LIBRARY 
 
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 PRINCETON* 
 
 Bampton lectures 
 
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The Character and Conduct of the Apostle 
 considered as an Evidence of Christianity, 
 
 * 
 
 IN 
 
 EIGHT SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 
 
 IN THE YEAR MDCCCXXVII. 
 
 AT THE 
 
 LECTURE 
 
 FOUNDED BY 
 
 THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A. 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 182- 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY HART MILMAN, M. A. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF POETRY, AND LATE FELLOW OF BRASEN NOSE 
 COLLEGE OXFORD, AND VICAR OF ST. MARY'S READING. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 SOLD BY JOHN MURRAY, LONDON; AND ...PARKER, OXFORD. 
 
 1827. 
 
. 
 
 TO 
 
 THE KING'S 
 
 MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 THE gracious condescension, which per- 
 mits me to dedicate this Volume to your 
 Majesty, is peculiarly gratifying to one, 
 whose father was honoured, during his pro- 
 fessional career, by the distinguished favour 
 of our late revered sovereigns. I trust that 
 nothing in this Work may be found un- 
 worthy of the learned body, before which the 
 Discourses were delivered, still less of the 
 exalted patronage under which they appear. 
 
 a 2 
 
iv DEDICATION. 
 
 Should the Volume succeed in making any 
 impression on the public mind, I am confi- 
 dent that I shall be humbly instrumental 
 in promoting a cause, in which your Majesty 
 feels the liveliest interest — the advance- 
 ment of Christianity among your subjects. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Sire, 
 Your Majesty's most dutiful subject, 
 
 and most humble and devoted servant, 
 
 HENRY HART MILMAN. 
 
 Oxford, 
 May 28th, 1827. 
 
 

 
 TEN 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Acts i. IS, 14. 
 
 J?id sx>Am they were come m 9 they went up into an upper 
 room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, 
 and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and 
 Matthew, James the son of Alphceus, and Simon Ze- 
 lotes, and Judas the brother of James. 
 
 These all continued with one accord in prayer and suj)- 
 plication, with the women, and Mary the mother of 
 Jesus, and with his brethren. 
 
 Contrast between the primitive assembly of the apostles, 
 and the progress, extent, permanence, and influence of 
 Christianity. Subject proposed ; The necessity of mi- 
 racles for the dissemination of Christianity. First 
 point, The apostles the first teachers of Christianity 
 proved, 1. from general tradition, 2. from the history 
 of the Acts. Credibility of the Acts, as far as its pri- 
 mary and leading facts, from external and internal 
 evidence. Object and utility of the inquiry. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. 
 But God hath chosen the foolish things of' the world to 
 co7 found the wise; and God hath chosen the weak 
 things of the world to confound the things which are 
 mighty ; 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 And base things of the world, and things which are de- 
 spised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which arc 
 not, to bring to nought things that are. 
 
 Second point. Unfitness of the apostles for the propaga- 
 tion of a new religion. Their total despair, and ap- 
 parent abandonment of the design. The number and 
 constitution of the apostolic body. Their former jea- 
 lousies. Their dependance on their Master. Charac- 
 ters of individual apostles, of Peter, of John. Change 
 in their doctrines as well as in their characters. Ne- 
 cessity of the miracles of the resurrection and effusion 
 of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Acts v. 38, 39. . 
 
 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and 
 let them alone : for if this counsel or this wo?'Jc be of 
 men, it will come to nought: 
 
 But fit be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply 
 ye be found even tofght against God. 
 
 Progress of Christianity in Jerusalem improbable. Un- 
 popularity of the Galila?ans. Christian doctrines ill 
 adapted to sueeeed in Jerusalem. Jewish attachment 
 to the temple. Expectation of the temporal Messiah. 
 Opinions of prevailing sects. The Pharisees, Sadducees, 
 Essenes, Zealots. Affair of Ananias and Sapphira. 
 First persecution-. Death of Stephen. Conduct of 
 the apostles. Recapitulation. 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 Acts xii. 24. 
 
 Hut the word of God grew and multiplied. 
 
 Progress of Christianity in Palestine. State of Judaea. 
 
 Progress in Samaria. Difficulties of choosing coadjutors 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 in the enterprise. Simon Magus. His rejection. St. 
 Paul. His conversion and reception into the apo- 
 stolic body. His conversion miraculous, argued against 
 Kuinoel and other German theologians. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 1 Cor. xii. 10, 11. 
 
 To another divers hinds of tongues; to another the in- 
 terpretation qf tongues : 
 
 All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, di- 
 viding to every man severally as he will. 
 
 Necessity of the gift of tongues. General belief of the 
 Church. Vernacular language of Palestine, and ex- 
 tent to which Greek was spoken. Literal belief in the 
 gift necessary for the credibility of the scene on the 
 day of Pentecost. Improbability of the apostles learn- 
 ing Greek. Utility of the gift in other countries. 
 Sketch of the languages spoken among those nations 
 with which the apostles had intercourse. Affair at 
 Lystra. Other passages, in which the gift of tongues 
 is mentioned, discussed. Conclusion. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 23. 
 
 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stum- 
 blingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness. 
 
 Third point. Advantages and disadvantages arising from 
 the actual state of the world at the time of the first 
 propagation of Christianity. Prearrangement of the 
 world. The fulness of time. I. Dispersion of the 
 Jews. Their estimation in the world. Their recep- 
 tion of Christianity. II. Universal dominion of the 
 Romans. IIL Religious state of the world. The 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 sensations of the apostles on entering an heathen city. 
 The cross of Christ. 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 Matthew x. 16. 
 Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 
 Change of character required in a Christian convert. 
 Proselytism of the Jews and Christians compared. 
 Wisdom and moderation of the apostles. Immortality 
 of the soul. Heathen opinions on this subject. Jewish 
 opinions. Manner in which it was taught by the apo- 
 stles. Conduct of the apostles with regard to slavery. 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 1 Cor. xv. 19. 
 /fix this world only ice have hope in Christ, ice arc of 
 all men most miserable. 
 
 Fourth point. Possible motives of the apostles. General 
 view of their conduct and life. Inquiry into cases 
 analogous with theirs. Founders of other religions. 
 Their sufferings equalled. Soldiers. Gladiators. Mo- 
 dern missionaries. Teachers of heresies and reformers. 
 Actuating motives. Desire of gain, authority, post- 
 humous celebrity. Uncertainty of human fame. Hu- 
 mility of the apostles. The apostles believers or un- 
 believers. Difference between their miracles and those 
 of Jesus. Conclusion. 
 
 EXTRACT 
 
EXTRACT 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OP THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN BAMPTON, 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 " I give and bequeath my Lands and 
 
 " Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scho- 
 " lars of the University of Oxford for ever, to 
 " have and to hold all and singular the said 
 " Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the in- 
 " tents and purposes hereinafter mentioned ; 
 " that is to say, I will and appoint that the 
 " Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford 
 " for the time being shall take and receive all 
 " the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after 
 " all taxes, reparations, and necessary deduc- 
 " tions made) that he pay all the remainder to 
 " the endowment of eight Divinity Lecture 
 lC Sermons, to be established for ever in the said 
 " University, and to be performed in the man- 
 " ner following : 
 
 " I direct and appoint, that, upon the first 
 " Tuesday in Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly 
 
 b 
 
EXTRACT FROM 
 
 chosen by the Heads of Colleges only, and by 
 no others, in the room adjoining to the Print- 
 ing-House, between the hours of ten in the 
 morning and two in the afternoon, to preach 
 eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year fol- 
 lowing, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the 
 commencement of the last month in Lent 
 Term, and the end of the third week in Act 
 lerm. 
 
 M Also I direct and appoint, that the eight 
 " Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be preached 
 u upon either of the following Subjects — to con- 
 " firm and establish the Christian Faith, and to 
 " confute all heretics and schismatics — upon the 
 " divine authority of the holy Scriptures — upon 
 <: the authority of the writings of the primitive 
 " Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the pri- 
 " mitive Church — upon the Divinity of our Lord 
 " and Saviour Jesus Christ — upon the Divinity 
 " of the Holy Ghost — upon the Articles of the 
 " Christian Faith, as comprehended in the 
 M Apostles' and Nicenc Creeds. 
 
 " Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight 
 " Divinity Lecture Sermons shall be always 
 " printed, within two months after they are 
 " preached, and one copy shall be given to the 
 w Chancellor of the LJniversity, and one copy to 
 u the Head of every College, and one copy to 
 M the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one 
 
CANON BAMPTON'S WILL. xi 
 
 " copy to be put into the Bodleian Library ; and 
 " the expense of printing them shall be paid 
 " out of the revenue of the Land or Estates 
 " given for establishing the Divinity Lecture 
 ci Sermons ; and the Preacher shall not be paid, 
 " nor be entitled to the revenue, before they 
 " are printed. 
 
 " Also I direct and appoint, that no person 
 " shall be qualified to preach the Divinity Lec- 
 " ture Sermons, unless he hath taken the de- 
 " gree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the 
 " two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge ; 
 " and that the same person shall never preach 
 " the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice." 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 

 ?**0i 
 
 LECTURE 
 
 Acts i. 13, 14. 
 
 And when they were come in, they went up into 
 an upper room, where abode both Peter, and 
 James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and 
 Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James 
 the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and 
 Judas the brother qf James. 
 
 , These all continued with one accord in prayer 
 and supplication, with the women, and Mary 
 the mother qf Jesus, and with his brethren. 
 
 HERE then were assembled in an ob- 
 scure chamber, in a city the inhabitants of 
 which were hated and despised by the ge- 
 nerality of mankind, eleven men of humble 
 birth, of sordid occupations, and of unculti- 
 vated minds; peasants, publicans, fisher- 
 men, with a few women, and the brethren 
 of one, who had recently suffered an igno- 
 minious death as a public malefactor. The 
 eventual consequence of this meeting has 
 been a moral and religious revolution, 
 
 B 
 
2 LECTURE I. 
 
 equally unprecedented in earlier, and un- 
 paralleled in later ages. The customs, the 
 manners, the opinions, the laws and politi- 
 cal institutions of vast nations ; the whole 
 system of public and private life, in the 
 more enlightened parts of the world, have 
 undergone a change more or less rapid, 
 complete, and permanent. Ancient modes 
 of religious worship have vanished from 
 the face of the earth ; a new code of mo- 
 rality has gradually incorporated itself into 
 the civil polity and domestic relations of 
 innumerable people ; arts and letters, even 
 war itself, have appeared to assume a new 
 character, and to be directed on different 
 principles. So entirely indeed has the 
 whole framework of society been modified 
 by the introduction of Christianity, that it 
 is impossible to trace all its remote bearings 
 upon the habits and character of mankind. 
 The philosophic observer of the human 
 race can discover no event in the whole 
 course of its history so extensively influen- 
 tial, as the promulgation of that religion 
 which was preached by the apostles of 
 Christ. 
 
LECTURE I. 8 
 
 Nor is this revolution less remarkable 
 for the duration than the extent of its in- 
 fluence. Having survived for centuries, the 
 religious belief of these men exists, as the 
 established faith of all those nations, which 
 are particularly distinguished for civiliza- 
 tion of manners, or the culture of the un- 
 derstanding. Empires have risen and fallen, 
 dynasties have flourished and sunk into ob- 
 livion ; manners and opinions have under- 
 gone in other respects the most complete 
 and universal change ; commerce and arts 
 and letters have migrated from one quarter 
 to another : but amidst all the vicissitudes 
 of human institutions, and the perpetual 
 fluctuation of political affairs, Christianity 
 retains its power, adapts itself to every state 
 of society, and every form of government. 
 It has resisted alike every foreign invasion, 
 and every domestic insurrection against its 
 authority. 
 
 Nor are the impediments over which it 
 triumphed, or the hostility to which it has 
 been perpetually exposed, to be lightly esti- 
 mated. In all parts of the world the reli- 
 gion of Christ had to supersede and eradi- 
 
 b 2 
 
4 LECTURE I. 
 
 cate from the minds of men an ancient and 
 inveterate paganism, which was incorpo- 
 rated with every habit, and moulded up 
 with every prejudice. When itself was 
 at its weakest, through intestine discord, a 
 new religion, singularly adapted to the pas- 
 sions of mankind, and to the state of so- 
 ciety among the people with which it origi- 
 nated, was propagated by the violent excite- 
 ment of those passions ; and the fairest 
 provinces of Christianity were wrested away 
 by the irresistible invasion of the Ma- 
 hometan. At a later period, a system of 
 opinions, as flattering to the pride of the 
 human intellect, and as indulgent to the 
 sensuality of a more polished state of so- 
 ciety, as the Mahometan doctrines to the 
 habits and character of the predatory tribes 
 of Arabia, recommended itself under the 
 specious name of philosophy, so as to ac- 
 quire an influence extensive, and far from 
 completely counteracted, even within the 
 pale of Christianity. Nevertheless succeed- 
 ing generations and revolving ages have 
 witnessed the irregular but continued pro- 
 gress of this religion ; its losses in one 
 
LECTURE L 5 
 
 quarter have been amply repaid in others ; 
 regions, which at its first publication were 
 either impenetrable forests or unwholesome 
 morasses, inhabited by a few naked savages, 
 are now populous kingdoms crowded with 
 the temples of Christian worship ; the most 
 uncouth languages have become flexible to 
 the enunciation of Christian doctrines ; the 
 Gospel has visited shores, not merely un- 
 discovered by the adventurous cupidity of 
 ancient commerce or conquest, but the 
 existence of which had not occurred to the 
 most daring imagination. The arrogant 
 prayer of the heathen conqueror has been, 
 as it were, fulfilled in favour of Christianity, 
 a new world, when we look to the southern 
 hemisphere, we might say new worlds have 
 been discovered, and laid open to the trium- 
 phant banner of the Cross. 
 
 Nor must the intellectual character of 
 individual believers be omitted in this con- 
 sideration. Christianity has not merely 
 rested on prescription and authority ; it is 
 not alone inculcated by education and 
 maintained by law. It has endured the in- 
 vestigation of the most profound and subtle, 
 
 b 3 
 
6 LECTURE I. 
 
 and extorted the homage, sometimes invo- 
 luntary, of the most inquiring minds. Men 
 who have been far beyond their own age, and 
 have shaken off every prejudice, which em- 
 barrassed their philosophical speculations, 
 have not merely recognised the truth of the 
 established religion by the decency of out- 
 ward conformity, but by the unsuspicious 
 testimony of inward obedience to its laws, 
 and practical faith in its promises. In short, 
 wherever civilization is most perfect, know- 
 ledge most extended, reasoning most free, 
 Christianity maintains its ground. Among 
 the greatest discoverers in science, and the 
 most acute reasoners on the common topics 
 of life, it has reckoned many of the most 
 eminent among its advocates, far the greater 
 part among its believers. 
 
 Thus then, having surveyed the progress 
 and the perpetuity of the Christian reli- 
 gion, look back upon that humble chamber, 
 and that unpretending assembly, with which 
 it originated. Compare its present extent 
 and influence with its obscure beginning. 
 Whence such disproportionate results from 
 causes apparently so inadequate? The coun- 
 
LECTURE I. 7 
 
 sels of a few poor, and almost illiterate men 
 have changed the entire moral and reli- 
 gious system of the world ; have maintained 
 their authority over successive generations, 
 and have controlled, with the excellence of 
 their precepts, and satisfied with the rea- 
 sonableness of their doctrines, the wisest 
 and most enlightened of mankind. This 
 extraordinary revolution, according to the 
 Christian scheme, was effected through the 
 direct, immediate, and visible interposition 
 of the Divinity. These men were endowed 
 with supernatural gifts and faculties ; they 
 were accompanied, wherever they went, 
 with signs and wonders ; they were ac- 
 tuated, guided, and inspired both in their 
 oral and written language by the Holy Spi- 
 rit : the whole, in short, was the declared 
 purpose of the Almighty, who employed 
 these men as his mediate instruments, not 
 as his providence usually operates through 
 secondary causes, which are regulated by 
 general laws ; but openly and decisively 
 espoused their cause by incontestable, re- 
 peated, unprecedented infringements on the 
 course of nature, impossible to less than 
 
 b 4 
 
8 LECTURE I. 
 
 omnipotence, untraceable except to the un- 
 seen but all ruling Deity. 
 
 But if this view of the propagation of 
 Christianity be incorrect, either 1st, these 
 men were not the original teachers of the 
 new faith ; or, 2dly. if they were, they de- 
 signed, commenced, and established the new 
 religion with such casual assistance as they 
 might obtain; or, 3dly, they were the 
 slaves and creatures of circumstances, the 
 undesigning agents in a revolution, the suc- 
 cess of which was fortuitous, and dependant 
 upon the favourable state of the world at 
 the period in which they lived, for its ori- 
 gin, progress, and completion. If then it 
 shall appear on the fairest principles of mo- 
 ral demonstration, that these men did in 
 reality accomplish this acknowledged revo- 
 lution ; if they undertook the enterprise 
 with the avowed design of carrying it 
 through, and did in fact both commence 
 and conduct it with success, while it is abso- 
 lutely incredible that they should either de- 
 sign or commence it without well-grounded 
 reliance on supernatural assistance, still 
 less succeed without the actual possession 
 
LECTURE I. 9 
 
 of miraculous powers : if, lastly, the circum- 
 stances of the world at that period, far 
 from accounting for the origin and success 
 of Christianity, were at least as adverse as 
 favourable to its reception, the conclusion 
 of the Christian appears inevitable. Either, 
 in the words of Chrysostom, the miracles 
 themselves must be believed, or the greater 
 miracle, that the world was converted with- 
 out miracles a . 
 
 a "ilcrre otuv Aeycocn prj ysviaQai crYjixslot, [xsi^ovoog soivtovs 
 7repi7relpov<ri. tovto yap [AsyniTOV cDjjtxsTov, to X^P^S (ryftZMV TY}V 
 olxoufLevyv 7rpocr$pafjt,6~iv cntudo^, vtto SwSexa 7TTa;^aJv xcn ctypctfL- 
 [aoltoqv avbpwTrwv aA<su0eia-av. Chrys. in Act. Horn. I. 
 
 Si vero per apostolos Christi, ut iis crederetur, resur- 
 rectionem et ascensionem praedicantibus Christi, etiam 
 ista miracula facta esse non credunt, hoc nobis unum 
 grande miraculum sufficit, quod iis terrarum orbis sine 
 ullis miraculis credidit. S. August, cle Civ. Dei, XXIV. 5. 
 S**il mondo si rivolse al Cristianesmo, 
 Diss"* io, senza miracoli, quest' uno 
 E tal, che gP altri non sono 'I centesmo. 
 
 Dante Parad. XXIV. 
 
 Que pouvoit avoir vu le monde pour se rendre si 
 promptement a J. C ? S'il a vu des miracles, Dieu s'est 
 mele visiblement dans cet ouvrage ; et s'il se pouvoit 
 faire, qu'il n'en eut pas vu, ne seroit-ce pas un nouveau 
 miracle plus grand et plus incroyable d'avoir converti 
 le monde sans miracle, d'avoir fait entrer tant d'igno- 
 rants dans des mystercs si hauts ; d'avoir inspire a tant 
 
10 LECTURE I. 
 
 To establish and illustrate this truth is 
 the design of the following Lectures. Leav- 
 ing apart the original Founder of the reli- 
 gion, I propose to take up the apostles at 
 the period of the crucifixion, and, insisting 
 rather on the external evidence from the 
 facts, though not entirely declining the in- 
 ternal from the doctrines, to investigate the 
 origin of Christianity. I would inquire 
 then, I. Whether we have satisfactory 
 proofs that the apostles were the first 
 teachers of Christianity ? II. Whether it is 
 in any manner credible, that such men so 
 situated, should of their own accord have 
 invented, or having invented, have dissemi- 
 nated with success, a new religion, more 
 especially such a religion as that of the 
 Gospel ? For if it shall appear that they 
 had neither the requisite talents nor educa- 
 tion, and were alike incompetent to con- 
 ceive, develope, or publish abroad such a 
 creed ; if their characters and their conduct 
 were equally inconsistent with the end pro- 
 
 de savants une humble soumission, et cTavoir persuade 
 tant de choses incroyables a des incredules? Bossuet, 
 Hist, Univ. 
 
LECTURE I. 11 
 
 posed ; their characters deficient in most 
 of the qualifications requisite for such an 
 undertaking ; their conduct, if they did not 
 possess miraculous powers, indiscreet, inju- 
 dicious, and irreconcileable with the com- 
 mon principles of human nature, we have 
 no alternative but to acquiesce in their di- 
 vine inspiration. 
 
 III. If they possessed certain advantages 
 for the dissemination of Christianity, in 
 what to the Christian appears the providen- 
 tial prearrangement of the world for its re- 
 ception, I would inquire, whether the impe- 
 diments which remained did not more than 
 counterbalance, as far as the apostles are 
 concerned, this predisposition of human af- 
 fairs. 
 
 IV. As the apostles must have foreseen, 
 and, according to their own account, did 
 foresee, much of the difficulty which they 
 had to encounter ; if they could have no ra- 
 tional object in the attempt, as far as this 
 world is concerned, adequate human mo- 
 tives are wanting as well as adequate hu- 
 man means. But in default of these, we 
 are compelled to adopt the only satisfactory 
 
12 LECTURE I. 
 
 solution for such conduct, and to receive 
 the miracles as an integral and inseparable 
 part of the apostolic history. But if the 
 miracles are true in one single instance ; if 
 the arm of God once interfered ; if the voice 
 of God once spoke by the apostles, what 
 awful consequences ensue to those who will 
 not hear, or if they hear, will not believe ; 
 or if they do not avowedly disbelieve, dis- 
 claim with the practical infidelity of their 
 lives, that religion, the truth of which their 
 reason cannot disprove ! 
 
 Now the existence and agency of the 
 apostles in this great work, as well as the 
 period at which it was commenced, rest on 
 the testimony of constant tradition in the 
 Christian church ; and on a cotemporary 
 document, purporting to have been written 
 by a follower of St. Paul, and supported by 
 evidence as complete and conclusive, as that 
 of any historical record in existence. 
 
 I. Tradition, however an unfaithful 
 or uncertain preserver of characters and 
 events, is rarely an inventor. In other 
 words, however actions may be misrepre- 
 sented, facts distorted, exaggerated, mis- 
 
LECTURE I. 13 
 
 stated : however in the lapse of ages the 
 personal history of individuals may receive 
 a false or romantic colouring, we may as- 
 sume even these falsehoods as evidence to 
 the actual existence of the persons whose 
 lives are thus unfairly drawn. Excepting 
 in fabulous times, and even then the fact 
 is questionable, persons are never assigned 
 to certain periods and countries in which 
 they did not exist ; more particularly when 
 visible and permanent monuments subsist 
 to perpetuate their memory. Did the world 
 suddenly, at a period in which history had 
 assumed a rigid cognizance over human 
 affairs, and in which the public records 
 were kept with scrupulous accuracy c , begin 
 to believe that men named Peter, John, 
 and Paul lived and taught a new religion 
 in various countries, where such men as 
 Peter, John, and Paul were never heard 
 of? Did societies date their institutions 
 from the time of their appearance ; con- 
 tinue to observe rites and ceremonies which 
 they prescribed ; consecrate places to their 
 
 c See Jenkyn, Reasonableness of Christianity, I. 298. 
 Law^s Theory, p. 137. and note. 
 
14 LECTURE I. 
 
 memory; adopt books pretending to be 
 written by their hands, without satisfactory 
 proof of their existence ? Did the early an- 
 tagonists of the religion argue upon the 
 acknowledged fact of their existence and 
 instrumentality, when a confutation so sum- 
 mary and conclusive was ready to their 
 hands? If indeed we doubt the existence 
 of the apostles, it would be difficult to prove 
 that of Caesar or Mahomet. 
 
 II. The details of the early Christian 
 history rest on the authority of a narrative 
 called the Acts of the Apostles ; a narrative 
 which appears to want no evidence to its 
 genuineness and authenticity which can be 
 fairly demanded. Is it then possible that 
 this book should be not merely erroneous, 
 partial, or overcharged in some of its mi- 
 nute statements, but absolutely fictitious 
 in all its primary and leading facts? I in- 
 quire into its external and internal marks 
 of credibility, merely at present for the 
 purpose of establishing the absolute impos- 
 sibility, that it should be one uniform and 
 elaborate fiction. 
 
 1. The authenticity of this book, and 
 
LECTURE I. 15 
 
 the fact of its perpetual reception by the 
 Christian church, have been traced with the 
 same accuracy through the successive writ- 
 ings of the fathers, up to the apostolic 
 age, as the other scriptures. It is expressly 
 quoted or distinctly named by Irenaeus d , 
 Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, in 
 the second century, and still earlier by 
 Clemens of Rome, Barnabas, and Ignatius. 
 Chrysostom e informs us, that from the ear- 
 liest period it was regularly read in the as- 
 semblies of the Christians from Easter to 
 Pentecost. Irenaeus f , Clement, Tertullian, 
 Origen, and Eusebius ascribe the work to 
 Luke, a follower of Paul, who marks the 
 events of which he was an eyewitness by 
 a variation of the personal pronoun. 
 
 2. This narrative is supported, conflrm- 
 
 d Iren. de Hser. I. 31. III. 12, 14, 19. Clemens Alex. 
 Strom. 5. Tertullian. adv. Marc. V. 2. de Jej. c. 10. Cle- 
 mens Rom. i. 42. Barn. comp. with Acts ii. 24. Ign. 
 Epist. to Ephes. comp. with Acts xix. and xx. 17. 
 See Lardner Cred. Paley Ev. vol. I. 202. Rosenmuller 
 Praef. in Act. Kuinoel Prolegom. 
 
 c Hom. 071 2«UX0J 6T» efJ.7CV6U)V. 
 
 f Iren. III. 1. 13. 15. IV. 15. Tert. de Prsesc. 
 XXII. adv. Marc. IV. 3. Origen. Philocalia VII. Eu- 
 seb. III. 25. and III. 4. 
 
16 LECTURE I. 
 
 ed, and illustrated by a number of cotem- 
 porary documents, purporting to be the 
 epistolary writings of the apostles. I shrink 
 however from intruding upon ground al- 
 ready occupied by Paley, and, while I refer 
 to his unanswerable volume, the Hora 
 Paulines, merely observe, that the accord- 
 ance of separate accounts, which touch 
 only incidentally and casually on the same 
 topics, is the most unexceptionable test of 
 historic truth. Hence, if the Acts of the 
 Apostles were lost, the early events of Chris- 
 tian history would be proved sufficiently 
 for my purpose from the epistles alone. 
 Unless then all the churches were in col- 
 lusion to receive as the apostolic writings 
 addressed to themselves, the bold forgeries 
 of a later date, my argument will remain 
 unshaken. 
 
 III. Does there appear any discrepancy 
 between the pagan accounts of the first 
 appearance of Christianity, and the tradi- 
 tion of the church, or the Acts of the Apo- 
 stles ? The silence, as well as the imperfect 
 intimation, to be gleaned from the Latin 
 historians, strictly coincide with the Chris- 
 
LECTURE I. 17 
 
 tian account. They furnish a strong nega- 
 tive evidence, that the new faith was not 
 introduced in a manner less secret or ob- 
 scure. Had the kingdom of heaven come 
 with observation, it must have attracted 
 the attention of pagan historians. Had 
 kings taken counsel in favour of Christ, 
 the annalists of the times would have en- 
 tered diffusely into the subject. The reeds 
 from the lake of Gennesareth might be 
 woven into an ark for the infant religion, 
 unperceived or unregarded beyond the im- 
 mediate borders of the land ; but the cedars 
 of Lebanon could not be hewn into a tem- 
 ple for the Lord, without exciting the asto- 
 nishment, or at least commanding the no- 
 tice, of all the Roman empire. Hence, in 
 strict accordance with the vulgar account, 
 Christianity is mentioned for some time 
 merely as a modification of the Jewish be- 
 lief. Now if the pagan writers had been 
 accurately informed, even on the leading 
 tenets of Judaism, we might expect them 
 to have detected the points of difference : 
 but the extraordinary misrepresentations 
 which occur in their accounts of the Jewish 
 
18 LECTURE I. 
 
 religion and polity, whether in Tacitus, 
 Strabo, Justin, or Dio Cassius g , explain their 
 ignorance as to the innovation produced by 
 the new faith. Such writers were content 
 with loose and inaccurate information on 
 subjects beneath the majesty of Grecian or 
 Roman eloquence. To a laborious investi- 
 gator, or a diligent and faithful antiquarian, 
 who would have endeavoured to ascertain 
 the real tenets and laws of this extraor- 
 dinary people, the Alexandrian translation 
 of the scriptures must have been accessible. 
 But it was probably rejected with contempt, 
 as the fabulous h chronicle of a superstitious 
 people, and as little known even by men of 
 letters as the Zendavesta of the Persians, or 
 the Puranas of the Indians among ourselves. 
 But while this is the case, no single pagan 
 historian near to the times — for it is not 
 often remarked that there is no cotempo- 
 rary history extant — is without some allu- 
 sion, more or less distinct, to the increasing 
 sect ; and every allusion, either directly or 
 
 g Tac. Hist. b. V. Strabo XVI. Justin XXXVI. & 
 Dio. XXXVII. 
 
 h Tradidit area/no quodcunque volumine Moses. Juv. 
 
LECTURE I. 19 
 
 by implication, confirms the apostolic ac- 
 count. There are three Roman historians, 
 Suetonius, Tacitus, and Dio Cassius; the 
 former affectedly brief, the two latter im- 
 perfect. It could not be expected that these 
 writers should pause in their lofty narra- 
 tive of the rise and fall of the imperial 
 dynasties, and of the events which con- 
 cerned the universal dominion of Rome, 
 to notice every sectarian difference among 
 a superstitious people. Unless then the 
 Christians obtained notoriety, as disturb- 
 ing the public peace, and coming into col- 
 lision either with the laws or with the 
 capricious tyranny of the emperor, they 
 would remain in unregarded obscurity. 
 They did give rise to popular disturbance 
 in many places, being persecuted by the 
 Jews in Lystra, Iconium, Antioch in Pisi- 
 dia, and Thessalonica : but directly the same 
 scene takes place in Rome, they are ex- 
 pelled the city, and then the first of these 
 historians thinks them worthy of a brief 
 and rapid notice \ They suffer dreadful 
 
 1 Judaeos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes 
 Roma expulit. Suet. Claud. The best commentary on 
 
 c 2 
 
20 LECTURE I. 
 
 persecution under Nero, and the same his- 
 torian again condescends to mention them, 
 but apparently, as if their sufferings were 
 of little more importance than k a police re- 
 gulation of the market, and an ordinance 
 which restrained the lower order of players. 
 The same transaction, as tending to deve- 
 lope the sanguinary character of the em- 
 peror, extorts the memorable passage from 
 
 this passage which I have met with is the following, ex- 
 cepting of course one point : Quoniam praedicantes apo- 
 stoli fidem Christi nullo in populo vehementius quam a 
 Judaea gente sunt impugnati, haud dubium est eosdem, 
 adversus Petrum, Romae evangelium praedicantem, illud- 
 que indies magis inter Gentiles etiam propagantem, turbas 
 saepius concitasse, rursumque alios Christianas religioni 
 studentes, eisdem fortiter restitisse. Sicque invicem alter- 
 cantibus assiduis concertationibus dissidentibus, quod 
 Christi fidei occasione concitatae sunt turbae, Christo 
 impulsore id factum esse Suetonius existimat ; ratus ni- 
 mirum, eos qui Christi fidem sectarentur ad id esse per- 
 suasos, quern et sub Pilato in crucem actum, ac post mor- 
 tem rursus vivere ejus sectatores judicarent. Baron. Ann. 
 Eccles. 
 
 k Interdictum ne quid in popinis cocti praeter legu- 
 mina et olera venderent, cum antea nullum non obsonii 
 genus proponeretur ; afflicti suppliciis Christiani, genus 
 hominum superstitionis novae et malefica*; vetiti quadri- 
 garioruin lusus quibus inveterata licentia passim vaganti- 
 bus fallere et furari per jocum jus erat. Suet. Nero. 
 
LECTURE I. 21 
 
 Tacitus, of itself the most complete con- 
 firmation of the apostolic history ; and the 
 unhappy celebrity of their afflictions ob- 
 tains the satiric notice of Juvenal K The 
 courtly Dio Cassius was still less likely to 
 deviate into any details about the origin or 
 character of so mean and plebeian a sect ; 
 but when this " atheistic faith" had intruded 
 into the bosom of the imperial family, he 
 gives a vague account of the transaction, it 
 is difficult to say whether obscure from ig- 
 norance or intention m . In Pliny's letter 
 we, as it were, see the Gallio of the Acts 
 again on the tribunal. The same contempt- 
 uous testimony is borne to the inoffensive 
 character of the people. The difference is, 
 that the sect having by this time increased 
 most rapidly, Gallio appears more calmly su- 
 
 1 Juvenal Sat. I. 155. 
 
 m Kav too auTco erei uWoug ts ttoXXovz xu\ tov <P\afiiov KA)j- 
 
 (ASVTCt VTTdTSUOVTOiy XCllKSp OtVstylOV OVTOC, XOt) yVVoilxCX. XCtl CtVTYjV 
 
 cvyysvrj solvjou tfrXufiltxv Ao^itIWccv g^ovra, xctTecrtpafcsv' 6 
 AoptTHZvoc. s7revs^Yj §s uptyolv eyxAijjxa afleoryjTO^ u<p' y$ xou 
 ctWoi \c, to. tvov 'IodWojv %8y) e£oxe\\ovTe$ ttoAAoj I$ix«<r0>jO'av. 
 Dio LXVII. 14. Compare Euseb. III. 18. Basnage 
 Hist, des Juifs, vol. VII. 304. Lardner, Heath. Test. art. 
 Dio. 
 
 c 3 
 
m LECTURE I 
 
 percilious; Pliny betrays the wounded pride 
 of the Roman governor, who resents the in- 
 efficacy of his severe measures, under the 
 assumed disdain of the philosopher n . 
 
 IV. If the scattered information thus 
 collected from profane historians harmo- 
 nize so exactly with the traditionary and 
 written accounts of the Christians, there 
 appears an accordance still more precise 
 and remarkable on those points which be- 
 long to heathen history, and which are in- 
 cidentally mentioned in the Acts. This 
 book necessarily abounds in allusions to 
 public men, to places , to events, and to cus- 
 
 n Josephus is the only other historian who could have 
 mentioned the Christians : his silence, if indeed he is 
 silent, is easily accounted for ; giving up the contested 
 passage, he explicitly names John the Baptist and James 
 the Just. 
 
 ° An author who has taken the pains to examine mi- 
 nutely the geography of the Acts, writes thus; "Of the 
 " numerous places named therein we find but seven 
 " which arc omitted by Strabo, the chief of the ancient 
 " geographers that are come down to us. The rest are 
 " described by him in exact agreement with the history 
 " of the Acts. Of the seven omitted by him, five are 
 " fully and clearly spoken of by other ancient authors. 
 " There remain only two therefore, of which a doubt can 
 " be admitted, whether they are mentioned by any of the 
 
LECTURE I. 23 
 
 toms which prevailed in different nations 
 at the time in which it is supposed to have 
 been written. On these points it is correct 
 to the most minute particular ; wherever 
 any apparent discrepancy occurs, it has 
 been explained in a manner as curious as 
 satisfactory ; while there is just enough of 
 this apparent discrepancy p to preclude the 
 supposition of an artful and elaborate for- 
 gery. It may be asserted, I think, without 
 hesitation, that however ingeniously some 
 fictitious narratives have been fabricated, 
 nevertheless some anachronism or local error, 
 some mistated, misunderstood, or misrepre- 
 sented fact, some mistake as to the habits 
 of the people described, has invariably been 
 
 " ancient writers now extant. And of these two one was 
 " a city that had been destroyed, and for that reason 
 " probably neglected by the historians and geographers 
 " that have reached our age." The two are the Fair 
 Havens and Lasea, of which the former is probably 
 the xuKy) colty) of Stephanus, the latter, the Lasos of 
 Pliny. Biscoe on the Acts, p. 383. 
 
 P See for instance the question about the Proconsulate 
 of Sergius Paulus, in Lardner and Michaelis, or the in- 
 genious and satisfactory manner in which the latter ac- 
 counts for St. Paul's being ignorant that Ananias was the 
 high priest. 
 
 c 4 
 
24 LECTURE I. 
 
 detected. In this respect the Acts of the 
 Apostles, as the author was more liable to 
 error, affords even more conclusive evidence 
 than the Gospels. The latter are only con- 
 versant about the habits, language, and laws 
 of the Jewish people, and the forms of the 
 Roman provincial government in Judaea. 
 The Acts take a wider, and consequently 
 more dangerous range for an impostor. 
 We are introduced to historical personages, 
 some of whom are distinctly drawn by pa- 
 gan writers, to Festus q , Felix, Agrippa, 
 Gallio. We detect not the slightest incon- 
 gruity in their offices, actions, or characters. 
 We are placed in cities, better known than 
 any other of the ancient world, Antioch, 
 Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, Rome : every lo- 
 cality, every custom, every opinion strictly 
 coincides with our previous knowledge. 
 
 ( l E quibus Antonius Felix per omnem saevitiam ac li- 
 bidinem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit, Drusilla, 
 Cleopatra, et Antonii nepte in matrimoniiim accepta. 
 
 Tacit. Hist. V. And as he reasoned of temperance, 
 righteousness^ and the judgment to come, Fetid' trembled. 
 Acts xxiv. 25. 
 
 The rabbinical traditions confirm the remarkable cha- 
 racters of Gamaliel and Ananias. See Biseoe. 
 
LECTURE 1. 25 
 
 The forms of the Roman law r , a subject not 
 likely to be familiar with such writers, are 
 accurately observed. To do justice how- 
 ever to this part of the subject would 
 require a minute and copious induction, 
 such as that of the indefatigable Lard- 
 ner, or at least the skilful summary of Pa- 
 ley. 
 
 V. If this book, as it appears, was pub- 
 lished during the lifetime of those who 
 were cotemporary with the apostles, either 
 Jews or Gentiles, converts or unbelievers, it 
 was a direct appeal at once to the personal 
 knowledge of eyewitnesses, and to the pub- 
 lic records. The enemies of Christianity 
 
 r M. Huber remarque fort bien, qu'il paroit, par toutes 
 les circonstances du jugement de Pilate, que toutes les 
 regies du droit humain y furent exactement observees, et 
 que cela peut nous convaincre de la verite de cette his- 
 toire. Des gens du petit peuple parmi les Juifs, tels qu'£- 
 toient les Evangelistes, ne pouvoient pas etre si bien in- 
 struits de cela ; et s'ils navoient vu la chose, ou s^ls ne 
 Tavoient apprise de temoins oculaires, ils n'auroient jamais 
 pu la raconter, com me ils ont fait, sans dire quelque chose 
 qui se trouveroit contraire a Tusage des gouverneurs dans 
 les provinces Romanies. Le Clerc, Bill. anc. et mod. 
 quoted by Jortin, Eccles. Hist. I. 50. The argument is 
 still more conclusive from the frequent judicial proceed- 
 ings which occur in the Acts. 
 
26 LECTURE I. 
 
 were neither few nor inactive, but the 
 Christians not merely defied these impla- 
 cable antagonists to disprove the existence 
 and agency of the apostles, they gave them 
 dates, facts, and places, to guide their inves- 
 tigations and facilitate their own detection. 
 They named the cities in which the apostles 
 had founded churches, governors before 
 whose tribunals they were led, prisons into 
 which they were cast, converts which they 
 made, infidels who resisted their arguments. 
 They stated where they began, where they 
 succeeded, where they failed. Now if it 
 could have been argued that neither the 
 memory of man, nor traditionary informa- 
 tion, nor official documents preserved the 
 slightest vestige of such transactions, would 
 the Christians have dared to confront, or 
 the heathens neglected to institute such an 
 inquiry. Some of these events were not 
 such as to obtain merely an ephemeral no- 
 toriety. The Jews must have had some 
 permanent tradition about the appearance 
 of the new sect. Whether the Gospel w r as 
 publicly announced on a high festival im- 
 mediately after the death of Jesus; whether 
 
LECTURE I 27 
 
 it gained ground in the city, whether any 
 of its converts suffered death in its defence, 
 whether any remarkable man, like Paul 8 , 
 embraced the faith, these facts must have 
 been undeniable, or they would have been 
 denied. The appearance of Christianity 
 at Ephesus, Antioch, Corinth, or Athens, 
 the conversion of Sergius Paulus, Paul's 
 arguing before the Areopagus, were not, 
 according to his own phrase, things done in 
 a corner. Even at a later period, when 
 Trypho opposed, or when Celsus, Porphyry, 
 and Julian wrote elaborate treatises against 
 
 s Paul himself appeals to the personal knowledge of 
 Agrippa : For the king knoweth of these things before 
 whom also I speak freely, for I am persuaded that none 
 of these things are hidden from him ; for the thing zvas 
 not done in a corner. Acts xxvi. 26. 
 
 Jortin observes well on the particularity of the aposto- 
 lic writings : " A man of very ordinary abilities, who re- 
 " lates various things, of which he has been an ear or an 
 " eyewitness, is under no difficulty or pain ; but a forger, 
 *' if he had the abilities of an angel, whose imagination 
 " must supply him with materials, can never write in 
 " such a manner ; and if he has tolerable sense, will avoid 
 " entering into such a minute detail, in which he must 
 " perpetually expose his ignorance or dishonesty ." Eccl. 
 Hist. I. 50. 
 
28 LECTURE I. 
 
 Christianity, if the Christian accounts had 
 been questionable on these primary points, 
 they would have perceived and seized their 
 advantage '. These antichristian writings 
 indeed have perished; but as w T e know 
 that the Christian controversialists u did 
 not find it necessary to obviate such objec- 
 tions, we may fairly conclude, that these 
 leading facts of the apostolic history were 
 attested by the consentient voice of pagan 
 and Christian tradition. 
 
 VI. Nor is the internal evidence of style 
 and manner of composition less conclusive. 
 The style of the Acts not only bears a re- 
 markable similarity with that of the Gospel 
 professedly written by the same author, but 
 differs from the other evangelic writers 
 precisely in those points and to that de- 
 gree, which might be expected, from what 
 
 1 Lactan tius affirms, thatHierocles,in his writings against 
 the Christians, acknowledged the low and illiterate state 
 of the apostles: " Pnecipue tamen Paulum Petrumque 
 " laccravit, ca?terosquc diseipulos tanquam fallaeiae semi- 
 " natores, quos eosdem tamen rudes fuisse et indoctos 
 " testatum est: nam quosdam eorum piscatorio artiticio 
 " fecissc quantum." Inst. Div. V. 3. 
 u Justin, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril. 
 
LECTURE I. 29 
 
 we collect of the education, life, and habits 
 of the author. 
 
 VII. But it is in the mode of compo- 
 sition that forgery usually betrays itself. 
 It is elaborately artificial, studious about 
 the arrangement and disposition of the 
 parts, is complete, methodical, and never 
 loses sight of the manifest object at which 
 it aims. As a composition, the book of the 
 Acts x is singularly inartificial ; it opens 
 without pretension ; is loose in the arrange- 
 ment of its facts, passes over considerable 
 periods of time ; and from one subject to 
 another; the writer leaves us to collect from 
 the change of persons, whether he speaks 
 as an eyewitness or from hearsay y . The 
 end is unaccountably abrupt, and it is al- 
 
 x See Lardner, Supp. chap. VIII. sect. 9. Hist, of 
 Apost. art. St. Luke. Micbaelis by Marsh, vol. III. 
 p. 328. 
 
 y Le Clerc, above mentioned, thinks that Luke breaks 
 off the history of St. Peter, of whom he had said so much 
 before, very abruptly in those words Acts xii. 17. And 
 he departed, and went to another place. Nevertheless 
 St. Luke afterwards drops St. Barnabas in like manner, 
 chap. xv. 39. And in the end he will take his leave of 
 the apostle Paul himself without much more ceremony. 
 Lardner, Hist. Apost. 
 
30 LECTURE I. 
 
 most impossible to z ascertain the precise 
 object for which the work was written, for 
 it passes from one apostle to another, and 
 has obviously omitted many material facts : 
 some which would have given dignity to 
 the apostolic history, such as the founda- 
 tion of the church in Edessa, Egypt, Baby- 
 lon ; others which would have tended to 
 raise Paul in the estimation of the whole 
 body, as suffering in an unprecedented man- 
 ner ; Three times, says St. Paul a , / suffered 
 shipwreck, Luke mentions once only. He 
 has omitted many persecutions to which 
 Paul distinctly alludes ; he preserves a mo- 
 dest silence as to his own person ; though 
 as the attendant of the great apostle, it is 
 scarcely probable but that he must have 
 cooperated usefully in his labours, and par- 
 ticipated in his perils. 
 
 The impartiality of the narrative is no 
 less extraordinary than its artlessness. 
 
 z The conflicting opinions on this subject, as stated 
 by Kuinoel, (Proleg. in Acta,) are ample evidence on this 
 point. 
 
 a 2 Cor. xi. 25. Compare this whole passage with the 
 Acts. 
 
LECTURE I. 31 
 
 There is no chosen hero, no ostentatious 
 display of magnanimity or devotion, no 
 boast of self-sacrifice. The reader is left to 
 form his own estimate of the characters 
 from the circumstances related; differences 
 of opinion, disputes, weaknesses, are neither 
 disguised nor dissembled. If an undue de- 
 gree of attention appear directed to St. Paul, 
 it is because his actions were better known 
 to his personal attendant. But Peter is 
 not sacrificed, for he does not inform us, 
 that at Antioch Paul b withstood him to the 
 face, because he was to be blamed. The par- 
 tisan of Paul would hardly have refrained 
 from depressing Barnabas c , and would not 
 have passed so lightly over their remarkable 
 contention. What could be the design of 
 forging such a book ? It is not a complete 
 history of the first propagation of Christi- 
 anity ; it is not a panegyrical biography of 
 any one of the early teachers ; it is not a 
 pompous display of their sufferings or their 
 success ; it is not a complete developement 
 of their religion. If it had been worth 
 
 b Galat. ii. 11. c Acts xv. 39. 
 
m LECTURE I. 
 
 while to invent, the invention would have 
 been more skilful, and more to the purpose ; 
 had the early Christians lied, they would 
 have lied more splendidly. The greatness 
 of the apostolic characters, the powers 
 which they possessed, the rapidity with 
 which they triumphed, would have been 
 more prominently advanced ; the romance 
 would have been more strongly coloured ; 
 the miracles would not have been casually 
 scattered about, but introduced in gradual 
 succession, and rising artfully in their de- 
 mands on our credulity ; the adventures 
 would have been selected either for their 
 marvellous or impressive character. The 
 forger would not have confined his wonder- 
 ful tale to civilized countries ; he would 
 have followed Paul into Arabia, and through 
 the mist of unknown and fabulous regions, 
 magnified the imposing figure of the apostle. 
 He would not have been outdone by the 
 boldness of subsequent tradition ; or rather, 
 if the work had been compiled in a later 
 period, he would have embodied the strik- 
 ing though extravagant fictions, which were 
 propagated concerning the authors of the 
 
LECTURE I. 33 
 
 faith in the second century d . But two 
 points in particular make me conceive it 
 impossible that the Acts should have been 
 compiled later. I. The constant tradition 
 of the church from the earliest times asserts 
 that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom. 
 Would any compiler, whose object must 
 have been to advance Christianity by decep- 
 tion, have declined following these apostles 
 to the glorious consummation of their la- 
 bours ; refused them, as it were, their crown 
 and palms, and neglected such an opportu- 
 nity of confirming the faith by the testi- 
 mony of their blood ? II. If the Acts 
 were compiled and published before the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, multitudes who 
 knew the facts must have been living; if 
 subsequently, their silence concerning that 
 event is inexplicable. The enemies of 
 Christ are scattered over the earth ; his 
 murder awfully avenged ; the guilty city 
 
 (1 Etenim si legas ea, quae costeri qui feruntur fuisse vi- 
 cini temporibus apostolorum, literis prodiderunt, vel ut 
 ab ipsis audita conspectaque, vel ab iis qui viderint ac- 
 cepta, videberis tibi fabulas, ut ita dixerim, legere, si con- 
 feras cum gravitate fideque hujus historian Erasm. hi 
 Act. Apost. 
 
 D 
 
34 LECTURE I. 
 
 razed; above all, the predictions of Jesus are 
 fulfilled to the letter. The Christian writers 
 deny themselves one word of triumph ; they 
 betray by no hint or allusion their know- 
 ledge of this event : they are too blind to 
 perceive, or too generous to adduce this 
 proof of the rejection of their adversaries. 
 They describe Paul as dragged to prison, 
 they forego the opportunity of claiming 
 prophetic foreknowledge for him, by insert- 
 ing in his address the slightest intimation 
 of the imminent destruction. In short, their 
 artful or prudential assumption of igno- 
 rance is so complete, that we must give 
 them credit either for more than human 
 self-denial, or convict them of the most in- 
 conceivable artfulness. 
 
 Unless then we receive the history in the 
 Acts, we are reduced to this alternative. We 
 must believe that every record of the origin 
 and early propagation of Christianity has 
 perished, and a document been substituted 
 false, not merely in some of its details, but 
 in its primary and leading facts ; not merely 
 in its marvellous, or, if you will, superstitious 
 views, but in every single statement. Yet 
 
LECTURE I. 35 
 
 that this document has been so dexterously 
 forged as to harmonize with all sacred and 
 profane tradition, with all the circum- 
 stances and events of the times, and with 
 writings extant which purport to be the 
 letters of the apostles ; yet with all this 
 skill and ability the record is at last incom- 
 plete, and deficient in many of those argu- 
 ments in favour of the new religion, which, 
 humanly speaking, the forger could scarcely 
 have omitted. While with singular felicity 
 all the internal marks of authenticity in 
 style, diction, and arrangement are scru- 
 pulously preserved ; while many of the 
 speeches display, if invented, remarkable 
 art and propriety ; with all these proofs of 
 consummate skill, there appears at last 
 a simple narrative, which redounds by no 
 means to the preeminent glory of the 
 teachers, or places the new religion in 
 a splendid or imposing light. Either the 
 main outline of the Acts is true, or the 
 Christians, with an ingratitude or an ab- 
 sence of party-feeling, equally incredible, 
 dismissed into entire oblivion those through 
 whose instrumentality they had been con- 
 
 d 2 
 
36 LECTURE I. 
 
 verted. Proud of their obscurity, boast- 
 ful of the meanness of their origin, they 
 ascribed their religion to persons whose 
 names and characters bore neither weight 
 nor authority. They forged, or permitted 
 a forgery to be imposed upon them, incon- 
 sistent with their own recollections and 
 knowledge, and not commended by any 
 peculiarly flattering or exalting adapta- 
 tion to the excited state of their feelings. 
 Even during the lifetime of some, who were 
 mentioned by name, they received as true, 
 and stamped with their authority, a book of 
 which every page, every verse, every letter 
 might be contradicted. They read in their 
 public assemblies, what, if untrue, multi- 
 tudes on the authority of their fathers, ge- 
 neral tradition, or their own experience, 
 must have known to be false. And all 
 this to trace their ancestry to the fishing 
 boat and the workshop, to fill up the roll 
 of their spiritual genealogy, with peasants, 
 publicans, and persecutors. 
 
 Thus then to the personal agency of the 
 apostles in the first promulgation of Chris- 
 tianity, we have the accumulated evidence 
 
LECTURE I. 37 
 
 of Christian tradition, supported by hea- 
 then ; we have cotemporary history, we 
 have public and existing documents written 
 by their own hands ; we have the tacit ad- 
 mission of their adversaries. I think there- 
 fore that I have a right to assume the main 
 outline of the history, in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, as unquestionable. But if the 
 main outline, if the primary and leading 
 facts, as they are related in the most inar- 
 tificial and unguarded manner, be true, I 
 conceive that the truth of the miracles 
 must follow as a necessary consequence. 
 The miracles are so essentially and inse- 
 parably identified with the history, that 
 neither the general outline, nor scarcely a 
 single detail in the transactions can be ac- 
 counted for without them. It is a mass of 
 effects with inadequate causes. In heathen 
 historians, in Herodotus and Livy for in- 
 stance, we may easily detach the marvellous 
 from the narrative, in the apostolic history 
 they must stand or fall together. Without 
 confident trust in supernatural assistance, 
 the apostles could not have undertaken the 
 design of converting the world to Chris- 
 
 d 3 
 
38 LECTURE I. 
 
 tianity ; without the actual presence of su- 
 pernatural agency, concerning which, if they 
 deceived others, it was impossible them- 
 selves should be deceived, they could not 
 have succeeded in their enterprise. With- 
 out miraculous powers, their mode of act- 
 ing in each separate transaction is directly 
 at issue with every precedent in human ex- 
 perience, extravagant beyond the excess of 
 the wildest fanaticism, indiscrete, so as to 
 render impossible the success of the most 
 daring imposture. However madness is 
 sometimes modified by craft ; however men 
 who commence by deluding others, end in 
 deluding themselves ; or by self-delusion 
 are enabled to impart the contagion of their 
 phrensy — such contradictions as appear in 
 the character and conduct of the apostles, 
 supposing them either impostors or fanatics, 
 or the impostor mingled up with the fana- 
 tic, transcend the possible varieties of hu- 
 man inconsistency, and surpass every cre- 
 dible deviation from the common principles 
 of human action. 
 
 Opening then the book of the Acts, I 
 would take up the apostles, as they were 
 
LECTURE I. 39 
 
 left in the history of the four Gospels ; trace 
 them from the obscure chamber in which 
 they met, as far as the authentic scriptures 
 will lead us ; rigidly examine every proba- 
 bility, and endeavour to ascertain, whether 
 it is possible that they should have been 
 themselves deceived, or whether they were 
 capable of deceiving others ; whether the 
 faith of Christ could have been established 
 without the direct agency of God ; whether 
 without a sober and rational conviction 
 of their divine mission, the apostles would 
 have attempted the conversion of the world, 
 or could have succeeded in the attempt ? 
 
 I enter upon the subject with less diffi- 
 dence in my own argumentative powers, be- 
 cause, even if this outwork of Christianity, 
 through the incompetency of its defender, 
 shall appear less impregnable than it is, I 
 leave the rest of the citadel in its command- 
 ing dignity, and maintained by its recog- 
 nised guardians. The other evidences of 
 Christianity are not in the least committed 
 by my temerity. The miracles of our Lord, 
 the prophecies, the character of the Re- 
 deemer, remain, to convince, to awe, to con- 
 
 d 4 
 
40 LECTURE I. 
 
 ciliate. Jesus and his apostles will still speak 
 to the reason and the heart. At the same 
 time all subjects connected with Christian 
 evidence appear peculiarly appropriate to 
 my present auditory. At that period of early 
 manhood, when the flesh and the spirit hold 
 their desperate, possibly decisive struggle ; 
 when on the determination the whole cha- 
 racter of the future life, and consequently the 
 immeasurable eternity, may depend ; when 
 the reason, unless effectually strengthened, 
 too often gives way to the more acceptable 
 doctrines preached by the passions ; any 
 argument which may, I will not say enforce 
 conviction, but induce to sober and dili- 
 gent investigation, may be of incalculable 
 importance ; incalculable as the terrors of 
 hell, in its precipitate course to which the 
 soul by God's grace may be arrested ; in- 
 calculable as the joys of heaven, to which 
 by the same gracious influence it may be 
 excited and encouraged to press forward. 
 
 Even to those far more mature in Chris- 
 tian knowledge than the preacher himself, 
 though such an investigation may not be 
 wanting to instruct, or even to confirm, it 
 
LECTURE I. 41 
 
 may nevertheless conduce to invigorate the 
 Christian feeling, and expand the Christian 
 affections. For as the true philosopher, 
 while unfolding the mysteries of the ma- 
 terial world, will perpetually bear in mind 
 and suggest to his readers, the superintend- 
 ing providence of the one great Cause, so he 
 that presumes to enlarge on the plan of the 
 Almighty for the propagation of Chris- 
 tianity, will of necessity develope the wis- 
 dom of the Deity in the adaptation of its 
 appointed means to the end proposed. And 
 as the powers of divine grace will not merely 
 be displayed in the external signs of mi- 
 racles wrought, and enemies confounded, 
 and multitudes converted, but in the ac- 
 tions also and language of the apostles, in 
 their zeal and prudence, their devotion to 
 their Redeemer, and their love to man- 
 kind ; since we cannot believe the reality 
 without feeling the excellence of such vir- 
 tues, the more effectual eloquence of reli- 
 gious example will melt, as it were, insen- 
 sibly into the character. So that even if 
 the faith be neither enlightened nor con- 
 firmed, it may be won to shew forth more 
 
42 LECTURE I. 
 
 abundantly its fruits, and taught, by the 
 study of apostolic models, in what manner 
 it is to work by love. 
 
 May the God of truth and love make it 
 equally operative on our imdei-standings 
 and our hearts — that God to whom be 
 ascribed all majesty, power, worship, 
 and dominion, henceforth and for ever 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. 
 
 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the 
 world to confound the wise ; and God hath 
 chosen the weak things of the world to con- 
 found the things which are mighty ; 
 
 And base things of the world, and things which 
 are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things 
 which are not, to bring to nought things that 
 are. 
 
 I HAVE adduced evidence, I trust, suffi- 
 ciently conclusive, that the apostles were 
 the first teachers of Christianity, and that 
 the Acts is a real and credible history, as 
 far as its main outline and leading facts. 
 I proceed to the more important question, 
 how it came to pass, that these eleven men, 
 with their followers, set themselves up as 
 authors of a new religion, and persuaded so 
 many converts to acquiesce in their claims, 
 and submit to their authority ? I would ri- 
 gidly examine their character and conduct, 
 
44 LECTURE II. 
 
 in order to ascertain how far they were 
 qualified to undertake and conduct such 
 an enterprise. But to form this estimate 
 with correctness, we must divest ourselves 
 of all that habitual veneration with which 
 we have been accustomed to array their 
 persons and sanctify their names. In the 
 mind of the Christian, the apostles of Christ 
 are associated with all that is bold and un- 
 compromising, prompt in decision, vigorous 
 in action, temperate yet firm, unshaken in 
 their fixed resolutions, yet prudent and 
 even pliant when circumstances required. 
 These reverential opinions, however, formed 
 on the general view of their characters, in- 
 capacitate us in some degree from a dispas- 
 sionate judgment on the question proposed. 
 Fairly to consider their situation, at the 
 juncture to which our attention is directed, 
 we should close the history of the Acts, ob- 
 literate every recollection of the miracles 
 which they wrought, and take them up as 
 eleven unlearned and ignorant ?nen, without 
 attainments or connection, selected from 
 the lowest orders of society, who had for 
 some time followed, and implicitly obeyed, 
 
LECTURE II. 45 
 
 the dictates of a teacher, whose character 
 and doctrines they understood but imper- 
 fectly. We must not behold in their per- 
 sons the inspired and delegated missionaries 
 of the Most High, men eloquent in every 
 tongue under heaven, but the humble me- 
 chanic, the unlettered fisherman, the un- 
 popular and odious publican ; not consider 
 them as men so intrepid as to confront alike 
 the prefect on his throne, and the infu- 
 riated populace in the streets, but as pu- 
 sillanimous and irresolute deserters of their 
 cause, now at the lowest state of depression 
 and despondency, on account of the igno- 
 minious death of him on whom all their 
 hopes relied, and who had undergone with- 
 out resistance the public execution of a 
 common malefactor. 
 
 Nothing appears more certain, than that 
 the apostles themselves considered the 
 death of Jesus the annihilation of their 
 hopes a . The recollection of his former 
 powers could only aggravate the sense of 
 their present destitution. He saved others, 
 
 a Compare Lardner, Serm. XXII. Kuinocl on Luke 
 xxiv. 20, 21. 
 
46 LECTURE II. 
 
 himself he cannot save b , had been the bitter 
 sarcasm of his enemies, the more bitter to 
 their ears, because it appeared unanswer- 
 able. We trusted that it had been he that 
 should have redeemed Israel % was the me- 
 lancholy confession of total disappointment. 
 The promise of the resurrection, by their 
 own account, they had neither understood 
 nor believed. When Jesus said, Destroy 
 this temple, and in three days I will raise it 
 again 6 , the disciples did not understand him. 
 Some rumours of these prophecies seem to 
 have crept abroad, sufficient to awaken the 
 jealousy, and redouble the precautions of 
 his enemies 6 , but not enough to reassure 
 the despondency of his disciples. The lan- 
 guage of Mary Magdalene is that of affec- 
 tionate solicitude, lest the body of her Mas- 
 ter might be treated with irreverence : 
 Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me 
 where thou hast laid him, and I will take 
 him away f . Hence it is evident, that far 
 from expecting the resurrection, it had not 
 
 b Mark xv. 31. c Luke xxiv. 21. 
 
 ^ John ii. 19. 22. Compare Mark ix. 32. Luke xviii. 34. 
 e See Matt, xxvii. 63. f John xx. 15. 
 
LECTURE II. 47 
 
 entered her thoughts. When the first in- 
 telligence of the event reached the disciples, 
 their words seemed to them as idle tales, and 
 they believed them not g . And St. John ex- 
 plicitlyasserts, that as yet they knew not the 
 scripture, that he should rise again from the 
 dead b . It is true, that the Lord had fore- 
 told both his death and resurrection ; the 
 accomplishment of the melancholy part of 
 the prediction might have been received as 
 a security for the completion of the trium- 
 phant and glorious clause. But the apo- 
 stles either originally misunderstood his 
 language, and rejected its real meaning, as 
 inconsistent with their national prejudices; 
 or at all events their present consternation 
 overpowered their faith. The immediate 
 pressing calamity absorbed all other feel- 
 ings ; sorrow for the loss of their Master, dis- 
 appointment, personal apprehension, com- 
 bined to prevent their remembering, or, if 
 they remembered, their placing a favour- 
 able construction on his ambiguous pro- 
 phetic language. Their conduct is expli- 
 
 6 Luke xxiv. 11. h John xx. 9. 
 
48 LECTURE II. 
 
 cable on this principle, and this alone. 
 Every act and word marks their complete 
 consternation and despair. They are scat- 
 tered as sheep without a shepherd, without 
 leader, without plan, without object, with- 
 out bond of union. Above all, their timi- 
 dity in deserting, in one, the shame and dis- 
 grace of having denied the Lord, would na- 
 turally oppress their consciences, and in- 
 stead of inducing them to court publicity, 
 dismiss them to their usual avocations, with 
 the painful conviction of their incapacity 
 for any great undertaking. Their only re- 
 quisite for the apostleship of a new religion, 
 their affection for their Master, had failed. 
 The beloved Teacher was left without de- 
 fenders in the hall : when he was buffeted, 
 no hand interposed; when they sought 
 false witnesses against him, no one came 
 forward to bear testimony to his innocence. 
 The draught of vinegar was administered by 
 the hand of a stranger ; and it is not till 
 his doom was sealed, and the wrath of his 
 enemies satiated, that their attachment 
 faintly revives : they venture timidly, sepa- 
 rately, and without hope, to approach the 
 
LECTURE II. 49 
 
 place consecrated to his remains, while even 
 then, the pious office, which they are 
 anxious to perform, proves indeed their af- 
 fection, but acknowledges the frustration 
 of all their hopes. The desire of embalm- 
 ing the body shews that they contemplated 
 no change, except the usual process of hu- 
 man decay. 
 
 But with the life of Jesus, the religion 
 likewise might appear to come to an end. 
 As it depended upon his personal author- 
 ity, and consisted in his personal preach- 
 ing, at his departure the whole scheme was 
 dissolved. If his followers should adhere 
 to his purer morality, and observe his holy 
 injunctions ; if he should assume his rank, 
 as a commissioned teacher and benefactor 
 of the Jewish people, as a wise and acknow- 
 ledged prophet, this was the utmost that 
 could be expected. If the expiring cry of 
 their Master, It is finished, reached the ears 
 of his disciples, their interpretation doubt- 
 less was that of despair, as though it implied 
 the termination of that mission, from which 
 they had expected so much, the complete 
 cessation of all the power and authority of 
 
50 LECTURE II. 
 
 Jesus, which could not, as it appeared, arrest 
 or avert the triumphant malice of his ene- 
 mies. So far their pusillanimity is consist- 
 ent, and their conduct precisely such as we 
 might expect from men of their station and 
 character, under such trying circumstances. 
 
 On a sudden, however, the disciples of Je- 
 sus appear assembled together ; their views 
 are entirely altered ; their courage restored; 
 their hopes revived. A new and unexpected 
 religion is at once proclaimed ; unprece- 
 dented honours are demanded for their cru- 
 cified and forsaken Master. Jesus of Naza- 
 reth is no longer announced as a teacher 
 inspired by Heaven, as the worker of mi- 
 racles, the Messiah who was about to re- 
 deem Israel. The redemption is declared 
 complete, the task of the Shiloh accom- 
 plished, and himself having risen from the 
 dead, ascended to the right hand of the 
 Majesty on high. 
 
 Now we must suppose that these men, 
 who had so completely betrayed their own 
 cause from apprehensions of personal dan- 
 ger ; who had avowedly abandoned all their 
 ambitious hopes, and acquiesced in the 
 
LECTURE II. 51 
 
 frustration of their schemes, within a few 
 days, and without apparent reason, deter- 
 mined upon turning this emergency to their 
 own advantage, shook off with one consent 
 all their timidity, and renewed at their 
 own peril, and for some purpose of their 
 own, a design which for some time they 
 had given up as lost. Either this was the 
 case, or the resurrection of Jesus produced 
 this alteration in their views. That mira- 
 culous event, if unreal, they either invent- 
 ed, or believed without sufficient evidence. 
 Their number and unanimity render both 
 suppositions improbable, their situation and 
 conduct still more so. The coolness and 
 audacity which would induce them to in- 
 vent, the fanaticism which would lead 
 them to believe on inconclusive testimony, 
 are equally irreconcileable with their cha- 
 racters and circumstances. That all with 
 one accord should agree to adopt this ex- 
 traordinary fact as the groundwork of their 
 new plan ; that there should be no differ- 
 ence of opinion, or if there were, that it 
 should be overruled ; that they should una- 
 nimously consent to maintain, not only the 
 
 e 2 
 
52 LECTURE II. 
 
 fact itself, but the circumstantial evidence, 
 by which the fact was to be attested ; that 
 neither jealousy, nor timidity, nor the hope 
 of reward, if another should take the part 
 of Judas, and turn informer, should have 
 tempted them to the least deviation in their 
 story ; that they should be betrayed inad- 
 vertently into no contradiction, such as the 
 vigilance of their enemies would doubtless 
 have been sagacious and alert enough to 
 detect, each of these difficulties swells the 
 amount of improbability to an incalculable 
 height. 
 
 On the other hand, that all should at 
 once be seized by the simultaneous trans- 
 port of enthusiasm ; be deceived by the 
 same unreal appearance, or permit their 
 senses to be imposed upon by the same il- 
 lusion : that all should imagine precisely at 
 the same point of time, not once but re- 
 peatedly, the presence of their well-known 
 Master : or, if the fraud or the delusion ori- 
 ginated in one or two of the leaders, that 
 the rest, with unanimous imbecility should 
 coalesce in adopting the fraud, or believing 
 the delusion on such questionable author- 
 
LECTURE II. 53 
 
 ity, — on each of these suppositions the dif- 
 ficulties are equally insurmountable, and 
 the incredibility of their conduct equally 
 apparent. In the exasperated state of Je- 
 rusalem, which the determined persecution 
 of Jesus clearly proves, exasperation which 
 was not likely to be allayed by the revival 
 of a sect, perhaps with more odious preten- 
 sions, which its adversaries had considered 
 entirely crushed, no one will assert that 
 the design of the apostles could be enter- 
 tained without serious apprehensions of im- 
 minent personal danger. The Jews could 
 not be expected to shew that disdainful 
 mercy, attributed by the poet 5 to the mur- 
 derers of Caesar, who thought it beneath 
 them, " having struck off the head, to hew 
 " the limbs." The fury of the Jewish po- 
 pulace once excited, knew no bounds ; and 
 the contempt of human life with which the 
 Romans put down every indication of po- 
 pular tumult would afford them no rea- 
 sonable hope of security. At all events, to 
 minds preoccupied with terror, such despe- 
 
 ' Shakspeare, Jul. Caes. 
 E 3 
 
54 LECTURE II. 
 
 rate calculations on possible impunity 
 would by no means occur. The dreadful 
 cries of Crucify him, Crucify him, were still 
 ringing in their ears. And if the personal 
 majesty and gentleness, the acknowledged 
 blamelessness, the prophetic reputation, the 
 fame of his miracles, had not secured their 
 Master against cruel, remorseless, and san- 
 guinary persecution ; if the hold which he 
 had evidently gained upon the public mind, 
 when he entered the city in triumph among 
 the hosannas of the people ; and the mys- 
 terious sanctity with which the possibility 
 of his being the Messiah environed him, 
 had accelerated, rather than retarded the 
 vengeance of his enemies, the only chance 
 of escape, open to the apostles, was the con- 
 tempt and obscurity into which they had 
 fallen. The frequency with which Peter 
 was charged with being an accomplice of 
 Jesus, and the anxiety with which he re- 
 pelled the charge, indicate that the dis- 
 ciples were exposed to danger ; and imme- 
 diately they excited public attention, they 
 would naturally excite public hostility : 
 their renewed advocacy of their Master's 
 
LECTURE II 55 
 
 cause would necessarily awaken the storm, 
 which only slept because its fury had been 
 satiated. 
 
 Let us however concede (a concession 
 perfectly gratuitous) the possibility, that 
 the extraordinary circumstances of that par- 
 ticular exigency, the crucifixion of Christ, 
 had paralysed the ordinary tone of their 
 minds, and checked for a time their devo- 
 tion to their Teacher's service, but that 
 the usual vigour of their characters, as they 
 recovered from their sudden panic, rallied 
 again ; and that upon mature deliberation 
 they worked up their reviving courage to 
 the renewal of their abandoned scheme ; 
 that they began to recollect and put to- 
 gether the obscure intimations of Jesus 
 about his resurrection, and determined to 
 make this story the basis of their future 
 pretensions ; or, if the supposition be not 
 too incredible, that they began to imagine 
 the reality of that which obviously had 
 been so slightly impressed upon their mind. 
 On either of these suppositions, however 
 extravagant, were these men in their cor- 
 porate capacity, or individually, as far as 
 
 e 4 
 
56 LECTURE II. 
 
 we can judge from their previous conduct, 
 likely to devise such a scheme, as the pro- 
 mulgation of a new religion, or qualified 
 even to commence such an undertaking 
 with success? 
 
 I. It appears to me, that the manner in 
 which the apostolic body was constituted, 
 and the number of which it consisted, were 
 not merely irreconcileable with the original 
 conception of the plan, either of imposture 
 or delusion, but singularly ill suited to the 
 successful advancement of such a design. 
 It is remarkable, that their first object ap- 
 pears to have been, to fill up their mystic 
 number of twelve. Precisely at the period 
 of their greatest consternation, or at least, 
 when, if recovering from their panic, their 
 minds must have been occupied with the 
 momentous undertaking which they were 
 about to commence, in a tranquil and or- 
 derly manner, they set about the comple- 
 tion of their number; though the treachery 
 of Judas, a subject by no means calculated 
 to awaken agreeable emotions, or encourage 
 an open and confiding intercourse, must 
 necessarily be introduced. The whole trans- 
 
LECTURE II. 57 
 
 action bears the appearance of a deliberate 
 design, already conceived ; and shews that 
 they had begun to look further than any 
 present change in their circumstances would 
 warrant. Possibly the number might be 
 intended artfully to fall in with the popu- 
 lar feelings, as answering to that of the 
 twelve tribes ; or the recollection of the 
 Lord's promise, that they should sit on 
 twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel\ might mingle with their renewed 
 aspirations after some temporal grandeur, 
 of which, now that their courage was re- 
 vived, they might not altogether despair. 
 Still, either way, it is singular that their 
 first object should not be their security, or 
 the means of renewing the scheme with 
 success ; but, one must be ordained with 
 them to be a witness of the resurrection 1 . 
 Why another witness ? the fact is not ex- 
 traordinary, but the time is ; and every in- 
 dividual admitted into their intimate fel- 
 lowship, and within their most secret coun- 
 sels, added another chance of treachery, or 
 
 k Matt. xix. 28. l Acts i. 22. 
 
58 LECTURE II. 
 
 timidity, or rashness, or ill-timed and ob- 
 stinate adherence to his opinions, which 
 might be fatal to the whole design. For 
 the equality of the infant republic bore 
 within it the seeds of jealousy, mistrust, 
 and rivalship ; the collision of interests, the 
 struggles of personal ambition, the desire 
 of obtaining, the mortification at not hav- 
 ing attained, preeminence ; disputes about 
 the appointment to the separate functions 
 and offices ; even (for we must admit the 
 possibility of the most unworthy motives) 
 about the division of the spoils, those uni- 
 versal passions, which are as ungovernable 
 in the most narrow and ignoble sphere, as 
 in the imperial court, or the factious demo- 
 cracy, might at any time betray the impos- 
 ture, or split into hostile and irreconcile- 
 able parties the jealous and ambitious fa- 
 natics. That the apostles, if uncontrolled 
 by the consciousness of superintending mi- 
 raculous agency, icere of one mind, is by no 
 means the least inexplicable part of the 
 history. Unity of purpose, unity of interest, 
 unity of sentiment and opinion were in- 
 dispensable ; but was the coordinate au- 
 
LECTURE II. 59 
 
 thority of a board of twelve likely to secure 
 this improbable unanimity? was so complex 
 and unwieldy a machine likely to work 
 without perpetual jarring and dangerous 
 collision ? Still more, was it calculated for 
 the complete organization of a new reli- 
 gion ? For we must bear in mind (a subject 
 to which I shall hereafter advert) that the 
 apostles had not to preach a religion al- 
 ready defined, embodied in a single code, 
 concentrated in one authorized volume, 
 against which lay no appeal. The whole 
 faith, doctrine as well as discipline, was 
 without order or completeness; the great 
 characteristic tenets of Christianitv, the re- 
 demption, the atonement, the resurrection, 
 the intercession of Christ, remained to be 
 revealed, or at least had not been intelli- 
 gibly announced. The creed of the apo- 
 stles could consist only in the loose and 
 scattered sayings of their departed Master ; 
 in moral truths neither systematically ar- 
 ranged nor distinctly developed ; in para- 
 bles not always intelligible in their scope 
 and application ; in prophetic speeches, the 
 intent of which was avowedly obscure and 
 
60 LECTURE II. 
 
 ambiguous ; all these preserved by the pre- 
 carious tenure of human memory, not com- 
 mitted to writing, and liable to all the va- 
 riations which the different interests, opin- 
 ions, or understandings of the several in- 
 dividuals might attach to their meaning. 
 To illustrate this, suppose twelve men, taken 
 from the midst of ourselves, of a similar 
 station, and with the attainments usual in 
 the class from which they are selected, and 
 set them to form, not a new creed from 
 these vague and precarious data, but to in- 
 terpret, without assistance, the written vo- 
 lume of the Bible. Every probability, as 
 well as every precedent, will induce us to ex- 
 pect the most conflicting, contradictory, and 
 irreconcileable confusion of opinions. I will 
 take upon me to assert, that the paramount 
 and acknowledged authority of one influ- 
 ential leader would be absolutely necessary 
 for the original developement, as well as 
 for the successful conduct of a scheme, like 
 that of propagating a new religion. 
 
 II. Does the previous conduct of the 
 apostles, as we receive it on their own au- 
 thority, justify us in anticipating this strict 
 
LECTURE II. 61 
 
 subordination, this unusual harmony, or 
 this patient submission of individual opin- 
 ion to the suffrage of the majority ? It 
 appears indisputable from the Gospels, that 
 before the resurrection, the seeds of mutual 
 jealousy and mistrust subsisted among the 
 twelve. Personal ambition mingled with 
 their views of their Master's aggrandize- 
 ment. And he came to Capernaum, and be- 
 ing in the house he asked them, What was it 
 that ye disputed among yourselves by the 
 ivay ? But they held their peace ; for by the 
 way they had disputed among themselves 
 who should be the greatest™. Again, At the 
 same time came the disciples unto Jesus, say- 
 ing, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of 
 heaven n ? Again, There came to him the 
 mother of Zebedee's children, with her sons 
 worshipping him, and desiring a certain 
 thing of him. And he said unto her, What 
 wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that 
 these my two sons may sit, the one on thy 
 right hand, the other on thy left, in thy king- 
 dom. And when the ten heard of it, they 
 
 m Mark ix. S3. n Matt, xviii. 1. 
 
62 LECTURE II. 
 
 were moved with indignation against the 
 brethren . In the parallel passage in St. 
 Mark's Gospel, the ambitious request is at- 
 tributed to the apostles themselves, but the 
 result is the same ; And when the ten heard 
 of it they began to be much displeased with 
 James and John*. Even at the last passover 
 there was a strife among them, which of them 
 should be accounted the greatest *. 
 
 Now is it credible that these feelings, 
 hardly restrained by the authority of their 
 Master's presence, when that presence was 
 withdrawn, should be entirely suppressed r ? 
 When, if I may so speak, they began to 
 play the game on their own account ; when 
 every measure was either to be dictated by 
 
 ° Matt. xx. 20—24. p Mark x. 41. 
 
 <l Luke xxii. 24. 
 
 r The apostles had been exceedingly subject, in the 
 lifetime of Christ, to quarrelsomeness and contention 
 about priority, and who should be the chiefest ; yea, even 
 at the very table of the Lord's last passover and supper. 
 And therefore it hath its singular weight and signifi- 
 cancy, and sheweth a peculiar fruit of Christ's breathing 
 the Holy Ghost upon them, when it is related, that they 
 now so sweetly and unanimously converse together, with- 
 out emulation, discord, or comparisons. Light/hot on Arts 
 i. 4. 
 
LECTURE II. 63 
 
 their leaders, or adopted by a numerical 
 majority of opinions, is it conceivable, that 
 a federal body, thus composed, should be 
 inspired with such unprecedented unity, 
 and act together with such admirable cor- 
 diality and good faith, in transactions which 
 above all others appear to excite jealous 
 and conflicting passions. 
 
 III. During the lifetime of our Saviour, 
 the apostles appear dependent even to help- 
 lessness, avowedly ignorant, and restrained 
 in a state of subservient humility, little 
 likely to qualify them for taking a lead, 
 or relying on their own decision upon the 
 most momentous questions ; for devising, 
 in short, or executing such a scheme, as 
 the conversion of the world. Their pre- 
 judices as Jews, their passions as men, their 
 ignorance as low-born peasants, are per- 
 petually betrayed in their misapprehensions 
 of the design and character of the Re- 
 deemer. They misunderstand his doctrines 6 , 
 misapply his prophecies, are undecided as 
 to his pretensions. Whenever they depart 
 
 s See John xvi. 18. 
 
64 LECTURE II. 
 
 from their subordinate station, and pre- 
 sume to originate any thing, they are almost 
 invariably in the wrong ; fall into some na- 
 tional error, clash with the loftier views of 
 their Teacher, and are repressed, sometimes 
 with severity, sometimes w r ith merciful com- 
 passion for their infirmities, always with 
 the strong and commanding energy of one, 
 too superior to admit advice, remonstrance, 
 or suggestion. When they would call down 
 fire from heaven, they are sternly rebuked 1 ; 
 when they would not suffer little children to 
 come unto him u , they are reproved ; Get 
 thee behind me, Satan x , is the emphatic ex- 
 pression of our Lord to Peter on one occa- 
 sion : O fools, and sloiv of heart to believe 
 all that the prophets have spoken Y , is his lan- 
 guage to the whole assembly after his re- 
 surrection. Yet these same apostles, who, 
 up to a certain period, are precisely the 
 unlearned and ignorant men, the cLypappa,- 
 riis kcli \SidTGLiy which they are described ; 
 men who appear summoned from humble 
 
 1 Luke ix. 55. u Mark x. 14. Luke xviii. 1(5. 
 
 * Mark viii. 88. y Luke xxiv. 25. 
 
LECTURE II. 65 
 
 stations to undertake an office, for which 
 they are obviously and consciously incom- 
 petent, oppressed, indeed, with the sense of 
 their incompetency ; who are, like those 
 that are suddenly called out of darkness 
 into overpowering light, dazzled, perplexed, 
 confused, and betray in every word and 
 action their reverential astonishment at the 
 unexpected novelty of their situation — yet 
 these men, at the instant when their minds 
 are unhinged by the unfavourable turn 
 which their affairs have taken, suddenly 
 deprived of their leader, depressed with sor- 
 row for his loss, in manifest and acknow- 
 ledged consternation, begin, nevertheless, to 
 act for themselves with the utmost promp- 
 titude z , boldness, and prudence ; declare 
 themselves the authorized preachers of a 
 new religion ; assume the burden and re- 
 sponsibility of converting the world ; and 
 not merely commence, but carry through 
 this stupendous undertaking. 
 
 If then the body, both from its numbers, 
 
 z Compare, on the change of character in the apostles, 
 South, vol. V. 30. Oxf. edit, and bishop Watson's sermon 
 on " Christianity no Imposture." 
 
 F 
 
66 LECTURE II. 
 
 and the manner in which it was consti- 
 tuted, from the danger of internal dissen- 
 sion, and the previous w T ant of self-depend- 
 ance, was ill calculated for the success of 
 such a scheme, were those who appear to 
 have taken the lead, characters so com- 
 manding as to entitle them to the uncon- 
 tested post of eminence ; and so authorita- 
 tive, as to enforce implicit submission, or 
 deference at least, to their determinations ? 
 Can w T e discover in one or more individuals 
 the qualities requisite for the conception 
 and conduct of the scheme, which were 
 thus obviously deficient in the whole as- 
 sembly? was it in fact a monarchy, under 
 the form of a republic ? were the rest mere 
 subordinate accomplices in the fraud, or 
 hurried away by the controlling fanaticism 
 of a few ardent or artful leaders ? 
 
 Not merely those who with Protestants 
 of the highest distinction acknowledge in 
 Peter a certain primacy*, founded on pre- 
 eminent zeal and ability, but even the 
 candid member of the church of Rome 1 ' 
 
 a Barrow on the Pope's Supremacy. 
 
 b Though the promise of building the church upon 
 
LECTURE II. 67 
 
 must admit, I conceive, that this primacy 
 was not established in such decisive and 
 unambiguous terms, before the death of 
 Jesus, as to silence all possible jealousy, 
 and preclude all contest. It must be re- 
 membered, that if his former zeal had 
 entitled him to preeminence, his signal im- 
 becility had in some degree endangered 
 his claim. Nor, on the whole, tracing the 
 life of Peter in the Gospels, and bearing in 
 mind that one of the Gospels was unques- 
 tionably written by the author of the Acts 
 of the Apostles, am I prepared for the tacit 
 concession of the first place to him, far less 
 for the prudent as well as resolute, the firm 
 as well as vigorous, the conciliatory as well 
 as daring conduct, which he displays in 
 the subsequent history. Observe his ambi- 
 tious claim of superiority , his presuming 
 to rebuke his Master d , his incautious vio- 
 lence in wounding the servant of the high 
 
 the rock had already been made, the charge, Feed my 
 sheej), was subsequent to the resurrection. 
 
 c Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Mark 
 xiv. 29- 
 
 d Matt. xvi. 22. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 LECTURE II. 
 
 priest, his boast of fidelity, his cowardly 
 denial ; on the whole, he appears a man of 
 strong and ardent character, but liable to 
 be hurried away by his vehemence, and 
 checked by determined opposition; remark- 
 ably deficient in that intuitive self-com- 
 mand, which is never thrown off its guard 
 by sudden emergency, which sees at once 
 the course which is to be pursued, and ad- 
 heres with unshaken resolution to the de- 
 termination which it has formed. But if 
 firmness and discretion appear wanting in 
 the character of Peter e , the mild and affec- 
 tionate disposition of the disciple whom 
 our Lord loved, however persuasive, and 
 likely to control the better feelings of those 
 whom he addressed, does not, especially if 
 we estimate his character from the gentle 
 
 e Pro mitiori sane Joannis temperamento perorant tot 
 judicia tenerrimi ejus erga Jesum amoris, qui ixmocua 
 sua jucunditate optimum Sospitatorem nostrum ita occu- 
 pavit, ut primum in familiaritate locum ei concesserit, 
 eumquc in sinum suum non solum corporis sui in accu- 
 
 bitu, sed etiam animi receperat. Eodem quo erga 
 
 Christum arsit amore, etiam fratres amplexum esse, sua- 
 det ilia totiens totiensque scriptis, voce, vitfi inculcata 
 Philadelphia. Lampe in Johan. 
 
LECTURE II. 69 
 
 and contemplative f cast of his writings also, 
 appear peculiarly suited for the daring and 
 energetic course, with which the apostles 
 commenced their undertaking. Such cha- 
 racters, however heroic in enduring, are 
 rarely bold and comprehensive in the con- 
 ception of their plans s ; they will follow 
 with the most enthusiastic fervour, and the 
 most unshaken constancy, but they will not 
 lead with irresistible energy, and fearless 
 confidence in their own powers. The cha- 
 racters of the other apostles are less dis- 
 tinctly marked. James h the brother of 
 
 f The fathers were fond of contrasting the vigorous 
 and active character of Peter with the more profound 
 and speculative disposition of John. Theophylact calls 
 one vp&gts and the other Qsooglu, and explains himself 
 thus : Z£u §£ jxoi vqbi YltTpov fisv to irpaKTmov xat Qeppov. 
 
 'loQaVVY}V $£ TO QswpY}TM.OV XOU eV^VS^ 7TSp) TY}V TCOV QsiOQV yVWO~W. 
 
 in Luc. c. 25. Compare Casaubon. in Baron. Ann. 
 Exerc. XIII. 
 
 S Compare Cave's Lives of the Apostles, Life of 
 James the Great, for the various opinions of the mean- 
 ing of the name (3ocivspys$. 
 
 h Origen declares his ignorance of the profession of 
 all the apostles, excepting Peter and Andrew, James and 
 John and Matthew. twv de Xonrwv ov ^z^u^yiku^sv toc epyct, 
 
 O0£V TTpO TY}$ fXuSYjTslug TOV 'Ivj<70U, 7TSp\ IffOlOVV kaVTQ~i$ TUC TpO- 
 
 <paj. Contra Cels. I. 62. 
 
 F 3 
 
70 LECTURE II. 
 
 John, appears to have suffered martyrdom 
 in the cause of Christ. James the Less, if 
 the same with James the Just, the bishop 
 of Jerusalem, seems to have been admitted 
 to a post of merited eminence 1 . Of Mat- 
 thew we know little, except that he had 
 to overcome the antipathy to his former 
 odious profession as a publican ; but the cool 
 and cautious Thomas, surnamed Didymus, 
 is marked out as one, little likely to be de- 
 luded by imposture, or to be transported 
 either by his own or the imparted enthu- 
 siasm of others, into measures, of which 
 the risk was great and apparent, the success 
 remote and precarious. 
 
 Yet these were the men, who in the 
 hard wrung intervals of lives of labour for 
 their uncertain subsistence, or trusting to 
 Providence for their daily provision ; aban- 
 doning all their connections, their natural 
 ties, their domestic duties k , were to devote 
 
 ' Sec Lightfoot on Matt, xviii. 17. 
 
 k Peter was married, Mark i. 50. Chrysostom oh 
 Serves, oiiou nsvQepa, exe\ x«» yuvYj, sks) yot[ji0$. The whole 
 passage, Horn. XXIV. on Is. vii. 1. is irrcconcileahlc 
 with the celibacy of the clergy. 
 
LECTURE II. 71 
 
 themselves exclusively to the publication 
 of a new religion '. They were to intrude 
 themselves into the jealously protected pro- 
 vince of the scribes, to give an entirely new 
 interpretation of the national Scriptures ; 
 to be ready at once to turn every adverse 
 
 1 Lardner (Hist, of Apost. c. 9.) and Kuinoel (Proleg. 
 in Johan.) argue that Zebedee was in decent circum- 
 stances. Their arguments appear to me inconclusive, as 
 the hired servants, Mark i. 20. might have been only 
 temporary assistants; and it is very doubtful whether 
 John was that other disciple who was known to the high 
 priest, John xviii. 16. At all events, the trade of a fisher- 
 man was in the lowest estimation. Nota piscatorum pau- 
 pertas, et proverbio dictus aXtswv fiio$. Rosenmuller in 
 Matt. iv. 18. A passage from Plautus well illustrates this: 
 
 Omnibus modis, qui pauperes sunt homines, miseri vivunt, 
 Praesertim quibus nee quaestus est, nee didicere artem ullam ; 
 Necessitate quicquid est domi, id sat est habendum. 
 Nos jam de ornatu propemodnm, ut locupletes simus, scitis, 
 Hisce hami, atque hae arundines sunt nobis qusestu et cultu. 
 
 Cibum captamus e mari, sin eventus non venit, 
 
 Neque quicquam captum est piscium, sobrii lautique pure 
 
 Domum redimus clanculum, dormimus incsenati. 
 
 Rudens Act. ii. S. I. 
 
 Compare also the Idyl, of Theocritus, entitled uXisbc, 
 and Oppian. Hal. I. 35. Uotrpos ds <x\iect>$ nev^ro? ovtco 
 7rlv>jT0£, d>$ xu) tqv$ 7ra~3ug Itf) tyjv olvty)V spyaalctv uyctyfw. 
 7<rre Se uttcivtss oti ov$e)$ X Si P 0T *X VY l$ cilprjcrsTon, tov ulov Trojrjcrai 
 t% re^vrjj tyjs eavTOtJ xK^povopt^ov, 7rArjv si /xq wpolpx x/xravay- 
 xoctpt xevlot. xoc) puXiVTct, OTav euTcKris >j ts^vvj y,' aAiewv 8s ouSev 
 mveo-Tepov ovhe suTeXeVrepov. Chrys. Horn. I. in Joan. 
 
 F 4 
 
72 LECTURE II. 
 
 text to their advantage, to new point every 
 prophecy, and explain every type. They 
 were to calculate so decisively on their own 
 qualifications, as at once to proclaim their 
 views, and commit themselves in the face 
 of all the people as the twelve appointed 
 servants of the long-expected, but rejected 
 Messiah. 
 
 I demand then a cause for this moral 
 miracle, equally extraordinary, equally in- 
 consistent with the known principles of 
 human nature, as the most stupendous 
 prodigy with the laws of the material 
 world. How have these men, collectively 
 and individually, been thus, in an instant, 
 transformed from timid, vacillating, jea- 
 lous, ambitious followers, to intrepid, sin- 
 gleminded, harmonious, self-denying lead- 
 ers? They appear thus suddenly to com- 
 bine that most rare and difficult union of 
 qualifications for a great undertaking, con- 
 summate courage and consummate pru- 
 dence. Nearly the last words of Peter, 
 which we read in the Gospels, are a denial 
 of his Lord, a blasphemous denial ; for ac- 
 cording to one evangelist, he began to curse 
 
LECTURE II. 73 
 
 and to swear, saying, I know not the man™. 
 We open the Acts of the Apostles, and al- 
 most the first passage that occurs is a 
 speech of Peter, distinguished alike for 
 boldness and discretion, at once fervent 
 and conciliatory ; not without considerable 
 oratorical skill in introducing, and at the 
 same time softening the more offensive 
 topics. Nor is Peter alone ; all the rest ap- 
 pear to have supported him with equal 
 courage and constancy ; to have concurred 
 in the same bold assertions; and defied alike 
 the ungovernable eruption of popular fury, 
 and the more tardy yet certain detection of 
 their conspiracy by the regular government 
 of the city. For the scheme which they 
 thus unhesitatingly adopted in this inter- 
 val of amazement and terror, the design 
 which thus deceptively or madly they un- 
 dertook, left them no alternative between 
 triumph or death. Their first word, The 
 Lord has risen, committed them for ever. 
 They stand at issue with the whole Jewish 
 people, probably with the Roman govern- 
 
 m Matt. xxvi. 74. Compare Sherlock, Sermon XVI. 
 vol. II. 
 
74 LECTURE II. 
 
 ment likewise. The scheme itself is the 
 most desperate that could be imagined. 
 Had they stolen the body, or had the body 
 been removed by any means whatever, they 
 provoked immediate investigation. Could 
 it be produced, they would be covered with 
 shame and ridicule, besides being punished 
 as impious impostors. No retreat was open, 
 no equivocation could avail, no subtlety ex- 
 tricate them, after they had once publicly 
 announced the crucified, as the expected 
 Messiah. They had put their hands to the 
 plough, and could not look back ; they were 
 solemnly and deliberately pledged to the 
 cause, and to each other, and they must 
 either extort their security by making some 
 extraordinary impression upon the public 
 mind, by commanding awe and reverence, 
 or they must expect to be swept away by 
 the remorseless violence of the Jews or the 
 judicial cruelty of the Romans. 
 
 But 11 the most extraordinary part of all 
 is this, that the apostles entirely shift their 
 ground, and announce a creed in direct 
 
 11 See Locke, Reasonableness of Christianity. 
 
LECTURE II. 75 
 
 opposition to their own acknowledged and 
 doubtless openly avowed prejudices. Not 
 merely does a total change take place in 
 their characters, but in that of the religion 
 which they profess. Up to this period, they 
 unquestionably expected, that however ob- 
 scured for a time, the splendour of the Mes- 
 siah would at length break forth. Even 
 after the resurrection, their thoughts, by 
 their own account, were earthly, ambi- 
 tious, Jewish. Their first question is, Lord 
 wilt thou at this time restore again the 
 kingdom to Israel ? The thrones of Judah, 
 the glories of their nation, and their own 
 consequent aggrandizement, start anew into 
 their hearts with the first revival of hope. 
 
 ° The dream of the earthly kingdom of the Messias 
 did so possess their minds, (for they had sucked in this 
 doctrine with their first milk,) that the mention of the 
 most vile death of the Messias, repeated over and over 
 again, did not at all drive it thence. The image of earthly 
 pomp was fixed at the bottom of their hearts, and there 
 it stuck ; nor by any words of Christ could it as yet be 
 rooted out; no, not when they saw the death of Christ, 
 when together with that they saw his resurrection : for 
 then they also asked, Wilt thou at this time restore the 
 kingdom to Israel? Acts i. 6. Lightfoot on Matt, xviii. 1. 
 See also White's third Bampton Lecture. 
 
76 LECTURE II. 
 
 All this is now at once discarded and dis- 
 claimed. It can scarcely be supposed, but 
 that their ambitious and splendid pros- 
 pects, the expectation of which could not be 
 suppressed by the commanding presence of 
 their Master, must have been openly an- 
 nounced, or at least incautiously betrayed in 
 some of the public scenes in which they 
 had been concerned; in the triumphant 
 entry, for instance, into Jerusalem, or when 
 Jesus vindicated the sanctity of the temple, 
 by expelling the moneychangers. That they 
 should dare then suddenly to turn round, 
 and having avowedly proclaimed a trium- 
 phant, now as openly announce a crucified 
 Messiah; that after the death of Christ had 
 visibly filled them with amazement and 
 despair, they should immediately assert his 
 death to be a preordained and essential 
 part of their religion, the great character- 
 istic article of their creed, him, being deli- 
 vered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by 
 wicked hands have crucified and slain v : 
 
 P Acts ii. 23. 
 
LECTURE II 77 
 
 upon what principle can we account for 
 this dauntless inconsistency, this flagrant 
 tergiversation, the promptitude and deci- 
 sion with which they adopt almost instan- 
 taneously, and avow distinctly these new 
 and dangerous opinions ? How are they 
 become thus enamoured with the abject 
 and suffering part of their Master's cha- 
 racter, attached not to the glories, but 
 to the cross of Christ, proselytes to a 
 creed, the rewards of which were remote 
 and spiritual ? How have they all at once 
 detected their own misapprehensions of 
 the prophetic intimations of the Messiah ? 
 having so recently construed them accord- 
 ing to the popular prejudice, now in- 
 vented or imagined the higher and more 
 mysterious import of the same predictions ? 
 For clearly the redemption which they 
 preached was directly opposite to that 
 which they in common with all the nation 
 anticipated ? At this particular period, 
 when depression, terror, and despair might 
 have incapacitated them for sober calcula- 
 tion or connected reasoning, they have 
 struck out at once the outline of a new, 
 
78 LECTURE II. 
 
 connected, and consistent system of reli- 
 gious doctrines. Now as long as their hopes 
 lasted, we can conceive their enthusiasm 
 unsubdued ; we can even understand how 
 they should hope against all hope. When 
 the cross was still before their eyes, and 
 before the expiring cry of their Master had 
 sounded upon their ears, it is possible to 
 suppose that their rooted prejudices might 
 withstand the shock ; that they should ex- 
 pect some signal and immediate interposi- 
 tion. When the insulting exclamation was 
 made, If thou be the Son of God, come down 
 from the cross, they might have looked on 
 in mute solicitude, still expecting their ad- * 
 versaries to be put to shame by the accom- 
 plishment of their disdainful demand. But 
 when neither the insult of his enemies nor 
 his own sufferings excited any intervention 
 in his behalf; when he had manifestly 
 given up the ghost, and the limbs had be- 
 come rigid in death ; when the prodigies 
 which took place at the crucifixion, and 
 which might have reawakened their hopes, 
 had passed away ; when the earth had 
 ceased to shake, and the sun resumed its 
 
LECTURE II. 79 
 
 splendour ; when the unresisting body was 
 carried to the sepulchre, the guard placed, 
 the stone sealed, and still no change, no 
 miraculous interference took place, — is it 
 probable, is it explicable, is it possible that 
 after all this, their enthusiasm should re- 
 kindle as it were from an opposite quarter: 
 that it should perceive the manner, in 
 which the apparent disappointment of their 
 hopes might turn to their ultimate ad- 
 vantage, adapt itself with instantaneous 
 pliancy to the change of circumstances, and 
 build up as it were the fabric of a new reli- 
 gion from the ruins of the old ? It is not 
 the character of enthusiasm to start with 
 one set of opinions, drop them in its course, 
 and then seize with the same vehemence, 
 and pursue with the same ardour, those 
 which are in direct contradiction to its 
 former ones. The fanatic spirit is always ob- 
 stinate, having selected its object, it adheres 
 to it with unshaken pertinacity, and dis- 
 dains prudence, as implying want of confi- 
 dence in divine protection. 
 
 Thus the time, the circumstances, their 
 own previous characters, the nature of the 
 
80 LECTURE II. 
 
 new religion, still more, the facts on which 
 it was founded, if false, so easily detected, 
 combine to heighten the inexplicability of 
 this double change in the apostles and their 
 creed. In whatever way we contemplate 
 their characters, deceivers or dupes, we are 
 at a loss to discover any rational grounds 
 for their proceedings. It is impossible to 
 conceive that the plan pf imposing upon 
 the Jews a crucified malefactor as their 
 Messiah, could have entered into minds suf- 
 ficiently sane to argue consecutively, or to 
 harangue in public, without danger of being 
 restrained as lunatics. In this total failure 
 then of adequate causes for these obvious 
 and undeniable effects, w T e are thrown back 
 upon the extraordinary facts, of the ap- 
 pearance of Jesus after his crucifixion, and 
 the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the pri- 
 mitive assembly of the Christians. The mi- 
 racles are imperiously demanded, to make 
 the history, I will not say, probable, but 
 possible. Acknowledge that the same apo- 
 stles who are self-described in the Gospels, 
 preached the resurrection of Christ, as it is 
 stated in the Acts, and how are we to avoid 
 
LECTURE II. 81 
 
 the consequence? Whence is the intelligence 
 necessary to invent this sublime part of our 
 religion, or the boldness to attest it? Is 
 this the language, are these the doctrines 
 which these fishermen learnt when dragging 
 their nets by the lake of Genesareth, and 
 toiling for their miserable subsistence ? Is 
 this the prompt and decisive conduct of 
 followers, who but a few days before were 
 listening in awe and amazement to the 
 mysterious teaching of their Master ? who 
 were unable to stir a step, to utter a word, 
 to risk an opinion, without his previous au- 
 thority and sanction ? Is this bold and un- 
 hesitating avowal of these dangerous truths 
 that of men who were lurking about in 
 places of concealment, only safe because 
 despised, only unpersecuted because be- 
 neath persecution ? Say that the apostles 
 were deceivers; whence the moral courage, 
 the unanimity, the self-reliance, the eager- 
 ness for publicity, the defiance of danger ? 
 Say that they were enthusiasts ; whence the 
 sober and rational tone of their arguments, 
 their continued assertion of facts, the syste- 
 matic regularity of their proceedings, the 
 
 G 
 
82 LECTURE II. 
 
 combined energy of their operations ? what 
 in this case was the end and object of their 
 design ? Say that they were both ; how came 
 the deception not to be betrayed by the 
 enthusiasm, the enthusiasm not to be 
 quenched and extinguished by the con- 
 sciousness of the deception ? Desperate 
 boldness ! to risk all their possibility of 
 success on the assertion of facts which 
 might at once be contradicted ! w T hich de- 
 pended entirely on the united fidelity of 
 those to w r hom they had set so recent an 
 example of pusillanimity ! They declared 
 that their whole body, that five hundred 
 brethren at once, had seen the same Jesus, 
 who had been crucified, alive. But reduce 
 this number to the lowest ; how could they 
 presume to reckon on the faith and the in- 
 trepidity of the whole of their own body, and 
 to venture their whole cause on the hazard 
 that not one false, or weak, or undeluded 
 brother would be found. That they perse- 
 vered, that they advanced, that, partially at 
 least, they triumphed, that even in Jerusa- 
 lem, they persuaded multitudes to believe 
 this fact, considering who and what they 
 
LECTURE II. 83 
 
 were, is of itself decisive evidence of preter- 
 natural power. The Christian religion, the 
 religion to which all the civilized world ac- 
 ceded, the religion of centuries, the religion 
 of the most enlightened minds, was either 
 the offspring of the apostles' invention or 
 imagination during this period of horror, 
 amazement, and despair, or it was the re- 
 velation of the almighty God. If then 
 there is this moral impossibility that they 
 should have invented it, or believed it, 
 themselves, or induced others to believe it, 
 without miraculous evidence, so far I con- 
 ceive that the book of the Acts contains 
 decisive testimony to the veracity of the 
 miracles it records ; that the character and 
 conduct of the apostles affords incontest- 
 able proof of the truth of the religion. 
 
 The resurrection, and the effusion of 
 the Holy Ghost, being thus enforced upon 
 our belief, may that Holy Spirit, which 
 then appeared visibly, descend impercep- 
 tibly into our hearts, in order that by faith 
 in the resurrection we also may rise again 
 to the reward of sincere believers. 
 
 g 2 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 Acts v. 38, 39. 
 
 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these 
 men, and let them alone : for if this counsel 
 or this work be of men, it will come to nought : 
 
 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it ; lest 
 haply ye be found even to fight against God. 
 
 SUPPOSING, then, that actuated by some 
 unaccountable motive, and aiming at some 
 inconceivable object, the apostles had de- 
 liberately determined on the scheme of 
 converting the world to Christianity ; let 
 us inquire whether their conduct, imme- 
 diately subsequent to the first public avowal 
 of their purpose, was consistent either with 
 discretion or the furtherance of their de- 
 sign, if they calculated and depended for 
 their ultimate success on human means 
 alone. All their passions are brought into 
 subordination to this great and absorbing 
 purpose ; they no longer mistrust each 
 other's timidity, or are endangered by mu- 
 
 g3 
 
86 LECTURE III. 
 
 tual jealousy; the great scheme of doctrine 
 is distinctly laid down, and the whole body 
 are solemnly pledged to devote even their 
 lives to the advancement of their cause. 
 Where, then, and in what manner, is it 
 likely that the plan would be commenced 
 by prudent men with well-calculated pro- 
 babilities of success ; or if the result of rash 
 enthusiasm, where would that rashness have 
 been most fatal to their design? Apparently 
 in the heart of that city where the people 
 would be most exasperated at the revival 
 of the sect which they had supposed to 
 have perished with its Founder ; where 
 there would be the greatest disinclination 
 to believe, and the greatest solicitude to 
 confute a ; where the counter-proofs were 
 in the power of their adversaries ; where 
 all the people, high and low, had been com- 
 mitted in the transaction, and to whom the 
 preaching Christ not merely abased their 
 
 a Ka» 7rp0£ tovtoi$ 7roc\iv, \vol pi] \syooo~t tivs$, on tov§ yvw- 
 pt[j.Qv$ a<psvTS$, napa. to~i§ ^svo^ Y)\Qov xo^nudui, tovtov %ap»v 
 7rap' «utoTj netyoveuxoai Trupe^ovo'i tu TsxpYjpioi 7% avountx- 
 (Tsoog, Trap' auroij toIc, earaupcoxocn, to!$ Qa^ucrw, ev uvtyj rrj 
 7ro\=J, iv >} to 7rpay[ACt to 7T<xgctvopov 6TQXfjLr]$r iy cixrre xu) tov$ 
 efcwQiV £7r KTTOfAio-Qriva.i a7r«VTaj. Clirys. ill Act. 
 
LECTURE III. 87 
 
 national pride, but reproached them with 
 most odious national cruelty. Such, how- 
 ever, is the scene selected for the publica- 
 tion of the new religion. Had a certain 
 time been permitted to elapse ; had the 
 multitudes of Jews from all parts of the 
 world b , who were assembled in the metro- 
 polis on occasion of the course of festivals 
 which commenced about the passover and 
 terminated at pentecost, been allowed to 
 disperse ; had the excitement in the popu- 
 lar feeling been left to subside, and the 
 malice of their enemies been lulled to sleep 
 by security ; had the rumour of the resur- 
 rection gradually crept abroad in Nazareth 
 or the villages of Galilee, till the public 
 mind was in some degree prepared ; had 
 the first appeal been made to the inhabit- 
 ants of those parts in which our Lord had 
 chiefly wrought his miracles — had all these 
 cautious preliminaries been observed, the 
 apostles might apparently have betrayed 
 
 b Lightfoot is of opinion that the prevalent belief in 
 the immediate advent of the Messiah had attracted a 
 more than ordinary number of worshippers to the me- 
 tropolis. Compare Skelton, Deism Revealed, Dialogue V. 
 Jenkyn I. 378. 
 
 Cx 4 
 
88 LECTURE III. 
 
 some consciousness of mistrust in their su- 
 pernatural commission, and consequently 
 some suspicion attached to their proceed- 
 ings. Yet even in Jerusalem, on a day of 
 public festival, thronged as it was with Jews 
 from all quarters, Peter, with the other 
 apostles, stands forth, announces the com- 
 mencement of the last days , and thus winds 
 up a long discourse, in which he degrades 
 the pride of the whole nation, David him- 
 self, far below that Being whom all the city 
 had so recently seen hurried helpless and 
 unresisting, buffeted and spit upon, to un- 
 dergo the fate of a criminal at the place 
 of public execution : Therefore let all the 
 house of Israel know assuredly, that God 
 hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have 
 crucified, both Lord and Christ d . 
 
 c Expone de judicio Dei in urbem Hierosolymitanam, 
 totamque remp. Judaicam. Nam diem pro judicio poni 
 alibi jam monuimus. Quum ergo tunc apud Juda?os 
 omnia ad ruinam inclinarent, nemoque ipsorum id ne- 
 gare posset, argumentum sane illud ex verbis prophetae 
 desumtum, tantam in animis ipsorum vim habebat, ut 
 veritatem illius facile agnoscerent, victasque illi manus 
 darent. Schoetgen, Horse Heb. in loco. Compare Ben- 
 son, First Preaching of Christianity, vol. I. p. 80. 
 
 d Acts ii. 36. 
 
LECTURE III. 89 
 
 But in the next place, their continued 
 residence in Jerusalem, with no power of 
 impressing the public mind beyond that of 
 persuasion ; their perpetual collision with 
 the constituted authorities ; the impossi- 
 bility of avoiding, or rather the imperious 
 necessity of provoking, the jealous vigilance 
 of their enemies, and inflaming with their 
 continued and increasing prosperity the 
 most malignant passions of their country- 
 men — all this evinces a reliance on the 
 goodness of their cause entirely inexplica- 
 ble on any supposition but that of its sup- 
 port from heaven. Jerusalem was not merely 
 the most ill chosen place for the first as- 
 sertion of the fact of the resurrection, if 
 the fact were not true ; but the prudence 
 which selected it as the centre of their fu- 
 ture operations appears equally question- 
 able. If the first transport of enthusiasm, 
 or the necessity of striking a bold and de- 
 cisive blow at their outset, might encourage 
 them to defy all hazard, and plant their 
 standard, as it were, in the heart of the 
 enemies' country ; if their temporary secu- 
 rity may be traced to the suddenness and 
 
90 LECTURE III. 
 
 vigour of their proceedings ; if they shall 
 have stunned, as it were, their adversaries 
 by their extraordinary daring — yet cooler 
 deliberation, and the obvious effect, which 
 they soon produced, of exciting anew the 
 popular fury, would most likely induce 
 them to withdraw to some more favourable 
 scene for their intended operations. They 
 continue, however, to harangue in public, 
 to maintain their doctrines before the syn- 
 agogues ; not merely once, but repeatedly, 
 they are called upon, at least through their 
 spokesman Peter, to make a formal defence, 
 to state and to confirm from the Scriptures 
 the nature of their new doctrines ; there is 
 no attempt to escape, no dissimulation, no 
 concealment. 
 
 In this respect their conduct is singu- 
 larly contrasted with that of their Master ; 
 the visits of Jesus to Jerusalem were few, 
 and at considerable intervals ; he seems to 
 have been fully aware that he was exposed 
 to peculiar danger. Till his hour teas come e , 
 therefore, he cautiously avoids that pub- 
 
 <-' Compare Locke, Reasonableness of Christianity. 
 
LECTURE III. 91 
 
 licity, and collision with the ruling powers, 
 which the apostles appear constantly and 
 even want only to provoke. After these things 
 Jesus walked in Galilee : for he ivould not 
 walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill 
 him 1 . Then from that day forth they took 
 counsel together for to put him to death Jesus 
 therefore walked no more openly among the 
 Jews*. This publicity therefore was not 
 a lesson taught by the practice of their 
 Master ; for even in his last visit to Jeru- 
 salem, though in the day time he was teach- 
 ing in the temple, at night he went out 
 and abode in the ?nount that is called the 
 mount ofOlives h . But with so much greater 
 reason for apprehension, inasmuch as they 
 had the awful proof of their Master's suf- 
 ferings that the populace and the priests 
 would scruple at no cruelty, and discoun- 
 tenance no fraud ; would hesitate at no 
 price to purchase information, and feel no 
 shame at the exposure of those they might 
 suborn — in defiance of all these dangers, 
 the apostles resolutely fix their residence 
 
 f John vii. 1 g John xi. 53. h Luke xxi. 37. 
 
92 LECTURE III. 
 
 in the centre of their deadly enemies ; de- 
 liver, as it were, in their hearing the ob- 
 noxious doctrines, select the most perilous 
 spot for their daring invasion on the reli- 
 gion of their ancestors. For, finally, if they 
 should proclaim the redemption through 
 Christ in Jerusalem, we should expect them 
 to be discreet enough to find some remote 
 quarter, where they might slowly work 
 upon the more versatile or less prejudiced 
 part of the people. But where do we see 
 them ? before the beautiful gate of the 
 temple, choosing the presence of the priest- 
 hood, the Levites, the scribes, and the most 
 zealous worshippers, whose devotion had 
 led them to make a laborious journey from 
 the most distant parts of the world ; ven- 
 turing even there to insult the ancient re- 
 ligion of Moses in its venerable sanctuary. 
 But is it possible that both the dangers 
 and impediments of the apostles have been 
 exaggerated in the preceding general de- 
 scription ? When we come to particulars, 
 do we find the circumstances of time and 
 place, the state of Jerusalem, that of the 
 priests and people, less unfavourable to such 
 
 
LECTURE III. 93 
 
 men, preaching such doctrines in such a 
 manner ? Did the followers of Jesus, fortu- 
 nately or artfully fall in with any inveterate 
 and influential prejudices ? had one of those 
 remarkable revolutions of popular feeling, 
 which sometimes occur, taken place subse- 
 quent to the death of Jesus, so as to encour- 
 age their attempt, remove their difficulties, 
 and facilitate their progress ? The latter 
 supposition is rendered almost impossible 
 by the shortness of the time which inter- 
 vened ; and the new part of the religion, 
 which was first published by the apostles, 
 was precisely that which would exasperate 
 to the utmost their powerful adversaries. 
 Their persons and their tenets were alike 
 unacceptable, for they struck at the root of 
 every national prejudice, offended every lo- 
 cal feeling, ran counter to all the ambitious 
 schemes, and crushed at once all the high- 
 w T rought expectations of their excited coun- 
 trymen. To enter more into detail. I. 
 The apostles had to combat the general 
 prejudice of the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 against their country. The Galilaeans i were 
 
 J Paucis monendus est lector, Galilaeos tunc propter 
 
94 LECTURE III. 
 
 hated and despised as a turbulent, lawless, 
 and ignorant people. This was intimated in 
 the prophecy, The land of Zabulon, and the 
 land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, 
 beyond Jordan, Galilee of the gentiles : the 
 people which sat in da? % kness saw agi % eat light, 
 and to them which sat in the region and sha- 
 dow of death, light is sprung up k . Can there 
 any thing good come out of Nazareth 1 ? was 
 the language of Nathanael. It was objected 
 to Nicodemus concerning Jesus, Art thou 
 also of Galilee 9 Search and look, for out of 
 Galilee ariseth no prophet^. Their coarse 
 dialect ensured their detection, and entailed 
 contempt upon them. Thou art a Galilcean, 
 and thy speech bewrayeth thee, implied, I 
 conceive, not merely the detection of Peter, 
 as a follower of Jesus, but a sarcasm likewise 
 
 rusticitatem et simplicitatem famosos fuisse. Adeoquc 
 magis mirum id Judaeis videbatur, quod tarn rudes ho- 
 mines tanta virtutc pollerent. Schoctgcn in Act. II. 7. 
 
 Josephus thus describes the GaliLneans ; Nscoref coy Itti0u- 
 fjL0vvre$ ds) TrgtxyfJtOiTwv, xoc) <p6<rn iipos jut=Ta/3oAac; iTTiTrfiiiuos 
 fyovTeg, xoc) <TTct<rs<ri %aip$rrtf. Vita, c. 17. See Kuinoel on 
 Matt, xxvii. 15. on Luke xiii. 1. 
 
 k Matt. iv. 15, 1G. • John i. 46*. 
 
 m John vh. 52. 
 
LECTURE III. 95 
 
 against his country n . The whole territory 
 indeed was infamous on account of perpetual 
 robberies and frequent insurrections. Pilate 
 had not long before mingled the blood of 
 Galilaeans with their sacrifices ° : and the 
 remembrance of Judas the Galilaean, of his 
 rash revolt and extermination, appears from 
 the speech of Gamaliel to have been fresh 
 and recent. New adventurers therefore 
 from that unlucky country would encoun- 
 ter additional suspicion ; on one hand, lest 
 they should stir up the smothered embers 
 of his rebellion ; on the other, the people, 
 having been once deceived from that quar- 
 ter, would lend a less ready ear to what 
 might prove a second, and no less fatal de- 
 lusion p . 
 
 n Galilaeorum ergo lingua crassa fuit, barbara, impolita 
 et rudis, iiteras distinctas confundens, voces diversas in- 
 concinne jungens, vocibus peculiaribus in Juda?a inusitatis 
 utens, sicque dialecto ab Hierosolymitanis discrepabat, 
 ut non mirum fuerit Petrum fuisse sermone suo prodi- 
 tum et pro Galilaeo agnitum. Buxtorf. Lex, Talm. 
 p. 436. Compare Pfeiffer de Dialect. Gal. Exerc. X. 
 where some curious blunders, from the dissimilarity of 
 pronunciation, are given. Michaelis by Marsh, I. 135. 
 and Note on Lecture V. 
 
 ° Luke xiii. 1. 
 
 P See Joseph us, Bell. Jud. II. 8. 
 
96 LECTURE III. 
 
 II. Certain of the most prominent and 
 leading tenets of the Christians were singu- 
 larly ill suited for the meridian of Jerusa- 
 lem. Where would there be equal danger 
 in proclaiming a doctrine so repugnant to 
 their hopes as the dissolution of the 
 temple q ? It could not be denied or dis- 
 sembled, that the teachers of Christianity 
 spoke what would be considered by the 
 jealous and irritable Jews as blasphemies 
 against the holy of holies. The accusa- 
 tion against Stephen, if more formally made 
 and supported by venal testimony, was 
 equally applicable to the general tenor of 
 the apostles' teaching ; This man ceaseth 
 not to speak blasphemous words against this 
 holy place, and the law : for we have heard 
 him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall 
 destroy this place, and shall change the cus- 
 
 °l Our Saviour had so openly and expressly declared to 
 his disciples the destruction of the temple, that they could 
 by no means doubt of it, nor of the consequence of it, 
 viz. that the e0>), customs or rites of the Mosaical law, as 
 they are called, Acts vi. 14. and xxi. 21. were to cease 
 with it. And this, St. Stephen, by what is laid to his 
 charge, Acts vi. 13, 14. seems to have taught. Locke on 
 Ephesians, in in'tt. 
 
LECTURE III 97 
 
 titans which Moses delivered to us r . But we 
 must be familiar with the Jewish writers 
 and history, before we can fully appreciate 
 the fanatic jealousy with which the invio- 
 lability of the temple was asserted. The 
 authority of Herod, &t the height of his 
 power, could not induce the Jews to permit 
 a golden eagle to be placed within its cir- 
 cuit s . Youths were allured by the pro- 
 mise of everlasting felicity to risk their 
 lives in tearing the obnoxious emblem from 
 the consecrated walls. However declama- 
 tory the speeches, assigned by ^hilo and 
 Josephus to those who appealed against the 
 meditated profanation of Caligula, when he 
 commanded his statue to be placed in the 
 temple ; such was the spirit of resistance 
 displayed, that the Roman governor, at the 
 risk of his own head, suspended the execu- 
 tion of the imperial mandate ; and either 
 the prudence or the pusillanimity of the 
 
 r Acts vi. 13, 14. s Josephus, B. J. 1. 33. 
 
 1 Philo Legat. ad Caium. Josephus, Ant. XVIII. 8. 
 Agrippa is said to have fainted away, when he heard the 
 dreadful intelligence of Caligula's mandate. Phih ut 
 supra. 
 
 H 
 
98 LECTURE III. 
 
 tyrant acquiesced in the frustration of his 
 design. The same bigoted jealousy, in- 
 ducing the Jews to refuse the offerings of 
 the Roman emperors, was the overt act of 
 the last and fatal war u . 
 
 But with their belief in the eternal local 
 sanctity of Jerusalem, the perpetuity of the 
 law and of the temple, was inseparably con- 
 nected the expectation of the temporal Mes- 
 siah. Till he came to glorify that second 
 house, the house could not fall ; he was to 
 build up the literal, not a figurative Sion x . 
 Nor has it, as far as I am aware, been suffi- 
 ciently observed, how peculiarly adapted 
 the recent circumstances of the Jewish na- 
 tion were, to encourage the fatal illusion of 
 an earthly conqueror, who was to restore 
 the sceptre to Israel, and emancipate them 
 from the tyranny of the Romans. The he- 
 roes of their later historical books were va- 
 liant warriors, who had successfully resisted 
 foreign oppression ; the splendour which 
 had been displayed during the reign of the 
 Asmonean princes, of Herod the Great in 
 
 u Josephus, B. J. II. 17. 
 
 x Compare Jortin's Disc, on Christ. Relig. 
 
LECTURE III. 99 
 
 particular, had in all probability tended to 
 elate the public mind, and to efface the im- 
 pression of Pompey's irresistible invasion. 
 And if the Herodians, mentioned in the 
 Gospels, were more than political adherents 
 to the fortunes of that house, their reli- 
 gious feelings probably anticipated some 
 great revolution, which was to emancipate 
 Judaea, under the guidance of that power- 
 ful family, and enable them to establish an 
 independent, or rather victorious dynasty, 
 of which Jerusalem should be the capital. 
 
 The later history of the Jews, which de- 
 scribes their last and desperate struggle for 
 independence, displays during its whole 
 course a fierceness, obstinacy, and indeed 
 phrensy, which we can scarcely attribute 
 to any principle but infuriated fanaticism. 
 Though the subsequent oppressions of Pi- 
 late's successors maddened the people into 
 perpetual insubordination; though this con- 
 stant state of insurrectionary warfare ren- 
 dered the national character more savage 
 and merciless y ; though in many respects 
 
 y If Josephus is to be believed, the morals of the Jews 
 were in a deplorable state of depravity. Myjts yiveav e£ 
 
 H 2 
 
100 LECTURE III. 
 
 their last resistance was rather that of a 
 wild, lawless, and desperate banditti, than 
 that of a nation manfully contesting for its 
 liberties ; the Jews were undoubtedly pos- 
 sessed to the end with the expectation of 
 some signal revolution, to be wrought in 
 their favour by the special intervention of 
 their God y . No impostor had arisen who 
 had not immediately found a host of bold 
 
 alwvog ysyovevon xaxlug yovi[xu)Tepa.v. Bell. Jud. V. 10. ChjU.au 
 ' Poofxocictiv (SfictlvvovTccv stt) tov; dXiTYiplovc, q xctTaTroS^voa av uno 
 yaviLciTQC) % xoLTotxKvvSrtVcti tyjv i;q\iv >j tov$ Trjj SoSojxvjvtjj 
 |xgTaX«/3e7y xepctvvovg. 'koKu yap tmv tuvtoc 7ra0oWa)v evsyxs 
 ysvsoiv dQsurrepotv. V. 13. 
 
 y To Be Inotpuv otvroug pa\io~Ta npog tov 7ro\s[xov } r\v yprp\L0c, 
 ctiA<plfio\o§ Ofiolcjog sv rolg ispoi$ suprjfxsvog ypocfAftoKTiv, (Jog xaTX 
 tov xouphv exeivov owo rrjj X C * > P <X $ Tl $ UUT ® V a f£ 5 ' T *3S o!xou/xe»j£. 
 Josephus, Bell. Jud. VI. 5. 4. 
 
 Atque hoc quidem (venturum Messiam) opinati sunt 
 omnes, qui arma turn temporis adversus Romanos susce- 
 perunt. Licet multis a?rumnis et laboribus obnoxii essent, 
 nihilominus tamen semper spem suam in venturo Messia 
 posuerunt. Men. ben Israel, quoted by De Rossi Delia 
 vana aspettazione del Re Messia. 
 
 Christi nomine populus Judaicus intelligebat vindicem 
 libertatis. Nam illud, Yi[xe1g 8s ijX7r/£oju.ev oti uut6$ \gxm 6 
 ju.eM.wv XvTpouaQui Tov'lo-gayX, descriptio est nominis Christi. 
 Quare quicunque se missos divinitus liberatores populi 
 Judaici dicebant, eo ipso Christos se profitebantur, et 
 erant tyzvloyjio-Toi. Grot, in Matt. xxiv. 5. 
 
LECTURE III. 101 
 
 and excited followers, ready for any rash or 
 frantic enterprise. The history of Jose- 
 phus z presents us with a continued succes- 
 sion of adventurers who struck this chord 
 in the hearts of the people, which respond- 
 ed to the stroke, however harsh or violent. 
 Thus then, there were bidders enough for 
 the latent enthusiasm, and, while this was 
 the case, it was extremely improbable that 
 it should be drawn away from its natural 
 channel, unless by those who should fall in 
 with the current of popular opinion. But 
 what was there in the character of Jesus, 
 his apostles, or his religion, to command an 
 interest in such a people ? Certainly, in pro- 
 portion to their anxiety for the revelation 
 of the real Messiah, their jealousy would 
 be excited against all pretenders to the 
 character, especially if they ran counter to 
 their own preconceived notions. If this 
 was not the only cause of the hostility of 
 the priesthood against Jesus, it was that 
 which inflamed the fury of the populace. 
 But in his crucifixion they had beheld what 
 
 z Josephus, B. J. II. 13. Compare Kidder on the 
 Messias. 
 
 H 3 
 
102 LECTURE III. 
 
 in their estimation disqualified him en- 
 tirely for the character of the Deliverer. 
 In the patient, the scourged, the mocked, 
 the expiring Jesus, they beheld the confu- 
 tation of his impious pretensions. Their 
 success justified their cruelty ; and he who 
 could not by an instantaneous miracle come 
 down from the cross, deserved to remain 
 there in the agony which was his portion. 
 Amongst a people, then, in this constant 
 state of excitation, of course the heavier the 
 tyranny oppressed the more eagerly anti- 
 cipating the appointed Avenger and De- 
 liverer, the apostles openly and continually 
 declared, and rested their claim to the be- 
 lief of their hearers on the truth of this de- 
 claration, that all these hopes were futile, 
 all these anticipations groundless. They 
 proclaimed the temporal Messiah to be a 
 fond delusion ; appropriated to their own 
 crucified Teacher all the prophecies on 
 which the Jews relied ; distinctly asserted 
 that the Shiloh had been sent and rejected, 
 and thus at one blow annihilated the pride, 
 the expectation, the ambition of Judaea. 
 But not merely had their blindness rejected 
 
LECTURE III. 103 
 
 the offered opportunity of redemption, and 
 their carnal understandings misapprehend- 
 ed the spiritual meaning of their prophe- 
 cies ; not merely had they refused their 
 homage, and withheld their allegiance from 
 the Messiah; they had imprecated his blood 
 upon their heads, and had actually put 
 to death the promised Redeemer. Every 
 sermon of the apostles was an awful re- 
 buke against those who had chosen a mur- 
 derer •, and slain the Lord of life. They had 
 not merely to reprove their natural blind- 
 ness and obstinacy, but to impeach them as 
 guilty of the most heinous national crime. 
 If in all parts Ch?nst crucified was to the 
 Jews a stumblingblock, it w T ould be so in 
 an especial degree among those who had 
 been accessary to his crucifixion, and in 
 the city which was reeking with his blood. 
 In the two speeches of Peter there is a cu- 
 rious difference ; in the first, as if cautious 
 of giving unnecessary offence, he speaks of 
 Christ as one whom they had slain ha x si f>w 
 tmfmh as it has been explained, by the hands 
 of those ignorant of the law; thus casting 
 on the Romans the more odious office of 
 
 h 4 
 
104 LECTURE III. 
 
 actual execution. But in the subsequent 
 discourse he is bolder, and the crime is di- 
 rectly charged upon the Jews ; Whom ye 
 delivered up, and denied him in the presence 
 of Pilate, when he was determined to let him 
 go. But ye denied the holy One and the 
 Just, and desired a murderer to be granted 
 unto you. Such is the language of a low 
 and illiterate Galilaean. But that the Jews, 
 unless overawed by the visible display of 
 miraculous power, should have listened to 
 a speech so offensive ; still further, should 
 have permitted him to proceed to a regular 
 defence of such doctrines, is to me little 
 less incredible than the most stupendous 
 infringement on the laws of nature. The 
 history informs us that, previous to the 
 former discourse, the gift of tongues, pre- 
 vious to the latter, the healing a well- 
 known cripple in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 had imperiously commanded the attention 
 and enforced the awe of the people. That 
 without some such safeguard, the apostles 
 should have dared, or the hearers endured 
 such an outrage on their feelings is abso^ 
 lutely inexplicable. Here again the mira- 
 
LECTURE III. 105 
 
 cles are inseparable from the rest of the 
 history, and we must suppose that the 
 writer so fabricated his history, as to make 
 the miracles thus an integral and essential 
 part of it — a species of art totally at vari- 
 ance with his plan and system of composi- 
 tion, or that the whole is fictitious — a po- 
 sition, as we have already seen, absolutely 
 untenable. 
 
 But if the general state of popular feel- 
 ing was thus ill adapted for the progress of 
 Christianity, the spirit of the predominant 
 sects was, if possible, more adverse. Were 
 the apostles to attempt a coalition with the 
 Pharisee, with that class whom their Master 
 had always addressed in the severest terms 
 of reprobation ; against whose leaven he 
 had perpetually warned them, and in whose 
 bosoms the resentful remembrance of his 
 hostility must have long rankled? How 
 was their humility to triumph over the 
 self-sufficiency of spiritual pride, or the 
 abasing doctrines of sin, atonement, and 
 redemption through the sacrifice of Christ, 
 to penetrate hearts, sheathed, as it were, in 
 the obdurate armour of self-righteousness ? 
 
106 LECTURE III. 
 
 In fact, there was no want of adaptation in 
 the existing religion to the different classes 
 of the community. Judaism had gradually 
 assumed forms suited to the dispositions of 
 different believers. While the superstitious 
 and the spiritually proud ranked them- 
 selves among the austere and censorious 
 Pharisees, the more lax and voluptuous 
 embraced the creed of the Sadducee ; the 
 ascetic and enthusiastic retreated into the 
 desert with the Essene, while the fiercer 
 fanatics threw themselves into the secret 
 associations of the Zealots. Of these, the 
 pharisaic class presented the most formid- 
 able barrier to the liberal, arid at the same 
 time humiliating influence of the new faith. 
 Where religion is completely incorporated 
 with the most minute details of life ; where 
 the most trifling actions of daily occurrence 
 are severely regulated ; where every hour 
 is occupied by some duty, the neglect of 
 which the scrupulous conscience considers 
 a direct infringement of the divine law ; 
 where, however, this austere system of duty 
 is compensated by the inward sense of its 
 unquestioned meritoriousness, if duly dis- 
 
LECTURE III. 107 
 
 charged ; when the religious character, de- 
 pending entirely on external acts of devo- 
 tion, becomes a subject of calculation and 
 certainty — from this inextricable bondage 
 it is almost impossible to emancipate the 
 soul. Thus governing the timid, the scru- 
 pulous, the superstitious, through their 
 fears ; the austere, the bigoted, the sanc- 
 timonious, through their pride ; thus occu- 
 pying every avenue to their hearts and un- 
 derstandings, making the whole life an or- 
 ganized system of ceremonial obedience, we 
 cannot wonder at the extensive influence 
 they had thus secured : that the lower 
 orders, ever reverentially disposed towards 
 the appearance of sanctity, should, as Jose- 
 phus a informs us, almost invariably have 
 espoused their party, so that their influ- 
 ence, as we hear from the same authority, 
 became formidable even to the rulers b . 
 While then the Pharisee held the devouter 
 multitude in this hopeless slavery, the Sad- 
 ducee, by appealing to other passions, se- 
 cured what may be called the freethinking 
 
 * Ant. XIII. 8. 6. b Ant. XVII. 3. 13. 23. 
 
108 LECTURE III. 
 
 part of the community. But not merely 
 would this sect be offended at the high 
 tone of Christian morals, but the doctrine 
 of the resurrection was calculated to excite 
 at once their contempt and hatred. It is a 
 singular fact, that the government was at 
 this period in the hands of the Sadducees c . 
 The apostles, therefore, when they preached 
 the resurrection, not only excited the com- 
 mon Jewish hatred against their preten- 
 sions, but struck at the distinctive creed 
 of the ruling priesthood, and provoked the 
 malignity of men proverbial for the inflex- 
 ible and sanguinary violence with which 
 they exercised their judicial functions. It 
 is almost superfluous to mention the other 
 sect, the Essenes d , as their secluded life 
 
 c Acts v. 17. seems to indicate that the high priest- 
 hood was then in the hands of the Sadducees ; and Bis- 
 coe argues, in my opinion conclusively, that Annas, his 
 sons, and Caiaphas were of this party. See Biscoe on 
 Acts, vol. I. p. 111. 
 
 d Esseni autem napoovufAoi 6<rioTY)ro$ a sanctitate nomi- 
 nati, xcojurjSov oixoucn, raj 7ro\si; Ixxps-no^evo^ vicatim habitant, 
 urbes fugiunt. Philo, Probus libe?', Gens sola, sine ulla 
 fcemina, socia palmarum. Plin. lib. V. 17. A populorum 
 frequentia separata; adeo ut non minim sit, tantum esse 
 dc iis silentium in evangeliis, cum cssent i 11 1 Ilicrosolymib 
 
LECTURE III. 109 
 
 would prevent them from coming much 
 into contact at this early period with the 
 teachers of Christianity. Josephus, indeed, 
 in his laboured panegyric on this sect, in- 
 forms us that they had synagogues in most 
 cities ; but the silence of the Scriptures, as 
 well as their modes and habits of life, ap- 
 pear to indicate that they were not numer- 
 ous in Jerusalem. However that may be, 
 their more than ordinary attachment to 
 the name and law of Moses, their ascetic 
 habits, their notions about marriage, and, 
 in short, the monastic character of their 
 institutions, would more than counter- 
 balance that inclination to Christianity 
 which their purer morals might have 
 rendered probable. But another class 
 of men had already begun to abound, to 
 whom the Christians must have been pe- 
 culiarly obnoxious; I mean the Zealots, 
 whose rigid attachment to the law and to 
 
 peregrini et ignoti neque rabbinorum qulspiam eorum He- 
 braice meminit, ante Zacuthium, scriptorem nuperum. 
 A. D. 1500. Marsham, Can. Chr. Scec. ix. quoted in Lard- 
 ner, of the Jewish sects. Compare Prideaux, Conn, part II. 
 b. V. The number of the Essenes was about 4000 in 
 Syria and Palestine. Philo, Quod omnis probus liber. 
 
110 LECTURE III. 
 
 the temple was considered as authorizing 
 every crime, and sanctioning every cruelty 6 . 
 Ready as they were to cut off their ene- 
 mies by private assassination or public mas- 
 sacre, it is extraordinary that the apostles 
 should have escaped their blind and bi- 
 goted fury, long before their conspiracy 
 against the life of Paul. And, indeed, had 
 not the increasing oppression of the Ro- 
 mans, the frantic insults of Caligula, pro- 
 videntially diverted their wrath, we might 
 have expected a persecution of the Chris- 
 tians which would scarcely have stopped 
 short of extermination f . 
 
 Here then were these Galilaeans to con- 
 test with Pharisee and Sadducee, priest and 
 people ; exposed to the open persecution of 
 the Jewish government, in danger from the 
 
 e See in Lardner ut supra, and Jortin, Disc, on Chris- 
 tian religion, a curious quotation from Philo on zealot- 
 ism. The Sicarii of Josephus were of this class, Bell. 
 Jud. VII. c. 8. §. 1. also Basnage, I. 17. Compare Acts 
 xxi. 27—31. xxiii. 10—15. 
 
 f The opinion of Lardner that the rest of the churches, 
 Acts ix. 81. is to be attributed to the complete engross- 
 ment of all public attention to the result of this contest 
 with Caligula, appears rational and probable. Lardn. 
 Cred. II. 12. 
 
LECTURE III. Ill 
 
 Roman authorities, unprotected against the 
 authorized fury of the Zealot ; with a re- 
 ligion which condemned all alike, too con- 
 temptuous of external observances for the 
 Pharisee, too pure and rigid for the Sad- 
 ducee, too practical for the Essene, they still 
 fought their way to success, added daily to 
 the church such as should be saved g , and, in 
 short, with unexampled rapidity, increased 
 both in numbers and influence. 
 
 Was then their conduct so singularly 
 discreet and cautious, that, having in some 
 inconceivable manner secured a sort of ex- 
 torted liberty of preaching their peculiar 
 opinions, they afforded no opportunity for 
 the misrepresentation of their adversaries ; 
 led all their lives, and conducted all their 
 proceedings in so prudent and blameless a 
 manner, that their vigilant enemies could 
 find no occasion of impugning their mo- 
 tives, arraigning their conduct, or inflaming 
 the popular prejudices against them? 
 
 But precisely at the period when, in all 
 probability, the increasing prosperity of the 
 Christians kept alive the jealous vigilance 
 
 g Acts ii. 47. 
 
112 LECTURE III. 
 
 of their enemies, an occurrence took place, 
 which not only laid them open to the anim- 
 adversions of their avowed opponents, but 
 was of a nature so alarming, as might have 
 alienated the more weak and vacillating of 
 their own followers. It is obvious, that all 
 questionable transactions would be attended 
 with the utmost peril; questionable, I mean, 
 in the eyes of the world, and liable to the 
 misconstruction of those who only watched 
 an opportunity of shewing their malice with 
 effect. Men in the situation of the apostles 
 would be most exposed to the vulgar charge 
 of sordid and interested views. They had 
 abandoned, at least must have neglected, 
 their own honest but lowly occupations, in 
 order to become teachers of men. However, 
 when the religion was established, the equi- 
 table principle, that those who teach the gos- 
 pel should live by the gospel, might be un- 
 exceptionable, doubtless, the coarsest impu- 
 tations of endeavouring to obtain subsist- 
 ence by a less laborious occupation would 
 be urged against those who thus usurped, 
 in a manner, the office and emoluments of 
 the Scribes. But the Gospel being preached, 
 
LECTURE III. 118 
 
 according to the express commandment of 
 Jesus, to the poor ; and their apostasy from 
 the national faith probably depriving such 
 converts of many among their customary 
 means of support, the wealthier proselytes 
 were under an imperious necessity of pro- 
 viding for their maintenance. Such, more- 
 over, was the influence of the apostles' 
 teaching, that many of the more opulent 
 threw their whole property into a common 
 fund for these charitable purposes h . The 
 apostles themselves appear at first to have 
 superintended the distribution of this fund 1 , 
 but at an early period gave up the invidious 
 office, avowedly lest it should interfere with 
 more important duties, but probably also 
 not without the design of thus clearly 
 evincing their own disinterested views. 
 Previous, however, to the appointment 
 of separate administrators to this common 
 property, the occurrence took place, to 
 which I alluded as likely to exasperate the 
 public mind abroad, and to alarm with its 
 severity the timid converts within. A man 
 
 h See Paley, Mor. Philosophy, b. III. c. 5. 
 ' Paley's Evidences, vol. I. p. 67. note. 
 
 I 
 
114 LECTURE III. 
 
 named Ananias, and Sapphira his wife, were 
 suddenly struck dead in the presence, and 
 through the avowed instrumentality of the 
 apostles. The ostensible reason of their 
 death was a fraud upon the treasury of the 
 rising sect. Now it can scarcely be sup- 
 posed that so extraordinary an event — two 
 persons of considerable property thus suc- 
 cessively falling dead in the same place — 
 could pass unnoticed, or escape the know- 
 ledge of the watchful enemies of Christian- 
 ity. If — and we can scarcely conceive other- 
 wise — the affair became public, investiga- 
 tion, or at least inquiry would ensue. Now 
 if the fact was not in the strictest sense mi- 
 raculous, and was not proved to be so, to 
 the satisfaction, or to the silencing, at least, 
 of all objectors, we can scarcely understand 
 but that suspicions of the most dangerous 
 nature would attach to the apostles. The 
 acknowledged cause of their death, Peter 
 having avowedly been to a certain degree 
 accessary to the fact, even the rapidity k 
 
 k Judaei mortuos eodem die quo obicrunt, sepelire 
 solebant. Vid. Matt. ix. 23. Sir. XXXVIII. 17. ct 
 Lev it. x. 1 — 5. Kninocl w loco. 
 
LECTURE III. 115 
 
 with which they were borne out to burial, 
 though not altogether contrary to the usage 
 of the country, presented an occasion to 
 the malice of their numerous and powerful 
 enemies either of denouncing them before 
 the public tribunals, or of inflaming the 
 minds of the populace against them. The 
 plain and simple fact that the transaction 
 did not operate to their disadvantage, im- 
 plies a tacit acknowledgment on the part 
 of their adversaries, that with every facility 
 of detection they could not disprove the 
 miracle. That it was not, is an involuntary 
 admission that it could not be made a se- 
 rious and effective charge against them ; 
 and why it could not, unless it was mani- 
 festly and incontestably providential, a mi- 
 racle in the strictest sense, I am at a loss 
 to conjecture 1 . 
 
 1 Since the above was written, I have found an opinion 
 somewhat similar in Kuinoel. " Cseterum quod mortem 
 " subitam Ananiae et Sapphire attinet, mirum fortassis 
 " etiam videri posset, a synedris de ea non institutam 
 " fuisse qugestionem, sed disciplina publica Hierosolymis 
 " satis perversa erat, et metuebant synedri, ne, si aposto- 
 " los in jus vocarent, fama hujus rei latius per populum 
 " dissiparetur coll. 4. 17. atque adeo ipsa rei cognitione 
 
 I 2 
 
116 LECTURE III. 
 
 Even with the converts it may be doubted 
 whether the great fear which came upon the 
 church, and upon as many as heard these 
 things m , would not operate unfavourably. 
 It seemed to demand, as an evidence of the 
 new faith, a perfect disinterestedness of the 
 heart, as well as of the conduct ; an extinc- 
 tion of all selfish and covetous desires, to 
 which few could entirely attain, and none, 
 after such detection, would dare to pretend. 
 It shewed that the embracing Christianity 
 was a decisive step, after which retreat was 
 impossible ; it placed an image of terror on 
 the vestibule of the new religion, likely 
 rather to deter, than to allure the hesitating 
 and timid across the threshold. 
 
 Nor can we suppose that such a trans- 
 action as the death of Ananias and Sap- 
 phira could elude observation on account 
 of the obscurity of the Christian sect, or the 
 contempt in which it was held. For that 
 the apostles were at this period objects of 
 notoriety and suspicion is distinctly proved 
 
 " dignitas et auctoritas apostolorum multo magis augere- 
 " tur." In loco. 
 m Acts v. 11. 
 
LECTURE III. 117 
 
 by the subsequent history, which describes 
 the first violent collision with the existing 
 authorities. Maddened at their success, 
 the government resorts to the usual means 
 of suppressing dangerous opinions, violent 
 persecution. The apostles are cast, with 
 every appearance of anger and animosity, 
 into prison. According to the account in 
 the Acts, the next morning they appear 
 again in the temple, unintimidated and un- 
 subdued, declaring that their prison-doors 
 had been opened by miraculous agency, per- 
 sisting that they ought to obey God rather 
 than men, and exalting anew that Jesus 
 whom the Jews had slain and hanged on a 
 tree m . But their contumacy, instead of irri- 
 tating, as is usually the case, produces an 
 effect directly opposite. Both the people 
 and the priesthood are obviously confound- 
 ed, and a most extraordinary revolution has 
 now taken place in public opinion. The 
 people so decidedly take their part, that 
 when the captains and officers are sent to 
 arrest them a second time, they feared the 
 
 » Acts v. 29, 30. 
 i 3 
 
118 LECTURE III. 
 
 people, lest they should have been stoned n . 
 But not merely is this change wrought in 
 the versatile and inconstant multitude, the 
 Sanhedrim, the offended, the baffled, the 
 but now persecuting Sanhedrim, is seized 
 with a sudden fit of tolerance. And when 
 a wise and distinguished man, Gamaliel, 
 advises more cautious and temperate mea- 
 sures, they unanimously acquiesce in his 
 suggestions, abandon their sanguinary in- 
 tentions, and endeavour to repress the hated 
 sect by the milder language of remonstrance, 
 admonition, and moderate legal punish- 
 ment. But in what manner had this change 
 been brought about ? How came these very 
 high priests, who had put Jesus to death, 
 and begun to persecute the apostles, thus 
 suddenly to beat a retreat, and admit the 
 possibility of divine intervention ? That 
 they should allow that this may be of God, 
 is a step to conviction which I cannot con- 
 ceive to have been extorted, but, if I may so 
 speak, by main force. Could it be the per- 
 sonal address and eloquence of these men, 
 
 n Acts v. 26. 
 
LECTURE III. 119 
 
 which in every respect were contemptible ? 
 the nature of the doctrines, which, the more 
 fully they were developed, clashed more 
 rudely with their prejudices? audacious 
 imposture, which abused the people with 
 false miracles ? miracles wrought in the 
 midst of their bitterest enemies ! conta- 
 gious enthusiasm ? which implied the total 
 abandonment and extinction of all their 
 former national feelings ! To what shall we 
 have recourse to account for this ? We have 
 one solution, and one only, that which the 
 narrative itself affords, that by the hands of 
 the apostles were many signs and wonders 
 wrought among the people, and of the ?*est 
 durst no man join himself to them. But the 
 people magnified them. And believers were 
 the more added to the Lord, multitudes both 
 of men and women, insomuch that they brought 
 forth the sick into the streets, and laid them 
 on beds and couches, that at least the shadow 
 of Peter passing by might overshadow some 
 of them °. 
 Was then this security, however obtained, 
 
 9 Acts v. 12 — 15. 
 i 4 
 
120 LECTURE III. 
 
 the cause of the increasing courage and ad- 
 vancing prosperity of the new sect ? Did 
 the apostles, by the prophetic sagacity of 
 daring minds, anticipate this unaccountable 
 change ? Did they, though desperately, yet, 
 as the event proved, not unwisely, calculate 
 on impunity ? Whether their courage con- 
 founded, their art deceived, their discretion 
 eluded the insidious or open malice of their 
 adversaries, could they reasonably foresee 
 all this, and form their plans accordingly ? 
 The chronology of the Acts rests on such 
 uncertain data, that it is impossible to as- 
 certain precisely how soon, but unquestion- 
 ably after no long interval such calcula- 
 tions, if made, were proved erroneous. For 
 such appears to have been the animosity of 
 their opponents, that even the extraordi- 
 nary circumstances detailed above could no 
 longer restrain them ; a violent and fatal 
 persecution broke out. It was not indeed 
 on one of the apostles on whom the venge- 
 ance fell, but on a man recently appointed 
 to an office of credit and responsibility. 
 But where the accessaries suffered, the prin- 
 cipals could hardly hope to escape. At any 
 
LECTURE III. 121 
 
 rate the event is worthy of our serious 
 consideration. Without at present entering 
 into the general question of the martyrdom 
 of the early Christians as an evidence of 
 their faith, the death of Stephen took place 
 at a critical period. In the first place, he 
 was a man of learning, not likely to have 
 been deceived by imposture ; he must have 
 been daily witness to the miracles by which 
 the apostles confirmed their doctrine, and 
 must have had means of examining into the 
 proofs of that greatest miracle of all, the 
 resurrection ; he himself is described as 
 endowed with miraculous powers. Now, 
 though it is not quite clear whether his 
 stoning was a p legal or tumultuous pro- 
 ceeding, it is certain that no concession was 
 made. It can hardly be doubted that he 
 might have saved his life by a recantation ; 
 such a confutation w r ould have been too 
 fatal to the odious faith not to have been 
 hailed with readiness, and purchased at any 
 
 P Certain of the legal forms appear to have been com- 
 plied with, for he was dragged out of the city, and he 
 must have been aware for what purpose ; at all events it 
 left him time to deliberate on his conduct. 
 
122 LECTURE III. 
 
 price. Stephen adheres with resolute per- 
 severance to his cause, and, in the agony of 
 death, declares his conviction of the Lord's 
 ascent into heaven : Behold I see the hea- 
 vens opened, and the Son of man standing on 
 the right hand of God. But, secondly, the 
 manner in which he was abandoned to his 
 fate, although the Christians had become a 
 numerous and organized body, was a dis- 
 play of the principle of nonresistance, not 
 likely to promote the interests of the com- 
 munity. Every other adventurer, every 
 other sect, acting in accordance to the com- 
 mon feelings of mankind, has at least man- 
 fully endeavoured to rescue its followers 
 from the hands of their enemies. The un- 
 happy Christian is left alone, no hand is 
 raised to protect him, no voice pleads in 
 his behalf ; like his Master abandoned, like 
 his Master submitting to his destiny, like 
 his Master praying for his enemies, the first 
 martyr fell asleep in the Lord q . Thus di- 
 
 •i lam tempted to transcribe a striking observation of 
 Abbadie on the parallel between the death of Stephen 
 and our Lord. " Etienne nieurt en priant Dieu pour 
 " ses ennemis, a Texemple de Jcsu Christ : mais Etienne 
 u n'est point saisi de tristesse; et n'est ni angoisse ni 
 
LECTURE III. 123 
 
 vulging rather too early to the converts of 
 the apostles the bitter inheritance that 
 awaited them, and the literal manner in 
 which the mournful predictions of their 
 Teacher were to be accomplished in their 
 persons : thus displaying too evidently, that 
 the desertion of each other in the hour of 
 peril, the want of mutual support, grew di- 
 rectly out of their principles, and might be 
 continually expected under similar circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Nor was Stephen, it appears, a solitary 
 victim. At that time (the history continues) 
 there ivas a great persecution against the 
 church ivhich was in Jerusalem, and they were 
 all scattered abroad throughout the regions of 
 Judcea and Samaria, except the apostles 1 . 
 The apostles alone, the pusillanimous apo- 
 stles, who fled at the death of their Master, 
 now remain firm ; they alone confront the 
 
 " epouvante ; il ne s^ecrie pas, ' Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, 
 " pourquoi m'as-tu abandonne ?' Celui qui decrit le do- 
 " mestique si courageux, n'auroit-il point su faire un beau 
 ' i portrait de la Constance du Maitre, s'il s^etoit propose 
 " autre chose que de dire la verite ?" Abbad. sur le 
 Rel. Chret. 2. p. 513. 
 r Acts viii. 1. 
 
124 LECTURE III. 
 
 inveterate fury of their enemies. But being 
 of course objects of the greatest hatred, 
 what could induce them to display this des- 
 perate resolution, unless the consciousness 
 of miraculous power, and rational confi- 
 dence in Divine protection. Still further, 
 what could secure them, and them alone, 
 from the excited vengeance, but either the 
 reverence of the people, which their un- 
 doubted miracles had extorted, or the awe 
 with which they were beheld by the high 
 priests themselves. Their security appears 
 the hardwrung attestation, not of their in- 
 nocence only, but also of their power ; and 
 I draw from thence the reluctant evidence 
 of their deadliest enemies in favour of their 
 miraculous powers, which if they really 
 possessed, it is obstinate impiety to reject 
 their doctrines. 
 
 Let us review the state of the argument. 
 Before that temple which all true believers 
 considered eternal ; among the greatest con- 
 course of the most devout worshippers ; in 
 the presence of the Scribes and priesthood ; 
 overlooked by the Roman soldiery in the 
 fort Antonia ; on one of the most celebrated 
 
LECTURE III. 125 
 
 festivals of the nation, the apostles of Christ 
 stand forth and proclaim their crucified 
 Master to be the Messiah. Cursed is he 
 that hangeth on a tree, exclaimed the un- 
 animous sentiment of the Jewish people. 
 " Your Messiah has hung upon a tree, by 
 " your hands he has been suspended," re- 
 join the apostles, " and your salvation de- 
 '' pends upon your belief in the divinity of 
 " him who has thus died." " Anathema on 
 " him who maintains the slightest deviation 
 " from the dignity of the temple, or de- 
 " rogates from the eternal sufficiency of 
 " the Law ; who depreciates the forefathers, 
 " Abraham, Moses, and David." Such was 
 the hereditary creed of the whole people. 
 " Abraham is dead, and Moses is dead, and 
 " David is dead, Christ Jesus alone lives, 
 " and for ever," was the assertion of Peter 
 and John. " Woe to him," says the Phari- 
 see, " who omits one jot or tittle of cere- 
 " monial obedience." Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, return the Christians, and ye 
 shall be saved. " Irrational folly to suppose 
 " that the soul survives the body, that the 
 " grave shall yield up the dead !" so spake 
 
126 LECTURE III. 
 
 the sarcastic voice of the Sadducee. " The 
 " grave hath given up the buried Jesus, the 
 " grave shall give up all flesh to judgment," 
 reply the intrepid Christians. " Retire into 
 " the solitary wilderness to prepare the con- 
 ? templative soul for union with God, fly 
 " the society, shun every custom of man," is 
 the doctrine of the Essene ; Use the ivorlcl 
 as not abusing it, that of the Christian. 
 " Death without mercy to him who impugns 
 " in the slightest point the religion of Mo- 
 " ses," cries the infuriated zealot. " We 
 " are not only ready to live, but to die for 
 " Christ," is the meek rejoinder of the apo- 
 stles. They assume at the same time the 
 power of life and death, but possessing this 
 power, they do not exert it in self-defence. 
 They submit to death ; though death is be- 
 fore them, and on every side, they confront 
 it without fear or hesitation. Already the 
 blood of martyrs becomes the seed of the 
 church; still converts crowd into their ranks, 
 till even the high p?*iests and the captains 
 doubt whereunto this would grow. How far 
 it grew, let the doctrine of the apostles, 
 preached here in what was the most barba- 
 
LECTURE III. 127 
 
 rous extremity of the earth, eighteen cen- 
 turies after, declare. But how it grew, un- 
 less under the especial influence of God's 
 grace, let those who reject the Gospel sug- 
 gest some rational, plausible, or even pos- 
 sible theory. That it be not preached in 
 vain, be our prayer \ 
 
 s Hie Judaeorum natio suum habuit concilium, sua 
 comitia, sua sacra sanctissima, doctores plures et erudi- 
 tissimos, academiam theologicam, astronomos peritissimos 
 praecipue curriculi lunae; licet in tricis controversiarum 
 multa postulati loco ponerent, quae ostendere nunquam 
 valebant. Romanum hie erat praesidium, in arce Anto- 
 nia, procurator Judaeae cum suis, aula Herodum. Hie 
 erant synagogae Gentium, Alexandrinorum, Libertino- 
 rum, Cyrenaeorum, Cilicum (Act. vi. 8. ubi conferatur 
 Lightfootus in Horis.) Hue confluebant Judaei ex re- 
 motissimis terrae angulis ad festa majora, discendi gratia, 
 ad siclos pendendos, ad urbem caput suae nationis visen- 
 dam. Quicquid igitur Hierosolymis publice gestum fuit, 
 illud in luce orbis terrarum accidit, haud secus ac ea, 
 quae in foro vel aede cathedrali Londini, Vindobonae, Pa- 
 risiis, Constantinopoli, Petropolique geruntur. Harem- 
 her gins de Mir, Pentecostali. 
 

LECTURE IV. 
 
 Acts xii. 24. 
 But the word of God g? % ew and multiplied. 
 
 IT is remarkable, that the ambitious views 
 of the first Christian teachers were dis- 
 tinctly proclaimed at the commencement 
 of their undertaking. No less than the 
 conversion of all nations to their creed is 
 the declared object of these obscure and ig- 
 norant men a . The religion, while yet help- 
 less in its cradle, and as it were struggling 
 for life, announces itself as the future sove- 
 reign of the world. How their success is 
 to be accomplished, they know not ; they 
 are as yet apparently unemancipated from 
 their narrow and exclusive national preju- 
 
 a Having thus declared that the world is to be con- 
 verted, they are embarrassed at every step. See the dif- 
 ficulties which are made at the reception of Cornelius 
 into the church, Acts x. 1. and subsequently at the ad- 
 mission of the Gentiles without circumcision, Acts xv. 
 Compare Benson, p. 223. 
 
 K 
 
ISO LECTURE IV. 
 
 dices ; still they set boldly forward with a 
 confident presumption that they shall be 
 led right, and provided with ample means 
 of advancing their cause. Extravagant as 
 their pretensions are, they avow them with- 
 out the slightest doubt, scruple, or hesita- 
 tion. The commission which they produce 
 is this, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature b . Go ye there- 
 fore and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
 of the Holy Ghost c . Their progress is even 
 more distinctly intimated by the prophetic 
 assurance of their Master, Ye shall be wit- 
 nesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all 
 *Tud(Ba,andinSamaria,and unto the uttermost 
 parts of the earth*. But the more exten- 
 sive the views, the greater the incredibility 
 that they should have been entertained by 
 the apostles without ground or warrant ; 
 or that such men should have imagined the 
 possibility of success on a scale so vast and 
 comprehensive. However imperfect their 
 knowledge of the difficulties and dangers 
 
 b Mark xvi. 15. c Matt, xxviii. 19. d Acts i. 8. 
 
LECTURE IV. 131 
 
 which they must encounter ; however their 
 ignorance might in this respect be advan- 
 tageous, by concealing the real impractica- 
 bility of the scheme, that men of their situa- 
 tion and attainments, whose lives were every 
 hour in peril, whose doctrines were in ac- 
 knowledged opposition to all the ruling 
 passions and opinions of mankind, should 
 announce and resolutely undertake so mag- 
 nificent a project, implies, if not a rational 
 and well-grounded assurance of divine pro- 
 tection, an audacity of imposture, or a 
 phrensy of enthusiasm, unparalleled in the 
 annals of mankind. With fanatics their 
 blindness is frequently their strength ; they 
 rush inconsiderately upon their object, or 
 force their way with ignorant obstinacy to 
 their appointed end. But with the apostles 
 all seems cool and deliberate determina- 
 tion ; having despatched their work in one 
 quarter, they proceed to another ; until 
 they have fairly offered redemption in 
 Christ to those, to whom and to their chil- 
 dren the promise was made% they do not 
 
 e Acts ii. 39. 
 K 2 
 
132 LECTURE IV. 
 
 proceed to unfold their scheme more 
 widely ; but having allowed a reasonable 
 time to their own countrymen, they de- 
 velope their further plans regularly and 
 systematically. 
 
 Grant, however, that to a certain degree 
 encouraged by the success of their scheme 
 in Jerusalem itself; either having deluded 
 their numerous converts with inconceivable 
 skill and ability, or having imparted ex- 
 tensively their own self-delusion, the apo- 
 stles are tempted at length, by some appa- 
 rently favourable opening, to extend their 
 conquests, and embrace a wider field of 
 proselytism. Did then Judaea offer a more 
 promising scene for their operations than 
 the metropolis ? Was such a religion, ema- 
 nating from Jerusalem, likely to be received 
 with avidity, or at least without any strong 
 prejudice to its disfavour in the adjacent 
 provinces? Throughout the whole of Pa- 
 lestine, the teachers of Christianity would 
 have to encounter the same impediments 
 which at last proved too strong for them 
 in the city itself; or national antipathies, 
 which their residence in Jerusalem, and 
 
LECTURE IV. 133 
 
 their obvious preference of their own coun- 
 trymen, would inflame to the highest. The 
 whole of the surrounding districts were in 
 a state of dangerous ferment f ; those ill sup- 
 pressed and turbulent passions, which at 
 last broke out into general insurrection, 
 would scarcely have been restrained by the 
 feeble successors of Herod, unless both 
 rulers and people had been coerced by the 
 strong hand of Roman despotism. Every 
 province was distracted with intestine di- 
 visions, and animated with jealousy and 
 hatred against its neighbour. Life was held 
 on a most precarious tenure ; and such was 
 the expectation on one part of some great 
 approaching revolution, such the apprehen- 
 sion on the other, that personal distinction 
 was inseparably connected with personal 
 danger. Hatred was the common element 
 of the Jewish tribes ; but, while the obsta- 
 cles which it would present to the progress 
 of the apostles in other parts, would be the 
 general insecurity and the danger of law- 
 less violence, it would, as it were, man the 
 
 f Compare Basnagc, Hist, des Juifs, lib. II. c. 1. 
 
 K 3 
 
134 LECTURE IV. 
 
 wall of partition between the Jew and the 
 Samaritan with the most furious and irre- 
 concileable hostility. To expect a coalition 
 between these two parties, to conceive the 
 possibility of inducing them to adopt a 
 common creed, was an enterprise appa- 
 rently so desperate, and so likely to ruin 
 their cause in both quarters, that we can- 
 not understand how the Christians should 
 make the attempt, far less how they should 
 succeed. The hatred of the Jews and Sa- 
 maritans, which it is here unnecessary to 
 trace to its origin, is unprecedented in his- 
 tory. The feuds of rival barbarous clans ; 
 the factions of the aristocratic and popular 
 parties in the Greek republics ; those of 
 the Guelphs and Ghibellines in modern 
 Italy, afford no parallel to the rancorous 
 and deep-rooted animosity of these people 5 . 
 The national honour, and the religion of 
 
 s Compare Prideaux, Conn, part I. book 3. Kuinocl 
 on John iv. 9. Benson, Planting of Christianity, p. 150. 
 There be two manner of nations which rhy heart abhor- 
 reth, and the third is no nation: they that sit upon the 
 mountain of Samaria, and they that dwell amongst the 
 Philistines, and that foolish people that dwell in Sichem. 
 FiCclesiasticus, 1. 25, 2G. 
 
LECTURE IV. 135 
 
 each party, seemed pledged to maintain it 
 in unallayed and untempered bitterness. 
 It was a duty as well as a passion, it was 
 authorized and approved by God himself. 
 The danger lest his religion should become 
 unpopular at its first outset, as in any way 
 connected with the detested Samaritans, 
 seems to have been foreseen by Jesus ; Go 
 not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any 
 city of the Samaritans enter ye not h . One 
 of the bitterest accusations against our 
 Lord was this, Thou art a Samaritan, and 
 hast a devil 1 ; as if one expression of scorn 
 were tantamount to the other. We have 
 another instance of this reciprocal feeling — 
 Jesus wishes to enter a village in Samaria, 
 and they did not receive him, because his face 
 teas as though he would go to Jerusalem. 
 The Jewish hostility immediately breaks out 
 in the answer of the apostles, Lord, wilt thou 
 that we command fire to come down from 
 heaven and consume them, even as JE lias did k ? 
 Now, however, suddenly emancipated from 
 their rooted prejudices, these same apostles 
 overleap at once the barrier, and go forth 
 
 h Matthew x. 5. ' John viii. 48. k Luke ix. 54. 
 
 K 4 
 
136 LECTURE IV. 
 
 to offer to this detested people the same gra- 
 cious promises of salvation. They are now 
 no longer afraid that their persons or their 
 religion should suffer by the infectious con- 
 tact — for even the touch of a Samaritan 
 was considered by the rigid Jew as legal 
 pollution ' ; and, if any faith may be placed 
 in rabbinical authority, while the Gentiles 
 on certain terms were admitted to the pri- 
 vileges of Judaism, their more implacable 
 animosity interdicted, under the most dread- 
 ful execration, the proselytism of a Samari- 
 tan m . This unprecedented liberality is an- 
 
 1 " Et notant Hebraeorum magistri, Judaeos Samaritis, 
 " Samaritas Judaeis obviis proclamasse: noli attingere." 
 Rosenmuller in Matt. xv. 2. 
 
 m " Et excommunicant Samaritas per arcanum nomi- 
 " nis sacrosancti et per scripturam consignatam in tabu- 
 " lis, et per anathema domus superioris et inferioris, ne 
 " quis Israelitarum comedat cum Cuthseo. Dixerunt 
 " enim, quicunque comedet cibum Samaritani, similis 
 " est ei, qui edit carnem suillam : nee quisquam faciat 
 " ex Samarita proselytum, neque habeant partem in re- 
 *' surrectione mortuorum, quia scriptum est, Ezr. iv. 3." 
 Non licet vobis cedificare domum Dei nostri nobiscum, 
 neque in hoc sazculo neque in futuro. Pirke, Habbi 
 Elieser, quoted in Cellarius, Hist. Sam. 
 
 According to Epiphanius a Samaritan proselyte was 
 recircumcised. See Basnagc, Hist, des Juifs, 1. VI. c. 7. 
 
LECTURE IV. 137 
 
 other, and not unimportant proof of the 
 total revolution in the characters of the 
 apostles. Their success in this difficult en- 
 terprise is no less extraordinary. Coming, 
 as they or their precursor Philip did, from 
 Jerusalem ; being Galilaeans, between whom 
 and the Samaritans there were recent and 
 additional causes" to inflame the common 
 antipathy ° ; announcing a Galilaean Mes- 
 siah, who had visited, not the rival temple 
 in Gerizim, but that in Judaea ; by what 
 peculiar art did the teachers of Christianity 
 so far reconcile the Samaritans to doctrines 
 thus preached by Jews, as that Samaria 
 should receive the word of the Lord without 
 difficulty ? If it be supposed, that the fact 
 of Jesus having been rejected by the Jews 
 would recommend him to their enemies ; if 
 
 n See Joseph. Ant. XVIII. % 2. XX. 5. 1. and B. J. 
 II. 12.3. 
 
 ° Father Simon mentions a curious instance of this 
 antipathy. " The Jews were extremely superstitious 
 " about the parchment on which the Scriptures were to 
 " be written. The parchment must be very clean ; nor 
 " can it be prepared by an infidel or ethnick, but by a 
 " Jew, and he neither an apostate or an heretick. The 
 " Samaritan copies are altogether renounced by the Jews 
 u as vile and impure." Critical Enquiry, page 7. 
 
138 LECTURE IV. 
 
 the great attraction of the new religion was 
 its condemnation of the Israelites, as mur- 
 derers of the Lord of life ; we must also 
 bear in mind, that the argument from the 
 prophets would be ineffective or unintelli- 
 gible to a people unacquainted with, or 
 placing no faith in their predictions. Still 
 further, if the more liberal spirit of the 
 new creed, and its emancipation from the 
 narrow and exclusive tenets of Judaism 
 might advance its progress in Samaria, 
 every step towards success in that quarter 
 would make them retrograde in the other. 
 Supposing that they had reconciled the Sa- 
 maritans to their connection with Jerusa- 
 lem, they had still the more difficult task 
 of reconciling the Jewish proselytes to their 
 intercourse with Samaria. Cuthim, or Sa- 
 maritans, was long a reproachful appellation 
 with which the unconverted Jews branded 
 the Christians p ; an appellation, doubtless, 
 
 P " For even to this day, a Cuthaean (that is, a Sama- 
 " ritan) in their language is the most odious name among 
 " them, and that which in the height of their anger, by 
 " way of infamy and reproach, they bestow on those thev 
 " most hate and abominate. And by this they commonly 
 
LECTURE IV. 139 
 
 peculiarly odious to the Jewish converts ; 
 and, as all the later records of the church 
 indicate the unconquerable Judaism, the 
 insurmountable prejudices, the irreconcile- 
 able antipathies of this class of believers, 
 the first step to the more liberal system 
 must have been, beyond all others, obnoxi- 
 ous and offensive. If the admission of Gen- 
 tile proselytes into the pale of the new 
 faith was watched with a jealous eye, that 
 of the more detested and despised Sama- 
 ritans would be so in a still higher de- 
 gree, especially being interdicted, as it ap- 
 peared above, by an express prohibition. 
 That the apostles then out of these incon- 
 gruous materials should build a solid and 
 unshaken church ; that they should speak 
 peace to these conflicting elements, clearly 
 evinces that the power of their Master still 
 dwelt within them. It affords the strong- 
 est presumptive evidence to the truth of 
 this assertion, that when Philip went down 
 to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ 
 unto them, the people with one accord gave 
 
 " call us Christians, when they would express the bitter- 
 " est of their hatred against us." Prideauiz, Conn. I. 3. 
 
140 LECTURE IV. 
 
 heed unto those things which Philip spake, 
 seeing and hearing the miracles which he 
 did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud 
 voice, came oat of many that were possessed 
 with them: and many taken with palsies, and 
 that were lame, were healed. And there was 
 great joy in that city q . 
 
 But among the difficulties which must 
 have embarrassed the conductors of such a 
 scheme, as the conversion of the world to 
 Christianity, none could have been more per- 
 plexing ; none would demand greater deci- 
 sion or greater prudence in deciding, than 
 the association of coadjutors in their enter- 
 prise. In whatever light we consider the 
 apostles, actuated by whatever human mo- 
 tive, this selection must have been equally 
 delicate and hazardous. To be of real ser- 
 vice their agents must be men of zeal and 
 activity, yet that zeal and activity must be 
 kept in strict subordination : the welfare of 
 the whole community, and the success of 
 the whole scheme, might be endangered by 
 the indiscretion or misconduct, the self- 
 willed opinionatedness, or the ungovernable 
 
 q Acts viii.<5. 8. 
 
LECTURE IV. 141 
 
 ambition of any single member, unquestion- 
 ably of any acknowledged and accredited 
 associate. 
 
 I. Blameless as the lives of the early Chris- 
 tians were, the sect was every ivhere spoken 
 against : but if any signal delinquency had 
 occurred even in the lower orders, far more 
 if among the leaders and apostles, the vigi- 
 lant jealousy of their opponents would ex- 
 aggerate the offence, perhaps to the perma- 
 nent disadvantage of their cause. Of this 
 the apostles must have been sensible ; and 
 they were in the singular predicament of 
 being obliged to employ instruments, of 
 whose fidelity and judgment thev could 
 have no satisfactory security, yet they and 
 their cause were responsible for all the 
 odium which might be incurred by the 
 rashness, the folly, or even the moral infirm- 
 ities of their teachers. They would even 
 be implicated in the fortunes of those who, 
 uncommissioned, assumed the title of Chris- 
 tian leaders. The Jews and the heathens 
 were not likely to discriminate with impar- 
 tial accuracy between those who were asso- 
 ciated in their enterprise, and those rejected 
 
142 LECTURE IV. 
 
 from their society. Their disclaimer would 
 not be heard, and all the indignation ex- 
 cited by the misconduct of these unwar- 
 ranted intruders would ultimately fall on 
 the originators of the scheme. 
 
 II. The more the religion spread, the 
 more multiplied the teachers, and conse- 
 quently the greater danger of diversity in 
 the doctrines ; jealousies would naturally 
 arise ; each would aspire to be the head of 
 a party, and unquestionably, if absent or 
 at a distance, possibly even when they 
 w r ere present, the apostolic authority would 
 scarcely restrain that propensity of follow- 
 ers, either in enthusiasm or imposture, to 
 outstrip their leaders, and to distinguish 
 themselves by some innovation, or, as they 
 consider it, improvement on the original 
 design. 
 
 For, III. without commanding talents 
 their coadjutors would be inefficient, but of 
 commanding talents the original projectors 
 would entertain serious apprehensions, lest 
 the lead should be taken from them, their 
 authority be superseded, and themselves 
 thrown back into comparative obscurity. 
 
LECTURE IV. 148 
 
 Every human motive (and if they acted 
 upon human motives, they could only pros- 
 per by imparting similar motives to others) 
 would be from its nature personal, selfish, 
 jealous, and exclusive. The impostor would 
 not bear to be outbid in his demands on the 
 credulity of mankind ; disputes, mutual ac- 
 cusations, and recriminations would be the 
 necessary consequence of such struggles for 
 superiority; and the secret would transpire 
 through some sudden transport of wounded 
 self-importance, or the deliberate treachery 
 of invidious rivalship. But if all influen- 
 tial passions, whether of a more sordid or 
 noble nature, the desire of gain or distinc- 
 tion, are cautious in encouraging rivals, and 
 still more apprehensive of raising superiors, 
 fanaticism is not less so. As its authority 
 rests on its assumed divine inspiration, or 
 at least its special mission from on high, as 
 it identifies its own will with that of God, 
 the slightest opposition is considered a direct 
 attack upon the Majesty of Heaven ; and, 
 though anxious to increase the number of 
 its adherents, as long as they will blindly 
 and implicitly follow, if they attempt to 
 
144 LECTURE IV. 
 
 take the lead, considers itself, as it were, 
 depreciated in the divine favour ; and ra- 
 ther than admit what is not contained in 
 its own revelations, will run any hazard, 
 and resist with the most desperate obsti- 
 nacy. 
 
 The apostles found themselves early called 
 upon to exercise this dangerous privilege 
 of examining and deciding on the conflict- 
 ing claims of candidates for places of emi- 
 nence in their new association ; and their 
 conduct in this respect is, as usual, incon- 
 sistent with every rule of worldly prudence, 
 and unaccountable on any principle, ex- 
 cept their rational reliance on supernatural 
 guidance. 
 
 While they are in Samaria, they receive 
 overtures of admission, not merely into the 
 outward pale of their society by baptism, 
 but into a participation in whatever privi- 
 leges or superior powers were secured to 
 the leaders, from a man whom it would be 
 equally dangerous to receive or to reject. 
 Simon Magus, as he is called, was a wonder- 
 worker by profession, an adept in those arts 
 which passed current as supernatural with 
 
LECTURE IV. 145 
 
 the ignorant, and indeed the educated mul- 
 titude, for the belief in this sort of magic 
 appears to have been almost universal both 
 among Jews and heathens. This man had 
 already gained great reputation, and esta- 
 blished an extensive influence in Samaria. 
 This is evident even from the concise man- 
 ner in which the history is related in the 
 Acts ; for were we to refer to the early tra- 
 ditions of the Church, he would appear a 
 much more important and influential cha- 
 racter r . Absurd, and indeed impossible, as 
 some of those fables are which are related 
 of him whom s Beausobre terms the hero of 
 religious romance, it is not likely that they 
 should have been forged about an obscure 
 antagonist. The manner in which his hos- 
 
 r Nam et Simon Samarites in Actis Apostolorum, re- 
 demptor Spiritus Sancti, posteaquam damnatus ab ipso 
 cum pecunia sua in interitum, frustra flevit, conversus ad 
 veritatis expugnationem, quasi pro solatio ultionis, &c. 
 TertulL de Anim. c. 34. Compare the second Clemen- 
 tine Homily ; Justin Martyr, who asserts the exploded 
 fable, that Simon was worshipped in Rome ; Irenseus, 
 I. 20. Euseb. Hist. II. 12. See bishop Chandler's Vin- 
 dication, p. 390. 
 
 s Hist, du Manicheisme, I. 3. 
 
146 LECTURE IV. 
 
 tility to the early Church is exaggerated, 
 appears to indicate that his opposition was 
 of considerable importance. There appears 
 indeed every reason to believe that he was a 
 powerful and successful adversary of Chris- 
 tianity, the precursor of Manes, though not 
 blending the gnostic or oriental opinions 
 with the Gospel, but setting them up in 
 opposition to the tenets of the apostles t . 
 Simon evidently judged of the apostles by 
 himself, and considered them in possession 
 of some secret, which he wanted leisure or 
 sagacity to penetrate. He took therefore 
 the direct course of appealing to the pas- 
 sion by which such impostors are usually 
 actuated, their desire of gain. The bold 
 and decisive conduct of the apostles is a 
 conclusive evidence of their belief in the 
 reality of their own miracles. That they 
 
 1 'AXXa Aavfiave* tov KeAaov, ore ouhoc[xoo§ tov 'lyvovv 0[/.q- 
 Xoyovviv ulov 0eou ^ifxooviuvo), uKkoi hvvapiv Qsov Xeyovcri tov 
 
 %l(JLWVOt } TSp0tTEv6[ASV0l 7TSp) CtVTOU TlVOl, O«)J0£VTOC OTl SUV T« TTUpU- 
 
 7r\Y}<ria 7rpocr7roi^<r>}Tai. ol$ e§o£e itpovitsitoirpbui tov 'I^jcrot/v, du- 
 vyjostui xai olxjto; irupu uvQpw7rois tovovtov, oo~ov 'l>j<roDj Tolg 
 TtoX\o~is. Orig. c. Cels. V. 62. Wolfius and Rosenmuller 
 identify him with the Simon mentioned not very credit- 
 ably by Joseph us, Ant. XX. 7. 
 
LECTURE IV. 147 
 
 wrought wonders, either as skilful deceiv- 
 ers, or through supernatural agency, is not 
 merely thus acknowledged by Simon, but 
 by all their adversaries. They are com- 
 monly designated by the name of ycijrer, or 
 jugglers": Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian, 
 all admit their pretensions. Here then, if 
 impostors, they had the power of securing 
 in their interests a dangerous rival in their 
 art ; at all events, one, who from the know- 
 ledge which he already possessed, would be 
 most likely to detect their proceedings and 
 lay open their deceptions. They reject his 
 advances, they defy his hostility, they do 
 not deprecate his vengeance ; not merely in 
 temperate and conciliatory terms, but in 
 language criminatory and exasperating, they 
 disclaim all connection with him ; thus 
 turning an useful ally into an implacable 
 enemy, thus throwing off with disdain one 
 whom every thing concurred in designat- 
 ing as an important coadjutor but formid- 
 able opponent. 
 
 The only rational motive which can be 
 
 11 Celsus apud Orig. I. See Bingham's Eccles. Antiq. 
 1.2. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LECTURE IV. 
 
 suggested for so dangerous a measure is 
 their dread of his superior energy and 
 influence, and the apprehension that he 
 would not long endure to keep his conduct 
 and doctrines in due subordination. Peter, 
 it may be urged, was jealous of his acknow- 
 ledged preeminence, and therefore obsti- 
 nately rejected every new candidate who 
 could possibly compete with him for his 
 ascendancy. It is incredible indeed, that 
 this motive, however powerful, should pre- 
 dominate over the great risk incurred by 
 provoking the hostility rather than securing 
 the amity of Simon ; but the incredibility 
 is enhanced, when we consider the next 
 distinguished claimant on the influence, the 
 emolument, the fame, or whatever earthly 
 object may have induced an insincere pro- 
 selyte to embrace Christianity. No event 
 has been discussed with greater acuteness 
 than the conversion of St. Paul x . But even 
 the conversion of Paul, judging from hu- 
 man motives, is scarcely more improbable 
 
 x See lord Lyttleton's celebrated treatise on the Con- 
 version of St. Paul. — Part of ChrysostonVs Homily, "Or* 
 2«0Aof hi e(jL7rvewv, contains some striking remarks. 
 
LECTURE IV. 149 
 
 than his reception into the apostolic body, 
 even after any period of probation ; and the 
 cordial cooperation y of the rest with a man 
 obviously of superior attainments, more ar- 
 dent character, equal ambition, in short, as 
 a rival for the supremacy more dangerous 
 in every respect than him whom they re- 
 jected, on this view of the subject is per- 
 fectly unaccountable. If the apostles dread- 
 ed the difficulty of keeping Simon in subor- 
 dination, how much greater apprehensions 
 would they entertain of the well-known im- 
 petuosity of Paul ; if they mistrusted the 
 fidelity of the former, how much greater 
 reason had they to be wary in forming a 
 connection with their persecutor ; if they 
 apprehended dangerous consequences from 
 the ambition of the Samaritan, or if Peter 
 individually trembled for his preeminence, 
 Paul was in every respect a more formidable 
 rival. That in the first instance the Chris- 
 tians in Damascus should receive Paul into 
 the brotherhood without communication 
 
 y The fact of this cordial union is evident from the ac- 
 count of what has sometimes been called the first council 
 of Jerusalem. Acts xv. 
 
 l3 
 
150 LECTURE IV. 
 
 with the apostles is far from likely ; that 
 the intelligence of his conversion would 
 spread with the utmost rapidity is certain ; 
 and therefore they had time to interpose 
 their authority, even if by some collusion 
 with Ananias — a supposition the most in- 
 credible of all — the persecutor had forced 
 his way into the society. The jealousy and 
 apprehension, which the apostles still enter- 
 tained, is evident in their unwillingness to 
 receive him at his first visit to Jerusalem z ; 
 that this caution should have been over- 
 come, when every circumstance tended more 
 and more to develope the superiority and 
 independence of his character, precludes 
 the suspicion of their being influenced by 
 jealousy for their own supreme authority, 
 from which either as impostors or enthu- 
 siasts they could scarcely be exempt. Or, 
 lastly, supposing that Paul, previous to his 
 visit to Jerusalem, had formed a powerful 
 party, which it was in vain to resist, and 
 thus extorted an involuntary admission of 
 his equality, how was the reconciliation so 
 
 * Acts ix. 26, 27. 
 
LECTURE IV. 151 
 
 complete as to stand the test of subse- 
 quent difference. In those remarkable col- 
 lisions, first between Paul and Barnabas, 
 secondly, when Paul withstood Peter to the 
 face, because he was to be blamed; when the 
 Church was separated into the two distinct 
 parties of the Judaizing and Grecian Chris- 
 tians, by what unaccountable prudence were 
 all those discussions avoided, those mutual 
 charges and recriminations eluded, which 
 might have detected the whole design, or at 
 all events prevented that amicable settle- 
 ment which terminated in assigning a se- 
 parate province to each of the leaders a , 
 making one the apostle of the Gentiles, the 
 other of the circumcision ? Would Peter, 
 if influenced by human motives in the first 
 developement of the design, and still sub- 
 sequently in the transaction with Simon, 
 have so far triumphed over his ambition, as 
 to allow his primacy to be called in ques- 
 tion ; half his authority to be severed from 
 him at a blow, by a man branded with the 
 odious name of persecutor ? Such modera- 
 
 a Galat. ii. 7. 9. 
 
 l4 
 
152 LECTURE IV. 
 
 tion in the later period is irreconcileable 
 with the impetuous audacity of the former. 
 Men do not become prudent from success, 
 nor does the long possession of power in- 
 duce the human mind to acquiesce in its 
 loss without murmur or resistance. It is 
 of itself extraordinary enough, that the 
 design so precariously established should 
 withstand the shock of such a collision be- 
 tween its leaders. That the shock was felt 
 is evident from the Epistles of Paul, while 
 the manner in which Peter in his own writ- 
 ings speaks of his beloved brother, and the 
 apparent cordiality with which the other 
 apostles b cooperate with Paul, claiming as 
 he did a coordinate authority, indicate an 
 unprecedented superiority to the usual pas- 
 sions of our nature. 
 
 But, in the calling of St. Paul, thus out of 
 time, there appear certain indications of pro- 
 vidential interference, almost tantamount to 
 
 b It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one ac- 
 cord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Bar- 
 nabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts xv. 25, 26. 
 Such is the language of the assembled apostles. 
 
LECTURE IV. 153 
 
 miraculous. Had Paul been among the ori- 
 ginal apostles, the infidel might, with some 
 plausibility, have attributed the origination 
 and early conduct of the design to a man of 
 his vigorous mind and distinguished attain- 
 ments c . But the design is far advanced by 
 humbler agents before his assistance is re- 
 quired. The sect is so far prosperous, as to 
 have spread beyond the bounds of Judaea ; 
 it is of sufficient importance to excite a vio- 
 lent persecution, and so firmly established 
 in the minds of its followers, as to induce 
 them to undergo voluntary martyrdom 
 in its defence. Yet still its existence is so 
 precarious, its success so improbable, its 
 leaders so obscure, as by no means to offer 
 a rational incentive to an ambitious mind to 
 embrace its doctrines in the hope of obtain- 
 ing emolument, distinction, or authority. 
 Christianity had now no earthly rewards to 
 offer, but that persecution of which Paul 
 had been witness, and to which he had been 
 accessary. How little likely it was perma- 
 nently to prosper among his countrymen 
 
 c See Locke. Reasonableness of Christianity. 
 
154 LECTURE IV. 
 
 he knew by experience; its propagation 
 among the Gentiles was a scheme as yet 
 almost untried, and certainly affording no 
 reasonable probabilities of success. 
 
 Let us then examine the circumstances 
 of Paul's conversion, with a view to ascer- 
 tain whether there is intrinsic evidence of 
 its miraculous nature ; evidence, I mean, 
 that the miracle forms a part of the history, 
 absolutely essential to the veracity of the 
 whole. At the death of the first Christian 
 martyr, a young man of uncorrupted Jewish 
 lineage, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; well 
 educated, but in the strongest prejudices of 
 inveterate Judaism d , in the school of the 
 Pharisees ; a zealous assertor of the Law of 
 Moses, which he had observed with unim- 
 peachable integrity 6 , is remarked as con- 
 spicuous among the crowd of persecutors. 
 It is conceivable indeed that the death of 
 such a man, the intrepid courage with 
 which in the hurry of a tumultuous execu- 
 tion he calmly declared that a vision of his 
 Redeemer was presented to his eyes ; the 
 
 (1 Galat. i. 14. e Philipp. hi. 6. 
 
LECTURE IV. 155 
 
 moral beauty of his prayer, for the forgive- 
 ness of God towards his enemies, uttered 
 when his expiring breath was crushed from 
 him by the overwhelming stones, these 
 striking circumstances, might have favour- 
 ably impressed the congenial disposition of 
 Paul, and violently affected him towards 
 those whom he had thought it his duty to 
 persecute. No such effect however is pro- 
 duced ; the hostility of Paul remains as 
 violent as before, he urges personally the 
 increasing persecution, is exceedingly mad 
 against them f , and takes out a commission 
 to punish, wherever they may be found, 
 these hated apostates. With this commis- 
 sion he sets forth, not unaccompanied by 
 men, we may presume, of similar sentiments, 
 towards Damascus, in the language of the 
 Acts, breathing threatenings and slaughter 
 against the disciples of the Lord. Thus ma- 
 nifestly inveterate in his prejudices, un- 
 shaken in his ardent attachment to the re- 
 ligion of Moses, the immutability and per- 
 petuity of which he considered it treason- 
 
 f Acts xxvi. 11. 
 
156 LECTURE IV. 
 
 able and impious to question ; with an au- 
 stere sense of duty which proscribed mercy 
 and precluded indulgence, fully authorized 
 by the direct testimony of the Law, to ex- 
 terminate all renegades from the faith of 
 their forefathers. He set forth, doubtless 
 with the applause of all his powerful party 
 in Jerusalem, likely to attain the highest 
 honour, advancement, even pecuniary re- 
 ward, for his burning zeal and inflexible 
 constancy in support of the national creed. 
 He set forth apparently with no single 
 circumstance which could induce him to 
 change, and with every worldly and influen- 
 tial motive to attach him to his purpose g ; 
 with the still further guarantee of his impe- 
 tuous and determined disposition against 
 any weakness or versatility. He arrives at 
 Damascus, blinded for a time, broken and 
 humbled in spirit, and his first step is to as- 
 sociate himself with those whom he came to 
 
 s The Jews, or Ebiontes, have invented a strange story 
 of Paul's being offended at not receiving the high priest's 
 daughter in marriage ; but, as Michaelis observes, " tins 
 " story is so absurd, that it carries with it its own confu- 
 " tation." Marsh's Michaelis, IV. 180. 
 
LECTURE IV. 157 
 
 destroy, to embrace that religion which he 
 had denounced as impious apostasy, to 
 preach in the synagogues, that the despised 
 and hated Christ is the Son of God. No ob- 
 jection is made on the part of the Christians; 
 for it appears that one of their body, of those 
 whom Paul came with the avowed purpose 
 of destroying, under the influence, as he de- 
 clares, of a vision, voluntarily seeks him out, 
 restores his eyesight, and admits him at once 
 into the Christian fraternity. Now, whatever 
 the story with which Paul solicited admis- 
 sion, the imperious motive of personal se- 
 curity laid the Christians under a necessity 
 of the most sober caution, and urged the 
 strictest investigation before they would 
 venture on so decisive a step. They must 
 have known, and watched with apprehen- 
 sion, the object of Paul's journey. Even if 
 superior to all revengeful feelings on ac- 
 count of their suffering brethren, they had 
 every reason to suspect and guard against 
 fraud. Their amazement, reluctance, and 
 incredulity are betrayed at every step in the 
 transaction. Ananias remonstrates, Lord, 
 I have heard by many of this man, how much 
 
158 LECTURE IV. 
 
 evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem : 
 and here he hath authority from the chief 
 priests to bind all that call on thy name h . 
 Again, All that heard him were amazed, and 
 said; Is not this he that destroyed them which 
 called on this name in Jerusalem, and came 
 hither for that intent, that he might bring 
 them bound unto the chief priests [ ? Nor 
 would evidence be wanting, on which, whe- 
 ther voluntary or not, they could depend. 
 From the conduct and language of Paul's 
 companions, who far from deserting him, led 
 him by the hand, and brought him intoDamas- 
 cus v , they could ascertain, to a certain point 
 at least, the truth of his statements. These 
 men would not be silent ; for if they be- 
 lieved that a miracle had taken place, the 
 nature and purport of which they obviously 
 did not comprehend, they would have been 
 too full of so extraordinary an event not to 
 relate it publicly. If the miracle was doubt- 
 ful, or to be accounted for on natural prin- 
 ciples, they would probably have denounced 
 the imbecility of their once forward confe- 
 
 h Acts ix. 13, 14. ■ Acts ix. 21. 
 
 k Acts ix. 8. xxii. 11. 
 
LECTURE IV. 159 
 
 derate, who was thus alarmed out of his re- 
 ligion, by weak and unwarranted apprehen- 
 sions. Or, lastly, if no miraculous circum- 
 stance at all had taken place, they would 
 have reproached him still more loudly for 
 his causeless apostasy. Any important dis- 
 crepancy between their story and that of 
 Paul, would have alarmed the Christians, 
 and enforced more strongly the utmost 
 caution. The same motives would induce 
 them to canvass the conduct of Ananias, 
 and to examine into the possibility of treach- 
 erous collusion. The company in which 
 Paul travelled forbids likewise the supposi- 
 tion, that he might have met some of the 
 Christians on the way, whose persuasive elo- 
 quence might have represented the new 
 doctrine in so favourable a light, as to shake 
 the settled belief of the persecutor. For, be- 
 sides the improbability of converting a man 
 of Paul's vigorous and impetuous character, 
 when he was solemnly pledged, and when 
 his passions were enlisted on the other part, 
 had any of the Christians had the despe- 
 rate courage to approach him, some of those 
 by whom he was attended would probably 
 
160 LECTURE IV. 
 
 have suspected, watched, and published a- 
 broad the intercourse which he was holding 
 with the enemies of the Law. 
 
 As to Paul himself, he had every thing 
 to lose, and nothing to gain by the change. 
 The Jews were wealthy, the Christians poor; 
 the Jews numerous, the Christians compa- 
 ratively few ; the Jews powerful, the Chris- 
 tians persecuted. Saul cut himself off at 
 once from all his connections and friends; 
 he frustrated * all the high hopes which his 
 countrymen might have entertained from 
 his character and acquirements; he be- 
 came a man, if not self-exiled, yet one who 
 could not shew his face in his customary 
 place of residence without reproach, with- 
 out danger. He drew upon himself the 
 bitter hatred of all his Pharisaic brethren™; 
 he exasperated his powerful patrons, the 
 
 1 Paul, according to Selden, was already ordained an 
 elder. Vitringa is of the same opinion : " Presbyteratus 
 " autem dignitatem antedictam ab Gamaliele accepisse 
 " Paulum, antequam Christo nomen dederat, non videtur 
 " omnino dubitandum." Selden de Syned. Vitringa de 
 Synag. vet. III. 1. 7. compare also Biscoe, p. 269. 
 
 m For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant 
 of Christ, Galat. i. 10. 
 
LECTURE IV. 161 
 
 high priests. For he added to his crime of 
 apostasy that which would be construed 
 into treachery to his employers. His life, 
 as it soon appeared, and since a furious 
 persecution was still actually raging, could 
 not be safe for an instant. He had to lurk 
 among mistrustful friends ; to fly into fo- 
 reign regions, to conceal himself from those 
 on whose estimation he had built his hopes 
 of distinction. In every point of view the 
 measure was desperate. While he aban- 
 doned one party, he was not sure of a fa- 
 vourable reception with the other : he in- 
 curred the dangers of apostasy with no se- 
 curity of the reward — if indeed the scourge 
 and the prison which awaited the Christian 
 convert may be entitled reward. In his 
 straight forward path lay peace, the respect 
 of his compatriots, wealth, estimation; in 
 the oblique road into which he struck, he 
 had first to bend his spirit to hypocrisy 
 and falsehood. He must impose on men, 
 who either being impostors like himself 
 would detect or hold off from him with the 
 acuteness of jealous suspicion, or being ho- 
 nest but foolish enthusiasts, offered no very 
 
 M 
 
162 LECTURE IV. 
 
 brilliant alliance to a man eager for dis- 
 tinction, and unquestionably not wanting 
 in sagacity and penetration. If the self- 
 confidence of conscious ability already an- 
 ticipated his forcible seizure of the post 
 of eminence ; if he contemplated no effec- 
 tual resistance to his usurpation, would his 
 prodigal courage have induced him to risk 
 all his prospects upon this hazard? Had he 
 joined the Christians before the persecution, 
 he might have been unable or unwilling to 
 recede ; now it had become clear, that the 
 post of eminence was that of peril; he must 
 have known how many among his kindred 
 would proudly perform that part at his ex- 
 ecution, which he had filled at that of Ste- 
 phen. Suppose that he contemplated from 
 the first the throwing down the barrier be- 
 tween the Jews and Gentiles, and the exten- 
 sion of his own influence by the indiscrimi- 
 nate admission of proselytes from all quar- 
 ters ; the difficulty of such an enterprise, 
 the opposition to be expected from the Ju- 
 daizing Christians, the danger, that directly 
 he attempted any innovation he would be 
 denounced, disclaimed, and cast off, were 
 
LECTURE IV. 163 
 
 equally evident. Strange ambition ! to quit 
 the steady vessel, which was bound on its 
 regular course to a rich and hospitable har- 
 bour, in order to spring on board a sinking 
 bark, whose way lay through quicksands 
 and breakers, in the hope that he might be 
 permitted to seize the helm, and guide it to 
 some coast which at last might be imagi- 
 nary and Utopian. 
 
 So far on the supposition of Paul's in- 
 sincerity. Could he be the victim of enthu- 
 siastic self-delusion ? A singular theory has 
 been suggested on this much canvassed to- 
 pic by some of those, who, while they pro- 
 fess to believe Christianity, invalidate all 
 the testimony on which Christian belief is 
 founded. Paul, it is said, a man of disor- 
 dered imagination, violently affected by the 
 scenes of suffering which he had witnessed, 
 and the fortitude with which these suffer- 
 ings were endured, accidentally encounters 
 on his journey a tremendous thunderstorm, 
 in the natural effects of which his alarmed 
 fancy beholds the terrors of his offended 
 God, and forms its confused and reverbe- 
 rating sounds into the distinct and awful 
 
 m 2 
 
164 LECTURE IV. 
 
 remonstrance of the injured Jesus n . But, 
 I. the assumption on which all this rests 
 is not merely unwarranted, but, as we have 
 seen, in direct opposition to the narrative. 
 Paul, when he set out, was as much exas- 
 perated as ever against the Christians, and 
 his only object at Damascus seems to have 
 been the fulfilment of his persecuting com- 
 mission. II. The several descriptions in 
 the Acts bear no appearance of a thunder- 
 storm. However rapid and sudden the at- 
 mospheric changes in those sultry climates, 
 there must be some gathering of clouds, 
 some preparatory darkness, some vehicle, if 
 I may so speak, of the electric fluid, which 
 must have induced the travellers to antici- 
 pate the great light, which, according to 
 Paul's expression, suddenly shone around 
 them. But if Paul could be so far abstracted 
 in his own meditations, as not to perceive 
 the change in the atmosphere till the flash 
 deprived him at once of sight and of sense, 
 those around him must have been suffi- 
 ciently familiar with the appearance of a 
 
 n This notion is developed by Kuinoel with consider- 
 able elegance and perspicuity. In loco. 
 
LECTURE IV. 165 
 
 thunderstorm, to have informed him that 
 the cause of his consternation was by no 
 means miraculous. If the other terrific 
 circumstances of a storm had accompanied 
 this extraordinary light, they would have 
 appeared no less the indications of divine 
 wrath ; and as the whole scene would have 
 acted simultaneously on the guilty appre- 
 hension of the persecutor, that single fact 
 would scarcely have been selected, and the 
 rest of the awful circumstances, which alike 
 proclaimed the offended Deity and justified 
 his terror, studiously and perpetually sup- 
 pressed. Indeed the expressions used by 
 Luke, and Paul himself, on the three differ- 
 ent occasions in which the occurrence is re- 
 lated, seem carefully to exclude any such 
 supposition : At midday, O king, I saw in 
 the ivay a light from heaven, above the bright- 
 ness of the SU7l°, V7rsp Tqv XcCf>L7rpoTijTct tgu yAtou. 
 
 Words which appear to intimate, that the 
 sun was not previously obscured, but out- 
 shone by the more excessive brightness of 
 the preternatural light. 
 
 The unbeliever will not admit as an ar- 
 
 Acts xxvi. 13. 
 M 3 
 
166 LECTURE IV. 
 
 gument, but must consider a curious coinci- 
 dence, the remarkable conformity of this 
 transaction with the Jewish opinions of di- 
 vine revelation The light precisely corre- 
 sponds with the Shechinah, or divine Pre- 
 sence, the voice with the Bath-col, the usual 
 mode by which the God of Israel addressed 
 his people. 
 
 The last insuperable objection to this no- 
 tion is the character of Paul. Neither the 
 brief intimations of the former, nor the more 
 copious delineation of the latter part of his 
 life, authorize us to consider him a man of 
 distempered imagination. Unless the mere 
 fact of his becoming an itinerant teacher of 
 Christianity convict him of this enthusiasm, 
 (which would be an assumption of the point 
 in question,) his argumentative manner of 
 teaching, his sobriety of demeanour, his 
 cool self-command in the most trying exi- 
 gencies ; the extraordinary combination of 
 vigour and prudence, of boldness and per- 
 suasiveness, of pliancy in trivial matters, 
 and unshaken perseverance in his main ob- 
 ject, alike contradict this supposition. Ac- 
 cording to this theory, once and once only 
 
LECTURE IV. 167 
 
 he is seized with a fit of melancholy en- 
 thusiasm, which changes all his views, pros- 
 pects, occupations, habits, opinions ; but in 
 this all the extravagance of his imagination 
 explodes as it were for ever, and leaves him 
 a humble, discreet, resolute, and rational 
 adherent to the cause which he has adopted. 
 The gloomy and timid Saul trembles before 
 a hurricane, the cool and intrepid Paul con- 
 fronts every terror of nature and of man. 
 Popular tumult cannot deprive him of his 
 self command, nor the pomp and awe of au- 
 thority in the least appal him. If taken 
 literally, he fights with beasts at JEphesus, if 
 figuratively, he is exposed to dangers 
 equally dreadful. He is tranquil upon the 
 raging ocean, and while the mariners de- 
 spair, he alone is firm. A flash of lightning 
 causes him to apostatize from the syna- 
 gogue, a whole life of terror, trial, and suf- 
 fering attaches him only more closely to the 
 Church of Christ. 
 
 Thus then the conduct and character of 
 Paul are direct testimonies to the truth of 
 his miraculous conversion, the former is 
 our guarantee for his sincerity, the latter 
 
 m 4 
 
168 LECTURE IV. 
 
 our security against his having been the 
 victim of deception. If he invented this 
 whole consistent and circumstantial story, 
 he must have been a designing and ambi- 
 tious hypocrite ; his companions must have 
 connived at his falsehood; Ananias have 
 been in collusion with him ; all the Chris- 
 tians at Damascus, and the apostles them- 
 selves, the weakest and most unsuspicious 
 dupes, to be imposed upon by so ungrounded 
 a falsehood. He must have been this hy- 
 pocrite for the sake of embracing poverty 
 and self-denial, hatred and contempt, toil 
 and suffering, death itself, of which he was 
 in perpetual danger ; or he must have 
 formed the splendid design of becoming 
 tfce benefactor of mankind, by the publica- 
 tion of a new religion — a design which it is 
 impossible to conceive compatible either 
 with the fraud to which he must have con- 
 descended in order to obtain admission into 
 the Christian brotherhood, or with reason, 
 which must have recoiled at the hopeless 
 improbability of converting the world to a 
 belief in the divinity of a Jewish peasant, 
 who had been publicly crucified. 
 
LECTURE IV. 169 
 
 On the other hand, if Paul was deceived 
 by others, or by the warmth of his own 
 imagination, he must have been a weak and 
 fantastic dreamer. Yet he had the ability, 
 the prudence, the resolution, to preach with 
 success the extraordinary doctrine of Christ 
 crucified over half the habitable world ; he 
 had the address to conciliate the other 
 apostles to an admission of his claim to 
 equality; in every public scene he could 
 conduct himself with the coolest self-com- 
 mand, and most intrepid courage ; finally, 
 he could obtain for his writings an equal 
 authority with the Gospels which recorded 
 the teaching of their Master, or those of 
 the elder apostles ; writings not less dis- 
 tinguished for the consecutive vigour of 
 their arguments, and the depth of their 
 views, than for the exquisite beauty with 
 which they enforce and explain that truth, 
 that humility, that meekness, holiness, and 
 charity, of which the life and the teaching 
 of Christ are the great example. 
 
 If then neither hypocrite nor fanatic, 
 Paul must have been, what he announces 
 himself, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the 
 
170 LECTURE IV. 
 
 will of God ; one to whom, as Peter de- 
 clares among the assembled apostles, God, 
 which knoweth the hearts, bare witness, giv- 
 ing him the Holy Ghost, as he did unto as ° 
 by whom the signs of an apostle were 
 wrought in all patience, in signs, and wonders, 
 and mighty deeds p ; who asserts, The Gospel 
 which was preached of me, is not after man. 
 For I neither received it of man, neither teas 
 I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus 
 Christ q . 
 
 May that Gospel which Paul preached 
 so convince our understandings and purify 
 our hearts, that we being followers of Paul, 
 as Paul of Christ r , may attain that everlast- 
 ing life which is revealed through Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 ° Acts xv. 8. P 2 Cor. xii. \% also Rom. xv. 19- 
 
 <\ Galat. i. 11, 12. J. 1 Cor. xi. 1. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 1 Cor. xii. 10, 11. 
 
 To another divers hinds of tongues ; to another 
 the interpretation of tongues: 
 
 All these worheth that one and the selfsame Spi- 
 rit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 
 
 J.N order to accomplish the vast system of 
 proselytism, thus early announced and de- 
 liberately proclaimed by the apostles of 
 Christ, it was necessary that some mode of 
 communication should exist, easy, perspicu- 
 ous, and familiar between the teachers and 
 their converts. A superficial acquaintance 
 with some common medium of intercourse, 
 and an imperfect and indistinct power of 
 imparting their ideas, such for instance as 
 would be sufficient for barter or less intri- 
 cate commercial concerns, would have been 
 inadequate to their purpose. For to teach 
 a new faith, to communicate new moral and 
 religious notions, to persuade, to convince, 
 to exhort, to explain, a complete idiomati- 
 
172 LECTURE V. 
 
 cal intimacy with the language of those 
 whom they addressed, and a free and un- 
 embarrassed elocution would be indispensa- 
 ble. This difficulty must have occurred to 
 the apostles at the very outset of their un- 
 dertaking. An early writer on the evidence 
 of Christianity thus expresses their con- 
 sciousness of this impediment. " Was not 
 " again his language (that of Christ) plainly 
 " divine, when he distinctly said to those 
 " his very humble disciples, Go and teach 
 " all nations. And how is this possible ? (the 
 " disciples would naturally say, replying 
 " something after this manner to their Mas- 
 " ter,) How, for instance, are we to preach 
 " to the Romans ? how shall we converse 
 " with the Egyptians ? of what language 
 " shall we make use to the Greeks, men 
 " who have been brought up in the Syrian 
 " tongue alone ? how shall we address Per- 
 " sians, and Armenians, and Chaldeans, and 
 " Scythians, and Indians, and any other of 
 " the barbarous nations a ?" This testimony 
 
 a 'Opa el fjuj oo§ aK^cbc, Ocou TraAiv 7rpo^xaro (poovyv, ixuto- 
 Ae£e» <prj(rot$ Tois euTcXecrraTO^ exzlvoi$ aurou fjuxQr}Tcci$, TlopsuQev- 
 Te$ jU,a0>)TeucraTe iiuvtu ra e'0v>j. xa* Ttwg elnov av ol pzflrjraj 
 
LECTURE V. 173 
 
 of Eusebius is not merely valuable, as de- 
 claring the traditionary opinion of the 
 Church, with regard to the miracle of the 
 gift of tongues, but is of further importance 
 from his situation as bishop of Caesarea, 
 where he would necessarily be acquainted 
 with the extent and prevalence of the Sy- 
 rian language. For there appears no rea- 
 son why the Syrian should have encroached 
 upon the Greek, during the three first cen- 
 turies of Christianity, the reverse might ra- 
 ther have been expected 
 
 tw §iQ s uo~xa.XoQ i ttoivtcos nov a.7roxpiva[Asvoi } Tou$* fyx<v s<rrai Suva- 
 tov; nobs yap t 'Pa>[i,ctloi$ } <peps } xYjpu^ofxsv ; 7r«3j Ss Afyu7nr*oi$ 8<a- 
 Aep£0>jo"OjU,s5a J 7:010. he yjpY\?o\k.e§u Ae£ei vpog f EXA>jvaj, avfipeg 
 tyj %6pwv hvTpu<pevTe$ (Ao'vy <pcovjj; TIep<rus 8s xa) 'Ap^svloug, xa) 
 XaXSa/ouc, xa) l£x6Qa$y xa) 'Iv$ov§ xa) eWiva (3ap(3apuiv yev- 
 ojto b0wj — Euseb. Dem. Evang. lib. III. p. 136. edit. 
 Col. 1688. Compare likewise Dem. Evang. lib. III. p. 
 112. 
 
 Chrysostom says the same : Ka) 7ra>$ Tourovg, ^<r)v, aitav- 
 Tag \iie<j%a<javTO oi unoo-Tokoi; 6 fxtav yXcoTT^v e^oov, tyjv *\ou- 
 
 §a'iXY)V, 7TU)$ TOV Hxufyv, Xd) TOV 'IvSoV, XCO ^OtVpOfJLOtTYlV, Xa) TOV 
 
 Gpaxa s7rsios; — Oratio quod Christus sit Deus, vol. VI. 
 p. 628. ed. Sav. 
 
 And again more explicitly : Ov$e yap opotpoovoi to1$ -jreiOo- 
 fj,evoi$ ycruv, uWu £ev>jv Tiva xui Tiupr{kXuy\Levrft itapa waaag 
 rag ykwTTUs xexrij/xsvoi tpoovyv, tyjv 'Efipu'&a heyw — .Ibid. p. 
 635. 
 
174 LECTURE V. 
 
 The book called the Acts of the Apostles 
 declares with distinctness, such as the inge- 
 nuity of all those more recent critics, who 
 have explained away, limited, and depreci- 
 ated the miracle, so as to leave nothing mi- 
 raculous, has been, in my opinion, unable to 
 elude b , that this difficulty was surmounted 
 
 b Middleton's Essay, I believe, first directed the atten- 
 tion of theologians to the subject. Ernesti interfered 
 between Middleton and his antagonist, bishop Warbur- 
 ton, and abandoned the utility of the miracle, as a means 
 of propagating the gospel. The later history of the con- 
 troversy may be seen in Kuinoel. Mr. Town send has 
 condensed, I suppose from Kuinoel, the various opinions 
 of those who would do away the miracle altogether. 
 " Eichhorn suggests, that to speak with tongues means 
 only that some of the apostles uttered indistinct and in- 
 articulate sounds, and those who uttered foreign or new 
 or other words, were Jews who had come to Jerusalem 
 from the remote provinces of the empire, and being ex- 
 cited by the general fervour, united with them in prais- 
 ing God in their own languages. Herder is of opinion 
 that the word yXwuvu is used to express only obsolete, fo- 
 reign, or unusual words. Paulus conjectures, that those 
 who spoke with different tongues were foreign Jews, the 
 hearers Galilaeans. Meyer, that they either spoke in 
 terms or language not before used, in an enthusiastic 
 manner, or united Hebrew modes of expression with 
 Greek or Latin words. Heinrichsius, or Heinrich, that 
 the apostles suddenly spoke the pure Hebrew language 
 in a sublime and elevated style. Kleinius, that the apo- 
 
LECTURE V. 175 
 
 by a supernatural communication of the 
 power of expressing themselves in all those 
 languages in which the gospel was to be 
 preached. As however the question is of 
 great importance, and by no means devoid 
 of interest, it may be expedient, and is un- 
 questionably essential to the argument for 
 the credibility of Christianity from the con- 
 sties, excited by an extraordinary enthusiasm, expressed 
 their feelings with more than usual warmth and elo- 
 quence. 1 '' Townsend, New Testament arranged, in loco. 
 The notion of Kuinoel is as ingenious, but not more 
 satisfactory. According to him, the rigid Jews would not 
 endure that divine worship should be offered in any lan- 
 guage but the Hebrew or Syrochaldaic, only the more 
 liberal would tolerate Greek. But the whole assem- 
 bly, struck with astonishment at the wonderful circum- 
 stances which attended the effusion of the Holy Ghost, 
 lost all self-command, and, each breaking out in the lan- 
 guage most familiar to him, began to magnify God. Thus 
 he assumes, that Jews from all quarters were already 
 enlisted among the ranks of the Christians, and sup- 
 poses that the multitude mistook all this assemblage of 
 foreign Jews for Galilseans; the multitude themselves be- 
 ing foreign Jews from all quarters. Kuinoel's attempts 
 to reconcile the other passages in the Acts, in which this 
 gift is mentioned, with his system of interpretation, ap- 
 pear to me among the most unfortunate specimens of the- 
 ologic criticism into which an acute and learned mind 
 has ever been betrayed by its attachment to a precon- 
 ceived theory. 
 
176 LECTURE V. 
 
 duct of the apostles, to examine into the 
 manner in which they attained this qualifi- 
 cation for the ministry, and to ascertain, if 
 possible, whether the miracle was necessary, 
 or if not absolutely necessary, so adapted 
 for the furtherance of the design, as to 
 warrant, if I may so speak, this interference 
 of the divine Providence ; since the most 
 pious Christian must acknowledge the Deity 
 never to work miracles, except with a great 
 and worthy object. 
 
 The general opinion which militates 
 against the literal belief in the gift of 
 tongues is this, that the Greek language 
 was of itself sufficient for the propagation 
 of the Christian religion, and that Greek 
 was so universally prevalent in Palestine, 
 that the apostles probably spoke it without 
 especial inspiration c . Now the first objec- 
 tion which occurs to this statement is the 
 extreme improbability that the miracle 
 should have been invented or believed, 
 especially by the Greek fathers, if it were 
 thus entirely superfluous. If there are not 
 
 | 
 
 c From Erasmus downwards, the general current of 
 theological opinion has run in this direction. 
 
LECTURE V. 177 
 
 Jews from all quarters in Jerusalem, speak- 
 ing only the various languages of the coun- 
 tries in which they usually resided, and 
 possessing no common medium of inter- 
 course ; if all, the apostles included, could 
 speak and understand Greek, who would 
 have thought of fabricating so unnecessary 
 a wonder, one which might so easily be con- 
 futed, and could produce no advantage 
 whatever. Besides, of all persons Luke was 
 least likely to invent, or to record, unless 
 authoritatively assured of its truth, a cir- 
 cumstance so extraordinary; for he was 
 more of a Greek than any other of the sa- 
 cred writers, and the follower of Paul, to 
 whom, if to any of the apostles, the gift of 
 tongues was unnecessary. Still less would 
 the evangelic writers have continued to 
 speak of this gift as a standing miracle, if 
 the apostles had no opportunity of exercis- 
 ing it, nor would all the Greek and Latin 
 Fathers have acquiesced in an interpreta- 
 tion of Scripture, of which every one, espe- 
 cially the Syrian Eusebius above quoted, 
 must have perceived the futility d . 
 
 d It would not be difficult to trace the unanimous con- 
 
 N 
 
178 LECTURE V. 
 
 There is another curious confirmation, if 
 not of the necessity, of the probable utility 
 of this gift, or, to say the least, a comment 
 on the general belief of the church in its 
 reality, I mean the imitation of the mira- 
 ' cle by those, who after the manner of the 
 apostles, went about the world, converting 
 their hearers to a new system of belief. 
 " And indeed," says Damis, addressing A- 
 pollonius of Tyana, " as to the languages of 
 " the Barbarians, as many as there are, and 
 " there is one of the Armenians, another of 
 " the Medes and Persians, another of the 
 " Cadusians, I have a knowledge of them 
 " all." " And I, my friend," says Apollo- 
 nius, " understand them all, having learnt 
 " none e ." Alexander the false prophet in 
 
 sent of all Christian writers in the common interpretation. 
 In addition to the testimonies from Eusebius and Chrys- 
 ostom I shall merely subjoin the following, as shewing 
 the only difference of opinion which existed on the sub- 
 ject : " Unus fuit e nobis, qui, cum imam emitteret vo- 
 " cem, ab diversis populis, et dissona oratione loquenti- 
 " bus, familiaribus verborum sonis, et suo cuique utens 
 " existimabatur eloquio." Arnob. contra Gent. I. 46. 
 Some others of the Fathers espoused this whimsical opin- 
 ion. 
 
 e Kcti fjLvjv xct) tolc, tpwvag twv (BocpBapcov, b-rrovoti eitnv elcn 5g, 
 
LECTURE V. 179 
 
 Lucian, is likewise embarrassed with this 
 difficulty ; for when any of the Barbarians 
 came to him for oracles, he was obliged 
 to keep them waiting a considerable time 
 for his answers, in order that he might find 
 persons qualified to interpret their ques- 
 tions f . 
 
 To return to the Scripture. I can scarcely 
 conceive what could constitute the broad 
 line of demarcation between the Hellenist 
 and native Jews, except the difference of 
 language. The early church was evidently 
 formed of two parties. In those clays, when 
 the number of the disciples was multiplied, 
 there arose a murmuring of the Grecians, 
 
 u\\r\ ju-ev 'Apjxsv/wv, aAAvj Is MvjSouv re xtx) Tl=p<ru)v, «XX>j he 
 KaBouowcuv fj.eTot\ci[Afiavw Is 7r«ca£. syoo 8g, slnsv, w srctlps, 
 •xaccov %vv'iYi[j,i, fiuQwv ovtisptuv. Philost. Vita Apoll. I. 19- 
 Compare Eusebius in Hieroclem c. IX. et c. XIV. where 
 it appears that on one occasion Apollonius was obliged to 
 have recourse to an interpreter. 
 
 f 'AXXa xcd fiotpfiapoig ttoWxkis s^pYjosv, si tȣ ty, TtoLrpicp 
 
 SpOlTO (QMY, HvplCTT), tj KsXtIVt), 0l> pufilCVg S%SVpl<JXO)V TIVU$ S7TI- 
 
 8>jjU,0'JVTa£ o^osQvslg to~i$ SsScoxoVi. $<a toZto x<x) ttoXvs sv [asctco 
 Xp ovo $ W T *I$ T = $6<re(tig roov filfiXimv, xa) tyjs xpYi<Tfjt.ciollotc, w$ sv 
 
 T010UTCO XUTOC <T%0\y}V X'JOiVTO TS ol XpYl<TfAOi Ci<T<Pfl\w$, XUl SUpl- 
 
 <txoivto ol sp[jiYivsv(rca Ivvapsvoi exoto-Tot. Lucian. Alex. Pseud, 
 c. LI. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LECTURE V. 
 
 ixhpiffiw g , against the Hebrews, because their 
 widows were neglected in the daily ministra- 
 tion h . Now nothing was so likely to pro- 
 duce this misunderstanding as dissimilarity 
 of language i ; hence an argument adduced 
 
 S I have not the slightest hesitation in assuming that 
 the Hellenistae were Jews speaking the Greek language, 
 and usually residing in Greek cities, not proselytes, or 
 heathen converts. " The Jews to whom this (the Chal- 
 " dee) was the mother tongue were called Hebrews ; 
 " and from thence are distinguished from the Hellenists, 
 " which every one knows." Lightfoot on John v. % 
 Compare Schcetgen. Hor. Heb. in loco. For the differ- 
 ent opinions of learned men on this point, see Fabricius 
 Lux Evangel, c. IV. Notwithstanding the evasion of 
 Salmasius, the distinction of Nicolas, as a proselyte of 
 Antioch, is conclusive that the rest were Jews. 
 
 h Acts vi. 1. 
 
 i The native Jews despised the Hellenists. Biscoe 
 suggests that this was the origin of the murmurings of 
 the Hellenists against the Jews, because being considered 
 an inferior race, they might be jealous of every real or 
 supposed neglect. On Acts, I. 90. According to the 
 same author 'EAAyjv/oTai (Acts ix. 29.) is translated in the 
 Syriac version, Jews speaking the Greek tongue. I. 86. 
 Another reason has been given for this jealousy. "E con- 
 " tra videntur Judacorum multi hanc versionem vitupe- 
 " rasse, (vid. not.) et Hellenistas propter ejus usum odio 
 " prosecutos esse. Unde discordiam inter Hebraeos et 
 " Hellenistas, Act. vi. 1. licet ex alia causa profectam, ex 
 " Bibliorum turn discrimine primo ortam, et postea con- 
 " tinuatam observarunt multi, quibus assentit Jos. Scali- 
 
LECTURE V. 181 
 
 by Middleton k in support of the opinion, 
 that Greek was generally spoken in Jerusa- 
 lem, because the names of the seven dea- 
 cons are almost all Greek, may be made to 
 bear the other way. For, not to insist on 
 the opinion of Grotius ] and Rosenmuller, 
 that Luke sometimes Hellenised Hebrew 
 names, nothing could be more natural, as 
 nothing could more clearly evince the dis- 
 interested views of the whole body, than 
 the selection of these officers from the party 
 complaining, that is to say, from the Hel- 
 lenist converts. Some indeed have supposed 
 that the deacons were not appointed to su- 
 perintend the general distribution, but to 
 watch over the particular interests of the 
 Grecian converts. 
 
 " ger, qui ex Benjaminis Itinerario notat Alexandria? 
 " duo fuisse Judaeorum genera, Babyloniorum et Helle- 
 M nistarum, quorum illi hos cane pejus et angue oderunt, 
 " legentes barbare, et legentes iEgyptiace, quum versio 
 " ilia confecta fuit in iEgypto." B. Walton. Prolegomena. 
 On the Hellenistae compare Lightfoot on John vii. 35. 
 
 k Essay on the Gift of Tongues, Works, vol. II. 81. 
 
 1 Nomina haec omnia sunt Graeca, quod non mirum in 
 Alexandrinis, in Judaeis vero in Judaea natis credo no- 
 mina fuisse Hebraea, quae Lucas Graece extulerit. Grotius 
 in Acta. VI. 5. Compare Rosenmuller. Benson (in his 
 
 N 3 
 
182 LECTURE V. 
 
 But the general prevalence of the Greek 
 language in Palestine, after the closest in- 
 vestigation which I have been able to in- 
 stitute, appears to me to have been asserted 
 in direct opposition to all authorities, and 
 upon no grounds whatever, except an in- 
 ference from its gradual extension in other 
 countries. It is now almost universally al- 
 lowed, that our Lord and his apostles usu- 
 ally spoke the vernacular language of Pa- 
 lestine ; a Syro-Chaldaic m , or, as it is some- 
 history of the first planting of Christianity) has advanced 
 an opinion similar to that in the text. 
 
 m This plain fact was not received without consider- 
 able resistance on the part of the more enthusiastic ad- 
 mirers of the Greek language, and the more strenuous 
 adherents to the Septuagint version. " An vero Christo et 
 apostolis vernacula fuerit lingua Syriaca, a quibusdam 
 quaeritur. Widmanstadius, qui primus in Europa Novum 
 Testamentum Syriacum edidit, praefat. docet, hanc lin- 
 guam Redemptoris nostri ortu, educatione, doctrina, mira- 
 culis, corporis et sanguinis sui confectione eucharistica, 
 ac Patris etiam aeterni voce, bis coelo ad eum emissa, con- 
 secratam, ethac lingua scriptam esseantiquam versionem, 
 quam ipse edidit. Cujus sententiae plerique suffragan- 
 tur, Marius, Bodescanius, Trostius, Tremellius, Buxtorf." 
 Walton. Proleg. 
 
 The opponents indeed did not altogether deny that 
 our Lord spoke Syriac, but that it was the same dialect 
 with the Syriac version. Reiske however considered the 
 
LECTURE V. 183 
 
 times called, an Aramaic dialect, which, 
 however corrupted from the purer language 
 of the older Scriptures, is called Hebrew, 
 both in the New Testament and in Jose- 
 phus. This appears evident, as well from 
 the general idiom of their language, as from 
 the Syro-Chaldaic words retained in several 
 places, when the evangelists wished to pre- 
 serve the precise expression which our Lord 
 
 question set at rest : " Quam linguam Jesu Christo, nostro 
 Servatori optimo, tandem vernaculam attribuemus ? Hie 
 vero ancipiti dubitatione nulla distrahemur, neque anxio 
 conatu occupabimur circa illud, quod citra laborem doceri 
 posse dudum Erpenius judicavit, sed Chaldaeo-Syriacam 
 Servatori nostro benignissimo asseremus, quam historia, 
 usus, et communis doctorum opinio hue usque illi adse- 
 ruerunt. Nostra equidem charta non patietur, ut in testi- 
 moniis theologorum et philologorum conquirendis evage- 
 mur : verumtamen intrepidi illud affirmamus, eruditissi- 
 mos quosque viros in eandem sententiam concessisse. ,, 
 Reiske, Diss. Phil, de ling. vern. J. C. 
 
 Kuinoel has made a statement about the speeches of 
 St. Peter, the accuracy of which, I leave to be decided by 
 the learned orientalists, but which, if correct, is of great 
 importance. " Hae ipsae autem Petri orationes stilo et cha- 
 ractere structuraque verborum haud parum discrepant ab 
 orationibus Pauli .... singuli loci verbum de verbo in 
 Hebraicunt sermonem possunt transferrin He argues 
 from hence, that Luke must have written from some ear- 
 lier Syro-Chaldaic document, at all events it is a strong 
 proof that the apostle ordinarily spoke that language. 
 
 N 4 
 
184 LECTURE V. 
 
 used, and which they generally explain or 
 paraphrase in Greek. Not merely how- 
 ever was this dialect their vernacular 
 tongue, but a remarkable passage seems to 
 intimate, that men of the class from which 
 the apostles were selected spoke no other, 
 certainly not Greek. Canst thou speak 
 Greek*? is the exclamation of the governor 
 to St. Paul, mistaking him for a certain 
 Egyptian, who had obtained an extensive 
 influence over an insurrectionary multitude 
 in Judaea. Upon which St. Paul immedi- 
 ately commences his address to his coun- 
 trymen in the Hebrew tongue . But he 
 would scarcely have harangued the peo- 
 ple in a language probably unknown to 
 the governor, with whom his first object 
 was to exculpate himself from every sus- 
 picion of teaching seditious doctrines, un- 
 less it had been absolutely necessary, in 
 order to make himself intelligible to the 
 people p . 
 
 n Acts xxi. 37. ° Acts xxi. 40. 
 
 P Mr. Broughton, in his masterly reply to Palceo- 
 romaica, has proposed a version of this passage different 
 from that in our Common Bibles. It is certainly extraor- 
 
LECTURE V. 185 
 
 Next to the sacred writings is the unex- 
 ceptionable authority of Josephus, who fur- 
 nishes us with several incidental facts, which 
 tend to the same conclusion. Josephus was 
 a man of some rank, and of cultivated edu- 
 cation ; but, 1 . he distinctly states both the 
 difficulty which he experienced in making 
 himself master of the Greek language, 
 
 dinary, that the governor should conclude that Paul was 
 no Egyptian from his speaking Greek, which to an Alex- 
 andrian would have been his native dialect. I apprehend, 
 however, that the governor thought more of the charac- 
 ter than the birthplace of this Egyptian, whose elo- 
 quence in the vernacular language of Palestine was 
 proved by the success with which he preached rebellion 
 to his numerous followers. 
 
 But the main stress of my argument rests on St. Paul's 
 transition from Greek, when he addressed the governor, 
 to Hebrew, when he harangued the people ; a transition 
 which, if not necessary, would have excited suspicion. 
 
 I am inclined likewise to suspect, that among the rea- 
 sons which induced the high priests to employ Tertul- 
 lus, apparently a professional orator, to accuse Paul, 
 might have been their diffidence in their own ability to 
 plead against a man equally skilled in both languages ; 
 unless indeed Tertullus, whose name is clearly Latin, 
 was employed in deference to the Roman practice, which 
 required all judicial proceedings to be conducted in 
 Latin. Indeed, the speech of Tertullus appears to me to 
 have a remarkable Latin cast. 
 
186 LECTURE V. 
 
 especially as regards grammatical accuracy 
 and correct pronunciation ; and the na- 
 tional prejudice he had to overcome, which 
 strongly discountenanced the learning fo- 
 reign languages, so that scarcely one or two 
 had attained to perfection in that study q ; 
 and even he himself, after he had composed 
 his history, submitted it to certain critics, 
 who were to correct the Greek style r . 2. In 
 another passage he mentions as a remark- 
 able circumstance the proficiency of a cer- 
 tain Justus in Greek literature 8 . 3. Jo- 
 sephus himself first wrote his history in the 
 Syro-Chaldaic language, and afterwards in 
 Greek, for those readers who were under 
 the dominion of the Romans \ But it 
 
 1 Kaj twv 'EWyjvixwv &£ ypuu,pot.Ta;v Ivxoi&ota-ct jx=ra<7^r7v, 
 
 TYjV yptXfLfjaXTlXYjV S[X7TSlplaV OtVOtXotfictiV' TYjV $S TTSp) TYjV TTpO^OpOLV 
 
 ctxplfisiuv nxTpios exooXvcrs GWYjOsicf Tictp y}[mv yap ovx kxzivou; 
 cLiKibkysvTaa tov$ 7roXXwv sftvvov Iix\sx.tovs SKf/.aQovTot§. Joseph. 
 Ant. lib. 20. ad fin. et infra, Aia touto ttoKKcov %ovyj<t(xvtqov 
 
 7TSp) TYjV UVXyCnV TUUTYiV, fL0M$ TiVSC I60 Y) TpUg XUTOipQwCTCiV, XOU 
 TO0V TIOVWV TYjV 67TrKUp7rloiV SuSv^ S^CifioV. 
 
 Ov Tiuvh jxsv oi 'lovfialoi ru 'EWyjvcjov <$i\o\oyov<Ji. Orig. 
 cont. Cels. II. 34. 
 
 r XpYirrafJiSvo; tut) npoc ty)v 'EAArjv/Sa tpwvYjv (TUVepyolg, Con- 
 tra Apion. I. 9- 
 
 s Joscphi Vita. 
 
 t V\pouQs[j.Y}v lyob to~i$ kutx ty)v 'VuofActiwv Y)y=(j,ovi<xv, 'EAAaSi 
 
LECTURE V. 187 
 
 should seem that the Jews in Palestine 
 must be included under the description of 
 Barbarians, for whom the former history 
 was designed ; as we can scarcely under- 
 stand why Josephus, connected as he was 
 with the Romans, and remote both by birth 
 and residence from the Oriental and Me- 
 sopotamian Jews, should first consult the 
 convenience of the latter. But as his his- 
 tory was in some sort a vindication of his 
 own conduct to the Jews of Palestine, 
 among whom he had lived, and held a dis- 
 tinguished command, it is natural that he 
 should first address them in their native 
 idiom. 4. During the siege, Josephus ap- 
 pears regularly to have discharged the duty 
 of interpreter ; an office which would have 
 been entirely unnecessary, if Titus and his 
 captains, and the Jews likewise, had been 
 familiar with Greek. At one time we are 
 informed that Titus " sends down Josephus 
 " to address them in their native language." 
 At another, "But Josephus, standing on 
 " an eminence, so as not to be heard by 
 
 yKcjoccTY} lAeTotficiXwv, a toi; avoo fiapfiotpoic, rr t -ncnp'm avvTot^u§ 
 ave7r«|x\|/a 7rpoTspov 9 «<p>)y>jo"aa'0«». B. J. in lnit. 
 
188 LECTURE V. 
 
 " John alone, but by the multitude also, con- 
 " veyed to them in the Hebrew language the 
 " words of Caesar." At a third, "Titus himself 
 " having placed an interpreter near him, be- 
 "gan to address them." And lastly, in his trea- 
 
 u Kai tov '\6xrrptov xctQlsi t>j 7rtZTplu> yXaxro-y diccXsyso-Qcu. B. 
 J. V. 9. Ka» 6 'Ioicr>j7roc, oog av si fxr) tco 'Iuhzvvy) [xovov, otXXoi xa) 
 to1$ 7FoWoi$, Iv Itdjxow ct«s, to. ts tov Ka.l<rctpo$ tir)yyaKsv 
 'EjSpa^ew. VI. 2. 
 
 YlotpctyysiXas 5e toIc, <ttp<xtmtui$ Titos, Qupov ts xcti /3sAa5v 
 (xevsiv eyxpctTeic, xa) tov ep(x^vsa nupao'TY^ot.^zvo^ oirsp yv Tex- 
 
 [J,fjpiOV TOV XpOtTslv, TTpWTOS Y\p%OLTQ KeySlV. VI. 6. 
 
 It may be worth while to subjoin the following circum- 
 stance : Izxo'xq} ovv auro~i$ en) tcov nvpywv xaQctyfxsvoi, irpo- 
 gjxjjvvov, otiotolv o-^uo~Qsir} to opyavov, xcti yj neTpa. <pipono, ttj 
 TTctTplcti yXooco-rj (SocovTeg, 6 lo$ %pytTU\. V. 6. 
 
 The only passage which I have been able to discover 
 in Josephus, which much favours the prevalence of 
 Greek in Jerusalem, is the permission which was granted 
 to the Jews of erecting pillars in the precincts of the tem- 
 ple, with inscriptions on them in the Greek and Latin 
 language, " Let no one pass these bounds." But these 
 inscriptions were exclusively addressed to the Roman 
 soldiery; the native Jews knew the permitted limits, 
 which were defined by custom and the religio loci. Ro- 
 senmuller has made a curious observation on the Hebrew 
 being inscribed, as well as the Greek and Latin, over the 
 cross : " Graeco sermone scripta erat ha?c amot ob maxi- 
 " mam turbam Hellenistarum, quae ad pascha convene- 
 " rat, quanquam alioqui Graeco sermoni a Macedonicis 
 " temporibus et in Palaestina Judaei vicinaeque gentes 
 " assueverant. Latino sermone scriptus erat titulus ob 
 
LECTURE V. 189 
 
 tise against Apion, Josephus states that he 
 alone in the Roman army, we may presume 
 as a person of trust, understood the accounts 
 given by the deserters, to, Trafk tuv clvto^oKcov 
 a,7ra,yye\Ao[A,evcL [jlqvos ttmog o-wtyjv. If in objec- 
 tion to the inference drawn from these latter 
 incidents, it is suggested that few except the 
 lower order of the people were crowded into 
 Jerusalem at this period, they at least were 
 not inferior, generally speaking, to the fish- 
 ermen of Gennesareth or the artisans of 
 Galilee x . If the Talmudic writings are ad- 
 missible as authority, a learned Italian, after 
 an investigation of their evidence, concludes, 
 that the tradition of the whole synagogue 
 declares the Syro-Chaldaic to have been the 
 language in general use throughout Pales- 
 tine y . I consider therefore the prevalence 
 
 " majestatem imperii; Hebraeo ob locum in quo suppli- 
 " cium sumebatur." in Luc. xxiii. 38. Why not because it 
 was the vernacular language of the multitude? Nonnus 
 paraphrases it thus : Aucrovfy yAoxr<r>] ts, ^vpco, xcc) 'A^;a*/S» 
 
 x It is worth observing, that John of Gischala and a 
 great number of the besieged were Galilaeans. 
 
 y E per non multiplicare testimonialize ed autorita, 
 Rabbi Azaria de Rossi nel suo libro cui fece il titolo di 
 
190 LECTURE V. 
 
 of the Greek tongue among the lower or- 
 ders in Judaea z as a gratuitous assumption, 
 
 Meor enaim, lume degli occhi, apertamente attesta, come 
 vedremo anche in seguito, che il Caldeo era ora volgare 
 e familiare alia plebe, e che la lingua usata in que tempi 
 presso i Palestini, ed i Vangelisti, era la Caldea. Tale e 
 la mente di tutti gli Ebrei, e tale la tradizione della sina- 
 goga intera. De Rossi della lingua propria de Christo. 
 
 z The distinguished critic however, quoted above, al- 
 though in some degree inclined to lower the miracle of 
 the gift of tongues, has in another place stated, with his 
 usual perspicuity, what I conceive to have been the real 
 state of the spoken language in Jerusalem and else- 
 where. 
 
 " Quod enim aliter sentientes de usu Graecae et Latinae 
 " linguae in omnibus universi Romani imperii provinciis 
 " dicunt, id quidem est verum, sed restringendum tamen 
 " videtur ad lautioris conditionis homines, et alios qui 
 " negotiorum causa saepe itinera faciebant, non extenden- 
 " dum ad omnes plebeios. Et fac, vernaculas fuisselin- 
 " guas, Graecam et Latin am, in plerisque Romani imperii 
 66 provinciis, vernacidce tamen nonfuerunt in Palcest'ina, 
 " nee vernacidce Juerunt apostolis. Graecae quidem lin- 
 " guae peritiam sibi comparaverant lectione versionis 
 M Graecae Alexandrinae. Sed aliud est intelligere lin- 
 " guam exteram ita ut libros in ilia lingua scriptos legere 
 " et intelligere possis, aliud est in eadem loqui et scri- 
 " bere. Iste apostolorum habitus animi sensus Graece et 
 u Latine proferendi, omnino ad llvsujuta referendus est, 
 " quo operante ausi sunt linguis peregrinis laudes Dei 
 " celebrare, et prompte de rebus divinis disserere, in Act. 
 " ii." The apostles' early familiarity with the Septua- 
 gint is assuredly an assumption which requires proof. 
 
LECTURE V. 191 
 
 ft 
 
 unsupported by proof* 1 . Greek was un- 
 questionably vernacular in the numerous 
 Macedonian colonies in Syria, and of course 
 was that of the court and of public transac- 
 tions throughout the kingdoms of the Syro- 
 Grecian kings b . But Judaea was hedged in 
 by national prejudices and its own peculiar 
 customs. The mercantile, the educated part 
 of the community, those about the court 
 of Herod, who affected to incorporate Gre- 
 cian with Jewish customs c , acquired a 
 
 a Mr. Townsend has argued, that Greek was in general 
 use in Judaea, because the Jewish writers have used many 
 Greek words in their Hebrew : he might prove by the 
 same argument that French is the vernacular language 
 in London. I find from the very able preface to the 
 translation of Schleiermacher's Essay on St. Luke, that 
 professor Hug, in his introduction to the New Testament, 
 has discussed at length the progress of the Greek lan- 
 guage in Judaea. I have not been able to obtain the ori- 
 ginal work, and regret the delay of Dr. Wake's promised 
 translation. I have seen however a compendium of 
 Hug's work in French by Monsieur Cellerier, in which he 
 professes to give the heads of Hug's argument on this 
 subject : if he has fairly represented them, I see no reason 
 for altering any statement that I have made. 
 
 b See Brerewood, Inquiry touching Languages. 
 
 c Aia tovto xa) jtxaAAov §£lj8eeivg rwv TrciTpcvoov sflcuv, xa» £s- 
 
 ViXG~l$ SmTYfisVfACtTlV V7rQ§lS$Qsif>S TYjV TTuXui XOLTU(TT!XG'tV } OtTTCtp- 
 
 S 7X= , V*J T0V °vvx v ' Joseph. Ant. XV. 8. 1. 
 
192 LECTURE V. 
 
 knowledge of Greek, as the higher classes 
 in Europe of French. Yet this was re- 
 garded with the greatest jealousy by the 
 rigorous Jews even of the educated classes d . 
 But that it descended lower, and reached 
 
 d Ich erwahne nicht einmahl, unter was fur einem 
 hass die Griecishe Sprache bey dem Juden zu Jerusalem 
 lag, die sie immer einer heidnischen unheiligkeit ver- 
 dachtig hielten. Michaelis, ErJdarung des Brief es an 
 die Hebrder. Judaeis Palaestinensibus, imprimis severio- 
 ribus, invisum erat studium linguarum peregrinarum, et 
 ab usu alius quam sanctae, i. e. Hebraeae veteris et Syro- 
 Chaldaicae, in religione tradenda et precibus faciendis ab- 
 horrebant, lenius sentientes usum Graecae linguae conce- 
 debant. Kuinoel. in Act. ii. 4. The latter clause, as far 
 as the Jews of Jerusalem are concerned, is very ques- 
 tionable. 
 
 MenacJwth.Jbl. 99 : Dumae Alius, qui ex R. Ismaelis 
 sorore genitus erat, interrogavit avunculum, Num, mihi, 
 qui universam legem dedici, fas est sapiential Graecae stu- 
 dere? Tunc ei inculcavit avunculus dictum, (Jos. i. 8.) 
 Ne discedito liber iste legis ex ore ttw, sed studio ejus in- 
 cumbe interdiu et nocte. Age igitur, reputa tecum, quae- 
 nam sit ilia hora quae nee ad diem nee ad noctem perti- 
 neat : quam si inveneris, licebit tibi sapientiae Graecae ope- 
 rand navare. 
 
 Mcdrash Tcliillin ; Quaesiverunt R. Josua f. Levi, 
 Quoad docebit homo filium suum sapientiam Graecam? 
 Respondit iis, Ea hora quae neque est diei, neque noctis. 
 Menachotlifol. G4. 2. Maledictus est, qui alit porcos, et 
 qui docet filium suum sapientiam Graecam. Kuinoel^ in 
 Act. ii. 4. 
 
LECTURE V. 193 
 
 the body of the common people, appears to 
 me, of itself improbable, in direct opposition 
 to the evidence of the Scripture, of Jose- 
 phus and of Jewish tradition, and support- 
 ed by no authority whatever e . If then the 
 apostles addressed the assembled multi- 
 tudes on the day of Pentecost, proclaiming, 
 as they declare, the resurrection of the Lord 
 
 e See Michaelis, translated by bishop Marsh, vol. III. 
 p. 143. with Marsh's note. I have not seen the second 
 edition of Michaelis, Erklarung des briefes an die Hebraer; 
 but the objections of the learned doctor Masch, in his 
 Abhandlungen von der Grundsprache des evangelii Mat- 
 thsei, to the first, appeared to me quite inconclusive. 
 My argument is not necessarily connected with the con- 
 troversy about the language in which the Gospel accord- 
 ing to St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews were 
 written : but I must own, that (if Dr. Townson's hypo- 
 thesis of a double original, the former one in Hebrew, 
 the other in Greek, be not, as I conceive, the most proba- 
 ble) the defenders of the Hebrew original have the su- 
 periority both in authority and argument. But the ar- 
 guments of Michaelis and Marsh, with those which I 
 have adduced in the text, appear to me conclusive on 
 the great point, that the body of the native people in Pa- 
 lestine spoke the Aramaic dialect, and no other. Wet- 
 stein and Jortin are the most decisive on the other side. 
 Lardner concedes, what is sufficient for my argument, 
 " that in very early days there was a Hebrew Gospel.'" 
 Works, III. 166. 4to. edit. See on the other side Kuinoel, 
 Proleg. in Joan. 
 
 O 
 
194 LECTURE V. 
 
 Jesus, in what one language did they make 
 themselves intelligible to men thus collected 
 from all quarters of the world f ? In their 
 own corrupt Galilaean g ? But, even if this 
 had been understood, was it likely to ar- 
 rest the attention, and cause any sensation 
 among the Oriental as well as Roman, the 
 Arabian as well as Libyan, the Asiatic as 
 well as Cretan worshippers ? Were men 
 likely to pause, and listen to poor arti- 
 sans haranguing in a provincial jargon ? In 
 Greek? But how did the uneducated fol- 
 lowers of one, concerning whom the Jews 
 expressed their astonishment, How knoweth 
 
 f If the apostles on the day of Pentecost had expressed 
 themselves "improperly, or with a bad accent, as most peo- 
 ple do when they speak a living language which is not 
 natural to them, the hearers, who at that time were not 
 converted to Christianity, would have taken notice of 
 such faults, which since they did not, it is to be supposed 
 that they had nothing of that kind to object. Jortin. 
 Eccl. Hist. vol. 1. 58. 
 
 S On the peculiar pronunciation of the Galilaeans see 
 Lightfoot, CI tor. Cent, c. 87. and note to Lecture III. 
 
 " Homines Judaei, quia sunt accurati in lingua sua, 
 " confirmata est lex in manibus eorum ; Galila?i vero, 
 " quia non sunt accurati in lingua sua, neque stabilita 
 " est lex in manibus eorum. " Quoted by Buxtorf from 
 the Talmud. Sec Reiske's Diss. 
 
LECTURE V. 195 
 
 this man letters, seeing he hath never learn- 
 ed h , attain this proficiency in a foreign dia- 
 lect? Was this accomplishment compatible 
 with their rank in society, their former avo- 
 cations, their mean and mechanical employ- 
 ments? Before their summons as Apostles, 
 their labours, subsequently the life which 
 they led, chiefly in the villages and towns of 
 Galilee or Judaea, rarely visiting Jerusalem, 
 must have interfered with the acquisition 
 of a foreign tongue. In short, would any 
 one language have been sufficient to make 
 any striking or permanent impression on 
 such a multitude? Or, conceding that Greek 
 was that one language, were the Apostles 
 likely to possess this qualification, to speak 
 this strange dialect, under such peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, with facility, fluency, and preci- 
 sion? I do not mean that in Galilee, as it 
 was called, of the Gentiles, they might not 
 have known a few Greek words and phrases; 
 but I cannot conceive that they could possess 
 that perfect knowledge which w T ould be re- 
 
 h Origen takes the aypkfLftaTtl$ literally ; Nav) he ti; /3a=- 
 
 Contra Cels. I. 62. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 LECTURE V. 
 
 quisite, to harangue, to argue, to confute, to 
 illustrate from the Scripture, which, at least 
 in Jerusalem, was not familiarly read in a 
 Greek version \ in short to unfold the 
 
 • " Even if it be true that there were synagogues in Je- 
 rusalem where the Old Testament was read, not in the 
 Chaldee, but in the Greek version, we cannot thence in- 
 fer that Greek was generally spoken in Jerusalem. We 
 might as well conclude that German was universally under- 
 stood in London, because there are German chapels there. 1 '' 
 Note to MichaelisIII.12S.Rosenmuller (see note z p. 190.) 
 espouses a different opinion, but Kuinoel agrees with Mi- 
 chaelis. " Etiam in synagogis Hellenistarum (vid. Act. vi. 
 " 1 — 9.) libri sacri sermone Hebraeo praelegebantur, Alex- 
 " andrinam enim versionem praelectam fuisse, probari ne- 
 " quit." The only proof which I can find advanced on 
 the other side is a circumstance which, on Rabbinical 
 authority, occurred in Caesarea. But Caesarea was not 
 merely a sea-port town, as Michaelis observes, but a town 
 of Greek origin, and in great part inhabited by Greeks. 
 See Josephus for the dissensions there. B. J. lib. % 
 
 According to Simon the Septuagint was read after the 
 Hebrew as an exposition. Crit. Inquiries, p. 163. 
 
 Compare Sturzius de ling. Maced. et Alexand. and Vi- 
 tringa, de Syn. Vet. 
 
 Casaubon expresses himself strongly on this point; 
 " Putare germanos Judaeos in Judaea commorantes ver- 
 " sione Graeca esse usos, hoc vero nihil est aliud nisi suam 
 " rerum Judaicarum crassam imperitiam palam faccrc. 
 " Nam pleni sunt libri Rabbinorum detestatione illius 
 " facti ct versionis; quam ut infament qtlid non commi- 
 " niscuntur plerique illorum ?" Exercit. II. 
 
LECTURE V. 197 
 
 whole scheme of their religion perspicuous- 
 ly, and without discrepancy. If the whole 
 
 Lightfoot has given an extraordinary reason why the 
 Scripture was written in Greek rather than the language 
 of Palestine ; " For when the Jewish people were now to 
 " be cast off, and to be doomed to eternal cursing, it was 
 " very improper, certainly, to extol their language, whe- 
 " ther it were the Syriac mother tongue, or the Chaldee, 
 " its cousin language, unto that degree of honour, that 
 " it should be the original language of the New Testa-. 
 " ment. Improper, certainly, it was, to write the gospel 
 " in their tongue, who, above all the inhabitants of the 
 " world, most despised and opposed it." On Matth. 
 i. 23. As if Christianity had met with no success in Pa- 
 lestine, or in Edessa and Babylonia, where the Syriac 
 and Chaldee were vernacular. — Undoubtedly the Greek 
 was the -fittest language in which the New Testament 
 could be written, as by far the best and most extensively 
 known. Whether the Syriac converts had an inspired 
 gospel and epistle in their own language or not, they had 
 a translation from the earliest period, which clearly proves 
 that the Greek was not universally read. The Syriac 
 Paraphrase indeed thus concludes, " Finis evangelii sancti 
 " pra?dicationis Matthaei, quod praedicaverat Hebraice in 
 " reeione Palestinea." On which Mori observes, " Unde 
 " apparet hasc verba nihil aliud indicare, quam quod lin- 
 " gua Ebraica, i. e. lingua turn temporis usitata Chaldaeo- 
 " Syra, usus fuerit Matthaeus, cum in Palaestina prsedica- 
 " vit evangelium." Bishop Marsh observes, that " St. 
 " Matthew never travelled into countries where Greek was 
 " the vernacular tongue. r ' Note to vol. III. p. 144. Now 
 it is singular that Matthew, as a publican, and therefore 
 perhaps, having to transact business with the higher au- 
 
 o 3 
 
198 LECTURE V. 
 
 scene be, not deliberate fiction ; if the first 
 public proclamation of the Christian religion 
 on the clay of Pentecost among the assembled 
 multitudes be not in every fact and every 
 
 thorities, is the one of all the apostles most likely to 
 have understood Greek. I say most likely, because as 
 one of the lower order of publicans, he might only have 
 to receive of, and account to, his own countrymen. 
 
 That the apostles and evangelists subsequently quoted 
 the version of the LXX in their writings is no proof of 
 their acquaintance with that translation at this early pe- 
 riod. Michaelis has satisfactorily accounted for this prac- 
 tice. " We must recollect that the apostles wrote for the 
 " use of communities who were ignorant of Hebrew, and 
 " for whom therefore it was necessary to refer to the 
 " Greek version, which was generally read. Had they 
 " given a new and more accurate translation according 
 " to the Hebrew, the reader would not have known what 
 i£ passage they intended to quote; and had they on the 
 " other hand, in retaining the words of the Septuagint, 
 " taken notice of each inaccuracy, it would have been an 
 " useless ostentation of learning, and they would have 
 " diverted the attention of the reader from the main ob- 
 " ject to the consideration of trifles ." Marsh's Michaelis, 
 i. 218. 
 
 The learned de Rossi, (della lingua propria de Christo) 
 p. 148. 201. agrees with Michaelis. 
 
 Of the apocryphal books, Tobit, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, 
 (seepref.) perhaps both the Maccabees, (Origen in Ps. i.) 
 were certainly written in Chaldean, or Aramaic. The 
 Wisdom of Solomon is clearly an Alexandrian work, per- 
 haps that of Philo. Sec Whitaker, Orig. of Ariamsm. 
 
LECTURE V. 199 
 
 word imaginary, I can conceive no means 
 adequate to the end, except those which 
 according to the Scriptures were actually 
 employed. Extraordinary as the interven- 
 tion of divine Providence appears, it is in 
 strict harmony with the exigencies of the 
 case. I must join in the awe-struck aston- 
 ishment of those who were all amazed and 
 marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are 
 not all these ivhich speak Galileans? And 
 how hear we every man in our own tongue, 
 icherein ive were born? Parthians, and 
 Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in 
 Mesopotamia, and in Judcea, and Cappado- 
 cia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pain- 
 phylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya 
 about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews 
 and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do 
 hear them speak in our tongues the won- 
 derful works of God. And they were all 
 amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to 
 another, What meaneth this*? 
 
 k Acts ii. 7—12. 
 
 tc Catalogus populorum ad ornatum pertinet, 11 says 
 Kuinoel. In this country wc are not accustomed to consider 
 the evangelists as ornamental writers. Salmasius has ob- 
 served with greater propriety, " Gentes ac populi qui hie 
 
 O 4 
 
200 LECTURE V. 
 
 Waiving however for the present the ap- 
 parent necessity of the gift of tongues, for 
 the first publication of Christianity, we 
 must concede the possibility that the apo- 
 stles, during their residence in Jerusalem, 
 and previous to the preaching the Gospel 
 to the Gentiles, might by patient and assi- 
 duous study, and the facilities of instruction 
 from the Hellenist Christians, have acquir- 
 ed a command over that language which 
 hereafter was likely to be of such extensive 
 utility. But that they should submit to 
 this diligent study, either for the purpose 
 of conducting a precarious system of impos- 
 ture, or that enthusiasts should thus coolly 
 sit down and labour to supply the defi- 
 ciency in their qualifications ; in short, that 
 for so desperate an enterprise, and where 
 the chance of success was so improbable, 
 such men should encounter such a course 
 of study, is a new difficulty, not less inex- 
 
 " recensentur, partim ISocrj hotXsxrcp inter se differebat, par- 
 " tim ysvixyr Dc Lingua Hcllenistica. I have thrown to- 
 gether under the different heads, as they occur in the fol- 
 lowing sketch of the spoken dialects, what I have been 
 able to collect concerning each. 
 
LECTURE V. 201 
 
 plicable than the preceding. With the na- 
 tional prejudice which Josephus declares 
 to have existed among their countrymen 
 against the study of foreign languages ; 
 with their task but imperfectly fulfilled 
 among the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; with 
 their maintenance, even their existence un- 
 certain, that they should attain so perfect 
 an idiomatic acquaintance with this strange 
 tongue, as to preach the Gospel without 
 diffidence or hesitation, and so as to be 
 heard with satisfaction and delight, draws 
 again most largely on our credulity. 
 
 Of course we do not include in this part 
 of the discussion the more enlightened and 
 better educated coadjutors, such as Paul 
 and Barnabas, who spoke Greek as their na- 
 tive tongue, and might possibly have consi- 
 derable proficiency in Latin. But though 
 in the later history of the apostles, we con- 
 fessedly cannot prove the absolute necessity 
 of the gift of tongues, I am disinclined with 
 Ernesti l to question its utility, or the ap- 
 parent intention of divine Providence to fa- 
 
 1 De Dono Linguarum in Op. thcologicis. 
 
202 LECTURE V. 
 
 cilitate by such means the more rapid and 
 extensive propagation of the Gospel. If 
 ecclesiastical tradition were admissible, on 
 this evidence, of itself by no means impro- 
 bable, it would appear that some of the apo- 
 stles exercised their functions in countries 
 far beyond the limits of the Greek, or even 
 the Syriac language m . Confining ourselves 
 however to the authorized records of our 
 religion, a rapid sketch of the languages 
 used in the various countries visited by the 
 apostles, whether as the vernacular tongue, 
 or coexisting with the Greek, which was 
 the literary, and perhaps the commercial 
 language, will neither be uninteresting as il- 
 lustrative of St. Luke's history, nor irrele- 
 vant to the general question under discus- 
 sion. 
 
 First however, the utility of such a gift, 
 as that of speaking various tongues without 
 study, may be confirmed by the fact, that 
 certain of the oriental sovereigns are cele- 
 brated for their familiarity with different 
 
 m Philip in Seythia, Bartholomew in India, probably 
 Arabia Felix, Thomas in Parthia, &c. See Cave's Lives 
 of the Apostles. 
 
LECTURE V. 203 
 
 languages, an accomplishment obviously 
 not worth acquiring, and certainly not worth 
 boasting, if entirely useless and superfluous. 
 Mithridates king of Pontus is reported by 
 Quintilian, Pliny, and Aulus Gellius, to have 
 spoken twenty-two languages of different 
 people within his own dominions ". Cleo- 
 patra, according to Plutarch, was distin- 
 guished for a similar accomplishment . 
 There is also a curious passage in the same 
 author, respecting the capture of a wild 
 man by Sylla, who was questioned $! eppriveav 
 
 n Mithridates autem, Ponti atque Bithyniae rex incly- 
 tus, qui a Cn. Pompeio bello superatus est, duarum et vi- 
 ginti nationum, quas sub ditione habuit, linguas percal- 
 luit ; earumque omnium gentium viris haud unquam per 
 interpretem collocutus est ; sed ut quern que ab eo appel- 
 lari usus fuit, proinde loqui et oratione ipsius. non minus 
 seite quam si gentilis ejus esset, locutus est." Aulus Gel- 
 lius XVII. 17. Compare Pliny VII. 24. XXV. 2. Quin- 
 tilian II. 2. 
 
 ° 'HfovYj 8e xou <pQsyyo [Asvyg S7r>jv to ?%«>, xa) tyjv yX&TTuv, 
 uxrirep opyavov ti -noK'jyop^ov, sv7TcTuig Tpsnovo-a, xu§ rjv /3ou- 
 Ao»to lia.Ksy.T0V, oKlyotc nuvTairao-i oY kpi^vswc hsTuy^avs 
 @a.p(3apoi$' toIc Is 7r\sl(TT0i$ uuty) Si' aurrjs uirsZilox) rag ano- 
 xpiireie, olo v Aifl/o\[/i, TpwyXoluraic, 'E(3puloic, "Apa^i, ^upoic, 
 M^Soij, YlapOvctiOis. voXAioV U Xsysrcn xou «AAwv expctQslv 
 yXwTTccs, twv Trpo atmjs (SucnXswv ou§5 ty)v AiyoTTTiwv ocvao-^o- 
 jxe'vcov TrspiXctflslv lictXsKTov, svicov hs xu) to Maxe&ov/^eiv IxXi- 
 •novTuiv. Plutarch. Anton. 
 
204 LECTURE V. 
 
 proAA*?, an expression which intimates the 
 common use of interpreters in the Roman 
 armies p . 
 
 Travelling eastward from Palestine, and 
 leaving to the right a large tract of coun- 
 try inhabited by the Arabians 9 , who had 
 their distinct language, the vernacular was 
 what is called by the Greeks and Romans 
 Syriac. Of this there were two branches 
 bearing a close affinity ; that of Judaea, 
 East Aramaic, or Chaldee, that of Mesopota- 
 
 P Plutarch. Sylla. The Carthaginian in Plautus is a 
 great linguist : " Et is omnes linguas scit, sed dissimulat 
 " sciens, se scire." The military orders, if I rightly appre- 
 hend a passage in Josephus, were given to the different 
 troops in their native languages. r/ t= x>jcu£ h%io$ tw 7ro- 
 
 \6[X0tp^C0 TTCtpCtCTToiC) si 7TpO$ 7l6hSfJ,0V e\<TlV 5TOJjU.0», TY) 7TCiTplOO 
 
 ykuxro-ri rp)$ av«7ruv0avera». B. J. III. 5. 
 
 9 See Beausobre, Hist, du Manicheisme, vol. I. 20. 
 On the Arabian language of Yemen he writes, " Elle a 
 " ete connue autrefois sous le nom de PInde, et cest la 
 " vraisemblablement, et non dans les Indes orientales, 
 " que le Christianisme fut porte par quelcun des apo- 
 " stres, ou de leurs premiers disciples.'" 
 
 Michaelis thinks it probable that Bartholomew preach- 
 ed the Gospel there, vol. III. 125. 
 
 Paul's flight from Damascus into Arabia is well known. 
 The Nabathean Arabs wrote letters to Antigonus in the 
 Syriac language. Prid. Connect. I. 8. 
 
LECTURE V. 205 
 
 mia, and Edessa, called West Aramaic, or 
 Syrian. Hence Luke's distinction between 
 the dwellers of Mesopotamia and Judaea, 
 both of which were to a certain degree dif- 
 ferent from Galilaean, a very corrupt dia- 
 lect of West Aramaic 1 ". This language ex- 
 
 r The dialect of Jerusalem was East Aramaean, or, as 
 we call it, Chaldee ; and according to this dialect are writ- 
 ten the Aramaean words that are found in the Greek 
 Testament, for instance Acts i. 19. 1 Cor. xvi. 22. The 
 Syriac New Testament is written in the same language, 
 in a different dialect. In Galilee, though West Aramaean 
 was spoken, that is, the dialect of Syria on this side Eu- 
 phrates and of Mesopotamia, yet it was extremely cor- 
 rupted. Mkhaelis II. 41. Strabo carries the Syrian in 
 the same manner beyond the Euphrates. 1% huXsxTou 
 
 xoc) Tolg evTo$. Lib. II. p. 139. 
 
 Fleury mentions a curious proof of the Christian bi- 
 shops in Syria being ignorant of Greek at a later period ; 
 " Dans la haute Syrie la plupart des eveques n'enten- 
 " doient point de Grec, et ne scavoient que le Syriaque, 
 " comme il paroit par les conciles ou ils avoient besoin cTin- 
 44 tcrpretes. Cone, d 1 Ephes. Concil. Calc.Act. X." Fleury 
 Mceurs des Chretiens. 
 
 St. Jerome tells us, " that at the funeral of the famous 
 lady Paula, the psalms were sung in Syriac, Greek, and 
 Latin, because there were men of each language present 
 at the solemnity ." Bingham s Ant. XIII. 4. 1. see also 
 B. XIV. 1.11. 
 
 The Hermeneuta was a regular office in the church. 
 
206 LECTURE V. 
 
 tended from the sea to the Euphrates ; and 
 though Greek prevailed in the Macedonian 
 colonies, and, as I observed, was the lan- 
 guage of public affairs, and appears on the 
 coins of the Seleucidae s , yet even close to 
 Antioch, as late as Chrysostom, the country 
 people who came in to the Christian festi- 
 vals neither spoke nor understood Greek \ 
 Zenobia it appears spoke Syriac, and dic- 
 tated her despatches in that language. She 
 herself was very imperfectly mistress of 
 Greek, and inculcated on her son the advan- 
 tage of learning Latin, rather than the for- 
 mer tongue u . About the Euphrates began 
 
 See Bingham's Ant. III. 13, 4. Procopius the martyr 
 was interpreter of the Syriac tongue in Scythopolis. Act. 
 Proc. ap. Vales. Not. in Euseb. de Mart. Palcest. 
 
 s See R. P. Knight. Proleg. in Homerum. 
 
 1 Aao$ xutu fxsv tyjv Wiolv yXooTrav Yjfxiv svYj\Xoty[jt,ivos 9 xutu 
 Se T)jv 7tjVtiv Yjfxlv (TVfX'pcovoov. Stat. XIX. in ink. T\6ki$ fi.lv 
 yup xot) %c<upa ev Tolg fiixTixdi$ 7rpxy(jLucriv ccWyjKcov Siscrr^xacn, 
 xutoL hs rov tyj$ eucrs/3s/ȣ Xoyov xoivcovovai, xcc) yvoovTcu. (j,Y) yap 
 
 [AOl TY)V fiupflupOV aVTCOV <p&VY)V *^C, CiWot TYjV <^)iK0<T 0(^01)1 0.V OLV- 
 
 twv liavoiav. ti yup fxoi opsKog Q[A0<pooviac, qtuv to. ty^ yvwfAYjs 
 f, SiYipYipsvct ; rt Ss poi fi\a(3o$ t'y)<; sTepo<pwvluc, orav tol ty^ 7i7- 
 gt£w$ f/ cruvYifjL[j,evu. Ut supra. 
 
 u Zenobia filios Latine loqui jusserat, adeo ut Graece 
 vel difficile vel raro loquerentur. Ipsa Latini sermonis 
 
LECTURE V. 207 
 
 the languages of the Armenians, the x Par- 
 thians, who as a Scythian tribe spoke a Scy- 
 thian dialect, the Medes and Persians. And 
 here is a circumstance worthy of notice ; 
 Luke seems to revert to the older word, 
 Elamites, although the name of the Per- 
 sians had been long known to the Jews 
 during the captivity, and was in common 
 use among the later prophets. But in this 
 he is in remarkable accordance with the 
 heathen writers of the period, among whom 
 the name of Persia might seem extinct. 
 Till the restoration of that empire in the 
 reign of Alexander Severus, it occurs rarely, 
 if ever. But Media is continually named 
 as a distinct kingdom y ; and what is more 
 extraordinary, the Elymaei or Elymaites, 
 who seem to have opposed a vigorous re- 
 sistance to the Parthian conquests, and ap- 
 
 non undequaque ignara, sed ut loqueretur pudore cohi- 
 bita; loquebatur et iEgyptiace ad perfectum modum. 
 Hist. Aug. Scrip, p. 190. Hanc epistolam Nicomachus 
 se transtulisse in Graecam ex lingua Syriaca dicit ab ipsa 
 Zenobia dictatam. Vopiscus. 862. 
 
 x Q. Curtius. lib. VII. Isid. Orig. IX. 2. Ancient univ. 
 History, Hist, of the Parthians. 
 
 y Tac. Ann. VI. 34. XII. 14. XIII. 41. 
 
208 LECTURE V. 
 
 pear as an independent people in the Ro- 
 man wars in the East z . 
 
 In all that vast country loosely called 
 Asia Minor, which extended from the fron- 
 tiers of Syria to the Euxine, the people 
 were partly Barbarians a , the name by which 
 the Greeks distinguished all nations, who 
 
 z Elamites, that is, Persians of the province of Ely- 
 mais, Jos. Mede. Disc. XX. For their history see Strabo 
 lib. XVI. and Tacit. Ann. VI. 44. A curious passage 
 from the Talmud may be compared with St. Luke ; I 
 do not know the date of it. " Legit quis illud volumen 
 " (Esther) Coptica lingua, aut transfluviali aut Elami- 
 " tica, aut Meda aut Graeca, nondum satisfecit : ecce non 
 " est similitudo, nisi Coptice Coptis legeret, transfluviali- 
 " bus transfluviali, Elamitis Elamitica, Graecis Graeca. 11 
 Talm. Tract. Megilla. quoted by De Rossi. 
 
 a Olov siti$ TotvQfiW7rtvov sTu^sipY^u; Viya. SjsAscrfla* yevo^, 
 tiaipol, xubairep ol noXho) twv IvflaSs, Siavs/jccucrj, to jjisv 'EAA>j- 
 vtxw oo§ ev ouno kxvtwv ct(potipovvTs$ 'Xjjopls' ovfjuweurt Is ro7§ uK- 
 
 \01C ysV;0~lV U.Tt£lpQl$ 0V0~l XOa CC[J,l}iT0l$ XCi) OtfJVlAtp'JOVOlC itpoc, «A- 
 
 XyjKo. fiupfitxpov (Aici. xXyjosi 7tpoo-sw6vTo$. Plato, Polit. c. 15. 
 Kai 0VK8p Tponov avQpG07rwv 'EXAyjvcov ol 'EAArjver, fiupfiapoic $5 
 vvv ol fiotpfiapoi b^oyXwiTOi liaXeyovTUi. Philo de Coilf. Ling. 
 St. Paul recognizes the distinction ; Therefore, if I know 
 not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that 
 speakcth a barbarian, and he that spcakcth shall be a 
 barbarian unto me. 1 Cor. xiv. 11. Even Latin was a 
 barbarous language ; " Philemo scripsit, Plautus vertit 
 " barbare. 11 Plant. Trin. For the origin of the term 
 see Strabo, lib. XIV. and Herodotus II. 158. 
 
LECTURE V. 209 
 
 did not speak their language ; partly pi^o- 
 ficipfictpoi, in which both languages coexisted; 
 partly Asiatic Greeks, in which of course 
 that tongue was universally spoken. Now 
 of the barbarous countries' 3 , Cappadocia, 
 one of those mentioned in the Acts, had its 
 own language c , according to Jablonski a 
 branch of the ancient Assyrian, and, if we 
 may trust the authority of a Greek novelist, 
 spoken over a very extensive region. It is 
 said to have been a written language, and 
 remained vernacular to the time of St. Ba- 
 
 b Ephorus and Strabo that cites him make almost all 
 the inland nations of Asia Minor to be barbarians. 
 Bcntleifs Coiifut. of Atheism, Serm. VI. 
 
 c 'IoDcn Is otVTol$ 8<a xwftwv (Asyuhwv, TfWVoov r\v cttpQovict twv 
 l-KiTrfisi'jjV. K«i yap 6'j7T7ro#oo£ sfxireipco; si^s rvjj Ka7T7ra5oxi5v 
 Qcovyis. Xenoph. Ephes. lib. III. in ink. The Cappado- 
 cians bordering on Paphlagonia had corrupted their own 
 dialect with that of their neighbours. SuvvjyopTv 8' av 
 do$g$e to) Koyca toutco, 8jot/ 7raVa y\ 7rA>j<nov too "A\vo$ KctTnrci- 
 2ox/a, 6<7»j 7rapare/fs* t>) TIoi<pkccyovlix, rcug $u(r) XpyTUi biz- 
 \s%e<ri } xa) Tolg ovo^ain 7rAsova£s< toTc lIapA«yovjxo7$. Strabo 
 lib. XII. p. 830. ed. Casaub. Bochart says of the Cappado- 
 cians, " non abhorruisse eorum sermonem a Sjrio sed 
 " fuisse impurissimum." in Phaleg. With this Jablonski 
 agrees. Apollonius of Tyana wrote a book in Cappado- 
 cian. Philost. lib. IV. 19. Lucian mentions the Cappado- 
 cian, Paphlagonian and Bactrian languages, in Pscucl. 
 XIV. 
 
210 LECTURE V. 
 
 sil d . In what was the kingdom of Mithri- 
 dates, Bithynia, Paphlagonia and Pontus, 
 the Greek had doubtless spread in the ma- 
 ritime towns, but in Pontus especially the 
 dialects were almost innumerable e . In Ga- 
 latia f , at the time of Jerom, the Greek had 
 
 d St. Basil arguing the antiquity of the clause <rvv itvsv- 
 fxaTi in the Doxology, speaks of its being in general use 
 in the Mesopotamian and Cappadocian languages. '12$ 
 $1 lydi Tivog twv Ix M.s<ro7roTaixlexs YJxovo~ct, avdphg xu) Trjf 
 y\wa-<rri$ l^-nsipoog s^ovTog, xcti aftiwrrpofw ryv yvcoju-ijv, ouSs 
 hvvoLTQv STspwg sms~iv tyj sy^coplco ipwvfi, x«v sQs\cao~iv aAAa Sia 
 tyj$ xai o-uXXa/3^, (jluKXov Is tuov icroSi>vaaou<7cwv aurjj (pctivwv, 
 xutu ti »S/a)jU.a maTpiov, uvuyx^v uvTolg elvai t>jv lo%o\oyiotv vpo- 
 <pepstv. Ka) Kotmrafioxoti Si ovtcd Ksyopsv ly^ceplaog, hi tots §v 
 tyj toov y\c»<r<ra>v huipeas^ to ex t% Xegsoog ^p^aifxov %pofi\s- 
 tyupevou toD 7rvs6[AUTog. Lib. de Spir. Sanct. c. 29- Basil 
 was a Cappadocian bishop. 
 
 e The Pontic king, who understood some Greek, >j/xieA- 
 A>jv yuq Tig wv sTuyxuvs, requested to have Nero's dancer, 
 to save him in interpreters ; irpoo-olxovg, e<p>j, fiotp(3<xpovg s^oo, 
 ofy 6[xoy\wTTOvg xu) epfxyvioDV ou potiiov sfaoprpai %pog ctiiTOvg. 
 
 Lucian de Salt. Subjicitur Ponti regio Colchica 
 
 Coraxi urbe quondam adeo clara, ut Timosthenes 
 
 in earn CCC. nationes, quae dissimilibus Unguis uterentur, 
 descendere prodiderit. Et postea a nostris CXXX. in- 
 terpretibus negotia ibi gesta. Plin. VI. 5. 
 
 The limits of Pontus, as it was sometimes used for the 
 whole southern coast of the Euxine, cannot be ascer- 
 tained. 
 
 f Galatas, excepto sermone Graeco, quo omnis loquitur 
 oriens, propriam linguam eandem pa>ne habuere quam 
 
LECTURE V. 211 
 
 not extirpated the original Gaulish or Cel- 
 tic dialect. Mysia, Paphlagonia, Pisidia, 
 Pamphylia, and Phrygia had each their one 
 or more dialects radically different from the 
 Greek ; of the two latter, mentioned by St. 
 Luke, the Phrygian g is named as a barba- 
 rous language, apparently not unknown, 
 by Plato ; in Pamphylia h , Arrian informs 
 us that some Greek colonists from iEolis 
 had forgotten their native tongue and 
 formed a corrupt and mingled jargon. In 
 the rest of this region \ the Asia of St. Luke, 
 
 Treviri; nee referre si aliqua corruperint. Jefom. torn. 
 IV. p. 256. 
 
 It should be recollected that St. Paul wrote in Greek 
 to the Galatians. 
 
 s The Phrygian, according to Jablonski, was a Thra- 
 cian language. Plato clearly calls them Barbarians. "Opct 
 Toivuv, xa\ touto to ovo'jxa to irvp jx^rt (5<xp(3apixov *)* touto yap 
 outs po&iov Tpo<ru^cn 1<tt\v t>j 'E\X>jvix>j Qoovy, Quvepol t el<rh 
 ovtcos uuto xa.\ovvrs$ <t>puye$, arfuxpdv tj 7rapux\ivovTsg. in Cra- 
 tylo. Herodotus speaks of the Phrygian language as 
 distinct from Greek, lib. II. c. 2. 
 
 h AvTixct ty}v (j,h 'E^AaSa ykw&votv e$e\a(}oi/T0, evQv$ hs 
 fiapfitxpov tpwvYjV Isvav, ou8s tvov 7rpo(T^a}pcDV fictp(3txpu)v y aXAa 
 WiOLv trQcbv, ouirui irp6<rQev ovGctv, tjjv pcovi^v. Arr. de Exped. 
 Alex. Compare Jablonski's Dissertation. 
 
 i When Callirhoe, in the romance, had travelled as far 
 as Cilicia, she still heard the Greek language. — KaMipfa 
 
 p z 
 
212 LECTURE V. 
 
 the Greek had probably almost extermi- 
 nated the native dialects. Strabo informs 
 us, that the ancient Lydian was still spoken 
 among the Cibyratae k , but was entirely ex- 
 tinct in Lydia itself. The Carians 1 also, 
 mingling much with the Greeks, though as 
 in the days of Homer, they might still be 
 
 fxsv yap ^XP l • • • • KiAixiaj xou$ca$ etyeps tyjv an:otf\\L[ca % x«» 
 yap 'EAAa&oj rjxovs peevifc. Chaerea. et Call. 105. 
 
 k The Cibyratae spoke four languages. Te<r<roip<n 8= 
 y\'MTTotig s^pwvTO ol K.i/3up«T«j, t»} ITi(n8jx>;, ry SoAu/acov, ttj 
 'EAA>]v»8j, tjj Au8«3v, tuvtyis 8e ou§' %vo$ Iotiv Iv ty, Au8j«. 
 Lib. XIII.' ad fin. 
 
 1 See Strabo lib. IV. p. 978. ed. Casaub. — A passage of 
 considerable importance to the subject has perplexed me. 
 
 TOUTO 8e fXOihKTTCC (TVVF^Yj T0\C, Kotporl' T00V yap 0t\\u)V OVK BTTl- 
 
 nXexOfLEvoov ntac, cnpo^pa. rolg ' EAA>j<nv, ou8' \% ^stpovvrc/iv 'EAAtj- 
 
 VJX60£ £rjf, >] [AavQuVSW TY}V YjfXSTSpOlV SiaAsxrov, 7t\yjv si Tivsg 
 <T7ravio<, xal xutu Tvyyv Wsfxl^^a-ctv^ xa\ xaT avlpa okiyoi 
 twv *EiX\YjVciov tktIv. qx)toi 8e xatf oA>jv litKctMrfirp out rijv'EAAaSa, 
 
 (JLiaQoV (TTpetTSVOVTSS. 
 
 The aXKoi clearly comprehending all the nations of 
 Asia Minor, which were not Greek, it appears to inti- 
 mate, that the Greek language and customs had not 
 been readily or extensively received in those regions. 
 
 Among the arguments for the general dissemination of 
 the Greek language through the Peninsula, the general 
 dissemination of the religion appears important. Paul 
 and Barnabas were taken for Grecian deities at Lystra, 
 and Alexander the Pseudomantis, a Paphlagonian, built 
 his imposture on the Greek mythology. 
 
LECTURE V. 213 
 
 esteemed (Zap/Zapfyam, as speaking Greek 
 with a thick and provincial accent, they 
 were no longer (ZdpfZapot as speaking a differ- 
 ent tongue. We have no cotemporary au- 
 thority for St. Paul, or any other of the 
 apostles, having come in contact with the 
 Thracian, Getic m , or other Scythian lan- 
 guages. But Illyria, the borders of which 
 Paul reached, was branded by the name of 
 " thrice barbarous n ." Of course through- 
 out Macedonia , Hellas, the Peloponnese 
 
 m On these languages see Ovid, de Ponto, III. 40. 
 Trist. V. 12. 55. 
 
 Threi'cio Scythicoque fere circumsonor ore : 
 Et videor Geticis scribere posse modis. 
 
 Trist. III. 14. 47. 
 
 In paucis resonant Graecse vestigia linguae ; 
 
 Ha?c quoque jam Getico barbara facta sono. 
 Ullus in hoc vix est populo, qui forte Latine 
 
 Quaelibet e medio reddere verba queat. 
 
 Trist V. 7. 5 1 . 
 
 n TV Eup iS/xrjv, r$Ti$ TAAup<£ ov<rct xot) Tpifiapfiotpog. Plut. 
 de Ed. Lib. On the question whether Paul entered Illy- 
 ricum, see Lardner, Hist, of Apost. art. St. Paul ; Biscoe, 
 p. 425. 
 
 "Ev<o< 8g xot) <r6[Jt.7rct<rctv tm \i>*X.? x Kepxupa$, MaxsSov/av 
 7rpo(rciyops6ov<riv, arnoAoyouvrej otfxot oti xot) xovga, xal $iot\£xTou 
 xoti xXoifLufii, xot) otKkoig TOiouToig xpoovrui 7rocpa7rX^(Ticjog' evtoi 
 hi xot) 8/yAcoTTo/ s«n. Strabo, lib. VII. p. 503. Thucydi- 
 des III. 15. mentions the zEtolian language. 
 
 p 3 
 
214 LECTURE V. 
 
 and the iEgean islands, those who spoke 
 the different dialects of Greek were intelli- 
 gible to each other p ; Crete alone is remark- 
 able for a very peculiar dialect q . In Italy, 
 
 P In Creta insula usitata erat dialectus quaedam linguae 
 Graecae caeteris ignota, ut liquet ex grammaticis, qui plu- 
 res ex ea Glossas protulerunt. Clericus in loco. 
 
 Salmasius, from Philoponus, makes it out a Doric dia- 
 lect. Salmasius has made a more hardy assertion. " Ne 
 " eo quidem tempore, quo vixit et scripsit Demosthenes 
 " ab omnibus Atticis suis, et multo minus a caeteris Grae 
 " cis intelligebatur. Attici a communibus Graecis vix 
 *' poterant intelligi. Unius dialecti idioma non perci- 
 u piebatur ab altera, de Graeciae linguae dialectis lo- 
 " quor." Salm. de Hellenistica. This is not quite cor- 
 rect ; the modern Italian, perhaps the French, certainly 
 our own provincial dialects, differ as much, yet they are 
 mutually understood. To us indeed the Megaric and 
 Spartan patois in Aristophanes are nearly unintelligible, 
 We have also Scythian. " The Attic," 11 says Xeno- 
 phon, " was a selection of Graecisms and barbarisms," 
 de Rep. Ath. — A singular confession for so pure an Attic 
 writer ! Yet these varieties of dialects must have been in 
 the way of itinerant teachers. 
 
 q The language of Malta was Phoenician. " Senza fallo 
 " eglino erano nominati barbari, perche non parlavano ne 
 " la Greca ne la Latina favella, e qual linguaggio usavano 
 " eglino allora se non il fenicio, essendo descendenti dei 
 " Fenici." Bres. Malta Antica. 
 
 The learned prelate proves the Phoenician descent ot 
 the Maltese, and traces the remains of the Phoenician in 
 their modern dialect. 
 
LECTURE V. 215 
 
 the old Oscan r remained to a late period 
 among the common people ; Greek was the 
 vernacular in that part originally called 
 Magna Graecia, and was so generally under- 
 stood by the upper classes, that dramatic 
 exhibitions were represented in all the 
 three languages s . Though the pride of 
 Jtoman conquest endeavoured to establish 
 
 r Quintus Ennius tria corda habere sese dicebat, 
 quod loqui Greece, et Osce, et Latine scivit. Aulus Gell. 
 XVII. 17. 
 
 Qui Osce et Volsce fabulantur, nam Latine nesciunt. 
 Titin. apud Festum. lib. XIII. 
 
 In Italia stessa, centre* e sede dei Romani, ove Tuso del 
 Latino era in uso per publica autorita, mentre per le citta 
 e par le provincie dai dotti, da publici e civili cittadini 
 non si parlava altro linguaggio, non pote l'impero Ro- 
 mano impedire, che le provincie particulari usassero co- 
 tidianamente il dialetto proprio, che bene spesso discor- 
 dava del altro. De Rossi della Lingua di C. 
 
 s Edidit (Caesar) ludos etiam regionatim urbe tota, et 
 quidem per omnium linguarum histriones. Suet. Jul. 
 XXXIX. 
 
 Fecitque nonnunquam vicatim ac pluribus scenis per 
 omnium linguarum histriones. Suet. Aug. XLIII. 
 
 Lege proposita, ut Romani Graeco, Graeci Romano 
 habitu et sermone uterentur. Ibid. Aug. 
 
 Cicero however says, " Nostri Graece fere nesciunt, nee 
 " Graeci Latine." Tusc. Quast. V. " Graeca leguntur in 
 " omnibus fere gentibus, Latina suis finibus, exiguis 
 " sane, continentur.' 11 Cic. pro Arch. XXV. 
 
 p 4 
 
216 LECTURE V. 
 
 Latin as the general language of public 
 affairs in all the subject provinces \ yet in 
 
 * Magistrates vero prisci quantopere suam populique 
 Romani majestatem retinentes se gesserint, hinc cognosci 
 potest, quod inter caetera obtinendae gravitatis indicia, il- 
 lud quoque magna cum perseverantia custodiebant, ne 
 Graecis unquam, nisi Latine, responsa darent. Quinetiam 
 ipsa linguae volubilitate, qua plurimum valent, excussa, 
 per interpretem loqui cogebant; non in urbe tantum 
 nostra, sed etiam in Graecia et Asia : quo scilicet Latinae 
 yocis honos per omnes gentes venerabilior diffunderetur. 
 Val Max. lib. II. c. 2. 
 
 Causes however were sometimes pleaded in Greek in the 
 senate. " Quis ergo huic consuetudini, qua nunc Graecis 
 " actionibus aures curiae exsurdantur, januam patefecit, 
 " ut opinor, Molo rhetor, qui studia M. Ciceronis acuit. 
 " Eum namque ante omnes exterarum gentium in senatu 
 W sine interprete auditum constat." Val. Max. ut supra. 
 
 The emperors however appear rather to have con- 
 demned this practice. Augustus did not himself speak 
 Greek fluently, " non tamen ut aut loqueretur expedite 
 " aut componere aliquid auderet." Suet. Aug. Tiberius 
 discouraged Greek, and apologized for using Greek words 
 in the senate. " Militem quendam quoque Graece testi- 
 " monium interrogatum, nisi Latine respondere vetuit." 
 Suet. Tib. LXXI. 
 
 But he was not consistent by Dio's representation pro- 
 bably of the same transaction. 'ExotTovrap^ou 'ExXyjvktt) 
 iv too avvslpicp (juxprv prison t* IfisA^cavrof, ovx Y)vea^sT0, xalirep 
 7ToAA«£ (j,ev lixct$ Iv t>j ohxXbxtu) tuvtyj, xai Ixd Xsyofjisvx: 
 uxouoov, ttoX\u$ Is xu) uvtq; enspcoToov. Dio Tib. L VI I. 15. 
 
 Claudius was more severe; for though he granted as 
 an especial privilege x*P iV °* 'EaAijvjoti yvwvat, Dio. LX. 
 
LECTURE V. 217 
 
 the metropolis, the affectation u or the good 
 taste of the literary and polished part of 
 the community struggled hard with the na- 
 tional vanity. It was not till a much later 
 period that the administration of public 
 
 8. nevertheless, " spectatissimum virum, Graeciseque 
 " provincial principem, verum Latini sermonis ignarum, 
 " non modo albo judicis erasit, sed etiam in peregrinita- 
 4C tern redegit." Suet. Claud, 'Ettu^sto tyj Aarlvcov y\w<yo~r t 
 
 TCOV 7TpS0~(3cVTO)V TIVOC, Avxtov [XSV TO OCp^UlOV OVTO^ 'PoOfX-CllOU 
 
 8s ysyovoTOs' xot) olvtov, stts^y) ju->j <tvvyjxs to A=^flsv, ryv TtoXi- 
 ts'kxv capsiXsTQy slnwv [ay) S=7v 'Pwftciiov eivcti, tov y.v) v.oti tyjv §hz- 
 hs%iv crtpwv e7ri<TT<x[j.svQv. Dio Claud. XVII. 
 
 The literary vanity of Nero predominated over his 
 national pride ; he pleaded and acted in both languages, 
 " Pro Bononiensibus Latine, et pro Rhodiis et Iliensibus 
 " Graece verba fecit." 
 
 St. Augustin says, " Romani data opera fecerunt, ut 
 " imperiosa ci vitas non solum jugum, verum etiam lin- 
 " guam suam domitis gentibus per pacem societatis im- 
 " peraret." De Civ. Dei XIX. 7. They certainly suc- 
 ceeded at a later period in encroaching to a considerable 
 extent upon the Greek ; see quotations from Plutarch, &c. 
 in Bayle, article Claudius ; Gibbon, c. 1. note, and Ca- 
 saubon, Exercit. IX. for a curious passage from Gregory 
 Thaumaturgus, which shews that in his time Latin was 
 better known than Greek at Berytus in Syria. 
 
 u Nunc natus infans delegatur Graeculae alicui ancillat'. 
 De CI. Orat .XXIX. 
 
 se non putat ulla 
 
 Formosam, nisi quae de Tusca Greecula facta est. 
 
 Juv. VI. 184. 
 
218 LECTURE V. 
 
 business in Latin, and the practice of the 
 Roman law, forced the language of the rul- 
 ing powers into more general circulation. 
 Latin seems to have spread with the 
 greatest rapidity in Gaul x and Spain y , and 
 lastly in Africa, where however the native 
 dialects and the Punic z still kept their hold 
 among the uneducated. In the Grecian 
 colonies of Cyrene a we again find that lan- 
 
 x Strabo tells us that the different dialects of Gaul 
 did not differ much. Touj 8e \omob$, TaXciTixyv fx,h tyjv 
 oif/<y, oftoyXooTTOvs 85 ov 7rctVTCtc_, aAX' hiouc fj.ix.pbv 1tupa.hXa.TT0v- 
 Ta$ tuIc yXwTTotis. Strabo IV. 267. 
 
 Decimus Brutus spoke Celtic. 'Hhhugs Ss t^v so~$r,Tu e$ 
 to KsXnxov, l%sitio~Tufj,cVOc ccfj.cc xa) tyjv <P'jovy)V. A pp. III. 97. 
 
 About Marseilles, Greek had spread to a considerable 
 extent. "£Lo-tf r) itohig (uxpa> ph itporspov role fiupfiapois uvslro 
 itufisuTypiov, xa) <Qihshhfiva$ xaTsaxsuuo-e roue TahaTac, wo~ts 
 xa) ra <rwjx/3oAaia 'EXAijviot* ypa<psiv. Strabo IV. p. 273. 
 
 y One Spanish people had entirely forgotten their na- 
 tive language. OI psvToi ToupbiTctvo), xa) fj,ahio~Ta 01 itsp) rbv 
 BaiTjv, Tshecog el$ rbv 'Poopalcov psTafisfihrivTai Tpowov, ovle Tr t g 
 hiuhexTov t% atpsTepac. It* fj,efj,vri(jLEvo;. Strabo III. p. 225. 
 
 z Apuleius of Madaura learnt Latin at Rome ; his 
 wife's son spoke only Punic. " Loquitur nunquam nisi 
 " Punice, et si quid adhuc a matre Graecissat : Latine 
 " enim neque vult neque potest. 11 Or at. pro Magta. 
 
 All the African fathers wrote Latin ; St. Augustin, ac- 
 cording to Jortin, " had only a slender knowledge of the 
 u Greek tongue. 11 Jortin, Dissert. II. 
 
 » I presume some one of the languages spoken by Cleo- 
 
LECTURE V. 219 
 
 guage, and in Alexandria even the Jews 
 had become so completely Hellenised, that 
 it is probable that the accomplished Philo 
 did not understand the language of Pales- 
 tine b . Indeed I suspect that the jealousy 
 which existed between the Egyptian and 
 native Jews, and which was inflamed by the 
 building of the rival temple in Heliopolis, 
 was not a little enhanced by this circum- 
 stance. While in the former the cultiva- 
 tion of Greek literature, and the universal 
 adoption of the Greek language, softened 
 the rigour of their unsocial prejudices, with 
 the latter this liberality of the Alexandrians 
 rather aggravated as well their dislike to 
 their more polished neighbours, as their re- 
 pugnance to all such denationalizing stu- 
 dies. Beyond Alexandria, Greek appears 
 to have made no *great progress, the Egyp- 
 tian c was universally prevalent up to the 
 
 patra, (see note ° p. 203.) was that of the Libyans about 
 Cyrene. 
 
 b See Mangey's Preface to Philo, who appears to con- 
 fess his ignorance. ^Slaph u7tox.ci\q6vtu)v, ovtoo$ Se p«<rj tov 
 Kvpiov 6vo[Aa%s<TQxi Trapa. l£vpoi$. 
 
 c (See note ° p. 203.) Toutes les lectures se faisaient en 
 langue vulgaire, c'est-a-dire la langue que parloient let* 
 
220 LECTURE V. 
 
 borders of Ethiopia d . While then we have 
 no express authority for direct intercourse 
 between the apostles and those who were 
 ignorant of Greek, considering the extent 
 of country over which they journeyed, the 
 numerous people, especially in Asia Minor, 
 which they visited, the fact that their teach- 
 ing was chiefly oral, and that the converts 
 were most numerous from the lower orders, 
 it is impossible to question the utility of 
 such a gift, if it pleased divine Providence 
 to bestow it. 
 
 An objection however has been made 
 by divines of great eminence, and indeed 
 
 honnetes gens de chaque pays ; car quoique la langue Pu- 
 nique fut encore en usage parmi le petit peuple cVAfrique 
 du temps de St. Augustin, on ne voit pas que Teglise s^n 
 servit. Mais dans la Thebaide il falloit que Ton fit les 
 lectures en Egyptien, puis que St. Antoine, qui n'enten- 
 doit point autre langue, fut converti pour avoir oui Tevan- 
 gile. (Vie de St. Ant.) Fleury, Mocurs des Chretiens, 
 p. 128. 
 
 The scriptures were early translated into Egyptian. 
 Chrys. Horn. I. in Joan. Theodoret. de Cur. Grcec. Af- 
 fect. Sen. 
 
 d According to Heliodorus, the ^Ethiopian kings af- 
 fected to talk Greek. Ktx) tyjv <p«>v^v £AA»jv/£cov, airovlct^rou 
 ytxp rfis y; y\u)<r<rcc xcci itupu to~i$ Tv(Avo<ro<PiaTcu$ xca (3u<ri\eucnv 
 AI0ioW. Heliod. yEth. IX. 25. 
 
LECTURE V. 221 
 
 the general current of theologic opinion 
 appears to bear that way. The authority 
 of the Acts is adduced to prove the Apo- 
 stles' ignorance of the barbarous dialects 
 of Asia Minor. If this be clearly the 
 case, the inquiry, recently instituted, how- 
 ever interesting to the philologic student, 
 ceases to demand the attention of the 
 Christian divine. Before however I revert 
 to the passage in question, I would ob- 
 serve, that this gift, of whatever nature it 
 was, was bestowed in different degrees on 
 different individuals. / thank my God, 
 says St. Paul, / speak with tongues more 
 than ye all*. If the gift were by no means 
 universal, it would not therefore be proved 
 not to have existed ; though generally en- 
 dowed with the faculty, the apostles might 
 not be enabled to speak and understand the 
 uncouth and barbarous jargon of every petty 
 tribe which they might encounter. To pro- 
 ceed however to the affair in question. The 
 apostles Paul and Barnabas having wrought 
 a public and astonishing miracle at Lystra f , 
 the multitude of the city were so amazed, 
 
 e 1 Cor. xiv. 18. f Acts xiv. 
 
222 LECTURE V. 
 
 that they lifted up their voices, saying in the 
 speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down 
 to us in the likeness of men. Preparations 
 are then made to offer sacrifice, oxen and 
 garlands are brought forth, and the priest 
 of Jupiter is ready to perform his office. 
 The apostles, according to the common ex- 
 position, seeing these things, understand for 
 the first time their impious intentions, rush 
 among them, expostulate with them, and 
 indignantly reject the offered honours. 
 But this, it is inferred, they would have 
 done before, had they understood the Ly- 
 caonian dialect, in which they were first 
 called by the names of Jupiter and Mercu- 
 rius. This interpretation, originally, I be- 
 lieve, that of Chrysostom, is liable to a fatal 
 objection. The expression in the text is 
 not, when the apostles saw what was going 
 on, but when they heard ixwowrse* In the 
 next place, if the apostles did not under- 
 stand the Lycaonian, in what language had 
 they taught the people, addressed the crip- 
 ple whom they healed, and in what did 
 they make their long and successful expos- 
 tulation with the multitude ? For they did 
 
LECTURE V. 223 
 
 not simply express their abhorrence of the 
 proffered adoration by visible signs of in- 
 dignation, by their offended looks, and by 
 the rending their garments ; they did not 
 remonstrate with the higher classes, and so- 
 licit their interference, but they rushed at 
 once among the people, and argued with 
 them on the grievous misapprehension into 
 which they had fallen. Now is it probable 
 that the mob of Lystra should so well under- 
 stand one language and speak another ; that 
 the lowest inhabitants of a town neither ma- 
 ritime nor commercial should be so familiar 
 with both languages, as to listen to one 
 with pleasure on subjects so mysterious and 
 profound as the principles of a new religion, 
 and yet express themselves in a different 
 one ; that whatever their dialect or tongue, 
 the apostles should not comprehend their 
 brief and repeated outcry, but that they 
 should fully understand the arguments and 
 remonstrances of the apostles ? Either the 
 Lycaonian 5 was a dialect of Greek, or a lan- 
 
 s Grotius, Lightfoot, and Jablonski think this lan- 
 guage Cappadocian; Bentley, very different from Greek ; 
 Guhlingius, a corrupt Greek dialect. Crit. Sacr. Ste- 
 phanus Byzantinus quotes a word as Lycaonian. 
 
224 LECTURE V. 
 
 guage entirely different ; if the latter, the 
 apostles must have addressed them miracu- 
 lously in their native tongue; if the former, 
 Paul and Barnabas, however perplexed by 
 the peculiarity of their jargon or pronunci- 
 ation, could scarcely have been ignorant of 
 their general meaning. But in fact we have 
 no warrant in the text for concluding that 
 the apostles heard the outcry of the multi- 
 tude. Such is the observation of Bentley h , 
 who is decided in rejecting the interpreta- 
 tion of Chrysostom. In truth, whatever 
 exposition we adopt, a difficulty remains ; it 
 is not apparent why the writer should ex- 
 pressly mention their exclamation to have 
 been in the Lycaonian language. It is not 
 
 h When I consider the circumstances and nature of 
 the affair, I am persuaded they did not hear that dis- 
 course of the people. For I can hardly conceive, that 
 men under such apprehensions as the Lystrans then were, 
 in the dread presence, and under the very nod of the 
 almighty Jupiter, not an idol of wood and stone, should 
 exclaim in his sight and hearing. This, I say, seems not 
 probable nor natural, nor is it affirmed in the text. But 
 they might whisper it to one another, and silently with- 
 drawing from the presence of the apostles, they then 
 lift up their voice, and noised it about the city. Bentley, 
 Conf. of Atheism. 
 
LECTURE V. 225 
 
 altogether satisfactory to account for this 
 on the supposition that there was something 
 peculiarly striking in the language itself; 
 or even that it was the first time that the 
 apostles came in contact with any of these 
 barbarous dialects. I do not indeed see, 
 why an advocate for the universality of the 
 gift of tongues might not draw an inference 
 in favour of his own system, and conclude 
 that the object of the evangelist was to shew 
 that the apostles could converse familiarly 
 among the most barbarous people, and 
 where the Greek language was not verna- 
 cular. At all events, it is sufficient for my 
 argument, that the passage furnishes no de- 
 cisive proof that the apostles were ignorant 
 of the Lycaonian language ; or if they were, 
 it was not of the slightest importance, be- 
 cause it is clear, both from their previous 
 harangue and from their subsequent ex- 
 postulation, that they spoke some language 
 intelligible to the people of Lystra. 
 
 Some other passages in the sacred writings 
 are also adduced by those who wish to limit, 
 or absolutely deny the miracle in question. 
 Arguing that Providence does not work 
 
 Q 
 
226 LECTURE V. 
 
 wonders of which the utility is not great 
 and evident, they conclude that where the 
 gift is named, and the object is not appa- 
 rent, it must either be explained away, or 
 considered, as by Ernesti, merely as an evi- 
 dence of the divine power, meant to vindi- 
 cate the mission of the apostles. Among 
 these cases, the history of Cornelius is one 1 . 
 We read that when the church of Christ 
 was first opened to the Gentiles, and Corne- 
 lius with his kinsmen and near friends were 
 accepted as Christian converts, while Peter 
 yet spake these wo?*ds, the Holy Ghost fell 
 on all them that heard the word. And they 
 of the circumcision which believed ivere as- 
 tonished, as many as came ivith Peter, be- 
 cause that on the Gentiles also teas poured 
 out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they 
 heard them speak with tongues, and magnify 
 God*. Here then at first sight appears no 
 obvious utility in the miracle, yet, I con- 
 ceive, if we consider more closely the im- 
 portance of the transaction, we may be of a 
 different opinion. In this great era, as I 
 
 » Acts x. k Acts x. 44 — 46*. 
 
LECTURE V. 227 
 
 may justly call it, in the evangelic history, 
 the first admission of Gentile converts into 
 the pale of Christianity, the parties in the 
 affair are Peter and his companions, whose 
 native language was Syro-Chaldaic, and Cor- 
 nelius with his kinsmen, w r ho from his name, 
 and as a Roman soldier of the Italian band, 
 probably spoke Latin. They might indeed 
 have met on the neutral ground of the Greek, 
 which Peter even by natural means might 
 have acquired, and which the family of 
 Cornelius might have understood. But as 
 it was of the utmost importance that a free 
 and unrestrained intercourse should take 
 place between the circumcised and uncir- 
 cumcised converts, it would be difficult to 
 find an occasion on which such an inter- 
 vention of divine power, if it ever occurred, 
 could more advantageously have been be- 
 stowed. 
 
 The second occasion on which this gift 
 was conferred was the conversion of certain 
 followers of John the Baptist. Now 1st, 
 as these had not so much as heard whe- 
 ther there was any Holy Ghost \ no demon- 
 
 1 Acts xix. 2. 
 Q 2 
 
228 LECTURE V. 
 
 stration of the power and agency of the 
 Spirit would be misplaced ; and 2dly, as the 
 followers of John the Baptist were widely 
 scattered abroad, their conversion, wherever 
 they might reside, or whatever language 
 they might speak, would be greatly facili- 
 tated by the communication of this gift m . 
 
 The strong hold, however, of the objectors 
 is the remarkable passage in the Epistle to 
 the Corinthians, in which certain Christians 
 are rebuked for an ostentatious display of 
 this gift ; and St. Paul is thought to speak 
 rather disparagingly of the gift itself, which, 
 if what it is generally supposed, must rank 
 among the most remarkable instances of 
 almighty power. Warburton has antici- 
 pated the first of these objections by his 
 acute distinction between this and other 
 gifts of the Holy Spirit. "The speaking 
 " with tongues, when once the gift was con- 
 " ferred, became from henceforth a natural 
 " power ; just as the free and perfect use of 
 " the members of the body, after they have 
 " been restored by miracle to the exercise 
 
 m On the followers of John the baptist, see Michaelis, 
 and Rosenmuller, preface to St. John. 
 
LECTURE V. 229 
 
 " of their natural functions. Indeed to 
 " have lost the gift of tongues after the 
 " temporary use of it, would imply another 
 " miracle ; for it must have been by actual 
 " deprivation, unless we suppose the apo- 
 " sties mere irrational organs, through which 
 " divine sounds were conveyed. In a word, 
 " it was as much in the course of nature, 
 " for an apostle, whom the Holy Spirit on 
 " the day of Pentecost had enabled, to speak 
 " a strange language, as it was for the crip- 
 " pie whom Jesus had restored to the use of 
 " his limbs on the Sabbath day, to walk, 
 " run, and perform all the functions of a 
 " man perfectly sound and whole"." 
 
 As regards the second objection, from 
 the remarkable expression of St. Paul, / 
 would that ye all spake with tongues, but 
 rather that ye p?*ophesied : for greater is 
 he that prophesieth than he that speaketh 
 with tongues , evidently, it is not the gift 
 itself, but the gift, diverted from its real 
 purpose of Christian edification, which is 
 depreciated. The apostle does not mean 
 that it is a less valuable or extraordi- 
 
 n Warburton, Doctrine of Grace. 
 ° 1 Cor. xiv. 5. 
 
 q3 
 
230 LECTURE V. 
 
 nary, but under the present circumstances 
 a less useful gift than others which he 
 names. He was addressing professed be- 
 lievers ; but tongues are for a sign, not to 
 them that believe, but to them that believe not; 
 but prophesying serveth not for them that be- 
 lieve not, but for them that believe p . The 
 manner in which the gift was abused is con- 
 fessedly obscure ; perhaps Lightfoot's con- 
 jecture is the most probable % that some of 
 the Jewish converts made a display of their 
 knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures, all 
 which was unintelligible to the generality 
 of their hearers. I may suggest however, 
 that though at first sight we might con- 
 clude Corinth to be the centre of pure and 
 unmingled Greek, it is probable that the 
 inhabitants were equally divided between 
 Greek and Latin. It was a Roman colony 1 of 
 
 P 1 Cor. xiv. 22. 
 
 q Lightfoot in loco, with whom lord Barrington (Mis- 
 cellanea Sacra) coincides. 
 
 1 K.opiv$ov Se oixo'vvi Kopiv0/a>v fj.lv ouhsls £n tcov otp^uloov, tit- 
 oixoi Be txTroo-TuXevTs^ U7rb 'Poofxaioov. Pausanias II. 1. Com- 
 pare Diod. Sic. Fragment lib. XXXII. Strabo lib. VIII. 
 p. 585. Dio Cassias XLIII. 50. My attention was directed 
 to this fact by the Palaeoromaiea, one of those paradoxes, 
 * Inch ingenious men begin to support as an exercise of the 
 
LECTURE V. 231 
 
 very recent date, and peopled directly from 
 Italy. Now though of course it would be 
 rapidly increased by the confluence of set- 
 tlers from the neighbourhood, yet the Latin 
 language was probably spoken by a large 
 proportion of the inhabitants. But where 
 the diversity of language permitted the use, 
 it would also give occasion for the idle dis- 
 play of the gift of tongues. 
 
 It will have been observed, that the argu- 
 ment in this Lecture is directed against two 
 distinct classes of opponents : 1st, those 
 who, while they acknowledge the authority 
 of the Scripture, reject the common opinion 
 concerning the miracle of the gift of tongues. 
 To these I urge its universal acceptance in 
 its literal sense by the Christian church, 
 the incredibility that it should have been 
 invented, the still greater incredibility that 
 it should have been fabricated by the igno- 
 rance of the early expositors of Scripture, 
 out of proverbial expressions bearing no 
 
 reasoning powers, and end in almost persuading them- 
 selves that they are in earnest. 
 
 It may be worth remarking that the Latin names of Jus- 
 tus and Crispus appear among the Corinthian brethren, 
 Acts xviii. 6. perhaps also Fortunatus, 1 Cor. xvi. 17. 
 
 o, 4 
 
232 LECTURE V. 
 
 such meaning ; the obvious imitation of it 
 by the biographers of false teachers, and its 
 inestimable value to the apostles, as a means 
 of disseminating the religion of Christ. 
 To those, 2dly, whom I suppose either 
 willingly, or compelled by force of reason- 
 ing, to admit the general truth of the lead- 
 ing facts in the apostolic history, I dwell 
 only on the scene in Jerusalem upon the 
 day of Pentecost. I strongly assert the im- 
 possibility, that without this gift the apo- 
 stles could have made the impression which 
 they did on the assembled multitude ; that 
 speaking in their native dialect they would 
 have been unintelligible to the vast majority, 
 and, instead of enforcing awe and amaze- 
 ment, would either have been entirely disre- 
 garded, or incurred contempt and ridicule. 
 I do not adduce as an argument, I re- 
 mark only as a singular coincidence, the 
 agreement of this miracle with the course 
 of divine Providence as recorded in the Old 
 Testament. The curse pronounced at Ba- 
 bel separated the human race into distinct 
 nations; when mankind was to be invited to 
 form one family in Christ, how admirably 
 
LECTURE V. 233 
 
 adapted for the purpose the temporary 
 suspension of this malediction s ! The tem- 
 porary suspension, because when the reli- 
 gion was established, resident teachers ap- 
 pointed, the Scriptures compiled and trans- 
 lated into various tongues, the progress of 
 the religion demanded no further miracu- 
 lous interference. But remarkable as the 
 analogy is, the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment appear unconscious of it ; whence it is 
 evident that the later miracle is not an in- 
 vention suggested by the former. 
 
 If tongues then were the credentials of 
 the ambassadors of God ; if from the recep- 
 tion of the apostles in this character we 
 may infer the necessary production and ve- 
 rification of their powers, let us listen with 
 humble gratitude to the terms of peace and 
 reconciliation with God, offered on their 
 authority, and may that peace be ours, both 
 now and evermore *! 
 
 s Compare lord Barrington's Miscellanea Sacra, and 
 Benson, Hist, of the planting of Christianity. 
 
 1 It is remarkable that the Roman Catholic church has 
 rarely laid claim to this miracle ; the reason is obvious, 
 the impossibility of imposture. 
 
 After Irenaeus, there is hardly any mention made of 
 
234 LECTURE V. 
 
 the gift of tongues in ecclesiastical history. One who 
 hatli written the life of Pachomius, a monk in the fourth 
 century, says, among other things equally marvellous and 
 equally credible, that the saint had received a power to 
 speak all sorts of languages. See Bollandus and Tille- 
 mont. Jortiri) Eccles. Hist. I. 318. 
 
 Chrysostom distinctly denies that the gift was known 
 in his time. Aja ti tots yXwo-o-cas IXctXovv notvTsg ol fiotirTi- 
 gopsvoi, vvv Se ovk hi ; vol. V. p. 606. edit. Sav. The whole 
 passage, as relates to the miraculous powers claimed in 
 those days, is very curious. 
 
 " Quis enim nunc hoc expectat, ut ii, quibus manus ad 
 " accipiendum Spiritum Sanctum imponitur, repente inci- 
 " piant Unguis loqui." August, de Bapt. III. 16. 
 
 Xavier confessed this difficulty. " Faxit Deus ut ad 
 " divinarum explicationem rerum linguam condiscamus 
 " quamprimum ; turn demum aliquam Christiana? rei 
 " navabimus operam." Dr. Milner, in his End of Contro- 
 versy, animadverting on Bishop Douglas's Criterion, con- 
 tradicts this statement ; but, instead of producing any ex- 
 tracts from Xavier's own writings, appeals to the over- 
 whelming authority of the bull of his canonization. 
 Bouhours, in his life of Xavier, (translated by Dryden,) 
 finds himself in an awkward predicament, perpetually 
 compelled to acknowledge the sainfs ignorance of the na- 
 tive languages, but equally compelled to defer to the 
 authority of his church, which has declared that he pos- 
 sessed the gift of tongues. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 1 Cor. i. 23. 
 
 But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a 
 stumblingblock, to the Greeks foolishness. 
 
 SUPPOSE now, that flushed with their 
 success, precarious and imperfect as it was, 
 in their native country ; having at the cost 
 of incessant labour, and some actual suffer- 
 ing, and at the perpetual risk of their lives, 
 converted some thousands of Jews and Sa- 
 maritans, the apostles proceed to develope 
 more completely their ambitious scheme of 
 propagating their doctrines throughout the 
 world. They have acquired two coadjutors 
 of considerable importance, one Barnabas, a 
 man of education and property, the other, 
 Paul, however of unquestioned ability, odi- 
 ous to the Jews as an apostate, liable to sus- 
 picion among the Christians, as having been 
 a persecutor. Where however do we trace 
 
236 LECTURE VI. 
 
 their earliest progress? in barbarous and 
 uncivilized countries, where the ignorant, 
 athirst, as it were, for wonders, are imposed 
 upon by the shallowest pretender to super- 
 natural power; where their manifest and 
 acknowledged superiority in the useful arts 
 secures them respect, if not veneration ; 
 where the morals were in a favourable state 
 for the reception of their purer doctrines, 
 and where the established religion was 
 without attraction, and mingled little in 
 the common details of life ; where the sub- 
 lime topics on which they argued, the na- 
 ture of God, the immortality of the soul, 
 the state of existence after death, never 
 having been discussed, were as commanding 
 from their novelty, as full of interest from 
 their importance ? on the scene selected for 
 their labours did the laws secure, and the 
 spirit of the people guarantee the toleration 
 of men preaching such a religion ? lastly, if 
 they chose the more enlightened regions of 
 the world, did they work in obscurity 
 among the lowest orders ; shun publicity ; 
 steal from family to family, "leading cap- 
 " tive silly women ;" avoid every occasion 
 
LECTURE VI. 237 
 
 of confronting the reasoning and intelli- 
 gent part of the community ; shrink from 
 detection, and dread the possibility of con- 
 futation ? We find them in luxurious An- 
 tioch, in dissolute Corinth, among the philo- 
 sophers of Athens, the proud, ferocious, and 
 unprincipled aristocracy of Rome. We hear 
 them discoursing in the open synagogues, 
 pleading before Agrippa and the Roman 
 governor of Judaea; desirous of attacking 
 idolatry in its head quarters, in the theatre 
 at Ephesus, arguing with equal intrepidity 
 in the enlightened Areopagus. We see 
 them daring, defying, enduring the perse- 
 cution of the inflamed populace, dragged 
 before the judgment seat of the public au- 
 thorities, appealing to Caesar himself. We 
 find them making converts on the tribunal 
 of government in the case of Sergius Pau- 
 lus ; leading disciples from the camp of phi- 
 losophy, in the person of Dionysius the 
 Areopagite. 
 
 But, it may be objected, the world was 
 in so favourable a state for the reception of 
 a new religion ; the old superstitions were 
 so entirely worn out, that the inbred neces- 
 
238 LECTURE VI. 
 
 sity of intercourse with the immaterial 
 world, inseparable from the nature of man, 
 in other words, the religious wants of hu- 
 man kind, imperiously demanded some new 
 and powerful excitement. Is it wonderful 
 then, that a system of doctrine so simple, 
 yet so sublime, which united the better 
 parts of the Grecian philosophy with the 
 lofty Jewish tenet of the unity of God, ad- 
 dressed in any manner to minds in this 
 darkling and unsatisfactory state, should 
 make rapid and unresisted progress ? Add 
 to all this, the state of the world ; the dis- 
 persion of the Jews in all quarters ; the ex- 
 tent of the Greek language ; the universal 
 dominion of the Romans, and the gradual 
 extension of civilization. When therefore 
 the doctrines of Christianity were advocated 
 by men of pure and unexceptionable mo- 
 rals ; when they boldly asserted the cer- 
 tainty of those sublime and welcome tenets, 
 the life to come, and the immortality of the 
 soul, far from being surprised at the rapid 
 advancement of Christianity, we may be in- 
 clined to ascribe it to the natural progress 
 of human opinion. 
 
LECTURE VI. 239 
 
 I wave for the present the obvious diffi- 
 culty, that even if this view will account 
 for the success of the apostles, it leaves the 
 attempt as inexplicable as before : unless 
 we suppose them endowed with such saga- 
 city and foresight, as deliberately to have 
 calculated on all these contingent advan- 
 tages, and, having thus surveyed the coun- 
 try, where their campaign was to be con- 
 ducted, to have laid down the whole ma- 
 tured plan of conquest. With this caution, 
 the Christian advocate distinctly admits 
 the cooperation of these secondary causes, 
 though, drawing a different conclusion, he 
 argues, that together they appear to desig- 
 nate the appointed period of the promised 
 Messiah, the fulness of time, when the Re- 
 deemer was to be born into a world thus 
 prepared for his reception. But while he 
 acknowledges their concurrent assistance, 
 he denies their sufficiency, either to account 
 for the origination of such a faith, or to se- 
 cure its success, supposing the system of 
 Christian opinions casually struck out by 
 the sagacity of its one or many teachers. 
 
 Indeed nothing appears more extraor- 
 
240 LECTURE VI. 
 
 dinary in the whole history of the Gospel, 
 than the remarkable harmony and coinci- 
 dence of what may be called the mediate 
 and immediate interference of the Deity. 
 It is partly by the influence of predisposed 
 human means, partly by direct interposi- 
 tions of divine power, that the new religion 
 is disseminated. We discern the hand of 
 Providence in both. The whole course of 
 human events seems to a certain degree 
 controlled and superintended, in order to 
 prepare a way for the teachers of the Gos- 
 pel. All worldly affairs conspire with sin- 
 gular and unaccountable uniformity to this 
 end. But yet much is wanting. The 
 wheels are prepared, but the machine must 
 be set in motion by some extraneous power. 
 To overcome the first resistance, and break 
 down the strong impediments which remain, 
 a vigorous and decisive impulse is required, 
 which can be traced to no other than that 
 which sent the planets on their journey 
 through the abyss of space, the one Great 
 Mover of the material universe. For on 
 closer investigation, this prearrangement of 
 the world for the reception of a new reli- 
 
LECTURE VI. 241 
 
 gion was not merely insufficient to account 
 for its origin and success, but was counter- 
 acted and counterbalanced by impediments 
 arising out of the same constitution of hu- 
 man affairs, partly out of concurrent cir- 
 cumstances, but chiefly out of the inade- 
 quacy of the human means employed for 
 the purpose. Discarding Providence, if I 
 may so speak, from this previous general 
 administration of the world ; leaving the 
 great drama of history to human passions 
 alone, neither directed nor overruled by the 
 presiding Deity ; taking the world as it ex- 
 isted at the period when Christianity ap- 
 peared; conceding that the Jews spread 
 abroad merely in consequence of their na- 
 tional character, or the circumstances of 
 their history ; that the extension of the 
 Greek language resulted solely from the 
 successful ambition of Alexander, the uni- 
 versal peace from the judicious policy of 
 the Romans ; let us send forth these men 
 into the world, with no credentials but 
 those of dexterous imposture, or the fanatic 
 adoption of certain doctrines, of which they 
 had no other testimony to produce, but the 
 
 n 
 
242 LECTURE VI. 
 
 intrepidity of their own assertions : and 
 having so done, fairly balance the advan- 
 tages and disadvantages arising from the 
 existing state of society. 
 
 1. Among those remarkable circum- 
 stances which appear to the unbeliever for- 
 tuitous, to the Christian a signal evidence of 
 the predestined purpose of the Almighty, 
 but which is acknowledged on both sides 
 to have contributed to the progress of Chris- 
 tianity, the dispersion of the Jews demands 
 our earliest attention. Philosophically con- 
 sidered, no problem in the political history 
 of mankind is more curious, than the co- 
 existence of this singular people with every 
 nation, without their abandoning in the 
 least their hereditary distinctions. Almost 
 all other migratory tribes either entirely 
 supersede, or gradually melt into the mass 
 of the people among which they settle ; 
 they imbibe insensibly foreign habits, cus- 
 toms, opinions, laws, even religion ; the dif- 
 ference of manners, language, in some in- 
 stances, of features and complexion, wears 
 out by degrees ; intermarriages connect the 
 whole into one society, and every gene- 
 
LECTURE VI. 243 
 
 ration tends to diminish both the physical 
 and moral differences of the people. The 
 Jews remain perpetually separate and dis- 
 tinct; however completely denationalized 
 as to their place of birth, they are never so 
 in customs or character ; they mingle in 
 many of the transactions of life, but are 
 never incorporated with the society around 
 them ; if, as in the case of the Alexandrian 
 Jews, their habits and studies undergo a 
 partial change, the more striking linea- 
 ments of their national character remain 
 uneffaced. But to whatever cause we as- 
 cribe this peculiarity in the history of the 
 Jewish people, the fact, that, at the time of 
 the apostles, they were spread throughout 
 the world, is undeniable a . During their 
 whole later history, their migratory habits 
 had been fostered and encouraged by many 
 concurrent causes. In war they were swept 
 into captivity by thousands, in peace they 
 
 a Aurrj 8' elg irucrotv ttoKiv >j$>j 7rapcA»jXu$sj, xa) T07rov ouk 
 s<rn pcfiico$ svpeiv tyjs o\x.qv[xsvyj^ o$ ou Trupoibetiexroii tovto to <p0- 
 Xov, fxvi^ InixpoLTsirixi un ccutou. Strabo apud Josephum, Ant. 
 XIV. 7. 2. Compare Philo. Letter of Agrippa in the 
 Leg. ad Caium, where he enumerates the nations among 
 which they had spread; also Joseph. B. J. II. 16. 
 
 R 
 
 o 
 
244 LECTURE VI. 
 
 dispersed of their own accord, probably 
 with b commercial views. In Mesopotamia 
 and the adjacent districts, to say nothing 
 as to the uncertain fate of the ten tribes, 
 numerous families remained after the cap- 
 tivity, who perpetuated the Jewish race and 
 religion. At all events, whether from these 
 causes, or subsequent migrations, their num- 
 ber was so considerable, that Philo, proba- 
 bly with some rhetorical amplification c , as- 
 serts that a general insurrection of the Jews 
 might have endangered the Roman em- 
 pire d . In Egypt, particularly at Alexan- 
 
 b An interesting discussion might be written on the 
 origin of the mercantile habits and trade of the Jews. 
 They appear to have been lenders upon pledge in Alex- 
 andria. Taj jasv svQyjxus ot7ro\oo\=x,oToov tcwv 7ropi<TTcoi/. Philo 
 in Flacc. p. 525. A Jew merchant plays a conspicuous 
 part in the curious story of the conversion of Helena, 
 queen of the Adiabeni, to Judaism, in Joseph. Ant. XX. 
 2. See Rosenmuller^s note on Acts ix. 2. and Michaelis, 
 vol. IV. p. 61. Justin says they traded in opobalsamum. 
 
 c "HSet y<xp Ba/3uA.wva xa» 7roWoig olXXok; toov ^aTponrsioov 
 l»7to 'IouSa/wv KUTs^ofxsvag. Philo, Leg. ad Caium, vol. II. 
 p. 578. ed. Man. 
 
 d Tocrauraj [x,vpnxboi$ £<ps\x.e<iQou 7ro\efxlcuv up ou <r<pix\spa)- 
 toctov ; aXXa f/.r) ttots ysvono (rv[ji,<ppovY)(ravTot$ tqv$ kxoi<7Ta.^ou 
 npos djxuvav s\$iiv; u^ol^ov ti <7U/A/3rjcreraj ^p^(xot. Philo, p. 577. 
 
 Petronius at least appears to have dreaded their union 
 with the powers beyond the Euphrates. Philo, ut supra. 
 
LECTURE VI. 245 
 
 dria, their population is as easily ascertain- 
 ed and accounted for. In the dangerous 
 position of Judaea between the rival king- 
 doms of Egypt and Syria, neutrality was 
 impossible. Two years after the death of 
 Alexander, Ptolemy took Jerusalem, and 
 transported thirty thousand Jews to Egypt 6 . 
 Under his successors, w T ith whom the Jews 
 were more frequently allied, they were per- 
 petually driven to seek an asylum in the 
 same country from the oppressions of the 
 Syrian kings. In short, as the fortune of 
 war prevailed, and the party, with which 
 they sided, triumphed or was defeated, they 
 fled for refuge, or were sold into slavery 
 at Antioch or Alexandria. So great indeed 
 was their concourse in Egypt, that they at 
 length excited the jealousy of the mother 
 country, by building a rival temple. They 
 had their own magistrates, called Alabar- 
 chae f ; sometimes, as in the case of Mega- 
 bulus g , attained to the command of armies ; 
 and what is still more extraordinary, form- 
 
 e Joseph. Ant. XII. 1. Prideaux, Conn. I. 8. 
 f Philo in Flaccum. 6 Frideaux. 
 
 R 3 
 
246 LECTURE VI. 
 
 ed a school of Greek literature, from which 
 probably the Septuagint translation of the 
 scriptures proceeded, and of which the 
 works of Philo are no contemptible speci- 
 men. It is difficult to suppose but that 
 there is an error, an hyperbole, or a false 
 reading, in the numbers assigned by this 
 author to his Egyptian brethren, which he 
 states at ten millions 11 . From Egypt the 
 Jews had spread in great numbers into Li- 
 bya and the neighbourhood of Cyrene ; and 
 it appears from the history of the eunuch 
 in the Acts, that they had extended into 
 Ethiopia. We have incidental notice, that 
 they resided in great numbers throughout 
 Syria \ Asia Minor, the Greek islands, Ma- 
 cedonia, and the rest of Greece. In Anti- 
 och and other cities they had splendid syn- 
 
 h 'ETncTTa/xevos on xa) r) 7ro\i$ olxyjTOgas s%ei §ittou$, Yj[xa§ re 
 xa» TQVTOvg, TUti nava A'lyunTOc, xa) on oux a7roSeou(T« [xvpiaftcuv 
 hxarov oi tyjv 'A\e^av^psiav xa) ty)v ywpav 'loulaloi xaTOixovvrsg, 
 u7ro too 7rpo$ Aifiuyv xaTu(3a6(x.ov [J*£%pi tcov bplvov AlQicrniac. 
 Philo in Flacc. p. 523. 
 
 1 To yap loulaiwv yevo$ 7ro\v [xsv xaia itaaav ty)v olxoupivYiv 
 •napso-KapTai to~i$ S7n^copioig' 7t\s1(Ttov 8= t>j Zzvpia. xaTa tyjv 
 ytiTvlaaw ava[xsfjny[xevov. Joseph. B.J. VII. 9- 
 
LECTURE VI. 247 
 
 agogues; in short, Dio Cassius asserts, that 
 through the whole of the Roman empire 
 this persecuted people had increased with 
 such rapidity, as to extort the toleration of 
 their worship from their unwilling mas- 
 ters k . In Rome itself they were of such 
 importance, that their marked regret for 
 the death of Caesar (easily accounted for, 
 both from their hatred to the memory of 
 their conqueror Pompey, and the edicts 
 passed in their favour by his rival) is par- 
 ticularly noticed by his biographer l . They 
 had their places of worship : 
 
 Hie sacri fontis nemus, et delubra locantur 
 Judaeis, quorum cophinus^ fcenumque supellex m . 
 
 They were not only tolerated, but protected 
 by Augustus n , shared in the general largess 
 of corn ; and Philo states, that if the distri- 
 bution took place on the sabbath, their por- 
 tion was reserved. It is impossible then 
 
 k K«i Itrxi not) 7rugoi Toi$ 'Papcdois to y£vo$ touto, xoXou- 
 <70ev ju,ev TtoXXotxiS) avfcyfiev he e7n 7tAs7(7tov, uxtts xa) h$ nappr]- 
 o~lav t% voplosuis exvix>jcr«<. Dio Cass. XXXVII. 17. 
 
 1 Suet. Julius 84. 
 
 m Juv. III. 13. 
 
 n See for the Decree of Augustus Joseph. Ant. XVI. 
 6. 2. Philo Leg. in Caium, p. 569. 
 
 R 4 
 
248 LECTURE VI. 
 
 to deny the great advantage which the 
 early Christian teachers derived, from hav- 
 ing those of their own nation and kindred, 
 upon whose hospitable reception they might 
 calculate on their first entrance into a fo- 
 reign city ° ; from finding open synagogues 
 and places of public assembly, in which they 
 might announce their doctrines ; in shelter- 
 ing themselves under the general habits of 
 their people from the surprise or suspicion 
 which their itinerancy might otherwise 
 have excited, or the animosity which their 
 unsocial religion, which refused to coalesce 
 with other kinds of worship, might have 
 provoked. As a sect of Judaism, Chris- 
 tianity was enabled to gain some strength, 
 before it encountered direct persecution. 
 Still, however, the value of these advantages 
 depended on two material points: 1st, the 
 estimation in which the Jews were held. 
 For coming before the world, avowedly as- 
 sociated with the Jews, grounding their 
 
 Per illam tarn ample patentem Judaeorum in tot re- 
 gionibus frequentiam et facilior aditus datus apostolis, at- 
 que vaticiniis prophetarum praenunciata evangelii lux fe- 
 licius eminere, et longius aciem suam proferre potuit. Fa- 
 brie. Lux Evang. c. 5. 
 
LECTURE VI. 249 
 
 doctrines on Hebrew records and tradi- 
 tions, they would share in the respect or con- 
 tempt, the favour or the hatred, in which that 
 people was held. 2dly, On their reception 
 among the Jews ; for if disclaimed by their 
 own brethren, they would appear in the 
 questionable predicament of being despised 
 by the heathen as Jews, and detested by 
 the Jews as apostates. 
 
 Now it is certain that the toleration of 
 the Jews, which was the policy of Augustus, 
 and in the early part of his reign of Tibe- 
 rius p , soon gave place to animosity which 
 affected to assume the dignity of contempt. 
 Although at an earlier period Cicero spoke 
 of them with scorn q , and when they are 
 mentioned in the Augustan age, their ha- 
 bits and rites provoked the sarcasm of the 
 wits r , I think that I discover in subsequent 
 writers increased acrimony even in their 
 
 P Suet. Tiberius. XXXV. 
 
 9 Huic autem barbarae superstitioni resistere, severita- 
 tis ; multitudinem Judaeorum, flagrantem nonnunquam in 
 concionibus, pro republica contemnere, gravitatis summae 
 fuit. Cic. pro Flacco, 28. 
 
 r Hor. Sat. I. 9. 70. I. 5. 100. 
 
250 LECTURE VI. 
 
 brief notices of this unpopular race 8 . All 
 their later history shews them in collision 
 with the Roman authorities, and their irre- 
 concileable intolerance, the better it became 
 known, appeared only the more odious. 
 The resistance to Caligula's frantic design 
 of placing his statue in the temple, how T ever 
 impolitic the measure might appear to the 
 wise and moderate, was likely nevertheless 
 to wound the pride of Rome. Insurrection 
 provoked oppression, oppression inflamed 
 insurrection, till the final capture of Jeru- 
 salem, when with that union of savage ani- 
 mosity with contempt, which characterizes 
 
 s Juv. Sat. VI. 543. XIV. 101-4. Josephus says, just 
 before the war, to 8e xuto. tcov 'IouSa/cov •no.o'iv ^xfxa^s fxlcro;. 
 B. J. VII. 2. " Caetera instituta sinistra, foeda, pravitate 
 " valuere." Toe. H. V. 5. " foetent Quod jejunia sabba- 
 " tariorum." Mart. IV. 4. 7. 
 
 Martial likewise describes them as pedlars in the lowest 
 state of poverty, changing matches for broken glass. 
 
 Hie quod Transtiberinus ambulator, 
 
 Qui pallentia sulfurata fractis 
 
 Permutat vitreis. I. 42. 
 
 A matre doctus nee rogare Judeeus, 
 
 Nee sulfuratse lippus institor mercis. XII. 57. 
 They enjoyed a short interval of doubtful protection 
 under Claudius. Joseph. Ant. XIX. 52. and Lardner^s 
 Credibility, I. 98. 
 
LECTURE VI. 251 
 
 all the conduct of the Romans towards the 
 Jews, neither Vespasian nor Titus would 
 condescend to the title of Judaicus t . But 
 all these wars let loose throughout the em- 
 pires immense numbers of captives, gene- 
 rally the worst, the most ferocious and dis- 
 solute of the people, who naturally tended 
 still further to lower the estimation in 
 which the whole race was held. Another 
 strong confirmation of the unpopularity of 
 the Jews is the facility with which, especially 
 in "Syria, Egypt, and Cyrene, the populace 
 were excited to persecute them. By some fa- 
 tal and inalienable faculty of exciting odium, 
 this devoted people were attacked with a 
 sanguinary ferocity, scarcely surpassed by 
 the fanatic persecutions of the dark ages. 
 The record of the number massacred is our 
 chief evidence to the extent of their popu- 
 lation in many parts. In Scythopolis and 
 Damascus v all the resident Jews were put 
 
 I Dio Cassius. Vespas. c. 7. 
 
 II Josephi Vita, ct B. J. II. 18. Basnage has drawn out 
 the numbers slain in Syria, as well as in Palestine during 
 the war. Hist, des Juifs,\. I. c. 19- 
 
 v Joseph, ut supra. Also Philo in Flaccum. 
 
252 LECTURE VI. 
 
 to the sword ; and in other places, whenever 
 the protection of the Roman laws was with- 
 drawn, whether from envy of their wealth, 
 the hope of plunder, or personal hostility, 
 the most relentless and exterminating mas- 
 sacre took place. But the apostles would 
 hardly escape the odium of this execrable 
 superstition, which the wider it spread, ap- 
 pears to have been more cordially detested ; 
 and the indiscriminate sword of persecution 
 would make no difference between Jew and 
 Christian, who alike refused to admit the 
 gods of the heathen to an intercommunity 
 with their own, or to allow their own to 
 be degraded by an unholy fellowship with 
 deities of wood and stone. We may fairly 
 then conclude, that the progress of Chris- 
 tianity was no less retarded than advanced 
 by its connection with Judaism among the 
 Gentiles x ; and unless it was cordially and 
 generally received by the Jews, we shall be 
 
 x Holcag 8' oux av IvS/xwc viroBkrfieiev ii^ploag, ol tu>v /xev 
 
 7TUTpi00V $Vy<xfas, TOiV 2' oQvs'tWV KCi) TTCipa. 7CU<Tl diafiefl\Y)[XSVWV 
 
 'Iou£aVxc£v jotuOoAoyvj/xaTcov ysvofxsvoi fy\wT<xi; nwg 8* ov ju.o^0>j- 
 plotg elvon xu) eo^spslag 6<r%<xTY}g to fJkSTCt&ttQai fxh evxo\wg to. 
 toov olxeloov, uXoyco he XOt) otve^sTacrTcu itivjei t« twv 2uo"<re/3wv 
 xai 7ra<nv eflvecriv 7toAsju,/«;v iKsVOcc*. Euacb. Prcvp. Ev. I. 2. 
 
LECTURE VI. 253 
 
 still more inclined to wonder at its rapid 
 propagation. But every chapter in the later 
 part of the Acts shews the blind jealousy 
 with which the Jews in general resisted this 
 innovation on their faith. Instead of re- 
 ceiving the apostles with open arms, and 
 supporting them by their testimony, when 
 they appeal to their Scriptures, they disavow 
 them, oppose them with the utmost viru- 
 lence, eject them from their synagogues, 
 pursue them from city to city. This the 
 apostles must have anticipated. They knew 
 their countrymen too well t(5 expect much 
 favour at their hands. That the Jews should 
 demand a sign was but natural. Their law 
 had been delivered among signs and won- 
 ders. Their history was a perpetual pro- 
 digy. Unless then the new teachers should 
 accredit their arguments with well attested 
 miracles, or adduce satisfactory evidence of 
 that greatest miracle, the resurrection, in- 
 stead of meeting with partial success, they 
 could scarcely hope for a patient hearing. 
 If they rested their claim to belief on the 
 fact of Christ's resurrection, the farther 
 they removed from Jerusalem, and the 
 
254 LECTURE VI. 
 
 wider they separated, the more obscure and 
 dubious the evidence of that fact became y . 
 While together, they furnished a formidable 
 body of eyewitnesses, singly, they could lay 
 far less claim to belief: and Paul indeed 
 could not pretend to this title to credibility. 
 Of Christ's resurrection he knew nothing, 
 except by revelation, and that, if unavouched 
 by miracles, rested on his own assertion. 
 He could not disavow, that he himself on 
 the spot up to a certain period, had seen no 
 reason to credit the miracles of Jesus. Nor 
 could the apostles deny that Christ had 
 been rejected by the vast majority of the 
 nation, and condemned by the constituted 
 authorities. It was no less unquestionable, 
 that the greater part of the people, the au- 
 
 y The apostles, unlike to confederated impostors, did 
 not keep in a body, to aid and support each other, but 
 separated themselves to the distant corners of the earth ; 
 a conduct this, which, as it was necessary in order to pro- 
 pagate their religion, would have been the height of folly, 
 had their religion been built on fraud and forgery. By 
 separating in this manner, a scheme of fraud must have 
 dwindled to nothing; no regular plan could be pursued, 
 no unity of design could have subsisted, no community 
 of interests have been preserved, &c. Bishop Douglas's 
 Criterion, p. 358. 
 
LECTURE VI. 255 
 
 thorities included, had refused to believe 
 the resurrection. Without miracles then, 
 the apostles could scarcely have made any 
 converts ; even with miracles they would en- 
 counter with but partial success this inve- 
 terate and obstinate hostility. For while 
 they demanded signs and wonders, it was 
 not probable that the Jews would be con- 
 verted by them, any more than their coun- 
 trymen by those of Jesus. They had the 
 same confidence in God's favour, as chil- 
 dren of Abraham ; the same certainty, that 
 if there was a heaven, it was reserved by a 
 rigid and exclusive decree for the circum- 
 cised people *. They had the same evasion, 
 that of attributing to magic, to Beelzebub the 
 prince of the devils, the wonderful works of 
 which they could not contest the reality. 
 Now look to the facts of the history. At 
 
 z Hoc scias, quod saeculum venturum non sit factum 
 nisi pro justis, nempe Israelitis, qui in hac vita neque ple- 
 nam remunerationem, neque plenam ultionem accipere pos- 
 sunt. Massech. Jevamotli. c. 4. Dicunt ipsi, hoc scias, quod 
 saeculum futurum non reconditur, nisi justis, qui sunt 
 Israelitae. Maim. num. 4. and 5. quoted in Slevogt. de 
 Proselytis. 
 
 Other quotations to this effect may be found in Jortin. 
 Disc. I. p. 25. and in Hornets Introduction v. III. p. 73. 
 
256 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Damascus, after that many days were ful- 
 filled, the Jews took counsel to kill Paul*. 
 When Herod had killed James the brother 
 of John with the sivord, because he saw it 
 pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take 
 Peter also b . At Antioch in Pisidia, the Jews 
 stirred up the devout and honourable women, 
 and the chief men of the city, and raised per- 
 secution against Paul and Barnabas, and ex- 
 pelled them out of their coasts c . In Iconium 
 and Lystra they were equally active ; and 
 there came thither certain Jews from An- 
 tioch and Iconium, who persuaded the peo- 
 ple, and having stoned Paul, drew him out 
 of the city, supposing he had been dead d . 
 At Thessalonica the Jews e set all the city 
 in an uproar, followed them to Berea, and 
 there also stirred up the people. At Corinth, 
 they opposed themselves and blasphemed, so 
 that Paul solemnly abandoned all connection 
 with them; Your blood be upon your own 
 heads ; I am clean : from henceforth I will go 
 unto the Gentiles f . But the extravagance of 
 
 a Acts ix. 23. b Acts xii. 2, 3. c Acts xiii. 50. 
 d Acts xiv. 5—19. e Acts xvii. 5 — 13. 
 
 f Acts xviii. 6. 
 
LECTURE VI. 257 
 
 this determination is incredible. Unless 
 supported by actual miracles, the Messiah- 
 ship of Jesus rested on no evidence, except 
 its conformity with the Jewish Scriptures. 
 Of these the Gentiles knew nothing, the 
 proselytes little. Their phraseology, their 
 history, their prophecies, their types, were 
 alike strange and unintelligible g . To the 
 Jews, they might reason out of the Scrip- 
 tures, opening and alledging, that Christ 
 must needs have suffered, and risen again 
 from the dead h ; but Scriptures, Jesus, and 
 Christ, were unknown and unmeaning 
 words to the heathen. Thus, while they 
 would necessarily share in all the odium 
 which attached to the Jewish name and 
 religion, they appeared before the Gentiles 
 under the still more dubious character of 
 renegades from the faith in which they had 
 been born, loudly denounced by the Jews 
 
 g The originality of the Christian doctrines and cha- 
 racter is urged in a most attractive and convincing man- 
 ner by my friend Mr. Sumner, in his volume on the Evi- 
 dence of Christianity, a work, of which the argument in 
 some points runs parallel with mine, but which left much 
 the larger part of my ground entirely unoccupied. 
 
 h Acts xvii. 2, 3. 
 
 S 
 
258 LECTURE VI. 
 
 as impostors or fanatics, disclaimed by those, 
 who alone were capable of deciding with 
 justice on their pretensions. Thus far as 
 to the advantages of their connection with 
 the Jewish people. 
 
 Suppose however, II. that they are neither 
 disheartened by the uniform opposition of 
 the Jews, and that they have contrived to 
 reconcile the Gentiles both to their persons 
 as descended from that hateful race, and to 
 their still more questionable apostasy from 
 the religion of their countrymen, let us fol- 
 low them into the Gentile world, and exa- 
 mine its fitness for the reception of Chris- 
 tianity. The question of the extent and 
 probable limits of the Greek language hav- 
 ing already been discussed, let us inquire 
 how far the subjugation of the western 
 w r orld to the dominion of the Romans might 
 advance or retard the progress of the new 
 religion. Had the apostles gone forth at 
 any previous period, either of foreign or ci- 
 vil warfare, the messengei % s of peace would 
 have been perpetually liable to interruption 
 or danger, to be cut off by the indiscrimi- 
 nate ravager, or seized, and sold into cap- 
 
LECTURE VI. 259 
 
 tivity ! . Besides this, during the apprehen- 
 sions and anxieties excited by a state of civil 
 discord, when the sword of proscription was 
 suspended over the heads of all the higher 
 orders by the slenderest thread, which 
 might be snapt in an instant by the caprice 
 of any one of either triumvirate ; when the 
 dwellings of the lower orders were alter- 
 nately depopulated by successive armies, 
 the quiet, unworldly, and persuasive voice of 
 religion would scarcely have commanded 
 attention. All interest would have been 
 absorbed in more pressing and urgent con- 
 cerns. Now, however, that the able policy 
 of the Romans had established an uniform 
 system of government throughout the em- 
 pire, the public mind, no longer preoccu- 
 pied by the agitations of war and faction, 
 and precluded from political discussions, 
 would welcome any excitement, and take 
 
 1 'AvstsjAs yap sv Tui$ rj/xipajj ccvtov $ixuiq<tuvyi 9 xa) 7rArj5o£ 
 elpYjVYig yiyovsv, apfcapsvov onto tyj$ yeveosws auTov, svTpsnityv- 
 rog tou 0eou Trj h§ao~xu\la avTou to. e9vyj, 2v uirb sva yevyTai 
 twv 'Pco^a/cov (3ao~i\soc xou f/*Y) 5<a to Trpo<pao~ei toqv tioaXoqv (3ao~i- 
 Xeicov afXixTOV toqv eQvcov 'jrpbg ctkXyXot, yaKzitoyvspov yevyTca Tolg 
 uTtovToXoig tou 'I>jo~oD to 7rcu>jo"at onep 7tpo<reTa^sv avTols o 'J>j- 
 <tqv$. Orig. cont. Cels. II. 30. 
 
 S 2 
 
260 LECTURE VI. 
 
 an interest in any speculations, attractive 
 either from their boldness or novelty. 
 The teachers of Christianity could pursue 
 their itinerant system of proselytism in se- 
 curity. The prophecy of Isaiah, Prepare ye 
 the way of the Lord, make his paths straight k , 
 might almost be taken literally. The pub- 
 lic roads were magnificent; the means of 
 communication easy ; the passage from one 
 province to another without obstacle. Still 
 there is much to counterbalance these ad- 
 vantages. In times of public confusion the 
 doctrines of Christianity might have crept 
 abroad, if less rapidly, more imperceptibly. 
 The whole attention of the government 
 was directed to civil affairs. An uniform 
 and active police watched every invasion of 
 the public quiet 1 . The facility of commu- 
 
 k Matt. iii. 2. 
 
 1 It appears from a curious passage in Petronius Ar- 
 biter, that the regulation common in modern times, parti- 
 cularly in Italy, that all strangers are to be reported to 
 the police, is as old as the days of Nero. " Hac voce 
 " perterritus, eo egresso ad sciendum quid esset, descendi; 
 " accepique, Praetoris lictorem, qui pro officio curabat ex- 
 " terorum nomina inscribi in publicis codicibus, duos vi- 
 11 disse advenas domum ingredi, quorum nomina nondum 
 
LECTURE VI. 261 
 
 nication increased the facility of persecu- 
 tion. Where the different provinces and 
 cities were independent of each other, the 
 advice, when they persecute you in one city, 
 flee unto another, would have been more 
 practicable. Now, the reputation of being 
 factious and quarrelsome persons, disturbers 
 of the public peace, would fly before them, 
 and pursue them every where. They could 
 not escape observation, however they might 
 shelter themselves under the contempt of 
 the ruling power, for the Acts of the differ- 
 ent cities appear to have been kept with 
 punctuality, and transmitted regularly to 
 the seat of government m . The universal 
 empire of the Romans endangered an uni- 
 versal persecution. If they should once 
 provoke the slumbering intolerance of their 
 masters, a single edict from the Capitol 
 
 " in acta tetulerat, et idcirco de illorum patria et occupa- 
 " tione inquirere." Petr. Arb. Satyr, 
 
 The imperial jealousy of eToupsiui reminds us forcibly 
 of the suspicion in which all secret associations are held 
 at the present day. See quotations on this subject in 
 Jortin, Disc. I. 
 
 m See Pearson on the Creed; note on art. IV. and 
 Suetonius Graevii, note on Jul. XX. Tacitus mentions 
 the diurna populi Romani Ann. XVI. 22. 
 
 S 3 
 
262 LECTURE VI. 
 
 would kindle the fires of extermination 
 in every province of the West. The ap- 
 peal of Paul to Caesar was in fact a most 
 dangerous experiment n . It exposed the 
 whole body to the caprice of the tyrant, or 
 the jealousy of the politician. It provoked 
 his cognizance of a people, avowedly hostile 
 to all existing modes of worship, which, as 
 Gibbon observes, were considered by the 
 legislator, as all equally useful. It there- 
 fore implied an intrepid reliance on the 
 goodness of his cause, inexplicable at least 
 in an impostor. The apostles might have 
 been ignorant of those intolerant laws 
 which forbade the unauthorized introduc- 
 tion of a new religion, and which in prac- 
 tice had become obsolete. They might 
 have calculated on the inoffensive character 
 of their religion, and been lulled into secu- 
 rity by the temperate conduct of the judges 
 before whom they were led — Gallio for in- 
 stance, or the town clerk of Ephesus °. But 
 
 n Lardner is of opinion that Paul did actually plead 
 before Nero; but it seems to me highly improbable. 
 Hist, of Apost. 
 
 ° On the tolerance of the heathens see Bentley on Free- 
 thinking, c. 41. and especially bishop Warburton^s mas- 
 terly view of the subject. Div. Leg. b. II. c. 6. The 
 
LECTURE VI. 263 
 
 experience must soon have convinced them, 
 that there was no security against the 
 exasperated populace; and it must have 
 occurred to men whose foresight we can 
 scarcely question, that their prosperity 
 would inevitably excite the more active 
 jealousy of those, whose tolerance was only 
 grounded on their contempt. Yet, on the 
 whole, as far as the apostles were con- 
 cerned, the advantages of the universal 
 Roman dominion probably predominated; 
 though they were advantages on which 
 they could not fairly reckon, if they sate 
 down deliberately to count the cost of their 
 undertaking ; and which were so precarious, 
 and so often turned against them, as to 
 induce them rather to recede in time, than 
 to advance without hesitation. 
 
 III. The ancient religions, it may be said, 
 had lost their hold on the general belief; 
 the progress of letters and philosophy had 
 enlightened the public mind to such an ex- 
 tent, that the fables of pagan mythology 
 
 laws on the subject may be seen, briefly in Jortin's Dis- 
 courses, more at length in Chr. Kortholt, Paganus ob- 
 trectator. 
 
 s 4 
 
264 LECTURE VI. 
 
 were generally derided. The absurdity of 
 the heathen worship had become apparent 
 to the meanest understanding. Christi- 
 anity therefore appearing at this fortunate 
 juncture, took advantage of the religious 
 propensities of human nature, now no longer 
 preoccupied ; and easily planted in the va- 
 cant heart of man those consolatory and 
 ennobling principles of faith, the excellence 
 of which, and their superiority to the de- 
 grading systems of prevailing belief, might 
 appear sufficient evidence of their truth. 
 
 But, although we have sufficient proof 
 that the philosophy of the Stoics, Aca- 
 demics, or Epicureans had superseded the 
 exploded religions in the higher classes, it 
 is not so easy to decide how low in society 
 this scepticism had descended. We derive 
 our knowledge of ancient opinions chiefly 
 from poets, orators, or philosophers. But 
 even though Cicero might publicly deride, 
 or privately question the reality of a future 
 state p ; though Lucan q might disdain, or 
 
 P Cic. pro Cluent. c. 61. and the speech of Caesar in 
 Sallust, B. C. 50. 
 
 n LueanlX. 379. Juv. II. 149. 
 
LECTURE VI. 265 
 
 Juvenal sarcastically depreciate the esta- 
 blished faith, we cannot conclude that the 
 superstitions of the mass of the people were 
 not still deeply and firmly rooted r . Per- 
 haps the moral and religious state of the 
 world may be thus not unfairly stated. 
 In the higher orders, a sovereign contempt 
 for the creed of their forefathers, with a to- 
 tal absence of religious principle ; theo- 
 retical Epicureanism with practical profli- 
 gacy. In the lower, equal vice and ferocity 
 of character s , with an extravagant attach- 
 ment to their local deities 1 . In both, a su- 
 
 r Et sciunt qui rerum humanarum non ignari sunt, 
 etiam infimae sortis homines non modo se suamque vitam 
 et commoda naturae instinctu amare, verum etiam con- 
 suetudines religionesque a majoribus acceptas multo ve- 
 hementius et acrius complecti et custodire, quam homi- 
 nes ingenio, auctoritate, vitasque bonis praeditos et ex- 
 celso loco positos. Mosheim de Reb. Chr. I. 21. Com- 
 pare likewise the note on this passage. 
 
 s Item flagitiosissime et prorsus impie supremi, medio- 
 eres, infimi vivebant, illorumque scelerum et criminum, 
 quorum hodie nomen vix honestae aures ferunt, maxima 
 erat impunitas, &c. Mosheim, p. 15. 
 
 1 See the curious discussion about the right of asylum, 
 and the pertinacity with which the several cities urged 
 the claims of their respective deities. Tac. Ann, III. 
 61. 
 
266 LECTURE VI. 
 
 perstitious belief in magic, astrology, ne- 
 cromancy, divination ; incredulity as to the 
 substance, the moral restraint, and obedi- 
 ence to duty, with an obstinate fondness, 
 either from policy or prejudice, for the es- 
 tablished form of religion u . If, according 
 to Warburton's theory, more elevated doc- 
 trines were taught in the mysteries, the 
 secrecy of these had become depraved to 
 the worst purposes. The priesthood in the 
 various cities were sometimes opulent, al- 
 ways powerful ; and the ceremonial of the 
 heathen was most skilfully enwoven with 
 the whole detail of life. If the religion of 
 the Hindoo be more completely identified 
 with the minutest circumstances of hourly 
 practice, the food, the ablutions, the dis- 
 tinction of ranks, that of the Greeks was as 
 completely incorporated with their plea- 
 sures, that of the Romans with their na- 
 tional pride. Every thing on which the 
 
 u Prodigies are as frequent in Tacitus as in Livy. The 
 former describes Rome as " civitatem cuncta interpre- 
 " tan tern ." Apuleius, Petronius, the satirists, and all 
 the authors who throw light on the common life of the 
 Romans, are full of their superstitions. 
 
LECTURE VI. 267 
 
 Greek rested his claim to superiority over 
 barbarous nations ; every thing by which 
 the Roman vindicated his political and 
 military preeminence was indissolubly con- 
 nected with, or rather an integral part of 
 the ancient faith. As to the latter, even in 
 the time of Augustin, the feeling which he 
 seems to combat with the greatest energy, 
 is the ingratitude of deserting those gods 
 under whose superintending providence 
 Rome had attained to universal dominion 5 ". 
 With the Greeks, the language, the poetry, 
 the arts, sculpture, painting, architecture, 
 the spectacles of almost every description, 
 were essentially religious. The abandon- 
 ment of all these was the first inexorable 
 demand of the new religion. Besides the 
 total moral change, a revolution as com- 
 plete in the occupations, amusements, and 
 habits of life was imperiously required. 
 
 x sunt qui nobis bella exprobrare sinistra 
 
 Non dubitent, postquam templorum sprevimus aras, 
 Affirmentque, Libyn Collinse a cardine porta? 
 Hannibalem Jovis imperio, Martisque, repulsum ; 
 Victores Senonas Capitoli ex aede fugatos, 
 Cum super e celso pugnarent Numina saxo. 
 
 Prudent, contr. Symm. II. 683. 
 
268 LECTURE VI. 
 
 The glowing description of the manner in 
 which the heathen ceremonial pervaded the 
 whole life, adorned every hour, mingled 
 with every serious pursuit, and exhilarated 
 with its festive influence every pastime, as 
 it appears in the History of the Decline 
 and Fall of Rome, is well known y . But 
 this opportunity of displaying the luxuri- 
 ance of his diction, and the copiousness of 
 his knowledge, is fatal to the theory which 
 the writer would insinuate — the propaga- 
 tion of Christianity by natural causes alone. 
 For if the old religion, conjured up by the 
 powers of the imagination, could so fasci- 
 nate the congenial mind of the historian, 
 what must have been its influence, when 
 incorporated with all the prejudices, incul- 
 cated with traditionary reverence, and ad- 
 dressed directly and perpetually to the ar- 
 dent passions of a gay and dissolute people. 
 No topic of Christian evidence has been 
 urged with greater frequency or success, 
 than the contrast between the mean, indi- 
 gent, unpretending and selfdenying reli- 
 
 y Gibbon, Hist. c. XV. 
 
LECTURE VI. 269 
 
 gion of the cross, and the splendour, opu- 
 lence, the festive and indulgent ritual of 
 paganism 2 . I shall endeavour therefore 
 to throw the argument into another form, 
 both that I may avoid dangerous competi- 
 tion, and, as I conceive, bring the state of 
 affairs more immediately home to the com- 
 prehension. 
 
 Conceive then the apostles of Jesus 
 Christ, the tentmaker or the fisherman, en- 
 tering, as strangers, into one of the splendid 
 cities of Syria, Asia Minor, or Greece. Con- 
 ceive them, I mean, as unendowed with 
 miraculous powers, having adopted their 
 itinerant system of teaching from human 
 motives, and for human purposes alone. 
 As they pass along to the remote and ob- 
 scure quarter, where they expect to meet 
 with precarious hospitality among their 
 countrymen, they survey the strength of the 
 
 z It mav be interesting to trace the manner in which 
 the great masters of English pulpit eloquence have 
 treated the same subject : compare a passage in J. Tay- 
 lor's Sermon on the Death of Abp. Bramhall ; Barrow, 
 vol. IV. 471. Oxford ed.; and Atterbury's third Sermon. 
 Dr. Campbell's Sermon, printed at the end of his Essay 
 on Miracles, and Bp. Watson's " Christianity no Im- 
 " posture," may be consulted. 
 
270 LECTURE VI. 
 
 established religion, which it is their avowed 
 purpose to overthrow. Every where they 
 behold temples, on which the utmost extra- 
 vagance of expenditure has been lavished 
 by succeeding generations ; idols of the 
 most exquisite workmanship, to which, even 
 if the religious feeling of adoration is en- 
 feebled, the people are strongly attached by 
 national or local vanity. They meet pro- 
 cessions, in which the idle find perpetual 
 occupation, the young excitement, the vo- 
 luptuous a continual stimulant to their 
 passions. They behold a priesthood, nu- 
 merous, sometimes wealthy ; nor are these 
 alone wedded by interest to the established 
 faith ; many of the trades, like those of the 
 makers of silver shrines in Ephesus, are 
 pledged to the support of that to which 
 they owe their maintenance a . They pass a 
 
 a Publicus porro et privatus tot numinum cultus im- 
 mensam poutificum, sacerdotum, augurum, haruspicum, 
 aliorumque inferioris ordinis ministrorum multitudinem 
 non commode tan turn et laute alebat, verum etiam in 
 magna existimitatione et auctoritate apud populos collo- 
 
 cabat Cum his sociabat sese innumerabilis varii 
 
 generis turba, cui superstitiones publics qusestui erant, 
 mercatores qui thura, bcstias, aliaquc vcndebant dcorum 
 
LECTURE VI. 271 
 
 magnificent theatre, on the splendour and 
 success of which the popularity of the ex- 
 isting authorities mainly depends ; and in 
 which the serious exhibitions are essen- 
 tially religious, the lighter as intimately 
 with the indulgence of the baser passions. 
 They behold another public building, where 
 even worse feelings, the cruel and the san- 
 guinary, are pampered by the animating 
 contests of wild beasts and of gladiators, in 
 which they themselves may shortly play a 
 dreadful part, 
 
 Butcher'd to make a Roman holy day ! 
 
 b Show and spectacle are the characteristic 
 enjoyments of the whole people, and every 
 show and spectacle is either sacred to the 
 
 cultoribus necessaria, architecti, caupones, aurifices (Act. 
 xix. 25.) fabri lignarii, statuarii, sculptores, tibicines, ei- 
 tharaedi et alii, quibus omnibus dii, eorumque ministri, 
 templa, caeremonise, dies fasti, magnas afferebant ad vitam 
 beate ducendam opportunitates. Mosheim, ut supra, I. 31. 
 b The Fathers insist on the intimate connection be- 
 tween all the public spectacles and idolatry. — Igitur si ex 
 idololatria universam spectaculorum paraturam constare 
 constiterit, indubitate prsejudicatum erit etiam ad specta- 
 cula pertinere renuntiationis nostra? testimonium in lava- 
 cro, quae Diabolo et angelis ejus sint mancipata, scilicet 
 per idololatriam. Tert. de Sped. IV. 
 
9Tt% LECTURE VI. 
 
 religious feelings, or incentive to the lusts 
 of the flesh ; those feelings which must be 
 entirely eradicated, those lusts which must 
 be brought into total subjection to the law 
 of Christ. They encounter likewise itine- 
 rant jugglers, diviners, magicians, who im- 
 pose upon the credulous, and excite the 
 contempt of the enlightened; in the first 
 case, dangerous rivals to those who should 
 attempt to propagate a new faith by impos- 
 ture and deception ; in the latter c , natu- 
 rally tending to prejudice the mind against 
 all miraculous pretensions whatever : here, 
 like Elymas, endeavouring to outdo the signs 
 and wonders of the apostles, there throw- 
 ing suspicion on all asserted supernatural 
 agency, by the frequency and clumsiness 
 of their delusions. They meet philoso- 
 phers d , frequently itinerant like themselves ; 
 or teachers of new religions, priests of Isis 
 and Serapis, who have brought into equal 
 discredit what might otherwise have ap- 
 peared a proof of philanthropy, the per- 
 
 c See Weston on Miracles. 
 
 d "Onsp 7re7ron)xao-» [xocXkttu Kuwxwv Tivsg y l^oaiu npoc rob; 
 TTctpct.Tvy£OLVQVT0L<; haXsyopevoi. Orig. c. Cels. III. 50. 
 
LECTURE VI. 27 
 
 forming laborious journeys at the sacrifice 
 of personal ease and comfort for the moral 
 and religious improvement of mankind ; or 
 at least have so accustomed the public 
 mind to similar pretensions, as to take away 
 every attraction from their boldness or no- 
 velty. There are also the teachers of the 
 different mysteries, which would engross 
 all the anxiety of the inquisitive, perhaps 
 excite, even if they did not satisfy, the hopes 
 of the more pure and lofty minded. Such 
 must have been among the obstacles which 
 would force themselves on the calmer mo- 
 ments of the most ardent ; such the over- 
 powering difficulties, of which it would be 
 impossible to overlook the importance, or 
 elude the force; which required no sober 
 calculation to estimate, no laborious enquiry 
 to discover ; which met and confronted 
 them wherever they went, and which, either 
 in desperate presumption, or deliberate re- 
 liance on their own preternatural powers, 
 they must have contemned and defied. 
 
 The commencement of their labours was 
 usually disheartening, and ill calculated to 
 keep alive the flame of ungrounded enthu- 
 
276 LECTURE VI. 
 
 siasm. They begin their operations in the 
 narrow and secluded synagogue of their 
 own countrymen. The novelty of their 
 doctrine, and curiosity secure them at first 
 a patient attention ; but as the more offen- 
 sive tenets are developed, the most fierce 
 and violent passions are awakened. Scorn 
 and hatred are seen working in the clouded 
 brows and agitated countenances of the 
 leaders : if here and there one is pricked 
 to the hea?% it requires considerable moral 
 courage to acknowledge his conviction ; and 
 the new teachers are either cast forth from 
 the indignant assembly of their own people, 
 liable to all the punishments which they 
 are permitted to inflict, scourged and beaten; 
 or, if they succeed in forming a party, they 
 give rise to a furious schism ; and thus ap- 
 pear before the heathen with the dangerous 
 notoriety of having caused a violent tumult, 
 and broken the public peace by their tur- 
 bulent and contentious harangues : at all 
 events, disclaimed by that very people on 
 whose traditions they profess to build their 
 doctrines, and to whose Scriptures they ap- 
 peal in justification of their pretensions. 
 
LECTURE VI. 275 
 
 They, endure, they persevere, they continue 
 to sustain the contest against Judaism and 
 paganism. It is still their deliberate, os- 
 tensible, and avowed object, to overthrow 
 all this vast system of idolatry ; to tear up 
 by the roots all ancient prejudices ; to si- 
 lence shrines, sanctified by the veneration 
 of ages as oracular ; to consign all those 
 gorgeous temples to decay, and all those 
 images to contempt ; to wean the people 
 from every barbarous and dissolute amuse- 
 ment. They must have anticipated the 
 time, when the indignant priesthood should 
 lament over the desertion of the luxurious 
 Daphne, and see their unrepaired temples 
 crumble away, while their own stipends 
 are withheld, and their persons treated 
 with contempt 6 . For it was not the object 
 
 e Already in the days of Trajan this complaint had 
 commenced: " Certe satis constat, prope etiam desolata 
 " templa ccepisse celebrari, et sacra solemnia diu intermissa 
 " repeti ; passimque vaenire victimas, quarum adhuc ra- 
 " rissimus emptor inveniebatur." Plin. Trajan, 
 
 The works of Julian and Libanius the sophist are full 
 of tragical lamentations on this subject- " Quinimo, ut ve- 
 " rius proloquar, haruspices has fabulas,conjectores,arioli, 
 " vates, et nunquam non vani concinnavere fanatici ; qui 
 
 T 2 
 
276 LECTURE VI. 
 
 of the apostles, that their religion should 
 be received into the community of gods ; 
 they enforce total and complete subversion, 
 extermination, extinction. They will not 
 be content that Christ be admitted into 
 the Pantheon ; the whole edifice must be 
 cleared for his reception, and the whole 
 quarry of gods cast to the moles and to the 
 bats. That such men should attempt this, 
 should persevere in attempting, thus against 
 hope and against reason, yet at the same 
 time display the prudence and promptitude, 
 with which Paul, for instance, availed him- 
 self of the inscription To the unknown god 
 in Athens; that they should thus unite the 
 desperate rashness of the fanatic, with the 
 coolness of the impostor ; madness of de- 
 sign, with policy of conduct ; all this is an 
 anomaly in human action, which defies all 
 
 " ne suae artes intereant, ac ne stipes exiguas consultoribus 
 " excutiant jam raris, si quando vos velle rem venire in in- 
 " vidiam compererunt, negliguntur dii, clamitant, atque 
 " templis jam raritas summa est. Jacent antiquae derisui 
 " caerimoniae, et sacrorum quondam veterrimi ritus religio- 
 " num novarum superstitionibus occiderunt ; merito hu- 
 " manum genus tot miseriarum angustiis premitur, tot la- 
 "borum excruciatur aerumnis." Arnob. contr. Gent. I. 24. 
 
LECTURE VI. 277 
 
 precedent, and disdains all comparison. 
 What were their means of success ? Every 
 prepossession was against their nation, their 
 rank in life. If we accept the self-abasing 
 testimony of Paul, their persons were de- 
 ficient in commanding dignity, his bodily 
 presence was weak*. Was it eloquence? 
 But on the same authority, his speech was 
 contemptible. Unquestionably his language 
 is equally opposite to the florid and elabo- 
 rate diction, which enchanted the Asiatics, 
 and the perspicuous, vivid, harmonious rhe- 
 toric, which would be demanded by the 
 Athenian. Was it the sublimity of their 
 arguments ? but their arguments, without 
 proof, were extravagant beyond all descrip- 
 tion. What was their story, reduced to its 
 simple elements? That the great God of 
 the universe had sent his Son into a remote 
 country among a barbarous and detested 
 people; that this people had put him to 
 death without resistance: and though ac- 
 cording to his disciples he had risen again 
 from the dead; did the Jews, the best qua- 
 
 f % Cor. x. 10. 
 t 3 
 
278 LECTURE VI. 
 
 lifted to judge, generally acknowledge the 
 fact? They reject, they execrate his name; 
 they denounce, they persecute his people. 
 Yet, continue the apostles, believe in this 
 Christ. To prove your belief, first forswear 
 all those vices on which your former reli- 
 gion looked, if not with approbation, with 
 indulgence ; renounce all your amuse- 
 ments ; cast off all your habits ; break all 
 the ties of kindred ; resist the claims of na- 
 tural affection. But think not to do this 
 with impunity, calculate not on security ; 
 misery awaits your choice of our creed; 
 those who believe in Christ crucified must 
 be prepared to take up their cross with 
 Christ. 
 
 This was the tale, thus argued, thus, un- 
 less by signs and wonders, unsupported, with 
 which the apostles, men otherwise sane, 
 rational, and moderate, calculated on over- 
 throwing the vast system of pagan idolatry; 
 on changing the moral condition of the 
 world; on ejecting Jupiter and Apollo, JEs- 
 culapius and Venus, from their fanes ; on 
 convincing Gentile philosophy of foolish- 
 ness ; on superseding Plato, and Zeno, and 
 
LECTURE VI. 279 
 
 Epicurus, the wickedness of the worst, the 
 wisdom of the best. 
 
 But in one respect it is impossible now 
 to conceive the extent, to which the apo- 
 stles of the crucified Jesus shocked all the 
 feelings of mankind. The public establish- 
 ment of Christianity, the adoration of ages, 
 the reverence of nations, has thrown around 
 the cross of Christ an indelible and in- 
 alienable sanctity. No effort of the ima- 
 gination can dissipate the illusion of dig- 
 nity which has gathered round it ; it has 
 been so long dissevered from all its coarse 
 and humiliating associations, that it cannot 
 be cast back and desecrated into its state of 
 opprobrium and contempt. To the most 
 daring unbeliever among ourselves, it is 
 the symbol, the absurd, and irrational, he 
 may conceive, but still the ancient and ve- 
 nerable symbol of a powerful and influen- 
 tial religion : what was it to the Jew and to 
 the heathen ? the basest, the most degrad- 
 ing punishment of the lowest criminal ! the 
 proverbial terror of the wretched slave ! it 
 was to them, what the most despicable and 
 revolting instrument of public execution is 
 
 t 4 
 
280 LECTURE VI. 
 
 to us g . Yet to the cross of Christ, men 
 turned from deities in which were em- 
 bodied every attribute of strength, power, 
 and dignity ; in an incredibly short space 
 of time, multitudes gave up the splendour, 
 the pride, and the power of paganism, to 
 adore a being, who was thus humiliated 
 beneath the meanest of mankind, who had 
 become, according to the literal interpreta- 
 tion of the prophecy, a very scorn of men 9 
 and an outcast of the people. 
 
 I know not how to conclude, but in the 
 words of Origen : " If we must give a pro- 
 " bable reason for the first establishment 
 " of Christianity, we must say, it is in- 
 " credible, that the apostles, ignorant and 
 " unlearned men, should have trusted in 
 
 o The punishment of the cross was so proper unto 
 servants, that servile supplicium in the language of the 
 Romans signifies the same, and though in the words of 
 Vulcatius before cited, they both go together, as also in 
 Capitolinus: " Nam etin crucem milites tulit, et servilibus 
 " suppliciis semper afFecit. r> In Macr. XII. Yet either 
 is sufficient to express crucifixion, as in Tacitus, " Malam 
 " potentiam servili supplicio expiavit." Hist. IV. 11. And 
 again, " Sumptum de eo supplicium in servilem modum." 
 Note to Pearson on the Creed, art. IV. See Plant us 
 passim. 
 
LECTURE VI. 281 
 
 ' any means of preaching Christianity, ex- 
 ' cept the miraculous powers conferred 
 6 upon them, and the grace of God, which 
 6 avouched their doctrine : or that their 
 1 hearers should have abandoned the an- 
 1 cient rites of their forefathers, and have 
 1 been converted to tenets so strange and 
 1 opposite to those in which they had been 
 ' educated, unless moved by some miracu- 
 1 lous power, and by preternatural won- 
 ' ders h ." 
 
 h Kai yap el yjpr\ xoc) too sIxoti xpyirQcti Koyoo 7tep\ 7% ocp- 
 XJfiev Xpi(TTiavu)v o~v<rTci<r£oo$ } <pY}O~0fj.ev oti ou ttiQccvov, ovts tov$ 
 'I>j<7oD «7roo"ToAou^ ? ccv$pct$ uypa^&TWc, xot) \§iooTO.$ } uWoo rm 
 TsQctppv\xsvon Trpbg to xuTccyyiiKca roig ctvftpooTrois tov XpiGTict- 
 
 Vl(TjU,0V, )J TT, SoSsiVyj (XUTols %VVOl[J!,Sl, XCt) TYj SV TOO Xoyop sl$ T« 8>J- 
 
 XovfiBvct, TrpoLy^uTct yawn* aAA* ovds touj ccxpooo^BVOV^ auToov 
 jU,eraTe0e7<r0a» ex TrctTplwv 7roXv^poyloov eQoov, pr} a.%io\oyov tivo$ 
 dwapeoog <xvtov$ xu) TepourTioov npuyfAUTobv {xstuxiv^ctuvtoov hit) 
 roc ovtoo %evu xu) aWorpict toov o~vvTp6<poov uutoi$ SoypuToov. 
 Orig. c. Cels. VIII. 47. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 Matth. X. 16. 
 
 Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless 
 
 as doves, 
 
 A HAVE endeavoured to describe the si- 
 tuation of the apostles when they com- 
 menced their undertaking in one of the 
 heathen cities ; the hatred and obloquy to 
 which they were immediately exposed 
 among their own people, the improbability 
 that they would obtain a hearing from the 
 Gentiles, whose vices, and not their vices 
 alone, but whose daily occupations, amuse- 
 ments, and pleasures, it was their first duty 
 to proscribe. Instead of mingling in the 
 processions, partaking in the festivals, en- 
 joying the spectacles of his fellow citizens, 
 the Christian proselyte became a secluded, 
 scrupulous, and isolated being. Life was 
 literally commenced anew in all its habits, 
 occupations, thoughts, and feelings, often 
 in its connections and attachments. For 
 
284 LECTURE VII. 
 
 the splendid temple and public ceremony, 
 the believer had to lurk in some obscure 
 and secret chamber, where he might snatch 
 his hurried and interrupted devotions ; to 
 steal out at midnight, and when persecu- 
 tion was threatened, conceal himself in ce- 
 meteries and catacombs ; instead of the rich 
 and imaginative worship of his fathers, in 
 which all the senses were dazzled and in- 
 toxicated with lamps, incense, and music, 
 he joined in rites which were simple, both 
 from the nature of the institution, and the 
 poverty of the communicants a . Meanness, 
 humility, and obscurity were the avowed cha- 
 racteristics of the new religion. What had 
 the Christian neophyte to gain, and what 
 to lose? Would the exclusiveness of the 
 new religion, which appealed to his intel- 
 
 a Nos deos immortales colimus, quos universitas popu- 
 lorum, quos etiam nominibus propriis sacratissimi princi- 
 pes venerantur. Nos deos colimus laetitia, conviviis, 
 cantionibus, ludis, comessatione et lascivia ; vos vero ho- 
 minem crucifixum, cui placere non possunt, qui his omni- 
 bus perfruuntur, qui damnatis voluptatibus tristem et 
 infoecundam diligit castitatem. 
 
 Such is the argument of a heathen judge with the 
 martyr Epipodius. Ruinartus. Select. Mart. Acta, p. 75. 
 
LECTURE VII. 285 
 
 lectual or spiritual pride, be equivalent to 
 the freedom which he abandoned ? While 
 a heathen, he might believe as much or as 
 little as he chose. He might worship in 
 whatever temple he pleased ; in that of Ju- 
 piter Capitolinus in Rome, Serapis in Egypt, 
 or the Sun in the East. He might addict 
 himself to any sect of philosophy. What- 
 ever his turn of mind, religion presented 
 him with a deity, philosophy with a creed, 
 suited to his habits of thinking and feeling. 
 If of a severe character, he joined the Stoics, 
 if more lax, the Epicureans ; if inclined to 
 free discussion, the Lyceum invited him 
 into its walks, or occupied his imagination 
 with the lofty reveries of Plato. All this 
 liberty lay under a severe interdict ; the 
 apostles admitted no partial conformity : 
 their creed was peremptory, dictatorial, 
 commanded the reception of all its articles 
 with implicit faith, or refused to impart 
 its privileges. The secession from the 
 world was complete and perpetual. The 
 convert must arm himself with that rare 
 moral courage, which will endure, not merely 
 the open and violent hostility that usually 
 
286 LECTURE VII. 
 
 provokes a manly spirit of resistance, but 
 the more wearing and incessant attacks of 
 contempt, humiliation, and calumny. For 
 this the dearest ties were to be severed ; he 
 was to encounter foes in his own household ; 
 he was to postpone even the love of father 
 and mother, for that of Him whom he had 
 never seen, whose life and death he knew 
 only by the report of strangers, and those 
 coming from a country infamous for super- 
 stition, and obliged to confess that their 
 lives were not secure, and their success but 
 partial on that distant scene. For the author 
 of the religion did not personally demand 
 their homage, and prove his mission from 
 God ; the believers were to surrender them- 
 selves to the delegates of a Delegate, the 
 servants of a Master, who had not conde- 
 scended to visit with his presence those, 
 from whom he demanded this extraordinary 
 sacrifice. The call was from afar, which 
 thus summoned them to the total abandon- 
 ment of the world. 
 
 The progress of Christianity has been 
 attributed, anong other causes, to this ex- 
 clusive and uncompromising spirit, which 
 
LECTURE VII. 287 
 
 enclosed, as it were, within an insuperable 
 barrier, those who once enrolled themselves 
 among the believers. But the policy or the 
 good fortune of the apostles in thus extend- 
 ing their pale to a certain point, and then 
 entrenching themselves with all the rigour 
 of ancient prejudice, is unaccountable. 
 They are so far emancipated from the he- 
 reditary unsocial and intolerant spirit of 
 their people, as to admit every race under 
 heaven into their communion. But beyond 
 this, they are as stern and inflexible as their 
 forefathers ; they are not acquitted of that 
 hatred to the human race with which pagan 
 writers charge the Jews. How came men 
 thus nurtured in the strongest prejudices 
 of Judaism to conceive the unnatural no- 
 tion of throwing open the doors of the syn- 
 agogue, and consequently of heaven itself, 
 the exclusive possession of which had hi- 
 therto been their pride in prosperity and 
 their consolation in adversity ? The differ- 
 ence between the proselytism of the Jew 
 and that of the Christian is of great import- 
 ance. The Jew communicated with sullen 
 reluctance, unless perhaps for gain or ad- 
 
288 LECTURE VII. 
 
 vantage, his inalienable patrimony, the fa- 
 vour of his God b . It was the duty, the 
 delight, the glory of the Christian to ex- 
 tend indiscriminately the blessings of his 
 religion. The Jewish proselytes, it is well 
 known, were of two kinds ; the perfect pro- 
 selyte of righteousness alone was amenable 
 
 b Selden. de Jur. Nat. Slevogt de Proselytis. Where 
 our Saviour speaks of the Pharisees compassing sea and 
 land to make one proselyte , Matt, xxiii. 15. I cannot help 
 thinking that he refers rather to converting Jews to pha- 
 risaic opinions, than Gentiles to Judaism. However this 
 may be, Lightfoot's Commentary explains the contradic- 
 tion ; " Not that they cared for proselytes, whom they ac- 
 " counted as a scab and a plague, but that the more they 
 " could draw over to their religion, the greater draught 
 " they should have for gain, and the more purses to fish in. 
 " These therefore, being so proselyted, they made doubly 
 64 more the children of hell than themselves. For when 
 " they had drawn them into their net, having got their 
 " prey, they were no further concerned what became of 
 " them, so they got some benefit by them. They might 
 " perish in ignorance, superstition, atheism, and all kinds 
 " of wickedness ; this was no matter of concern to the 
 " Scribes and Pharisees; only let them remain in Judaism, 
 " that they might lord it over their consciences and purses." 
 
 This is remarkably in accordance with Tacitus. "Pes- 
 " simus quisque, spretis religionibus patriis, tributa et 
 " stipes illuc congerebant." Hist. V. 5. 
 
 Qualiacunquc voles Judcei somnia vendunt. 
 
 Jur. Saf. VI. 547. 
 
LECTURE VII. 289 
 
 to the observance of the whole law, and 
 shared in all the privileges of Judaism. 
 But the treasure of divine favour was un- 
 graciously and parsimoniously doled out by 
 the more conscientious Israelite. The con- 
 vert was admitted after a severe probation 
 and by a painful rite. Even after his ad- 
 mission, he was still looked upon with jea- 
 lousy and mistrust, his privileges were nar- 
 rowed, his descendants stigmatized and con- 
 sidered of an inferior caste ; for the children 
 of the stranger continued strangers to the 
 latest generation c . The infection of gentile 
 blood was never entirely washed out d ; the 
 blot in the spiritual escutcheon was indeli- 
 ble. Hence Judaism made no very extensive 
 or permanent progress. The number of pro- 
 selytes, in the opinion of Gibbon, was never 
 much superior to that of apostates. It 
 
 c The rigid Jews hated the proselytes even of justice. 
 " Duri sunt Israelitis prosclyti, sicut apostema. Quum 
 " script um est Ezra xiv. 1. Copidabit sc proselytis cis et 
 " apostematibus qfflcietur domus Israel? Massecheth Je- 
 vamoth. Dicunt sapientes, Duri Israeli sunt proselyti, 
 sicut plaga leprae. Maimon. in H'dc. quoted in Slevogt 
 de Proselytis. 
 
 d Selden de Jur. Nat. II. 4. V. 20. 
 
 U 
 
290 LECTURE VII. 
 
 could scarcely be otherwise, as their aver- 
 sion from the society of the unclean d , and 
 their horror of legal pollution, must have 
 prevented the freedom of intercourse ne- 
 cessary to work conversions. Hyrcanus in- 
 deed forced the conquered Idumeans to 
 embrace the law, and submit to circumci- 
 sion e . The desire of affixing a permanent 
 badge of subjection on a rival people, pre- 
 dominated over the narrow feeling of ex- 
 clusion. Pride and interest would likewise 
 sometimes prevail over bigotry ; they would 
 relax their rigour, in order to obtain a 
 powerful proselyte, as for instance Helena 
 queen of the Adiabeni, and her son Izates f . 
 
 d IVbjSe xoivwv&v Tolg kol§ erspotv avvY^iiuv filov ^v irpociipou- 
 fLsvoig. Joseph, cont. Apion. Compare Acts x. 28. John 
 xi. 3. xviii. 28. 
 
 Selden is of opinion, that this rigid and unsocial notion 
 began about, or a little before the Asmonean kings. 
 " Eos cnim, qui sacra immunditias lege non tenebantur, 
 " ipsi eis, qui ea tenebantur, semper immundos haberi, 
 "jam ex supcrinducto hoc atque interveniente jure vole- 
 " bant, ut facilius sic eorum consortio, quantum fieri pos- 
 " set, arcercntur JucUei. Quod et tempore Hasmon.i- 
 " orum, aut ante, initium habuit." Dc Jur. Nat. II. 5. 
 
 e Joseph. XIII. cap. 17. 
 
 f Joseph. Ant. XX. 2. compare also Ant. XVIII. 4, 5 
 
LECTURE VII. 291 
 
 It appears indeed from other cases, that 
 their converts were chiefly of the female 
 sex ; and there is reason for suspicion, that 
 in most instances their object was gain, ra- 
 ther than godliness g . Josephus distinctly 
 states, that though they made many con- 
 verts, they retained few ; and the pagan 
 writers, who loudly denounce their aversion 
 from all social intercourse with other peo- 
 ple h , betray no very violent apprehensions 
 
 S Acts xvi. 13, 14. xiii. 50. xvii. 4 — 12. 
 
 That the Jews were not a little diligent in gaining over 
 the fair sex to their religion, and particularly such as 
 were of figure and eminence, we learn from the account 
 Josephus has given us of the conversions of Helena and 
 Fulvia, the former a queen, the latter a Roman matron, 
 wife of Saturnius, a favourite of the emperor Tiberius. 
 And that very many women were prevailed with to be- 
 come proselytes appears from what he tells us of the ci- 
 tizens of Damascus, who, having formed a design to kill 
 all the Jews in that city, were obliged with great solici- 
 tude to conceal it from their wives, because they were 
 well nigh all addicted to the Jewish religion. BiscoeonActs. 
 
 h Touvxvtiov [j.sv70i ttoAAo* wup' uvt&v el; TOUC YjfXcTSpOvg 
 vofxovg (TvvefiYjUoiv eWe\$slv, xca rive; [xsv efxelvav, el<r) Is ol ryv 
 napregluv ou% vitopelvavTe;, TtotXiv en: earner ctv. Joseph, contra 
 Apion. II. 10. Josephus labours hard to extenuate their 
 unsocial habits. One interpretation of a passage in Ho- 
 race has been adduced to evince their zeal for proselytism. 
 
 ac veluti nos 
 
 Judaei cogemus in hanc concedere turbam. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 LECTURE VII. 
 
 of their encroachment on the established 
 religions 1 . But if these more ardent and 
 submissive converts were thus uncourteous- 
 ly received, the proselytes of the gate, who 
 were neither circumcised nor bound to ob- 
 serve the whole law, were barely tolerated k . 
 The national pride of the Jews strove hard 
 with their intolerance, and induced them to 
 enforce, as far as they were able, the recep- 
 tion of their law in the Holy Land ; but 
 with the majority of the settlers they were 
 
 But it is highly improbable that the Jews should bring 
 strangers into their synagogues by coercion : the passage 
 probably alludes to the frequent " beating with rods," 
 among their own people. 
 
 i Apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, 
 sed adversus omnes alios hostile odium ; separati epulis, 
 discreti cubilibus. Tacit. Hist. 
 
 Non monstrare vias eadem nisi sacra colenti : 
 Qusesitum ad fontem solos deducere verpos. 
 
 Juv.Sat. XIV. 103. 
 
 Caveruntne cum percgrinis communicarent: quod ex causa 
 factum paulatim in disciplinam religion emque convcrti f . 
 Just. Hist. XXXVI. 2. In truth, when writers so late as 
 Tacitus and Juvenal speak of converts to Judaism, they 
 not improbably include Christians. 
 
 k Quod vero ad proselytos inquilinos, cos Juda/i non 
 tarn solenniter recipiebant quam tolcrabant. Pfc'iff'cr. Ant. 
 Hcb. I. 1. 
 
LECTURE VII. 293 
 
 obliged to content themselves with this du- 
 bious and unsatisfactory conformity. Even 
 beyond the bounds of Palestine, in despite 
 of their own inhospitable and repulsive con- 
 duct, the simplicity of their worship, and 
 the sublimity of their tenets, forced their 
 way among the heathen, and their syna- 
 gogues were attended by a certain number 
 of those called in the Acts devout Greeks. 
 Many of these probably were not, strictly 
 speaking, proselytes, some perhaps only oc- 
 casional attendants, others made an eclectic 
 religion, and partially conformed to both. 
 These were doubtless in the most favour- 
 able state for the admission of a new creed. 
 They had felt the spiritual poverty of pa- 
 ganism, had arrived at the knowledge of 
 the one great Creator, and submitted to the 
 moral observances of the law; in short, 
 their affections were detached from the old 
 religion, and not too deeply implicated with 
 the new ] . Still, from these vague and ge- 
 neral principles it was a violent transition 
 to the belief in a crucified Redeemer. Un- 
 
 1 Compare Jos. Mede, Discourse XX. 
 u 3 
 
294 LECTURE VII. 
 
 less the Lord had given testimony unto the 
 word of his grace, and granted signs and 
 wanders to be done by their hands™, men, 
 obviously both inquiring and conscientious, 
 would scarcely have given their impartial 
 judgment in favour of the apostles. The 
 rapid progress of Christianity among this 
 class is a strong testimony to its truth : 
 though, after all, I apprehend their number, 
 out of Syria, to have been by no means con- 
 siderable ; and, including all these as pro- 
 selytes to Judaism, the church made more 
 converts in a few years than the synagogue 
 in a century. Nor w 7 as the coalition with this 
 body without danger to the cause of the apo- 
 stles. The true and rigid Israelites looked on 
 these half-proselytes with undisguised dis- 
 like and contempt n . What then was the 
 amazement and indignation of the unbeliev- 
 ing Jews, the consternation and perplexity of 
 the Hebrew converts to Christianity, when 
 it was announced that God is no respecter 
 
 m Acts xiv. 3. 
 
 n Acts xv. 1 . It was a common maxim of the Jews, that 
 all uncircumcised persons go to hell. Pirke Elies. quoted 
 by Whitby in loc. Compare Benson, First Plant, of Chris- 
 tianity, II. p. 47. 
 
LECTURE VII. 295 
 
 of persons, but in every nation he that feareih 
 him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
 ivith him °? For a time, they flattered them- 
 selves that the dignity of the law would be 
 maintained by the enforcement of circum- 
 cision, and the rest of the Mosaic ordi- 
 nances. But when the assembled apostles 
 only so far condescended to their preju- 
 dices, as to recommend, not enjoin author- 
 itatively, those few observances which were 
 enforced on the proselytes of the gate p , 
 the measure was so odious, that a long con- 
 troversy, and perhaps a lasting schism, was 
 the consequence. For they could not en- 
 dure a decree, which thus placed these va- 
 cillating proselytes, these half-converted 
 Greeks, on a level with those in whom the 
 pure blood of Abraham had flowed for ages. 
 Thus directly opposite to the spirit of their 
 religion was the conduct of the apostles; it 
 was wise, liberal, enlightened, but at the 
 same time bold and dangerous. It annulled 
 centuries of exclusive privileges; it abolished 
 
 Acts x. 34, 35. 
 
 P Acts xv. 28, 29- This was the extent to which the 
 apostolic decree went. 
 
 u 4 
 
296 LECTURE VII. 
 
 at once all distinctions of clean and un- 
 clean, which were as dear to the Israelites 
 as odious to the Gentiles. The Christians 
 would mingle with the heathen in all the 
 indifferent transactions in life ; they would 
 eat with them, converse with them, and 
 were eager and zealous for every approxi- 
 mation, which might enable them to extend 
 the privileges of their faith. But if the 
 apostles, bred in so extraordinary a school 
 for such profound and judicious policy, 
 knew how far to concede, they knew also 
 where to stop. Suddenly they resume 
 again their inflexible rigour. They will 
 admit nothing which may in the most re- 
 mote degree tend to idolatry, they will al- 
 low no quarter to philosophy. Instead of 
 studying to render their tenets palatable to 
 their hearers, they jealously avoid all con- 
 formity to popular belief or prevalent opin- 
 ion. They will not propitiate the Platonist 
 by arguing the immateriality of the soul ; 
 they run counter, needlessly so in some in- 
 stances, to the general feeling ; they disdain 
 every attempt to smooth away what is re- 
 volting to the pride, they dissemble nothing 
 
LECTURE VII. 297 
 
 which is repugnant to the passions. This 
 tolerant intolerance, this liberal illiberality, 
 in such men is incomprehensible. If im- 
 posture would so far have infringed on the 
 rigour of Jewish opinions, it would have 
 gone further, and accommodated itself in 
 some way to the prevalent belief; it would 
 have been content with the admission of 
 Christianity into the general community of 
 religions, not played the dangerous and 
 desperate game of endeavouring to extir- 
 pate and subvert all other systems of be- 
 lief. Fanaticism could never have pro- 
 ceeded with such prudence, temper, and 
 moderation. The apostles would either 
 have adhered to those notions, to which 
 the zealots among their own converts were 
 so obstinately wedded ; or they would have 
 conducted the transaction in so dictatorial 
 and unconciliatory a manner, as to alienate 
 for ever the whole body of Jewish converts. 
 The event proved the wisdom of their pro- 
 ceedings ; but unless that wisdom was from 
 on high, I know not whence it can have 
 been derived to a body so formed and con- 
 stituted, as that of the apostles of Jesus. 
 
298 LECTURE VII. 
 
 If then the rational and sober conviction 
 of their divine mission ; if the visible as- 
 surance of their preternatural powers ; in 
 short, the satisfactory evidence which they 
 could produce of the facts on which their 
 religion rested ; if these were not the means 
 on which the apostles relied, and by which 
 such multitudes of converts were made, 
 can we attribute their success to any 
 other, equally influential, yet less creditable 
 causes? Are there any yet unexplored princi- 
 ples of our nature, by appealing to which the 
 new faith made such rapid advances ? The 
 passions of mankind are the instruments by 
 which every great moral as well as political 
 revolution is accomplished. There is a spi- 
 rit of restlessness in the human mind, which 
 only requires to be called into action ; once 
 stimulate a large mass of mankind into 
 energetic motion, it is astonishing how 
 blindly it will follow in the track pointed 
 out. Whoever therefore can excite, and by 
 excitement enslave the heart of man to his 
 service, will in all probability succeed. To 
 communicate his own enthusiasm, or direct 
 that of others in the channel he desires, is 
 
LECTURE VII. 299 
 
 as well the test of genius, as the pledge of 
 triumph to the military, political, or reli- 
 gious adventurer. The conqueror places 
 his strength in the coarser and more vio- 
 lent passions, the love of plunder, the li- 
 cence of victory, the pride of distinction for 
 personal prowess or fortitude ; these are 
 more universal, and lie, as it were, more 
 upon the surface of our nature, the more 
 inflammable in uncivilized, but kindled 
 without difficulty in less barbarous coun- 
 tries. The political leader, whether despot 
 or demagogue, according to the state of so- 
 ciety, appeals to the love of power in the 
 few, or of independence in the many ; the 
 pride of an oligarchy, either of wealth or 
 nobility, or the discontents of the populace, 
 are the instruments with which he builds 
 up the fabric of his ambition. The reli- 
 gious innovator enlists the same passions in 
 his service, though in a different manner. 
 In all cases, his doctrines must be adapted 
 either to the general feelings of mankind, 
 or those of the particular state of society on 
 which he would act. Thus Mahomet both 
 found Arabia in a favourable state of imper- 
 
300 LECTURE VII. 
 
 feet civilization for the reception of his 
 doctrines, and, by simultaneously inflaming 
 the more ardent passions, rapidly enlisted 
 converts from every quarter, whose enthu- 
 siasm was kept alive by incessant excite- 
 ment, and elated by increasing success. 
 The simplicity of his creed struck the ima- 
 gination of his uneducated countrymen ; 
 the violent threw themselves into his ranks 
 as warriors ; the sensual were enchanted by 
 the latitude of his moral precepts, and the 
 luxurious anticipations of his paradise ; the 
 austere were satisfied by his rigid fasts and 
 stern sobriety ; the superstitious surren- 
 dered themselves to the decree of blind fa- 
 tality. 
 
 The apostles of Christ appear to have 
 depended for their success on no violent 
 excitement : primitive Christianity was tem- 
 perate in all its emotions ; Let your mode- 
 ration be known unto all men q was among 
 its constant precepts ; even the restraint of 
 the natural appetites was commanded in a 
 manner totally opposite to the proud ri- 
 
 n Philipp. iv. 5. 
 
LECTURE VII. 301 
 
 gour of the ancient stoic, or the self-excru- 
 ciating discipline of the modern monk. It 
 had nothing striking, vehement, or exagge- 
 rated in its precepts of self-denial ; and 
 however great the sacrifice demanded, there 
 was no publicity to captivate by applause; 
 and, at first, rarely that fierce persecution 
 which is naturally repelled with persever- 
 ing obstinacy. It was at one period of infi- 
 delity a favourite theory, that Christianity 
 was merely a skilful adaptation of the doc- 
 trines of the Jewish Essenes and Thera- 
 peutae on a more daring and extensive 
 scale. But the difference is as remarkable 
 as obvious. The secession of the Christian 
 from the world was total ; but this by no 
 means implied a renunciation of the social 
 duties, or a severe abstinence from indiffer- 
 ent practices. The Christian had the more 
 difficult, but more inglorious and unobtru- 
 sive task of using the world as not abusing 
 it. Antony the monk was probably a li- 
 neal descendant of the Jewish ascetic, but 
 it was some centuries before this unsocial 
 principle was admitted into Christianity. 
 The apostles sent none of their converts 
 
302 LECTURE VII. 
 
 into the desert ; they prescribed no long 
 and austere ritual, to the due discharge of 
 which the regular offices of life were to give 
 place. They proclaimed not, as afterwards 
 the Montanist and Manichean r , the body of 
 man to be the creation of the evil principle 
 of matter, and consequently all its functions 
 alike gross and sinful. Their religion armed 
 its disciples with no scourge, it wore the 
 body with no perpetual maceration ; it sub- 
 dued the flesh by inward principle, not by 
 the infliction of external pain. If there is 
 some resemblance, as to the purity of prac- 
 tice, between the Essene as described in the 
 flattering panegyric of Josephus, the Thera- 
 peuta by that of Philo s , and the Christian 
 
 r Videtur autem Paulus eo consilio curam corporis Ro- 
 manis suis praecepisse, ne, ut multi inter Juda?os facie- 
 bant, corpus ergastulum quoddam et animi impedimen- 
 tum, atque adeo durius habendum, omnique modo affli- 
 gendum putarent. Haec perversa opinio sectam Esseno- 
 rum tenebat, de qua est apud Josephum, B. J. II. 8. 
 Krebs. Obs. in Nov. Test, in Rom. xiii. 14. 
 
 s Basnage gave the deathblow to a theory adopted by 
 many Roman catholic and some protestant writers, which 
 identified the Therapeuta? of Philo with the early Chris- 
 tians. A list of the writers on both sides of the question 
 may be seen in Fabricius, Lux Evang. Compare like- 
 wise Prideaux's Conn, part II. b. 5. 
 
LECTURE VII. 303 
 
 as represented in the apostolic epistles, it 
 only makes the difference more striking. 
 Quiet, inoffensive, obedient to the laws for 
 conscience sake, seeking no distinction, 
 making no display, shunning no duty com- 
 patible with their faith \ the Christians 
 grew and multiplied u . The progress of 
 Christianity at once illustrates the pro- 
 phetic truth and the beauty of its Master's 
 parable. It did not explode with the aw- 
 ful and terrific majesty of the Mosaic law ; 
 it did not spread like the fiery lava of Ma- 
 hometanism ; but, like the silent leaven, it 
 worked its way imperceptibly, and fer- 
 
 1 Compare Paley, Evid. II. 354. 
 
 u XguTTiavo) yap outs yr iy outs <pcavf l} outs s^sai diaxsxpifxsvoi 
 toqv Xontwv elcnv dygpamcov. outs yap 7toAsj£ Ytilag xaT0ixouo~iv, 
 outs liaXsKTop tiv\ Tvap^XXayiLSVYi ^gajVTai, outs filov 7rapdo~Yifj.ov 
 
 do-xovcriv xutoixouvts$ 8g TroXsig 'EAA>jv/8a£ re xa) fiap- 
 
 fiapou:, oo$ sxao~TOc sxkr^poo^ sv Tolg sy^oopioig sQsq-iv dxoKou- 
 Qgvvtscj sv ts Icrfirjrj xa) liaiTY) xa) too KontoH fSico, Qaupao-Tyv 
 xa) 6(j,o\Qyov[j,svoo$ itapdlo^ov svSslxvvvTai tyjv xaTao~Tao~iv tyj$ 
 
 sauTcov -noKiTsiac ya\L0uviv ob$ navTsg' Tsxvoyovovo~iv 9 
 
 aAA' ou piitroucti to. ysvvoo\LSva' Tpdns^av xoivrjv 7rapaTlSsvTai y 
 
 aAA* xoivyjv. sv o~apx) Tuyyjavouv w ^ a'AA' ov xaTa adpxa 
 
 ^ooo~iv' sir) yYjg ZiaTpl(3ouo~iv, aAA' sv oupavoo TioXiTsuovTai. ttsiQqv- 
 Tai Tolg obpio~fj.svoig vofxoig, xa) to~i$ IS/o<; (3loi$ vixooo~i tou$ vo'fxoug. 
 Justin. Martyr. Epist. ad Diognetum. 
 
304 LECTURE VII. 
 
 mented the whole mass of humankind with 
 its healthful and purifying influence. 
 
 It may indeed be argued, that the nature 
 of the doctrines was such, that they found 
 the public mind naturally prepared for their 
 acceptance. The apostles had the good 
 fortune to offer to the belief of man, what 
 his mind was only anxious to justify itself 
 in believing. The dignity of his being was 
 so obviously exalted by the revelation of 
 the immortality of the soul, that his pride 
 caught at it at once ; and without examin- 
 ing the proofs too rigidly, embraced with 
 all the fervour of spiritual ambition doc- 
 trines, which flattered his loftiest aspira- 
 tions, and satisfied that eager desire which 
 is inseparable from his nature, of penetrat- 
 ing into the secrets of futurity. Those who 
 came to inform mankind of the resurrection 
 to eternal life, and salvation through faith 
 in the atonement of Christ, offered such 
 splendid prospects on such easy terms, that 
 it is no wonder if men crowded round a 
 shrine, the oracles of which spoke in such 
 explicit and exalting language. Nor is this 
 argument without confirmation, from the 
 
LECTURE VII. 305 
 
 state of the human mind at the particular 
 juncture at which Christianity appeared. 
 Of all the heathen fables, the most extrava- 
 gant, and least satisfactory, even to the most 
 superstitious, related to the state after death. 
 
 Esse aliquod manes, et subterranea regna, 
 Et contum, et Stygio ranas in gurgite nigras, 
 Atque una transire vadum tot millia cymba, 
 Nee pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum aere lavantur x . 
 
 And the distinct denial of a future state 
 by Caesar and Cicero, in speeches delivered 
 before public assemblies y , proves sufficiently 
 that the mind of the people would by no 
 means resent any attack on this part of 
 their religious creed. In fact, the presence 
 and power of the gods during this life was 
 the only point which was of much advan- 
 tage to the priesthood, and therefore they 
 were generally content with threatening the 
 immediate visible punishment of offences or 
 
 * Juv. Sat. II. 149. 
 
 The silent realm of disembodied ghosts, 
 The frogs that croak along the Stygian coasts, 
 The thousand souls in one crazed vessel steer'd, 
 Not boys believe, save boys without a beard. 
 y Caesar, apud Sallust. B. C. c. 50. Cic. pro Cluent. 
 c.61. 
 
 x 
 
306 LECTURE VII. 
 
 neglect. The gods revenged themselves 
 with pestilence, famine, and conflagration, 
 with earthquakes, or defeat in war. The 
 oracles were rarely questioned, and never 
 returned answer, except when consulted on 
 temporal affairs. Pluto received few heca- 
 tombs, and the inexorable Fates were pro- 
 pitiated by no offerings. This deficiency 
 in the popular creed philosophy had in 
 vain attempted to supply, and legislation 
 endeavoured in vain to establish by its 
 edicts truths which were so loosely rooted 
 in the hearts of the people. Here then, it 
 is urged with considerable plausibility, the 
 apostles fortunately intervened ; this space 
 in the human mind being vacant and un- 
 occupied, they seized upon and secured it 
 as their own. Here was the excitement ; it 
 went deeper than the superficial bodily 
 feelings; the mental passions of curiosity 
 and apprehension concerning the future, 
 religious terror and religious hope, were the 
 strings with which they governed the hearts 
 of their followers. Death swallowed up in 
 victory, and the promise of life eternal, 
 needed no corroborative testimony ; such 
 
LECTURE VII. 307 
 
 momentous truths carried conviction to the 
 willing heart, immediately that they were 
 boldly and distinctly announced 2 . 
 . But in the first place, however it may 
 have operated in their intercourse with the 
 Gentiles, the doctrine of the resurrection 
 had no novelty which could command the 
 attention or flatter the pride of the Jews, 
 among whom, except the Sadducees, it was 
 already an established and universal tenet. 
 It is good, says the martyred youth to his 
 persecutor in the apocryphal book of the 
 Maccabees, being put to death by mien, to look 
 for hope from God to be 7*aised up again 
 by him : as for thee, thou shalt have no re- 
 surrection to life a . / know that he shall rise 
 again in the resurrection at the last day b , 
 are the words of Martha concerning Laza- 
 rus, before she knew that Christ was the re- 
 surrection and the life c . Of the hope and re- 
 surrection of the dead, I am called in ques- 
 tion, exclaims Paul on one occasion; and 
 immediately the Pharisaic part of his audi- 
 ence, supposing that he alludes to the com- 
 
 7 Compare Gibbon, ch. 15. a 2 Mace. vii. 14. 
 
 b John xi. 24. c Acts xxiii. 6. 
 
 x2 
 
308 LECTURE VII. 
 
 mon belief, espouse his cause. The apo- 
 tles offered to their countrymen, only in a 
 new and unpalatable manner, that which 
 was already their patrimony and birthright. 
 For while the looser supposed that as chil- 
 dren of Abraham they were inevitably pre- 
 destined to eternal life d , and the more rigid 
 rested their security on their legal obedi- 
 ence, the Christians annulled both claims ; 
 and loaded the tenet, of itself so popular, 
 with terms which made it both improbable 
 and odious. Immortality brought to light 
 by Jesus, was not the immortality on 
 which they calculated. What constituted 
 its soundest proof was to them a fatal ob- 
 jection. They could see their way clearly 
 into Abraham's bosom, but when it was ne- 
 cessary to pass and adore the cross of Christ, 
 they turned indignantly aside. Sealed al- 
 ready for everlasting bliss by outward cir- 
 cumcision, they would not hear of the in- 
 ward circumcision of the heart. 
 
 II. As concerns the Gentiles, we may in- 
 quire how the earliest authoritative assur- 
 
 d See note to Lecture VI. p. 955. 
 
LECTURE VII. 309 
 
 ance of this doctrine came to be received 
 from a quarter so odious and unpopular. 
 How was it, that a tenet, which philosophy 
 had in vain attempted to plant as an active 
 principle in the mind, and which, by ap- 
 pealing to the same pride and the same pas- 
 sions, it had endeavoured to establish with 
 the acuteness of its most subtle, and the 
 exquisite elegance of its most polished 
 writers, now, that it had been almost root- 
 ed out by the more successful doctrines of 
 the later Epicureanism, on the mere dog- 
 matic assertion, the ipse dixit, of these ram- 
 bling Jews, became the deliberate creed of 
 multitudes ? How did Peter and Paul thus 
 put to shame Socrates and Plato ? In Athens 
 itself, this rude and unpolished orator not 
 merely obtains a hearing, but makes prose- 
 lytes. If the mind of man were so prone 
 to this belief, why was it obviously losing 
 rather than gaining ground? If the accept- 
 ability secured the reception of the doctrine, 
 how was this the period, and these obscure 
 individuals the teachers, who first governed 
 the human mind by the inculcation of such 
 notions, so as to convince men by thou- 
 
 X o 
 
310 LECTURE VII. 
 
 sands, and retain them in the obedience 
 implied in their belief? Those writers, who, 
 like Chubb and Bolingbroke, have pretend- 
 ed to detect a discrepancy between the doc- 
 trines of the primitive apostles and Paul, 
 have never, I believe, asserted the resurrec- 
 tion to be one of these adscititious tenets. 
 Indeed without the resurrection, Chris- 
 tianity is no religion at all. Neither the 
 truth itself therefore, nor the manner of 
 announcing it, was invented or first adopted 
 by the enlightened scholar of Gamaliel. But 
 where did the others learn it? From their 
 master ? But clearly the fact on which the 
 whole doctrine rested, as I have before 
 shewn, was not believed by the apostles 
 during the life-time of Christ. Did then 
 this truth, perhaps I should say the mode 
 of inculcating it successfully, after having 
 eluded the grasp of the sages in the Ly- 
 ceum, or the schools of Alexandria, sud- 
 denly burst on these fishermen, as they 
 were dragging their nets by the lake of 
 Gennesareth, or the publican in the receipt 
 of custom, or rather on the assemblage of 
 such men, when they were lamenting their 
 
LECTURE VII. 311 
 
 murdered teacher, and trembling for their 
 own lives ? Infidelity has been accustomed 
 to trace this doctrine in a strange circle. 
 The Jews, it is said, either received it from 
 their Platonizing brethren in Alexandria, 
 or drew it, during the captivity, from the 
 same fountain with Plato and Pythagoras, 
 the oriental theology. Jesus and his apo- 
 stles merely adopted the current belief of 
 their country, and promulgated it with suc- 
 cess among the Greeks and other heathens, 
 Thus then, a doctrine which either with its 
 original inventors, or its earlier teachers, 
 was ineffective, and comparatively uninflu- 
 ential, from the suffrages of a few despised 
 and odious Jews suddenly became the at- 
 tractive article of a creed, which convinced 
 the reason, and subjugated the conscience 
 of incalculable multitudes. For, III. how- 
 ever the doctrine itself might account for 
 its being received speculatively, we have 
 still to explain its practical triumph over 
 the depraved and ungodly will. The re- 
 surrection of the Christian was a resurrec- 
 tion perhaps to eternal life, perhaps to eter- 
 nal death. Human responsibility was inse- 
 
 x 4 
 
312 LECTURE VIL 
 
 parable from human immortality. It is 
 appointed unto men once to die, and after 
 that the judgment. It was no certain and 
 secure paradise, rich with all the luxuries, 
 and dependant on the unalterable fatalism 
 of the Mahometan : it was not an aristo- 
 cratic Elysium of the brave and mighty ; 
 
 "lvot 7rsp TtotuiKB 'A^AAea, 
 
 It was attained, though purchased by the 
 blood of Christ, by faithful, diligent, and 
 incessant service on the part of man. I 
 will assert further, it was assured by no 
 sensible revelation of personal election ; no 
 external rite secured it, no internal inspi- 
 ration ratified it. Some did fall away, all 
 were in danger of falling. It was a hope, 
 but no more than a hope in the best ; it 
 was controlled and subdued even in the 
 apostles themselves by the consciousness of 
 human infirmity, and a profound sense of 
 the magnitude of the temptations by which 
 they were environed. It is not sufficient 
 to prove that the rewards of the new reli- 
 gion were attractive ; were the means of 
 attaining these rewards equally so ? The 
 
LECTURE VII. 313 
 
 doctrine of a future state, which should 
 offer a compromise for the strict fulfilment 
 of the moral duties, would find, no doubt, 
 ready acceptance. Indulge the pride of 
 the intellect, without controlling the pas- 
 sions of the heart, and proselytes will crowd 
 the temple. But the immortality of the soul, 
 as taught by the apostles, was too unaccom- 
 modating; too much encumbered with li- 
 mitations ; jarred too much with other pro- 
 pensities of our nature ; required too se- 
 vere and too long a discipline : if it offered 
 remission of sins for the past, it permitted 
 no latitude for the future. The sacrifice 
 was immediate and certain, the reward re- 
 mote and contingent. But if the apostles, 
 themselves designing men, foresaw or found 
 by experience the extensive influence of 
 this article in their creed, why did they 
 load it with the demand of a purity, a 
 disinterestedness, an humility, a charity, 
 which while it was the most difficult test 
 of sincerity, was neither attractive in itself, 
 nor easily ascertained by their teachers. If 
 authority over the minds of their follow- 
 ers was their object, a pharisaic ceremonial, 
 
314 LECTURE VII. 
 
 or an asceticism, like that of the Esse- 
 nes, would have given them a more entire 
 sovereignty. Surely it is unreasonable to 
 conclude that they governed men through 
 their hopes and fears, unless we can shew, 
 first, how they obtained that despotic do- 
 minion ; and secondly, the more extraor- 
 dinary fact, how they came not to abuse or 
 push their power into extremes. Gibbon 
 has asserted, that, as taught by the Chris- 
 tians, " the doctrine of a future life was 
 " improved by every additional circum- 
 " stance, which could give weight and effi- 
 " cacy to that important truth e ." Was its 
 inseparable connection with the sacrifice of 
 Christ, the redemption through the blood 
 of a crucified Redeemer, among the cir- 
 cumstances which favoured its reception 
 among Jews and heathens, to whom the 
 cross was alike a scandal and rock of of- 
 fence? Was the attainment to its rewards 
 only by means of a strict and self-denying 
 life, what recommended it to a generation in 
 the lowest state of depravity, and given up 
 to the evil heart of unbelief? Or the resur- 
 
 * Ch. XV. 
 
LECTURE VII. 315 
 
 rection of the body, a tenet in direct oppo- 
 sition to every philosophical system, but 
 which was the foundation, on which the 
 whole Christian scheme rested? On this 
 point bishop Watson has observed with his 
 characteristic vigour, " that this corporeal 
 " frame which is hourly mouldering away, 
 " and resolved at last to the undistinguish- 
 " ed elements from which it was at first 
 " derived, should ever be clothed with im- 
 " mortality, that this corruptible should put 
 "on incorruption, is a truth so far removed 
 " from the apprehension of philosophical re- 
 " search, so dissonant from the common con- 
 " ceptions of mankind, that amongst all ranks 
 " and persuasions of men, it was esteemed an 
 " impossible thing. At Athens, the philoso- 
 " phers had listened with patience to Paul, 
 " whilst they conceived him but a setter forth 
 " of strange gods ; but as soon as they com- 
 " prehended that by the avuo-Tao-if, he meant 
 " the resurrection, they turned from him 
 " with contempt f ." This effect, either from 
 his natural penetration or from experience, 
 Paul must have anticipated ; but he will nei- 
 
 f Apology, Letter III. 
 
316 LECTURE VII. 
 
 ther dissemble nor disguise it ; this is inva- 
 riably the prominent topic of his teaching ; 
 on this the glory of his Master is at stake, 
 the whole religion of the crucified Re- 
 deemer at issue. For, after all, IV. the 
 immortality of the soul, as preached by the 
 apostles, was not a question of feeling or 
 persuasion, but of fact. The apostles rea- 
 soned, it is true, and moved the hearts of 
 men by their reasoning; but the validity 
 of their conclusions avowedly depended on 
 one plain circumstance, which either had 
 or had not taken place. If Christ rose not 
 from the dead, then is our preachhig vain, 
 and your hope also is vain. The most mi- 
 serable and outcast being upon earth would 
 scarcely have been content with the assur- 
 ance of his equality in the sight of God, 
 and his certainty of favourable acceptance 
 with the Redeemer, without proof of the 
 sincerity and credibility of those who thus 
 addressed him : " Bear all your miseries with 
 " patience, take up your cross with cheerful 
 " resignation, thank God for your afflictions, 
 " embrace the self-denying religion, and, if 
 " you fulfil the conditions imposed by the 
 
LECTURE VII. 317 
 
 " pure and holy law of the Gospel, you will 
 " obtain reward after this life." " But was 
 " there such a person as Christ? did he work 
 "miracles? did he rise from the dead? are 
 " these, who assure me that he did, credible 
 " witnesses? have they proofs of their divine 
 " mission ?" Unless these questions could be 
 answered to his satisfaction, however high- 
 ly bribed by the apparent sublimity, and 
 the consolations imparted through these 
 doctrines, would a rational being have em- 
 braced the faith of Christ ? Or grant that 
 here and there a dying man, under the 
 vague apprehension of future retribution, 
 might have desperately caught at this 
 stay; that a few disappointed or suffering 
 wretches might have fled to this asylum, 
 and refused to question its privilege of 
 protection ; that some enthusiastic visiona- 
 ries might have felt, or fancied that they 
 felt, internal emotions, which convinced 
 them of their divine inspiration ; is it con- 
 ceivable, that multitudes in the prime of 
 life, the height of the passions, the period 
 of mature and sober reason, in Jerusalem 
 and Samaria, in Syria and Babylonia, in 
 the wild regions of Pontus and Galatia, in 
 
318 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Asia Minor and Greece, in Athens, in Co- 
 rinth, in Rome, should believe what was 
 demonstrable without demonstration, sim- 
 ply because they wished to believe it ; that 
 they should live like saints, and die like 
 martyrs, for the sake of a doctrine, which, 
 if a certain man, within a few years, after 
 having been publicly crucified, had not 
 risen from the grave, the very teachers 
 themselves of this future life declared to 
 be groundless, unwarranted, and hopeless. 
 Either way then, whether the apostles re- 
 lied on this doctrine, as on the instrument 
 by which they expected to overthrow the 
 ancient superstition, designing men would 
 never have chosen, or certainly would never 
 have adhered to so unpopular a mode of 
 enforcing it : or if we suppose their success 
 a contingency, which accidentally arose out 
 of their possession of this valuable secret, 
 humanly speaking, the influence of the doc- 
 trine must have been neutralized, consider- 
 ing those to whom it was addressed, by the 
 strangeness of the fact, on which it de- 
 pended, and the rigour of the terms on 
 which it was offered. 
 
 Nor was this the only point on which the 
 
LECTURE VII. 319 
 
 uncompromising manner, in which the apo- 
 stles announced their doctrines, implies their 
 disregard of human assistance in the fur- 
 therance of their views. The world offered 
 other means of advancing their cause, which 
 they either neglected with unaccountable 
 blindness, or refrained from with unaccount- 
 able prudence. Indeed, among the tempta- 
 tions incident to their mission, none could 
 be more dangerous than that which would 
 persuade them to run any risk, or adopt 
 any line of conduct, however unworthy, for 
 the establishment of their faith. By their 
 own account they were still liable to hu- 
 man passions ; from their history, we see 
 that remarkable collisions of opinion and 
 differences of feeling rose up amongst them ; 
 they make no needless display of courage, 
 Paul escapes persecution by asserting his 
 right as a free-born Roman, and saves his 
 life by an appeal to Caesar. He adopts the 
 principle of expediency so far as an unne- 
 cessary conformity both in his own person 
 and that of Timothy to Jewish prejudice ; 
 but beyond these points no prospect of ad- 
 vantage, no hope of advancing their faith^ 
 
320 LECTURE VII. 
 
 induces them to court popularity, or be- 
 trays them into the least indiscretion. On 
 one point especially it appears to me that 
 these uneducated and ardent adventurers 
 displayed remarkable sagacity, and ab- 
 stained from a course of proceeding, which, 
 however perilous, might have tempted men 
 of equal intrepidity and zeal, but less pru- 
 dence and moderation. To the lower or- 
 ders of society, particularly that vast num- 
 ber who groaned under the burden of ser- 
 vitude g , always oppressive, sometimes ex- 
 tremely cruel, a religion which proclaimed 
 equality in the sight of God, and an equal 
 share in the posthumous rewards of the 
 Christian, must have been peculiarly ac- 
 ceptable. Here however was a most dan- 
 gerous opening for intriguing men, deter- 
 mined at all hazards to advance their cause ; 
 here was a gulf into which blind fanatics 
 would inevitably have plunged. The most 
 ambiguous intimation of political, while 
 they were openly announcing spiritual equal- 
 ity, the least indiscretion of language, the 
 
 s See Jortin, note to Discourse III. on the Treatment 
 of the Slaves among the Romans. 
 
LECTURE VII. 321 
 
 slightest exaggeration of their avowed te- 
 nets, might have thrown the whole slave 
 population into their scale. I do not mean 
 that they were likely to raise the standard 
 of insurrection ; though with their real or 
 supposed power of working wonders, they 
 would have been no despicable leaders of 
 such a sedition ; and it is singular, that 
 Florus relates of the great chieftain in the 
 servile war, that he maintained his au- 
 thority by the reputation of supernatural 
 power b . But that, touching as they did 
 the verge of the most dangerous doctrines 1 , 
 
 h Syrus quidem nomine Funus, (magnitudo cladis facit, 
 ut meminerimus,) fanatico furore simulate, dum Syrise 
 dea? comas jactat, ad libertatem et arma servos, quasi 
 numinum imperio, concitavit ; idque ut divinitus fieri pro- 
 baret, in ore abdita nuce quam sulphure et igne stipave- 
 rat, leniter inspirans, flammam inter verba fundebat. 
 Florus, Hist III. 19. 
 
 It is a curious coincidence that the Jewish rebel and 
 false Messiah, Barchocab, (the son of the Star,) made use 
 of a similar trick : " Atque ut ille Barchocebas, autor 
 " seditionis Judaicae, stipulam in ore succensam anhelitu 
 " ventilabat, ut flammas evomere putaretur." Hieron. 
 Apol. II. m Riif. 
 
 ■ Dicta est aliquando in senatu sententia, ut servos a 
 liberis cultus distingueret ; deinde apparuit, quantum pe- 
 riculum immineret, si servi nostri numerare nos coepis- 
 sent. Seneca cle Clem, I. 24. 
 
 Y 
 
322 LECTURE VII. 
 
 they should not even incur a suspicion of 
 this kind from their watchful antagonists, 
 considering how keenly alive the minds of 
 the higher orders were to their danger ; 
 that the countrymen of Theudas, and Ju- 
 das the Galilaean, and a host of seditious re- 
 bels, should neither be misunderstood by 
 their own converts, nor misrepresented by 
 their enemies ; that they should preach to 
 the poor, without inflaming their passions, 
 and without exciting the jealousy of the 
 rich ; that their philanthropy should so ri- 
 gidly confine its views to the moral and re- 
 ligious improvement of mankind, and look 
 either with calm indifference, or the me- 
 lancholy consciousness of their inability to 
 afford any alleviation, on the sufferings of 
 this degraded class k ; that they should not 
 
 See Tacitus, Ann. IV. 27. and the remarkable speech 
 of C. Cassius, XV. 23. who enlarges on the danger with 
 the trembling anxiety of a modern West India proprietor. 
 
 The wise laws of Hadrian, for the improvement of the 
 condition of the slaves, were probably rather extorted 
 from the fears of the politician, than voluntarily conceded 
 by the benevolence of the philanthropist. 
 
 k It would be an interesting inquiry, when and in what 
 manner Christianity first interfered directly with the con- 
 dition of slaves. St. Chrysostom, inveighing against the 
 
LECTURE VII. 323 
 
 merely hold out no hope of future eman- 
 cipation, but enforce obedience to their 
 masters on their own slave converts l ; all 
 this is remarkable, the more so, as their 
 countrymen the Essenes, according to Phi- 
 lo m , declared the unlawfulness of slavery, 
 as an impious violation of the natural equal- 
 ity of mankind. Prudence suggested pre- 
 cisely the course they followed ; but this 
 prudence is by far the most inexplicable 
 
 possession of a number of slaves, only reproves it as a 
 mark of unchristian pomp and luxury. By the Apostolic 
 Constitutions, Can. LXXXII. slaves could not be or- 
 dained. Slaves of Christian masters were to be exhorted 
 to obedience. Those of Christian masters, when con- 
 verted, were to bring certificates from their masters, who 
 were also laid under religious obligation to instruct their 
 slaves, and bring them to baptism. See Bingham's Antiq. 
 IV. 4. 2. Compare Grotius, de Jure Bell. III. 7. 9. 
 
 1 Servants, (slaves,) be obedient to them that are your 
 masters, according' to thejlesh, with fear and trembling, 
 in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ, Ephes. vi. 5. 
 Compare Col. iii. 22. Tit. ii. 9. 1 Pet. ii. 18. also Epist. 
 to Philemon. 
 
 rn AovXog $s Trap uvTolg ovhs elg \vriv, uK\ J hheuQspoi 7raVre£, 
 uv^wnoupyauvreg oi\\Y)\oi$. KctTctyww<rx.ov<rl re rchv $z<T%0Taiv 9 
 ov povov cog o&Uwv, \gotv\tc*. Xv[Maivo[xivoov, oiKXa. xoti cog ucrsfSoov 
 Qscrpov tyvazcog ctvaipovvTCov >j TruvTctg oftolcog ysvvYi<rcc<rcc xou 
 Qps^a(Tot, firjTpos V\Kf\v, cog ut)s\<povg yv^aiovg ov Xsyopivovg, ol\\ 
 ovrug ovroog dneipyao-ciTO. Philo quod omnis Probus Liber. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 LECTURE VII. 
 
 part of their character, if considered as 
 without commission or guidance from Hea- 
 ven. It could not be timidity ; for to ad- 
 vance their cause they would confront 
 every peril, and cheerfully surrender them- 
 selves to the dungeon, the scourge, and the 
 stake. If it was wisdom, it was incom- 
 patible with blind enthusiasm ; if it was 
 craft, the same craft would have modified 
 other parts of their conduct, repressed 
 their burning zeal, and shewed them a less 
 difficult and safer way to ease and distinc- 
 tion. 
 
 Here then I make my stand, and assert, 
 that men, mad enough to embark without 
 warrant in such an enterprise, would never 
 have conducted it with so much dexterity 
 and prudence. I argue that their disdain 
 of these obvious means of extending their 
 influence, and increasing their sect, implies 
 a confidence in other means of persuasion, 
 concerning which, if they could delude 
 others, they could not delude themselves. 
 The impostor would not have been scrupu- 
 lous, nor the enthusiast cautious in his 
 choice of means : It is not lawful to do evil 
 
LECTURE VII. 325 
 
 that good may come, is too lofty a maxim 
 for a knave, too wise for a fanatic. In all 
 their continued path along the edge of a 
 precipice, they never lose their balance. 
 They are neither intoxicated by success, 
 nor hurried into precipitancy by opposi- 
 tion. But every instance of their pru- 
 dence, their success itself, makes it more 
 improbable that they should set forth as 
 teachers of a new religion without rational 
 grounds ; every proof of sane and sober 
 conduct heightens their value, as credible 
 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. 
 
 It is not enough to assert that the pru- 
 dence of their conduct and the adaptation of 
 their tenets to the mind of man forced their 
 religion upon the world ; we must reconcile 
 their prudence with their unwarranted am- 
 bition ; explain how they came to strike 
 out this new and triumphant system of 
 doctrine. It is not satisfactory to prove 
 that the world was in some degree prepared 
 for their reception, unless we can provide 
 them with adequate means for subduing 
 the hostile array of vices, passions, opinions, 
 prejudices, interests, superstitions, which it 
 
 y 3 
 
826 LECTURE VII. 
 
 still opposed; and account for their avoiding 
 all dangers and all temptations. What 
 those means were, I am at a loss to conceive, 
 unless the fulfilment of their master's pro- 
 mise : These signs shall follow them that 
 believe ; In my name shall they cast out de- 
 vils ; they shall speak with new tongues; 
 they shall take up serpents; and if they 
 drink any deadly things it shall not hurt 
 them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and 
 they shall recover n . 
 
 How they attained to that wisdom, of 
 which their success is an irrefragable proof, 
 unless by the constant illumination of the 
 Holy Spirit, I am equally at a loss to con- 
 jecture. Exclude the Deity, nothing is ex- 
 plicable, conceivable, or credible ; acknow- 
 ledge Christ the power of God and the ivis- 
 dom of God, all is at once clear, rational, 
 and satisfactory. 
 
 « Mark xvi. 17, 18. 
 
LECTURE VIIL 
 
 1 Cor. xv. 19. 
 
 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, ive 
 are of all men most miserable. 
 
 JCi VEN if we could have discovered human 
 causes adequate to the success of the apo- 
 stles ; if we could have made out a plausible 
 case to account for their triumph, when 
 once embarked in the undertaking, it would 
 still be necessary to divine adequate mo- 
 tives, which could have induced them to 
 commence and persevere in their design. 
 I see not one daring and eccentric adven- 
 turer set forth on a dazzling though des- 
 perate enterprise, but a number of men, 
 suddenly seized with an unmeasured am- 
 bition, confederated for a similar object, 
 and proceeding with patient and resolute 
 perseverance towards their end. I see them 
 all sacrificing ease, comfort, useful occupa- 
 
 Y 4 
 
328 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 tions, the certainty of subsistence, even their 
 domestic ties, some indeed more splendid 
 prospects, to become itinerant teachers, 
 inured to hardships, literally taking no 
 thought for the morrow, committing them- 
 selves to the care and to the uncertain 
 support of strangers. I see them set forth, 
 unless by divine inspiration, or by assiduous 
 labour, ignorant, or imperfectly acquainted 
 with the languages of those whom they are 
 to address. I see them set forth, if blind 
 to some of these difficulties, yet with these 
 difficulties confronting them on the thresh- 
 old of their undertaking, and multiplying 
 on all sides as they advance. Not one, as far 
 as we can ascertain, recedes ; no false, no 
 irresolute, no perverse, no weary and dis- 
 satisfied brother is estranged or alienated. 
 Their Master had selected twelve, and one 
 of them was a devil ; but Judas is the only 
 traitor; the memory of Jesus is of geater au- 
 thority than his personal presence. While 
 great and apparently uncontemplated inno- 
 vations take place in the design, while old 
 prejudices are violently called into action, 
 while differences of opinion and direct op- 
 
LECTURE VIII. 329 
 
 position occur, there is no long or irrecon- 
 cilable schism in the apostolic body. Their 
 task appears to cease only with their lives ; 
 having achieved victory to a certain point, 
 they are not content to repose upon their 
 trophies and enjoy either the well-earned 
 relaxation or the pride of success. In in- 
 cessant activity they press onward; their 
 dangers by no means decrease, nor do their 
 toils lighten. Their life is thus described 
 by one of their body, addressing those 
 who must have been so intimately acquaint- 
 ed with his history and his usual mode of 
 living, as to detect any falsehood, and refuse 
 credit to any heightened or exaggerated 
 statement : In joumeyings often, in perils 
 of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
 mine own countrymen, in perils by the hea- 
 then, in perils in the city, in perils in the 
 wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils 
 among false brethren ; in weariness and 
 painfidness, in watchings often, in hunger 
 and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
 nakedness a . All this is voluntarily braved, 
 
 a 2 Cor. xi. 26, 27. 
 
330 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 and undergone without hope of cessation, 
 or rather with an acknowledged certainty 
 of its continuance. But I see all this intre- 
 pidity and endurance united with modera- 
 tion, common sense, and reasonableness ; 
 no extravagance, no paroxysms of bodily 
 emotion, no Bacchic fury, no prophetic agi- 
 tation, no self-inflicted tortures, no flagella- 
 tions, no intoxication of the mind by the 
 high-wrought anguish of the body. They 
 affect no philosophic contempt of pain, they 
 do not deny it to be an evil. They calmly 
 estimate their present sufferings against 
 their future reward ; For our light affliction, 
 ivhich is but for a moment, worketh for us 
 a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
 glory b ; they are fully alive to the wretch- 
 edness of their situation ; If in this life only 
 ive have hope in Christ, we are of all men 
 most miserable: they are not actuated by 
 the desperate conviction that they have of- 
 fended beyond all hope of impunity : it is 
 in their power at any instant to retract or 
 recede; If the dead rise not at all, why stand 
 
 »> 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 331 
 
 we in jeopardy every hour? I see them, 
 while thus the victims of persecution, ex- 
 torting the admission of their purity and 
 blamelessness from their most inveterate 
 enemies. I see them converting thousands, 
 yet preserving their humility, as superior to 
 the pride of success as to the despondency 
 of partial failure. Finally, 1 see them, if 
 all not actually submitting to martyrdom, 
 proclaiming aloud that they should consider 
 it gain to die for Christ ; and perpetually 
 in situations where their escape is far more 
 improbable than their death. Nevertheless, 
 they do not with blind and obstinate zeal 
 wantonly and unnecessarily provoke the 
 anger of their persecutors ; they do not de- 
 cline any prudent or lawful means of extri- 
 cating themselves from their dangers, nor 
 with the rash and unwarrantable insolence 
 of some among the later martyrs, do they 
 irritate those who have the power of life 
 and death. Having seen all this, to the 
 extreme extent of my information, I search 
 the annals of mankind for precedent, to the 
 utmost limits of my philosophy, I investi- 
 gate the human mind to discover any 
 
332 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 possible actuating principle for such con- 
 duct. 
 
 I. In history I observe many cases in 
 some respects analogous, none similar ; ap- 
 parent precedents, which however, on closer 
 examination, turn out to be totally opposite 
 and contradictory. 
 
 If I look to the religious revolution 
 brought about by the apostles, I find men 
 in different ages, like Zoroaster, Confucius, 
 Budh, Numa, Mango Capac, who either by 
 the superiority of their natural talents, or 
 by pretended intercourse with the divinity, 
 have wrought great and beneficial changes 
 in the moral and religious condition of their 
 countrymen. But these are either in ob- 
 scure or barbarous periods, or among na- 
 tions but imperfectly civilized. I have no 
 authentic records to inform me of the causes 
 of their success, but still I have no difficulty 
 in accounting for it. Whether these men 
 assumed the character of delegates from 
 heaven, for the purpose of thus establishing 
 more firmly their useful institutions, or the 
 blind admiration and gratitude of their 
 age forced it upon them, the darkness of 
 
LECTURE VIII. 333 
 
 the period, and the ignorance of the people 
 among whom they respectively lived, justify 
 me in attributing their success to causes 
 purely natural. They were obviously men 
 far superior to their age, and if by their 
 mental preeminence, their virtue, know- 
 ledge, or wisdom, they shall have succeeded 
 in obtaining love and reverence, adoration, 
 or even deification, would naturally follow- 
 But Christianity appears at a period of the 
 world when civilization was far advanced. 
 In this case it is the inferior in knowledge, 
 letters, the useful arts, in every thing in 
 short, except in the mysteries of their reli- 
 gion, which converts the enlightened, the 
 philosophic, the instructed part of the com- 
 munity. It is the barbarian teaching the 
 civilized world; the odious and despised 
 extorting submission from those who were 
 in universal honour and estimation ; the 
 qffscouring of the world bringing the world 
 into subjection. 
 
 If, on the other hand, I look to the 
 improbability of the attempt, and the vo- 
 luntary sufferings to which the apostles 
 exposed themselves, I must acknowledge 
 
334 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 that I find the intensity of their afflictions 
 surpassed, and apparently from motives as 
 unaccountable. But still there is the wid- 
 est difference between the analogous cases 
 and that of the primitive teachers of Chris- 
 tianity ; every where else we find some com- 
 mon principle of our nature at work ; some 
 exciting passion adequate to the effect pro- 
 duced. I see, for instance, men for an un- 
 certain and indefinite reward enduring pri- 
 vations and hardships, at least equal in du- 
 ration and severity. The common soldier 
 might often render up as full and dreadful 
 an account of his sufferings. And, reasoning 
 a priori, nothing can appear more extrava- 
 gant and unnatural, than that multitudes of 
 human beings should submit, at the discre- 
 tion and for the advantage of a few, to be shot, 
 spiked, mangled, mutilated, starved, parch- 
 ed, frozen, massacred by ranks and squad- 
 rons. But we know that military glory, the 
 spirit of emulation and adventure, the love 
 of plunder, the exemption from the common 
 toils of industry, have at every period of 
 human history, and in every state of human 
 society stimulated men to this mode of life: 
 
LECTURE VIII. 335 
 
 even on the most forlorn hope, there is still 
 a chance of escape, the possibility of dis- 
 tinction and reward, above all, the animat- 
 ing excitement of rivalry, and the dread of 
 shame and contempt. I read of men en- 
 during, defying, and provoking the most ex- 
 cruciating bodily anguish. The North Ame- 
 rican Indian laughs, while his skin is half 
 torn off by his relentless enemies : but to 
 this spirit he has been schooled from his 
 earliest infancy, inured by example, strung 
 by emulation, and taught to consider it as 
 the height of personal or national pride. 
 The Roman was in the habit of seeing the 
 gladiator daily endure agony equal to that 
 of the Christian martyr, upon whose serene 
 patience he thus learned to look with less 
 surprise or admiration. He had seen the 
 hired slave after hours of agonizing torture, 
 without a shudder, and with a smile of tri- 
 umph, receive the sword in his entrails. But 
 no recantation was offered to the gladiator, 
 he either died animated by the plaudits of 
 the theatre, or was glad to escape from a 
 life of disgraceful exhibition and reiterated 
 misery. The Christian almost at any time 
 
336 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 might suspend his sufferings, or save his 
 life, by a word or even a sign of submission ; 
 his fortitude was animated by no applause, 
 for his sufferings were beheld with aversion 
 or contempt; he had no reason to be ea- 
 ger to shake off a wretched life, for it was 
 his Christianity alone which stood in the 
 way of his return to peace, to respect, or 
 whatever worldly advantages his circum- 
 stances might afford. The self-inflicted suf- 
 ferings of the Faquir in India, and of the 
 Stylites and other Christian fanatics of the 
 fifth and sixth centuries, far transcend the 
 most acute anguish which the apostles could 
 have endured. Every sect, I might also say, 
 every religion, can produce its martyrs. The 
 renunciation of life, the endurance of igno- 
 minious and painful death, appears in every 
 page at least of Christian history. If in the 
 present day religious enthusiasm does not 
 cast its victims to the beasts in the arena, 
 or hang them up naked to the fiery pincers 
 or melted lead of the torturer, yet it exposes 
 them to the long, or even perpetual exile, 
 the slow and malignant fever of pestilential 
 climates, famine, and destitution : yet men 
 
LECTURE VIII. 337 
 
 are not wanting, who cheerfully undergo 
 every privation and hardship, abandon their 
 country, sacrifice their lives in the same 
 cause, and with the same zeal as the apostles. 
 But here likewise the points of difference 
 are obvious. The Faquir and the no less 
 barbarous Christian were repaid by the ad- 
 miration and reverence of multitudes. Ei- 
 ther as impostors or fanatics, their conduct 
 is intelligible; they act upon acknowledged 
 principles. The hereditary creed of one, if 
 he be in earnest, informs him that so much 
 present pain is worth so much future bliss. 
 The monkish self-tormentor was encircled 
 by those who taught, and those who testi- 
 fied by their applauses their belief, that the 
 pains of hell, or purgatory, were to be com- 
 muted for misery in the flesh. It is possi- 
 ble, though far be it from me, especially in 
 this place, to question, that the grace of the 
 Holy Ghost breathed peace and resignation 
 into the dying hearts of Cranmer and Lati- 
 mer ; far be it from me to depreciate the 
 conscientious sincerity of those who may 
 have taken- up their cross in distant regions 
 for a less apostolic faith ; but, arguing with 
 
 z 
 
338 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 the infidel, I could not deny the possibility 
 that these men might be enthusiasts, in- 
 flamed by the desire of emulating the pri- 
 mitive apostles, in admiration of whose cha- 
 racters they had been educated ; the fer- 
 vour, the saintliness, the humility, the re- 
 signation of whose precepts may so have 
 kindled their imagination, as to induce 
 them to suppose themselves under the in- 
 spiration, or especial protection, of divine 
 Providence. For we must recollect that 
 the apostles not only walked by faith, but 
 by sight also. Faith in things unseen may 
 have deluded more recent martyrs ; but 
 Peter and James and Paul exposed them- 
 selves to death, as witnesses of what they 
 had seen and heard, and of facts which 
 came under the unerring cognizance of 
 their senses . The modern missionary is 
 as imperfect an antitype of the apostles; he 
 goes forth, with all the sincere believers in 
 his religion, imploring the blessings of Hea- 
 
 c That which was from the beginning, which we have 
 heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have 
 looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word 
 of life. 1 John i. 1. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 339 
 
 ven on his undertaking. Those with whom 
 the warmth of his zeal has associated him in 
 his native country, if they deplore his loss, 
 yet honour his motives. My mind natu- 
 rally turns to one, well known in this place, 
 who made a cheerful sacrifice of the high- 
 est hopes of distinction ; and if he set forth 
 with the dignity of a Christian bishop, yet 
 with the humble heart of the meanest mis- 
 sionary. Yet he, as all others, must have 
 known, what great things God had done for 
 his Christian people. He was the apostle 
 of a tried and established faith, his was no 
 unprecedented experiment. He was a wit- 
 ness to the beneficial effects of Christianity 
 on the social and moral character of men, 
 and might think it his deliberate duty to look 
 on all mankind as one brotherhood, and to 
 communicate the blessings of his faith, to the 
 utmost extent in his power. But the apostles 
 went forth without proof or experience of 
 the power of their religion, without precedent 
 or example ; they went out, pursued by the 
 obloquy or hatred of their countrymen, to 
 convert strangers, with whom they had nei- 
 ther part nor lot, whom their education had 
 
 z 2 
 
340 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 taught them to consider unclean, and with 
 whom it had prohibited all communication 
 as a crime. As little can we compare with 
 that of the apostles the attempt or the suc- 
 cess of those men, who from time to time, 
 either as unwarranted innovators, or as 
 holy reformers, have kindled the dormant 
 religious enthusiasm of the Christian world. 
 Montanus and Manes, St. Bernard and St. 
 Francis, Arnold of Brescia, and Savonarola, 
 Huss and Jerome of Prague, Wickliffe and 
 Luther, down to John Fox and Wesley, 
 have converted thousands to their peculiar 
 opinions, and in many instances imparted 
 a resolute and persevering zeal not inferior 
 to that of the early Christians. But it is 
 one thing to renew an established, another 
 to establish a new religion. In the former 
 case, the religious feeling, instead of being 
 preoccupied, is predisposed in favour of the 
 zealous innovator. To fertilize an unpro- 
 ductive field, of which the tillage has been 
 neglected, and to clear a jungle in which 
 the thick and obstinate roots have been for 
 ages incorporated with the soil, and make it 
 produce a vigorous and healthful harvest 
 
LECTURE VIII. 341 
 
 requires a different process. The apostles, 
 it has been well observed, "raised Chris- 
 " tianity out of nothing, and against every 
 " thing d ." — The enthusiasm, which these 
 men imparted to their followers, might have 
 been of the same character with that of 
 subsequent Christian zealots ; their own 
 must have been either downright phrensy 
 or divine inspiration. I have no scruple 
 then in concluding, that there is no well 
 authenticated record in history of a number 
 of men, thus unanimously exposing them- 
 selves to privations, hardships, and death, 
 in testimony to facts of which they had 
 the demonstrative evidence of their senses ; 
 and thus in defiance of every prevailing 
 opinion, passion, and prepossession of man- 
 kind, establishing a new, influential, and 
 permanent religion. 
 
 Having failed then in my search after a 
 precedent for the conduct of the primitive 
 apostles, I attempt to ascertain whether 
 any one, or any complication of human mo- 
 tives will account for their undertaking, or 
 carrying through such an enterprise. I 
 
 d By Mr. Sumner, in his Evidences. 
 z 3 
 
342 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 deny not the difficulty, I had almost said, 
 the impossibility of reconciling, with any 
 general system, the infinite variety of feel- 
 ings, affections, and desires, the indefina- 
 ble and contradictory impulses of the will, 
 which excite and neutralize, modify and 
 counterbalance each other. I will admit 
 that the eccentricity of individual charac- 
 ter defies alike the prescience of the most 
 sagacious to anticipate, and the acuteness 
 of the most subtle to trace its aberrations. 
 But a body must be actuated by common 
 principles, a complicated machine work by 
 general rules. Survey then the passions of 
 mankind; select those which could have 
 sent forth designing or ardent men to con- 
 vert the world to a new religion. Begin 
 with the desire of gain. The apostles com- 
 mence with the possession, or at least the 
 direction of a charitable fund ; the control 
 of this they abandon immediately, and of 
 their own accord. They proclaim their 
 right of maintenance by those whom they 
 teach, in practice they renounce this right 6 . 
 
 e Sec 1 Cor. x. 13, 18. 2 Cor. xi. 9. xii. 13. Philipp. 
 iv. 11, 17. 1 Tbess. ii. 9. 2 There, iii. 8. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 343 
 
 They perpetually defy any charge of covet- 
 ousness f ; a subject which they would at 
 least have been prudent enough to avoid, 
 if their consciences had not been clear. 
 While acting and speaking as delegates of 
 Heaven, they continue to exercise their me- 
 chanical craft ; they lafiour, working with 
 their own hands g . He who almost per- 
 suaded Agrippa to be a Christian, and who 
 argued in the Areopagus, returns to his 
 humble vocation, and joins himself with 
 Aquila and Priscilla, to gain his bread by 
 tent-making h . There is good reason for 
 believing, that the embracing Christianity 
 rendered every convert liable to the for- 
 feiture of all his property, a penalty at- 
 tached to excommunication from the syn- 
 agogue l . The Jews moreover had apostles, 
 whose situations, although only agents to 
 the high priests, could scarcely be other- 
 
 f See 1 Thess. ii. 5. compare 1 Cor. v. 9, 10. 2 Pet. 
 ii. 3. but particularly Acts xx. 33, 34. 
 
 S 1 Cor. iv. 12. 
 
 h See Acts xviii. 3. 
 
 > Those that were cast out of the church they deprived 
 of their goods, according to Ezra, vi. 8. Lightfoot on 
 John xvi. 2. 
 
 z 4 
 
344 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 wise than lucrative k . They called by that 
 name those who collected from all quarters 
 the funds for the maintenance of the tem- 
 ple, which w r ere so ample, as to excite the 
 jealousy of Roman financiers 1 . Paul, as 
 one of these agents, and who, as persecutor 
 of the Christians, wpuld have been consider- 
 ed to have deserved the office better, would 
 have had the management of a fund, to 
 which all the charitable donations of the 
 whole Christian body must have been com- 
 paratively insignificant. But poor the apo- 
 stles set forth, poor they lived, and poor 
 
 k Habebant etiam (sc. Judaei) Tiny ^tl*hw vel ^Hp 
 uTtovroXovc i% £xxArj<r/a£, nuncios ccetus, qui mandata de- 
 ferrent ad synagogas, vel pecunias a synagogis Hieroso- 
 lymam, vel victimas et decimas ad sacerdotes ; maxime 
 qui S/fyjap^ov, semisiclum tributum, quotannis ex lege in 
 sacrarium deferendum exigerent. Herm. Witsius. Melet. 
 Leidens. p. 31. 
 
 — uTtaqyoLg 8e lr>j(nou£ elctpspovrcov, l£ obv ccvuyotj<Ti Qvclac, 
 <TTek\ovre$ Upoiro[X7roug e}$ to ev "lspoo~o\6[Aoi$ Ispov. Philo de 
 Legat. p. 593. edit. Mangey. 
 
 1 Cum aurum, Judaeorum nomine, quotannis ex Italia, 
 et ex omnibus provinciis Hierosolyma exportari soleret, 
 Flaceus sanxit edicto, ne ex Asia exportari liceret. Cic. 
 pro Flac. XXVIII. Pcssimus quisque, spretis religioni- 
 bus patriis, tributa et stipes illuc eongerebant ; undc 
 aucta? J udaporum res. Tac. Hist. V. 4. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 345 
 
 they died; and, if actuated by interested 
 views, no men surely so completely coun- 
 teracted their own object, by the precepts 
 which they inculcated, and the life to 
 which, outwardly at least, they pledged 
 themselves by the very first principles of 
 their faith. 
 
 It would be trifling to estimate the pos- 
 sibility of their being actuated by a desire 
 of ease and indulgence, men against whom 
 their most rancorous opponents never ad- 
 vanced the slightest charge of sloth or moral 
 delinquency. But we may find perhaps a 
 higher and more probable motive in the 
 desire of authority. Nothing is more cap- 
 tivating to the human mind than conscious 
 superiority over our fellow-creatures. Whe- 
 ther enslaving the passions, and directing 
 the will of a crowded popular assembly by 
 eloquence ; whether influencing the civil 
 or municipal affairs of a nation or district, 
 by acknowledged sagacity in counsel ; whe- 
 ther from deference to our wealth, author- 
 ity, or good sense, men's opinions take their 
 colour from ours, the mere sensation of 
 power is its own reward. However obtained, 
 
346 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 on a wide or narrow scale, by base or noble 
 means ; be our self-importance flattered by 
 the submission of the wise, or the unrea- 
 soning assent of the vulgar, the love of do- 
 mination is not fastidious ; if it cannot at- 
 tain to the more valuable homage, it will 
 content itself with the humblest gratifica- 
 tion. The commonest impostor feels a vul- 
 gar pride in deluding the gaping multi- 
 tude, whose credulity, if they are once per- 
 suaded of his preternatural power, always 
 keeps pace with, often oversteps the ferti- 
 lity of the impostor's invention. How much 
 greater then and loftier the gratification of 
 presiding over a moral people, and being 
 looked up to by those, who, however in ge- 
 neral undistinguished by rank or situation, 
 by their exemplary virtues, commanded the 
 respect, or at least repelled the obloquy of 
 their bitterest antagonists. But the love of 
 authority can rarely restrain itself within 
 bounds ; it is invariably dictatorial, captious 
 as to minute points of obedience, jealous of 
 any infringement upon its enactments. The 
 apostles in their writings assume no lofty 
 or imperious tone, they exact no homage, 
 
LECTURE VIII. 347 
 
 they demand no personal reverence. Every 
 subsequent exaggeration of the priestly cha- 
 racter, every usurpation on the undele- 
 gated rights of Heaven, every encroachment 
 on the uncommunicated office of the great 
 Judge of all flesh, is the strongest testi- 
 mony to the moderation of the apostles ; 
 and such moderation is absolutely incom- 
 patible with the influence of this inquisito- 
 rial and despotic feeling, which endures no 
 emancipation from its bonds, and resents 
 the slightest resistance to its control, as an 
 insult upon Heaven. Had authority been 
 their motive, in such hands such authority 
 must have been abused. At all events, it 
 would have been the prominent and the 
 perpetual object of their writings, to assert 
 and vindicate this, which at present appears 
 so doubtful and indefinite. 
 
 Let us turn to the desire of posthumous 
 celebrity " The assuring of a lasting re- 
 " putation upon earth, a motive so conge- 
 " nial to the vanity of human nature, often 
 " served to animate the courage of the mar- 
 " tyr." Thus Gibbon. And after the suc- 
 cessful establishment of Christianity, when 
 
348 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 a numerous body enshrined in their recol- 
 lection, embalmed in their hymns, sanctified 
 the relics, visited the sepulchre of the de- 
 parted Christian, this feeling might, and 
 unquestionably did excite the indiscreet, I 
 had almost said, unchristian ardour of those 
 who wantonly provoked the persecutor to 
 the crime of judicial murder, in order that 
 they might secure the palm-crown of the 
 martyr. But when Christianity could 
 scarcely be said to exist, when it had as yet 
 no single record, when there was every 
 human probability that it could not last a 
 century, the mind must indeed have been 
 ardent, which could anticipate an immor- 
 tality of fame from being the victim of 
 some desultory fray between two parties of 
 Jews in some obscure city, or from being 
 cast, one of a gladiatorial hecatomb, to the 
 beasts of the arena. I cannot indeed but 
 be awe-struck at the erring calculations of 
 human ambition. The fate of the early 
 Christians, and their more distinguished 
 cotemporaries, preaches a forcible admo- 
 nition on the uncertainty with which after- 
 ages award their admiration, and disappoint 
 
LECTURE VIII. 349 
 
 the high-raised expectations of the most ce- 
 lebrated in their own day. Doubtless, when 
 Christianity first appeared, those who con- 
 sidered that their names would be perpe- 
 tuated, and demand the homage of future 
 generations, were the consuls, the patriots, 
 the favourites, the philosophers, the poets 
 of Rome. The Suetonii and Agricolas 
 who had earned glory, immortal as it was 
 esteemed, by subduing the Parthian, or ci- 
 vilizing the Briton. The Helvidii and 
 Thraseas, who kept alive the spirit of the 
 old Roman republic, which, if it could not 
 enable them to live with dignity, taught 
 them to die with intrepidity. The Tigel- 
 lini and Sejani, whose celebrity, if less ho- 
 nourable, would live in the lasting execra- 
 tion of mankind, arraigned before the bar of 
 posterity by the sententious sarcasm of the 
 historian, or the sublime moral indignation 
 of the satirist. The Senecas and Lucans, 
 who had enriched with their wisdom, and 
 ennobled with their stately verse, the de- 
 clining days of Roman literature. Among 
 these, as they led the triumph to the Ca- 
 pitol, or toiled through crowding sycophants, 
 
350 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 were seen stealing about with cautious ti- 
 midity, lest they should provoke the con- 
 temptuous spurn, some poor men of the 
 most despicable race upon earth, dragged 
 perhaps to prison, without exciting the 
 commiseration, or even the notice of the 
 multitude. Yet of the former, how large a 
 portion of the world is entirely ignorant ; 
 while the names of Peter and Paul are 
 spoken with signs of the profoundest re- 
 verence in regions, rather I would say in 
 worlds, unknown to Rome ; hallow the 
 most splendid edifices, and even cities; while 
 their writings are multiplied into countless 
 languages, and received as the authoritative 
 moral laws of innumerable people. Little 
 did Gallio think, when the destitute and 
 friendless Paul stood before his throne, that 
 the brother of Seneca 111 , and the object of 
 the panegyric of Statius n , would be chiefly 
 
 m Solebam tibi dicere, Gallionem fratrem nieum (quern 
 nemo non parum amat; etiam qui amare plus non pot- 
 est) alia vitia non nosse, hoc etiam odisse. Nemo enim 
 mortalium uni tarn dulcis est, quam hie omnibus. Senec. 
 Pr&f. ad Nat. Qucest. Compare Dio Cass. lib. LX. 
 
 n Hoc plusquam Senecam dedisse mundo 
 
 Et dulcem ^enerasse Gallionem. StsL Sglo. II. 7. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 351 
 
 known to posterity, as connected with the 
 history of that disregarded criminal, whose 
 cause appeared beneath his cognizance. 
 
 To return from this digression. In the 
 apostolic days, of all desires that of posthu- 
 mous fame must have been the most ground- 
 less and inconceivable. Indeed these two lat- 
 ter motives are only different modifications 
 of ambition ; but to the predominance of 
 this motive, under any form, there is another 
 insuperable objection. I mean their total 
 sacrifice of their own celebrity to that of 
 their Master, and the manner in which they 
 sink every personal consideration. God for- 
 bid, is their continual language, that I should 
 glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ. Am- 
 bitious men! whose ambition made them 
 submit to every sacrifice, endure every toil, 
 confront every danger, yet the height of 
 whose glory was to be considered faithful 
 servants. We preach not ourselves, but 
 Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your 
 servants for Jesus' sake. Was this ostenta- 
 tious humility? The title of the servant of 
 the servants of God has been abused by the 
 rankest pride of the human heart, and pre- 
 
352 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 faced the anathema, which was to shake 
 kings from their thrones. But with the 
 apostles it was accompanied with every sign 
 of the most profound and sincere abasement 
 of heart, and the subordination of every 
 thought, w r ord, and action, to the single pur- 
 pose of advancing their Master's glory. I 
 aim at no paradox ; but when by their mi- 
 raculous, or apparently miraculous powers, 
 Paul and Barnabas had extorted divine ho- 
 nours from the mistaken barbarians, if they 
 had humoured the deception, and received 
 the offered homage, they might have found 
 precedents in the heathen annals for such 
 conduct. They degrade themselves at once 
 to the level of those that worship them, We 
 are men of like passions with yourselves ; 
 they renounce with devout horror every 
 sign of personal respect ; in this, as in all 
 instances, they are as inferior to the intox- 
 ication of pride, as to that of power. Re- 
 concile this unaffected modesty, this uni- 
 form self-depression, this total disregard 
 of personal aggrandizement, the abasing ac- 
 knowledgement of their own infirmities 
 and sins, with the daring love of distinc- 
 
LECTURE VIII 353 
 
 tion, or any ambitious motive whatever, 
 which could induce the apostles to travel 
 through the world, announcing themselves 
 the appointed ministers of the crucified 
 Jesus. 
 
 Thus we are equally baffled in our search 
 for precedent, and in our endeavour to trace 
 a possible human motive for the conduct of 
 the apostles. The question then comes to 
 this ; Did they believe, or did they not be- 
 lieve? If they did not believe, what was 
 their object? what induced them to rush 
 on such dangers, to persevere through such 
 trials, to confront such difficulties, with 
 which, even if they did not foresee them, 
 they must immediately have become ac- 
 quainted by bitter experience? Why did 
 they live and die, for no end, but that of 
 establishing a new religion, of which all the 
 
 ° "Otolv he YlcwXov T§»js oux sJSoVa civtov, tov oux uxovg caret. 
 avTOv, tov ov \LZTao~yovTct. tyj§ 8i§«<rxaA/a£, tov xu) fxsrcl tqv 
 
 (TTCtUfOV, UUTCO 7roA=jU.OUVT«, TOV UTtOXTlVVVVTCL TOVC £<£ CtVTOV 7Tt(T- 
 
 TsvovTtx;, tov iiuvTOL cruy^sovTct xu) TotpotTTOVTot, tovtov l£«»$v>jc 
 
 [AeTOt(3*(3\Y,lA?V0V } XOU TOiC V7TSp TOU XY}p6y[X0iT0C XOifXOLTOig TTOtp- 
 
 sXao-avrcx. tovc tou Xpio-Tou <$i\ov$, iroiotv efcsig Xoittov, e!x£ /xo», 
 uvoao-^vvTioig Trpo^ucrtv, utho'tmv tu> t>jc otvct<TToc(rect)$ Xoyw ; 
 Chrys. Horn. "Oti SayAoc en e/X7rveW. 
 
 A a 
 
354 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 honour redounded to another, to whom Paul 
 at least was absolutely a stranger, bound by 
 no tie of recollection, by no kindly feeling 
 or familiar intercourse? But, secondly, if 
 they did not believe their own doctrines, 
 did they likewise disbelieve the first princi- 
 ples of natural religion, or those of the law 
 in which they had been educated ? If they 
 believed not Christ, they were impious in 
 proclaiming his Atonement, his Redemp- 
 tion, his Messiahship. The most ambiguous 
 expression, which asserted his equality with 
 the Father, the most remote allusion to his 
 Godhead, was an offence not less heinous 
 than the deification of the most worthless 
 idol, or the most frantic orgies of paganism. 
 There is no alternative; they believed or 
 they blasphemed p . Every day they pro- 
 voked the thunders of the God of heaven, 
 whose name and authority they usurped. 
 They were liars at the time that they ap- 
 pealed to the God of truth. While they 
 were preaching, and in their general conduct 
 practising the most profound humility, all 
 
 P Compare Houteville, Religion prouvee par les Faits. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 255 
 
 this was the rankest hypocrisy ; for they 
 were displaying in fact the most awful pre- 
 sumption. They assumed the sovereign 
 prerogative of the divinity over life and 
 death. What was Peter's speech, when Ana- 
 nias was struck dead; Thou hast not lied unto 
 men, but unto God. If unauthorized by the 
 inspiration of Heaven, could daring impiety 
 imagine a more dreadful profanation ? Had 
 they, I will not say faith, but the slightest 
 apprehension of the possible truth of their 
 own religion? What was the crime of Ko- 
 ran, Dathan, and Abiram, or that of Nadab 
 and Abihu, to theirs, who were thus adding 
 a new law to that which was delivered in 
 thunder on Sinai ? Had they cast off with 
 inconceivable intrepidity, when they would 
 impose Jesus upon the world as the Christ, 
 not merely the principles of faith, but 
 every superstitious terror likewise, in which 
 they had been nursed? Had they (men of 
 that class and character, on whom the reli- 
 gious terrors of popular belief usually re- 
 tain the strongest hold) entirely expelled 
 from their hearts the deep-rooted confi- 
 dence of their countrymen, that the Mes- 
 
 a a 2 
 
356 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 siah was now at hand? Must not the ine- 
 vitable consideration have occurred, that 
 while they w T ere thus daringly deluding, the 
 real Messiah might appear in all his pro- 
 phesied terrors. And, if he should find his 
 place preoccupied by bold and designing 
 men, who were converting the promise of 
 his coming into a source of personal advan- 
 tage or distinction ! If they could for an in- 
 stant have supposed the possibility, that 
 while they were expounding Isaiah in fa- 
 vour of their crucified Master, their better 
 instructed countrymen might after all be 
 more correct, in speaking of him as lite- 
 rally coming from Edom, with dyed garments 
 from Bozrah, and treading the wine-press of 
 his wrath alone! If he should suddenly come 
 to his temple^ and find his sanctuary defiled 
 by the admission of the unclean heathen 
 to the promised privileges of his redemp- 
 tion ! If he should come, not merely as the 
 Deliverer of his people, but the avenger 
 of all blasphemous infringements on the 
 law ! If even in the gloom of the dungeon, 
 or the despondency of some severe afflic- 
 tion, doubt and apprehension should sug- 
 
LECTURE VIII. 357 
 
 gest that this were still possible, how could 
 they avoid or confront, if it should occur, 
 this awful supposition? Add to this, that 
 they walked on the brink of eternity. Every 
 instant they were in danger of being hur- 
 ried out of the world. And whither? Into 
 annihilation or a future state. Into the 
 former ? But what reward would they find 
 there for their labours? what consolation 
 for their self-sought afflictions? what com- 
 pensation for their shortened existence ? 
 was it there that they were to prove that 
 to die for Christ is gam? Into a future 
 state? Then either before the tribunal of 
 the great God of nature, whose name and 
 authority they usurped, or the God of 
 their fathers, whose predestined purposes 
 they had presumed to accomplish according 
 to their own will, and for their own advan- 
 tage. Nor is this yet all. These very men, 
 these impious, these presumptuous blas- 
 phemers, teach a religion of the most exqui- 
 site humility, the most noble self-denial, 
 the most lovely holiness. They first make 
 those discoveries in moral science which 
 are recognized as true by the heart of man : 
 
358 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 they degrade into vices the heathen virtues 
 of pride and revenge ; and exalt in their 
 stead meekness, patience, forgiveness of in- 
 juries, the duty of suffering for our fel- 
 low-creatures : they bring down, if I may so 
 speak, divine charity from heaven. They 
 draw, in short, the character of their Master 
 in a light so amiable, they display so ad- 
 mirable an impersonation of the Deity of 
 love and mercy, that the world is awed, and 
 the more the heart of man is improved and 
 enlightened, the greater the love and ado- 
 ration of God manifest in the flesh through 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 Now take the converse ; they believed, 
 but were deluded into their belief. What 
 all ? on matters of plain fact, which came 
 directly under their senses ? False miracles 
 might impose upon the people, they could 
 not upon those who wrought them. Could 
 the imagination of many men be so heated 
 at once, as to suppose that they saw, and 
 conversed, and eat with a well-known per- 
 son, who had never appeared among them ? 
 They believed that they could speak va- 
 rious languages of which they had not 
 
LECTURE VIIL 359 
 
 learnt a word? They believed that they 
 commanded cripples to walk and were 
 obeyed ? That they proclaimed men under 
 the wrath of God, who obsequiously con- 
 formed to their wishes, and fell dead be- 
 fore them ? Paul believed that he was struck 
 to the earth at noon-day, and heard a dis- 
 tinct and articulate voice, when nothing of 
 the kind had taken place. If they were not 
 liars, were they thus infatuated, and de- 
 prived of their senses, men who at the 
 same time could argue seriously, and con- 
 duct themselves rationally ? For there ap- 
 pears this remarkable difference between 
 the miracles of the apostles and those of 
 our Lord. Except when wrought on in- 
 animate objects, as on the sea which sup- 
 ported him, the water changed into wine, 
 or the fig-tree that withered at his com- 
 mand, Jesus usually required faith as a pre- 
 liminary to his gracious intervention. The 
 wonderful works of the apostles were fre- 
 quently wrought on those who, like the 
 cripple, had no previous warning, and could 
 not have expected a similar blessing : on 
 Paul, who was in a state most opposite to 
 
360 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 confidence in the power of Jesus : on An- 
 anias and Sapphira, and Elymas, who could 
 have had no apprehension whatever of their 
 miraculous punishment. If the apostles 
 could persuade themselves to believe their 
 own miraculous powers, how did they per- 
 suade their antagonists, or persons at least 
 indifferent, to favour their delusion, and 
 maintain them in their continued state of 
 hallucination and error? Thus then it is 
 equally impossible, that, without believing 
 their own doctrines, they should have 
 preached them with success, or that they 
 should have believed them on insufficient 
 and unwarrantable evidence. But if they 
 could not be deceivers or deceived, they 
 must be recognized as the authorized and 
 inspired delegates of the almighty God. 
 
 We have now led forth the apostles 
 from the obscure chamber in which they 
 were met, traced them in their outset, and 
 on their weary and dangerous pilgrimage ; 
 but have found it impossible to urge them 
 onward one step, to conceive their advanc- 
 ing, either in Jerusalem or Judaea, far less 
 to tlie eiirl.s of the earth, unless accompa- 
 
LECTURE VIII. 361 
 
 nied by signs and wonders. We cannot se- 
 parate, we cannot tear asunder the miracles 
 from the narrative. That Christianity could 
 not have existed without them, suppos- 
 ing the main facts of its history true; and 
 that these main facts are demonstrable, 
 has been fully shewn. No part of their 
 progress, no part of their conduct, no part 
 of their success, is explicable on any other 
 theory. We may be met by general insi- 
 nuations on the credulity of mankind ; but 
 to suppose credulity so great, as for these 
 men to fancy themselves, or persuade 
 others, that they were authorized, inspired, 
 guaranteed in their inspiration by perpe- 
 tual miracles, if in fact gifted with no such 
 powers, is to invalidate at once all moral 
 demonstration. We have to choose be- 
 tween the assumed improbability, that God 
 should work miracles for the purpose of 
 establishing a merciful and beneficent reli- 
 gion, and the demonstrated impossibility, 
 that, all other means of success, all prece- 
 dents, and all motives being equally defi- 
 cient, the apostles should have established 
 Christianity without miracles. 
 
 Bb 
 
362 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 But, O Almighty God, if thoa didst 
 indeed commission these men to publish 
 abroad the religion of thy Blessed Son ; if 
 thou didst inspire the Gospel, taught by 
 Peter and John and Paul ; if thou didst ra- 
 tify thy inspiration by signs and wonders 
 impossible to less than thy omnipotence, 
 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
 salvation, which at the first began to be 
 spoken by the Lord, and ivas confirmed 
 unto us by them that heard him, God also 
 bearing them witness, both with signs and 
 wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will*? 
 But if thy grace enable us to believe and 
 practise the great truths of thy holy scrip- 
 tures, how cordially and rapturously shall 
 we take up the language of the evangelic 
 prophet, How beautiful upon the mountains 
 are the feet of those that bring good tidings, 
 that publish peace ; that bring good tidings 
 of good, that publish salvation ; that say unto 
 Zion, Thy God reigneth r / For these were 
 the good tidings which Peter announced, 
 
 ( 1 Hebrews ii. 3, 4. r Isai. lii. 8. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 363 
 
 Through the name of Jesus, whosoever be- 
 lieveth in him shall receive remission ofsins\ 
 — This, says St. John, is the promise that he 
 hath promised us, even eternal life \ Finally, 
 St. Paul has declared, Eye hath not seen, nor 
 ear heard, neither have entered into the heart 
 of man, the things which God hath p?*epared 
 for them that love him. — And may we re- 
 member, that it is the language of our 
 blessed Lord himself, If ye love me, keep my 
 commandments u ; and, He that hath my com- 
 mandments, and keepeth them, he it is that 
 loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be 
 loved of my Father, and I will love him, and 
 will manifest myself to him x . 
 
 s Acts x. 43. l 1 John ii. 25. 
 
 u John xiv. 15. x John xiv. 21. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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