BT
127
A 2
134
WESTERMANNSC
YORK
40 Broadwo
Tappan Presbyterian Association
LIBRARY.
Presented by HON. D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD.
From Library of Rev. Geo. Duffield, D.D.
Geo Duffield
1812
DEO REIPUBLICE
ET AMICIS
་
ESTO SEMPER FIDELIS.
GeoDuffrite
Section
і
Das Turn
Birk
Somuch es that I never saw
Before this best law mave wave
BT
127
.A2
D34
f
Ο
Just Published,
Printed for C. RIVINGTON, in
St. Paul's Church-yard,
A
NNOTATIONS On the Book of JOB, and
the PSALMS. Collected from feveral
Commentators, and Methodized and Im-
proved; by THOMAS FENTON,
M. A. Rector of Nately-Scures in Hampshire,
and fometime Student of Chrift-Church in
Oxford.
TOFOTOFO FO
REVELATION Examin'd
721 with CANDOUR.
0
203
OR, A FAIR
ENQUIRY
INTO THE
SENSE and USE
Of the Several
REVELATIONS
Exprefly Declared, or fufficiently Implied,
To be given to Mankind from the CREATION,
as they are found in the BIBLE.
By a profefs'd Friend to an honeft Freedom of
3
1
}
Delang
Thought in Religious Enquiries. Dr Delan
patrick Decoy. D.D.
PART I
Containing DISSERTATIONS upon the
feveral Revelations from the CREATION to
the FLOOD, inclufive.
LONDON:
Printed for C. RIVINGTON, at the Bible and
Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard.
M.D CC. XXXI.
BT
137
.A=
고급​수
​gist
Tappan Pres. Ars
4-3-1932
TO THE
KING'S
MOST EXCELLENT
MAJESTY.
May it please your MAJESTY!
T is the birthright of Your
Majeſty's fubjects of theſe
realms, to addrefs their So-
vereign upon every exi-
gency; to petition, to inform, to com-
plain; and even, as far as decency
will admit, or duty require, to ad-
viſe.
А3
IT
vi DEDICATION.
IT is in virtue of this right, that
the following differtations, are, with all
humility, prefented to Your Majefty,
from an author of no name; who
preſumes not, to implore any degree of
favour or protection, either to himſelf,
or them; the vanity or juſtice of that
pretenfion, Your wiſdom, and their
worth, will beft determine.
YOUR Majefty is call'd, by the
Divine Providence, to the protection of
a free people; and conftituted by the
nobleft of Your titles, defender of
the faith; and as theſe are the higheſt
honours, to which mortality can afpire
in this world, and the preſervation of
both, (in due dignity, and perfect
confiftency), the nobleft privileges
of power and prerogative: the fupport
of fuch a conduct, will be the fureft
ma-
DEDICATION. vii
manifeſtation of the wisdom of Your
councils, and the moderation of Your
government.
1
'Tis but too notorious, that a
licentious fpirit is gone out into the
world; invading every thing, ferious
and facred, with a rude effrontery,
till now unknown! fapping the very
foundations of religion, and in that,
the beſt foundation of vertue, with all
the enfuriate violence of ignorance! and
all the lawleſs rage of impotence!
labouring, with every artifice of argu-
ment, every ſpecious delufion of rea-
fon, and every bait of ſenſual indul-
gence, to feduce the foul, and pervert
the will: and in conſequence of both
theſe, to fubvert that righteousness
which exalteth a nation; and to in-
troduce that fin, which is not only
the fad reproach, but the fure ruin of
A 4
any
viii DEDICATION.
any people; and which hath never
fail'd from the foundation of the earth,
(when once arrived to its heighth) to
draw down the fignal vengeance of
God, in calamity, defolation, and
deftruction.
'Tis true, theſe bold champions of
irreligion, have thus far merited of
mankind; they have baniſh'd hypo-
crify; and, had they ftopp'd there, it
were well but it is the reproach of
human frailty, to run into oppofite
extreams; they have baniſh'd fhame-
faced hypocrify, but they have efta-
bliſh'd abandon'd profaneneſs!
Î
AND yet, on the other hand, to
take away the liberty of the preſs, and
the freedom of reaſon in matters of
religion, would be to deprive British
liberty of a valuable birthright, and
human
DEDICATION.
ix
human reaſon of her nobleft ufe! to
protect obfolete error, and to rob
truth! to rob her of her beft advan-
tage, and moſt diftinguiſh'd honour!
the honour of fhining brighteſt upon
the fevereſt trials; and the advantage,
of triumphing with moft glory, after
the hardieft conteſts, and moft fignal
defeats of her obftinate enemies!
But after all, fince the beft tem-
porary bleffings, may be too dearly
bought, or too foon defeated, and
licentiouſneſs long unreftrain'd, may,
in the end, become unruly; and ter-
minate in dreadful extremities; is there
a conduct, that can better become the
rulers of the earth, either in point of
publick wiſdom, or private intereſt,
than timely to check and to reſtrain its
progreſs?
MIGHT
X
DEDICATION.
MIGHT this be once number'd
among the bleffings of Your Ma-
jeſty's reign! might it be Your glory
here, and Your eternal honour here-
after, to repreſs this increafing, this
enormous evil!
NOR will it any way abate the
merit of fo glorious an undertaking,
that the way to it, is neither dark nor
difficult that it may be compaſs'd,
with eaſe, and without reproach; by
fcorning the fcorner, after the example
of God! and fhewing grace and favour
to the lowly; and by an open, avow'd
encouragement of learning, religion and
vertue, in all orders and degrees of
men: but eſpecially in the clergy;
SHALL Your Majefty, know it Your
higheſt obligation, and Your trueſt
glory,
DEDICATION. xi
glory, to attend, with humility and
reverence, upon the publick wor-
ſhip of God, and fhall every aban-
don'd miscreant revile that God with
impunity! that God by whom You
reign! Shall Your Majefty fee it to be
Your fureft ſource of felicity, Your
fureft ſtay of power, and moft indif
penfible duty, to live in the avow'd
practice of every conjugal, every pa-
rental, every private, and every pub-
lick vertue and fhall vertue be re-
viled! Shall neither the veneration of
the wifeft, nor the practice of the beſt,
nor the power of the greatest men,
give it ſanction and fecurity?
TACITUS tells us, that in the
degeneracy of the Roman empire, vice
became fo reputable, that thoſe who
reverenced vertue in their hearts,
did
xii
DEDICATION.
did not dare to profeſs the leaſt out-
ward regard, for it.
+
O fhame to Christians! open irreli-
gion, the ſure parent of every vice,
and the fworn foe to every vertue, is
now in the fame heighth of reputation!
which is not only a furer mark of
degeneracy, but (what, methinks,
fhould give fome alarm to the moſt
fecure libertine) is, at leaſt, as faithful
an indication of approaching ruin,
if God, in his unmerited mercy, pre-
vent it not.
EVIL rulers, have ever been able
to render vice reputable; and cannot
the righteous do as much for vertue ?
Is vertue, (the greateſt of all earthly
bleffings! the faireſt and the lovelieft of
all human accompliſhments!) the only
thing, which power cannot render ho-
nourable ?
DEDICATION. xiii
this
nourable? which majefty cannot mani-
feſt to be lovely? nor courts, becom-
ing? Can the higheſt examples only
influence to evil! God forbid;
were to ftrip grandeur of its nobleſt
prerogative, as well as its trueft and
richeſt intereſt! Let a prince hear the
advice of a prince, (the wifeft of earthly
rulers!) upon this head; Take away
the dross from the filver, and there
fhall come forth a veſſel for the finer:
take away the wicked from before the
king, and his throne ſhall be eſtabliſhed
in righteousness.
DREAD Sir! it needs little fagacity
to fee, that the beft fecurity of a
throne, is its beſt ornament! Without
a right ſenſe of religion, fervants are
fycophants; guards, keepers; and at-
tendants, enemies in pay.
WOULD
xiv DEDICATION
WOULD Your Majefty live fecure,
and reign glorious; be ignorance de-
fpifed, and immorality detefted! be
open profaneneſs as openly diſcouraged;
and lewd fcurrility upon facred fubjects,
upon the higheſt intereſts of reaſonable
beings, effectually repreffed! if not
with all that rigour of chaſtiſement,
which misguided zeal may require ;
yet, at leaſt, with all that juft con-
tempt and indignation, which true re-
ligion muſt exact! which wiſdom re-
commends, and intereft demands:
And let the vertue of this conduct be
yet heighten'd, by that juft efteem,
and honourable diftinction, fteadily
conferred upon true piety; upon piety
enlarged, and enlighten'd, as it ought;
enlighten'd with uſeful learning, of
every kind; and enlarged into a true
concern for the temporal, and eternal
interefts
•
DEDICATION. xv
and the
interefts of human-kind;
fincerity of fuch a difpofition, will
beſt be ſeen, when it exerts itself,
with all the openness of honefty,
with all the patience of charity, and
with all the courage of conviction,
in a ſteady oppofition to error, and
defence of truth.
So fhall Your Majefty effectually
be, what You are fo gloriouſly
titled! remembring always, that it is
the nobleft prerogative of a king
that fitteth on the throne of judge-
ment, that he scattereth away all
evil with his eyes! that he is then,
truly the ſubſtitute of the fupream
Sovereign, when the righteous are
honour'd in his prefence, and the vile
contemn'd.
THAT
xvi DEDICATION.
THAT this may ever be Your
Majeſty's true character, and conftant
employment; and that God may
long preſerve You in it; that of
his infinite goodneſs, he may crown
You with lafting glory here, and
endleſs felicity hereafter, is the con-
ftant and fincere prayer of,
YOUR MAJESTY'S,
Moft dutiful and moſt devoted
Subject and Servant.
[ xvii ]
THE
PREFACE.
T
HE reader is defired to take
notice, that the word reve-
lation, is, in the following
differtations, taken in a very
extenfive fenfe: to fignify every inter-
pofition of the Divine Providence in
the government of the world, out of the
ordinary established course of nature.
a
IT
xviii The PREFACE.
IT may be thought, perhaps, that I
Should make fome apology to the world,
for troubling them with any thing re-
lating to religion; (which feemeth, at
prefent, more the fubject of light con-
tempt, than real concern); efpecially
fuch points of it, as have fo often been
treated before, and by fo many able
pens; but ſo far am I from thinking I
need an apology, that, I imagine, I ſhall
have some degree of merit with the
reader, if I can entertain him with
Something new, upon fo dry a fubject:
Novelty, being at preſent, in writings
of all forts, (next to irreligion) the
reigning merit! and novelty upon a
fubject ſo obfolete, and fo feemingly ex-
baufted, will, I hope, be allow'd a
more than common merit. And, in-
deed, the fcriptures feem to me, a field,
which
3
The PREFACE.
xix
which hath hitherto been rendered, in
fome refpects, rather barren, than fruit-
ful, by culture: (tho' in itself infinitely
the richest and the nobleft of all others)
or, if fruitful of falutary food, to the
humble, (which it yielded fufficiently
without culture) yet to the proud, in
no eminently better degree, than the
earth under the curfe; fruitful for the
moft part, in thorns and thiſtles!
IT must be own'd, that much read-
ing and erudition, together with im-
menfe labour, have been laid out on the
bible, fince the restoration of learning;
and yet in reality, all this, hath hither-
to amounted to little more, than clearing
the way, and preparing proper mate-
rials, for men of genius. The human
progress to perfection, is, and ever muft
a 2
be
XX
The PREFACE.
be flow; and that which is most eagerly
defired, must be laft expected.
FOR my own part, I must own,
that with all human vanity about me
I can confider the following differta-
tions, but as ſo many ſtruggles of an in-
duftrious man, thro' a thicket; which
Serve at first, but to let in a little
glimering light; I shall not, however,
cfteem my labour loft, if I have let in
enough, to prepare the pupil, for a fuller
admiffion of the day, from the fubfequent
efforts of more refolution and strength.
THE misfortune is, study and
knowledge are now almost out of date:
learning is remarkably in the decline;
and of neceffity must decline, in propor-
tion, as the prefent groveling, giddy,
frivolous Spirit of infidelity, (the bane
of every thing arduous and excellent)
3
pre-
The PREFACE.
xxi
prevails; it being evident, that the only
wiſdom upon the infidel's principles is
this ; Let us eat and drink, for to mor-
row we die.
HENCE the true caufe of the growth
of luxury among us, as among the Ro-
mans, in the decline of the common-
wealth, upon the Spreading of Epicu-
rus's principles.
Luxury, toge-
ther with other vices, begets floth;
floth, ignorance; and ignorance in a
vitiated mind, is the fure parent of in-
fidelity. And as there are fabions in
opinions, as in other things, infidelity
is now among the reigning vanities of
life! but the vanities of this life, paſs
away! and fleet faft into their oppofite
extreams. Infidelity is now pre-
dominant; but, perhaps, the juftest fear
a 3
juſteſt
upon
xxii
The PREFACE.
upon this head, is, that fuperftition
will foon fucceed it.
;
STRANGE paradox! the true parent
of infidelity, is ignorance; and yet it's
vaunted origine, is the pride of know-
ledge! but with this disadvantage
that it is only knowledge of evil. For
all knowledge of good, all true and va-
luable learning in the world, is indif
putably on the fide of revelation. It is
a melancholly reflection !
the pre-
fent pride of infidelity is knowledge!
but it's only plea at the laft, will be
ignorance.
IT must indeed be own'd, that the
modern patrons of infidelity, bave fome
learning; Engliſh tranſlations, and
Engliſh divines, are familiar to them ;
but the misfortune is, that they fix,
not
The PREFA c E.
xxiii
not upon their excellencies, but their
errors; and fo error is made the test of
truth.
Ir bath often been obferved by the
wiſeſt men, that nothing is fo dangerous
in any fcience, as a little learning: a
little light, from the false or imperfect
view it gives of the noblest objects, is
apt to inſpire contempt, from ignorance;
and vanity, from comtempt: when a
fuller gleam, exhibiting perfection and
excellence in a true light, and a fairer
proportion, infpireth admiration, and
confufion of face; admiration, from ex-
cellence; and confufion, from the remem-
brance of past arrogance. A flender
portion of knowledge, fhews only our
acquifitions, which make us vain; a
larger, difplays our wants, and makes
us bumble.
a 4
IT
xxiv
The PREFACE.
IT is the obfervation, of that great
honour of England, and of human na-
ture, the Lord BACON ; that a little
learning inclineth mens
mens minds to
Atheiſm, but depth in it brings them
about again to religion. What is true of
Science in general, is more remarkably
fo, in relation to divinity; where, as
there is more room for true wisdom,
there is more range for folly. Tho' the
truth is, it is hard to fay which is moft
ruinous in this point, flender knowledge,
or downright ignorance; the infidel
world, (if you except fome few men of
genius, burried away by vanity, ambition,
imagination, and fenfual purſuits) being,
for the most part, divided but into two
claffes: men of little learning, and men
of none. Their acquifitions are
un-
equal 3
The PREFACE.
XXV
equal; but their capacity and conceit
the fame.
How lamentable a prospect is human
vanity, in this view! a man, whose
conceit fets him above fubmitting to plain
truths, and reaſonable evidence, is in a
defperate way! the fame pride, which
fhuts his eyes upon the clearest points,
but too often determines him upon the
darkest. Conducted thus, by vanity,
and ignorance, whilst the blind, leads
the blind, it is impoffible, but that he
muft fall into the pit. Happy, if his
fall convinces him of his folly, before it
concludes in his ruin!
THAT men should rejoice in that
light, which it hath pleafed God to
diffuſe upon the human foul, is but
right, and reasonable; but that men
Should
xxvi The PREFACE.
Should reject that glorious light, which
came down from heaven, to be led
wholly by their own, is just as wise,
as it would be, to prefer a glimmering
taper, to the fun in his glory! is in
truth, to prefer comparative darkness! a
conduct, which can only be ascribed to
weak eyes, or a wicked heart. Men
love darkneſs better than light, becauſe
their deeds are evil! and yet, tho' the
prefent condition of the world, is, in
truth, a melancholly prospect in the eye
of true piety, (for what can be
more melancholly, than to fee wisdom
infulted by folly! and reasonable beings
play with perdition!) yet I can't help
thinking, that it is a prospect, which
Sometimes fhews itself to the most feri-
ous eye, in a ludicrous light; who,
that beholds the prefent mad infults of
irreligion, can fometimes forbear ima-
gining
The PREFACE.
xxvii
gining to himſelf, the mock-triumph of
Caligula, for the ſpoils of the ocean ?
Men glory in their shame, becauſe
they see it not ; and nothing but
more light, can bring them to their
Senfes.
If what is here endeavoured, ſhall
be deem'd fufficient, to humble this
Shameful infolence of infidelity, and to
take away all pretence to triumph,
from imagin'd abfurdity, or incon-
fiftency, in the most exceptionable parts
of revelation, my end is anfwer'd:
That enough is done to this pur-
poſe, I ſhall not ſcruple to pronounce ;
at least, if I have any idea of truth,
or evidence. And methinks there is
no mighty vanity, in any man's ima-
gining that he hath; inasmuch as it
requires no vaft talents, beyond common
Sense,
xxviii The PREFACE.
fenfe, in any man converfant in rational
difquifitions, to distinguish plain truth
from manifeft falfhood, by their common
and known marks and characters.
In truth, there is no more vanity in.
this, than in imagining that he can
diftinguish light from darkness, or
men from monsters! and if there is
not, I will take upon me to say, that
whatever I have offered for evidence
in the following treatife, is fuch.
That the neceffity of revelation, the
truth of the Mofaic history, and the
abfurdity of the objections made to it,
are, in many inftances, as clearly
proved, in the following differtations,
as any theorem in Euclid; by axioms,
as evident, by propofitions, as plain,
and by deductions, as clear; confe-
quently, that infidelity here (after a
fair
The PREFACE.
xxix
fair examination of the points fo dif-
cufs'd) is as irrational, as diffent,
there. But if any man imagines other-
wife, and shall think fit to arraign my
reafonings, of fallacy or falfhood, his
wifeft way, if he intends nothing but
his own conviction, and the triumph of
truth, will be, to try his fagacity, in
detecting, and his ftrength, in con-
futing them
which I thus publickly
and earnestly entreat and exhort all
Such to do;
and which, if they
attempt to do, by any other method,
than that of fair reafoning, I defire
them before-band to take notice, that,
as I shall make no other return than
the contempt of filence, fo every candid
man must confider fuch proceeding, in
them, as a confefs'd defeat.
;
I SPEAK
XXX
The PREFACE.
I SPEAK this, in the spirit of a
man, who speaks from conviction; and
hath no other intereft but that of truth :
which feareth not to be brought to the
test of reason, and which is
often, not more promoted, by the best
arguments of it's advocates, than by the
determin'd oppofition of it's enemies,
the enemies of every thing ver
tuous and valuable in this world! for
after all; whatever specious pre-
tences the prefent oppofitions to religion
may carry with them, they are in
effect, but the dispute
* revived.
young men
of Darius's
And bow-
ever the cause of wine and women
* Efdras iii.
(the
The PREFACE.
xxxi
(the vanities and pleafures of life) may
prevail for a ſeaſon, must end, as that
did, in favour of truth. Truth en-
dureth, and is always ftrong; it liveth,
and conquereth, for ever more.
REVE
[1]
REVELATION
EXAMINED, &c.
DISSERTATION I.
Of the forbidden Fruit.
SHALL begin with the firft reve-
lation given to Adam in paradife,
as you will find it in the fecond
chapter of Genefis, at the 16th
and 17th verfes
16. AND the Lord God commanded the
man, Saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayeft freely eat.
B
17. Bur
2 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
17. BUT of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in
the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
Surely die.
NOTHING Could be more agreeable to the
wifdom and goodne fs of God, than to pro-
vide plenty of proper
food for all the crea-
tures he had formed; but as theſe creatures
were of very various natures, and confe-
quently what was proper food for one, might
be very improper food for another, Adam
muft, in this cafe, be under great difficulties,
without fome direction from God: for fup-
poſing that he had a right to make uſe of
any food that came in his way, without an
exprefs grant from his Maker, (as I think it
evident he had not) it would, however, be
irrational in him, to run the rifque of taking
any food, which might not only be impro-
per, but pernicious to him; and, without
fome direction from God, it was impoffible
for him to know what food was proper,
otherwife than by examining the nature of
his own conftitution, and the nature of the
feveral fruits before him, and the fuitable-
nefs of each to the other; and how this
could be done in that ftate is utterly incon-
ceiveable, otherwife than by experiment;
and the experiment might have been as fatal
to him, as it hath fince been to many of his
pofterity;
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
3
pofterity; great numbers of whom have
been deftroyed, by fruits apparently fair and
inviting. And therefore, as the wifdom
and goodneſs of God were engaged in the
prefervation of his own creature (for other-
wife the very first object he met, might have
defeated all the ends of his creation) the
fame attributes neceffarily required that he
fhould be informed how to preferve his
being, and caution'd how he might impair
or deſtroy it.
IF you fuppofe his fenfes were fo perfect,
that he could, by their affiftance alone, cer-
tainly diftinguish what food was falutary,
and what noxious, you muſt at the fame
time ſuppoſe him formed in much more per-
fection than any of his pofterity; and if that
is allow'd, the truth of revelation is fo far
eſtabliſh'd; and if it is not allow'd, 'tis a
demonftration that revelation in this cafe was
neceffary; neceffary, as the wiſdom and
the goodneſs of God: Let the adverfaries of
reveal'd religion chufe which part of this
dilemma they like beft.
Now as reafon fhews, that this grant and
this revelation were, as far as we can con-
ceive, neceffary, fcripture affures us that
they were made; for we are told in the firft
chapter of Genefis, that when Adam was
created, God gave him a right to every herb
and
B 2
4 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
and tree upon the face of the earth; and
when he tranflated him into paradiſe, we
are affured, that he gave him free permiffion
to eat the fruit of every tree in the garden,
except one; and that he added the reafon
of that reſtraint, becauſe the eating the fruit
of that tree would be pernicious to him;
for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt
furely die; or, as it is in the original, dying
thou shalt die; i. e. you fhall certainly con-
tract a mortal infirmity: now, forafmuch as
a man who hath a mortal infirmity upon
him, is, in truth, in a dying condition, he
from that moment be ftrictly and pro-
perly faid to be dying. Whereas then, as
I have obſerved to you, reafon demonſtrates
that this revelation was neceffary, and fcrip-
ture fhews it to be made; here is a new
argument of the truth of fcripture; for what
can be a clearer demonftration of the truth
of any writing, than demonftrating it to be
perfectly conformable to the neceſſary truth
and nature of things?
may
If it be ask'd, why Adam was not fuper-
naturally endow'd with the knowledge of
food as well as of animals? -I anſwer,
that for ought we know fo he was this
hiſtory is very ſhort, poffibly he was fully
informed of all plants and fruits, but certainly
he was of that on which his own well-being,
and that of his pofterity, depended.
BUT
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 5
BUT here we are asked by infidels, with
high infults upon our credulity and igno-
rance, how it was poffible that eating the
fruit of a tree could deftroy the ſuppoſed
perfection of Adam's nature? make him
blind, and vitious, and miferable; and what
is more abfurd than all this, entail guilt and
mifery upon his lateft pofterity?
In anſwer to this, I cannot but own, that
thefe difficulties have perplex'd the ableft
heads of all ages; fince the curiofity and
vanity of men have urged them more to
canvas the ways of infinite wiſdom with
arrogance, than to fubmit to them with
humility; and yet more enlarged obſerva-
tions upon the laws of God in the govern-
ment of the world, added to fome late dif
coveries in the knowledge of nature, will,
I hope, enable us to give all thefe difficulties
fuch clear and rational folutions, as may be
fufficient to fubdue any unreaſonablenefs,
leſs than that of infidelity, to the end of the
world.
I NEED not be at much pains to inform
the reader, that the fin of our firſt parents
confifted in their indulging an irregular ap-
petite, in order to obtain a higher degree of
knowledge, contrary to the exprefs com-
mand of God. Now I ask, Is it any way
incon-
B 3
6 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
inconfiftent with the divine wifdom and
goodneſs, to punish this abufe of reafon, by
impairing the powers of that very faculty
they had fo wantonly abuſed? or to puniſh
the indulgence of irregular appetites in our
firſt parents, by giving them up to irregular
appetites for the reft of their lives? and in
this cafe, 'tis evident, they would naturally
become vitious, and miferable, and involve
their pofterity in the neceffary confequences
of their own guilt and folly.
WE fee it now an eſtabliſhment of God in
the nature and conftitution of things, that
all irregular indulgence of our appetites is
attended with evil; and that every fuch in-
dulgence makes thofe appetites yet more
irregular. We alfo fee it eftablifh'd in
the nature of things, that all vain and un-
reaſonable purſuits of fuperior wiſdom, all
pride of knowledge, naturally tend to im-
pair the powers of the mind, by taking off
the thoughts from their proper objects, and
by giving them falfe and fantaſtic views;
and in confequence of this, feldom fail to
end, either in downright madneſs, or fpeci-
ous folly. Now, why in the appointment
of God, the fearch of forbidden knowledge,
by an irregular indulgence in forbidden
fruit, fhould not have any or all theſe
effects, tho' out of the ordinary courſe, or
prefent flate of things, I believe all the deifts
in
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
7
in the world will find it hard to explain;
unleſs they think it impoffible that any
other than the prefent eſtabliſhment could ever
have fubfifted: or if there could, unleſs they
think it reaſonable, that God Almighty fhould
ſuſpend his laws, and over-rule his own
eſtabliſh'd order of nature, in favour of
Adam and Eve, who were, at leaſt in this
point, the most unpardonable delinquents
that ever were in the world.
BUT if it be faid, that tranfgreffing the
Commandment of God in this inftance, is
puniſh'd with more than the ordinary pe-
nalty of indulging an irregular appetite; I
anfwer, that allowing it to be fo, the
penalty of the firft tranfgreffion, ſhould in
wiſdom and in juftice, be greater than that
of any fubfequent tranfgreffion; becauſe all
depended upon the firft; as alfo to deter all
pofterity, and to let them fee, by this exam-
ple, that whatever penalty God denounces
againſt guilt, will infallibly be executed.
BUT this point will be yet more fully
cleared, upon the principles of natural know-
ledge; (even without fuppofing any efta-
bliſhment different from the preſent, except-
ing that man was then in the perfection in
which it beft became infinite wifdom and
goodneſs to create him.)
B 4
WE
8 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
We know there are feveral fruits in feveral
parts of the world, of fo noxious a nature,
as to deſtroy the beft human conftitution
upon earth.
We alſo know very well, that
there are fome fruits in the world which in-
flame the blood into fevers and phrenzies.
And we are told, that the Indians are ac-
quainted with a certain juice, which imme-
diately turns the perfon who drinks it into
an idiot; leaving him at the fame time in
the enjoyment of his health, and all the
powers of his body; Now I ask, whe-
ther it is not poffible, nay, whether it is not
rational to believe, that the fame fruit,
which, in the prefent infirmity of nature,
would utterly deftroy the human conftitu-
tion, might, in the higheſt perfection we can
imagine it, at leaſt diſturb, and impair, and
diſeaſe it? and whether the fame fruit which
would now inflame any man living into a
fever or phrenzy, might not inflame Adaminto
a turbulence and irregularity of paſſion and
appetite? and whether the fame fluids which in-
flame the blood into irregularity of paffion and
appetite, may not naturally produce infec-
tion, and impair the conftitution? alfo, whe-
ther the fame juice, which now fo affects
the brain of an ordinary man, as to make
him an idiot, might not fo affect the brain
of Adam, as to bring his underſtanding down
to the prefent ftandard of ordinary men? and
if
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
9
if this be poffible, and not abfurd to be fup-
pofed, 'tis evident the fubfequent ignorance
and corruption of human nature may clearly
be accounted for upon thefe fuppofitions;
nay, I had almoft faid upon any one of
them? for the perfection of human nature
confifting in the dominion of reafon over the
paffions and appetites, whatever deftroy'd
the abfoluteneſs of that dominion, whether
by inflaming the paffions, or impairing the
powers of reaſon, muft of neceffity deſtroy
the perfection of human nature; and, in con-
fequence of that, produce fin, guilt, and
mifery in Adam; and entail it upon his
pofterity.
The
ALL mankind were in Adam.
knowledge of nature proves this to be true.
And we well know that the infections and
infirmities of the father, affect the children
yet in his loins; and if the mother be equal-
ly infected, muft, unless removed by proper
remedies, affect their pofterity to the end of
the world: or, at leaft, till the infection
extinguiſhes the race affected with it. There-
fore, why all mankind might not by their
firft father's fin be reduced to the fame con-
dition of infirmity and corruption with him-
felf, (eſpecially when the mother was equal-
ly infirm and infected) I believe no man,
any way skill'd in the knowledge of nature,
will fo much as pretend to fay.
And if
it
10 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
it is not abfurd and irrational to ſuppoſe,
that this might be done, certainly it can
neither be abfurd or irrational to believe that
it was done eſpecially when we believe it,
upon the credit of the wifeft, the moſt au-
thentic, the beft attefted hiſtory in the whole
world, except that of the gofpels; a hiftory
confirmed by the oldeft, the moſt credible,
and the moſt authentic traditions of all anti-
quity; and what is yet more, confirmed be-
yond all reaſonable doubt, by the very rea-
fon, and nature, and truth of things:
and in the prefent cafe, confirmed beyond
all poffibility of doubt, by the teftimony of
all ages, and by the experience of every man
living upon the face of the earth;
fhall be fhewn hereafter.
as
DIS-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 11
DISSERTATION II.
Concerning the knowledge of the brute
world conveyed to Adam.
A
NOTHER revelation neceſſary
to Adam in the ſtate of innocence,
was the nature of the feveral
JUK creatures formed for his uſe.
And another, to be affured that
God had given him dominion over them.
First, IT was neceffary for him to know
the nature of the feveral creatures made for
his uſe, otherwife 'tis impoffible he could
ufe them to any good or reaſonable purpoſe;
and 'tis a neceffary confequence from the
wifdom and goodnefs of God, that when
he beſtows any right upon any of his crea-
tures, he ſhould endow them with the means
of enjoying it; and 'tis evident, that if
Adam was created under all the prefent in-
firmities
12 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
firmities and neceffities of human nature, he
muſt be miſerable for a long courfe of years;
nay, probably he might perifh, before he
could find out by his own fagacity the fit-
nefs of the feveral creatures, to fupply the
feveral neceffities and conveniences of human
life; or, having found it, to be able, by the
force of his own ftrength and wifdom, with
no other than the affiftance of his wife, to
fubdue and apply thofe creatures to the
feveral ends and ufes for which they were
ordained by God. At leaſt it hath coft his
pofterity much pains to this purpoſe, tho'
affifted by numbers, and advantaged by all
the inventions of art. It hath exhauſted the
wiſdom of many fucceffive generations, to
arrive at a through improvement and infor-
mation in thefe points; and yet no man of
common learning believes them to be fully
attain'd to this day.
And is it any way
agreeable to the ideas we have of the divine
beneficence, to believe, he would leave his
innocent creatures, fo long deftitute of fo
many comforts and conveniences of life, or
fuffer them to pine and periſh for want of
them? Mortals, ill inform'd of the benignity
and perfection of the divine Being, may give
up their belief to fuch abfurdities; but, God
be praiſed, Chriftians know better things.
THE fum of the argument is this; if Adam
was created under the prefent infirmities and
neceffities
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 13
neceffities of human nature, he muft have
been long miferable, perhaps to the laft
moment of his life, without the knowledge
of the nature and ufes of the feveral crea-
tures. 'Tis inconfiftent with the juftice
and goodneſs of God, to fuffer him to be
miferable, or perifh innocent; and therefore
'tis a neceffary confequence from the wiſdom
and goodneſs of God, that he was inform'd
of theſe points as foon as it was neceſſary,
i. e. as foon as he was created.
And to
this end, 'tis evident, that either God muft
have endowed him with fuch exceeding
fagacity and penetration as to difcern the
natures of all animals at firft fight, and then
Mofes's account of this matter is literally
true. Or elfe, he muſt convey this know-
ledge to him by an exprefs revelation. Let
the adverfaries of reveal'd religion alfo take
which fide of this dilemma they like beft.
THE next revelation neceffary to Adam
at this time, was, that God had given him
dominion over the creatures; for to what
purpoſe would it have been to him, to have
known the natures of the feveral beings
about him, and their fitnefs to minifter to
his fatisfactions, and to ferve the neceffities
and conveniences of his life, if he could not
be affured at the fame time that he had a
right to apply them to thofe ends? and 'tis
certain that fitneſs could not infer right, i. e.
the
14 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
the fitneſs in one creature to ferve the ends
of another, infers no right in that other to
apply that creature to his own ufes; and all
the cafuifts upon earth will never be able to
demonftrate, that he had a right fo much as
to the milk of a cow, without an exprefs
grant from God.
It was abfolutely ne-
ceffary therefore that God Almighty ſhould
give him a right to the creatures; and not
only fo, but fhould give him dominion over
them fuch a dominion as fhould imply awe
and fubmiffion in them, and authority and
rule in him; otherwife 'tis impoffible to ſay,
why the firſt lion or tyger that met him,
ſhould not at the fame time devour him; or
the firſt cow, or horfe, or elephant he at-
tempted to tame, fhould not gore, or tram-
ple, or tear him to pieces.
I BESEECH you to confider, what muſt the
condition of a man fent into the world in
the midſt of ſo many favage creatures, prone
and enabled to deftroy him, if thofe crea-
tures were not at the fame time reſtrained ;
'tis evident, that without this, he muſt be
miferable beyond imagination; and that no
man of common ſenſe would take life upon
thofe terms, even now, with all the advan-
tage of arts and arms; to be the only man
upon the globe, encompaffed with brutes
and favages, ready and able to devour and
deſtroy him.
And much lefs would he
accept
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 15
accept of life upon the terms of being placed
naked and defencelefs in thoſe circumſtances.
And 'tis as evident, that what a
man of
common ſenſe would not take, a being of
infinite goodneſs would not give to a rea-
ſonable creature, upon thofe terms. — And
therefore, as certain as it can be, that God
is infinitely wife and good, fo certain is it,
that when he fent man into the world,
naked and defencelefs, he placed him in it
in full affurance of fecurity from the crea-
tures, and dominion over them. And con-
fequently Mofes's account of this matter, in
the first chapter of Genefis, is demonftrably
true; where he tells us, that as foon as
God had declared his refolution to make
man in his own image, he decreed them
dominion over all the other creatures.
And accordingly we are affured, that as foon
as Adam and Eve were created, God bleſſed
them;
and God faid unto them, Be fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
fubdue it, and have dominion over the fiſh of
the fea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And as nothing could fo fully fatisfy
Adam, that he was in full poffeffion of this
dominion, as bringing the creatures before
him, and letting him fee his own authority,
and their fubmiffion, (which he could not
but fee by their behaviour on that occafion)
we are affured from the fcriptures that they
were
16 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
were brought before him; and that he gave
them names, which the knowledge of the
Hebrew fhews us to be fignificant of their
natures; from whence we infer, that God
gave him alfo a clear infight into their feveral
characters, and qualities, and uſes, as far as
was neceffary to his well-being; and that
fuch knowledge was neceffary to his well-
being, I have already fhewn.
BUT here it may be objected, that if
Adam and Eve were fo throughly inform'd
in the nature of the creatures, how was it
poffible that the ferpent could deceive beings
of fuch fuperior abilities?
In answer to this, I fhall omit the various.
opinions of Doctors and Rabbi's on this head,
and barely mention that which is moſt na-
tural and obvious from the fcripture.
EVE very well knew that the ferpent,
tho' fubtil, was yet denied the uſe of reaſon
and fpeech; and therefore, when fhe faw
him endow'd with both, and heard him
attribute theſe perfections to the vertue of
the forbidden fruit, it was eafy for her to
conclude thus with herfelf, that if the ver-
tue of that fruit was fo wonderful, as to
make the ferpent rational from brute, 'twas
probable enough it might raiſe her from ra-
tional to divine; and this was fuch a temp-
tation
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 17
tation as reafon could not eafily refift, as
fhall be fhewn hereafter. 'Tis true, this
matter is related ſhortly, and, to our preſent
capacities, fomewhat obfcurely in the fcrip-
ture; but, if we confider, that the human
underſtanding was much more perfect before
the fall; and that in this perfection it was
eafy to learn the ſpeaker's thoughts from a
fhort hint, without the toil of thofe long and
laborious deductions, which our prefent dul-
neſs hath made neceffary; we fhall find that
the ferpent had no need to ſpeak one word
more than he is faid to do on this occafion.
Nay, if he had fpoken more, he might have
defeated his defign; by letting Eve fee that
he had not attain'd to all that fagacity he
pretended to, by eating the forbidden fruit.
In fhort, this conference is a ſpecimen of
that ſhort fagacious reafoning, which human
nature was capable of in its perfection. And
as I am fully fatisfied that the ferpent had
no need of faying one word more to Eve on
this occafion, than is here recorded;
fo I
think it evident, that Mofes, in relating no
more than what was faid, hath diſcharged
the part of a faithful hiftorian; which he
would not have done, had he related one
word more.
AND, in order to clear this, I fhall again
repeat this pofition; that the perfection of
our underſtanding in this world is knowledge
C
by
18 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
i
by hints, or fimple propofitions; as the
perfection of our underſtanding in the next,
will be knowledge by intuition. And who-
ever is any-way converfant in hiftory, or
hath converfed with any fagacity himself,
cannot but know, that nothing is more com-
mon than to difcern a whole train of thoughts
by one word, nay, by a look,
figh, or even a motion of the head or hand.
a
And what hath fo much diftinguiſhed
the abilities of Sir Ifaac Newton, and fome
other great genius's to the world, as their
perception of very new and remote truths,
from very fimple principles, which others,
even when diſcovered, could not attain,
without a long train of confequences; at
leaft, what could raiſe their abilities fo
high in our esteem, as to be fatisfied they
were capable of fuch perception? And this
being granted, 'tis evident that the rea-
foning I have mentioned on this head, is
clearly deducible from the converfation be-
tween the ferpent and the woman, men-
tioned on this occafion; as you may read in
the third chapter of Genefis: eſpecially when
we confider the clear connection between
this converſation and the precedent command
of abftinence given by God, which made an
ampler account of this matter lefs neceffary;
the words are as follow; And he faid
unto the woman, Yea, hath God faid, Ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?
Or
rather,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 19
ye
rather, as it is in the original, Yea, because
God hath faid, Ye shall not eat of every tree of
the garden? And the woman faid unto the
ferpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath faid, Ye shall not eat of it, neither fhall
And the Serpent
touch it, left ye die.
faid unto the woman, Ye fhall not furely die;
because God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes fhall be opened, and ye
fhall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And
when the woman faw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleaſant to the
eyes, and a tree to be defired to make one wife,
She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.
Now whoever attends carefully to thefe
words, will find thefe three points clearly
contain'd in them:
First, THAT the ferpent had fome way
or other invited Eve to eat of that fruit,
probably by expreffing great rapture and
tranfport upon tafting it himſelf, and that
notwithſtanding the refufed fo much as to
touch it; and fignified the reafon of her
refuſal, becauſe it was forbidden under pain
of death.
Secondly, THAT he ridicules that reaſon,
and affigns another reaſon.
C 2
AND
20 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
AND Thirdly, that fhe is confirmed in the
truth of that other reafon, from the ferpent's
experiment, and fo eats the fruit.
First, IT appears that the ferpent had
fome way or other invited Eve to eat of that
fruit, and that notwithſtanding ſhe refuſed
fo much as to touch it. All this is plainly
implied in the ferpent's firſt queſtion;
Yea, because God hath faid, Ye shall not eat of
every tree in the garden? Now this
queftion plainly implies a reproach upon a
refufal; and fuch a reproach plainly implies
an application made and rejected. For
what can be clearer than that the meaning
of theſe words is plainly this? What,
you refuſe to eat of this tree, becauſe God
hath not allow'd you to eat the fruit of the
trees in the garden. Now, that this is
the meaning of the ferpent's words, is evi-
dent from Eve's reply, wherein the corrects
the reafon affign'd by the ferpent, and affigns
the true reafon of her refufal. For this
reply evidently implies theſe four things.
Firft, THAT application had been made
to her to eat that fruit.
Secondly, THAT fhe refufed fo much as to
touch it, and affigned the reaſon of that refu-
fal; becauſe God had forbidden it.
Thirdly,
i
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 21
Thirdly, THAT the ferpent pretended to
miftake that reafon.
AND fourthly, That ſhe corrects his pre-
tended miſtake, and affigns the true reafon
of her refufal; and all thefe inferences are
founded upon this plain axiom.
A reply correcting the wrong reason of a
refufal affigned by the adverfary, and affigning
the right,— implies thefe four things.
That an application was made.
Ift,
2dly, That
3dly,
it was rejected for a certain reafon.
That this reafon was affectedly or ignorantly
miftaken by the adverfary.
And 4thly,
That this mistake was corrected in the reply,
and the true reafon affigned.
AND forafmuch as there is a plain infinua-
tion againſt the goodneſs of God, in the fer-
pent's queftion; as if God had made fome-
thing which was not good; or, at leaſt, had
withheld fomething that was good, nay,
which was the beft of all the good things he
had made, from them, and confequently
was not fo bountiful and beneficent, as they
might think him; fhe in her anfwer vindicates
the goodneſs of God; and adds the reafon of
his forbidding them that fruit,
viz. left
ye die, i. e. becauſe it would certainly be
deftructive to them; fhe knew very well
C. 3
that
22
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
that the fruit might be good, and anſwer
many excellent ends of providence, and yet
be deſtructive to them. Now that apprehen-
fion the tempter ridicules, by affirming, in an
infolent irony, and in the direct contradiction
of God's own words, Ye shall not furely die;
and then adds what he would infinuate to
be the true reaſon of God's prohibition,
because God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof your eyes fhall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil, that was
the reafon that God forbid you to eat it.
Now the difficulty here, is, how the
tempter could take upon him to pronounce
this fo peremptorily, or why Eve fhould
believe him when he did?
THE anfwer to this is obvious.
Eve faw
him eat the fruit, as I fhall fhew you imme-
diately; and that he cat it to his great ad-
vantage, and not to his deftruction; and
therefore it was probable fhe might do fo
too.
Now upon fuppofition that Eve faw him
eat it, without any ill confequence, the
queftion which would then naturally ariſe
in her mind, was this; If this fruit is not
deftructive to life, as 'tis plain from the
ferpent that it is not, why did God forbid us
to eat it? To this doubt, which it was
eafy
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 23
eafy for the ferpent to foreſee would arife in
her mind, and to obferve by her countenance
that it had arifen there, he gives a plain and
plaufible anſwer; Becaufe, fays he, (for
fo the word is in the Hebrew; because) God
doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof your
eyes ſhall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil. As if he had faid,
You are at a lofs to know, if this tree is not
deftructive, why God hath forbid you to eat
it. The anfwer is plain; he forbad you,
becauſe he knew that your eating it would
raiſe you up to the perfections of his own
nature.
Now that Eve was confirmed in the truth
of this reafon by the ferpent's experiment,
appears plainly from the words immediately
following, which are thefe, And when
the woman faw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wiſe, ſhe
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.
from thefe words I clearly conclude, that
Eve faw the ferpent eat the forbidden fruit,
and afcribed his ſpeech and knowledge to the
eating of it; and this conclufion I found
upon this plain axiom.
Now
WHOEVER declares a certain knowledge of
a truth which can only be had by experiment,
declares a certain knowledge that that experi-
C 4
ment
24 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ment was made.
Now Eve could plainly
know from her fenfes, that the fruit was
defirable to the eye, but it was impoffible
fhe could know that it was good for food,
but from the example and experiment of the
ferpent. It was alfo impoffible fhe could
know that it was defirable to make wife,
but by the example of the ferpent; whom
fhe faw from a brute become a rational and
vocal creature, as fhe thought by eating that
fruit. The text fays, fhe faw it was good
for food, and that it was defirable to make wife.
And feeing, does not imply conjecture or
belief, but certain knowledge,
know-
ledge founded upon evidence and proof;
fuch proof as ſhe had then before her eyes.
And when once we are fure that fhe
had this proof, as 'tis evident fhe had, the
whole conference between her and the fer-
pent is as rational and intelligible, as any
thing in the whole fcriptures.
BUT here it is objected, that Eve expreffes
no fuch thing as fear or furprize on fo ſtrange
an event, as that of a brute's ſpeaking to her,
which naturally fhould happen; and confe-
quently this relation is incredible on that
account.
IN anſwer to this, I befeech theſe objectors
ſeriouſly to reflect, whether human nature is
now in fuch native perfection, as to be able
to
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 25
!
J
to anſwer and attain the true ends of fuch a
being as man is; that it is not now in fuch
perfection, needs little fagacity to fee, or in-
genuity to own; that it was fo in its origi-
nal formation, no way misbecomes the beſt
philofophy to believe; forafmuch as it is
apparently a neceffary confequence from the
infinite wiſdom and goodneſs of God. Now
'tis evident, that, in fuch a ftate, reafon muft
enjoy a calm dominion; and confequently,
that there was no room for thoſe fudden
ftarts of imagination, or thofe fudden tumults,
agitations, failures, and ftagnations of the
blood and fpirits, now incident to human
nature; and therefore Eve was incapable of
fear or furprize from fuch accidents as would
difquiet the beft of her pofterity. This
objection then is fo far from prejudicing
the truth of the Mofaic hiftory, that, to
me, I own, 'tis a ftrong prefumption in its
favour.
BUT after all, if this objection has yet
any weight with my reader, I befeech him
to confider what there is in this philofophic
ferenity of our firft parent, (fuppofing the
whole of her conduct on this occafion fully
related to us) fo far exceeding the ferenity
of Fabricius, upon the fudden appearance
and
cry of the elephant contrived by Pyrrhus
to difcompofe him; or the fteddinefs of Brutus
upon the appearance of his evil genius ?
and
26 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
and yet, I believe, Plutarch no way fuffers
in his credit, as an hiftorian, by the relation
of thofe events; at leaſt, had he related
thoſe furprizing accidents, without faying
one word of what effects they had upon the
paffions of the perfons concern'd, his rela-
tions had certainly been liable to no impu-
tation of incredibility, or even improbability
upon that account.
Now let the wifeft of mankind imagine
himſelf in Eve's condition, I would ask fuch
a one, If a brute fhould accoft him with the
fame power of fpeech, and ftrength of rea-
fon, and fhould afcribe both to the fame
caufe that the ſerpent did, whether fo power-
ful a temptation would not, in all probabi-
lity, influence him to the fame tranfgreffion?
If then, there be nothing abfurd, or impof-
fible, or unphiloſophical, in ſuppoſing that
the organs of a brute could be fo acted by
the influence of a fuperior intelligence, as
there evidently is not; then is there plainly
nothing abfurd, impoffible, or incredible in
this whole account of the conference be-
tween Eve and the ferpent; nay, fo far
otherwiſe, that, as it is now explain'd, I
will be bold to fay, 'tis the moſt rational
ſcheme of deception, and the beſt fitted to
work its end, that the fubtileft of all created
fpirits can be conceived capable of deviſing
on the occafion;
nay more, that the
whole
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 27
whole of this account is incomparably more
agreeable to reafon and philoſophy, and,
confequently, more credible, than any one
article of the Freethinker's faith, as it is
contradiftinguiſh'd from the Chriftians.
DIS
28 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
DISSERTATION III.
Of the knowledge of marriage given
to Adam.
Proceed now to confider another
revelation neceſſary to Adam in
a ftate of innocence; and that
was a revelation of marriage ac-
cording to the law of nature; or,
in other words, that God had ordained, that
one man ſhould be infeparably united to one
woman.
Now that this knowledge was neceffary to
Adam, I believe the adverfaries of revelation
will not deny; when they confider, that this in-
feparable union of one man with one woman
in marriage, is a law of nature, as I fhall here-
after prove it to be; and they themſelves own
that the knowledge of the law of nature is ne-
ceffary, in order to a due diſcharge of duty.
Now that Adam knew this to be fuch, is evi-
dent
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 29
dent from theſe words in the fecond chapter
of Genefis, pronounced by him at the inftant
that God gave the woman unto him, v. 23.
And Adam ſaid, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh; fhe fhall be called Wo-
man, becauſe ſhe was taken out of man. 24.
Therefore fhall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and
they shall be one flesh.
THAT Adam fhould have a perfect idea of
father and mother, before there was any fuch
thing as a father or a mother in the world,
---ſhould have clear ideas of the affection and
endearment arifing from that relation, and yet
fhould fee clearly that the affection and en-
dearment arifing from marriage fhould yet get
the better of theſe ties, fo as to attach a man
nearer to a ſtranger taken to his breaft, than
to thoſe very parents whofe blood ran in his
veins, and who gave him his very life; is a
problem which will puzzle all the infidels
of the world to explain in a natural way; or
to account for from any fuppofition of fagaci-
ty or penetration in the human mind, or
from any principle whatſoever but exprefs
revelation; at leaft if the received doctrines
of philofophy be true, that the fenſes are the
inlets of ideas, and that we can have no ideas
without objects; that the mind, tho' it can
compare and combine, yet cannot create ideas
of any kind; nor form any, but from the
per-
ceptions
30 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ceptions of its own operations, and the ob-
jects of fenfe. Now ideas of parents and chil-
dren, and the relation arifing from thence,
when there was no fuch thing as parents or
children in the world, were to Adam plainly
ideas without objects; ideas of parental af-
fection in a man who never had been a parent,
nor ever feen the effects of that affection in
another; ideas alſo of filial affection in one
who never had been a fon, of contending with
that affection, of conquering it, and preferring
another to it, are perceptions which it was
impoffible Adam could naturally have, from
perceiving the operations of his own mind;
becauſe it is impoffible his mind could natu-
rally operate in that manner; and therefore,
fince it is plain that he had theſe ideas, and
had them not from nature, 'tis evident he
muſt have them from revelation.
AGAIN, How was it poffible for Adam to
know, that God Almighty intended that the
union of man and wife fhould be perpetual,
fhould be as lafting and infeparable as the
union of parts in the fame body, which no-
thing but death or deftruction can feparate?
for ſo theſe words plainly fignify, and they
fhall be one flesh.
He knew indeed that Eve and he were
literally one flesh; but he knew at the fame
time, that fucceeding pairs fhould not be fo;
that
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 31
A
3
that wives were to be provided for all other
men in a natural way; this is evident from
theſe words, Therefore fhall a man leave his
father and his mother, and ſhall cleave to his
wife; and yet how he fhould take upon him
to affirm, that their union with their husbands
fhould be as infeparable, by the appointment
of God, in the nature of things, as if they
were actually one flefh, is impoffible to be
accounted for in a natural way.
We all know that property was eſtabliſhed
in the world as a fence againſt the corruption
of human nature, and therefore it is rational to
believe, that in a ſtate of innocence there would
have been a community of all the common
conveniencies and neceffaries of life: nor
could reaſon antecedently demonftrate a ne-
ceffity of eſtabliſhing a ſtrict invariable pro-
perty in this inftance above any other; efpe-
cially when the ends of fociety might in ma-
ny caſes be ſeemingly beter anfwered, by an
allowance of more liberty in this point; as in
the cafe of accidental barrennels from too
great a difference of temperament in the mar-
ried pair,
or any accidental defect hap-
pening after marriage in either party.---Now
the ends of marriage would in appearance be
better anſwered, by leaving either or both
parties at liberty in thefe cafes to make ano-
ther choice; eſpecially at a time when the
perfection of human reafon, and rectitude of
the
32 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
:
the will, precluded all danger of that liberty's
being abufed.
And therefore 'tis evident,
that Adam could not know that God Al-
mighty had thus ordained, otherwife than by
an expreſs revelation. It was impoffible
for him to know, without revelation, in what
proportion his offspring of each ſex would be
propagated or that the number of each
fhould for ever bear a certain determinate pro-
portion to one another, as it certainly does;
and, that that proportion would demonftrate
the juſtice and the neceffity of one man's be-
ing allowed a property in no more than one
woman; and that infinite evils would accrue
to mankind in their fallen condition, as it is
evident there would, from eftablishing this
property only for a limited time; or making
the continuance of it arbitrary, or determin-
ble at the difcretion of either or both parties;
and fince it was abfolutely impoffible for
Adam to know all this, (for in truth nothing
leſs than infinite wifdom could know it,) 'tis
evident he could not take upon him to pro-
nounce, that this fhould be the ftate of mar-
riage, but by expreſs revelation from God;
and this reaſoning clearly confirms the truth
of our Saviour's explication of this paffage in
the 19th chapter of St. Matthew's gofpel,
4th, 5th, and 6th verfes, where he tells us, that
the words pronounced by Adam on this oc-
cafion, were the declaration of God himſelf
And he answered and ſaid unto them, Have ye
not
}
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 33
not read, that he which made them in the bes
ginning, made them male and female? and
faid, For this caufe hall man leave father and
mother, and ſhall cleave to his wife, and they
twain ſhall be one flesh. Here you find, that
the declaration afcribed by Mofes to Adam, is
aſcribed by Chrift to God; from whence it is
evident, that the declaration which Adam
made on this occafion, was in confequence
of an exprefs revelation from God.--- Which
was the thing to be proved. And here 'tis
well worth obferving, that if we ſuppoſe
Adam uninform'd by God in the reafon of that
infeparable union of one man with one wo-
man in marriage, which he had then ordain-
ed, this appointment was, with regard to
Adam, a mere pofitive inftitution; and, I be-
lieve, no one imagines that it was not for
regarded by his fons for fix thouſand years:
and yet in reality it was (and is now demon-
ftrated to be) a law of nature: and ſhall we
yet dare to pronounce that God has no right
to bind fuch reafonable clear-fighted creatures
as we are, by inftitutions apparently po-
fitive?
D
DISSER-
34 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
:
DISSERTATION IV.
Of the skill of language infus'd into
H
Adam.
AVING demonftrated the necef-
fity of a revelation to be made to
Adam in relation to marriage, I
proceed to fhew you, that another
revelation was alfo neceffary to
him in the ſtate of innocence; And that is, a
revelation of language.
THAT God made man a fociable creature,
does not need to be proved; and that when
he made him fuch, he with-held nothing
from him that was in any ways neceffary to
his well-being in fociety, is a clear confe-
quence from the wiſdom and goodneſs of God;
and if he with-held nothing any way neceffary
to his well-being, much lefs would he withhold
from him that which is the inftrument of the
greatest
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 35
greateſt happineſs a reaſonable creature is ca-
pable of in this world. -- If the Lord God
made Adam a help meet for him, becauſe it
was not good for man to be alone, can we ima-
gine he would leave him unfurniſhed of the
means to make that help uſeful and delight-
ful to him? If it was not good for him to
be alone, certainly neither was it good for him
to have a companion, to whom he could not
readily communicate his thoughts; with
whom he could neither eafe his anxieties, nor
divide, or double his joys,--by a kind, a friend-
ly, a reaſonable, a religious converfation;
and how he could do this in any degree of
perfection, or to any height of rational hap-
pineſs, is utterly inconceivable without the
uſe of ſpeech.
Now that men have not the uſe of ſpeech
from nature, is an undeniable truth. -- Hero-
dotus, indeed, tells us of an Ægyptian king,
who caufed two children to be educated, un-
der a ftrict injunction to their keeper, that
they ſhould never hear a human voice; in
order to learn from thence, which was the
oldeft language; and that after two years,
they both pronounced the word beccos at the
fame time; which happened to fignify bread
in the Phrygian language. This conduct of
the Egyptian king was evidently abfurd; for
if he made any rational enquiry by this ex-
periment, it should be this, -- whether there
D 2
was
36 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
was any fuch thing as a language of nature?
For there could be no reaſon why an untaught
child ſhould ſpeak the oldeſt, more than the
lateft language, if that oldeft were not the
language of nature; and if it was, not only
that, but every other child, would ſpeak it
untaught; nay, all mankind would of necef-
fity ſpeak that language, and no other; at
leaft, they would of neceffity ſpeak that, tho'
they had learn'd others; and every man upon
the face of the earth, would be intelligible to
every other, when he fpoke it. Becauſe if
founds had any natural force to exprefs
things, 'tis impoffible the meaning of them
could ever be doubtful, even at the firſt hear-
ing; and whereas the contrary to this is un-
deniably the truth; and there is no rela-
tion between founds and things; and words
fignify things,
things, from no other than the
arbitrary agreement of men; 'tis evident, that
language is not natural, but inftituted; and to
ſuppoſe Adam not endowed with the know-
ledge and uſe of it, is to fuppofe him form'd
in a much worfe condition than the birds of
the air, or the beaſts of the field; who have
all natural means of communicating their
wants and defires, and what other ideas are
neceffary to be communicated for their mu-
tual aid and well-being, by uniform regular
founds, immediately and equally intelligible
to the whole fpecies.
AND
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 37
AND that the inferior animals have not
the advantage of theſe founds from inftruc-
tion, or the example of their parents, is evi-
dent; becauſe they are uniformly endowed
with them, in all regions, and at all diſtances
from any of their own ſpecies; and therefore,
'tis evident, they have their feveral languages,
fuch as they are, by inftinct; that is, either
immediately from the divine influence, or
from fome eſtabliſhment of infinite wildom
in their formation: or, in other words, that
they are taught of God.
And certainly
none will be fo abfurd as to imagine, that
God was lefs careful in the formation of man,
or furniſhed them lefs perfectly, for all the
ends of fociety, than he furnished the fowls
of the air, or the beafts of the field; God
forbid!
If it be faid, That the human organs be-
ing admirably fitted for the formation of
articulate founds: thefe, with the help of
reafon, might in time lead men to the ufe of
language; I own it imaginable that they
might; but ſtill, till that end were attained
in perfection, which poffibly might not be
in a ſeries of many generations, it muſt be
own'd that brutes were better dealt by, and
could better attain all the ends of their
creation. And if that be abfurd to be
ſuppoſed, certainly the other is not leſs abfurd
D 3
10
38 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
to be believed. Nay, I think it juftly doubt-
ful, whether, without infpiration from God
in this point, man could ever attain the true
ends of his being; at leaſt, if we may judge
in this cafe, by the example of thoſe nations,
who, being deftitute of the advantages of a
perfect language, are, in all probability, from
the misfortune of that fole defect, funk into
the lowest condition of barbarifm and bruta-
lity.
AND as to the perfection in which the
human organs are framed and fitted for the
formation of articulate founds, this is clearly
an argument for believing that God imme-
diately bleſſed man with the uſe of ſpeech;
and gave him wherewithal to exert thofe
organs to their proper ends: for this is furely
as credible, as that when he gave him an
appetite for food, and proper organs to eat
and to digeft it, he did not leave him to feek
painfully for a neceffary fupply, (till his
offence had made fuch a fearch his curfe and
puniſhment) but placed him at once in the
midft of abundant plenty.
THE confequence from all which, is, that
the perfection and felicity of man, and the
wiſdom and goodness of God, neceffarily re-
quired, that Adam fhould be fupernaturally
endowed with the knowledge and ufe of lan-
guage,
And therefore, as certain as it
can
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 39
can be, that man was made perfect and hap-
py, and that God is wife and good; fo
certain is it, that when Adam and Eve were
formed, they were immediately enabled by
God to converfe and communicate their
thoughts, in all the perfection of language
neceffary to all the ends of their creation.
AND as this was the conduct moft become-
ing the goodneſs of God; fo we are affured
from Mofes, that it was that to which his in-
finite wildom determined him: for we find
that Adam gave names to all the creatures
before Eve was formed; and confequently,
before neceffity taught him the ufe of
fpeech.
AND thus, having proved, in a way per-
fectly demonftrative to myſelf, and, I hope,
fatisfactory to you, that, at leaft, five reve-
lations were abfolutely neceffary to Adam in
a ftate of innocence and perfection; I think,
I may fairly pronounce, that the main doc-
trine of our adverfaries is abfolutely over-
thrown, even upon their own principles;
for fuppofing man to be now in as much
perfection, as he was originally formed in,
(which I fhall hereafter demonftrate that he
is not) yet, if I have fhewn that with all the`
abilities he has now, he could not attain to
the true end of his being, unaffifted by God;
and our adverſaries own, that if he could not,
D 4
he
40 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
he muſt be worfe dealt by than the beafts
that perish; and affirm at the fame time,
that the wiſdom and goodnefs of God won't
allow this to be believed; it follows, upon
their own principles, that if revelation was
neceffary, God certainly gave it. -Now
I have proved revelation to be neceffary to
man, even on fuppofition of his being formed
in the utmoſt perfection his nature is capable
of; and furely 'tis a clear confequence from
this, that it muſt be more neceffary, in pro-
portion as he is found to fall fhort of that
perfection for otherwife 'twould follow,
that tho' the advice and skill of a phyfician
was indeed neceffary in perfect health, for
the regimen and prefervation of it, yet there
was no fort of need of it, in ſickneſs.
THAT human nature wanted the affiſt-
ance of God, in the utmoſt perfection it can be
imagin'd capable of, I have already proved.
Now waving the queftion, whether it
ever was in more perfection than it is now,
which ſhall be examined on another occafion;
that human nature is at this time in all the
perfection it is capable of, I believe no man
of common fenfe will pretend to affirm; and
if it is not, why it may not yet want more
affiſtance from God, will furely be hard to
fay; unleſs God has already given it all the
affiſtance he could give; and if he hath done
io, 'tis a demonftration that he hath more
than
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 41
than once inſtructed, exhorted, admoniſh'd, re-
proved, and puniſhed mankind; becauſe 'tis
certain that he could do all this, and that
they have more than once needed the inter-
pofition of God to all theſe purpoſes: unleſs
it be fuppofed, that mankind are utterly in-
capable of improvement or amendment; of
being deterred from evil, or drawn to good;
and I ſhould be very forry to have this fuppofed,
even for the fake of our adverfaries.
WHEREAS then the main principle upon
which the arguments of our adverfaries are
founded, is utterly overthrown, by demon-
ftrating the neceffity of revelation, in the
utmoſt ſuppoſed perfection of human nature;
our controverfy with them might properly
enough conclude here, if I did not hope the
continuance of it, may, in the end, have
better effects than the confufion of obftinacy
and perverſeneſs; may, in fome mea-
fure, vindicate the ways of God with men;
may, by God's affiftance, inform the
ignorant, fatisfy the doubtful, and con-
firm the faithful; and, if not convince, yet,
at leaſt, fubdue the infidel; and reduce him
to the modefty of enjoying his ignorance in
the humility of filence.
RATIONAL doubts, propofed with candour,
and debated with calmness, have unquestion-
ably the cleareft claim to our moſt ſerious
alten-
42 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
attention; as well as to our beft endeavours
of clear and rational folutions; but where
is the human, or even the chriftian patience
that can bear with the infolence of error?
To hear the moft rational conduct hu-
man nature is capable of, infulted by the
moft irrational; to fee men triumph on the
fide of vice, against the interefts of virtue;
on the fide of error, againſt the evidence of
truth; with the violence of obftinacy, and
blindneſs, and abfurdity, againſt the light
and majefty of wiſdom is fuch an outrage
upon common decency, as well as common
fenfe, as no man, who hath the intereft of
virtue, the honour of God, or the good of
mankind at heart: is able, is obliged to bear,
without indignation. I fpeak this not
only as an apology for troubling the chriftian
reader with recounting and confuting the
errors of our adverfaries;
an apology, for whatever vehemence may
hereafter fall from me, in profecution of thefe
bold (not gigantick) invaders of heaven.
but alſo as
AND now, having confidered the feveral
revelations given to mankind before the fall,
my method next leads me to confider,
the feveral revelations given after the fall.
DIS
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 43
;
DISSERTATION V.
Of the revelations which immediately
follow'd the fall.
B
ஆஇ
EFORE I proceed upon this
point, it will be proper to ob-
ferve, that the common objection
to this whole account of the fall,
is its obfcurity. Now if that
obfcurity neceffarily arifes from the truth
of the relation, i. e. from relating that
tranfaction as it really was; then this ob-
jection will be ſo far from being a prejudice
to revelation, that it muft greatly tend to
confirm it. Now, what reaſon can be con-
ceiv'd, why Mofes, who is on other occa-
fions the plaineft, moft natural, moſt intel-
ligible hiftorian in the world, fhould be fo
very obfcure in this; unless it were, that
truth requir'd it? For if we fuppofe him left
to his own difcretion, or the liberty of his
Own
44 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
own invention upon the point, can we ima-
gine that a man of his genius could not
give us a more explicit, intelligible account
of this matter? there is no queftion but he
could. If therefore we confider Mofes on
this occafion, neither as a philofopher, nor
commentator, but barely as an hiſtorian:
the true way to judge whether he acted
faithfully in that character, is, to enquire,
whether, from the nature of the thing, a
converfation in that ftate of things, between
three fuch intelligent beings as are here in-
troduc'd, muft not of neceffity be obfcure to
us, in this ftate, and at this diftance.
HUMAN nature is generally fuppofed to
have been then in perfection; at leaft,
Adam muſt be allow'd fufficiently acquainted
with his own condition; which no man will
pretend to know with equal perfpicuity at
this diſtance and as the knowledge of lan-
guage was infpir'd by Almighty God, Adam
and Eve muft neceffarily be fuppofed fully
informed of all the powers and idioms of a
tongue fo taught. Let it be confidered then,
that the converfations here related, are be-
tween Almighty God, man fuppofed in per-
fection, (at leaft, more intelligent in the
point in queftion, than any man can now be
ſuppoſed) and another being under the dif
guife of a brute, fubtle and intelligent be-
yond man, even in perfection. Now all
f
con-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 45
converſation muft, in proportion to the fu-
perior intelligence of the beings concerned,
be obfcure to beings of lefs intelligence;
efpecially, if it turns upon points in which
thofe beings of inferior intelligence, are not
fufficiently informed.
IF three of the beſt mathematicians of
the age were to converfe but one minute,
upon fome important point of that fcience:
or three able philofophers upon fome princi-
ple of natural knowledge, then newly dif-
covered; the relation of that converfation
would of neceffity be obfcure to all perfons
unskill'd in the ſubject of it: but fuppofing
theſe fame perfons, to attain, after fome
time, to a competent knowledge of the point
treated upon would the obfcurity, in which
the hiftorian related it, be any prejudice
either to his veracity or abilities, in the opi-
nion of thofe perfons? Quite otherwife; it
would be a demonftration of his veracity at
leaſt, if not of his skill. In like manner,
if the converfations and fentences relating to
the fall, can, with much ftudy, and with
the advantage of all thofe improvements in
knowledge, to which mankind are arrived,
be now made more intelligible to us: the
obfcurity, in which they have hitherto been
involv'd, will be fo far from prejudicing the
truth of the Mofaic relation, that it will be
3
a ſtrong,
46 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
a ftrong, additional argument of the writer's
fidelity and veracity.
Now whether they are made more intel-
ligible in the fubfequent differtations, the
reader will beft judge.
THE firſt revelations which we meet with
after the fall, are in the third chapter of
Genefis, at the 14th and the following
verfes; where God, upon examining into
the offence of our firft parents, pronounces
fentence upon the feveral criminals concern'd
in it, in the following manner:
14. AND the Lord God faid unto the fer-
pent, Becaufe thou hast done this, thou art
curfed above all cattel, and above every beast of
the field: upon thy belly fhalt thou 80, and
duft shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;
15. And I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy feed and her
feed; it fall bruife thy head, and thou shalt
bruife his heel.
•
16. UNTO the woman he faid, I will greatly
multiply thy forrow, and thy conception; in
forrow shalt thou bring forth children; and
thy defire fhall be to thy husband, and he ſhall
rule over thee.
17. AND
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 47
17. AND unto Adam he faid, Becauſe thou
haft hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and
haft eaten of the tree of which I commanded
thee, faying, Thou shalt not eat of it; curfed
is the ground for thy fake; in forrow halt
fhalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
18. THORNS alfo and thistles fhall it bring
forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field.
19. IN the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it waft thou taken: for dust thou art,
and unto duft shalt thou return.
Obfervatí-
ons upon the
on
nounced
Adam and Eve,
fuch a
HERE is a terrible denunciation
of toil, and mifery, and death,
upon two creatures, who being fentences pro-
inur'd to nothing, and form'd
for nothing, but happineſs, muſt
feel infinitely more horror from
fentence, than we, who are now well ac-
quainted with theſe great enemies of our
nature, (familiar with death, intimate with
mifery, and born to forrow as the Sparks fly
upward,) can have any notion of. The
whole creation curft around 'em, and on
their account; and they, for that very rea-
fon, more accurft in the midft of it! This is
fuch an image of complicated and accumu-
lated
3
48 REVELATION Examin'd, &e.
lated diſtreſs, as were utterly inſupportable-
even to innocence; and much more to
guilt. And therefore, if ever man needed a
revelation of mercy, 'twas certainly at this
black and difmal moment: which, if not
relieved with fome beam of hope, muft of
neceffity have carried them both quick to
perdition.
THE majefty of God, array'd in all the
terrors of juftice, of juftice unallay'd by
mercy, is evidently no object of religious
adoration, to finners: love, and hope, and
confidence, are effential ingredients of that
glorious office; and without thefe, expe-
rience affures us, that religion quickly con-
cludes in diftraction and defpair. And if
religion once fail'd amidſt the miſeries of
mortality, now denounced upon our firſt
parents, 'tis certain their next rational wifh
muft be, that life fhould do fo too.
'Tis evident therefore, that both religion
and nature muft fink in this exigence, un-
fupported by fome ftay of rational hope.
They had loft every thing by their fin; their
perfection, their innocence, the favour of
God, and their original felicity: and there-
fore 'tis evident, that no hope could be a
fufficient ſtay, could afford them any degree
of rational fupport, in this exigence: but a
ftrong and well-grounded affurance of re-
covering
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 49
covering what they had loft: and 'tis as
evident, that no ray of rational hope, and
much lefs of any folid affurance, fhines
thro' all this revelation, unlefs in the fen-
tence of the ferpent: and, if that means not
more than the letter of it feems to import,
there is certainly no rational confidence or
confolation to be drawn from that. For
what confolation could it be to Adam to
know (tho' the fentence is alfo true in this
fenfe) that his pofterity would hate ferpents,
and ferpents them? That they fhould fome-
times have their heels hurt by that hateful
animal; and, in return, fhould fometimes
trample thofe vile creatures to death? Adam
muſt be fallen indeed, fallen below the laft
degree of common fenfe, to derive any de-
gree of fatisfaction or fupport from this fenfe
of the words. And therefore
'tis evident, he muft endeavour
The fentence
ferpent, a ra-
tional founda-
tion of hope
to Adam,
to derive his hopes from fome pafs'd upon the
other interpretation of them;
and he was fufficiently juftified
in doing fo. For he was told,
that his feed ſhould bruife that very ſerpent's
head. If that meant no more than vengeance
upon the ferpent; what hinder'd him from
taking it? If vengeance has any good
in it, certainly the more fpeedy, and the
more effectual, the better. And what rea-
fon was there to believe, that any of his
fons would be in a better condition to effect
E
this,
50 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
this, than himſelf? Or where ſhould they
be fure to find this individual creature, when
they would effect it? 'Tis evident therefore,
that he could fee no reafon in the world,
why this puniſhment ſhould be referred to any
of his poſterity, but this only; that fome of
his pofterity would be enabled to execute that
ſentence, in fome other ſenſe than he himſelf
could. And furely, if the words of the ſentence
did not, upon a due enquiry, give a ſuffi-
cient foundation for fuch an hope, neither
would God have deliver'd his fentence in
fuch a manner; nor fo wife a man as Mofes,
been fo careful to convey an unmeaning,
unintelligible fentence to pofterity.
that Mofes was a great and a wife man,
eminent for depth of fenfe, as well as dignity
and perfpicuity of ftyle, no eminent or en-
larg'd genius ever yet denied, or doubted.
And therefore, even in honour to fo great an
authority, we fhould endeavour to find out
fome better meaning under the veil of thoſe
words.
For
AND in order to conduct us in this fearch,
we muſt remember that the earlieft method
of inftructing mankind, in all fublime and
important truths, was by allufions to, and
metaphors drawn from fenfible things and
as this is the earlieft, fo is it alſo the eafieft,
method of inftruction, becauſe it ſpeaks to
the underſtanding, by the fenfes; which is
at
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 51
at all times the fureft method of conveying
knowledge to the mind; and was, till later
refinements introduc'd abftractions, and uni-
verfal ideas, the only poffible method of
inftructing to any purpofe. Nay, fome de-
gree of this, is abfolutely neceffary at this
day: nor can the moſt refined abſtractions of
quantity and power, be conveyed to us,
without the affiftance of fenfible fymbols;
fuch as, figures, lines, and letters. And certainly
ſuch ſymbols, as have an an evident analogy
to the things fignified, are more intelligible
and inſtructive, than any arbitrary or artifi-
cial figns, or characters, can be. Now, this
being premis'd, I will venture to affirm,
that, if Adam and Eve are allow'd to have
any degree of good underſtanding, (and
there is good reafon to believe they had, at
leaft, as good as any of their pofterity) they
could not but clearly fee a far higher and
nobler meaning, in the fentence denounced
againſt the ſerpent, than the words feem at firft
fight to import. And to lead them more clear-
ly to this way of thinking, 'tis fufficiently ap-
parent, that they faw fome vengeance imme-
diately executed by Almighty God upon that
creature; and that this vengeance was to
them a fignificant emblem of that final over-
throw, which he was one day to fuffer from
the feed of the woman. St. Paul, in the
eighth chapter of his epiftle to the Romans,
gives us plainly to underftand, that all the
E 2
creatures
52
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
creatures were curft in the fall: nay, 'tis
evident, that the creatures must be affected
by the curfe denounced upon the earth;
and that the curfe of the other creatures is
plainly implied in that of the ferpent. For
when God fays to him, Thou art curfed above
all cattel, and above every beast of the field,
what can be clearer, than that the meaning
of theſe words is this: that tho' the other
creatures of the earth were curft in fome
meaſure, yet the ferpent was more fignally
curft than any of them. Now, being curft,
plainly implies being fome way or other
reduc'd to a worfe condition; and therefore
his (the ferpent) being curft in a more
remarkable manner, muft certainly fignify,
his being reduc'd to a remarkably worfe
condition than he was in before. And what
that reduction might be, feems fufficiently
hinted in the following words; Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and duft fhalt thou eat all
the days of thy life. Now thefe words are
plainly a denunciation of puniſhment; and
fufficiently imply the very execution of that
curfe upon him. But furely, if the ferpent
was originally form'd to go upon his belly,
and to eat duft, his continuing in that con-
dition in which God had created him, could
be no puniſhment. And therefore, either
theſe words have no meaning at all, (which
it would be both abfurd and blafphemous to
ſuppoſe) or elſe they muft mean his being
reduc'd,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 53
reduc'd, from that moment, to fome lower
and more abject condition, than that in
which he was created.
AND 'tis evident, that in fact he is in a
much lower, a more abject, a more hateful,
a more curft condition, than any other beaft
of the field; lefs fitted for happineſs in
that element to which he is doom'd; defti-
tute of every limb, every beauty of propor-
tion, and every perfection of every kind,
that can render the other creatures of the
earth either amiable or excellent! hateful
and noxious to the whole brute world, and
yet more remarkably fo to man their mafter!
AND what lower, more abject, or more
deteftable life can be imagin'd than this?
Reduced to the vileft condition of the vileft
worm of the earth; reduced, as near as can
be imagin'd, to the very figure and imper-
fection of an embryo.
PLINY indeed mentions a report, which
he had heard, of a kind of ferpents with feet ;
but Ariftotle difcredits this opinion: (tho' a
late* writer affirms himſelf, to have feen fuch
animals in Grand-Cairo.) Herodotus tells
us, of fome winged ferpents that fly annually
* Vide Blunt's Voyage to the Levant, &c.
E 3
from
54
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
!
from Arabia to Egypt; and later obferva-
tions have diſcovered fome winged and
bright fhining ferpents in the eaſtern and
fouthern parts of the world: and there is
alſo mention made of fome of the fame
fpecies in Ifaiah, and in the book of Num-
bers. But yet every one of theſe eat duft,
and crawl upon the earth; and probably
thefe are permitted by Almighty God to re-
tain, even yet, fome fmall remains of their
original luftre and perfection, to give us
fome idea of that glory in which they were
created, and from which the curfe of God
hath thrown them down.
BUT here it may be ask'd, How this fup-
pofed diminution of the ferpent's glory could
be of any ufe to Adam? I anſwer, Many
ways. For if, the ferpent boafted to Eve,
that he had acquired new excellence and
perfection by eating the forbidden fruit;
nor was it obfcurely infinuated, that this
was the pure vertue of that fruit; indepen-
dent of the power of God; and that it would
have a proportionable effect on them alfo :
God knoweth, fays he, that in the day ye eat
thereof, ye shall be as gods. Now nothing
could fo effectually confute this vain boaſt,
and wicked infinuation, as letting Adam and
Eve fee, that imperfection, and lofs of ex-
cellence, was the only certain confequence
of
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 55
of his delufion, and oppofition to the will
of God.
MORE than this, 'tis not improbable that,
without the example of divine vengeance on
the ferpent, Adam and Eve would be apt to
flatter themſelves (as many of their poſterity
profanely do at this day) that God Almighty
would not be ſo ſevere upon them, for eat-
ing an apple; little confidering, that the
cafinefs of the reftraint greatly added to the
guilt of difobedience. And therefore no-
thing could more effectually convince them
of the heinoufnefs of their guilt, and the
certainty of divine vengeance due to it, than
the immediate puniſhment of that creature,
which was no more than the mere inftru-
ment of evil. It was eafy for them to infer, if
the mere inftrument of evil is thus punished,
what will become of the real authors and
actors?
AND befides all this, doubtless it was fome
confolation, as well as matter of much in-
ftruction, to Adam, to fee that glorious in-
ftrument of evil, ſtripp'd of all his pride and
pre-eminence of form, and perfection of
parts; and laid proftrate and groveling at
his feet. Anticipating, in this fhameful fall,
and difmal degradation, that dreadful defeat,
and utter diminution of glory, which awaited
the adverſary of mankind, (and perhaps
under
E 4
56 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
under this very form) when the feed of the
woman ſhould bruife his head.
BUT here it may be objected, that, all this
is only an account of vengeance upon the
ferpent; whereas the fcriptures of the new
teftament explain all this of Satan, under
the image of a ferpent.
I ANSWER, that Adam and Eve could not
but know, before this time, that the ferpent
was only an inftrument of mifchief, made
ufe of by fome malignant fpirit, in enmity
to God and them. I fay, Adam and Eve
could not but know this. For they had
learn'd, by their own fad experience, that
the forbidden fruit had not the vertue of en-
nobling nature, and infpiring new abilities,
but quite the contrary: and they knew the
ferpent had neither fpeech nor reafon from
nature; and therefore the delufion put upon
them, must be the contrivance of fome be-
ing, not only fuperior to the ferpent, but
alfo far fuperior to themſelves. The work
of fome fpirit, which had taken poffeffion
of the ferpent's body, and wrought this
delufion, by his organs.
Now a fpirit affuming and actuating the
body of a ferpent, may, I think, with great
propriety be called a ferpent; as the Son of
God, affuming a human body, is called a
man;
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 57
1
man; and therefore the ftyle of the fcrip-
tures is fufficiently juftified, in the appella-
tion of fatan, by the name of the ferpent.
Nor is there any more difficulty in con-
ceiving how fatan could actuate the organs
of the ferpent on this occafion, than how a
reaſonable foul can actuate the organs of this
animal body we bear about us.
BUT fome will ask, How Adam and Eve
could have any idea of fpirits? I anfwer,
Many ways, conceivable even to us; and
many ways utterly inconceivable at this
diſtance, and in this ftate of things. We
are told, in the 28th chapter of Job, that
when the foundations of the earth were laid,
the fons of God fhouted for joy. And pro-
bably their jubilee was not lefs at the com-
pletion of that great work. And who can
fay that Adam and Eve might not have been
witneſſes to the hallelujahs of that heavenly
chorus on this occafion? or, who will fay,
that, in the perfection and innocence of their
nature, they were not fubjects worthy the
curiofity, and companions not unworthy the
converſation of the higheſt order of heavenly
beings? And what might they not learn
from fuch a communication?
BUT ſhould nothing of this kind inform
them, can it be imagined that Adam had not
knowledge to all the purpoſes that we have?
Or,
58 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
Or, at leaſt, to all the purpofes of his duty
and well-being? Adam could not fure be
ignorant, that he had a thinking principle
within himfelf, of a very fuperior nature to
the whole order of beings about him and it
was very eaſy for him to imagine, that
other thinking beings might exceed him, as
far as he exceeded the beft, or even the
meaneft, of the brutes.
Nay more, if we
allow him as much capacity as any man of
common contemplation among his fons, (and
one would imagine this were no mighty con-
ceffion,) 'tis evident, he muft foon learn, that
the bodies of the creatures, could, of them-
felves, have neither fenfe nor motion: he
knew they were made of duft; and furely
it requir'd no great fagacity to know, that
neither duft, nor any thing made of duft,
could think or move: And therefore, what-
ever thought or motion was obfervable in
the creatures, muft be owing to the action
and perception of fome fpirit within them:
And, this point being gain'd, it was cer-
tainly eaſy for him to proceed one ſtep far-
ther; and to reafon thus with himſelf; that
the fentence of toil and bodily labour, which
it pleaſed God to pronounce againſt him, on
this occafion, could never be intended to
terminate only in his body; which was, in
truth, no more than the poor, paffive, un-
offending inftrument of the fpirit that ruled
it: And, 'tis evident, that when he once
knew,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 59
knew, that the ferpent had not beguiled Eve
by vertue of new faculties, deriv'd from
eating the forbidden fruit, nor by the power
of his own fpirit, which difcovered no fuch
ability either before or after: he was under
a neceffity of concluding, that this creature
muft have beguiled her, by the power of
fome other ſpirit, dwelling in him at that
time: and when he once concluded this, he
could not but conclude, that the fentence
paſs'd upon that animal, muft of neceffity be
referr'd to that fpirit which ruled his carcass
on this occafion; that carcafs, which was no
more than the paffive inftrument of a fupe-
rior intelligence. This, I fay, muft be as clear-
ly intelligible to Adam, as that the fentence
of pain and puniſhment paſs'd upon himſelf,
tho' literally decreed againſt his body, muſt
of neceffity refer, and be intended as a
puniſhment, to the principle of perception in
him, which ruled and fwayed his body, to
the committal of that crime, which deferved
fuch vengeance from his Maker.
AND, if Adam could have any doubt of
the truth of this reaſoning, the fentence of
God, pronounced against the ferpent, muft
clearly and fully confirm him in it. For
that fentence is plainly directed and de-
nounced againſt an intelligent being, and a
free agent;
who had committed a crime,
which a brute was not capable of commit-
ting;
60 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ļ
ting; and deferved a puniſhment, which a
mere paffive inftrument could not deſerve.
And this confideration could not but afcer-
tain to Adam, the true object of the divine
wrath and vengeance, on this occafion
which could be no other, than the evil fpirit
who had committed the offence.
;
AND, when he was once fully poffeffed
of this point, all the reft was eafy. His
next enquiry naturally would be, what his
Maker could mean, by bruifing the head of
that inftrument of miſchief? That he could
not underſtand this according to the letter,
I have already fhewn; and therefore, he
was under a neceffity of interpreting it in a
figurative fenfe. And certainly it was not
hard for him to conceive, that the head was
a natural and obvious emblem of power and
pre-eminence. And fo natural an emblem
it is, that it hath been us'd as another name
for power, in all ages, and in moft languages
of the world, and eſpecially the Hebrew.
And furely it would be hard to ſuppoſe
Adam ignorant of the idiom of his own
tongue; as there is all the reafon in the
world to believe, that the Hebrew was his
own.
BESIDES this, he could not but know,
that his own head ruled the reft of his
body; and that it was the feat of that
dominion,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 61
dominion, wherewith he prefided over the
reft of the creatures: and therefore he could
not but quickly and clearly conclude, that
the bruifing the head of the ferpent, muft
fignify, the cruſhing and deftroying the domi-
nion and power of that fpirit, which had
now ſway'd the organs of this creature, to
his deftruction.
AND probably it was in allufion to this
hiftory, and this interpretation, that ferpents
have been confider'd as emblems of power,
from the earlieſt antiquity. And we know,
that when Epaminondas * would teach his
foldiers that they ſhould deftroy the whole
power of the enemy, if they could once
break the Spartans, who were at their head;
he did this by bruifing the head of a great
ferpent before them, and then fhewing them,
that the reft of the body was of no force.
And it were hard if Adam could not con-
ceive the head of a ferpent, to be a proper
emblem of hoftile power, as well as Epami-
nondas. And this once understood, his hopes
muft quickly riſe in confequence of that
light.
}
He found that the feed of the woman
(which doubtlefs he underſtood to be her
Vid. Polyæn. Stratag. 1. 2.
iffue
62 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
!
iffue by him) was to be at enmity with this
evil fpirit; and fhould, in the end, deftroy
his power.
Enmity implies an oppofition
of inclination and intereft; and therefore
enmity to evil, muft infer an inclination to
good. And fuch a difpofition in his feed,
gave hopes of a recovery of that rectitude of
will, which he himself had loft by his dif-
obedience.
fairly de-
Nor is it to
not at leaſt
BUT whatever Adam might do, we plainly
fee that theſe confequences are
duceable from that fentence.
be imagined, that Adam could
conceive fo much hope from it, as was fuffi-
cient to keep up a ſenſe of religion in his
mind; which was all that was abfolutely
neceffary. It was alfo obvious for him to
conclude, that the deftroying the power of
his adverſary, muft imply conqueft; that the
conqueft of a ſpirit fo fuperior to himſelf,
muft neceffarily imply abilities very much
fuperior to his own; and if his feed were
once poffeffed of rectitude of will, added to
better abilities, they muft, at leaſt, be re-
ftored to the primitive perfection of human
nature; and feemingly to more. And in
that perfection, they muft certainly be ac-
ceptable to their Maker.
'Tis true, he and Eve muſt return to their
duft;
and poffibly might not live to fee this
triumph
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 63
triumph and reftitution of their ſpecies, in
their feed; the humility, to which the ſenſe
of their guilt had reduced them, would eaſily
fuggeft, that probably they, who were fuch
criminals, were unworthy the honour and
happineſs of being admitted to fee that blef
fed ſtate of things; but, however, it could
not fail to be matter of infinite fatisfaction to
them, to think, that their pofterity fhould
attain it.
AND thus, having inconteftably proved the
neceffity of fome revelation of mercy to be
given to Adam, at the time of that unfpeak-
able calamity with which he was over-
whelm'd, upon the denunciation of God's
wrath against him; and having, by a na-
tural, and obvious train of thinking, fhewn
you, that Adam, with a common degree of
reafon and reflection, muft, after mature
reflection and deliberation, of neceffity con-
clude, that Eve's deception was wrought by
a malignant fpirit, acting by the organs of
the ferpent; and confequently, that the
fentence, denounced againſt that creature,
muft of neceflity be referred to that evil
fpirit, who was the author of the guilt;
having alfo fhewn you, how Adam, by a
very natural and obvicus interpretation of
one figurative expreffion, agreeable to the
idiom of his own language, might derive
clear and rational hopes of the deftruction
of
64
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
4
of his real enemy, from the fentence pro-
nounced againſt the ferpent; as alfo of the
reftitution of his pofterity to their original
purity and perfection, by that deftruction: I
fhould next proceed, to clear fome other diffi-
culties in relation to this fentence.
A digreffion
in anſwer to
one part of the
letter to Dr.
Waterland.
BUT before I enter upon this
fubject, I muft beg leave to ob-
viate a common objection which
lies againſt this way of interpre-
tation, which I have now taken;
viz. that it is not fair to interpret one fen-
tence of the fame difcourfe literally, and
another figuratively: and a late ingenious
writer* infults the weaknefs and ignorance
of believers upon this head, with fuch a viva-
city and fulneſs of fpirits, as is not always
decent, even
even in the triumphs of truth.
Speaking of the Mofaic hiftory of the crea-
tion, fall, &c. he has theſe words:
"MUST we believe it all an allegory?
"No.
"No.
Muft we believe it to be all literal?
What then are we to do? Why we
"are to confider it neither as fact nor fable;
"neither literal nor allegorical; but both to-
"gether to interpret one fentence literally;
"the next allegorically, &c.
* Letter to Dr. Waterland, p. 14.
"FOR
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 65
FOR inftance; God made man, we accept
literally; but after his own image, in a figu-
rative or metaphorical fenfe, &c.
Now 'tis evident from this inftance, that
this ingenious writer makes no diſtinction
between metaphor and allegory; if he had,
he could not but fee, that he is the allegorical
interpreter, who takes the whole account of
the fall, as related by Mofes, to be a kind
of Egyptian, or eaſtern fable; under which
fome hidden truth is intended to be convey'd;
and that Dr. Waterland, and fuch as think
with him, underſtand the Mofaic account of
this matter, as no way fabulous or hierogly-
phical; but an hiftorical relation of fact; (a
real ſerpent, a real apple, &c.) tho' with
fome obfcurity, and fome metaphorical ex-
preffions.
I CAN'T explain myſelf on this head bet-
ter, than by the inftance objected by this
gentleman, (the author of the letter.)
GOD made man, we accept literally; but
after his own image, in a figurative or meta-
phorical fenfe: And with great fubmiffion to
this ingenious writer; What is there, unfair,
or irrational in this conduct? Is not this the
proper, and the rational way of interpreting
every writing under heaven, as well as the
F
fcrip-
66 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
fcriptures? Is there one good writing in the
world, which must not thus be interpreted in
every page? and would not otherwife be
abfurd and unintelligible?
IT were eaſy to illuftrate this in infinite
inftances; but I fhall beg leave only to
mention one; and from an author, whom,
I am fure, this gentleman will not deny to
be a good writer.
In the letter to Dr. Waterland, p. 15. are
thefe words,
"Now is it not more ra-
❝tional to follow one uniform confiftent
66
way of interpretation, than to jump at
every ſtep, ſo arbitrarily from letter to
"allegory? And if the letter be found in
"fact contradictory to reaſon, and the no-
"tions we have of God, What is there left,
"but to recur to allegory?"
Now taking the words allegory and meta-
phor to fignify the fame thing, (as this gen-
tleman has thought fit to do on this occaſion)
I would gladly know how the reader is to
underſtand this period. Muft he believe it
all an allegory? No. Muſt he believe it
fhould all be interpreted according to the
letter? No. What then are we to do?
Why, we are to confider it as neither literal
nor allegorical, but both together.
FOR
-L
f
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 67
FOR inftance, the first part of the
period, [now is it not more rational to follow
one uniform confiftent way of interpretation]
is neither literal, nor allegorical, but both
together: the words, more rational, I under-
ftand literally to follow one uniform confiftent
way, I take to be metaphorical: the words,
of interpretation, I underſtand literally the
fubfequent words, to jump at every step, I
take to be metaphorical: and for this plain
reafon ;
:
I CANNOT believe that a writer of fuch
excellent underſtanding, can mean literal,
real jumps and ſteps in this place; becaufe
fuch an interpretation would be found in
fact contradictory to reafon, and the notions
we have of good writing: What then is there
left (to uſe his own words) but to recur to
allegory?
Now what I cannot believe of this author,
I cannot believe of Mofes: and therefore,
when Mofes fays, that man was made in the
image of God; I can no more underſtand the
word image here, of a real, literal, fenfible
image, than I can this author's jumps and
Steps in this place, to fignify real, literal
jumps and steps; becauſe I think one inter-
pretation would be as contradictory to rea-
fon, and as unworthy of Mofes, and of God,
F 2
as
68 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
as the other would be unworthy of this inge-
nious author.
I APPEAL to every reader of candor and
common fenfe; Would it not be exceffively
abfurd, or exceffively difingenuous in me,
not to interpret this ingenious author's writ-
ings in a fair, rational way; as partly literal,
and partly figurative? And can I efcape the
jufteft imputations of abfurdity and difin-
genuity, if I fail to treat the writings of
Mofes with the fame candor, and to judge
of them by the fame rules of rational inter-
pretation? And muft it follow from hence,
that we muſt confider this hiſtory as neither
fact nor fable? No, furely, fince figurative
interpretations, of particular fentences, in
hiſtorical relations, are perfectly confiftent
with the ftricteft truth of fact. All then that
can be required of us, is, to fhew that this
hiftory, confidered as ftrictly true in fact,
(tho', in fome refpects, obfcure) has nothing
in it, that we can find, any way unworthy
either of the wiſdom or goodneſs of God.-
How far the precedent differtations have
effected this; as alfo, how far the fubfe-
quent, may be of any ufe to the fame pur-
poſe, the reader will beft judge.
DIS-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 69
DISSERTATION VI.
Concerning fome difficulties and objections
that lie against the Mofaic account
of the fall.
COME now to confider fome diffi-
culties which yet lie againſt
my explication of this fentence,
as pronounced upon fatan under
the image of the ferpent.
AND the firft difficulty is this;
WHY God punished the evil spirit, under
the figure of the ferpent ?
THAT it was neceffary, in the wiſdom of
God, to punish the author of evil at this
time, and in the prefence of Adam and Eve,
is evident; Otherwiſe they might have been
led into a moft dangerous and deftructive
F 3
error :
70 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
error: they might imagine, that there was
fome principle of evil in the world, fome
powerful malignant fpirit independent of
God, and capable of controlling his will:
* and therefore there was a neceffity that
God fhould exert fuch a power over this
evil fpirit, in the prefence of Adam and Eve,
as might convince them, that he was fubject
to the almighty power of their Maker; and
feverely accountable to him, for all the mif
chief he wrought in the world; as might
convince them, in the ftyle of the prophet,
that he was God, and that there was none
elfe;
that he was God, and there was none
like him,
faying, My counfel ſhall ſtand,
and I will do all my pleasure.
And what
could be a clearer proof of this, than ſub-
duing that evil fpirit, in that very brutal
diſguiſe, which he had put on, the better to
accompliſh his malice againſt God, and his
creatures; than to let them fee, that he.
was not fo much as able to defend the poor
creature, whoſe carcafs he had ufurp'd, from
immediate infamy; nor dared fo much as to
open his mouth, either in vindication of his
own conduct, or mitigation of his fentence?
Now (to fay nothing of the fentence
pafs'd upon the principal himſelf on this
* See Dr. Sherlock's difcourfes of prophefy.
occafion)
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 71
1
occafion) 'tis evident, that an uncontrolled
puniſhment of the accomplices in guilt, in the
prefence of the principal, plainly proves a
power over the principal; and the nature of
the proceeding, muft fuppofe the chief cri-
minal prefent, when fentence was pafs'd.
THE fame thing is alfo evident, from the
tenor of the ſentence, exprefsly directed to
him, i. e. directed against the ferpent, as an
intelligent criminal. Nor will the malignity
of his nature fuffer us fo much as to fufpect
that he would attempt to retire, before he
was furpriz'd in his guilt by God: for that
would infallibly fuggeft to him, to ftay, and
enjoy the fruits of his triumph, to the full.
Or, if we fufpect that his malignity would
not detain him, his curioſity certainly would.
Nay, there was a neceffity, in point of real
information, that he ſhould ſtay: for, in
truth, it was impoffible otherwife for him to
know, what evil effects the forbidden fruit
would have upon that unhappy pair: for
this, nothing but God, who made that and
them, could know, without experiment and
obfervation. Nay, there is reafon to believe
that he expected they would die that very
day; from thoſe words of God to them, In the
day ye eat thereof ye shall furely die: and this
feems to have been his chief aim, in deluding
them to eat that fruit: the utter deftruction
of that fpecies, for whom God had created a
world,
F 4
72 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
world, was a fcheme of evil worthy his
higheſt malignity; and therefore there is
not the leaft doubt of his waiting there,
with the utmost impatience to fee the fuccefs
of his device. Or, if we could fuppofe him
fled, how eafy was it for an all-powerful,
omniprefent Being, to bring him back to the
place of his punishment? And when he was
there, the wiſdom of God would naturally
engage him to arreft him there, in fuch a
manner, as to leave Adam and Eve fully
fatisfied, that he heard and felt the vengeance
denounc'd againſt him; which it was eaſy
for God to do, and which doubtlefs he
did.
AND as to his being punifh'd, under the
figure of the ferpent, we know, that a ſpirit
cannot be punish'd, to human eyes, other-
wife than under fome fenfible appearance;
and what other fenfible appearance could
have any relation to him, or his crime? and
befides, what could be a more proper humi-
liation of his pride, than to puniſh him under
that (now debaſed) brutal form, in which
he perpetrated the guilt? Suppoſe a prince
furpriz❜d a malignant fubject, of the firft
quality, plotting rebellion againſt him, in
fome obfcure and infamous difguife; may
we not imagine, that it would greatly add
to his mortification, to be executed, in all
the infamy of that character he had taken
upon
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 73
upon him? and yet the mortification muſt
be infinitely ſtronger in the prefent cafe.
To have the proudest fpirit of heaven
degraded down to the infamy of a brute!
Nay, to have that very brute, degraded
far below his own natural character, funk
into the very loweft and vileft condition of
brutality, in order to fink his inmate yet
lower! To have the proudeft fpirit of
heaven, known by no other name among
men and angels, to all eternity, than that
of a vile ferpent; nor diftinguifh'd for any
other talents, than fuch as characterize that
baſeft of brutes, to the whole world; de-
ceit, treachery, malignity, and enmity to
every thing good and excellent! O Lucifer,
Jon of the morning, how art thou fallen from
heaven! How art thou cut down to the
ground! Thou that faidft in thy heart, I
will afcend unto heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God,
I will
afcend above the heights of the clouds, I
will be like to the Moft High,
brought down to hell!
yet art thou
THE next queftion that comes to be ex-
amin'd is this:
WHY the ferpent was punish'd, being in-
capable of guilt.
IN
74 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
In anſwer to this; I must own 'tis to me
a moſt ſhocking and prefumptuous enquiry,
to ask why God difpofes or determines of his
creatures, in this or that manner! Is it not
enough for us to know, that the purity and
perfection of his nature, will not ſuffer him to
act, otherwiſe, than by the direction of infinite
wiſdom, under the influence of infinite good-
nefs? Cannot he, who gave being, and beauty,
and excellence to his creatures, refume them
all, when, and as often as he thinks fit? and
fhall we fay unto God, What doft Thou? But
forafmuch as queſtions of this kind, are often
ask'd from a feeming concern for the honour
of God, and therefore have fome claim to
our regard on that fcore; let it be fufficient to
tell all fuch enquirers, that God created the
brute world, for his own glory, and the good
of man; i. e. for the manifeſtation of his infi-
nite wiſdom and goodneſs, in providing fo
amply, and fo admirably, for the human hap-
pineſs; and that his wiſdom, as well as good-
nefs, to the brute world, is yet farther mani-
fefted, in fubmitting them to the dominion of
man; as might eafily be made appear; and
as for their outward fplendor, inaſmuch as it
appears to be of no confequence to themſelves,
'tis not eafy to conceive, why Infinite Wiſdom
poured it upon them, in ſuch variety and pro-
fufion, unleſs, to entertain the curiofity and
the wonder of that active and inquifitive fpi-
rit,
}
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 75
rit, wherewith he hath endowed this lord of
the nether world. That his curiofity, ſhould
even in its weakneſs, lead him in every reſearch,
to adore his Almighty Maker, with high-
er degrees of admiration and reverence. And
therefore, fhould thefe outward perfections,
by any unhappy accident, become fo far liable
to be abus'd, as to defeat the very ends for
which they were beftowed: must not the
ſame goodneſs take them away, for the very
fame reafons for which he bestowed them?
And this, according to the tenor of Mofes's
account, is the very cafe of the ferpent in the
point before us. When Satan had feduc'd
man to fin against his Maker, by the abufe of
thofe very perfections, in one of his creatures,
which fhould naturally have inflam'd his ado-
ration, into higher acts of praiſe and thankf
giving the power and wifdom of God were
many ways concerned to impair that excel-
lence, which was ſo abus'd.
I. THE power and majefty of God were
concern'd (as I before fhew'd you) in letting
Adam and Eve fee, that the wicked fpirit,
who had employed the ferpent's organs to
their hurt, was not able to defend his own
inſtrument, from immediate difgrace: His
wiſdom alfo demanded fome fignal mark of
vengeance against the inftrument of evil; in
manifeftation of his invincible abhorrence of
guilt. (So the beaft that had been abus'd to
unclean-
76 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
uncleannefs, under the law, was to perifh; and
the very gold which compos'd that calf that
feduc'd Ifrael to fin, was to be difpers'd and
mix'd with common duft.) And who will
fay, that the vindication of God's authority,
and the fteady, unalterable manifeftation of
his irreconcileable enmity to evil, are not of
infinitely more value, than the beauty, or even
the being, of the higheſt and nobleſt of his
creatures? Nor can it be pretended, that there
is the leaft fhadow of injuftice in the cafe;
it being a known maxim, that there can be no
injury, where there is no right: And what
other right has any creature to being or excel-
lence of any kind, but the will of his Maker?
Befides, it can't be fuppos'd there was any
hardſhip to the creature, in the curfe now de-
nounced; for what we call a worfe condition
in the creatures, muft ariſe, from a contraction
of life, a diminution of happineſs, a diminu-
tion of outward fplendor and perfection, or
fome acceffion of real mifery. As to the two
firſt, 'tis evident, that if brutes are fuppos'd to
be created in that ſtate, and with that degree
of happineſs, in which we now fee them, we
can make no reaſonable objection to the divine
goodnefs on that account; and certainly 'tis
no more an imputation upon the Divine
Goodneſs, to reduce them to this ftate,
than it would have been to have created
them in it: For as brutes have no anticipa-
tion of death, nor a capacity of reflecting
and
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 77
and comparing, 'tis evident that a diminution
of happineſs, which implies no degree of mi-
fery, can be no evil. A lefs good, is indeed
comparatively evil; but then this idea of evil
arifes entirely from compariſon : And there-
fore where there is no compariſon, there cer-
tainly can be no ratio of evil; and where
there is no evil, there can be no injury.
As to the 3d point, 'tis evident, that all
outward perfections of the creatures, with all
fuch qualities as may make them more ami-
able and uſeful to man, were beftow'd folely
for the fake of man: Nor can brutes be rea-
fonably fuppos'd to have an idea of them; nor
would the ends of their being (with regard
to themſelves) be any way defeated by a di-
minution of them. God made this earth and
all the creatures amiable and excellent, to
make the world a fcene of greater happineſs
to a creature that was to continue in it but
when fin introduc'd death, he curs'd the earth
and the creatures by a diminution of excel-
lence; to make the world lefs defirable to a
creature who was fo foon to leave it. Now
a diminution of outward excellence, or other
qualities that might make the creatures more
ufeful and amiable to man, by no means in-
fers a diminution of real happineſs; and much
leſs an acceffion of real mifery; which the
goodnefs of God will not fuffer us to fufpect
him capable of inflicting upon an innocent
creature.
78 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
creature. The ſentence denounced againſt him
(the ferpent) does indeed affect his form and
food; but not his fubtilty, nor perhaps his
ſtrength: or, ſay it affected his ftrength as
well as form, 'tis evident, that the wiſdom of
God is in this cafe beyond all compariſon bet-
ter manifeſted, in the ample fupport of ap-
parent incapacity and imperfection. For ex-
ample, if God hath deprived the ferpent of
feet to carry him to a due fearch of the ne-
ceffities of life, furely he hath abundantly
compenſated that defect, by feeding him to
the full at his eafe; as it is notorious, that
even the birds of the air fly into his very
mouth to feed him. And 'tis perhaps for no
other reaſon, that God Almighty hath per-
mitted many of theſe creatures to grow to an
enormous bulk, thro' the courſe of many fuc-
ceeding centuries, but that men might bear
witneſs to the extraordinary, and, to us, mira-
culous fupport of this feemingly imperfect
animal, from generation to generation. As we
are told, there was a ferpent in Africa, in the
time of the firſt Carthaginian war, of fuch an
enormous ſtrength and fize, as gave Regulus
and his army work enough to fubdue him,
with their engines of war; (as we are alſo told
of many others) and if after this, you fuppofe
the ferpent's ftrength diminiſhed, at least it
muſt be allowed, that this diminution was
not more than was abfolutely neceffary.
MOSES
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 79
MOSES tells us in the 3d chapter of Gene-
fis, That the ferpent was more fubtile than any
beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And naturalifts affure us, that his fubtilty en-
ables him to contend with the ftrength of the
elephant, and to conquer it: others tell us,
that the ſerpent has a faſcination in his eyes;
and bewitches the creatures to their deftruc-
tion. And what does all this mean, but that
he has a fubtilty in tempting and feducing,
which exceeds not only the capacity, but the
comprehenfion of the most accurate obfervers
of mankind.
If God then hath impaired the ſerpent to
all appearance, and yet left him wherewithal
to fupply all the demands of nature, in a
moſt extraordinary and moſt amazing man-
ner, is it poffible to imagine a greater de-
monftration either of the wifdom of God, or
the truth of the Mofaic hiſtory, than this?
The ſerpent is impair'd, and yet he is a match
for armies; he is reduc'd to all the imper-
fection of a worm, and yet is he able to
ſupport himſelf in a ſtate of enmity with the
whole world.
BUT farther yet; another reafon why the
ferpent was impair'd in his outward perfec-
tions, was, that this inftrument of fatan might
carry leſs temptation; when God, in his in-
finite wisdom, forefaw, that fatan, would,
more
80 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
#
more than once, abuſe this very creature, to
the fame wicked purpofes. As it is notorious,
that there is ſcarce a nation under heaven,
which he hath not feduc'd, at fundry times,
to the groffeft and vileft idolatry (even the
idolatry of his own helliſh worſhip) in the
figure, and under the femblance of ſerpents
of all kinds.
COU'D any thing then be more wife, or
more beneficent in Almighty God, than to
deface that excellence in the ferpent's form,
which he knew would be a temptation to
idolatrous worſhip; and at the fame to in-
ſpire mankind with a ſtrong enmity to him,
not only to with-hold, but to deter them from
delufion: when he yet knew, that in fpight
of all theſe diſadvantages, and this antipathy,
they would be feduc'd by their adverſary, to
pay him divine adoration, under that very
appearance? Now this fact being admitted,
what conduct could better become the wif
dom and the goodnefs of God, than curfing
this creature in fo eminent a manner, above
all other beaſts of the field, as Mofes affures
us he did?
AND here I cannot help putting this plain
queftion to our adverfaries; Do they know,
that mankind have been fo often deluded, in
fo many ages and regions of the world, to pay
divine adoration to ferpents? If they do not
know
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 81
know this, they are fo far from being in a
condition to infult the ignorance of believers,
that their own ignorance is indeed lament-
able: and if they do know it, will they yet
dare to deride us, for believing that Eve mif-
took one of that fpecies for a reaſonable crea-
ture, when fo many millions of her fons and
daughters have, not only miſtaken, but ador'd
an infinity of them as divine? In a word, if
they do not know this, they are the moſt pi-
tiable, in point of ignorance, of any fect that
ever pretended to a fuperiority of light and
learning; and if they do know it, they are at
once the moſt fhameleſs and moſt abandon'd
of the fons of Adam. Let infidels chooſe
which fide of this dilemma they like beſt.
BUT here it may be objected, That other
creatures were worſhipped as well as the fer-
pent.
I ANSWER, That other creatures were alfo
curfed as well as the ferpent; but as God, in
his infinite wisdom, forefaw, that men would
be more deluded to the worſhip of the ferpent,
than to that of any other creature, as in fact
they were; therefore did he curfe the fer-
pent above any other creature.
AGAIN; if it be asked, Why the tempter
chofe the body of the Serpent preferably to
that of any other creature?
G
I
82 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
;
I ANSWER, Becauſe he was more fubtle,
and probably more excellent in his make;
and his afpect more reſembling the human
as fome of that fpecies are faid to have at this
day. Now theſe advantages, ſeem'd to imply
fuperior perfection; and fuperior perfection
made the gradation from brute to rational
more credible; and confequently, the true
tempter was better hid; whereas, had he
affumed the diſguiſe of an afs or a dove,
(which a late very ingenious writer thinks
had been fitter engines for fatan) the gradation
had been much more prodigious; and, of
confequence, much more liable to ſuſpicion
and diftruſt.
ADD to this, That no finite being can
actuate any creature beyond what the fitneſs
and capacity of his organs will admit: and
therefore the natural fubtilty of the ferpent,
and perhaps, the pliablenefs and forkinefs of
his tongue (which we know enables other
creatures to pronounce articulate founds)
added to the advantages of his form, made
him the fittest inftrument of delufion that can
be imagin'd.
BUT here it may be objected, If the tempter
had fo many advantages to strengthen his delu-
fion, why were our first parents punished for
yielding to it?
I AN-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 83
I ANSWER, That this temptation, all
things confider'd, was not ſtronger to them,
than ordinary temptations are, at this day,
to their pofterity.
We know that temptations are now preva-
lent with mankind, from ignorance, from evil
example, from natural depravity, or from
preffing neceffity.
Ift, I SAY, men are now tempted to tranf-
grefs in a thouſand inftances, from downright
ignorance. Nay, they are often tempted to
tranfgrefs the law of God, from the ſecret
ſuggeſtions of their own corrupt hearts, or
the open fuggeftions of their feducers, that it
is not the law of God, but the contrivance
of prieſts and princes, to keep the world in
awe. But Adam and Eve had no pretence of
ignorance of any kind. They knew the law,
the legiflator, and the danger of tranfgreffing.
God himſelf forbad them to touch the fruit;
and told them the evil which would inevi-
tably attend their diſobedience: therefore they
are utterly inexcufable upon the head of
ignorance.
EVIL example they had none, but that of
the ferpent: And how could the example of
a brute be any rule of action to them? The
example of men, is, in many inftances, in
G 2
the
84 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
the place of precept to men: their wisdom,
and their fuccefs, are often efteem'd fufficient
fecurities for a ſafe imitation; but the exam-
ple of a brute, could be neither fecurity, nor
precept. What was advantageous to a fer-
pent, might be pernicious to a man: what
was permitted to a brute, who was neither
capable of law nor fin, might, for the
higheſt reaſons, be prohibited to man, who
is capable of both.
And
NATURAL depravity they had none, being
made good, and perfect in their kind.
neceffity they had none, having an infinite
variety of other fruits, every way as good,
and as defirable, for fupply of their natural
wants, as that which was with-held from
them; for we are affured, that God gave
them every tree upon the face of the earth,
that was good for food, and pleaſant to the
fight, except that fingle tree; and there is
not the leaft reaſon to believe, that this had
any advantage, in theſe reſpects, over any one
of all the reſt.
AND here I cannot but obferve, how faith-
fully the fons of perdition retain, to this day,
the fame fpirit of calumny, which reign'd in
the old ferpent from the beginning: hardily
imputing all the reftraints of religion, to the
craft of God's prieſts, to keep men in ſubjection
to themſelves; as fatan imputed the firſt re-
ftraint,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 85
ftraint to the craft of God, to keep man in
inferiority and awe.
BUT ſtill it may be ask'd, Why this inftance
of obedience was exacted of Adam and Eve?
and why this temptation was thrown in their
way, when God knew they would tranfgrefs?
SHOULD* a father difcard and difinherit
his child for having deferted fome poft affign'd
him, feduced either by the craft of fome old
ſophiſter, or driven off by fuperior ſtrength?
&c.
CICERO tells us, that the very gods of
the poets, had they known how pernicious
their gifts would prove to their children, muſt
be thought to have been wanting in kindneſs
towards them, &c.
I ANSWER, That theſe are indeed plaufi-
ble enquiries and objections: but if they are
thoroughly confidered, nothing in nature can
be more prefumptuous, or unjuftifiable. For
to ask, why God did not make man indepen-
dent of his own authority, or fuperior to
temptation in any particular inſtance, is in
reality to ask, why he made him a creature?
and if a creature, why a reaſonable creature,
* Vide letter to Dr. Waterland, p. 17, &c.
G 5
and
86 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
and a free agent? or, having made him ſuch,
why he did not make him an abfolutely per-
fect being,
i. e. God? For if we have a
right to know why God did not make him
more perfect in this point of the forbidden
fruit, we have the fame right to know why
he did not make him more perfect in an-
other, and in a third, and fo on endleſsly;
till we know why he did not make him as
perfect as himſelf. And if God had a right
to make his creatures ameneable to his au-
thority in all inftances, why not in any par-
ticular inftance? Who is beft judge in this
cafe, God, or you?
22
BUT this will be better cleared, by dif-
cuffing this point in a more particular man-
ner,
IN the first place then, it is evident, that
no being, is, or can be, independent, but
God. Dependence is included in the very
idea of a creature. If God had plac'd Adam
in a ſtate of dependence upon any of the
higheſt orders of heavenly beings, 'tis evident,
he had been, fo far, placed in a ftate of in-
felicity; becauſe the higheſt imaginable de-
gree
ree of created excellence, muft of neceffity
imply fome degree of ignorance and imper-
fection: And man had then been to arch-
angels, for example, what brutes are now to
men; who are, in a thouſand inſtances, in-
capable
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 87
capable of fupplying their wants, or pre-
venting their mifery. And therefore when
God created man with a dependence only
upon himſelf, 'tis evident, he, fo far, con-
fulted his higheſt intereſts and happineſs.
Since then, man, as a creature, muft of ne-
ceffity be dependent: and, being dependent,
it was his intereft to be immediately depen-
dent of God: it was certainly his intereft
alfo, to have a fure and conftant fenfe of that
dependence kept up in his mind: for other-
wife, he might lofe the advantage of it, up-
on any exigency. And no created being can
be imagin'd fo perfect, as never to need the
guidance, or influence, or affiftance of infi-
nite power, and infinite wiſdom. And if it
was Adam's advantage to have a conftant
fenfe of that dependency kept up in his mind,
it was certainly his advantage to have fome
fure and permanent memorial of it, placed
before his eyes, in fuch a manner, as ſhould
make it impoffible for him to forget it.
BESIDES this, as Adam's intereft required
fuch a dependency, the honour of God ex-
acted fome manifeftation of it: for depen-
dency in a creature, without fome mark or
manifeſtation of ſuch a ſtate, is utterly unin-
telligible; or, to fpeak more properly, is a
contradiction: becaufe 'tis, with regard to
that creature, to all intents and purpoſes, a
ftate of independency. And therefore, if
G 4
the
88 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
the honour of God, and the character of a
Creator, neceffarily require fome manifefta-
tion of dependency in his creatures, 'tis evi-
dent, that in a reaſonable creature, they re-
quire fuch manifeftation of it, as is moft
agreeable to the nature of a reaſonable crea-
ture, and a free agent; a creature ſenſible of
dependency, and capable of acknowledging
it. And how can this acknowledgement be
made, but by homage and obedience of fome
kind? and all homage and obedience, of ne-
ceffity imply fome reftraint of natural liberty.
And, fince fome reſtraint of natural liberty
was neceffary, in Adam's cafe; what reſtraint
could be more eaſy, than a reſtraint of his
appetite from one fruit, amidſt an infinite
variety of others no lefs delicious, and poſ-.
fibly many, perhaps all of them, more fo?
And, at the fame time, what reſtraint could
be more worthy the wifdom and the good-
nefs of God, than the prohibition of a fruit,
which he knew would be pernicious to his
creature?
AND probably it was for this very reaſon,
that the tree of knowledge was placed in a
diſtinguiſh'd fituation, in the midſt of the
garden. For I have already fhewn, that if a
dependence upon God was for Adam's inte-
reft, a conftant fenfe of that dependency muſt
be fo too; and how fhould that be better
kept up, than by fome remarkable memorial
before
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 89
before his eyes? And what could more na-
turally contribute to make fuch a memorial
remarkable, than a very fingular and diftin-
guiſhed fituation? And if fome reftraint of
Adam's liberty was neceffary, in manifefta-
tion and acknowledgement of dependency;
and God in his wifdom thought fit to place
that reſtraint upon fome indulgence of appe-
tite, which would be pernicious to him;
(for that there was no neceffity of fuch moral
reſtraints, in that ſtate of things, as are now
found expedient, is fufficiently evident) could
any thing better become his wifdom and
goodneſs, than to place the object of that ap-
petite in fome place fo diftinguiſh'd, as to
prevent all poffibility of miſtaking that fruit
for
any other?
AND as to its being a perpetual object of
temptation; for my part, I have no idea of
any Being placed out of the reach of tempta-
tion, but God alone. All created beings have
of neceffity limited powers; and are of ne-
ceffity, limited in the uſe of theſe powers;
and, if every thing not granted, be a re-
ſtraint, every creature in the univerfe is re-
ftrain'd; and, as fuch, every angel, of every
order, muſt be in the midſt of temptations,
even in the midſt of heaven. But at the
fame time, furely all thofe creatures muſt be
inexcufable who, when God hath given them
every thing neceſſary for their happineſs, will
yet
90 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
yet repine if they have not more; and dif-
obey where they are not indulg'd. And
therefore the conduct of Almighty God, with
relation to the reſtraint laid upon Adam,
however liable to exception at first fight,
yet will, upon a thorough enquiry, be found
to flow from the inexhauftible fountain of
his infinite wiſdom and goodneſs.
As to the particular objections urged in
the letter to Dr. Waterland, the learned and
ingenious author could, I am fure, had he
thought fit to take the other fide of the
queſtion, have given them clear and folid
folutions; he knows very well, that God
neither diſcarded nor difinherited his fon,
tho' he chaſtiſed his diſobedience; and that
fuch chaſtiſement may be (and, upon the
Chriſtian ſcheme, was) the effect of infinite
wiſdom and goodneſs in the author; that the
curfe upon Adam, and the earth, was the
effect of mercy, not fury; to make a tempo-
rary life, and a vexatious world, leſs defire-
able to him; that tho' his happineſs was im-
pair'd, yet neither his hope nor his inheri-
tance were cut off; and that obedience left
him ſtill in a capacity of recovering more,
than all that difobedience had forfeited.
BUT
yet if, notwithſtanding the manifeft
equity and benignity of the divine conduct
on this occafion, this acute author cannot fee
how
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 91
how it can be acquitted of feeming injuftice,
and unreasonable feverity, I judge him not:
to his own mafter he ſtandeth or falleth;
but I earneſtly with him to remember, that
the wifeft of mortal beings may too eaſily
be blinded by vanity: and drawn into the
greateſt abfurdities, in defence of a favourite
hypotheſis.
BUT 'tis objected, (by the fame writer,
p. 18, 19.) that God can make nothing in
vain, yet paradife was fo; fince it was
no fooner made than forfeited, and, like a
theatrical ſcene, changed in an inſtant to a
profpect of mifery and barrenneſs.
Is then every thing made in vain that is
tranfitory? and did paradife vaniſh in an in-
ftant? and do the fcriptures warrant us to
believe fo? quite the contrary.
But fup-
poſe it to have lafted but one day; the Ephe-
meris's whole life, and end of exiſtence, is
fully compaffed in a lefs fpace; and yet the
infinite wiſdom and almighty power of God,
are as amply manifefted in the formation of
that infect, as in the whole apparatus of
paradife !
'tis evi-
SUPPOSE it lafted but a day,
dent, that the whole ſcheme of our redemp-
tion is built upon the tranſactions of that day:
and is that vain and unworthy of God? and
are
92
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
when
are you fure it is? and can you prove it to be
fo? O arrogance of vanity! are the times and
feaſons in our hands! and is it ours to fay
and how long! Muft our ideas of
duration and eſtimates of fitneſs determine
Him, with whom a thousand years are but as
one day, and one day as a thouſand years!
Wife fon of Sirach, how juft is thy reflection!
wiſdom is far from * pride.
BUT Cicero tells us, "that the common
opinion of all philofophers is, that the deity
"can neither be angry nor hurt any body;
cc
r
how would he have been furprized then,
"to find God reprefented here, as fierce and
enraged, driving out his own creatures in
cc anger,
and, in a kind of fury, curfing
"the very earth for their fakes!"
<c
Now would not any man that reads this
paragraph, and faw the words fierce, enraged,
anger, fury, in Italick characters, imagine
at firſt fight that Mofes made uſe of all theſe
expreffions, to fet forth the vehemence and
exceſs of the divine wrath on, this occafion?
and that the Divine Being was reprefented as
a fury, with a fcourge of fcorpions, drive-
ing out his wretched creatures from blifs? ---
And yet how muſt he be aſtoniſhed to find
* Ecclus. xv. 8.
no
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 93
no other foundation for all this calumny,
than the delufion of a vain, unruly, and
blafphemous imagination; except in the
fingle expreffion of curfing the earth? which
I have already fhewn, and fhall farther
yet
fhew, to be the effect of mercy, not fury, to
a creature whoſe guilt had entailed death and
miſery upon himſelf, and his pofterity;
not one fyllable or leaſt hint of anger, rage,
fury, or driving out, throughout the
whole relation; but quite the contrary.
WHOEVER Confiders Mofes's account of this
matter, will be more inclined to think, that
they continued in paradife for fome time
after their fentence; at leaſt, 'tis evi-
dent, that God was mindful of their well-
being, and provided them proper protection
Was
from the weather, before their exile.
this the dictate of fury? Nay more, God is
repreſented by Mofes, as deliberating and
affigning the moft gracious reafon imaginable
for his removal of them; — even left they
ſhould eat of the tree of life, and live for
ever; which was doubtlefs, in that condition,
the greateſt curfe of which they were capa-
ble; therefore the Lord fent (not drove) him
forth from the garden of Eden, to till the earth
from whence he was taken.
'Tis true, when he hath related the fact
in all the fimplicity of truth, he afterwards,
in
94 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
in reflecting upon it, does it in the ftyle
ufual on all occafions of expreffing all exiles
or involuntary dimiffions, by the terms of
driving or cafting out, tho' fuch actions were
the known effects of the mildeft juftice, and
conducted under all the circumftances of ten-
derneſs and mercy;
and the moſt equi-
table decifions of law are, at this day, ufually
expreſs'd in that ſtyle.
and Cicero
Bur ftill this was hurting;
and all the philofophers hold, that the deity
can hurt nobody.
I ANSWER, That a governor of the world,
that can hurt nobody, (tho' fuch a being
cannot ftrictly be faid to be angry) that is,
that cannot, and will not punith vice and
difobedience, is a fenfelefs fuppofition; tho'
all the free-thinkers in the world join'd all
the heathen philofophers that ever lived, in
fuggefting and defending it.
I HAVE as high a veneration for Cicero
and his talents, in their proper fphere, as
this objector, or any of his adherents: but I
have an infinitely higher for Him who brought
life and immortality to light by the goffel:
and I am confirmed in the juftice of this way
of thinking, when I find that every Chriftian
of common fenfe, who hath read his bible
with care, hath jufter, more adequate, and
more
1
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 95
more honourable notions of God, than the
wifeft heathen that ever lived.
CC
BUT ftill we are told, that "Cicero ex-
"claims on another occafion, Oh the won-
derful equity of the gods! would any people
"endure the maker of fuch a law, that the
fon or grandfon fhould be punished, becauſe
"the father or grandfather had offended?
66
"how would he have exclaimed then at
"God's punishing fo feverely, not only the
firft pair, but their whole pofterity, the
"whole race of mankind for their fin; and
even the ſerpent too, for the fraud of the
"devil? "
THAT the ferpent could be puniſhed, as
he was, confiftently with divine juſtice, I
have already fhewn that children may be
puniſhed to the lateſt poſterity, or till the
whole race is extinguifhed, for the fins of
their parents, is a neceffary confequence
from the nature and conftitution of things;
and therefore can be no imputation upon in-
finite wiſdom and goodneſs; fince 'tis evi-
dently the effect of both.
And in one
word, to fuppofe it utterly inconfiftent with
equity, to puniſh the fon for the offences
of the father or grandfather, implies a moft
pitiable ignorance of all the laws of God,
of nature, and of fociety; how great foever
the
96 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
}
the name may be, under which fuch filli-
neſſes are vended and protected.
LASTLY, this gentleman tells us, that
Cicero laugh'd at the ftory of Alexander's
dreaming that a ferpent fpoke: "but, fays
"he, how would be have laugh'd at the
"literal ftory of a ferpent actually ſpeaking
"and reafoning, &c.
>>
I ANSWER, That whatever Cicero might
have thought of Alexander's dream, the ve-
neration I bear to his memory, will never
allow me to believe, that he could have
treated Mofes's account of the ferpent's
fpeaking, as a fubject of ridicule. I mean,
if he had well weigh'd, if he had throughly
and candidly confider'd it in all its circum-
ftances; tho', I own, it is neither eafy nor
fafe to fay, what that mortal's exceffive
vanity and manifeft ignorance of the true
nature of God, might infpire him to do,
who could think fo weakly and unworthily
of the Ruler of the world, as to imagine him
incapable of punifhing iniquity; if, in truth,
he did ſeriouſly think fo.
AND whereas this writer would have us
believe, that Jofephus had but a low opi-
nion of Mofes's divine infpiration, from
fome very temperate expreffions of that
hiftorian's upon this head; This objec-
tion
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 97
tion will, I think, vaniſh, to any man of fenfe
that confiders when that Jew wrote, and to
whom, that he might with good reaſon
think it expedient to abate from the rigour
of truth, in fome inftances: the better to
foften and accommodate what he had to fay,
to the prejudices of his readers. For that
he thought juftly, that is, highly, of the
divine miffion of Mofes, a late learned
writer hath fufficiently made appear, from
ſeveral other parts of his writings; (fee the
reply to the defence of the letter to Dr.
Waterland.) Tho', if this proof could
not be produced, and Jofephus were juftly
liable to fufpicion in that point, 'tis evi-
dent, no mighty advantage could be
drawn from thence in favour of infidelity;
fince, 'tis very poffible, (as fome learned
men have obferved) he might, at that
time, have been opprefs'd with doubts
and difficulties, from the difappointment of
his people, in the completion of thoſe pro-
phecies relating to the Meffiah, (which were
to be fulfilled about that time) in the fenfe
and manner their ſelfiſh vanity fuggeſted.
WHOEVER Confiders this feriouſly,
will furely find little credit or conviction
in oppofing any quotation from him, to the
conftant united fenfe, of fo many great and
wife men, of fo many different nations and
interefts, thro' ſo vaſt a ſeries of centuries.
H
DIS-
98 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
DISSERTATION VII.
Some farther difficulties relating to the
fall confidered.
T
The ſerpent's
fentence con-
fidered.
HE way being thus clear'd, I
now proceed to anfwer fome
other difficulties that ariſe on
this head As, ift.
IF this fentence upon the fer-
pent, was defign'd for Adam's
confolation, and as a stay of hope,
that his feed fhould deftroy the power of fatan,
and be restored to the favour of God, Why was
it fo obfcurely delivered?
I ANSWER, That it was deliver'd in fuch
a manner, as fufficiently fuggefted to Adam,
a reaſonable hope of recovering in his pofte-
rity, what he had loft in his own perfon;
and more evidence than this, neither the
wiſdom nor the goodness of God exacted;
eſpecially, fince this obfcurity rather tended
to
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 99
to raiſe his hopes, than to deject him; for
when Adam heard that the feed of the woman
was to deftroy the evil fpirit, he undoubt-
edly underſtood Eve to be that woman; and
fome iffue of his, by her, to be that feed.
This naturally tended, to revive him into a
lively hope of the ſpeedy reſtoration of his
loft eſtate and as naturally tended, to efta-
bliſh a thorough reconciliation between him
and his wife; becaufe, without fuch a re-
conciliation, their hopes could not be com-
paffed. Whereas, without this motive of
amity, fome contention on this occaſion had
been inevitable; and poffibly, the feud
might otherwiſe have been carried on, to
their mutual deſtruction; nay, probably,
without this, the particular puniſhment de-
nounced againft Eve, would have made her
cold in the bufinefs of a reconciliation; and,
perhaps, to fuch a degree, as totally to pre-
vent it; eſpecially, when it muft naturally
begin with fubmiffion and patience on her
part, who had been the caufe of her huf-
band's calamity.
Now that they had lively hopes on this
head, at leaft, enough to fupport them in a
right fenſe of religion, appears from Eve's
exultation at the birth of Cain: I have got-
ten a man from the Lord, fays fhe, i. e. I
have gotten. a man thro' the fignal favour
and mercy of God. Now this extraordinary
H 2
exul-
100 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
exultation cannot be fuppofed to arife from
the fenfe of the bare privilege of bearing
iffue; for that privilege fhe had in common
with the meaneft brutes; which he could
not but know before this time; and there-
fore her tranſport muft arife, from fome pro-
fpect of fome extraordinary advantage from
this iffue; and that could be no other than
the deftruction of her enemy.
AND fuppofing Abel to have been born
after Cain had attained the age of manhood,
as poffibly he might; and after the hopes of
Eve had languiſh'd, by obſerving the per-
verfe difpofition of her firft fon: Her difap-
pointment in theſe hopes, was, probably
enough, the reafon why fhe called her
fecond fon Abel, i. e. Vanity; concluding,
from the little profpect fhe had, in that per-
fon, on whom ſhe had fixed her hopes, that
no child of hers fhould be the promiſed ſeed;
and therefore it was vanity to expect it. But
as Cain's perverfenefs, and untowardly dif
pofition, was probably the reaſon why ſhe
defpair'd of his being the promiſed feed:
and, in that ſpirit of defpair, called her
next fon's name Vanity; from the infirmity
ufual with parents, to believe, that no fon
can equal the firft; fo there is reaſon to be-
lieve, that upon Abel's difcovering a better
difpofition, as he grew up,and being afterwards
accepted by God, in preference to his elder
brother,
}
REVELATION Examin'd, &c, 101
brother, her hopes again revived, that he
was the promiſed feed. This appears highly
probable, from her declaration at the birth
of Seth; And she bare a fon, (faith the text)
and called his name Seth; For God, faith fhe,
hath appointed me another feed instead of
Abel: Becauſe (for fo it is in the original)
Cain flew him. From hence, 'tis evident,
that he took Abel to be the feed, till Cain
flew him; and afterwards, when the found
that God had given her another fon, diftin-
guished from thoſe then in being, by this
remarkable character, that he was begotten
in the likeness of Adam, and after his image,
i. e. framed with that appearance of all
thoſe advantages which Adam derived from
the hand of God, far above any of his
fons; (for this is the only rational interpre-
tation of the text) fhe then concluded, that
this was certainly the feed; and that God
had given him to her to effect that, which
Abel would have effected, if he had not
been cut off by his brother. Thus we fee,
that the obfcurity, in which it pleaſed God
to foretel the deftruction of the evil ſpirit,
gave rife to a fucceffion of happy hopes in
the breaft of Adam and Eve: who, if they
had known that this happineſs was to be
poftpon'd for four thousand years, would,
in all probability, have inevitably fallen into
the extremity of deſpair.
H 3
IF
102 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
IF it be ftill ask'd, How the denunciation
of enmity betwixt the feed of the Serpent,
and the feed of the woman, is fulfilled?
For firft, If
I ANSWER, Every way.
you take the text in the figurative fenfe, we
know that as good men are in the fcriptures
called the children of God, fo wicked men
are called the children of the devil. And
we have but too much proof of the impla-
cable enmity of this wicked race againſt the
feed of the woman to this very day. And if
we had no other proof, their reftlefs refift-
ance to the cleareft evidence on this head ;
the neceffity they lay us under of proving
the fame truths over and over again, a
thouſand different ways, would fure be a
fufficient demonftration of it.
OR if the text be taken in a literal fenfe,
we ſee a ſtrong antipathy fubfifting between
ferpents and mankind to this day. Nay,
this antipathy is fo ftrong, that, as the
juices of the ferpent are noxious to man, fo
Ariftotle affures us, that the human juices
are noxious to ferpents: His expreffion, on
this occafion, is very remarkable; he tells
us, that the human faliva is hoftile to
ferpents; an expreffion fo full, and pointed
to the accompliſhment of this fentence, that,
if he had not wrote it more than three hun-
dred
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
103
dred years before the birth of Chrift, he had
certainly been treated by our adverfaries as a
fworn accomplice with Chriftians, to prove
the ftrict completion of it: So fully do this
great man's obfervations verify the very let-
ter of the fentence here denounced! So
fully is this fentence executed in every ſenſe!
If you take it in the figurative fenfe, our
adverfaries themſelves evince the accom-
pliſhment of it: If you take it in the lite-
ral fenfe, this enmity is, proved by the
teftimony of the moft accurate obferver of
all mankind, who cannot eaſily be fufpected
of confpiring with Chriftians to manifeft the
completion of it.
BUT does the ferpent feed upon duft?
I ANSWER, Moft infallibly. Nor, per-
haps, could he otherwife fubfift in thoſe
fandy and dufty defarts to which God has,
in a good meaſure, condemned him; tho'
commentators content themfelves with ex-
plaining this part of the fentence, from the
neceffity he is under of eating his food on
the ground, and fo fwallowing duft with it;
but if this is thought, by fome, not fuffi-
ciently to diſtinguiſh the curfe of the fer-
pent from the natural condition of other
creatures, it fhould be remember'd, that a
further and more diligent enquiry affures
us, that he actually eats the dry, dufty
earth.
H +
104 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
+
(
earth * And there is not the leaft reafon
to believe, that any other beaft in the world.
does feed in the fame wretched manner,
except the fcorpion; who is alfo accounted,
by Celfus, a kind of ferpent. Nor is the
point fo clear in relation to the fcorpion;
tho' out of all doubt with regard to the fer-
pent. So ftrangly is the fentence of God
executed in every fenfe, and in every part,
to a tittle!
AND as the expreffion of licking the duft,
fignifies, according to the Hebrew idiom,
the loweſt ſtate of depreffion and humilia-
tion to which an enemy can be reduced; 'tis
not improbable, that this metaphor was
taken from that ſtate of dejection and degra-
dation, to which the ferpent was now re-
duced in the prefence of Adam: And doubt-
lefs God funk the ferpcnt into this abject
condition, at that time, as a fignificant em-
blem to Adam of that utter proftration and
ſubjection, to which his evil inmate fhould
be finally doom'd, by the feed of the woman;
at that dreadful day, when (as the Pfalmift
prophefied of him) his enemies fhould lick
the duft, Pf. lxxii. 9.
the
AND thus, having explained to you all
parts of the fentence pafs'd upon the fer-
* See Bochart and Pliny of ferpents.
pent,
3
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 105
pent, with the furprizing accompliſhment of
it in all; I now proceed to expain the fen-
tence paſt upon the woman at the fame time;
which is as follows:
UNTO the woman he faid, I
will greatly multiply thy forrow
and thy conception; in forrow
WO-
The
man's fentence
confidered.
thou shalt bring forth children: and thy defire
Shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule
over thee.
SOME part of this fentence may perhaps
now ſeem no way ſtrange to us, who
every day, fee every part of it accompliſhed.
And yet, a more accurate obfervation upon
the condition of all other creatures, will
make the accompliſhment of it aftoniſhing, to
every man that thinks: and therefore, to
clear this prophecy of pain to the woman,
we muſt obſerve, that it confifts of two
parts; firft, the pain or forrow of concep-
tion, or breeding: And fecondly, the pain of
childbirth. As to the firſt of theſe, 'tis.
remarkable, that a woman is the only crea-
ture under heaven, that we know of, which
has ordinarily any forrow in conception *.---
*This Ariftotle exprefsly affirms, and only excepts the in-
ſtance of a mare conceiving by an afs; and, in general, where
there is any thing monftrous in the fœtus. And, doubtlefs,
the cafe is the fame where the foetus fuffers from any acci-
dental hurt or diſtortion in the matrix.
If
106 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
If it be ask'd, How it can be known, that
other creatures have no fickneſs on the fanie
occafion; I anſwer, That we can judge of
the fickneſs and health of brutes, by as fure
indications, as of our own; tho' not always
fo certainly, in what part their diftempers are
feated. And to put us out of all doubt in
the prefent cafe, we know, that other crea-
tures are in more perfection of health, and
ftrength, and habit, after conception, than
before. Whereas, 'tis the reverfe of all this
with womankind. How miferable their con-
dition ordinarily is, on that occafion, is
fufficiently known to every human audience.
Ariftotle mentions about ten vexatious ma-
ladies, of various kinds, which await them
in that ſeaſon of fickneſs: And Pliny begins
his account of that matter in thefe very re-
markable words: Headachs, vertigos, mifts
before the eyes, a loathing of food, &c. are
the indications that a man is begun.
And as
he begins it remarkably, he concludes it no
leſs fo, by obferving, that the end of all
this vexatious toil, is frequently defeated by
the fnuff of a Candle.
MORE than this; as if all the fingular
mifery of that wretched ftate, were not fuf-
ficient, the woman's conceptions are multi-
plied. She is remarkably fubject to abor-
tions and falfe conceptions above all other
animals
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 107
animals in the world: And when her con-
ceptions come to maturity, there is remark-
ably a greater mortality of her iſſue, than of
that of any other creature; at leaft, one half
of her off-fpring perifh, before they can an-
fwer the ends of their being; that is, before
they attain the age of feventeen years: And
as her grief on thefe occafions, is more ex-
ceffive than that of any other creature, in
the letter of the fentence, Her forrow and
her conceptions are greatly multiplied, before
fhe anſwers the ends of Providence and ſo-
ciety. And to crown all, fhe brings her
off-fpring into the world (which was the
ſecond part of the punishment denounced
againſt her) with remarkably more pain than
any creature upon the face of the earth.
And if Ariftotle, the beft obferver in the
world, did not affure us of this (as he does)
our own obfervation could not fail to do
it. Nay, common fenfe muft teach us,
that if other creatures
creatures were expoſed to
equal pain and danger on thefe occafions,
all our care would fcarce be fufficient even
to preſerve the feveral fpecies in being;
and much leſs to preferve them in any
number fufficient to anſwer the feveral ends
of life.
So fingularly, fo emphatically true is
that part of the woman's puniſhment al-
fo,
108 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ſo, in forrow ſhalt thou bring forth chil-
dren *
Now I would ask every candid and rea-
fonable man upon earth, How this comes
to paſs? They will not, I prefume, arraign
Almighty God of incapacity to form woman
in more perfection, or fubject to lefs infeli-
city in this point; and, if they will not, 'tis
evident that unleſs all this infelicity be the
effect of a curſe, and in puniſhment of guilt,
human nature is unequally dealt by: In a
word, this mifery muft be the effect either
of hard treatment, or juft puniſhment; there
is no medium. Now the infinite goodnefs
and perfection of the Divine Nature will
not fuffer us to fufpect him of the former
imputation; and therefore all this mifery
muft demonftrably be the effect of a curfe;
a juft curſe upon Eve, entailed by her on
her daughters.
AND here I muſt once more put a plain
queftion to our adverfaries, as I already did
on another occafion, and may perhaps have
more occafion to do, in the courfe of
theſe enquiries. Do they know, that this
mifery, which awaits women in conception
*This is the more remarkable, inafmuch as feveral circum-
ſtances in her make, naturally promiſe more eaſe to her, in
this cafe, than to any other animal.
and
<
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 109
and child-birth, is demonftrably the effect of
a curfe! If they do not know it, I muft
own, I cannot yet think them the wifeft
men in the world: but if they do know it,
and yet deride Chriftians for believing it; the
glory of being the wickedeft, can, I think,
fcarcely be contefted with them *.
The latter
part of the
woman's fen-
tence confi-
dered.
AND the fubfequent part of
her puniſhment is in the fame
analogy: Thy defire, or, (as it
is in the original) thy appetite
Shall be to thy husband, and he
fball rule over thee, i. e. forafmuch as you
have indulged yourfelf in this inftance,
without the advice or confent of your huf-
band, (which furely fhould not have been
done in a point of fuch importance) you
fhall from henceforth depend upon the will
{
As this offence of eating the forbidden fruit introduced
irregularity of paffion and appetite; and particularly, that appe-
tite which is to this day moft predominant in human nature, it
pleafed God to leave this memorial of it upon the woman, who
was first in the offence. Now that it had this effect, ap-
pears, as from other proofs, fo, I think, fully and clearly from
the covering which Adam and Eve made uſe of ſoon after
their offence, for there is no imaginable reafon for that cover-
ing, but one; and that one fufficiently demonftrates, that irre-
gularity and violence of appetite, independent of the dominion
of reafon, was the effect of their offence. And forafmuch as
this offence began in Eve, what could be a more proper
puniſhment of it in her, or a more certain memorial of that
puniſhment to the end of the world, than the miſery which
ſhould attend the indulgence of that appetite in herſelf, and in
her daughters, from generation to generation?
of
110 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
of your husband, and he fhall have domi-
nion over you. And, I believe, they, who
are moſt concerned in this puniſhment, (and
furely a fevere puniſhment it is, to have
their wills perpetually fubject to the will of
others) will not deny, that they feel the
fevere effects of it over the face of the whole
earth at this day.
AND that this fubjection in the woman, is
the effect of a curfe, confequent to that of-
fence which wrought our fall, is evident:
Becauſe, on fuppofition that human nature
were in a ſtate of perfection, where reafon
ruled, and perverfenefs had no place, there
feems to be no imaginable reafon, why one
ſex fhould be in fubjection to the other.
And accordingly we find, that the woman
was given at firft under no other character,
but that of a companion; becauſe it was
not good for man to be alone; nor did Adam
confider her under any other character: for,
when he excuſes his offence to Almighty
God, by charging it upon his compliance
with Eve, he fays, The woman, whom thou
gaveft to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. - The woman, whom thou
gaveft to be with me, i. e. whom thou
gaveft to be my affociate and companion,
without the leaft hint of fubjection,
or dependency. Nor was there the leaft
reafon
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 111
J
reafon for any in that ftate, as I fhew'd be-
fore.
The fen-
tence paffed
upon Adam.
I COME now, in the laft
place, to the fentence denounc'd
upon the man; which needs
little explication. He is doom'd to a condi-
tion of perpetual flavery, for obeying his
wife, rather than his Maker; the earth is
curfed for his fake, and (inftead of the de-
licious fruits of paradife) he is doom'd to
eat of it in that accurfed ftate: and confined
to the herb of the field, in common with the
brutal herd; till death reduce him to the
common duft, from which he was form'd.
THE wiſdom, the goodneſs, and the
juftice of God are fufficiently confpicuous
throughout this whole fentence; more efpe-
cially in theſe three inftances:
Firft, IN decreeing, that toil and drud-
gery ſhould be the confequence of departing
from an eaſy and a rational obedience:
which hath been the curfe and punishment
of all his pofterity, in every inftance of dif-
obedience to their Maker, from that day to
this.
Secondly, IN making the earth lefs defire-
able to man, when his guilt had reduced
him to a neceffity of leaving it. And that
alfo
112 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
alſo is yet done in the train of calamities and
ficknefs, which for the moft part makes life
a load, before its laft period, and death
defirable.
AND thirdly, In keeping thofe appetites
and paffions which had now broke loofe
from the reſtraint of reafon, within fome
bounds, by fubduing their impetuofity with
hard labour; which unfubdued, or fup-
ported in luxury and idlenefs, would run
riot; and make himfelf, and every body
about him, miferable. As it is ſeen among
his fons at this day.
AND, to preclude man from all poffibi-
lity of reverfing any part of this fentence,
we are affured that he was, foon after this,
fent out of paradiſe, and debarr'd from the
tree of life. This caution the wiſdom and
goodneſs of God exacted; forafmuch as,
when fin had entail'd calamity and corrup-
tion upon human nature; in that condition,
to perpetuate life, would be to perpetuate
mifery.
AND now, upon the whole, What is it
that infidelity hath to object, with any de-
gree of clear unprejudiced reafon, againſt
this account of the creation and fall of man?
Was he created in that condition, and
under thoſe circumftances, which the trueft
wiſdom
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 113
wiſdom, muft, upon the beft principles of
philoſophy, the cleareft dictates of reaſon,
and the fulleft conviction of experience,
pronounce upon the whole, moft eligible,
and moft advantageous? And what
would he more?
If the wifeft man that ever was born into
the world, had his own fituation and cir-
cumftances of exiſtence in his choice, could
he form to himſelf a wifh beyond the ad-
vantages of Adam in paradife? To come
into the world, in the full vigour of ftrength,
health, and reafon; with a foul fuperior to
the tyranny, or even the temptation of appe-
tite; and a body impaffible to the inju-
ries of weather! privileged from diſeaſe
and death! unincumber'd with cloaths, and
yet unconſcious of fhame, the companion of
guilt! encompaffed with all the delights of
ſenſe, and filled with all the joys of inno-
cence! fo very happy, as not to be ac-
quainted with evil! a circumftance which
human wiſdom would have deem'd a defect:
and confequently, a condition of happineſs,
which nothing but infpiration could teach!
above the invention of the greateſt genius
that ever was born into the world!
MAN, without fin, was without mifery;
tied to no more toil than reafon, and ufe,
and a philofophick enquiry into the nature
I
of
114 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
of things exacted ;
free from all vexati-
ous remembrances of the paft, or anticipa-
tions of future evil! Nothing but hap-
pinefs, in poffeffion, or in profpect! a whole
creation fubmitted to his dominion, and en-
fured to his pofterity! an inexhaustible fup-
ply of entertainment for every organ of
fenſe, and every faculty of foul! with one
companion, to fhare, and double every en-
joyment; and both, as fully furniſhed with
means to communicate happineſs, as fitted
to receive it, without any interruption
from mortal infirmities, or allay from paffion
and perverſeneſs.
A SCENE! where the prefent vanities of
life could have no place;
where palaces
(the inventions of pride and infirmity) would
be but incumbrances upon earth, and inter-
ruptions from heaven! where pomp and
pageantry, could they be conceived, muft
at the fame inftant be defpifed; deſpiſed for
what they are, fpecious folly !
O Adam, beyond imagination happy! un-
interrupted health! untainted innocence! nor
perverſeneſs of will, nor perturbation of appe-
tite! a heart, upright! a confcience, clear!
a head, unclouded! a glorious world,
an univerſe, —to contemplate! to enjoy!
And the Author of that univerfe, the
fource of all exiſtence; his God, his Creator,
his
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 115
to blefs, to glorify, to
his Benefactor,
adore, to obey.
AND now, What have mortal vanity and
weakneſs to object to this condition, and
this account of the firft man? fince it is evi-
dent, that if man ever came into the world,
he muſt come into it, under moſt of theſe
circumftances: - and if ever he came into
it, in a way entirely worthy of infinite wif-
dom and goodneſs, he muſt come into it,
under them all.
THIS was a creation, and a ftate of things,
worthy a God; and this account of his
creation, worthy of a writer infpired by
God; inſpired to convey it, in all that
fimplicity and ftrength, and in confequence
of both theſe, that fublimity of ftile, that
beſt became a being, who knew his works
above embelliſhment! the fubject fupported
its own dignity, and was incapable of any
acceffion from human wifdom, or the arts
of eloquence; and all the exceptions that
ever were, or ever will be made to it, will
in the end be found the effects of human
blindneſs and depravity; the neceffary con-
ſequences of that very fall, (of Adam) which
we all feel, and yet have the folly and the
front to diſpute,
BUT why did he fall from this felicity?
I 2
Ask
116 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
•
ASK rather, vain man, Why he was a
creature? Why he was dependent of his
Creator? And why he was ameneable to
him? Had he been incapable of error, and
fuperior to temptation, he had been God;
had he been independent, he had been
and had he been unac-
no creature;
countable, he had been irrational, and
independent;
and could we ſuppoſe
fuch an abfurdity, as an independent crea-
ture, can we imagine it would be a happy
circumftance of exiſtence, to an intelligent
being, of limited powers, to be exempted
from the guidance, and protection, of infi-
nite wifdom, and unbounded power? And
if duty and dependence be the neceffary con-
fequences of creation, muft not chaſtiſement
or annihilation, be the neceffary confequence
of disobedience to the commands of that
great Being that governs the world?
And is not any penalty, lefs than annihila-
tion, an act of mercy? And is not a new
trial, under a capacity of recovering more,
even by an imperfect obedience, than was
forfeited by a deliberate diſobedience, an act
of the higheſt mercy imaginable *?
BUT
}
*And that this is the cafe of Adam, and all his defcendants,
can be no doubt with any Chriſtian of an enlarged mind; who
believes Jefus Chrift to be the Lamb flain for the fins of man-
kind, from the foundation of the world. For why he should be
con-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 117
-1
BUT how could Adam fall, by eating an
apple?
TELL me rather, arrogant queftioner,
(whoever thou art) How he could fall
otherwife? Could he fall but by difobe-
dience? and where could he diſobey but in
relation to fome reſtraint of natural liberty?
And is there a created intelligence, whoſe
natural liberty fhould not be reftrain'd? And
what natural liberty fhould our firft
parents
be reſtrain'd in, except that, where indul-
gence would be fatal? Should they not be
reftrain'd from their own deftruction? Had
moral reftraints, ftrictly speaking, (the idle
objection urged by infidels *) any place in
paradife? Moft certainly they had not.
How then could man be in more per-
fection than now? Was not this an act of
intemperance? and as weak a one as any
of his poſterity hath fince fallen into?
I ANSWER, It was intemperance; but it
was more intemperance of knowledge, than
confidered as flain from the foundation of the world, unleſs
his death was of univerfal uſe from that period, is, to me I
own, inconceivable; and I am very fure that St. Paul's epiſtle
to the Romans juſtifies me in this opinion.
* See the conference with a theift,
Raleigh's Hift.
I 3
and Sir Walter
food:
'
118 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
food: A circumftance fingly fufficient
to eſtabliſh the credit of the Mofaic hiftory;
for tho' Mofes is fhort upon the fubject; yet,
whoever confiders the point, with any com-
prehenfion, will find that Adam and Eve
were inacceffible, at leaft impregnable, to
temptation, any other way. They can
fcarcely be imagined capable of one wifh
without their reach, except that of wisdom:
And the intemperance of that very wifh
(which infidels have urged as an argument
of infirmity equal to ours) is to me, I own,
a proof of fuperior perfection; for know-
ledge, is always defirable, in proportion to
the light and extent of the underſtanding that
feeks after it; and therefore every fuperior
degree of intelligence, fhort of infinite, muft
have proportionably a fuperior defire of
knowledge. This the tempter well knew,
(probably, by woful experience) and adapt-
ed his wiles to this infirmity, with admirable
addrefs. He faw Adam and Eve every
way fuperior to the brute world, (and I am
perfuaded the very brutes were not then
unruly in their appetites) and therefore
a temptation to them (Adam and Eve) from
mere appetite (could any have been offer'd)
had been a weakneſs contemptible in a mere
ferpent? but a temptation to be made like
This rightly contidered, the allegorical interpretation of
the ferpent's being the fymbol of pleaſure, c. will be found
altogether fenfelcts and abfurd.
to
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 119
to God in knowledge, was a temptation to
excellence, which no limited intelligence
could be proof againft, (and muft always be
ftrong in proportion to the extent of that in-
telligence) and what could be fo ftrong a
delufion, to hope this from the fruit of a tree,
as Eve's feeing a brute become rational, as
fhe thought, by the vertue of that very
fruit? And that this was the cauſe of
her delufion, I have already proved, to the
evidence of an axiom.
AND doubtlefs the ftrength of this
delufion, was a main reafon with their
Creator, to receive the laps'd pair into
mercy; notwithſtanding their deliberate vio-
lation of an exprefs command, immediate-
ly given them by himfelf; a circum-
ftance, which, without abatement from
the greatneſs of the temptation, had ren-
dered their difobedience utterly unpardon-
able.
UPON the whole, What
What can make
more for the truth of any revelation,
than that every real difficulty, every
feeming abfurdity, every tittle objected to it
by infidelity, is found, upon a full enquiry,
to be a new evidence and confirmation of
its truth?
I 4
LET
1
120 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
LET infidels then object, and let be-
lievers be undiſmay'd! (I had almoſt ſaid,
Let them rejoice) in full affurance, that
every objection to the truth of divine
revelation, will end in new evidence for
it.
DI Se
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 121
DISSERTATION VIII.
Of Sacrifices.
HE next interpofition of the
Divine Being, which we meet
with in the Scriptures, is, in the
cloathing of Adam and Eve; and
foon after follows an account of
his acceptance of Abel's offering, and his
non-acceptance of Cain's ; from whence
men have been generally led to believe,
that facrifices were of divine inftitution.
Let us then examine what evidence can be
collected, either from fcripture or reafon
on this head, and then fee, whether they
both lead to the fame conclufion.
IN Hebrews xi. 4. the author of that
Epiftle tells, that by faith Abel offered unto
God a more excellent facrifice than Cain, by
which he obtained witness, that he was righte-
ous,
122 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ous, God teftifying of his gifts; and by it, he
being dead, yet fpeaketh.
1
Now the facrifices here referred to, are
evidently thefe, of which Mofes gives us
ſome ſhort account in the fourth chapter of
Genefis, where he tells us, that in process of
time, Cain brought of the fruit of the ground,
an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he alfo
brought of the firflings of his flock, and of the
fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and
his offering, he had not respect. He then
proceeds to tell us, that, upon this pre-
ference, Cain was very wroth, and his coun-
tenance fell. And the Lord faid unto Cain,
Why art thou wroth? And why is thy coun-
tenance fallen? If thou doeft well, shalt thou
not be accepted? And if thou doeft not well,
fin lieth at the door.
In theſe words it is plainly implied, that
Abel acted well, i. e. righteouſly, in the
buſineſs of his facrifice; and that Cain acted
not well, i. e. unrighteouſly, in the buſineſs
of his facrifice; and that in confequence of
this defect, fin lay at his door.
Now this righteouſneſs in Abel, by
which he obtain'd the preference to his bro-
ther, the apoſtle afcribes to his Faith.
Br
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 123
By faith Abel offered unto God a more ex-
cellent facrifice than Cain, by which he ob-
tained witness, that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts.
HERE we fee, that, according to the
fcripture account, the firft act of worſhip,
which God accepted with open marks of ap-
probation, from the foundation of the world,
was a facrifice; in which the life of one of
his creatures was devoutly offered up to him:
and that what made it acceptable, was the
faith of the offerer; by which he obtained
an atteftation from God himſelf, that he was
righteous.
In this account of the preference of Abel
to Cain, are contain'd two points of doctrine,
which are remarkably the objects of ridicule
with the infidel world, above all the other
duties of religion, that ever were enjoined un-
der the Jewish or Chriftian oeconomy.
THE firft is, that facrifice was from the
beginning acceptable to God: and the next,
that faith made it fo.
FOR fome think nothing more abſurd,
than to imagine, that God could ever be
gratified or appeafed by the deftruction of
his creatures. And, if this action could not
in
124 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
I
!
in its own nature, be acceptable to God,
How could faith make it fo?
Now, to clear theſe objections, which, I
own, are plaufible, let us firft enquire how
far reafon can evince, that facrifices were of
divine inftitution; and fecondly, what light
the fcriptures give us on that head ; and
if both theſe evidently lead to one conclu-
fion, our laft enquiry muft be, what
ends were intended by Almighty God, to be
ferved by this inftitution.
I. THEN, I am to enquire whether rea-
fon evinces that facrifices were of divine infti-
tution. And in order to clear this, we muft
have recourſe to one plain principle; or, in
other words, to a plain truth, which no
candid reader will, I believe, conteft; which
is this:
THAT whatever practice obtains univer-
fally in the world, for any confiderable
number of years, muft obtain in it, either
from fome dictate of reaſon, or fome demand
of nature, or fome principle of intereft, or
fome powerful influence or injunction of
fome Being of univerfal authority.
Now, that facrifices obtained univerfally,
for many ages, over all the regions of the
known world, I believe, will not be denied
by
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 125
by any man, who makes the leaſt pretence
to the knowledge of antiquity. And, that
the practice did not prevail from any dictate
of reafon, the adverfaries of revelation will,
I believe, readily own; it being evident,
that unprejudiced reafon never could dictate,
that deftroying the beft of our fruits and
creatures, could be an office acceptable to
God, but quite the contrary. Alfo, that
it did not prevail from any demand of na-
ture, is undeniable: for, I believe, no man
will fay, that we have any natural inftinct
or appetite to gratify, in fpilling the blood of
an innocent, inoffenfive creature upon the
earth; or burning his body upon an altar.
Nor could there be any temptation from ap-
petite, to do this, in thofe ages, when the
whole facrifice was confumed by fire; or
when, if it were not, yet men wholly ab-
ſtained from fleſh; as there is all the reaſon
in the world to believe, that, at leaſt, the re-
ligious part of them did for the firſt fixteen
hundred from the creation. And con-
years
fequently, this practice did not owe its origin
to any principle of intereft; and fo there
could be no prieft-craft in the cafe, during
that period.
Also in after ages, the duty of facrificing
belong'd to the father of the family; who
was more intereſted in the well-being of it,
than any other perfon whatſoever; and
con-
126 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
confequently, could have no intereft in
creating an unneceffary expence. And after
this, when fathers grew up into princes, by
the increaſe of their families; the prieft-
hood, we know, became an appendage of
royalty and facrifices were then alfo at the
facrificer's own expence.
WE alfo know, that libations, and offer-
ings of feveral kinds, were the conftant
practice of private men in their own fami-
lies; and that priefts had no perquifites
from them; nor can they, with any colour
of reaſon, be fufpected to have had any
emolument of any kind, from this practice,
in any region of the earth, till more than
two thousand years, from the firft inftitution
of this rite. Tho', if they had, 'tis evi-
dent, that the advantages derived upon any
particular ſet of men, from any practice, is
far from being a proof, that fuch a practice
had no original foundation, but in the ſub-
tilty and intereft of that particular ſet of
men. In truth, the ſuppoſition is as abſurd,
as any thing can well be imagin'd; and will
affect every profeffion under heaven, as well
as the priesthood; from the prince upon the
throne, to the meaneft officer and artizan in
the common-wealth. Nay, in truth,
will affect every profeffion in the world,
much more than the priesthood: becauſe,
that is the only profeffion, which was origi-
nally
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 127
nally difintereſted, in the diſcharge of duty
proper to it.
WE own indeed, that orators in Rome,
did plead the cauſes of their clients, in the
flouriſhing ſtate of the common-wealth,
without any fuch fees as are now paid to
pleaders amongſt us, on like occafions: but
this by no means clears them, either of the
fufpicion or proof of being mercenary in
that conduct; becaufe, that, was the fure
and known way to the highest honours, and
moſt profitable employments in the common-
wealth. But the father of the family can-
not be fo much as fufpected of having any
intereft of any kind, in leffening his own
power, by leffening his own property, in
the bufinefs of facrifices; which was indif-
putably the cafe. And therefore, the prieſt-
hood, is the only profeffion in the world,
which is clear of all fufpicion of intereſt in
the buſineſs of its profeffion, for more than
two thouſand years from its firſt inſtitution
at leaft, if the priesthood be allow'd as old
as facrifices and if it be not, 'tis plain that
facrifices are not the invention of prieſt-
craft.
;
AND this obfervation fhould, methinks,
make any infidel, who had any remains of
modefty, bluſh for fuch infults upon any
order of men, as are demonftrably founded
in
28 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
in ignorance and untruth. Since it is de-
monftrable, that, if facrifices were the in-
vention of prieſt-craft, prieſts practiſed their
craft, to their own fole detriment, for more
than two thouſand years; which furely was
a very ſtrange kind of policy. And, if fa-
crificcs be two thoufand years older than
priefts, certainly it were fomewhat hard to
place the invention of them to the ſcore of
prieft-craft.
SINCE then facrifices are demonftrably
not the invention of prieft-craft; nor the
dictate of reafon, nor the demand of nature ;
I fhould be glad, that infidels would fo
much as attempt to tell us, with any colour
of reafon and proof, how they prevail'd fo
univerfally in the world, otherwiſe than
from divine appointment? How any practice
could obtain in the world, to which man-
kind, were neither urged by the intereſt and
fubtilty of any particular fet of men, nor
by any dictate of reafon, nor by any inſtinct
or demand of nature, nor by any intereft of
any kind; but quite the contrary, in direct
contradiction to every principle of reaſon,
and nature, and intereft; (for the deftruction
of innocent and ufeful creatures, is againſt
reafon, againſt nature, and againſt intereſt):
I fay, how fuch a practice could prevail,
and prevail univerfally, is impoffible to be
accounted for, but from fome powerful and
irre
REVELATION Examin'd, &c, 129
frreſiſtible influence of example, or injunction
of authority. And what example could have
fuch influence, except that of Adam, or
what authority could have fuch power, ex-
cept that of God, is to me, I own, utterly
inconceivable.
IF you fay, fuperftitions prevail unac-
countably in the world; I anfwer, That all
fuperftition has its origin in true religion;
and may, for the moſt part, be eaſily traced
up to its true fountain. All fuperftition is
abuſe; and all abufe fuppofes a right and
proper ufe. The very idea and definition of
fuperftition, is, a fuperftructure of extrava-
gance, and folly, and falfhood of ſome kind;
and all fuch fuperftructures neceffarily fup-
poſe fome foundation of regularity, and rea-
ſon, and truth. This is the cafe even of
little particular fuperftitious practices of par-
ticular times, and places: but where any
practice is univerfal, there it must demon-
ftrably have ſome univerfal cauſe. And that,
as I have fhewn you, can be no other in the
cafe before us, but either God, the founder
of the world, or Adam, the founder of the
human race; from whom it was derived to
all his pofterity.
Ir infidels fay this practice is from God,
they then give up the point in difpute; if
they fay, from the firft father of mankind,
K
(which
130 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
(which is the only thing that can be ſaid with
any colour of reafon) the queſtion will ſtill
recur, Why Adam practiſed a rite fo cruel,
and fo contrary to reafon and nature? Or
why he ſhould propagate a practice to his
pofterity, which he could not but know,
would be fo detrimental to them, as the re-
gular, annual deftruction of the very prime
of all the creatures, that would be moft ufe-
ful to mankind, to the end of the world?
WE fee, indeed, that fome parents are
now, weak, and wicked enough, to encou-
rage their own vices and extravagancies in
their iffue; (tho' the greater part, even of
weak and wicked parents, take the quite
contrary courfe): but then, where they do
countenance their own faults and follies in
their children, it always is, in fuch inftances,
as carry pleaſure, or profit, or advantage of
fome kind along with them; and the reaſon
of this is not hard to be difcern'd. Some-
times they think the practice of their chil-
dren, a plea for the fame practice in them-
felves; at other times, they are urged to this
conduct, from the hopes of conveying the
pleaſures, or profits, or advantages of thofe
practices to their children, without the evils
they themſelves fuffered from them: they
flatter themſelves, that their iffue, warn'd by
the example of the father's miſcarriages, may
obtain every thing defirable in their iniquity,
with
3
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 131
with more fecurity: but facrifice was fuch a
practice, as, unleſs enjoin'd by the authority
of God, muft of neceffity be detrimental;
without any profpect of pleaſure, or profit,
or advantage of any kind. And therefore,
unleſs Adam was worſe than an ideot, it was
impoffible he could enjoin his poſterity ſuch
a practice, from any other motive than di-
vine authority: or, if he had, it is unimagi-
nable why they ſhould univerfally obey him,
from any other motive; unleſs they alſo were
ideots for two thoufand years fucceffively.
Which furely it will ill-become the advocates
for the ſtrength and ſufficiency of human rea-
fon, to admit. - Nay this is not all: for it
will follow, that the Egyptians, and Greeks,
and Romans were likewife worfe than ideots,
in their turn; that the whole heathen world
were brutes and monfters for two thouſand
years more, in the practice of this very rite:
Nay, they actually are fo, to this day. In a
word, either this rite had fome foundation in
true religion, which fway'd the whole world
to the practice of it for four thousand years,
and yet ſways the heathen part of it to this
day; or elfe, this boafted principle of reaſon,
which could fuffer men to go on in a train
of fuch abfurdity, and barbarity, for four
thoufand, nay, for fix thoufand, years toge-
ther, is a very bad and infufficient guide.
One of theſe pofitions, is indifputably true; if
the latter is admitted, then revelation was
abfo-
K 2
132 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
abfolutely neceffary, to reform and to inſtruct
the world, at the time that Jefus Chrift came
into it: if the former, then facrifices were of
divine inftitution. Which was the thing to
be proved.
Let the adverfaries of revela-
tion, take which fide of this dilemma they
like beft.
AND thus, having feen how far reaſon
evinces facrifices to be of divine inftitution, I
now proceed to enquire what light the ſcrip-
ture gives us upon that head.
AND first, I fhew'd you, in the introduc-
tion to this differtation, that God gave Abel
fure proof of his acceptance of his facrifice;
and alſo gave teftimony of his having done
well, in that act of adoration. And from
hence I clearly infer, that facrifices were of
divine inftitution. For, 'tis certain, that the
deftruction of an innocent creature, is not, in
itſelf, an action acceptable to God; and there-
fore, nothing but duty could make it
accepta-
ble: and nothing, but the command of God,
could make it a duty, in the cafe before us.
We know, that no being has any right to the
lives of the creatures, but their Creator, or
thofe, on whom he confers that right and
'tis certain, that God had not yet given man a
right to the creatures, even for neceffary food;
and much lefs, for unneceffary cruelty. And
there-
3
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 133
therefore, nothing, but his command, could
create a right to take away their lives.
'Tis alfo evident, that killing an innocent.
creature, cannot, in its own nature, be pro-
perly faid to be doing well. And therefore,
fince Abel is acknowledg'd by God to have
done well, in killing the firſtlings of his flock
in facrifice, 'tis evident, he muſt have done
this, for fome very good and juſt reafon; and
what reafon could juftify him in doing it,
but the command of God?
In truth, no action is juft or good, other-
wife than as it is conformable to the will of
God, either reveal'd, or eftablish'd in the
nature of things: And that this action was
conformable to the divine will, could only
be known by revelation, i. e. by being com-
manded. And therefore the rectitude of it,
in Abel, could only arife from obedience.
And, that obedience could juftify it, can be
no doubt to any man, who knows, that obe-
dience is more acceptable with God than facri-
fice; and to hearken, than the fat of rams,
I Sam. xv. 22.
AGAIN; the apoftle affures us, that Abel
offer'd a more excellent facrifice than Cain,
by faith: And what this faith is, he explains
in ſome following inftances. For example,
he tells us, that Noah prepared the ark, by
faith:
K 3
134 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
faith; that Abraham, by faith, left his
own country, and went not knowing whither;
and that Sarah, by faith, received ftrength
to conceive feed.
Now we know, that Noah built the ark
by the expreſs command of God; and with
affurance from God, that he, and his houfe,
fhould be faved from that deftruction, which
was coming upon the reſt of the world. We
are affured, that Abraham left his country
and kindred by the exprefs command of God,
and went into a country, which God had
affured him, he fhould receive for an herit-
age. What was then the faith of Noah,
and the faith of Abraham, but obedience to
the commands of God, and a firm truft and
confidence in the affurances he gave them,
however ſeemingly improbable and unlikely
to be fulfilled? And what was Sarah's faith.
but a firm dependence upon God, for the
performance of a promife, naturally impoffi-
ble to be fulfilled? And can we have any
doubt that Abel's faith alfo confifted in obe-
dience, and an affurance of being acceptable
by that obedience, tho' in an act of duty,
otherwiſe moſt unlikely to be pleafing to
God? as that of the deftruction of his inno-
cent creatures, certainly was. An action, than
which, nothing could be, more, in appear-
ance, ill fitted, to appease the divine wrath,
or obtain the divine favour. And yet, a
ready
2
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 135
ready obedience to that great Being, who
commanded it, made the action and the actor
righteous. And 'tis evident, nothing but fuch
a faith, as prompted Abel to that obedience,
ever could make fuch an action acceptable to
God, in any man whatſoever, from the foun-
dation of the world.
BUT here it may be objected, that Abel's
facrifice might be accepted, merely because he
was a good man; and Cain's rejected, because
he was an ill man.
I ANSWER, That as this is a fcriptural
fact, we have no way to judge of it, but
from the lights left us in the fcripture.
Now, from the accounts left us of facrifices
in the fcripture, we find, that offerings of
fruits, were facrifices of thanksgiving; and
offerings of creatures upon the altar, were
facrifices of atonement for fin; (nor were
fruits accepted in atonement, except in
cafes of extreme poverty, Lev. vk.) Now
'tis evident, that all men have fins to be
atoned, as they have divine favours to be ac-
knowledged; and that atonement fhould
naturally precede acknowledgment, as the
foundation of all other religious duties fhould
be laid in repentance; fince no office of
devotion, can be acceptable
be acceptable with God,
without a precedent refolution of amend-
ment in the offender; from hence it was,
that
K 4
136 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
that by the Mofaic law, confeffion was to pre-
cede the trefpafs offering, Levit. v. If Men
expect to be accepted of God, they muft
offer the facrifices of righteousness; and there
is no righteouſneſs without repentance.
Now Abel, tho' a better man, offer'd fuch a
facrifice, as plainly implied a confciouſneſs of
guilt, which called for atonement; and con-
fequently, his, was a facrifice of repentance;
confeffing guilt, and imploring pardon; and
as fuch, was accepted of God. Whereas
Cain, tho a worfe man, expected to be ac-
cepted, without repentance, or atonement.
And this feems to me very clearly implied in
God's anſwer to him; If thou doeft well, shalt
thou not be accepted? and if thou doeft not
well, fin lieth at the door; i. e. If you are
righteous and unfinning, you fhall be accepted,
as fuch, without facrifice;
but if you
are unrighteous, fin lieth at your door, and
muft lie there, till it is removed by repent-
ance and atonement, (doubtlefs, fuch atone-
ment as God himſelf had before appointed.)
But it may be farther objected; If Mofes
knew that facrifices were originally inftituted
by God, with manifest marks of acceptance,
as in the cafe of ABEL, Why did he not
give a clear, diftinct account both of the infti-
tution, and the manner of acceptance?
*
I AN-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 137
1
I ANSWER, Becauſe fuch a relation was
unneceffary. The Jews, to whom he wrote,
knew very well, that their own facrifices were
of divine inftitution; and that God mani-
fefted his acceptance of them, upon the firſt
folemn oblation after that inftitution, by mi-
raculous fire from the divine preſence, as we
read in the 9th chapter of Leviticus; and
they could have no reaſon to doubt, that they
were fo inftituted, and fo accepted from the
beginning. Nor needed they to be then in-
formed of a truth, which, doubtleſs, a clear,
uninterrupted tradition, had long made fami-
liar to them.
BESIDES this, there is reafon to believe,
that this rite was loaded with many additional
ceremonies, at its fecond inftitution, under
Mafes; in order to guard the Jews, from the
infections of the heathen in this point; and
therefore, it might not be proper to explain
the matter more fully, to a rebellious people:
who might think themſelves ill ufed, by any
additional burden, of trouble, or expence,
in this practice; however really neceffary to
their well-being.
AND thus, having fhewn, both from rea-
fon and fcripture, that facrifices were origi-
nally inftituted by God, I proceed, in the
next place, to enquire what ends were in-
tended
138 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
tended by Almighty God to be ferved by this
inftitution.
Now the true way to judge rightly of the
wiſdom of any inſtitution, eſtabliſhed at any
certain time, is, to confider what was neceffa-
ry, or expedient to be done, on fuch an oc-
cafion. And if the inftitution is found to be
well and wifely fitted, to anſwer the exigences
of the occafion, then we may ſafely pronounce
fuch an inſtitution, wife, and well appointed.
WHEREAS then, reafon evinces, that facrifices
were inftituted by God; and the ſcripture
fhews this to have been done foon after the
fall: therefore, to judge rightly of the wif
dom of this inftitution, we ſhould enquire,
what was neceffary to be done, as things then
ftood, between God and his creatures. And
this will be beſt known, by enquiring, what was
the condition of his creatures at that time.
In the first place then, we know, that Adam
and Eve, were now, finners: receiv'd into
mercy; but in danger of relapfing. Surely
then it was neceffary, that they fhould have
a fenfe of their guilt, and of the mercy fhewn
them; and that they fhould be guarded againſt
the danger of relapfing-In the next place,
'tis certain that they had forfeited their lives,
by their tranfgreffion: and if ſo, was it not
neceſſary, they ſhould be minded of the forfeit
they
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 139
they had made, in order to a juſt and grateful
fenfe of the goodnefs of God in remitting it?
They were alſo now, naked, and infirm:
both decency and health required that they
fhould be cloathed.- They were alfo doom'd
to die, and to molder into duft; as a puniſh-
ment of their fin. 'Twas furely fit they ſhould
know the nature of their punishment, in order
to judge from thence of the heinouſneſs of
their offence; and in order to be better pre-
pared to undergo it.More than all this; God
knew that they were to beget children, who
fhould inherit their own corruption, and in-
firmity. And certainly 'twas fit, that they
alſo, ſhould be early deterr'd from fin; and
have early monitions of the goodneſs and
mercy of God.
ALL this was evidently expedient to be
done at this time: (as ſhall be ſhewn more at
large immediately); and if all theſe purpoſes
of wiſdom and mercy could be effectually at-
tain'd by any one inftitution; certainly, that
inſtitution, muft needs be wife, and well-
appointed. Now we find one inftitution ap-
pointed about this time, and but one; viz.
that of facrifices. It remains then that we
now carefully enquire, whether any, or all
thefe ends could be attained by that inftitu-
tion.
AND
140 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
"
AND in order to do this more clearly, I muſt
remind you, of what I obferved in a former
differtation, that a fenfe of dependence upon
God, was for Adam's intereft, even before the
fall: and that fome memorial of it, was ne-
ceffary, in manifeſtation of that ſtate; and in
order to keep up a conſtant ſenſe of it, in his
mind. Now if a fenfe of dependance upon
the fupreme Being, was neceffary in a ſtate of
innocence and perfection; furely much more
in a ſtate of guilt and infirmity: when the
guidance, affiſtance, and reſtraint, of infinite
wiſdom, and almighty power, were much
more wanted. In a ftate of perfection, fuch
a memorial of dependance was evidently moſt
proper for Adam, as was beft fitted, to mind
him, at once, of the felicity of that happy ſtate
in which God had placed him, and the
danger of lofing it. To this purpoſe, the tree
of life, and the tree of death, were both plac'd
full before his eyes; in a very diftinguiſh'd
and remarkable fituation; as a fure and conſtant
monition, that God, had placed life and death
in his own choice; and that his happineſs, and
mifery, depended wholly upon himſelf.
WHEN man had forfeited his life, by his
tranfgreffion; and God, notwithſtanding, de-
creed to receive him into mercy; nothing cer-
tainly could better become the wiſdom and
goodneſs of God, than the eſtabliſhment of fome
inftitution, which might, at once, be a moni-
tion
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 141
tion both of the mercy of God, and the puniſh-
ment due to fin; And forafmuch, as God knew
that man would often fin; and fhould often re-
ceive mercy; it was neceffary, that inftitution
fhould be fuch, as might frequently be re-
peated; and in the repetition, frequently re-
mind man, of his own endleſs demerit, and
the infinite goodneſs of God to him.
AND what inftitution could do this more
fully or more effectually than that of facrifice
for fin? facrifice for fin plainly teaching theſe
two points.
It, THAT every fin was a forfeiture of
the offender's life; And,
2dly, THAT notwithſtanding this, God
would however have mercy on the finner;
and accept of fome other life, as a ranſom, in
lieu of that forfeiture.
1st, I fay, this inftitution, plainly taught,
that fin was a forfeiture of life. For when it
directed that a life fhould be paid down upon
every tranfgreffion, what could be a clearer do-
cument from fuch an inftitution, than that life
was the forfeit of tranfgreffion? Now if life
be actually the forfeit of tranfgreffion, in every
offender againſt God, 'tis evident, that an in-
ftitution, which carries that document with it,
is, fo far, well and wifely appointed: on every
occafion,
142 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
occafion, that ſuch a forfeiture happens to be
made. And, that life is the forfeit of every
offence againſt God, is evident; forafmuch as
being muſt manifeftly be beftow'd, upon rea-
fonable creatures, under condition, of obedi-
ence to their Maker: Nor is it imaginable
how God could beftow it otherwife. And if
being is beſtowed on condition of obedience,
'tis evident thac difobedience forfeits it. For,
as God form'd intelligent creatures, for the
attainment of happinefs, in conformity to that
excellent order of things, which he fo admir-
ably eſtabliſh'd for the well-being of the whole:
'twas a neceffary confequence, from the wiſdom
of that eſtabliſhment, that all voluntary de-
liberate departure from that order, fhould be
a forfeiture of being. For otherwiſe, it wou'd
follow, that creatures had a right to continue
in being, for reafons, directly contrary to
thoſe, for which they were firſt form'd; i. e.
for reaſons inconfiftent with wiſdom and
goodneſs: which is abfurd :—but at the
fame time, that reaſonable creatures, evident-
ly forfeit their being, by diſobedience, yet cer-
tainly God may, if he pleafes, continue it to
them, for the fame reaſons, for which he firſt
conferr'd it; i. e. for the manifeftation of his
wiſdom and goodnefs. And fince he deter-
min'd to continue it to man, after his offence,
nothing could be more reaſonable, than that he
fhould continue it, under fome memorial of
his own mercy, and man's demerit; for if
there
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 143
there were no memorial kept up of the heinouf-
neſs of his offence, guilt would, from that
moment, have no terror. And if guilt once
loft its terror with men, corruption would
quickly carry them on to endleſs enormity;
and then, man would continue in being, for
ends, directly contrary to thofe, for which he
was preferved by the divine mercy, from the
death which he had incurr'd: (which the wif
dom and goodneſs of God could not allow :) And
on the other hand, if there were no affurance
of forgiveneſs, after tranfgreffion, the effect
would be the very fame; for defpair, would
drive men, to the fame extremes of tranigreffion,
to which impunity would tempt them. And
therefore, both the wiſdom and the goodneſs
of God, neceffarily required fuch a memorial
of mercy, on this occafion, as fhould at the
fame time ſtrike fure terror into guilt: and
what memorial could do this more effectually,
than that, which demonftrated life to be the
fure, fix'd forfeit of every offence? and fince
facrifices are fitted to effect this, beyond any
thing we know of, 'tis evident, that the wif-
dom and goodneſs of God are fo far juſtified,
in the inſtitution of them, at this time.
IN the next place, Adam and Eve were
now, not only naturally, but indecently, naked:
'Tis evident then in the first place, that decency
requir'd they ſhould be cover'd; And befides
this, the inclemency of the air, added to the
infirmity
144 REVELATION Examin'd, &c
infirmity of nature which fin had introduced,
had now made cloathing neceffary: fince
otherwiſe their life muft foon have become
miferable; or rather muſt foon be deftroy'd,
without fome better protection, than that of a
few leaves. And fince this exigence would
likewiſe be fully anſwered by facrifices, which
would yield them covering, from the skins of
the creatures fo flain; this alfo is a new evi-
dence of the wiſdom of God in this inftitution.
Nor is there the leaft reafon to doubt, that the
cloaths made for our firſt parents, by divine
appointment, immediately after the fall, were
of the skins of the creatures offered up to God
on this occafion; for there is no reaſon to ima-
gine, that any of the beafts, which were juſt
made in perfection, ſhould die fo foon; or
would naturally die in many years after their
creation. Nor was there any neceffity that
God fhould flay them for that fole end, when
all the ends to be ferved by their death would
be fully anſwered in the ſingle inſtitution of
facrifice: which I have now fhewn, and will
yet farther fhew, to be in other refpects wife
and well appointed, at that very time. To
pro-
ceed then,
WE learn, from the command given, and
the ſentence denounced againſt Adam, that
death was the penalty of his diſobedience:
and fince it was fo, certainly it was highly pro-
per that he ſhould know what he was to
fuffer;
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 145
fuffer; and confequently, that he ſhould
fee death in all its horror and deformity; in
order to judge rightly of the evil of difobe-
dience (and in order to be better prepared
to undergo it). And what could fhew this
evil, more ſtrongly, than the groans and
ſtruggles of innocent creatures, bleeding to
death for his guilt, before his eyes, and by
his own hands? Sights of this kind, are
fhocking to humanity even yet; tho' cuftom
hath long made them familiar; with what
horror then may we imagine they pierced
the hearts of our firſt parents? and how was
this horror aggravated, when they confider'd
themſelves, as the guilty authors of fo much
cruelty to the beings about them?
For
NOR is this all;
this inftitution was
yet more extenfive in its influence.
fince early impreffions of the danger and
horror of guilt, are the beft fecurities againſt
fin; nothing furely could be better fitted,
to fix thefe impreffions deep in the minds of
children, than the fad neceffity of fhedding
blood, introduced by fin: which it was eaſy
for a prudent parent, to inculcate, and im-
poffible for a pious parent, not to inculcate,
on every occafion of killing the creatures,
in atonement for guilt. Efpecially when he
himſelf felt all that horror of iniquity,
which he would impreſs upon his children,
on that occafion. And therefore this infti-
L
tution,
146 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
tution, was not only wife and neceffary,
with regard to Adam and Eve, but admi-
rably contriv'd, to convey an early abhor-
rence of fin, into the minds of their off-
fpring, from generation to generation.
ADD to all this, that Adam was to be yet
farther informed of death: and to this pur-
pofe, when the groans and ftruggles of the
dying animals were over, what ghaftly and
fad fights muſt the dead eyes, and cold car-
cafes of the creatures, yield him, before
they were placed upon the altar; and in their
afhes after? How difmal a meditation muſt
it be, to confider the beauty and excellence
of animate beings, reduced to a handful of
duft? And what a fhocking lecture of mor-
tality, muft the remains of thofe creatures
read to our firft parents, in their ſeveral
gradations, from corruption to duft? efpe-
cially, when they could not fee them in that
fad condition, but under the full affurance,
that they themselves muft follow the fame
odious fteps to deftruction.
AND is it poffible to conceive how God
could ftrike the human foul, with more
fenſe of mifery from guilt, or more abhor-
rence of the fad cauſe of that miſery, than
by this conduct? Such abhorrence of guilt,
and fuch a loathing of life, that if the
mercy of God had not caufed fome ray of
hope
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 147
hope to fhine thro' this fcene of mortality
and mifery, 'tis not to be imagined how
Adam and Eve could bear their being; and
therefore there feems to have been an abfo-
lute neceffity, that when facrifices pierced
the heart of man, with fuch dread, and
deteftation of guilt, and mifery, they should
at the fame time be feals to fome covenant of
mercy, from God.
THAT God entered into a covenant of
mercy with man, immediately after the fall,
is evident from the fentence paſt upon the
ferpent in which, a covenant of mercy is
neceffarily implied. And can we doubt that
facrifices were the feal of that covenant?
eſpecially when mercy is fo plainly implied
in the very nature of the inftitution; which
teaches, that tho' life be the forfeit of fin,
yet God will, in mercy, accept another life
in lieu of the offender's.
AND fince reafon evinces the neceffity of
fome covenant of mercy at this time, Can
any man in his fenfes doubt the truth of
thofe fcriptures, which give us clearly to
underſtand, that it was made? (How far
the facrifices then offer'd, were types of
Jefus Christ, the Lamb flain from the foun-
dation of the world, is the bufineſs of another
enquiry). We find that God's ufual way
of ratifying covenants of mercy with man-
kind
L 2
148 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
kind in after ages, was by facrifices; And
can we imagine, that he fail'd to do ſo,
when fuch mercy was more wanted, than
ever it was fince the foundation of the
world? and when fuch an eſtabliſhment is
demonftrably one main reaſon of the very
inftitution of facrifices? Is it to be imagin'd,
that God ſhould take care of the health of
our parents bodies on this occafion, and take
none of the peace of their minds? Is it to be
imagin'd, that God, ſhould ſoon after this,
fhew fo much folicitude for an hardened
murtherer, for fo vile a wretch as Cain: and
take none now, about two unhappy delin-
quents, oppreffed with mifery, and at the
point of defpair? Had he fo much mercy,
foon after, upon one man; and would he
have none now upon the whole race of man-
kind, yet in Adam?
BUT here it may be objected, that when
the fleſh of animals was not eaten, their
carcafes were of no uſe; and fo there was
no detriment to mankind in flaying the
creatures for facrifices; at leaft, if they
might preferve their skins for cloathing,
&c.
I ANSWER, That fuppofing the skin not
deftroyed in facrifice, (as it certainly was in
fome cafes under the law, and probably was
fo before), yet the deftruction of the crea-
tures
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 149
tures was of manifold detriment; for as veft-
ments of hair and wool, ſoon ſucceeded the
ruder coverings of skins; the annual growths
of all fuch creatures, as could be fhorn, were
of great emolument, even in the early ages
of the world; efpecially to that part of
mankind, which led the paftoral life, and
dwelt in tents; and we find that Abel's
facrifice, was of creatures of this kind:
and, 'tis probable, that creatures of other
kinds, were as ufeful in cafes of carriage, as
now, and more demanded; as the invention
of more convenient vehicles hath now made
a lefs number neceffary for that purpoſe:
nor is it improbable, that they were alfo of
fome ufe in tillage; efpecially, fince that
occupation began, as early as Adam:
many of them alfo might, for ought we
know, be uſeful for food: for milk might
be eaten, when flesh was not;
their very carcafes might be of as much uſe
in culture, then, as now; they might alſo
be the food of neceffary domeftick animals;
or the food of creatures of carriage, as at
this day among the Arabs.
nay,
AND this fuggefts another reafon for the
inftitution of facrifices, viz. that fin fhould
not go unpuniſh'd; but ſhould always be
attended with fenfible inconveniency. And
the damage men fuffer'd, in the creatures
deſtroy'd in facrifice for fin, was doubtleſs,
L 3
at
150 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
at all times, a confiderable inconveniency;
eſpecially after the flood. Nor let any man
regard thefe damages as trifles, fince they
were fuch, in many cafes, as wife legiflatures
have put in ballance with a human life.
THE only difficulty now remaining, is,
whether a command to deftroy the lives of
innocent creatures, be confiftent with the
divine goodneſs and mercy.
BUT this will be no more a difficulty,
when we confider that their fubferviency to
the ends of human life, is, as far as we can
fee, the fole end and purpofe of their being;
and that it is their happineſs, upon the whole,
to be fubmitted to the dominion of man;
and to be deſtroyed for his ufes; fince they
are by this means preferved from weather,
from want, and from one another; and re-
lieved under diſeaſes and diftreffes of every
kind: and forafmuch as only a certain num-
ber of them can fubfift conveniently toge-
ther, 'tis evidently their intereft to be deli-
vered by fudden deftructions, from more
lingring and cruel deaths.
AND thus, having fhewn, that facrifices
were of divine original; that faith only
could make them acceptable to God; and
that many ends of infinite wifdom and
mercy were, at once, ferved by them:
3
having
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 151
having alſo fhewn, that there was an appa-
rent neceffity of God's making fome cove-
nant of mercy with Adam at this time; and
that it is highly credible, he did fo; I ſhall,
with God's affiftance, enquire in due time,
how credible it may be, that the death of
Christ was figur'd in that covenant; and
was neceffary to the redemption of the
world, in confequence of it.
In the mean time, I cannot, without in-
dignation, reflect, upon the blind and info-
lent vanity, of thoſe wretched mortals, who
with fuch blafphemous and fhocking teme-
rity, fet themſelves to ridicule every inftitu-
tion of God, which the corruption, or narrow-
nefs, of their own heads and hearts, hath
made them incapable of comprehending,
Whereas, a very moderate degree of under-
ftanding, enlighten'd by a very moderate
degree of learning and reflection, would
naturally, and almoft neceffarily, teach
them, the adorable wisdom and goodneſs of
every fuch inftitution: or, if it could
not, yet a very fmall portion of humility,
might teach them, that every inftitution of
God, must be wife and good; tho' poffibly
above the reach of poor fhort-fighted mor-
tals. The leaft grain of humility could not
but teach them, the infinite diftance and dif-
parity between their own little, narrow,
groveling conceptions, and that infinite ex-
L 4
tent
4
152 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
tent of knowledge, effential to the high and
mighty One, that inhabiteth eternity: who
hath affured us by the mouth of his holy
prophet, that his thoughts are not our
thoughts, neither our ways his ways. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, fo
are his ways higher than our ways, and his
thoughts than our thoughts.
To whom be glory for ever and ever,
Amen,
DĮ Se
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 153
DISSERTATION IX.
Concerning that corruption and degene-
racy of mankind, which drew down
the divine judgment in a deluge.
N the fixth chapter of Genefis,
and the third verfe, we find God
ſpeaking in this manner, con-
cerning the corruption and de-
pravity of mankind: And the
Lord faid, My fpirit fhall not always frive
with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his
days fhall be an hundred and twenty years.
THESE words contain the determination of
the divine juſtice, upon God's inſpection of
that univerfal corruption which had over-
ſpread the earth, fome time before the
flood.
THE methods he had hitherto taken to
deter man from guilt, and to draw him to
good,
154 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
goodneſs, were now experienced to be in-
effectual (nor let any man quarrel with
this way of speaking; fince, 'tis evident,
that the best methods of infinite wifdom,
not controuling the liberty of free agents,
may be defeated, or perverted, by degene-
rate beings, given up to the corruption of
their own hearts, and the violence of un-
ruly appetites): it remain'd then, that one
method more fhould be taken for their
amendment. Noah, a preacher of righteouf-
nefs, is appointed to denounce the divine
vengeance againſt their vileneſs, and to
affure them, that the fpirit of God would
not always ftrive with them, in the gracious
methods of mercy and monition; but would
proceed to wrath and vengeance, if they did
not forfake their wicked courfes; and had
now determin'd to allow them no more than
a trial of one hundred and twenty years.
In which time, if they did not amend, re-
nounce their vilenefs, and return to their
duty, they fhould be deftroyed by an utter
and final excifion from the earth.
This
is the common fenfe of commentators upon
the place, and, the then ftate of things
throughly confidered, will, I believe, be
found the most natural and proper interpre-
tation of the words above recited.
As to the methods of mercy which God
had taken for the amendment of man-
kind,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 155
kind, before the flood was fent to deſtroy them,
I fhew'd you in fome former differtations,
that a Seed was promiſed immediately after
the fall; who ſhould fubdue and deſtroy
the power of that evil fpirit, which had
brought fin into the world: a victory which
could neither be attained or enjoyed without
enmity to evil, and attachment to good,
This naturally tended to inſpire all wife and
good parents, with a ftrong zeal of training
up their children, with the utmoft exactnefs,
in all the ways of religion and virtue; fince
all their hopes, both for themſelves and
their children, depended upon this rectitude
of difpofition; without which, it was
impoffible that any of them, could be the
promifed feed; who was to reſtore the hu-
man race, to their original purity and per-
fection.
I ALSO fhew'd you, that foon after this,
facrifices were inftituted by Almighty God;
as a means admirably fitted to inſpire man-
kind with a horror of guilt; and be at the
fame time a perpetual memorial of the
divine mercy, from generation to genera-
tion.
BESIDES this, Adam liv'd to teach and to
exhort his children, nine hundred and thirty
years and Lamech, the father of Noah,
who
156 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
who died on the very year that God brought
the flood upon the earth, was thirty years
old when Adam died: and fince we know
from the fcriptures, that Lamech was a pro-
phet, there is no doubt but he alfo, as well
as his fon, was a preacher of righteouſneſs,
to mankind; till their fins drew down their
deftruction. And from this fhort account of
that period, we may fairly collect, that the
world never wanted either wife inftitutions,
or authentick teachers from God, to keep
them in their duty, or deter them from evil,
from the creation to the flood.
ADD to all this, that there is good reaſon
to believe, that God exhibited himſelf to
mankind, at that ſeaſon, by fome fignal
manifeſtation of his prefence; as afterwards
in the tabernacle, and temple. This
feems fufficiently implied in Cain's com-
plaint, of being driven from the divine pre-
fence, upon the murder of Abel: for we can-
not, with any fhew of reafon, believe him
ignorant, that God was effentially prefent
every where.
And therefore, when he
fays, Thou haft driven me out this day from
the face of the earth, and from thy face fhall I
be hid; 'tis evident, that as by the earth, he
only meant that particular region of the
earth where Adam then dwelt; fo, by the
words thy face, he muft only mean that
peculiar, gracious exhibition of his divine
pre
1
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 157
prefence, which he there vouchfafed to
mankind.
AND this very baniſhment, with that mark
wherewith God had branded him as a murder-
er, was a fignal monition to the whole race of
Adam, that vengeance from God ſhould purfue
fin. And as he was banished from that region
where his father dwelt, 'twas a neceffary con-
ſequence of his exile, that he carry'd the fame
monition to his own pofterity; and preferved
it, in whatever region of the earth he fettled
after this time; i. e. he carried it to that region,
i.e.
where it is certain, it muſt have been moſt
wanted, as being moſt remote from the au-
thority and influence of Adam. And as Cain's
puniſhment, was, at this time, a fignal deter-
ment from vice, fo Enoch's exaltation to hea-
ven, afterwards, (which from the reaſon of
the thing and character of the man, doubtlefs
was done in a very glorious and confpicuous
manner), was the nobleft exhortation to piety
and virtue, that can be imagined. And, at
the ſame time, a fure document to the world,
that God had ample rewards in heaven for the
righteous, fuch as eye had not feen, nor ear
heard, neither had entered into the heart of
man to conceive.
THUS much is obvious to be inferr'd, from
the account left us in fcripture, of the methods
of mercy and monition made ufe of by the
divine
158 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
divine wiſdom and goodneſs, for the amend-
ment of mankind, before the earth was over-
whelmed with a deluge: but as that account
is very fhort, 'tis poffible there might have
been many other methods made uſe of to the
fame purpoſe, and probably there were; tho'
'tis certain, that even thofe recorded in the
ſcriptures, are abundantly fufficient to vindicate
the ways of God with man, during that period.
BUT when all theſe gracious methods,
monitions, and exhortations, (whatever they
were) were in the end found ineffectual, for
the amendment of the world: I believe it
will not be denied, that there was then a necef-
fity of a new revelation, (in the uſual courſe
of God's dealing with the fons of men) antece-
dent to the utter deftruction of this degene-
rate race: both to manifeft his mercy, and to
vindicate his juſtice, in the government of the
world; to make it fufficiently evident to all
fucceeding generations, that no means were
left uneffay'd for their amendment; and that
nothing, but the laft neceffity, compell'd their
Maker, to proceed to extremities with his crea-
tures. Whereas then, Mofes reprefents man-
kind, as in the laſt degree of degeneracy, before
they were deſtroyed by the flood, and at the
fame time, reprefents Almighty God, declaring
that his Spirit ſhould not always contend with
them, but that however he would yet bear
with them, for an hundred and twenty years;
nothing
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 159
nothing furely can be more reafonable, than to
conclude from this account, that God gave
them certain notice of his fix'd intention to
deſtroy them, at the end of this period, if
their amendment did not avert the judgment.
And that he did fo, is fufficiently imply'd in
that paffage in St. Peter's Epiftle, where Noah
is ftil'd a preacher of righteousness; added to the
fubfequent incidental obfervation, that the
people of that period of time were difobe-
dient, when the long ſuffering of God waited
while the Ark was preparing: this being con-
fidered, I think we can have no reaſon to doubt,
that Noah was a preacher infpired by the
fpirit of God, to warn the old world, of the
divine vengeance hanging over their heads, at
that time.
HAVING thus explain'd the full fcope
and intention of the divine declaration men-
tion'd at the beginning of this differtation, I
now proceed to enquire,
ift, By what means human nature became
fo corrupt, in ſo ſmall a ſpace; i. e. in a fuc-
ceffion of fo few generations as paffed from the
creation to the flood? corrupt to fuch a degree
as to lay God under a neceffity of deſtroying
them.
2dly, To enquire by what means that ca-
lamity was brought upon the earth. And,
3dly, WHAT
160 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
3dly, WHAT ends of the divine wiſdom
and goodneſs were anſwered by it.
ift, THEN, I am to enquire how it was
poffible for mankind to become fo utterly cor-
rupt, in a fucceffion of fo few generations, as
pafs'd from the creation to the flood.
AND here I must own, that it is indeed
fcarcely imaginable, at first fight, how man
cou'd be fo corrupt, under all the reſtraints
from evil, and incitements to good, which
God made ufe of to keep him within the
bounds of duty, during that period. And yet
the influence of the firft tranfgreffion, will,
upon due reflection, but too well account for
all this enormity.
As man is a being, made up of body and
fpirit, the one, paffive and fenfelefs, the other,
active and intelligent: 'tis evident the perfection
of his nature, muft confiſt in the ſubjection of
the body, to the dominion of the fpirit: i. e.
in a fubordination of his organs and appetites
to the dictates of right reaſon. It follows then,
that, if, by any misfortune, the powers of his
underſtanding ſhould be impair'd, or thoſe of
his appetites inflam'd, he muſt from that mo-
ment become an irregular, imperfect creature;
inafmuch as the ballance muft immediately
turn in favour of the inferior appetites; which
would often influence him to act in oppofi-
tion
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 161
tion to reafon. And that either, or both thefe
effects might be produc'd by eating the for-
bidden fruit, I have already fhewn:
AND as the indulgence of the appetites
naturally tends to weaken the intellectual fa-
culties, by taking off the mind from intellect-
ual objects, and immerfing it in matter, and
fenfual purſuits; it feems a neceffary confe-
quence from this condition, that man, left to
his own liberty, or unreftrain'd by fome very
extraordinary degrees of divine grace, muft
naturally degenerate into the laft degree of
corruption.
And what reſtraint confiftent with human
freedom can be imagin'd fufficient to check his
unruly appetites, in that height of vigour, and
confidence of long life? If all the dictates of
reaſon, and terrors of religion, are unable to
withhold men from blafphemy, and violence,
and villainy, even now,under all the diſcourage-
ments of a ſhort and wretched life, rarely, and
with great difficulty ftretch'd out to a ſpan of
70 years; what can we conceive fufficient to
keep them back, in the ſtrength and fecurity
of fin, for a continued feries of eight or nine
hundred years? No interpofition of provi-
dence can be imagin'd fufficient for their
amendment in theſe circumftances: unleſs it
were fuch, as would either change their nature,
or deſtroy their freedom; and therefore 'tis
M
but
162 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
but too credible, that in about 1500 years.
from the creation, God found them degene-
rate to ſuch a degree, as if they had been mere
brute beafts; for that feems the moft natural
fenſe of the text ;-My Spirit fhall not always
Strive with man; for that he alfo is FLESH,
i. e. 'Tis in vain to ufe any more methods of
mercy, or monitions of wiſdom with man,
who is now entirely given up to fleſhly appe-
tites; and is by that means funk down into
the loweft condition of brutality And
foon after, Mofes affures us, that God faw that
the wickedness of man, was great in the earth;
and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart, was only evil continually. And this
alfo is eafily apprehended. For as the van-
quifh'd, naturally become flaves to the conque-
ror, fo here, all the powers of the mind, being
fubdued to the dominion of the appetites,
ſerved now to no other purpoſe, than to pur-
vey for the pleaſure of their tyrants; and mini-
fter to all their unruly demands.
THIS extreme degeneracy, made it neceffary
to Almighty God, to root out the whole race
of mankind from the earth, except one man
and his family: which family, being yet but
young, were preſerved from that degeneracy,
by the example and influence of a righteous
parent for we are affured, that Noah was a
just man and perfect in his generations; and
Noah walked with God, Gen. vi. 9.
3
Now
REVELATION Examin'd, &c, 163
Now this deftruction of the human race
was, at once, an act of the higheſt juſtice and
mercy. For, fince God made man for ends
worthy of his own infinite wifdom and good-
nefs; and fince, by their difobedience and
degeneracy, they had utterly defeated the ends
of their creation; lived only to purpoſes di-
rectly contrary to thoſe ends, and wholly de-
ſtructive of them; liv'd only to rebellion and
difobedience to their Maker, and their own
mutual mifery and deſtruction; nothing could
better befeem the mercy and the juftice of
God, than to cut off that corruption by an
utter excifion, which neither his reftraints,
nor rewards, nor all the monitions and ex-
hortations of his prophets, added to his own
declarations, inftitutions, inflictions, and de-
nunciations of vengeance, could reclaim, in
the courſe of ſo many centuries.
By what gradations men arriv'd to this
height of corruption is not fo clear from the
ſcriptures; yet may, with much appearance
of truth, be collected from them; For be-
fides the general expreffions in which Mofes
defcribes this degeneracy, there are two that
ſeem to point out particular vices; both men-
tion'd in Gen. vi. 11. The earth alfo was corrupt
before God; and the earth was filled with vio-
lence;
by violence is plainly meant cruel-
ty, and outrage, and injuftice of every kind :
M 2
and
164 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
and by corruption, the Jews tell us, is always
meant either idolatry, or abominable and un-
lawful mixtures and pollutions. And that the
latter is here meant, is evident from this fub-
fequent explication of thofe words: for all
fleſh had corrupted his way upon the earth. The
queftion then is, by what means both theſe
corruptions came into the world? Now,
THE first inftance of iniquity we meet
with after Cain, is in Lamech, the fixth in
defcent from him, inclufive. He introduced
the corruption of polygamy into the world;
which could not fail to introduce many
others; fuch as murder, adultery, and unna-
tural luft: As is eafy to be conceived, and
fhall be fhewn more at large hereafter. And
it is highly probable that he made his way to
that crime by the murder of the husband or
fpoufe of one of his wives. This is not un-
naturally collected from the very nature of his
crime, added to that bitter exclamation of his
to his wives in] Gen. v. Hear my voice, ye
wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for
I bave flain a man to my wounding, and a
young man to my hurt:
From hence 'tis evi-
dent, that he had committed murder (one mur-
der at leaſt, if not more) and what cauſe ſo
probable for his doing fo, as the gratification
of his luft: eſpecially in an age of the world
when there ſeems to be little occafion of con-
tention for any property, but that of women:
3
The
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 165
The earth not being yet peopled, and the crea-
tures doubtless in great plenty;
And why
fhould he call fo emphatically to his wives,
and complain to them under that particular
character, unless they had, in that particular
character, been fome way or other the occa-
fion of that crying guilt? and how they, as
wives, could be the occafion of that guilt,
without any guilt of their own, (which they
are not charged with) is not eafy to be ima-
gined upon any other fuppofition.
AND this conjecture is ftrengthen'd by reflect-
ing, that there was an apparent neceffity that
mankind fhould at firft be propagated in a re-
gular fucceffion of male and female, at leaſt
in equal numbers of each fex: and in that
cafe, no man could pretend to a plurality of
wives but by doing a manifeſt injury to fome
other: nor is it likely, that other would fub-
mit to fuch an injury without force. That
Lamech had ufed force againſt fome other man
is evident; as alfo that he thought himſelf
much more criminal in doing ſo, even than
Cain: as appears from that exclamation (which,
I think, hath not yet been rightly underſtood)
If Cain fhall be avenged feven-fold, truly La-
mech ſeventy and ſeven-fold;—Now the true
reaſon why God mark'd Cain, and guarded
him from deftruction, under fo fevere a penal-
ty upon any one that fhould flay him, was de-
monftrably this; that he might preferve him
M 3
as
166 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
as a living monument of the curfe of God
upon murder.
FOR God himſelf affures us, that his bro-
ther's blood cryed up from the earth, for ven-
geance upon him; and accordingly we find
that he was branded, he was banifhed, he
was emphatically curft by God;
and every
portion of ground, he attempted to till, was
peculiarly curft for his fake. And can we
after this imagine, that life was left him for
any other reaſon, than another curfe? And
Cain himſelf was fufficiently fenfible that it
was left him for no other reaſon: this appears
from that bitter lamentation of his, My punish-
ment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou
haft driven me out this day from the face of the
earth, and from thy face fhall I be hid; and I
fhall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth,
and it shall come to pass, that every one that find-
eth me, shall flay me;
To this complaint
God makes this reply,- Therefore (or as it
is better render'd, for that reafon) whosoever
flayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him
feven-fold; i. e. For that very reaſon, becauſe
your puniſhment is greater than you can bear,
becauſe you ſhall be an exile, a fugitive and a
vagabond—a fignal example of divine ven-
geance upon guilt-for theſe very reaſons,
I will preſerve you, and fet a mark upon you,
that no man fhall dare to flay you-Now,
on ſuppoſition that this was the reaſon of God's
pre-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 167
preferving Cain, (and furely it will be hard to
find another reaſon why that murderer was ſo
fignally protected;) I fay, upon ſuppoſition
that this was the reafon, and that Lamech
knew it (as he could not but know it) his ex-
clamation to his wives is plainly a confeffion,
that he had been guilty of a much greater
crime than Cain: that he had murder'd from a
much leſs pardonable motive, than preference
in the favour of God (which was the caſe of
Cain) and therefore concluded that God might
juſtly render him a much more dreadful monu-
ment of his wrath, than he had render'd Cain;
-And in this terror, that bitter exclamation
falls from him, If Cain fhall be avenged Seven-
fold, truly Lamech feventy and feven-fold.
THE character of Lamech's family makes
this account yet more credible: One of his
fons being the inventer of mufical inftruments,
and the other an instructer of every artificer in
braſs and iron; or, (as it is in the hebrew) a whet-
ter of every work of brass and iron, i. e. in the
moſt rational interpretation of the words, an
artificer of weapons of war. For the com-
mon inftruments for tillage and building were
invented long before Cain had built a city
before this; and 'tis fcarcely imaginable how
this could be done without fome knowledge
and uſe of metals-From hence 'tis reaſonable
to believe, that as one of Lamech's fons invent-
ed inftruments of luxury, fo the other invented
M 4
in-
168 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
inftruments of violence.
And this is further
confirm'd from the character of Vulcan with
the heathen, who was certainly no other than
this very Tubal Cain: and from the beft ac-
counts antiquity affords, in relation to this
man's character, we have reafon to conclude,
that his buſineſs was, to forge inftruments of
violence and war.
AND as luxury naturally begets a diſpoſition
to injure others in their property; and fuch a
difpofition, armed with offenfive weapons,
naturally tends to beget all kinds of infolence
and outrage to our fellow creatures: all theſe
confiderations make it highly probable, that
as Lamech had gratified his luft (in polygamy)
by force and violence; his example, in a race
fo armed, and at the fame time remarkable for
gigantick ftature and ftrength, (as we are
affured many of the ante-diluvians probably
of that race were) might naturally enough in-
troduce all that train of corruption, which
drew God's judgments upon the earth.
AND indeed, this feems fufficiently evident
from Mofes's account of the matter: for im-
mediately before he mentions the laſt dege-
neracy of mankind, he tells us, that the fons
of God, i. e. the defcendents of Seth, (who
called themſelves by that name, in contra-
diftinction to thofe of Cain, who, probably,
the heighth of their impiety, difclaimed
the
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 169
the divine original of man) faw the daughters
of men, and took them wives of all which they
choſe. The plain fenfe of which words,
is this; that every man took to himſelf as
many wives out of them as he lik'd: making
his liking, the only limit and meaſure of
the number. And when the righteous race
of Seth, fell into this vice of polygamy,
then followed an univerfal depravity. And
accordingly, as foon as Mofes hath related
this mifconduct of the fons of Seth, he im-
mediately adds, And the Lord faid, My Spirit
Shall not always ftrive with man; i. e. that
it was in vain to oppofe any more methods
of mercy to this torrent of impiety; for the
earth was then throughly corrupt, and filled
with violence.
AND as this is a natural account of this
progrefs of evil, fo it is probable, this out-
cry of Lamech's was occafioned by obferving
all that terrible train of iniquity, which his
example had introduced into the world.
For Mofes relates nothing of his lamentation,
till after he hath told us of the birth of his
fons by both his wives; and the inventions
of both thoſe fons: and therefore, 'tis highly
probable, he never faw his guilt in a true
light, till he faw the dreadful effects of it
in his pofterity, in his own pofterity at leaſt,
if not in that of Seth's alfo. And this
might naturally enough make him lament
his
170 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
his guilt to his wives; and in that lamenta-
tion, own, that he deferved vaftly more
puniſhment on that fcore, from the hand of
God, than even Cain himſelf.
AND thus, having fhewn you how it was
poffible, and by what gradations it is
probable, that iniquity increas'd to fo
monstrous an height in the world, as to
lay the divine juftice and goodneſs under
a neceffity of deftroying the human race
by a flood: I now proceed to enquire,
by what means that calamity was brought
upon the earth.
DI S
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 171
DISSERTATION X.
Concerning the natural caufes made uſe
of by Almighty God to flood the
earth.
A
ND here I muft own, that fuch
an enquiry is matter of much
more curiofity, than ufe; fince
this work was evidently miracu-
lous. And they, who have at-
tempted to account for it any other way,
are found to have departed juft fo far from
philoſophy and truth, as they departed from
revelation. And therefore, omitting the
feveral imaginations of men upon this head,
I fhall juſt trace that account of the matter,
which is naturally and obviouſly deducible
from the fcripture; and is as follows:
MOSES tells us in the firft chapter of
Genefis, that when God created the earth,
darkness
72 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
darkness was upon the face of the deep, and
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. From hence 'tis evident, that the
face of the deep, is the face of the waters;
and confequently, that the earth was cover'd
with water, immediately after the creation:
nay more, that thefe waters cover'd the face
of the earth to a confiderable depth, in the
fame manner that the fea now covers fome
portions of it. For we find, that the wa-
ters, which now cover'd the earth, are
call'd the deep, which is the known expref-
fion, by which the moft profound part of
the fea is fignified, in fcripture; (as you
may read in the fifty-first chapter of
Iſaiah at the tenth verfe) and could with no
propriety be us'd in this place, on this
occafion, if the waters had not at this time
cover'd the earth to a confiderable depth.
And this reafoning is fully confirmed
from the 104th Pfalm, where David, de-
fcribing the power and wifdom of God in
the creation of the earth, makes uſe of this
magnificent image; Thou coveredft it with the
deep as with a garment: the waters flood
above the mountains.
AFTER this, in the order of the creation,
followed the divifion of light from darknefs;
and after this, the diftribution of that
water which was upon the earth, into two
diftinct regions; according to thefe words of
Mofes
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 173
And
Moſes. And God faid, Let there be a
firmament in the midst of the waters, and let
it divide the waters from the waters.
God made the firmament, and divided the
waters, which were under the firmament, from
the waters, which were above the firmament:
and it was fo: And God called the firmament,
heaven: and the evening and the morning were
the fecond day. And God faid, Let the wa-
ters under the heaven be gathered together into
one place, and let the dry land appear: and it
was fo;
and God called the dry land,
earth; and the gathering together of the wa-
ters called he, feas; and God faw that it was
good. And this operation alfo of the
divine power, by which the waters were
collected into one place, is nobly deſcribed
by David in the forementioned Pfalm:
At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy
thunder they hafted away;
they go up by
the mountains; they go down by the valleys;
unto the place which thou hast founded for
them; thou haft fet a bound that they
may not pass over: that they turn not again to
cover the earth.
FROM this defcription, a learned * com-
mentator concludes, that when God had
ſeparated fo much water from the earth as
* Dr. Patrick,
he
174 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
he thought proper, by the interpofition of
the firmament, he prepared a receptacle for
what remain'd, by breaking up a proper
portion of the earth, with the violence of an
earthquake, caufed by the inflammation of
nitro-fulphureous matter pent up in it for
that very purpoſe. And as the waters
would, in that cafe, be firft thrown up to
an immenſe height, and then ruſh down im-
petuous into their hold, we may conceive an
image of this fcene, from that beautiful
deſcription of the Pfalmift: At thy rebuke
they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they
bafted away, they go up by the mountains;
they go down by the vallyes: or rather,
(as it is exprefs'd with infinitely more beauty
and magnificence in the original), they af-
cend the mountains, they defcend the valleys:
words which moft admirably exprefs the
ſpeed and impetuofity of their motion, both
in their projection and fall. And that fome-
thing like this was the real cafe, ſeems not
improbable from that exalted paffage in the
38th chapter of Job, where God, queftion-
ing that righteous man concerning the works
of infinite wifdom and magnificence, mani-
feſted in the creation, asks him, Who Shut
up the fea with doors: when it brake forth,
as it had iffued out of the womb.
made the cloud the garment thereof;
darkness a fwathing-band for it,
brake up for it my decreed place?
When I
and thick
and
AND
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 175
AND as this is the account the fcriptures
give us of the original expanfion, divifion,
and diftribution of the waters at the crea-
tion; nothing is more intelligible, nothing
is more obvious to the meaneft capacity,
than how God could deluge the world
whenever he pleas'd. Since nothing more
was requifite to effect this, than letting
down thoſe waters which he firft lifted up;
and clofing up thofe vaft hollows of the
earth, (in order to throw up the water uni-
formly upon its furface) into which he firft
tore the earth, in order to receive the water
from the fame furface: or, (as Mofes ex-
preffes it) to let the dry land appear.
ANY man, that cafts his eye upon a com-
mon map of the world, will fee that more
than two thirds of the globe are already
cover'd with fea, to a confiderable depth.
And if we add to thefe, that part of its fur-
face, which is over-fpread with freſh-water,
lakes and rivers, we fhall fcarce find one
quarter part of the earth dry, at this day.
And there is reafon to believe that the
depth of the fea is, in many places prodi-
gious, perhaps exceeding the height of
the higheſt mountains. Now the bare clo-
fing of fome of theſe vaft hollows, would
throw up
fuch mountains of water, upon the
earth, as were fufficient to deluge a confi-
derable part of it: Add to this, that many
rivers
176 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
rivers now run under the earth; and that
vaſt ſubterraneous caverns are now found in
feveral parts of it, filled with water, which,
if thrown upon the furface, would doubtless
add immenfly to the floods that already
cover it.
AND befides all this, it is not improbable,
that there may be, even, yet a vaſt abyſs of
waters fhut up within this outward fhell of
the earth, fufficient to deluge it, whenever
Almighty God fhould think fit to break
open the fhell that furrounds them, and
force them up upon the furface: That there
was ſuch a ſtore originally depofited in it,
is clearly and indubitably collected from
feveral paffages of facred writ. Thus in
the eighth chapter of the Proverbs, wiſdom
is introduced ſpeaking of God's creation in
the following manner; When he prepared the
heavens, I was there; when he Jet a compafs
upon the face of the depth: when be efta-
blifhed the clouds above; when he ftrengthened
the fountains of the deep, i. e. (in the moſt
natural ſenſe of the words) when he fenced
in the fountains of the deep, with a folid
arch of earth.
So likewife in the 24th Pſalm at the 2d
verfe, David fays of the earth, that God
founded it upon the feas; and established it
upon the floods. And again, at the 136th
Pfalm,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 147
Pfalm, when he exhorts to give thanks to
the Lord, he adds at the fixth verfe, To
him that stretched out the earth above the
waters.
very
Now Mofes afcribes the deluge to two
cauſes: he tells us, that the fountains of the
great deep were broken up; and that the rain
was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
What ſtores of water God might have origi-
nally reſerved in the earth for this very pur-
pofe, is impoffible to ſay. That he did
make fuch a reſerve, is fufficiently evident
from theſe words of Mofes. And tho' the
fame quantity ſhould not now remain, we
fhould remember that St. Peter affures us,
that the ſtate of the earth, at prefent, is
different from what it was at firſt. His
words are thefe: By the word of God the
heavens were of old, and the earth ſtanding
out of the water, and in the water.
the Greek expreffion, which is here render'd,
Standing out of the water, may alfo be ren-
der'd, made up of water, i. e. having a vaſt
quantity of water in its bowels; and either
interpretation brings us to the fame conclu-
fion: For if the earth was founded upon the
waters, (as the Pfalmift affures us it was)
then the apoftle's expreffion is true in either
fenfe; for then it might properly be faid to
ftand out of the water, and in the water; and
N
Now
as
+4
178 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
as properly to confift, in a great meaſure, of
water.
AND an earth fo conftituted, being, at
the fame time, encompaffed by a vaft
flood of waters, fupported by the atmo-
ſphere, was eaſily flooded, at the pleaſure
of God.
BUT here it may be ask'd, How this
atmoſphere, which furrounds the earth,
could fupport fo vaft a quantity of vapours,
as were fufficient for forty days inceffant
rain over the face of the whole earth?
I ANSWER, That tho' the preſent atmo-
ſphere extends but a fmall way, nothing is
more intelligible, upon the known princi-
ples of philofophy, than that God could,
even according to the prefent eſtabliſhment
of nature, (tho' we are by no means to be
determined in our reafonings upon this head,
by the preſent ftate of things in relation to
this earth, which St. Peter affures us is very
different from its original condition), diſpoſe
an immenfe quantity of vapours, in that
vaſt expanſe which furrounds the earth, by
rarefying them to what degree, and con-
fequently, expanding them to what extent,
he thought proper; efpecially if the moon
and ftars confpire to thefe operations, as
*
3
well
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 179
well as the fun, as learned men think they
do * Nay, the learned theorift, who
afcribes this immenfe rain to the atmoſphere.
of a comet, (which, I own, is by much the
moſt probable of all extraordinary natural
means) by admitting, that it actually did
rain forty days and forty nights, muft admit
that the expanfe, furrounding the earth,
could fupport a quantity of vapours fuffi
cient for that rain: otherwife thofe vapours
muſt have fallen down at once, and not
by a gradual defcent for forty days and
nights.
BUT fuppofing the atmoſphere could not,
in its ordinary ſtate, fupport a quantity of
vapours fufficient for forty days inceffant
rain, upon the wicked world at that time;
furely it was eafy for God to add what
quantity he thought fit, from the other ele-
ments; which we know are tranfmutable
into one another. Every naturalift knows,
that water rarefied is air; and 'tis as evident,
that air, condens'd to a certain degree, may
be water that water, at prefent, either
conſtitutes a great part of the air we breathe,
or, at leaft, is to a great degree mixt with
it, is known beyond all doubt.
And why
★ Vid. Varenii geograph. cap. 19. prop. 3. & 4. p. 222,
223.
N 2
the
180 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
the whole body of it, except what was
neceffary for the few furviving animals,
might not be either condens'd, or tranfmuted
into that element on this occafion, is not
eafy to fay nor to how immenfe a quantity
the whole expanfe of air and æther ſo tranf-
muted would amount. And 'tis evident,
that the very earth, waſh'd off by the rains
on this occafion, (and there is reafon to be-
lieve, that the upper ftrata were waſh'd off
to a confiderable depth) might add immenfly
to the fluid mafs, even fuppofing it not
tranſmuted into water; and I fee no reafon
why it was not tranfmuted, unleſs it were,
that ſuch a tranfmutation was not neceffary
to the purpoſes of providence at that time:
for otherwiſe, fince the whole conduct of
God was very extraordinary in relation to
this affair; why might it not have been fo
in this refpect, as well as in every other?
His fufpending all that water (or, at leaſt,
the greateſt part of it) which he originally
divided from the earth by the firmament,
for 1656 years together, was doubtlefs
what we call miraculous. And his letting
it all down at any time afterwards, for
forty days and nights together, after it
was ſo taken up, was evidently no leſs
miraculous.
"TIS vain therefore to trouble ourſelves
in fearching what means Almighty God
made
3
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 181
made ufe of to produce this effect; whether
by the acceſs and atmoſphere of a comet; or
by a tranfmutation of fome other elements
into water on that occafion; or barely let-
ting down thoſe waters he firft lifted up
from the earth, and forcing up thofe foun-
tains he firſt depofited in it; which
ſeems to be the plain truth of the cafe,
whatever change may fince have been
wrought, either in the earth or firma-
ment.
Ir muſt indeed be for ever own'd, with
the utmoſt gratitude, by all candid enqui-
rers after truth, that to enquire what
means God made ufe of on this occafion,
in order to vindicate fo noble a part of
the Mofaic hiftory, and the difpenfations
of providence in the government of the
world, and to filence the objections of
importunate cavillers on this head, is the
work of a moft commendable and noble
curiofity: otherwife, what avails it to any
human creature of common humility, to
know what means God made ufe of on
this occafion, when fo many means were
equally in his choice? and when all means
were equally fufficient for it, in the hands
of omnipotence ?
N 3
AND
182 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
AND therefore I haften to that which is
more our concern to know, and to demon-
ſtrate to the confufion of infidelity; and that
is, what ends of divine wifdom were an-
fwer'd by this fignal deſtruction of the old
world,
ส
*
!
DI $19
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 183
DISSERTATION XI.
Concerning the ends of divine wisdom
anfwered by the deluge.
H
AVING, in the precedent dif-
fertationg fhewn you, what me-
thods of mercy and wifdom it
pleas'd God to make uſe of, to
keep mankind in a courfe of
duty, and to deter them from difobedience,
before the flood; and that, upon the failure
of all thofe methods, there was an apparent
neceffity of a new revelation at that time,
antecedent to the deftruction of that dege-
nerate race, in order to vindicate the juſtice,
and the goodneſs of God in the government
of the world; to let all fucceeding ge-
nerations fee, that no means were left un-
effay'd for their amendment; and that no-
thing, but the laft neceffity, compell'd their
Maker to proceed to extremities with his
N 4
crea-
184 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
creatures: Having likewiſe fhewn you how
it was poffible, and by what means it was
probable, that mankind became fo exceed-
ingly corrupt before the flood; and alfo by
what means that calamity might be brought
upon the earth: I now proceed to enquire,
what ends of the divine wiſdom and good-
neſs were aniwered by it.
AND one end of divine wifdom plainly
anfwered by it, is this, the eſtabliſhment of
one univerfal, inconteftable, perpetual mo-
nument of his power and providence in the
puniſhment of guilt, over the face of the
whole earth.
ALL the other methods of providence,
however, in themfelves, wife and wonder-
ful, are yet, thro' the perverfeneſs and va-
nity of human nature, fome way or other
objects of doubt, and difpute, at leaſt, if not
of direct denial, and downright ridicule,
with that ſpirit of infidelity which is gone
out into the world; but the deluge is out of
the reach of all poffible exception; and
forces that evil fpirit to be as dumb, on this
occafion, as it is deaf and loud upon others.
IF we vindicate the goodnefs of God, in
laying no more than one eaſy reſtraint upon
our firſt parents, in paradife, we are imme-
diately ask'd, Why God did not rather lay
moral
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 185
!
moral reſtraints upon them? when we fhew
that there was no need of moral reſtraints in
that ſtate of things; we then are ask'd,
Why any reſtraints? i. e. Why God did not
make his creatures independent of himſelf?
or, Why he did not make them all as per-
fect as himfelf?
IF we, tell them of God's teaching us our
duty by the plaineft precepts and prohibi-
tions, they infift, that words are eaſily miſ
taken, but the true way of teaching, is from
the nature of things. If we urge, that
teaching by types and fymbols, is teaching
from the nature of things, they immediately
cry out for plain precepts that can't be mif-
taken.
If we vindicate the reaſonableneſs of
pofitive inftitutions, from a Being of infinite
wifdom, to beings of a very limited capacity,
they immediately call out for rational pre-
cepts. If religion is recommended for its
rational precepts, they fay, rational precepts
fufficiently recommend themſelves. We no
fooner fhew the excellence of the religion of
Christ, but they cry up the religion of na-
ture. If we tell them, that the religion of
Chrift, has perfected the religion of nature;
they anfwer, That reafon and nature were
fufficient without that religion. If we urge,
that reafon is not fufficient, and that the
good-
186 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
goodness of God exacted fome revelation for
the reſtraint and guidance of his creatures,
they tell us, that the goodnefs of God made
it neceffary that his creatures fhould be fo
perfect as to be their own guides. If we
anfwer, That God made man perfect in the
beginning, but that he himſelf forfeited that
felicity; they laugh, with the fcoffers men-
tioned by the apoftle, and tell us, that all
things are now as they were from the begin-
sing.
HERE then we join iffue with them; and
tell them, that there was a time, when God
fignally interpos'd in the puniſhment of a
corrupt world, by an univerfal deluge of
waters; and that only one man and his
family were providentially refcued from that
puniſhment; and that the oldeſt hiftories
and antiquities of all nations under heaven,
agree in the truth of this fact.
THEY anfwer, That all antiquity is fabu-
lous; that there might, indeed, have been
particular deluges, by fome accident, in par-
ticular places; and that the people of thoſe
places might imagine that all the reft of the
world was drown'd except fome few, that
cfcaped among themfelves; and fo the tra-
dition might become univerfal: but that a
deluge was fo, is utterly incredible and im-
poffible,
HERE
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 187
HERE then we call in natural philofophy,
and aftronomy to our aid. The firſt of
thefe teaches us, that tho' this atmoſphere
extends but a ſmall way, yet, 'tis impoffible
to ſay, what quantity of vapours may be
fufpended in this vaft expanfe which fur-
rounds the earth, poffibly a quantity fuffi-
cient for more than forty days inceffant rain
over the face of the whole earth; at leaſt,
it might have been fo, in the original con-
ftitution of things, in relation to this nether
world, tho' poffibly the ftate of things may
now be very different, from their original
conftitution. That there are alſo many ſub-
terraneous rivers and receptacles of water in
the earth, which, with the floods forced up
by clofing fome great hollows in the depths
of the ocean, would throw an inconceivable
quantity of water upon that part of the
earth, which is now dry. And that there
are unanswerable reafons to believe, that,
beſides all theſe fupplies, there is a vaft
fund of waters fhut up in the very bowels
of the earth, to be thrown up upon the fur-
face of it, at the pleaſure of its Maker; at
leaſt, St. Peter affures us, this was the ori-
ginal ftate of the earth; and if it pleafed
God to break the outward fhell of the earth,
and force out the fluid contained in it, by
the interpofition of natural cauſes, rather
than by fome immediate act of
power, aftro-
nomy
188 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
nomy demonftrates the poffibility of doing
fo, by the acceſs of a comet; which, by the
force of attraction, might alter the figure of
the earth, from ſpherical to oval; and by
that means, force out the fluid within it, at a
great variety of fiffures, which would necef-
farily be form'd on this occafion. That, if
all this were not enough to drown this ball,
an inconfiderable portion of the atmoſphere
of the fame comet, would be demonftrably
fufficient to anſwer the Moſaic account of the
deluge.
HERE then are hiftory, antiquity, natural
philofophy, and aftronomy full on the fide
of revelation. What fubterfuge now for
infidelity? Why ftill it may be urged, that
fuppofing the difficulties, as to the poffibility
of theſe effects, to be over, yet poffibility
and probability join'd together, don't infer
reality and certainty.
HERE then we appeal once more to na-
ture; and find that, in fact, there are, at
this day, as cvident, as demonftrative, as
inconteſtable proofs of the deluge, over the
face of the whole earth, at the diſtance of
about four thouſand years, as if it had hap-
pen'd but laſt year. And whereas Mofes
affures us, that the waters prevailed fifteen
cubits above the tops of the highest mountains,
let the mountains themfelyes be appeal'd to
for
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 189
for the truth of this affertion: Examine the
higheſt eminences of the earth, and they all,
with one accord, produce the fpoils of the
ocean depoſited upon them on that occafion;
the ſhells and skeletons of fea-fifh, and fea-
monſters of all kinds. The Alps, the Ap-
pennine, the Pyrenees, the Andes and Atlas,
and Ararat, every mountain of every region
under heaven, from Japan to Mexico, all
confpire in one uniform, univerfal proof,
that they all had the fea ſpread over their
higheſt fummits. Search the earth
you
ſhall find the moufe-deer, natives of Ame-
rica buried in Ireland; elephants, natives of
Afia and Africa, buried in the midſt of Eng-
land; crocodiles, natives of the Nile, in the
heart of Germany; fhell-fifh, never known
in any but the American feas, together with
entire skeletons of whales, in the moft inland
regions of England; trees of vaft dimenſions,
with their roots and tops, and fome alfo
with leaves and fruit, at the bottoms of
mines and marls; and that too, in regions
where no tree of that kind was ever known
to grow; nay, where it is demonftrably im-
poffible they could grow. Nay more, trees
and plants of various kinds, which are not
known to grow in any region under hea-
ven *
* See Woodward's natural hiftory of the earth enlarged, and
the defence of it. Bochart, &c.
IF
190 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
If you ask how all this could be? How
fhells could float in the water, 'fo as to
reach, and to reft on the tops of mountains;
or how, both they and other creatures fhould
fink fo deep into the earth, as to be found.
at the bottom of mines and quarries? I an-
fwer, that all theſe events perfectly demon-
ftrate Mofes's account of this matter to be
incontestably true; fince all theſe events
could plainly come to pafs, according to his
account of the matter, but are utterly im-
poffible, and unimaginable, upon any other
principles. We now fee fhells of all kinds,
conſtantly thrown upon the fhoar, by the
working of the fea; and therefore, when all
parts of the earth became fhoars by the gra-
dual fwelling of the waters, 'tis obvious,
that they all muft have fea-fhells fucceffively
thrown upon them and forafmuch as, in
all probability, no fifh were deftroy'd for
food before the flood, 'tis evident, that fhell-
fiſh, as all others, muſt have been in prodi-
gious quantities in the fea at that time; as
their being found to have been in prodigious
quantities at that time, is alfo a very good
proof that they were not deftroy'd for food
before that time.
BESIDES this, Mofes tells us that the foun-
tains of the great deep were broken up on that
occafion. Now the rushing up of the wa-
ters
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
191
ters thro' thefe fountains, muft, of neceffity,
caufe fo prodigious a commotion in the fea,
as would throw up the heaviest bodies from
the bottom of the ocean; and this working
of that huge flood, added to the inceffant
agitation of the rains and tides for ſo many
days together, were fufficient to throw bodies
of almoſt any weight, and much more fuch
light bodies as fhells, upon the tops of the
highest mountains. And if thoſe appear-
ances they call Spouts, are now found fuffi-
cient to force up waters above the clouds,
and, by means of that force, to throw up
ftones, and tear up anchors by ſome afto-
niſhing power, with how much more force
muft that water act and agitate, which is
thrown up by the preffure of the earth?
And as the breaking up of theſe fountains of
the deep, is abundantly fufficient to account
for any effect of the deluge, now obfervable
upon the greateft heights of the earth, fo
the return of the waters into the bowels of
the earth, thro' the fame channels, when
God fhut up the fountains of the deep, muft
of neceffity, carry bodies of all kinds back
with them again, into the bowels of the
earth.
ADD to this, that all that mafs of earth,
and ſtones, and fhells, and trees, and ani-
mals, which floated together in that immenfe
body of waters, for fo many days, muft of
necef-
192 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
neceffity, in their fubfiding, fill up a vaft
many hollows left in the earth, from the be-
ginning; and a vaſt many more made in it,
by the fall, the motion and eruption of the
waters, in infinite places. And that earth-
quakes alfo, muft, in many places, have
funk theſe bodies at fundry times, much
deeper into the bowels of the earth ; and by
that means, preferved them much fafer, than
they otherwife would have been.
AND thus it comes to pafs, that the heights
and depths of the earth, equally and incon-
teſtably confefs the mighty power and ſignal
interpofition of God, in the deftruction of the
old world, by a deluge of waters, for the
wickedness of them that dwelt therein. Moun-
tains and all bills, fruitful trees and cedars,
beafts and all cattel, nay, fire and vapours,
wind and form, (confpiring to prove the)
fulfilling his word. And thus it comes to
pafs, that we may with fome ſmall varia-
tion fay, of Almighty God, from theſe uni-
verfal effects, this ubiquity of his power, in
the deluge, as David does, on another occa-
fion, of the ubiquity of his preſence, If I
climb up towards heaven, thou art there; if
I go down towards hell, thou art there
also.
AND here I muft again put a plain
queftion, to the patrons of infidelity. Do
they
REVELATION Examin'd, &c, 193
they know, that this univerfal atteftation of
the whole earth to the truth of the Moſaic
hiſtory, is an amazing and inconteftable
proof, that that hiſtory is verified even in
that part of it, which, of all others, is the
moft furprizing? If they do know this,
Why do they not believe it? Do they know
it to be demonftrably true, and will they yet
revile it, as if it were demonftrably falſe?
Is it poffible there can be fuch monfters
among the fons of men? And on the other
hand, if they do not know it, will they
dare to infult our faith, from the force of
downright ftupidity and ignorance? Is this to
be endur'd? We produce plain proof, de-
monſtrative, inconteftable evidence, and
they confute us with a loud irrefragable
laugh, or a gentle, commiferating fmile: We
urge reaſon, and they retort ridicule, and fo
go off in triumph.
MOSES had paſs'd his life in Egypt, and
its confines, and it was impoffible for him,
by any natural means, to know the ſtate of
things in all the other regions of the earth.
Theſe iſlands were not then, in all probabi-
lity, known to the reft of the world; nor
were China and America fo much as dreamt
of. How then could Mofes take upon him
to ſay in fo peremptory a manner, that the
waters of the deluge prevailed over all the
high hills, that were under the whole heaven ;
Q
end
194 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
and that the mountains were covered; unleſs
he either knew this from the unerring fpirit
of God, or was informed of it from fome
fure unerring tradition? Now fuppofe it to
be barely from tradition, if that tradition is
found to be unerring in that part, which is
at once the moſt amazing, and the moſt ex-
ceptionable of all others, Can we confiftent-
ly, with any degree of common ſenſe, dif-
credit or difclaim it in any other part? efpe-
cially, when it is found, upon a due enquiry,
that there is a plain foundation for a clear,
unqueftionable tradition in this cafe, from
the few generations which had pafs'd between
Noab and Mofes: and when all the parts of
that tradition, are found, after the moft
exact enquiry, to be perfectly conformable
to the reafon and nature of things, as well as
to the whole train of antiquity?
BUT could not the higheft mountains of
the earth have been gradually covered by
particular deluges, fucceeding one another at
feveral periods?
I ANSWER, That nothing in nature is
more irrational or unphilofophical, than ſuch
fuppofition; as will immediately appear to
any one, who confiders the nature of water,
which nothing but a miracle could raife to
fuch a height, and ſuch a ſtate of ſuſpenſion:
and keep it in that ſtate, ſo as to cover the
higheſt
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 195
higheſt mountains of the earth, and at the
fame time leave its lower regions dry. But,
however, if any man think it more rational
to ſuppoſe a million of miracles in this cafe,
than to admit the plain Mofaic account of
this matter, he is at liberty, for me, to en-
joy fuch fuppofitions, in full complacence.
--
OTHERS are fond of fuppofing, that the
preſent phenomena afcribed to the deluge,
are the effects of fome difturb'd or chaotick
ſtate of things, antecedent to the Mofaic
creation; that is, in truth, fuch is the
extravagance of human vanity and perverfe-
nefs! we are fond of building upon every
wild imagination that comes into our heads,
however irrational and unfupported, rather
than reſt upon the credit of the moſt rational,
the moſt credible, the moſt authentic ac-
counts of things, when once they appear to
us, under the infuperable difadvantage, of
being infpired by God!
ANOTHER end of the Divine wifdom` and
goodneſs, anfwer'd by the deluge, was, the
taking off that curfe from the earth, which
God had pronounced upon it, immediately
after the fall. Now, that he did take off
the curfe from the earth, at this time, is
evident both from fcripture and reaſon.
O 2
WE
196 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
WE read in Genefis v. 28, 29, that when
Lamech had lived an hundred eighty and two
years, he begat a fon, and called his name
Noah, (which fignifies reft) faying, This
fame fhall comfort us concerning our work and
toil of our hands; becauſe of the ground which
the Lord hath curfed. This text is common-
ly explain'd by the fubfequent account of
Noah's being an husbandman, and finding
out the uſe of wine; as if no more was meant
by thoſe words of Lamech's, than that Noah,
by that invention, fhould bring great confo-
lation to mankind, under the labours of
life. Now this is evidently a wrong inter-
pretation; for no man believes that Noah
was the firſt husbandman; (that trade was
as old as Adam) nor is there the leaft reafon
to believe from the text, that he firſt found
out the art of making wine. 'Tis faid, in-
deed, that he planted a vineyard; but cer-
tainly it does not follow from hence, that he
was the firft that did fo; nay, the contrary
feems much more probable from the text:
for it is faid, that Noah began to be an huf-
bandman, and he planted a vineyard.
feems evidently implied in theſe words, that
Noah never had been a husbandman till this
time. 'Tis probable the righteous race of
Seth, were fhepherds like Abel, and that
Noah was an entire ftranger to agriculture,
till neceffity made him turn his thoughts
It
that
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 197
that way, after the flood; nor is it in the
leaft likely, he ſhould invent the way of
making wine, at the very beginning of his
applying to that profeffion. Suppofe him
the firſt planter of vines: Is it any way cre-
dible, that the very firft planter of vines,
invented wine? no furely. Does any man
believe, that the firft planter of orchards,
invented cyder; or, that the firſt planter of
any tree found out the way of fermenting
liquors from the fruit of that tree? nothing
is lefs credible than fuch a fuppofition.
BESIDES, I think it credible from a paf-
fage in the new teftament, that wine was
invented before the flood. In the feventeenth
chapter of St. Luke and the twenty-fixth
verfe, our Saviour tells his difciples, that
as it was in the days of Noe, fo fhould it also
be in the days of the Son of man: they did eat,
they drank, &c. till the day that Noe entered
the ark, and the flood came and destroyed
them. Alfo as it was in the days of Lot,
they did eat, they drank, &c. Now we
know, that by eating and drinking in the
days of the Son of man, is meant, feafting
and drinking wine; and the fame is alfo
meant by eating and drinking in the days of
Lot: and therefore, by parity of reafon, the
fame fhould alfo be underſtood of the days
of Noe; efpecially fince this is the known
fenfe in which our Saviour ufes thefe words,
03
as
198 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
as may be ſeen from Matt. xi. 18, 19. For
John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they fay, He hath a devil; the Son of man came
eating and drinking, and they ſay, Behold, a man
gluttonous and a wine-bibber. And can we
after this fufpect, that by eating and drink-
ing in the days of Noe, is meant, any thing
lefs than feafting and drinking wine?
BUT fuppofe Noah were the inventer of
wine: How does the invention of wine take
off the curfe from the earth? And how
ſmall a number of thofe that toil in tilling it,
are any way advantag'd by that invention?
And therefore the only rational interpretation
of Lamech's fpeech upon the birth of Noah,
is this; that he, being a prophet, forefaw
that God would in his fon's time, and out
of a particular regard to his righteouſneſs,
take off the curfe from the earth; and be-
ſtow all thoſe bleffings, upon him, and his
race, which had never been beftowed upon
any man, fince the fall. And we find, that,
in fact, God Almighty did blefs Noah, and
his fons, after the flood, in the very fame
manner, in which he bleffed Adam and
Eve after the creation; and not only gave
them dominion over the creatures, but
likewife enlarged their charter; and gave
them a right to the uſe of the creatures
for food; with this additional affurance,
that
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 199
that he would no more curfe the earth for
the fins of mankind *.
AND as this is the moft rational account of
this matter, from the teftimony of fcripture,
'tis evident, from the nature of the flood,
that the curfe muft be taken off the earth,
at that time. This appears from confidering
the flood, upon the foot of any rational hypo-
thefis, that can be form'd concerning it. If
the curfe was executed by withholding rain
from the earth, during the whole period be-
fore the flood, or a confiderable part of it,
(as poffibly it might) 'tis evident, that the
faturation of it with rain and falts, on that
occafion, together with the conftant ſupply
of moiſture from the clouds ever fince, muſt
effectually take off that curſe, from that day
to this. Add to this, that the infinite fhoals
of fiſh, and all the carcafes of animals, which
would naturally be left on the heights of
the earth on this occafion, muſt have left a
vaft fund of fatnefs, to be gradually waſhed
down thence upon the lower lands, by
every ſhower from heaven. It muft, in-
deed, be own'd, that land animals cannot
reaſonably be fuppofed to have been fo
very numerous in that accurfed ſtate of the
* See this matter very ingenioufly and clearly difcufs'd in
Dr. Sherlock's difcourfes of propheſy.
0 4
earth,
200 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
Car-
earth, as now; but fifh, doubtlefs, were
more numerous: None of them, in all hu-
man probability, being deftroy'd for human
food before that time;
and as many
kinds of fiſh ſwim in vaft fhoals, and all
that we know of them, feed in fhallow wa-
ters;
'tis evident, that as the waters funk
faft, the furface of the earth being at the
fame time unequal, many of them alfo de-
lighting in mud and flutch, vaft numbers of
them muſt be deferted upon the tops of the
higheſt mountains; and fo proportionably,
upon all leffer eminences of the earth.
cafes alfo of all kinds of land animals, float-
ing in the waters, would naturally fink, where
thoſe waters were fhalloweft, that is, where
the earth was higheft: and as men alfo are
very reaſonably fuppofed to have been then
immenfly numerous, from their longevity,
'tis evident, they alfo muft have greatly
added to the treaſure of rich mould, left
upon the mountains on this occafion ; and
in that condition to which the earth muft
neceffarily be reduced at that time, 'tis
evident all thefe carcafes would naturally
fink into it, and fo be covered over
with mould, and mud, upon the drying of
it again which was neceffary to prevent
a peftilence from the corruption of thofe
carcafes in open air.
BUT
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 201
BUT it is fuppofed by fome, that man-
kind were but a fmall number at the time of
the Mofaic deluge, and therefore an univerfal
flood was not neceſſary.
I ANSWER, That this fuppofition is evi-
dently erroneous, and for the readers full
fatisfaction on this head, I refer him to Mr.
Whifton's learned and rational account of this
matter in his theory of the earth.
THAT there have been particular deluges,
is proved beyond all doubt, by many learned
writers, antient and modern *; but then the
authentick inftances of this kind, which they
give us, are only of level or low lands
flooded from the accidental breaking of thoſe
banks or diques which kept out the fea
but to imagine that high and mountainous
regions, Attica, for example, and Theffaly,
could be cover'd with water, and yet, that
lower regions fhould continue dry at the
fame time, is a fuppofition attended with
much more difficulty than an univerfal deluge.
;
THIS objection being removed, I think it
evident, that the curfe muft have been
taken off the earth by the deluge, according
to that account of the matter, which is moft
natural and obvious to the apprehenfions of
mankind.
* See, in the prefent ſtate of the republick of letters for
October, 1731. printed for William Iūnys, London,
letter relating to fome difficulties arijing rom reading Mr. Wood,
ward's account of the manner and effects of the deluge.
· A
OR
202
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
OR fuppofe all the upper ftrata of the
earth, to have been entirely torn off, by the
rains and eruptions of water from the foun-
tains of the deep, on this occafion: (as, I
think, 'tis highly probable they were) 'tis
evident, that, after thefe rains and eruptions
were over, they would fubfide again for the
moft part, according to their ſpecifick gravi-
ties
and confequently the bodies of all
animals would fubfide laft, and fo fink into
the mud as before. Except fuch as in this
tumult fhould chance to be loaded, or other-
wife entangled with heavier matter; and
they, would neceffarily be carry'd down, and
mix'd with the ftrata of fuch heavier matter,
as they are found to be at this day. The
fiſh alſo would fwim and feed, and be de-
ferted, as before.
AND in this cafe, 'tis evident, that the
earth would be, to all intents of fruitfulneſs,
in full as good a condition, as that in which
it was left, when God firft removed the wa-
ters from it, at the creation, and made the
dry land appear. Except what alterations
might have been caus'd in it, by any new
motion or by its being placed in fome dif-
ferent relation to the fun or planets at this
time, which doubtless might occafion much
difference in the temperament of the air; and
in
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 203
in confequence of that, in the vegetation of
plants, and lives of animals.
IF it be ask'd, How rain could waſh off
all the upper layers of the earth? I anſwer,
That cataracts of rain could do this in a few
hours; nay, in a few minutes. And fince
the LXX interpret the windows of heaven,
open'd on this occafion, by the cataracts of
heaven, there is reaſon to believe, that the
rain, which introduc'd the deluge, began, at
leaft, in cataracts.
THERE is an account in the philofophical
* tranfactions, of a fall of water from the
heavens, which, in a few minutes, tore up
the earth ſeven foot deep, to the very rock
which lay under it. If that rain had lafted
a few days, nay, even a few hours, will
any man ſay it might not have waſh'd away
much of the rock, if not all? And there is
all the reafon in the world to believe, that
an infinite number of rocks were waſh'd
away at the deluge. How, otherwiſe, is it
poffible, that fea fhells and fea animals of
feveral kinds, fhould be found in the midft
of rocks of marble at this day, as they fre-
quently are? 'Tis notorious to a proverb, that
a conftant drop will wear away a ſtone: And
* Motte's abridgment, vol. 2, p. 215.
what
204 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
what rock can we imagine fo hard, as not to
yield to the violence of a continued cataract?
The only difficulty is, how the particles of
ftone, fo wafh'd off, fhould become rocks
again but this difficulty is alfo remov'd, by
confidering, that upon the ceafing of the
turbulent motion of the waters, their fpeci-
fick gravity muft make them fubfide toge-
ther in great quantities; and in that fubfi-
dence they might eafily carry other bodies
down with them, efpecially fhells, which are
nearly of their own fpecifick gravity and
fince marble, now pounded into very ſmall
parts, is found eafily to coalefce into maffes
of marble again; (and might more eafily do
fo in the earth from immenfe preffure);
nothing is more conceivable, than how very
ſmall particles of marble might alſo coalefce
in like manner at the deluge. And fince
God exprefly declared on this occafion, (as
you may read in the fixth chapter of
Genefis) that he would deftroy all flesh, and
the earth alſo, (for fo both the Hebrew
and the Greek of this paffage is plainly to
be underſtood), I think it demonftrable
from the effects of the deluge, now ob-
ferved in the earth, that, in fact, what is
properly call'd earth, that is, the upper
ftrata of the globe, were actually and
literally deftroy'd at that time; and being
deſtroy'd and eſtabliſh'd again, as at the
crea-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 205
creation, the curfe, muft, in the eſtabliſhment
of it, be taken off *.
AND thus having fhewn you two great
and excellent ends anfwered by the deluge,
the eſtabliſhment of one perpetual, incon-
teftable memorial of the divine interpofition
for the puniſhment of fin,
and the taking
off that curfe from the earth, which was laid
on after the fall: I now proceed, in a few
words, to anſwer two objections of weight
which lie against this doctrine; and fo
conclude.
* But if any man think it more credible, that theſe rocks
might be form'd by fecretions of the finer parts of ſtone
from the earth, in the diffolution of its upper ftrata, on this
occafion; (or by the petrification of certain kinds of clay) and
can reconcile this opinion to the plain declarations of fcripture;
I fhall not contend with him upon the matter: fince it is evi-
dent, that rocks might be formed by the fubfiding and coalef-
cence of fimilar particles of ſtone, fo fever'd from the earth,
at this time; in the very fame manner that they were form'd
at the first reduction of the Chaos, into form, by thofe laws
which it hath pleaſed God to impreſs upon matter. Nor do
I believe, that any man will pretend to fay, Why ſtones might
not be then form'd in the earth by thefe laws? fince we now
fee them daily form'd in the bodies of living creatures, by laws
lefs obvious to our underſtandings.
Nay poffibly many of thofe ftrata, which are now ſtone,
were originally clay, now petrified. (See more on this fub-
ject in Motte's abridgment of the philofoph. tranfact. vol. 2.
P. 254. See alfo the letter in relation to Dr. Woodward's hiſtory
before referred to.)
DIS-
206 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
DISSERTATION XII.
Objections to the Mofaic account of the
deluge, and this explication of it
confidered.
HE firft is this: That man ftill
eats bread in the sweat of his
and that the earth is fill
O cursed with thorns and thiſtles.
T
brow;
I ANSWER, That the labour of one man,
is now fufficient for the fupport of a great
many; and confequently, a great majority
of mankind, are exempted from the neceffity
of labouring in the earth and by that
means, are at liberty to be imploy'd in thoſe
purſuits of knowledge, and thoſe conve-
niences and ornaments of life, which can
alone make it defirable to reaſonable crea-
tures. And fuch a growth of thorns and
thiftles, as defeats not this end, fhould
rather
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 207
rather be confider'd, as a neceffary, and a
happy incitement to induftry; for tho' God
took the curfe from the earth, yet human
nature not being yet recovered to its original.
rectitude, which could only make a life ex-
empted from labour, defirable: it could not
be his intention, that men fhould pass away
their lives in idlenefs and floth: and I
think it juſtly doubtful, whether thorns and
thiſtles, which were demonftrably a curſe
to Adam, are not now rather bleffings to his
pofterity; agreeably to God's great preroga-
tive of power and wifdom, to produce good
out of evil f.
AGAIN, the grant of the creatures for
food, given immediately after the deluge,
hath exceedingly lightened the labours of
life, by leffening the neceffity of tillage;
and by that means, the curfe of toil, impos'd
upon Adam, is, in a great meafure remov'd.
And this very grant ſeems plainly to imply,
† It is not, I believe, imagin'd, that thorns and weeds had
no exiſtence before the curfe: how vexatious they might have
been from that time till the flood, is impoffible to fay; that
now, fince the diſtinction of property, thorns are a vaſt blef-
fing to the earth, is undeniable.
That thiſtles are here put
for weeds in general, I take for granted; and, I believe, every
candid man will find upon enquiry, that weeds now anſwer
fo many excellent ends and ufes in life, as render them rather a
blefling than a curſe.
that
208 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
that the curfe was now taken off the earth,
For certainly, if the earth had not now
been fitted to produce plenty of grain, as
well as herbage, it could never ſuſtain fuch
a vaſt number of animals, as are now daily
deſtroyed for food: many of which, are fup-
ported almoſt entirely by grain, (as moſt
kinds of fowl) and others require great fup-
plies of grain, as well as herbage; all which
the earth is now found fufficient to fupply,
with the toil of a comparatively ſmall num-
ber of men. And befides this, great quanti-
ties of grain, are now employed in fupplying
mankind with thofe liquors, which chear them
under their toils; and by that means, ex-
ceedingly lighten the labours of life. And,
I believe, no one imagines that this was an
advantage enjoy'd by the antediluvian world.
Add to all this, that where the earth is al-
moſt wholly exhauſted by inceffant tillage,
'tis common to fee it furprizingly recruited,
and enrich'd again at once, by the treaſures
depoſited in it at the deluge; as is the
known caſe of marls, many of which are
found to be nothing but huge heaps of fea-
fhells, thro' length of time diffolv'd in the
earth. And, in all probability, all the
kinds of marls are no more than the fame
ſubſtance, ſomewhat diverfified by the dif
ferent foils in which they are depofited.
SUCH
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 209
SUCH care hath the Divine wifdom
and goodneſs taken, not only to perpetuate
the proof of that great judgment, which
fin brought upon the earth: but alfo to
demonftrate, that at the fame time that God
puniſh'd fin, he remember'd mercy; and in
that very act of chaftifement upon the
wicked, laid up a bleffing for the righteous;
laid up wherewithal to reward honeft in-
duftry, to the end of the world.
AGAIN 'tis objected, that when God efta-
bliſhed his covenant with Noah, never more
to deſtroy the earth or the creatures by a
flood, he appointed the rain-bow to be a
fignal of that covenant: now the rain-bow
is only the effect of certain reflections and
refractions of the rays of the fun from a
watry cloud and how can that be a fignal
that there fhall be no deluge?
I ANSWER, That the rain-bow is the pro-
pereſt ſignal of ſuch a covenant that can be
imagined. For the reflection of the fun from a
watery cloud, is a certain fign, that tho' it
rains in one part of the heavens, fome other
part is clear and unclouded. And, 'tis evi-
dent, there can be no univerfal deluge,
without an univerfal rain; fuch as would
over-caft the whole heaven, and hide the
fun; and probably take away all diſtinction
P
of
210 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
of day and night. And as it is agreeable to
reaſon to believe this, the accounts of the
heathen, concerning the firft deluge, which
they call the flood of Ogyges, are agreeable
to this belief. Thus Solinus tells us, that
one continued night hid the day on that
occafion, for many months together. Nor is
the fame thing obfcurely implied in thofe
words at the eighth chapter of Genefis,
where God declares, immediately after the
deluge, that he would never more ſmite
the earth in the fame manner: and to con-
firm that declaration, he adds, While earth
remaineth, feed-time, and harvest, and cold,
and heat, and fummer, and winter, and day
and night, fhall not ceafe. Now, 'tis cer-
tain, that feed-time and harveft, and fum-
mer and winter, (which are now to cease
no more) had entirely ceas'd, without any
diftinction at this time: therefore we may
fairly infer, that fo had day and night too.
Now this being granted, what could be in
itſelf a more noble or enlivening emblem of
hope, or a more rational and fignificant
affurance againft a fecond deſtruction by
rain, than that glorious bow of God in the
clouds! which demonftrates, that all the
rain, which at any time threatens the earth,
can only affect fome particular portion of it;
and is at the fame time fo peculiarly fitted
to convey this hope, and this demonftration,
to every region under heaven, and in every
day
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 211
day throughout the whole year! which
no other natural indication, in the univerſe,
is fitted to do *.
AND if that heavenly. bow was never
before feen, till the moment that God made
this declaration to Noah, (as it fhould feem
from the very expreffion here uſed, that it
was not); I do fet my bow in the cloud, and
it shall be for a token of a covenant between
me and the earth; and it shall come to paſs,
when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the
bow ſhall be ſeen in the cloud: and I will re-
member my covenant which is between me and
you, and every living creature of all flesh;
and the water fhall no more become a flood to
deftroy all flesh. I fay, on fuppofition, that
Noah had never before feen a rain-bow, (a
ſuppoſition which the above declaration
fairly juſtifies), how muft that glorious pha-
nomenon at once fill his eyes, with wonder
and delight! and his heart, with joyful af-
furance and that he never had feen any
fuch appearance till that moment, is highly
probable: fince, 'tis evident, there might
Thoſe rains which now exhibit the rain-bow to our eyes,
are gentle, refreſhing fhowers, plainly intended as bleffings to
the earth; fuch bleffings, as, I think, cannot be fairly prefumed
to have been bestowed upon it, in its accurfed ftate.
therefore, from the rain-bow being now feen, it can by no
means be fairly inferred, that it was feen before the deluge.
And
P 2
have
212 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
have been rain for many ages without a
rain-bow: which arifes from the concur-
rence of ſeveral circumftances, which we are
under no neceffity of believing to have
concurr'd, in the antediluvian ſtate of things:
at leaſt, 'tis certain there could be no
rain-bow without rain; and there is no con-
vincing reafon to believe there was any rain
before the flood: and this opinion is greatly
ſtrengthned at leaft, from thefe words in
the eleventh chapter of the epiftle to the
Hebrews, and the feventh verfe: By faith
Noah, being warned of God of things not
feen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark
for the faving of his houfe.
Now if Noah had feen great rains and
floods, drowning and overwhelming parti-
cular portions of the earth, before this
time, fuch as we now daily obferve, could
the apoſtle properly call floods and devaſ-
tations from rain, things not yet feen?
From hence I infer, that Noah had ſeen no
rain before the flood, at leaſt no fuch rains
as we now daily fee; and confequently, no
rain-bow.
AND the tradition of antiquity con-
cerning the rain-bow, feems ftrongly to
confirm this opinion: for Iris, which is the
name of the rain-bow with the Greeks, is
faid
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 213
faid to be the daughter of Thaumas, (i. e.
the daughter of wonder), and the meffen-
ger of Jupiter, to carry his great oath to
the other Gods, when they had offended.
Now this feems to be a fable, plainly founded
upon the folemn covenant now mentioned,
which God made with man after the deluge:
the covenant of God on this occafion, plain-
ly implies the oath of God, as you may
learn from Ifaiah liv. 9. where God, declaring
his refolution of mercy to the Gentiles, ufeth
theſe words; For this is as the waters of
Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah fhould no more go over the
earth, fo have I fworn, that I would not be
wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
WHEREAS then God, on this occafion,
made a covenant with man by oath, and
the rain-bow then firft feen with aftoniſh-
ment in the heavens, was the ſignal of that
covenant: what could be a more natural
mythology founded upon thefe circum-
ſtances, than that Iris was the daughter of
wonder; and the messenger of Jupiter, to
carry his folemn oath.
* Vid. Hefiodi Theogon. v. 780. & feq.
P 3
AND
214 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
AND thus having, I hope, fufficiently
vindicated the fignificancy of this fign, and
the wiſdom of God in appointing it, I fhall,
in my next differtation, with God's affiftance,
confider the teftimonies of antiquity relating
to the deluge.
DISq
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 215
DISSERTATION XIII.
Of the concurrence of all antiquity
with the Mofaic account of the
flood.
H
AVING ended my
differtations,
Teflimonies
con-
cited by Joſe-
phus and Eufe-
bius.
cerning the natural
caufes, and provi-
dential purpoſes of
the deluge: I come now, to enquire, how
far all the accounts of antiquity, confpire
to the atteftation of this fact: beginning with
the moſt antient.
A WORK, tho' of fome labour, yet of
little praiſe to the Author, or merit to the
Reader, more than what may ariſe from
faving him the trouble of revolving and
comparing the collections of learned men, on
this head; and deducing from them, that
P 4
evi-
216 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
evidence, which, upon due confideration,
muſt naturally and neceffarily refult from
fuch an enquiry.
AND here I take it for granted, that
every candid reader muft, in this cafe, ad-
mit the teftimony of fuch writers, as quoted
others, extant, and well known, at the
time of fuch quotations, without any con-
tradiction of their cotemporaries, or the
leaft imputation or fufpicion of fraud, in the
point. Such, for example, are the quota-
tions of JOSEPHUS and EUSEBIUS, from the
writings of BEROSUS, NICHOLAUS DAMASCE-
NUS, ABIDENUS, and others, extant and well
known in their times. Which quotations,
have this fair prefumption of truth: that if
they had been any way falfified, they muft
have deftroyed their author's credit, and
defeated the very purpoſes which they were
produc'd to eftabliſh.
IT must be allowed, that quotations are
fo far falfe, as they are imperfect, thro'
defign; or miſtaken, thro' ignorance of
original languages; and that we are fur-
nifhed with inftances enough in both
kinds, from many late writers, of great
diftinction. But I verily think, that both
JOSEPHUS and EUSEBIUS, are clear of both
thefe imputations. They quote from Greek;
and there is fome prefumption that they un-
der-
A
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 217
derſtood it, becauſe they wrote in it; and
quote in it at large, from writers and writ-
ings of all forts; and are fo far from being
skilled in the modern art, of breaking in,
and breaking off, in the middle of a fen-
tence, that the quotations which I have had
occafion to confult in them, are introduced
and concluded in the utmoft fimplicity; and
in the moſt natural chain of narration. And
therefore they are clear of all fufpicion,
except on the head of direct defign'd cor-
ruption and, I think, their defign, their
characters, and the ages in which they lived,
abundantly acquit them upon that head.
Their characters, and defigns, will be better
feen hereafter; and as to the ages in which
they wrote, it is well known that they
were fufficiently learned, and prejudiced to
their diſadvantage. Ages, which wanted
neither able nor active adverfaries, to oppofe
the truths they advanced; and to expoſe
the leaft attempts to advance them, by any
degree or colour of fallacy, or fraud; as ap-
pears from many of their writings ftill extant.
And as to fuch of them as carry any oppofi-
tion to revelation, it is well known, that Chrif
tians, (in confidence of their own integrity, and
the goodneſs of their caufe), have not been
afraid to preferve them, with as much care,
as their own moft valued writings; infomuch
that there is good reafon to believe, that the
very
beſt and bittereft Books, that ever were
publifh'd
218 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
publiſh'd againſt divine revelation, are ſtill
extant; either intire, or, at leaſt, in the full
weight and energy of their objections. No
Body that reads this, will, I believe, ima-
gine that I mean thofe of modern Free-
thinkers, which fome people are hardy
enough to regard, but as humble imita-
tions, at the beſt, - or wearifome repeti-
tions! But tho' they impeach theſe eminent
writers, as defective in the little circum-
ftances of ftile, decency, skill, &c. they are,
however, forced to do them this juftice,
that they have diſcovered as little variety of
malice upon this fubject, as of wit. No
fault of modern infidels the ſubject was
exhaufted.
THIS being premifed, I now proceed to
produce the teftimonies of antiquity to the
point before
us, in the beſt and cleareſt order
I can.
JOSEPHUS, in his firſt book againſt
Apion, fays of the Chaldeans in general,
that all their hiftories and monuments of
learning, had a great conformity with the
Jewish And of BEROSUS in particular,
(who was prieft of Belts, and contemporary
with Alexander the Great), he tells us, that
as he wrote of the aftronomy and philofo-
phy of the Chaldeans, for the ufe of the
Grecians, he was well known to all who
were
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 219
were any way converfant in things relating
to literature, (here is an appeal to the whole
learned world, for the truth of what he deli-
vers on this point), and then adds theſe
words; Now this Berofus, following the
most antient writings, relateth the hiftory of
the flood, and the deftruction of mankind, in
it, in the fame manner with Mofes: Alfo of
the ark in which Noah, the leader of our
race, was faved; which was carried to the
Summits of the Armenian mountains.
HERE we are to take notice, that Jose-
PHUS had before this, wrote to the fame
purpoſe, of BEROSUS's teftimony concerning
the deluge, (as fhall be fhewn immediately);
and when he was attack'd by Apion, as
raiſing the dignity of the Jewish nation above
their deferts; they being a late upftart
people, unknown to the reft of the world:
He again appeals to the fame BEROSUS, for
the truth of what MOSES related; and im-
mediately after fhews, that BEROSUS was
acquainted with the people of the Jews.
Now this vouching BEROSUS's teftimony
a fecond time, and in a warm diſpute with
an adverfary, without the leaft hint that his
firſt appeal to him had ever been conteſted,
is furely a fair preſumption, that that appeal
was not contefted: and that BEROSUS's ac-
count
220
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
count of the deluge, was perfectly agreeable
to that of MOSES.
*
In the firſt book of his Jewish antiquities,
he tell us, that the Armenians called the
place where the ark refted, anoßaтhpor, (the
defcent), doubtlefs, becaufe Noah defcended
from thence upon dry ground, and adds,
there the inhabitants now fhew the remains of
the ark,
and that there is no improba-
bility in this circumftance of the relation,
fhall be clearly fhewn hereafter.
c
دو
HE alfo adds, -"But of this deluge
"and the ark, all they who wrote the
"hiftories of the Barbarians, make mention,
"of whom is BEROSUS the Chaldæan; for he,
fpeaking of what concern'd the deluge,
"relateth to this purpoſe; Now it is faid
that fome part of that ſhip is yet extant in
Armenia, in the mountain of the Cordyæi;
and that fome carry about pieces of the Af
phaltus which they take from it, and that
men make uſe of what is fo carried about, for
the most part, as a kind of charm to avert
evil.
JOSEPHUS alfo adds the teftimonies
of many other writers to the fame purpoſe;
* Anti Jud 1 1. c. 3.
સ
as
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 221
as follows;
"But of theſe things alfo
"HIERONIMUS the Egyptian, makes men-
"tion; who alfo wrote the Phoenician
"archæology; MNASEAS alfo, and many
"others. Alfo NICHOLAUS of Damafcus,
cc
gives us an hiſtorical relation of theſe
"things, in this manner.
THERE is above Minyas a great mountain in
Armenia, called Baris, to which it is reported,
that many flying at the time of the deluge,
were there Javed; and that a certian perfon,
carried in an ark, arrived on the fummit of
the mountain: and that the reliques of the
wood were preferved a long time. And pof-
fibly this may be the fame man, of whom
MOSES, the lawgiver of the Jews, wrote.
IT is generally deemed difadvantageous
to an author, to be defended before he is at-
tacked but as infidels have found a new
way of blafting the credit of writers, not by
critical differtations, or proofs of ignorance,
or infincerity, (for this would be appealing
to reaſon and truth), but by the unanſwer-
able argument of fcorn and light contempt,
it will not, I hope, be amifs, on all occa-
fions, to place the characters of authors in a
true light that the candid reader may judge
for himself; and diftinguifh as he ought
between infolence and fuperior light. And
beſides this, perhaps, the beft way of deal-
ing
222 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ing with infidelity, (as with other diſeaſes),
is to prevent it.
THERE is no fubject in this world, upon
which, abſtracted and fpeculative men, may
not refine, far above common fenfe, and
common conceptions. But men of plain
talents; will, I believe, be at a loſs to think,
why any writer fhould fo diligently compile
fuch a heap of teftimonies, and with fo many
particularities, upon one point: and this in
a court, where the language he wrote in,
was familiar, (as the Greek language and
learning was in that of the Cæfars), and to
an emperor, and in an age, and country,
perfectly well acquainted with the then ſtate
of the world, but from one of theſe twÒ
ends; either to afcertain an important truth,
beyond all poffibility of doubt,
make himſelf contemptible and deteftable to
all mankind, as the vileft and fhameleffeft
impoftor, that ever lived.
And that JOSE-
or to
PHUS was never confider'd under this cha-
racter, in the Roman court, but quite other-
wife, is, I believe, paft all doubt.
JOSEPHUS was a man of great quality, as
well as learning; and not altogether clear of
the fufpicion of being a Free-thinker; at leaſt,
if examining all things, with great induftry
and attention, and then adhering to that
which he thought beft, can juftly entitle any
man
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 223
man to that character. He defpifed riches,
and gave great proofs both of prudence,
probity, and piety *. Proofs which needed
no atteftation at the court of Rome.
He was
a man of fortitude, and when neceffity
called, he hazarded his life, for the religion
and liberties of his country,
and he de-
fended his religion, with his pen, at a time
when both that and his country were ruined:
without the leaft profpect of the reſtoration
of either. I own, I cannot easily fufpect
fuch a man of impofture, (nor can I
learn that ever he was fufpected) efpecially,
an impoſture which implies equal ftupidity
and depravity in the author! as an infinity
of falfe quotations, neceffarily muſt. And
if JOSEPHUS's veracity is to be depended
upon, we then have the teftimonies of all
the antient nations, of the then known
world, who had any early learning amongſt
them, full to this point of the deluge.
Chaldæans, Egyptians, Syrians, Phoenicians,
Jews! with no more variety, than is com-
monly obferved, in relation to all other facts
confeffedly true. And if we find no clear
hiftorical accounts of this matter, among the
Greeks, we fhould remember, that learning
came late amongſt them; and that they had
no hiftories, memorials, or records of any
kind, till long after the Trojan war.
* See his life.
And
that
224 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
that all that period of time, antecedent to
this æra, is allow'd to be fabulous. And
therefore we cannot reafonably expect any
account of this point, amongſt them, but
fuch as is involved in fables. And that there
are memorials enough of that kind, to be
met with in their mythology, will, I hope,
be fully fhewn hereafter.
IN the next place, EUSEBIUS* fupplies us
with an extract from ABYDENUS, concerning
the deluge, to this purpoſe, viz. that Chronos
(or Saturn) foretold Sifithrus, of a vaft
flood of rain, that was to fall; and com-
manded him, to hide whatever learning he
could compile, in Heliopolis, a city of the
Sippari; that he obeyed, and fail'd imme-
diately towards Armenia; that the divine
prediction came quick upon him; and that
on the third day, after the tempeft was
ceafed, he made an experiment by birds, to
find whether they could fee any land emerg-
ing from the water: and that they launching
out into an uninterrupted ocean, and not
knowing which way to fteer, returned to
Sifitbrus. That others were ſent out after
them, and that the third trial was fuccefs-
ful. The birds returning with their feet,
(not as the common tranflations have it,
* Repar. evangel. 1. 9. c. 12. Paris ed.
their
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 225
their wings) all mudded.
He then adds,
that the gods made him (i. e. Sifithrus) dif-
appear; but the fhip arrived at Armenia ;
and afforded the people of the country,
amulets of the wood, to drive away dif
eafes.
NOR IS ABYDENUS the only hiftorian, that
records this account of Sifithrus. ALEXAN-
der PolyhistoR* gives the fame account in
POLYHISTOR
ſubſtance; tho' with fome more particulari-
ties. He fays, that Sifithrus eſcaped a great
deluge; and takes notice, that his fafety
was owing to the premonition of Saturn.
That he eſcaped by means of an ark, which
he had provided for the purpofe; in which
alfo, birds, beafts, and creeping things were
preſerved with him.
HERE then are two other teftimonies, dif-
fering in the manner, and in the ftile, re-
markably from one another, and from all the
reft: and yet agreeing, in the main, with
Mofes; That there was a flood: That
it was foretold: That a certain perfon
was faved from it; and faved in an ark, or
ſhip. And the ſuperſtitions of the coun-
try, (mention'd by ABYDENUS), plainly im-
ply an opinion, that there was fomething
Apud Cyril. contra Julian. 1. 1.
е
facred
226 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
i
facred in that veffel.
And what could fo
naturally fuggeft to them, that the wood of
it, fhould be an amulet againſt evil, as a
conftant tradition, that this veffel was pro-
tected from all evil, by the immediate pro-
vidence of God?
EUSEBIUS alfo fupplies us with another
teftimony from the fame ALEXANDER POLY-
HISTOR, which, I think, is out of the reach
of all reaſonable exception; as it is the tefti-
mony of a candid and impartial writer, quoting
the teftimony of one who wrote in profeffed
enmity to the Jews.
THIS ALEXANDER POLYHISTOR, whom
EUSEBIUS reprefents, as a writer of great
talents and learning, eminently known to all
men of letters, among the Greeks, quotes
MELO in theſe words; But Melo, who
wrote induftriously against the Jews, fays,
That after the deluge, a man who furvived,
with his fons, being expelled from his poffef-
fions by his country-men, traverfing the inter-
mediate region, came to the mountainous part
of Syria, then defart, and that after three
generations, Abraham was born, &c.
Now this feems to be a jumbled account,
made
up of
of a confuſion of what paſs'd at the
deluge, with Terah's migration with his fon
Abraham from his own country. But thus
much
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 227
much must confeffedly be deduced from it;
that there was a deluge; that one
man and his fons eſcaped it ;
and that
this man afterwards refided in Armenia. It
muſt be owned, that this account contradicts
the Mofaic in fome circumftances: And
could we expect that an enemy fhould agree
with him in all? It is fufficient to our pur-
pofe, that it confirms the main point in
queftion.
THESE are the teftimonies cited by EUSE-
BIUS, upon the point before us. I will not
pretend to acquit him, or any other mortal,
of human infirmities; but this I will fay,
that he is clear of all fufpicion of fraud in
thefe citations:
I, INASMUCH as he hath eſcaped the
cenfure of his cotemporaries upon that
head.
2dly, INASMUCH as he hath never, that I
know of, been detected, or even arraign'd
of fraud by any fubfequent writers, tho'
he hath fufficiently been hated by many of
them. SCALIGER, his mortal enemy, im-
peaches his judgment, but without any
imputation upon his integrity; and many
zealous Chriftians of all ages, were fo in-
cenfed,
228 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
!
cenſed, * and are ftill fo incenſed againſt
him, for herefy, and have carried their
revilings on that head, fo far beyond any
foundation of truth, that had it been poffible
to blaft his credit, infidels had long fince
been faved the toil of endeavouring it.
3dly, His character entirely acquits him
to me, and, I think, muft to all reaſonable
men.
AND 4thly, His whole conduct through-
out this whole work of the evangelick pre-
paration.
THE reader, I hope, will indulge me a
little upon theſe two laft heads.
IN the first place then, EUSEBIUS knew
how to think for himfelf (which, I will not
prefume to fay, is always the cafe of all
thofe that differ from him).
WHOEVER perufes his evangelick prepara-
tions, will find, that he ranfacks the learn-
ing of the whole world! examines the theo-
logy of all nations; fhews where they are
faulty, and where right; examines the prin-
* Jerom. Photius. Baronius, &c. See alfo the dedication of
his Præpar. Evan. Parif. edit.
2
ciples
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 229
ciples and opinions of all the philofophers,
of all fects: compares them,
and upon.
the compariſon, prefers. Shews the Pla-
tonick, to be far preferable to all the reft,
and why. Proves by a great variety of
arguments, and compafs of learning,. that
it was derived from the Jews.
-
Shews
where it agrees, and where it differs;
that Plato copied from Moſes: tho' not
without mixture of fable and error. That
where he agrees with him, his philofophy
is right, and rational; and his theology,
worthy of God.
That where he differs
from him, he is immoral, erroneous, and
impious. And affigns this exprefly (on
feveral occafions) as the reafon, why he re-
jected the philofophy of Plato, and embraced
that of the Jews.
At
ALL this confider'd, I hope, I may be
allow'd to fay, that EUSEBIUS knew how to
think for himſelf. I will venture to fay
more, if they who defpife his autho-
rity, thought half as much, and as freely as
he did, they would revere it more.
leaft, I hope, they will forgive my in-
firmity in thinking fo, in thinking,
that they would then be as much better
believers, as they would unquestionably be
wifer men.
Q 3
BUT
230 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
BUT EUSEBIUS did not not content him-
felf with examining the wifdom of the whole
world, and preferring the Jewish upon the
compariſon. He thought it alfo necef-
fary, to enquire into truth of fact.
He
the
confider'd, that MOSES related many ftrange
things; the creation, paradife, the firft pair,
the delufion of the ferpent, the longevity of
the firſt men, their corruption, and the
deftruction it drew down, in the deluge,
the building of Babel foon after,
defeat of that attempt, the difperfion of
mankind, the defcent of the Jews from
Abraham, &c. He concluded very juftly,
that if fuch men and things ever exifted, or
fuch ſtrange events ever came to paſs, there
muft furely be ſome traditions, monuments,
or memorials of them in the world. And
accordingly he examines the archives, and
ranfacks the hiftories of all ages, and na-
tions;
their antiquities and traditions; and
finds, that tho' they all differ'd vaftly from
one another, in the circumftances of times,
places, and names, yet that they all agreed
with the Mofaic account in the main. It
was obvious for him, to apprehend, that the
difference of languages, and the different
care or negligence of nations in preſerving
memorials, muft, of neceflity, caufe a va-
riety in the forementioned circumſtances, of
times, places, and names: and that fuch a
variety,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 231
variety, was ſo far from prejudicing, that it
greatly confirm'd the truth of facts. And
if he once confider'd the authenticity of
hiftories, and compared the fidelity of na-
tions, and their care in keeping the memo-
rials of preceding times, it was impoffible
not to prefer the national care and fidelity of
the Jews in this point, to that of all other
nations in the world.
If, BECAUSE they had publick officers
appointed for this purpoſe; and both theſe
officers, and the nation in general, were
utterly regardleſs of all accounts of other
countries; and fo could neither borrow nor
mix any of their own with them.
2dly, BECAUSE the original book, in which
the hiftory of the world, and their own
nation, was contained, was profeffedly, and
beyond all fufpicion or poffibility of doubt,
both written and publiſhed in the prefence
of their forefathers.
3dly, BECAUSE it was beyond all queſtion,
the oldeſt book in the world.
AND 4thly, BECAUSE it was kept with
more care than any other book in the world;
in the moſt facred recefs of the tabernacle,
firſt, and afterwards, of the temple; and
continued there, till their national captivity
Q 4
and
232 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
}
and difperfion; and at the fame time, copies
of this book, were in the hands of all the
people: every king, at his acceffion to
the throne, was obliged with his own hand,
to tranſcribe a copy of this book, from the
original; and every private perſon, to
get a great part of it, by heart. And every
man amongſt them, bore about him, from
his earlieſt infancy, a fure mark of the na-
tional regard to it, from father to fon, from
age to age. It was read conftantly and
regularly to them all, at ftated and fix'd
times, by men appointed and maintained for
that purpoſe.
It was the great bufinefs of
their lives, to ſtudy and to excel in thè
knowledge of it. And they who did fo
with moſt fuccefs, were always in the higheſt
eſteem amongſt them.
BESIDES all this,
this one book, was
their fole rule of duty, private, and publick.
Their fole magna charta, code, and ftatute-
book. For all their rights, privileges, and
publick adminiftration of juſtice.
IN one word, any man that confidered
this point, with due attention, could not but
find, that it was their fole rule of domeftick
life, civil government, and publick worſhip;
and confequently, that it was impoffible to
falfify it, in any thing material; forafmuch,
as there was a neceffity of appealing to it,
in
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 233
in ten thouſand inftances, every day of the
year.
AND if, after all this, EUSEBIUS acted
irrationally, in accepting this book as
genuine and authentick, and believing the
facts contained in it, there is no fuch thing
as a reaſonable conduct, or a rational evi-
dence, in this world.
I BEGG leave to mention fome other cir-
cumſtances of EUSEBIUS's character, — Any
man that confiders the hiftory of his times,
and of his life, muft, I think, find him as
eminent, as any man of his own, or, per-
haps, of any other age, for temper, mode-
ration, dignity, difintereftedneſs, and a ge-
nerous contempt of wealth and grandeur:
and, I muft own, that thefe are to me
in the place of ten thouſand proofs of inte-
grity. I cannot ſuſpect that fpirit, of
fraud or artifice; fufpect did I fay ?
I retract the expreffion; I cannot but
revere the memory, and venerate the vertue,
the primitive vertue of that man, who could,
from the influence of a good confcience,
look down upon grandeur ! could, in the
heighth of princely favour, refuſe the bounty
of an emperor, to his epifcopal church; and
endow it liberally with his own! who
could refuſe the richeft and the nobleſt
biſhoprick of all the Eaft, (tho' elected and
invited
234 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
invited to it in the moſt honourable and
engaging manner) upon a principle of apof-
tolick integrity.
I
IN the next place, I hope, I may be
allow'd, with all humility, to fuppofe, that
this author was not an ideot. I would not
offend the more enlighten'd reader,
mean, not an ideot in any thing, but his
Chriftian faith. Nor can I learn from the
hiftories of thofe times, that bifhops were
then generally deemed abandoned, and void
of principles. And yet, unleſs EUSEBIUS
was fo, to the moſt ſhameleſs degree imagi-
nable, how is it poffible to imagine, that he
fhould dare to forge or falfify numberlefs
quotations, from authors then in the hands
of all men of learning, declaring at the fame
time, that they were in the hands of all
men of learning; and perfectly known to
them. And that he fhould do this, in a
language then univerfally known! in that
very act, challenging the whole world to
detect him! and at the fame time fupplying
them with the means to do it! I confefs, I
am a believer, I mean, a Chriftian believer:
but they who are not, will, I hope, forgive
me, if I cannot go their lengths in credulity!
I cannot believe this of EUSEBIUS, becaufe I
think it were incredible of Diagoras,
the greateſt infidel now alive!
of
I OWN,
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 235
}
I own, that all biſhops are not now in all
the veneration I could wifh them. Men are
fufficiently inclined to credit things to their
diſadvantage; yet I fhould imagine him
very credulous, who could believe this of a
Christian bishop, even now! a bishop,
living in this remote region of the earth,
and writing in the language of it; a lan-
guage confined to itſelf, and its colonies! I
fhould imagine that fuch a man would con-
tent himſelf, even in this happier age of
free-thinking, with being filently in the
wrong,
without proclaiming his fhame
and fetting his feal to it! and what feems to
me fo incredible of a modern biſhop, now,
and here, is, I ſhould think, much more fo,
of a primitive Chriftian bishop; (a biſhop
who could refuſe the fee of Antioch); in an
age, when men feem to have been ferious in
religion. A biſhop living in the light of
Afia, (in luce Afia) as Cicero expreffes it.
And himſelf then one of the greateft lights.
of Afia! writing in a language known to
the whole world!
AND as the character of EUSEBIUS fhews
him fuperior to all exception, his conduct
throughout this whole work of the evangelick
preparation, proves him yet more fo, if pof-
fible. He undertook this great work, for
the converfion of the heathen world; ap-
pealing
236 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
pealing to books in their own hands; Can
there be a fairer mark of an honeft conduct,
of open honeſty, than this? If he had
falfified in the appeal, muft he not of necef-
fity defeat his own purpofe, with infamy to
himſelf, and to his caufe?
JOSEPHUS quoted a great number of
works and writings in his hiftory, and in his
difpute with Apion, (that is, in effect, with
the heathen world): but EUSEBIUS, works
and writers without number! I will venture
to fay, not lefs than four-fcore, in his
fifteen books of the evangelick preparation;
every quotation, either forged, or falfified,
is a mark of impofture; if he is an impoftor,
he can't have given lefs than a thouſand
proofs of it. He quotes JOSEPHUS for many
authorities, cited, and vouched unreproved,
long before. And he himfelf
And he himſelf quotes other
authorities from fome of the fame books;---
he quotes Clemens Alexandrinus, at large,
who had himſelf quoted authorities, without
number; and many other authors in the
fame manner; a ftrange complicated feries
of forgeries a long chain link'd one into
another, and yet no appearance of prevari-
cation or corruption! no detection, even from
anachronifm or inconfiftency!
In one word, if this man hath forged and
falfified, he hath done it in a manner, which
no
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 237
no other man ever did from the foundation
of the world. If he hath done fo, it is a
problem far above my abilities, to explain
why he hath (to ufe fchines's expreffion
to Demofthenes) thus abused all the marks and
characters of honesty, to all the purposes of
villany, and why no man hath ever vindi-
cated this abuſe.
THE fum of all, is this,
1
WHAT, I think, in itſelf utterly incredi-
ble, I could believe of no man alive or dead.
What I could believe of no man, I
could lefs believe of a Chriftian biſhop now.
What I could believe of no Chriftian
biſhop now, I could yet lefs believe of
EUSEBIUS.
DIS-
238 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
DISSERTATION XIV.
Of other teftimonies relating to the
deluge.
I
HAVE, in the preceding differ-
tation, defignedly omitted a tefti-
mony from Berufus, cited by
Sir Walter Raleigh, (b. 1. c. 7.)
inafmuch as the book now extant
under the name of that writer, is juftly fup-
poſed to be corrupted; nor have I been able
to learn upon what authority that great man
judged this paffage genuine; but that
he eſteemed it fuch, I think is evident, from
his quoting it without any mark or ſuſpicion
of reproach. For foon after he hath cited
it, he adds thefe words, " But Berofus
"6
(who, after Mofes, was one of the moſt
"antient, however he hath been fince de-
"formed and corrupted) doth, in the ſub-
"ftance of all, agree with Mofes as touch-
ing
3
eri
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 239
ing the general flood, taking from thence
"the beginning of his hiftory in theſe
"words;- Before that famous deftruction
"of waters by which the world univerfal
<<
perished: witneffing withal, that Noah,
"with his wife Titea, and his three fons
"with their three wives (in all eight per-
"fons) were only ſaved. "
THAT Sir Walter Raleigh was a great man,
and a good critick, will not, I believe, be
denied and that he never was fufpected of
fuperftition, credulity, or unreaſonable par-
tiality to religion, is undoubted: taking it
for granted then, that this quotation from
Berofus is genuine, I think the building of
Babel, by the fons of Noah by Titea (foon
after the flood), with tower upon tower,
might have given the moft natural occafion
to the mythology of the invafion of heaven
by the Titans, heaping one mountain upon
another.
I Now proceed to enquire for fome memo-
rials of the deluge in the Greek mythology.
And, I think, we need ſearch no further on
this head, than their own fabulous accounts
of the two deluges of Ogyges and Deucalion:
following one another at the diftance of
about two hundred years.
Now
240 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
Now particular deluges, in which whole
mountainous regions (fuch as Attica and
Theffaly) were overwhelmed with water, are
(as I before obſerved) attended with more
difficulties, and confequently, are much leſs
credible than an univerfal deluge. And
therefore, fince both theſe are ſuppoſed by
them to have happen'd in that age, which is
confeffedly obſcure: long before they had
the uſe of letters, or publick records of any
kind, they deſerve to be no otherwiſe re-
garded, than as traditions of the univerfal
deluge, corrupted agreeably to the ignorance
of the times, and genius of that vain people,
who vaunted their own antiquity above all
other nations; and becauſe the oldeſt na-
tions had memorials of one deluge, which
drowned the world, they refolved to be diftin-
guifh'd by the fingularity of two deluges;
but then we muft do them this juftice, that
they always confidered Deucalion's deluge as
univerfal in which he faved himſelf, his
wife, and fome few others on the moun-
tains of Theffaly, and fo was regarded as
the reſtorer of mankind, as Strabo cer-
tifies *
;
CRITICKS alfo find, with fufficient ap-
pearance of truth, their Bacchus, (antiently
* L. 9.
Boachus)
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 241
Boachus) in Noah, the firſt planter of vines;
one letter changed either by accident or de-
fign, makes all the difference between their
names; and Noah's planting the vine, and
fubfequent drunkennefs, recorded in the
fcripture, is foundation enough for all the
reft of the fable of Bacchus.
THEIR Janus alfo, who ſaw before and
behind, is doubtlefs no other than Noah;
who faw the ante-diluvian, and poft-diluvian
worlds. And Sir Walter Raleigh obferves,
that this name might very naturally be de-
rived from the Hebrew word [jain], which
fignifies wine.
NOAH ſeems alfo to be fully figured
out to us under the character of Saturn.
At
WHO is repreſented at one time, as driven
down from Olympus by his fon. At ano-
ther, as devouring all his children, except
three, which were concealed from him.
another, as dividing the whole world be-
tween his three remaining fons. And at
another, as the common parent of mankind,
and reclaiming the favage lives of the firſt
mortals, who lived on mountains, and fed
upon acorns : giving them laws, and
teaching them culture, with feveral other
circumſtances; fuch as only one lan-
guage among mankind in his time,
R
his
being
242 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
being a teacher of juftice,--- and author of that
law which forbad to behold the gods naked *
THE defcent of Noah from the high
mountain, on which the ark refted; the
deftruction of all his own family with
the rest of mankind, except his three fons ;
and the diftribution of the world afterwards
among these three fons, and their defcen-
dants, and he himfelf being the parent of all
the race of mankind then in the world, and
their lawgiver in the character of common
parent, being alfo an husbandman, and
teaching the art of cultivating the earth to
his fons; his nakedneſs being feen by one of
his wicked fons, and the curfe denounced
upon him for it.
All theſe circumſtances
united, very naturally gave rife to all theſe
fabulous accounts of Saturn, among a people
who delighted in fiction, and defpifed plain
truths.
IF we proceed from the mythology of
the Greeks, to the more ferious writings of
their philofophers and philologers, we fhall
find not only clear undiiguifed memorials of
the deluge amongst them, but likewife fuch
as exactly correfpond with the Mofaic ac-
I fhall mention but three of thefe
Plato, Plutarch, and Lucian.
count.
writers,
* See Bochart's Phaleg. 1. 1. c. 1.
PLATO's
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 243
PLATO's teftimony is thus quoted by
Sir Walter Raleigh (1. 1. c. 7. §. 4.) "And
"Plato in Timeo produceth an Egyptian
prieft, who recounted to Solon, out of the
(6
holy books of Egypt, the ftory of the
"flood univerfal, which (faith he) happened
"long before the Grecian inundations.
PLATO alſo mentions the deluge in the
third book of his laws.
PLUTARCH's teftimony is thus cited
by Ray, in his confequences of the deluge,
p. 65.
“PLUTARCH, in his book de folentia
"animalium, tells us, that thoſe who have
"written of Deucalion's flood, report, that
"there was a dove fent out of the ark by
"Deucalion, which returning again into the
"ark, was a fign of the continuance of the
"flood; but flying quite away, and not re-
"turning any more, was a fign of ferenity,
"and that the earth was drained.
THE fame author quotes Lucian's tefti-
mony upon this head, p. 67. in the follow-
ing manner;
"LUCIAN, in his Timon, and in his
"book de Dea Syria, fets forth the particu-
R 2
<<lars
:
244 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
!
"lars of Deucalion's, after the example of
« Noah's food. Δευκαλίων δε μένος ανθρώ
46
(C
SI
των έλιπε το εἰς γενεὴν δευτέραν ἐυβελίης τε κα
"Te lucestos vexa, &c. Deucalion was the
ευσεβίος ένικα,
only man that was left for a fecond genera-
«tion, for his prudence and piety fake; and
"coas faved in this manner: he made a great
"ark, and got aboard it, with his wife and
“children; and to him came fwine, and
:
C6
""
borfes, and lions, and ferpents, and all other
"living creatures, which the earth maintains,
"according to their kinds by pairs; and ke
received them all, and they hurt him not;
for there was by divine inftinct, a great
66 friendship among them; and they failed to-
"gether in the ark, fo long as the waters
prevailed. And in his Timon he faith,
"That Noah laid up in his ark plenty of all
provifions for their fuftenance. And left
Lucian fhould be fufpected of being beholden
to revelation, for any information in this
point, he takes care to let us know, that he
had this account of the ark and deluge, from
the Grecians.
CE
THE fame learned author Mr. Ray, quotes
other teftimonies upon this head, which the
curious reader may more largely confult at
his leifure.
THE teftimonies of Latin writers fucceed
next in order, to thofe of the Greeks.
Of
theſe
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 245
thefe alfo I fhall only cite fome men of note,
chiefly thefe; Fabius Pictor, Pliny, and
Ammianus Marcellinus. The firſt of theſe is
thus quoted by Sir Walter Raleigh (1. 1. c. 7.
§. 7.)
<<
"Or the antiquity of Janus, Fabius
"Pictor giveth this teftimony: [I omit the
Latin] In the time of Janus (faith he)
"there was no monarchy: for the defire of
"rule, had not then folded itfelf about the
"hearts of men. Janus first taught the
people to facrifice wine and meal: he
first fet up altars, inftituted gardens and
folitary groves, wherein they used to pray
"with other holy rites and ceremonies."
Sir Walter then proceeds thus,
66
66
♦
66
66
A
greater teftimony than this, there cannot
"be found among the heathen, which in all
66
agree fo well with the fcriptures. For
"firft, whilft Noah flourished, there was
"not any king, or monarch; Nimrod being
"the first that took on him fovereign au-
"thority. Secondly, Noah, after the flood,
"was the firft that planted the vine, and
"became an husbandman ; and there-
"fore offered the firſt-fruits of both (to wit)
❝ wine and meal. Thirdly, he was the
"firft that raifed an altar, and offered facri-
"fice to God, a thankſgiving for his merci
ful goodnefs towards him. "
R 3
HERE
246 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
HERE We fee that the Janus of the
Greeks, is evidently the Noah of the bible;
with perfect agreement in the main; and no
more difference than fuch as naturally diſtin-
guiſhes true hiftory from uncertain and fabu-
lous tradition.
manner;
THE next teftimony in order is that of
Pliny; or, to fpeak more properly, that of
Pliny, Mela, and Solinus, united, which
Sir Walter Raleigh (ibid.) mentions in this
"For whereas Mela, Pliny,
"and Solinus witneſs, that the city of Joppe
"in Judæa, was founded before the flood ;
"and that (notwithſtanding the heighth of
"waters) there remained on certain altars
"of ſtone, the title of the king, and of his
"brother Phineus, with many of the grounds
"of their religion: fure it is no where found,
"&c.
FROM the teftimony of thefe three learned
writers, who made it their bufinefs to en-
quire after every thing curious over the
face of the earth, added to Jofephus's ac-
count of the pillars of Seth, we may fairly
infer, that there was an univerfal tradition
not only of fome premonition given to man-
kind before the flood, of that approaching
ruine, but likewife, that fome monuments
of the ante-diluvian world out-lafted that
3
de-
J
REVELATION Examin'd, &c, 247
devaſtation; for this feems to be the
moſt natural reaſon of the principles of reli-
gion infcribed upon fuch maffy and durable
altars here: (for fuch they must be fup-
pofed, when they are fuppofed ftrong enough
to bear the force of the flood) as of the
improvements of fcience engraved on the
pillars of Seth. And this obfervation will
be yet further confirmed by the teftimony
of Ammianus Marcellinus, which follows
next in order.
IN the 22d book of his hiſtory (c. 15.
p. 263. of Gronovius's edition), among other
curiofities of Egypt, he defcribes their
Syrinxes in thefe words; Sunt &
Syringes fubterranei quidam & flexuofi receffus,
quos, (ut fertur) periti rituum vetuftorum,
adventare diluvium præfcii, metuenteſque ne
ceremoniarum obliteraretur memoria, penitus
operofis digeftos fodinis per loca diverfa ftruxe-
runt: et excifis parietibus volucrum ferarum-
que genera multa fculpferunt, & animalium
Species innumeras quas hierographicas litteras
appellarunt.
THE ſenſe of which, in English, is thus ;
"There are alfo (in Egypt) Syrinxes,
"certain fubterraneous and winding receffes,
"which (as it is faid) men skill'd in antient
"rites, foreknowing the coming of the de-
luge, and fearing that the memory of
R 4
"their
248 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
"their ceremonies fhould be blotted out,
"hew'd and faſhion'd out of quarries in
"feveral places, with immenfe labour, and
"carved on the walls which they had fo
"hewn, many kinds of fowls, and wild
"beafts, and figures of animals innumera-
"ble, which they call hieroglyphick, (fo
"fome read the text) or facred characters."
THE learned commentator, who pub-
lifhed this edition, cites feveral other tefti-
monies to this purpofe, particularly that of
Manetho from Eufebius.
If then we com-
pare theſe accounts with that of Abydenus
beforemention'd, who tells us, that Sif-
thrus was commanded by Saturn, before the
flood came on, to compile all the learning
he could, and depofite it in the city of He-
liopolis, we fhall have reafon to believe,
that the tradition of warning given to man-
kind, of the approaching deftruction by a
deluge, was familiar over the world ; and
confequently, we are well juftified in be-
lieving from the bible, that God gave notice
of it, by Noah, an hundred and twenty
years before it arrived. And if thefe ca-
verns were really formed before that time,
as poffibly they might; that time will, I
believe, be thought little enough to be
allow'd for finiſhing works of fuch immenfe
labour and art.
IN
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 249
IN collecting thefe teftimonies of anti-
quity concerning the deluge, I have omitted
numbers cited by the learned authors whom
I have confulted in collecting thefe; parti-
cularly Bochart. It were eafy to lengthen
out this lift of witneffes with a long feries of
poets, hiftorians, geographers, philologers,
antiquaries; it being, in truth, much more
difficult to make choice, than to find num-
bers but as the reader, is, I believe, by
this time, fully fatisfied, if not fated, I
fhall only beg his patience and attention to
two or three teftimonies, of a different kind
from thofe already urged.
THE firft is, that the tradition of the
deluge was as familiar in America upon its
firſt diſcovery, as in any other known region.
of the earth.
THE fecond is, that as the names of
cities, countries, rivers, &c. are ufually
derived from their founders or original inha-
bitants, or their defcendants folicitous to do
honour to their anceſtors, Sir Walter Raleigh
obferves, that many rivers, cities, and moun-
tains, were denominated from Noah;
his words are thefe;
"FURTHERMORE, to the end that the
"memory of this fecond parent of mankind
"might
250 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
"might the better be preferved, there were
"founded by his iffues many great cities,
"which bear his name, with many rivers
" and mountains; which many times forgat
"that it was done in his regard, becaufe
"the many names given him, brought the
"fame confufion to places as to himſelf.
"Notwithſtanding all which, we find the
"city of Noah upon the banks of the Red-
"Sea, and elſewhere: the river of Noas in
"Thrace, which Strabo calls Noarus; Pto-
"lemy Danus; dividing Illyria from Pan-
"nonia. Thus much for the name.
ALSO that many countries, regions, &c.
were denominated from Noah's defcendants,
mentioned by Mofes, needs no proof.
IN the laft place, as it was natural that
upon the invention of coins, memorials of
remarkable events fhould be preferved in
their impreffions, and infcriptions, by per-
fons moft concerned to do fo; neither is this
kind of teſtimony wanting to perpetuate the
memory of the deluge.
Now not to infift upon the impreffion of
a fhip, recorded and feen on the oldeft Ita
lian coins, in memory of Saturn, who was
certainly no other than Noah; I fhall beg
leave to mention two later coins, whofe im-
preffions are found, together with a long
and
LAY
OYHE
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Paq.251.
C
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AVT
YAP TEMAT
NHTON
ANAMON
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AVT
Nnd
CZANAD
GVB APNI · AD
AMCJLN
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 251
and learned differtation upon one of them,
at the end of Falconerius's infcriptiones athle-
ticæ, printed at Rome, A. D. 1668.
Theſe coins this learned antiquary treats as
very rare and valuable curiofities; and con-
fider'd as fuch, by all virtuofo's of eminence.
--And as that differtation is fcarce in this part
of the world, the reader, I hope, will not be
diſpleaſed to ſee an extract of it, as fhort and
as exact as I could make it.
IT was customary with the Roman pro-
vinces, when vifited by any of the Cæfars,
to compliment them by ftriking coins on the
occafion, to perpetuate the honour done
them. Two of theſe, one in honour of
Severus, and the other of Philippus Arabs,
are found with an ark, and other memorials
of the deluge, on the reverſe. The in-
fcription of Severus's coin is thus diftin-
guiſhed and explained by Falconerius.
Α Υ Τ. Κ. Λ. CET. CEΟΥΗΡΟΣ ΠΕΡΤΙ.
Imp. Cæf. L. Sept. Severus Pertinax. [The
emperor Cæfar Lucius Septimius Severus Per-
tinax]. As to the reverfe of this coin, our
learned antiquary feems to be loft in a re-
finement in relation to the figure of the
ark, which, I own, I don't well compre-
hend; all that I fee, is, that it exhibits to
a common eye, the figure of a fquare box,
floating on the water; open at the top, with
the
252
REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
the figures of a man and woman in it; a
bird ſtanding at one corner, fuppofed to be
a dove, and another on the wing, approach-
ing the oppofite corner, with a branch of
laurel in its talons. Before the ark are
the figures of a man and woman reſembling
thoſe within, and fuppofed to be Deucalion
and Pyrrha; with their right-hands lifted
up, feemingly in a pofture of devotion: or,
as my author thinks, with their hands pre-
pared to take up thofe ftones which they
were commanded to caft behind them, for
the reſtoration of the human race.
All this
needs no comment: it explains itſelf.
The infcription on this fide of the coin, our
learned author diftinguiſhes into the following
words. ΕΠΙ ΑΓΩΝΟΘΕΤΟΥ ΑΡΤΕ. ΜΑΓ
ΝΗΤΩΝ ΑΠΑΜΕΩΝ. Sub Agonotheta Arte.
Magnetum Apamenfuum. The word Arte.
here, is an abridgment of the name of the
magiftrate who prefided over the publick
exerciſes and the fenfe of the infcription is
this, that this coin was ftruck in the magistracy
of Arte. prefident of the publick exercifes of
the Magnefians and Apameans. The reader
is to know, or remember, that the prefidency
of the publick games and exercifes, was a ma-
giftracy of great dignity in the heathen world;
infomuch, that the years were diftinguiſhed
in their publick records, by the names of fuch
magiftrates; who were known by a great
variety of titles and privileges.
THE
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 253
¿
THE learned author of this differtation,
fuppofes the memory of Deucalion, to have
been preferved, as part of the religious rites.
of the Syrian goddess; before whom a repre-
fentation of Deucalion, and the deluge, was
carried twice a year in thofe folemn procef-
fions, wherein water was carried from the
fea, to the temple of that goddefs, at Hiero-
polis in memory of Deucalion's deliverance
from the deluge, after which he is faid to
have dedicated this temple. And as this
goddeſs was for a long time in high eſteem
in Syria, her worſhip might naturally fpread
from city to city, and from province to pro-
vince. From Hieropolis of Syria, it might
naturally reach to Hieropolis in Phrygia;
and from thence to Apamea of the fame pro-
vince; which our antiquary judges to be the
place where this, coin was ftruck, from its
neighbourhood to Magnefia; the citizens of
both places being here jointly named.
BUT if I may be indulged a conjecture,
in oppofition to the opinion of this very
learned antiquary, I own, I am more in-
clined to believe, that the Apamea here
meant, is that of Mefopotamia, becauſe both
Herodian and Dio mention Severus's being in
that country; and, I think, one may fairly
collect from Dio, that he fojourned in Me-
fopotamia during the fiege of Byzantium,
3
which
254 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
which lafted three years. At least it is cer-
tain, he was there when this city was taken :
(and he by that means more confirmed in
the empire), which was a proper occafion
for the cities of that region to pay their
compliments to him: - tho' there wanted
not alſo another occafion of doing it, not
long after
; when he redeemed them from
the invaſion of the Parthians.
NOR is the union of the Magnesians and
Apameans on the fame coin, any objection to
this opinion; fince this author hath himſelf
furniſhed us with many inftances of the
names of very diftant people joined on the
fame coin, from an ovoz in religion, i. e.
from a communion in religious worship.
And this opinion is farther ftrengthen'd from
the next coin of Philippus Arabs, which
hath the word NE, infcribed on the fide
of the ark which is allow'd to be the name
of Noah among the Chaldeans; and which
this learned writer doth himſelf believe to
be ſo intended in this place: and hath taken
care to fhew that there is no room here for
any fufpicion of a Booтpopndor, i. e. a read-
ing from the left hand; tho' the learned Mr.
Saurin, hath, thro' miſtake (occafion'd by the
perplexity of Falconerius's ftile in this place)
imagined, that this eminent antiquary would
have it fo read. Befides that the neighbour-
hood of Arabia to Mefopotamia, makes it
pro-
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 255
probable, that a city of that region was more
likely to compliment Philippus Arabs, fen.
a native of their own neighbourhood, on his
acceffion to the imperial throne, who was
inveſted with the empire on the banks of the
Euphrates, in a region not very remote,
poffibly in the neighbourhood of that very
city.
ADD to all this, that tho' the inhabitants
of Mefopotamia might have received the re-
ligion of the Syrian goddeſs, yet it is highly
probable that the memory of Noah muft ftill
ſubſiſt in a country where Noah himſelf, in
all probability, lived, and built the ark; (as
fhall be fhewn hereafter) and where Babel,
the work of his fons, might naturally (tho'
in ruins) preſerve fome memorial of him;
and our learned author doth, for many rea-
fons, conclude both coins to be the work of
one city.
DIS-
+
256 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
DISSERTATION XV.
Some difficulties relating to Noah's ark
confidered.
T
HERE are few things more apt
to offend men of humble and up-
right difpofitions, than the reft-
lefs and unwearied induftry of
libertine fpirits, to blaft and to
overthrow the credit of revelation, by all
the laboured objections of abfurdity, and
impoffibility, as well as by all the evil arts
of cavil and calumny ! and yet when
it is found upon enquiry, that theſe ob-
jections, never fail to end in new evidence, of
the truths they were intended to oppoſe,' nor
thefe calumnies, but in the confufion and re-
proach of their authors; whilft we lament the
deftruction of thefe vain deluded mortals, we
muſt be thankful to the great Governor of
the world, for the infinite advantages, deri-
ved
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 257
ved from their arrogance, upon the humble
believer.
How far, the objections I am now to
recount, and the anſwers to them, will give
juft ground for this reflection, the reader
will beft judge.
IN the first place then, it is objected, That
if Noah had been an hundred and twenty
years, in preparing the ark, (i. e. from the
notice God gave him, that his Spirit fhould
not ftrive with man, beyond that space of
time) as many divines have believed, and
ftill do believe, the timbers muft all have
decayed, and perifhed before the end of
that period.
To this I answer, That the objection is
founded upon fuch grofs ignorance, as I am
almoſt afhamed to refute. Since it is noto-
rious, that the timbers of many buildings,
now extant, in this ifland, have vaftly out-
lafted that period, undecay'd :
and yet
there are timbers, believed to be much more
durable than oak. The ark, is for very
good reaſons, believed both by Fuller and
Bochart, to have been framed of cypreſs,
the moſt durable wood in the known world;
and the leaſt liable to the impreffions of air,
and vermin: tho' if it had been lefs durable,
the afphaltus with which it was fheathed,
S
both
258 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
both on the infide, and the out, may very
well be fuppofed capable of preſerving it,
many centuries; as fhall be fhewn here-
after.
BESIDES this, I think, a confiderable space
of time, muſt be allow'd, for collecting (not
to fay tameing) the creatures to be preſerved.
Nay, fome men have thought this fo mighty
a difficulty, that they have imagined it an
unanswerable objection, against the Mofaic
account of the deluge, as it is generally un-
derſtood, i. e. againſt its being univerfal:
inafmuch as fome of the creatures, if you
fuppofe them difperfed, as they are now, at
great diftances from the place where they
were created, could not (as they think) return
to that region where the ark was built, in leſs
than twenty thouſand years *
BUT this objection confutes itfelf; becauſe
at that rate of travelling, they could not have
reached the regions in which they are now
found, to this day.
BUT this point will, I think, be fairly
cleared in a few words. The country of
Eden is very reafonably fuppofed by learned
men to be next adjacent to the garden of
★ See Voffius, as he is quoted by Mr. Saurin, in his diſcourſe
on the deluge, octavo, p. 99.
3
that
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 259
that name, from whence Adam was exiled;
and as all the early accounts of that country,
paint it out to us as one of the moſt fruitful
and delicious regions of the earth, (tho' now
greatly changed) there is no reaſon to ima-
gine that Adam fought for any habitation be-
yond it.
WHEN Cain flew his brother, he was
exiled from thence; and he and his defcen-
dants fought their dwellings elſewhere;
but there is all the reafon in the world to
believe, that Seth, and his deſcendants, con-
tinued in their father Adam's abode, and
the regions adjacent: and as Noah was a
defcendant from Seth, in a direct line, there
is no doubt but that he dwelt in that coun-
try, or not far from it, that is, not far from
Babylon: for that the ark was built there-
abouts, many circumftances concur to per-
fuade us. There, is Gopher wood (very
reaſonably ſuppoſed to be cypreſs) found in
abundance. There alfo, is the asphaltas,
with which the ark was fenced from the
impreffion of the waters, both on the outfide
and the in. And not very far from
thence, is Ararat, whither the ark may
very naturally be fuppofed to be carried by
the fwelling of the waters from the fea,
when the fountains of the deep were broken
up. And in that fituation, there is not
the leaft reafon to imagine, that any one
S 2
Species
260 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
Species of animals was out of Noah's reach.
Whereas, if he had been at any great dif-
tance from Arabia, (fuppofing the earth nearly
circumftanced as it is now) I think fome dif
ficulties might arife, in relation to the wild
afs, and the oftrich, no where elſe found,
that I know of.
THE next difficulty that occurs, is in re-
lation to the capacity of the ark: which
fome men imagine too fmall to contain all
the fpecies of creatures, with fufficient food
for a year.
BUT this point, hath been fo fully dif
cufs'd and cleared, by Buteo, Sir Walter
Raleigh, Bishop Wilkins, and many other
men of great abilities, able naturalifts,
and skilful computers, that I have nothing
to do but to refer the reader to their works,
for full fatisfaction upon this head: and
yet I cannot but obferve, how providential
it is, that this objection to divine revelation,
fhould be urged, in an age, when a more
ample diſcovery of feveral new regions of
the world, and a most exact and diligent
enquiry into the nature and number of the
feveral kinds of animals all over the earth,
have fufficiently fhewn how ill it is founded.
I HAVE little to add upon this point, (and
indeed I imagine, that little can be added),
3
and
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 261
and therefore I fhall only beg leave to
obferve, that the moderate dimenfions al-
low'd by Mofes for the ark, is to me a con-
vincing proof of his veracity; a veffel which
was to contain a certain number of the kinds
of all land animals upon the face of the earth,
with fufficient food for fo long a fpace,
every one imagines at firft fight, fhould be
prodigious; and therefore, when we hear
Mofes relate the dimenfions of it, directed by
God, the length three hundred cubits, the
breadth fifty, and the heighth thirty, without
giving himſelf the leaft trouble to explain,
or to account for any objections, that might
riſe againſt it; How is this to be accounted
for, but from a conſciouſneſs of truth?
Falfhood, or conjecture, would have taken
good care to be on the fure fide.
man who had written from rational con-
jecture, would naturally have been carried
to fupport his hypothefis with reafons, and
computations and a man who had written
at adventures, or upon any other foundation
than certainty, would have been very apt
to have enlarged; probably more than
doubled thefe dimenfions; and nothing but
certain knowledge, could have treated a
ſubject of ſo much importance, at once with
fo much fimplicity, and unconcern.
A
IF men chufe to afcribe that knowledge
to certain information derived from Noah,
rather
S 3
262 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
rather than immediately from God, I fhall
not contend with them upon that account:
but if any man, doubt or deny that the
dimenfions affigned by Moſes, are juſt, his
fure way of juftifying his doubts, will be
by attempting to confute Mofes upon this
head which if he fhall think fit to do, in a
publick manner, I here venture to affure
him before-hand, that he will be made, I
mean, that he will make himſelf, pitiable
in point of ignorance, to his fondeſt admirers;
and utterly contemptible and ridiculous to
the reft of mankind.
I CAN'T quit this fubject, without taking
notice of the unneceffary pains, fome inge-
nious men have been at, to provide fleſh for
the fupport of the carnivorous animals fhut
up in the ark: when it is beyond all con-
troverfy, that the ftomachs of all carnivo-
rous animals, are fitted for the digeftion of
fruits and vegetables; and that fuch food
would be more falutary, both for them and
their keepers, and create a lefs demand of
drink, throughout the courfe of fo long a
confinement and poffibly God's foreknow-
ledge of the wiſdom, and, perhaps, the
neceffity, of confining Noah and his com-
panions to a vegetable diet, for fo long a
time, was one wife reafon, among others, of
not granting fleſh for human food, before
the flood. And as no proviſion of fleſh
:
was
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 263
was neceffary, either for himſelf, or the car-
nivorous creatures that were with him, on
that occafion, there is not the leaft foun-
dation from the text to believe, that any
fuch proviſion was made; or that more than
feven animals of any one fpecies, were taken
into the ark.
THERE is one difficulty ftill remaining,
and that is, that the defenders of revelation
ſuppoſe the remains of the ark to have lafted
fo many centuries after the flood: nay,
Chryfoftom ſpeaks of this as a thing paſt all
doubt in his time. A duration which is
thought utterly impoffible, and confequent-
ly, incredible.
To this I beg leave to anfwer, That if
theſe gentlemen had thoroughly enquired
into the nature of afphaltus, and the tefti-
monies of antiquity, as well as later obfer-
vations in relation to the duration of tim-
bers, they would either decline this objec-
tion, or lay much leſs ſtreſs upon it.
SIR Walter Raleigh quotes Pliny's tefti-
mony on this head, in the following man-
ner, (1. 1. ch. 7. p. 86.)
Pliny affirm-
"eth, that in Egypt it was the uſe to build
"fhips of cedar, which the worms eat not;
"and he avoweth, that he faw in Utica, in
"the temple of Apollo, cedar beams, laid in
૮૮
S4
“the
264 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
"the time of the foundation of the city,
"and that they were ftill found in his time,
"which was about 1188 years after. "
WE are alfo affured by fome late very
curious and learned travellers, that mum-
mies, undoubtedly prepared and depofited
by the antient Egyptians, are found in coffins
of fycamore wood, the timber of which is
ftill found; tho' lying under-ground, for at
leaft, two thouſand years.
Now fycamore muft, I believe, be al-
low'd lefs durable than cedar, as cedar is
efteemed lefs durable than cypreſs *.
Now if this fycamore, which lafts thus long,
unprotected, were sheathed with afphaltus, I
think it might very reaſonably be fuppofed
capable of enduring from the foundation of
the world to this day, it being the
known property of afphaltus, to harden in
the air, and yet more in the water and to
give fecurity and durability, to all kinds of
bodies, infinitely beyond any thing that ever
was heard of.
* See the teftimonies of antiquity concerning the duration
of cypreſs in Fuller's Mifcell. facra, 1. 4. c. 5. and Bochart's
Phaleg. 1. 1. c. 4.
and this doubtlefs was the foundation
of the poetick fable that fove's feepter was made of cypress;
to imply the perpetuity of his empire.
WE
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 265
We know that when Nitocris joined the
new and the old palace in Babylon by an
arch, fhe firft fecured the top of it with a
good coat of afphaltus, and then turn'd the
river over it; well knowing that water could
neither penetrate nor waſh it away. — It
is alfo well known, that Nebuchadnezzar
fecured the great arches, which ſupported
his penfile gardens, with a covering of reeds,
ſmeared over with afphaltus: and fome late
travellers (who, I am perfuaded, never
heard of this account of Nebuchadnezzar)
report, that layers of theſe reeds are found
ftill entire among the ruins of that great
city; cover'd (as they call it) with the earth
of the country.
Now if other timbers laft fo long without
afphaltus, and reeds with it, is there any
thing incredible in the account we have of
the duration of fome parts of the ark?
So far from it,
that, for my own part,
I am much more inclined to credit the very
lateſt accounts we have of this matter. And
thofe, if I miſtake not, are from the travels
of Benjamin the Jew, who is thus quoted
by Bochart, (Phal. 1. 1. c. 3.) Ita Benjamin
Judæus fcribit, fe Nifibi profectum, biduo
veniffe, (the reader will, I hope, excufe me
for not troubling him with the Hebrew) ad
infulam filii Omar, quæ eft in medio Tigride,
ad
266 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
ad radices montium Ararat: unde quatuor
difat millibus locus in que requievit arca
Noe. Addit Omarem Alcitabi filium arce
reliquias ex illo monte in infulam tranftuliffe,
& fabricaffe ex illis templum quoddam Maho-
metanum.
IN English thus:
"LIKEWISE Benjamin the Jew writes,
"that he came in two days journey from
"Nibis to Omars ifland, which is in the
"midft of the Tygris, at the bottom of the
"mountains of Ararat; at four miles dif-
"tance from the place where Noah's ark
"refted. He adds, that Omar, the fon of
"Alcitab, removed the remains of the ark
"from that mountain, into the ifland, and
“built a kind of Mahometan temple out of
"them. "
How far this account is credible or in-
credible (in point of poffibility of the tim-
ber's duration for fo long a period), the
reader will beſt judge from what has already
been faid, and referred to, upon that point.
THE Only appearance of a remaining diffi-
culty, is, whether cyprefs be a proper tim-
ber for fhipping; and that it is remarkably
good and fit for that purpoſe, and was al-
ways accounted fo, Bochart proves (ibid.)
beyond
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 267
beyond all poffibility of doubt, by a great
number of quotations.
HAVING Confider'd thefe difficulties re-
lating to the ark, I hope, I fhall be in-
dulged in confidering two new difficulties,
relating to the flood; which I had not the
good fortune to meet with, till my differta-
tions on that fubject were printed.
THE firft is this,
that the Strata of
the earth are not always found in the order
of their fpecifick gravities;
and confe-
quently, this ftate of things is owing to
fome other caufe, and not the deluge,
becauſe, there, the Strata which are fup-
poſed to be waſh'd off, muſt have fubfided
according to their fpecifick gravities;
whereas now, layers of fand, which is hea-
vier, are frequently found over layers of
marle, which is lighter.
I ANSWER, That little particular excep-
tions of this kind, are fo far from impeach-
ing the main truth of the deluge, that they
confirm it: For as this vaft flood of wa-
ters, did not abate at once, but gradually,
things could only fubfide in fuch a manner,
as was confiftent with the continual agita-
tion of tides and winds, for fo long a ſpace.
All tides are in the nature of floods ;
and when agitated with winds, and working
down
268 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
1
down the fides of mountains, muft of necef-
fity produce the fame effects with other
floods;
that is, they muft difturb the ordi-
nary regular ſtate of things; and as natu-
rally throw layers of fand upon lighter Strata,
as floods now throw layers of fand upon
meadows : And therefore that which is,
and muſt be, a neceffary conſequence of the
flood, can never be a juft or a reafonable
objection to its exiſtence.
That
THE next objection is this;
oyfters, and other fhell-fifh are found in fuch
vast quantities on the tops of fome moun-
tains, that it is not to be imagin'd how they
ſhould be fo numerous, unless they had bred
there. *
THAT is
a ftrange effect, which
could be produced no imaginable way, but
by the deluge, is made an objection to its
caufe. If one ſhell-fifh could be thrown
upon the top of a mountain by the deluge,
why not a thouſand? Why fhould not the
fame caufe, operating the fame way, upon
the fame matter, produce the fame effect in
a thouſand, in ten thousand inftances, as
well as one,
if we fuppofe materials
enough to be operated upon? And that there
* See Ray's confequences of the deluge.
were
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 269
were then ſhell-fiſh enough in the fea, to be
thrown up on the tops of mountains, is I
believe not doubted?
BUT, after all,
why might not theſe
creatures be allow'd to multiply upon the
tops of mountains during that period?
The bufinefs of drowning the world, feems
to have been over in forty days; and the
waters were upon the tops of the mountains
for fome months after this,
if we con-
fider the duration of fome of the beds of
thefe animals, and the perpetual fupplies
they afford to great cities, for fo many years
together, we ſhall have reaſon to believe,
that they not only multiply very faſt, but
come foon to maturity;
at leaſt, many ·
of them may well be fuppofed adhering to
the parent-fhell, at this time, as at all others:
and theſe may at leaſt be allow'd time enough
to come to perfection, before the end of the
flood; and might, for ought I know, be
manifold the number of their parents.
BESIDES all this, Might not many
of theſe hills have hollows on their fummits,
as thouſands are feen to have at this Day?
And might not the waters there depofited,
continue for fome months more, if not years,
in a condition good enough to fupport theſe
creatures? And what if great numbers
of thefe creatures are now found upon moun-
tains,
270 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
tains, where no fuch hollows are feen:
mountains are agreed to abate in their
height; and why might not continual rains
for ſuch a ſeries of centuries, have waſh'd
off theſe mounds, where this water
depofited at the flood; and fo left the fum-
mits of thoſe mountains bare, and dry?
was
ALL this, might, nay muft have hap-
pen'd, in many inftances: And therefore
all theſe objections, are ftill further and
ftronger confirmations of the truth of the
Mofaic hiftory. And if this hiftory, in this
inftance, the leaft credible of any thing in
the whole compaſs of revelation, be true,
the infidel fhould, methinks, be fortify'd with
abundant evidence, before he difclaims any
other part of it.
AND here I make an end both of collect-
ing teftimonies, and confidering objections,
relating to the flood.
What weight
theſe objections have, and thefe teftimonies
fhould have, the reader will beft judge;
teſtimonies ſo numerous, fo various, fo
difconcerted, and yet fo connected is it
poffible that they can deceive! Could all
nations, confpire with all nations, and all
ages, with all ages, to impofe upon them-
felves, and their pofterity! Could the re-
ligion of the true God, and the religion of
the
REVELATION Examin'd, &c. 271
the Syrian goddeſs, the Jews, and the Hea-
thens, that hated them, Mofes, and Melo his
enemy;
tradition confpire with hiftory,
and hiſtory with mythology! men of all cha-
racters, complexions, conditions and perfua-
fions, Plutarch with Berofus, Benjamin the
Few with Chryfoftom, and Lucian with
both! Plato with Pliny, and Dio with
Falconerius! the imaginations of poets, and
the experiments of naturalifts! antiquity,
poetry, philofophy, and philology!
wiſdom, and folly! truth, and fiction!
regions unknown to one another! and regions
that never heard of one another! Afia with
the ifles of the Gentiles! and America with
both! all confpire to eſtabliſh one uni-
verfal delufion! and all nature join in the
atteftation produce all her animals,
and all her vegetables,
and all her depths,
vales, her levels,
lye, with all the
truth!
all her heights,
her mountains, her
to vouch one univerfal
irrefiftible evidence of
FORGIVE me, infidelity, if I could
as foon disbelieve my own exiſtence!
Forgive me, if I could fooner fufpect your
veracity and wifdom: Forgive me, if
I could as foon believe the most monftrous
pofition that ever was advanced. For-
give me, in one word, if I could almoſt as
foon,
272 REVELATION Examin'd, &c.
foon, believe, that there is not, never was,
nor ever will be, one man, of thorough
learning, true virtue, a found head, and an
upright heart, throughout the whole tribe
of thoſe great lights and ornaments of human
nature, the profeffed enemies of reve-
lation !
The END of PART J.
CON-
[ 273 ]
i
THE
CONTENTS.
Differtation I.
F the forbidden fruit.
1
page I
Differtation II.
Concerning the knowledge of the brute world
conveyed to Adam.
P. IL
T
Dif-
274
The CONTENTS.
Differtation III.
Of the knowledge of marriage given to Adam.
Differtation IV.
P. 28
Of the skill of language infus'd into Adam.
Differtation V.
p. 34
Of the revelations which immediately follow'd
the fall.
P. 43
Differtation VI.
Concerning fome difficulties and objections
that lie against the Mofaic account of the
fall.
Differtation VII.
p. 69
Some farther difficulties relating to the fall
confidered.
Differtation VIII.
p. 98
Of Jacrifices.
}
P. 121
Differ-
t
}
275
The CONTENTS.
Differtation IX.
Concerning that corruption and degeneracy of
mankind, which drew down the divine
judgment in the deluge.
Differtation X.
p. 153
Concerning the natural caufes made ufe of
by Almighty God to flood the earth.
P. 171
Differtation XI.
Concerning the ends of divine wisdom anfwered
by the deluge.
p. 183
S
Differtation XII.
Objections to the Mofaic account of the
deluge, and this explication of it confi-
dered.
P. 206
Differtation XIII.
Of the concurrence of all antiquity with the
Mofaic account of the flood.
T 2
p. 215
Differta-
276
The CONTENTS.
Differtation XIV.
Of other teftimonies relating to the deluge.
P. 238
Differtation XV.
Some difficulties relating to Noah's ark con-
fidered.
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factions. 5 Vols.
A Method to determine the Areas of Right-Lin'd Figures
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Sir Ifaac Newton's Philofophia Principia.
Chronology.
Pemberton's View of Sir Ifaac Newton's Philofophy.
Religion of Nature delineated.
Shaw's Abridgement of Boyle's Philofophical Works. 3 Vols.
Tournefort's compleat Herbal, 29 Numbers, to be continued.
Price One Shilling each.
The Hiſtory and Antiquities, Ecclefiaftical and Civil, of the Ifle
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Sham in Kent; of the adjoining Priory of Davington and Maifon-
Dieu of Ofpringe, and Pariſh of Bocton Subtus le Bleyne, &c. By
John Lewis, M. A.
A Vindication of King Charles the Martyr: Proving, that his
Majefty was the Author of ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ, againft a Memo-
ranium ſaid to be written by the Earl of Angleſey, and againſt the
Exceptions of Dr. Walker, and others. To which is added, A
Preface, wherein the bold and infolent Affertions, publiſhed in a
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troverfy, are examined and confuted. The 3d Edition, with large
Additions. Together with fome Original Letters of King Charles
the Firſt, under his own Hand, never before printed, and faithfully
copied from the faid Originals.
A Defence of the Vindication of King Charles the Martyr, juſti-
fying his Majefty's Title to ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ, in Aniwer to a
late Pamphlet, intituled, Amyntor. By the Author of the
Vindication.
Dr. Stanhope's Sermons at Boyle's Lectures.
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OCTAVO and TWELVES.
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of thoſe Books is digeſted into one ſhort and plain Diſcourſe. The
6th Edition. By Thomas Bennet, D.D. late Vicar of St. Giles's
Cripplegate.
Miſcellaneous Works in Profe and Verfe, of the late Right
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pleat Mr. Addifon's Works in Twelves.
Notes on Milton's Paradife loft.
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Articles and Canons of the Church of England.
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Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth.
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The Book of Pfalms made fit for the Clofet; with Coilects
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particularly adapted, with Titles to each Pfalm.
Bancroft's (fometime Archbishop of Canterbury) dangerous
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Iſland of Great-Britain, under pretence of Reformation, and for
the Presbyterian Diſcipline.
Compleat Clerk in Court, or practifing Solicitor in all our
Courts, &e.
Dr. Comber's fhort Difcourfes upon the whole Common-
Prayer, defigned to inform the Judgment, and excite the Devo-
tion of ſuch as daily uſe the fame. The 4th Edition.
Civil Policy, a Treatife concerning the Nature of Govern-
ment. Wherein the Reaſons of the great Divertity to be ob-
ferved in the Cuftoms, Manners, and Ufages of Nations, are
hiftorically explained, and Remarks made upon the Changes of
our English Conftitutions, and the different Meaſures of our
feveral Kings. By a Doctor of Phyfick.
The Chriftian Religion, as profeffed by a Daughter of the
Church of England. By the Author of the Propofals to the
Ladies.
A Compendium of univerfal Hiftory; from the Beginning of
the World, to the Reign of the Emperor Charles the Great.
By M. Le Clerc. Done into English.
The compleat Surgeon: Or, The whole Art of Surgery Ex-
plained, in a moft familiar Method, containing the Principles of
that Art. Written in French by M. Le Clerc, Phyfician in Or-
dinary to the late French King. The 6th Edition.
Cenforinus de Die Natali Henricus Lindenbragius recenfuit &
notis illuftravit.
Collection of Poems, with the Temple of Death. By the
Marquis of Normanby, &c.
Bishop Cumberland's Sanchoniatho's Phoenician Hiftory. Tran-
flated from the Firſt Book of Eufebius de Preparatione Evange-
lica. With a Continuation of Sanchoniatho's Hiſtory. By Era-
tofthenes Cyrenaus's Canon, which Dicaarchus connects with the
firft Olympiad. Theſe Authors are illuſtrated with many Hifto-
rical and Chronological Remarks, proving them to contain a Series
of Phoenician and Egyptian Chronology, from the firft Man, to
the firſt Olympiad, agreeable to the Scripture Account. With a
Preface, giving a brief Account of the Lite, Character, and
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Origines Gentium Antiquifitione: Or, Attempts
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Confutation of the new Notion of Chronology advanced by
Sir Ifaac Newton.
The Conduct of Servants in great Families. By T. Seaton, M. A.
Chaplain to the Earl of Nottingham.
The Country Parfon's Advice to his Parishioners. In 2 Parts.
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The Common-Prayer, the beſt Companion in the Houſe and
Cloſet, as well as in the Temple.,
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III, The Wonders of the Peak. With Cuts.
Drelincourt's Chriftian's Defence againſt the Fears of Death;
with ſeaſonable Directions how to prepare ourſelves to Die well.
The 12th Edition.
A Defence of Pluralities: Or, Holding two Benefices with
Cure of Souls, as now practiſed in the Church of England.
Du Pin's univerfal Library of Hiftorians. Done into English
from the Paris Edition. 2 Vols.
Abridgement of his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory. 4 Vols.
Divine Oeconomy: Or, An univerfal Syftem of the Works
and Purpoſes of God towards Men demonftrated. Written Ori-
ginally in French, by Peter Poiret. 6 Vols.
A Defence of Diocefan Epifcopacy, in Anſwer to a Book of
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pacy. By H. Maurice, D. D. 2d Edition.
The Door of the Tabernacle: Or, Rules for Behaviour in the
Publick Worship of God, according to the Ufe of the Church.
of England.
ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ. The Pourtraiture of his Sacred Majefty
King Charles the Firft, in his Solitudes and Sufferings. To
which is added, The Royal Martyr: Or, The Life and Death of
the faid King. Written by Richard Perenchief, D.D. one of his
Majefty's Chaplains.
Echard's Hiftory of the Revolution, and the Eftablishment of
England, in the Year 1688.
Erafmi Familiaria Colloquia, cum Scholis, quibufdam perquam
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recenfita & emendita.
The English Apiary: Or, The compleat Bee-Mafter, unfolding
the whole Art and Mystery of the Management of Bees. By
John Gedde, Efquire.
Dr. Echard's Works, (viz.) The Grounds and Occafions of
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Efay
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Effay on true Knowledge in Religion.
Edward's Enquiry into difficult Texts of Scripture.
farther Enquiry.
Elis Articulorum 39, Ecclefia Anglicana Defenfio, una cum nova
eorundem Verfione. His accedunt Articuli Lambethani, una cum
Rev. & Doct. virorum in eos cenfura. Editio Quarta.
Everard's Gauging. The 9th Edition.
Feltham's Reſolves, Divine, Moral, and Political. 12th Edit.
Sir John Floyer's Treatife of the Afthma. 3d Edition.
The Frauds of the Romish Monks and Prieſts, ſet forth in eight
Letters. The 5th Edition. With Obfervations on a Journey to
Naples. Wherein the Frauds of the Romish Monks and Priefts
are further difcovered. Lately written by a Gentleman in his
Journey to Italy, and publifh'd for the Benefit of the Publick.
2 Volumes.
The Gentleman inſtructed in the Conduct of a virtuous and
happy Life. In 3 Parts. Written for the Inftruction of a young
Nobleman. To which is added. A Word to the Ladies. By
Way of Suplpement to the Firſt Part.
Guzman's Life: Or, The Spaniſh Rogue. 2 Vols.
The Gentleman's Jockey, and approved Farrier, 10th Edit.
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Glanvil's Effay concerning Preaching.
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Gaffendi's Morals.
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Gilbert againſt Bifhop Fleetwood on Miracles.
Gailhard's Travels.
Grotius on the Low-Country Wars.
Grimftone's Ster. Chriſtiana.
The genuine Ufe and Neceffity of the Two Sacraments:
Namely, Baptifin, and the Lord's Supper; with our Obligations
frequently to receive the latter.
F. Gerardi Meditationes Sacra. Editio noviffima.
The Hiftory of England, faithfully extracted from authentick
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of this Kingdom, in all Languages, whether Ecclefiaftical or Civil,
with the Effiges of the Kings and Queens. 5th Edition. 2 Vols.
Hickes's Letters. 2 Vols.
Sermons. 2 Vols.
Chriſtian Priesthood.
Horneck's Crucified Jeſus.
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Hind's Hiftory of Grecce.
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Houghton's Husbandry and Trade improved. Being a Collection
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Hippocrates's Aphorifms in English. By Sir F. Springal, M. D.
Sir William Hope's Compleat Horfeman: Or, Perfect Farrier,
4th Edition.
Humphrey's Athenagoras's Apologeticks. I. For the Chriftian
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The Hiſtory of the Lives and Robberies of the most notorious
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Hudibras, with Annotations and Cuts.
Dr. Isham's Divine Philofophy: Containing the Books of Job,
Proverbs, and Wisdom. With Explanatory Notes.
Daily Office for the Sick.
Jacob's Accompliſh'd Conveyancer. 3 Vols.
A Journey to Mequinez, the Refidence of the Emperor of
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Johnson's Grammatical Commentaries.
Knight's Sermons preached at St. Paul's, at the Lady Moyer's
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Locke's Effay on Human Underſtanding. 2 Vols.
Letters to the Bishop of Worcester.
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Lamb's Fresh Suit to Independency.
Stop to Separation.
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Lloyd on Church Government.
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Leadbetter's Compleat Syftem of Aftronomy. 2 Vols.
Laurence of Gardening, In 3 Parts.
Legnat's Voyages to the East-Indies.
Lucian's Works tranflated by Mr. Dryden. 4 Vols.
Leeds Lucian's Dialogues. Greek and Latin.
Index Catholice.
Life and Adventures of Lazerello de Tormes. Written by
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viarum, & G. Fabricii Clemnicentis veteris Roma, &c.
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Le Manes Voyage to the Canary Islands.
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Reflections on Dr. Wall's Hiftory of Infant Baptifm are exa-
min'd and refuted, fo far as they came in the Way of this Dif
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Origen againſt Celfus; in English.
Biſhop Patrick's Sermons on Contentment.
Devout Chriſtian
Chriſtian Sacrifice.
Pfalms.
Advice to a Friend.
Jewish Hypocrify.
Divine Arithmetick.
Search the Scriptures.
Help to young Communicants.
Biſhop Potter's Difcourfe of Church Government; wherein
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Pearson's Sermons on feveral Occafions. Preach'd at the Ca-
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Practice of Piety.
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Plato Redivivus.
Prophecies of Chriftopher Kotterus, Chriftiana Poniatovia, Nicho-,
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Poor Man's Ready Companion.
Plurality of Worlds.
Philpot's two Difcourfes: The first concerning the Original-
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Plutarch's
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Father Quesnel's Moral Reflections upon every Verſe of the
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Quintus Curtius, his Hiftory of the Wars of Alexander. To
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third Edition.
Reading's Life of Chrift. 2 Vols. 12mo.
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nefs and Neceffity of Revelation. The fixth Edition. By a
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Solitary and Carthufian Gardener. In three Parts.
Biſhop Sprat's Sermons, on feveral Occaſions.
Spinck's Sick Man vifited.
Trust in God: or, A Difcourfe concerning the Duty
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Dr. Stanhope's Chriftian's Pattern: or, A Treatife of the Imi-
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à Kempis.
Epictetus.
Dr. South's Sermons. 6 Vols.
Strauchius's Tteatiſe of Chronology. Tranflated into Engliſh,
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Sir Richard Steele's Plays.
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Son of God, confider'd: In fix Sermons; preach'd on feveral Oc-
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Sir William Temple's Memoirs.
Taylor's Holy Living and Dying.
Golden Grove.
Turner, de Morbis Cutaneis. A Treatife of Difeafes incident
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In two Parts. Third Edition.
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Teftamentum Latinum Caftalio.
Beza.
Four Treatifes concerning Mahometifm.
Tully's Select Orations.
Taylor on the two Covenants.
Tryal of Wits, difcovering the great Differences of Wits
amongſt Men; and what fort of Learning fuits beſt with each
Genius, &c.
Turner's Sermons, at Boyle's Lectures.
Treatifes of Trefpaffes.
of Laft Wills.
Thirlby against Whiſton.
Tacquet's Arithmetick.
Geometry.
Thomas's Anſwer to J. O's Argument for Ordination by Presby-
ters without Bishops.
The Vineyard: Being the Obfervations made by a Gentleman
in his Travels.
Findicia Carolina : or, A Defence of ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙ
AIKH, &c.
Vauguion's compleat Body of Surgery. Third Edition.
Vertot's Revolutions of the Roman Republick. 2 Vols.
Voyage to the Levant. By the Sieur du Mont.
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Wall's Hiftory of Infant Baptiſm; with the Defence. 3 Vols. *
Archbiſhop Wake's Sermons. 3 Vols.
Genuine Epiftles of the Apoftolical Fathers, &c.
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The Hiftory of the Life and Sufferings of the Reverend and
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worth in Leicestershire, in the Reigns of King Edward III. and
Richard II.; together with a Collection of Papers relating to the
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fter of Margate in Kent.
Wheatly's Rational Illuftrat. of the Book of Com. Prayer, ds.
Willymor's Peculiar Ufe and Signification of hard Words.
Larger Examples.
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Ciceronis Orationes
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Art of Glafs.
in Ufum Delphini.
Ariftotle's Art of Poetry,
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Boyer's French Dictionary.
Blackwall on the Clafficks.
Dr. Barrow of Induſtry.
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Blackmore on the Gout.
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