(£> . C . oC . ^<^ PRINCETON, N. J. % a Presented by_(_JO ScS^r-\ t3.. O (S^r^X^ \ vS 0"0 BX 9175 .H5 1854 Hill, George, 1750-1819. Lectures in divinity LIBRARY OF PRINCETON FEB I 0 2005 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY / Tl- 5t/. ^. C^V'^i-*^*-'' LECTUKES IN DIVINITY. / BT THE LATE GEORGE HILL, D.D. ffRinCIPAL OF ST. MARy's COLLEGE, ST. ANDREWS. EDITED FROM HIS MANUSCRIPT, BT HIS soy, THE REV. ALEXANDER HILL, MINISTER OF DAILLT. IIBRARY Of PRINCETON "■ ] FEB 10 2rfe THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY NEW YORK: ROBERT CXRTER & BROTHERS No. 285 B R O A D W A V . 1854. , i PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. The author of the following Lectures was appointed Pro- fessor of Divinity i^ 1788, and completed the plan which he had formed for himself, in about four years. In every succeeding year, he revised with unwearied care that part of his course which he intended to read to his stiMents ; and not a few of t!ie Lectures appear to have been recently transcribed. He took no step? himself for publishing them as a whole ; but he is known to have had this in contemplation ; and at his death he consigned them to the Editor, in such terms as implied that the publication of them would not be in opposition to his wishes. It will be agreeable, the Editor believes, to the wishes of that large proportion of the ministers of the church of Scotland, who went from the hall of St. Mary's College with unfeigned respect for the character and talents of the Author, to peruse those prelections which commanded the attention of their earlier years. And he is well persuaded, that there are many, who, from personal attachment to the Author, or from a knowledge of his high reputation, are anxious to become acquainted with his sentiments, on points so important as those which his Lec- tures embrace. These considerations alone, however, would not have induced the Editor to disclose his father's manuscripts to the public eye. In the conclusion of his opening address, as Professor of Di- iij IV PREFACE. vinity, the Author pledged himself by making this solemn declaration : " Under the blessing and direction of the Almighty in whose hands I am, and to whom I must give accouht, no industry or research, no expense of time or of thought, shall be wanting on my part, to render my labours truly useful to* the students of divinity in this college." It was under a strong impression that this pledge has been fully redeemed : — in the firm belief that the publication of his theological lectures, one of the principal fruits of the Author's active and laborious life, will do honour to his memory ; — and in the anxious hope that the object for which tha Lectures were written, to^ teach and to defend "the truth' as it is in Jesus," may be thus more largely attained, that the Editor resolved to present them to the world. He cannot withdraw from the ^charge, which he has felt it both a duty and a pleasure* to fulfil, without expressing the in- creased veneration, which an attentive perusal of the Lectures has excited in his bosom for the Author; and without offering a fervent prayer to God, that the church, of which he formed so distinguished a member, may never want men, on whom the example of his diligence and success may freely operate, who may be equally eminent in biblical and theological learning, and may cherish his liberal, enlightened, and truly Christian views. The Author himself divided his course into Books, and Chapters, and Sections, first when he printed the heads of his Lectures for the use of his students, and afterwards in a larger work, entitled " Theological Institutes." In the present publi- cation, the same arrangement has been adopted. This has necessarily led to some inconsiderable changes on the Lectures, as*tneywere read from the chair. But the Editor has been scrupulous in making as few other alterations on the manuscript as possible. The introductory discourse to the students, which related to the sentiments and character essential for them to maintain, has been much abridged, as it bore in some measure PREFACE. upon local circumstances in the University of St. Andrews. And towards the end of this work, it will be found, by a refe- rence to the notes, that those parts of the course liave been omitted, which the Author himself had previously given to the public. It was the wish of the Editor to subjoin a note of reference o every quotation made by the Author. But in the manuscript it frequently happened that there was nothing to lead him parti- cularly to the passage or authority cited. In his remote situa- tion he had not access to all the books which it was necessary to consult; and even with the assistance of his friends, he has not been uniformly successful in comparing the quotations with the works from which they are extracted. He has annexed to different chapters the names of the books which the Author was accustomed to recommend to his students, with some of the comments which he made on thcjn. His remarks, however, were usually delivered without having been written ; and hence, comparatively few are preserved. ' It may be thought, that the printed lists of books recom- mended are far from being complete. But it is to be considered, that, at the commencement of the Author's labours, the library of St. Andrews was deficient in modern theological works ; that those which were more immediately useful were only gradually procured ; that it was far from being his object to load the memory, .or to distract the attention of his students by multi- farious reading; and that, as the business of his profession occupied his mind to the end of his days, it is probable that there was no publication of moment, which he had an opportu nity of perusing, of which he did not in his class-room deliver an opinion. ' * Manse of Dailly, April 23, 1821. ' PREFACE ^ TO THE SECOND EDITION. It was in contemplation to present the following course of Lectures complete, by subjoining to this edition the View of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland, and the Counsels respecting the Duties of the Pastoral Office, which were pub- lished during the Author's lifetime. But being unwillino- to make alterations on a work which has been so favourably received, the Editor sends it forth in the state in which it originally appeared, only freed, he trusts, from many of the errata which had crept into the first edition. Such readers as may wish to peruse thosfe parts of the course which are not contained in this work, will find a note referring to them at the end of the volume. Manse of Dailly, dpril 21, 1825. tU CONTENTS BOOK I. EVIDENCES CF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE, ........ 1 Belief of a Deity founded on the constitution of the Human Mind — Almost universal — Moral government of God traced in the constitution of Human Nature, and the state of the world — Brought to light by the Gospel. CHAP. I. COLLATERAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY FROM HISTORY, . . 10 CHAP. H. AUTHENTICITY AND GENUINENESS OF THE BOOKS OP THE NEW TESTAMENT, 12 Sect. 1. External Evidence of their authenticity full and various — Internal marks. 2. Various readings — Sources of correction. CHAP. m. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, 18 Manner in which the claim of containing a divine revelation is advanced in the New Testament— Contents of the Books— System of religion and morality- Condition of the sacred writers— Character of Jesus Christ and of the Apostles. » / CHAP. IV. DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY — MIRACLEG, . . 27 Sect. 1. Aro-ument from the miracles of Jesus— Upiformity of the course of nature— Power of the Almighty to interpose- Communication of this power a striking mark of a divine commission— Harmony between the internal "and external evidence of .Christianity— Mira- cles of the Gospel illustratd its peculiar doctrines. 2. Mr. Hume's argument against miracles— Circumstances which render the testimony of the Apostles credible — Confirmation of their testi- mony— Faith of the first Christians — Manner in which the miracles of Jesus are narrated — No opposite testimony. 3. How far the argument from miracles is affected by the prodigies and miracles mentioned in history — Duration of miraculous gifts in the Christian church. CHAP. V. ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, .... 53 Jeimxi. Exhibition of character— The historian— The other ' Apostles— The family of Lazarus — Our Lord — Resurrection of Lazarus — Effects produced »y the miracle. ' CHAP. VI. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY PROPHECY, .... 70 SfiAvr. 1. Antiquity and integrity of the books of the Old Testament— Hope of the Messiah founded on the received interpretation of the prophecies. 2. Correspondence between the circumstances of Jesus, and the predic- tions of the Old Testament. 2* C i^ X CONTENTS. 3. Direct prophecies of the Messiah — Double sense of prophecy — Not inconsistent with the nature of prophecy — Supported by the general use of language. 4. Quotations in the New Testament from the Old Testament. 5. Amount of the argument from prophecy. CHAP. VII. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS, 93 Magnificence and extent of the system of prophecy — Jesus the object of the old prophecies, and the author of new ones — Advantages of attending to the pro- phecies of our Lord and his Apostles — Clearness and importance of his pre- dictions— Specimens. CHAP. VIII. * RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, 123 Resurrection of Christ an essential fact in the history of his religion — Evidence upon which it rests — Evidence of it in these later ages — Universal belief of the fact — Clear testimony of the Apostles — Their extraordinary powers. CHAP. IX. PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY, 132 Sect. 1. When the success of a religious system forms a legitimate argument for its divine original — Progress of Mahometanism and Christianity compared. 2. Secondary causes of the progress of Christianity assigned by Mr. Gibbon considered. 3. Rank and character of some of the early converts to Christianity. 4. Measure of the effect produced by the means employed in propagating the Gospel — Objections drawn from it — Answers. BOOK II. GENERAL VIEW OP THE SCRIPTURE SYSTEM. CHAP. I. INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE, 154 Inspiration not impossible— Three decrees of it — Necessary to the Apostles for the purposes of their mission — Proiiiised by our Lord — Claimed by them- selves— Admitted by their disciples — Not contradicted by any thing in their writings. CHAP. IL PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY, 172 CHAP. m. CHRISTIANITY OF INFINITE IMPORTANCE, 188 Sect. 1. The Gospel a republication of Natural Religion — Mistalces occasioned by the use of this term. 2. The Gospel a method of saving sinners — Duties consequent upon the revelation of this method. CHAP. IV. DIFFICULTIES IN THE SCRIPTURE SVSXEM, .... 203 Difficulties to be expected — Extent of our knowledge. CHAP. V. ' . USE OF REASON IN RELIGION, . . . • ... 209 CONTENTS. Jtl CHAP. VI. CONTROVERSIES OC(;ASIONED BY THE SCRIPTURE SYSTEM, . . . 216 Multiplicity of Theological Controversies — Platonic and Peripatetic Philosophy — Progress of Science — Authority of the Fathers. CHAP. VII. ARRANGEMENT OP THE COURSE, 2^4 The Gospel a remedy for sinners — All opinions respecting it relate to the per- sons by whom the remedy is brought, or to the nature, extent, and application of the remedy — Church government. , BOOK III. OPINIONS CONCERNING THE SON, THE SPIRIT, AND THE MANNER OF THEIR BEING UNITED WITH THE FATHER. CHAP. I. . I OPINIONS CONCERNING THE PERSON OF THE SON, . . . 231 Three systems — Socinians — Arians — Council of Nice. CHAP. II. SIMPLEST OPINION CONCERNING THE PERSON OF CHRIST, . . , 239 Christ truly a Man — Not the whole doctrine of Scripture respecting him. CHAP. in. PRE-EXISTENCE OF JESUS 242 Lxplicit declarations- of Scripture — Socinian solution. CHAP. IV. ACTIONS ASCRIBED TO JESUS IN HIS PRE-EXISTE;NT STATE — CREATION, . 252 SiiCT. 1. John i 1 — 18. 2. Coloss. i. 15—18. 3. Heb. i. 4. Amount of the proposition, that Jesus Christ is the Creator of the world. CHAP. V. ACTIONS ASCRIBED TO JESUS IN HIS PRE-EXISTENT STATE — ADMINISTRATION OF PROVIDENCE, 283 Sect. 1. All the divine appearances recorded in the Old Testament, referred to one Person, called Angel and God. 2. Christ the Jehovah, who appeared to the Patriarchs, was worshipped in the Temple, and announced as the author of a new Dispensatioi.. 3. Objections to the preceding proposition — Different opinions as to the amount of it. CHAP. VI. DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE PERSON OF CHRIST TAUGHT DURING HIS LIFE, 309 Reserve with which he revealed his dignity— Circumstances attending his Birth — Voice at his Baptism — Manner in which he spoke of the connexion between the Father and him — Omniscience — Miracles. CHAP. vn. DIRECT PROOF THAT CHRIST IS G0l», Sect. 1. Jesus called God — Circumstances which intimate that the name is applied to Jesus in the highest sense. 2. Essential attributes of Deity ascribed to Jesus. 3. Worship represented as due to Jesus — Supreme and inferior worship of the Arians — Socinian explanation of passages in which worship is given to Jesus. ^ 319 113 CONTENTS. CHAP. VIII '"'^ UNION OF NATUIIES IN CHRIST, 341 Passages which present the divine and liiiman nature of Christ together — Opi- nions as to the manner of their union — Gnostics — Apoliinaris — Nestorius — Eutyches — Monophy sites — Monothtlites — Miraculous conception — Hyposta- tical union the key to a great part of the phraseology of Scripture — That which qualifies Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the world. CHAP. IX. OPINIONS CONCERNING THE SPIRIT, 359 Form of Baptism — Instruction connected with the administration of Baptism — Catechumens — First Christians worshipppd the Holy Ghost — Gnostics — Macedonius — Socinus — Personality of the Holy Ghost — His divinity. CHAP. X. DOCTRINE OS" THE TRINITY, 367 Sect. 1. Unity of God, the doctrine of the Old and New Testament. 2. Three systems o£ the Trinity — Sabellian — Arian, and Semi-Arian— Catholic. 3. Principles l:y which the Catholic System repels the charge of Tritheism. 4. Dr. Clarke's system — Amount of our knowledge respecting the Trinity — Inferences. BOOK IV. OPINIONS CONCERNING THE NATUKE, THE EXTENT, AND THE APPLI- CATION OP THE REMEDY BROUGHT BY THE GOSPEL. CHAP. I. DISEASE FOR WHICH THE REMEDY IS PROVIDED, .... 391 Skct. 1. Genesis iii. — History of a real transaction, related after the symbolical manner. 2. Effects of Adam's fall upon his posterity — Four systems — Pelagius — Arminius — Human nature corrupted — Sin of Adam imputed — Calvinistic view embraces both corruption and imputation — Adam the representative of the human race — Difficulties. CHAP. II. OPINIONS CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE REMEDY, .... 413 iSkct. 1. Socinians — The Gospel the most effectual lesson of righteousness — Defects of this System. 2. Right acquired by Jesus of saving men from their sins, and giving them immortality — Merits and defects of this system. 3, Catholic system, or that which has been generally held in the Chris- tian church — Atonement or satisfaction of Christ. N CHAP. III. DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT, ... . . . . . 420 Sect. 1. Not irrational — God the righteous Governor of the universe — Honour of his laws to bo maintained — Sin the transgression of law — Mcan- , ing of Satisfaction — Acceptance of the Lawgiver, and concurrence of the Substitute in the substitution of Clirist — Vicarious punish- ment— Why not practised in human judgments — Power of Christ over his own life — Deep malignity of sin, and exceeding kindness and love of God. 2. Wiiether there was understood to be a substitution in the heathen sacrifices. CONTENTS. Xni 3. Substitution implied in certain sin-ofFerings in the law of Moses — Day of afonement — Efficacy of the substitution — Nature of the sin- offerings. 4 Three great divisions of the law of Moses — The political and ceremo- nial law temporary — Ceremonial law emblematical of the Gospel dispensation — Intimated by the prophets — Implied in many passages of the New Testament — Epistle to the Hebrews — Confirmation of the Catholic system from the views of the Apostle Paul — Reason- ings of the Socinians. 5. Direct support of the doctrine of the atonement from Scripture— Value annexed to the sufferings of Christ — His sufferings represented as a punishment of sin— Effects ascribed to them — Reconciliation — Redemption— Forgiveness of sins — Justification. CHAP. IV. ETERNAL LIFE, 482 Completeness of the Catholic system — Foundation of the hope of eternal life — ■ Merits of Christ — Right to eternal life acquired for us b^ the death of Christ, confirmed by his life. . ' CHAP. V. EXTENT OF THE REMEDY, 493 Skot. 1. First preliminary point — The Gospel designed to be an universal religion — Law of Moses a local dispensation — True character of the Gospel opened by incidental expressions — Unlimited commission given to the Apostles. 2. Second preliminary point — Remedy of the Gospel only for those who repent and believe — Speculations; respecting the final condition o. the wicked — Subject, beyond the limits of our faculties. CHAP. VI. PARTICULAR REDEMPTION, 506 Arguments for Universal and Particular Redemption stated and compared. CHAP. VII. PREDESTINATION, 513 Sect. 1. Socinians — Contingent events not subjects of infallible foreknowledge — No predestination of individuals. 2. Arminians — Predestination of individuals dependent on the foreknow- ledge of their faith and good works, or of their unbelief and impeni- tence. 3. Calvinists — Entire dependence of the creature on the Creator — Extent of the Divine knowledge — One decree embracing all that is to be, means and end — Supralapsarians — Sublapsarians — Decree of Elec- tion absolute — Good pleasure of God — Covenant of redemption — Merits of Christ a part of the Decree of Election — Decree of repro- bation— Extent of the Remedy determined by the Divine decree. CHAP. VIIL APPLICATION OP THE REMEDY, 533 Production of the character required for enjoying the blessing of the Gospel — Opinions of the Socinians, Arminians, and Calvinists — Grace — Its nature and efficacy. nV CONTENTS. P»«« CHAP. IX. ARMINIAN AND CALVIN ISTIC SYSTEMS COMPARED, .... 541 Sect. 1. Arminian system satisfying upon a general view— Three difficulties, under which it labours, stated. 2. Objections to the Calvinistic System reducible to two. 3. Calvinistic System not inconsistent with the nature of man as a free moral a^ent — Definition of liberty — Efficient and final causes — Both embraced by the plan of Providence — Whence the uncertainty in •the operation of motives arise — How removed — Gratia Cungrua — Renovation of the mind — Exhibition of such moral inducements as are fitted to call forth its powers. J. Calvinistic System not inconsistent with the attributes of God — The ultima ratio of the inequality in the dispensation of the gifts, both of Nature and of Grace — Decree of reprobation exerts no influence upon men leading them to sin — Objection resolvable into the ques- tion concerning the Origin of Evil — Philosophical Answer — Armi- nians recur to the same Answer — The Glory of God — Moral Evil the object of his abhorrence. CHAP. X. SUPPORT WHICH SCRIPTURE GIVES TO THE CALVINISTIC SYSTEM, . . 571 &8v; i. A.11 the actions of men represented as comprehended in the great plan^ of Divine Providence. 2. Predestination ascribed in Scripture to the good pleasure of God — System of those who consider the expressions employed, as respect- ing only the calling of large societies to the knowledge of the Gospel. 3. Representations given in Scripture of the change of character produced by Divine Grace. 4. Objections arising from the commands, the counsels, and the exhorta- tions of Scripture. ' CHAP. XI. HISTORY OF CALVINISM, . . 587 BOOK V. INDEX OF PARTICULAR tJUKSTIONS, ARISING OUT OF OPINIONS CON- CERNING THE GOSPEL REMEDY, AND OF MANY OF THE TECHNICAL TERMS OP THEOLOGY. CHAP. I. REGENERATION — CONVERSION FAITH, 601 External and Effectual Call — Synergistic System — Fanaticism — Calvinistic V^iew of Conversion — Faith — Different Kinds — Saving Faith. CHAP. n. JUSTIFICATION, CIO -A Forensic act — Its nature — Church of Rome— First Reformers — Socinians and Arminians — Calvinists — First and second Justification — Justification one act of God Saints under the Old Testament — Other individuals not outwardly called Perseverance of Saints — ^■Assurance of Grace and Salvation — Reflex act of Faith — Witness of the Spirit. CHAP. m. CONNEXION BETWEEN JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION, . . . 61? Good works, fruits of Faith — Apparent contradiction between Paul and James— Solifidians — Antinomians — Fratres libcri spiritus — Practical Preaching CONTENTS. jj, CHAP. IV. **" SANCTIFICATION, 625 Sect. 1. First part of Sanctificati on, Repentance — Itsnature — Popish doctrine Late Repentance — Precise time of Conversion. 2. Second part of Sanctification, a new life — Habit of Rigliteousness Immutability of the Moral Law— Christian Casuistry— Counsels of Perfection- Merit of good works— Works of Supererogation. 3. Imperfection of Sanctification— Anabaptists— Mortal and°venial sins — Distinction unwarranted— Romans vii.— Christian Morality. CHAP. V. COVENANT OF GRACE, 640 Scriptural terms— Kingdom of Christ— Union of Christ and his disciples- Adoption — Covenant of Grace. Sect. 1. Meaning of Jia9;,- cundarii of the Church of Rome. 3. Prayer— Encouragements to it in the Cof enant of Grace— Nature of Christ's intercession. 4. Sacraments — Explanation of the term — Signs and Seals of the Cove- nant of Grace — Seven Sacraments of the Church of Rome. CHAP. VL QUESTIONS CONCERNING BAPTISM, 656 Sect. L Prevalence of Washings in the religious ceremonies of all nations- How Baptism is a distinguishing rite of Christianity — Opinions of the Sucinians and Quakers — Immersion and sprinklino- — Givino- a Name. 2. Baptism more than an initiatory rite — Opinions of the Church of Rome, and of the Reformed Churches. 3. Infant Baptism— View of arguments for it— Godfathers and God- mothers—Confirmation— Admission for the first time to the Lord's Supper. CHAP. VIL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE LORD's SUPPER, 668 (nstitation — Correspondence between the Passover and the Lord's Supper Origin of different opinions respecting it — System of the Church of Rome Transubstantiation — Of Luther — Consubst'antiation — Ubiquity — OfZuino-lius — A Commemoration — Of Calvin — Spiritual presence of Christ Time of observing the ordinance. CHAP. VIIL CONDITION OP MEN AFTER DEATH, 680 Happiness of Heaven- -Intermediate state — Purgatory — Duration ofhcll torments. BOOK VI. OPINIONS CONCERNING CHURCH GOVERNMENT. CHAP. L FOUNDATION OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT, 683 Obligation to observe Ordinances. , CHAP. IL OPINIONS RESPECTING THE PERSONS IN WHOM CHURCH GOVERNMENT IS VESTED, 686 Sect. 1. Quakers — Deny necessity and lawfulness of a standing Ministry — Consequent disunion and disorder — Their principles repugnant to reason and Scripture. jm CONTENTS. ' Ftgr 2. Independents, or Congregational Brethren — Leading principle — Un- autiiorized by the examples of the New Testament, and contrary to the spirit of its directions — Implies disunion of the Christian Society. 3. Church of Rome — Papists and Roman Catholics— Gallican Church — Catholics of Great Britain— Unity of the Church — Grounds on which the primacy of the Pope is maintained — Matthew xvi. 16.—- Scriptural and historical view of the Church of Rome — 2 Thess. ii. — Daniel vii. — Rev. xvii. 4. Episcopacy and Presbytery— Principles of the Episcopal form of Go vernment — Of the Presbyterian — Points of agreeihent and differ- ence— Timothy and Titus — Bishop and Presbyter — Right of Ordi- nation— Succession of Bishops — Presbyterian form of government not a novel invention — Imparity amgng Bishops, of human institu- • tion — Opinions of ancient writers upon the equality of Bishops and i Presbyters — First Reformers — Presbyterian parity. CHAP. III. NATURE AND EXTENT OF POWER IMPLIED IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT, . 733 Not created by the State — Eraltianism— -A spiritual power — Conduct of our Lord and his apostles — Anabaptists — Church of Rome— Excommunication — The Lord Jesus Christ the Head of the Church — Purpose for which he gives power to his Ministers — Its limits. CHAP. IV. POTESTAS AoyiiaTiKr), . 751 Scripture the only rule of faith — Articles of faith — Reasons for framing them — History of Confessions of Faith — Subscriptions to them. CHAP. V. POTESTAS AtaraKTlKri 764 Conditions of Salvation declared in Scripture — What enactments the Church has power to make— Liberty of Conscience — Rule of Peace and Order — Puritans. CHAP. VL POTESTAS AtaKptTtKi) 777 Jadieial power of the Church warranted — System of the Church of Rome — of Pix>testants. LECTURES IN DIVINITY. •'^'^'N^VX^^^^^V^^V^ BOOK I. EVIDENCES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. The professed design of students in divinity is to prepare for a most honourable and important office, for being workers together with God in that great and benevolent scheme, by which he is restor- ing the virtue and happiness of his intelligent offspring, and for hold- ing, with credit to themselves and with advantage to the pubUc, that station in society, by the establishment of which the wisdom of the state lends its aid to render the labours of the servants of Christ re- spectable and useful. Learning, prudence, and eloquence never can be so worthily employed as when they are devoted to the improve- ment of mankind ; and a good man will find no exertion of his talents so pleasing as that by which he endeavours to make other men such as they ought to be. We expect the breast of every student of di- vinity to be possessed with these views. If any person is devoid of them, if he despises the office of a minister of the gospel, if the char- acter of his mind is such as to derive no satisfaction from the employ- ments of that office, or from the object towards which they are directed, he ought to turn his attention to some other pursuit. He cannot expect to attain eminence or to enjoy comfort in a station, for which he carries about with him an inward disqualification ; and there is an hypocrisy most disgraceful and most hurtful to his moral character in all the external appearances of preparing for that station. In attempting to lead you through that course of study which is immediately connected with your profession, I begin with \yhat is called the Deistical Controversy, that is, with a view of the Evidences of Christianity, and of the various questions which have arisen in canvassing the branches of which they are composed. I assume, as the ground-work of every religious system, these two great doctrines, that " God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that 3 1) 1 2 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. seek him." * When I say that I assume them, I do not mean that human reason unassisted by revelation was ever able to demonstrate these doctrines in a manner satisfactory to every understanding. But I mean that these doctrines are agreeable to the natural impressions of the human mind, and that any religious system which purifies them from the manifold errors with which they have been Incorpor- ated, corresponds, in that respect, to the clear deductions of enlighten- ed reason. It is not my province to enter into any detail upon the proofs of these two doctrines of natural rehgion; and I am afraid to engage in discussions which have been conducted with much erudition and metaphysical acuteness, lest I should be enticed to employ too large a portion of your time in reviewing them. Leaving you to avail yourself of the copious sources of information which writers upon this subject afford, I will not enumerate, far less attempt to appreci- ate the different modes of reasoning which have been adopted in proof of the being of God, and his moral government. But, having assumed these doctrines, I think it proper to give by way of introduc- tion to my course, a short view of the manner in which it appears to me that they may be established as the ground-work of all religion. When we say that there is a God, we mean that the universe is the work of an intelligent Being; that is, from the things which we behold, we infer the existence of what is not the object of our senses. To show that the inference is legitimate, we must be able to state the principles upon which it proceeds, or the steps of that process by which the mind advances from the contemplation of the objects with which it is conversant, to the conviction of the existence of their Creator. These principles are found in the constitution of the human mind, in sentiments and perceptions which are natural and ultimate, which are manifested by all men upon various occasions, and which are only followed to their proper conclusion when they conduct us to the knowledge of God. One of these sentiments and perceptions ap- pears in the spirit of inquiry and investigation which universally pre- vails ; another is invariably excited by the contemplation of order, beauty and design. A spirit of inquiry and investigation has larger opportunities of exertion, it is better directed, and is applied to nobler objects with some than with others. But to a certain degree, it is common jto all men, and traces of it are found amongst all ranks. Now you will observe, that this spirit of inquiry is an effort to discover the cause of what we behold. And it proceeds upon this natural perception, that every jiew event, every thing which we see coming into existence, every alteration in any being, is an effect. Without hesitation we conclude that it has been produced, and we are solicitous to discover the cause of it. We begin our inquiries with eagerness ; we pursue them as far as we have light to carry us ; and we do not rest satisfied till we arrive at something which renders farther inquiries unneces- sary. This persevering spirit of inquiry which is daily exerted about trifles finds the noblest subject of exertion in the continual changes which we behold upon the appearance of the heavenly bodies, upon * Hebrews xi. 6. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 3 the state of the atmosphere, upon the surface of the earth, and in those hidden regions whicli the progress of art leads man to explore. To every attentive and intelligent observer these continual changes present the whole universe as an effect ; and, in contemplating the succession of them, he is led, as by the hand of nature, through a chaui of subordinate and dependent causes to that great original Cause from whom the universe derived its being, upon whose operation depend all the changes of which it is suscepUble, and by whose uncontrolled agency all events are directed. Even without forming any extensive observations upon the train of natural events, we are led by the same spirit of inquiry from con- sidering our own species to the knowledge of our Creator. Every man knows that he had a beginning, and that he derived his being from a succession of creatures like himself. However far back he supposes this succession to be carried, it does not afford a satisfying account of the cause of his existence. By the same principle which directs him in every other research, he is still led to seek for some original Being, who has been produced by none, and is himself the Father of all. As every man knows that he came into existence, so he has the strongest reason to believe that the whole race to which he belongs had a beginning. A tradition has in all ages been pre- served of the origin of the human race. Many nations have boasted of antiquity. None have pretended to eternity. All that their re- cords contain beyond a certain period is fabulous or doubtful. In looking back upon the history of mankind, we find them increasing in numbers, acquiring a taste for the ornaments of life, and improv- ing in the liberal arts and sciences ; so that unless we adopt without proof and against all probability the supposition of successive deluges which drown in oblivion all the attainments of civilized nations, and spare only a few savage inhabitants to propagate the race, we find in the state of mankind all the marks of novelty which it must have borne, had it begun to be some few thousand years ago. But if the human race had a beginning, we unavoidably regard it as an effect of which we require some original cause ; and to the same cause from which it derived existence we must also trace the qualities by which the race is distinguished. The Being who gave it existence must be capable of imparting to it these qualities, that is, must possess them in a much higher degree. " He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He. that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?"* Thus, from the intelligence of men, we necessarily infer that of their Creator; while the number of intelligent beings with whom we converse cannot fail to give us the noblest idea of that original prknary intelligence from which theirs is derived. While the spirit of inquiry which is natural to man thus leads us from the consciousness of our own existence to acknowledge the exis- tence of one supreme intelligent Being, the Father of Spirits, we are conducted to the same conclusion by that other natural perception which I said is invariably excited by the contemplation of order, Deauty, and design. • Psalm iciv. 9, 10. INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. The grandeur and beauty of external objects do not seem to affect the other animals. But they afford a certain degree of pleasure to all men •, and in many persons a taste for them is so far cultivated that the pleasures of imagination constitute a large source of refined enjoyment. When the grandeur and beauty are conjoined as they seldom fail to be with utility, they do not me-rely afford us pleasnre. We not only perceive the objects which we behold, to be grand and beautiful and useful ; but we perceive them to be effects produced by a designing cause. In viewing a complicated machine, it is the de- sign which strikes us. In admiring the object, we admire the mind that formed it. Without hesitation we conclude that it had a former; and although ignorant of every other circumstance respecting him, we know this much, that he is possessed of intelligence, our idea of which rises in proportion to the design discovered in the constiuction of the machine. By this principle, which is prior 1o all reasoning, and of which we can give no other account than that it is part of the constitution of the human mind, we are raised from the admiration of natural objects to a knowledge of the existence, ajid a sense of the perfections of Him who made them. When we contemplate the works of nature, distinguished from those of art by their superior elegance, splendour, and utility ; when we behold the sun, the moon, and the stars, performing their offices with the most perfect regularity, and although removed at an immense distance from us, contributing in a high degree to our preservation and comfort ; when we view this edrth fitted as a convenient habita- tion for man, adorned with numberless beauties, and provided not only with a supply of our wants, but with every thing that can minister to our pleasure and entertainment ; when, extending our observation to the various animals that inhabit this globe, we find that every creature has its proper food, its proper habitation, its proper happiness ; that the meanest insect as well as the noblest animal has the several parts of its body, the senses bestowed upon it, and the degree of perfection in which it possesses them, adapted with the nicest proportion to its preservation and to the manner of life which by natural instinct it is led to pursue ; when we thus discover within our own sphere, numberless traces of kind and wise design, and when we learn both by experience and by observation that the works of nature, the more they are investigated and known, appear the more clearly to be parts of one great consistent whole, we are necessarily led by the constitution of our mind to believe the being of a God. Our faith does not stand in the obscure reasonings of philosophers. We but open our eyes, and discerning, wheresoever we turn them, the traces of a wise Creator, we see and acknowledge his hand. The most superficial view is sufficient to impress our minds with a sense of his existence. The closest scrutiny, by enlarging our acquaintance with the innumerable final causes that are found in the works of God, strengthens this impression, and confirms our first conclusions. The more that we know of these works, we are the more sensible that in nature there is not only an exertion of power, but an adjustment of means to an end, which is what we call wisdom ; and an adjustment of means to the end of distributing happiness to all the creatures, which is the highest conception that we can form of goodness. INTRODUCTOHY DISCOURSE . 5 A foundation so deeply laid in the constitution of the human mind for the belief of a Deity has produced an acknowledgment of his being, almost universal. The idea of God, found amongst all nations civi- lized in the smallest degree, is such that by the slightest use of our faculties we must acquire it. And accordingly the few nations who are said to have no notion of God are in a state so barbarous that they seem to have lost the perceptions and sentiments of men. The Atheist allows it to be necessary that something should have existed of itself from eternity. But he. is accustomed to maintain that matter in motion is sufficient to account for all those appearances from which we infer the being of God. The absurdities of this hypo- thesis have been ably exposed. He supposes that matter is self- existent, although it has marks of dependence and imperfection in- consistent with that attribute. He supposes that matter has from eternity been in motion, that is, that motion is an essential quality of matter, although we cannot conceive of motion as any other thanan accidental property of matter, impressed by some cause, and deter- mined in its direction by foreign impulses. He supposes that all the appearances of uniformity and design which surround him can pro- ceed from irregular undirected movements. And he supposes lastly, that althongh there is not a plant which does not spring from its seed, nor an insect which is not propagated by its kind, yet matter in motion can produce life and intelligence, properties repugnant in the highest degree to all the known properties of matter. I do not say that it is possible by reasoning to demonstrate that these suppositions are false ; and I do not know that it is wise to make the attempt. The belief of the being of God rests upon a sure foundation, upon the foundation on which He himself has rested it, if all the sup- positions by which some men have tried to set it aside contradict the natural perceptions of the human mind. These are the language in which God speaks to his creatures, a language which is heard through all the earth ; and the words of which are understood to the end of the world. By listening to that language, we learn from the various yet uniform phenomena of nature, that there is a wise Creator : we are taught by the imperfection and dependencF of the soul, that it owes its being to some original cause ; and in its extensive faculties, its liberty, and power of self-motion, we discern that cause to be essen- tially different from matter. The voice of nature thus proclaims to the children of men the existence of one supreme intelligent Being, and calls them with reverence to adore the Father of their spirits. The other great doctrine which I assume as the ground-work of every religious system, is thus expressed by the Apostle to the Hebrews : " God is a rewarder of them that seek Him ;" in other words, the government of God is a moral government. We are here confined to an inconsiderable spot in the creation, and we are permitted to behold but a small part of the operations of Providence. It becomes us therefore to proceed in our inquiries con- cerning the Divine Government with much humility: but it does not become us to desist. The character and the laws of that government under Vi^hich we acknowledge that we live, are matters to us of the last importance ; and it is our duty thankfully to avail ourselves of the light which we enjoy. The constitution of human nature and 3* 6 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. the state of the world aie the only two subjects within the sphere of our observations, from wliich unassisted reason can discover the character of the divine government. When we attend to the constitution of human nature, the three following particulars occur as traces of a moral government. 1. The distribution of pleasure and pain in the mind of man is a moral distribution. Those affections and that conduct which we de- nominate virtuous are attended whh immediate pleasure ; the opposite affecCions and conduct with immediate pain. The man who acts under the influence of benevolence, gratitude, a regard to justice and truth, is in a state of enjoyment. The heart which is actuated by resent- ment or malice is a stranger to joy. Here is a striking fact of a very general kind, furnishing very numerous specimens of a moral govern- ment. 2. There is a faculty in the human mind which approves of virtue, and condemns vice. It is not enough to say that righteousness is prudent because it is attended with pleasure ; that wickedness is fool- ish because it is attended with pain. Conscience, in judging of them, pronounces the one to be right, and the other lo be wrong. The righteous, supported by that most delightful of all sentiments, .the sense that he is doing his duty, proceeds with self-approbation, and reflects upon his conduct with complacence ; the wicked not only is distracted by the conflict of various wretched passions, but acts under the perpetual conviction that he is doing what he ought not to do. — The hurry of business or the tumult of passion may, for a season, so far drown the voice of conscie.jice, as to leave him at liberty to accomplish his purpose. But when his mind is cool, he perceives that in following blindly the impulse of appetite he has acted beneath the dignity of his reasonable nature ; the indulgence of malevolent affections is punished by the sentiment of remorse ; and he despises himself for every act of baseness, 3. Conscience, anticipating the future consequences of human actions, forebodes, that it shall be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked. The righteous, although naturally modest and unassuming, not only enjoys present serenity, but looks forward with good hope. The prospect of future ease lightens every burden, and the view of distant scenes of happiness and joy holds up his head in the time of adversity. But every crime is accompanied with a sense of deserved punishment. To the man who has disregarded the admonitions of conscience, she soon begins to utter her dreadful pre- sages -j'she lays open to his view the dismal scenes which lie beyond every unlawful pursuit ; and sometimes awaking with increased fury, she produces horrors that constitute a degree of wretchedness, in comparison of which all the sufferings of life do not deserve to be mentioned. The constitution of human nature being the work of God, the three particulars which have been mentioned as parts of that constitution are parts of his government. The pleasure which accompanies one ^et of affections and the pain which accompanies the opposite afford an instance in the government of God of virtue being rewarded, and vice being punished : — the faculty which passes sentence upon human actions is a declaration from the Author of our ►lature of that conduct which is agreeable to Him, because it is a rule INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. 7 directing his creatures to pursue a certain conduct : — iind the presenti- ment of tlie future consequences of our behaviour is a declaration from the Author of our nature of the manner in which his govern- ment is to proceed with regard to us. The hopes and fears natural to the human mind are the language in which God foretells to man the events in which he is deeply interested. To suppose that the Almighty engages his creatures in a certain course of action by de- lusive hopes and fears, is at once absurd and impious; and if we think worthily of the Supreme Being, we cannot entertain a doubt that He, who by the constitution of human nature has declared his love of virtue and his hatred of vice, will at length appear the righteous Governor of the universe. I mentioned the state of the world as another subject within the sphere of our observation, from which unassisted reason may discover, the character of the government of God. And here also we may mark three traces of a moral government. 1, It occurs, in the first place, to consider the world as the situation in which creatures, having the constitution which has been described, are placed. Acting in the presence of men, that is, of creatures con- stituted as we ourselves are, and feeling a connection with them in all the occupations of life, we experience in the sentiments of those around us, a farther reward and punishment than that which arises from the sense of our own minds. The faculty which passes sentence upon a man's own actions, when carried forth to the actions of others becomes a principle of esteem or contempt. The sense of good or ill desert becomes, upon the review of the conduct of others, applause or indignation. When it referred to a man's own conduct, it pointed only at what was future. When it refers to the conduct of others it becomes an active principle, and proceeds in some measure to execute the rules which it pronounces to be just.* Hence the righteous is rewarded by the sentiments of his fellow- creatures. He experiences the gratitude of some, the friendsliip, at least the good-will of all. The wicked, on the other hand, is a stranger to esteem, and confidence, and love. His vices expose him to censure; his deceit renders him an object of distrust ; his malice creates hira enemies ; according to the kind and the degree of his demerit, contempt or hatred or indignation is felt by every one who knows his character ; and even when these sentiments do not lead others to do him harm, they weaken or extinguish the emotions of sympathy ; so that his neighbours do not rejoice in his prosperity, and hardly weep over his misfortunes. Thus does God employ the general sense of mankind to encourage and reward the righteous, to correct and punish the wicked ; and thus has he constituted men in some sort the keepers of their brethren, the guardians of one another's virtue. The natural unpcrverted senti- ments of the human mind with regard to character and conduct are upon the side of virtue and against vice ; and the course of the world, turning in a great measure upon these sentiments, indicates a moral government. 2. A second trace in the state of the world, of the moral govern- ment of God, is the civil government by which society subsists. 8 INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. Those who are employed in the administration of civil government • are not supposed to act immediately from sentiment. It is expected that without regard to their own private emotions they shall in every case proceed according to certain known and established laws. Bat these laws, so far as they go, are in general consonant to the senti- ment of the human mind, and, like them, are favourable to the cause of virtue. The happiness, the existence of human government depends upon the protection and encouragement which it affords to virtue, and the punishment which it inflicts upon vice. The government of men, therefore, in its best, and happiest form is a moral government; and being a part, an instrument of the government of God, it serves to intimate to us the rule according to which his Providence operates through the general system. 3. Setting aside all consideration of the opinions of the instrumen- tality of man, there appear in the world evident traces of the moral government of God. Many of the consequences of men's behaviour happen without the intervention of any agent. Of this kind are the effects which their way of life has upon their health, and much of its influence upon their fortune and situation. Effects of the same nature extend to communities of men. They derive strength and stability from the truth, moderation, temperance and public spirit of the members; whereas idleness, luxury, and turbulence, while they ruin the private fortunes of many individuals, are hurtful to the com- munity; and the general depravity of the members is the disease and weakness of the state. These effects do not arise from any civil institution. They are not a part of the political regulations which are made with different degrees of wisdom in different states ; but they may be observed in all countries. They are part of what we commonly call the course of nature; that is, they are rewards and punishments ordained by the Lord of nature, not affected by the caprice of his subjects, and flowing immediately from the conduct of men. There arises indeed, from the yii-esent situation of human affairs, many obstructions to the full operation of these rewards and punishments. Yet the degree in which they actually take place is sufficient to ascertain t*lie character of the government of God. In those cases where we are able to trace the causes which prevent the exact distribution of good and evil, we perceive that the very hindrances are wisely adapted to a present state. Even where we do not discern the reasons of their existence, we clearly perceive that these hindrances are accidental ; that virtue, benign and salutary in its influences, tends to produce happiness, pure and unmixed; that vice, in its natuce mischievous, tends to confusion and misery; and we cannot avoid considering these tendencies as the voice of Him, who hath established the order of nature, declaring to those who observe and understand them, the future condition of the righteous and the wicked. And thus in the world, we behold upon every hand of us openings of a kingdom of righteousness corresponding to what we formerly traced in the constitution of human nature. By that constitution, while reward is provided for virtue and punishment for vice, there arise in our breast the forebodings of a higher reward and a higher INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE. , V punishment. So in the world, while there are manifold instances of a righteous distribution of good and evil, there is a tendency towards the completion of a scheme which is here but begun. This view of the government of God, which we have collected from the constitution of human nature and the state of the world, is brought to light by the religion of Jesus Christ. The language of God in his works leads us to his word in the Gospel. All our disquisitions concerning the nature of his government only prepare us for receiving those gracious discoveries, which, confirming every conclusion of right reason, resolving every doubt, and enlarging the imperfect views which belong to this the beginning of our existence, bring us perfect assurance, that, in the course of the Divine government, unlimited in extent, in duration, and in power, every hindrance shall be removed, the natural consequences of action shall be allowed to operate, virtue shall be happy, and vice shall be miserable. Abernethy on the Attributes. Cudvvorlh's Intellectual System; a magazine of learning, where all the different schemes df Atheism are combated with profound erudition and close argument. Boyle's Lectures; a collection of the ablest defences of the great truths of religion that are to be found in any language. Having been composed in a long succession of years by men of different talents and pursuits, they furnish an abundant specimen of all the variety of argument j^hat has ever been adduced upon the subject of which they treat. Butler's Analogy, the first chapters of which should be particularly studied in relation to the subjects of this discourse. Eesays on Morality and Natural Religion, by Henry Home, Lord Kaimes. Paley's Natural Theology, the last and perhaps the most elaborate work of this author. He had here his pioneers as well as his forerunners. But his inimitable skill in arrang- ing and condensing his matter, his peculiar turn for what may be called " animal me- chanics," the aptness and the wit of his illustrations, and occasionally the warmth and the solemnity of his devotion, which, by a happy and becoming process, was rendered more animated as he drew nearer to the close of life, stamp on this work a character more valuable than originality. K ir> COLLATERAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITT CHAPTER I. COLLATERAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY FROM HISTORY. The ground-work which I suppose to be laid in an inquiry into the truth of the Christian rehgion, is a behefof the two great doctrines of natural religion, that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him. .You consider a man as led by the principles of his nature to believe that the universe is the work of an intelligent Being, although wandering very much in his apprehensions of that Bemg: you consider him as feeling that the government of the Creator of the world is a righteous government, although conscious that he often transgresses the law of his Maker, and very uncertain as to the method in which the sanctions of that law are to operate with regard to him: and you propose to examine whether to man in these cfrcumstances, there was given an extraordinary revelation by the preaching of the Son of God, or whether Jesus Christ and liis apostles were men who spoke and wrote according to their own measure of knowledge, and who, when they called themselves the messengers of God, assumed a character which did not belong to them. It is manifest at first sight, that such a revelation is extremely desirable to man ; and a« closer investigation of the subject may show it to be desirable in such a de- gree, so necessary to the comfort and improvement of man, as to create a presumption in favour of the proofs that the Father of the human race has been pleased to grant it. But the necessity of reve- lation is a subject upon which, in my opinion, it is better not to enter at the outset : because, if the proofs of the truth of Christianity be de- fective, the presumption arising from this necessity will not be suffi- cient to help them out ; and if they be clear and conclusive, the neces- sity of revelation will be more manifest after you proceed to examine its nature and its effects. The truth of Christianity turns upon a question of fact ; ■D GE>ri>"ESESS OF of the New Testameut, proceeded upon clear iucomestable evidence of their authenticitv. . , . ^ ,• • ,. If. then, we reidilv receive, upon the authority of tradition the Histon- of Thucvdides, ilie Oraiious of Cicero, the Dialogues of Plato, as real'iv the composition of tliese immortal authors, we have much more reason to sive credit to the exphcit testimony which the judg- ment of contemporaries, and tl.e acknowledgment ol succeedmg ages, have borne to tiie writers of the New Testament. There is no any ancient book with reeard to which the external evidence ot authenti- citv i^ so fuU and so farious : and Uiis variety ol external evidence is confirmed to everv person who is capable of judging, by the most strikin<^ internal marks of authenticuy,— by numberless mstances ot a-reement with the historv of those times, which are most satisjymg w\en thev appear to be most trivial, because they lorm a together a continued coincidence in points where it could not well have been studied : a coincidence which, the more ^lat any one is versant m the manners the seosraphy. and the constitution of ancient times, will brin» the mor^ entire conviction to his mind, that tliese books must have been written bv persons living m the very coumiy-, and at the verv period to whicli we refer those who are accounted the authors of tbeni. Undesiffned coincidences between the Acts and the Epistles are pointed out with admirable taste and judgment m Paley s Hor^ Paulinse, which is perhaps the most cogent and convincing specunen of moral ar-umentaiion m the world : and m the turst volume of his Evidences o7 Christianity.— which are professedly a compilation, but so condensed and compacted, so iUuminated and enforced, that it is impossible not to admire tlie matchless powers of the compiler s genius in tumin? the patient drudger}- of Lardner to such account,— the authenticitv of the Gospel and Acts is established. ■ , ,- 2 Havins ascenained to vour own satisfaction the authenticity ot tie "books of the New TestAmem, you will next proceed to mqmre whether thev are -enuine, that is, uncomipted. For even although they proceed at firet from the aposdes or evaugehsts whose names ihey bear, they may have been so altered smce that tmie as to convey to us very false uiformation with regard to their ongmal contents- It does not become you to rest in the presumption that the providence of God. if it save a revelation, would certainly guard so precious a gift, and transmi't enth^ throash all a-es •• the fauh once delivered to the saints.--'* The analosv of narare" does not support this presumption; for the best blessin-s of heaven are abused by the vices or the negli- .ate manners. Instead of tae self- conceit, the turgid insolent tone ox enthusiasm, you find in them a reserve, a modesty, a simplicity of expression, a disparagement of their own peculiar gifts, and a constant endeavour to magnify, in the eyes of their followers, those virtues in which they themselves did *JohnviLl6. fJohnzx. 21. t I-uke x. 16. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 19 not pretend to have any pre-eminence. The claim whicli they advance sits so easy and natural upon them, that the most critical eye cannot discern any trace of that kind of delusion which has often been exposed to public view ; and they are so unlike any enthusiasts whom the world ever saw, that, as far as outward appearances are to be trusted, they " speak the words of truth and soberness."* But you will not trust to appearances. It becomes you to examine the words which they speak, and you are in possession of a standard by which these words should be tried, and without a conformity to which they cannot be received as divine. Reason and conscience are the primary revelation which God made to man. We know assuredly that they came from the author of nature, and our apprehensions of his perfections must indeed be very low, if we can suppose it possible that they should be contradicted by a subsequent revelation. If any system, therefore, which pretends to come from God, contain palpable absurdities, or if it enjoin actions repugnant to the moral feelings of our nature, it never can approve itself to our understandings. It is unnecessary to examine the evidences of its being divine, because no evidence can be so strong as our perception of the falsehood of that which is absurd, and of the inconsistency between the will of God and that which is immoral. When I say that a divine revelation cannot contain a palpable absurdity, I am far from meaning, that every thing contained in it must be plain and familiar, such as reason is already versant with. The revelation, in that case, would be un- necessary. Neither do I mean that every thing contained in it, although n^w, must be such as we are able fully to comprehend ; for many insuperable difficulties occur in the study of nature. We have daily experience, that our ignorance of the manner in which a thing exists, does not create any doubt of its existence ; and in the ordinary business of life, we admit without hesitation, the truth of facts which, at the time we admit them, are to us unaccountable. The presump- tion is, that if a revelation be given, it will contain more facts of the same kind ; and it addresses you as reasonable creatures, if it require you, in judging of the facts which it proposes to your belief, to follow out the same principles upon which you are accustomed to proceed with regard to the facts which you see or hear. If the books of the New Testament be tried with this caution by the standard of reason, they will not be found to contain any of that contradiction which might entitle you to reject them before you examine their evidence. There are doctrines, to the full apprehension of which our limited faculties are inadequate ; and there has been much perplexity and misapprehension in the presumptuous attempts to explain these doc- trines. But the manner in which the books themselves state the doctrines, cannot appear to any philosophical mind to involve an absurdity. The system of religion and morality which they deliver is every way worthy of God. It corresponds to all the discoveries which the most enlightened reason has made with regard to the nature and the will of God; and it comprehends all the duties which are dictated by conscience or clearly suggested by the love of order. The few objections which have been made to the morality of the * Acts xsvL 25. 20 INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHEISTIANITT. gospel, as being defective in some points, by not enjoining patriotism or friendship, or too rigorous in others, admit of so clear and so easy a solution, that nothing but the desire of finding fault, joined to the difficulty of discovering any exceptionable circumstance, could have drawn remarks so frivolous from the authors in whose works they appear. You may, then, without much trouble, satisfy yourselves that neither the manner in which the writers of the New Testament advance their claim, nor the contentsof their books, afford any reason for rejecting that claim instantly, without examining the evidence. — I do not say that this afibrds any prodf of a divine revelation ; for a system may be rational and moral without being divine. This is only a pre-requisite, which every person to whom a system is pro- posed under that character has a title to demand. But we state the matter very imperfectly when we say, that there is nothing in the manner or the contents of these books -which deserves an immediate rejection. A closer attention to the subject not only renders it clear that they may come from God, but suggests many strong presumptions that they cannot be the work of men. These presumptions make up what is called the internal evidence of Christianity. The first branch of this internal evidence is the manifest superiority of that system of religion and morality which is contained in the books of the New Testament, above any that was ever delivered to the world before. Here a Christian divine derives a most important advantage from an intimate acquaintance with the ancient heathen philosophers. He ought not to take upon trust the accounts of their discoveries which succeeding writers have copied from one another. But setting that which they taught, over against the discourses of Jesus Christ, and the writings of his Apostles, he ought to see with his own eyes the force of that argument which arises from the com- parison. Do not think yourselves obliged to disparage the writings of the heathen moralists. The effort which they made to raise their minds above the grovelling superstition in which they were bom was honourable to themselves ; it was useful to their disciples, and it scattered some rays of light through the world. It does not become a scholar, who is daily reaping instruction and entertainment from their works, to deny them any part of that applause which is their due ; and it is not necessary for a Christian. You may safely allow that they were very much superior in the knowledge of religion and rriorality to their countrymen; and yet, when you take those philoso- phers who lived before the Christian era, and compare their writings with the books of the New Testament, the disparity appears most< striking. The views of God given in these books are not only more sub- lime than those which occasional passages in the writings of the philo- sophers discover, but are purified from the alloy which abounds in them, and are at once consistent with, and apposite to the condition of man. Religion is here uniformly applied to encourage man in the discharge of his duty, to support him under the trials of life, and to cherish every good affection. To love God with all our heart, and strength, and soul, and mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, the two commandments of the Gospel, are the most luminous and compre- •nsive principles of morality that ever were taught. The particular INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 21 precepts, which, although not systematically deduced, are but thcl unfolding of those principles, form the heart, regulate the conduct, j descend mto every relation, and constitute the most perfect and refined ' morality, — a morality, not elevated above the concerns or occasions of ordinary men, but sound and practical, which renders the members of society useful, agreeable, and respectable, and at the same time carries them forward by the progressive improvement of their nature to a higher state of being. The precepts themselves are short, ex- pressive, and simple, easily retained, and easily applied ; and they are enforced by all those motives which have the greatest powei over the human mind. That future life, to which good men in every age had looked forward with an anxious wish, is brought to light in these books. There is not in them the conjecture, the hesitation, the embarrassment which had entered into the language of the wisest philosophers upon this subject. But there is an explicit declaration, delivered in a tone of authority which becomes that Being who can order the condition of his creatures, that this is a season of trial, that there willhereafterbeatimeofrecompense,andthatthe conduct of men upon earth is to produce everlasting consequences with regard to their future condition. To the fears, of which a being who is conscious of repeated transgressions cannot divest himself, no other system had applied any rernedy but the repetition of unavailing sacrifices. These books alone disclose a scheme of Providence adapted to tl\e condition of sinners, announced, introduced and conducted with a solemnity corresponding to its importance, admirably fitted in all its parts, sup- posing it to be true, to revive the hopes of the penitent, to restore the dignity, the purity, and happiness of the intelligent creation, aiid thus to repair that degeneracy which all writers have lamented, of which every man has experience, and to the cure of which all human means had proved inadequate. This grand idea, which is characteristical of the books of the New Testament, completes their superiority above every other system, and gives a peculiar kind of sublimity to both the religion and the morality of the Gospel. The second branch of the internal evidence of Christianity arises from the condition of those men in whose writings this superior system appears. We can trace a progress in ancient philosophy ; we see the principles of science arising out of the occupation of men, collected, improved, abused ; and we can mark the elTect which both the improvement and the abuse had in producing that degree of perfection which, they attained. To every person versair^ in the history of | ancient phi-losophy, Socrates must appear an extraordinary man.— Yet the .eminence of Socrates forms only a stage in the progress of his countrymen. His disciples, who have recorded his discourses, were men placed in a most favourable situation for polishing and enlarging their minds ; and the Roman philosophers trod in their steps. But, if the books of the New Testament be authentic, the writers who have delivered to us this superior system, were men born in a mean condition, without any advantages of education, and with strong national prejudices, which the low habits formed by their occupations could not fail to strengthen. They have interwoven in their works their history and their manner of thinking. The obscurity of their station is vouched by contemporary writers, and it was one of the 22 INTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. reproaches thrown upon the Gospel by its earhest adversaries. Yet the conceptions of these mean men upon the most important subjects, far transcend the continued efforts of ancient philosophy -^ and the sages of Greece and Rome appear as children when compa'red with the fishermen of Galilee. From men, whose minds we cannot suppose to have been seasoned with any other notions of divine things than those whichthey derived from the teaching of the Pharisees, who had obscured the law by their traditions, and loaded it with ceremonies, there arose a pure and spiritual religion. From men, educated in the narrowness and bigotry of the Jewish spirit, there arose a religion which enjoins universal benevolence, a scheme for diffusing the knowlecjge of the true God over the whole earth, and forming a church out of all the nations under heaven. The divine plan of blessing the human race, in turning them from their iniquity, originat- ed from a little district, — was adopted, not by the whole tribe as a method of retrieving their ancient honours, but by a few individuals, in opposition to public authority, — and was prosecuted with zeal and activity under every disadvantage and discouragement. When his contemporaries heard Jesus speak, they said, "Whence hath this man wisdom? How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?"* When the Jewish council heard Peter and John, they marvelled, because they knew that they were ignorant and unlearned men ;"t and to every candid inquirer, the superiority of that system, and the magniiicence of that plan contained in the books of the New Testa- ment, when compared with the natural opportunities of those from whom they proceed, must appear the most inexplicable phenomenon in the history of the human mind, unless we admit the truth of their claim. A third branch of the internal evidence of Christianity arises from the character of Jesus Christ. It is often said with much truth, that the gospel has the peculiar excellence of proposing in the character of its author, an example of all its precepts. That character may also be stated as one branch of the internal evidence of Christianity, whether you consider Jesus as a teacher, or as a man. His manner of teaching was most dignified and most winning. " Never man spake like this man." He taught by parable, by action, and by plain discourse. Out of familiar scenes, out of the objects which surrounded him, and the intercourse of social life, he extracted the most pleasing and useful instruction. He repelled the attacks of his enemies with a gentleness which disarmed, and a wisdom which confounded their malice. There was a plainness, yet a depth in all his sayings. He was tender, persuasive, or severe, according to circumstances ; and the discourse, which seemed to have been dictated to him merely by the occasion, is found to convey lasting and valuable counsel to posterity. His character as a man, is allowed to be the most perfect which the world ever saw. All the virtues of which we can form a conception, were united in him with a more exact harmony, and shone with a lustre more bright and more natural, than in any of the sons of men. His descending from the glories of heaven, assummg the weakness 0^ human nature, and voluntarily submitting to all the calamities * Matt, xiii, 54. John vii. 15. f Acts iv. 13 INTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. 23 which he endured for the sake of men, exhibits a degree of benevolence, of magnanimity, and patience, which far exceeds the conception that Plato formed of the most tried and perfect virtue. The majesty of his divine nature is blended with the fellow feeling and condescension implied in his office ; and although the history of mankind did not afford any model that could here be followed, tliis singular cliaracter is supported throughout, and there is not any one of the words or actions ascribed to him, which does not appear to the most correct taste to become the man Christ Jesus. It is not possible that a manner of teaching, so infinitely superior to that of the Scribes and Pharisees, or that a character so extraordinary, so godlike, so consistent, could have been invented by the fishermen of Galilee. Admit only that the books of the New Testament are authentic, and you must allow that the authors of them drew Jesus Christ from the life. And how do they draw him ? Not in the language of fiction, with swoln panegyric, with a laborious eftort to number his deeds, and to record all his sayings, but in the most natural artless manner. Four of his disciples, not many years after his death, when every circumstance could easily be investigated, write a short history of his life. Without attempting to exhaust the subject, without studying to coincide with one another, without directing your attention to the shining parts of his history, or marking any contrast between him and other men, they leave you, from a few facts, to gather the character of the man whom they had followed. Thus you learn his innocence not from their protestations, but from the whole complexion of his life ; from the declaration of the judge who condemned him ; of the centu- rion who attended his execution : of a traitor, who having been admit- ted into his family, was a witness of his most retired actions, who had no tie of affection, of delicacy, or consistency, to restrain him from divulging the whole truth, and who might have pleaded the secret wickedness of his master as an apology for his own baseness, who would have been amply repaid for his information, and yet who died with these words in his mouth, " I have sinned, in that I have be- trayed the innocent blood."* Had Judas borne no such testimony, an appeal to him was the most unsafe method in which the writers of this history could attest the innocence of their master. But if the wisdom of God had ordained, that even in the family of Jesus the wrath of his enemies should thus praise him, it was the most natural ' for one of the evangelists to record so striking a circumstance : and I mention it here, only as a specimen of the manner in which the char- acter of Jesus is drawn, not by the colouring of a skilful pencil, but by a continual reference to facts, which to impostors are of dirficult in- vention, and of easy detection, but which, to those who exhibit a real character, are the most natural, the most delightful, and the most effectual method of making their friend known. " Shall we say," writes Rousseau, no uniform champion for the cause o( Christianity, '•'shall we say that the history of the gospel is invented at pleasure ? No. It is not thus that rnen invent. It would be more inconceivable ' that a number of men had in concert produced this book from their own imaginations, than it is that one man has furnished the subject ' • Matt xxvii. 4. 24 INTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. )of it. The morality of the gospel, and its general tone, were beyond I the conception of Jewish authors ; and the history of Jesus Christ has I marks of truth so palpable, so striking, and so .perfectly inimitable, ^ that its inventor would excite our admiration more than its hero."* A fourth branch of the internal evidence of Christianity arises from the characters of the apostles of Jesus as drawn in their own writings. Their condition renders the superiority of their doctrine inexplicable, without admitting a divine revelation : their character gives the highest credibility to their pretensions. We seldom read the work of any person, without forming some apprehension of his character ; and if his work represent him as engaged in a succession of trials, pouring forth the sentiments of his heart, and holding, in interesting situations, much intercourse with his fellow creatures, we contract an intimate acquaintance with him before we are done, and we are able to collect from numberless circumstances, whether he be at pains to disguise himself from us, or whether he be really such a man as he wishes to appear. No scene ever was more interesting to the actors, than that in which the writings of the apostles of Jesus exhibit them ; and the gospels and epistles taken together, afford to every attentive reader a complete display of their character. We said, that they appear from their writings devoid of enthusiasm, cool and collected., Yet this coolnes^is removed at the greatest distance from every mark. of im- posture. They are at no pains to disguise their infirmities ; all their prejudices shine through their narration ; and they do not assume to themselves any merit for having abandoned them. . We see light opening slowly upon their minds, their hopes disappointed, and them- selves conducted into scenes very different from those which they had figured. " We trusted," said they, after the death of their master, '' that it was he which should have redeemed Israel."! Yet it is not long before they become firm, and cheerful, and resolute. Not over- awed by the threatenings of the magistrates, nor shaken by the per- secutions which they endured from their countrymen, they devoted their lives to the generous undertaking of spreading through the world the knowledge of that religion which they had embraced. Appearing as the servants of another, they disclaim the honours which their followers were disposed to pay them ; they uniformly inculcate quiet inoffensive manners, and a submission to civil authority ; and labour- ing with their hands for the supply of their necessities, they stand forth as patterns of humility and self-denial. The churches to which they write, are the witnesses to posterity of their holy unblameable conduct; their sincerity and zeal breathe through all their epistles; and, when you read their writings, you behold the most illustrious example of disinterested beneficence, that exalted love of mankind, which made them forego every private consideration, in order to pro- mote the virtue and happiness of those to whom they were sent. They had differences amongst themselves, which they are at no pains to conceal ; yet they remained united in the same cause. They had personal enemies in the churches which they planted ; yet they were not afraid to reprove, to censure, to excommunicate ; and, in the im- mediate prospect of death, they continued their labour of love. * Rousseau, Emile, ii. 98. f Luke xxiv. 21. INTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. 25 Such is the character of the apostles of Jesus, as it appears in their authentic writings, not drawn by themselves, but collected from the facts which they relate, and the letters which they address to those who knew them. It is a character so far raised above the ordinary exertions of mortals, and so diametrically opposite to the Jewish spirit, that we naturally search for some divine cause of its being formed. We are led to consider its existence as a pledge of the truth of that high claim which such men appear not unworthy to make ; and this assurance of their veracity which we derive from their conduct, disposes our minds to attend to that external evidence which they oifer to adduce. I have thus stated what appear to me the principal parts of the internal evidence of Christianity. I have not mentioned the style or composition of the books of the New Testament, because, although I am of opinion that there are in them instances of sublimity, of tender- ness, and of manly eloquence, which are not to be equalled by any human composition, and although the mixture of dignity and sim- plicity which characterizes these books is most worthy of the author and the subject of them, yet this is a matter of taste, a kind of senti- mental proof which will not reach the understandings of all, and where an affirmation may be answered by a denial. The only evi- dence which Mahomet adduced for his divine mission, was the inimi- table excellence of his Koran. Produce me, said he, a single chapter equal to this book, and I renounce my claim. We are not driven to this necessity ; and therefore, although every person of true taste reads with the highest admiration many parts of the New Testament, al- though every divine ought to cultivate a taste for the sacred classics, and has often occasion to illustrate their beauties, it is better to rest the evidence of our religion upon arguments less controvertible. — Neither have I mentioned that inward conviction which the excellence of the matter, the grace of the promises, and the awfulness of the threatenings, produce on every mind disposed by the influence of heaven to receive the truth. This is the witness of the Spirit, the highest and most satisfying evidence of divine revelation ; the gift of) God, for which we pray, and which every one who asks with a good and honest heart is encouraged to expect. But this witness within ourselves, although it removes every shadow of doubt from our own breasts, cannot be stated to others. They are to be convinced, not by our feelings but by their own; and the truth of that fact, upon which the Deisticalcontroversy turns, must be established by arguments which every understanding may apprehend, and with regard to which the experience of one man cannot be opposed to the experience of another. Of this kind are the points which I have stated ; the superior excellence of that system contained in the books of the New Testament, taken in conjunction Vv^ith the condition of those whom we know to be the authors of them, the character of Jesus Christ, as drawn by his disciples, and their own character as it appears from their writings. 1 do not say that these arguments will have equal force with all ; but I say that they are fitted by their nature to make an impression upon every understanding which considers them with attention and candour. I allow that they form only a presumptive! evidence for the high claim advanced in these books ; and I consider) 5 G 26 INTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. the external evidence of Christianity as absolutely necessary to estab- lish our faith. But I have called your attention particularly to the various hranches of this internal evidence, not only because the result of the four taken together appears to me to form a very strong presump- tion, but also because they constitute a principal part of the study of a divine. By dwelling upon these branches — by reading with care the many excellent books which treat of them, — and, above all, by search- ing the Scriptures with a special view to perceive the force of this inter- nal evidence, your sense of tlie excellence of Christianity is confirmed ; your hearts are made better, and you acquire the most useful furniture for those public ministrations in which it will be more your business to confirm them that believe, than to convince the gainsayers. The several points which I have stated perpetually recur in oitr discourees to the people; our lectures and our sermons are full of them; and therefore, the more extensive and various our information is with regard to these points, and the deeper the impression which the frequent contemplation of them has made upon our own minds, we are the better able to magnify, in the eyes of those for whose sakes we labour, the un- searchable riches of the Gospel, and to build them uj) in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation. iNewcomb on the Character of our Saviour. Leechinan's Sermons. • ' Conybeare's Answer to Tindal. Leland on the Advantages of the Christian Revelation. Leland's Viev?- of the Deistical Writers. Duclial's Sermons. Jenyns on the Internal Evidences of Christianity. Macknight on the Truth of the Gospel History. Paley's Evidences of Christianity, Vol. II. Bishop Porteus' Summary of the Evidences of Christianity DIRECT on. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 27 I CHAPTER IV. r>IRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OE CHRISTIANITY. Having satisfied your minds that the books of the New Testament are authentic and genuine, that they contain nothing upon account of which they deserve immediately to be rejected, and that their con- tents afford a very strong presumption of their being what they profess to be, a revelation from God to man, it is natural next to inquire what is the direct evidence in support of this presumption ; for, in a matter^ of such infinite importance, it is not desirable to rest entirely upon pre- sumptions: and it is not to be supposed that the strongest evidence which the nature of the case admits will be withheld. Tiie Gospel professes to offer such evidence ; and our Lord distinguishes most accurately between the amount of that presumptive evidence which arises from the excellence of Christianity, and the force of that direct proof wh'ch he brought. Of the presumptive evidence he thus speaks: " If any man will do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God."* i. e. Everyman of an honest mind will infer from the nature of my doctrine, that it is of Divine origin. But of the direct proof he says : " If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father." " If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not : But if I do, though ye believe not me. believe the works."t To the direct proof he constantly appeals;] « The works which the Father hath given me to do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."| He declares, that the same works which he did, and greater than them, should his servants do :§ And what these works are, we learn from his answer to the disciples of John the Baphst, who brought to him this question, " Art thou he that should come ?" " Go," said he, "and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk ; the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raisecl."l| The Gospel then professes to be received as a divine reve- lation upon the footing of miracles ; and, therefore, every person who examines into the truth of our religion, ought to have a clear appre- hension of the nature of that claim. That I may not pass hurriedly over so important a subject, I have been led to divide my discourse upon miracles into three parts: in the first of which T shall state the force of that argument for the truth of Christianity which arises from the miracles of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. • lohn -rii 17 f Tohii tv ^4 : t. 37. 38. i -Tohn "SB § John t". 12. • Matt. XI. 4. ft 28 DlRECl OR EXTERNAL EVIDENC2 Section I. All that we know of the Ahnighty is gathered from his works He speaks to us by the eifects which he produces ; and the signatures of power, wisdom, and goodness, which appear in the objects around us, are the language in which God teaches man the knowledge of himself From these objects we learn the providence as well as the existence of God ; because, while the objects are in themselves great and stupendous, many of them appear to us in motion, and through the whole of nature, we observe operations which indicate not only the original exertions, but also the continued agency of a supreme in- visible power. These operations are not desultory. By experiencf and information we are able to trace a certain regular course, accord- ing to which the Almighty exercises his power throughout the uni- verse ; and all the business of life proceeds upon the supposition of the uniformity of his operations. We are often, indeed, reminded that our experience and information are very limited. Extraordinary ap- 'pearances at particular seasons astonish the nations of the earth : new powers of nature unfold themselves in the progress of our discoveries ; and the accumulation of facts collected and arranged by successive generations, serves to enlarge our conceptions of the greatness and the order of that system to which we belong. But although we do not pretend to be acquainted with the whole course of nature, yet the more that we know, we are the more confirmed in the belief that there is an established course: 'and every true philosopher is encour- aged by the fruit of his own researches to entertain the hope, that some future age will be able to reconcile with that course, appearances v-^iich his ignorance is at present unable to explain. Although the business of life and the speculations of philosophy proceed upon the uniformity of the course of nature, yet it cannot be understood by those who believe in the existence of a Supreme In- telligent Being, that this uniformity excludes his interposition when- soever he sees meet to interpose. We use the phrase, laws of nature, to express the method in which, according to our observation, the Almighty usually operates. We call them laws, becai^se they are independent of us, because they serve to account for ihe most dis- cordant phenomena, and because the knowledge of them gives us a certain command over nature. But it would be an abuse of language to infer from their being called laws of nature, that they bind him who established them. It would be recurring to the principles of atheism, to fate, and blind necessity, to say that the author of nature is obliged to act in the manner in which he usually acts ; and that he cannot, in any given circumstances, depart from the course which we observe. The departure, indeed, is to us a novelty. We have no principles by which we can foresee its approach, or form any conjec- ture with regard to the measure and the end of it. But if we conceive worthily of the Ruler of the universe, we shall believe that all these departures entered into the great plan which he formed in the begin- ning ; that they were ordained and arranged by him ; and that they arise at the time which he appointed, and fulfil the purposes of his wisdom. OF CHRISTIANITY. 29 There is not then any mutabiUty or weakness in those occasional interpositions whicli seem to us to suspend the laws and to alter the course of nature. The Almighty Being, who called the universe out of nothing, whose creating hand gave a beginning to the course of nature, and whose will must be independent of that which he himself • produced, acts for wise ends, and at particular seasons, not in that manner which he has enabled us to trace, but in another manner con- cerning which he has not furnished us with the means of forming any expectation, and which is resolvable merely into his good pleasure. The one manner is his ordinary administration, under which his reasonable offspring enjoy security, advance in the knowledge of nature, and receive much instruction : the other manner is his extra- ordinary administration, which, although foreseen by him as a part of the scheme of his government, appears strange to his intelligent creatures, but which, by this strangeness, may promote purposes, to them most important and salutary. It may rouse their attention to the natural proofs of the being and perfections of God ; it may afford a practical confutation of the scepticism and materialism to which false philosophy often leads ; and, rebuking the pride and the security of man, may teach the nations to know that the Lord God reigneth " in heaven and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places."* To such moral purposes as these, any alteration of the course of nature, by the immediate interposition of the Almighty, may be sub- servient ; and no man will presume to say that our limited faculties can assign all the reasons which may induce the Almighty thus to uiter- pose. But we can clearly discern one most important end which may be promoted by those alterations of the course of nature, in which the agency of men, or other visible ministers of the divine power, is employed. ' The circumstances of the intelligent creation may render it highly expedient that, in addition to that original revelation of the nature and the will of God which they enjoy by the light of reason, there should be superadded an extraordinary revelation, to remove the errors which had obscured their knowledge, to enforce the practice of their duty, or to revive and extend their hopes. The wisest ancient philosophers wished for a divine revelation : and to any one who examines the state of the old heathen world in respect of religion and morality, it cannot appear unworthy of the Father of his creatures to bestow such a blessing. This revelation, supposing it to be given, may either be imparted to every individual mind, or be confined to a few chosen persons, vested with a commission to communicate the benefits of it to the rest of the world. It is certainly possible for the Father of spirits to act upon every individual mind so as to give that mind the impression of an extraordinary revelation : it is as easy lor the Father of spirits to do this, as to act upon a few minds. . But, in this case, departures from the established course of nature would be multiplied without end. In the illumination of every individual, there would be an immediate extraordinary interposition of the Al- mighty. But extraordinary interpositions so frequent would lose I their nature, so as to be confounded with the ordinary light of reason ] • Psalm cxiiT. 6. 30 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE and conscience : or if they were so striking as to be, in every case, clearly discriminated, they would subdue the understanding, and overawe the whole soul, so as to extort, by the feeling of the imme- diate presence of the Creator, that submission and obedience which it is the character of a rational agent to yield with deliberation and from choice. It appears, therefore, more consistent with the simplicity of nature, and with the ci)aracter of man, that a few persons should be ordained the instruments of conveying a divine revelation to their fellow-creatures; and that the extraordinary circumstances which must attend the giving such a revelation should be confined to them. But it is not enough that these persons feel the impression of a divine revelation upon their own minds: it is not enough that, in their com- munications with their fellow-creatures, they appear to be possessed of superior knowledge, and more enlarged views : it is possible that their knowledge and views may have been derived from some natural source ; and we require a clear indisputable mark to authenticate the singular and important commission which they profess to bear. It were presumptuous in us to say what are the marks of such a com- mission which the Almighty can give ; for our knowledge of what He can do, is chiefly derived from our observation of what He has done. But we may say, that, according to our experience of the divine pro- cedure, there can be no mark of a divine commission more striking and more incontrovertible, than that the persons who bear it should have the privilege of altering the course of nature by a word of their mouths. The revelation made to their minds is invisible ; and all the outward af)pearances of it may be delusive. But extraordinary works, beyond the power of man, performed by them, are a sensible outward sign of a power which can be derived from God alorie. If he has invested them with this power, it is not incredible that he has made a revelation to their minds ; and if they constantly appeal to the works, which are the signs of the power, as the evidence of the in- visible revelation, and of the commission with which it was accom- panied, then we must either believe that they have such a comiDission, or we are driven to the horrid supposition that God Js the author of a falsehood, and conspires with these men to deceive his creatures. When I call the extraordinary works performed by these men, the sign of a power derived from God, you recollect that all the language which we interpret consists of signs ; i. e. objects and operations which fall under our senses, employed to indicate that which is imseen. What are the looks, the words, and the actions of our fellow crea- tures, but signs of that internal disposition which is hidden from our view? What are the appearances which bodies exhibit to our senses but signs of the inward qualities which produce these appearances.? What are the works of nature, but signs of that supreme intelligence, " whom no man hath seen at any time ?"* Upon this principle, all those events and operations, beyond the compass of human power, which happen according to the established course of nature, form part of the foundations of Natural Religion ; and any person who foretells or conducts them, only discovers his acquaintance with that course, and his sagacity in applying what we call the laws of nature. Upon • Johni. 18. or CHRISTIANITY. 31 the same principle, all those events and operations whicli happen in opposition to the established course of nature, imply an exertion of the same power which established that course, because they counter- act it; and any person who, by a word, produces such events and operations, discovers that this power is conmiitted to him. To com- mand the sun to run his race until the time of his going down, and to command him to stand still about a whole day, as in the valley of Gibeon in the time of Joshua,* are two commands which destroy one another ; and therefore, if we believe that the will of the Almighty Ruler of the universe produces an uniform obedience to the first, we must believe that the obedience which, upon one occasion, was yielded to the second, was the effect of his will also. As no creature can stop the working of his hand, every interruption in that course according to which he usually operates, happens by his permission ; and the power of altering the course of nature, by whomsoever it be exerted, j must be derived from the Lord of nature. This is the reasoning upon which we proceed, when we argue for the truth of a revelation, from extraordinary works performed by those through whom it is communicated ; and here we see the im- portant purpose which the Almighty promotes by employing the agency of men to change the order of nature. Those changes which proceed immediately from his hand, however well fitted to impress his, creatures with a sense of his sovereignty, do not 'of themselves prove any new„ proposition, because their connexion with that propo- sition is not manifest. But, when visible agents perform works be- yond the power of man, and contrary to the course of nature, they give a sign of the interposhion of the Almighty, which, being applied by .their declaration to the doctrine which they teach, becomes a voucher of the truth of what they say. To works of this kind, the term mracles is properly applied ; and they form what has been called the seal of heaven, implying that delegation of the sovereign authority of the Lord of all, which appears to be reserved in the con- duct of providence as the credential of those to whom a divine com- mission is at any time granted. This was the rod put into the hand of Moses, wherewith to do signs and wonders, that Pharaoh and the children of Israel might believe that the Lord God had sent him. This was the sign given to Elijah, that it might be known that he was a man of God ; and.this was the witness which the Father bore \.o '■' Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by miracles, which God did by him in the midst of the people,"t and to the apostles of Jesus ^ who went forth to preach the Gospel, " the Lord working with them, and cor\firming the words by signs following." J The nature of the revelation contained in the books of the New Testament affords a very strong presumptive proof that it comes from God ; whilst the works done by Jesus and his Apostles are the direct proof; and the two proofs conspire with the most perfect harmony. The presumptive proof explains the importance and the dignity of that occasion upon which the Almighty was pleased to makfi the iater- position, of which these works are the sign : The direct proof accounts for that transcendent excellence, in the doctrine and the character of • Toshua X. 12— U. \ Acts il 22. + Mark xvi. 20 32 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE the author of this system, which, upon the supposition of its being of human origin, appeared to be inexphcable; and thus the internal and external evidence of Christianity, by the aid which they lend to one another, make us "ready to give an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in us."* We have found, that the reasoning involved in the argument from miracles, proceeds upon the same principles by which a sound theist infers the being and perfections of God ; in both cases, we discover God by his works, which are to us the signs of his agency. This analogy between the proofs of natural and revealed religion is very much illustrated by considering the particular miracles recorded in the Gospel. When we investigate the evidences of natural religion, we find that any works manifestly exceeding human power would lead ijs, in the course of fair reasoning, to a Being antecedent to the hu- man race, superior to them in strength, and independent of them in the mode of his existence. But it is the transcendent grandeur ol those works which we behold, their inimitable baauty, their endless variety, their harmony, and utility; it is this infinite superiority of the works of nature above the works of art, which renders the argument completely satisfying, and leaves no doubt in our minds, either of the' power or of the moral character of that Being from whom they pro- , ceed. In like manner, although, in stating the argument from mira- cles in support of the Gospel, we have reasoned fairly upon this sim- ple principle, that they are interruptions of the course of nature, yet, when we come to consider those particular interruptions upon which the Gospel founds its claim, we perceive that their nature furnishes a very strong confirmation of the general argument, and that, like the other worlcfe of God, they proclaim their Author. In Him who ruled the raging of the sea and stilled the tempest, we recognise the Lord of the universe. In that command which gave life to the dead, we recognise the author of life. In the works of Him who, by a word of his mouth, cured the most inveterate diseases, unstopped the ears which had never admitted a sound, opened the eye^ which had never seen the light, conferred upon the most distract- ed mind the exercise of reason, and restored the withered, maimed, distorted limb, we recognise the Former of our bodies and the Father of our spirits. This is the very power by which all things consist, the energy of Him "in whom we live, and move, and have our being."! The miracles of the Gospel were performed without pre- paration or concert ; they were instantaneous in the manner of being produced, yet their effects were permanent ; and, like the works of nature, although they came without effort from the hands of the workman, they bore to be examined by the nicest eye. There does not appear in them that poverty which marks all human exertions ; neither the strength nor the skill of Him who did them seemed to be exhausted ; but there was a fulness of power, a multiplicity, a di- versity, a readiness in the exercise of it, by which they resemble the riches of God that replenish the earth. Yet they were free from parade and ostentation. There were no attempts to dazzle, no anxie- ty to set off every work to the best advantage, no waste of exertion, • 1 Peter iii. 15.' f Acts xviii. 28. OF CHRISTIANITY. 33 no frivolous accompaniments ; but a sobriety, a decorum, all the dig- nified simplicity of nature. The extraordinary power which appear- ed in the miracles of the gospel was employed not to hurt or to terrify, but to heal, to comfort, and to bless. The gracious purpose to which they ministered declared their divine origin; and they who beheld a man who had the command of nature, and " who went about doing good,"* dispensing with a bountiful hand the gifts of heaven, lighten- ing the burdens of human life, and accompanying every exercise of *his power with a display of tenderness, condescension, and love, were taught to venerate the messenger, and the "express image" of that Al- migh'ty Lord whose kmgdom excels at once in majesty and in grace. As the religion which these miracles were wrought to attest, is in every respect worthy of God, so they were selected with divine wisdom to illustrate the peculiar doctrines of that religion ; and in the admira- ble fitness with which the nature of the proof is accommodated to the nature of the thing to be proved, we have an instance of the same kind with many which the creation affords of the perfection of the divine workmanship. Jesus came preaching forgiveness of sins ; and he brought with him a sensible sign of his having received a commis- sion to bestow this invisible gift. Disease was introduced into the world by sin. Jesus therefore cured all manner of disease that we might know that he had power to forgive sins also. His being able to re- move, not by the slow uncertain applications of human art, but instant- ly by a word of his mouth spoken at any distance, those temporal mala- dies which are the present visible fruits of sin, was an assurance to the world of his being able to remove the spiritual evils which flow from the same source. It was a specimen, a symbolical representation of his character as physician of souls. Jesus was that seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent, and he gave in his miracles a sensible sign of the fall of Satan. The influence which this ad- versary of mankind in every age exercises over the minds of men, was in that age connected with a degree of power over their bodies. It was the general belief in Judea, that certain diseases proceeded from the possession which his emissaries took of the human body. To the i Jews therefore, the casting out devils was an ocular demonstration that Jesus was able to destroy the works of the devil. It was the begitming of the triumphs of this mighty prince, a trophy which he brought from the land of the enemy, to assure his followers of a complete victory. I have bound the strong man. Do you ask a proof? See, I enter his house and spoil his goods. I set free the mind and conscience which he had enslaved. My people will feel their^ freedom and will need no foreign proof But does the world require one ? See, by the finger of God, I set free those bodies which Satan, torments. His rtiising the dead was a practical confirmation of that new doctrine of his religion, that the hour is coming when they who are in their graves, shall hear his voice, and shall come forth to the resurrection. You cannot say that the thing is impossible ; for you see in his miracles a sample of that almighty power which shall quicken them that sleep in the dust, a sensit>le sign that Jesus " hath abolished death," and is able to " ransom his people from the power of the grave.''t • Acts X. 38. t 2 Tim. i. lO ; Hos. xiiL 14, H 34 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE -Other miracles of Jesus may be accommodated to the doctrines of rehgion, and much spiritual instruction may be derived from them. I But these three, the cure of diseases, the casting out devils, and the 1 raising the dead, are applied by himself in the manner which I have j stated. They are not only a confirmation of his divine mission, by being a display of the same kind of power which appears in creation and providence, but, from their nature, they are a proof of the charac- teristical doctrines of the Gospel ; and we are led by considering works so great in themselves, and at the same time so apposite to the * purpose for which they were wrought, to transfer to the miracles of Jesus that devout exclamation which an enlarged view of the creation dictated to the Psalmist ; " How manifold are thy works, 0 Lord ; in wisdom hast thou made them all."* I have thus stated the force of that argument which arises from the miracles of Jesus, as they are recorded in the New Testament. They who beheld them said, " When Messias cometh, will he do more miracles than those which this man doth ? This is the prophet."t They spoke what they felt, and the deductions of the most enlighten- ed reason upon this subject accord with the feelings of every unbiass- ed spectator. But we are not the spectators of the miracles of Jesus ; the report only has reached our ears ; and some further principles are necessary in our situation to enable us to apply the argument from miracles in support of the truth of Christianity. Section II. It appeared more consistent with the simplicity of nature and the character of man, that one or more persons should be ordained the instruments of conveying an extraordinary revelation to the rest of the world, than that it should be imparted to every individual mind. The commission of these messengers of heaven may be attested by changes upon the order of nature, which the Almighty accomplishes through their agency. But the works which they do, are objects of sense only to their contemporaries with whom they converse. Without a perpetual miracle exhibited in their preservation, those facts which are the proof of the divine revelation must be transmitted to succeed- ing ages, by oral or written tradition, and, like all other facts in the history of fornier times, they must constitute part of that information which is received upon the credit of testimony. Accordingly we say, that Jesus Christ, for a few years, did signs and wonders in the presence of his disciples, and before all the people : the report of them was carried through the world after his departure from it by chosen witnesses, to whom he had imparted the power of working miracles ; and many of the miracles done both by him and his apostles are now written in authentic genuine records which have reached our days, that we also may believe that he is the Son of God. Supposing then we admit, that the eye-witnesses of the miracles of Jesus reasoned justly when they considered them as proofs of a divine commission ; still it remains to be inquired, whether the evidence which has trans- • Psalm civ. 2*. t Jo^in vii. 31—40. OP CHRISTIANITY. S5 mitted these miracles to us, is sufficient to warrant us in drawing the same inference which we should have drawn if we ourselves had seen them. There are three questions which require to be discussed upon this subject. Whether miracles are capable of proof? Whether the testi- mony borne to the miracles of Jesus was creditable at the time it was given ? And whether the distance at which we live from that time destroys, or in any material degree impairs its original credibility ? 1. It was said by one of the subtlest reasoners of modern times, that a miracle is incapable of being proved by testimony. His argu- ment was this : " Our belief of any fact attested by eye-witnesses rests upon our experience of the usual conformity of facts to the reports of witnesses. But a firm and unalterable experience hath established the laws of nature. When, therefore, witnesses attest any fact which is a violation of the laws of nature, here is a contest of two opposite experiences. The proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can be imagined ; and if so, it caimot be surmounted by a proof from testimony, because testimony rests upon experience." Mr. Hume boasted of this reasoning as unanswerable, and he holds it forth in his Essay on Miracles as an everlasting check to superstition. The prin- ciples upon which the reasoning proceeds have been closely sifted and their fallacy completely exposed, in Campbell's Dissertation on Miracles ; one of the best polemical treatises that ever was v/ritten. Mr. Hume meets here with an antagonist who is not inferior to him- self in acuteness, and who, supported by the goodness of his cause, has gained a triumphant victory. I consider this dissertation as a standard book for students of divinity. You will find in it accurate reasoning, and much information upon the whole subject of miracles, and, in particular,' a thorough investigation of the question which I have now stated. It is not true that our belief in testimony rests wholly upon expe- 1 rience ; for, as every man has a principle of veracity which leads bin! , to speak truth, unless his mind be under some particular wrong bias, so we are led, by the consciousness of this principle, and by the ana- logy which we suppose to exist between our own mind and the mind of others, to believe that they also speak the truth, until we learn by experience that they mean to deceive us. It is not accurate to state the firm and unalterable experience which is said to establish the laws of nature as somewhat distinct from testimony; for since the observa- tions of any individual are much too limited to enable him to judge of the uniformity of nature, the word experience, in the sense in which , it is used in this proposition, presupposes a faith in testimony, for it | comprehends the observations of others communicated to us through that channel. It is not true that a firm and unalterable experience hath established the laws of nature, because the histories of all coun- tries are filled with accounts of deviations from them. These are objections to the principles of Mr. Hume's argument, which his subtle antagonist brings forward, and presses with much force. But, independently of these inferior points, he has shown that the argument itself is a fallacy ; and the sophism lies here. Expe- rience vouches that which is past; but, if the word has any meaning, &6 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE experience does not touch that which is future. Our judgment of the future is an inference which we draw from the reports of experience concerning the past : the reports may be true, and yet our inference may be false. Thus experience declares that it is not agreeable to the usual course of nature for the dead to rise. Suppose twelve men to declare that the dead do usually arise, there would be proof against proof; a particular testimony set against our own personal observa- tions, and against all the reports and observations of others which we had collected upon that subject. But suppose twelve men to declare that one dead man did arise, here is no opposition between the reports of experience and their testimony; for it does not fall within the pro- vince of experience to declare that it is impossible for the dead to iise, or that the usual course of nature in this matter shall never be depart- ed from. We may hastily draw such inference from the reports of experience. BvX the inference is our own : we have taken too wide a step in making it ; and it is sophism to say, thaf because experience vouches the premises, experience vouches also that conclusion which is drawn from them merely by a defect in our mode of reasoning. When witnesses then attest miracles, experience and testimony do not contradict one another. Experience declares that such events do not usually happen: testimony declares that they have happened in that instance. Each makes its own report, and the reports of both may be true. Instances somewhat similar occur in other cases. Un- asu'a! events, extraordinary phenomena in nature, strange revolutions in politics, uncommon efforts of genius or of memory, are all received npon testimony. Magnetism, electricity, and galvanism are opposite to the properties of matter formerly known. Yet many who never saw these new powers exerted, give credit to the reports of the expe- riments that have been made. Experience indeed begets a presump- tion with regard to the future. We are disposed io believe that the facts which have been uniformly observed will recur in similar cir- cumstances ; and we act upon this presumption. But as new situa- tions may occur, in which a difference of circumstances produces a difference in the event, and as we do not pretend to be acquainted with all the circumstances which discriminate every new case, this presumption is overturned by credible testimony relating facts differ- ent from those which have been observed. Without the presumption suggested by experience, we should live in perpetual amazement; without the credit given to testimony, we should often remain igno- rant, and be exposed to danger. By the one, we accommodate our conduct to the general uniformity of events ; by the other, we are ap- prized of new facts which sometimes arise. The provision made for us by the Author of our nature is in this way complete, and we are prepared for our whole condition. There does not appear, then, to be any foundation for saying that a miracle is, from its nature, incapable of being proved by testimony. As nothing can hinder the Author of nature from changing the order of nature whensoever he sees meet, and as one very important pur- pose in his government is most effectually promoted by employing, at particular seasons, the ministry of men to change this order, a miracle is always a possible event, and becomes, in certain circumstances, not improbable. Like every other possible fact, therefore, it may be com- OP cHRrsTiAKiTr. 37 municated to such as have not seen it by the testimony of such as have. It is natural indeed, to weigh very scrupulously the testimony of a miracle, because testimony has in this case to encounter that pre- sumption against the fact which is suggested by experience. The person who relates it may, from ignorance, mistake an unusual appli- cation of the laws of nature for a suspension of them ; an exercise of superior skill and dexterity for a work beyond the power of man ; or he may be disposed to amuse himself, and to promote some private end by our credulity. Accordingly, we do not receive any extraor- dinary fact in common life upon the credit of every man whom we chance to meet. We attend to the character and the manner of the reporter ; we lay together the several parts of his report, and we call in every circumstance which may assist us in judging whether he is speaking the truth. The more extraordinary and important the fact be, there is the more reason for this caution ; and it is especially pro- per, in examining the reports of those facts which deserve the name of miracles, i. e. works contrary to the course of nature, said to be performed by man, as the evidences of an extraordinary revelation. 2. We are thus led to the second question which I stated, Whether the testimony borne to the miracles of Jesus was credible ? The Apostles were chosen by Jesus to be witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, and of his resurrection from the dead. This was the commission which they received from him immediately before his ascension, the character under which they appeared before the Jewish council, and the office which they assume in their writings. It is not my business to spread out the circumstances which render theirs a credible testimony,andgive to each its propercolouring. It is enough for me to mention the sources of argument. In judging of the credibility of this testimony, you are led back to that branch of the internal evidence of Christianity which arises from the character of the Apostles, as it appears in their writings — in their unblemished conduct, and distinguished virtues — in that soundness ol' understanding, and calmness of temper which are opposite to enthusi- asm,— and in those simple artless manners which are most unlike to imposture. You are further to observe, that their relation of the miracles of Jesus consists of palpable facts, which were the objects of sense. The power by which a man born blind received his sight was invisible ; but that the man was born blind might be learned with certainty from his parents or neighbours: and that, by obeying a simple command of Jesus, he recovered his sight, was manifest to every spectator. The power which raised a dead man was invisible ; but that Jesus and his disciples met a large company carrying forth a young man to his burial — that this young man was known to his friends, and believed by all the company to be truly dead, and that upon Jesus' coming to the bier, and bidding him arise, he sat up and began to speak ; all these are points which it did not require superior learning or sagacity to discern, but concerning which, any person in the exercise of his senses, who was present and who bestowed an ordinary degree of attention, could not be mistaken. The case is the same with the other miracles. We are not required to rest upon the judgment of the Apostles — upon their acquaintance with nhysical 6 S8 ^ DIRECT CR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE , causes, for the miraculous nature of the works which Jesus did ; for they gave us simply the facts which they saw, and leave us to make rhe inference for ourselves. There is no amplification in the manner of recording the miracles, no attempt to excite our wonder, no excla- mation of surprise upon their part ; they relate the most marvellous exertions of their Master's power with the same calmness as ordinary facts ; they sometimes mention the feelings of joy and admiration which were uttered by the other spectators ; they hardly ever express their own. This temperance with which the Apostles speak of all that Jesus did, gives every reader a security in receiving their report, which he would not have felt, had the narration been turgid- Yet he cannot enter- tain any doubt of their being convinced that the works of Jesus were truly miraculous ; for by these works they were attached to a stranger. While they lived in honest obscurity, an extraordinary personage ap- peared in their country, and called upon them to follow him. They left their occupations and their homes, and conthmed for some years the witnesses of all that he did. They were Jews, and had those feelings which have ever distinguished the sons of AlDraham Avith regard to the national religion. Their education, instead of enlarging their views, had confirmed their prejudices. Yet they were converted : with every thing else, they forsook their religion, and joined a man who was the author of a system which professed to supersede the law of Moses. They received him as the promised Messiah. But, pos- sessed with the fond hopes of the Jewish nation, they believed that he was a temporal prince, come to restore the kingdom to Israel, and to make the Jews masters of the world. They were undeceived. Yet this disappointment did not shake their faith. Although they had followed Jesus in the expectation of being the ministers and favourites of an earthly prince, they were content to remain, during his life, the wandering attendants of a man who had " not where to. lay his head;" and they appeared in public, after his departure from the earth, as his disciples. The body of the Jewish people,* attached to the law of Moses, regarded them as traitors to their nation. To the priests and rulers, whose influence depended upon the established faith, they were peculiarly obnoxious. That civil power with which the spirit of the Jewish religion had invested its ministers, was directed against the apostles of Jesus : and without any attempt to disprove the facts which they asserted, every eflbrt was made to silence them by force. They were imprisoned and called before the most august tribunal of the state. There the high priest, armed with all the dignity and authority of his sacred oflice, commanded them not to preach any more in the name of Jesus. Yet these men, educated in servile dread of the higher powers, with the prospect of instant punishment before their eyes, de- clared that they would obey God rather than man. Their conduct corresponded to this heroic declaration. Although exposed to the fury of the populace and the vengeance of the rulers, they continued in the woixls of truth and soberness to execute their commission ; and they sealed their testimony with their blood ; martyrs, not to specula- tive opinions in which they might be mistaken, "but to facts which they declared they had seen and heard, which they said they were commanded to publish, and which no threatening or punishment o- nld makq them either deny or conceal. OP CHRISTIANITY. 39 The history of mankind has not preserved a testimony so complete and satisfying as that which I have now stated. If, in comformity to the exhibitions which tiie writings of these men give of their character, you suppose their testimony to be true, then you can give the most natural account of every part of their conduct, of their conversation, their steadfastness, and their heroism. But if notwithstanding every appearance of truth you suppose their testimony to be false, inexpli- cable circumstances and glaring absurdities crowd upon you. You must suppose that twelve men of mean birth, of no education, living in that humble station which placed ambitious views out of their reach and far from their thoughts, without any aid from the state, formedthenohlestschenle that ever entered into the mind of man, adopted the most daring means of executing that scheme, and conducted it with such address as to conceal the imposture under the semblance of simpli.city and virtue. You must suppose that men guilty of blasphe- my and falsehood united in an attempt the best contrived, and which basin fact proved the most successful, for making the world virtuous; that they formed this singular enterprise without seeking any advan- tage to themselves, with an avowed contempt of honour and profit, and with the certain expectation of scorn and persecution ; that although conscious of one another's villany, none of them ever thought of providing for his own security by disclosing the fraud ; but that, amidst sntferings the most grievous to flesh and blood, they persevered in tlieir conspiracy to cheat the world into piety, honesty, and bene- volence. They who can swallow such suppositions have no title to object to miracles. They should remember that there is a moral as well as a physical order ; that there are certain general principles by which human actions are regulated, and upon which we are accustomed to proceed in our judgments of the conduct of men; and that it is much more difficult to conceive that, in opposition to those principles which analogy and experience have established, such a testimony as the apostles uttered should be false, than that the laws of nature in some particular instances should have been suspended. Of the suspension of tJie laws of nature we can give a rational account : the purpose for which it is said to have been made renders it not incredible. But the falsehood of testimony in such circumstances would be a phenomenon in the history of the human mind so strange and inexplicable, that we need not be afraid to apply to this case the words of Mr. Hume, although he certainly did not mean them to be so applied : "No testimony is suf- cient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endea- vours to establish." The falsehood of the testimony of the apostles would be more miraculous, i. e. it is more improbable than any fact which they attest. 3. But although the testimony of the apostles appears, upon all the principles according to which we judge of such matters, to have been credible at the time when it was given, it remains to be inquired, whether the distance at which we live from that time does, in any material degree, impair to us its original credibility. It is allowed that the testimony of the apostles received the strong- est connrniation from its havina: been emitted immediatelv aftpr the « 40 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE ascension of Jesus, in the very place where they said he had performed many of his mighty works, under the eye of that government which had persecuted him, and in presence of multitudes to whom they ap- pealed as witnesses of what they declared. This must be allowed by all who are qualified to judge of evidence. Now let it be remember- ed that the benefit of this" confirmation is not lost to us, because, although their testimony was at first oral, given in their preaching to those whom they converted, it was soon recorded in books which we receive upon satisfying evidence as authentic and genuine. There is therefore no room to allege in disparagement of this testimony, the inaccuracy of verbal reports, or the natural disposition to exaggerate in the repetition of every extraordinary event. We are put in posses- sion of the facts as they were published in the lifetime of the apostles, without the embellishments of succeeding ages ; and every circum- stance which moved those who heard their testimony, is preserved in their books to establish our faith. The early publication of the Gospels and Acts is to us an unques- tionable voucher of the following most important facts, — that the miracles of our Lord and his apostles were not done in a corner before a few selected friends, and by them artfully spread through the world, but were performed openly, in the fields, in the city, in the temple, before enemies who had every opportunity of examining them, who did not regard them with indifference, who were alarmed with the effect whicli they produced upon the minds of the people, and were zealous in bringing forward every objection. Had any one of these circumstances been false, the early publication of books asserting them would have overturned the scheme. Further,there is much particu- larity in the narration of many of the miracles: reference is made to time and place ; many local circumstances are introduced ; persons are marked out, not only by their distress, but by their rank and their names ; the emotions of the spectators, the joy of those who received deliverance, the consultations held by rulers, and the public order's in consequence of certain miracles, all enter into the record of these books. While every intelligent reader discerns in this particular detail the most accurate acquaintance with the prejudices and the manners of the times, and is from thence satisfied that the books are authentic, he must also be satisfied that a detail which, by its particu- larity, called so much attention, and admitted, at the time it was published, of so easy investigation, is itself a voucher of its own truth. Again, the history of the miracles is so closely interwoven with the rest of the narration, that any man who reads it may be satisfied that it could not have been inserted after the books were published. — There are numberless allusions to the miracles even in those passages where none of them are recorded ; the faith of the first disciples is said to have been founded upon them, and the change upon their sentiments is truly inexplicable, unless we suppose the miracles to have been done in their presence. All, therefore, who received the Gospels and the Acts in early times, when they could easily examine the truth of the facts, may be considered as setting their seal to the miracles of Jesus and his apostles ; and the number of the first converts out of Judea and Jerusalem forms, in this way, a cloud of wit- nesses. OF CHRISTIANITT. 41 That confirmation of the testimony of the apostles, which appears to be implied in the faith of all the first Christians, is rendered much more striking, by the pecnhar nature of a large part of the New . Testament. I mean the epistles to the diff'erent churches. Paul, in several of the epistles which he sentbyparticular messengers to those whose names they bear, and which were authenticated to the- whole Christian world by his superscription, mentions the miracles which he had performed, the effect which his miracles had produced, and the extraordinary powers which he had imparted. A large portion of the first Epistle to the Corinthians is occupied with a discourse con- cerning spiritual gifts, in which he speaks of them as common in that church, as abused by many who possessed them, and as inferior in excellence to moral virtue. In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, which is known to have been the earliest of the apostolical writings^ Paul says, " Our Gospel came to you not in word only, but in power and in the. Holy Ghost; and they, i. e. your own citizens, in their progress through different parts of the world, show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned from idols to serve the living God."* Here is a letter written not twenty years after the ascension of Jesus, sent, as soon as it was written, to the church of Thessalonica to be read there, and in the neighbouring churches, copied and circulated by those to whom it was addressed, uniformly quoted since that time by the succession of Christian writers, and come down to us with every evidence that can be desired, indeed without any dispute of its being a genuine letter. In this letter the apostle tells the Thessalonians that they had been converted to the Gospel by the miracles of those who preached it, and that the effect which this conversion had produced upon their conduct was talked of every where. If these facts had not been known to the Thessalonians, the letter would have been instantly rejected, and the character of him who wrote it would have sunk into contempt. Its being publicly read, held in veneration, and transmitted by them, is a proof that every thing said in it concerning themselves is true, and therefore it is , a proof that those who could not be mistaken, believed in the miracles of the apostles of our Lord. This argument is handled by Butler, and all the ablest defenders of our religion ; and I have been led to state it particularly, because it has always appeared to me an unanswerable argument arising out of the books themselves, a confirmation of the testimony of the apostles that is independent of their personal char- acter, and yet is demonstrative of the estimation in which they Avere held by their contemporaries, and of the credit which we may safely give to their report. 4. It only remains to be added upon this question, that a testimony thus strongly confirmed i^ not contradicted by any opposite testimony. The books of the New Testament are full of concessions made by the adversaries of Christianity; concessions, the force of which must be admitted by all who believe the books to be authentic : and it is very 'remarkable, that concessions of exactly the same kind with those made by the Jews in our Saviour's days, were made by the zealous and learned adversaries of our faith in the first four centuries. Celsus • 1 Thess. i. 5, 9. 6* I 42 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE Porphyry, Hierocles, and Julian did not deny the facts; they only at- tempted to disparage them, or to ascribe them to magic. Julian was emperor of Rome in the fourth century. He had renounced Chris- tianity, and his zeal to revive the ancient heathen worship made him the bitterest enemy of a system which condemned all the forms of idolatpy. Yet this man, with every wish to overturn the establish- ment which Christianity had received from Constantine, does not pre- tend to say in his work against the Christians, that no miracles were performed by Jesus. In one place he says, " Jesus, who rebuked the winds, and walked on the seas, and cast out daemons, and as you will have it, made the heavens and the earth." In another place," Jesus has been celebrated about three hundred years, having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of remembrance, unless any one thinks it a mighty matter to heal lame and blind people, and exorcise da3moniacs in tlie villages of Bethsaida and Bethany."* The prejudices of the emperor led him to speak slightingly of the miracles ; but the facts are admitted by him. It was reserved for infidels at the distance of seventeen hundred years from the event, to dispute a testimony which had appeared satisfying to those who heard it, and which had not re- ceived any contradiction in the succession of ages. Because they did not believe in magic, and saw the futility of that account of the works of Jesus which the prejudices of the times had drawn from their pre- decessors in infidelity, they have taken a new ground, and they affirm, against the principles of human nature, against the faith of history, and the concessions of the earliest adversaries, that the works never were done. But Christianity has nothing to fear from any change in .the mode of attack. Sound' philosophy will always furnish weapons sufficient to repel the aggressor ; and the truth will be the more firmly established by every display of the mutability of error. It appears then, that even that part ®f the external evidence of Christianity, which from its nature is the most likely to be afiected by length of time, is not evanescent ; that various circumstances preserve it from diminution; and that we, in these latter ages, may certainly know the truth of the testimony borne by those who declare in the books of the New Testament that which they saw and heard. Section III. The subject would now be exhausted if the only miracles recorded in history were those to which Jesus and his Apostles made their ap- peal. This singular attestation, given upon so important an occasion, would then appear a decisive mark of the interposition of the Al- mighty; and every person who believes the books of the New Testa- ment to be authentic, might be expected to join in the opinion of Nico- demus, who said to Jesus, " We know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do these miracles that thou dost, except God be with him."t But the subject is involved in new difficulties, and assumes a much more complicated form, when we recollect that • Lardner's Heath. Test. ch. xlvl f •'°^" "'• ^- OP CHRISTIANITT. 43 accounts of prodigies and miracles abound tin all history, that these miracles are generally connected with the religion of the country in which the record of them is preserved, and that, as the religions of different countries are widely different, the miracles of one country appear to> contradict the miracles of another. If it be said tliat all the reports of miracles, excepting those recorded in the scriptures, are false, then it follows that there must be a facility of imposition in this matter against which the human mind has never been proof. If some other reports of miracles, besides those in scripture, are admitted to be true, then it seems'to follow, that miracles are not the unequivocal mark of a divine commission. This multitude of reports, concerning miracles has afforded much triumph to the adversaries of Christianity, and, in the opinion of Mr. Hume, the authority of any testimony concerning a religious miracle is so much diminished by the ridiculous stories, and the gross imposi- tions of the same kind in all ages, that men of sense should lay down a general resolution to reject it without any examination. The zeal with which he writes, has led him to recommend a resolution very unbecoming a philosopher. At the same time, it must be allowed that, upon the one hand, the prejudice arising from the multitude of false miracles which have been reported and believed, and, upon the other hand, the suspicion that out of the number preserved in ancient, history, some may have been real miracles, furnish a very plausible objection against this branch of the external evidence of Christianity; an objection wliich every person whose business it is to defend the truth of our religion must be prepared to meet ; and an objection which there is the more reason for studying with care, because the attempts to answer it have not always been conducted with sufficient ability and prudence, and some zealous champions for Christianity have mistaken the ground which ought to be maintained in repelling this attack. The four observations which follow, appear to me to embrace the leading points in this controversy, and when properly extended by reading and reflection, will be found sufficient to remove the objection arising from the multitude of miracles mentioned in history. 1. No religion, except the Jewish and Christian, which, by every person who understands the Gospel, are accounted one religion, — no other religion that we know of, claimed to be received upon the foot- ing of miracles performed by its author. Some of the ancient lawgivers said, that they had private confer- ences with the Deity, in which the system of religious or civil polity, which they established, was communicated to them. But none of them pretended to produce, in the presence of the people, changes upon the order of nature. The Pagan mythology was much more ancient than any record of miracles in profane history. Many of the achievements of the gods run back into those periods of which there s no history that is not accounted fabulous ; — some are known to the learned to be an allegorical method of conveying moral or physical truth ; and others are merely the- colouring which fiible and poetry gave to the transactions of a remote antiquity handed down by oral tradition. The miracles recorded in the times of authentic history co- incided with a superstition already est;|k)lished, the influence of which 44 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE prepared the minds of men for receiving them. They were i)eiforn)ed by priests, or men of rank, to whom the people were accustomed to look up with reverence ; generally in temples consecrated by the of- ferings of ages, where it was impious for the eye of the worshippers to pry too closely; under the protection of civil government ; and in support of a system which antiquity had hallowed, and which the law commanded the citizens to respect. The miracles of the Gospel, on the other hand, were performed by obscure despised men, in the midst of enemies, as the vouchers of a new doctrine which was accounted an insult to the gods, and which did not flatter the' passions of men. It is manifest that the cases are widely different ; and before proceeding to any particular examination of the heathen miracles, you are war- ranted in considering the whole multitude of them as clearly discrimi- nated from the miracles recorded in Scripture, by this circumstance, that they were not wrought for the purpose of procuring credit to a new system of faith. In the seventh century, Mahomet appeared in Arabia, calling himself the chief of the prophets of God, sent to extir- pate idolatry, and to establish a new and perfect religion. He ac- knowledged the divine mission both of Moses and of Jesus. He often mentions the evident miracles which Jesus wrought, and he has pre- served the names of the persons whom our Lord raised from the dead. Those who opposed him demanded a sign of his mission. He gave various reasons for not complying with this demand, and in diflerent places of the Koran appears solicitous to obviate the doubts which his refusal excited. But although his reasons were not satis- fying, and he wa«s harassed with importunity, — although he lived amongst a barbarous unlearned people, and although he possessed a very uncommon share of ability and address, he had the prudence never to make the experiment of working a miracle, and he confesses that God, in his sovereignty, had withheld from him that power. The Church of Rome claims the power which Mahomet did not assume, and the history of that Church is full of wonders said to be performed at the shrines of saints and martyrs, by the divine virtue residing in a relic, or by the power committed to a religious order, to a particulai sect, or to the whole Church. But all these are in support of a sys- tem already'established, and in conformity to the wishes and expec- tations of the spectators ; and, like the heathen miracles, they extend the prevailing superstition by introducing or confirming doctrines, rites, and practices, exactly similar to those which had been formerly received. It appears, then, from this review, that the history of the world does not present, out of tl^at multitude of miracles which it has record- ed, any that were performed under the disadvantages which attended the Christian, for the purpose of introducing a change upon the religi- ous sentiments of mankind. All the rest were aided by the prevailing opinions ; these alone were opposed by them : all the rest found men ready to believe ; these alone produced a new faith. 2. As the circumstance which I have mentioned forms, upon a ge- neral view of the matter, a clear discrimination of the miracles of the Bible, so, when we enter upon a particular examination, there ap pears to be the most striking difference between them and all other miracles, in the evidence wil% which th'cy are transmitted. The tes- OF CHRISTIANITT. 45 timony for a miracle requires to be tried with caution, because it con- , tradicts the presumption suggested by experience ; and the more in- stances there are of imposition or mistake in reports of this kind, there is' the more reason for weighing every report with the most scrupulous exactness. When we proved the testimony borne by the apostles to the miracles of Jesus, we found a multitude of circum- stances which conspire to render it credible. But when we try, by the same standard of sound criticism, the testimony borne either to heathen or to popish miracles, it is found to be very much wanting. Many of the heathen miracles were prodigies which had no con- nexion with any religious system, or they were phenomena which appeared wonderful to ignorant men, but which a more enlarged ac- quaintance with nature has enabled us to explain. Others were ex- traordinary works, recorded long after the time when they are said to have been performed, and recorded by historians who, while they adorn their writings with popular stories, are careful to distinguish the narration, which they consider as authentic, from the reports which they retail, because they received them. The miracles which Tacitus reports as performed by the Emperor Vespasian, the feats of Alexander of Pontus, which we learn from Lucian, who represents him as an impostor, and the works ascribed to Apollonius of Tyana, whom some of the later Platonists are said to have raised up as a rival to our Lord, — all these have been examined by men of learning and judgment ; and the most zealous friend of Christianity could not wish for a more favourable display of the unexceptionable testimony upon which its miracles are received, than is obtained by contrasting it with the air of falsehood which runs through all these accounts. Mr. Hume has been solicitous to place the evidence of some popish miracles in the most advantageous light, and he has collected, with an air of triumph, various circumstances which conspired to attest the miracles said to be performed about the beginning of the last century, in the church-yard of St. Medard, at the tomb of Abbe Paris. But although a particular purpose induced him to assume the appearance of an advocate for these miracles, yet the imposture was manifest at the time to many who lived upon the spot, and it has since that time been completely exposed in several treatises. In Campbell's Disser- tation, in the Criterion by Dr. Douglas, late bishop of Salisbury, in Macknight's Truth of the Gospel History, and in other books, there is an investigation of many pretended miracles ; and I believe it will be iicknowledged, without hesitation, that Dr. Campbell and Dr. Douglas have clearly shown, with regard to all the miracles to which their investigation extends, either that the accounts of them, from the cir- cumstances, appear to be false, or that the facts, from their nature, are not miraculous. I am inclined to think that, as far as this investiga- tion can be carried, it will be found uniformly to apply to the miracles recorded in heathen story, or in popish legends ; and that, as a person who had been accustomed to read much liistory and much fable, is at no loss to distinguish the one from the other when they are presented to him, so any one who duly considers the circumstances of the case, will most readily discriminate the precise assured testimony of miracles wrought by Jesus as a divine teacher, which eye-witnesses submitted at the" very time and place to the examination of their enemies, from 46 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE the hesitating suspicious record of wonders said to be performed for some insignificant purpose, which the historians did not see, or which the rank and characters of tlie person to whom they are ascrijbed, pre- served 'from the scrutiny even of those who saw them. Tlie evidence of the miracles of the Gospel, far from being diminished by the number of impostures, is very much illustrated by this contrast. Men indeed cannot perceive the difference with an exercise of understanding. — They are required here, as upon every other subject, to separate truth from falsehood, to "prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good."* Extensive information and enlightened criticism are called hi to be the handmaids of religion ; and the continued increase of human knowledge, instead of giving Christians any reasonable ground of apprehending danger, enables them to defend the principles which they have embraced, dissipates objections which might occur to tiie ignorant, and establishes the faith of those who inquire. I said, I am inchned to think, that if the investigation of which Dr. Douglas and Dr. Campbell have given a specimen, were extended farther, it would be found to apply uniformly to the miracles recorded in heathen story or in popish legends, I used this guarded expres- sion, because I do not consider any man as warranted to say, before he lias examined them, that all apparent miracles, excepting those recorded in the Bible, may be accounted for by the dexterity of an impostor, or by the carelessness or ignorance of the spectators. 3. And, therefore, my third observation is, that although we should ascribe some of the extraordinary works recorded in history to the agency of evil spirits, the argument from miracles, for the truth of Christianity, is not impaired. They who can satisfy their minds that such works are not miracu- lous, or that the accounts of them are false, leave the argument from miracles entire to Judaism and Christianity. They who cannot satisfy their minds in this manner, and who judge from the nature of the works, or the purpose which they promote, that they did not proceed from God, are led by their principles to ascribe them to some inter- mediate beings between God and man. But this system, as we have been taught by our Lord to reason,! does not affect the argument from miracles. For thus stands the case : The orders of intermediate beings are wholly unknown to human reason. There may be good, and there may be bad spirits, and their measure of power may be more, or it may be less. But as we infer from all the appearances of nature, and especially from the constitution of our own minds, that this world is not the work of an evil being, so having found that the nature of the revelation contained in the New Testament affords a very strong presumption of its coming from God, we cannot suppose that the miracles, which are the direct proof of this presumption, and ■which actually were the means of establishing the Gospel, came from an evil being. The conduct of the adversary of mankind was indeed very opposite to the cunning which is ascribed to him, if he gave his sanction to the man who was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and employed his power to undermine his own kingdom, and put au end to his own malicious joy. As far, then, as the argument * 1 Thess. V. 21. f Malt. chap. xii. OF CHRISTIANITY. 4V from mirac.es for the truth of Christianity is concerned, the power of evil spirits is merely a speculative point, upon which, as upon many other speculative points concerning which our information is imper- fect, ditferent opinions may be held without any injury to the truth. Whatever system we adopt with regard to the power of Satan, how- soever evil spirits may be supposed to have acted at other times, we are as certaui as the ijature of the thing can make us, that their power was not exerted in the establishment of our faith, and we rest in the miracles of Jesus as wrought by the finger of God. But, although speculations concernmg the power of evil spirits are in no degree necessary to a rational belief of Christianity, yet they will naturally fall in your way, when you are investigating the argu- ment'from miracles, and you ought not to be strangers to the grounds upon which the different opinions rest. It has been said, that God alone can work miracles, because the sovereign of the universe never will permit any evil spirit to encroach so far upon the prerogative of his majesty, as to produce any work contrary to the order of nature. This opinion seems to present the most honourable view of the Almighty; it professes to afford security against many delusions, which, according to other systems, are practicable ; it leaves the argu- ment from miracles clear and unembarrassed, audit has been support- ed by much ingenious reasoning. But it appears to me presumptu- ous, because it assumes more, and pronounces with a more decisive tone concerning the conduct of the divine government, than is com- petent to our ignorance. It contradicts the obvious interpretation of several passages of scripture, and the attempts to give those passages a meaning not inconsistent with it, have tortured scripture in a manner which is not justifiable. It has been said, on the other hand, that evil spirits have been accustomed, in all ages, to exercise their power in astonishing, deluding, and misleading the minds of men ; that all false religions have been supported by their influence, and that they are continually busied hi corrupting true religion. Even the able and profound Cudworth represents it as unquestionable, that ApoUonius of Tyana was made choice of by the policy, and assisted by the powers of the kingdom of darkness, for the'doing some things extraor- dinary, in order to derogate from the miracles of our Saviour, and enable Paganism to bear up against the attacks of Christianity. When the matter is thus stated, a most uncomfortable view of the moral state of the universe is presented to us; a view which, without some qualification, approaches very near to the Manichaean sys- tem, by subjecting the feeble race of man, in their most important concerns, alternately to the dominion of opposite powers. Tlie saft; opinion upon this subject appears to me to lie in the middle between these two. We cannot pretend to say that an intermediate bsing never is allowed to suspend the -laws of nature. But we are certain, that all power is dependant upon the Lord of nature. We should be careful not to bewilder ourselves, by carrying the ideas sug- gested by the weakness of human government into our speculations concerning the ways of God ; and we should always remember, that, in the administration of Him, whose eyes are in every place, there c;ni be no delay or opposition to his purpose from the multitude of his ministers. •' He doeth accordiuir to his will in the armv of heaven " 48 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE God is all in all. The power of working miracles may descend from the Almighty through a gradation of good spirits ; and he may com- mission evil spirits, by exercising the power given to them, to prove his people, or to execute a jndicial sentence upon those who receive not the love of the truth. But both good and evil spirits are abso- lutely under his control ; they fulfil his pleasure, and he works by them. This is the system which appears to be intimated in Scripture, as far as the Spirit of God hath seen meet to reveal a speculative point which is not essential to our improvement or comfort. It is indeed very remarkable, that at the introduction of both the Jewish and the Christian dispensations, there seems, according to the most natural interpretation of Scripture, to have been a certain display of the power of evil spirits — I mean in the works of the Egyptian magicians, and in the demoniacs of the New Testament. But in both cases the display appears to have been permitted by God, that it might be made manifest there was in nature a superior power. The magicians, after they had imitated some of the works of Moses, could go no farther, but said," This is the finger of God ;" and therefore God says to Pharaoh, " For this cause have I raised thee up for to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth."* The evil spirits which had afflicted the bodies of men, owned, in like manner, the power of Jesus, and retired at his com- mand. Therefore, he says, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven;" andagain," If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come to you."t Both dispensations give warning of false prophets who should show signs. Moses says, " If there arise among you a prophet and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, saying, let us go after other gods, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether you love him with all your soul."t Our Lord says, " There shall arise false christs, and shall show great signs and wonders ;"§ and, it is part of the description which his Apostle«gives of Antichrist, "His coming is after the working of Satan; with all power, and signs and lying wonders." || Even although you suppose it to be meant by these warnings, that the signs and wonders were to be performed with the assistance of evil spirits, still the miracles upon which the two dispensations are founded, afford a clear demonstration of the supremacy of their Author ; and if evil spirits had permission given them to exercise a certain power at those times, it was only to prepare for the destruction of their power. In the very constitution of the evidence of the two religions, pro- vision is made for preserving the true disciples from the dread of evil spirits. Whatever opinions may have been entertained concerning j their power, they manifestly stand forth in the Bible, confessing their s inferiority, and furnishing by this confession, to all whose understand- [ings are sound, and whose hearts are upright, a perpetual antidote against the fears of superstition. It appears, then, that the system which ascribes many of the mira- • Exod. viii. 19; ix. 16. f Luke x. 18; xi. 20. * Deut. xiii. 1, 2, 3. § Matt. xxiv. 24. 1 2 Thess. 2, 9. OF CHRISTIANITY. 49 cles recorded in his.ory to the agency of evil spirits, does not detract from the evidence of Christianity, because our faith rests upon works whose distinguishing character, and whose manifest superiority to the power of evil spirits, are calculated to remove every degree of hesita- tion in applying the argument which miracles afford. One observation more shuts up the subject. 4, The uncertainty with regard to the duration of miracles in the Christian Church, does not invalidate the argument arising from the miracles of Jesus and his apostles. All Protestants, and many Catholics, believe, that the claim of working miracles which the Church of Rome advances as one mark of her being the true Church, is without foundation; and no impar- tial discerning person, who reads the history of the wonders which for many centuries have been recorded b)i that Church, can hesitate a moment in classing them with the tricks of heathen priests. Dr. Mid- dleton, in his letter from Rome,' has shown that many of the Popish are an imitation of the heathen miracles, and even those who do not admit that they have been borrowed, cannot deny the resemblance. On the other hand, every Christian believes, that real miracles were performed in the days of the Apostles ; and the unanimous tradition of the Christian Church has preserved the memory of many in succeed- ing ages. It is natural then to inquire at what period the true mira- cles ceased, and the fictitious commenced. Some mark is called for, to distinguish so important an era, and the imprudence of which some Christian writers have been guilty in their attempts to fix it, has afforded a khid of triumph to those who were willing to expose every weak quarter in the defence of Christianity. Dr. Middleton, in his book, entitled — A free Inquiry into the miraculous powers which , have been supposed to subsist in the Christian Church, maintained this position, that after the days of the Apostles, the Church did not possess any standing power of working miracles. Those who were zealous for the honour of the early fathers, attacked, with much bitter- ness, a position which directly impugned their authority. Some of them very unadvisedly said, that if all the miracles, after the days of the Apostles, which were attested unanimously by the primitive fathers, are no better than enthusiasm and imposture, then we are deprived of our evidence for the truth of the Gospel miracles. Others undertook to defend the reality of the miracles in the first four centu- ries; and they weakened their defence by extending their frontier. — The controversy was keenly agitated about the middle of the last century ; and the attention of the world was lately drawn to it, by the fascinating language of Mr. Gibbon, who mixing truth and falsehood together, and colouring both with his masterly pencil, has contrived to reflect from the claims of the primitive Church, a degree of suspicion upon the Gospel miracles. No person who believes the Gospel will think it incredible, that , miracles were performed during the whole of the first century, because the Apostle John lived about the end of it, and many of those to whom the Apostles had communicated spiritual gifts, probably surviv- ed it. All the Christian writers of the second and third centuries affirm, that miraculous gifts did, in certain measure, continue in the Christian Church, and were, at times, exerted in the cure of dis- 7 K 50 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE eases, and the expulsion of demons. But those who have examined tiieir writings with critical accuracy, have shown that there is much looseness and exaggeration in the language which Mr. Gibbon has employed with regard to these gifts. To satisfy you of this, I shall place a passage from that historian, over against passages from Ire- naius, Origen, and Eusebius. Mr. Gibbon says, the Christian Church, from the times of the Apostles and their first disciples, has claimed an uninterrupted succession of miraculous powers. Amongst these he mentions the power of raising the dead. In the days of Irenseus, he affirms, about the end of the second century, the resurrection of the dead was far from being esteemed an uncommon event ; the miracle was frequently performed on necessary occasions, by great fasting and the joint supplications of the church of the place, and the persons thus restored 'to their prayer^, lived afterwards among them many years.* Now hear Irenaeus himself. The true disciples of Jesus, by a power derived from him, confer blessings upon other men, as each has been enabled. Some expel demons so effectually, that they who have been delivered from evil spirits, believe and become members of the church ; others have knowledge of futurity, see visions, and utter prophecies ; others cure diseases by the imposition of hands ; and, as we have said, the dead too have been raised, and remained some years with us.t Observe he changes the tense in the last clause ; it is Tfiyi^er^oav, rca^ifiswav. He docs Hot speak of the power of raising the dead as present, but as having been exerted in some time past, so tha*; the persons who were the objects of it reached to his own days. Mr. Gibbon himself has shown that the Bishop of Antioch did not know, m the second century, that the power of raising the dead existed in the Christian church; and no Christian writer, in the second or third century, mentions this miracle as performed in his time. You may judge from this specimen of the accuracy of Mr. Gibbon. Origen says, in the third century, signs of the Holy Spirit were shovv'n where Jesus began to teach, more numerous after his ascension; and, in succeeding times, less numerous. But even at this day, there are traces of it in a few men who have had their souls cleansed.^ Euse- !)ius, in the beginning of the fourth century, says. Our Lord himself, even at this day, is wont to manifest some small portions of his power in those whom he judges proper for it.§ If you give credit to these respectable testimonies, and they are entided to respect both from the manner in which they are given, and from the characters of the authors, you will believe that the profusion of miraculous gifts which was poured forth in the days of the Apostles was gradually withdrawn in succeeding ages, and that the fathers were sensible of this gradual cessation, but boasted that some gifts did continue, and were occasion- ally exerted during the first three centuries. This gradual cessation is agreeable to the analogy of the divine procedure in other matters. It left an occasional support to the faith of Christians, so long as they were exposed to persecution under the heathen emperors ; and it •serves to account for what Mr. Gibbon calls the insensibility of the vChristians with regard to the cessation of miraculous powers. If * Gibbon's Rom. Hist. ch. 15. f Iren. lib. ii. cap. 32. i Orig contra Gels. lib. vii. p. 337. ^ Eus. Dem. Ev. lib. iii. p. 109 OF CHRISTIANITY. 51 these powers were withdrawn, one by one, and the display of them became gradually less frequent, the insensibility of Christians with regard to the cessation of miracles is not wonderful : and tlie writers whom I have quoted, have spoken of the subject in that manner which was most natural. Although it seems probable that miraculous powers did, in certain measure, continue in the Christian church during the first three centuries, yet it cannot be said that the testimony borne to ail the miracles of that period, is unsuspicious. There probably was much credulity and inattention in the relaters, and their reports are destitute of many of those circumstances which are found in the testimony of the Apostles. But, it is always to be remembered, that the two are independent of one another. We do not receive the miracles of the Gospel upon the testimony of the fathers; and, although all the miracles said to be wrought after the days of the Apostles be rejected, the evidence of the works* which Jesus and his Apostles did, would rest exactly upon that footing on which we placed it. It was to be expected, that miraculous gifts, which hod perceptibly decreased till the days of Constantine, would cease entirely when the protection afforded by civil government to the Christians render- ed them less necessary. Yet we find ecclesiastical history, after Christianity became the religion of the state, abounding with a diver- sity of the greatest miracles. No wise champion of Christianity will attempt to defend the reality of these wonders ; at the same lime, the extravagance of the later fictions will not discredit, with any wise inquirer, ihe miracles of former times. It is obvious to observe, that the Christian world was prepared by having been witnesses of real miracles, for receiving without suspicion such as were fictitious, that the effect which true miracles had produced, might induce vain or deceitful men to employ this engine in accomplishing their own purposes, and that after Christianity was the established religion, the use of this engine became as easy to the Christians, as it was to the heathen priests of old. The innumerable forgeries of this sort, says Dr. Middleton, strengthen the credibility of the Jewish and Christian i miracles. For how could we account for a practice so universal, of forging miracles for the support of false religions, if on some occasions/ they had not actually been wrought for the confirmation of a true one ? Or how is it possible that so many spurious copies should pass upon the world, without some genuine original from whence they were drawn, whose known existence and tried success might give an ap- pearance of probability to the counterfeit ? We may add, that if these counterfeits were at any time detected, the strong prejudice which would arise from the detection against that religion, in support of which they were adduced, could be counterbalanced only by the unquestionable evidence of the miracles of former times. It appears then, that the duration of miracles in the Christian church is a question of curiosity in no degree essential to the evidence of our religion. If no miracles were really performed after the days of the apostles, then every Christian receives all that ever were wrought upon unquestionable testimony. If there were some real miVacles in aftertimes, they must stand upon their own evidence. We may re- ceive them, or reject them, as they appear to us well or ill vouched; 52 DIRECT OR EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OP CHRISTIANITT. and we can draw no inference, from the multiplicity of imitations oi forgeries, unfavourable to the truth and divinity of the original. Bonnet, in his philosophical and critical inquiries concerning Christianity, has given, besides much other valuable matter, the most satisfying statement that I have met with of the argument from miracles. Bonnet's work was written in French. An extract of the part of it most interesting to a student m divinity, was translated by a clergyman of this church, and published some years ago. Bishop Sherlock, in his first volume of sermons, which is chiefly occupied in stating the superiority of revealed to natural religion, has two discourses, the ninth and tenth, upon miracles considered as the proof of revelation. He treats the subject in his usual lumi- nous manner, and suggests many just and useful views. Newcombe, in his observations on the conduct of our Saviour, has written largely and delightfully of his miracles. Jortin also, i^ some of his essays or discourses, and in his remarks on ecclesiastical history, has very ably illuSUiated the fitness with which our Lord's miracles were adapted both to prove the truth of his religion, and to impress upon his followers the characteristical doctrines of the gospel. This view of the subject is also prosecuted by Ogden in his sermons. Campbell's Dissertation on Miracles. Douglas's Criterion. Butler's Analogy. Macknight's Truth of the Gospel Histoiy. Paley's Evidences. Farmer on Miracle*. Cudworth, translated by Mosheim. Leland's View of Deistical Writers. Randolph's View of our Lord's Ministiy., Clarke. Bullock. Boyle's Lectures. Middleton. Sir David Dalrympto. ILLUSTKATION OP THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 33 CHAPTER V. ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIDENCES OP CHRISTIANITY. Those lectures upon Scripture are properly called critical, which are intended to eUicidate the meaning of a difficult passage, and to bring out from the words of an author the sense which is not obvious to an ordinary reader. The sources of this elucidation are, such emendations upon the reading or the punctuation as may warrantably be made, an analysis of the particular words, a close attention to the manner of the author, to the scope of his reasoning, and to the circum- stances of those for whom he writes ; and, lastly, a comparison of the passage, which is the subject of the criticism, with other passages, in which the same matters are treated. There is great room for criti- cal lectures of this kind, and my theological course abounds with speci- mens of them. Much has been done in this way since the beginning of the last century, by the application of sound criticism to the Holy Scriptures ; and one great advantage to be derived from an intimate acquaintance with the learned languages, and from the habit of ana- lysing the authors who wrote in them, is, that you are thereby pre- pared for receiving that rational exposition of the word of God, which is the true foundation of theological knowledge. There is another kind of critical lecture, which professes by a gene- ral comprehensive view of a passage of scripture, to illustrate some important points in the evidence or genius of our religion. This kind of lecture is applicable to those passages where there is not any ob- scurity in the expression, any recondite meaning, or any controverted doctrine, but where there is a number of circumstances scattered throughout, the force of which may be missed by a careless or igno- rant reader, but which by being arranged and placed clearly in view, may be made to bear upon one point, so as to bring conviction to the understanding, at the same time that they minister to the improve- ment of the heart. The inimitable manner of Scripture, so natural and artless, yet so pregnant with circumstances the most delicate and the most instructive, affords numberless subjects of this kind of lec- ture ; and I do not know any method so well calculated to give a per- son of taste and sensibility a deep impression of the excellency awd the divinity of the Scriptures. One is tempted by the peculiar fitness of the passages which occur to him, to adopt this mode of lecturing occasionally in speaking to an assembly of Christians, aUhough it can- not be denied that the ordinary method of lecturing by suggesting re- marks from particular verses, is more adapted to that measure of understanding, of attention, and of memory, which is found in the generality of hearens 7* 54 ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIDENCES But such a mode may here be followed with advantage ; and I am led to give you now a specimen of this criticism upon the sense, rather than upon the words of an evangelist, because the eleventh chapter of John's Gospel may be stated in such a light as to illustrate much of what has been said with regard both to the internal evidence of Christianity, and to that branch of the external evidence which arises from miracles. The eleventh chapter of John is the history of the resurrection of Lazarus, the greatest miracle which Jesus performed. Upon such a general view of the chapter as a critical lecture of this kind is meant to give, we are led to attend to that exhibition of character which the chapter contains — to the nature and circumstances of the miracle — and to the effects which the miracle produced. •# I. The exhibition of character which this chapter contains is vari- ous, and our attention is directed to several very pleasing objects. It is natural to speak first of the exhibition given of the character of the historian. The other evangelists have not'mentioned this mira- cle, perhaps out of delicacy to Lazarus, who was alive when they wrote. They did not choose to expose the friend of their master to the fury of the Jews, by holding him forth in writings that were to go through the world, as a monument of his power. But John, who lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem, probably survived Lazarus ; and there was every reason why this evangelist, who has preserved other miracles and discourses which the former historians had omit- ted, should record this event. It is a subject suited to the pen of John : the beloved disciple seems to delight in spreading it out ; for he has coloured his narration with many beautiful circumstances, which unfold the characters of the other persons, and discover his intimate acquaintance with his master's heart. It is a striking instance of that strict propriety which pervades all the books of the New Testament, and which marks them to every discerning eye to be authentic writ- ings, that the tenderest scenes in our Lord's life, those in which the warmth of his private affections is conspicuous, are recorded by this evangelist. From the others we learn his public life, the grace, the condescension, the benevolence which appeared in all his intercourse with those that had access to him. It was reserved to "the disciple whom Jesus loved " to present to succeeding ages this divine person in his family, and amongst his friends. In his Gospel, we see Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the last supper that he ate with them. It is John,^the disciple that leaned on the bosom of Jesus while he sat at meat, who relates the long discourse in which, with the most delicate sensibility for their condition, he soothes the troubled heart of his disciples, spares their feelings, while he tells them the truth, and gives them his parting blessing. It is John, whom Jesus judged worthy of the charge, who records the filial piety with which, in the hour of his agony, he provided for the comfort of his mother ; and it is John, whose soul was congenial to that of his Master, ten- der, affectionate, and feeling like his, who dwells upon all the particu- lars of the resurrection of Lazarus, brings forward to our view the sympathy and attention with which Jesus took part in the sorrows of those whom he loved, and making us intimately acquainted with OP CHBISTIANITY. 55 ihem and with him, presents a picture at once delightful and in- structive. The next object in this exhibition of character is the friendship wliich Jesus entertained for the family of Lazarus. Bethany was a small village upon the mount of Olives, within two miles of Jerusa- lem, in the road from Galilee. Jesus, who resided in Galilee, and went only occasionally to Jerusalem, was accustomed to lodge with Lazarus in his way to the public festivals: and we are led to suppose, from an incidental expression in Luke,* tliat during the festivals he went out to Bethany in the evening, and returned to Jerusalem in the, morning. To this little family he retired from the fatigues of his busy life, from the disputations of the Jewish doctors, and the bitterness of his enemies ; and being, like his brethren, compassed with infirmity, like his brethren also he found refreshment to his soul in the inter- course of those whom he .loved. " Now Jesus," says John, " loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." He loved the world ; he loved the chief of sinners. That was a love of pity, the compassion which a superior being feels for the wretched. This was the love of kind- ness, the complacency which kindred spirits take in the society of one another. Of the brother he says to his apostles, with the same cor- diality with which you would speak of one like yourselves, '• Our friend Lazarus," And although we shall find the character of the two sisters widely different, yet he discerned in both a mind worthy of his friendship. It; appears strange to me, that any person who ever read this chap- ( ter can blame the Gospel, as some deistical writers in the last century i were accustomed to do, for not recommending private friendship. Can there be a stronger recommendation than this picture of the Au- thor of the Gospel, drawn by the hand of his beloved disciple ? When you follow Jesus to Jerusalem, you may learn from his public life, fortitude, diligence, wisdom. Wlien you retire with him to Bethany, you may learn tenderness, confidence, and fellow feeling, with those whom you choose as your friends. The servants of Jesus may not in every situation find persons so worthy of their friendship as this fa- mily ; and there is neither duty nor satisfaction in making an improper choice. Many circumstances may appoint for individuals days of solitude, and therefore the universal religion of J^sus has wisely re- frained from delivering a precept which it may often be impossible to obey. But they who are able to follow the example of their masfer, by having ,1 heart formed for friendship, and by meeting with those who are worthy of it, have found the medicine of life. Their happi- ness is independent of noise, and dissipation, and show ; amidst the tumult of the world, their spirits enter into rest; and in the quiet, pleasina:, rational intercourse of Bethany, they forget the strife of Jerusalem. The next object in this exhibition is the character of the two sis- ters, painted in that most perfect and natural manner, which the Scriptures almost always adopt, by actions, not by words. As soon as Lazarus is sick, the two sisters send a message to Jesus, with entire confidence in his power to heal, and his willingness to come. He is • Luke xxL 37, 38 56 ILLUSTRATION OP THE EVIDENCES now beyond Jordan ; the countries of Samaria and Galilee lie between Bethany and his present abode. Bnt the sisters of Lazarns knew too well his affection for their brother, and his readiness to do good, to think that distance would prevent his coming. They say no more than, " He whom thou lovest is sick," and they leave Jesus to inter- pret their wish. When Jesns arrives at Bethany, after the death of Lazarus, the different characters of the two sisters are snpported with the most delicate discrimination, even under that pressure of grief which, in the hand of a coarse painter, would have obliterated every distinguishing feature. Martha, who had been " cumbered with much serving," when she had to entertain our Lord, rises with the same officious zeal from the ground, where she was sitting dishevelled and in sackcloth, amongst the friends who had come to comfort her. She rises the moment she hears by some chance messenger that Jesus is at hand, and runs to meet him. Mary, who had sat at the feet of Jesus, so much engaged with his discourse as not to think of providing J. [for his entertainment, is incapable of so brisk an exertion, or thinks it ' imore respectful to Jesus to wait his coming. This difference in the 'conduct of the two sisters is in the style of nature, according to which the particular temper, and feelings of particular persons, give a very great variety to the language of passion upon occasions equally inte- resting to all of them. A man may know, he ought to know, every corner in his own heart, how far any part of his conduct proceeds from the defect of good, or the prevalence of wrong principles. But the most intimate acquaintance does not give him access to know all the notions of delicacy and propriety which may restrain, or unje on others at particular seasons, and may give to their conduct, in the eye of careless observers, a very different appearance from that which they would wish ; and it argues both an uncandid spirit, and very little knowledge of the world, to say or to tliink this man does not feel as he ought, because he does not express his feelings as I would express mine." Martha ran and met Jesus : Mary sat still in the house. When Martha comes to Jesus, there is in her first words a mixture of re- proach for his delay, and of confidence in his kindness, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." A gleam of hope, in- deed, shoots athwart the sorrowful mind of Martha at the sight of Jesus. But her wish was so great that she is afraid to mention it. " I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of GoJ, God will give it thee." She has conceived a hope, in the state of her mind it was a, wild hope, that her brother whom she. had lost might be in- stantly restored. Jesus composes her spirit, prepares her for this gift, by recalling her thoughts from the general resurrection to himself, and probably gives her some sign or some direction, in consequence of which she goes to the house, and without alarming the Jews who were assembled there, says secretly to her sister, *' The Master is come, and calleth for thee." This message instantly rouses Mary Her spirit, bowed down with grief, revives at his call, and without knowing, probably without conceiving the purpose for which he called her, she arose quickly and went to him. When she arrives, there is more submission in her manner than there had been in that of Mar- tha. The marks are stronger of a depressed and afflicted spirit. She fell down at his feet, weeping. But, as if to remind us that we should lA OP CHRISTIANITY. 57 look beyond these outward expressions, which, being very much a matter ofconstitution,vary exceedingly in different persons, the evan- gelist puts the same words into the mouth of both, " Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died ;" and whatever interpreta- tion we give to these words when they are spoken by the one sister, we cannot avoid giving them the same when they are spoken by the other. In this exhibition of the manner of the two sisters there is so much of nature, and of nature appearing strongly in minute circum- stances, as to be far superior to that truth of painting which we ad- mire in a fancied picture, and to carry with it an internal evidence that John was a witness of what he describes, and that his drawing is part of a #cene which, from the powerful, yet different emotions of the two sisters, had made a deep impression upon his feeling breast. The next object which presents itself in this moral exhibition, is the character of the Apostles. The Gospels present us with the most natural picture of the Apostles ; their doubts, their fears, their slow- ness of apprehension and of belief. By circumstances that seem to be incidentally recorded, we see them feeling and acting, not indeed in the manner which would have occurred to a rude, unskilful hand, had he attempted to draw those who were honoured with being the companions of Jesus, but in the manner which any one intimately acquainted with the human heart will perceive to be the most natural for men of their condition and education, and situated as they were. We see them differing from one another in sentiments and conduct, with the same kind of variety which is observable amongst our neighbours and companions, each preserving in every situation his peculiar character, and all at the same time uniting in attachment to their master. Although the companions of Jesus were interested in the fate of his friend Lazarus, yet they did not understand the hints which our Lord gave them. Although sleep is one of the most common images of death, they 'suppose when Jesus says, "Our friend Lazarus sleep- eth," that he was enjoying a refreshing sleep, by which nature was to work his cure ; and not attending to the impropriety of Jesus going a long way to awake him out of such a sleep, they say, " Lord, if he sleep he shall do well." When Jesus tells them plainly "Laza- rus is dead," Thomas stands forth, and by one expression pre- sents to us the same character which is more fully unfolded in an- other chapter of this Gospel.* All the disciples were filled with sorrow and despair, when they saw tlieir Master condemned, executed, and laid in the tomb. " For as yet," says John, " they knew not the Scripture that he must rise again from the dead." At length, " Jesus came and stood in the midst of them." " Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord." It happened that Thomas was not present. And when " the other disciples had said to him, we have seen the Lord," his answer was, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." About ei^ht days after, Jesus condescended to give hin^this proof " Reach hither," said he, "thy finger, and • John XX. 9, 1 9, 20, 24—28. L 58 ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIDENCES behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless but believing. And Thomas answered and said, My Lord and my God." He had feh doubts, but his heart ap- pears full of affection and reverence. Now, mark here tlie same Thomas. The disciples were alarmed at the danger of going back to Judea. They had tried to dissuade their Master, but they find him fixed in his purpose. " Lazarus is dead, nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas unto his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him." You see here the same warmth of temper, the same firm determined mind which appeared at the other time, but vou see also the same defect of faith. Thomas does not think it possible that Jesus could shelter liimself from th^Jews. He does not see any purpose that could be served by the journey. He thinks Jesus is going to throw away his life. Yet he resolves himself, and he encourages his fellow disciples not to part with him. Our Master makes a sacrifice of his life. We have forsaken all and follow- ed him. Let us follow him also in this journey ; " let us go that we may die with him." It is the strong effort of a mind which loved and venerated Jesus, yet distrusted and did not know his divine power: Thomas faithless, yet aflectionate and manly. Such is the mixture of character which we often meet with in common life. They who are most intimately acquainted with the workings of the human heart, and who have observed most accurately the manners of those aronnd them, will best perceive the truth of that picture which the Evangelists have drawn of themselves, r.nd they will be struck with the force of that internal evidence for the Gospel history which arises from this simple natural record. We caimot attend to this picture without recollecting the divine power which, out of these feeble doubting men, raised the most successful instru- ments of spreading the religion of Jesus. There was no want of faith after the day of Pentecost. Thomas was one of that company which was assembled, when they were all filled with the Holy Ghost ; and he who now says, " Let us go and die with Jesus," whh poAvcr gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord.* The principal object in this moral exhibition yet remains. It is Jesus himself. The striking feature throughout the whole is tender- ness and love. But we discern also prudence, fortitude, and dignity ; and this chapter may thus serve as a specimen of that most perfect and most difficult character, which the Apostles were incapable of con- ceiving, and which, had they conceived it, they would have been unable to support in every situation with such exact propriety, if they had not drawn ft from the life. After he receives the message from the sisters, he relieves himself from the importunity of his disciples, by an assurance which was sufficient to remove their anxiety, and he lingers for two days in the place where he was. The purpose of his lingering was, that Lazarus might be truly dead, that he might not merely recover a man who was sick, but that he might raise a man who had been in the grave. But this lingering did not proceed from indifference. Mark ho\v beauti- fully the fifth verse is thrown in between the assurance given ^o the dis- • Acts iv. 31. 33. OF CHRISTIANITY. 59 ciples, and the resolution to delay. He loved the family. He entered into their sorrows. His sympathy for them, indeed, yields to his prose- cution of the great purpose for which he came, yet his love is not the less for delay. How tender and how soothhig ! The merciful High Priest, to whom Christians still send their requests, is not forgetful, although he does not instantly grant them. He loves and pities his own. But he does not think their time always the best. His own time for showing favour is set. No intervening circumstance can prevent its coming; and when it arrives, they themselves will acknowledge that it has been well chosen, and all their sorrow will be forgotten and overpaid by the joy which is brought to their souls. One of the finest moral lessons is con- veyed by this delay of Jesus. It is pleasing to act from kindness, com- passion, and love. But the excess of good affections may sometimes mislead us; and there are considerations of prudence, of fidelity, and justice,which may give to the conduct of the most tender-hearted man an appearance of coldness and severity. The world may judge hastily in such instances. But let every man be satisfied in his own mind, first, that he has good affections ; and next, that the considerations which sometimes restrain the exercise of them, are such that he need not be ashamed of their influence. It is strongly marked in this moral picture, that the delay of Jesus, although dictated by prudence, did not proceed from any consideration of his personal safety. For, when the disciples represented the danger of retiring to Judea, his answer is, <•' Are there not twelve hours in the day ? If any man walk in the day, he stnmbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stnmbleth, because there is no light in him." His meaning is explained by other similar expressions. The Jews divided the day both in summer and winter into twelve hours, so that an hour with them marked, not as with us, a certain portion of time, but the twelfth part of a day, longer in summer, and shorter in winter. The time of his life upon earth was the day of Jesus, during which he had to finish the work given him to do. While this day continued, none of his enemies had power to take away his life, and he had nothing to fear in fulfilling the commandment of God. When this day ended, his work ended also ; he fell indeed into the hands of his enemies ; but he was ready to be offered up. And thus in the same picture Jesus is exhibited as gentle, feeling, compassionate to his friends, undaunted in the face of his enemies, assiduous and fearless in working the work of Him that sent him. There shines throughout the whole of tills picture a dignity of manner ; no indecent haste ; no distrust of his own power; a delay, which rendered one work more difficult, yet which is not employed in preparing for an uncommon exertion.- — " Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes, that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." He wishes to give his disciples a more striking manifestation of his divine power ; and the display is made for their sakes, not for his own. With what awful solemnity does he unfold to Martha his exalted character in these words: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die ;" and how suitably to the authority implied in that character does he require from Martha a confession of her faith in him ! (50 ILLUSTRATION OP THE EVIDENCES Yet how easily does he descend from this dignity to mingle his tears with those of his friends. " When he saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled :" and as they led him to the sepulchre, " Jesus wept." How amiable a picture of the Saviour of the world ! He found upon earth an hospital full of the sound of lamentation, a dormitory in which some are every da^ falling asleep, and they who remain are mourn- ing over those who to them are not. He hath brought a cordial to revive our spirits, while we are t/earing our portion of this general sorrow, and he hath opened to our view a land of rest. But even while he is executing his gracious purpose, his heart is melted with the sight of that distress which he came to relieve, and although he was able to destroy the king of terrors, he was troubled when he beheld in the company of mourners a monument of his power. We do not read that Jesus ever shed tears for his own sufferings. W1ien he was going to the cross, he turned round and said, " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me." But he wept over Jerusalem when he thought of the destruction that was coming upon it :* and here the anguish of his friends draws from him groans and tears. He \yas soon to remove their anguish. But it was not the less bitter during its continuance ; and it is the present distress of his friends into which his heart enters thus readily. Let the false pride of philosophy place the perfection of the human character in an equality of mind, unmoved by the events that befal ourselves or others. But Christians may learn from the example of him who was made like his brethren, that the variety in the events of life was intended by the author of nature as an exercise of feeling ; that it is no part of our duty to harden our hearts against the impres- sions which they make, and that we need not be ashamed of express- ing what we feel. That God, who chastens his children, loves a heart which is tender before him ; and Jesus, who wept himself, commands us to weep with them that weep. The tears shed are both a tribute to the dead, and an amiable display of the heart of the living, and they interest every spectator in the persons from whom they flow. Thus have we seen in this mortal picture of the character of Jesus, tenderness, compassion, prudence, fortitude, dignity, "Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God,"t the strength of an almighty arm displayed by a man like his brethren, " the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."t The assemblage of qualities is so imcommon, and the harmony with which they are? blended so entire, that they convey to every intelligent reader an impression of the divinity of our religion, and we cannot contemplate this picture without feeling the sentiment which was afterwards ex- pressed by the Centurion who stood over against the cross of Jesus : " Truly this was the Son of God."§ • n. Circumstances of the miracle. Mr. Hume and other philosophers, both before and after his time, have denied the conclusiveness of the general argument from miracles, • Luke xxiii. 28; xix. 41. f ^ ^°^- '^- ^^^ t John i. 14. § Matt, xxvil ,'i4. OP CHRISTIANITY. 61 or (hey have endeavoured to destroy that evidence from testimony upon which we give credit to the works recorded in the Gospel. But there is a set of minute writers in the deistical controversy, who have adopted a style of pliilological or verbal objections, which would set aside the truth of the record, not by any general reasoni!ig, but by supposed instances of inaccuracy or impropriety in particular narra- tions. This style of objections enters into ordinary conversation ; it is level to the understanding of many, who are incapable of apprehend- ing a general argument ; and it is the usual refuge of those who have nothing else to oppose to the evidences of the Christian religion. You will find objections of this kind occasionally thrown out in many deistical writers. But they were formed into a sort. of system in a treatise published about sixty years ago, by Mr. Woolston, and entitled, " Discourses upon the Miracles of our Saviour," a book now very little known, but which drew great attention at the time, and was overpowered by a variety of able answers. Mr. Woolston at- tempted to show that the earliest and most respectable writers of the Christian church understood the miracles of our Saviour purely in an allegorical sense, as emblems of the spiritual life ; and that there was good reason for doing so, because the accounts, taken in a literal sense, are absurd and incredible. He has been convicted by those who have answered him, of gross disingenuity in maintaining the first of his positions. It is true that the fathers, even of the first century,, were led by their attachment to that philosophy in which they had been educated, to seek for hidden spiritual meanings in the plain historical parts of Scripture. And Origen, in the third century, went so far as to undervalue the literal sense in comparison with the alle- gorical, saying, " the Scriptures are of little use to those who under- stand them as they are written."* He has pursued this manner of interpreting the miracles of our Saviour much farther than became a sound reasoner. But although it appeared to him more sublime and instructive than a simple exposition of the facts recorded, yet it pro- ceeds upon a supposition of the truth of the facts ; and accordingly in his valuable work against Celsus the Jew, where he answers the objections to the truth of Christianity, and states with great force of reason the arguments upon which our faith rests, he appeals repeatedly to the miracles which Jesus did, which he enabled his aposties to do, and some faint traces of which remained in the days of Origen. He says that the miracles of Christ converted nations, and that it would have been absurd in the apostles to have attempted the introduction of a new religion without the help of miracles. Mr. Woolston, there- fore, is left without the support of that authority which he pleads ; for Origen, the most allegorical of the fathers, even where he prefers the allegorical, does not exclude the literal sense ; and his argumentative discourse proceeds upon the acknowledged truth of the facts recorded. The second position does not profess to rest upon the authority of any name, but upon the nature of the narration, which, Mr. Woolston says, is so filled with monstrous incredibilities and absurdities, that the best way in which any person can defend it, is by having recourse to the allegorical sense. But in this way, the argument from miracles • Origen, Stromata, lib. i. 62 ILLUSTRATION OP THE EVIDENCES is totally lost, because, if we regard them not as facts, but as a method of conveying spiritual instruction, the appeal which Jesus continually mad.e to the works that he did, must appear to us chimerical or false. Although, therefore, Mr. Woolston has the effrontery to pretend a zeal for the honour of Jesus, in his attempts to get rid of the difficul- ties arising from the literal sense, that literal sense must be defended by every Christian. It is impossible to lead you through all the objections which have been made by Woolston and other writers. But I shall point out the sources from whence satisfying answers may be drawn, and give some specimens of the application of these sources. The soifrces of answers are three : An intimate acquaintance with local manners, customs, and prejudices — an analysis of the true mean- ing of the words in the original — and a close attention to the whole contexture of the narration. 1. An intimate acquaintance with local manners, customs, and pre- judices. One of the most satisfying evidences of the authenticity of the books of the New Testament, arises from their reference to the peculiarities of that country in which we say the authors of them lived, a reference so exact, so uniform, and extending to such minute- ness, as to afford conviction to any person who considers it properly, that these are not the production of a later age or another country. — This continual reference, while it is a proof of their authenticity, colours every narration contained in them, with circumstances which appear strange to a reader who is not versant in Jewish antiquities; and this strangeness furnishes many objections to those who are themselves ignorant, or who wish to impose upon the ignorance of others. But the phantom is dissipated by that local knowledge which may be easily acquired and easily applied. 2. An analysis of the words in the original. Particular objections against the miracles of Jesus are multiplied by this circumstance, that we read a narration of them, having a continual reference to ancient manners, not in the language in which it was originally written, but in a translation. For, allowing that translation all the praise that is due to it, and it deserves a great deal, still it must happen that the words in the translation do not always convey precisely the same meaning with those to which they correspond in the original. — Different combinations of ideas, and different modes of phraseology diversify those words which answer the most exactly to one another in different languages ; and although translations even under this dis- advantage are sufficient to give every necessary information to those who are incapable of reading the original, yet we have experience, in reading all ancient authors, that the delicacy of a sentiment and the peculiar manner of an action may be so far lost by the words used in a translation, that there is no v/ay of answering objections giound- ed upon the mode of exhibiting the sentiment or action, but by having recourse to the original. 3. A close attention to the whole contexture of the narration. — Those who are forward to make objections, are not disposed to compare the different parts of the narration, because it is not their business to find an answer. They choose rather to lay hold of par- ticular expressions, and to give them the most exceptionable form, by OP CHRISTIANITY. 63 presenting them in a detailed view. Tlie heautifnl simplicity ot Scripture leaves iti very much exposed to this kind of objections. — When all the circumstances of ft story are artfully arranged, so as to have a visible reference to one another, the manifest unfairness of attempting to present a part of the story disjointed from the rest, betrays the design of a person who makes such an attempt. But when the circumstances are spread carelessly through the whole narration, inserted by th'^, historian as they occurred to his observation or his recollection, without his seeming desirous to prepossess the readers with an opinion that the story is true, or aware that any objection could be raised to it in this natural manner, which is the manner of truth and the manner of Scripture, it is easy to raise a variety of plausible objections ; and a connected view of the whole is necessary in order to discern the futility of them. From these three sources answers may be drawn to all the objec- tions that have ever been made to the literal sense of the miracles of Jesus. To show their utility, I shall give a specimen of the applica- tion of them to some of the objections which Mr. Woolston has urged against three of the miracles of our Lord ; the cure of the para- lytic in the second chapter of Mark, the turning of water into wine at Cana, in the second chapter of John, and the resurrection of Lazarus in the eleventh chapter. " And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days ; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so' much as about the door : and he preached the word unto them. And they came unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay."^ Mr. Woolston says, in a mode of expression which he uses with- out any scruple, this is the most monstrously absurd, improbable, and incredible of any, according to the letter. If the people thronged so much that those who bore the paralytic could not get to the door, why did not they wait till the crowd was dismissed, rather than heave up the sick man to the top of the house with ropes and ladders, break up tiles, spars, and rafters, and make a hole large enough fSr the man and his bed to be let through to the injury of the house, and the danger and annoyance of those who were within ? A slight attention to the ordinary style of architecture in Judea, and to the Avords of the original, removes every appearance of absurdity in the narration. The houses in Judea were seldom more than two stories high, and the roofs were always flat, with a battlement or parapet round the edges, so that there was no danger in walking or pitching a tent, as was often done upon the roof. There was a stair within the house, which led to a door that lay flat when it was not opened, forming to all appearance a part of the roof, and was secured by a lock or bolt on the inside, to prevent its being readily opened by thieves. By this • loor the inhabitants of the house could easily get to the roof, and • Mark ii 1—4. 64 ILLUSTRATION OF THE EVIDENCES there was often a fixed stair leading to it from Ihe outside, or where that was wanting, a short ladder was occasionally apphed. Suppos- ing then, the house mentioned by Mark to have been built after this common fashion ; the court before it so full, that it was not possible to get near the door of the house ; the people so throng, and so earnest in hstening, that it was vain to think of their giving place to any one; in this situation, the four persons who carried the pnlsied man upon a little couch, xuvi^boov, think of going round to another part of the house, at which by a stair or ladder they easily reach the roof. They find the door laying flat, and the word s^o^v^avte; implies that some force was necessary to break it open. That force might have disturbed the family had they been quiet. But at present they are too much engaged to attend to it, or their knowledge of the purpose for which the force was used, prevents them from giving any interruption. The door being made to allow persons to come out upon the roof, and the couch being a xxmSiov,* it would not be difficult for four men to let down the couch by the stair on the inside, two of them going before to receive it out of the hands of the others. After the couch is thus brought into the room where Jesus was, in the only method by which access could be found to him, he rewards the faith of the sick man by performing, in presence of his enemies, several of whom appear to have mingled with the multitude, an instantaneous and wonderful cure. The palsy is a disease seldom completely, never suddenly removed. The extreme degree in which it affected this man was known to the four who carried him, to the multitude in the midst of whom he was laid, to all the inhabitants of Capernaum. Yet by a word from the mouth of Jesus, he is enabled to rise up and carry his couch. Judge from this simple exposition, whether the narrative of Mark deserves to be called monstrously absurd and incredible. • The turning of water into wine is recorded in the second chaptei of John. The only objection to this miracle which merits consider- ation, is the offence conceived by Mr. Woolston at the expression which our Lord uses to his mother. And I doubt not that it sounds harsh in the ears of every English reader. "When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine ; Jesus saith unto her. Woman, what have I to do with thee ? Mine hour is not yet come." Here an analysis of the words in the original appears to me to llftbrd a satisfying answer to the objection. I need scarcely remark, that ywrj is the word by which women of the highest rank were addressed in ancient times by men of the most polished manners, when they wished to show them every mark of respect. It is used by Jesus, when with filial affection, in his dying moments, he provides every soothing attention for his mother. The phrase t' f^o^ xm cot occurs in some place of the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, and also in the New Testament. It is uniformly rendered " What have I to do with thee ?" and seems to mark a check, a slight reprimand, a degree of displeasure. It was not unnatural for our translators to. give the Greek phrase the same sense here ; and many commentators under- stand our Lord as checking his mother for directing him in the exer- cise of his divine power. I do not think that such a check would have • Luke V. 19, 24. OF CHRISTIANITY. 65 been inconsistent with tliat tender concern for his mother which onr Lord showed upon the cross. It became him who was endowed with the Spirit without measure, to be led by that Spirit in the discharge of his public oirice, and not to commit himself to the narrow concep- tions of any of the children of men. I do not therefore find fault with those who understand Jesus as saying, the time of attesting my commission by miracles is not come, and I cannot receive directions from you when it should begin. This may be the meaning of the , words. But as they will easily bear another translation, perfectly consistent with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I am inclined to prefer it. " What is that to thee and me ? The want of wine is a matter that concerns the master of the feast. But it need not distress you ; and my friends cannot accuse me of unkindness in withholding an exercise of my power, that maybe convenient for them, for I have yet done no miracle, the season of my public manifestation not being come." We know that Jesus did not enter upon hisministry till after John was cast into prison. We find John, in the next chapter, bap- tizing near Salim, and this is called the beginning of miracles. Ac- cording to this translation, every appearance of harshness is avoided, and the whole story hangs perfectly together. You will observe, Mary was so far from being offended at the supposed harshness of the answer, or conceiving it to be a refusal, that she says to the servants, " Whatever he saith unto you, do it :" and our Lord's doing the miracle after this answer, is a beautiful instance of his attention to his mother. Although his friends had no reason to expect an inter- position of his power, because his hour was not come, yet, in com- pliance with her desire, he supplies plentifully what is wanting. To the resurrection of Lazarus, in the eleventh chapter of John, Mr. Woolston objects, that the person raised was not a man of emi- nence sufficient to draw attention — that he gives no account of what he saw in the separate state — that it was absurd in Jesus to call with a loud voice to a dead man —that Lazarus having his head bound is suspicious — and that the whole is a romantic story. Now the answer to all this is to be drawn from the contexture of the narrative,' in which, beautiful, simple, and tender as it is, there are interwoven such circumstances as can leave no doubt upon the mind of any person who admits the authenticity of this book, that the greatest of miracles was here really performed. Instead, therefore, of following the frivolous objections of Mn Woolston one by one, I shall present you with a connected view of these circumstances, as a specimen of the manner in which the credibility of other miracles may be illus- trated. Jesus lingered in the place where he was, when he received the message from the sisters, till the time when, by the divine knowledge that he possessed, he said to the apostles, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." 'After this, he had a long journey to Bethany ; and it does not appear that he performed it hastily, for he learned, as he approached the village, that Lazarus had lain four days in the grave. He delayed so long, that the divine power, which he was to exert in the resurrec- tion of Lazarus, might be magnified in the eyes of the spectators ; and, at the same time, he provided an unquestionable testimony for the tvuth of the miracle, by arriving before the days of mourning were 8* ^M 66 ' ILLUSTRATION OP THE EVIDENCES expired. You will be sensible of the effect of this circumstance, if you attend for a moment to the manners of the Jews respecting funerals. One of the greatest calamities in human life, is the death of those persons whose society had been our comfort and joy. It has been the practice of all countries to testify the sense of this calamity by hono\u-6 paid to the dead, and by expressions of grief on the part of the living. In eastern countries, where all the passions are strong, and agitate the frame more than in our northern climdtes, these ex- pressions of grief were often exceedingly violent; and notwitlistand- ing some wise prohibitions of the law of Moses, the mourning in the land of Judea was more expressive of anguish than that which we commonly see. The dead body was carried out to burial not long after the death. But the house in which the person had died, the furniture of the house, and all who had been in it at that time, became in the eye of the law unclean for seven daj^s. During that time, the near relations of the deceased remained constantly in the house, unless when they went to the grave or sepulchre to mourn over the dead. They did not perform any of the ordi-nary business of life ; they were not considered as in a proper condition for attending the service of the temple, and their neighbours and acquaintances, for these seven days, came to condole with them, bringing bread and , wine and other victuals, as there was nothing in the house which could I lawfully be used. Upon this charitable errand, a number of Jews, inhabitants of Jerusalem, had come out to Bethany, which was with- in two miles of the city, upon the day when Jesus arrived there ; and thus, as we found the sisters brought out to the sepulchre one after an- other, by the most natural display of character, so here, without any appearance of a divine interposition, but merely by their following the dictates of good neighbourhood or of decency, the enemies of Jesus are gathered together to be the witnesses of this work. When the Jews saw Mary rise hastily and go out, after the private message which Martha brought her, knowing that she could not go any where but to the sepulchre, they naturally arose to follow her, that they might restrain the extravagance of her grief, and assist in composing her spirit and bringing her home. TTiey found Jesus in the highway where Martha had first met him, groaning in spirit at the distress of the family, and soothing Mary's complaint by this kindly question, "Where have ye laid him?" a question which showed his readiness to take part in her sorrow by going with her to the house of the dead. The Jews answered his question, " Lord, come and see ;" and Jesus suffers himself to be led by them, that they might see there was no preparation for the work he was about to perform, when he stepped out of the highway along with them, and allowed them to reach the sepulchre before him. His tears draw the attention of the crowd as he approaches the place ; and the Evangelist has presented to us, in their different remarks, that variety of character which we discover in every multitude. The candid and feeling admired this testimony of his afl^ction for Lazarus, " Behold how he loved him !" Others, who pretended to more sagacity, argued from the grief of Jesus, that, m the death of Lazarus, he had met with a disappointment which he ■would have prevented if he could. Jesus, without making any reply '-to either remark, arrives at the grave. John, who wro^e his Gospel OF CHRISTIANITY. 67 at a distance from Jerusalem, for the benefit of those who .vere strangers to Jewish manners, has given a short description of the grave, which we must carry along with us. The Jews, especially persons of distinction, were generally laid, not in such graves as we commonly see, but in caves hewn in the rocks, with which the land of Judea abounded. Sometimes the sepulchre was in part above the ground, having a door, like that in which our Lord lay. Sometimes it was altogether below ground, having an aperture from which a staii led down to the bottom, and this aperture covered with a stone, except when the sepulchre was to be opened. The body, swathed in linen, with the feet and hands tightly bound, and the whole face covered by a napkin, was laid, not in a coffin, but in a niche or cell of the sepulchre. As the Jews, at- the command of Jesus, were attempting to take away the stone, Martha seems to stagger in the faith which she had formerly expressed. " Lord, by this time he stink- eth, for he hath been dead four days," fffagfaiosYo^ jot-i. The word means that he has been four days in some particular condition, with- out expressing what condition is meant. Now, his present condition is, being in the cave. It was mentioned before, that he had been there four days, and therefore our translators should have inserted in italics the word buried, not the word dead. Jesus revives the faith of Martha ; and as soon as the stone is removed, he lifts up his eyes to heaven, and thanks the Father for having heard him. His enemies said, that he did his mighty works by the assistance of the devil. Here, in the act of performing the greatest of them, he prays with perfect assurance of being heard, ascribes the honour to God, and takes to himself the name of the messenger of heaven. Think of the suspense and earnest attention of the multitude, while, after the sepulchre is opened, Jesus is uttering this solemn prayer. How- would the suspense be increased, when Jesus, to show the whole multitude that the resurrection of Lazarus was his deed, calls with a loud voice, " Lazarus, come forth !" And what would be their astonishment when they saw this command instantly obeyed ; the man who had lain four days in the sepulchre, sliding his hmbs down from the cell, and standing before it upright ! The bandages, prevent him from moving forward. But Jesus, by ordering the Jews to loose him, gives them a nearer opportunity of examining this wonderful sight, and of deriving, from the dress of his body, from the state of the grave clothes, from the manner in which the napkin smothered his face, various convincing proofs, that the man whom they now saw and touched alive, had been truly numbered among the dead. The contexture of this narration is such as to efface from our minds every objection against the consistency of it ; and the greatness of the miracle is obvious. We behold in this work the Lord of Life. None can restore a man who had seen corruption, but He who in the be- ginning created him. Jesus gives us here a sample of the general rf-surrection, and a sensible sign that he is able to deliver from the second death. This is the meaning of that expression, " Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die,"ov ^»? amOavri hj toy cutom, i. e. shall not die for ever. Natural death is the separation of soul and body ; eternal death is the loss, the degradation, and final wretched- ness of the soul. Both are the wages of sin, and Jesus delivers from 68 ILLUSTRATION Or THE EVIDENCES the first, which is visible, as a pledge of his being able to deliver, in due time, those who live and beUeve in him, from the second also. The miracle is in this way stated by himself, both as a confirmation of his mission, and as an illustration of the great doctrine of his reli- gion. Before leaving the circumstances of the miracle I would observe, that however ably such objections as I have mentioned may be answered, there is much caution to be used in stating them to a Chris- tian assembly. It is very improper to communicate to the people all the extravagant frivolous conceits that have been broached by the enemies of Christianity. The objection may remain with them after they have forgotten the answer; and their faith may be shaken by finding that it has received so many attacks. It becomes the ministers of re- ligion indeed, to possess their minds with a profound knowledge df the evidences of Christianity, and of the answers that may be made to objections. But out of this store-house they should bring forth to the people a clear unembarrassed view of every subject upon which they speak, so as to create no doubt or suspicion in those who hear them, but to give their faith that stability which is always coimected with distinct apprehension. III. It remains to say a few words upon the effects which this miracle produced. Some of the persons who had come to comfort Mary, when they saw " the things which Jesus did, believed on him." It was the conclusion of right reason, that a man who, in the sight of a multitude, exerted, without preparation, a power to which no human exertion deserves to be compared, was a messenger of heaven. It was the conclusion of an enlightened and unprejudiced Jew, that this extraordinary person, appearing in the land of Judea, was the Messiah, whose coming was to be distinguished by signs and v/onders. The chosen people of God, who " waited for the consolation of Israel," found in this miracle the most striking marks of him that should come. The conclusion seems to arise naturally out of the pre- mises. Yet it was not drawn by all. Many believed, " but some went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done." They knew the enmity which these leading men enter- tained against him. They were afraid of incurring their anger, by appearing to be his disciples ; they hoped to obtain their favour by informing against him; and, sacrificing their conviction to this fear and this hope, they go from the sepulchre of Lazarus, where with astonishment they had seen the power of Jesus, to inflame the minds of his enemies by a recital of the deed. And what do these enemies do ? They could not entertain a doubt of the fact. It was told them by witnesses who had no interest in- forging or exaggerating miracles ascribed to Jesus. The place was at hand ; inquiry Avas easy ; and the imposture, had there been any, could not have remained iiidden at Jerusalem for a day. The Pharisees, therefore, in their delibera tions, proceed upon the fact as undeniable. " This man doth many miracles." But, from mistaken views of political expediency, the result of their deliberation is, " They take counsel together to put him to death." There is thus furnished a satisfactory answer to a question that has often been asked. If Jesus really did such miracles, how is it pos- OF CHHISTIAXITT. 69 sible that any who saw them could remain in unbelief? Many, we are told, did believe ; and here is a view of the motives which indisposed others for attending to the evidence which was exhibited to them, and even determined them to reject it. You cannot be surprised at the influence which such motives exerted at that time, because the like influence of similar motives is a matter of daily observation. The evidence upon which we embrace Christianity is not the same which the Jews had ; but it is sufficient. All the parts of it have been fully illustrated; every objection has received an apposite answer; the gainsayers have been driven out of every hold which they have tried to occupy ; the wisest and most enlightened men in every age have admitted the evidence, and " set to their seal that God is true." Yet it is rejected by many. * Pride, false hopes, or evil passions, detain them in infidelity. They ask for more evidence. They say they suspect collusion, enthusiasm, credulity. But the example of those Jews, who went their ways to the Pharisees, may satisfy you that there is no defect in the evidence, and that there is the most literal truth in our Lord's declaration, " If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."- The different eflfects which the same religious truths and the same religious advantages produce upon different persons, afford one in- stance of a state of trial. God is now proving the hearts of the chil- dren of men, drawing them to himself by persuasion, by that moral evidence which is enough to satisfy, not to overpower. Faith in this way becomes a moral virtue. A trial is taken of the goodness and honesty of the heart. " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light ; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be ful' of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !" The same seed of the word is scattered bjr the blessed sower in various soils, and the quality of the soil is left to appear by the produce. Pierce's Commentaiy. « TO EXTERNAL EVIDENCES CHAPTER VI. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY — PROPHECT. Had Jesus appeared only as a messenger of heaven, the points ah-eady considered might have finished the defence of Christianity, because we should have been entitled to say that miracles such as those recorded in the Gospel, transmitted upon so unexceptionable a testimony, and wrought in support o( a doctrine so worthy of God, are the complete credentials of a divine mission. But the nature of that claim which is made in the Gospel requires a further defence : for it is not barely said that Jesus was a messenger from heaven, but •it is said that he was the Messiah of the Jews, " the prophet that should come into the world."* John, his forerunner, marked him out as the Christ.t He himself, in his discourses with the Jews, often referred to their books, which he said wrote of him.j Before his ascension, he expounded to his disciples in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself § They went forth after his death declaring that they said none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come ;|| and in all their discourses and writings they held forth the Gospel as the end of the law, the fulfilment of the covenant with Abraham, the performance of the mercy promised to the fathers. If the Gospel be a divine revelation, these allegations must be true ; for it is impossible that a messenger from heaven can advance a false claim. Although, therefore, the nature of the doctrine, and the con- firmation which it receives from miracles, might have been sufficient to establish our faith, had no such claim been made ; yet, as Jesus has chosen to call himself the Messiah of the Jews, it is incumbent upon Christians to examine the correspondence between that system contained in the books of the Jews, and that contained in the New Testament; and their faith does not rest upon a solid foundation, unless they can satisfy their minds that the characters of the Jewish Messiah belong to Jesus. It is to be presumed that he had wise rea- sons for taking to himself this name, and that the faith of his disciples will be very much strengthened by tracing the connection between the two dispensations. But the nature and force of the argument from prophecy will unfold itself in the progress of 'the investigation ; and it is better to begin with attending to the facts upon which the • John iv. 26; vi. 14. f John i. 29—31. i John V. 39, 46. § Luke xxiv. 27. I Acts xxvi, 22. OP CHRISTIANITY. 71 « argument rests, and the steps which lead to the conclusion, than to form premature conceptions of the amount of this part of the evidence for Christianity. Section I. In every point of investigation, it is of great importance to ascer- tain precisely the point from which you'set out, that there may he no danger of confounding the points that are assumed, with those that are to be proven. There is much reason for making this remark in entering upon the subject which we are now to investigate, because attempts have been made to render it confused and inextricable, by misstating the manner in which the investigation ought to proceed. Mr. Gibbon, speaking of that argument from prophecy, which often occurs in the apologies of the primitive Christians, calls it an argu- ment beneath the notice of philosophers. " It might serve," he says, '• to edify a Christian, or to convert a Jew, since both the one and the other acknowledge the authority of the prophets, and both are obliged with devout reverence to search for their sense and accomplishment. But this mode of persuasion loses much of its weight and influence, when it is addressed to those who neither understand nor respect the Mosaic dispensation, or the prophetic spirit."* Mr. Gibbon learned to use this supercilious inaccurate language from Mr. Collins, an author of whom I shall have occasion to speak fully before I finish the discussion of this subject, and who lays it down as the funda- mental position of his book, that Christianity is founded upon Judaism, and from thence infers that the Gentiles ought regularly to be con- verted to Judaism before they can become Christians. The object of the inference is manifest. It is to us, in these later ages, a much shorter process to attain a conviction of the truth of Christianity, than to attain, without the assistance of the Gospel, a conviction of the divine origin of Judaism: and, therefore, if it be necessary that we become converts to Judaism before we become Christians, the evi- denqe of our religion is involved in numberless difficulties, and the field of objection is so much extended, that the adversaries of our faith, may hope to persuade the generality of mankind that the subject is too intricate for their understanding. The design is manifest ; but nothing can be more loose or fallacious than the statement which is employed to accomplish this design. In order to perceive this you need only attend to the difference between a Jew and a Gentile in the conduct of this investigation. A Jew who respects the Mosaic dispensation and the prophetic spirit, looks for the fulfilment of those prophecies which appear to him to be contained in his sacred books, and when any person declares that these prophecies are fulfilled in him, the Jew is led by that respect to compare the circumstances in the appearance of that person with what he accounts the right interpretation of the prophecies, and to form his judgment whether they be fulfilled. A Gentile, to whom the divinity of the prophecies was formerly un- * Gibbon's Roman History, chap. x*. 72 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES known, but who hears a person declaring that they are fulfilled in him, if he is disposed by other circumstances to pay any respect to what that person says, will be led by that respect to inquire after the books in which these prophecies are said to be contained, will com- pare the appearance of that person with what is written in ihese books; and will judge from this comparison how far they correspond. Both the Jew and the Gentile may be led by this comparison to a firm conviction that the messenger whose character and history they examine, is the person foretold in the prophecies. Yet the Jew set out with the belief that the prophecies are divine; the Gentile only attained that belief in \he progress of the examination. It is not possible, then, that a previous belief of the divinity of the prophecies is necessary fn order to judge of the fulfilment of them ; for two men may form the same judgment in this matter, the one of whom from the beginning had that belief, and the other had it not. The true point from which an investigation of the fulfilment of prophecy must commence, is this, that the books containing what is called the prophecy, existed a considerable time before the events which are said to be the fulfilment of it. I say, a considerable time, because the nearer that the first appearance of these books was to the event, it is the more possible that human sagacity may account for the coincidence, and the remoter the period is, to which their existence can be traced, that account becomes the more improbable. Let us place ourselves, then, in the situation of those Gentiles whom the first preachers of the Gospel addressed ; let us suppose that we know no more about the bool^s of the Jews than they might know, and let us consider how we may satisfy ourselves as to the preliminary point upon which the investigation must proceed. The prophecies to which Jesus and his apostles refer, did not pro- ceed from the hands of obscure individuals, and appear in that sus- picious form which attends every prediction of an unknown date and a hidden origin. They were presented to the world in the public records of a nation ; they are completely incorporated with these re- cords, and they form part of a series of predictions which cannot be disjoined from the constitution and history of the state. This nation, however singular in its religious principles, and in what appeared to the world to be its political revolutions, was not unknown to its neigh- bours. By its geographical situation, it had a natural connection with the greatest empires of the world. War and commerce occa- sionally brought the flourishing kingdom of Judea into their view ; and although repugnant in manners and in worship, they were wit- nesses of the existence and the peculiarities of this kingdom. The captivity, first of the ten tribes by Salmanazar, afterwards of the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar, served still more to draw the attention of the world, many centuries before the birth of Christ, to the peculiari- ties of Jewish manners. And there was a circumstance in the return of the two tribes from captivity, which was to those who observed it in anci(>nt times, and is to us at this day, a singular and unquestion- able voucher of the early existence of their books. Neheniiah was . appointed by the king of Persia to superintend the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He had received much opposition in this work from Sanballat, the governor of Samaria, that district of Palestine OF CHRISTIANITr. " 73 which the ten tribes had inhabited, and into which the king of As- syria had, at the time of their captivity, transplanted his own subjects. The work, however, was finished, and Nehemiah proceeded in making the regulations which appeared to him necessary for main- taining order, and the observance of the law of Moses amongst the multitude whom he had gathered into Jerusalem. Some of these regulations were not universally agreeable; and Manasseh, a son of the high priest, who had married a daughter of Sanballat, fled at the head of the malecontent Jews into Samaria. The Law of Moses was not acknowledged in Samaria, for the king of Assyria, after the first captivity, had sent a priest to instruct those whom he planted there, in the worship of the God of the country, and for some time they had offered sacrifices to idols in conjunction with the true God. But Manasseh, emulous of the Jews whom he had left, and consider- ing the honour of a descendant of Aaron as concerned in the purity of worship which he established in his new residence, prevailed upon, the inhabitants to put away their idols, built a temple to the God of Israel upon Mount Gerizim, and introduced a copy of the law of Moses, or" the Pentateuch. He did not introduce any of the later books of the Old Testament, lest the Samaritans, observing the pecu- liar honours with which God had distinguished Jerusalem, " the place which he had chosen, to put his name there," should entertain less reverence for the temple of Gerizim. And as a farther mark of dis- tinction, Manasseh had the book of the law written for the Samar- itans, not in the Chaldee character, which Ezra had adopted in the copies of the law which he made for the Jews, to whom that language had become familiar during the captivity, but in the old Samaritan character. During the successive fortunes of the Jewish nation, the Samaritans continued to reside in their neighbourhood, worshipping the same God, and using the same law. But between the two na- tions there was that kind of antipathy, which, in religious differenceSf is often the more bitter, the less essential the disputed points are, and which, in this case, proceeded so far that the Jews' and Samaritans not only held no communion in worship, but had " no dealings with one another." Here then are two rival tribes stated in opposition and enmity five hundred years before Christ, yet acknowledging and preserving the same laws, as if appointed by Providence to watch over the corrup- tions which either might be disposed to introduce, and to transmit to the nations of the earth, pure and free from suspicion, those books in which Moses wrote of Jesus. The Samaritan Pentateuch is often quoted by the early fathers. After it had been unknown for a thou- sand years, it was found by the industry of some of those critics who lived at the beginning of the seventeenth century, amongst the rem- nant who still worship at Gerizim. Copies of it were brought into Europe, and the learned have now an opportunity of comparing the Samaritan text used by the followers of Manasseh, with the Hebrew or Chaldee text used by the Jews. While this ancient schism thus furnished succeeding ages with jealous guardians of the Pentateuch, the existence and integrity of all their Scriptures were vouched by another event in the history of the Jews. 9 N 74 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES Alexander the Great, in the progress of his conquests, either visited the land of Judea, or received intelligence concerning the Jews. His inquisitive mind, which was no stranger to science, and which was not less intent upon great plans of commerce than of conquest, was probably struck with the pecuharities of this ancient people ; and when he founded his city Alexandria, he invited many of the Jews to settle there. The privileges which he and his successors conferred upon them, and the advantages of that situation, multiplied the Jewish inhabitants of Alexandria ; and the constant intercourse of trade obhg- ed them to learn the Greek language, which the conquerors of Asia had introduced through all the extent of the Macedonian empire. — Retaining the religion and manners of Judea, but gradually forgetting the language of that country, they became desirous that their Scrip- tures, the canon of which was by this time complete, should be trans- lated into Greek ; and it was especially proper that there should be a translation of the Pentateuch for the use of the synagogue, M'liere a portion of it was. read every Sabbath-day. We have the best reason for saying that the translation of the Old Testament, which, from an account of the manner of its being made, probably in many points fabulous, has received the name of the Septuagint, was begun at Alexandria about two hundred and eighty years before Christ ; and we cannot donbt that the whole of the Pentateuch was trarjslated at once. Learned men have conjectured, mdeed, from a ditierence of style, that the other parts of the Old Testament were translated by other hands. But it is very improbable that a woiif, so acceptable to the numerous and wealthy body of Jews who resided at Alexandria, would receive any long interruption after it was begun ; and a subse- quent event in the Jewish history appears to fix a time when a trans- lation of the prophets would be demanded. About the middl(M)f tlie second century before Christ, Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, committed the most outrageous acts of wanton cruelty against the whole nation of the Jews ; and as he contended with the King of Egypt for the conquest of Palestine, we may believe that the Jews of Alexandria shared the fate of their brethren, as faras the power of Anti- ochus could reach them. Amongst other edicts which he issued, he for- bade any Jews to read the law of Moses in public. As the prohibition did not extend to the prophets, the Jews began at this time to substiiute portions of the prophets instead of the law. After the heroical exploit of the Asmonaean family, the Maccabees had delivered their country from the tyranny of Antiochus, and restored the reading of the law, the prophets continued to be read also ; and we know that before the days of our Saviour, reading both the law and the prophets was a stated part of the synagogue service. In this way the whole of the Septuagint translation came to be used in the churches of the Hellen- istical Jews scattered through the Grecian cities ; and we are told it was used in some of the synagogues of Judea. When Rome, then, entered into an alliance with the princes of the Asmonaean line, who were at that time independent sovereigns, and when Judea, experiencing the same fate with the other allies of that ambitious republic, was subdued by Pompey about sixty years before the birth of our Saviour, the books of the Jews were publicly read in a language which was then universal. The diffusion of the OP CHRISTIANTTV. 75 Jews til rough all parts of the Roman empire, and the veneration in which they held their scriptures, conspired to assure the heathen that such books existed, and to spread some general knowledge of their contents : and even could we suppose it possible for a nation so zeal- ous of the law, and so widely scattered as the Jews were, to enter into a concert for altering their scriptures, we must be sensible that insuperable ditficulties were thrown in the way of such an attempt, by the animosity between the rehgious sects which at that time flour- ished in Judea. The Sadducees and the Pharisees differed upon essentia] points respecting the interpretation and extent of the law ; they were rivals for reputation and influence ; there were learned men upon both sides, and both acknowledged the authority of Moses ; and thus, as the Samaritans and the Jews in ancient times were appointed of God to watch over the Pentateuch ; so, in the ages immediately before our Saviour, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were faithful guardians of all the ancient scriptures. Such is the amount of that testimony to the existence of their sacred books, long before the days of our Saviour, with which the Jews, a nation superstitiously attached to their law, widely spread, and strictly guarded, present them to the world ; and to this testimony there are to be added the many internal marks of authenticity which these books exhibit to a discerning reader, — the agreement of the natural, the civil, and the religious history of the world, with those views which they present — the incidental mention that profane writers have made of Jewish customs and pecuHarities, which is always strictly conformable to the contents of these books — the express refer- ence to many of them that occurs in the New Testament, a reference which must have destroyed the credit of the Gospels and Epistles, if the books referred to had not been known to have a previous existence — and, lastly, the evidence of Josephus, the Jewish historian, a man of rank and of science, who may be considered as a contemporary of Jesus, and who has given in his works a catalogue of the Jewish books, not upon his own authority,- but upon the authority and ancient conviction of his nation, a catalogue which agrees both in number and in description with the books of the Old Testament that we now receive. Even Daniel, the only writer of the Old Testament against the authenticity of whose book any special objections have been offer- ed, is styled by Josephus a prophet, and is extolled as the greatest of the prophets ; and his book is said by this respectable Jew to be a part of the canonical scriptures of his nation.* It appears, from laying all these circumstances together, that as our Lord and his apostles had a title to assume in their addresses to the Gentiles, the previous existence of the Jewish scriptures as a fact generally and clearly known, so no doubt can be reasonably entertain- ed of this fact, even in the distant age in which we live. I do not speak of these scriptures as a divine revelation; I abstract entirely from that sacred authority which the Christian religion communicates to them ; I speak of them merely as an ancient book ; and I say, that while there is no improbability in the most remote date which any part of this book claims, there is real satisfying evidence, to which no ' Joseph, lib. x. cap. 11, 12. 76 EXTERNAL EVIBENCES degree of scepticism can justify any man for refusing his assent, that all the pafts had an existence, and might have been known in tlie world, some centuries before the Christian era. Having thus satisfied our minds of the previous existence of those scriptures, to which Jesus appeals as containing characters of the Messiah which are fulfilled in him, it is natural, before we examine his appeal, to inquire whether the nation who have transmitted these scriptures, entertained any expectation of such a person. For although it be possible that they might be ignorant of the full meaning of the oracles committed to them, and that a great Prqphet might explain to the nations of the earth that true sense which the keepers of these oracles did not understand, yet his appeal would be received with more attention, and even with a prejudice in its favour, if it accorded with the hopes of those who had the best access to know the grounds of it. Now, it is admitted upon all hands, that at the time of our Saviour's birth there was in the land of Judea the most earnest expectation, and the most assured hope, that an extraordinary person- age, to whom the Jews gave the name of Messiah, was to arise. We read in the New Testament, that many looked for redemption in Jerusalem, and waited for the consolation of Israel ; that when John appeared, all men mused in their hearts whether he was the Christ; and the priests and the Levites sent messages to ask him. Art thou that prophet ? that the conclusion which the people drew from some of the first of our Lord's miracles was, " This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world ;" and that the expectation of this person had spread to other countries ; for wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, in search of him who was to be born King of the Jews.* You will not think it unfair reasoning to quote these passages from the New Testament in proof of the expectation of a Messiah ; for it is impossible that the books which refer in such marked terms to a sentiment so universal and strong, could have been received by any inhabitant of Judea, if that sentiment had no existence ; and the inference which we are thus entitled to draw from the authenticity of the books of the New Testament, is confirmed in every way that the nature of the case admits of, by historians who write of these times, by the books of the ancient Jews, and the senti- ments of the modern. Josephus, Suetonius, and Tacitus, although desirous to flatter the Roman emperor Vespasian, by applying the prophecies to him, yet unite in attesting the expectation which these prophecies had raised. Josephus says, " That which chiefly excited the Jews to war, was an ambiguous prophecy found in the sacred books, that at that time some one within their country should arise, that should obtain the empire of the world. For this they had receiv- ed by tradition, that it was spoken of one of their nation, and many- wise men were deceived with the interpretation. But, in truth, Vespasian's empire was designed in this prophecy, who was created emperor in Judea."t ' Josephus, although he affects in this place, (he speaks otherwise elsewhere,) to condemn that interpretation of the prophecy which led the Jews to expect a Messiah, yet acknowledges that this expectation was general, derived from th'e prophecies, and * Luke ii. and iii; John i. and vi; Matt. ii. t Jos. Hist. vi. 31. OF CHRISTIANITr. 77/ entertained by many of the wise. Suetonius says, "Percrebuerat oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore Judaea profecti rerum potirentur. Id de imperatore Romano, quantum postea eventu patuit, praedictum, .Tudaei ad se trahentes, rebellaruut."* — Tacitus says, " Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum libris contineri, eo ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judoea -erum potirentur. Quae ambages Vespasianum ac Tituni praedixer- ant. Sed vulgu?, more humanae cupidinis, sibi tantam fatorum mag- nitudinem interpretati, ne adversis quidem ad vera mutabantur."! Both historians, with that very cupido which they charge upon the Jews, apply the prophecy to a Roman emperor ; ah apphcation which, at the time, was most unnatural, and which the event has clearly shown to be false. But both bear witness to the existence and anti- quity of the prophecy, and to the universality and strength of the expectation grounded upon it. The oldest Rabbinical books extant, are the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and the Targum of Jonathan on the Prophets; Targums, i. e. interpretations or para- phrases of the books of the Old Testament, composed for the instruction of the people, and used in the synagogues. There are many more modern Targums. But these two, Onkelos and Jonathan, are said by the Jews to have been written before or about the time of our Saviour, and they appear to be collections from more ancient books. They continued always in the hands of the Jews ; they were not known to the Christians till a few centuries ago, yet they uniform- ly bear testimony to the national expectation of a Messiah,'and mark out the prophecies which had produced that expectation. Even the Samaritans, who had only the Pentateuch, entertained the same expectation with the Jews. " I know," said the Samaritan woman, in the Gospel of John, "that Messias cometh. When he is come, he will tell us all things.''^ And it deserves to be mentioned, that those learned men, who, in the beginning of the 17th century, introduced the Samaritan Pentateuch into Europe, obtained also from the rem- nant which still worships upon Mount Gerizim, a declaration of their faith concerning the Messiah. " You would know," they say, in a letter which is extant, " whether the Messias be come, and whether it be he that is promised in our law as the Shiloh. Know that the Messias is not yet risen. But he shall rise, and his name shall be Hathab." It is well known that the modern Jews still retain hopes that the Messiah will come. They have devised various schemes to account for his delay, and to elude the argument which we draw from the application of the prophecies to Jesus. But even their modern . doctors declare, that he who believes the law of Moses should believe the coming of the Messiah ; for the law commands us to believe in the prophets, and the prophets foretell his coming. This much, then, we have gained by attending to the sentiments of the Jews— satisfying evidence that it was not an invention of our Lord and his apostles, to say, that Moses wrote of the Messiah ; that Abraham rejoiced to see his day ; that David, being a prophet.foresaw him in spirit ; and that all the prophets, from Samuel, foretold of his • Suet. Vespas. vi. 8. f Tacit. Hist. lib. » 9. + John iv. 25. 78 EXTERNAL EVIBENCES days. The Jews said the same thing, and looked for the fujfihnent of the promises made to their fathers. How ancient this expectation was, we camiot say, because, except the scriptures of the Old Testa- ment, we have no Jewish books of unquestionable authority older than the days of our Saviour. But as it is clear that the expectation was not at that time new, as the first of the Jewish books extant declare, that all the prophets, from Moses to Malachi, prophesied only of the Messiah, and abound with explications of particular predictions, and as the most ancient prayers of the people in their synagogues adopt these explications, speaking of the Messiah under the na-mes and characters ascribed to him in the predictions, it does not seem to admit of a doubt, that the hope of the Messiah was, in all ages among the Jews, the received national interpretation of those predictions in which they gloried. The matter, then, is brought to a short issue. Certain books exist- ed some centuries before the birth of Jesus, which raised in the nation that kept them a general expectation of an extraordinary personage. Jesus appeared in Judea, claiming to be that personage. The people in whose possession the books had always remained, are bound by their national expectations to examine his claim. The curiosity of the other nations to whom this claim is made known, or to whom the. person advancing it appears upon other accounts respectable, is excited by the coincidence between the claim, and the expectations of that people upon whose ancient books it is founded : and thus both Jews and Gentiles, without any previous agreement in religious opinions, are called to attend to the same object, and one point is submitted to their examination : Whether the predictions concerning the Jewish Messiah apply to the circumstances in the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth. Section II. The obvious method of proving that Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews, is to compare the predictions in their scriptures with the cir- cumstances of his appearance. It is impossible, in any other way, to attain a conviction of the justness of his claim to that character ; anr^ it is clear, that if his claim be well founded, this method will be suf- ficient to ascertain it. This is the method which our Lord prescribed to the Jews. " Search the Scriptures, for these are they which testify of me." It is the method which he employed when,before his ascension, • i"he expounded to his disciples the things which were written con- cerning him in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms." It is the method by which Philip converted the minister of the Queen of Ethiopia, when he began at the 53d chapter of Isaiah, and preached to him Jesus. And it is the method which is continually ^recurring in the discourses and writings of the apostles. '■, A person who had no previous information upon the subject, would be obliged, in following this method, to mark, as he read through the Scriptures of the Old Testament, those passages which to him appeared to point to an extraordinary person ; and then he would OP CHRISTIANITY. 79 either apply every one singly, or all of them collectively to Jesus, in order to judge how far they were fulfilled in him. But we are pro- vided with much assistance in this examination. We are directed, in our search of the Old Testament, by the passages which o'ur Lord / and his apostles have quoted, by the knowledge which men versant * in Jewish learning have diffused of the predictions marked in the Jewish Targums, and by the labours of the ancient apologists for ? Christianity, and of many divines since the Reformation, and more i. especially since the beginning of the last century, who, with very sound critical talents, and much historical information, have devoted themselves to the elucidation of this subject. There is no reason why we should not avail ourselves of these helps. They abridge the labour of investigation ; but they do not necessarily bias our judgments. We may examine a prophecy which is pointed out to us, as strictly as if we ourselves had discovered it to be a prophecy. We may even indulge a certain degree of jealousy with regard to all the prophecies which are suggested by the friends of Christianity, and may fortify our minds with the resolution that nothing but the most marked and striking correspondence shall overcome this jealousy. It is right for you to employ every fair precaution against being deceived ; and then take into your hands any of those books which serve as an index to the predictions in the Old Testament respecting the Messiah. You have an excellent index in Clarke's Evidences of Natural and Re- vealed Religion, which is, upon the whole, one of the best elementary books for a student in divinity, and which is rendered peculiarly use- ful with regard to the prophecies, by a part of Dr. Clarke's character that appears in all his theological writings — an intimate profound knowledge of Scripture, and a faculty of bringing together, and arranging in the most lucid order all the texts which relate to a sub- ject. You have another index in Bishop Chandler's Defence of Chris- tianity. Sherlock, Newton, Jortin, Hurd, Halifax, Bagot, Macknight, and other divines, have both given a full explication of some particu- lar predictions, and directed to the solution of many others. The com- parison of the predictions in the Old Testament respecting the Messiah, with the facts recorded in the New, is one of the most essential parts of the education of a student in divinity. Other Christians may not have leisure for such an employment. But it is expected from your profession, that you know the occasions upon which the predictions were given, and that you are able to defend the received interpreta- tions of them, and to state the order in which they succeeded one another, and the manner in which they were fulfilled. And if you either bring to this inquiry critical sagacity, and historical information of your own, or avail yourselves judiciously of the labours of others, you will attain an enlightened and firm conviction that Jesus is not only a messenger from heaven, but the Messiah of the Jews, It is impossible forme to lead you through all the particulars of this investigation. But I shall mention, in a few words, the result to which men of the soundest judgment have been conducted, and which they have rendered it easy for us to teach; and then I shal. give you H specimen of the exact fulfilment of Jewish prophecy in Jesus, Moses, by whom the most ancient predictions were compiled, lived a thous:iiid v<;ars before Malachi : and Mahi'-hi lived aftc the J"V/s 80 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES had returned from their captivity, above four hundred years before the birth of our Saviour. During the long period that intervened between the earUest and the latest prophets, there are scattered through the books of the Old Testament predictions of a dispensation of Providence, to be executed in a future time by an extraordinary personage. And all these predictions are found to apply to the history of Jesus of Nazareth. Although the predictions which point througli such a length of time to one dispensation, differ widely from one another in clearness and imagery, not one of them is inconsistent with the facts recorded in the gospel. .By the help of that interpretation which the event gives to the prophecy, we can see an uniformity and continuity in the scheme. The more general expressions of the ancient prophets, and the more minute descriptions of the latter, illus- trate one another. Every prediction appears to stand in its proper place, and every clause assumes importance and significancy. There are two circumstances which every false prophet is careful to avoid, or at least to express jn ambiguous terms, but which were precisely marked, and literally accomplished with regard to the Mes- siah. The circumstances are, time and place. It was foretold in a succession of limiting prophecies, that that seed of the woman which was to bruise the head of the serpent, should arise out of the family of Abraham, out of the children of Israel, out of the tribe of Judah^ out of the house of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was born. It is said in the book of Chronicles, " Judah pre- vailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler."* And to satisfy us that this prophecy was not exhausted by the rulers that had formerly come of Judah, we read in Micah, who lived in the reign of King Hezekiah, " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."! Here is the place, an obscure village in Judea, so fixed by prophecy, seven hundred years before the event, that the ancient Jetvs expected the Messiah was to be born there ; and some of the modern Jews have said that he was born before Bethlehem was desolated, and lies hidden in the ruins. The time is 'also fixed. Daniel numbered seventy weeks, that is according to the prophetic style, in which a day stands for a year, four hundred and ninety years, as the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, and the establishment of the Messiah's kingdom.^ This interpretation of the weeks of Daniel, which learned men have, I think, incontrovertibly established, is confirmed by other predictions still more clear, which declare that the extraordinary personage was to arise out of Judea, while it remained a distinct tribe, possessing some authority, and while its temple stood ; and that he was to arise during the fourth kingdom, after the Romans became masters of the world. The four successive kingdoms are described in the interpre- tation of the vision in the seventh chapter of Daniel, and so described, that any person versant in history cannot mistake the Babylonian, r Persian, Macedonian, and Roman. The Romans had successively conquered the three other branches of the Macedonian empire. But • Chron. v. 2. ^ f Micah v. 2. i Daniel ix. 24, 25. OP CHRISTIANITY. 81 Egypt still existed as an independent kingdom, till the unfortunate Cleopatra ended her days at the battle of Actium, thirty years before the birth of our Saviour ; the next year Egypt was made tributary to Rome ; and then, first, says the historian Dion Cassius, did Caesar alone possess all power. The city and temple of Jerusalem were destroyed, and the constitution of the Jewish state annihilated about seventy years after the birth of our Saviour. Thus the establishment of the universal empire of Rome, and the desolation of Jerusalem, are two limits marked by ancient prophecy. The Messiah was to be born after the first, and before the last. They contain between them a space of about a hundred years, within which space the Messiah was to be born ; but at such a distance from the last of the two limits, as to allow time for his preaching to the Jews, for his being rejected by them, and for their suffering upon account of that rejection ; all which events were also foretold. Within the space of a hundred years the ditferent divisions of Daniel's seventy weeks had their end • and within this space Jesus was born. According to every method, then, in which the time of the Messiah's birth can be computed from ancient predictions, it was fulfilled in Jesus ; and this fulfilment of the time brought about, by a wonderful concurrence of circumstances, a fulfilment with regard to the place also of the Messiah's birtli. After the Romans, in the progress of their conquests, had subdued Syria, and the other parts of the Macedonian empire adjoining to Judea, that state, standing alone, could not long remain independent. Its form of government was for some time preserved by the indulgence of the Romans. But, about forty years before the birth of our Saviour, an act of the senate set aside the succession of the Asmonean princes, and conferred the crown of Judea upon Herod the Great. Although Herod was king of Judea, he held his kingdom as a prince dependent upon Rome; and, in token of his vassalage, an order was issued by Augustus, before his death, that there should be a general enrolment of the inhabitants of Palestine ; that is, the Roman census, by which the state acquired a knowledge of the numbers, the wealth, and the condition of its subjects, was extended to this appendage of the Roman empire. In conformity to the Jewish method of classing the people by tribes and families, every inhabitant of Palestine was ordered to have his name enrolled, not in the city where he happened to reside, but in that to which the founder of his house had belonged, and which, in the language of the Jews, was the city of his people. By this order, which was totally independent of the will' of Joseph and Mary, and which involved in it a decree of the Roman emperor then for the first time issued concerning Judea, and a resolution of the king of Judea to adopt a particular mode of executing that decree, Joseph and Mary are brought from a distant corner of Palestine to Bethlehem. They are brought at a time when Mary would not have chosen such a journey ; and Jesus, to their great inconvenience and distress, is born in a stable, and laid in a manger. It is not easy for any person who attends to these circumstances, to refrain from acknowledging the hand of Providence, connecting the time and the place of the birth of Jesus, so as that, without the possibility of human preparation, they should together fulfil the words of ancient prophets. O 82 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES I have selected these two necessary accompaniraents of every action, because it was possible, within a short compass, to give you a striking view of the coincidence between the prediction and the event. But the same coincidence extends through a multitude f)f circum- stances, which in the prophecies appear minute, unrelated, and some- times contradictory, and which cannot be applied to any one person who ever lived upon earth, except to Jesus of Nazareth, in whom they are united with perfect harmony, so that every one has a meaning, and all together form a consistent whole. It would seem, then, that we are fully warranted in saying that the circumstances in the appearance of Jesus correspond to the pre- dictions of the Old Testament respecting the Messiah of the Jews, and that the presumptive and the direct proof of his being a messenger of heaven, are entitled to all the support, which they cwi derive from the justness of his claim to the character of Messiah. Section III. But the adversaries of Christianity do not allow us so readily to draw this conclusion : And there are objections to the argument from prophecy, the proper answer to which well deserves your study. These objections were brought forward, and stated with much art and plausibility, in a book entitled. Grounds and Reasons of the Chris- tian Religion, written after the beginning of the last centuryjb)'^ Mr. Col- lins. Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, from the prophecies of the Old Testament, was an answer to this book : and Mr. Collins published a reply, entitled, the Scheme of Literal Prophecy Con- sidered. Bishop Sherlock in his discourses on Prophecy, Warburton in his Divine Legation of Moses, and many modern divines, have combated with sound learning and argument the positions of Mr. Collins ; so that any student who applies to this important subject, may receive very able assistance in forming his judgment. I shall state to you the objections, with the answers. The position of Mr. Collins' book is this : Christianity is founded on Judaism. Our Lord and his apostles prove Christianity from the Old Testa- ment. If the proofs which they draw from thence are valid, Chris- tianity is true : if they are not valid, Christianity is false. But all the prophecies of the Old Testament are applicable to Christ only in a secondary, typical, allegorical sense. Such a sense, being fanatical and chimerical, cannot be admitted according to the scholastic rules of interpretation. And thus Christianity, deriving no real support from Judaism, upon which it is professedly grounded, must be false. To this artful mis-statement of the subject, we have two answers. The first is, that there are in the Old Testament direct prophecies of the Messiah, which, not in a secondary, but in their primary sense, apply to Jesus of Nazareth. There is in the Pentateuch a promise of a prophet to be raised up from amongst the Jews like imto Moses.* But none in all the succession of Jewish prophets was like hin' in the *])eut xTiii. 15, 18. OP CHRISTIANITY. 83 free intercourse which he had with the Ahnighty, the importance of the commission which he bore, and the signs which he did. And, therefore, that succession not only kept aUve the expectation, but was itself a pledge of the great prophet that should come. The writings of the succession of prophets are full of predictions concerning a new dispensation more glorious, more general, more spiritual than the Jewish economy, when " the sons of the stranger should join them- selves to the Lord ;" when " his house should be an house of prayer for all people ;" when " the gods of the earth should be famished," no more otferings being presented to them, and " every one from his place," not at Jerusalem, but in his ordinary residence, " should worship Jehovah." "Behold the days come, saith tlie Lord," by Jeremiah, who lived in the time of the captivity, " that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward pans, and write it in their hearts; and I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remem- ber their sin no more."* It is further to be remarked, that the prophecy of this new spiritual dispensation is connected through- out the Old Testament with the mention of a person by whom the dispensation was to be introduced. If it is called a covenant, wo read of the Messenger of the Covenant. If it is called a kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, which should never be destroyed, we read of a chief ruler to come out of Judah, of the Prince of Peace who was to sit on the throne of his father David, to establish it with justice and judgment for ever; of one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, to whom is given an universal and ever- lasting dominion. If the new dispensation is represented as a more perfect mode of instruction, we read of a prophet upon whom should rest the spirit of wisdom and understanding. If it is styled the deliverance of captives, there is also a redeemer ; or victory, there is also a leader ; or a sacrifice, there is also an everlasting priest. The intimations of this extraordinary personage, so closely connected with the new dispensation, became more clear and pointed as the time of his coming approached : and there are predictions in Malachi and the later prophets, which in their direct primary sense can belong to no other but the Messiah. " Behold," says God, by Malachi, " I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me ; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple ; even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in." And again, " Be- hold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord."t Even Grotius, whose principle it was, in his exposition of the Old Testament, to seek for the primary sense of the prophecies in the Jewish affairs which were immediately under the eye of the prophet, and to consider their application to Jesus aS a secondary sense, and who has often been misled by this principle into very forced interpretations, has not been able to assign any other • Jer. xxxi. 31—33. t Malachi iiL 1, 4, 5. 84 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES meaning to ftiese prophecies, with which the old Testament concludes, and with a repetition of which Mark begins his Gospel, than that Malachi, with whom the prophetical spirit ceased, gave notice that it should be resumed in John the forerunner of the Messiah, who in the spirit and the power of Elias, should prepare the way before the mes- senger of the covenant. The first answer then to Mr. Collins is, that there are in the Old Testament direct prophecies of the dispensation of the Gospel, and of the Messiah. The second answer is, that prophecies applicable to Jesus only in a typ'ical and secondary sense are not fanatical or unscholastic. We are taught by the Apostle Paul to consider all the ceremonies of the law as types of the more perfect and spiritual dispensation of the Gospel. The meats, the drinks, the washings, the institution of the Levitical priesthood, the paschal lamb, and the other sacrifices, were figures for the time then present, shadows of good things to come, a rough draught, as the word type properly imports, of the blessings of that better covenant which the law announced. Many actions and incidents in the lives of eminent persons under the law are held forth as types of the Christ ; and by the application which is made in the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, of various passages in the Old Testament, we are led to consider many prophecies, which originally h?id, both in the intention of the speaker and in the sense of the hearers, a reference only to Jewish afi'airs, and were then interpreted by that reference, as receiving their full accomplishment in the events of the Gospel. This is what we mean by the double sense of pro- phecy. The seventy-second psalm is an example. It is the paternal blessing given by David in his dying moments to Solomon, when with the complacency of an affectionate father and a good prince, he looks forward to that happiness which his people were to enjoy under the peaceful reign of his son. But while he contemplates this great and pleasing object, he is led by the spirit to look beyond it, to that illustrious descendant whose birth he had been taught to expect, — that branch which in the latter days was to spring out of the root of Jesse. The two objects blend themselves together in his imagina- tion ; at least the words in which he pours forth his conceptions, although suggested by the promise concerning Solomon, are much too exalted when applied to the occurrences even of his distinguished reign, and were fulfilled only in the nature and the extent of the bles- sings conveyed by the Gospel. Had we no warrant from authority upon other accounts respectable, to bring this secondary sense out of some prophecies ; or had we no prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testa- ment of another kind, it would be unfair and unscholastical reasoning to infer that Jesus is the Messiah, because some passages may he thus transferred to him. We rest the argument from prophecy upon those predictions which expressly point to the Messiah, and upon that authority which the miracles of Jesus and his apostles gave to them a» interpreters of prophecy ; and we say that when their interpreta- tion of those prophecies which were originally applicable to other events, gives to every expression in them a natural and complete sense, and at the same time coincides with the spirit of those predic- tions concerning the Gospel which are direct, we have the best reason OP CHRISTIANITY. 85 I for receiving this further meaning, not to the exclusion of the oilier, but as the full exposition of the words of the prophet. There is nothing in (he nature of prophecy, or the general use.,of language, inconsistent with this account of the matter. If you allow that prophecy is a thing possible, you must admit that "it came not by the will of man, but that holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Prophecy by its nature is distinguished from other kinds of discourse. At other times, men utter sentiments which they feel ; they relate facts which they know ; they reason according to the measure of their faculties. But when they prophesy, that is, when they declare, by the inspiration of God, events which are out of the reach of human foresight, they speak not of themselves ; they are but the vehicles for conveying the mind of another Being ; they pronounce the words which he puts into their mouth ; and whether these words be intelligible or not, or what their full meaning may be, depends not upon them, but upon Him from whom the words proceed. It is thus clearly deducible from the nature of prophecy, that there might be in the predictions of the Old Testament, a further meaning than that)'^A^|( which was distinctly presented to the minds of those who spake. — ? ■ And we may conceive, that as the high priest Caiaphas was directed to the Jewish council to employ words which, although in his eyes they contained only a political advice, were really a prophecy of the benefits resulting from the death of Christ,* so the spirit of God might introduce into predictions, which to those who uttered them seemed to respect only the present fortune of their country, or the fate of some illustrious personage, expressions, in a certain sense indeed, applicable to them, but pointing to a more important event, and a more glorious personage, in whom it was to appear at a future periqd that they were literally fulfilled. As there is nothing in the nature of prophecy inconsistent with that account of types and secondary senses which constitutes our second answer to the objection of Mr. Collins, so this account is supported by the general use of language. And any person versant in that use, will not be disposed to call the application of types and secondary pro- phecies unscholastic. The typical nature of the Jewish ritual accords with that most ancient method of conversing by actions, that kind of symbolical language, which is adopted in early times from the scanti- ness of words, which is retained in advanced periods of society, in order to give energy and beauty to speech, which abounds in the writings of the Jewish prophets, and appears to have been in familiar and universal use through all the regions adjoining to Judea. In like manner, prophecies which admit of two senses, one immediate and obvious, the other remote and hidden, are agreeable to that allegory which is only the symbolical language appearing in an extended dis- course. Both sacred and profane poets afford beautiful examples of allegory. In the 14th Ode of the first book of Horace, the poet, under a concern for the safety of his friends at sea in a shattered bark, con- trives at the same time to convey his apprehensions concerning the issue of the new civil war. - There is a finished allegory, in the SOth Psalm. And Dr. Warburton has pointed out a prophecy in the two • John, xl 49. 10 86 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES first chapters of Joel, where the prophet, he says, in his prediction of an approaching ravage by locusts, foretells likewise, in the same words, a succeeding desolation by the Assyrian army. For, as soirie of the expressions mark death by insects,and others desolation by war, both senses must be admitted. Allegory abomids in all the moral writ- ings of antiquity, and is employed at some times as an agreeable method of communicating knowledge, and at other times as a cover for that which was too refined for vulgar eyes. There is not any particular reason for saying that it was unworthy of God to accommodate the style of many of his prophecies to this universal use of allegory ; because whenever the Almighty condescends to speak to us, whether he uses plain or figurative language, he must speak after the manner of men ; and we are able to assign a most important purpose which was attained by those prophecies of a double sense, the interpretation of which, although very far from deserving the name of unscholastic, may be called allegorical. It pleased God, in the intermediate space between the first predictions of the Messiah and the fulfilment of them, to establish the Jewish economy, an institution singular in its nature, and limited in its extent. This intermediate institution being for many ages a theocracy, there arose a succession of prophets by whom , the intercourse between the Almight)'- Sovereign and his people was maintained; and the whole administration of the affairs of the Jews was long conducted by the prophets. It was natural for this succes- sion of prophecy to give some notice of the better covenant which was to be made; and accordingly, we can trace predictions of the Messiah from the books of Mos.es, till the cessation of the prophetical spirit in Malachi. The Holy Ghost, by whom the prophet spoke, could have rendered these notices of the spiritual and universal nature of the future dispensation clear and intelligible to every one who heard them. But, in this case, the intermediate preparatory dispensation would have been despised. The Jews comparing their burdensome ritual with the simplicity of Gospel worship, — their imperfect sacri- fices with the efficacy of the great atonement,— their temporal rewards with the crown of glory laid up in heaven, would have thrown off the yoke which they were called to bear ; and those rudiments by which the law was given to train their minds for the perfect instruc- tion of the Gospel, would have been cast away as "beggarly elements." If the law served any purpose, it was necessary that it should be respected and observed so long as it was to subsist ; and therefore it would have been inconsistent with the wisdom of Him from whom it proceeded, that it should impart such a degree of light as might have destroyed itself Enough was to be declared to raise and cherish an expectation of that which was to come, but not enough to disparage the things that then were. This end is most perfectly, attained by the types, and the prophecies of a double sense which are contained in the Old Testament. Both were so agreeable to the manners of the times, and both received such a degree of explication from the direct prophecies concerning the Messiah, that there was an universal apprehension of their further meaning. Yet their immediate impor- tance preserved the respect which was due to the law ; and when, in the end of the age of prophecy, predictions of the Messiah were given by different prophets which could not apply to any other person, OF CHRISTIANITY. 87 — these direct predictions were clothed in a figurative language, all the figures of which were borrowed from the law. The law, in this way, was still magnified ; and as the child is kept under tutors and governors till the time appointed of the father, so says the apostle to the Galatians, the Jews were kept under the law, the guardians of the oracles of God, — the depositaries of the hopes of mankind, until the time came that the faith should be revealed.* When it was revealed, then the allegory received its interpretation ; the significancy of the types, the reddition of the parables, the hidden meaning of the ancient prophecies, and the propriety of the figures in which the latter were clothed, all now stand forth to the admiration and conviction of the Christian world. What was a hyperbole in its application to Jewish affairs, becomes, says Dr. Warburton, plain speech, or an obvious metaphor, when transferred to the Gospel ; and the Old Testament appears to have been, what St. Austin calls it, a continued prophecy of the New. Section IV. Before I proceed to state the amount of the argument fr.ora prophecy, there is one other objection to that argument which requires to be mentioned. The objection arises from a kind of verbal criticism, but does not deserve upon that account to be dismissed as unimportant. • It was long ago observed, that many of the passages quoted from the Old Testament in the New, do not exactly agree with the text of our copies of the Old Testament. The apology commonly made for this difference was, that our Lord and his apostles did not quote from the Hebrew, but from the Septuagint translation, which was known and respected in Judea. But, upon accurate investigation, it was found that the quotations do not always correspond with the Septua- gint ; and that there are many which agree neither with the Septua- gint nor with the Hebrew. It was insinuated, therefore, by the adversaries of Christianity, that our Lord and his apostles had not been scrupulous in their method of quoting the Old Testament ; but wishing to ground Christianity upon Judaism, and finding it difficult to lay this foundation with the materials that existed, had accommoda- ted the words of the Old Testament to their argument, and made the prophets say what it was necessary for the conclusiveness of that argument, they should seem to say. It appears at first sight very unlikely that our Lord and his apostles, who began the preaching of the gospel from Judea, would, in the hearing of the Jews, use such liberty with the scriptures which were publicly read in those very synagogues where they were thus misquoted. The detection of the fraud was easy, or rather unavoidable, and must have been ruinous to the cause of Christianity. But however improbable it may seem that our Lord and liis apostles should be guilty of such a fraud, the fact is undeniable, that the quotations in the New Testament do not • GaL iv. ^8 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES always agree with the books from which they are taken ; and it re mains with the friends of Christianity to account for this fact. Many zealous Christians have thought it essential to the honour of that reve- lation granted to the Jews, to maintain the integrity of the original Hebrew text; and even during the course of the last century, some men versant in Jev/ish learning argued most strenuously, that the Providence of God employed the vigilance of the Jewish nation, and certain precautions of the Jewish Rabbis to preserve the Hebrew text through all ages, from every degree of adulteration. Were this opinion sound, it does not appear to me that any satisfying account could be given of the difference between the Old Testament and the New, in those passages where the latter professes to quote the former. But as suspicions had been long entertained that there were variations in the Hebrew text, so the opinion of those who maintain its integrity, was in the last century completely refuted by the labours of Dr. Kenni- cott, who, from a collation of six hundred manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, has demonstrated that there have been numberless small alter- ations, and some of considerable importance. We found formerly that the various readings of the Greek text of the New Testament arose from tiie ignorance or carelessness of transcribers, and that their being permitted could easily be reconciled with the wisdom of God, and. the divine original of Christianity. We need not be surprised to find the same causes producing similar effects with regard to the Hebrew text. It has been said, that particular circumstances may naturally lead us to look for a greater number of such varieties in the Hebftw text than in the Greek ; and there is much reason to suspect that both the Hebrew text and the Septuagint translation were wilfully corrupted by the Jews after the days of our Saviour, in order to elude the argument which the Christians deduced from the clear application of Jewish prophecies to him. We know that, in the second century, another Greek translation of the Old Testament, by Aquila, more inaccurate, and designedly throwing a veil over many prophecies of the Messiah, was substituted by the Jews in place of the Septuagint. Taking then, the learned men who have devoted themselves to this study as our guides, and resting in the conclusions which they have established by a laborious induction of particulars, we say, that the copies both of the Hebrew text and of the Septuagint, which were in use in the days of our Saviour, were more correct than those which we now have ; that by the help of many manuscripts, and of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which was much less corrupted than the books of Moses in Hebrew, the true reading of the Hebrew has been dis- covered in many places where it had been vitiated ; and that the honour of our Lord and his apostles has been fully vindicated ; for it appears that they quoted from the Septuagint when the sense of the author was there clearly expressed ; that, at other times, they trans- lated the original for themselves, or used some translation more perfect than the Septuagint, and that there are many places in which their quotations, although different from the Hebrew that is now read, agree exactly with the Hebrew text, as by sound criticism it may be restored. Such is the important service which sound criticism has rendered to religion. The unbeliever triumphed for a season in an objection OP CHRISTIANITr. 89 which was plausible, because the answer to it was misapprehended or unknown. But the progress of investigation has unfolded the truth, and has placed, in the most conspicuous light, the fidelity and accuracy of the quotations made by those wiio grounded Christianity upon Juda.sm. Section V. Having thus cleared the way, by settling every preliminary point, and removing the objections which appear to me the strongest, 1 come to state concisely the argument from prophecy, or the nature of that support whjch the truth of Christianity derives from the coincidence between the appearance of Jesus, and the predictions of the Old Tes- tament. in stating this argument, we allow that there are passages quoted by our Lord and his apostles from the Old Testament, in which there is merely an accommodation of words that had been spoken in one sense, to another sense, in which they are equally true. When it is said, in the second chapter of Matthew, " Joseph took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, out of Egypt have I called my Son," nothing more is meant by the expression, "that it might be fulfilled," and the idiom of ancient languages does not require any thing more to be understood, than that the words which in Hosea are applied to Israel, whom God calls his Son, received another meaning when he who is truly the Son of God, was brought out of the same place from which Israel came. We allow that it does not follow, from the possibility of this accommodation, that Hosea meant to foretell the future transference of his words, any more than that he who first enunciated a proverbial sa.y- ing, foresaw all the particular occasions upon which it might be fitly applied. We admit, further, that the secondary sense of those prophe- cies in which we say the Messiah was included} and the typical naiture of those ceremonies or actions which prefigured him, are not always obvious upon the consideration of particular prophecies or types. Nay, we admit that there is a degree of obscurity or doubt with regard to some of those prophecieis in which the Messiah is directly foretold ; and, therefore, the argument does not depend upon theclearness of any single prophecy, or upon the interpretation which may be given to this or that passage, but it arises from a coiniected view of the direct predictions, the secondary prophecies, and the types, as supporting and illustrating fine another. Allow as much as any rational inquirer can allow to the sJirewdness of conjecture, to acci- dental coincidence, and to human preparation, still the induction of particulars that cannot be accounted for by any of those means, is so complete and so striking, as to constitute a plain incontrovertible argu- ment. From the exact fulfilment of predictions extending through many centuries, uttered by dilferent prophets, with dilferent imagery, yet pointing to one train of events, and markinga variety of circumstances, 10* ** 90 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES m their nature the most contingent; from the aptness of all the parts of the intermediate dispensation to shadow forth the blessings and the character of that ultimate dispensation which it announced, and from the sublime literal exposhion which the events of the ultimate dispensa- tion give to all those prophecies under the preparatory dispensation, whicii are expressed in language too exalted for the objects to which they were then applied ; — from these things laid together, there arises, to any person who considers them with due care, the n)Ost satisfying conviction that the whole scheme of Christianity was foreseen and fore- told under the Old Testament. If you admit this position, there are two consequences which you will admit as flowing from it. The first is, that the prophets under the Old Testament were divinely inspired. The very means, by which you attain a conviction that they prophe- sied of the gospel, render it manifest that the things foretold were beyond the reach of human sagacity ; and there is llius presented to us, in the fulfilment of their predictions, an evidence of the irnth of the Mosaic dispensation as clear as that arising from the miracles per- formed by Moses before the children of Israel. The second conse- quence, and that which we are more immediately concerned in draw- hig, is this, that the scheme in which the predictions of those prophets wtire fulfilled is a divine revelation. In order to perceive how this consequence flows from the position which we have been establishing, you will attend to the two uses of prophecy, its immediate use in the ages in which it was given, and that further use which extends to the latest ages of the world. It is certain that prophecy ministered to the comfort, the instruction, and the hope of those who lived in the days of the prophets; and we know, that the predictions respecting the JVIessiah were so far understood, as to excite in the whole nation of the Jews an expectation of the Messiah, and to cherish in just and devout men that sta^;e of mind, which is beautifully styled by Luke in the second chapter of his gospel, "waiting for the consolation of Israel," and "looking for redemption in Jerusalem." But that this was not the whole intention of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, appears indisputably from hence, that, according to the account v/hich has been given of these prophecies, they contain a further provision than was necessary for that end. There were many parts of them which were not understood at that time, but were left to be unfolded to the age which was to behold their fulfilment. As such parts were useless to the age which received the prophecy, we must belitve that, if they had any use, they were designed for that future age, and that the prophets, as the apostle Peter speaks, "ministered not unto them- selves, but unto us, the things which are now reported by them tliat have preached the gospel."* Bisliop Sherlock wrote his admirable discourses on the use and mtent of prophecy in the several ages of the world, to show that pro- phecy was intended chiefly for the support of faith and religion in the old world, as faith and religion could not have existed in any age after the fall without this extraordinary support; and he has been led, by an attachment to his own system, to express himself in some places of his book to the disparagement of the further use of prophecy. • 1 Peter i.az. OF CHRISTIANITY. • Yet even Bishop Sherlock admits, that prophecy may be of great advantage to future ages, and says that it was not unworthy of the wisdom of God to enclose, from the days of old in the words of pro- phecy, a secret evidence which he intended the world should one day see. The Bishop has stated in these few words, with his wonted energy and facility of expression, that further use of prophecy of which I am speaking. It is merely a dispute about words, whether the laying up this secret evidence v/as the primary or the secondary intention of the Giver of prophecy. But it is plain, that when all the notices of the first coming of Christ, that were communicated to different nations, are brought together into our view, and explained by the event, they illustrate, in the most striking manner, both the truth and the importance of Christianity. The gospel appears to be not a solitary unrelated part of the divine economy, but the purpose which God purposed from the beginning; and Jesus comes according to the declared counsel of heaven to do the will of his Father. The miracles which he wrought derive a peculiar confirmation, from being the very works which ancient prophets had foretold as ciiaracteristical of the Messiah. Prophecy and miracle, in this way, lend their aid to one another, and give the most complete assurance- which can be desired, that there is no deception : for as miracles could not have justified the claim of Jesus to the character of Messiah, unless ancient predictions had been fulfilled in him, so the miracles which he wrought were an essential part of that fulfilment ; and hence arises the peculiar significancy and force of that answer which he made to the disciples of John, when they asked him, " Art thou he that should come ?" " Go," said he, " and show John again those things Avhich ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame '.valk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised jp, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." He refers to his miracles ; but he mentions them in the very words of Isaiah, thus conjoining with that divine wisdom which shines in all his discourses, the two great arguments by which his disciples in all succeeding ages were to defend their faith. The internal evidence, too, arising from the nature of his undertaking, is very much heightened, when we see that that undertaking was the completion of the plan of Providence, We are often able to vindicate and explain the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, by referring to the manner in which they were sketched out by the preparatory dispensation; and the intimate connection of the two systems, which enables us to give a satisfactory account of the peculiarities of the law, reflects much dignity upon the gospel. While the kingdoms of this world are spoken of only in so far as the kingdom of the Messiah was to be affected by their fate, we see the servants of the Almighty preparing the way for the Prince of Peace; the continued effusion of the divine Spirit does honour to Jesus ; the prophets arise in long succession to bear witness to him ; and our respect fo\- the sundry intimations of the will of heaven, is concentred in reverence for that scheme towards which all of them tend. In the magnificence of that provision which ushered in the gospel, we recognise the m.ajesty of God ; in the continuity and nice adiustment of its parts, we trace his wisdom ; and its increasing light 92 EXTERNAL EVIDENCES is analogous to that gradual preparation, by which all the v/orks of God' advance to maturity. Such is the support which the truth of Christianity derives from the predictions of the Old Testament respecting the Messiah. The argu- ment from prophecy, therefore, was not, as Mr. Gibbon sarcastically and incorrectly says, merely addressed to the Jews as an argu- mentum ad hominum. To those to whom the books of the Old Testament are known chiefly if not entirely by the references made to them in the gospel, it affords much confirmation to their faith, and much enlargement of their views with regard to Christianity. Pridcaux— Hartley— Gray— Prettyman's Institutes— Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacrae— Chandler Hurd Warburton — Newton — Law — Syke — Kennicott — Randolph's Collation — Ged- des's Prospectus— Lowth de Sacra Poesi— Home's Preface to Commentary on the Psalms. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 93 CHAPTER VII. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. The support of which we have hitherto spoken proceeds upon those prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah, M'hicb were fulfilled by his appearing in the flesh. But a due attention to the subject leads us much further, and we soon perceive that the birth of Christ, important and glorious as that event was, far from exhausting the significations given by the ancient prophets, only served to introduce other events most interesting to the human race, which were also foretold, which reach to the end of time, and which, as they arise in the order of Providence, are fitted to afibrd an in- creasing evidence of the truth of Christianity. In entering upon this wide field of argument, which here opens to our view, I think it of importance to direct your attention to the admirable economy with which the prophecies of the Old Testament are disposed. They may be divided into two great classes, as they respect either the temporal condition of the Jews and their neighbours, or that future spiritual dispensation which was to arise in the latter days. As the whole administration of the affairs of the Jews was for many ages conducted by prophecy, there are, in the Old Testament, numberless predictions concerning the temporal condition of them- selves and their neighbours. Some of these predictions were to be fulfilled in a short time, so that the same persons who heard the pro- phecy saw the event. This near fulfilment of some predictions pro- cured credit for others respecting more distant events. " Behold," said the Almighty to the nation of the Jews, " the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring up, I tell you of them."* There are prophecies of the temporal condition of nations, which are at this day fulfilling in the world. The present state of Babylon, of Tyre, of Egypt, of the descendants of Ishmael, and of the Jewish people themselves, have been shown by learned men, and particularly by Bishop Newton, to correspond exactly to tlie words of ancient prophets : and thus, as the experience of the .Jewish nation taught them to expect every event which their pro- phets announced, so the visible continued accomplishment of what these prophets spoke two or three thousand years ago is to us a standing demonstration that they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But this whole system of prophecy was merely a vehicle for pre- * Isaiah xUL 9. 94 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. serving and conveying to the world the hopes of a future spiritual dis- pensation. It embraced indeed the temporal affairs of the Jews, and of the nations with whom they were particularly connected, because an intermediate preparatory dispensation was established till the better hope should be brought in. But all the prophecies of temporal good and evil'were subservient to the promise of the Messiah, and the ful- filment of those prophecies cherished among the nation of the Jews the expectation of that future covenant which was the end of the law. The birth of the Messiah justified this expectation. It did not indeed accomplish all the words' of the. prophets, but it brought assurance that there should be, in due time, a complete accomplishment. Several great events happened soon after the birth of the Messiah, according to the ancient Scriptures. Other instances of fulfilment are at this day seen in the religious state of the world, and there are parts of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled. We are thus placed in the middle of a great scheme, of which we have seen the beginning and the progress. The conclusion remains to be unfolded. 13ut the cor- respondence to the words of the prophets, both in the events which are past, and in the present state of things, may establish our hope that the mystery of God will be finished ; and the succession of events, as they open in the course of Providence upon the generations of men, gradually explain those parts of the prophecy which were not understood. The prophecies of the temporal state of Babylon, Tyre, Egypt, and other nations which are now fulfilling in the world, are so clear, that any one versant in history may compare the event with the prediction — and I do not know a more pleasing, satisfactory book for this pur- pose than Newton on the Prophecies. But the prophecies of those events in the spiritual state of the world, which were to happen after the birth of the Messiah, are in general short and obscure ; and although any person who is capable of considering the scheme of ancient prophecy, may be satisfied of its looking forward to the end of all things, yet without some assistance it would be impossible for him to form a distinct conception of what was to follow the birth of the Messiah, and difT, ult even to refer events as they arise, to their place in the predictioii This kind of obscurity was allowed by God to remain upon the ancient predictions respecting the future fortunes of the Messiah's kingdom, because a remedy was to arise in due time by ^le advent of that great Prophet who, having fulfilled in his appearance one part of those predictions, became the interpreter of that which remains. The miracles by which he showed that he was a messenger of heaven, and the exact coincidence between the history 01 his lile, and the characters of the Jewish Messiah, were sufficient to procure credit for his interpretation. He was worthy to take the book which Daniel had said was sealed till the time of the end, to open the seals of it, and to explain to the nations of the earth the words which were shut up therein. Thus Jesus stands forth not only as the personage whom ancient prophets had foretold, "but as himself a Prophet. The same spirit which had moved them, but whose signi- fications of future events tiad ceased with Malachi, speaks by that messenger of the covenant whom Malachi had announced, and upon whom Isaiah had said the spirit of the Lord should rest : and there is PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 9b opened in the discourses of Jesus and the writings of his apostles, a series of predictions explicatory of the dark parts of ancient prophecy, and extending to the consummation of all things. It is not possible to conceive a more perfect unity of design than that which we have now traced in the system of prophecy ; and every human scheme fades and dwindles when compared with the magnificence and extent of this plan — Jesus Christ the corner-stone which connects the old and the new dispensation ; in whom one part of the ancient predictions received its accomplishment, and from whom the other received its interpretation. The spirit of prophecy thus ministers in two distinct methods to the evidence of Christianity. It enclosed in the words and actions of the Old Testament a proof that Jesus was that person whom the Father had sanctified, and sent into the world ; and it holds forth, in the v/ords uttered by Jesus and his apostles, that mark of a divine missioYi, which all impostors have assumed, and which mankind have often ascribed to those who did not possess it, but which, where it really exists, may be easily distinguished from all false pretensions, and. is one of the evidences which the Almighty hath taught us to look for in every messenger of his. He claims it as his prerogative to declare the end from the begiiming, and from ancient times the things that shall be ; he chal- lenges the gods of the nations to give this proof of their divinity , " Produce your cause, saith the Lord : bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods."* And he hath given this mark of his messengers: "When the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him."t As Jesus assumed this universal character of a divine messenger, so he was distinguished from other prophets by the clearness, the extent, and the importance of his predictions. And he showed that the spirit was given to him without measure, by exercising the gift of prophecy upon subjects very different from one another, both in their nature, and in their times. He foretold events which seem to be regulated by the caprice of men, and those which depend purely upon the will of God. He foretold some events so near, that we find in Scripture both the prophecy and the fulfilment; others which took place a few years after the canon of Scripture was closed, with regard to which we learn the complete fulfilment of the prophecy from con- temporary historians ; others which are now carrying forward in the world, with regard to which the fulfilment of the prophecy is a mat- ter of daily observation ; and others which reach to distant periods, and to the consummation of all things, which are still the objects of a Christian's hope, but with regard to which, hope rises in perfect assurance by the recollection of what is past. This is a general view of the prophecies of Jesus and his apostles ; and I recommend them to your particular attention and study, oecause, in my opinion, the evidence of Christianity derives two great advantages from the study of them. The Jirst advantages arises from their appearing to be the explication and enlargement of • Isaiah xli. 21, 23 ; xlvi. 9, 1 0. + .fer. xxviii. 9. 96 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. the short obscure predictions contained in the Old Testament with regard to the same events ; such an explication as no other person was qualified to give, and therefore as clear a demonstration of the prophetical spirit of Jesus as if he uttered a series of predictions per- fectly new, yet such an explication as illustrates the intimate connec- tion of the two dispensations. The prophecies of Jesus and his apostles, while they introduce many particulars that are not found in the writings of tlie ancient prophets, are always consistent with the words spoken by them, referring to their images, and unfolding their dark sayings. The highest honour is, in this way, reflected upon the extent of the scheme of ancient prophecy ; and Jesus, by honouring this scheme, and carrying it forward, confirms his claim to the character of Jewish Messiah, because he speaks in a manner most becoming that great Prophet, who was to be raised up like unto Moses. The second advantage arising from a particular study of the predictions of Jesus, is this, that all the events, which constitute the history of his religion, thus appear to be the fulfilment of prophecy. Besides the support which every one of them in its place gives to the truth of Christianity, all together united as parts of a system, which had entered into the mind of the Author of our religion, and when they happen, they afford a demonstration that the God of knowledge had put words into his mouth. To perceive distinctly the nature and the importance of this secondary advantage, the four Gospels should be read from beginning to end, with a special view to mark the prophecies of Jesus, In doing this, you will set down the many instances in which he discovers a knowledge of the human heart, of the intentions and thoughts of ' both his friends and his enemies, as of the same order with the gift of prophecy. You will find predictions of common occurrences, and near events, which must have made a deep impression upon those who lived with him ; and, scattered through all his discourses, you will meet with predictions of remote events, for which the fulfilment of the predictions of near events was fitted to procure credit. Out of the many particulars which, upon such a review, may engage your attention, I select the following important objects, as aflfording a speci- men of the variety of our Saviour's prophecies, and of the manner in which those events which constitute the history of his religion, may be considered as the fulfilment of his predictions : the prophecies of his death, of his resurrection, of the gift of the Holy Ghost, of the situation and behaviour of his disciples, of the destruction of Jerusalem, of the progress of his religion previous to that period, of the condition of the Jewish nation subsequent to it, and of the final discrimination of the righteous and the wicked. 1. The death of Jesus, that great event which, when considered in the Scripture view of it, is characteristical of the Gospel as the reli- gion of sinners, is the subject of many of our Lord's prophecies. He marks, without hesitation, the time, the place, and the manner of it ; the treachery of one disciple, the denial of another, the desertion of the rest, the sentence of condemnation which the supreme council of the Jewish nation, at a time when Jews were gathered from all corners of the knd, was to pronounce in Jerusalem upon an innocent man, whom many of the people held to be a prophet, and the execu PREDICTIONS DELIVEBED BY JESUS. 97 tion of that sentence by the Gentiles, to whom the rulers of the Jews, jealous as they were of their own authority, and indignant under the' Romaji yoke, were to deliver the pannel. But of alfkindS of death which might have been inflicted, the prophecy of Jesus selects one unknown in the land of Judea, and reserved by the Romans for slaves, who, having been distinguished from freemen in their life, were dis- tinguished also in the manner of their death. It is not possilile to conceive any events more contingent than those which this prophecy embraces. Yet it was literally fulfilled. When you examine it atten- tively, there are several particulars which you will be delighted with marking, because they constitute an indirect support to the truth of Christianity, arising out of the contexture of the prophecy. Thus, you will find that the prophecy applies to Jesus many minute circum- stances in the Jewish types of the Messiah, and in this way shows us that as the death of the Messiah had been shadowed forth by the sacrifices of the law, and foretold by Isaiah and Daniel, so the manner of it had, from the beginning, been in the view of the spirit of pro- phecy, and was signified beforehand in various ways. You will admire the magnanimity of that man who came into the world that he might lay down his life, and who never courted the favour of the people, or shrunk from the discharge of any duty, although all the circumstances of barbarity that marked his death were fully before his eyes. You will admire the dignity, and the regard to the peace of his country, which restrained Jesus from raisii>g the pity and the indignation of the multitude by publishing his future sufferings to them, and which led him to address all the clear minute predictions of his death to his disciples in private. You will admire the tender- ness and wisdom Avith which he delayed any such communication even to them, till they had declared a conviction of his being the Messiah, and then gradually unfolded the dismal subject ah they were able to bear it ; and you will perceive the gracious purpose which was promoted by the growing particularity of his prophecy, as the event drew near. " Now," says he, " I tell you before it come, that when it come to pass, ye may believe, that I am he."* 2. The circumstances of his death, every one of which had been foretold by himself, thus served to procure credit for that prophecy of his resurrection, which was always conjoined with them. The ancient prophets had declared that the Messiah was to live for ever; and as both Isaiah and Daniel, who spoke of his everlasting kingdom, had spoken also of his being cut off out of the land of the living, their words implied that he was to rise from the dead. This impHcation of a resurrection was brought out by our Lord. Conscious of the divine power which dwelt in him, he said that on the third day he should rise again ; and in the hearing of all the people, he held "forth Jonas as a type of himself. The people recalled his words as soon as he was put to death, for " the chief priestsand Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again :"t and they vainly employed precautions to prevent the fulfilment of hi§ prophecy. The apostles have left a most natural picture of their own weakness and • John xiii. 19. f Matt, xxvii. 62, 63. 11 Q 98 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS, disappointment, by transmitting it upon record to posterity, that th deatii of Jesus effaced from their minds his promise of rising again, or at least destroyed in the interval their faith of its being fulfilled. But yon will find that both the angels who appeared to the women, and our Lord in his discourses with the disciples, recalled the prophe- cy to their minds ; and, by one expression of John, you may judge of tlie confirmation which their faith was to receive from the recoWaction of predictions which had been addressed to themselves, and the fulfil- ment of which they had seen. When the Jews asked a sign of him, he said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews understood him to mean the temple in which they were standing. "But he spake," says John, "of the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them ; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."* There is no fact in the history of the Christian religion more important than the resurrection of Jesus. It is that seal of his commission, without which all the others are of none avail ; the assurance to us that the purpose of his death is accom- plished, and the pledge of our resurrection. " If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain." As the evidence of the fact therefore will appear to us, when we proceed to examine it, to be most particular and satisfying, so it was 'most natural that this very important fact should be the subject of prophecy. 3. Our Lord foretold also that he was to ascend into heaven ; and the fulfilment of this prophecy was made an object of sense to the apostles as far as their eyes could reach. But that they might be satisfied there was no illusion, and that th© rest of the world might know assuredly that he was gone to the Father, the prophecy of this ascension was connected with the promise of the Holy Ghost, which he said he would send from his Father to comfort the disciples after ■his departure, to qualify them for preaching his religion, and to ensure the success of theis labours. You learn from the book of Acts the fulfilment of this promise; and when you examine the subject the following circumstances will deserve your attention. The mi- ■ raculous gifts poured forth on the day of Pentecost are stated by the apostle Peter as " that which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. "t The last days is a prophetical expression for the a2:e of the Messiah, which was to succeed the ase of the law. It is plain that the prophecy of Joel had not been falfiUed before the day of Pentecost ; for during the greater part of the time that had elapsed between the word of Joel and that day, the prophetical spirit had ceased entirely. His word did receive a visible fulfilment upon that day ; and this fulfilment being an event which our Lord had taught his apostles to look for, Peter was entitled to apply the word of Joel to the event which then took place ; and our Lord appears in his promise of the Holy Ghost, as in his other prophecies, to be the true interpreter of ancient predictions. Further, the promise of Jesus does not respect merely the inward influences of the Spirit. These, however essential to the comfort and improvement of man, do not • John u. 18—22. f Acta ii. 16, 17. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 9t admit of being clearly proved to others, either by the testimony of sense, or by the deductions of reason, and cannot always be distinguish- ed by certain marks from the visions of fanatical men. But the promise of Jesus expresses precisely external visible works, to which the power of imagination does not reach, and with regard to which every spectator may attain the same assurance as with regard to anv other object of sense. " These signs," said Jesus before his ascension, "shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall *speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and, if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."* It limits a time, within which the faculty of performing such works was to be conferred ; and it chooses the most public p.'ace as the scene of their being exhibited. For Jesus, just before he was taken up into heaven, "commanded his apostles that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which," saith he, " ye have heard of me; ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."t Lastly, You will be led by the examination of this subject to observe, that when the works performed, in consequence of the gifts conferred upon Jhe day of Pentecost, became palpable to the senses of men, they were, like the miracles of Jesus, the vouchers of a divine commission. Being performed in his name, and in fulfil- ment of his promise, they were fitted to convince the world that he had received power from the Father after his ascension, and that he had given this power to his apostles. These men were, in this way, recommended to the world as sent by Jesus to carry forward the great scheme which he had opened. Full credit was procured for all that they taught, because their works were the signs of those internal operations by which they were inspired with the knowledge, wisdom, and fortitude necessary for their undertaking ; and their works were also the pledges of the fulfilment of that promise which extends to true Christians in all ages, that the Holy Spirit shall be given to those who ask it, according to the measure of their necessities. 4. The fourth subject of our Lord's prophecies which I mentioned, was the situation and the behaviour of his apostles after he should leave them. He never amused them with false hopes ; he forewarn- ed them of all the scorn, and hatred, and persecution which they were to expect in preaching his religion: and yet, although he had daily experience of their timidity,and slowness of apprehension, although he foretold that at his death they would forsake him, yet he foretold with equal assurance, that after his ascension they should be his wit- nesses to the ends of the earth ; and he left in the hands of these feeble men, who were to be involved in calamities upon his account, that cause for which he had lived and died, without expressing any ap- prehension that it would suffer by their weakness. " If ye were of the world," he says in his last discourse to them before his death, " the world would love his own, but because ye arc not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time Cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth God service. • Mark xvi. 17, 18. . * f Acts I 4, 5. 100 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them."* There is in all this a dignity of manner, and a consciousness of divine resources, which exalts Jesus above every other person that appears m history. When we see in the propagation of his religion, the forti- tude, the wisdom, and the eloquence of his servants, their steadfast- ness amidst trials sufficient to shake the firmest minds, and the joy which they felt in being counted worthy to suffer for his name, we remember his words, and we discern the fruits of that baptism, where- with they were baptized on the day of Pentecost. In a heroism, so different from the for^cner conduct of these men, and so manifestly the gift of God, we recognise the spirit which both dictated the prophecy, and brought about the eveat ; and our Lord's prediction of the situa- tion and behaviour of his a|>ostles, when thus compared with the event, furnishes the most striking illustration of his truth, his candour, his knowledge, and his power. 5. We come now to the longest and most circumstantial of our Lord's prophecies. It respects immediately the destruction of Jerusa- lem ; but we shall find that it embraces also the remaining subjects of prophecy which I mentioned, and, in speaking of them, I mean to follow it as my guide. The prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem was uttered at a tune when Judea was in complete subjection to the Romans. A Roman governor resided in Jerusalem with an armed force ; and this state, no longer at enmity with the masters of the world, was regard- ed as a part of the Roman empire. There was it is true, a general indignation at the Roman yoke, a tendency in the minds of the people to sedition and tumult, and a fear in the council lest these sentiments should at some time be expressed with such violence, as to provoke the Romans to take away their place and their nation. It was, in fact, the turbulent spirit, and the repeated insurrections of the Jewish people, which did incense the Romans ; and a person well acquainted with the disaffection which generally prevailed, and the character of those who felt it, might foresee that the public tranquillity would not continue long, and that this sullen stiff-necked people were preparing for themselves, by their murmurings and violence, more severe chastisements than they had endured, when they were reduced into the form of a Roman province. But although a sagacious enlighten- ed mind, which rose above vulgar prejudices, and looked forward to remote consequences, might foresee such an event, yet the manner of the chastisement, the signs which were to announce its approach, the measure in which it was to be administered, and the length of 'time during which it was to continue, — all these were out of the reach of human foresight. There is a particularity in this prophecy, by which it is clearly distinguished from the conjectures of wise men. It embraces a multitude of contingencies depending upon the caprice of the people, upon the wisdom of military commanders, upon the fury o-f soldiers. It describes one certain method of doing that which might have been dcoe in many other ways, a method of subduing a rebel • John. XV. 19 ; xvi. 2, 3, 4. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. ' 101 lious city very different from the general conduct of the Romans, whe were too wise to destroy the provinces which they conquered, and very opposite to the character of Titus the emperor, under whose command Jerusalem was besieged, one of the mildest and gentlest men that ever lived, who placed at the head of the empire of the world, is called by historians, the love and delight of mankind. The autiior of a new rehgiou must have been careless of his reputation, and of the success of his scheme, who ventured to foretell such ^ number of improbable events, without knowing certainly that they were to come to pass ; and it required not the wisdom of a man, but the Spirit of the God of knowledge, to foresee that all of them would concur, before the generation that was then aUve upon the earth passed away. Yet this prophecy Jesus uttered about forty years before the event. The prophecy was not laid up after it was uttered, like the pretended oracles of the heathen nations, in some repository, where it might be corrected by the event. But, having been brought to the remembrance of those who heard it spoken, by the spirit which Jesus sent into the hearts of his apostles after his ascension, it was in- serted in books which were published before the time of the fulfilment. We know that John lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem, and it is not certain whether he wrote his Gospel before or after that event. But John has omitted this prophecy altogether. Our knowledge of it is derived from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which were carried by the Christian converts into all parts of the world while Jerusalem stood, which were early translated into different languages, which are quoted by writers in the succeeding age, and were universally held by the first Christians as books of authority, as the standards of faith. In these books thus authenticated to us, we find various intimations of the destruction of Jerusalem, by parables and short hints interwoven in the thread of the history ; and all the three contain the same long particular prophecy, with a small variety of expression, but without the least discordance, or even alteration of the sense. The greatest part of this long prophecy has been most strikingly fulfilled, and there are parts, the fulfilment of which is now going on in the world. We learn the fulfilment of the greater part of this prophecy, not from Christian writers only, but from one author, whose witness is unexceptionable, because it is not the witness of a friend ; and who seems to have been preserved by Providence, in order to transmit to posterity a circumstantial account of the siege. Josephus, a Jew, who wrote a history of his country, has left also a relation of that war in which Jerusalem was destroyed. In the beginning of the war, he was a commander in Galilee. But being besieged by Vespasian, he fled with forty more, after a gallant resistance, and hid himself in a cave. Vespasian having discovered their lurking place, offered them their life. Josephus was willing to accept it. But his companions refused to surrender. With a view to prolong the time, and in hopes of overcoming their obstinacy, he prevailed upon them to cast lots who should die first. The lots were cast two by two : and that God, who disposeth of the lot, so ordered it, that of the forty, thirty-nine were killed by the hands of one another, and ofie only was left with Tosephus. This man yielded to !iis entreaties ; and these two, instead 11* 102 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESTJS. of drawing lots who should kill the other, went together, and offeree themselves to Vespasian. The miserable fate of their companions procured them a kind reception; and from that time Josephus re mained in the Roman camp, an eye witness of every thing that hap- pened during the siege. He has the reputation of a diligent faithful historian in his other work. And his very particular account of the siege was revised by Vespasian and Titus, and published by their )rder. The only impeachment that has ever been brought against the veracity of Josephus is, that although his history of the Jews comprehends the period in which our Lord lived, he hardly makes mention of his name; and, although exact and minute in every thing else, enters into no detail of the memorable circumstances that attend- ed his appearance, or the influence which it had upon the minds of the people. He takes no notice of this prophecy. A Jewish priest, whose silence betrays his enmity to Jesus, certainly did not wish that it should be fulfilled : and yet his history of the siege is a comment upon the prophecy ; every word which our Lord utters receiving the clearest explication, and most plainly meeting its event in the narration of this prejudiced Jewish historian. Archbishop Tillotson, Newton on the prophecies, Lardner, Jortin, Newcome, and many other writers, have made very full extracts from Josephus, and, by setting the narration of the historian over against the prediction of our Lord, have shown the exact accomplishment of the words of the great Prophet, from the record of a man who did not acknowledge his divine mission. These extracts well deserve your study. But it is not necessary, after the labour which so many learned men have bestowed upon this subject, that I should lead you minutely through the parts of the prophecy. There are, however, some circumstances upon which I think it of importance to fix your attention. I mean, therefore, to give a distinct account of the occasion which led our Lord to utter this prophecy ; and, after collecting briefly the chief points respecting the siege, I shall dwell upon the striking prophecy of the progress of Christianity before that period, which Matthew has preserved in his twenty-fourth chapter. Our Lord had uttered in the temple, in the hearing of a mixed multitude, a pathetic lamentation over the distress that awaited the Jewish nation. As he goes out of the temple towards the mount of Olives, the usual place of his retirement, the disciples, struck with the expression he had used, " Behold your house is left unto you deso- late," as if to move his compassion and mitigate the sentence, point out to him, while he passed along, the buildings of the temple, and the goodly stones and gifts with which it was adorned. The great temple which Solomon had built, was destroyed at the time of. the Babylonish captivity. Cyrus permitted the two tribes, who returned to Judea, to rebuild the house of their God. And this second temple was repaired and adorned by Herod the Great, who, having received tlie crown of Judea from the Romans, thought that the most effectual way of overcoming the prejudices, and obtaining the favour of the Jewish people, was by beautifying and enlarging, after the plan of Solomon's temple, the building which had been hastily erected in the reigns of Cyrus and Darius. It was still accounted the second temple. but was so much improved by the preparation which Herod made, PREBICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 103 that both Josephns and the Roman historians celebrate the extent, the beaut}'", and the splendour, of the building. And Josephu." mentions, in particular, marble stones of a stupendnns size in the foundation, and in ditferent parts of the building. The disciples, we may suppose, point out these stones, lamenting the destruction of such a fabric ; or. perhaps meaning to insinuate, that it would not be easy for the hand of man to destroy it. But Jesus answered, " Verily, 1 say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." It is a proverbial saying, marking the complete destruction of the temple; and there would not;according to Jhe general analogy of language, have been any impropriety in the use of it, if the temple had been rendered unfit for being a place of worship, although piles of stones had been left standing in the court. But, by the providence of God, even this proverbial expression was fulfilled, according to the literal acceptation of the words. Titus was most solicitous to preserve so splendid a monument of the victories of Rome ; and he sent a message to the Jews who had enclosed them- selves in the temple, that he was determined to save it from ruin. — But they could not bear that the house of their God, the pride and glory of their nation, should fall into the hands of the heathen, and \th8y set fire to the porticoes. A soldier, observing the flames, threw a burning brand in at the window ; and others, incensed at the obsti- nate resistance of the Jews, without regard to the commands or threat- enings of their General, who ran to extinguish the flames, continued to set fire to different parts of it, and at length even to^the doors of the holy place. "And thus," says Josephus, "the temple was burnt to the ground,* against the will of Titus." After it was in this way rendered useless, he ordered the foundations, probably on account of the unusual size of the ^ones, to be dug up. And Rufus, who com- manded the army after his departure, executed this order, by tearing them up with a plough-share; so truly did Micah say of old, " Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become tieaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest."* The multitude probably pressing around our Lord as he went out of the temple, the disciples forbear to ask any particular explication of his words, till they come to the Mount of Olives. That mount was at no great distance from Jerusalem, and over against the temple, so that any person sitting upon it, had an excellent view of the whole fabric. The disciples, deeply impressed with what they had heard, and anxious to receive the fullest information concerning the fate of the city of their solemnities, now that they are retired from the multitude, come around Jesus upon the mount, and looking down to the temple, say, " Tell us, when shall these things be ; and what shall be the sign ,of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?"t It is of consequence '^ that you form a clear apprehensii >n of the import. of this question. The end of the wor!d,according tc :he use of that phrase to which our ears are accustomed, means the consunmiation of all things. And this (Circumstance, joined with some expressions in the prophecy, has led several interpreters to suppose that the apostles were asking the time of the judgment. But to a Jew, ?; awfo-natovMun'o^, often con- * Micah iii. 12, f Matt. xxiv. 3. 104 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. veyed nothing more than the end of the age. Time was divided by the Jews into two great periods, the age of the law and the age of the Messiah. The conclusion of the one was the beginning of the other, the opening of that kingdom which the Jews believed the Messiah was to establish, which was to put an end to their sufferings, and to render them the greatest people upon the earth. The apostles, full of this hope, said to our Lord, immediately before his ascension, " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Our Lord used the phrase of his coming, to denote his taking vengeance upon the Jews by destroying their city and temple. " There slialJ be some | standing here," he said, "that shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."* All that heard him are long since gathered to their fathers, and Jesus has not yet come to judge the world. But John we know, survived the destruction of Jerusa- lem. There are two other places in the New Testament where a phrase almost the same with rj avvi'fy.fia tov atwi-oj occurs. And in neither does it signify what we call the end of the world. The apostle to the Hebrews, ix. 26, says, " But now once, i^t, awttxiiu. tc^v tuui/wi/, hath Christ appeared." At the conclusion of that dispensation under which the blood of bulls and goats was offered upon the altar of God, " Christ appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" The apostle to the Corinthians says, " These things are written for our admoni- tion, upon whom are come *a rfjij? fwi/ aiujc(di',"t our translation renders it, "the ends of the world." Yet the world has lasted about 1800 years since the apostolic days; the meaning is, the ends of the ages, the conclusion of the one age, and the beginning of the other, are come upon us ; for we have seen both. It is agreeable, then, to the phraseology of Scripture, and to the expectations of the apostles, to interpret their question here, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?" as meaning nothing more than the corresponding question, to which an answer, in substance the same, is given in the 13th chapter of Mark, and the 21st of Luke. What shall be the sign when these things, this prophecy of the destruction of the temple, shall be fulfilled, or come to pass ? But the language in which the question is proposed in Matthew, suggests to us the sentiment which had probably arisen in the minds of the apostles, after hearing the declaration of our Lord, as they walked from the temple to the Mount of Olives. They con- ceived that the whole frame of the Jewish polity was to be dissolved, that the glorious kingdom of the Messiah was to commence, and that, as all the nations of the earth were to be gathered to this kingdom, and Jerusalem was to be the capital of the world, the temple which now stood, extensive and magnificent as it was, would be too small for the reception of the worshippers, that on this account it was to be laid in ruins, and one much more splendid, more suitable to the dignity of the Messiah, and far surpassing every human work, Avas to be erected in its stead. Possessed with these exalted imaginations, and anticipating their own dignify in being the ministers of this temple, they come to Jesus and say, " Tell us when these things shall be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age ?" The • Matt, xvi, 28. • 1 I Cor. x. 11. t PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 105 question consists of two parts. They ask the time, and they ask the signs. Our Lord begins with giving a particular answer to the second question. He afterwards limits the time to the existence of the generation then aUve upon the earth. But he represses their curiosity as to the day or the hour. Of ihe signs mentioned by our Lord, I shall give a short general view, deriving the account of the fulfilment of his words from the history of the events left us by Josephus, and shall then fix your attention upon that prophecy of the general progress of Christianity before the destruction of Jerusalem, which you will find in the 24th chapter of Matthew. The first sign is the number of false Christs who were to arise in the interval between the prophecy and the event ; impostors who, finding a general expectation of the Messiah, as the seventy weeks of Daniel were conceived to be accomplished, and a disposition to revolt from the Romans, assumed a character corresponding to the wishes of the people. There is frequent reference to these impostors in the book of Acts ; and Josephus says, that numbers of them were taken under the government of Felix. They led out the deluded people in crowds, promising to show them great signs, and to deliver them from all their calamities, and thus exposed them to be cut to pieces by the Roman soldiers, as disturbers of the peace. Our Lord gracioilsly warns the apostles not to go after these men ; to put no faith in any message which they pretended to bring from him, but to rest satisfied with the directions contained in this prophecy, or hereafter communi- cated to themselves by his Spirit. While he thus preserves his fol- lowers from the destruction which came upon many of the Jews, he enables them, by reading in that destruction the fulfilment of his words, and a proof of his divine character, to derive from the fate of their unwise countrymen an early confirmation of their own faith. The second sign consists of great calamities which were to happen during the interval. The madness of Caligula, who succeeded Tiberius, butchered many of the Jews ; and there was in his reign the rumour of a war, which was likely to be the destruction of the nation. He ordered his statue to be erected in the temple of Jerusalem. Not conceiving why an honour, which was granted to him by the other provinces of the empire, should be refused by Judea ; and not being wise enough to respect the religious prejudices of those who were subject to him, he rejected their remonstrances, and persisted in his demand. The Jews had too high a veneration for the house of the true God, to admit of any thing like divine honours being there paid to a mortal, and they resolved to suffer every distress, rather than to give their countenance to the sacrilege of the emperor. Such was the consternation which the rumour of this war spread through Judea, ^ that the people neglected to till their lands, and in despair waited the ( approach of the enemy. But the death of Caligula removed their ' fears, and delayed for some time that destruction which he meditated Although, therefore, says Jesus, you will find the Jews troubled when these wars arise, as if the end of their state was at hand, be not ye afraid, but know tliat many things must first be accomplished. What strength was the faith of the apostles to derive from this prophecy, but a few years after our Lord's death, when they heard of rumours K 106 . PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. i)f wars, when they belield the despair of their countrymen, and yet saw the cloud dispelled, and the peace of their country restored ! The peace, indeed, was soon interrupted by frequent engagements between the Jewish and heathen inhabitants of many cities in tlie pro- vince of Syria; by disputes about the bounds of their jurisdiction, amongst the governors of the different tetrarchies or kingdoujs into which the land of Palestine was divided; and by the wars arising from the quick succession of emperors, and the violent competitions for the imperial diadem. It was not the sword only that filled with calamity this disastrous interval. The human race, according to the words of this prophecy, suffered under those judgments which pro- ceed innuediately from heaven. Josephus has mentioned fanjine and pestilence, earthquakes in all places of the world where Jews resided, and one in Judea attended with circumstances so dreadful and so unusual, tfiat it was manifest, he says, the whole power of nature was disturbed for the destruction of men. The third sign is the persecution of the Christians. The sufferings of which we read in the Epistles and the Acts were early aggravated by the famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes with which God at this time afflicted the earth. The Christians were regarded as the causes of these calamities ; and the heathen, without inquiring into the nature of their religion, but viewing it as a new pestilential super- stition, most offensive to the gods, tried to appease the divine anger which manifested itself in various judgments, by bringing every ' indignity and barbarity upon the Christians, The example was set by Nero, who, having in the madness of his wickedness set fire to Rome that he might enjoy the sight of a great city in flames, turned the tide of that indignation, which the report excited, from himself against the Christians, by accusing them of this atrocious crime. He found the people not unwilling to believe any thing of a sect whom they held in abhorrence : and both in this, and in many other instances, the Christians suffered the most exquisite torments for crimes not their own, and as the authors of calamities which they did not occasion. The persecution which they endured has been well called by one of the oldest apologists for Christianity,* a war against the name, proceeding not from hatred to them as individuals, but from enmity to the name which they bore. " Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." The fourth sign is the apostacy and treacliery of many who had borne this name. Although persecution naturally tends to unite those who are persecuted, and although the religion of Jesus can boast of an innumerable company of martyrs, who in the flames witnessed a good confession, yet there were some in the earliest ages who made shipwreck of faith, and endeavoured to gain the favour of the heathen magistrates by informing against their brethren. This apostacy is often severely reprehended in the epistles of Paul ; and the Roman historian speaks of a multitude of Christians who were convicted of bearing the name, upon the evidence of those who confessed first.t It cannot surprise any one who considers the weakness of human nature, that such examples did occur. But it must appear very much • Justin Martyr. f Tac. Ann. xv. 44. PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 107 to the honour of Jesus, that he adventures to utter sucli a prophecy. He is not afraid of sowing jealousy and distrust amongst his followers. He knew that nnany were able to endure the trial of affliction, and he leaves the chaft" to be separated from the wheat. The fifth sign is the multitude of false teachers, men who, either from an attachment to the law of Moses, or from the pride of false philosophy, corrupted the simplicity of the Gospel. This perversion appeared in the days of the apostles. Complaints of it, and warnings against it, are scattered through all their epistles. Neither the sword of the persecutor, nor the wit of tha scorner has done so much injury to the cause of Christianity, as the strife's and idle disputes of those who bear his name. Many in early times, were shaken by the errors of false prophets. Improper sentiments and passions were cherished ; the union of Christians was broken, and the religion of love and peace became an occasion of discord. But these corruptions, however dis- graceful to Christians, are a testimony both of the candour and the divine knowledge of the author of the Gospel; and even those who perverted his religion fulfilled his words. /^' We have now gone through those signs which announced the destruction of Jerusalem, and we are come to the circumstances, . marked in the prophecy, which happened during the siege. The first is, Jerusalem being compassed with armies, or, as Mat- thew expressed it, the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place. There were commonly engraved upbn the Roman standards, after the times of the republic, the images of those emperors whom admiration or flattery had trans- ' lated into the number of Gods. The soldiers were accustomed to swear by these images, to worship them, and to account them the gods of battle. The Jews, educated in an abhorrence of idolatry, could not bear that images, before which men thus bowed, should be brought within the precincts of their city ; and soon after the death of our Lord, they requested a Roman general, Vitellius, who was leading troops through Judea against an enemy of the emperor, to take another road, because, said they, it is notrar^toj/r.uH/to behold from our city any images. With strict propriety, then, the dark expression of Daniel, which had not till that time been understood, is interpreted by our Lord as meaning the offensive images of a great multi- tude of standards brought within that space, a circumference of two miles round the city which was accounted holy, in order to render the cyty desolate ; and he mentions this as the signal to his followers to fly from the low parts of Judea to the mountains. It jnay appear to you too late to think of flying, after the Roman armies were seen from Jerusalem. But the manner in which the siege was conducted justified the wisdom of this advice. A i^yn years before Titus destroyed Jerusalem, Cestius Gallus laid siege to it ; he might have taken the city if he had persevered ; but without any reason that was known, says Josephus, he suddenly led away his forces. And after his departure many fled from the city as from a sinking ship. Vespasian, too, was slow in his approaches to the city ; and by the distractions which at that time took place in the government of Rome, was frequently diverted from executing his purpose ; so that the Christians, to whom the first appearance of Cestius's army brought 108 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BT JESUS. an explanation of the woras of Jesus, by following his directions, escaped entirely from the carnage of the Jews. Our Lord warns his disciples of the imminency of the danger, and urges them, by various expressions, to the greatest speed in their flight. The reason of this urgency is explained by Josephus, After Titus sat down before Jerusalem, he surrounded the city with a wall, which was finished in three days, so that none could escape ; and factions were by that time become so violent, that none were allowed to surrender. The party called zealots, who in their zeal for the law of Moses, and in tljie hope of receiving deliverance from heaven, thought it their duty to resist the Romans to the last extremhy, put to death all who attempted to desert, and thus assisted the enemy in enclosing an immense mul- titude within this devoted city. With what gracious foresight does the divine prophet guard his followers against this complication of evils, and repeat his warning in the most striking wordg, in order to convince all who paid regard to what he said, that their only safety lay in flight ! A second circumstance by which our Lord marks this siege, is the unparalleled distress that was then to be endured. " Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of this world to this time ; no, nor ever shall be." It is a very strong expression, of itself suflicient to distinguish this prophecy from conjecture. And the expression, strong as it appears, is so strictly applicable to the subject, that we find almost the same words in Josephus, who cer- tainly did not copy them from Jesus. " In my opinion," he says, " all the calamities which ever were endured since the beginning of the world were inferior to those which the Jaws now suffered. Never was any city more wicked, and never did any city receive such pun- ishment. Without was the Roman army, surrounding their walls, crucifying thousands before their eyes, and laying waste their conn- ■ try : within were the most violent contentions among the besieged, frequent bloody battles between difl"erent parties, rapine, fire, and the extremity of famine. Many of the Jews prayed for the success of the Romans, as the only method to deliver them from a more dread- ful calamity, the atrocious violence of their civil dissensions." A third circumstance mentioned by our Lord, is the shortening of the siege. Josephus computes that there fell, during the siege, by the hands of the Romans, and by their own faction, 1,100,000 Jews. Had the siege continued long, the whole nation would have perished. But the Lord shortened the days for the elect's sake : the elect, that is, in scripture language, the Christians, both those Jews within the city, whom this fulfilment of the words of Jesus was to convert to Chris- tianity, and those Christians who, according to the directions of their Master, had fled out of the city at the approach of the Roman army, and were then living in the mountains. The manner in which the days were shortened is most striking. Vespasian committed the con- duct of the siege to Titus, then a young man, impatient of resistance, jealous of the honour of the Roman army, and in haste to return from the conquest of an obscure province to the capital of the empire. He prosecuted the siege with vigour ; he invited the besieged to yield, » by offering them peace ; and he tried to intimidate them, by using, contrary to his nature, every species of cruelty against those who fell PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 109 into his hands. But all his vigour, and all his arts, would have been in vain, had it not been for the madness of those within. Tiiey fought with one another; they burned, in their fury, magazines of provi- sions sufficient to last them for years; and they deserted with a fool- ish confidence strong holds, out of which no enemy could have dragged them. After they had thus delivered their city into his hands, Titus, when he was viewing it, said, " God has been upon our side. Neither the hands nor the machines of men could have been of any avail against those towers. But God tias pulled the Jews out of them, that he might give them to us." It was impossible for Titus to restrain the soldiers, irritated by an obstinate resistance, from executing their fury against the besieged. But his native clemency spared the Jews in other places. He would not allow the senate of Antioch, that city in which the disciples were first called Christians, to expel the Jews ; for where, said he, shall these people go, now that we have destroyed then- city? Titus was the servant of God to execute his vengeance on Jerusalem. But when the measure of that vengeance was ful- filled, the compassion of this amiable prince was employed to restrain the wrath of man. " The Lord shortened the days." A fourth circumstance is, the number of false Christs, men, of whom we read in Josephus, who, both during the siege and after it, kept up the spirits of the people, and rendered them obstinate in their resistance, by giving them hopes that the Messiah was at hand to de- liver them out of all their calamities. The greater the distress was, tlie people were the more disposed to catch at this hope ; and, there- fore, it was necessary for our Lord to warn his disciples against being deluded by it. The last circumstance is, the extent of this distress. Our Lord has employed a bold figure. JBut the boldest of his figures are always literally true: " As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be : For wheresoever the carcase is, there shall the eagles be gathered together." The Roman army, who were at this time the servants of the Son of man, entered on the east side of Judea, and carried their devastation westward ; so that, in this grand image, the very direc- tion of the ruin, as well as the suddenness of it, is painted : and it extended to every place where Jews were to be found. A gold or silver eagle, borne on the top of a spear, belonged to every legion. and was always carried along with it. Wheresoever the carcase — the Jewish people who were judicially condemned by God — was, there were also those eagles. There was no part of Judea, says Jo- sephus, which did not partake of the miseries of the capital ; and his history of the Jewish war ends with numbering the thousands who fell in other places of the world also by the Roman sword. I have thus led you, as particularly as appears to me to be neces- sary, through the prophecy of our Lord respecting the signs, which announced the destruction of Jerusalem, and the circumstances which attended the siege ; and I wish now to fix your attention upon a par- ticular prediction interwoven in this prophecy, concerning the pro gress of Christianity previous to that period, both because the subject renders it iirteresting, and because the place which our Lord has 12 110 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. given it in this prophecy, opens a most instructive and enlarged view of the economy of the divine dispensations. 6. The prediction is — "'And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end" of the Jewish state "come." We find our Lord always speaking with confidence of the establish- ment of his religion in the world. It is a confidence which could not reasonably be inspired by any thing he beheld : multitudes following him out of curiosity, but easily offended, and at length demanding his crucifixion — a few unlearned, feeble men, affectionately attached indeed to his person, but with very imperfect apprehensions of his religion, and devoid of the most likely instruments of spreading even their own apprehensions through the world — a world which hated him while he lived, and which he knew was to hate his disciples after his death — a world, consisting of Jews, wedded to their own religion, and abhorring his doctrine as an impious attempt to supersede the law of Moses ; and of heathens, amongst whom the philosophers, full of their own wisdom, despised the simplicity of the gospel, and the vulgar, devoted to childish abominable superstitions, and averse from the spiritual worship of the gospel, were disposed to execute the vengeance of jealous malignant deities upon a body of men who refused to offer incense at their altars — a world, too, in which every kind of vice abounded — in which the passions of men demanded indulgence, and spurned at the restraint of the holy commandment of Jesus. Yet in these circumstances, with such obstacles, our Lord, conscious of his divine character, and knowing that the Spirit was given to him without measure, foretells, with perfect assurance, that his gospel shall be preached in all the world. Had he fixed no time, this prophecy, bold as it is, might have been regarded as one of the acts by which an impostor tries to raise the spirits of his followers; and we should have heard it said, that, instead of a mark of the spirit of prophecy^ there was here only the sagacity of a man, who, aware of the wonderful revolutions in the opinions and manners of men, trusting that, in some succeeding age, after other systems had in their turn been exploded, his system might become fashionable, had ven- tured to say, that it should be preached in all the world, and left the. age which should see this publication to convert an indefinite expres- sion into an accomplished prophecy. But here is nothing indefinite — a pointed, precise declaration, which no impostor, who was anxious about the success of his system, would have hazarded, and concerning the truth of which, many of that generation amongst whom he lived remained long enough upon earth to be able to judge. The end, by the connection of the words with the context, means the conclusion of the age of the law ; and it is still more clearly said, in the 13th chapter of Mark, in the middle of the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusa- lem, " But the Gospel must first be published to all nations." Now, the destruction of Jerusalem happened within forty years after the death of our Saviour, so that we are restricted to this space of time in speaking of the fulfilment of the prophecy. We learn from the book of Acts, that many thousands were converted soon after the day of Pentecost, and that devout Jews out of every nation under heaven, PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESCS. 11 were witnesses of the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost. These men, all of whom were amazed, and some of wj;ioni were converted, by what they saw, could not fail to carry the report home, and thus prepared distant nations for receiving those who were better qnnlified, ' and more expressly commissioned, to preach the gospel. After the death of Stephen, there arose a' great persecution against the church of Jerusalem, which by this time had multiplied exceedingly ; and they "were scattered abroad through the regions of Judea and Samaria; and thoy travelled as far as Phaenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch; and the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed."* The book of Acts is chiefly an account of the labours of the Apostle Paul; and we see this one apostle, to adopt the words of a fellow- labourer of his, a preacher both in the East, and to the utmost boundaries of the West, planting churches in Asia and Greece, and travelling from Jerusalem to Illyricinn, a tract which has been computed to be not less than 2000 miles. If such were the labours of one, what must have been accomplished by the journey- ings of all the twelve, who, taking different districts, went forth to fulfil the last command of their master, by being his witnesses ro the uttermost ends of the earth. The Apostle Paul says, in his epistle to the Romans, " that their faith was spoken of throughout all the world ;" and to the Colossians, " that the word which they had heard was by that time preached to every creature." We know certainly that Paul preached the gospel in Rome ; and such was the efiect of his preaching that, seven years before the destruction of Jerusa- lem, Tacitus says there was an immense number of Christians in that city.t From the capital of the world the knowledge of Christianity was spread, like all the improvements in art and science, over the world ; that is, according to the common sense of the phrase, through- out the Roman empire. When the whole known world was governed by one prince, the communication was easy. In every part of the empire garrisons were stationed — roads wdre opened — messengers were often passing — and no country then discovered was too distant to hear the gospel of the kingdom. It is generally agreed, that with- in the forty years which I mentioned, Scythia on the north, India on the east, Gaul and Egypt on the west, and ^Ethiopia on the south, had received the doctrine of Christ : and we know that the island of Britam, which was then regarded as the extremity of the earth, the most remote and savage province, was frequently visited during that time by Roman emperors and their generals. It is even said that the gospel was preached publicly in London ten years before the destruc- tion of Jerusalem. As far, then, as our information goes, whether we collect it from the book of Acts, from the occasional mention made by heathen historians of a subject upon which they bestowed little attention, or from the concurring testimony of the oldest Christian historians, the word of Christ was literally fulfilled ; and you have, in the short space of time to which he limits the fulfilment of this word, a striking proof of his prophetic spirit. But it is not enough to attend to the fulfilment of this prophecy The place which it holds, and the manner in which it is expressed. • Acts viii. 1 ; xL 19, 20. f Tacit. Ann. lib. xt 44. 112 • PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. suggest to US something further. The gospel, at whatever time it b* published, is a witness to those who hear it, of the being, the provi dence, and the moral government of God. But, as it is said, "it shall be preached to all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come," we are led to consider that particular kind of witness which the preaching of the gospel, before the end of the Jew- ish state, afforded to all nations ; and it is here, I said, that there opens to us a most instructive and enlarged view of the economy of the divine dispensations. Had it not been for this early and universal preaching, the destruc tion of Jerusalem by Titus would have appeared to the Avorld an event of the same order with the destruction of any other city. They might have talked of the obstinacy of the besieged — of the fury of the conquerors — of the unexampled distress which was endured ; but it would not have appeared to them that there was in all this any thing divine, any other warning than is suggested by the ordinary fortune of war. But when the gospel was first published, it was a witness to all nations, that in the end of the Jewish state there was a fulfilment of the prophecy — a punishment of infidelity — and the ter- mination of the law of Moses. 1. It was a witness of the fulfilment of the prophecy. Wherever the first preachers of Christianity went, they carried the gospels along with them, as the authentic history of Him whom they preached. We have reason to think, that in many parts of the world the three gos- pels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, were translated into the language of the country, or into the Latin, which was generally understood, before Jerusalem was destroyed. The early Christians, then, in the most distant parts of the world, had in their hands the prophecy be- fore the event. The Roman armies, and the messengers of the em- pire, would soon transmit a general account of the siege. The history of Josephus, written and published by the order of Vespasian and Titus, would transmit the particulars to some at least of the most illustrious commanders in distant provinces ; and thus, while all who named the name of Christ would learn the fact, that Jerusalem was destroyed, they who were inquisitive might learn also the circum- stances of the fact, and by comparing the narration which they received, with the prophecy of which they had been formerly in possession, would know assuredly that he who had uttered that prophecy was more than man. There are still great events to happen in the history of the Christian church, which we trust will bring to those who shall be permitted to see them, a full conviction of the divine character of Jesus. But it was wisely ordered, that the earliest Christians should receive this long prophecy before it came to pass, that the faith of those who had not seen the Lord's Christ, might, at -a time when education, authority, and example, were not on the side of that faith, be confirmed by the event; and that all the singular circumstances of this siege might afford to the nations of the earth, in the begm- nings of the gospel, a demonstration that Jesus spake the truth. 2. A witness of the punishment of infidelity. The destruction of Jerusalem was foretold, not merely to give an example of the divine knowledge of him who uttered the prophecy, but because the Jews deserved that destruction. The crime which brought it upon them is PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 113 intimated in many of our Lord's parables, and is declared clearly in other passages, so that those-who were in possession of the prophecy could not mistake the cause. All the nations of the earth to whom the gospel was preached, knew that the Jews had killeJ the Lord Jesus with this horrid imprecation, " His blood be upon us, and upon our children ;" that they had rejected all the evidences of the truth of Christianity which were exhibited in their own land, and not con- tent with despising the gospel, had stirred up the minds of the heathen against the disciples of Jesus, and appeared, so long as their city ex- isted, the most bitter enemies of the Christian name. The nations of the earth saw this obstinacy and barbarity recompensed in the very manner which the Author of the gospel foretold, and having his pre- dictions in their hands, they beheld his enemies taken in the snare which he had announced. The mighty works which lie did upon earth were miracles of mercy, by which he meant to win the hearts of mankind. But the execution of his threatenings against a nation of enemies was a miracle of judgment. And the unparalleled cala- mities which the Jews, according to his words, endured, were a warn- ing from hea^^en to all that heard the gospel, not to reject the counsel of God against themselves. 3. A witness that, in the destruction of Jerusalem, there was the termination of the law of Moses. While many Jews persecuted the Christians, there were others who attempted by reasoning, to impose upon them an observance of the law of Moses. They said that it was impious to forsake an institution confessedly of divine original, and that no subsequent revelation could diminish the sanctity of a temple built by God. or abolish the offerings which he had required to be presented there. You find this reasoning most ably combated in the Epistles of Paul, and particularly in the Epistle to the He- brews. But the arguments of the apostle did not completely coun- terbalance th§ evil done by the Judaizing teachers, to the cause of Christ. Many were disturbed by the sophistry of these men in the exercise of their Christian liberty; and many were deterred from embracing the gospel, by the fear of being brought under the yoke of the Jewish ceremonies. Some signal interposition of Providence was necessary to disjoin the spiritual universal religion of Jesus from the carnal local ordinances "of the law of Moses, and to afford entire satisfaction to the minds of those who wished for that disjunction. The destruction of Jerusalem was that interposition ; and the general publication of the gospel before that event, led men both to look for it as the solution of their doubts, and to rest in it after it happened, as the declaration from heaven that the ceremonial law was finished. The service of the temple could not continue after one stone of the temple was not left upon another; the tribes could no longer assemble at Jerusalem after the city was laid in ruins ; and that bondage, un- der which the Jewish nation wished to bring the Christians, ceased after the Jews were scattered over the face of the earth. And thus we are enabled, by the place which this prophecy holds, to mark a beautiful consistency, and a mutual dependency in the reve- lations with which God hath favoured the world, — the manifold wis- dom of God conspicuous in the whole economy of religion. The Almightv committed to Abraham and his descendants the hope of the 12* S 114 PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. Messiah, and the law was a school-master to bring men to Chrii^. When he who was the end of the law appeared, he appealed to Moses and the prophets as testifying of him, and he claimed the cha- racter of that prophet whom they had announced. But the purpose of the law being fulfilled by his appearance, it was no longer neces- sary that the preparatory dispensation with its appurtenances should continue. He gave notice, therefore, of the conclusion of the age of the law, and as that age began and was conducted with visible sym- bols of divine power, so with like symbols it was finished. The de- claration of these symbols, published to the world in the gospels, prevented them from looking upon the event with the astonishment of ignorance, and taught them to connect this awful ending of the one age with the character of that age which then commenced. Having seen a period elapse sufficient for the faith of Christ to gain proselytes in many countries, they saw the temple of Jerusalem by an interpo- sition which was the literal fulfilment of the words of Christ taken down, and were thus assured that the hour was indeed come at which ancient prophets had more obscm'ely hinted, and which Jesus had declared in express words as not very distant, when men were not to worship the Father at Jerusalem, but when the true worshippers, every one from his place, should worship God in spirit and in truth. The eff'ect of the event, thus interpreted by the prophecy, was power- ful and instantaneous. It furnished the earliest Christian fathers with an unanswerable argument against the Judaizing teachers : it solved the doubts of those who were stumbled by their reasonings: it re- moved one great objection which the Gentiles had to the gospel : and when the wall of partition was thus removed, numbers were " turned from idols to serve the living God." 7. I mentioned as the nexl, subject of the predictions of Jesus, the condition of the Jewish nation subsequent to the destruction of their city. You may mark first the immediate consequences of the siege. "" Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall ■fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven." It seems to be plain that these expressions point to the consequences of the siege, for they are thus introduced, "immediately after the tribulation of those days," i. e. the distress endured during the siege, and as if on purpose to show us'that the event pointed at was not very distant, it is said a few verses after, "This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." To -perceive the propriety of using such expressions in this place, you will recollect that symbolical language of which we spoke formerly, — dictated by necessity in early times, when the conceptions and the words of men were few, — retained in after times partly from habit, and partly to render speech more signi- ficant,— universally used in eastern countries, — and abounding in the writings of the prophets, who, speaking under the influence of inspira- tion, full of the events which they foretold, and elevated above the ordinary tone of their minds, employ a richness and pomp of Imagery which exalts our conceptions of the importance of what they say, but at the same time increases the obscurity natural to prophecies, and PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY JESUS. 115 made the people whom they addressed often call their discourses dark sayings. This eastern imagery, which pervades the proplietical style, is especially remarkable when the rise or fall of kingdoms is foretold. The images are then borrowed from the most splendid objects ; and as in the ancient mode of writing by hieroglyphics, the sun, the moon, and stars, being bodies raised above the earth, were used to represent kingdoms and princes, so in the prophecies of their calamities,^ or prosperity, changes upon the heavenly bodies, bright light, and thick darkness came to be a common phraseology. Of the punishment which God was to inflict pn Judea, he says by Jeremiah, " I will stretch out my hand against thee and destroy thee ; she hath given up the ghost ; her sun is gone down, while it is yet day."* Of Egypt, by Ezekiel, " All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and make darkness over thy land, saith the Lord God.''t So by Joel, " The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble ; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining ; and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army."l And when God promises deliverance and victory to his people, it is in these beautiful words, " Thy sun shall no more go down, neilher shall thy moon withdraw itself. But the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold."§ It was most natural for the Messiah of the Jews to introduce this uniform language of former prophets in foretelling the dissolution of their state ; and all that he says was fulfilled, according; to the appro- priated use of that language, immediately after the siege. For the city was desolated ; the temple was burnt ; that ecclesiastical consti- tution which the Romans had tolerated after Ju