be of a contra- 
 ry Opinion, yet I am ftill fo conceited of 
 my Ability to defend our Religion, that 
 Til ftake my Life againft his Bijhoprkk, 
 which I'll not be troubled with, if I win it, 
 that he can't form an Objedion againft 
 Chriftianity, which I can t folidly confute, 
 . and make our Readers merry too, with his 
 Weaknefs and Impertinence in it. But 
 perhaps it may be unbecoming of his 
 LordHiips Chara<^er, and againft the 
 
 Grain^ 
 
r^7 ) 
 
 Grain, to make an Objcdion to tliat Re- 
 ligion, which he finds much Umpcra}^ as 
 well as feme fprhu.d Comfort in the Pro- 
 feflion of; I will therefore dcfcend to ano- 
 ther Propofal, 'viz. If he'll but piibiiHi an 
 Anfwer to the Jewiflj Rabbi's Letter in 
 this Dilcoiirfe, and voiichfate me the plea- 
 fureof a Reply to Ijim ; then (to fave the? 
 Civil Magiftrate's Trouble) 1 will fuffer 
 any Punilhment that in his Clemency he 
 fhall think fit to inflid on me, for what's 
 paft. Oh, wh.it a Ha'zard c'o I here run 
 of- Life or Liberty ! 
 
 Some Chriflians, in my Cafe, would 
 think it a Ld Misfortune to be odioufly 
 reprefentcd as an Infirlcl and Blaffhemer ; 
 but I, in Temper and Principle, defpife 
 luch Obloquies, Slanders and Defama- 
 tions; and would not give a Rudi to re- 
 move them, fo long as I had the Anfwer 
 of a good Confcience that I was unde- 
 ferving of them : But coniidering, that it 
 is the Duty of a Chrifli.in to feek the Pe.ice 
 and Friendiliipof all about him, andefpe- 
 ciallyofour good Bi/IjopSy who, in Compal- 
 fion to the Danger they think my Suil is 
 in, have taken zealous and laudable Pains 
 with the ti'vil Magi fir ate for my Con- 
 viction and Converlion ; I do here, for rhe 
 fake of a Reconciliation with their hoyd- 
 JJjips and other good People, make a tor- 
 K 2 nul 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 mal and folenin Confeflion of my Chri^ 
 flian Faith, which tho* I don't exprefs in 
 the Words of the Apofitcal^ Nicene or 
 Athanafian Creeds -, yet will do it in fuch 
 Terms as will be a Demonftration that 
 at the Bottom I am found as a Koch, Be 
 it known then to all Chriftian People, 
 that 
 
 Imprimif, I believe upon the Authority 
 of the Fathers, that the Miniftry of the 
 Letter of the Old and New Teftament is 
 downright Antkhrijiianifm, 
 
 Iteffjy I believe upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers, that the Miracles of Jefus^ as 
 they are recorded by the Evangelifts, litte- 
 rall) underftood, are the lying JVonders of 
 Antichrift. 
 
 Jtem^ I believe upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers, that all Oppolition and Con- 
 tradidiion to fpiritual and allegorical Interr 
 prerations of the Scripture, is the Sin of 
 Biofphemy againft the Holy Ghoft. 
 
 Item^ I believe upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers, that the Miniflry of the Spi- 
 ns, or allegorical Interpretations, of the 
 Law and the Prophets wiJl be the Conver- 
 iion ot Jews and G entiles. 
 
 Jtem^ 
 
(h) 
 
 Iteviy I believe upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers, that the Mimftry of the Let- 
 ter^ and an Hireling-Priefthood have been 
 theCiufe of the Infidelity and Apoftacy of 
 thefe latter Times. 
 
 Item^ I believe upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers, that the Spirit and Power of 
 Jefus will foon enter the Church and 
 expel Hireling-Priefts, who make Mer- 
 chandife of the Gofpel, out of her, af^ 
 ter the manner he is fuppos'd to have dri- 
 ven the Buyer! and Sellers out of the Tem- 
 ple. 
 
 Thefe are a few Articles of that Faith, 
 once deliverM to the Saints of the primi- 
 tive Church, which I firmly believe, and 
 will earneftly contend for. Now I ap- 
 peal to the Chriftian World, whether a 
 Man ot fuch a Faith, like Heart of Oak, 
 can be an Infidel or Blafphemer. Upon 
 this ingenuous ContefTion of my Faith, 
 which I make by way of Atonement for 
 niy paft fuppofed Errors and Offences, I 
 hope the BtJJyjps and all good Chriftian 
 People will be reconciled to me. 
 
 St. Jame's fays, that Faith without 
 Works IS dead, and how a Man ought to 
 fhow his Faith by his Works, without 
 
 which 
 
do) 
 
 which Faith is an empty and airy Nothing^ 
 Accordingly I am making what hafte I c^n 
 to ihow the Sincerity of my Faith by 
 thefe my Works and Di/mtrfes of this Kind. 
 And by the Grace of God, I hope our 
 Bifhops will find me as unmoveable as a 
 Rock in the faid Faith. 
 
 According to the forefa id Articles of 
 this my Faith, I, am fo fully convinced, not 
 only of the Error of the Mi?tiftry ot the 
 Letter J but of the Mifchiefs and Incon- 
 venience of an Hirelmg-Priefthood^ that, 
 having fet my Shoulders to the Work, I 
 am refolv'd, bv the Help of God, to en- 
 deavour to give both a Lift out of this 
 World. This is fair and generous Warn- 
 ing to our Clergy to fit faft, and look to 
 their own Safety, or they may find me a 
 flronger Man than they may be aware of. 
 And tho' I don't exped long to furvive 
 the Accomplilliment of fo great and 
 glorious a Work ; yet I am delightfully 
 ravilhM and tranfported with the Fore- 
 thought and Contemplation of the Happi- 
 nefs of Mankind, upon the Extindiion of 
 Ecclefiaflical Vennin^ out of God's Houfe ;, 
 when' the World will return to its Primo- 
 genial and Parjdifaicd State of Nature, 
 fteligion and Liberty j in which we Ihall be 
 all taught of G^d^ and ha've no need of a 
 loolilh and contentious Prieft, hired to ha- 
 rangue 
 
(7i ) 
 
 rangue us with his Noife and Nonfenfe. 
 Which blefTed State of the World God of 
 his infinite Mercy haften, for the fake of 
 our Spiritual Meffiah, Mediator and Re- 
 deemer Jefui Chrift, To vvhQm be Glory 
 for ever, y^wfw. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
A SIXTH 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 O F O U R 
 
 SAFIO U R, 
 
 In View of the Prefent 
 
 Controverfy between Infidels 
 and Apostates. 
 
 Jamque Opus exegiy 
 
 By Tho. Woolston, B. D. fometimc 
 
 fellow oi Sidney 'Co liege in Cambridge, 
 
 L O N T> O N : 
 
 Printed for the Author, and Sold by him 
 next door to the Star^ in Aldermanbury, 
 and by the Bookrdlers of London y and 
 fVeJlm'ptfter, 1729. 
 
 [Price One Stilling.] 
 
T O T H E 
 
 Right Reverend Father in G o d 
 
 JOHN, 
 
 Lord Bifhop of Oxfords 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 |HEN the followiog 
 ^Dijcourje was finiflb'd 
 and ready for the 
 Ptefs^ 1 confider\r to 
 what Bifhoy the T)edi'^ 
 cation of it would be moft accep- 
 table; (for 1 am refolv'd that none 
 but Bijhop as yet fliall have the 
 Honour of my Dedicatitms ;) and 
 A ci 1 
 
iv D E D I C A T t O N. 
 
 I had not long ponder'd upon the 
 Matter, before I hit upon your 
 Lord/hif^ who muft needs be pleas'd 
 with this ^ifcourfe^ becaufe of the 
 Advantage, that you, as well as 
 xnyfelf, in the End, will reap by it. 
 
 By Virtue of your Trofejfor/iip 
 at Oxford^ you, My Lord^ are a 
 Moderator at theological Dilputa- 
 tions, as I am here : And whether 
 the Execution of your Office be 
 as troublcfome as mine is, I know 
 not : But if the Defign of this 
 ^ifcourfe take Place, we fhall find 
 that modern Controverfies abouc 
 Religion are all vain ; and there- 
 upon be hoth of us foon eas'd of 
 the Trouble of our Moderations at 
 them. 
 
 It may be, my Lord^ you are not 
 fo weary of your Moderator Jhipy 
 as I am : Befides, that you are 
 better paid for your Pains, your 
 Difputants are more amicable, and 
 in themidft of their Difputes more 
 
 tradable 
 
Dedication, y 
 
 tradable : Tho they may warmly 
 contend, at the prefent, for and 
 againft the Point in Debate ; yet 
 like Lawyers who are no lefs zea- 
 lous for their Clients in the Day, 
 they commonly agree to drink a 
 Bottle together at Night, and go 
 to Bed, good Friends. And this 
 is very well done of them. 
 
 But my Difputants^ my Lordy 
 call'd Infidels and Apoflates^ at whofe 
 Controverfy I have the Trouble, 
 by the Appointment of the Fathers, 
 to prefide, are more ftubborn, tur- 
 bulent and refraftory. What ill 
 Treatment they would give each 
 other, if it was in their Power, I 
 know not : But my Afoftates^ fince 
 they can't be aveng'd on their 
 Adverfarys, are full of Refentment 
 againft their Aloderator^ becaufel 
 am not altogether partial to their 
 fide y and how I (hall efcape their 
 Indignation, God alone knows. 
 
 Whatever 
 
Vi D E D I C A t t O M. 
 
 Whatever the Clergy^ my Lord^ 
 whom 1 dignify with the Title of 
 ^fofiates^ may think^ I look upon 
 myielf as a notable J\1oderat0r of thQ 
 Controveify ; 1 have fhewn them 
 all the Favour I can in it^and would 
 have brought them off with Honor^ 
 but for a Uttle F/^w,here difcovtr'd^ 
 in the Foundation of their Churchy 
 which, for the Determination of 
 our Difputes, muft be confefs'd and 
 granted. 
 
 If your Lord/iip^ upon reading 
 this ^ifcourfe^ (hould be of the 
 fame Mmd with me, I beg of you 
 to Stroak the ikrgj into Temper, 
 Patience and Compliance ; Tell 
 them, they have been long ortho- 
 dcx and glorious Victors over Infi^ 
 deh^ and that it would be now an 
 Aft cf G^nerofi^y to yield to them 
 im fmall Toint J upon which fuch 
 a Pacification would enlue, as no- 
 thing hereafter would be able to 
 diffolve. 
 
 But 
 
Ded ICAT Io^f. vii 
 
 But I have another Favour, my 
 Lord^ here to crave of you, that 
 you wou d be plta^'d to perlbade 
 iny old Friend the Bifiof ot London 
 to flay at Home th.s Lent, and 
 keep to his Trayers and Fafti g^ 
 for the cart ng out a certain Kind 
 of — , that by fits he's unhappily 
 troubled with 3 or upon the Publi- 
 cation of this T)i[courJe^ 1 (hall be 
 in Dapger of beirg loon knapped 
 for it. 
 
 If your Lord/hip will do me that 
 Favour, then 1 will do you as good 
 a Turn ; and praife you for your 
 Dodrine of Ta/pve Obedience j 
 preach'd at the Coronation : Tho 
 many may laugh at your Revival 
 of that Dodrine, Saying, the Cler^ 
 upon an Occafion, which our moft 
 excellent Sovereign will never give 
 thcm^woL.ld again have Recourfe to. 
 their Refefves and Dlflinilions -^ yet 
 I lay it was well done of your Jjord- 
 fhi^ to preach it, that the Tongues 
 
 and 
 
viii Ded ic A T ionJ 
 
 and the Hands (to Say nothing of 
 the Hearts) of the Clergy might go 
 together in Subfcriptions to Articles 
 and Homilys ; and fo avoid that 
 Prevarication and Inconfiftency, 
 which fome now have no more Wit 
 than to charge thern with. 
 
 So not quettioning your Lord- 
 fhif^ Approbation of this ^ifcourfe 
 and the Dedication'^ nor doubting 
 but you'll make me as bountiful a 
 Recompence for it, as any of my 
 other Epifcopal Patrons have done | 
 I fubfcribe my felf, 
 
 My Lo/dy 
 
 ^^284!^ T^^ jidmirer of your 
 
 TaJJlve Obedience Sermon 
 
 Thomas Woolftoxi. 
 
A SIXTH 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 O N /T H E . 
 
 MIRACLES 
 
 OF OUR 
 
 SAVIOUR, &c. 
 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 ERE goes my fixch and 
 1.1 !\ Difcourfe oil Jefus^s Mi- 
 rades , the Subject whereof 
 is the literal Story of his 
 own ReCurreclion ^ which, 
 according to the Propofition 
 in hand, I am to (how to confift of Ab- 
 farditys, Improbabilitys and Incredibilitys. 
 And 1 hope our LVijhops will quietly per- 
 mit the Publication ot this Difcourfe^ el- 
 B pecially 
 
( ^ ) 
 
 peciaWy if 1 alTure them, that I meant fto- 
 rhinii, worfe by it, than to make way for 
 the Underflanding, what the Fathers write 
 of, the myiVical Refurredion of Jefiis out 
 of the Grave of the Letter of the Law 
 nnd the Prophets :, of which myftical Re- 
 furredion of our fpiritual Jefus, the 
 Evangelical Story of the Refurredion of a 
 carnal Cbrijl is but mere Type and Sha- 
 dow. 
 
 I am fo far from defigning any Service 
 to Infidelity by this Difcourfe, that I aim 
 at the Accompiidimept of fome of St. 
 Johji's i\pocalyptical Vihons. The Fa- 
 thers fay that a Church, built on the 
 Letter of the Scriptures, particularly on 
 the Letter of J^/rz/s Miracles, is Babylon \ 
 and that antiliteral Arguments and myf- 
 tical Interpretations will be the downfal 
 of her. Whether there is any Truth in 
 this Opinion of the Fathers, I am minded 
 to make the Experiment -, and tho I lliould 
 bring the old Houfe of the Church over 
 my Head, and be crufli'd to Pieces in its 
 Ruins, I can't forbear it : But however, 
 I would advife the Clergy to make hafte 
 and come out of Babylon, for fear of the 
 word: ; or they, who upon the Authority 
 of the Fathers are the Merchants of Ba- 
 hyloUy will weep (i) and mourn upon her 
 
 CO Revelations Ch, xviii, u. 
 
 Fall 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Fall, becaufc none will buy thd'tr Mer- 
 chandi-z^c of the Letter any more. Dcai* 
 Jefu^ that fuch a Student, as I am, in the 
 Revelations of St. John, and an Inter- 
 preter of them too upon the Authority of 
 the Fathers fhouLl be charg'd with Blaf- 
 phemy and Infidelity ! 
 
 So to Work I went^ and I had not 
 been long muling by myfelf, how to fap 
 this Foundation of the Church, before I 
 was fenfible of my own Infufhciency for 
 it. Whereupon I font to my old Friend, 
 the Jewifi Rabbi, for his Thoughts on this 
 grand -Miracle of Jefus'^^ Refurreclion, 
 which he gave me fome Promife of But 
 I defired him to forbear all Ludicrouf- 
 nefs, Satire and Banter for fear of Offence : 
 For tho our Clergy liked Volumes of Jefls 
 and Facetioufnefs, if they were diCcharg'd 
 again ft Jews, Turks ^ and Infidels -^ yet 
 when they were levelTd at Miniflers of 
 the Letter the Cafe was alter d, as quoth 
 Tlowden, and they were not to be born 
 with. Therefore he was to remember 
 that decency, ferioufncfs and calmnefs of 
 Argument, required by the Bilhop of Lon- 
 don (:) or I durit not print it. 
 
 In Compliance with my Delircs he fent 
 me the following Letter, which, having 
 
 (2) In his Paflcral Letter, p. 35. 
 
 B 2 purg'd 
 
{ 4 ) 
 
 purgM it cf a few Puns and CunwiJmms^ 
 because all Appearance of Wit, as of Evily 
 WcS to be abftain'd from, I here publilh, 
 
 and it runs thus. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 According to your Requeft, I here 
 fend you my Thoughts on Jefus's 
 Kefurrcdion, in which I Ihall be luorter 
 than 1 would be, becaufe of the cuftomary 
 Bounds cf your Difcourfe. 
 
 The Controverfy between us Jews and 
 you Chriftians about the Mejfiah has hi- 
 therto been of a diifufive Nature; Bat 
 as the fubjed of this is the Rcfqrredion 
 of your Jcfns ^ fo by my Conftnt, we'll 
 now reduce the Controverfy to a narrow 
 CompaTs/and let it turn entirely on this 
 grand Miracle and Article of your Faith« 
 If your Divines can prove Jefus^ Refur- 
 reclion againfl the f.llowing Objeclions. 
 then I will acknowledge him to be the; 
 Mejfial\ and will turn Chiiitian, other- 
 wife he muft fill I pafs with us for aa 
 Impoftor and falfe Prophet. 
 
 I have often lamented the Lofs of fuch 
 Writing?, which our Anceftors unqueftio- 
 nibly difpers'd agsinit 'J'^fus^ becaufe of 
 the cl ar lio;ht they would give us, into 
 the Cheat and Impofture of his Religion. 
 
(5) 
 
 But I rejoice and thank God, there is lit- 
 tle or no want of their, to the Point ia 
 Hand. For I had not long meditated on 
 the Story of Jefus*s Refurreftion, as your 
 Evangflijis have related it, but I plainly 
 difcernM it to be the moft notorious and 
 monftrous Impofture, that ever was put 
 upon Mankind. And if you pleafe to at- 
 tend to my following Arguments, which 
 require no depth of Judgment and Capa- 
 city to apprehend, I am perfuaded that you 
 and every one dilintereftcd, will be of the 
 fame Mind too. 
 
 To overthrow and confute the Story of 
 thismonflrous and incredible Miracle, I was 
 thinking once to premife an Argument of the 
 Juftice of the Sentence dcnounc'd againft 
 and executed upon Jefus^ who was fo far 
 from being the innocent Perfon, you Chrif- 
 tians would make of him, that, as may ea- 
 fily be proved, he was fo grand a Deceiver^ 
 hnpojior and MalefaHor^ as no Punilh- 
 inent could be too great for him. But 
 this Argument (which I referve againft 
 a Day of perfed Liberty, to publith by 
 itfelf in Defence of the Honour and Jufc 
 tice of our Ancefiors) would be too long 
 for the Compafs of this Letter ; and 
 therefore 1 pais it by, tho it would give 
 Force to my following Objedions j it be- 
 ing hard and even impoftible to imagine, 
 
 that: 
 
that God would vouchfafe the Favour of 
 a miraculous Refurredion to one, who for 
 his Crimes defervedly fufFer*d and under- 
 went Death, 
 
 But waveing, I fay, that Argument for 
 the prefent, which of itfelf would bs 
 enough to prejudice a reafonable Man 
 againft the Belief of Jefush Refurredion , 
 1 will allow Jefm to have been a much 
 better Man, than I believe him to have 
 been •, or as good a one in Morals as your 
 Divines do fuppofe him , and will only 
 conlider the Circumflances of the Evange- 
 lical Story of his Refurreftion •, from 
 which, if I don't prove it to have been the 
 mod bare-fac'd Impofture that ever was 
 put upon the World, I deferve for the Va- 
 nity of this Attempt a much worfe Pu- 
 nifliment than he for his Frauds endu- 
 red. 
 
 , I have fometimes wonder*d, confidering 
 the Nature and Hcinoufnefs of Jefus*s 
 FaultSj for which he dy'd, that our Chief 
 Triefls and Phar'rfees had any regard to his 
 Prediction (which was fo like a Bambou- 
 zlement of the Populace) that he was to rife 
 again the third Day after his Crucifixion. 
 There's no other Nation in the World, 
 which would not have flighted fuch a vain 
 Prognoftication of a known Impoftor. 
 Let him foretel with ever fo much Con- 
 fidence 
 
^7 ) 
 
 fidencc his fpecdy return to Life, I dare 
 fay, any other Magiflratcs of ordinary Pru- 
 dence would have defpifed hirn for a pre- 
 fumptuous Enthufiafl : But, when 1 reflec- 
 ted on the Impofture of La-zarus's Refur- 
 redion, and of what pernicious Confe- 
 quence it had like to have proved to the 
 peace and Welfare of our Nation, if it 
 had not been happily difcover'd, my 
 Wonder here ceas'd \ and I as much ad- 
 mire now the Wifdom, Caution and 
 Circumfpedion of our Chief Priejfs againft 
 all polTible Fraud and Deceit in the fore- 
 told Refurrection of Jefus. Tho Jefus 
 himfelf, the Head of the Confederacy, and 
 prime Projedor of the de{ign*d Cheat in 
 the Cafe of Laz,ants was cut off, yet his 
 AlTociates were flill numerous ^ and it was 
 not impoflible, but they might concert a 
 Project of a counterfeited Rcfurrc61ion of 
 him, in Accomplilhment of his Prophecy, 
 that mi;2.ht be of more fatal Confequcnce, 
 and tend to fuch Confufions and Dillrac- 
 t ions among the People, as would not be 
 foon qucll'd and quieted. Whereupon our 
 Chief PrieJJs very prudently confidcr of 
 Precautions againfl: Cheat here, and wifely 
 make Applicatioa to Filat the Governor, 
 that proper and effedual Meafurcs may bg 
 taken againft a falfe and feignM Rcfurrcc- 
 tion, for Fear of the ill Effccls of it. 
 
 And 
 
And one of them, as the Spokefman of 
 their Company, feems, according to Mat- 
 thew^ Ch. 3cxvii. to have made the Speech 
 following. 
 
 S / jR, " We retnember that this De- 
 ** ceiver and Impoftor Jefus, who wasi 
 " yefterday crucified and jaftly fufFer'd 
 " Death for his Blafphemy and many De- 
 *' lufions of the People (that were of bad 
 " Confequencc, and might have been of 
 *« much worfe, if he had not been timely 
 « brought to condign Punifhment) faid 
 *« repeatedly before, that hotwithftanding 
 ** the Death he was to undergo, he fhould 
 •' rife again to Life the third Day after; 
 •' It is not that we are at all apprehendve 
 " of fuch a wonderful and miraculous 
 «' Event, which knowing him to have 
 •' been a falfe Prophet as well as a de- 
 " ceitful Juggler, we have no Fears nor 
 '* Belief of. But as it is not long fincfi 
 " that the Inhabitants in and about Be- 
 " thany h^di like to have been fatally de- 
 *' luded and impofed on by him, in the 
 *' pretended Refufcitation of Lat^^arus, one 
 " of his Difciples and Confederates in Ini- 
 *' quity^ fo it is not altogether impofUblc 
 *' nor improbable but his Difciples and 
 ** Accomplices, who are many, may pro- 
 ** jed a feign*d Refurrcction of Jefusy (irl 
 
 '' Ac 
 
'« Accomplifliinent of his Prcdiclion) hy 
 
 " (lealing his Bjdy away, and prerend- 
 
 *' ing he is rifen from the dcid. Should 
 
 '^ fuch a Shim-Miricl? be contrived a- 
 
 *• mongit tliem and cunningly executed it 
 
 " would be ^AAfi) (jiot an Error but) an 
 
 *' Impofture of worfe Confequence to our 
 
 *' Nation and Religion, thin the former 
 
 " in Lazarus could have been, if it had 
 
 *' never been detected : We crave there- 
 
 " fore the Favour of your Excellency^ to 
 
 *' give Command for the making his Se- 
 
 *< pulchre fure, till the third Day is paft^ 
 
 " that neither his dead Body may be ta- 
 
 *' ken away, and a Refurredion pretend- 
 
 " ed ^ nor a /ii/i/j^ one flipt into itsPlace^ 
 
 *' and a Miracle counterfeited on that Day^ 
 
 " when we will be prefent at the opening 
 
 " of the Sepulchre, and give Satisfaclion 
 
 *• to the People of his being a falfe Pro- 
 
 " phet." 
 
 Whether ?ilat was at all intent on the 
 Prevention of Fraud in this Cafe, or would 
 not willingly have connived at it, to in- 
 crcafe the Divifions and Diftradions of our 
 then unhappy Nation, may be queflion'd*: 
 But the Requeft of our Chief t^riefh vns 
 fo reafonable, and their Importunitys fo 
 urgent, that he could not refill them ^ and 
 therefore order'd them a Watch for th^ 
 
 C Sepui- 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 Sepulchre, which they might make as 
 fare, as they could, againft Fraud atid 
 Impoflure, till the thirc^ Day, 
 
 ■ Whereupon our C/;/^/ Pri^J deliberate, 
 what nieafures were fitted to be taken to 
 thisPiirpofe. And as I can't, and don't 
 brieve any Man elfe can, devife any bet- 
 ter for the fscurity of the Sepulchre a- 
 gainit Fraud, than v/hat they took , fo I 
 admire and applaud their Prudence, Cir- 
 cumfpedion, and Precaution in the Cafe. 
 They feaP J the St07ie at the mouth of the 
 Sepulchre, and placed a Guard of Sol- 
 diers about it *, which were Two fuch cer- 
 tain means for the Prevention or Detec- 
 tion of Cheat in a Refurredion, as are 
 not to be equall'd by any other. 
 
 They feaVd the Stone of the Sepulchre, 
 which, tho it was no Security at all a- 
 gainft Violence, yet was an abfolute one 
 againft Fraud. How the Stoie which fit- 
 ted the Mouth of the Sepulchre, as a Door 
 do's the Entrance into a Room, was fealM, 
 I need not defcribe. The ufe and man- 
 ner of fealing of Doors of Clofets, of 
 Chefts, and of Papers is common ; and 
 a^S it is an obvious Expedient, for the 
 Satisfadion of the Signators, againft De- 
 ceit '^ fo it has been an antient as well as 
 a modern Praclice. Nsbuchadnez,z,ar ('3) 
 
 (3) Dariel, Cap. vi. 17. 
 
( .. ) 
 
 fcalM the Door of the Den of Lion?, 
 wherein Daniel w-is cad, with hi''- own 
 Signet: And wherefore did He fo) Foe 
 the Satisf.idionof himCelfand of his Cour- 
 tiers, when he came again to open and 
 compare the Signature' with his Signer, 
 that no Art nor Artitice had been ufed for^ 
 the Prefervation of Daniel. So our Chief 
 Priejh feal'd the Stone of Jefits's Sepul- 
 chre, which they defign d to b:- preCent at 
 the opening of, on the third Day, the 
 Time appointed by Jefns for his Refur- 
 reaion, and then give ample Satisfi8:ion 
 to the People, that thero was a real oc 
 could be no Refurredion of his Body. 
 Wherefore elfe did they feal the Stone of 
 his Sepulchre? 
 
 Your Grotiits (4) thinks, that Pilat's 
 Seal was athx'd to the Stone of the Sepul- 
 chre •, but, as I believe, Pilat little con- 
 cern'd himfclf about the Prevention of De- 
 ceit here-, fo I much queftion it. It is 
 more reafonable to think that the Chief 
 Friefls and other Civil Magiftrates of Je- 
 nifaUm with their feveral Seals, which 
 could not be openM but by themfelves 
 without fufpicion of Fraud, fign'd the 
 
 (4) Adducor ut credam Pilati Annulo ct hunc Lapt- 
 4t.'in (ignatum. laLoc.Matt. 
 
 C 2 ' Stone 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 Stone, and intended to be prefent, on tlie 
 Day appointed, at the opening of the 
 Sepulchre-, not doubting, what no body 
 could queflion, but J^/mj would wait their 
 coining, and arife to Life if he could, in 
 the fight of themfelves, and of a vaft Con- 
 courfe of People, that were fure to at- 
 tend on them to behold the Miracle. Such 
 a llefurredion would have been of Satif- 
 faclicn to the whole Nation •, and fuch a 
 Refurrcdion, reafonably fpeaking, Jefus 
 would, if he could, have vouchfafed in 
 Accommodation to the feaUng of the 
 Stone. 
 
 But, notwithftanding this Precaution, 
 in fealing of the Stone, the bed that could 
 be taken again ft Fraud, Jejns's Body 
 was privately llipt off, early in the Morn- 
 ing of the Day before, and a Refurredlion 
 preten<led by his Difciples-, and you 
 would have us and our Anceftors to be- 
 lieve, there was no Deceit in the Cafe ^ 
 tho confelTedly none of the Sealers of 
 the Sepulchre were prefent : Who can 
 believe it > Was or can there be any 
 Impofture more againft Senfe and Reafon 
 palm'd upon the Underftandings of Man- 
 kind ? If there had been a real Refurre£ti- 
 pn, ths Sealers of the Stone would have 
 
 been 
 
( M ; 
 
 been the Openers of the Sepulchre , where- 
 fore elfc was the Stone feaTJ ^ 
 
 A Qjaeftion, that here ariles, is. On 
 whit Day and what Time of the Day, 
 did our Chief Priefis, the Sealers of the 
 Stone, exped, what they could not think 
 would ever come to pafs, J^'/hs'^s Refur- 
 redion ? Or what was the hxtcnt cf the 
 Time meant by Jefjis, when he faid that 
 after three Days, or on the third Day after 
 his Paflion, he (liould rife again > Jf any 
 Impoflor or Prophet like Jefus lliould in 
 this Age fo predid his Refurreclion, and 
 be executed on a Fry day ^ the Day for his 
 Refurreftion would be prefumed to be 
 Monday^ and not Sunday Morning before 
 Day. And I humbly conceive former 
 Ages and Nations, and our Nation in 
 particular did compute after this Fafhion. 
 Accordingly on Monday our Chief Priejls, 
 I don't doubt, intended to be prefent at 
 the opening of the Seals of the Sepulchre, 
 and to behold the Miracle : But Jefus*s 
 Body was clandeftinely moved off early 
 on Sunday^ (the Day b?fore that fignified 
 and predided for his Refurrcdion) to the 
 Laughter more than to the furprizeof our 
 Anceftors, at the Notoriety of the Fraud 
 committed, and at the Vanity of a Rc- 
 furrcdion pretended upon it. And I may 
 
 appeal^ 
 
( H ) 
 
 appeal, even to your Chief Friefls of the 
 Church, whether here's not another Note 
 of Cheat and Impoflure^ and whether 
 the Difciples were not afraid to truft Je- 
 fiis^s Body, it's full time, in the Grave •, 
 becaufe of the greater Difficulty to carry 
 it off afterwards, and pretend a Refur- 
 re^lion upon it. 
 
 But becaufe your Divines (who have 
 fingular Knacks at making two Nights and 
 a full Day, that Jefus was buried, to be 
 three Days and three Nights •, and whofe 
 various Ways of Computation! always fmile 
 at) do ailert that Sunday was the third Day , 
 on which, in x\ccomplifhment of Jonahh 
 Prophecy, and of his own Prediclion, he 
 was to rife again •, I will fuppofe fo with 
 them, and will, if they pleafe, grant that 
 our Chief Priejls, the Sealers of the Sepul- 
 chre, expeded his Refurredion on that Day, 
 and intended, for the opening of the Seals, 
 to be prefent at it. 
 
 But at what Time of Day were they 
 to come or could b^ expected at the Se- 
 pulchre? Not long before Noon. But 
 Jeftts*s Body was gone betimes in the 
 Morning, before our Chief Friefs could 
 be out of their Beds ; and a barefaced In- 
 fringment of the Seals of the Sepulchre was 
 made againft the Laws of Honour and 
 
 Hone ft V, 
 
f '5 ) 
 
 Honcfly, and a Rcfarreftiott confidently 
 talk'd of by the Difciples ^ and yet your 
 Chriftian Friefthood at this Day would 
 have us to believe, there was no Fraud 
 and Deceit in all this ! O mod mon- 
 ftrous ! 
 
 If our Chief ?riejls had trefpafs'd npon 
 Jcfus*i> Patience, and would not attend at 
 the Sepulchre for the opening of the Seal?, 
 on the Day and Time appointed ^ if they 
 had been for confining him longer in the 
 Grave than was meet, according to Pro- 
 phecy, then his Rcfurreclion, without their 
 Prefence, had been excufableand juflifiible. 
 But this his pretended Rifing to Life, 
 not only a Day before the Chief priefts 
 could imagine he would, or earlier in the 
 Morning than he fhould, for the Sake of 
 their requilite Prefence, is, together with 
 the Fracture of the Seals againtb the Law 
 of Security, fuch a manifeft and indifpu- 
 table Mark and Indication of Fraud, as is 
 not to be equall'd in all or any of the 
 Impoflures, that ever were attempted to be 
 put upon the Worl.i. 
 
 In fliort, by the Sealing of the Stone 
 of the Sepulchre we arc to underftand 
 nothing lefs than a Covenant enterd into, 
 bct^vccn omCheifFriefls and the ApojUeSy 
 by which Jifus^s \'eracity, Power and 
 
 AleJ/iahfbip 
 
r >6 ) 
 
 MeJ/iahfiip was to be try'd^ Tho we read 
 not of the Apoftles giving their Con Cent to 
 the Covenant, yet it was reafonably pre- 
 fumM and eould not have been refus'd, if 
 askM. The Condition of the feal*d Cove- 
 nant was,. that \ijefus arofe from the dead 
 in the Prefence of our CheifPriejts upon 
 their opening the Seals of th» Sepulchre^ 
 at the Time appointed ^ then was he to be 
 acknowledg'd to be the MeJJiah : Bat if he 
 continued in a corrupt and putritied ftate 
 of Mortality, then was he to be granted 
 to be an Impoftor : Very wifely and right- 
 ly agreed 1 And if the Apoftles had flood 
 to this Covenant, Chriftianity had been 
 nipt in its Bud, attd fapprefs'd in its Birth. 
 But they had other Views and another 
 Game to play at all Adventures. The 
 Body was to be removed and a Refur- 
 redion pretended to the Delulion, it pof- 
 iibe* of all Mankind, in which they have 
 been more faccefsful than could be imagin'd 
 upon a Project that had fo little Senfe or 
 Reafon, fo little Colour of Truth or Arti- 
 fice in the Contrivance and Execution of 
 it. Our CheifFriefls were apprehenfive 
 at firfl of their flealing the Body away^ 
 and pretending a Refurredion : But af- 
 ter the fealing of the Stone, thofe fears 
 vanifli'd , becaufe upon the ftealing the 
 
 Bodyjs 
 
( '7 ) 
 
 Body, away a^ainfl fucll fccurirv ^nd Pre- 
 caution, the Friud would be fclf evident, 
 and want no Demonlhation and Proof of 
 ir, Butj for all this Freca-Jtion, I Ciy, the 
 Body was in a biireficed Manner taken 
 away, a Refarredion talk'd of, and to the 
 Amazement of every one, who can think 
 freely, has been beleived thro' all Ages 
 of the Church lince. Upon the whole 
 then, 1 think, you miy as well fay, when 
 a feal'd C.lofct is broken open, and the 
 Treafure gone without the Privity of the 
 Signatory', that there*s no wrong done j as 
 that in the Refurredion of Jefus, there 
 was no Fraud. The Cafes are equal and 
 parallel. What then can your Chriftian 
 Friejls fay to this demonftrative Argu- 
 ment of a manifeft and bare-faced Cheat 
 in Jefus^s Refurredion > I have been 
 thinking, what they will or can fay ; 
 and upon the mature fl Conlideration 1 
 don't Hnd they can make any other than 
 one or more of thefe fhuttling Anfwersto 
 
 It, VIZ, 
 
 ^ T, That it was impofllble for the Dif- 
 ciples to Steal the Body of Jefus away, 
 becaufe of the Watchfulnefs of the Guards ^ 
 and therefore there was a real Rcfurrec- 
 tion, tho the Che:/ Friefis and Sealers 
 of Sepulchre were no: prcfent at it. 
 
 D 2. That 
 
( «8 ) 
 
 7. That tho the Cheif Priefls and Seal- 
 ers of the ftone of the Sepulchre were 
 not prefenr, as I fay they ought to 
 have been, to behold the Miracle -^ yet 
 his Kefurreclion was afterwards made as 
 manifeft to them, as if they had been 
 there prefent. 
 
 3. That if Jefus did not really arife 
 from the dead, the Beleif of his Kefur- 
 reclion could never have been fo propaga- 
 ted at firfl, nor would have been retain'd 
 in the World for fo many Ages (ince. 
 
 I can think of no other iVnfwers, and 
 believe it irapoflible for your Chriftian 
 Trie (is to form any other, to the fore- 
 faid Argument of Fraud in Jefus's Re- 
 furrection : But how weak, frivolous and 
 infuflicient tliey all and every one are, 
 will appear upon a little Examination in- 
 to them. 
 
 J. Then, againft the forefaid demon- 
 ftrative Argument of Fraud, it may be 
 pretended, That it was iffipojjible for the 
 Difciphs to (leal the Body <?/ Jefus away, 
 'hecaiife of the Watchfulnefs of the Guards ; 
 and therefore there was a real Refiirrec- 
 tioriy tho the Cheif Priefis, the Sealers of 
 the Sepnhhrc were not prefent at it. 
 
 To 
 
 i 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 To which I reply, and confcfs, thit if 
 it was iinpoflible to evade the Guards of 
 the Sepulchre, then there was a re-il Rcfur- 
 reclion ^ but if there was but a bire Pof- 
 libility of evading thcin, then this AnlVer 
 is of no Force. And I am of Opinion, 
 that the Thing was not only poflible, 
 but eify, feaflible, and praclicable. 'I'ho 
 the Rowan Soldiers were of as much Fi- 
 delity and Integrity as any of their Pro* 
 fellion j yet it is well know^, that fuch 
 Creatures are fubjed to Bribery and Cor- 
 ruption, if the Difcipleshad any Money 
 to tempt them with ; Or if their Faith- 
 fulnefs to' their Trufl: wns untainted^ 
 yet it is not improbable, bat their Offi- 
 cers, at the Direction of Pi/^^, who found 
 his Account in the Diftractions of our 
 Nation, might give them the Hint to wink 
 hard, at the Commidlon of fach a Fraud. 
 But not to infifl on either of thcfe Ways 
 to evade the Watch -^ cur Anccflors faid, 
 what your Evangelif] has recorded, that 
 the Difciples, taking the opportunity 
 of the fleep of the Guards, carryM the 
 Body of Jefiis off ^ which was a thing 
 both poflible and probable. 
 
 Of what Number the Wdtch did confifl 
 is uncertain. Your frhiclj; (5) fiys th:y 
 
 C5) Upon the Place in Matthew. 
 
 D z were 
 
( 20 ; 
 
 were fixty ; but he has no Reafon nor Au- 
 thority to think, they were fo many. If 
 they had been to be a Guard again ft Vio- 
 lence, I (hould eafily have beheved they 
 were more ; but in as much as they were 
 orly a [F/^rJi^againft Fraud, and againftany 
 cafual defaceing of the Seals on the Stone, 
 before the Cheif FrieJIs came to open the 
 Sepulchre, three or four Soldiers were 
 fufiicient, and 1 don't think, there were 
 any more fet to this Purpofe. 
 
 It is not then at all improbable, th:tfo 
 few Soldiers fhould be faft afleep at that 
 time of Night, or fo early in the Morn- 
 ing, when theclandeftine Work was done ^ 
 efpecially after keeping fuch a Gaudy day^ 
 as was the Feail of the PaiTover, which, 
 like the Feftivals of other Nations, . was 
 celebrated with Excefs. Foot Soldiers 
 then, ydu may be fure, upon the Bounty 
 of one or other did no more want, than 
 they would fcruple to take their Filly 
 which like an Opiat lock'd up their Senfes 
 for that Night, when the Difciples, be- 
 ing aware of the lucky opportunity, car- 
 ry'd the Body of Jefns off fafely. 
 
 And where*s the Abfurdity to fuppofe, 
 that the Difciples themfelves might con- 
 trive the Intoxication of the Guards ? 
 iJerodotiis tells us a Story of a dead- 
 Body's 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 Body's being flolen away by fach aa 
 Artiticc. And I don't think the Difci- 
 ples pf Jefiis either fo foolifli or con- 
 fcientious as not to take the Hint and 
 cnterprife the like Fraud. Fftcr, who 
 upon occafion, could fwear and cinfs 
 like a Trooper, would hardly fcruple to 
 fuddle a few Foot-Soldiers. Bat which 
 way foever it ciine to pafs, the 
 Watch were afleep, which is neither hard 
 to conceive nor believe -^ and then the 
 Difciplcs executed that Fraud, which has 
 been the DeluQon of Nations and Ages 
 fince. 
 
 Your Evangelifis would hint thit the 
 Cbeif Pr lefts gave Money to the Soldiers 
 to fay, they were allcep, when the Dif- 
 ciplcs ftole the Body of Jefus away, 
 as if they were bribM to a f^lfe Tefli- 
 mony;> bjt there neither was nor could 
 be any fuch Thing. If there had been a 
 real Refurreclion to their Aftonifhoient 
 and Amazement, as it is reprefenred in 
 your Gofpcls, no Money could fo footi 
 have corrupted them to a filfe Witnef?, 
 being under fuch Fears of God and of 
 , Jefus. I don't doubt but our Cbeif 
 Friefls mi^ht reward the Soldiers for fpeak- 
 ing; the Truth, and exhort them to per- 
 fift in ir, with a Promife to fecure them 
 
 againft 
 
f 22 ) 
 
 againfl: the Anger of filat for their fleep- 
 iiig and negled of their Duty. 
 
 Here then is no Anfwer to the forefaid 
 Argument or Objedion againfl: Jefns'^ 
 Refurredion. It was not at all impoflible 
 fjr the Difciples, who ftole the Body- 
 away, to avoid the Guards, who were 
 and may reafonably be fuppofed to be 
 lull'd aileep, when the Difciples did it. 
 Neither is there any more Pbrce in the 
 
 2. Second Anfwer to it, vi-z>. That 
 "^oo the Che'if Prie/ls, the fealers of the 
 Stone of rhs Sepulchre^ were ?iot prefent^ 
 opening the Seals and beholdi?ig the Mi- 
 racle ^ yet his RefnrreBion was after- 
 wards as manifeft to thefn, as if they 
 had been there prefent. 
 
 Ay, this is fomewhat like an Anfwer, if 
 there be any Truth in it. A Manifeitation 
 of Chriflrifen afterwards to our ChetfPrieJis 
 would have been equivalent to their P re- 
 fence at, and fight of the Miracle. But 
 how was his Refurredion manifefl:ed to 
 them.<? did Jefus ever afcerwards appear 
 perfonally to them, to their fatisfadion, 
 thit he was the fime Perfon, whom they 
 crucified and put to Death for a Deceiver 
 and falfe Prophet ? No ^ this is not once 
 aiferted by your Evangelifls or ever infi- 
 nuated by any antient or modern Writer. 
 How then wisjefus's Refurredion made 
 
 manifeft 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 i)i:inlfcft to our Cheif Frief^s? Why; your 
 ly'ivines fay, what is all that can be faid 
 here, that the Words of the Difcipks, who, 
 being Men of Honclty, Sunplicity and In- 
 tegrity, would not Lye, are to be taken 
 for ir. Very fine indeed f our Cheif Priefts 
 are to take the Words of the Difciples foe 
 Jefus\ Refurredion, and look upon them 
 as Men of Veracity, when they knew and 
 experienced them to be grand Cheats, not 
 only in Stealing the Body of Jf/z^j away, 
 but in the known hnpo (litre oi Lai^^arus^s 
 Refurre£^ion, or your Evangelift had never 
 implicitly called it fo. When therefore 
 Deceivers will not be Lyers \ nor Theives, 
 Diljhublfrs of the Fad, they are accufed of, 
 1 will own Jefus's RefurrecVion to have 
 been manifefl: enough to our Cheif Pnejis. 
 There's no "Need of more x'Vrgument here^ 
 He that bellows more Words on ir, lofes 
 Time. 
 
 It has been a Conflant Objeftion of us 
 Jews againft the Refurrection of Jefus, 
 that he appeared not perfonally afterwards 
 to our Cheif PrieJIs^ to Pilat and to others 
 his Crucificis and Infultor?, to upbraid 
 them with their Infidelity and ill Treat- 
 ment of him. Whether jefus w^ould not 
 have done fo, if he really arofe from the 
 dead ^ and whether he ought not in Rea- 
 fon, for the Conviclion and Converfion of 
 
 Unbe- 
 
Unbeleivers, to have done To, with me Is 
 no Qjjeflion, Celfus of old (6) in the 
 Name of the Jews made the Objeftion *, 
 and Olibio^ ^ late Rahbi (7) has repeated it* 
 But in all my Reading and Converfation 
 with Men or Books 1 never met with a 
 tolerable Anfwer to it. Or'igen and Lim- 
 borch, the Writers againit Celfus and 
 OlibiOf gently Hide over theObjcdion, as 
 if it was too hot or weighty to be touch*d 
 and handled by them. To recite the poor, 
 Ihort and infufficient Anfwers of thofe 
 two great Authors, to the Objedion, 
 would be the Expofing of them, and 
 giving fach Strength to the Objedion, 
 which it don't want. Therefore 1 will 
 leave the Objedion, which Origen (8) 
 owns to be a conhderable one, to the 
 Meditation of your modern x\dvocates for 
 Chriitianity *, and when they can prove, 
 that Jefiis after his Refurredion did per- 
 fonally appear to hisCruciliers, the Cbeif 
 
 (6) Si Jefus volebat revera declarare fuam divinatn 
 Potentiam, debuerat fuis Irfultatoribus, ipiiq; Pr^efidi 
 qui capitaletn fententiam contra fe tulerat, denique ex- 
 teris omnibus fe oitendere. /« Orig. Lib, ii. contra Cel- 
 fum, 
 
 (J) In Limborchii Arnica Collatione cum Judxo. 
 
 (8) Magna Sane Res et miranda occurric hoc loco, 
 qu« non bolum aliquem ex vulgo Credentium exercere 
 poflet, Sed perfeftiores etii<m ; cur ncn Dominu.s poft 
 Refurreftionem aeque ac fuperioribus temporibus confpi- 
 ciendam le pra:buerit» In Lib, ii, cont. Celfum. 
 
 Pnefs 
 
r ^5 ) 
 
 ^ridjls and Sealers of the Sepulchre, to 
 their Confutation ^ or that, according 
 to the Law of Reafon, he ought not to 
 have appcar'd to them, then 1 will turn 
 Chrijlian, and grant that in the Argu- 
 ment above, which proves plain Fraud 
 in the Refurreclion, there's no Force nor 
 Truth. 'In the mean time Jefus's Ncn- 
 Appearance to tlic Cheif Friejis\s a Con- 
 firmation, that he did not arife from the 
 Dead, but that his Body was flolen away, 
 or he would have waited in the Grave, 
 the coming of the Sealers of the Stone, 
 and their regular opening of the Sepul- 
 chre, to the Convidion and Gonverlion 
 of all there prefent and Confirmation of 
 the Faith of all Ages and Nations (ince. 
 But, 
 
 9. A third Anfwer to the forefaid Ar- 
 gument of Fraud in the Refurredlion of 
 Jefits^ drawn from the Nature, Ufa and 
 Delign of fealing the Stone of the Sepul 
 chre, is, that tho the Sealers of the Sepul- 
 chre were not prefe?itj opening the Seals 
 and beholding the Miracle •-, yet Jefus did 
 certainly arife from the Dead, or the Be- 
 lief of his RefiirreBion could never have 
 been at fir(l propagated by the ^pojlles^ 
 nor would for fo many Ages of the Church 
 Jince havejiood its Ground* 
 
 E Hcre'g 
 
( r6 ) 
 
 Here's as little Reafon in this Anfwer 
 as in either of the two former. Who 
 knows not, that many Errors in Philofo- 
 phy, and as many Frauds in Religion have 
 been fometimes sccidentaliy, fometimes 
 deiignedly efponsM and palm'd upon Man- 
 kind, who in Procefs of Time become fo 
 wedded to them thro* Prejudice and Jn- 
 tereft, that they will not give themfelvcs 
 Leave to enquire into the Rife and Foun- 
 dation of them. Falfe Miracles have been 
 common Things among Chriftians -^ and as 
 the -Refurredion of Jejtis is their grand 
 and fundamental one, fo it is not at all 
 difficult to account for the Rife, Propa- 
 gation and Continuance of the Belief of 
 it. 
 
 Why it has been believed thro* thefe 
 latter Ages of the Church, is no Wonder 
 at all. The Priefts had their Intereft in 
 it ; the ignorant and fuperilitious had 
 their Comfort in it ;, and the wife and 
 confiderate, for Fear of Perfecution, durft 
 not enquire into the Grounds of it. 
 
 The only difficulty here is to know, 
 upon what Principle, the Project and 
 Story of Jefus'^s Rcfurredion was at firft 
 devifed. And whether it was Ambition 
 or Revenge upon our ancient and phari- 
 faical Priefthood, that prompted the Apo- 
 ftles to it, is all one to me. Such bad 
 
 Prin- 
 
( 07 ) 
 
 Principles too often put Men upon def- 
 perite Attempts. But liou'-ever, an Iin- 
 pofture it wjc, for the Argument above. 
 To fay, the Apoftles and Confederates 
 in the Fraud would not have ilood to it, 
 and hive dyM for it, if the Refurrec- 
 tion had not been real Fadt, iignities 
 nothing. Miny Cheats and Criminals, 
 belides them, have aiferted their Inno- 
 cenc\% and deny'd their Guilt in the ut- 
 m jft cxrremity of Death, without the like 
 Views of Honour and Fame. The only 
 Thinc^, that's furpriling and aftonifliing 
 in this Shim-Miraclp, is that, tho it 
 was the mofl: manifcfl:, the moft bare- 
 faced, and the moft felf evident hnpolture 
 that ever was put upon the World ; yet 
 it has been the moft fortunate and fuc- 
 cefsful, having paft thro' many Ages and 
 Nations with Reputation and Renown-, 
 and might have continued for as many 
 Generations to come, but for the Argu- 
 ment above, that perfectly and clearly o- 
 verthrows its Credit. 
 
 But, fome may fay here, where was 
 the WifJoin and Providence of God, all 
 this while, to fuffer fo many Ages and 
 Nations to labour under fuch a Delu- 
 fion > Why, I'll tell you j The Provi- 
 dence of God in it wis, " To humble 
 M-inkind, in the pad, for their vain 
 E 2 Often- 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 Oftentation of Wifdom, Learning and 
 Sciefice faljly fo caWdj '' To Ihame 
 them for their Madnefs and Wicked- 
 nefs to perffcate one another for different 
 Cpinions in that Religion, whofe very- 
 Foundation is falfe and groundlefs , 
 ^* To caution them againft a blind and 
 implicit Faith for the future ^ againft 
 believing any thing out of the (ight and 
 reach of their XJnderftandings , '' To ad- 
 moni(h them of the neceffity of Liberty 
 to think, fpeak and write freely about 
 Religion, for the Corredion of Errors 
 and Difcovery of Truth ^ and laftly, 
 *' To reduce the World when it fhould be 
 ripe for it, to the golden Religion of 
 Nature, which upon the Teftimony of our 
 old Cahaliftical Dodors, and of your Je- 
 fits himfelf, is the Emi of the Law a?id 
 the Prophets- 
 
 And thus have I fpoken to the Jti- 
 fwers, which your Chrijiian Triefthood 
 jnay be prefumed to make, to the forefaid 
 Argument of Fraud in Jefns\ Refur- 
 re£lion, drawn from the Defign of our 
 Che'tf Friefts in fealing of the Stone of 
 his Sepulchre. I Ihould not have con- 
 cern'd myfelf to fpeak to thefe their 
 fuppofed Jnfwen, but to fave them the 
 Trouble of making them, and the Imagi- 
 nation of there being foipe Force in 
 |hera, A^ 
 
( 29 ; 
 
 As to the Storie?, in your Evangelijlsy 
 of Jc'fus*s fevcral Appear^mces after his 
 pretended Refurreclion, foaietiines to the 
 Women, and at other Times to his Dif- 
 ciples, I am not at all obliged to refute 
 them. If thcfe Appearances had been 
 more frequent, better circumftanced, and 
 more folemnly averr'd, they would have 
 wanted no Confutation. There's no doubt 
 on't, but the Difciples, who, for the Ar- 
 gument above, unquedionably flole Je- 
 fnsh Body away, in order to pretend a 
 Refurreclion, would talk much of his 
 appearing to them, and of the Conver- 
 fation afterwards, they had with him. 
 And if they had told better and more plau- 
 fible Tales of their fight of, and Conver- 
 fation with him, it woukl be nothing to 
 thePurpofe; better^ I fa)^ and more plaw 
 fible Tales than thofe upon Record, which 
 for Abfurdity, Nonfenfe and Incoherence 
 carry their own Confutation alung with 
 them. 
 
 Whoever blends together the various 
 Hi (lory of the four Ev angel ifh^ as to Je- 
 fits\ Appearances after his RcfurrcLlion, 
 will hnd himfelf, not only perplexM how 
 to make an intelligible, confident, and fen- 
 fible Storyof it ^ butmufl ^ with Celfus(o\ 
 
 (g) Quamvis Celfus has Jefu port Refurreafoncm Ap- 
 paritiones conferre conetur cum vulgarihus Spcdrij & 
 Vilioriibus. JnOri^en, Lib, Vi, antra Celfum. 
 
 needs 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 needs think it, if he clofely think on't, 
 like lome of the confufed and incredible 
 womanifti Fables of the Apparitions of the 
 Ghofts of dcceafed Perfons, which the 
 Chriftian World in particular has in former 
 Ages abounded with. The Ghofts of the 
 Dead in this prefent Age, and efpecially 
 in this Proteftant Country have ceas'd to 
 appear ^ and we now-a-days hardly ever 
 hear of fach an Apparition : And what is 
 the Reafon of it > Why, the Beleif of thefc 
 Storys King banifhM out of Men's Minds, 
 the crafty and vaporous forbear to tiump 
 them upon us. There has been fo much 
 clear Proof of Fraud in many of thefe 
 Storys, that the wife and confiderate Part 
 of Minkind has rejeded them all, except- 
 ing this of Jefiis^ which to Admiration 
 Jaas ftood its Ground. It's no wonder in- 
 deed, that the Clergy^ who are more in- 
 credulous than other Folks as to Storys of 
 Apparitions, do ftick to this of Jefus^ the 
 only one excepted out of all others. It 
 is a fvveet morfel of Faith, and they rea- 
 dily fwallow and digeft it, becaufe they 
 live by it •, otherwife this Story of Je- 
 fus's Appearances after Death had hardly 
 efcaped the Fate of other Apparitions^ 
 nay, Wvould have been rejecLed, one of the 
 ^rll: of them ;, there b:iiig hardly one, 
 I du'e f.iy it, among all the Storys of 
 
 Appa- 
 
( 5' ) 
 
 Apparitions, were they to be collc£ted to- 
 gether ; that's more abfurd and incredible 
 than this of Ji'fus. 
 
 1 have not here Room to make any Re- 
 marks on yoar Evangelical Story oijefus^s 
 Apparitions alter his Death ^ and if I had, I 
 durll not do it, for fear of an offenlive 
 Ludicroufnefs, and of tranfgrefling the 
 Rules of Decency y Sobriety and Sedatenefs 
 of Argument, you have confined me to. 
 But however, 1 can*t read the Story with- 
 out fmiling, and there are two or three 
 Falfagcs in it, that put me in mind of 
 Robhifon Crufo's filling his Pockets with 
 Biskets, when he had neither Coat, Waft- 
 coat nor Breeches on. Sometimes I think 
 your Evangelijh wanted Wit to adapt 
 their Tale to Senfe, and to accommodate 
 the Tranfidion to Nature ^ and fometimes 
 I think them crafty, and were minded, 
 like Daniel cle Foe in his forefaid Romance, 
 to put the Banter upon the Credulity of 
 Mankind, with fome difguifed and latent 
 Abfurdities, thit, in the Conclufion and 
 Difcovcry, they might be heartily laugh'd 
 at for the Belief of them, I dare not, 
 I fay, fo much a hint at one of thefe 
 Abfurdities, lead 1 (liould be unwarily 
 tempted to crack a Jell: on it. Bat the 
 Time, 1 hope, is coming, when I Ihall 
 ufe more Freedom, And Ihould vour 
 
 Pricflhood 
 
( 3^ ) 
 
 Priefthood, in Proof of Jefm's Refur- 
 redion, urge any of tliefe Storys of his 
 corporal Prefence snd Appearance after 
 it, then I truft, they'll permit me to 
 to make as merry Defcants on them, as 
 your Bijhops^ when Academical Jefters^ 
 ufed to do on other Men's Bulls and 
 Blunders. 
 
 In the mean time I depend on the 
 foregoing fingle, fober and fedate Argu- 
 ment of Fraud in this grand Miracle, 
 which I found on the Nature and De- 
 lign of fealing the Sepulchre ^ and for 
 Confirmation of my Opinion and Proof 
 of Fraud in it, will conclude this Letter 
 with a parallel Cafe and Story, Not 
 many Years lince, one Dr. Einms^ of the 
 Society of the French Prophets, who in 
 their Infpirations were, like Jefus and his 
 Difciplcs of old, Declaimers againft the 
 Pharifaical Priefthood of this Age, did by 
 himfelf, or fome of his Fraternity did for 
 him, predid his Refurredion on a certain 
 Day, when there was a Concourfe of Peo- 
 ple about his Grave in vain to behold 
 the Miracle, as there would have been a- 
 bout Jefus^s Sepulchre, if he had lain 
 in it, his fall Time. But fuppoiing in 
 this Cafe, that the Magiftrates and Prieft- 
 hood of this City, to prevent a Cheat and 
 Delufion of the People, had intsrr'd the 
 
 tio&or 
 
( 3? ) 
 
 Do^or in a Chnrch-Vaulr, and fcalM the 
 Door of it agdinft the Day appointed for 
 his RefuiTediun, coininanding a Night- 
 Watch to look to the Vault that no Vio- 
 lence or Deceit be ufed : This would 
 have been a wife Precaution againft Fraud^ 
 as was in the Cafe of Jefus* But wh:^t 
 if his Fraternity, having a Mind, like Je- 
 fit/s Difciples to bambouzle the People 
 and Priefthood, had, fome of them drawn 
 the Watch afide to a Gin-^30p^ whilft o- 
 thers carry'd the Body off, pretending a 
 Refurredion > What would all reafonable 
 Men have faid here ? 1 hat it was an 
 impudent and barr-faced Impofture. But 
 to carry on the Farce ;> fuppofing, the 
 Do&or^s Fraternity hiid afterwards averr'd 
 that they had feen and convers'd with him 
 alive, fcveral Times, as before his Death ^ 
 and had told particular Storys of theic 
 Converfation with him j as firjl of all, 
 how he appear'd to fome of their Women 
 (who were admonilli'd of the Certainty of 
 his Refurredion by a Youth or an An- 
 gel or two, they could not tell whether^ 
 but they were as like to Angels, which 
 they never faw before in their Lives, as 
 Youths could be) who knew him, not by 
 his Countenance, for their Eyes were hoi Jen j 
 as by his Talk on Scripture- Prophecy, 
 which was his ufual Cant before his 
 
 F Death* 
 
( 34) 
 
 Death. And at another Time he appear^tJ 
 to his old Acquaintance, who knew hiin» 
 not by the Features of his Face, but by 
 an habitual Motion and Adion of his 
 Hand \n break'mg of Bread. And at ano- 
 ther Time he was corporally prefent, but 
 they thought, they faw a Spirit, About 
 eight Days after that^ he appear'd among 
 more of his old Friend?, but for all their 
 former Intimacy with him, fome of them 
 doubted whether it was the Do&or or 
 not. At another Time he came to them 
 in another Form and Shape, unlike to his 
 priftin one, but they were fure it was He 
 by his Ex portion of the Scripture. At 
 another Time, v/hen they were alTembled 
 together and the Doors were lock'd for 
 fear of the Clergy, the DoBor ilipt unex- 
 pectedly into their Company, either from 
 behind a Curtain, or miraculoufly en- 
 tered at the Key-hold. And the laft Time 
 he appear'd, there was one of his intimate 
 Friends had not known him, but by a 
 Sore, in his Breaf}, which the Power of 
 God in his Refurreclion did not heal : 
 After which, they faid, he va?iijFd away, 
 was taken up into Heaven, and they faw* 
 him no more. Suppofing;, I fay, the 
 French Prophets had told fuch like Sto- 
 rys of Doit or Ewms''S' Refurreclion, and 
 of his Appearances to them j what would 
 
 your 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 your Prieds and all other wife Men have 
 faid to it? Why, thit it was all idle 
 Tales, manifeft Lyes, Shim, and Impof- 
 ture ^ and that if the Dothr^ in Confu- 
 tation of the Errors of your Priefls, had 
 rifen to Life, God would have kept hun 
 in his Sepulchre, his full time, and have 
 rais'd him in the Prefenee of Pricfts, 
 Mjgiitrates and People^ and that he 
 would have vvalk'd afterwards publickly 
 in the Streets ^without Danger, to the 
 Satisfadion of all, who knew him, that 
 he was the faine Efums who died and 
 was bury'd : Withottt Danger^ I fay, from 
 the Populace, who would have been fo 
 far from affronting him, that they w^ould 
 have almofl adored him for the miracu- 
 lous Favour, God had done him in his 
 Refurreclion from the dead j and that 
 he would never have skulk'd about and 
 abfconded himfelf for forty Days toge- 
 ther, before he was pretended I y tranflated ; 
 and therefore there was nothing but no- 
 torious Deceit and Impoflure in all thefe 
 Pretences. 
 
 I need not make the Application of this 
 Cife and Story, which your Pr'iefts know 
 how to do for me. To {\\ here, that 
 there's none would be {o defperate to en- 
 gage in fuch a Fraud, as is thcfuppofed 
 Cafe of Dr. Efiims above, is a midike, 
 F 2 M'lny 
 
{ 36 ; 
 
 Many Thoufands for their Diverfion 
 would enterprife it ^ and the Storys of 
 the Apparitions of Ghofts, which are 
 almoft all the Frauds of the Crafty to 
 delude the ignorant, do prove it. 1 my 
 felf would be forward to concert fuch an 
 Intrigue, if it was but to put the Ban- 
 ter upon the Clergy, to ruftle their Tem- 
 per^-, and fecretly to laugh at them. No- 
 thing would deter me from it, but fears 
 of the Civil Magi ft rate,, which was not 
 the Danger of the Difciples of Jefiis-^ be- 
 caufe Vtlat^ for the fake of Rule over 
 the Jews, was a Countenancer of every 
 Fadion amongft them ^ and particularly 
 (lo) Tikerius, upon Pilafs Rcprefenta*- 
 tion of the matter, foon commanded that 
 the Difciples of Jefits fhould not be mo- 
 lefted, nor caird into Qj-ieftion : So the 
 Difciples ftood to the Fraud, told thef 
 Story of Jeftis rtfen fo often, till they 
 lelieved it themfelves, and drew Multi- 
 tudes into the Belief of it : Which Belief 
 mud have continued thro' all Genera*- 
 tions to come, but for my Argument of 
 Fraud, before urg'd and argued. 
 
 Here, Sir, before I conclude this Let- 
 ter, I think it iny Duty however to give 
 
 C?o) Comminatus eft Periculum Accufatoribu? Chrif- 
 ^ianoruq^. TertuJ. yjpol Cap, v. 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 you may Opinion of the Religion, that 
 Jefus and his Difciplcs were for intro- 
 ducing into the World. Tho 1 beleive, 
 what 1 have proved, his Refurredion to 
 be a Piece of Fraud, and his other Mira- 
 cles to have been all Artitice :, and tho 
 our CheifPriefts and ancient Nation are 
 juftitiable in the Sentence, that was pafs*d 
 and executed upon Jefus ^ yet I mud 
 do him and his Difciples the Juftice, to 
 own, that the Doclrine they taught was 
 for the mofl: Part of it, good, ufcfaland 
 popular, being no other than the Law 
 and Religion of Nature, which, all Na- 
 tions being wearied with their own Super- 
 ftitions, and (ick of the Burthen of their 
 Priefts, ran apace into. Accordingly one 
 (i i) of your ancient Fathers fays, that 
 they who lived according to the Law of 
 Nature^ were true Chnftians. And I muft 
 needs fay, that if Chriftians, in Proccfs 
 of Time, had not fophifticated this primi- 
 tive Religion of J ejus •, If they had not 
 built their fyftematical Divinity upon 
 him, and brought (Irange Inventions of 
 Men into his Worfliip ; If laflly, they had 
 not again fubjugated and entangled them- 
 fclves with another and worfe Yoke of 
 Bondage to an intolerable and tyrannical 
 
 ^ii) Ju(>in Martyr. In Jpol, ii. 
 
 Frieft- 
 
( 38) 
 
 Prieflliood of the Church, the World 
 might have enjoy 'd great Happinefs un- 
 der Jefiis's Religion, even that Happi' 
 nsfs which is now only to be expeded 
 upon a Difproof of his miraculous Refur- 
 redion, that has been the Foundation of a 
 inofl: confufed Superftru£lure of wild 
 Dod:rines and Opinions : Or more true- 
 ly fpeaking. That Happinefs of the ftate 
 of Nature, Religion and Liberty, which 
 may be look'd for upon the coming of 
 our Mejfiah^ the allegorical Accomplifher 
 of the Law and the Prophets -^ whofe Ad- 
 vent, upon the Tradition of our Cahalijis, 
 will be toward the latter End of the 
 Sixth grand Age of the Creation, to re- 
 move* from our Faces and our H*!^arts the 
 Vail of the Letter ; and in the mean 
 while I adhere to the urabratical Rite?, 
 Ceremonies and way of Worlhip, derived 
 from our Forefathers. 
 
 Thus, Sir, have I iiniQi'd my Letter on 
 Jefush Refurredion -^ and whether I hive 
 not did enough to juftify our JewlJJ} 
 Disbeleif of that Miracle, let your Cbeif 
 Priefis judge. I don't exped my Argu- 
 ment/ againil: it will be convincing of 
 any of your Preachers. They have a 
 potent Reafon for their Faith, which 
 we Jews ciVit come at •, or I don't know, 
 bat we might believe with them. 
 
 • I trufi 
 
C 39 ) 
 
 I truft you'll meet with no Moleftati- 
 on for the Publication of this Letter \ 
 neither do I think, it was any thing of 
 mine, inferted in your Difcourfcs, that 
 at any time brought Trouble on you. 
 It was your own Imprudence to rave, 
 as you do, againd EcciefiaJIicks, What 
 need had you to talk of the Mifcheifs 
 and Inconveniences of an Hireling Prieil:- 
 hood } What occafion had you to call 
 them Eccleliaftical Virmin, and to fpeak 
 of the Happinefs of Mankind upon their 
 Extindion } Thefe things are very pro- 
 vokinsf. And here's the true Sourfe, in 
 my Opinion, of all your Troubles ! 
 
 Tho 1 have here fhewn, that Chrif} is 
 not rife/i, yet I have more Wit than to 
 make the Inference of P/iul^ that their 
 Preaching is vain. Their Oratorv is 
 Ihll ufeful, if it be but to tickle the^Ears 
 and amufe the Underflandings of the Peo- 
 ple about Dodrines they underftand not, 
 whether true or falfe. And fuch an 
 order of Men, as are your Priellood, are, 
 by their Habit of long Robes, an Orna- 
 ment to Society ^ and it is an. Honour to 
 the Country to have them well fed and 
 did. Hid I Room for it, 1 could write a 
 curious Encomium in Praifeof them, and 
 tell the World of what Ufe and Advan- 
 tage, they have been, in all Ages. O 
 
 what 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 what Wars and Perfecutions might haVe* 
 been raisM in the World, but for their 
 pacitick Tempers ! How would Sin and 
 Immorality have broke in upon Man- 
 kind, like a Deluge, but for the Goodnefs 
 of their Lives and the Excellency of their 
 Precepts ! How has the Increafe and Mul- 
 titude of their warm Sermons been the 
 Ruin of Sata?i*s hot and divided Kingdom 
 of Darknefs and Error ! Its owing to 
 their Pains and Labours, that every Age, 
 for many paft, has been improving in Vir- 
 tue, till the prefent, which for Piety and 
 good Morals is that Perfcclion of Time, 
 which is not to be meliorated but by the 
 Reftitution of the golden Age, 
 
 So could I enlarge in Praife of your 
 Clergy •, and fo (hould you have done ^ 
 and then you might have difputed, as 
 you do, againft any Doctrines, Miracles 
 and Articles of Faith, without Molefta^ 
 tion. Try, if you can't corre£l that fun- 
 damental Error, you have committed. 
 Alfert ftill, if you can, with Dr. Rogers 
 the Necefiity of an eftablifh'd Priefthood, 
 well paid, for the Service of the King and 
 the Country, under ail Changes of Reli- 
 gion j which may be a means to retrieve 
 their Favour, and will beget in me a 
 better opinion of your Prudence, than at 
 
 prefent 
 
r40 
 
 prefcnt is enrertain'd by your Jffnred 
 Friend N. N. 
 
 So ends the Letter of my Friend, the 
 Jewijh Ral'ti, in which to my CoiDfortj 
 he has conform'd himfeif to the Rules of 
 SeJatenefs, Dc cency and Sobriety of xArga- 
 iment, prefcribM by the two great Bijhops 
 of London and Sr. Davids* If the weight 
 and foUdity of his Argument don*t grieve 
 the (-ler^y^ 1 am in no Fain for the Levity 
 and Ludicroufnefs of it. And whether 
 the weight and nature of his Argument 
 againfl: Jefits'*s Rcfurrection will at all 
 ftartle and furprife them, 1 know not ; 
 but I profcfs for my felf, that I might 
 have ftudy'd long enough for fach an 
 Argument agiinfl: it, as this Rabbi ^ with 
 his great gray Beard, has prefently hit off* 
 He told me beforehand, that his Thoughts 
 on Jefiis^s Rcfurreclion (hould be out of 
 the common Road of thinking ^ and I 
 muft needs fay, he has been as good as 
 his Word, or no Man ever kept his Pro- 
 mi fe. 
 
 There are two Things very remark- 
 able in his Argument : The One is, the 
 Ufe and Deiign of fealing the Stone of 
 Jefns*% Sepulchre, which he hys great 
 firefs on, to the Proof, of Fraud in his 
 Rcfurreclion •, and the other is, his Appli- 
 cation of thefe Words, the lafl Error (or 
 
 G as 
 
as lie reads Deceit or Impoflure) will Be 
 ivorfe tba?i the firft or former, in which 
 he makes the Cheif Priefis in their Speecli 
 to Filat, to refer to Lazanus Refurrec- 
 redion as the former known Impofture. 
 If his Application be jiifl: and true, the 
 'ijonfequence is that the Refurreclions of 
 Jefus ?nd Lazarus are both Impoftures. 
 It grieves me to the Heart to think of 
 this Confequence, which our Divines are 
 to fee to, and evade, if they can. No 
 fooner did I read his Application of the 
 forefaid Words, but I run to our Commen- 
 tators for another and better Expofition of 
 them : B'j.t ahs ! to my Sorrow, they 
 made nothing of them, but a fort of a 
 proverbial Exprefflon^ which the Cheif 
 Priefts mufl have fpoilM and knock'd out 
 of Joint. B^ing then under great Trou- 
 ble for the Truth of Chriftianity and the 
 Certainty of thefe two grand Miracles, 
 I refer the matter to our Learned Clergj^ 
 defiring them to be as fpeedy as they 
 can in another and more proper Inter- 
 pretation of the forefaid Words, or Jeivs 
 and LifidiHs v/ill run away with them 
 in th^'Rahbi's Senfc, to the Confutation 
 of our holy Religion. 
 
 1 confider'd lately, that Eaper drew 
 ni'^h, v/hcnitwas ufual for our Divines 
 
 in 
 
C4? ) 
 
 in their Pulpits, to inlifl: on the Proof ot 
 Jefius Rcfurrcdion • and therefore I 
 haltcn'd the Publicition of this />//- 
 coiirfe, thu they might have thefe two 
 peculiar Texts, vi^. of fdaling the S'one 
 of the Sepulchre, and of the lafi Error ov 
 Impofture will be worfi^ than the fir/I , to 
 treat on. He th it produces a Sermon or 
 Sermons, wrcfting the forcfaid rcxts out 
 of the Hands of my Rabbi, and puTting 
 another Senfe on them, to the Credit of 
 Jefits'^s and Lazarus\ Refurredion, 
 
 Erit mihi jnagnus JpoHo 
 
 and by my Confent fhill be the next 
 Arcb-Bijhop of Canterbury. 
 
 But my Heart akes a little for our Vji- 
 vines^ and I almoft dcfpair of their clean 
 Solutions of the forefaid two Difhcultys. 
 Whit mufl they do then? Why, they 
 mufl give up their Religion as well as 
 their Churchy or go along with mc to 
 Fathers for their myftical Interpretuion 
 of the whole Story uf J'-fn^^s Kefurrcc- 
 tiop. 
 
 That the Fathers, without queftioning 
 their Belief of Jefus*s corporal . Ref-ir- 
 rcdion, univerfally interpreted the Sto- 
 ry and every part of it myiticilly, is 
 G 2 mofl: 
 
( H) 
 
 moll: certain. St. Hilary (12) enume^ 
 rates many Particulars of the Story, and 
 intimates what they are typical and figu- 
 rative of, as any one may fee by the Ci- 
 tation referred to, which 1 have not Room 
 to rranflate and illuftrate. 
 
 St.. Auguftin (13) fays, that Jefus's Re- 
 furreclion trora the dead at that Tune, was 
 
 (ii) Quod autcm a Jofeph rogato Pilato ut Corpus 
 redderet & lindone involvitur, & in Monumento novo 
 in Petra exclfa reponitur, & Saxum Oftio Monumenti 
 advolvitur: Quanquam (if Ordo Geflorum, & fepelirt 
 eum erat necefTe, qui refurreftuius erat a mortuis , ta- 
 men non Hne Rerum aliquarum Momento expre(Ta funt 
 fingula. Jofeph Apoftolorum habet fpeciern : & idcircQ 
 qianquani in duodecem numero Apoftolorum non fiierit, 
 Difcipulus Domini nuncupatur. Pic munda iindonc cor- 
 pus involvit; & quidem in hoc eodem linceo repertmus 
 de c'-1o ad Petrum univer forum Animantiiim genera 
 f'lmmiiTa. Ex quo forte non fuperflue intelligitur fub 
 lintei hujub nomine confepeliri Chrifto Ecdeliam ; quia 
 turn in CO. ut in Confuiione Eccleuae mundorum atque 
 immundorum Animalium fuerit corgel^a diverlitas. 
 Domini fgitur Corpus tarquam per Apoifolorum doc- 
 trinam in vacuam & novam requiem Lapidis excifi, 
 vi^. in peftus duritize Gentilis quodam do6trin;E opere 
 cxcifum Chriftus infertur, rude fcilicet & novum, & 
 nuUo a itea ingrefiu tinioris Dei pervium. Et quia ni- 
 hil Procter eum oportcat in pecftora nollra penetrare 
 L;:pis Oliio advolvitur: ut quia nullus antea in nos 
 divin.'E Cognitionis Auftor fuerat illatus, nullus abfque 
 eo poflea inferatur. Metus deinde furandi Corporis^ 
 & Sepukhri Culiodia atque Obfignatio, Stultitix atque 
 Jnfidelitatis TeiHmonium eft ; quod (ignare Sepukhrum 
 ejus vpluerint, cujus praxepto corfpexitfent de Sepulchrq 
 mortuum fufcitatum. /« Lcc. Mat. 
 
 C13J Ad hoc enim Dcminus hodie rcfurrexit, ut Ima. 
 ginem nobis future Refarrectionis oiienderet. Jn Scrm, 
 clx'.'iii, jippsr.d, 
 
 to 
 
( 45 ; 
 
 to exhibit an Image nnd Rcfcmblance of 
 his future and myfticjl Rcfurrediun. 
 And cliewhere fiys (14) thjt its a hdy 
 Plcifurc to confider and (earch for the 
 things lignided by the Story of it. 
 
 That Origen is of the (ame Ooinion, no 
 body need qaeflion. A muhitude of his 
 Tcftiinonies might be produced to this 
 Purrofe, but I Ihall mention only one 
 (15), wherein he alTerts, that by the Se- 
 pulchre of ^'^^///j-, is to be underflood the 
 Letter of the Scrintures, in which, as ia 
 a Rock, he is repohted. 
 
 St. "John oijerdfahm (16) by the Cru- 
 cifiers o{ Jefits underftands f ilfe Teachers, 
 meining Muitfters of the Letter to be 
 fure, becaufe he himfelf was a great 
 Allegorift. 
 
 C14) Qi»id fingula rgnlficent, quxrere fa rfla" quidem 
 Delicije funt. InJohan.Evang. C. xx. TraS. 120. 
 
 (ic;) Monumeotuin Chrifti ell divfna Scriptura, In 
 qua Divinitatis & Humanltatis ejus mylteria dcnfitate 
 Litter.T, veluti quadam muniuntur Petra. Jn Diverfat 
 Bo mil. 2. 
 
( \(> ) 
 
 St. Hilary {2.y^ that (17) Barahbas is a 
 1y]^Qoi A 7iti-Chrifi; and by Anti-Chrift, 
 as I have elfe where fhewn out of the ba- 
 thers, is meant the Letter of the Scrip- 
 tures, which modern Commentators and 
 Crucitiers of Jefns would prefer to the 
 Spirit. For thefe are the two. Letter 
 and Spirit, the Chrifi and Anti-Chrifi, that 
 are contrary one to another. 
 
 St. Jerome (18) fays, that by the Vail of 
 the Temple, rent at Jefus's Refurrection, 
 is to be underftood the opening the Vail 
 of the Letth of the Law and the Prophets 
 for the Manifeftation of the divine Myf- 
 teryscontain'd in them. And by the rend- 
 ing of tlie Rocks according (i^) to him is 
 to be underftood the Apertion of the Ora- 
 cles of God, that were before as hard as a 
 Rock, till his fpiritual Refarredion for the 
 llluftration of them. And by the Earth- 
 
 (ij) Inter pretatip autem Nominis Barabbae eft Patris 
 filius : jam itaque Arcanum Infidelitatis futarx oftendi- 
 tur, Chrifto Patris filium prsferendo, Anti ChvilJum 
 fcilicet hominem Peccati & Diaboli filium, potiufq; 
 adhortantibus principibus lliis eligunt, Damnationi re- 
 fervatam, quam Salutis Authorem, /« Zoi, Mat. 
 
 fi8) Velum TempU fci/Tun eft, & omnia Legis Sacra- 
 menta, quje priuj tegebantur, prodita funt atque ad 
 Gentium Populum tran(ierunt. In Loc. Mat. 
 
 itg) Petr« Sciflfe, id eft, univerfa Vaticinia Propbc- 
 tarum, Ja EpiJi, ai Hedibriam. 
 
 quake, 
 
('47 ) 
 
 quake, He (20) fays is meant the Shakeing 
 of the Hearts of Men, and preparing them, 
 by a Derelidion of their old Errors, for 
 the fufceprion of the true Knowledge of 
 God. 
 
 As to the Time that Jefus was dead and 
 bury'd, which modern Divines call three 
 T>iiys and three Nights^ St. JiigitJ}in fays 
 (2 1) that according to the Scripture he was 
 not fo long dead and buried. Many, fiys 
 (22) he, have put various Conftrudions 
 on the Time of Chrifth burial, endea- 
 vouring to make three Days of it : But 
 we without flighting any of their opi- 
 nions, are for a myftical Interpretation, 
 and fuppofe; that by the three Days are 
 to be under flood three Ages of the 
 World. 
 
 The Day would fail me to collect all 
 the PciiTagcs out of the Fathers, in Inter- 
 pretation of one or other of the Parts 
 
 (20) Sed mihi videtur Terrae \totus & reliqua typuni 
 ferre credentiiini, qut'd priftinis Errouni vitiis dereli(ai.';, 
 & Cordis emollita duritia, pollea agnovcrint Creatorcm. 
 Im Loc. Malt. 
 
 C21) Ipfum autem tridurum, non totum & plenum 
 fuine Scriptura tcltis eft. In Lib, iv. dc TrinitAta. 
 Se.l. 10. 
 
 (22) De tribus diebus, miilti fanfti muka hinc fen- 
 ferint atque dixerint.— — Sed ros ncutr:im eoruni vacan- 
 tes fcDCentiain : melius taincn, (i placet in his fpiritalem 
 rtquiramus IntelkiftLim, trcs dies tria Tempera S.tcuW 
 poncr tcs- /« Sirmcn. d: SymbQlo, 
 
 • 'oF 
 
r +8 ) 
 
 of the ftory of J ejus*?, Refurredion, but 
 vj\\\x. I have here (aid in a few Citations. 
 is enough to fhow, that they Ijok'd upon 
 the whole Story, as emblematical of his 
 fpiritual Refurredion out of the Grave 
 of the Letter of the Scriptures, in which 
 he has been bury'd about three Dan and 
 three Nights, according to that myftical 
 Interpretation of prophetical Numbers 
 which I have learn'd of them. 
 
 And thus have I done with the Mira- 
 cle of Jefus\ Refurreclion, which, by 
 the help of my Friend the Jewilh Rahhiy 
 I have (hown, according to the Letter, to 
 confift of the greatefl Incredibilitys. And 
 with jhis 1 conclude my Difcourfes on 
 his Miracles, intending to treat on no 
 more of them, unlefs 1 am invited or pro- 
 voked to it. I had once an Inclination 
 to make another Difconrfe on Jefus*s 
 miraculous Conception, and on his feeding 
 his Thoufands, in the Wildernefs with a 
 few Loaves and Fifhes : but upon a little 
 Coniideration on the Letter of thofe two 
 Storys, I found myfelf too grave for the 
 Work ; and my Rabbi's Thoughts are too 
 gay and wonton; therefore it mufl be 
 omitted, till the Clergy importune me to 
 it, and fignify their Curiofity to fee it 
 performed by me. 
 
 .My 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 My Dircourfes herccifcr, if God fpare 
 me Lift and Liberty, which under his 
 Providence I djn'c defpiir of, to pub- 
 lilh another Volume, Ihiill treat on foine 
 hilbrical P.iirjges of the New Teftim.-nt, 
 fach as, '* On the Storys of Jefus'% Birth j 
 and the Appearances of Angels to the 
 Shepherds keeping Watch over their Flocks 
 by Ni^ht ; '< The Journey and Prefentsof 
 the Wife Men to Jcjns ^ *♦ I'he Slaughter 
 of the Innocents at BethleheTii^ and of 
 HeroJs Cruelty •, *« The Travels of Jofepb 
 with the Child Jefus and his Mother in- 
 to Egypt •, ** The Difputatiun of- Jefus 
 with the DoBors in the Temple, and 
 his li-lopement from his Parents j *' His 
 riding on an Afs to Jeriifalejn ^ and on 
 other fuch like Faffages cf his Life. For 
 I am rcfulv'd to give the Letter of the 
 Scripture no Reft, fo long as God gives uie 
 Life and Abilities to atiack ir. Or'igen 
 C23) fiys that when we difpute againfk 
 Alini/lers of the Lener, we rnu/i feletl 
 fojne hiflorkal ?ans ot^ Scripture^ which 
 tbey unJerftanJ Utterally^ and jJ^ew rhat 
 according to the Letter^ they cant fJanJ 
 
 ("23) Cum difputamus adverfus ecs, & cum conqutrN 
 mus advicem, time quxrimus lo^um Dogm.it;s illius 
 in litcra Lcgis Hiftorii, & oftenditur Iccundutn Hii- 
 toriarn Hare non poffir. In Pfal.xxxyl- 
 
 H thir 
 
( 5° ) 
 
 their Ground, but imply Ahfnrditys and 
 
 Nonjence, And how then is fuch a Work 
 
 to be perform'd to bed Advantage > Is it 
 
 to be done in a grave, fedate, and ferious 
 
 Manner > No, 1 think Ridicule fhould 
 
 here take Place of fober Reafoning, as 
 
 the more proper and effedual means to 
 
 cure Men of their foohfli Faith and ab- 
 
 furd Notions. As no wife Man hardly 
 
 ever reprehends a Blunderbiifs for his 
 
 Bull, any oth^r v/ay, than by laughing 
 
 at him ^ fo the Aiferters of nonfenfical 
 
 Notions in Theology fhould, if poffible, 
 
 be fatirifed and jefted upon, or they'll 
 
 never be put out of Countenance for, 
 
 nor defert their abfurd Dodrines. And 
 
 there never was a Polemical Divine, that, 
 
 if he had an opportunity and Advantage 
 
 over the Weaknefs of his Adverfary, did 
 
 not take fuch a ludicrous and merry Courfe 
 
 with him. 
 
 But on fuch hiflorical PaiTages of the 
 Gofoel as before mention'd, do I trull: to 
 publifh another Volume of Di/Jr^wr/^Xj like 
 to thefe on Jefits*^ Miracles ;, and at pre- 
 fent pafs to my third general Head, at firfl: 
 propofed to be fpoken to, and that is, 
 
 III. To confider, what Jefus means, 
 when he appeals to his Works and Miracles. 
 
 as 
 
( 5' ) 
 
 as to 3 Tefllinony and vvltncfs of his Au- 
 thority ; ani to (how th:K he JiJ not pro- 
 perly and ultimately refer to thofe done in 
 thcFleJJj, buttorhofe inyflicil ones he would 
 do in the Spirit^ of which thofe done ia 
 the Flelh arc but mere Types and Sha- 
 dows. 
 
 And on this Head I (hall be (hort, there 
 being no Occadon of many Words on it. 
 The Bijhop o^ London (24) has colleded, 
 many Saying=? of J(^'fits wherein he feems 
 to appeal to the Works he then did and had 
 done in Fle(h, as to a wirnefsofhim. But 
 why might not Jefus then Prophefy, and 
 mean the fpiritual Works which Hd-in-us 
 would do? It is the known Way of the 
 Prophets to fpeak of Things to come, as if 
 they were already pafl, becaufe fuch Pro- 
 phecys are not to be underltood, till their 
 Accomplilhment : Even fo did J^/^/j Pro- 
 phefy, when he appealed to his Works, as 
 1 could prove from the Nature and Man- 
 ner of his Exprcflions, but that the Argu- 
 ment would be drv and tedious ^ And there- 
 fore I refer the Matter entirely to the Fa- 
 thers, who alfertcd that Jefus prophefied 
 in his Miracles as well as in his Varables^ 
 and that the Works, he then did in the Flefli 
 were but Types of his myfterious Operati- 
 
 (24; Paftcral Letter f p. 25. 
 
 H 2 ons 
 
( 50 
 
 ons, that would be the Demonflration of 
 his Authority and Mcfliahfliip. Hence it 
 is that Ortgen (25) fays that Jif/z/j's iirft 
 coming was but Type and Shadow of his 
 Spiritual Advent:, and that his (26) true 
 Miracles, by which his Authority is to be 
 prc/ved, are Spiritual; Hence it 15 that St. 
 li'tUry repeatedly fays (27) that Jefus^s 
 Works were (igniticative and predictive of 
 niyfterious Operations, which we were ef- 
 pecially to look to. And Hence it i^ that 
 all the other Fathers interpreted the Mira- 
 cles of Jefus in a myftical and allegorical 
 Senfe, 
 
 The Qjieftion then is, to what Miracles 
 did Jejus truly and properly appeal, in 
 the Opinion of the Fathers, for his Autho- 
 rity and Mefliahftiip ^ Was it to his Typi- 
 cal or Antitypal Works? was it to the fia- 
 doivox to thefiikfijiancf of his Operations? 
 
 (2O ^dventusqu^'^em ChriOi unus in Humilitate com- 
 pletus eft, alius vero'^'peratur in Gloria. Et hie primus 
 Adventusir Cjrne, wyi-'ico quodam ^lermore in Scripturis 
 Sandis Umbra ejus appellatur. Jn Jefu Nave tiomiU 
 viii> 
 
 (26' Vera Chrifti Miracula & SanatioInSrmorum eft 
 fpiritalis. Jn Matt. C. xxv. 
 
 C27J HsEC licet in pr<ifens gefta funt, quid tamen in 
 futurum fignificent, contuendum elt. ]n Matt. C. x. 5". j , 
 Chrilti Gelia aliud portendunt. C, xii. S, i, Fcragunt 
 formam flituri geita prcclentia. C. x xi. 
 
 To 
 
( 5? ) 
 
 To his fabftantial Opemtions, to be fjrc, 
 which are and will be his fpirirual ones 
 upon the Soul thit nre greater thiri 
 thofe once done on Men's 13-)dvs and which 
 will be a proper Prout of iiis divine Power. 
 And to declire my Opinion freely I am 
 only for fuch a fpirirual Mejjiahy who will 
 cure the Errors c,\\V\ the Difcifcs of Man- 
 kind, 'w\\\c\ijtffus of Nazarech has not as 
 yet done. 
 
 Bat not to difpute this Point with Bi- 
 jhop Gibfon^ I will leave him in the Knjoy- 
 ment of his Opinion of his literal Mejjiah 
 and miraculous Operator on Men's Bodys j 
 if he'll but indulge me in the Belief of my 
 fpiritual Meffiah to come for the healing of 
 modern Diflempers calTd the Sins and Er- 
 rors of Mankind. And in the mean time 
 let us draw the Comparifjn between his 
 Vitterai and my spiritual Jefus \ and let 
 the World judge, to whom the Preference 
 is to be given for Power and Authority, 
 
 Bilhop Gihfon is for Jefus of Naza- 
 reth\ M-'iTiahlhip, becaufc he cured the 
 bodily blindnefs of many miraculouHy ^ 
 And a good Work it was : But I am for 
 the Mefliahfhip of a fpiritual Jefus to 
 come, who will open the blind Eyes of 
 our Underftandings to difcern Truth from 
 Error, which will be a mod glorious 
 
 Operation j 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 Operation ^ that his Jefus of Nazareth 
 has not as yet done. 
 
 Billiop Gibfoji is for Jefush Meffiahlhip, 
 who once cured bodily Deafnejs in many, 
 which was indeed well done of him : But 
 I am for the Mefliahlhip of a fpiritual 
 Jefus to come, to heal the Deafnefs of 
 our Souls or their Didnefs in Apprehen- 
 fion of fablime Myfterys, which will be 
 a divine Work, that his fefns has not as 
 yet done. 
 
 Bifliop Gibfon is for Jefiish Meffiahfhip, 
 becaufe he cured Men*s bodily Larfienefsy 
 for which I do praife him-: But 1 am for 
 a fpiritual Jefus^s Mefiiahfhip, who will 
 heal Mankind of their Halting between 
 two and more Opinions ^ a more Blelfed 
 Work, that Jefus of Nazareth has not 
 as yet done for us ! 
 
 And fo, comparing all other Difeafes of 
 Body and Soul together, I am for the 
 Jefns:, who will heal the Direafes of the 
 Soul ^ and have a much lefs Regard for 
 Bifiop Gibfon s Jefus who cured the Di- 
 feafes of a few Men's Bodys ; bat, for all 
 that, am not angry with the Bilhop for his 
 high Veneration of his Jefns^ neither 
 would I by any Means have him profe- 
 fecuted and punifh*d for not being of the 
 fame Mind with me. 
 
 But, 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 But, bccauCc the Bipjop fufpe^ls me of 
 Infidelity, in th.it I have ludicroully treat- 
 ed fome of the Miracles of his Jefus^ 
 which, by the by, he has not vindicated 
 from the Abfurditys and Incredibilitys I 
 charged them with ♦, I will humour the 
 Bijbop, and, fuppofing Jefus wrought li- 
 terally thofe Miracles which are allegori- 
 cally interpreted by me, will in thofe ve- 
 ry Miracles compare his littcral and my 
 fpiritual Jefus together ^ and appeal to all 
 Men of Confideration, which is the mofl: 
 worthy of the Title and Honour of the 
 true MeJJiah 
 
 Bifliop Gihfon is for his Jcfits^s MefTi- 
 ahfliip, who miraculoufly drove the Buyers 
 and Sellers out of the Temple, jufl: as if 
 a Man, was God to invert him with 
 Power, fliould furioufly drive the Butchers 
 and Graflers with their Cattle, to the 
 Confufion of their fcveral Property?, out 
 of Smithdeld : A notable Miracle That t 
 But I am for the fpiritual Jefus*s Mcfliih- 
 iliip who according to the Form of that 
 typical Story, will at his Coming expel Ec- 
 clefiaflical Merchants^ out of his Church, 
 who make Merchandife-of the Gofpel, 
 Selling their Btdh and Beij/Is and fat- 
 lings of the Letter : A mod: glorious and 
 Beneficial Work to Mankind will this 
 
 be/ 
 
( 5«) 
 
 be ! And to prepare Men's Souls for the 
 fafception of fuch a fpiritual "Jefus^ I 
 intend to publilh a Difconrfe of the Mif- 
 chiefs and Inconveniencies of an Hire- 
 liHg-PriefthoQjy wherein it (hall be proved, 
 that Mankind can't be either good, wife 
 or hippy under the Kingdom of this 
 MeJ]iab to come, without an Abolition 
 and Extirpation of them. 
 
 Bilhop Gihfon is for the Meffiahfliip of 
 his Jefus^ who cafi the Devils out of the 
 AlaJjfie?!, an J permitted them to enter i?ito 
 the Herd of Swine^ that ran violently down 
 a Precipice a?id were choak'd in the Sea : 
 How great a Miracle it was thus to cure 
 the Madmen, the Bijhop may know befl-, 
 being perhaps better acquainted with 
 the Devil than I am ; but was it not 
 for Pity to the Swineherds for their 
 Loffes, I could even now laugh at the 
 Thoughts of the H gs running and tumb- 
 ling down- hill, as if the Devil drove 
 them : But leaving the Bifhop calmly^ 
 decently and ferioufly to admire the Wif- 
 dom and Juftice of his Jefus in that Ad, 
 I am for tne fpiritual Jefusj who accord- 
 ing to the typic^al form of that Story, 
 exorcis'd the furious and diabolical Tem- 
 pers out of the Jews and Gentiles of old, 
 whom no Chains of Reaf^n could bold 
 from doing Violence to the Chriftians, 
 
 till 
 
C57) 
 
 till they were converted ^ and tho He per- 
 mitted the like perfecuting and diabolical 
 iSpirits to enter into Ecclcfiaftical Swine j 
 yet will they be precipitated into ihc Sea 
 of the Knowledge of God, wherein they 
 will be abforpt with divine Pavilions and 
 Contemplations. O mod glorious Work, 
 that befpeaks the "Wifdom, Power and 
 Goodnefs of our fpft-itual Jefus from be- 
 ginning to the End of it. 
 
 Bifhop Gibfon admires his y^/wj, for 
 his Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, tho 
 neither He nor any body elfe can tell, 
 wherein lay the Miracle, nor into what 
 various Figures and Shapes Jeft4s was 
 transform'd : But I am for the fpiritual 
 JeftiSy whofe glorious Transtiguration, af- 
 ter fix grand Days of the Creation, will 
 be confpicuous, wlien with the Eyes of 
 our Underftanding we (hall behold him 
 metamorphofed into the Forms of all the 
 Types of him under the Law. I am now 
 ravifh'd with the intelledual View of this 
 Transfiguration ^ and believe, was I to feta- 
 bout it, I could give others (except the 
 Bifliop) an Idea and Conception of it to 
 their Aftonifliment at the Glory of Jefus 
 in it. 
 
 Bifhop Gibfon is fl:)r the Mefliahfhip of 
 Jefus of Nazareth, becaufe he cured a 
 Wortian of an Iffue of Bloody after flie had 
 
 ( f^enc 
 
^5S) 
 
 fpent all {he had upon Phyficians to no 
 purpofe^ which might be, or might not 
 be a Miracle, for any Thing he can argue 
 upon it : But I am for the fpirirual y^- 
 /z/j's Meffiahfhip, who at his Coming 
 will, according to that Typical Story, 
 cure the Woman of the Church of her 
 IJJueof Bloody that^is fhed in Perfecution 
 and Warr, which her Ecclefiaftical Phy- 
 ficians of the Clergy have not been 
 able to ftop tho they have rcceiv'd large 
 Fees and Stipends of the Church to that 
 Parnofe. Will not this be a defirable and 
 beneficial Work to all Nations? And who 
 knows not, (excepting the Biflop) that it 
 is of the Office of the true Mefliah, to 
 give abundance of feace to Mankind, to 
 make the Lion to lye down with the Lamb \ 
 and to induce Men to break their Swords 
 into Plow'flnrresy and their Spears into 
 'Pruning-hooks •, and to make Wars to ceafs 
 in all the World. Which Prophecys are fo 
 far from being fulfilled by Jefi4s of Ba- 
 zareth, that there has been nothing but 
 wrangling and jangling and fcolding and 
 fighting about him ever hnce. I wonder 
 the want of the Accompliftiment of the 
 forcfaid Prophecys has not long before now 
 occalion*d the Rejedion of Jeftts's Meffiah- 
 fliip, or of the Authority of the Prophets. 
 
 Bifhop 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 Bidiop Qihfon is for his Jefus^?> bcinp; 
 the Meliiah, bccaufe he cured an old 
 Woman of a Spirit of, no body knows 
 wh.it, InHrffiity^ confequcntly little or 
 nothing is to be faid for the Grcatnefs of 
 that Nliracle. But I am for the fpiritual 
 Jefus's Meflmhlhip, who, according to the 
 figure of that litteral Story, is to heal the 
 ^ow^^i of the Church of her I)\fmnity of 
 the Spirit of Pronhecy, which Jefus ot 
 Nazar<ftb has not done for her, or there 
 would not be fo many Difputes about 
 Prophecys and their Interpretations, fo far, 
 as there is hardly one Prophecy thatChrif- 
 tians are agreed about the Senfe of. It 
 is the grand Charac^eriftick of the true 
 Mefjiab, that he's to reftore Prophecy and 
 the Way of Interpretation of the Prophets, 
 upon the allegorical Scheme too. I fpeak 
 this, not only upon the Authority of the 
 Prophets themfelves, but upon an alinofl: 
 infinite number of Tcrtimonys of ancient 
 Jews ^nd Fathers-^ accordingly I exped 
 tlie Ad Vint of a fpiritual Mefrnh, who 
 alone can do it, to heal the Church of 
 hor prefent Infirrmty^ and to reftore the 
 Art and Gift of Prophecy. 
 
 Bifhop Gibfon is an Admirer of Jefus 
 
 of Nazareth, becaufe he told a poor 
 
 V^hore of Samaria, her Fortune of having 
 
 bad five Husbands, and being then an 
 
 I 3 Adul- 
 
( (>o) 
 
 AduUerfefs with anqther Man ; which acr 
 cording to the Letter is fuch a poor fort 
 of a Miracle, that I can hardly think of 
 it without blulhing : But I am an Adorer 
 beforehand of the fpiritaal Jefus who, 
 according to that Type, will out of the 
 Law and the Prophets, allegorically inter- 
 preted, tell the prefent heretical and adul- 
 terous Woman of the Church all that jhe 
 has done, and how llie has been wedded to 
 the fenfible Things of the five Books of 
 Mofes^ and is now an Adulterefs with the 
 Jnti-Chrifi of the Letter. Such an In- 
 formation of the Church will be a moft 
 ftupendous and miraculous Work, and a 
 Demonftration of our J^fus's Melliahfhip 
 beyond Contradidion, in as much as it 
 will be agreeable to the Opinion, that all 
 Antiquity entertain'd of the true Mejfiah, 
 vi;s. that he was to let us into theSight, 
 KnowLdge and Underftanding of the 
 Wifdom and Beauty of Providence thro' 
 all Ages of the World. 
 
 Bifhop Gibfon admires Jefus of NaZA' 
 reth for his curfmg the Figtree '^ for not 
 bearing Fruit out of Seafon : Shame on 
 that Miracle, according to the Letter, and 
 on all Admirers of it 1 Bat 1 am for the 
 fpirirual Jefus who at his Coming to the 
 Figtree of his Church will make its pre- 
 fent unfruitful State to wither away^^ and 
 
 caufq 
 
( 6. ; 
 
 caufe it to produce the Fruits of the Spn 
 lit, and allegorical Interpretations of the 
 Scriptures, that are compared to fweet and 
 lipe Figs. For fuch his Advent to thi^ 
 miraculous and beneficial Purpofe 1 daily- 
 pray and fay too, Bleilcd are all thofe who 
 love his Appearance! 
 
 After this Falhion could I go thro' the 
 other Mil acles, 1 have treated on in thefe 
 Difcourfes \ and upon the Comparifon fet 
 plainly before the Eyes of my KeaJgrs tho 
 Difference between the litteral Miracles of 
 Billiop Gihfon\ cariial Jefus and the alle- 
 gorical ones of my fpiritnal Jefus, as to 
 Stupendoufnefs, Ufe and Excellency : But 
 what I have here done in the feven Inftances 
 above, is enough to induce us to believe 
 with the Fathers, that 7<?/a/sfir(l Coming 
 in the Flejh was but Type and Shadow of 
 his fecond Advent in the Spirit. ;, and that 
 Jefus of old when he appeaPd to his 
 Works then done, as to a VVitnefs of his 
 Authority, did only Prophefy, and re er 
 uhimately to his myftical Operations, that 
 are alone the Proof of his Godlike and 
 divine Power. Bilhop Gibfon fiys (28) 
 of me, that pvetending to raife the Ac^ 
 tions and Miracles df our Saviour to a 
 more exalted and fpiritUiil Meaning, I 
 
 {!%) Pajioral leitfr, p. j. 
 
 have 
 
( 6a ) 
 
 Joave laboured to take away the Kedlity 
 of them, and by that to defiroy one of the 
 principal Evidences of Chriftia?iity* But 
 I prefame now, he'll be fenfible of the 
 RaOinefs and Incogitancy of that Accu- 
 fation. If he be not, 1 fliall fay of him, 
 in Cafe he write any more for Jefus"*^ 
 litter al Miracles in Oppofition to his 
 allegorical ones, that he's like the Dog 
 in the Fable (the Biji^op will excufe the 
 Coarfnefs of the Comparifon) that let go 
 the Suhjla7ice of his Mutton, and catch'd 
 nt the Shadow, and fo, like a foolifh 
 Cur as he was, loft both. 
 
 And thus have I done with the Three 
 general Heads atfirft propofed to be hand- 
 led in thefe Difcourfes, Now whether 
 i am, upon the whole, an Infidel or Be- 
 leiver of Chriftianity, the World is to 
 judge. . I'll make no more folemn Decla* 
 rations of my Belief of it, much lefs at 
 this Juncture of Time, when I am under 
 Profecution for Infidelity, becaufe it 
 would be a fneaking, tame and cowardly 
 Ad in me, and fuch an Argument of 
 that meannefs of Spirit, as I abhor and 
 deteft. My Works fliall fpeak for me, in 
 w^hich being, confcious of the Innocency 
 of my Intentions, and of the Ufefulnels ^ 
 ©F my Delign, I mean to proceed ^ not 
 doubting but fome of our Clergy^ upon 
 
 two 
 
r «3 ) 
 
 two or three more Difcourfes againfl: the 
 Letter of the IJeiv Teft anient^ will find 
 me out, what I am, and whether I am 
 not a true ProfeiTor of the Religion of the 
 fpiritual and holy Jefus\ 
 
 In the mean Time, 1*11 not compound 
 the Difference depending between Bilhop 
 Gibfon and myfclf, upon any other Terms, 
 than his making me ample Satisfaction 
 for the Injurys done to my Reputation 
 and low Fortunes. Tho he may thirft 
 after my Life, or at lead, my Liberty j 
 yet under the Providence of God I feat 
 not the Lofs of either. God be praisM, 
 this Kingdom is blefs'd with fuch a 
 Civil Adminiftration forWifdom, Juftice 
 and Mercy as no Nation of the World 
 can equal. Our Magiftrates are all Phi- 
 lofophcrs, Lovers of Truth, and of an 
 Enquiry into it ^ and fo tender of the 
 religious as well as of the civil Rights of 
 the Subjed, that I have nothing to dread 
 from them. 
 
 There is fomewhat popular indeed, tho 
 nothing true nor rational, in the Chmour 
 and Accufations of the Ckrgy againft me. 
 Bifhop Gihfon would inlinuate (29) that 
 my Difcourfes on Mivdcles ftrike at the 
 Foundation of civil Society , but by an un- 
 
 (29) f afioralLettery fi.i'^, 
 
 natural 
 
r ^4 ) 
 
 iiatural Confequence of his own making; 
 i confefs, it is an heinous Crime to write 
 any Thing, thit tends to the Subverfion or 
 Prejudice of the civil Society; But how 
 will the Bijhop^make me guilty of it? If 
 the Clergy Will iiot be Difturbers of the 
 Peace of the pablick upon my Dijcourfes-^ 
 it's certain, that the Quiet of the W tM, 
 "Vi^hich 1 with and aim at, will be inviolably 
 kept and preferv'd for all me^ My Fol- 
 lowers indeed, when I walk the Streets of 
 this Ciry, zre nitmeyous -^ and if any of them 
 Ihould break the Peice, what ferves my 
 Lor J Mayor s?owev for, but to chaftife 
 them fjr it> As for my telf and my Adhe- 
 rents at home which as yet are without 
 ^lumber, we are all Quietifls and ihould ad 
 againftour Confciences and Religion, if we 
 Ihould injure any Man in his Perfon and 
 Property. But I fmile to fee a Clergyman 
 all on a fudden, like the Bifiop^ fo tender 
 of the Welfare of the Publick, when Eccle- 
 fiaftkksy in all Ages pa ft, have been the 
 Bane of Society and the Pefi of Mankind, 
 as appears from the Wars and Perfecii- 
 tions, they have rais'd in the World ^ arid 
 from that Strife, Variance and Difcords, 
 they have occafion'd in Citys and Familys. 
 And with SubmifTion to the Bijhop, who 
 I hope will not be angry for my faying 
 it, I am fure, the Clergy at this Jundure, 
 
 are. 
 
( ^5 ) 
 
 are like an higo-fnectiil\l bl'inJ llvp^ tlia*-, 
 were they not ridden by the Civil Autho- 
 rity with a ftr tit Rein, would be opprer- 
 (ing and tr.impling upon all, that ilo. d ill 
 the Way vf tlieir Interellsj' to iheDiitur- 
 hsincc o^ Civil S ciecj', ^ 
 - Profanenefs too dw's the IjiJhQp ,c[\:\Tge 
 me with. But why fo ? ^x^ule i rldioule 
 the Nunfenfe and Ab{ai>iirys o[ Jefn/s 
 Miracles according to the Letter, which 
 he venerates. Very fjne indeed ! The 
 BifJjop would worfhip'the\te,^i'/ofan /y&, 
 and a uufer Man thin" hiinrelf, without 
 the Chirge of Profanenefs, mud not laugh 
 at his foulifhSupcrflition. 
 
 And BlafphefHy laRly does the Bifhop 
 accufe me of: And this is a fad Engbcsr 
 Word, that has frighted Abundance of 
 People into dreadful Apprehendons of my 
 Guilt, even to the Abhorrence 'o( me. But 
 the Bift?op (hould tirll: have defined, what 
 is meant by Blafphemy'^ and have proved 
 me guilty of it, before he made his Ex- 
 clamations : Or th." Turks may- fay that 
 a Jcfl upon their Alcoran^ in ,>^'hich there 
 ^^are no Contradii^ons, is as much a BLif- 
 ^phemy, as anv Ludicroufncfs upon, the 
 Gnfpds, which nre full of ln(^on(i{tencies. 
 That there is i^j^h a Sm Or Error, ctll'd 
 Blafphe7tn\ according to the Scriptur^rs, is 
 certain : Bur oiul): Tines arc undcrrrmincd 
 
 K about 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 about the Nature of it. I intend to take 
 my Opportunity to treat on the Sin of 
 Blafphemy, and to prove, Mhiiflers of 
 the Letter are the only Ferfons, that can 
 be guilty of it. Mtnifiers of the Letter, 
 upon trie Authority of the Fathers arc 
 the Woriliippers of the Apocalyptical Beajij 
 arid anti-allegorical Expofitions are that 
 Blafphemy, St. John writes of, which the 
 Beafi and his Worfhippers, will open their 
 Mouth's in, againft the inoft High. This 
 fhall be proved as clear as the Light. 
 But when I do it, I would not have any 
 think, it is with an liitention to bring 
 the Bilhops of London^ Litchfield^ and St. 
 Davids or any other Divines, under Profe- 
 cution for that heinous Sin : No, my God 
 is omnipotent, omnifcient and omniprfe- 
 fent ^ and knows how and when to reckon 
 with fuch Blafphemers, without calling 
 upon the civil Magiftrate to do it for 
 him. Should I importune the Civil Au- 
 thority to execute Vengeance upon them, 
 I Ihbuld make a foolifh Calf or a Senfe- 
 lefs Idol of my God, that was unable, 
 or knew not how, nor when to vindi- 
 cate his own Caufe. Surely the BiJJjop 
 of Londo7iy upon his Profecution of me 
 for Blafphemy, mud think his God now 
 afleep or gone a Journey from Home *, or 
 he would not be for taking God's own 
 
 Work 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 Workout of his Hands, and coirunitting 
 it to the Circ of the Civil Migiftr.ite. 
 
 The Bijhop moreover (hould confider, 
 that the Words profane and hLifihenwus 
 are of no ufe and ligniticuion among 
 Philofophers, who in Difputatioa never 
 cad them at each other, however they 
 may differ in Opinion. Philofophers are 
 all fuppofcd to be fuch profound Vene- 
 rators of the Deity, as they would not 
 be guilty .of Trofanenefs and B'afpbertiy 
 fjr the whole World. If any of our 
 School of Fre.e -Thinkers Q^ould fiiy of his 
 Opponent that he's profane and hlafphe- 
 .mouSi he would be reprimanded for want 
 of Wir, Temper and good Manners^ and 
 be told that he'? like a Billmgfgats ScoUy 
 who has Recourfeto impertincnjc bad Lan- 
 guage, when her Reafon fails her for bet- 
 ter Rhetorick. 
 
 But it may be, for ought I know, the 
 BiJJjop has fome Deiign in his Accufa- 
 tions againfl me for Profanenefs and Blaf' 
 phefny^ but I hope it is a better than to 
 prejudice the Civil Magiftrate, or to in- 
 cenfe the Populace. 
 
 According to the Fathers I am fo far 
 from being a Blafphemer, that they fay, 
 Chr'ifi upon the littcnl Interpretation of liis 
 Miracles is metamorphofed into the filfe- 
 Chnlf, call'd Ant'i-Cbrijl, Whether there 
 K 2 is 
 
(.68 J 
 
 'Jb\il^et,2Ad\mnt me a clear Stage of. 
 S'^ttle, I'll try ir o^'i ; , aryd fee whether. I , 
 Ucati'tJ' by'rh'eCIab' of^ Reafon and primi?"' 
 ti\''e';:4'uthoritv gij'^e' thtir A7iti Chriji a fa-' 
 tal 'Blo\v ; 'Who knows 'but i may give 
 Peace' to the ChuVcb, and reconcile-, aU 
 PartyS by it-? ' ^ .... ^ 
 
 Ho^'ever this may 'he ^ I am fore, n6\ 
 Man can wifh for a greater Advantage' 
 oVer;his En^my, /than 1 . have over the 
 ^i//;,9J5 ii;i this Gontroverly ; Bat he fiiall 
 find Me .a gerierOds Adverfary, who will 
 ip-ake no worfe'j_^ ufc' of my Advantage 
 dyer him tbm now and then to put him 
 in Mind of his PaJIordl Letter, and of the 
 Ptofecuiron-^ pdfefs I Ihould be tempted, 
 ere long/ to publifh my Modcratoridl 
 Letter, like, his P^Jioral one, to the Peo- 
 ple- of London and lVejhninJlei\ with Ten 
 vfholefome Rules in if, not only to cau- 
 fibn tli,em ag^nrift falfe. Prophets and falfe 
 Teathers u-ithout forgetting the i)'i//;^/> of 
 tlie Diocefe, but t6 diVecl them to the 
 Ecckiiaiiicar FQunfain* ' of' the growing 
 Siti.?!'^ Er'rots'.^and'lntiijelity of the Age, 
 wlhidi'x\\e (^lerpj knbw 1 aiB of Ability 
 to- [jy open/' ^ .-': ^ ^ * - 
 
 Whc.ft 
 
.( ^9 ) 
 
 Wlien 1 be^an the. l^ublicacion of thcfe 
 Vifooitrjds, 1 own ,, 1 laid a Trap for fonic 
 connS-^i r\bU. (L'rgyman-^ bur little ima- 
 gined, the grcA Liyjop (.jf LoffJcn would 
 Dp cau^bt in 'It. But nuw i have t.ikeri 
 Kolcjof bun, ,i'U n'wit rtU^fe him out of the 
 Controvcify, tdl be has r>jrcly repented of 
 his Ignorance or Kiilice in calling me a 
 Writer, in favour of InjJJelitj. 
 
 So much at pr^f^nt for the Bifliop of 
 London, 1 have been the quicker of late 
 in the printing of thls-^ becaufe I am given 
 to underftind, the Bijbop of St. Davids 
 flays for it, interid ng to make but one 
 Work of it, and anfvi^er ^W fix Difcourfes 
 together. I hope my Rabbi's Letter here 
 will be thoLight by him, a good Payment 
 for liis Patience, And now 1 (lull be in 
 Expeclation of his Mountainous Produc- 
 tion, aiid where 1 fliall hide myfclf from 
 the terrible Strokes of his Pen, 1 have not 
 as yet coniidcr'd. 
 
 i am not a,- little pleased to fee a Couple 
 of Oilmen tins; Preachers, viz,. Dr. Harris 
 ai?d ^\u Jtkinfoif^ lifted into theContro- 
 vcrfy againll me- if they had kept their 
 Necks cut of the Collar,, they might have 
 difCcmblcd and pretended, that, upon the 
 Conclafion of the Bittlc, when it would 
 juvc aprear'd, I am a real Contender for 
 
 fritni- 
 
( 7o) 
 
 primitive Chriftianity, they had a better 
 Underftanding of the Fathers, and a 
 clearer View of my Defign, than to fuf- 
 ped me of Blafphemy and Intideiity : 
 But now they are engaged with equal 
 Spite, Ignorance and Defamations againfl: 
 roe, they muft take their ftiare of the Fate 
 and Shame, with the Clergy, upon the 
 Conclufion of the Controverfy. 
 
 There's no Body can think it worth my 
 while to beftow a Sixpenny Pamphlet upon 
 cither of thefe Gentlemen, but for all that, 
 they fhall not bs altogether flighted and 
 negle£led by me. I have made a CoUecr 
 tion of their Rhetorical Flowers, which 
 occahonally fhall be prefented to the Pub- 
 lick, to the Admiration of their Wit, 
 Reafon, Learning and Eloquence. And 
 at prefent only take Notice, that they 
 are both for the Perfecution of me •, but 
 not fo much for my Opinions, as the In- 
 decency, Irreverence, and Immorality of 
 my Stile ; forfooth ! which is fuch a 
 Diftindion, as may be eafily StretchM to 
 the Juftitication of the Perfecution of all 
 Authors, whom the Priefthood in Power 
 Ihall not like. Mr. Atkinfqn^s Argument 
 for the Perfecution of me, is much the 
 f^me with that, which John Calvin ufed 
 for the Perfecution of that great Philofo- 
 pher Servetits ; the Injuftice and Cruelty of 
 
 whofe 
 
( Ji ) 
 
 whofe death and fufferings i$ a grcatef' 
 Reproach to the Name of Calvin, than the 
 Martyrdom of any Froteftant can be to 
 the M<^mory of any Popilh Prelate. 
 
 To conclude, what I have written, ia 
 thcfo Six Difcourfes, is with a View to 
 the Glory of God, the Advancement of 
 Truth, the Happinefs of Mankind, the 
 Demolition of Babylojiy the Edification 
 oijeruf alertly and the Demonftration of the 
 Meffiahfliip of our Spiritual Jffus^ to 
 whom be Glory for ever. Amen, 
 
 FINIS. 
 
jB K S written by Mr^ " w o o t s f o N) 
 .a}id Sold by him next 'Door bdlozv the 
 ^'^Star irt x\lderininbury, and by the Book- 
 ie fsUer's of London and VVeftminfter. 
 
 ii,'-'T'^^. olif ^ology revlv*'d, C^vfa C 
 
 ,. \ II; piii&rt^tio de PoPtii Pila^l l^piffola ad Tibe- 
 
 HUm circH Res Jelj Ch illl gefia^ / . , 
 
 ' in. Or genis Vdaniirtii Ep'ftol.^ rfuae'-il'irca Fidem vtre 
 
 i>rthodoxam & IcrjpeurHrum iflterpretacic^em. 
 
 IV. Theexaa bitncfsof the Time of- Ohrl/Ps AcJvent. 
 demorftrated b -Keafon againli thp Objechons of the old 
 Gentiles, and tfudern U believers. 
 
 v. Four Free-Gi t3 to tlie I krgj^, or Challenges to a 
 Dlfputationon thisC^c ion, Whether the Hireling Pricfti 
 ot this Age, who are all Mini fers of the Letter, be not 
 Wori^ippers of the Apbldyptical Beali, and Minifters 
 of Anti-Chr^lt. -r ' t 
 
 VI. An.Aijfvvtr %> the fijid.four Free-Gifti^ 
 
 Vn. Two Letters to Dr. Bennct, on this queftion. 
 Whether the People cill'd Quakers, do rot the neareft of 
 any other Se(ft in Religion, relemble the Primitive Cbrifti- 
 ans in Principle and r^tdice. 
 
 VUI An Anfvver tothe fyid two Letter?. 
 
 IX. The Moderator between an Inhdd and ah Apof- 
 tate : or the^Qonyoverf l^tween the (Grounds and his 
 ec£le{ialUcalOppotteD«s,,fet ilia cleai^ Light, ^c. 
 
 X. Two Supplements'to the Modci-.tor, ^c. 
 
 XI. A De;t?nce or the Miracle oft e ThUnieHng Legion^ 
 againli 'a DilTertation oi"Jfa//fr A%/e Efq; 
 
 XII. Six Difcourles ontb« Miracles of oar Saviour,