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HE SPARKS 
 
 LIBRARY. 
 
 [AMERICA.] 
 Collected by 
 
 JARED Sparks, LL. D., 
 
 President of Harvard College. 
 
 Purchased by the Cornell University, 
 
 1872. 
 
 ■ ■( 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BT127 .B42 1809 
 
 Summary view of the evidence and practic 
 
 olln 
 
 3 1924 029 374 117 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029374117 
 

A 
 
 SUMMARY VIEW 
 
 OP 
 
 THE EVIDENCE 
 » 
 
 AND 
 
 PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 OP 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN REV^ILATION; 
 
 IN 
 
 ^A SERIES OF DISCOURSES 
 
 YOl 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS ^ELSHAM, 
 
 MIMSTER OF THE UNITARIAH CHAPEL IN ESSEX STIIEET, 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Quis possit indoctus, apta inter se, et cohzrentia fingere, cum pbildso- 
 phorum doctissimi, Plato et Aristoteles, et Epicurus, et~Zeno, ipsi sib! 
 repugnantia, et contraria dixerint } Haec est enim mendaciornm natur'a 
 lit cobserere non possint, IllornDi autem traditio quia vera est quadrat 
 undique, ac sibi tota coasentit: et ideo p^rsuadet quia con^tanti ratione 
 
 Suffultaest. LACTAN'MUS, 1. V.' 
 
 • LONDON: 
 
 PRINTSP FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHUKCH TABS. 
 1S09. 
 
f tinted by Richard TtyloT and Co., Shoe Lane, London. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Xhese Discourses contain the substance 
 ojf a Course of Lectures delivered after 
 the morning service to the young, persons 
 who attend unitarian worship at the cha- 
 pel in Essex street. They are published at 
 the request of many who htard them, and 
 in hope that with a divine blessing,, they 
 may be the means of reviving^ the recol- 
 lection of the evidences of the christian 
 religion, of making them familiar to the 
 mind, and of impressing them deeply upon 
 the heart. 
 
 To this Stimmary of the evidences of 
 christignity, it is the intention of the au- 
 thor to annex a Series of Discourses upon 
 
 a2 
 
IV 
 
 the subject of Inspiration. Both together 
 will constitute a general abstract of evi- 
 dence in favour of rational Christianity, 
 which, it is hoped, will be sufficient to 
 produce conviction in the minds of the 
 candid and inquisitive, and to obviate the 
 objections and cavils of modern infidelity, 
 which in general are levelled niore at the 
 prevailing corruptions than at the, essen- 
 tial doctrinesL or the substantial evidences 
 of revealed religion.* 
 
 Hackney, Jan. ^Q, ]807> 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Discourse t. 
 
 Preliminary .Obser.vations. The Question stated, Pbi- 
 losophical Argument for the Christian Revelation: 
 
 JOHN vi. 68, 69. 
 
 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall 
 
 we go ? Thou hast the luords of eternal life. And we 
 
 lelieve, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the son of 
 
 the living God. Page l. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 Direct historical Evidence of the Christian Revelation. 
 
 LUKE i. I 4. 
 
 Forasmuch as many -have taken in hand lo set forth in, 
 order a declaration of those things which are most surely 
 lelieved among us : even as they delivered them to us. who 
 from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of 
 the word: it seemed gopd to me also, having had perfect 
 understanding of all things, frorr^ the very first ; to lurite 
 tmto thep, in order, most eopcklleni Theophilus, that tliou 
 mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou, 
 hast been instructed. .. r . . Page 3 1 . 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE III, 
 
 prophetic and Internal Evidence of the Christian Reve- 
 lation. 
 
 JOHX XX. 31. 
 But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is 
 the Christ, the'son bf God-: and that, lelieving, ye might 
 , have life through his name Page 74. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Evidence of the Christian Revelation from the Testimony 
 of the Jewish Scriptures. 
 
 LUKE xxiv. 27. 
 And beginning at Moses and all thS prophets, he ex- 
 pounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concern- 
 ing himself. Page 1 09. 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 The practical Value of the Christian Revelation. 
 TITUS ii. 11 — 14. 
 For, the grace of God that Iringeth salvation hath ap- 
 peared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness 
 and worldly lusts, we ^should live soberly, righteously, 
 and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed 
 hope, even the glorious appearance of the great God, and 
 of our saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us, that 
 he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
 himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Page 159. 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 The Subservieney of Knowledge to Virtue, 
 lotroductory to a Course of Lectures upon the Christian Scriptures. 
 
 JOHN xvii. 3. 
 And' this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the 
 only true Godj and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 
 
 Page 180. 
 
EVIDENCES 
 
 OP 
 
 Revealed religion. 
 
 DISCOURSE L 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIOlSfS; THE QtJfeS" 
 TION STATED. PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT 
 FOR THE CHRISTIAN REVELATtON. 
 
 JOim, vi. 68, 69. 
 
 l-rtEN SfMON PETER ANSWEKED HIM, LOEDj TO 
 WHOM SHALL WE GO? THOU HAST THE WORDS OF 
 ETERNAL LIFE. AND WE BELIEVB, AND AR£ SURE THAT 
 THOU ART THAT CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. 
 
 It is hardly probable that the apestlg 
 Peter, eager and zealous as he was, would 
 have expressed himself with so mtieh confi- 
 dence concerning the messiahship of Jesus, 
 considering the reserve which JesuS himself" 
 usually maintaMied upon this subject, and' 
 especially after a discourse so uncommonly 
 offensive to Jewish prejudices, in which our 
 
 B 
 
lord had most explicitly disclaimed all 
 temporal autliprity, and by wJxi.ch he had 
 occasioned many who had followed him 
 from secular views to retire in disgust. Ac- 
 cordingly^ the reading of the most approved 
 copies is this: — -" We believe, and are sure, 
 that thou art the holy one^ or the holy pro- 
 phet of God 1 :" a declaration much more 
 suitable to the state of the apostle's mind 
 irj the circumstances in which it was made, 
 
 *• We believe, and are sure, that thou art 
 the holy prophet of God." Happy they 
 who upon j list grounds can adopt this lan- 
 guage of unhesitating confidence ; and who 
 in consequence of this firm conviction can 
 maintain a regard to Christ and his doctrine 
 as" habitual, and as influential, as if Jesus 
 himself were visibly present ; and the great 
 objects of ^ faith, the concerns of a future 
 and everlasting world, were objects of 
 sense! This however is a state of mind 
 which few serious and inquisitive persons 
 
 . ' This is the reading of the Vatican, th§ Ephrem, and the . 
 Gamliridge manuscripts, and; is i^drajlted by Gwe^bach into 
 
 his text. " " -'•-,-.■-- 
 
B 
 
 ife kbie to reach* Tiii utmost which the 
 generality of sober and rational inquirers 
 :ari expect, is to attain a faithj not perhaps 
 wrholly tinmixed with ddtibt, arid a hope, 
 lot entirely unclouded with fear j but at 
 the same time, a faith so decidedly pi^ 
 ponddrant as to lay a reasonable founda^ 
 tion for virtuous practice, and a hope stj 
 tiabitual and encouraging, as to fill th^ 
 tnind with joy and peace in believing, and 
 to administer the best consolation Undef 
 the vicissitudes of life. Here, we Walk by 
 Faith, not by sight. And if they were pe* 
 Culiarly happy who believed in Jesus be- 
 cause they had seen him after his resurfec- 
 tiort } a proportionable blessing belotigs to 
 those, who being destitute of sensible evi- 
 ience, have, in consequence of due and 
 impartial inquiry, admitted' the divine mis* 
 sion of jesU^, and have bowed their spii-its^ 
 to his gentle yokfe* 
 
 This J niy yoUng friendsi, tias been tW 
 state of mind to whitK it has been my en* 
 ieavour to fotm, you, by that course of 
 lectures upon the evideiices of reveakd re- 
 
 »2 . 
 
ligion wliidi 1 have lately addressed to you. 
 It has been my desire in>the first place, that 
 you should know what true Christianity is, 
 sepa.rate from all adventitious mixtures, 
 and doctrines of hpman invention. And 
 next, that y^ou should be christians not 
 merely by education, by prejudice, by in- 
 terest, or by fashion, but upon just princi- 
 ples : and that your faith niay be fixed upon 
 a foundation too solid, and too deep, to be 
 shaken or endangered, by the scoffs and 
 scorns, by the artifices- or the arguments, of 
 modern scepticism. In* the ^proportion in 
 which this object has been accomplished, 
 m^y main design has been answered, and 
 my best wishes have • been fnlfiUed.' For of 
 this trvith I cannot for a moment entertain 
 a doubt, that to jbe a rational and a prac- 
 tical believigr in the christian religion, is to 
 be. truly wise, and virtuous, and. happy. - ^ 
 
 What I now propose is, to give a brief 
 recapitulation of the principal evidences of 
 the christian religion, which may be of use 
 tp refresh the memory of those who have ho~, 
 noured^-the. lectures with their attendance, j 
 and which, I trust, will not be vinaccepta- 
 
bk tQ. others, js^io need • no' information 
 whioJoL it i& in my power to communicate. 
 
 ^a believe in the christian revelation, is to 
 believe that Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest of 
 all the prophets ofQodj was commissionfed by 
 God to jreveal the diocteine of a future life in 
 which virtue will find a correspondent re- 
 ward, and vice shall suffer condign punish* 
 ment ; and, that of this commission he gave 
 satisfactory evidence, by. hi? resurrection 
 from the dead. 
 
 He who believes these few plain an4 
 simple facts, is a speculative christian ; he 
 who publicly avows this belief, is a profess- 
 ed christian ; he who regulates his temper 
 ^nd conduct by an habitual regard to thesei 
 important principles, is a practical chris- 
 tian : he who does not believe that Jesus was, 
 commissioned to teach the doctripe of eter- 
 nal life, or who dpnies his resurrection from 
 the dead, is- not a christian. He may, for 
 any thing that appears, be a learned man,; 
 a wi^e man, and a good man; but he can- 
 riot, in propriety of language, be called a 
 
6 
 
 .f 
 
 idefinitiofi; The apostle Paul tells the Co, 
 rinthians^ that he Ji^d himself ^' delivered 
 to them among the first principles, that 
 Christ died, that he n^as buried, and thaf 
 he rose again on thp third day 3" from which 
 he infers that there must be a. resurrection 
 of the dead ; for that 5' if there be no re- 
 surrection of the dead, then is Christ not 
 risen, and if Chrisp be not risen, then is our 
 preaching vain, and your; faith is alsq vain.'^ 
 
 The promulgation of Christianity is an 
 pyent which tool^ place upwards pf seven- 
 teen hundred years ago, and the credibility 
 pf this fact rests principally upon the evi- 
 dence of testimony. Testimony, is a spe- 
 cies of evidence which 15 not intrinsically, 
 and in it§ naked form, so satisfactory an4 
 pOgent as %}\e evidence of consciousness, of 
 sense, of intuition, or of demoiistratxon, and 
 it is often fallacious. But in certain cir- 
 cumstances it is ^ safe and infallible guide. 
 If the person who relates a fact be neither 
 himself deceived, nor an intentional deceiv- 
 pr, hi§ testimony must be true. By far the 
 
greater number of' facts which men believe, 
 are suppoi'tid by teetirriony alone : and 
 this species of evidence is not only su9i- 
 cient to regulate the conduct of men in the 
 common affairs of life, but is admitted as 
 competent in the most solemn judicial prp- 
 ceedings ; upon occasions of the greatest 
 importance, and even where the lives and 
 happiness of millions are dependent upon 
 the decision. In fact, a person who shoij^4 
 seriously refuse in all circumstances to give 
 credit to testimony, would be justljr re- 
 garded and treated as a lunatic. 
 
 It has been contended that revelation is 
 unnecfeseary and inexpedient, an4 there- 
 fore, to divine wisdom, morally impos- 
 sible: for that the law of nature is so per- 
 fect as to admit of no addition or improve- 
 ment, and that the light of nature is so 
 distinct and universal as to rieed no assist- 
 ance 3. Now, though it may perhaps be 
 admitted, that the law of iiaturfe, consider- 
 ed as the universal. rule of right, is .abso- 
 lutely perfect, it will not be gratuitously 
 
 I rr»:.-j_l*_ /^U^Ifli-Iinti-vr '^e nlrl ic tlip Pfpnt-ioTi. 
 
.8' 
 
 t 
 
 conceded that it would, be easy, or pracr 
 ticable, by the unassisted light of reason 
 only, to form just conceptions of the at- 
 tributes, character and. government of 
 God, or of the requi^k^ons and sanctions 
 of his moral law. — But the proper re- 
 ply to this intrepid assertion is, by a di- 
 rect appeal to plain and palpable fact. 
 What has the light of nature actually acr 
 complished, unaided by divine revektion ? 
 What has it discovered of the attributes of 
 God, of the rule of duty, or of the doctirine 
 of a future life ? The errors into which the 
 most celebrated of the ancient philosophers 
 have fallen, in their profound and laborious 
 investigations of moral subjects, have been 
 gross and pitiable in the extreme. And 
 that man must have no common share ojf 
 <;onfidence in his own talents and sagacity, 
 whqt would expect to succe'ed where Socrar 
 tes, and Plato, and Cicero, have failed*. 
 
 ••See upon this subject, Cicero de Natu,ra Deorum, ^nd 
 Tusculan. Quast. lib. 1. Also Plato's Phsdo. Dr. Le- 
 land^s Ipartied work, on the Advantage and Necessity of 
 Divine Revelation, and Dr. Rriestley on the Doctrines of the 
 Heathen Philosophy compared with those of Revelation, are 
 highly worthy of a serious perusal. 
 
Previous to our inquiry into tKc'direec 
 pYi46njce of. the christian revelation, it will 
 be necessary to form ?i' correct judgement 
 concerning the nature, the use,, and the 
 evidence of miracles ^ A miuacle, • is 
 
 A DEVIATION fRDM THE ESTABLISHED 
 
 j?ouRSE QF NATURE : it is a violation of the 
 lavFS by which the worl4 is usually govern^ 
 ed. No person can be a believer in a (divine 
 fevelatipji, without believing a miracle. It 
 is the communication of a doctrine to the 
 xnind which it either could not, or woul4 
 ;pot, have att^npd by the exercise of its na-r 
 tural powers. And revelation appeals to 
 miracle as the proper, and absolute proof, 
 of its divine authority. " The works which 
 I do in my Father's nanae," saith our Lord, 
 *' bear witness of me'V Congerning raira^ 
 '^les we niay observe, 
 
 ' See upon this subject, as a general reference, Mr. Farmer's 
 Dissertation upon Miracles. This judicious and learned 
 work Having been long out of print, a very correct edition 
 ©fit, in * smaller and cheaper form, has been reprinted by 
 the Unitarian Sociejfy. 
 
 « John, X. 25. 38. xiv. 10. 14. 
 
16 
 
 1. That a miracle is ,a fact capable of 
 being distinguished from other unusual and 
 extraordinary eyents. 
 
 There may indeed be real miracles which 
 are not sentsible miracles, because the 
 course of nature in the case supposed may 
 not be known, or the deviatioti from it 
 may not be perceived. But in some cases, 
 the course of nature is obvious to the most 
 superficial observer, so that a deviation 
 from it would be apparent to* a person of 
 the meanest capacity. For example, that 
 a man should rise from the dead after the 
 putrefactive process is begun: — that five 
 thousand persons, and more, should be fed 
 with a few loaves and fishes : — that limbs 
 should be instaiitaneously restored to the^ 
 maimed, sight to the blind, and hearing 
 to the deaf; and that a tempest should be 
 calmed by a word, 
 
 2. God alone is the author of miracles ; 
 and no inferior agent can perform, a mira- ~ 
 cle without his express authority and per-- 
 mission. 
 
11 
 
 This is ^ very iiiciportant preliminary 
 consider^tioii, and absolutely necessary 
 to be established before we can appeal to 
 piiracles as proper proofs of 4ivine inter- 
 position. The l^ws of nature are the wise 
 and benevcilenc Appointment of the Creator 
 for the benefit pf his creatures, whose exist- 
 enpe and comfort depend upon their per- 
 manence and invariable regularity, jft is 
 not therefore to be imagined that he would 
 permiit any inferior being to controul theq^ 
 ^t pleasure. — It has also been the opinion 
 of many of the wisest and be^t philosophers, 
 that the Jaws of nature ^re not only the ap- 
 pointment, bi^t the actual agency, and im-: 
 paediate energy, of the divine Being him^ 
 self, exerting itself according to certain 
 stated rules, yhich infinite wisdom has 
 prescribed 7. Bpt upon this supposition 
 
 I ' See Farmer on Miracles, p. 95. 8yo edition. Dr. Clarke's 
 Sermons, vol. i. p. 620, 621. fol. Dr. Price's Dissertation 
 on Ptfovidence, p. 39. &c. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton thought it most unaccountable to exclude 
 the Deity only out of the universe. Ip appeared to him much 
 more just and reasonable to suppose that the whole chain of ' 
 causes or the several series of them should centre in him as their 
 ^ource, and the yrhole syst^ a^Jpeai* depending on him, the: 
 
12 
 
 it is absol]u.teIy impossible for any inferior 
 agent to .alter, or suspend, the laws of nar 
 turp, for that wpuld be to controul, and 
 counteract Omnipotence itself; which is 
 a contradiction in the very terms. 
 
 Further, though we have reason to be- 
 lieve that there are ranks and gradations of 
 being in the universe,, so that some beings 
 may possess powers of intellect an4 action 
 beyond conception superior to others, it 
 by no means follows that it is withinthe 
 power of any to controul the laws of na- 
 ture, or to perform any action out of the 
 proper sphere to which they are limited 
 by the wisdom and benevolence of the 
 Creator. 
 
 ojily independent cause. Maclaurin's Account of Sir Isaac 
 Nevrton's Discoveries, book iv. c. ix. (J 5. spud Dr. Price, p. 52. 
 
 However far mechanism may, be carried, and the chain of 
 causes extend in the material universe ; to the divine power, 
 exerted continually in allplfic^s, every law and every effect and., 
 motion in i t must at last be resolved. This is a conclusion which 
 the modern improvements ii) natural philosophy have abun^ 
 dantly confirined, and which soipe of the first and best philo^^ 
 sophers have received. Dr. Price, ibid. p. 5J . 
 
 His power is the very life and so;yl of everjr thing V^hich es, . 
 
Moreover, there is no historical evi- 
 dence to prove that any miracles were ever 
 wrovight by any beings, whatever, of which 
 Gbd was not the immediate author. Wha 
 now gives credit to the absurd tales of 
 witchcraft, and, magic,- and necromancy ? 
 who now believes that the heathen oracles 
 were inspired to foretel future events ?" who 
 is now so weak as to be imposed upon by 
 ,the silly legends of the popish saints ?— Nor 
 does the scripture history when. judiciously 
 interpreted give any covintenance to the 
 popular opinion that miracles may be 
 wrought by inferior agentrvyithovit the per- 
 mission and express appointment of the 
 Supreme. The pretended miracles of the 
 ^Egyptian magicians were jugglers* tricks ; 
 as such they are described by the historian 
 himself^, and for these the Egyptians \Vere 
 ever famous, and are so to this day. ,The 
 supposed appearance of Samuel to Saul at 
 JEndor was the artifice of a practised ven- 
 
 ists, and, strictly speaking, without him we are, as well a,s can 
 ae, nothing. Dr. Priesilej', CMitroversy witli Dr. Price, p. i!JJ4. 
 * Farnler on Miracles, chap. iv. sect. I. 
 
u 
 
 tiiio(]^uist'>. The temptatiofl' of Christ wa^ 
 unquestionably a visionary scene intended 
 as the vehicle of important instruction "^ : 
 and the introduction of the devil into thisf 
 scenical representation, no iliore proves the 
 existence of isuch a powerful and malignant 
 
 *'Fatrher on Miracles, chap." iv. sect. 2i Dr. Chaiidler'sLife, 
 of David, book ii. chap. 16. Mr. Farmer supposes this to have 
 been a real miracICjand thacthe ghost or image of Samuel actu- 
 sdly appeared to Saul to denounce the divine jHidgemfent against 
 him. But it is highly iniprobahle that God would give an answer 
 to Saul when seeking it in this irregular manner, after having rfe» 
 fused to answer him in the customairy way, by the oracle, or by 
 a prophet. Dr. Chandler's hy t>othesis therefore is much more 
 likely to be true, that the woman was an impostpr andyentrii 
 loquist. The principal difficulty arises from the answer given 
 fo Saul by the supposed Samuel, which it is said contains a pre- 
 diction of an event which an impostor could not have foreseen. 
 But it did not occur to these learned writers that probably the 
 only witness of tliC fact after the deceaseofiSaiilwastlie witch 
 herself, who would no doubt rekte the story in a manner the 
 most favourable to her own credit and that of her profession! ■ 
 
 "• See Mr.' Farmer's Inquiry into Christ's Temptation in 
 the Wilderness, a most ingenious, and, I think, satisfactory! 
 treatise upon a very difficult subject. A new edition of this 
 tract has also been published by the Unitarian Sudety^ If 
 any intelligent reader desires to be convinced of the impossi- 
 bility of the literal account of this transaction, he inay con-r 
 suit Dr. Chandler's laborious and learned vindication of it — = 
 Chandler's Sermons, vol. iii. No. 7i 8. 
 
LO 
 
 spirit as the cie>fil is commqnly represented 
 to be, than the symbolical figures in the 
 apocalyptic vision, prove that such figures 
 must have an external archetype. 
 
 Finally, the demopiacs of the gospels 
 were not, as the ancient^ weakly imagined, 
 possessed and agitated by human ghosts, 
 nor yet, as moderns have still more absurd- 
 ly fabled, by evil angels, and apostate, 
 spirits, but were patients labouring under 
 die dreadful maladiea of lunacy and epi- 
 lepsy, to many of whom the compassion of 
 Jesus applied his healing power ". Upon 
 the whole therefore, we come with confi- 
 dence to the important conclusion — that 
 no being in the universe ever did, or ever 
 could, controul the laws of nature, but that 
 Being, who was himself the author of nature, 
 and of them. 
 
 " This point seems to be proved beyond all dispute, and 
 the questipxJ is set at rest fcr ever with all thinking ai^d un- 
 prejudiced persons by Mr. Farmer in his admirable, learned 
 and^jiidicicus Essay on the Demoniacs <;>£ the New Testa- 
 ment, which has. likewise ^<ltely been Tepablished by the Uni- 
 tarka Society, 
 
16 
 
 3. Hence it follows that miracle^, in» cef-» 
 tain circumstances, are proper and absolute 
 proofs of the mission, and the doctrine of a 
 prophet. 
 
 When a doctrine is proposed, or a mis^ 
 sion is asserted, and a miracle, or a se- 
 ries of miracles, is performed, and appeal- 
 ed to, as evidence of the divine authority 
 of the teacher or prophet, this proof must 
 be admitted as just and satisfactory; for 
 to work a miracle in such circumstances 
 is, as it were, to set the seal of God him- 
 self to the commission of the prophet : for 
 it can never be supposed that in such cir- 
 cumstances God would interpose iinmedi- 
 ately to authenticate a fraud. 
 
 4. It is very material to the present ques- 
 tion to remark that miracles are facts prove- 
 able by human testimony. ' 
 
 For a miracle is a possible event. But the 
 falsehood of testimony in certain circum- 
 stances is absolutely impossible. There- 
 
n 
 
 fore, a miFacIe m^y be Jjroved by testi- 
 mony. 
 
 " But," says an ingenious sceptic, " no 
 testimony is sufficient to establish a mi- 
 racle, unless the testimony be Of such a 
 kind, that the falsehood of it would be 
 more miraculous than the event it endea- 
 vours to establish ^^" This ■^vriter's expres- 
 sion is inaccurate. One miracle cannot be 
 more miraculqtis than another. But instead 
 of miraculous^ substitute incredible^ and I 
 join issue with the writer upon his own 
 principles. I will not believe even the re- 
 surrection of Jesus, the great foundation of 
 Christian hope, unless the testimony in its 
 ifavour be of such a kind, that the falsehood 
 of it would be more incredible than the mi- 
 racle " which it endeavours to establish." 
 For in the first place the antecedent impro- 
 
 >«7- — ' — — 
 
 '• Huma's Essay on Mira,cles, part i. . Excellent answe^j 
 have been published to this subtle objection of Mr. Humeri 
 by Dr. Adams of Oxford, Dr. Caropbdl pf Aberdeen, Dr. 
 price in his Dissertations, Dr. Priestley in his InstitJiites gf 
 Revealed Religion, chap. ii.seet,'3.iand Dr.Paleyig his View 
 of the Evidence's of ChnstiaB%,ip. I— IS, 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 bafbility of Jthis eyent, considered in its pe- 
 culiar circumstances, is not so great as may 
 at first be supposed. It is not incredible, 
 it is 'not unworthy of the divine character, 
 that the wise and benevolent parent of man- 
 kind should interpose to rescue his human 
 offspring from ignorance, ^nd vice, and mi- 
 sery ; it is not incredible, that he should 
 send a messenger to reveal the doctrine of. 
 a future life, and to teatch men the way of 
 salvation j jt is not incredible, that the cre- 
 dentials of 'this divine messenger should be 
 authentica.ted by miraculous powers ; it is 
 not incredible, that the first teacher of a 
 future life should be enabled to confirm, 
 and to exemplify his doctrine, by his resur- 
 rection from the dead, than which, no evi- 
 dence can be conceived that would be 
 better adapted to meet the objections, to 
 dispel the fears, and to elevate and- confirm 
 the expectations of the anxious and inqui- 
 sitive mind. And, after all these deduc- 
 tions from the antecedent incredibility of 
 the event, the christian; apologist pledges 
 !feimself to produce evidence, which, in itife 
 estimation of a'candid and' impartial judge, 
 
19 
 
 shall be more than sufficient to • CQtint6ri?3-i 
 lance the difficulties which remaip. This 
 is the evidence which we now proceed to 
 investigate. '^' ,• 
 
 Th^; evidence of vth.^. truth, and divine 
 au,t^ority, of the christian religion may be 
 arranged under five general h^^^ds. The 
 PHILOSOPHICAL evidence, the direct his- 
 torical, the prophetic, the inter- 
 nal, and finally, the evidence which- is 
 derived-from the testimony of the Jewish 
 scriptures. Each, of these arguments^ 
 considered separately, carries great weight j 
 but collectively, and taken in their mutual 
 connexion, and^ correspondence with each 
 other, the . evidence to a serious, candid, 
 apid unprejudiced inquirer must be little 
 
 less than irresistible. 
 
 . ■ ' ' ' 'I ■ ■■ - ' - 
 
 , First. The , PHiLOSOPttiCAL AActr- 
 MENT '^ assumes th^. trut^i. of the christian 
 religion as 9. hypothesis, the admission of 
 
 * • '*-\4s 'a general reference Upon this subjdcS s?? Dr. Priest- 
 ley's tietters to a Pbilosophjpl Unbeliever, j^rt ii. , 
 
 c 2 ' " ■ ' " 
 
20 
 
 which, is necessary to account for certain' 
 obvious and undisputed phaenomena; it is 
 the only assignable, and adequate cause^ 
 of certain known eifects. * In other words, 
 certain facts of public notoriety, are upon 
 fecord, the existence of which calinot-be 
 explained upon any other supposition, than 
 that the christian religion is true, and of 
 
 divine original. . ' ; -i. 
 
 > • ■- ' ; .^ ■ 
 
 The facts are thes6 : That^ Christianity' 
 had its origin in Judea in the reign of Ti- 
 berius Gsesar : that, the founder of this re- 
 ligion was Jesus of Nazareth, a crucified 
 Jew : that, the christian doctrine at its first 
 promulgation, was the object of general 
 abhorrence and Contempt: that, the pro- 
 fessors, and Especially, the publishers of it, 
 were exposed to the most cruel persecution : 
 that, notwithstanding this, the cause pre- 
 vailedi the novel and obnoxious doctrine 
 was avowed by multitudes, and spread, 
 with astonishing rapidity, through all the 
 provinces of the -Roman empire : -that, in 
 the reign of Nero, in less than forty years 
 from tljie first publication of Christianity, 
 
21 
 
 the number of christians at i^ome was sp 
 considerable as to attract the notice and 
 jealoiMy of the government, and to expose 
 -them to an imperial persecution'*: and 
 fitnaiiy, that in the reign of Trajan, at the 
 commencement of the second century, the 
 christians were so numerous in a populcms 
 province of the lesser Asia, that the pro- 
 consul himself, in a letter to the emperor, 
 which is stilL extant, complains, that the 
 heathen temples were almost deserted '^. ^ 
 
 These facts, which are undeniable, must 
 have an adequate cause; and the cause 
 which Christianity assigns is, that, Jfesus 
 of Nazar^ was a prophet, and a mes- 
 senger of God : that, he wrought miracles 
 to establish his divine commission : that, 
 though he was crucified and put to death 
 by his enemies, he was raised to life again 
 on the third day : that, he ascended to his 
 Father : that, shortly afterwards, he com- 
 municated to. his apostlesy and others, the 
 
 »* Tacit. Ann.^ 1. xv. c. 44'. 
 '^ Flin. Epp. 1. X, ep. 97. 
 
?2 
 
 promised gift of the holy spirit, by which 
 they were enabled to preach the truth with 
 -freedom and courage, to speak languages 
 -which they had never learned, to perforin 
 a great, variety! of signal and incontestable 
 miracles, and, to communicate miraculous 
 gifts and powers to their primitive con- 
 verts. Adrhitting these facts, you have an 
 easy solution of this difficult, and' extraor- 
 dinary problena. Here is, .indeed,i a most 
 splendid and uncommon effect, but here 
 is also, an extraordinary, and an adequate 
 cause, If the " hand of thq Lord" so evi- 
 dently accompanied the preachers of the 
 •gospel, it is no longer- wonderful, that " the 
 word of God grew and-^ prevailed, and that 
 multitudes believed and turned to the 
 Lord," were converted to the christian 
 faith, and persevered in their profession 
 with undaunted fortitude. 
 
 But, if. this supposition be denied, no 
 "other cause can be assigned, which shall 
 be adequate to this marvellous effect. No 
 one will pretend that the christian reli- 
 gion made its way by the same means by 
 
23 
 
 which false rehgions ■ have . generally sud-i 
 ceeded. Christianity was not the ' religion 
 of the civil ' magistrate, nor ofthle priest^ 
 nor of the military, nor of the philosopher^ 
 nor of the vulgar. It did not accommof 
 date itself to men's prejudices, nor flatter 
 them in their vices. If the facts v/hich 
 christians have always assigned as the 
 foundation of their faith, and which it is 
 known that' all christians, in all ages, have 
 believed, are not adniitted, it must be sup- 
 posed, that a great number of people on a 
 sudden, and without any reason, upwards 
 of seventeen hundred years ago, took it iiji 
 to their heads to bdieve, that they werl 
 eye.- witnesses to many miracles vsrhich never 
 ;actually happened, that they were even 
 themselves the subjects of miraculous ope- 
 rations which they nevei* experienced, and 
 that they actually possessed supernktura"! 
 powers, which were never communicated to 
 them, and, that they persuaded thousands 
 of other persons to believe the same : and, 
 in consequence of these strange illusions cf 
 jthe imaginatioij, to embrace and • to pro- 
 
24 
 
 fess a religion the inost contrary to their 
 inveterate and fnost cherished prejudices, 
 the profession of which exposed therii to 
 hatred, insult, and the most uialignant 
 persecution. If only a few p^^onfe had 
 acted in this manner, and if the e^ct 
 had been temporary, and limited to a par* 
 ticular place or vicinage, it might hav^ 
 Jjeen regarded as a case of local and oc- 
 casional insanity. But in this . instance, 
 the tiumbers are too great, and the effect 
 too extensive and permanent) to admit fof 
 a. moment, the Tsupposition of a natural 
 and' epidemical derangement of intellect, 
 Such a phaenomenon must 'have been a 
 proper, miracle; a supernatural phrensy, 
 impelling hundreds and thousands of all 
 ^es and ranks, and in various and distant 
 bountries, to believe that they saw, and 
 ■heardi and felt, and performed, miracu-r 
 lous, operations, which were never seen, of 
 heard, or done, and in consequence of thiis 
 persuasion, to embrace a new system of 
 faith, to form new habits of life, and to 
 gxpose themselves; to a .thousand perils in 
 
25! 
 
 the pfoFession and propagatibn of their 
 new reBgion. Here then, is a great, awd 
 Btupendous miracle, or rather a mass of mi- 
 rades^ of which God alone cotild have been 
 the Author. And for tphat p\irpose were 
 th^y wrought:? — ^To bear testimony, and to 
 ensure success, to an impioTis and mischicr 
 VQus imposture. We see the tv-r^tched 
 dilemma to which scepticism is reduced, 
 ^his miracle, the existence of which must 
 be admitted, if Christianity is false, is in- 
 finitely more, incredible than the resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, and, than all the miracles 
 tipon whidi the diristian religion rests for 
 its support; and therefore, by concession 
 of the adversaries themselves, upon the 
 •viery principle laid down by the leader of 
 modern scepticism, the resurrection of Je- 
 sus must be reeeived as true: and the 
 ■christian religion is' of divine original. 
 
 To this whole argumient another unbe- 
 hever, not less celebrated "^, objects, that 
 
 '* Gibbon's History df the Decline and Fa}! of the Roman 
 jinapire, chap, xv, xvi. In reply to Mr. Gibbon's objection 
 
26 
 
 the premhes are npt.true, and that if they 
 were adrnitted, the conclusion would not 
 follow. The christian religion we are told 
 dd not advance with that rapidity, nor 
 prevail to that extent, which is generally 
 believed, and that its reception to the 
 degree in which it actually succeeded may 
 be sufficiently accounted for by the ope- 
 ration of natural causes. 
 
 In reply to this writer's ingenious cal- 
 culations, from which he endeavours to 
 prove, that the christian religion made a 
 slow and very limited progress in the Ro- 
 man empire, we oppose the stubborn facts 
 alleged, not by christian rhetoricians, but 
 by writers of the highest reputation, and 
 of undoubted authority, who viewed the 
 christian religion with an eye not mor^ fa- 
 vourable than that of the learned historian 
 himself, and who expressly assert, that in 
 
 see Mr. H. Taylor's Thoughts on the grand Apostasy : Dr. 
 Priestley's History of the Corruptions of Christianity, Con- 
 clusion, part i. and Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, 
 part li. letter 16. Also, the Bishop of LandafPs admirable 
 Anolop-v for Chrlsl^ianitv. in Letters tn F.dwai-fl rjiKKnn. F.sn. 
 
27 
 
 the reign of Nero a vkst multitude of chris- 
 tians were found at Rome ^7, and, that in 
 the reign of Trajan, they almost out-num- 
 bered the idolaters in Bithynia '^. 
 
 The' natural causes which this writer as^ 
 signs as adefquate to account for the pro- 
 gress and prevalence of the chrispian reli-- 
 gion are, the intolerant, but not unsocial 
 zeal of the primitive christians, the expecr- 
 tationof a future life, ai^d of the immfidi- 
 ate appearance of Christ to judgement, the 
 
 ". Igitar pfimo correpti quj fatebaiitur, deinde, indiclo eo- 
 rum mukitudo ingens, baud perinde in crimine incendii, quam 
 odio humahi generis cdnvlcti sunt. Tacit. Ann. 1. xv. c. 44. 
 
 " Neqi^e enim ciritates tantum, sed vicos etiam, et agros, 
 superstitioiiis' istius contagio pervagatg. est. Quae videtur iisti 
 et corrigi posse. Certe satis constat prope etiam desplata tem- 
 pla cqepisse celebrari, et sacra solennia diu intermissi repetL 
 Passimque vsenire victimas, qiiarum adhuc rai-issimus emptor 
 jnv^niebatur. Plin, Epp. 1. x. ep. 97. The emperor Trajan 
 in his rescript, orders that christians, when convicted, should 
 be punished, but forbids them to 1)e sought for. -" The genu- 
 ineness of these letters," says Dr. Lardiier, "is unquestionetj., 
 They are found with the other letters of Pliny to Trajan, and 
 Trajan's letters to him. And they are both particularly men- 
 tioned by TertuUian in his Apology for the Christians, anqL' 
 by Eusebius from him, not to mention later writers." , LariJ^ 
 ner's Works, vol. vii. p. 291. 
 
^8 
 
 miraculous powers ascribed to the early 
 believws, the pure and austere morals of 
 the christians, and the union and disci- 
 pline of th-e christian republic. That some 
 of these causes operated in a considerable 
 degree to promote the progress of Christi- 
 anity, especially after miraculous powers 
 were withdrawn, may perhaps be granted. 
 But these causes are themselves elects, 
 which i^fequire a sufficient cause. Whence 
 arose this firm unhesitating faith, whence 
 this inflexible and intrepid zeal, whence 
 the^e pure and austere morals which distin- 
 guished the primitive believers? Whence 
 the celebrated union and harmony, the 
 strict, and if you please, the severe, and rigid 
 discipline of the christian church ? Grant 
 that chlristianity is true, and the difficul-' 
 ties vanish. But deny the facts which all 
 christians believe, and you leave a mighty 
 efFect without an adequate cause '^, If the 
 
 '* " If (says Dr. Priestley) with such miserable advocates 
 and such insufficient arguments, Christianity had, as Mr. Gib- 
 bon says, diffused itself over the Roman empire, so early as 
 the time of Seneca, ix will not be very easyforhim to account 
 for so extraordinary a fact. Here is a great effect, without 
 
29 
 
 christian' f/sligian be riot tr»e, if Christ 
 did Hot die and rise again, /if his apostles 
 were ijot , endued with extraordinary and 
 supeifn&tural powers, the zeal of the pri- 
 Bftitive christians would have been irratio* 
 nal and contemptible, their pretensions to 
 miracles -ridiculous, the, strictness of their 
 n^rals and the severity, of their discipline 
 would have deterred unbelievers from join- 
 ing their community; and Christianity, 
 like other impostures, unsupported by the 
 civil power, must soon have died away. 
 But the reverse of tliis is an acknowledged 
 fact. The christian religion continued, by 
 its own unassisted energy, to advance and 
 tq establish itself in the world, till, in the 
 
 any adequate cause. Yet this does not appear to have struck 
 our philosopher, as any thing extraordinary. It satisfies him, 
 that some thousands of people took it into their beads, with- 
 out any reason at all, that Christ and the apostles wrought mi- 
 racles, that they madly devoted tlieir labours, their fortunes, 
 and their lives, to the propagation of their groundless opinion, 
 and that by their inflexible zeal, and obstinacy, they forced 
 the belief of it on the rest of the world. Such is the philoso- 
 phy of Mr. Gibbon, and of other unbelievers." 
 
 Dr. Priestley's Lettpr to a Philosophical Unbeliever, part ii. 
 p. 208. 
 
30 
 
 end, all opposition gave way, aiid, the de*^ 
 TOonology of heathenism vanished ; befote 
 the splendour of revealed truth. If then 
 that principle be just which is the foun- 
 dation of all reasoning upon physical and 
 moral subjects, that every effect must have 
 an adequate, cause, the rapid progress and 
 final success of the christian religion, de^ 
 monstrated beyond contradiction, the 
 truth of its doctrine, and the divinity of 
 its original. 
 
31 
 
 DISCOURSE II, 
 
 DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF THE 
 CHRISTIAN REVELATION. 
 
 LUKE, i. 1—4. 
 
 FORASMUCH AS MANY HAVE TAKEN IN HAND TO SET 
 FORTH IN ORDER A DECLARATION OF THOSE THINGS 
 WHICH ARE MOST SURELY BELIEVED AMONG US: EVEN 
 AS TPEY DELIVERED THEM TO US, WHO FROM THE BE- 
 GINNING WERE EYE-WITNESSES AND MINISTERS OF 
 THE WORp : IT SEEMED GOOD TO ME ALSO, HAVING 
 HAD PERFECT UNDERSTANDING OF ALL THINGS, FROM 
 THE VERY FIRST ; TO WRITE UNTO THEE, IN ORDER, 
 MOST EXCELLENT THEOPHILUB, THAT THOU MIGHTEST 
 KNOW THE CERTAINTY OF THOSE THINGS WHEREIN 
 THOU HAST BEEN INSTRUCTED. 
 
 We may' observe here, upon what grounds 
 the sacred historian rests the credit of his 
 narrative : _ not alpon those of plenary in- 
 spiration, or divine suggestion, but upon 
 the common foundation of direct histori- 
 cal evidence, the evidence of those who 
 were actually present to the facts which 
 they relat?. Many, it seems, had un- 
 deriafcen to .. prepare an account p.f the. 
 
32 
 
 principal facts relating to Jesus, and his 
 doctrine. These memoirs were probably 
 correct as far as they went, and both 
 Luke, and the other evangelists, appear 
 to have freely availed themselves of them ^ 
 This accounts for a circumstance which 
 it would otherwise be difficult to explain, 
 namely, that the same facts are sometimes 
 related by two, or even by three, of the 
 evangelists, in nearly th^ same words ; 
 which proves that they all borrowed from 
 
 ' Of this fact no reasonable person can <Joubt, who reads Dr. 
 Marsh'sDissertatJon on the Origin and Composition of the three 
 first canonical Gospels, annexed to the fourth volume pf hi$ 
 Translation of Michaelis's IntroductfoU to the New Testament, 
 whether he may, or may not entirely accede to the learned 
 ■writer's own ingenious solution ofthedifRcult problem. Much 
 is the English theological reader indebted to this gentleman 
 for his translation of Michaelis's invaluable work, especially, so 
 far as he has enriched the original with the addition of his own 
 accurate and instructive commentary and notes. It must be 
 the earnest wish of every theological student, that this learned 
 writer would complete what he has so ably begiin, and that he 
 would continue his commentary to the end of Michaelis's work. 
 I cannot fovbear adding, that it would be a most desiraCble ac. 
 cession to English biblical literature, if some scholar equally 
 qualified, if such there be, would perform the same office for 
 jEichhorn, which Dr. Marsh has performed for Michaelis. 
 
38 
 
 the same sources, though each- has added 
 some material circumstances which the 
 oth'ers have omitted. These original records 
 seem, however, to have been deficient both 
 in matter and in method : they were proba- 
 bly desultory memoirs rather than connect- 
 ed histories ; and therefore this evangelist, 
 the friend and companion of the apostle 
 Paul, and well known to the other apostles, 
 having had access to the best sources of in- 
 formation, and having been very diligent 
 in hi? inquiries^ undertook to compose an 
 accurate and methodical account of the 
 most important circumstances in the his- 
 tory of Christ. This narrative he inscribes 
 to his friend and patron Theophitus, 
 whom he addresses by the title of Excel- 
 lency, being, probably, a person of high 
 rank, and perhaps a Roman senator, and 
 praefeet of a province -* The professed de- 
 
 * This is the opinion of Theophiladt and CEcumenius. See 
 Lardner's IJlstory of the Apostles and Evangelists, Chapi viii. 
 sect. 8. Michaelis inclines to the opinion of Theodore Hase, 
 ■pufalishe'd in the BibUotheea Bremensis, that Theoph'lus was a 
 Jewish high-priest mentioneii by Joseplius, Antiq. 1. xviii, xix, 
 x'x, the ison of Annas, who ^as high-prjeit wTieti Christ was 
 crucified. Marsh's Michaelis^ vol. iii. sbap. vi. se'ct. ^, 
 
84 ^ - 
 
 sign of the evangelist is, to confirm this 
 eminent person in the beliief bf those im- 
 portant facts, which lie at the foundation 
 of the truth, and of the divine authority of 
 the christian religioil. 
 
 And, as Christianity is a rational system, 
 proposed to men as reasonable creatures, 
 offering itself tO" the most rigorous and 
 impartial examination, and requiring as- 
 sent no further than it is supported by 
 Competent evidence ; and, as the subject 
 of it is of the highest importance, it sure- 
 ly becomes evei:;y reasohable person, to 
 V(rhbm the expectation of a fXiture life is 
 an interesting concern, to investigate the 
 question' thoroughly, candidly, and im- 
 partially, and to establish his faith upon 
 firm and solid grounds. It is upon these 
 principles, and with these views, that I 
 a.u endeavouring to excite the attention 
 of young persons in particular, to the evi- 
 dences of the christian revelation. 
 
 The arguments in favour of the chris- 
 tian religion have been arranged uQder five 
 
35 
 
 difFet^rit heads ; the philosophical, the di- 
 j-ect historical, the: prophetic, the internal, 
 arid the testimony borne to the divine rnfe- 
 sioia Arid doctrine of Christ by the JeWish 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Thfe PHiLOsOi^HicAL argurhent states a 
 series Of public arid undeniable facts, and 
 assumes the truth of the christian histo- 
 ry, ind the divine authority of the chris- 
 tian religion, as the only assignable arid 
 adequate caUse. This has been disctiss^d 
 in the preceding discoursei arid I nr*w id- 
 Varicfej 
 
 Secondly, to state^ and illustrate the 
 
 DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE of the 
 
 fehristian, revelation. 
 
 This arguttierit first establishes thfe ge- 
 nuineness and the credibility of the books 
 of the New Testament^ arid from these pre- 
 riiises, it infers the truth and divine autho- 
 rity of the christian ireligiori. - 
 
 1. The books of the New Testament at^ 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 in the main genuine: they were probably- 
 written by the persons to whom they are 
 aafribed, and certainly in, or near, the 
 apostolic age; They contain an ^authentic 
 account of facts, and doctrines which were 
 currently believed by christians at the time, 
 when they were written, ai;id, with the ex- 
 ception of the prefaces of Matthew ' and 
 Luke, which are ,rather additions to the 
 story, than corruptions of ^the text, they 
 are free from all material ' and wilful inter- 
 polation, or mutilation, but such as are 
 common to compositions of equal antiqui- 
 ty, and which may be, in a considerable 
 degree, amended and supplied by liberal 
 and judicious criticism. 
 
 The collection of books to which the. 
 word New Testament is applied, were writ- 
 ten by different authors, at different times, 
 in different places, and upon different oc- 
 casions, and the evidence of the genuine- 
 ness of these books is proportionably dif- 
 ferent; and in this respect, they are, in a 
 great measure, independent of each other, 
 so that the genuineness of one may be 
 
37 
 
 clear, and indisputable, while that of an- 
 other, is problematical, and obscure. A 
 learned ecclesiastical historian, of the 
 fourth century ^, who took great pains to 
 arrive at truth^ who possessed many im- 
 portant mean? of information, which are 
 no longer extant, and who appears. to have 
 conducted his inquiries with great judge- 
 ment and impartiality, informs us*, that 
 as far as he could learn, the genuineness 
 of some of these books had never been 
 called in question, but that the genuine- 
 ness of others had been controverted by 
 the earlier writers ^ The undisputed books 
 
 ' Eusebius bishop of Cesarea, the friend of Constantiue the 
 great. 
 
 * Eusebij Hist. Eecles. lib, ili. c'. 2't, 25. lib. vi. c. 25.- 
 
 ' The distinction made by the ancient writers, between the 
 s/x.oXoyou//,£j'a, those books of scripture which were universally 
 received, and the ayriAsyofAEva, which were disputed, among 
 which were some, which are now generally allowed to be 
 genuine, proves that books were not admitted into the canon 
 of apostolical writings without due and impartial previous 
 examination. The epistle ofBaniabas, though, it bears the 
 name of an apostle, ^nd though its claim is admitted by some 
 modems, and even by Dr. Lardner himselfi is by Eusebius 
 classed with the voSoi, or spurious books. 
 
 It would be very proper that this distinction should be at- 
 
38 
 
 were the four Gospels, and the Acts of the 
 apostle?, all the epistles pf Paul, which 
 bear his name, the firs? epistle of Peter, 
 and the first- epistle of John. The bpolfs 
 whose authenticity had been controvertpd 
 were, the epistle to the Hebrews, the epi- 
 stle of James, the second epistle of Peter, 
 the seconji and third of John, the epistle 
 of Jude, and the book of Revelations. I 
 see no reason to deviate from this ancient 
 plassific^tioh of the sacred books, and J 
 think that the books which were regarded 
 ^s genuine, jn the fourth century, may 
 justly be regarded as such ^t present ; npj 
 have any of the arguments which have late- 
 
 tended tq,' in our common editions of the New Testament. 
 f The canon,"' says Dr. Lardner, 'f should consist of two 
 classes. In the first should be those books which Eusebius 
 assures us were then universally acknowledged, and had beer 
 all along received by all catholic christians.- These onlf, 
 should be of the highest: authority, from which doctrines of re- 
 ligion may be proved. In the other class should be put books 
 of yirhich'Eusebe speaks as contradicted in his time, though 
 well known. These should be reckoned- doubtful. They 
 should be allowed to be 'publicly read in christian assemblies, 
 but riot be alleged as aifording, alone, suiEcient proof of any 
 doctrine." Lardner's History, chap, ii, sect. 4. 
 
39 
 
 ly been . advanced '^, to invalidate the au- 
 thenticity of three of the gospels,' and 
 son\e of the epistles, however ingenious, 
 operated conviction upon my rnind in op- 
 position to the unanimous voice of chrisr 
 tian antiquity. Nor dp I indeed see aoy 
 sufficiefii; reason for excluding- from %h.^ 
 canon ^ any of the books which are coi:n- 
 monly admitted into it, excepting, perr 
 haps, the epistle of Jude, which is very 
 short, and _of no great importance, anid 
 which appears to me, to contain sonie 
 things which are unworthy of an apostle 
 of Christ. The book of Revelations, as a 
 prophetic volume must rest upon its own 
 peculiar evidence, tliat of accomplished 
 
 ' By the late learned and excellent Edward Evanson, in a 
 workentitled The Dissonance of the Evangelists, the design of 
 which is to prove that Luke's is the only history vrhy^ Is 
 genuine Jjnd credible; a w,ox% which I have repeatedly 
 perused with attention, but from which, however I fnay ad- 
 mire the industry, the ingenuity, and the exemplary integrity 
 of the writer* I can derive no convictioA in opposition to the 
 unifqrnj testimony of christian qntiquify, 
 
 ' By the canon, I mean books written by the apostles, or 
 by companions, of the apostles, 
 
40 
 
 prophecy. After all, it is by no means 
 essential to tlie. Validity even of the his- 
 torical evidence, to establish the genuine- 
 ness of every book of tHe New Testa- 
 ment. It vvrould be su^cient for this pur- 
 pose to take them even at the lowest es^ 
 timate. The combined testimony of Luke 
 ^nd Paul is amply sufficient to establish 
 the credibility of the gospel history. I^ 
 would, however, be pusillanimous to aban- 
 don any of the evangelical writings which 
 are capable of a just a^nd satisfactory de- 
 fence. 
 
 To prove the genuineness of the books 
 ' of the New Testament in general, it has beerj 
 observed, 
 
 1. That the majbyity of these books pror 
 fess to have been written by apostles, or, 
 by men who weye comparii9ns of the apo- 
 stles, and who possessed the best means 
 of information, being themselves either 
 eye-witnesses of the facts, or parties con- 
 cerned, or deriving ^heir jntelligencf fronr^ 
 
41 ,, 
 
 those who were so. The epistles of Peter 
 and Paul are introduce4 with their own 
 names : the writer of the gospel and of the 
 epistle attributed to John, represents him- 
 self as giving an account of that which 
 he had seen and heard, and which his 
 hands had handled of the word of life: 
 and Luke descrihes himself as the compa- 
 nion of Paul, in his labours and his jour- 
 neys. This is presumptive evidence of the 
 fact, and not to be rejected without -suffi- 
 cient reason. 
 
 2. The style, and- language of the New 
 Testaiiient, and the innuonerable allusions 
 to local customs, and to facts both pub- 
 lic ai^d private, are strong internal proofs, 
 that the books were written in the age 
 and country . to which they are referred, 
 and by persons of the character, and' 
 description, to whom they are ascribed. 
 None but Jews, contemporaries with 
 Christ, and residing in or near Judea at 
 the tirrie, could have been so familiar 
 with the' manners, customs, and language 
 pf the Jews, and with the actual state of 
 
42 
 
 fek-ings in Palestine, and th© adjaeent- coun- 
 tries ^ 
 
 S. There has been a succession of writr 
 ©FS firona the apestollc age, by whorn the 
 books of the New Testanaent have been 
 cited as genuine, and authentic j who have 
 given, tRem the same tides, and ascribed 
 theHii to the same persons, that christians 
 now do : and it appear^ by their numerous 
 quotations from them, that the contents 
 of their books were the same as ours. No 
 classic author, how well known and po- 
 pular so ever, has been cited so frequently 
 and fully ^s the boojcs of the New Testa- 
 ment 9. 
 
 • Hartley on Man, part ii, chap, ii, prop. 22 — 24. Micha- 
 elis's Introduction to New Testament, vol. i. thap. 1, 2. Pa- 
 ley's Vi^w. o£ the, E^idenqes of Christianity, vol. i. chap. 9, 
 
 " This is the-djreqt and proper evidence of ^he genuineness 
 of any ancient writings. We admit the Commentaries to 
 have been written by Gsesar, and, the ^neid by yirgil, because 
 they ar-e uriiformly cited' as, the works pf thos.e aqthors by wih- 
 prs o£ succeeding ajges. Thi,s, argument applies to the books; 
 of the Ne-w^ If estament ; and Dr. Paley justly remarks, « that 
 in the number, variety, and early- date of our testimonies, we 
 far exceed all odier ancient books." This, argument is distinctly 
 
43 
 
 4. The most acute, the most iearned, 
 ^ntd the most inveterate enemies of the 
 christian religion in former ages, have ad^ 
 mitted the genuineness of the hooks of the 
 |>^ew Testament, and have framed their 
 j^rguments against the christian religion^ 
 upon the supposition that these records 
 vyere authentic documents of the christian 
 faith 10. 
 
 5. These books v^ere early translated in- 
 td difFererit languages ; they w^ere read pub- 
 licly in christian assemblies j they were ex- 
 
 stated, illustrated, and even exhausted hy Dr. Lardner, in his 
 learned and immortal lyoj-k, on the Credibility of the Gospel 
 History, which contains an account "of christian writers to the 
 beginning of the twelfth pentury, with their t-estimony to the 
 bopWs of the i^ew Testament. This argument is judiciously 
 ^bridged and represented by Dr. Paley, in tlie first volume of 
 his admirable View of the Evidences of Christianity, yith the 
 addition of many valuable remarks in that ej^cellent writer's 
 terse and impressive style. , 
 
 'o Celsus in the second century, Porphyry in the third, and 
 the emperor Julian, all of them men of leamiilg and acuteness, 
 and bitter enemies to the christian religion, allow the genuine- 
 ness of the books of the New Testament. See Lardner's 
 Jewish and Heathen Testimonies to Chri?tiapity ; and Paley, 
 vol. i. c. X, sect, 9. 
 
44 
 
 pounded ; commentaries were written up- 
 on them, and harmonies were cornpiled ; 
 sects the most opposite to each other con- 
 curred in the use of them, and appealetd to 
 them in support of their respective tenets : 
 and before the end of the second century 
 they were diffused through every part of the 
 known world ".- 
 
 6, Catalogues of the books of the New 
 
 " See Lardner's History of Heretics. Paley, ibid. sect. 7. 
 Many apocryphal books were forged in the three first centuries, 
 bearing the names of the apostles, of which a great number 
 are cited or alluded to by the ancient ecclesiastical writers. To- 
 land, in his Amyntor, ■ pretends that they are represented by 
 those writers as of equal authority with the books of the New 
 Testament, and ought to be admitted into the canon of scrip- 
 ture. Mr. Jeremiah Jones, an eminent nonconformist minister 
 in the beginning of the last century, a relation and pupil of the 
 learned Sarnuel Jones of Tewkesbury, the tutor of Seeker" and 
 Butler, of Maddox and Chandler, undertook to confute this 
 assertion of Toland's, by a complete indu'ction of all the pas- 
 sages of the christian writers in the fc^ur first centuries, in 
 which they notice apocryphal writings. This gave occasion 
 to his celebrated treatise on the Method of settling tlie Canon 
 of the New Testament, a work of great j udgement and pro- 
 found erudition, which, having become very scarce, was 
 lately (to the credit of the liberality of the university of Oxs 
 ford,) reprinted at the Clarendon press.' 
 
45 . '' 
 
 Testament have been drawn up by ancient 
 writers which in the main agree with 
 ours ^^: anil many manuscript copies of 
 the New Testament, some of them of 
 very great antiquity, are still extant in the 
 original Greek, and in other languagesi 
 and in different and distant countries, 
 which in the main agree with each other ; 
 so that, upon the whole, the genuineness 
 of all, and it may be said of almost every 
 book of the New Testament, is substan- 
 tiated by evidence superior to that of any 
 other ancient writings, without excepting 
 those the genuineiiess of which is most in- 
 disputable. 
 
 II. It remains now to prove that the 
 history is credible. 
 
 And in the first place, it is self-evident 
 that the writers could not be the^uselves 
 deceived. 
 
 '* Thirteen, catalogues are collected by Mr. Jones, from the 
 writers of the first four centuries, all of which very nearly agree 
 with what are now received : but some omit the Apocalypse. 
 Jones pn the Canon, part i. c. 8. 
 
46 
 
 Matthe^ was an apostlfe : Mark v^ras thg 
 companion of Peteir dnd Paulj and his his- 
 tory .was an abridgement of Matthew's ^^ i 
 Luke profeisses to have had the best infor- 
 matiojiV and was unquestionably the com- 
 panion of Paul, in his various joufrieysj and 
 during his imprisoriment at Rome : Paul 
 was an apostle, and himself a priiieiiJal 
 party in the transactions which he de^- 
 scribes : John, aM Jantfes^ and Peter Were! 
 apostlbs arid cbrdpanioris of Christy they 
 heard his discburses, and saw his miracles. 
 These men must have kiiown whfether what 
 they wrote were real facts ; and if their 
 narrations are false they must liave delibe- 
 rately intended to falsify, and to impose 
 upon the credulity of their rfeaders. 
 
 Secondly, they were not deceivers '*. ■ 
 
 As far as We can judge from the littlie 
 which we know of their history, they ap^ 
 
 ■* This however is contested by the learned. SeeMichaelisy 
 ■Vol. iii. and Marsh's Dissertation. '^ 
 
 " See Upon this subject Simpson's tntertial and presumptive' 
 Evidences of Christianity, part iiii 
 
■pekr to have been honest and conscien- 
 tious men, who would not have be6h in- 
 dined to deceive, if it had been in their 
 power. Nor ha<f they talents to hitte 
 forged such a narrative as thite-, and tb 
 have imposed it upon the world, if they 
 had been so inclined. 
 
 They had no conceivable motive ti3 have 
 induced them to attempt so strangS a 
 fraud. They could not haVe expettted 
 either fame or fortune as the i^#ard 6f 
 their dishonesty: they must have been 
 idiots in understandingj if they Wer6 ndt 
 aware, that^ by inventing such a wiefced 
 and impious tale, and becoming the ac- 
 tive propagandists of so unpopular a re- 
 ligfon, they exposed themselves to uni- 
 versal scorn, and indignation, and to the 
 most cruel persecution. 
 
 The simplicity of their narrative consti- 
 tutes a strong presumption in favour of 
 theit integrity. Men who have a story to 
 relate^ which contains many unusual and 
 improbable circumstaneesj ate generally 
 
48 
 
 ready with their apologies, or vehement int 
 their professions of veracity. Not so the 
 historians of the Ufe of Christ. They re- 
 late a series of the most extraordinary 
 events which ever came to pass in the 
 world, one after another, without intejr- 
 rupting the narrative by a single corh- 
 ment or exclamation. They ■ tell their 
 amazing tale with the same calmness of 
 temper, with the same unaffected simpli- 
 city of style, with which they would re- 
 late incidents of every day's occurrence, 
 A plain pro'of of their consciousness that 
 they were rela,ting facts of public no- 
 toriety, which no one could dispute i^.' 
 
 " " Do the historians of our lord," says Dr. Campbell, (Dis- 
 sertation on Miracles, partii. sect. 1.) " deliver their testimony 
 with doubt and hesitation ? do they fall into the opposite ex- 
 treme of using tooviolent asseverations? So far from both, 
 that the most amazing instances of divine power, and the most 
 interesting events, are f elated without any censure or reflection 
 of the writers, on persons, parties, actions, or opinions ; with 
 juch an unparalleled knd unaffected simplicity,as deihonstrates 
 that they were neither themselves animated by passion, like 
 enthusiasts, not had any design of working on the passions of 
 llieir readers. The greatest miracles are recorded with as little 
 appearance of doubt or wonder in the writer, and with as 
 little suspicion of the reader's incredulity, as the most ordinary 
 
49 
 
 The eariddur with which they refate 
 facts, apparently to the disparagement of 
 their master, of their friends, of thern- 
 selves, or of their cause, is a satisfactory 
 proof that truth was .thei^ sole object, and 
 €hat they could have no intention to de- 
 ceiv-e their readers. That Jesus was a car- 
 penter's son, that h© Came -fromi Nazareth, 
 thtit his townsmen, and even his brethren, 
 Kesitated to acknowledge his mission, and 
 th,e like, might be - regarded as objections 
 to his high pretentions. The incredulity 
 pf the apostles, their Situpidity in misun- 
 derstanding ■ the plainest larigviage, their 
 absurd expectations of tempora,!- ' gran- 
 deur, their silly disputes for sectilar pre- 
 eminence, Peter's denial 'of his master 
 with oaths and , ex^crapons^ the treachery 
 ^f Judas, the base desertion of alf, the 
 4issimtrlation of Peter at Antioch, the 
 
 ti y i^.,i .j.tf^ Ji ' , ' 
 
 incidents. A manner as unlike that of raipostors as of" ert- 
 thusiasts: a manner in which those writers^are altogether iin- 
 gular ; and I will add, a manner which can on no*«u]pppsition' 
 Tse tolerably accounted for, hut that of the truth, and not of 
 the tl-utli oflly, btt^cf Ae aotoriety,- of the events Which they 
 '*«lated." 
 
50 
 
 cowardice of Mark, the contention of 
 Paul and Barnabas, the opposition made 
 to the apostles by pharisaic bigots, the 
 abuse of spiritual gifts, the disorderly and 
 immoral conduct of the Corinthians and 
 others, whic;h might suggest, and which 
 have indeed furnished to unbelievers, 
 some of the most plausible objections to 
 the christian religion — are presumptive ar- 
 guments in favour of the credibility of 
 the history ; and the mention of such par- 
 ticulars as these, is a plain proof that the 
 apostles a^d evangelists did not write as 
 advocates for a party, but as lovers of 
 truth '^. 
 
 The tendency of their writings to pro- 
 
 ' '.r ' ' ' 
 
 *' Paley'sView, partJi. chap. 3. " It does not appear," says 
 Dr. Duchal (as cited by Dr.Pdey), "that ever it came into the 
 mind of these writers, to consider how this or the other actioQ 
 would appear to mankind, or wh;;t objections might be raised 
 on them. But, without at all attending to this, they lay the facts 
 before you, at no pains to think whether thef^would appear ere- 
 dible or not. If the reader will not believe their testimony^ 
 tljereisnohelpforit:, they tell tlie truth, and attend Cono|thin? 
 felse. Surely this looks like sincerity, and that they published 
 lictbijig to the world but what they believed themselves." 
 
 Dnchal on Presumptive Evidences^ p. 97, 9i5., 
 
^ 
 
 rhofe"i i^ aft' eminerif defgree, the love of 
 trtfthj th^" practice of vif'tu^', beneVolefiCe 
 to man, aftd devotedness ta God,' clearly' 
 Jeeves that they were riot impostors. Is' 
 it possible tha€' they shomld have repre^ 
 seiited it as the first duty of a christian, 
 the pririiary aftd inviolable law' of his pro- 
 fessfiori, ,to hazard all, arid «veri to forsate' 
 all, in the cause of trttth, if they were at 
 the same time conscious that they were 
 guilty of an impiovs and pernicious 
 fi-aud '7 ? 
 
 The pattictilarity of the evangelical his-, 
 tory, the innumera/ble allusions to times,; 
 places, persons,' and things,' to the civit 
 afiairs of the Jews at that period, ta their 
 customs, prejudices, views, and expecta-^ 
 tions, to- their religions sects, to the cus- 
 toms and manners . of other countries, arid 
 partictilarly of, the Greeks and Romans^ 
 all which circumstances agree minutely 
 Tvith the best accounts whicli iafe traris- 
 znitted to us of those times and nations 
 
 'r 
 
 ". Paley's View, chatp. ii. Simpson's laternai Evidences^ 
 part iii. chajp. 18, 
 
 B 2 • 
 
5?r 
 
 ajvi many ai whieh, though very naturally 
 n^eutioned by.; a contemporary -writer, 
 •w6ul4 nefyer h^ve occurred to a forger of- 
 history, greatly corroborate the evidence; 
 oi^t^e- evangelical narrative '^; 
 
 . I'urthierj, the agreement of the historiansL. 
 ■with eacl^ pother in all material facts, and, 
 , their variation from, and inconsistenqy. 
 with each other, in minute circumstances^, 
 prove both that,,they are, independent wit- 
 nesses of the facts which they relate, and that, 
 their testimony is in the main highly credi- 
 ble J indeed nrnch more credible than if 
 they had agreed in every minute particular : 
 for in thia case they would have been 
 open to a strong suspicion of collusion '9. 
 
 . " HaKky on Maa, part ii. «h. Ik prop. 23'. Paley's View, 
 piirt ;ii. chap. 6. Simps^n^s Internal Evidences, chap. 3. 
 Marsh's Mfchaelis, vol. i. part. i. chap. ii. sect. It, 12. Dr.' 
 Maltby's Ilhistratiens of the litith of the Ghrtsijian Religion^ 
 chap. i. , , 
 
 " Dr. Priestley's Institutes, part ii, chap. ii. sect. 4, Paley's 
 View, part iii. chap. 1. " The usaat character of human testi- 
 mony," says this excellent writer, " is substantial ti-uch nndet 
 circ iiH ia ta ii tia] : -variety. "Hws^s- ^wkat the daily esperfestee -cf 
 coiirts of justice teaebSsi- Oa- the con^ral-yr a close and mintite 
 agreement induces the suspicioH of confederafey ajidfraud*'? , 
 
Finally,' if the facts 'which they relartte 
 had not been true, they- might easily havie 
 been disproved,' and ccmld not possibly 
 have gained any tronsidef able tn* permanent 
 Credit. - 
 
 These considera^ons are sufficient "to 
 prove, that the writers of the books of the 
 New Testament were not deceivers : hence 
 it follows, that their testimony must be true;^ 
 and that the christian reUgion is of divine 
 (original*; 
 
 There are, however, .two facts of per 
 culiar importance, upon the truth e^ 
 wl>ich the whole frame of Christianity 
 rests, and the direct historical evidence 
 of which it may be proper to consid^ 
 with particular attention. These are, th? 
 resurrection of Christ, and the gift q£ the 
 holy spirit. 
 
 The RESURRECTION OF Christ is a fact, 
 the truth of which was uniformly asserted 
 by the apostles and primitive believers 2°. 
 
 ^. ■ ,.- — ■— — ■ •■ ■ ■■'■■— r* - - I ■ --^T - 1 
 
 '" Upon.tliis subject see West's Observatiqns on the Rosur- 
 
;:54 
 
 j£,was attested by twelve persons chosen 
 for this express purpose ; who were coitipe.- 
 pnt %o j^dge of ja pl|in ipatter of facf, 
 ind who could not in this case be deceivr 
 ed. They knew ^sus perfectly. They 
 had been his companions through the 
 3whole' of his ministry. He was their 
 anaster, their instructor, and their friend, 
 OBsrith whom they had associated and con- 
 versed upon terms of the greatest inti- 
 macy. They were witnesses to his being put 
 to death publicly, by his enemies ; and 
 they saw him expire on the cross, aijid de- 
 posited in the sepulchre. He appeared to 
 them after his resurrection: they viewed 
 him ; they conversed with him ; they 
 Jiandled him ; they ate and drank with 
 him at different times for the space of for- 
 ty days ; and though they were at first 
 reluctant* to believe, the proofs which he 
 exhibited of his resurrection were so con- 
 vincing as to overpower the jpost obsti- 
 nate scepticism. They saw him . ascen4 
 
 rection of Christ j Dt. Chandler*s Sermons, vol. i. serm. 8, 9. ; 
 Dr. Piiestley's Sermons on the Evidences of Revelation, vol. i, 
 disc. 11. 
 
ss 
 
 to, heaven. He afterwards appeared per* 
 sonally to Paul in his way to Damascus, 
 and probably upon many other occa- 
 sions s'. 
 
 The apostles were not deceivers. Their 
 character i places them above suspicion. 
 They had no motive to deceive. The tes- 
 timony they gave exposed them to scorn, 
 to reproach, to persecution, and to death 
 
 »' " Itisnot,"saysDr.Pale)r,(vol.ii.p.201) "that,asamlra- 
 cle, the resurrection ought to be accounted n fnore decisivt 
 proof of supernatural agency than other miracles are ; it is not 
 tliati as it stands in the gospel, it is better attested than some 
 others ; it is not for either of these reasons, that more weight be- 
 longs to it than to other miracles, but for the following; viz. 
 That it is completely certain, that the apostles of Christ, and 
 the first teachers of Christianity, asserted the fact. And this 
 would have been certain if the four gospels had been lost, of 
 never written. Every piece of scripture recognises the resurrec- 
 tion. Every epistle of every apostle,every author contemporary 
 with the apostles, of the age immediately succeeding the apO'' 
 sties, every writing from tliat age to the present, genuine Of 
 spurious, on the side of Christianity or against ttj concur in re- 
 presenting the resurrection of Christ as an article of hjs history, 
 received without doubt or disagreement by all who called them- 
 selves christians, as alleged from the beginning by the propaga- 
 tors of the institution, and alleged as the centre of their testi- 
 mony. Nothing, I apprehend, which a man does not hinisplf 
 see or hear, can be more certain to him;than this point." 
 
5$ ' 
 
 in its most dreadful fof ms. The '0risM d^'- 
 gign t)f their mission and ministry was to 
 •pjCOTOQOte tratl^, and piety, and jiiiiverSat 
 goodness; they could not therefore havfe 
 combined together in the promuj^ation of 
 klie. - • 
 
 . It liiii'y still he urged, that the f^fettil^.e- 
 tion of Jesus was a private ifiiT'atls ; SSid 
 that the testimony of twelve liife'n, how- 
 QXSL^ competent or upright, to a fact ^o 
 extraordinary, would excite littlfe attention, 
 Would gaiji little credit, and produce little 
 effect. 
 
 . To obviate this inconvenience, the testi- 
 jnony of the apostles was confirmed by 
 the gift of the holy spirit^ which, was con-r 
 ferred upon them publicly upon the day 
 of Pentecost ; after which they travelled 
 into different countries, and particularly 
 through the several provinces of the Ro* 
 man empire, preachiirg the gospel, working 
 miracles, speaking divers languages, and 
 communicating to the new converts mira- 
 cvilous powers ; uniformly acknowledging 
 
5^ 
 
 fbat they derived these ^o*#^s dfrotn C3wlfl¥^ 
 agrefe^biy to the express proiri-ise he had 
 jflaade to them previovisly to his departure 
 ft&ca. them j and appealing to these pow* 
 crs as proper, complete, and absolutfe 
 proofs of the mission and resurrection of 
 Jesus. 
 
 In consequence of this testimony, deli-. 
 ,TEred in circumstances so extraordinary 
 and impTjessive, great multitudes, who had 
 the best means of information, and the 
 ■naost prgent motives to inquiry, at the ver^ 
 time, iiiiL jthe via^y place, when and where 
 thsese events are said to have 4japperi^5, 
 and where no conviction could possibly 
 have been produced, had not the facts 
 been of public notoriety, were firmly cop- 
 "Vinced of the reality of these facts ; and 
 in consequence of this conviction, they 
 •embraced, avowed, and pr6mulgatfed' a 
 religion the most hostile to their invete^ 
 rate prejudices, tb their vicious inclina^ 
 tibns, and to their secular intjerests ; a re- 
 ligion, the public prac'tical profession of 
 w^hkh 'exposed them to reprbadies the 
 
 2 
 
59 
 
 most bitter, and to persecutions the most 
 terrible. And in the promulgation of this 
 novel, extraordinary, and offensive doc- 
 trine, they met with the most rapid and 
 unparalleled success. 
 
 Finally, the testimony of the apostles 
 remained wholly uncontradicted by those 
 who were most inclined, and most inter- 
 ested to have refuted it, had it been in 
 their power. The production of the body 
 of Jesus would have detected the impos- 
 ture in a moment, and would have si- 
 lenced the apostles for ever. But this 
 mode of confutation was never at- 
 tempted, 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive of evi- 
 dence rising to a higher degree; and it 
 may be fairly and justly maintained that 
 the resurrection of Jesus is a fact sup- 
 ported by testimony beyond comparison 
 superior to that of any other fact in his- 
 tory: that it would, literally speaking, be 
 a miracle if such evidence should not be 
 yalid; it would be a phaenomenon con- 
 
59 
 
 trary -to all the kfi,ewn laws of the huiiiaa 
 ir^iad ; and, considering: the c^se in all its 
 circumstances and bearings, the direct 
 evidence of this imporctnt fact is abun- 
 jdantly pQmpfetent to counterbalance and 
 overrvile any supposed antecedent impro- 
 bability, which inight be alleged from the 
 nature of the event itself, considered as 
 miraculous, and cqntriary to the established 
 order of j:hing§.. 
 
 It has, indeed, been asked, and it is a 
 fair and reasonable question, — Why di4 
 Jesus, after his resurrection, appear only 
 to his apostles and to a few of his own dis? 
 ciples and friends ? Why did he not show 
 l^iraself in public ? Why did he not visit 
 the tempje, and exhibit himself in the 
 streets of Jerusalem to the people-^to liis 
 enemies and persecutors — to the chief priests 
 and rulers, and thus afford the most easy 
 and the most indubitable proof of hi? 
 being raised to life ^^ ? 
 
 •* See upon this subject Dr. Priestley's Discourses on Eeire- 
 lation, vol, i. p. 322, "&c. Dr. Chandler's -Serinoiis, vol. i. 
 
60 
 
 . To this plausible, and often repeated ob- 
 jection, I reply in the first place, that 
 even admitting that the evidence of the 
 resurrection of Jesus would have been 
 considerably strengthened by his public 
 appearance, so as to have tendered it 
 absolutely irresistible, it may be justly 
 asked, wha.t -right have we to demand — 
 what aymlogy would lead us to expect 
 this decisive and over-powering evidence? 
 The evidence actually granted is amply 
 satisfactory to a reasonable and candid 
 inquirer'; nor is it analogous to the -usual 
 conduct of the divine government, to af- 
 ford so high a degree of evidence upon 
 moral subjects even of th« greatest im- 
 portance, such as his own existence, and 
 attributes, and government, as would su- 
 persede inquiry, and preclude doubt. 
 
 But I am convinced that in the present 
 instance w€ have no occasion to resort to 
 this reply: for it is highly probable, that 
 
 serm. 10. an acute and argumentative discourse, in which 
 every possible hypothesis which the objection will admit is 
 stated and eiartiined. Paley's View, part ii. ch. 8.- 
 
61 
 
 tshe evi^ieaef o€ the resurrectiou df Jesua 
 would have been considerably, diminished 
 by his puiblk appearance at Jerusalem or 
 in the teffaple. In this case the rulers and 
 people would either have believed, i and 
 been converted to Christianity, or they 
 would not. If they had denied or ex- 
 plained away the- fact, and rejected the 
 mission, a supposition by no means im- 
 probable, considering the conduct of some 
 at the resurrection of Lazarus -^, it would 
 have been said in succeeding times, that 
 contemporaries did not believe, that pre- 
 ^ tended eye-witnesses denied the fact,, and 
 rejected the doctrine. How then can you 
 expect that we who live at this distance 
 of place and time — that we who have no 
 opportunity for examination and inquiry, 
 should give credit to the tale? To this 
 question, what reply could be made ? But 
 if, on the contrary, the Jews Tiad believed 
 'the resurrection of Jesus ; and if upon 
 this' ground they had acknowledged hinrx 
 as the Messiah, the religion of Jesus would 
 from its commencement have been the re- 
 
 «» John, xi, 46. ; xii. 9, 10. 
 
62 
 
 iigion of the state : and llow natural would' 
 it have been, in this case, for unbelievers 
 to pretend, that the whole business was an 
 artifice of the prietts and rulers to impose 
 upon the people I At least, we are sure 
 that in these circumstances, the christian 
 religion would have been entirely destitute 
 of that convinci;ng evidence, which it now 
 derives from the rapid progress which it 
 made in the world, not only without politi-.. 
 cal support, but in direct opposition to the 
 vices and prejudices of mankind, and t& 
 the interest and influence of the ecclesias- 
 tical and the civil authorities. 
 
 That the apostles were en^Jued with 
 spiritual gifts, and miraculous powers, 
 which they exerted upon various occa- 
 sions, and which, in a limited degree, they 
 were enabled to communicate to the pri- 
 mitive converts, is a fact of the utmosE- 
 importance to the evidence of the chris- 
 tian revelation : it is in truth the public 
 divine attestation to the resurrection of 
 Christ -'* ; a fact which, . however important 
 
 ** " Though Jesus did not appear in public aftefe-his resurrec-- 
 
63 
 
 in itself, and. how well soever j,. auth^ntt- 
 cated, was necessarily- in a ^considerable 
 degree a private miracle; and would per- 
 li^ps never have excited sufficient atten- 
 tion, had it not been forced into public 
 notice by the splendid mfiracles of the au- 
 thorized witnesses of it. The evidence, 
 therefore, of the actual existence of these 
 miraculous powers ought to be distinctly 
 stated '5. 
 
 In the first place we appealto the testi- 
 mony of Luke, in his history of the trans- 
 actions of the apostles. He has there 
 given in detail a narrative of the first de- 
 scent of the holy spirit on the day of Pen- 
 tecost ; of the nature, purpose, and use 
 of these miraculous powers ; of the great 
 
 tioDi the miracle of the descent of the holy spirit, enabling 
 the apostles and other disciples^ to speak intelligibly languages 
 which they had not been taught, and also many other miracles 
 •wrought by them, were as public as possible, and every mtrat- 
 de wrought by the apostles, was in fact a proof of the resur- 
 rection of their master." Dr. Priesfley, ibid.p. 331. 
 
 *' See Drb Benson's History of the First Planting of the 
 Christian Religion, book i. chap. 1. 
 
i-mprsBsion which they made upon those 
 who were eye-witnesses to these extraordi- 
 Hary events, and of the wonderful ^Seet 
 produced by them in ' the conversion 
 of multitudes to the christian faith. Thi»' 
 evangeli&t was a contemporary and as- 
 sociate with the apostles ; his character' 
 is unimpeached J he deserves therefore to 
 be admitted, both as a competent and a 
 credible witness. 
 
 The truth .of this account may also be 
 inferred from the rapid and, extensive, •pr^i 
 gress of the christian religion in the worjd : 
 a fact, which though undeniable, can never 
 be satisfactorily accounted for upon any 
 Qtber supposition. 
 
 But, the principal and most direct evi- 
 dence of this important fact, is that which 
 is derived from the epistles of Fslvl], and 
 iparticularly, from those to the Corinthians, 
 and the Galatians ; the genuineness of 
 which has never been disputed, ei^er in. 
 ancient or modern times. In both^ thepe- 
 churches, which the apostle had himsel£ 
 
filanted, a powerful party Bad been formed 
 against him, by some artful and eloquent 
 rival, who had succeeded but too' well in 
 alienating the minds 6f a Considerable 
 feumber of the rrew converts from the per- 
 son, and the doctrine of the apostle. Now, 
 what method doe^ the apostle take to re- 
 instate himself in their esteemi, arid to re- 
 cover them to the acknowledgement of 
 truth and the: practice of duty? He ap- 
 peals to the miracles which he perfornjed 
 when he first preached the gospel among 
 fhem. He' appeak to the^ miraculous pow- 
 ers, ■w^hich be, and he alone had imparted 
 to them : pfdwers which they at that very 
 time actlially possessed, which they freely 
 Exercised, which they shamiefully pervert- 
 fed. He reproved them with due severity for 
 the ostentatious display of th^if- respective 
 gifts, and for the neglect of those which 
 ■were most useful. He gives much salutary 
 Advice, and suggests many wise and spe* 
 €ific rules, for the prosper applieation of the 
 l^owers which they fjossessed. He warns 
 offenders, ajid particularly the false teach- 
 
66 
 
 fers, and corrupter^ of the faith, of the 
 punishment, which, by the powers intrustr 
 ed to him, "he will inflict upon them, if 
 they do not reform. Was this apostle in- 
 sane ? Read his epistles. Mark the strength 
 and pertinence of his reasoning : the wis- 
 
 \ dom of his advice : the accuracy of his 
 discrimination: the delicacy of his senti- 
 ments : the ppiht of his sarcasm. - What 
 better proof can be adduced of the sound- 
 ness of a writer's understanding, and of 
 the calmness of his, mind ? But if the apo- 
 stle was in ,po£isession of his intellects, the 
 facts to which he bears this unequivocal 
 testimony must be true. There is no 
 other alternative. He must have possess- 
 ed,' and communicated the powers; which 
 he challenges, and describes. It may be 
 added iti corroboration of the evidence, 
 
 ( that the apostle , wrote a second letter to 
 the Corinthians about a year after the 
 first: and, that it appears from th\s epistle, 
 that the Corinthian believers had paid that 
 attention to his former letter, which it is 
 impossible they should have done, if it had 
 
67 
 
 been filled with the ravings of lunacy, ini 
 stead of containing grave, and indispnta* 
 ble fects^*. ' 
 
 Direct cA^idence, stfongeri or more satis* 
 factory than this, can hardly; be conceived: 
 and when combined with the acknowledged 
 effect in the early and : extensive progress 
 of the christian religion, . it is surely not 
 too much to add, that, that understanding 
 must be strangely inaccessible to arguiideint, 
 or that scepticism must be deeply rooted^ 
 and fondly cherished, upon which such 
 considerations can make no impressioni , 
 
 •* " If the Corinthians had really ho such preternatural 
 gifts, and if St. Paul had never wrought any miracles among 
 them,' it is impossible to think they would have retained any 
 regard to him and. to his doctrine. If we think so, we must supi 
 pose them to have been persons who lived in a polite country, 
 and who had not the sense of savages : men, who had nothing 
 of men besides the outward shape and resemblance : men of a 
 different kind from any that the world ever saw before or since : 
 for the most enthusiastic sect would forsake their foixnder and 
 teacher, 2" he should write them long and grave epistlesj fidl cf 
 matters of fact, which they all knew to be false, Appealing to 
 miracles yrhich he had never wroaght, and directing them to a 
 discreet ase of powers which themselves never had." Jortin's 
 iPiseoUfies oa the GhrisUan Religi<»n.^— Works, vol. >• p< f 8> 
 
68 
 
 I will takft leave to udd, titiat we ii€r« 
 learn the principal use of the intaluabU 
 epistles of Paul. They contain the mest 
 satisfactory evidence of the divine original 
 of the christian religion: and therefore, 
 they do not merit that n^ect, and con- 
 tempt, with which tlkey are sometimes 
 treated, even by those who ought to be 
 better informed^. 
 
 Miraculous powers would cease, •of 
 course, with the apostolic age : for, it does 
 
 *" We may here temark the wisdom of divine providence, in 
 permitting those fierce eontentions and gross abuses to spring 
 mp in the primitive apostolic church, wrhich are often the won- 
 der of believers, and tjie scoff of sceptics. Had it not been For 
 the opporftion. Which was frequently made to the doctrine and 
 authority of the apostle Paul, and the perversion of miraculpus 
 gifts in the Corinthian church, which compelled the apostle so 
 dften to appeal to the miraculous powers which he possessed 
 and conferred, and which called forth liis severe animadversto*i 
 upon the offending parties, and hi's prudent advice for the dis- 
 creet use of the gifts he h3.d imparted, we, inthisflistant age, 
 should ha'^e beeii destitute of that which is now by far the 
 strongest, not to say, the only direct and satistactory evidence 
 of the existence of thes^ gifts and powers, and of die truth of 
 the christian religioji.i So that those party-animosities and 
 flagrant irregularities vrtiich were the disgrace, and breatened, 
 to all -appearanee, the ruin of the primitive chtl 'gh, ha%'S 
 
»ot appear ^a« any person* bnt thg. appf. 
 atleS' themsdves had the^ power of commu- 
 tiwating sparituai giftsi nor, is thera any 
 credible account of the continuance of 
 th*se supernatural endowgaents after 5h? 
 isiniscify of the apo&tl«s Was, closed^''. iP ^ 
 
 The notoriety €if these miraculous gifts 
 and powers^ and the general diffusion of 
 them in the primitive apostolic church, ha« 
 given rise to a plausible ^jeQtiiin whifh 
 k is proper to sEate, and to answer. Jf 
 imracles were so frequent, and varioxis, so 
 
 - " I ^1 Iff'litM 
 
 eventually furnished to distant ag«s the" best evidence <5f tite 
 divine' origin of Christianity. Thus dsesf divine pnpviciBitqe 
 tripg good out of apparent eviL And there" can be no dpuljt 
 that controversies which still subsist, however they may occa> 
 sionaDy be conducted with intemperate warmth in the pariti» 
 concerned', have their proper use under the divinegi&vernnamt, 
 i^d will uk!matel]f be mad« subservient to the interest; of 
 truth.and virtue. 
 
 *' See Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry into the Mraceiilotis 
 powers which are suppesed to have subsisted in the Christian 
 -Church, and his Vindication in Reply to Dr. Dodwell'and Dr. 
 Church, This controversy seems to have set the question 
 completely at rest. No inteBigent. and well-informejJ person 
 ndw contends fof the c0Btin»£«ice of mifswubus powers a&er 
 tbe ^ostalie age. '' 
 
'70 
 
 piiblic, arid indisputable, as cliristians avef 
 them to have beeiij' how came they to 
 make so light and limited an impressioa? 
 How was it possible for rhe- spectiators to 
 resist the evidence of their senses ? '' Let 
 the supposition be made, of a similar oc- 
 currence in modern times ; that a man 
 publicly executed, and known to be dead, 
 should after three days be restored to life, 
 *hat the evidence of this ^act should be 
 clear ■ and undeniable, that it should have 
 happeiied in the midst of a crowded metrcfe- 
 polis, that a doctrine novel, and obnoxious, 
 jtaiight by -this extraordinary person, or by 
 missionaries authorized by hirn, shou,ld be 
 -confirmed by a series of acknowledged mi» 
 racks, performed in the presence of thou^ 
 stands of competent, and credible witnesses, 
 ■—what prejudice could close its ey«s against 
 the light of truth? what power on ealrfh 
 would under sijch circumstances venture 
 to oppose the messenger of Heaven ? 
 
 In reply to this very specious, and plau^ 
 sible objection, it miay be remarked, that, 
 if the facts believed by christians ha4 nQ? 
 
71 
 
 been true, the success of the christian re- 
 ligion would have been absolutely impos- 
 sible, for reasons which have been already 
 assigned. With respect to the little im- 
 pression made by miracles upon persons 
 at a distance, and who were prejudiced 
 aga(inst the christian doctrine, they might 
 either think, that the subject was unworthy 
 of attention, or that the facts were exag- 
 gerated, or, they might have recourse to 
 magical, or to demoniacal agency, which 
 was at that time the popular, not to say, 
 the philosophical belief. With regard to 
 inunediate spectators, the difficulty of ac- 
 counting for their neglect of incontestable 
 miracles must be acknowledged as very 
 considerable. Some of these, who could 
 neither be reconciled to the doctrine of 
 Christ, nor deny his miracles, would natu- 
 rally ascribe the latter to a confederacy 
 with demons, or to the power of magic. 
 But the true solution of the question is to 
 be found in the power of fixed principles, 
 and inveterate prejudices, to repel, and 
 to overrule the most pailpable.. evidence, 
 which is far greater than a person who has 
 
72J 
 
 ■not attended to the subject wot^d c<Miceive 
 tQ be possible. In the doctrine pf transub» 
 stJtntiation, and in the Athanasian hypo?- 
 thesis of the trinity, the influence of fixed 
 principles triumphs over the evidence of 
 sense, and of intuition : and in the slow 
 progress of the Newtonian philosophy, 
 •wrhen it was first published to t|ie v?arld, 
 the prejudices, even of profound philoso^ 
 phers, pver-ruled the deductions of matheT: 
 matical demonstration. , Such prejudices. 
 as these might be expected to resist the 
 evidence even of undeniable niiracles. For 
 what is this, but an appeal to tjie testimp» 
 ny of the senses ? This supposition canno^ 
 indeed in the present age be brought to 
 the test of experience, but the gospel his- 
 tory declares the fact, and, judging frpnj 
 analogy, it does not appear irnproba,ble^% 
 
 Such then, upon the whole, is th© direct 
 historical evidence ofj the' divine missioq 
 
 , — — , = ; -^ — w ■ " ' ■ ' ' ; ■ ' WW ; 
 
 *? See Weston's Inquiry into the Rejection of Christian Mir 
 raeles, and Jortin's First Discourse concerning the Chiistis^^ 
 jlejigiot^. , , 
 
of Christ, and the truth of his doctrine. 
 The books of the New Testament were 
 written in the age to which th^y are assign- 
 ed, and, probably, by the persons to whom, 
 they are ascribed- And the testimony of 
 these writers is credible, for they could not 
 be deceived : they were not -deceivers ; and 
 consequently, their narrative must be true, 
 arid worthy of acceptation and belief. Je- 
 gus therefore is a teacher sent from Ood» 
 to reveal the, doctrine of eternal life; and 
 of bis mission and his doctrine he has af- 
 forded the most ample and satisfactory 
 f^pif by his resurrection from the dead. 
 
*74 
 
 DISCOURSE ill. 
 
 PROPHETIC AND INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF 
 THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION- 
 
 JOHN XX. 31. 
 
 BDT THESE ARE WKITTEN THAT YE MI&HT BELIEVE 
 THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST,, THE SON OF GOD, ANB THAT 
 \»ELIEVING, YE MISHT HAVE LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME. 
 
 Such is the avowed design of the evan- 
 gelical history ; to teach, and to prove^ 
 that " Jeans is the Christ ;" the Messiah pre- 
 dicted by the Jewish scriptures ; the great 
 teacher pf truth and righteousness ; the 
 anointed king, who was to introduce and 
 to establish a spiritual dominion, which 
 should gradually extend through the whole 
 world, and endure to the end of time. 
 The title of " the Son of God" is annexed 
 to his character as Messiah, by which is 
 chiefly intended, that he was the first of 
 the human race who was raised from the 
 dead to an immortal life, and put into 
 possession of that glorious inheritance 
 
w^ich is the destined portion of all vir- 
 tuous professors of the go&pel, in their 
 proper season, and with a view to which 
 thej are now called, the, children of God, 
 and coheirs with Christ'. pThe historjr is 
 written to establish the faith of those who 
 read it, in the mission and the doctrine of 
 Christ, " that believingi, they may have life 
 through his name j" or, in other words,, that 
 becoming his true disciples, they may be. 
 ^entitled to an interest in the proipaises of 
 ^is gospel. 
 
 In the prosecution of the design which 
 I have in view, to establish the faith of 
 ^U, and especially, of my younger hearers, 
 ^n the truth of the christian revelation, by 
 e^^ibiting, a concise summary of its evi- 
 dence ; having first stated , the expediency 
 and necessity of revela,tion in general, and 
 ^e utility of miracles, as the only proper 
 iind absolute proofs of the mission and 
 doctrine of a prophet; I arranged the 
 ^videnc^ of the christian revelation under 
 
 * Rom, viii, 17. 
 
- ; % 
 
 five general heads : the pkil&s&pMeafy tht 
 Msiorieal, the prophetie, the internal, and 
 the testimony borne to the christian rew 
 velation by the prophets of the OM Testa* 
 tnent. 
 
 The PHILOSOPHICAL ancJ the histori- 
 cal arguments have been already consi- 
 dered, and I now proceed, 
 
 Thirdly, to state that evidence of th^ 
 christian religion, which is derived frona 
 
 the PRbPHECIES THAT ARE CONTAINED 
 IN THE CHJIISTIAN SCRIPTURES. 
 
 To the validity of an argument frofla 
 prophecy, three conditions are requisite?, 
 First, that there should be sufficient evi- 
 dence that the prophecy was delivered 
 previously to the event; secondly, that, 
 the circumstances predicted should be be- 
 yond the reach of human sagacity to fore- 
 see; and thirdly, that the prophecy 
 should receive its complete and appropri- 
 ate accontpHs hmen t m the event to^ 5fv^»€h 
 it is applied» 
 
'il 
 
 The christian religion af)peals Co pro- 
 phecy as a proper evidence of its divine 
 lauthority. " Now I tell you before it comes 
 to pass," saith our Lord, " that when it is 
 come to pass ye may believe®." "The tes- 
 timony of Jesus," saith the writer of the 
 Apocalypse, " is the spirit x)f prophecy^." 
 
 •ii 
 
 The prophecies contained in the New 
 Testament are, either, those which were 
 delivered by Jesus himself, or, by his apo- 
 $tl€s and. other authorized ministers. 
 
 The PREDICTIONS OF Christ relate 
 either to himself, or to his apostles, or to 
 the Jewish polity, or to the success of the 
 gospeL 
 
 With regard to himself^ he foretold 
 the manner and circumstances of his 
 death; and likewise of his resurrection 
 and of his ascension to the Father. "The 
 Son of Man," saith he, Luke xviii. 31, 
 "shall be delivered unto the gentiles, and 
 
 • John x«i. 19. ' R«v. lax. '10. 
 
i^ 
 
 shall Be mocked, khd sKamefully ehtr'eat- 
 ed, and spitted on, and they shall scburgfe 
 him, and put him to death : and the third 
 day he shall rise again'*." ■ 
 
 With regard to the apostles^ he foretold 
 the mission of the holy spirit, John xiv; 
 16, 17, "I will pray to the Father, and he 
 «hall give you another comforter, eVeti the 
 iBpirit of truth :" Acts i. 4, 5, " Wait at Je- 
 rusalem for the promise of the Father, 
 which ye have heard of me : for ye shall 
 be baptized with the holy spirit not many 
 days hence. And ye shall receive power 
 when the holy spirit is come upon you, 
 and shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, 
 and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to 
 the uttermost parts of the earth".*' 
 
 / 
 
 He also foretold the persecutions they 
 
 * See also, Matt. xyi. 21.; xx. J8, 19.; xxvi. 23. 31. IVIarkx. 
 S3» S*.; xiv. 30. John »i. 14, 15.; xii. 32, S3. He fore- 
 tells his resurrection. Matt. xvi. 21.; xii. 40.; xxvi. 32.; xxvit. 
 63, 64. Johnii. 13. 21. His ascension, Johnxx. 17. 
 ' » See also, John xiv. 12. 26. ; xv. 26. ; xvi. 7. 1 ^. Mark ivi. 
 »17, 18. ^ukex. 18, 19>; xxiv. 49. . Acts i. 8. - 
 V 
 
79 
 
 should suffer, John xvi. 2, "The time 
 cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall 
 think that he doeth God service^.'* He 
 predicted the martyrdom of Peter, John 
 Kxi. 18, "When thou wast young, thou 
 girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither- 
 soever thou wouldest ; but when thou 
 shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy 
 hand, and another shall gird thee^ and 
 lead thee vi^hither thou wouldest hot." He 
 also hints at the longevity of John, when 
 in reply to Peter's question, ver. 22, " And 
 what shall this man do?" he said, "If I 
 will that he tarry till I cOme, what is that 
 to thee ?" > 
 
 Concerning the Jewish nation^ "he foretold 
 first, that the stately and magnificent tem- 
 ple of Jerusalem, would in a few years be 
 rased to its foundation, so that one stone 
 would not be left upon another; that the 
 then existing generation would not perish 
 till this prediction had received its accom- 
 
 *' See alsQ, Matt. x. 16. 22.; zxir. 9, 10. 
 
80 
 
 jjilisliment ; and that softie who then heal^ 
 him, would be witriesses to the terrible ca* 
 tastrophe. Also, that JerXisalem would b* 
 besieged, captured, and laid wastfe hj ths* 
 gentiles,, that the Jewish polity would bt 
 dissolved, and the Jewish people scattered 
 through all nations. Further, that these 
 calamitous events would be preceded by 
 sanguinary wars, tumults, and massacres j 
 by false prophets iand false Messiahs, who 
 would delude multitudes to their destruc* 
 tion ; and by extraordinary and terrific 
 appearances in the heavens; aJjd finally, 
 that the Jewish nation would, be involved 
 in unparalleled disasters, from, which none' 
 would escape, but those, who, attending 
 to the warning which he had given, should 
 . provide in time . for their own safety. 
 " When ye see," saith he, " Jerusalem en- 
 compassed with armiesj then know that the' 
 desolation thereof draweth nigh. Wratb 
 shall be upon this people : they shall fall 
 by the edge of the sword, and, be led 
 away captive' into all nations, and Jeyti* 
 salem shall be trodden dawn by the geii-- 
 
 ^ 
 
ai 
 
 tiles. Verily, I say unto fou, that this 
 generation shall not pass away till all be 
 fulfilled." Lukexxi. 20— 32\ 
 
 With respect to the gospel^ he foretold^ 
 what in itself was most improbable, its 
 rapid progress through the world, its pub- 
 lication to all nations even previously to 
 the inxasion of Judea, and the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, and its early triumphs over 
 hea,then idolatry. Luk^ x. 18, "I saw Sa- 
 tan, like lightning, fall from heaven^;" that 
 is, in prophetic vision, I saw the anti- 
 christian and idolatrous power everywhere 
 overthrown by the irresistible spirit and 
 energy of the gospel. And in Matt. xxiv. 
 14, he declares, in sdll plainer language, 
 that " the gospel of the kingdom shall be 
 preached in all the v^rorld, for a witness to 
 all nations, and then shall the end come''." 
 
 ' See also, Matt, x^w.;, Markxiii. 
 
 " " As lightning, swiftly and precipitately. The meaning is, 
 I see, and have seen some time since, the kingdom of Satan 
 rapidly diminishing." Archbishop Newcome. Nothing can be 
 more trifling or irrelevant than the common interpretation of 
 this passage, as referring to a real p<!rson and a local descen.C. 
 
 * See also, Matt, xiii. 31. 33.; xvi. Ifc Johniv. 6. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 That ' the circurriStanGes thus foretold 
 were such as human sagacity- could not 
 have foreseen, few persons will dispute. 
 That they were amply accomplished in 
 their respective appropriate events, the 
 history of those times aflFords the most sa- 
 tisfactory proof: — faithful impartial his- 
 tory, not penned by persons who had 
 read or even heard of the prophecy, and 
 who assuredly had no Intention to confirm 
 or to promote the christian religion'". The 
 only circumstance liable to question is, 
 whether the prophecies themselves were 
 forged. And they who aftey a careful 
 perusal of the writings of Matthew, Mark, 
 and Luke, can seriously believe that such 
 writers were capable of so base and im- 
 pious a forgery, will consequently give up 
 this argument from propheCy : but they 
 who regard the evangelists as honest and 
 well-iiifdrmed ' historians^ cannot but ac- 
 knowledge, that the person who deli,vered 
 these extraordinary predictions must have 
 
 ': i ! ; , -^"t A ~ 
 
 '* Particularly Josephiis, in his History cf the Wars of the 
 Jews. Also Tacitus and Pliny, iyi the passages before referred- 
 to. See Bp. Newton on' Prophety; Diss. xviiL xsi. 
 
83 
 
 been a prophet, and a ' messenger' of' 
 God. • V 
 
 The second class of prqphecie? contaii^- 
 ed in the New Testament, are those of the 
 APOSTj.Es, and partiipulgrly of Panl an4 
 John. 
 
 ^\ 
 
 The apostle Paul, in the second epistle 
 to the Thessalonians, foretells the exis|:- 
 ence of an antichr^stjan power, which he 
 calls the nian of sin, and the son of per- 
 dition, which, sitting in the temple pf 
 God, would exalt itself above every thing 
 which is called divine or august, whose , 
 ap|)earance would resemble that of Satan, 
 or the idolatrous power, in all false mira- 
 cles, and signs, and wonders, but whom 
 t;he Lord Jesus would ultimately destroy 
 with the breath of his mouth, and the 
 brightness of his appearance. And, in tl;ie! 
 first epistle to Timothy, he foretells that 
 some would apostatize \from the faith, 
 giving heed to deceitful spirits, and to 
 doctrines concerning demons, forbidding 
 to marry, and requiring unnecessary 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 abstinence frohi different kinds of food, 
 all g£ which, if wholesome, are under 
 the christian dispensation, at all times, 
 equally lawful. These prophecies are by 
 some expositors applied and limited to 
 the corruptions of papal Rome ; by others, 
 they are, perhaps with greater propriety, 
 extended to all the evils which have ac- 
 crued from the civil establishment of a 
 corrupt Christianity, of which the church 
 of Rome is only a part, tho^igh undoubt- 
 edly a principal and most conspicuous 
 branch. And so far as the events to which 
 the prophecies are applied, and by which 
 they are interpreted, appear to the serious 
 and candid inquirer to correspond with 
 the prophecy, this perceived agreement 
 must carry with it a correspondent con- 
 viction, that the apostle wrote under an 
 immediate divine impulse, and, conse- 
 quently, that the christian doctrine, of 
 which he was the authorized missionary, 
 is of divine original '. 
 
 " See upon this subject Dr. Benson's excellent Dissertation 
 upon the Man of Sin, annexed to liis Paraphrase ypon the 
 
85 
 
 The Apocalypse, or the book of Reve- 
 lation, generally attributed to the apostle 
 John, though doubted by many, and dis- 
 carded by some, is nevertheless regarded 
 by a very considerable proportion of 
 learned, inquisitive, and judicious chris- ~ 
 tians, as a genuine, work, and^ an authen- 
 tic and most important prophecy. And, 
 though many readers treat this book with 
 much, disrespect, and some are disposed to 
 throw out severe and unbecoming sarcasms 
 upon those who hold it in .veneration, and 
 who endeavour to investigate and to ex-' 
 plain its contents, nevertheless the apocalypse 
 has in general, though not without some 
 eminent exceptions, been valued most>by 
 those "who have examined it with the greatest 
 care, and who therefore ought to be most 
 competent to judge in the case. The 
 great names of , Joseph Mede, and of Sir 
 Isaac Newton, of Lowman and Lard- 
 ner, of Priestley and Eyanson, are surely 
 sufficient to screen the character of this 
 
 Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. Also Bishop Newton-on 
 Prophecy, Diss. xxii. xxiii. 
 
g6 
 
 aiKldnt ajid mysterious volume from the 
 rude and malignant censures of those whd 
 have not paid attention to the subject. To 
 many, who upon attentive consideration 
 fedmit the divine authority of the apOrr 
 calyptic vision, it appears to contain an 
 astonishing prediction of a continued series 
 of events, relating to the state and character 
 of the ^ christian church, from the first 
 promulgation of the christian religion to 
 the grand consummation of all things ; 
 and as constituting altogether the clear* 
 est, the most unexceptionable, and the 
 tnost decisive evidence of the truth and 
 divine authority of the christian revela-?. 
 tion. 
 
 - Fourthly. We now proceed to inquire 
 into the internal evidences of the 
 (Christian revelation. 
 
 Internal evidence arises from' the consi- 
 deration of the contents of the books of 
 the New Testament, unconnected with 
 external testimony. Out of many, I shall 
 gelect and ptate a fgw articles, which 
 
87 
 
 appear to be of pfinKary importatice ; and 
 the serious consideration of which cannot 
 fail to carry conviction to a candid and 
 inquisitive mind. 
 
 1. The first relates -to the character 
 OF Christ. 
 
 The character of Jesus is perfectly ori- 
 ginal. It- is unlike every thing which^ had 
 ever appeared in the world. T^ere had 
 indeed been eminent persons who h^d 9.s- 
 sumed the office of instructors of mankind 
 i^ religion and virtue. But Jesus differ- 
 ed widely from them ally in the natvire of 
 his doctrine, in his mode of instruction, 
 in his. habits of life, and manner of con- 
 versation, in the character which he agf 
 sumed, in the dignity of his conduct^ in 
 the authority of his language'", in the 
 
 " The conscious dignity of our Lord's manner, and the 
 plenty authority of his language, so uniformly supported, 
 without any appearance of affectation, through the whole 
 evangelical history,. must make a deep impression upon the 
 mind of every intelligent and attentive reader. Thus, in his 
 discourse from the mount, Matt v., he repeatedly represents 
 
88 
 
 proofs which he exhibited of a divine 
 commission, and in the manner in which he 
 left those proofs to niake their proper im- 
 pression upon the mind, withovit directly 
 pointing Out the genuine conclusions. 
 
 himself as fully authorized to' make alterations in the written 
 law. This circumstance seems to itave struck his hearers 
 more forcibly than any other. " The multitude," says the 
 evangelist, " were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught 
 them as one having authority." vii. 29.' And the excuse which 
 tlie ofEce'rs allege for not apprehending Jesus is, " Never man 
 spake lilre this man." John vii. 46. The dignity with which 
 his stupendous miracles were performed is equally conspicuous 
 and admirable, To Lazarus, when he was about to raise him 
 from the grave, he calls with a loud Voice, " Lazarus, come 
 forth." John xi. 4-3. And to the wind and sea, he saith, " Peace, 
 be still." He use^ similar language in healing the demoniacs, 
 in conformity to the rude philosophy of the age. LuJ.? iv. 35. 
 tJpon these occasions, likewise, the multitude naturally express 
 their astonishment. " What ward is this .> for with authority 
 and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come 
 put." v, 37- And again, " Wh'at manner of man is this, that 
 even the wind and the sea obey him ?" Mark iv. 41. This 
 calm assumption of authority, which never fails in a single 
 instance, through the whok course of the narrative, is wonder, 
 fully congruous to the character of onp who was conscious 
 that the spirit was imparted to hitn without measure. But 
 would the illiterate evangelists have attended so nicely and in- 
 variably to this important but not very obvious trait of cha- 
 racter, if they had not delineated the portrait from rpal life f 
 
89 
 
 He claimed to be the Messiah, the di- 
 stinguished personage foretold ■', by the 
 prophets, and expected by the Jews. But 
 the form which he assumed was totally 
 different from that in which he was ex- 
 pected to appear ; from that ' which an 
 impostor would have won;i, which all 
 impostors did actually put on, and which 
 the writer of a fictitious narrative would 
 naturally have represented. He was ex- 
 pected to appear in all the splendour of a 
 prince and a conqueror. He actually ap- 
 peared under the form of a pauper and a 
 servant'^. 
 
 The character which he thus assumed, 
 so entirely new, so utterly, unexpected, 
 and in many respects so very offensive to 
 his countrymen, he sustained with the 
 most consummate propriety. The cir- 
 cumstances in which he was placed were 
 numerous, various, and dissimilar to each 
 other: — some of them were very critical, 
 
 ■ i_ " ' ' I .- 
 
 "^ See Paley's View of the Evidences of Ghristianity, vol. ii. 
 part. 2. c 5. 
 
90 
 
 and difficult ; nevertheless, upon all occa- 
 sions he maintains the character of a pro- 
 phet of God, of a teacher of truth and 
 righteov^sness, with the most perfect con- 
 sistency and dignity : in no instance does 
 he fdrget his situation : upon no occasion, 
 in no emergency, however sudden or un- 
 expected^ under no provocation, however 
 irritating, is he surprised or betrayed to 
 say or to do any thing unworthy of him- 
 self, or unbecoming the sublime and sacred 
 mission with which he was charged. 
 
 To support the consistency of a ficti- 
 tious character through a considerable 
 work, even though the character is drawn 
 from common life, is a mark of no ordi- 
 nary capacity and judgment. But to adr 
 here from beginning to end to truth (jf de- 
 lineation in a character perfectly original, 
 in circumstances various and new, and 
 especially where supernatural agency is 
 introduced, is characteristic of genius of 
 the highest order. Attempts to represent 
 a perfect character have failed in the 
 hands 1 of the greatest masters. Defects 
 
91 - , 
 
 *are visible in the portraits of fhe philo- 
 sopher and of the hero, notwithstanding 
 the masterly pencilling, and the exquisite 
 colouring, of Plato and Xenophon. But 
 the obscure and illiterate evangelists have 
 succeeded to perfection. Not one writer 
 only, but four. Not in describing different 
 characters, in which they would not have 
 been liable to have interfered with each 
 other, but in the representation of the 
 
 ' same unblemished and extraordinary cha- 
 racter ; to which each has uonti'ibuted 
 something whicti the rest have omitted, 
 and yet all are perfectly consistent and 
 harmonious, — the' unity of character is in- 
 variably preserved. 
 
 Admit that this character actually ex- 
 isted, allow that there was such a person 
 as Jesus of Nazareth, and, that the histo- 
 rians describe nothing but what they saw 
 and heard, and to vvhich they were daily 
 witnesses, and the wonder ceases; all is 
 natural and easy: the narrators were ho- 
 nest and competent witnesses ; and Jesus 
 was a true prophet of the Most High. 
 
92 ■ 
 
 Deny these facts, and the history of 
 the evangelists instantly swells into a pro- 
 digy of genius ; a sublime fiction of the 
 imagination, which surpasses all the most 
 celebrated productions of human wit. 
 The illiterate Galileans eclipse all the re- 
 nowned historians, philosophers, and poets 
 of Greece and Rome. But, who will a£Brm, 
 or who could believe this, of these simple, 
 ■artless, unaffected writers ? It is incredible, 
 it is impossible, that these plain and un- 
 lettered man should have invented so ex- 
 traordinary, so highly finished a romance. 
 Their narrative therefore muse be true. 
 The prophet of Nazareth is a real person, 
 and his divine legation is undeniable. I 
 know not how this argument may ap- 
 pear to others ; but to me it carries the 
 force, almost, of mathematical demonstra- 
 tion. I cannot conceive of a proof which 
 can be more satisfactory to a candid, : an 
 ijltelUgent, and a well-informed mind. 
 
 2. The history of the miracles of 
 Christ contains strong presumptive evi- 
 dence of authenticity and truth. 
 
c/o 
 
 The prodigies related by heathen histo- 
 rians of the best credit are, in general, 
 either absurdities, or nothing more than 
 unusual natural appearances : they are 
 often reported with marks of doubt by 
 the historians themselves, and they not 
 unfrequently carry, their ;Own confutation 
 with them. As to the miracles of popery, 
 they are seldom any thing more thai^i jug- 
 glers' tricks, and are never performed 
 where they are most wanted, for the con- 
 version of unbelievers. But the facts de- 
 scribed in the gospels as mira£ulous are 
 real miracles. Nothing is related by these 
 untutored, vmphilosophical historians as a. 
 deviation from the usual course of nature!, 
 but what would universally be admitted 
 as such even in the present enlightened 
 and philosophic age. 
 
 ^Also, the miracles which they ascribe 
 to Jesus are perfectly in character. None 
 are trifling and puerile. All were instruc- 
 tive and useful : and by far the greater 
 number were evidently benevolent, and 
 in every view worthy of the messenger of 
 
94 
 
 peace and good^will to men. And i^ there 
 be one or two which appear to wear a dif- 
 ferent aspect, and are liable to some 
 plausible objection, these difficulties ad- 
 Tnit of solutions which, by a candid in- 
 quirer, wi^l generally be deemed satisfac- 
 tory. This argument may be illustrated 
 by a reference to the Life of Apollonius 
 Tyanseus, a heathen philosopher and 
 teacher, and a pretender to the power of 
 working miracles. His history was writ- 
 ten at the desire of the empress Julia, the 
 wife of Severus, in the beginning of the 
 third Century, by one of the philosophers 
 of her court, for the express purpose of 
 discrediting the miracles of Christ. And 
 among other silly and frivolous tales, it is 
 related, that this extraordinary man un- 
 derstood the language, and would inter- 
 pret the conversation of birds. Had any 
 thing of this kind appeared in the chris- 
 ,tian scriptures, it would have been an ob- 
 jection to the credit of the history, which 
 would indeed have been v^ry difficult to 
 repel. And that the rude mechanics of 
 Galilee did not fall into similar and equal 
 
S5 
 
 absurdities wiih the learned philosopher of 
 the imperial court, can only be explained 
 upon the supposition, that be wrote from 
 invention, and they from fact'*. 
 
 3. The nature and liniitation, of the 
 christian doctrine^ and its wise and 
 accurate adjustment to the circumstances 
 and wants of mankind, are a strong inter- 
 nal proof of its divine original. 
 
 The light of nature can afford very little 
 satisfaction in the investigation of the in- 
 teresting problem concerning a future life. 
 The capacity of looking forward into fu- 
 turity, and of governing the conduct by 
 the hopes and fears of a life to come, £he 
 moral constitution of human nature, and 
 the origin and progress of the disinterest- 
 ed, benevolent, and theopathetic affec^ 
 tions, the improbability that the busy 
 anxious scene of life would terminate in 
 
 " See Philostratus Vk. ApoUon. Tillemont Vie d'Apol- 
 lon. Weston's Rejection of Christian Miracles,, p. 94-^110. 
 Douglas's Criterion, p. 55, 63. Doddridge's Lecturts, 
 No. 135* . 
 
jyo 
 
 suffering v?Iiich can be of no use, and the 
 prospect of which cl^lls the spirit, and 
 embitters the joys of life, the outhnes of 
 a just, but unfinished, moral government, 
 and' the confused, but general, tradition- 
 ary expectation of a future life, — these 
 considerations combined, might possibly 
 excite in a contemplative mind, a dawn- 
 ing hope that such a state might perhaps be 
 inTeserve, at least for the virtuous and 
 the wise. But when, upon further in- 
 quiry, it would appear evident that reason 
 and philosophy encourage no hope of a 
 future life, but by a resurrection from 
 the grave, — that all > expectation of the se- 
 parate existence, and activity of the seul, 
 while the body is entombed, is unfounded 
 in experience, and contradicted by 'every 
 phaznomenon of the human mind, and is 
 therefore imaginary and vain, — and that 
 the. history of human natui;e supplies no 
 analogy which would warrant the expec- 
 tation of a resurrection of the dead, — 
 what conclusion could possibly , result 
 from such a speculation but — That though 
 all things are possible with God, and 
 
97 
 
 tliollgK to the virtuous, sL future exist* 
 ence would be a most desirable events 
 and though some appearances both of the 
 intellectual and the moral world, would be 
 solved most easily, and most satisfactofilyi 
 upon this pleasing supposition, yet, upoii 
 the whole, that the evidence appears to 
 preponderate upon the dark and gloomy 
 side, and naturally leads to the sad con- 
 clusion, that, in the final result of things,- 
 the rational human being has no prae-eml- 
 nence over the brute, nor the wise man over, 
 the fool, but that all are equally destined 
 to return in a short time to the dust from^ 
 whence they were taken, and to make their, 
 perpetual abode in the land of silence,, of 
 darkness, and oblivion. . .. 
 
 Now, that the christian doctrine should 
 take us up, just where the light of nature 
 fails, where reason can furnish no argu-, 
 ment, and experience supply no analogy, 
 upon which to build the expectation of 
 futurity, that the gospel should reveal 
 what is amply sufficient to excite put 
 hopes, to alarm, our fears, and to govern 
 
 H 
 
©Tir practice, but not enough to gratify 
 the insatiable appetite of human curiosity, 
 or to amuse the fancy with useless specu« 
 latioBB, that it should teach, in terms that 
 'could not be misunderstood, the awfiil 
 ^doctrine of a life to cqme, in which all 
 shall be rewarded acfcording to their works, 
 that it should represent the future exist-.^ 
 ence of nian as founded upon a resurrec- 
 tion' of the dead ; a notion, which, thdugh 
 it is now proved to be the only one con- 
 sistent with the true philosophy of nature 
 and of man, ^as at that time held by few, 
 and rejected by the philosophers with in- 
 dignation and contempt ; that this doc- 
 trine sh,ould be established, not only by 
 miracles in general, but by that specific 
 miracle, the resurrection of the founder 
 of the christian faith, after a public cru- 
 cifixion by his enemies, an evidence cal- 
 culated beyond all others to obviate the 
 objections of reason, and the appearances 
 of nature, by exhibiting in the person of 
 the great teacher of this momentous truth, 
 a pattern, and a pledge of the accomplish- 
 ment of the promise ; that all these cir- 
 
cumstances should concur in the christiari 
 doctrine, surely indicates greater sagacity 
 of mind, greater compass of thought, and 
 d^pth of research, than can justly be attri- 
 buted to the simple, unlearned historians of 
 Jesus. This wonderful harmony of the di- 
 vine dispensations, this nice adjiistment of 
 the supply to the deficiency, this exact 
 oeconomy of supernatural communication, 
 which imparts all that is necessary, with- 
 out .superfluity or excess, can be ascribed 
 to no wisdom less than divine. That Being 
 alone, who was the Creator of man, and who 
 was intimately acquainted with all -the cir- 
 cumstances, and all the wants of his intelli- 
 gent offspring, could have supplied them 
 with information so accurately adapted to 
 the circumstances of the case. It can hard- 
 ly be believed by any considerate person, 
 that if the christian religiqn had been a hu- 
 man invention, it should have been con- 
 ducted with such consummate propriety, 
 that nothing necessary should have been 
 omitted, that nothing unworthy of the 
 teacher, or of the subject, should have been 
 iatrodviited. And this, argtiment will appear 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 more forcible, if we consider into what chi- 
 merical details impostors have always enter- 
 ed, of a future state of existence, and into 
 what groundless, and injudicious specula- 
 tions, christians themselves have often 
 launched, when they have presumed to be 
 wise above what is written, and to add their 
 own inventions to the oracles of truth. 
 
 4. The purity, sublimity, arid perfec- 
 tion of the christian morality is another 
 cogent internal evidence of the divine ori- 
 gin and authority of the christian revela- 
 tion. 
 
 That in a code of moral principles and 
 precepts drawn up by men of mean ex- 
 traction, of, confined education, ,and of 
 mechanical occupation, no error should 
 be committed, that all should be intelli-, 
 gible, correct, consistent, and complete ; 
 that no genuine virtue should be omitted ; 
 that no false principle, no immoral maxim, 
 how common or fashionable soever, should, 
 be allowed ; that such virtues as humility, 
 meekness, forbearance, forgiveness, love 
 
101 
 
 to enemies, returning good for evil, should 
 be insisted upon as duties of primary im- 
 portance, though 'branded with contempt 
 by the proud philosophy of the age ; that 
 what was called patriotism, the exclusive 
 love of one's country, the principle which 
 sacrifices the general interest of mankind to 
 that of the particular community of which 
 a person happens to be a member, that this 
 dazzling quality, the boast of antiquity, the 
 pride of heroes and philosophers, should 
 ^nd no place in the catalogue of christian 
 virtues, that it should not be once men- 
 tioned in the christian directory, that it 
 should be wholly lost and absorbed in the 
 far more comprehensive principle of uni- 
 versal philanthropy and good-will, in that 
 rational and gener-ous affection which binds 
 man to man, in the indissoluble bonds of 
 fraternal love, which places the duty 
 and the happiness of all, in doing good 
 to all, as oppprtunity occurs, which ex- 
 cludes none from offices of kindness, but 
 extends relief with equal readiness to the 
 Samaritan as to the Jew, to the African 
 as to the European, to the enemy as to 
 
• 102 
 
 the friend : that in this beautiful and con-» 
 sistent system of morals, tKose vices should 
 be condemned by name, and without ex- 
 ception, which were tolerated, approved, 
 :^nd sometimes even enjoined, by heathen, 
 superstition and ignorance,^ while at the 
 same time no virtne is carried to excess, 
 no stress is kid upon one, to the exclusion 
 of others ; that neither prayer, nor alms- 
 giving, nor fasting, nor mortification , and 
 penance, nor sabbatizing, nor any exter- 
 nal rite whatever, are substituted in the^ 
 place of moral virtues, nor any one virtue 
 of whatever rank or value, is permitted 
 to supersede another, but every virtue 
 finds its proper place, and is arranged in , 
 its proper order and connection : that the 
 foundation of all sjaould be laid in the 
 love of God and our neighbour, and that 
 the perfection of the superstructure shonldt 
 be such as the wisdom of man, instructed 
 by the experience of ages, has never been 
 able to improve, and never will: that a sy- 
 stem so just, so liberal, so comprehensive 
 ^nd complete, should have been invented 
 and published by a combination of th& 
 
103 
 
 c^t^s and Researches of the wisest and best 
 men in any age an4 country, Would have 
 been the subject of just admiration ; but 
 tiiat it should have been introduced^ and 
 taught, and ii;iculcated, without any os* 
 tentation or parade, by a small number of 
 imlearned men, who had been educated m 
 all the narrow bigotry, and malignant pre* 
 judices of Pharisaic Jews, is surely to the 
 last degree incredible, not to say absolute^ 
 ly impossible, if the supposition of divine 
 instruction, and supei?iiatural illuoiinatioi^ 
 should be denied. 
 
 5. 'The PROFESSED I3ESION of th« 
 christian religion, as avowed by its first 
 teachers, was no less than to 8upersede_ 
 the Jewish oeconomy, to overthrow all the 
 long-established and highly venerated sy- 
 stems of superstition and idolatry, which 
 prevailed in the heathen world, to convert 
 all the nations to the faith of the gospel^ 
 and to establish in every place the know- 
 ledge and worship of the One true and 
 Jiving God, and the |sractice of universal 
 
104 
 
 virtue. This was the commission given 
 by Jesus himself to his apostles immedi- 
 ately before his ascension. " Go forth to 
 all nations, and preach the gospel to every 
 creature '^." This was the professed object 
 of the apostle Paul '^, that eminent mis- 
 sionary of evangelical'truth. '* I am debt- 
 or," says he, " to the Greeks, and to the 
 Barbarians, to the wise, and to the un- 
 wise. The times of ignorance God wink-.- 
 ed at, but now he commandeth all men, 
 every where, to repent." And the christian 
 prophets express upon all occasions the 
 most unhesitating confidence in the ijlti- 
 mate success of their mission '^^ " The 
 little leaven will gradually difFuse itself 
 through the whole mass." " The fullness of 
 the gentiles shall be brought in, arid all 
 Israel shall be saved." And in the apoca- 
 lyptic vision, when the Seventh angel had 
 sounded his trumpet '^, great voices wer? 
 heard in heaven, saying, *' The kingdom? 
 
 " Mark xvi. IS. '• Rom. i. 14, Acts xvii. 30, 31, 
 
 '7 Matt. xiii. 33. Rojn. xi. 25, 26.' J* Rev. xi, IS, 
 
105 
 
 of this world are become the kingdoms of 
 our Lord, arid of his Christ, and he shall 
 reign for ever and ever." And the apostle 
 Peter declares '9, that according to the divine 
 promise " we look for a new heaven and a 
 new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness:'* 
 that is, according to the most rational in- 
 terpretation of the passage, we expect a 
 complete and happy renovation of the mo- 
 ral world, hj the diffusion of the gospel. 
 
 A design so magnificent and stupendous 
 as this was not likely to have entered into 
 the thoughts of the low mechanics of Ga-r 
 lilee, and much less to have been underr 
 taken and achieved by them, . had they 
 not been conscious that they were inspired 
 from Heaven, that they acted under an au-r 
 thority which no human potentate could 
 control, and were supported by an energy 
 which no opposition could defeat. 
 
 6. The TENDENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 
 SCRIPTURES is to tcach and to incul-^ 
 
 i» 2 Pet. iij. 13, . . ' 
 
106 
 
 cate tKe fear and the love of God, and 
 the practice of virtue in all its branches* 
 The authors appear to have written their 
 respective works under a deep impression 
 of the infinite importance of revealed 
 truth, and to have been penetrated with 
 a lively concern for the improvement and 
 happiness of their fellow-creatures, and 
 both by precept and example they en- 
 force a firm and fearless profession of 
 moral and religious truth, at th6 hazard 
 of every thing dear and valuable in life. 
 Is it then in - the nature of things con- 
 ceivable that men whose views were so 
 pure, and the tendency of whose writings 
 was so excellent, should themselves have 
 been guilty of the grossest violation of 
 their own principles, and should have com- 
 menced their career with imposing upon the 
 world an impious and a mischievous for- 
 gery in the name of the God of truth ? It 
 cannot be. 
 
 It often happens that frail man is incon- 
 sistent with himself: and sjometimes men 
 who would be thought wise, have adopted 
 
107 
 
 anjustifiable means gf promoting ends 
 wWch they haye conceived to be im- 
 portant. But a case parallel to the pre-^ 
 sent, upon the supposition that the gospel 
 is a forgery, never yet occurred in the an- 
 nals of folly and of crime, — That men 
 aiming to incvilcate, in the most forqible 
 manner, the practice of virtue and of good 
 morals, and above all things enjoining a 
 supreme regard to truth, and reverence 
 for the Divine Being, should, in order to 
 accomplish such a design, have enter- 
 ed upon their mission with a lie in their 
 mouths, which could not fail to be imme- 
 diately detected, and, when detected, to- 
 tally to defeat their purpose, and to ex- 
 pose them to universal scorn! — ^No, no; 
 the supposition is impossible. It is not 
 in the nature of things that such men, em- 
 barked in such a cause, should ever have 
 used such unjust and unwarrantable means 
 to attain success. And therefore their testi- 
 mony must be true. 
 
 Hence then we justly and triumphantly 
 conclude, that the christian doctrine is ot 
 
108 
 
 divine original: and that an habitual and 
 practical regard to it is the .highest wis- 
 dom, and the indispensable duty of all to 
 whom the joyful tidings are made known. 
 " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear ^^" 
 
 " Upon the subject of this discourse, see Simpson's Internal 
 and Presumptive Evidences of Christianity, a laborious, judi- 
 cious, and useful treatise. Also, Paley's View, vol. ii. part 2. 
 To which may be added that learned and acute writer's Horae 
 Paulinae. I must not omit to mention Mr. Wakefield's Evi- 
 dences of Christianity, nor Dr. Duchal's Sermons on the pre- 
 sumptive Evidences of Revelation. Bishop Butler's Analogy 
 |s well known ; and Dr. Hartley's Chapter on the Truth of 
 the Christian Religion contains, with some few exceptions, 
 an admirable summary of the external and internal evidences 
 gf revelation. As a general reference, see likewise. Popular 
 Evidences of Natural Religion and Christianity, by the Rev, 
 ■JThomas Watson. 
 
1U» 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION;, 
 FROM THE TESTIMONY DF THE JEWISH 
 . SCRIPTURES. 
 
 LUKE xxiv. 27. 
 
 AND BEGINNING AT MOSES AND ALL THE PROPHETS, 
 HE EXPOUNDED UNTO THEM IN AtL THE SCRIPTURES 
 THE THINGS CONCERNING HIMSELF. 
 
 It is a probable conjecture that oile of 
 the disciples to whom this interesting dis- 
 course 1 was addressed, was the evangelist 
 
 ' The name of one of these was Cleopas, ver. 18. he was the 
 same with Alph'eus, the father bf James and Jude, two of the 
 apostles, and near relations to our Lord. Lukevi. 13, 16. 
 Matt, xxvii. S6, John six. 25. The name of the other is 
 not mentioned, anS the more general opinion is, that it was 
 the evangelist himself. Theophylact, and Nicephorus men- 
 tion this as an ancient tradition. Basnage, and Lardner 
 think it probable. See Theophylact, in loc. and Nicephor. 
 Eccl. Hist. 1. i. c. 34. Lardner's History of the Apostles 
 and Evangelists, vol. i. chap. viii. page 246. ed. 2. Dr. Light- 
 foot Hor. Heb. in Mark xvi. 13, and Luke xxiv. 34, conjee 
 tures that this person was the apostle Peter j but Dr. ]?od«; 
 dridge, in a very judicioUs note on M^^xvi. 12, has shown 
 the extreipe Improbability of this supposition. 
 
110 
 
 Luke Kimself : and if so, how mucli is it 
 to be regretted; that he did not think fit to 
 V give it a place in his instructive and inva- 
 luable history ! It cannot reasonably be 
 doubted, that the prophecies relating to 
 the Messiah were Well understood, and 
 correctly applied, by our grieat instructor, 
 to whom the spirit w^as given without 
 measure : and had , this truly authentic 
 exposition been still extant, it must have 
 cast a very splendid light upon this branch 
 of the evidences of the christian religion* 
 But the wisdom of Divine Providence has 
 not seen fi^: to indulge us with this im- 
 portant information : and so far as the 
 evidence of tjie divine authority of the 
 christian revelation , rests upon the testi- 
 mony OF THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, We 
 
 are left to collect it in the best manner we 
 are able from those documents them- 
 selves. 
 
 This is the evidence which now remains 
 to be stated and examined, after the sum- 
 mary view whiqh we have already taken 
 
Ill 
 
 of the philosophit, the historic, the pro- 
 phetic,"^ and the internal. 
 
 Minds diflFerently constituted conceive 
 differently of the same subject : and ar- 
 guments which to one person appear clear, 
 convincing, and irresistible, often make 
 but little impression upon another. And 
 herein appears the great wisdom and good- 
 ness of God, in supplying the christian re- 
 velation with a Variety of evidence adapted 
 to the various tastes and habits of thinking 
 of the different classes of mankind: to 
 all of whom the interesting and sublinle 
 discovery of a future life, is of equal and in- 
 finite importance. 
 
 I have no doubt that there are some 
 persons to whom the evidence of the di- 
 vine authority of the christian religion 
 from the prophecies of the Old Testament, 
 is in the highest degree satisfactory and 
 convincing. With regard to myself, I 
 must confess that it does not convey to 
 my own mind that clear, and, I can al* 
 most say, unhesitating assurance which 
 
112 
 
 I der'vfe from ^^ attentioii to the philo^a* 
 phic, the historic, or the internal evidence* 
 Not that I think the prophetic evidence 
 essentially defective. But, I find it diffi- 
 cult to satisfy myself that I fully comprehend 
 the true meaning and intent of the prophe- 
 tic language. Upon the vvrhole, hov?^ever, 
 I regard the evidence from the Old Testa- 
 ment as very considerable, and as calcu- 
 lated to make a strong and favourable im- 
 pression upon a candid, serious, and in- 
 telligent mind: and, in connection vvrith 
 the evidence already produced, it deci- 
 sively establishes the truth and divine au- 
 thority of the christian religion. I now 
 therefore proceed to exhibit that view of 
 it, which to my own apprehension is most 
 satisfactory, and least liable to objection 
 and cavil. And, in order to this, it must 
 be proved, First, that the Hebrew nation 
 was favoured with a revelation from God, 
 and Secondly, that the sacred books of 
 the Jews contain a series of prophe- 
 cies, which received their proper accom- 
 plishment in the person and character of 
 Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
113 
 
 4 
 
 first, The truth and divine a.llthority o£ 
 the christian religion, may be and have 
 been proved, independently of the truth 
 of the Jewish revelation. And I 
 scruple not to allow that a man may be 
 a sincere christian, a rational and firih be- 
 liever in the divine mission of Christ, and 
 a humble, virtuous expectant of immor- 
 tality by him, who may at the same time 
 hesitate to admit the divine legation of 
 the Hebrew lawgiver.- The law of Moses, 
 as a system of positive institutions, and 
 mental discipline, has answered its end. 
 It is dead ^. It is abolished. The believer 
 in Christ his no more to do with the in- 
 stitute of Moses as a rule of life, than 
 with the precepts of Pythagoras or Con- 
 fuciusr: or, to use the still more energetic 
 illustration of the apostle, than a living 
 man with a dead carcase^. And a person 
 , - ■ - ■ ' '. ' I 
 
 • See Romans vii. 1—6, and Dr. Tayroi's Commentary 
 uppn the text. 
 
 s Gal, ii. 19, 20. This also appears to be the best interpre- 
 tation of Rom. vii. 24. The Jew uniier the law complains of 
 the burthen of the law, as of. a carcase attached to a living 
 man ; which impedes his operations, and fills him with iijisery. 
 
114 
 
 who is convinced by historical, or by in- 
 ternal evidence, of the truth of the chris* 
 tian doctrine, and of the divine mission 
 of its author j may without any impeach- 
 ment of his faith in the gospel argue, that 
 this persuasion is sufficient to govern his 
 practice, and that he is not bound to exa- 
 mine into the a,uthority of a revelation, 
 which, if genuine, is allowed to be ob- 
 solete. There are some who are well sa- 
 tisfied of the truth of the christian doc^ 
 trine, to whom: the Jewish revelation ap- 
 pears encumbered with insurmountable 
 difficulties. While others, discerning the 
 inseparable connection between the dis- 
 pensations of Moses and of Christ, and the 
 frequent appeals ma,de to the Hebrew pro- 
 phets by Jesus and his apostles, assuming 
 as a fact the falsehood of Judaism, have 
 upon that ground concluded that the chris- 
 tian teljgion itself is not from God. 
 
 and despair. " The grace of God," v. 25, (seethe Clermont 
 and Vulgate in Griesbach) that is, the gospel of Jesus sets 
 him at liberty : he is no longer subject to condeftination, but 
 is able to exert his faculties in the practice of virtue. See 
 Locke and Taylof on the passage. 
 
11^ 
 
 While, however, I can readily admit 
 that a person who suspends his faith in 
 the Jewish revelation may, notwithstand- 
 ing, be a sincere, and in a practickl view, 
 an eminent chtistian, yet, I cannot allow 
 that he rs a well-informed believer, and I 
 am persuaded, that further inquiry would 
 convince him, that the Hebrew nation 
 
 WAS ACTUALLY FAVOURED WITH A RE- 
 VELATION FROM Heaven, and that the 
 Hebrew prophets spake and wrote under 
 an immediate divine suggestion. 
 
 But, in order to make way for the proof 
 of this important fact, , I would in the first 
 place entirely set aside the popular notion 
 of the plenary inspiration of all the books 
 of the Old Testament, and of every thing 
 contained in them ; a supposition, than 
 which nothing was' ever more unfounded 
 or extravagant, nothing more inconsistent 
 with all sound criticism and rational .in- 
 terpretation : nothihg was ever more re- 
 plete with absurdity, or ever gave a fairer 
 handle, a 'keener edge, or a more irresisti- 
 
 ] 2 
 
116 
 
 ble fore?, to the objections and to the sar- 
 casms, of infidelity. 
 
 I would also set aside, as -having no- 
 thing to do with the present question, the 
 consideration, whether the pentateuch 
 throughout, or in part only, was written 
 by Mos^s, or whether, as some learned, 
 men have contended, it was the compila- 
 tion of a later writer *. 
 
 Neither is it at all essential , to the proof 
 of the proposition in question, , to suppose, 
 or to maintain, that the pentateuch con- 
 tains a perfectly correct and authentic 
 narrative of facts, or of the subject, the 
 mode, the language, or the occasion, of 
 divine communications. It would be no 
 objection to the general position, that the 
 Hebrew nation was favoured with a revela- ' 
 
 ■* Sir Isaag Newton and Lord Barrington conjecture that 
 the pentateuch was compiled by* Samuel, Harrington's Essay- 
 on Divine Dispensations, Appendix, No. iv. Dr. Geddes sup- 
 poses these Books to have been written or collectedJn thereigii 
 of Solomon. Geddes's Translation, vol. i. preface, p. 18. 
 
117 
 
 tlon from Heaven, to admit, that the doc^ 
 trines and laws which were originally deli- 
 vered by God to Moses, are, in their pre- 
 sent state, so mixed and blended with tra- 
 ditions and human inventions; that what 
 is genuine in the records which are still ex- 
 tant, bears but a small proportion to what 
 is spurious ; and that it is, in many cases, 
 beyond the reach of human sagacity to 
 distinguish between them -^ 
 
 What I must assume as the basis of my 
 argument, and what I , presume will not . 
 be denied by any person of intelligence 
 and information, is this, that the Jewish 
 scriptures are now, with little or no varia- 
 tion, the same as they were at the close of 
 the Babylonian captivity, five hundred years 
 
 * Father Simon says that the Jews ascribe these en-ors to the 
 loss of their copies at the time of the captivity in' Babylon, 
 and say that it is impossible that the collection of scripture 
 shou d be perfect fo/ want of true and faithful copies. Simon's 
 Critical History of the Old Testament, b. i. c. 5. p. 43. Some 
 of the christian fathers had a, iradition, 'borrowed from the 
 Jews, that all the scriptures were lost and destroyed in the 
 Babyloniain captivity, and that Ezra restored then) all again 
 by divine revelation. Prideaux's Connection, vol. i. b. v. p. 329. 
 
ns 
 
 be/ore i the , birtji of Chri&U - The Jew- 
 ish writings which were then extant, were 
 CD-PectejJ , with care by Ezra, and; other 
 respectable and karned Jews ii> succes- 
 sion, who were called, the men af the great 
 synagogue, and who Cjoncimued to rnake 
 additions and corrections to the Jewish 
 scriptures to the , best, of their judgment 
 and ability, for upwards of a hundred and 
 jfifty years after the , captivity, to the time 
 of Alexander the 'Great, a little more than^ 
 three hui^^red, years before Christ ^. These 
 writings, S.0 collected, ajid aniended, con^ 
 tinued without any material change tq the 
 time of -Christ ; beiag vigilantly guarded 
 by the contending sects of the Jews, which 
 rose and flourished - during that period. 
 These hostile sects being animated with the 
 bitterest rancour against each other, and all 
 professing to regard these writings as sa- 
 cred, no sect could make any alteration 
 in them in favour of its peculiar tenets, 
 without being instantly detected and ex- 
 
 ^ee Prideaux's Connection) part i. book v. 
 
119 
 
 posed by all the rest. And, ^ from the first 
 promulgation of the christian religion, to 
 the present day, the Jews and Christians, 
 bearing the same animosity to each other 
 as the Pharisees and Sadducees,* and both 
 holding the scriptures of the Old Testa- 
 ment in the highest veneration, each party 
 would maintain a jealous inspection over 
 the other, and each would be edger to de- 
 tect, and to expose, any material or wilful 
 corruption of the text, which might be at- 
 tempted by the other. 
 
 ' I must also assume, what I presume 
 will not be denied, and what indeed has 
 never been disputed by men of under- 
 standing, that the^main facts of the Jewish 
 history, are true. That the Jews are de- 
 scended from Abraham, Isaac, and Ja- 
 cob : that they were once slaves in Egypt ; 
 that they were delivered from this bondage 
 by Mose's, who became their leader, and 
 their lawgiver : that they established them- 
 selves in Canaan by right of conquest : 
 that they were at first governed by judges, 
 
120 
 
 and afterwards by kings: that ,Saul, of 
 the, tribe of Benjamin, was their first-so- 
 vereign: that their next king was David, 
 of the tribe of Judah, a great and success- 
 ful warrior : that he was succeeded by his 
 son Solomon, a wise and pacific prince, 
 who built a splendid and magnificent tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem : that under the admini- 
 stration of his imprudent son and succes- 
 sor iRehoboaib, the nation was divided 
 into. the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah,: 
 that the kingdona of Israel, consisting of 
 ten tribes, after having been governed by 
 Jeroboam, and his successors upwards of 
 two hundred and fifty years, was termina- 
 ted by the Assyrian captivity, from which 
 it never returned : tha|: the kingdom of 
 Judah and Benjamin, which adhered to 
 the house of Dayid, having subsisted iip- 
 wards of a hundred years after the dis* 
 solution of the kingdom of Israel, was 
 finally subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, who 
 razed the city of Jerusalena,. who demo-- 
 lished its celebrated temple, and carried 
 the inhabitants of the country captives 
 
121 
 
 ' into Babylon : that the captivity continued 
 seventy years, "after which, by the decree 
 of Cyrus king of Persia, who had^ taken 
 Babylon, , and put an end to the Babylo- 
 nian empire, the Jews were restored to 
 their own country, and to their own Ikws ; 
 and were permitted to rebuild the city and 
 the temple 'five hundred years before the 
 birth of Christ. 
 
 1. Now that this extraordinary people 
 was favoured with a divine "revelation, and 
 that their prophets . spoke and taught under 
 a divine commission, appears, in the first 
 place, from the just and sublime notions 
 which they entertained of the character 
 
 AND attributes' OF THE SUPREME BE- 
 ING, and their confirmed belief in the great 
 doctrine of the unity of' God, amidst the 
 superstition and idolatry of the surround- 
 ing nations, those especially, who in other 
 respects were more civilized, and better in- 
 formed. 
 
 What was the doctrine of Egypt, the 
 parent of science and the arts; concerning 
 
122 
 
 the attributes and providence of God ^ ? 
 What were the, notions of the Chaldeans, 
 renowned for wisdom and philosophical re- 
 search^'? What were the opinions held and 
 taught by the polished Greeks, and the en- 
 lightened Romans ? From their immortal 
 poets we learn the system of popular belief, 
 tljan which nothing can be more remote 
 from truth, nothing more absurd, nothing 
 more dishonourable to- the divine perfec- 
 tions, nothing more pernicious to good mo- 
 rals. This mythology, this elegant mytholo- 
 gy, as it has been strangely called, consisted 
 of a multitude of Gods of diiFerent orders 
 land degrees, of characters the most pro- 
 fligate, the patrons of every vice, the in- 
 stigators to every thing which can degrade 
 and disgrace human nature, and reduce 
 men to a level with the brutes. Nor were 
 the speculations of the philosopher, gene- 
 
 ^ See Winder's History of U^nowlgdge, vol, ii. chap, vii, 
 sect. 6. chap, xvi. xvii. 
 
 Quis nescit — qualia demens 
 
 ,^gyptus por.tent,a colat ? 
 
 Juvenal. Sat. xv, 
 * Winder's Histofy of Knowledge, vol. ii. cha|), vii. seqt, ■t, 
 
123 
 
 rally speaking, mueh more rational, or 
 more practically beneficial, than the gross 
 ideas of the vulgar. For, though it cannot 
 be denied that some of them argued in a 
 very able and satisfactory manner in fa- 
 vour of the wisdom and benevolence of 
 divine providence, yet, there was not one 
 among them who taught or believed the 
 proper unity of God; there was not one 
 wha did not publicly .avow and teach, that 
 the Gods of every cbmitry were to be wor- 
 shiped agreeably to the rites and customs 
 of the country 9. . . 
 
 Now turn your attention to an ignorant, 
 barbarous, and insignificant people, con- 
 fined within the narrow limits of Palestine, 
 
 * Xenophon, in his Memorabilia, (lib. i. cap. 1.) expresses 
 his astonishment that Socrates should be charged with denying 
 the gods of.his country, When he often offered sacrifices, both, 
 at home, and at the public altars, and openly practised divina.. 
 tion. And at the close of his admirable discourse upon divine / 
 providencp, Socrates cites tlie, authority of the, Delphic oracle, 
 to prove that the gods in every country ought to be worshrpe4 
 ^gree^bly to the customs of the country, l^ih, iv. cap, 3. 
 
124 
 
 surrounded by these powerful, polished, 
 ^and enlightened nations ; despised, sub- 
 dued, a,nd trampled upon by them. Inquire 
 into their theological system. The first, 
 the furidamehtal article of their creed is 
 the unity of. ,God. " That Jehovah their 
 God is ONE Jehovah ." This is a doc- 
 trme in which they are all agreed: con- 
 cerning which there is no hesitation, no 
 controversy ; it is the e;stablished inviola- 
 ble religion of the country : and further, 
 the direct object of the whole frame of their 
 government, and of all their political insti- 
 tutions, is, to support the simple and es- 
 sential truth, that God is ONE, 
 
 And of this one glorious Being, the sole 
 object of their homage and adoration, it 
 was tlieir steadfast and unanimous belief, 
 ■that he was the Creator,' the Preserver,' the 
 Praprietor, and the Governour of the uni- 
 verse, and. of all its inhabitants ; that by 
 the word of tTie Lord were the heavens 
 
 '" Deut. chap. vi. verse 4?. 
 
125 
 
 made, and all the hosts of them by. the 
 breath of his mouth : that he spake, and 
 it Was done : he commanded, and all 
 things stood fast : that the sea is h'is, for 
 he made it, and his hands formed the dry- 
 land : that he created man after his own 
 image, and that he breathed into his nos- 
 trils the breath of life: that he is the pre- 
 server of man and beast : that from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting he is God : that he 
 fills heaven and earth with his presence: 
 tliat his understanding is infinite : that he 
 seeth the end from the beginning : that he 
 understand eth the thoughts afar off: that 
 he is exc'ellent in power, and in wisdom : 
 abundant in justice, and goodness, and 
 truth : that he is good to all : that his ten- 
 der mercies are over all his works. : that he 
 loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity : 
 and that though, for wise reasons, he suf- 
 fered himself for a time to be worshiped 
 by a splendid and magnificent ritual, yet, 
 that costly sacrifices, and ceremonial in- 
 stitutes, were never accepted as substi- 
 tutes for moral' virtue, which was indis- 
 pensably ".necessary for obtaining the divine 
 
12^ 
 
 favour; and, finally, it was a known and 
 acknowledged truth, that the great duty 
 which the Lord their God required of 
 them, was to do justice, to love mercy, 
 and to walk'humbjy with their God'-. 
 
 Whence then had these men this know- 
 ledge? How came these ignorant and 
 despised Jews to form and cherish no- 
 tions concerning God, his attributes, and 
 government, so much superior to those of 
 their polished neighbours ? Did they rea- 
 son themselves into these conclusions ? 
 They do not even pretend to it. Though not 
 inferior in natural capacity, yet they do not: 
 appear to have been distinguished above 
 other nations by their intellectual powers. 
 There is little argument upon the subject 
 of the. divine attributes, and still less upon 
 the divine unity, in the Hebrew scriptures : 
 from beginning to end, all is the language 
 
 " Psalm xxxiii. 6 — 9 ; xcv. 5. Gen. i.- 25 — 2-7 ; ii. 7. 
 Psalm xxxvi. 6 ; :sg. 2. Jer. •xxiii. 24. Psalm cxlvii. 5. Isa. 
 xlvi. 10. Psalm cxxxix. 2. Job xxvii. 23. Exod. xxxiv. 6.. 
 Psalm cxlv. 9, Hos. vi. 6. Isaiah i. 10 — 18. Mic. vi. 8. 
 
127 
 
 of authority and command. " t am God, 
 and there, is none beside me." "Thou 
 shalt have no other God but me." And 
 though we, who have been educated in 
 the belief that God is One, can produce 
 plausible arguments in favour of the, unify 
 of God, from the unity of design in the 
 works of nature, from the want of evi- 
 dence of the contrary doctrine, from the 
 impossibility of conceiving of two infinite 
 Beings, and the like ; yet, it is highly 
 probable, that these arguments would 
 never have been discovered by the un- 
 assisted light of hatwe, or that they would 
 not have been deemed satisfactory : at 
 least, it is certain, that they escaped the 
 notice of the most enlightened sages of 
 heathen and Jewish antiquity. 
 
 Whence then this firm belief, this un- 
 hesitating conviction, this uniform and 
 universal persuasion, that God is One, 
 and that the one God is absolute in all 
 perfection? It was by revelation from 
 Heaven, and by that alone. , This fact^ the 
 written histories of this extraordinary peo- 
 
128 
 
 pie expressly, record ; and this account U' 
 credible, for such knowledge could not have 
 been acquired in any other way. 
 
 That. the history of this revelation, as it 
 is contained in the Jewish scriptures, is in 
 the main true, appears likewise to -be 
 highly probable. For the Jewish history 
 is the fairest, and most impartial, that 
 ever was written by native historians. 
 Look into the histories of Greece and 
 Rome, as they are composed by the most . 
 celebrated historians of, those, celebrated 
 people. What g.re they, in general, but 
 oblique panegyrics upon their respective 
 nations ? National crimes are concealed, 
 or' palliated : national virtues are embla*- 
 zoned,, and exhibited in the most conspi- 
 cuous light. All their counsels are wise : 
 all their wars are just : .all their chiefs are 
 generous, patriotic, and brave. But turn 
 your attention to the Jewish records, and 
 what picture do they present ? They de- 
 scribe a nation distinguished, beyond all 
 others, by divine manifestations ;- but, 
 at the same tim,e, equally distinguished 
 
129 
 
 for. stupidity, for obstinacy, for ingrati- 
 tude, and rebellion } and whose chiefs were 
 disgraced by the foulest crimes. Of these 
 Sitriking facts, infidelity has taken an un- 
 generous advantage, and has vainly hoped 
 to give a mortal wound to the divine au- 
 tHority of the Jewish revelation, by ex- 
 posing, and malignantly dilating upon, 
 the errors and the vices of the Jewish peo- 
 ple and their leaders. But surely, however 
 such narratives, and the encomiums octa- 
 sionally passed upon some dubious, not 
 to say, flagitious characters, may impeach 
 the virtue of the hero, or the judgment 
 of the historian, they afford the strongest 
 possible evidence of the fidelity and im- 
 partiality of the history. If, then, we give 
 entire credit to the evil that is recorded of 
 the Jewish nation, let us, in common can- 
 dour and common equity, give at least 
 some credit to the' good. Believe, if you 
 please, upon the authority of their own 
 national records, that the Jews were a stu- 
 -pid, an obstinate^ and a hardened peo- 
 ple ; but beheve also, upon the same au- 
 thority, confirmed as it is by the reason 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 of the thing, that they were a people far 
 voured witli divine communications. Ad- 
 mit, upon the faith of the Jewish historians, 
 that Jacob waS a dissembler, that David was 
 an adulterer and, a murderer, and that Solo- 
 mon was an idolater and a voluptuary ; but 
 admit likewise, upon the credit of the seime 
 impartial writers, that Moses was a divinely 
 authorized legislator, and that Isaiah was an 
 inspired prophet. To believe all the evil, 
 and to discredit all the good ; to admit 
 every thing that is criminal and disgrace- 
 ful, and, at the same time, to reject every 
 thing which tends to the credit of the na- 
 tion, can never be reconciled to justice 
 and equity, nor to any principles of fair 
 and liberal criticism ^~. 
 
 " The correct morality of the Jewish code, the purity of 
 the Mosaic institute, and its general tendency to encourage 
 virtue, and good manners, at a time when the institutes of the 
 heathen nations, and the flagitious examples of their falsg dei- 
 ties, prompted and authorized the most licentious practices, 
 and the most odious crimes, form a strong presumptive argu- 
 ment in favour of the divine legation of the Hebrew legislator. 
 This argument is stated and illustrated, with his usual perspi- 
 cuity and ability, by Dr. Priestley in his Discourses on the" 
 Evidences of Revealed Religion, at Philadelphia, A, D. 1796 , 
 
131 
 
 That the Jews were favoured with a divine 
 revelation, is further apparent, 
 
 Secondly, from the prophecies which 
 are contained in the Jewish scriptures, many 
 of which are already fulfilled, and some 
 are at this day receiving their accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
 To enter into a critical detail of the 
 prophecies of the Old Testament would 
 greatly exceed the limits of this discourse. 
 I shall satisfy myself \yith hinting at a few 
 of the most important. The prophecies 
 which may be alleged as proofs of divine 
 communications to the Jewish nation are, 
 either those which relate to the Jews them- 
 sielves, or those which apply to the sur- 
 rounding nations. 
 
 1. Of the prophecies which relate to 
 the Jews themselves, some of the most 
 
 N* iii.— VI. and likewise in his. excellent work entitled, 
 A Comparison of the Institutions of Moses, with those of the 
 Hindoos^ and other ancient Nations. ^ 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 considerable are those which predict the 
 captivity of the Jewsr in Babylon, and 
 their subsequent restoration to their own 
 country, which are to be found in the 
 books of Isaiah, Hose'a, and Jeremiah: 
 the latter of whom expressly limits the 
 duration of the captivity, to seventy 
 years '^. But the most extraordinary pro- 
 phecy concerning the Hebrew nation, is 
 contained in some of the last chapters of 
 the book of Deuteronomy : in which, the 
 apostasy of the Jews, the calamities with 
 which they should be visited, ' the desola^ 
 tion of their country, their dispersion 
 through all nations, and the ignominious 
 and distressing circumstances in ■^hieh 
 they should be involy^, are foretold by. 
 Moses; and the accomplishment of these 
 
 •' Jer, xxy. 11, 12, " And these natrons shall serve the 
 king of Babylon seventy years : and it shall come to pass 
 when seventy years are 'accomplished, that 1 will visit npon 
 the king of B^bylonj, and upon his nation, -saith Jehovah, 
 their iniquity, Sec." Chap. xxix. 10, " Thus saith the Lord, 
 After seventy years, be accotnplished at Babylon, I will visit 
 you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you. 
 to return to this place.'' 
 
133 
 
 prophecies is attested by the whole public 
 history 6f the Jewish natioA, and even 
 by the state in which that extraordinary 
 people is placed at the present day. The 
 twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy 
 contains so exact and circumstantial a 
 description of the suiFerings of the Jews 
 under the Roman power, and of the mi- 
 series which have since overwhelmed that 
 wretched nation, that if we v^ere not ab- 
 solutely assured, beyond the possibility of 
 doubt, that the prophecy was written some 
 thousand years before the event, it might be 
 suspected to have been a forgery of modern 
 'times **. 
 
 2. With respect to those prophecies 
 which relate to the political state of the 
 SURROUNDING N-ATIONS. In the first 
 place, it is predicted concerning Ishmael, 
 
 " Bishop Newton on the Prophecies, Diss. vii. David 
 Levi's DTssertations- on the Prophecies of the Old Testament, 
 Introduction. This learned and honest Rabbi, ha& here 
 given a very striking illustration of the accomplishment of 
 the prophecies- of Mo^es, in the present miserable and de- 
 graded state of the Hebrew nation. 
 
134 
 
 / 
 
 from whom the Arabians claim to be de- 
 scended, that " his hand shall be against 
 every man, and every man's hand against 
 him; and that he shall dwell in the 
 presence of all his brethren '^." This pre- 
 diction is remarkably verified in the cha- 
 racter and condition of his posterity to 
 this day. The Arabians are public rob- 
 bers : the enemies of all mankind : yet, 
 they have always been, and still remain, an 
 independent and imconqiiered people. 
 
 Concerning Tyre, it is foretold by the 
 prophet Ezekiel, " I will make thee like 
 the top of a rock : thou shalt be a place 
 to spread nets upon: thou shalt be built 
 no more ; for I, the Lord, have spoken it, 
 saith the Lord God." Such is the present 
 actual state of this once opulent and flourish- 
 ing city, the great emporium of the com- 
 merce of the world 1^, 
 
 Concerning Egypt, it is foretold by the 
 
 I ■ .III 
 
 " Gen. XYJ. 12. Newton, ibid. Diss. ii. 
 ^ Ezek. xxvi. 1*. Newton, ibid. Piss. xi. 
 
135 
 
 « 
 
 same prophet: " Thus saith the Lord feod, 
 I will destroy their idols, and I will cause 
 their images to cease, and there shall be 
 no more a prince of the land 6f Egypt ^7." 
 When this prophecy was delivered, Egypt 
 was in , the plenitude of its power, a pro- 
 sperous and a mighty nation, under the 
 government of its native princes. Sooi;i 
 afterwards it was subdued by, and sub- 
 jected to, the Babylonian power. When 
 Babylon fell, Egypt became subject to 
 Persia: and when the Persian empire was 
 overthrown, it was seized by the Macedo- 
 nians : from them it was taken by the 
 Rbmans ; and, in the decline of the empire 
 it bedame a province of the Eastern divi- 
 sion. The Greeks were expelled by the 
 Saracens ; and these by the Turks and 
 Mamalukes. The wretched situation of 
 that ill-fated covmtry, at present, is well 
 known; and whatever its future destiny , 
 may be, there is as yet no prospect that 
 the prophecy, which has been fulfilling 
 for two thousand years, should now fail, 
 
 J7 Ezek. XXX. 13. Newton, ibid. Diss. xii. 
 
136 
 
 o 
 
 and tHat Egypt should .again be governed 
 by a native prince. 
 
 But the most e-xtraordinary and asto- 
 nishing prophecies, of this class, are those 
 ■which relate to the conquest, and to the 
 utter destruction of Babylon ; the circum- 
 stances of which are foretold with won- 
 derful variety and precision, by the pro- 
 phets Isaiah and Jeremiah, It is predicted 
 in general, that Babylon shall be punished 
 for her pride and insolence, and particu- 
 larly for her cruelty to her Jewish captives. 
 The very nations are nami^d by which this 
 "conquest was to be effected; and the fu- 
 ture warlike character of the Medes and 
 Persians is described, at a time when they 
 were an obscure and barbarous people, 
 .ancj when Babylon was rising to the zenith 
 of her glory. It is foretold, that the cap- 
 'ture of Babylon should be preceded by a 
 long and bloody war,; the time is fixed 
 ■when the destruction of this proud city 
 should commence; and the prince who 
 was to be the instrument of divine provi- 
 dence in the accprnplishnpient of this great 
 
137 
 
 event is described, and even named, a 
 hundred ai>d fifty years before his birth. 
 It is foretold, that the destruction of Ba- 
 bylon should be sudden, and unexpected: 
 that the city should be taken by stratagem : 
 that the capture should be occasioned by 
 the drying up of the river; and that this 
 calamity should happen in a season of fes- 
 tivity and riot. The miserable fate of her 
 impious and cruel tyrant, is prefigured in 
 very sublime language by the prophet 
 Isaiah. And lastly^ it is foretold, that 
 Babylon should be left desolate: that it 
 should be totally deserted by its inhabi- 
 tants : that the ground upon vsrhich it stoo,d 
 should become a wild and dismal morass, 
 frequented only by animals of the most 
 noxious and loathsome kind j and finally, 
 that this great city should be so totally, ext 
 terminated, that the very situation of it 
 should be forgotten '^, 
 
 m • ■ - 
 
 " See Isaiah, chap. xiii. xiv. xxi. xliv. xlv. xlvii. Jer. chap, 
 XX. 1. li.. Bishop Nevrton on the Prophecies, Diss. x. 5 also, 
 the late learned Bp. of London's Notes on the Prophecies of 
 Isaiah ; and Dr. Blayney'son those of Jeremiah. An Account 
 ■ef ;he magnitude and grandeur of Babylon is given in Pri« 
 
138 
 
 That all these circumstances were fully 
 verified, in the fall and final extermination 
 of that once immense and magnificent city, 
 is known to all who are acquainted with its 
 history ; nor is it necessary, at present, to 
 enter into the detail. It will be sufficient 
 to hint at two circumstances, which add 
 greatly to the credit of the prophecy. The 
 first is, that the historians of the event were 
 heathen writers ^9, who were perfect strangers 
 to the existence of the prediction, and who 
 could have no intention to support its credit. 
 The second is, that the state of Babylon, at 
 the present day-, is a standing public veri- 
 fication of the prophetic word. So com- 
 pletely is that superb metropolis -annihi- 
 lated, that no trace of it now remains ; 
 it is not even known where that great 
 city stood, which was once the glory of 
 
 deaux's Connection, vol. i. page 9* — 105 ; and of Its capture 
 by Cyrus, page 120 — 124. This very learned andjudi«;iQus 
 author has assigned various and very satisfactory reasons for 
 preferring the history of Gyrus, as related by Xenophon, to 
 the account given by Herodotus, 
 
 •» Herodotus, lib, i. sect. 190 et seq. Xenophon. 'C^ro-. 
 pxd, lib. vii. 
 
1S9 
 
 kingdoms, and the pride and wonder of the 
 world 20. 
 
 Upon the whole, though the argument 
 from prophecy will necessarily appear with 
 different degrees of force to different per- 
 sons, in correspondence with their different 
 states of .mind, and habits of thinking, 
 and means of information, I cannot but 
 think that the prophecies contained in the 
 Jewish scriptures, when duly and impar- 
 tially considered, afford a very substantial 
 and satisfactory proof, that the Jewish 
 nation was favoured with a revelation from 
 God ; the great design of which, was to 
 establish, and to support, the belief of 
 
 ♦* See an excellent note of Bishop Lowth upon Isa. xiii. 19. 
 " Jerome," says this learned writer, " observes that in his time 
 it was quite in ruins, and that the walls served only for the 
 enclosure of a park or forest for the king's bunting. Modern 
 travellers, who have endeavoured to find the remains of it, 
 have given but a very unsatisfactory account of their success. 
 What Benjamin ofTudela, and Pietro della Valle, supposed 
 to have been some of its ruins, Tavemier thinks are the re- 
 mains of some late Arabian building., Upon the whole, Ba- 
 bylon is so utterly annihilated, that even the place where this 
 wonder of the world stoodi cannot now be determined with 
 any certainty ." 
 
140 
 
 the divine unity and perfection^ amidst 
 the ignorance and idolatry of the sur- 
 rounding nations. * 
 
 * 
 It jefnains, briefly to state the testiniony 
 which is home to the divine mission of Christ, 
 by the proptets of the Jewish dispensation. 
 
 Our Lord and his apostles continually 
 appeal to tho, Jewish scriptures, as to a 
 direct and proper proof of the divinity of 
 his mission. " Search the scriptures, for 
 they testify of me." " Had ye believed Moses, 
 ye would have believed me, for he wrote of 
 me." These are the vvords of Jesus, him- 
 self 2'. And the apostle Paul reasoned with 
 the Jews at Thessalonica out of the scrip- 
 tures, " opening and alleging, that Christ 
 must needs have suffered, and risen again 
 from the dead; and this Jesus whom I 
 preach unto yov/, is the Christ ^2." 
 
 Now, that there are declarations and 
 prophecies in the Old Testament, which 
 
 *' 'John V, 39. 46,47. '* Acts xvii. ^ 3. 
 
141 
 
 are calculated to excite an expectatidil 
 of the appearance of a great prophet and 
 lawgiver, about the time when Jesus ex- 
 ercised his personal itiinistry among them, 
 •is evident, from, the well known and un- 
 deniable fact, that such an expectation was 
 actually excited. That this expectation pre- 
 vailed among the Jews 'of that age, is in- 
 contestahly manifest from the testimony 
 of the christian scriptures ^3, and the 
 history of Jos'ephus ^. It was with diffi- 
 culty jthat. . '. the multitude, after seeing 
 our Lord's miracles, were prevented from 
 acknowledging him as the expected de- 
 liverer, and from compelling him to assume 
 
 " See Matt. ii. 2— 6. Luke ii. 25, 26. 38. iii. 15* John 
 j. 19j-25. vi. 14, 15. X. 24. Lukexix. 11. Acts xxyi. 7, 
 That the Messiah was expected hj the Samaritans as well as 
 the Jews, and under the character of £i prophet, as well as- 
 that of a temporal prince, appears from John iv. 25.- 29. 42. 
 
 ** Josepkus says, " But that which principally- encouraged 
 them to.the war, was aji ambiguou-s oracle found' likewise in 
 the. sacred w^fitings, that about that time, some one froa; their 
 country should obtain the empire of the' -World. This they 
 understood to belong^ to themselves ; and iriany of the wise 
 men were mistaken in their Judgment of it, for tlie oradlf in- 
 tended Vespasian's gOYermndnt, who was proclaimed emperor 
 ia Judea." Josephus de Bell. Jud. j. vi. c. 7. sect. 4, 
 
142 
 
 the character of a prince and a conqueror. 
 It is even certain, that this expectation pre- 
 vailed among the heathen nations in the 
 vicinity of Judea. Tacitus ^^ relates, that 
 great numbers were persuaded, that it had * 
 been foretold in the ancient and sacred 
 volume of the priests, that at that very time, 
 the East , should rise to great power ; and 
 that some from Judea should have dominion 
 over the world. ; And Suetonius '^ adds, 
 that this was an ancient and uniform tra- 
 dition throughout the East. These writers, 
 naturally enough, apply the predictions to 
 Vespasian and Titus ; but they acknowledge 
 that the Jews understood them differently, 
 and applied the prophecies to a deliverer of 
 their own nation. 
 
 " Pluribus persua'sio inerat, ant!qu!s sacerdotum literis 
 contineri, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judxa rerum po- 
 tirentur. Quae ambages Vespasiapum ac Tituna pradixerant. 
 Sed vulgus inore humanse cupiditatis, sibi tantum Fatorum 
 magnitudinem interpretati, ne adversis quidem ad vera mu- 
 tabantur. Tacit. Hist. 1. v. c. 1 3. 
 
 '* Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse 
 in fatis, ut eo teJnpore Judza profecti rerum potirentur. Id 
 de imperatore R. quantuip eventu postea prsedictum patuit. 
 Judei ad se trahentes, rebellarunt. Sueton. Vit. VeSp. c. 4. 
 
143 
 
 The question therefore to be considered 
 is, what are those passages in the Jewish 
 scriptures which laid the foundation for 
 this general expectation ; or, in other words, 
 what are the prophecies of the Messiah in 
 the Old Testament ^7 ? 
 
 Now, in the first place, it is proper to pre- 
 mise, that these prophecies cannot be so 
 numerous as many apprehend : for our Lord, 
 in a short walk of an hour or two, from 
 Jerusalem to Emmaus, began with Moses, 
 and expounded them all to the two disciples 
 whom he joined on the road ^^. 
 
 It is also necessary to remark, that we 
 are not to expect that the prophecies 
 
 *' See upon this subject Bishop Chandler's Defence of 
 Christianity, chap, i. ii. Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel 
 History, part. i. took i. chap. 5. 
 
 " Emmaus was at the distance of about seven miles and a 
 half from Jerusalem, Luke xxiv. 13. See Bp. Pearce in loc. 
 The party could hardly be supposed to ocpupy more than two 
 or three hours in walking to this village, and in that short space 
 of time, our Lord enumerates, and expounds, all jihe prophe- 
 cies relating to himself, that were to be found in the Jewish 
 scriptures, ver. 27. a Jjlain proof, surely, thay these prophecies 
 are not so numerous as many well-neaming persons believe, 
 
144 
 
 febould be S6 clear and distinct, as td be 
 perfectly intelUgible previous to the event t 
 for in this case, they must often hav§ de* 
 feated their own purpose : it being certain, 
 as the apostle well observes, that, if the 
 Jews had known Jesus to be the Messiah, 
 they " would not have crucified the Lord of 
 Glory ~9." The Jews must inevitably have 
 misunderstbod their own prophecies : their 
 interpretations therefore must certainly bw 
 erroneous, and o'ught not to be admitted 
 as a rule of judgment by christian expo- 
 sitors. All that can in reason be expected 
 is, that the prophets should describe cir^- 
 cumstances which coincide in the person 
 of' Jesus of Nazareth, and in no other 
 person that ever existed. I sliall select a 
 few of the most important, and of those 
 which are commonly allowed to be the 
 most direct prophecies of Christ,^ which 
 are contained in the scriptures of the Old 
 Testament; and shall recite them in the 
 words of the most approved translations, 
 with little comment : leaving them to make 
 their own proper impression. 
 
 •* 1 Cor. ii. 8. 
 
14^ 
 
 *rhe first which I shall produce, is that 
 celebrated prophecy;' delivered by Moses, 
 Deut. xviii. 17 — 19, and applied to Christ 
 by the apostle Petef, Acts iii. 22 j and by 
 the holy martyr Stephen, chap. vii. 37. 
 *' And the Lord said unto me, I will raise 
 them up a prophet from among their 
 brethren, like unto thee ; and I will put 
 my words into his mouth, and he shall 
 ^peak unto them all that I command him : 
 and it shall come to pass, that whosoever 
 will not hearken to my words, which he 
 shall speak in my name, I will require it 
 •ofhim^o." ' 
 
 . This, ?ay some, refers to a succession of 
 prophets, w}^ should teach the word of 
 God to the Israelites. But, to say the 
 least, the words apply more directly to an 
 individual, than to a collective body; an(J 
 the apostle's authority ought surely to be 
 admitted as of some Weight, especially 
 
 ^ See Bishop Newton, ibid. Diss, vu Bp. Chandler's De- 
 fence, p. 303 — 307. Jordn's Remarks on Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory, p. 196. 22?. 
 
146 
 
 when it is, in fact, most agreeable to the 
 construction of the text. ' 
 
 I next appeal to that celebrated pro- 
 phecy, which is contained in' the latter 
 part of the fifty-second arid the whole of 
 the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah: it is a 
 description which literally applies to Jesus 
 of Nazareth, and to no other person whcv 
 ever lived in the worW'. The Jews, for 
 the reason I have already mentioned, . mis- 
 understood it, or it could never have re- 
 ceived its proper accomplishinent. But, 
 that any learned christian expositors should 
 have adopted their erroneous interpreta- 
 tions, and have deprived the christian 
 religion of one of the stron^t testimonies 
 from the prophecies of the Jewish scriptures. 
 
 *' " The applicatton of thts prophecy to the evangelic 
 history," says Dr. Paley (vol. ii. p. 6.) "is plain and appro- 
 priate. Here is nodouble sense, no figurative language, but 
 what is sufEciently intelligible to every reader of every country. 
 ^The expressions which require ajcnowledge of local diction, 
 and of local allusion, are few, and not of great importance; nor 
 have I found, that varieties of readings or a different construing 
 of the original, produce a!ny material alteration in the sense of 
 the prophecy." 
 
147 
 
 is -truly surprising ^s. I shall produce a 
 quotation from this prophecy, from the 
 correct version of ai late learned, judicious, 
 and indefatigable inquirer into the holy 
 scriptures ; who was also a rational and 
 an eminent christian,, and for many years 
 a very respectable member of this con- 
 gregation^. 
 
 God is first introduced as speaking. 
 " Behold my servant shall prosper : he 
 
 ** The Jews interpret this prophecy of the sQfierings of their 
 nation, and ojf its ultimate restoration and prosperity. Dr. 
 Priestley adopts the same interpretation, which he think; best 
 suits the connection. See his Notes on the Scriptures. Grotius 
 applies the prophecy to Jeremiah, and ultimately to Christ. 
 ~ RosenmuUer, and other German critics, conceiveof the whole 
 book, from the fortieth chapter to the end, as not ha.ving been 
 Written by Isaiah, but by some Jew after the Babylonian cap- 
 tivity. The evidence ■which these learned critics have to pro- 
 duce, in favour of this novel and extraordinary hypothesis, has 
 not, I believe, yet appeared in this country ; at least, I have.' 
 not had the good fortune to meet with it. _ 
 
 *' Michael Dodson, Esq. barrister at law, nephew to the 
 ^te celebrated Mr. Justice Foster. He was well skilled in the 
 Hebrew language, and' devoted much of his leisure time to the 
 -study of the scriptures. He published a New Translation of 
 Is^ah, A. D. 1790, which, generally speaking, is a consider- 
 able improvement upon the elegant translation of Bisi^ 
 Lowth. 
 
 l2 
 
148 
 
 shall be raised aloft and magnified, and 
 very highly exa.lted. As many persons 
 will be astonished at him^ to such a de- 
 gree will his countenance be dis^gured, 
 more than that of man, and his form more 
 than that of the sons of men : so, many 
 nations shall look on him with admiration : 
 even kings shall shut their mouths. For 
 they to whom nothing has been told con- 
 cerning him shall see, and they who have 
 not heard shall understand." 
 
 After this the Messiah, the holy person 
 who is the subject of the prophecy, is in- 
 troduced coniplaining, "O Jehovah, who 
 hath believed out report, and to whom 
 hath the arm of the Lord been mani- 
 fested?" 
 
 't' 
 
 ^The prophet then speaks in his own perr 
 son, as one transported in vision to the 
 times of the Messiah, and describing what 
 he himself saw. " For he grew up in his 
 sight as a tender sucker, and as a root 
 from a thirsty soil : he had no form, nor 
 any beauty, that we should regard 1biim ; 
 
1"49 
 
 nor was hii appearance such that we 
 should desire him. Despised nor ac- 
 counted in the number of men ; a man 6^ 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief; and 
 as pne, who hid his face from us, he was 
 despised, and we esteemed him not. 
 Surely, our infirmities he took away, and 
 our sicferiesses he removed j yet we thotight 
 him judicially stricken, smitten of God, 
 and ajBSicted. But he was wounded for 
 our transgressions, he was bruised for our 
 iniquities, the discipline by which our 
 peace was effected was upon him, and by 
 his bruises we are healed* We, all of us, 
 as sheep have strayed : we have turned 
 aside every one to his own way, and Je- 
 hovah has laid on him the iniquity of us 
 all. He was brought forth, and being 
 questioned he opened not his mouth '^*. As 
 a lamb he was led to the slaughter; and 
 
 '* He was brought forth, and being questioned, &c. This 
 alteration was suggested to Mr. Dodson, by his learned friend 
 Dr.'Kennicott, and he expected to have found a vindicatiph 
 of it in that great scholar's posthumous work. But ia this lie 
 was disappointed ; he has, however, himself produced very 
 plausible arguments for the most material alterations from the 
 common version. 
 
^ 150 
 
 as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so 
 he opened not his mouch. la his humili- 
 ation his condemnation was extorted ^^i 
 arid the men of his generation who will be 
 able to describe ^^ ? for his life was cut off 
 from the earth ; through the wickedness of 
 my people, was he smitten to d^ath^''. 
 And he was placed with wicked men in his 
 death, and with a rich man is his sepulchre; 
 
 '* His condemnation was extorted. Bishop Lowth's trans- 
 lation is, "-By an oppressive judgment he was taken off;" but 
 Mr. Dodson has ably vindicated the alteration which he has 
 introduced, upon the authority of the LXX, and of Acts viii, 
 33. It refers to the eagerness with which a: sentence of condem, 
 nation upon',Christ was extorte4 from the Roman governour. 
 
 ^ The men of his generation, &c. Bishop Lowth's transla- 
 tion is, "and the manner of his life who would declare?" 
 which he explains by a lying tradition contained in the Talmud, 
 that no one would appear to bear testimony to the character 
 of Jesus. But thpugh die Bishop defends his interpretation 
 with great ingenuity and learning, Mr. Dodson's is both a 
 more obvious and a more pertinent translation of the text; 
 and he refers it, with great propriety, to the extreme profligacy. 
 of the Jewish nation in the age of the Messiah : which he 
 illustrates by the well-knoyra passage from Josephus de Biell. 
 Jud. 1. v. c. 13. sect. 6. 
 
 *J Smitten to death. Though tliis is not the reading of any 
 Hebrew manuscript, now extant, there is great reason to be- 
 lieve it was the reading of Qrigen's copy, and it is adopted by 
 Dr. Kehnicott and Dr. Lowth. See De Rossi Var. Lect. 
 
151 
 
 # 
 
 Although he had done no wrong,! neither 
 was guile found in his mouth ; yet, it 
 pleased Jehovah to crush him -vflth. aflflic- 
 tiMi38.". 
 
 Jehovah is now introduced again, fore- 
 telling the exadtation and future ^glory of 
 the Messiah, and the extent and universa- 
 lity of his authority ; w^ich necessarily im- 
 plies, though it does not directly express, 
 his resurrection from the dead. " Since he 
 is made an offering for sin, he shall see 
 his seed, he shall prolong his days, and' 
 the gracious purpose of Jehovah shall pro- 
 sper in his hand. Of his labour, }\q shall 
 see the fruit and be satisfied. By his know- 
 ledge, my servant shall turn many to righ- 
 teousness, and their iniquities he shall 
 bear away. Therefore I will distribute to 
 him the many for his portion, and the 
 
 *• The learned author introduces here the two first verses of 
 cbapw ItiV which -he interprets as a prophecy of Qhrist's resur- 
 rection : but though it is probable, that these verses are not 
 in their proper i^ce, I cannot say that I feel satisfied with the 
 reasons assigned for inserting them in this connection, in con* 
 tradiction to all manuscripts, and to eyery ^nci^iic version. 
 
 8 
 
152 
 
 mighty he shall share as a spoil, because 
 he gave himself up to death, and was 
 numbered with transgressors, and he took 
 away the sins of many, and made' inter- 
 cession for the transgressors." 
 
 This prophecy is so clear and explicit, 
 that it may be safely left to speak for itself : 
 it is often, and justly appealed to. by the 
 apostles and evangelists : • and when .Phi- 
 lip, by the immediate direction ^f the ;holy 
 spirit, went to preach the gospel to the 
 •Ethiopian,, noblen^an, he found him in his 
 chariot, reading this very prophecy,, and 
 beginning from this memorable -passage, 
 he preached to him the gospel of Jesus ^. 
 
 It may still be asked what prophecy de- 
 Jines the time when the jMessiah was to ap- 
 pear, and, what could excite that genefal 
 expectation of the_ event, which prevailed 
 at the time of Christ's personal ministry ? I 
 acknowledge that I can discover no just 
 foundation for this expectation, but in the 
 
 * Matt, viii, 17. Mark xv. 2», Luke xxK. 37. Acts viii, 
 
 30—35. 
 
153 
 
 prophecy of Daniel, concerning the se- 
 venty weeks : which incjee^i our Lord hini'* 
 self expressly . cijtes as predicting the siege 
 of Jerusalem by the Romans*''. It is in- 
 deed a prophecy of considerable difficulty. 
 But, perhaps to the Jews of that age, it 
 was more intelligible than it is now to us. 
 Without supposing a wilful corruption of 
 the text, the carelessness of transcribers 
 where numeral characters are concerned, 
 might produce a degree of incorrectness, 
 which the ingenuity of modern criticism 
 may not be able to decy pher. But I will 
 state the interpretation, which appears to 
 me the most -plausible, from, the version of 
 a late eminent and learned professor of the 
 university of Oxford *'. 
 
 *° Matt. xxiv. 15. When ye seethe abomination of desola- 
 tion, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, 
 &c. Comp. Dan, ix. 27- 
 
 *' Dr. Blayney, late fellow of Hertford college, and pro- 
 fessor of Hebrew in the university of Oxford, who published 
 his Dissertation upon this difficult and injportant prophecy, 
 A. p. 1775, in whic;h he has with great labour find ingenuity 
 corrected the text from some ancient Hebrew manuscripts, 
 and from •yvhat is supposed to be the genuine Septuagint Ver- 
 sion, found in ths Chigi library, and published at Rome, 
 A. X). 11%2, Th^re is so great a disagreement in the copies 
 
154 
 
 The prophecy is contained in the ninth 
 chapter of the book of Daniel, where it is 
 related, that this prophet consulting the 
 writings of Jeremiah, discovers that the 
 predicted seventy years of captivity were 
 concluded, upon which he offers up a 
 prayer to God for the Uberty and restora- 
 tion of his countrymen. At the conclusion 
 of the prayer^ an angel appears' to him in 
 vision, and communicates the divine ora- 
 cle and prophecy. 
 
 In the first place, in answer to his hum- 
 ble request, the angel assures him that his 
 countrymen should be soon restored to the 
 land of their ancestors, and that their long 
 and distressing captivity was neap its close. 
 
 v. 24. " Seventy complete years ^^ of rest 
 
 both of the Hebrew and the Greek, that I am by no means 
 convinced that the true and exact readmg or interpretation of 
 this prophecy h^s yet been extracted, or indeed ever will. But 
 the text, the translation, and the commentary of Dr. Blayney 
 appear to me to be by far the most judicious and the most 
 probable of any which 1 have yet seen. 'Dr. Wintlc in his 
 new Translation of Oaniel published A. D. 1792, has, unne- 
 cessarily, loaded the prophecy with a double sense. 
 
155 
 
 (or, desolation) hav€ been upon thypeoplej 
 , and upon thy holy city, to cheek the revolt, 
 and to put an end to sin, and to bring back 
 the righteousness of ancient times : and to 
 seal the divine oracle, and the prophet^ 
 (that is, to authenticate the prophecy of 
 Jeremiah,) and to anoint the most holy 
 things/' that is, to purify and consecrate 
 the Jioly place, Jerusalem and the temple. 
 
 After this, the angel interpreter proceeds 
 to announce the advent of the Messiah, 
 and the season when this great eveynt should 
 take place. V. 25, &c. 
 
 " And thou shalt know arid understand, 
 that from the going forth of a decree to re- 
 build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the prince, 
 shall be seventy and seven weeks, an^ 
 threescore aind two years *3: it shall be re- 
 
 , , p-^-; T— , _— . , 
 
 ■" Dr. Blayney's version is "seventy, seventy;" but as he 
 justly observes, the repetition of the same word is often used 
 '•mphatically, I have altered it to seventy complete years. 
 
 *• The LXX veysion of Daniel published at Rome, reads 
 " seventy and seven times, and three score and two years." 
 This is an important reading, which casts a new light upoa 
 the whole prophecy. 
 
156 
 
 built, stltl enlarging itself, iand becoming; 
 more and more considerable, even amidst 
 times of distress." 
 
 From the decree of Cyrus, which wa», 
 dated A..C. 536^ seventy-seven weeks 6f 
 years reach down to A. D. 4, and 62 years 
 more extend to A. D. 66^ which was the 
 year in which the war -svith the Romans 
 broke out During this, period, Jerusalem 
 flourished, ~ notwithstanding thfe wars in 
 which the Je'ws were engaged, and it became 
 a large, a strong, and an opulent city **; 
 
 "And after the times seventy and seven 
 and three score and two, Messiah shall cut 
 off from belonging- to him, both the cityj 
 and the sanctuary *^. The prince that shall 
 
 ** It may be diflScult to ascertain precisely the exact date' 
 from whenc^ the computationjivas to commence, or the exact 
 length of the prophetic yekr, whether for example it consisted 
 of 360, or 365 days ; but upon every supposition there seems 
 to be sufficient ground to excite' a general expectation of the 
 Messiah at the time of Christ's appearaflce. 
 
 *• This is an excellent interpretation, fully warranted by 
 the origmal, and certainly best ad^pt^d to the connection. 
 See Blayney's Dissertation, p. i?. 
 
157 
 
 tome shall destroy the people, and the 
 cutting off thereof, shall be with a flood (or 
 hostile invasion), and unto the end of a 
 war carried on with rapidity,' shall be de- 
 solation. But he shall confirm the cove- 
 nant with many for one week. And in the 
 -midst of the week, he shall cause the sa- 
 crifice and the meat offering to cease : and 
 the abomination of desolation shall be up- 
 on the border, (encompassing and pressing 
 closely upon the city,) and an utter end, 
 even a speedy one, shall be poured upon 
 the desolate." 
 
 The war lasted seven years: the chris- 
 tians, warned by Christ, escaped from the 
 calamities of their country ; ip. the niidst 
 of the war, A.D. 70, Jerusalem was taken, 
 sacked, and pillaged, the temple was com- 
 pletely demolished, and a final period was 
 put to the temple service '*''. 
 
 « Dr. Priestley, has published an admirable Dissertation 
 upon this prophecy in his Preliminary Observation to his 
 Harmony of the Evangelists, sect, S. He in the maiji agrees 
 with Vr. Blayney : but he dates the seventy-seven weeks from 
 
158 
 
 - Thus it appears, that the scriptures of 
 the Old Testament bear their testimony 
 to; the divine mission, and character of 
 Christ,^ and to the truth of his doctrine ^: 
 and iipon this foundation, in addition to 
 the evidences which I have before detail- 
 ed, we may safely build our faith and hope. 
 
 the decree of Darius Hystaspes, A. C. 510, and striking out 
 ten years from the usual but erroneous computation of the 
 reign of Xerxes, the period terminates A. P. 29, the very 
 year of the public ministry and death of Christ. 
 
 * On the subject of prophetic evidence, see Sherlock on 
 Prophecy ; Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, and 
 his Vindication of his Defence ; Bishop Newton's Dissertations 
 on the Prophecies ; and Bishop Kurd's, and other Discourses 
 at Bishop Warburton's X.ecture. 
 
159 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF THE CHRISTIAN 
 REVELATION. 
 
 TITUSii. 11—14. 
 
 FORj THK GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGETH SALVATION 
 BATH APPEARED UNTO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT, 
 DENYING UNGODLINESS AND WORLDLY LUSTS, WK 
 SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, A^D GODLY IN 
 THIS PRESENT WORLD. LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED 
 HOPE, EVEN THE GLORIOUS APPEARANCE OF THE GREAT 
 GOD, AND OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST; WHO GAVE 
 HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM 
 ALL INiaUITY, AND PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF A PECULIAR 
 PEOPLE, ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS. 
 
 Having, in the preceding discourses, 
 sated the evidences of the christian reve- 
 lation, I now propose briefly to represent 
 its moral use, both, in order to shew that 
 the prize for which we contend is of ines- 
 timable vahafi, and to obviate the objec- 
 tions of some who love to under-rate the 
 christian doctrine, • and to excuse their 
 own inattention to it, and indifference 
 
about it, hj treating ^it as a speculation af 
 no practical importance* 
 
 In the prosecution of this subject, it 
 will be proper in the first place, to take a 
 summary view /)f the leading articles of 
 the christian faith, and then, to consider 
 their tendency to meliorate the heart, and 
 to regulate the practice. 
 
 I. An enlightened and consistent cjiris- 
 tian believes, that there-is one God, one ori-, 
 ginal, eternal, immutable Being ; in whom, 
 unlimited intelligence and power are^com- 
 bined with unlimited benevolence ; whose 
 design and delight is to communicate 
 happiness. To which end, he has formed 
 a boundless universe, for the- sole purpose 
 of dispensing felicity to an innumeraffle 
 miikitude of percipient and ; intelligent 
 beings of different orders and degrees : and 
 out of all possible systems, has selected 
 that in which the greatest sum of virtue 
 and happiness would be eventually pro- 
 duced. Nor will he permit any mixture 
 of evil, natural oi^ moral, but what will 
 
161 
 
 tittimatefy be sub!5ei*vi6nt to Kis" benevo- 
 lent designs j and in his all-comprehend- 
 ing view^ all his creatures are, even now,' 
 possessed of that perfect happiness for 
 which they are Anally destined, and to 
 which tTieif wise j^nd benevolent Creator 
 and Father i§ conducting them, by various' 
 pi"ocesses df moral discipline and i'nlpi*oVe- 
 ment. 
 
 The well-informed christian'^ fiirthef be-' 
 lieves, from the instruction pf Christ, con- 
 tifmed" and exeniplified by hi^ resufrection 
 from the dead, that, though to outwaTd 
 appearance, death is the- destruction, both' 
 of the corporeal form, and of* the perci- 
 pient pfi6<:i*e' in m,an, there will, never- 
 theless, be a resurrection bbth of the just 
 and of the .unjust; that at this dXvfur 
 crisis, a select, but comparatively s"mall 
 propoftion of miankiridj* in coYiseqvtehte^ 
 of the viftiious' habits" which they- have' ac- 
 quired by the di'scipline of life, will be' 
 entitled to the rewaTd ptomised in the^ 
 gospel, arid will rmrrfediateiy be intro- 
 dticed' iiitb a state of s-trblime and coni- 
 
1&2 
 
 summate felicity, adapted to their reno- 
 vated nature ; but that the great mass of 
 mankind will, in consequence of the 
 unrepented vices, and unhallowed habits 
 and affections of thfeir probationary state, 
 be consigned to a cpndition of propor- 
 tionate and inexpressible remorsq and suf- 
 fering, till, in the end, all moral diseases 
 shall be cured, vice and misery shall be an- 
 nihilated, Christ shall subdue all things to 
 himself, death shall be swallowed up in vic- 
 tory, all the rational creation shall become 
 immutably virtuous and happy, and God 
 shall be all in all. 
 
 The enlightened believer in the christian 
 doctrine regards the practice ^f virtue as 
 the best means of happiness ; he perceives, 
 that the benevolent Author of nature has 
 constructed the franae of the human mind 
 with such wise ' and beautiful contrivance, 
 that the happiness of the individual is best 
 promoted, when; in the course of his cbn- 
 duGt, he divests hin^sfelf of all explicit 
 regard to it ; and, influenced by no mptive 
 but pure disinterested love to God. aild 
 
163 
 
 man, he devotes . himself wholly to the 
 service of his fellow- creatures, in the 
 sphere in which divine providence has 
 placed him, exerting his faculties- with the 
 utmost vigour for the general good, and 
 submitting cheerfully to the greatest pri- 
 va.tions, and the most costly sacrificeis, for 
 this purpose ; impressed with a firm con-i- 
 viction, that under the government ■ of 
 perfect -wisdom and benevolence, he can 
 never be ultimately a loser by pursuing, 
 to the utmost extent, the dictates of his 
 own kind and generous heart, and thus 
 co-operating with, arid acting in subser- 
 viency to, the great design of the divine 
 government. '. 
 
 II. These ^re the leading articles of the 
 faith of a truly rational and well-informed 
 be^ievec in the divine mission and doctrine 
 of Christ, and the direct and powerful 
 tendency of these sublime and animating 
 principles and expectations^ iS t-o renovate 
 the heart, and to form the character to the 
 love and practice of piety and .virtue : or, 
 m ihe apostle's language, to teach us to 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 deny all ungodliiless and worldly lusts, 
 and to live soberly, righteously, and godly 
 in. the present world, lodking for that 
 blessed hope. 
 
 First, with respect to godliness. Those 
 afFections of the heart, which are due to 
 the ; Supreme Being, and the cnltivation 
 of which will greatly contribute to ele- 
 vation of character, and to the consola- 
 tion and improvement of the well-disci- 
 plined mind, are chiefly these, Love and 
 Reverence, Gratitude, Confidence, Will- 
 ingness to obiey the divine commands, and 
 Resignation to the dispensations of divine 
 ,providence. 
 
 To love God, is to think upon him, his 
 attributes, and government, with compla- 
 cency and delight: and if we entertain 
 those sentiments of God^ which the chris-' 
 tian religion inculcates, it is impossible 
 not to love him : for God is Love. He 
 has no selfish ends in view, in his thoughts 
 and purposes towards the children of men. 
 He formed his creatures to naake therqi 
 
165 
 
 happy ; and- in due time his benevolent- 
 designs shall be carried into complete effect. 
 Under the habitual influence of these im- 
 pressions, it is impossible to think of God, 
 but with inexpressible delight. 
 
 But the Love" of God is, and in the 
 present imperfect state it necessarily must 
 be, tempered with, a certain degree of fear. 
 E'erfect love, indeed, casteth out fear: for 
 it moulds the . heart to' a complete confor- 
 «aity to the will of God. But fear is the 
 necessary concomitant of imperfect love, 
 and imperfect obedience. For it is the 
 established law of the divine government, 
 that the consequent, and cure, of all moral 
 evil shall be suffering : and experience too 
 plainly demonstrates, that it is no slight, 
 or transient process o^ discipline, which is 
 needful to the complete extirpation of 
 those follies and vices, which have taken 
 deep root in the human breast. And very 
 few have attained such consummate rec- 
 titude- of character, as not to be consci- 
 ous of something amiss, which requires to 
 be rectified; something imperfect, tv;hich 
 
166 
 
 needs to be improved. So that few, minds 
 can, or indeed, ought to be divested of 
 all anxiety, when they contemplate the 
 character and government of the Supreme 
 Being. Nevertheless, where there is a 
 consciousness of prevailing conformity to 
 the divine will, arid a firm conviction of 
 ^he infinite goodness of God, . all slavish 
 fear -will be excluded, and all that remain^ 
 will subside into reverential awe, which, 
 being blended with tlje delight which re- 
 sults from meditation upon the divine be- 
 nevplence, will produce that sublime senti- 
 ment of rational devotion, which, while it" fills 
 the mind with the most exquisite satisfiio- 
 tion, impose^ the most powerful restraint 
 upon every vicious affection, and every 
 criminal gratification. 
 
 Gratitude' is a generous and delightfiri 
 emption, which, in every virtuous and 
 feeling mind, associates itself with the. idea 
 -of a benefactor and a friend. And the 
 christian, who regards the Supreme Being 
 as the Author of his existence, and of all the 
 blessings of life : \yho: is persuaded, that he 
 
167 
 
 is brought into existence for^ no other pur- 
 pose than to be made virtuoms and happy : 
 who regards all present gratifications, as 
 earnests and pledges of something better 
 still in reversion : who has leatrned habitually 
 to regard even the disappointments and af- 
 flictions of life, as a wise and salutary dis- 
 cipline, intended to prepare and qualify him 
 for more exalted and permanent felicity, 
 cannot contemplate the kindness of his 
 great and munificent benefactor, but with 
 the most exquisite emotions of joy and 
 gratitude. 
 
 He that is persuaded that God governs 
 the world, that he invariably pursues the 
 plan originally selected by infinite wisdom 
 and benevolence, of which the happiness 
 of the whole is the main design, and that 
 of every individual forms a glorious and 
 essential part ; who firmly believes, that 
 through the whole range 6f intellectual 
 existence, nothing takes place fortuitously, 
 nothing unforeseen, or unproVided for, in 
 the scheme of all-comprehending wisdom ; 
 who believes that all the vriUs, of all 
 
subordinate agents, are mad^e subservient 
 ^to the great plan of providence, and that 
 vvhajteve^r their- individual views and pufr 
 poses maybe, they are all- occupy j.jig the 
 spheres respectively assigned to them, and- 
 Contributing their paxt, hpT,yever uninten- 
 tionally, to accomplish .the wise and kind 
 design of the Conductor of the universal 
 drama : he who entertains- these truly phir 
 losophical, and truly christian principles 
 and, viewv^, cannot but place unlimited 
 C07ifid6nc6 in the wisdoin and goodness of 
 God, and easily reconciles' himself ^o all 
 events, how contrary soever to- his own 
 wishes, views, and expectations. Willing^ 
 what God wilk, tl)^- ultimate virtue ■an4 
 happiness of al}, he is desirous that this 
 glorious terrpiination of the divine plan of 
 government should take place in.; the tirnp, 
 and way,, which unerring wisdom has se- 
 lected as the best. And, ; though tliere are 
 difficulties in the divine administration, 
 which no Jiunian sagacity can solvq, and 
 though eveiits ofteij occur whiclj, seem to 
 militate against the wisdom arid, bene vo- 
 leivce of the schem^ of providence^ yet. 
 
169 
 
 having formed his idea of the attributes 
 and government of God, from the most 
 enlarged views, and upon tjhe most sa- 
 tisfactory evidence, his pious, confidence 
 remains unshakei^. He still believes, that 
 all- will ultimately issue well : anid jf the 
 .ends of the divine government are nbt 
 accomplished in the mode, and by the in- 
 struments, which human sagacity would 
 have prescribed, he is pers;aadedj that they 
 will be eventually brought to pass, by better 
 means, at a better season, and by more 
 /efficacious instruments. His |ieart is £x^d, 
 trusting in G04. 
 
 Those views of the Supreme Being which 
 are exhibited in the gospel, likewise con- 
 ptitute a powerful n^ptive to cheerful,, 
 umform, and persevering obedience to his 
 revealed will, and to the resolute and ac- 
 tive discharge of the duties of l^fe, Th^ 
 true christian regards himself in this worl4 
 as the soldier at his post, whose honour and 
 Relight it is, tp yield implicit obedience 
 to the orders of him who* has assigned, and 
 who has a right to assign to him, his star 
 
170 
 
 tion and his duty. And he is encouraged 
 to this, by the consideration that the 
 commands of his sovereign Chief are not 
 grievous : that they are not arbitrary and 
 capricious, but wise and just : that, nothing 
 is required beyond his capacity and strength: 
 that, by voluntary obedience, he actively 
 co-operates with God in ' carrying ^ into 
 effect his wise and gracious designs : aqd 
 that, the more zealous and resolute he is 
 ip the pei'forman^e of duty, the greater 
 will be the peace and satisfaction of his 
 own mind : the more extensive his useful- 
 ness, the more acceptable will his conduct 
 be, and the more distinguished hisi final 
 reward. 
 
 Lastly, Right apprehensions of God, 
 such as the christian doctrine excites in 
 the, well-rinformed mind, will discipline 
 the heart to humble resignatioriy and to 
 dutiful acquiescence in the divine dispen- 
 sations ; it will bow the will of man to 
 the will of God. Affliction to such an 
 onp, wears a soothing and friendly aspect. 
 When deprived of those objects, which 
 
171 
 
 all who have the feelings of human nature 
 must hold dear : when stripped of fortune, 
 of liberty, or of fame: when bereaved of 
 tender relatives and faithful friends, he 
 submits with fortitude, not because ne- 
 cessity is uncontrolable, and grief is un- 
 availing, but, because he looks toi God 
 as the first Cause, and proper Author, of 
 all events; and he considers these afflic- 
 tive dispensations, as forming a ^ necessary- 
 part of a plan, upon the whole, the wisest 
 and the bestj and as what will ultimate- 
 ly prpve most beneficial even to himself. \ 
 And, if he should be disappointed in that 
 which lies nearest to his heart,, in any 
 schemes which he may have formed for 
 promoting the improvement and happi- 
 ness of his fellow-creatures, he is content 
 to be laid aside, happy in the conscious- 
 ness of his own intentions and exertions, 
 assured that he will not ultimately fail of 
 his promised reward, and rejoicing in the 
 persuasion, that God will never be at a 
 loss for 'carrying on, in the most effica- 
 cious manner, the cai:fse of truth and 
 
172 
 
 virtue, which is his own glorious cause, 
 and which must ultimately and universally 
 prevail. ^ 
 
 Secondly, The princi{)les of, the chris- 
 tian religion are a powerful mbtive tq social 
 virtue. ' , , 
 
 All social virtue is summed up in bene- 
 volence. The law of nature, and of rea- 
 son, requires us to promote the happiness 
 of all to the utmost extent of our 'capa.- , 
 city ; and similar to this is the requisition 
 of the christian law; "Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbouf as thyself." 
 
 The christian reHgion strictly enjoins an 
 inflexible regard to truth and fid^elity, to 
 justice, honour, and integrity, in all our 
 social transactions : to sympathy, libe- 
 rality,* and charity : to a faithful and con- 
 scientious discharge of, all relative and 
 social duties: i% absolutely prohibits all 
 falsehood, fraud, treachery^ malice, ha- 
 lted, . and revenge: it requires,, love to 
 
. 173 
 
 eneniies, active exertions in IdiDing; good, and 
 an habitual disposition to sarcrifice private 
 interest to public advantage. 
 
 The all- wise and benevolent Author of 
 nature has placed men in circumstances, 
 which necessarily generate the kind and 
 generous affections : and that^man is com- 
 monly most happy in himself, and most 
 esteemed and beloved by others, who ex- 
 erts himself most prudently and actively 
 in doing good, and who makes the greatest 
 sacrifice of his own interest, to the benefit 
 of others. The christian religion does 
 noti in the least degree, diminish the ob- 
 ligation of the law of nature ; on the con- 
 trary, it is intended to confirm iahd, esta- 
 blish it, and to enforce ks obligation by de- 
 monstrating iw justice and excellence, and by 
 evinciiig the wisdom of the moral constitu- 
 tion of the human mind. 
 
 ' Nothing can be more evident, than that . 
 in consequence of thosg * benevolent and 
 disinterested affections, which are una- 
 voidably generated by the circumstances.^ 
 
174 
 
 in which the)r are placed, and the impres- 
 sions to which they are exposed, men are 
 often induced to make great sacrifices of 
 ease and interest to the good of others, 
 where there is no probable prospect of ad- 
 equate recompence- Nor would it be easy 
 for such as reject the christian religipn, 
 anji with it the doctrine of a future life, 
 to show the propriety, or even the justice 
 of this constitution of nature, 'or the ob- 
 ligation which moral agents are under, to 
 make these great sacrifices to the good of 
 others. But the christian doctrine unravels 
 the mystery of human nature, and demon- 
 strates, that these generous propensities, 
 so beneficial to the species, are not injuri- 
 ous to the virtuous individual ; for, that 
 under the divine g^overntnent, no sacrifice 
 for the good of others, however valuable,- 
 shall fail of receiving ai^ adequate reward. 
 Thus it proves that self-love and social are 
 the same ; and, tea,ches its professors that 
 the wisest method of securing their o^wn 
 ultimate interest, is by self-annihilation j 
 that is, by an habitual readiness to make 
 every necessary sacrifice of temporary in- 
 
175 
 
 terest, and jpresent gratificat^qn, to the 
 sublime objejct of doing' good, of relieving 
 misery, and promoting happiAess. Hence 
 it is, that christian benevolence is a per- 
 manent and active principle: and that 
 the exercise of it is not obstructed, either 
 by the opinions of others, who are prone 
 to calumniate extraordinary efforts of dis- 
 interested virtue, or, by an undue regard 
 to self-interest, or, even by that which 
 too often occurs, and which tends more 
 than any other consideration to damp the 
 feelings of generosity, the insensibility, the 
 ingratitude, and the unkind returns, of 
 those for whose benefit, the tenderest so- 
 licitude has been felt, and the most unre- 
 mitting exertions have been made. For 
 the truly enlightened christian, whose heart 
 glqws with the genuine spirit of the gospel, 
 has no other vievv in the exercise of his be- 
 nevolence, than that of doing all the good 
 in his power, looking for no other reward, 
 'than the consciousness of his own kind 
 andi generous intention, and the ultimate 
 approbation of Him, to whom all hearts 
 
176 
 
 are open, all ' desires known, and from 
 ■whoiii no secrets aire hid. Hence he finds* 
 little difficulty in 'obeying the divine pre- 
 cept, which requires love ,to enemies : re- 
 garding all the malice and envy of men, 
 as founded in error, and injurious, only to 
 themselvfes, he is solicitous to apply lenitives 
 to this mental disease, by accumulated acts 
 of disihtere^ted kindness^ to melt the Cold, 
 ^or the malignant heart, into ingenuous con- 
 trition, and thus to overcome evil w^ith' 
 good. 
 
 The wqll-informedi and sincere believer 
 in Christ, regards all his fellow-creatures, 
 as children of the same parent, and destin- 
 ed, ultimately, to the same state of virtue 
 and happiness I' arid, where he, sees any 
 of his brethren wandering in the paths of 
 error and vicej promipted by generous 
 pity, he will earnestly use every" pfactica-' 
 ble means for their instruction aiad refor- 
 mation, that so, they may escape the fear- 
 ful doom to vs^hich they are hasting, and 
 the insufferable pains, which, by diviae* 
 
177 
 
 appointment, and in the nature of things, 
 are the inevitable consequence of unre- 
 pented vice. 
 
 How happy would this Wdrld be, if the 
 principles of the christian religion were 
 universally diffused, and suffered, without 
 controul, to produce their genuine effects ! 
 The selfish affections would all : be absorb- 
 ed in love to God, and 'benevolence to 
 man, and the primary concern of all, would 
 be to promote the happiness of all. Every 
 malignant passion would be extinguish- 
 ed : and love, and peace', and happiness 
 would universally prevail. What friend 
 to mankind would not wish to t accelerate 
 the approach -of this glprious and happy 
 state ? 
 
 Thirdly. SuCh is the direct and powerful 
 tendency of christian principles, to. produce 
 the divine and social virtues ; it is proper 
 to add, what indeed is sufficiently obvious, 
 that they equally tend to the encourage- 
 ment of ^Ae ^er-so/^iai lyir^Mes, of temperance, 
 purity, and self-government. Observation 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 and ex|>erience Combined with good sense 
 demonstrate the necessity of exercising a 
 strict discipline over the appetites and pas- 
 sions, without which there can be no tran- 
 quillity of mind, and no true enjoyment 
 of liffe. The christian revelation enforces 
 the same conclusion, by the authoritfy of 
 an omniscient God, and by the awJFul sanc- 
 tions of a future life. 
 
 From what has been advanced, we may 
 justly infer, that the character of an en- 
 lightened and consistent christian, is a 
 sublinie, a dignified, and an eminently 
 useful character: and that the tendency of 
 christian principles is to conduct the mind 
 to the highest attainments in wisdom a&d 
 virtue, and to elevate human nature, to its 
 happiest and most perfect state. 
 
 It is triie, that this effect is not com- 
 pletely produced in any human character, 
 and the history of the world supplies us 
 with ONE example only of consummate 
 virtue. But thoxigh, human frailty, under 
 the best culture, falls short ©f absolute 
 
-179 
 
 perfection, it is nevertheless evident that 
 the direct tendency of christian principles 
 is to meliorate an^je^alt ^e7!cjharacter, and 
 that in proportion as they prevail, they 
 g^ltly im^i'oVe' the condition^ both of 
 individuals and of society, though by coun- 
 tervaihhg influences, they ^jre prevented 
 from producing all those beneficial effects 
 to which they naturally tend. 
 
 ' If it'^ouid be alleged, that 'the light' of 
 nature lurnisnes sulfacient rnot|ves to virr 
 tue, independent of the christian revelj^- 
 tion, the propet' reply is, that the light of 
 liiittire' ca;i afford no satisfactory evidence 
 of the doctrine of a future life, without 
 which, the moral constitution of human 
 nature is an inexplicable enigma. The 
 christian revelation completely solves this 
 difficult "and interesting probletif, and by 
 extending the views and expectations of 
 mairi£nd, to a state of just retribution 
 beyond the grave, "it stamps an infinite 
 value upon the human character, and 
 cobcimunicates unspeakable energy to the 
 motives to virtue. 
 
 n2 
 
180 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 the subserviency px knowledge jo 
 
 ■ " ■ 'virtue. '■'"' ''^'' 
 
 , . ' ^ • ^i; T'. ■•no. ':,/.^ \ .■- v; . • 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TO A COURSE OF LECTURES Ui;ON 
 ' ' ', i THE CHRISTIAN stTRl'PTURES. 
 
 ;■■";. - : ' \ : ' Oi ij ' . - " ■ • ' 
 
 JOHN xvii. 3. 
 
 Afro THIS JS LIFE ETERN^I,, THAT T^EY MIGHT 
 KNO^V THEE, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST 
 WHOM Thou HAST SENT.' ' 
 
 As 1 am abotut to commence a course 
 of lectures, the design of yrfiich is to 
 communicate some ' useful knowledge to 
 those young persons, who, in a thoughtless 
 and dissipated age, are laudably studipus 
 of christian truth, it may not be improper, 
 by way «f introduction, to offer to, their 
 serious and candid attention, a few observa- 
 tions upon the. great importance of, moral 
 and religioti?. knowledge, and to shovf how 
 essential right septimeijits are to a right 
 practice,^ and to the attainment of the ul- 
 timate and complete reward of virtue. 
 Agreeable to this is-thp declaration of our 
 
181 
 
 Lord, which I have just read, that this is 
 life eternal, qr, in other j words, the best 
 means of attaining eternal happiness, name- 
 ly^ to know thee, the only true Godi to 
 form j\ist ■ and honourable conceptions j of 
 the divine character, and Jesus Christ,, 
 whom thou hastsent, to be duly ?icquaint- 
 ed with the itiission and doctrine of Christ, 
 the prophet and messenger of God. For 
 t^iis knowledge, these right apprehenjsions 
 concerning God and Christ, are the proper 
 basis 'of that excellence of character, that 
 hoUness of heart artd life, which, by the 
 tenor of the gospel covenant, is the essentia 
 qualification -for future felicity. 
 
 Knowledge is the perception of truth, 
 or, the right apprehension of the es^istence, 
 the properties, the powers, and the ten- 
 dencies of things. It is acquired by expe- 
 rience, and observation^ by xeasoniiag, and 
 testimony. ,fTjG; 
 
 It has been well observed by the father 
 of modern philosophy, that^ knowledge 
 is pov^fer. The justice of this maxim is 
 
182 
 
 universally all6wed. in ■ physics ; arid in th3 
 moral world, it may, with equal propriety 
 be asserted, that knowledge: is virtue., Orv 
 in other words, that moral asnd religious 
 knowledge, is as intimately connecied with 
 the practice of virtue j and ks essential to 
 it, as the knowledge of the powers of nature 
 is with the invention and improvement of 
 tlie arts and manufactures, and to the pur- 
 j^Oses of human life. Hence it is, that in 
 the proverbs of Solomon, virtue- 1 is uni- 
 formly distinguished by the name of wis- 
 dom, and vice, by, that of folly. , .. '. . 
 
 Virtue, is that combinatianr of habits, 
 and course of conduct, which is produce- 
 tive of the greatest ultimate happiness of 
 man. Vice, is the reverse of this-: it is that 
 system &f habits, and that tenor of con- 
 dtitt, which tends to misery, or, at least, 
 to the diminution of happiness. And the 
 very definitions of both, obviously point 
 out the direct and , necessary tendency of 
 moral and religious knowledge,: to r> virtue 
 and happiness, and of igndrance anderro'f,. 
 , to vice apd misery. '»-i. .al 
 
183 
 
 The objects of knowledge are vafibus : 
 and though all are in some jdegree con- 
 nected with each other, yet as the human 
 mind is contracted in iscs comprehension, 
 no individual can embrace the whole com- 
 pass of science, and indeed, very few can 
 comprehend any considerable variety of 
 subjects. It is not then every kind of know- 
 ledge which is productive of virtue, but 
 chiefly, that of which virtue is the princi- 
 pal topic, the science, as it may propeirly 
 be called, of theology and morals.: the sub* 
 limest of all sciences,, and perhaps not the 
 most easy of attainment, at least, if we 
 judge by the gross errors into which many 
 persons, and those not always the most ig- 
 norant and illiteratej fall upon these subjects. 
 It is a common opinion that knowledge 
 has little or no connection with virtue, and 
 piety, because men who ^xcel in abstract, 
 or physical science, sometimes appear to 
 be sceptics in religion, and defaulters in 
 virtue. This, iiowever, is not a fair con- 
 clusion ; for how profound soever the spe- 
 culations of such persons may be upon 
 _<^ther subjects, tliey are <?ftefi m^e novices 
 
184 
 
 in the science of morals, and striplings in 
 the truest and the best philosophy. But, 
 that a person who has paid the same atten- 
 tion to these interesting subjects, which is 
 directed by others to those branches of sci- 
 ence in which they are ambitious to excel, 
 and, who in consequence of impartial and 
 laborious inquiry, has attained just senti- 
 ments of religion and morals, should, at 
 the same time, be practically vicious, is, 
 I believe, a very uncommon case. I will 
 not say that it has never happened. But, 
 it is most certain, that persons of this 
 description must have been placed in cir- 
 cumstances peculiarly disadvantageous, if 
 these circumstances were capable of coun- 
 teracting the valuable impressions, which 
 are the natural result of the steady, ha- 
 bitual contemplation of itioral truth. 
 
 True science is equally remote from 
 credulity, and from scepticism. It be- 
 lieves nothing without proper evidence. 
 It rejects nothing which is proved by sound 
 argument. It seeks only for truth ; and 
 examines every question impartially, and 
 
185 
 
 with attentipn proportioned to its impof^ 
 tance. Nothing is more easy, and nothing 
 more common^ than the two extremes, of 
 believing every thing, ^ndbejiieving nothing. 
 But, as both are inconsistent v^ith sound 
 judgment, so both are unfavourable to 
 the formation of a virtuous and elevated 
 character. 
 
 The most commpn case is that of credu- 
 lity. Most persons content themselves with 
 believing all that they have been taught ; 
 they have had no opportunity of inquiring 
 into the truth of their opinions ; it has 
 never occurred to thepi, that their creed- 
 may be erroneous, and they are offended 
 with those who woiald put them upon in- 
 quiry into subjects, which they are willing 
 to believe to be of no great importance, 
 or which they regard as too sacred to be 
 meddled^ with, and too firmly estabUshed 
 to be disputed. 
 
 This state of mind is perhaps excusable 
 in persons of a certain age, whose pre- 
 judices are inyeteratjs and incurable; who 
 
186 
 
 have never been in the habits of inquiry 
 and reflection, in whom a revolution of 
 opinion would not be accomplished with- 
 out great difficulty, and would be attended 
 with little practical advantage. Persons 
 of this description may well be permitted 
 to pass on to the- close of life unmolested. 
 The active and enlightened friends of 
 truth must not, indeed, expect always to 
 escape the censure of suth, even while 
 they respect their prejudiqes ; but such 
 censures they may return with pity. To 
 such persons, the rapid progress of chris- 
 tian knowledge, the light of which is so 
 offensive to their dim intellectual eye, and 
 the advancement of which is so little im- 
 peded by their feeble opposition, is itself a 
 sufficient punishment. 
 
 But the apology which is admissible fot 
 advanced age, is by no means to be al- 
 lowed in the prime of life, and in the vi^ 
 gour .of the faculties. You, my youngj 
 friends, have, no doubt, been educated 
 by your virtuous relatives in that system 
 of doctrine which they thought most 
 8 
 
187 
 
 agreeable to truth, and most favourable 
 to virtue ; and happy will it be, if after 
 due examination, you shall see ^reason to 
 retain and acquiesce in it as such. This 
 is a privilege beyond the common lot, 
 which you cannot too highly Value, and 
 for which you can hardly be sufficiently 
 thankfuii. But, if you regard your repu- 
 tation amongst the truly wise, or your 
 peace of mind, and your usefulness in 
 life, be assured, that you must not take 
 your religious principles upon trust. You 
 havfe leisure, ability, and opportunity to 
 inquire, . and the subject is of sufficient 
 importance. to challenge yojir most serious 
 attention^ ' It is, therefore, your indis- 
 pensable dut^^j for the faithful discharge, 
 of which you. are responsible to God and 
 man, to pass in review the moral and 
 theological principles of your education, 
 that you may retain^ and impress deeply 
 upon your, memory and heart, those Which 
 upon inquiry; appear to be tru« and im- 
 portant ; and may, after due examination,, 
 discard those principles, however cherished 
 or pa troni^edj, which are found torbe 6r- 
 
188 
 
 roneous, or unsupported by competent: 
 evidence. 
 
 There is, however, another extreme, 
 equally dangerous with that of credulity j 
 and against which, in times like the pre- 
 sent, it is equally necessary to be upon 
 the guard. I mean that of scepticism — 
 of believing nothing : an extreme this, to 
 which, in the present age, there is a pe- 
 culiar tendency. There is, sometimes, in 
 mind, an inertia similar to that of matT- 
 ter. When it has once taken a direction, 
 it is with difficulty stopped. Young per- 
 sons^ when they begin to review the prin- 
 ciples of their early years, and see reason 
 to discard one prejudice after another, 
 are sometimes ready to save themselves 
 the trouble of further research, by dis- 
 carding every thing at once ; especially, if 
 they conceive, thiat they may be able at 
 this. cheap rate to purchase the reputation 
 of a philosophical superiority to vulvar 
 prejudice. ' 
 
 It is, however, plain, that no mind is 
 
189 
 
 so feeble as not to be capable of such ' an 
 effort, or rather, of such a 'want of effort, 
 as this. For to believe nothing, all that 
 is necessary is, not to think nor to inquire 
 about any thing : and I have- no doubt, 
 that scepticism is much more frequently 
 the result of indolence, or inattention, than 
 of inquiry. One thing, however, is selfi> 
 evident : that unbelief is not knowledge; 
 for real knowledge consists in the percep- 
 tion of truth, in discriminating evidence, 
 in rtetaining what is established by proof, 
 in rejecting what is erroneous, anji in sus- 
 pending the assent where evidence is doubt- 
 ful. And, this sta:te of mind is only to 
 be attained by patient thought, by diligent 
 inquiry, and by serious impartial exami- 
 nation. 
 
 The great . iquestion, of which we are 
 now seeking the true solution, is this: 
 What afe the best means of securing, to 
 every individual, ^his own greatest ulti- 
 mate felicity? This is a /question of the 
 highest importance. It is a problem which 
 is worth solving. Tor, happiness is the 
 
only quality whicli gives value to exist- 
 .ence, and without wrhiqjj, vbe&ng vyrould 
 not be worth acceptance, , ;yi 
 
 Nor is the, solution of tHis interesting 
 question!. quite so easy as many seem.; to 
 apprehend ; nor, indeed, is it reasbnaW^ito 
 expect that it shQuld.be- eflfectedr JV^ilfeoiit 
 labour : for, is it easy to .ascertain the 
 surest method of attaining success in aaiy 
 ?rt or science, in any v occupation or profes- 
 sion in life ? Is it then reasojaable to expect, 
 that the sublimest of all sciences, the sj-Qst 
 useful of all arts, the science of moral 
 wisdom, the art of securing the highest 
 happiness, should be acquired without pro- 
 portionable exertion of aieptal vigour and 
 active research? 
 
 \ \ 
 
 
 How stands the fact ? Are there many 
 who succeed in the arts of life ? Are there 
 many fortunate candidates for the prize 
 of opulence, of ambition, of fame, or of 
 science ? Are there not multitudes who 
 start in the race, and, but few who reach 
 the goal ? A.nd is happiness, the highest 
 
191 
 
 happiness f of men, a prize more easily 
 attainable than, honour and i wealth ? Are 
 we not taught by the highest authority, 
 th%t " strait is the gaUe, and narrow is the 
 way that leads to life, and few there be 
 who find it ?" And does not universal ex* 
 perience confirm the awful declaration ? 
 
 I now proceed to state some of the most 
 important articles, concerning which, it is 
 of the highest moment to attain correct 
 and satisfactory information, in order^ to 
 guide the footsteps in -the search after 
 happiness ; . and the true knowledge of 
 which, is essential to the attainment of 
 moral excellence. , And 
 
 r I. First, It -is necessary to attain correct 
 notions concerning the existence, the cha- 
 racter, and the government of God. 
 
 • 1. You have always been taught to be- 
 lieve in the existence of an original and Al- 
 mighty Being ; your Creator, Preserver, and 
 Benefactor i You cannot even recollect the 
 time when you did not admit this impolr- 
 
192 
 
 tant truth, nor the manner in which it was 
 first implanted in ydttr breast. And great, 
 my young friends, are youf obligations ta 
 your virtuous parents and instructors, for 
 the jbenevolent' pains which they, have 
 taken to impress this ^first and best prin- 
 ciple early and deeply upon your hearts. 
 But, it is now your duty to bring even 
 this doctrine, sacred and important as it 
 is, to the. test of reason: that your faith, 
 as .reasonable beings, may rest upon ra- 
 tional principles^ and not upon "human 
 authority, however great and respectable. 
 Nor need you hesitate' to enter upon the 
 inquiry ; for, truth never shuns the light ; 
 but invites, and will stand the test of, the 
 severest examination. You will think 
 therefore, and you will read, Upon this 
 important question : and I have no doubt^ 
 that you will speedily attain rational sa- 
 tisfaction. The footsteps of a God are 
 imprinted upon all the works of nature ; 
 and, you v/ill readily conclude, that if a 
 watch, a house, or a ship, could not begin 
 to exist without a designing cause, much 
 less^ could . the . infinitely . more curious 
 
193 
 
 structure of a vegetable, of an animal, or 
 of a human being, rise into existence of 
 itself, without the intervention of intel- 
 ligence or power. And the more you re- 
 flect upon these, and other arguments for 
 the divine existence, the greater satisfaction 
 you will attain. 
 
 , 2. Having thus settled in your minds, 
 a firm conviction of the existence of an 
 original, intelligent, and powerful Being, 
 upon whom you, and all creatures, depend 
 for existence and happiness, your next in- 
 quiry will be, into the character of this Al- 
 mighty Sovereign ; for by knowing this, you 
 will learn what chance you stand for happi- 
 ness, and by what means you may obtain 
 the favour of him who has the entire dis- 
 posal of your lot. 
 
 The next question, therefore, the true 
 solution of which you will anxiously in- 
 vestigate, will be. What is God ? Of his 
 existence, I am certain. Of his intelligence 
 and .power, I can entertain no reasonable 
 (iloubt. But, what is the true character of 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 this great and awful Being? And what 
 are his purposes towaards his creatures ? Is 
 he, as -some love to represeiait him, ajtt ar>- 
 bitrary and maiigsaant tyrant? Has he 
 forimed an universe for the purpose of 
 dooming his creatures to hopeless and eteaiial 
 misery, with the exception of a chosen few, 
 whom he has selected by arbitrary will to 
 Ufe and happiness ? 
 
 If, indeed, you find reason to believe:, 
 that this is a jnst' character of the Maker 
 and Lord of all, "very trifling, and veiy 
 precarious, will be your chance of escape 
 from the general wreck. And if you have 
 the feeliings of humanity, yqu will oon- 
 temiplate such a Being with horror and 
 indignation ; the thought of God muBt be 
 a, constant source of terror and dismay, 
 and the lot of reasonable creatures will be 
 a thousand fold more pitiable than that of 
 the unreflectiog brute. Nay, if you should 
 even ^rsuade yourselves of the very im- 
 probable fact, that you are yourselves of 
 the small number of the elect ; if you ai^ 
 not lost to iervery feeling of compassion, 
 
195 
 
 tifi sad persuasioji, diat tkis great mass of 
 |rour feWo^-creatwes- are idaomed to in- 
 evitable, intoil&rable, and everlasting mi- 
 sery, wiU absorb the transports df joy 
 which you may occasionally experience, 
 from the fand expectation of your own more 
 favoured lot. Or, which is perhaps still more 
 likely to happea, you will learn from th* 
 exampile of your Maker, to hate those who 
 are hated by him, and to feel a malignant 
 satisfaction in the contemplation of their 
 approaching ruin. 
 
 But ibefcaJe, you finally acquiesce in these 
 jglocmiy and revolting conceptions of the 
 divine <;haracEer, whix:h must necessarily 
 cast a sh^e of the deepest horror over 
 every stage of your existence, you will, 
 at least, think it of some moment to in- 
 quire, whether there toe any just ground* 
 for these formidable apprehensions ? You 
 will naturally ask yourselves. Is it proba- 
 ble that a Being of infinite intelligence 
 and power should delight in making his 
 creatures' miserable ? Does the state of 
 things in the world at all correspond with, 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 such a conclusion ? Is misery the rule, and 
 happiness the exception, in the works of 
 God ? Or rather, do we not every where 
 see the reverse of this supposition ? Do 
 not the pleasures, in general, preponderate 
 over the pains of existence? Are not the 
 tendencies of things to melioration and 
 improvement, in indefinite and conti- 
 nually accelerated progressioti ? Are not 
 evils themselves made subservient to good ? 
 And can any proof be alleged, that the 
 state ,of things might possibly have been 
 more wisely and beneficially arranged than 
 it is at present? But if these facts ' are 
 substantiated — and who can call them in 
 question ? — then, verily, God is good. 
 And if benevolent, he must be, perfectly 
 benevolent. For what can limit original, 
 essential, immutable goodness ? But if 
 God be perfectly benevolent, his creatures 
 are made for happiness, and they then best 
 answer the end of their existence, and are 
 most acceptable to him, when they co- 
 operate with him in his benevolent de- 
 signs, and are most judiciously and ac- 
 tively employed in doing good. Who does 
 
197 
 
 not see the natural and necessary tendency 
 of these .worthy and exalted sentinaents of 
 the Supreme Being, to purify and elevate 
 the mind?' to generate love to God,' and 
 benevolence to man ? and, to inspire the 
 heart with habitual confidence and joy, 
 and with humble dutiful resignation \o the 
 divine will ? 
 
 II. Being thus satisfied with respect to 
 the existence and character of God, your 
 next inquiry will be, and a very important 
 question it is, whether there is any reason 
 to believe that man will exist hereafter ? 
 or, whether it is most reasonable to ex-' 
 pect that human existence terminates at 
 death? Andj if yoii are wise, you will 
 govern your, practice by the result of this in- 
 quiry. 
 
 I do not indeed deny, that the general 
 conduct of a wise man will be nearly the 
 same, whether the doctrine of a future 
 life be admitted, or rejected.' Self-govern- 
 jnentj and active benevoleneev are com- 
 jponly the best means of attaining happi- 
 
ness\ both here and hereafter. But certain 
 cases will occasionally accur^ and indeed, 
 not unfrequently, in which much good 
 may be done by self-denial, by foregoing 
 present gratification and temporal interest, 
 and sometinaes, even by the resignation of 
 life itself; and I feel no hesitation in con^ 
 tending, that if the doctrine of a future 
 life be denied, the obligation to these sa-^ 
 crifices can never be made apparent or 
 convincing. 
 
 ' '' ■ --v;'"^ 
 
 / Here, then, we learn the nrispeakabl© 
 value of the christian "revelation. I am 
 much impressed with, what are called, the 
 natural arguments for the doctrine of a 
 future life. --The index of nature points to 
 thiis important issue. The appearances of 
 the moral world seenx to warrant the same 
 conclusion, There are - difEcukies which 
 vanish instarttaileously before the hypo- 
 thesis pf a future life, but which, upon 
 any other supposition, admit no clear and 
 satisfactory solution. I see that man, un- 
 
 ^ like the brut^ creation, is capable of 
 looking forward to a new state pf existence. 
 
199 
 
 and of governing his conduct by the hope? 
 and fears of a future life. ' I see a state of 
 existence, in yrhieh good generally pre- 
 ponderates, terminating in pain ; which, 
 contrary to the usual analogy of things, 
 appears to answer no beneficial purpose. 
 I see a magnificent apparatus provided for 
 the discipline of the human mhid in its 
 progress through life, by which it is gra- 
 dually raised, from , sense and appetite, ' to 
 inteU^t and virtue ; but the process is 
 broken off in the midst, and the materials 
 are cast aside, before the grand experi- 
 ment is complete. Allow the supposition 
 of a future life, and every perplexity is 
 unravelled: every difficulty is solved: all 
 is wise, and right, and as it ought to b©. 
 The , prescient powers of man have a dig- 
 nified and important use. The pains of 
 death, like all others, have their appro- 
 priate design. And the. sovereign Artist 
 will, in due time, collect his scattered 
 materials, resume the process, and com- 
 plete , the work, in new and more favour- 
 able circumstances. Hence^ I am inclined 
 to indulge a joyful and animating, hope. 
 
200 
 
 But, my feelings are checked, an'd my 
 convictions staggered, by another set of 
 appearances, which lead to a conclusion 
 directly the reverse. If .there be a future' 
 life, there must be a resurrection of the 
 dead; for, no well-informed observer of 
 -the pha?nomena- of hitman nature can be- 
 lieve, that the soul is "capable of percep- 
 tion and activity in a state of separation 
 from the body. To.nvaintain this, would 
 be to maintain a doctrine contradicted by. 
 reason, by analogy, and by uniform and 
 ■universal experience. But what proof do 
 the light of nature and the appearances of 
 things afford, that such an event as a re- 
 surrection from the dead is probable, or, 
 even possible ? What principle of vitality 
 is thi^re in the human frame, after it has 
 been once dissolved ? Who is to collect 
 the scattered particles? What memorable 
 example has ever occurred in the revolu^ 
 , tion of ages? What analogies can make it 
 probable ? — Experience is silent. ■^- Philo- 
 sophy is confounded, — Revelation alone, 
 darts a beam of light through the solid 
 glpom. The messenger of heavgnly truth 
 
* 201 
 
 explicitijt announces*, that all who are in 
 their graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
 come forth. He demonstrates his divine 
 legation by miracle and prophecy. And he 
 exemplifies his doctrine by his own resur- 
 rection from the grave. Thus we learn ' 
 the inestimable value of the christian re- 
 velation, and how admirably it supplies 
 the deficiency of reason and philosophy. 
 R^ect Christianity, and you reject all ratio- 
 nal hope of a future existence. Receive it, 
 and no rational doubt can remain: no 
 cloud of uncertainty any longer hovers up- 
 on a subject the most interesting to the 
 human heart; the most necessary to the 
 encouragement of virtue, and to the right 
 discipline of the mind. 
 
 If then you desire to be truly and per- 
 manently happy, you will not rest satisfied , 
 with being christians by education and ,^ 
 ' prejudice, but you will be solicitous to 
 examine^ and to become familiar with the 
 evidences of the christian religion, tha£ 
 your faith and hope may rest upon an 
 immoveable foundation. 
 
202 
 
 in. Having tlius obtained satisfactory 
 information; concerning the existence and 
 (Character of God, and the future espeeta* 
 tions of man, your last inquiry will I^e con- 
 cerning the rule of life j or, what are the 
 most efficacious means of obtaining the 
 divine favour, and of ensuring happiness 
 here and hereafter. 
 
 For the solution of this question you 
 must learn in what true happiness consists, 
 and by what means those habits , and af- 
 fections are to be generated and confirmed, 
 which win most essentially contribute to 
 the acquisition of this inestimable prize, 
 and how the contrary affections and habits 
 are to be corrected aad subdued. 
 
 In what true happiness coivsists you 
 will learn, from considering, the CMis.titu- 
 tion of humannature^ from experience and 
 observation, from the testimony of wise 
 arid virtuous friends, from the reasonings 
 of those who have made these subjects the 
 theme of long and profound investigation, 
 from the practice of the wise and good in 
 
2Q3 
 • 
 
 all ages, and above, all from -the example 
 of Christ, and the study of the sacred 
 scriptures. These ga'e profitable for doctrine, 
 for reproof, for co<rrectioa, for intstrucdoa 
 in righteousness, 'and are able to fumigli the 
 humble inquirer for ev&tj good work. 
 And tkis is the clear, the beautiful, the 
 comprehensive precept, \srbicb cbey incul- 
 cate, " Tho\i shalt love the Lord id^- God, 
 •with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,, 
 arid v?ith all thy understanding, and with 
 all thy strength : and. Thou shalt love thy 
 jieighbour as thyself." 
 
 It will be further necessary to inquire by 
 what means these affections and habits 
 are to be generated and cherished, which 
 are essential qualifications for ultimate 
 happiness. They are not innate. Character 
 is the combination of habits ; and habit 
 is the necessary result of external circum- 
 stances and impressions, of mental discipline, 
 and of voluntary re-iterated 'action. Love 
 to God, benevolence to man, and the strict 
 discipline , of the heart, constitute the es- 
 ggntials of virtuoUrS character. These habits 
 
204 
 
 and affections are as certainly acquired by- 
 proper discipline, as art and science are the 
 effect of study and practice. Happy they, 
 who in early life, direct their serious and 
 steady attention to this great concern. 
 Their virtuous efforts shall not be in vain. 
 It is the solemn declaration of celestial wis- 
 dom, and the promise has never failed, and 
 never shall : *' I love those who love me, 
 and they who seek me early shall find me." 
 
 THE END, 
 
Lately published bi/ the Author^ 
 
 AND MAY BE HAD OF 
 
 J. JOHNSON, 
 
 IN 
 
 ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 
 
 1. ELEMENTS of the DOCTRINE of the HUMAN 
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