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 ^::^ ot o^ ^::a. .^^^ ^::a. ^^ 
 
 OK THK 
 AT 
 
 (jl^L^ PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 O ^ u o >r -•%. T I o :>r CJ !•- 
 
 ^ SAMUEL AGNE^V, 
 
 OK PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 '^ez. 
 
 Qy^o. 
 
 yTua^c./' ^Jr^V§j^ 
 
 |1 ^^ Priestley, Joseph, 1733- 
 'V/' 1804. 
 
 Bi, Discourses relating to the l 
 .Ge.^ . exidaiic^^.aL.j:;^veal^d J\ 
 
 e 
 
 TnT. 
 
M^-.^Mi!^:^. 
 
u 
 
DISCOURSES 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 The Evidences of Revealed Religion^ 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 CHURCH OF THE UNIVERSALISTS, 
 
 AT PHILADELPHIA, 1796. 
 
 AND 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF MANY OF THE 
 HEARERS. 
 
 BY JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, ll.d.f.r.s. 
 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man that 
 afketh you a reafon of the hope that is in you. 
 
 I Pet. iii. 15 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN THOMPSON, 
 
 MDCCXCVL 
 
THE DEDICATION. 
 
 ro JOHN AD AM 3, 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
 AMERICA. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 T HE happinejs I have had of your 
 acquaintance and corr^fpondence ever fmce your 
 embajfy to England, our common friend/hip for Dr. 
 Price, the ardent friend of liberty and of America, 
 your fieady attachment to the caufe of chriflianity, 
 the favourable attention you gave to the follow- 
 ing Difcourfes, when they were delivered, and the 
 wifh you expreffed that they might be publijhed, in^ 
 duce me to take the liberty to dedicate them to you, 
 
 Statefmen who have thefirmnefs of mind to pro- 
 fefs themfelves Chriftians, and who have ajufifenfe 
 of the importance of chriflianity, are not numerous ; 
 and thofe of them who adopt a rational chriftianity, 
 the evidences and do&rines of which will bear to be % 
 fubmitted to the tefl of reafon, in this age, in which, ^ 
 zvhile many are carried away by the prevailing tide of 
 infidelity, others oppofe it by an enthufiafm which 
 dif claims the aid of reafon, are Jlill fewer; and are 
 therefore entitled to the greater efleem of thofe wbo 
 entertain the fame fenti7ne7its. 
 
 3 2 JVe 
 
 f 
 
iv THE DEDICATION. 
 
 We Jhall, no doubt, ourjelvcs be ranked with 
 enthufiqfts by thofe unbelievers (and by far the 
 greater part of them are of this clafs) who have be- 
 come fo zvithout any jujl knowledge of the fubjeB, 
 or invejligation of the evidence of revelation. But 
 the contempt of fuch perfons, whatever rank they 
 7nay hold in the political or the learned world, is 
 itfelf contemptible. Every ferious inquirer after 
 truth, will refpeB other ferious inquirers, though 
 their opinions fhould differ ever fo much. But the 
 cenfures of men, whether well or ill- informed, will 
 appear of little moment to thofe who look to the deci- 
 fion of the impartial judge of all. And, mind- 
 ful of his folemn warning, we mufi not be alhamed 
 of him, or ^ his caufe, in any circumflances , how- 
 ever unfavourable, left he fhould be ajhamed of us at 
 a time when his favour will be of infinitely greater 
 moment to us than any thing elfe. 
 
 Tou and I, Sir, are advancing to a period cf 
 life in which thefe views naturally open 7nore and 
 pi more upon us, TVe find this world receding, and 
 ^^ another fa/l approaching, and we feel the import- 
 W ance of having fomething to look to when the prefent 
 fcene cf things fhall be clofed. And whatever we 
 value for our f elves, it behoves us to recommmend to 
 ethers. Tou will, therefore, rejoice if an exhibition 
 of the evidences of revealed religion, fuch as is con- 
 tained 
 
THE DEDICATION. y 
 
 tained in thefe Dijcourjes, JJoould produce any ef- 
 fect. 
 
 It is happy that, in this country, religion has jio 
 ^connection with civil power, a circumfiance which 
 gives the caufe of truth all the advantage that its beft 
 friends can defire. But religion is of as much ufe 
 to Statefmen as to any individuals zvhafever. Chrif 
 iian principles will heft enable men to devote their 
 time, their talents, their lives, a7id what is often a 
 greater facnfice flill, their charadlers, to the public 
 good ; and in public life this will often be, in a great 
 meafure, neceffary. 
 
 Let a man attain to eminence, of any kind, and 
 by whatever means, even the moft honourable^ he 
 will be expofed to envy and jealoufy, and ofcourfe 
 he mujl expect to meet with calumny and abufe. If 
 was the lot of our Saviour himfelf and it is a part 
 of the wife order of providence that it Jhould always 
 be fo. For, befides that it is of the greateft import- 
 ance to the community, that every perfon in a public 
 ftation, fhould have the ftrongeft motive for the 
 greateft circumjpeclion, unmixed praife is what no 
 human mind can bear without injury. An undue elation, 
 which would foon be found to be as hurtful to himfelf 
 as mipleafant to others, would be the neceffary con^ 
 
 fe que nee 
 
vi THE DEDICATION. 
 
 fequeme of it. And what principles can enable a 
 man to conjult the real good of his fellow citizens , 
 without being diverted from his generous purpofe by 
 a regard to their opinion coficerning him, like thofe 
 of the Chriftian, who can be fatisfied with the ap- 
 probation of his own mind (which of courfe draws 
 after it that of his Maker) and who, though not infen- 
 Jlble to due praife, can defpife calumny, and fteadily 
 overlooking every thing that is intermediate, pa- 
 tiently wait for the day of final retribution ? As 
 thefe principles enabled the apoftles to rejoice in 
 tribulation^ and perfecution of every kind, fo the 
 virtuous ftatefman will not complain of that abufe 
 which operates fo favourably both with refpect to his 
 own mind, and the interefts of his country. They 
 are Chriftian prificiples that beft enable a man to 
 hear this neceffary and excellent difcipline, and form 
 the truly difmterefted and magnanimous patriot. 
 
 I cannot conclude this addrefs without expr effing 
 the fat isf action I feel in the government which has 
 afforded me an afylum from the perfecution which 
 obliged me to leave Efigland, perfuaded that, its 
 prificiples being fundamentally good, inftead of 
 tending, like the old governments of Europe, to 
 greater abufe, it will tend to continual melioration. 
 Stdl, however, my utmoft wtfJj is to live asaftran- 
 
 ger 
 
THE DEDICATION. vH 
 
 ger among you, with liberty to attend without in- 
 terruption to my favourite purfuits ; wijlnng well to 
 my native country, as I do to all the world, and 
 hoping that its interefts, and thofe of this country, 
 will be infeparable, and confequently that peace 
 between them will be perpetual. 
 
 I am, with the greateft efteem. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 ^^y, 1796. Tours fmcerely, 
 
 J. PRIESTLEY. 
 
THE PREFACE, 
 
 JL HE Difcourfes contained in this volume 
 may be coniidered as fupplemental to thofe 
 which I delivered in England relating to the 
 fame fubje61:, juft before I left that country, and 
 which have been re-printed in this. Being 
 requefted to preach in this city, I thought I 
 could not make choice of any fubjedts more 
 unexceptionable, or more ufeful, than of fuch 
 as relate to the evidences of revealed religmi, in 
 an age abounding with unbelievers, many of 
 whom have become fo merely for want of 
 better information. Being unwilling to go over 
 the fame ground that I had been upon before, 
 I have made thefe difcourfes interfere as little 
 as poffible with the former. Some of the fame 
 obfervations will, no doubt, be found in both ; 
 but they are not many, and of fuch parti- 
 cular importance, that they cannot be too 
 much impreffed on the minds of chriftians. 
 
 As 
 
X THE PREFACE. 
 
 As I had no intention of publilhing thefe 
 difcoiirfes, at leaft at this time, I did not note 
 the authorities I have made ufc of in them, as 
 there could not have been any propriety, or ufe, 
 in reciting them from the pulpit ; and being at 
 a diftance from my library, I cannot add them 
 now. But they are fuch as, I am confident, no 
 perfon at all acquainted with the fubje6ls will 
 call in queilion. They were by no means 
 originally colle6led by myfelf. The far greater 
 part of them have been frequently quoted, and 
 their accuracy never difputed. I had little to 
 do befides colle61ing, arranging, and applying 
 theiij, in a manner fomewhat more adapted to 
 my prefent purpofe. The greater part of them 
 will be found in Lei and' s Neceffity of Revelation^ 
 Young's JDlfcoiirJes on Revelation the Cure of 
 fuperflition, and the Letters of fome Jews to 
 Foliaire, all which works I would recommend 
 to the attentive perufal of my readers. The 
 dodrinesof the heathen philofophers were almoft 
 all copied verbatim from Brucker's Hi/lory of 
 Fbilofopby abridged by Dr. Enfield, a truly 
 valuable, accurate, and well digefted work. The 
 account of the Grecian oracles, and various of 
 their fu perditions, will be found in Potter's 
 Antiquities of Greece, a common, but molt excel- 
 lent work. 
 
 The 
 
TH PREFACE. xi 
 
 The Second Part of Mr. Faine's Age of 
 Reafon being publiflied in this city during the 
 delivery of thefc Difcourfes, I thought proper to 
 animadvert upon fuch parts of it as appeared 
 to me moft deferving of notice. I had once 
 thought of replying to this part of the work 
 more at large, as I did to the firft part ; but I 
 afterwards thought that afTertions fo extravagant 
 and ill founded as Mr. Paine's generally are, may 
 be fafely left to have their full effed:, as it can 
 only be upon the minds of perfons fo extreme- 
 ly ignorant and prejudiced, that no refutation 
 would be attended to by them, fo that it would 
 only be throwing pearls before fwine. 
 
 So great is Mr. Paine 's ignorance with refpe<5l 
 to fubjc(?LS of this nature, that he maintains, 
 P^ge 2>S> that the book of Job has '' all the 
 ^* circumftantial evidences of being an original 
 " book of the Gentiles/' principally becaufe he 
 finds in it the mention of Orion, Ardlurus, and 
 the Pleiades, which are Greek words ; when 
 thefe terms occur only in tranilations, thcfe in the 
 original being quite different. Surely he had 
 accefs to fome unbelievers, who could have 
 informed him better. 
 
 Without deigning to reply to any thing that 
 had been advanced againft the firft part of 
 his work, Mr. Paine in this proceeds with an 
 air of infolent triumph, as if all the advocates 
 
 for 
 
jiii THE PREFACE 
 
 ot revelation lay proftrate at his feet, whereas 
 they are looking down upon him, and feel no 
 emotions but thofe of pity for himfelf, and his 
 deluded followers, the blind led by the blind. 
 
 There are, however, unbelievers more 
 ignorant than Mr- Paine. M. Volney, Laquinio, 
 and others in France, fay that there never was 
 iuch a perfon as Jefus Chrift, and therefore, 
 though they may have heard that there are fuch 
 books as thofe of the New Teftament, I conclude 
 that they cannot have read them. Surely fuch 
 ignorance as this does not mark the Age of 
 lieajon, 
 
 I have more than once obferved that the 
 dilbelief of revelation makes the belief of the 
 being of God of no pra6tical ufe, and that it 
 has, in France, led to fpeculative atheifm. In 
 a tra6l publifhed at Paris in 1793, in titled A 
 Letter to a Senjlble Woman, is the following 
 paragraph, p- 25. 
 
 *' Theifm is an opinion refpe6lable for the 
 *^ genius, and the virtues, of men who have 
 ^' embraced it" (referring, in a note to Socrates 
 and RoufTeau) " no lefs than for the advantage 
 *' which this firft ftep towards reafon, on 
 ** abandoning the prejudices of infancy, has 
 " been of to mankind. But, after all, it is 
 *' but a- firft ftep, and no perfons would flop 
 *' there, if they would frankly give way to the 
 
 " impulfe 
 
1^HE PREFACE. xiii 
 
 '^ impulfe they have received. No perfon remains 
 '' in this intermediate fyftem but through want 
 ^' of refle6tion, timidity, paffion, or obftinacy. 
 '« Time, experience^ and an impartial examina- 
 '' tion of our ideas, will undeceive us. Voltaire, 
 '' who Was long the apoftle of theifm, profeffed 
 '^ to doubt towards the clofe of his life, and 
 '' repented that he had been too confident. 
 '^ Many others have experienced the fame." 
 
 If, then, any perfon be in a ftate of mind 
 in which he is fhocked at the idea of abfolute 
 atheifm^ let him paufe before he abandon revela- 
 tion, and give way to what this writer calls the 
 Jirfl impulfe. But on no account let any obftruc- 
 tion be laid in the way of free enquiry. With 
 the apoftle (i ThelT. v. 2.) let us prove all things, 
 and holdfajt only that which fhall appear to be 
 good. 
 
 I might have given a curious counterpart to 
 the hypothefes of the antient philofophers in 
 thofe of the mod diftinguifhed of the modern 
 unbelievers. • For many of their opinions con- 
 cerning the origin of the univerfe, its fubfequent 
 revolutions, and other fubjefts conne6fed with 
 religion and morals, are not lefs wild, incoherent, 
 and abfurd; as every theory muft be that excludes 
 the belief of a God, and a fuperintending pro- 
 vidence. This undertaking, however, has been 
 executed with equal truth and ability in a French 
 
 work 
 
xiv THE PREFACE. 
 
 work, entitlcd,Zf5 Helviemes, ou Lettres PrGvin- 
 dales Fhilojophiques, in five volumes, 12 mo. 
 1784. They are called Provincial Letters in 
 imitation of thofe of that title by the famous 
 Pafcal, in which he expofed the abfurditics of 
 the principles of the Jefuits, a work of genuine 
 humour, to which this is, in many refpc6ls, not 
 inferior. It is therefore adapted to afford equal 
 entertainment and inftrucfion. 
 
 From this excellent work it will be evident 
 that the rejection of revealed religion will be at- 
 tended with all that diffolutenefs of morals for 
 which the antient heathens were remarkable, 
 there being no vice for which fome of the moft 
 eminent of modern philofophical unbelievers 
 have not been advocates ; and therefore that, in 
 an advanced fiate of fociety, human reafon has 
 never proved a fufficient barrier againft vice. It 
 will alfo be evident that a propenlity to the 
 imreftrained indulgence of all the paffions has 
 been the principal caufe of the prevaling difpoli- 
 tion to throw off the falutary reftraints of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 Not only are the great Chriftian virtues of 
 humility, the forgivenefs of injuries, and the 
 loving of enemies, excluded from the clafs of 
 virtues, and a fpirit of pride and revenge en- 
 couraged ; not only is all virtue reduced to mere 
 felf-lovc, the great end of human life reprefented 
 
 to 
 
THE PREFACE. xv 
 
 to be the purfuit of pleafure in the loweft fenfe 
 of the word, and filicide recommended when 
 this obje6l is no longer attainable ; but the very 
 barrier between men and brutes has been thrown 
 down by many eminent unbelievers. 
 
 All the antient legiflators even among the 
 heathens, confidered the laws of marriage as the 
 firft ftep towards civilization,and the conjugal and 
 parental relations as, what no doubt they are, 
 the chief fource of the fweets of focial life. But 
 many modern unbelievers openly plead not only 
 for an unbounded liberty of divorce, but a com- 
 munity of women, and make very light of the 
 vices mod contrary to nature. What is this but re- 
 ducing men even lower than the ftate of brutes .? 
 And what can we expe6t from the natural opera- 
 tion of thefe principles, but the prevalence of 
 thofe vices, which the apoftle in his fecond epif- 
 tle to Timothy enumerates as a fymptom of the 
 approach of the lajl times, which are elfewhere 
 defcribed as exceedingly calamitous, 2 Tim. iii. 
 I. This know, that in the lajt days perilous times 
 Jhall come. For men JJoall be lovers of their own 
 felves, &c. The apoftle Peter alfo fays, 2 Pet. 
 iii. 3. Knowing this that there Jhall come in the lajt 
 days /coffers, walking after their own lufts, and 
 faying. Where is the promife of his coming, &c, 
 Refle6ling on thefc things, we may well fay 
 with the evangeliftsj after they had related our 
 
 Saviour's 
 
xvi THE PREFACE 
 
 Saviour's predi6lions concerning the deftrudlion 
 of Jeriifalem, and the various ligns of its 
 approach. Let him that readeth, underftand. 
 Math. xxiv. 15. Mark xiii. 14. 
 
 Unbelievers often complain of the difference 
 of opinion among Chriftians, but their own 
 opinions, even on the fubje6l of chriftianity are 
 as various. The celebrated Mr. D'Alembert, in 
 his Letters to the late king of Prujfia (CEuvres 
 Pofthumes, torn. 14. p. 105.) fays, " It appears 
 '' evident to me, as it does to your majefty, that 
 '' chriftianity in its origin was nothing but pure 
 '' deifm, that Jefus €hrift, the author of it, 
 '^ was only a kind of philofopher, the enemy of 
 *' fuperftition, of perfecution, and of priefts j 
 '* who preached benevolence and juftice, and 
 '^ reduced the whole law to the love of our 
 '' neighbour, and the worfhip of God in fpirit 
 " and in truth, and that afterwards, St. Paul, 
 *' then the fathers of the churchy and laftly the 
 *' councils, unhappily fupported by the fovereigns, 
 ' * changed this religion . I therefore think it would 
 " be doing great fervice to mankind to reduce 
 " chriftianity to its primitive ftate, confining it 
 " to preaching to the people the do6lrine of a 
 " God rewarding virtue, and puniHiing vice, 
 " who abhors fuperftition, detefts intolerancef 
 '' and who requires of men no other worfhip 
 '^ than that of loving and affifting one another." 
 
 The 
 
THE PREFACE. xvli 
 
 The fcheme of reducing chriftianity to its 
 primitive ftate, is, no doubt, excellent, and this 
 writer's idea of that flate is not far from the 
 truth. But his aflertion that Jefus Chrift 
 taught pure deijm, is altogether unfounded. 
 If there be any truth in his hiftory, he taught 
 the do6lrine of a refurrecfion, and iupported it 
 by miracles*, and Paul wasfar from making any ad- 
 dition to the dodrine of his mafter. He had too 
 many enemies among chriftians to have had that 
 in his power. How chriftianity was corrupted 
 afterwards is well known, and I have fliewn the 
 prog re fs of it in my Hiftory of the Corruptions of 
 Chriftianity. 
 
 Since the writing of this Preface, I have been 
 favoured with a fight of the third volume of 
 ' Afiatic Antiquities,* a work which promifes to 
 throw great light on the mythology, and early 
 hiftory, of fevcral antient nations ; and one paf- 
 fage in it, containing a quotation from an antient 
 Hindoo writer, perhaps nearly as old as Mofes, 
 is fo curious in itfelf, and fuch a confirmation of 
 one part of his hiftory, that I am perfuaded my 
 readers will be pleafed with the communication 
 of it. The work is in titled Fad ma-pur an, and 
 the tranfiation of it is by Sir William Jones. 
 Though the narrative is in fubftance the fame 
 with that of Mdfes, they differ in fo many cir- 
 cumftances, that it is evident the writers did 
 not copy from one another. - 
 
 b 'To 
 
xvili THE PREFACE, 
 
 f' To Satyavarman, that fovereign of the 
 *^ whole earth, were born three fons, the eldeft 
 *( Sherma, then Charma*, and thirdly Jyapeti 
 ^' by name. They were all men of good morals, 
 *' excellent in virtue, and virtuous deeds, Ikilled 
 *' in the ufe of weapons, to ftrike with, or to be 
 ^* thrown, brave men, eager for vi6lory in bat- 
 ^f tie. But Satyavarman being continually de- 
 (^ lighted with devout meditation, and feeing his 
 ♦' fons fit for dominion, laid upon them the bur^ 
 f^ den of government, 
 
 ^f Whilfi: he remained honouring and fatisfy- 
 f f ing the gods, and prieils, and kine ; one day, 
 «' by the a(5t of deiliny, the king, having drank 
 «' mead, became fenfelefs, and lay afleep naked. 
 *' Then was he feen by Charma, and by him 
 '' were his two brothers called. To whom he 
 ^' faid, *' What now has befallen. In what 
 *' ftate is this our fire ? By thofe two was he 
 ^^ hidden with clothes, and called tp his fenfes 
 *' again and again. 
 
 f Having recovered his intclledt, and perfe6l- 
 *f ly knowing what had palTed, he curfed Char^ 
 *' ma, faying. Thou (lialt be the fervant of 
 *' fervants. And fince thou waft a laughter in 
 '< their prefence, from laughter (halt thou acquire 
 ?' a name. Then he gave to Sharma the wicje 
 
 *^ domain 
 
 * Colonel Wilford obferves, that in the vulgar diale(5l$ 
 Charma is ufually pronour,ped Cha?n^ and Sharma^ Sham» 
 
THE PREFACE. xix 
 
 ^' domain on the fouth of the fnowy mountain. 
 '' And to Jyapeti he gave all on the north of the 
 '^ fnowy mountain ; but he, by the power of 
 *' religious contemplation, attained fuprcme 
 " blifs/' 
 
 Sir William Jones had before advanced a con- 
 je61ure that the jifghans might be of Hebrew ex- 
 traction, and part of the ten tribes that were 
 carried into captivity by the AiTyrians. In his 
 ' Anniverfary difcourfe/ prefixed to this volume, 
 ' he fays, p. 6. " There is folid ground for be- 
 * lieving that the Afghans aredefcended from the 
 *' Jews, becaufe they fometimes in confidence 
 ^^ avow that unpopular origin, which in general 
 '' they feduloufly conceal, and which other muf- 
 ** felmen perpetually aflerc ; becaufe Hazard, 
 '^ which appears to be the jijereth of Eidras, is 
 '' one of their territories, and principally be- 
 ^' caufe their language is evidently a diale6l of 
 (' the fcriptural Chaldaic/' 
 
 Laftly, after reciting the unfavourable cha- 
 racter given of the Jews by their enemies, and 
 acceding to it, for which I am far from feeing 
 fufficient reafon, he fays, p. i^, *' They had 
 ^' the peculiar merit, among all the races of men 
 ** under heaven, of preferving a rational and 
 '^ pure fyftem of devotion, in the midft of a wild 
 ^^ polytheifm, inhuman or obfcene rites, and a 
 *' dark labyrinth of errors, produced by igno- 
 '^ ranee, and fupported by inierefted fraud. 
 *^ Theological inquries/' he adds, '^ are no part 
 
 *' of 
 
XX T H E P R E F A C E-. 
 
 '' of ,my prefent fubjea, but I cannot refrain 
 " from adding, that thecoUtdion of tracts which 
 *' from their excellence, we call the fcriptures, 
 '^ contain, independently of a divine origin, 
 " more true fublimity, more exquifite beauty, 
 " purer morality, more important hiflory, and 
 " finer llrains both of poetry and eloquence, 
 *' than could be colle6led within the fame com- 
 *' pafs from all other books that were ever com- 
 *^ pofed in any age, or in any idiom. The two 
 '* parts of which the icr.iptures confift, are con- 
 *' ne(?tcd by a chain of compofitions" (meaning 
 the prophetical books) ** which bear no refem- 
 *' blance in form or ftyle to any that can be 
 '' produced from the Rores of Grecian, Indian^ 
 *' Perfian, or even Arabian, learning. The 
 " antiquity of thefe compofitions no man doubts, 
 " and the unftrained application of them to 
 '^ events long fubfequent to their publication, is 
 *' a folid ground of belief, that tiiey were genuine 
 " productions, and confequently infpired." 
 
 When I compare the decided opinion of fuch 
 a man as Sir Willjarn Jones, in which all men 
 of learning will concur, with the confident af- 
 fertions of Mr. Paine, who fays that the books of 
 fcripture are but modern compofitions, 1 think 
 of a man either really blind, or willfully fhut- 
 ting his eyes, and declaring that there is nothing 
 to be f ceil. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE. FACE. 
 
 I. The Importance of Religion - 1 
 
 II. Of the fuperior Value of Revealed Religion 27 
 
 III. A View of Heathen Worfhip - « 5S 
 
 IV. The fame continued . - - 86 
 
 V. The excellence of the Mofaic Infiitutions 114* 
 
 VI. The fame^ continued - . / 145 
 
 VII. The Principles of the Heathen Philo- , 
 
 fophy compared with thofe of Re- 
 
 velation - - - 176 
 
 VIII. The fame continued - - 201 
 
 XI. The evidence of the Mofaic afid Chrif 
 
 tian Religions - - 237 
 
 X. The fame continued - - - 269 
 
 XI. The Proof of Revealed Religion from 
 
 Prophecy - . 313 
 
 XII. Internal EvideJtce of Jefus being no 
 
 Impojior - - 35^ 
 
 XIII. The moral Influe^ice of Chrif tian 
 
 Principles - - - 395 
 

 ERRATA. 
 
 
 N.B. 
 
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 good. 
 
 goods 
 
OF THE 
 
 EVIDENCES OF REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 The Importance of Religion. 
 
 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wifdom ; but 
 fools hate knowledge and inftru£lion. 
 
 Proverbs, i. 7. 
 
 13 Y the/J^r of God we may very well 
 underftand religion in general, and there 
 can be no doubt but that by religion Solo- 
 mon meant fuch principles of it as he held 
 to be the beft founded, or the revelation 
 by Mofes. And as I propofe, in a feries of 
 difcourfes, to give a view of the evidences 
 of revealed religion, I Ihall in this fliow 
 that the fubjeft is of importance, that the 
 knowledge we receive by means of it is of 
 
 B real 
 
s EVIDENCES OF 
 
 real value, tending to exalt the charafter, 
 and add to the happmefs of man. Indeed 
 if this be not the ufe of religion, it would 
 not be worth our while to make any en- 
 quiry into its evidences; becaufe on that 
 fuppofition, true or falfe, it would be an 
 ufelefs and infignificant thing. The quef- 
 tion is the more deferving of an attentive 
 confideration, as many, I imagine, moft, 
 unbelievers, maintain that religion is not 
 merely an ufelefs, but a hurtful thing, de- 
 bafing the mind of man, and adding to the 
 miferies of his exiftence, fo that it is ren- 
 dering him an effential fervice to free his 
 mind from it. 
 
 Now, what is it that the friends of 
 religion, fay is fo beneficial, and its adver- 
 fanes fo mifchievous, to man? The prin- 
 ciples of religion are acknovv^ledged to 
 confift in the belief of the being, the per- 
 fedions, and providence of God here, and 
 of a future flate of retribution hereafter. 
 The man who beheves thefe things is faid 
 to have religion, and the man who dif- 
 bclieves them, who thinks that there is no 
 
 God, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 3 
 
 God, no providence, or no future ftate, 
 whatever he be in other refpefts, whether 
 he be virtuous or vicious, cannot be faid to 
 have any religion, properly fo called. Let 
 us, then, confider the nature of thefe 
 principles, and what eirefl: they nmjl have 
 on thofe who ferioufly beUeve them. That 
 principles, or opinions, of fome kind or 
 other, have real influence on the general 
 charader, and on the conduft and happi- 
 nefs of human life, cannot be denied. Man 
 is a thinking being. All his adions proceed 
 from fome thought or defign, and his ac- 
 tions and conduft are certainly of impor- 
 tance, ifTuing in a better or worfe ftate of 
 his circumftances. If the maxims he ad:s 
 upon, and the objects of his purfuit, be juft, 
 and if his meafures be well laid, he im- 
 proves his condition; whereas if his max- 
 ims of conduft be falfe and fallacious, if 
 the objefts of his purfuit be unworthy of 
 him, or his conduft be ill directed, he mufl 
 expect to fuffer in confequence. 
 
 It alfo cannot be denied that what is 
 
 called virtue y or the right government of 
 
 B 2 the 
 
4 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the paflions, adds to the dignity of man, 
 and to the happinefs both of individuals 
 and of fociety ; and reUgion certainly comes 
 in aid of virtue. The man who follows 
 the dictates of paffion, and prefent inclina- 
 tion, without reflecting on the tendency 
 and iflue of his conduft, is fure to involve 
 himfelf in difficulties. The unreftrained 
 indulgence of the natural appetites, both 
 fhortens life, by introducing difeafes and 
 premature death, and makes a fhort life 
 miferable; whereas moderation and difcre- 
 tion is the fource of the trueft and moft 
 lafling enjoyment. Manhood conduced 
 by mere paffion and inclination, without 
 foreught of confequences, is only a pro- 
 tracted childhood ; and what father is there 
 who thinks it wife to indulge a child in all 
 its varying humours. It would foon de- 
 ftroy itfelf. And equally deflruftive and 
 ruinous w ould be the condu£l of a majtvjho 
 fhoulcl make no more ufe of his reafon, 
 but prefer his prefent gratification to fu- 
 ture good, which is the general defcription 
 of vice. 
 
 Could 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 5 
 
 Could the moft intemperate of men 
 have a clear forefight of all the diforders 
 and wretchednefs that will be the fure, or 
 very probable, confequence of his conduiS, 
 with refpeft to his health and life, and alfo 
 of the poverty and contempt which gene- 
 rally attends that mode of life, whatever 
 might be his fondnefs for any fpecies of 
 fenfual indulgence, he would certainly re- 
 ftrain himfelf. Alfo, how greedy foever 
 any perfon might be of riches, could he 
 forefee all the anxiety, and rifk, attending 
 a courfe of fraudulent pradlices, and the 
 little enjoyment men have of dilhonell 
 gain, he would be content to be lefs rich 
 and more happy. The ambition of Alex- 
 ander, of Caefar, or of Charles the 
 twelfth of Sweden, would have been 
 reftrained, if they could have feen the 
 whole progrefs and termination of their 
 fchemes. 
 
 I. Now religion, both extends the 
 forefight of man, and puts him under the 
 direction of a being whofe forefight is 
 greater than that of any man. When a 
 
 man 
 
^ EVIDENCES OF 
 
 man lofes his natural parent, and guide, 
 religioa fapplies him with another, fupe- 
 rior m all refpefts to the former. By re- 
 ligion he puts himfelf under the direction 
 of the Supreme Being, his true parent 
 and beft friend, on whofe wifdom he may 
 always rely, and in whofe guidance he is 
 fure to find happinefs. Any rule of life 
 and condudl drawn up by men like our- 
 felves may be erroneous, being founded 
 on imperfeft views of things. The beft 
 parent may err in the management of 
 his favourite child, whofe welfare he has 
 moft at heart. But the great Being who 
 made man can never err. The obfervance 
 of his precepts muft lead to happinefs; and 
 the full perfuafion of this, which religion 
 cannot fail to give us, puts an end to all 
 doubt and uncertainty about what we 
 ought to do, fuperfeding our own judg- 
 ment, and filencing all the evafions of 
 paiFion and prejudice. And this alone is 
 a circumftance of unfpeakable advantage. 
 A perfon bent upon any particular 
 gratification, however criminal, will make 
 
 a thoufand 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. y 
 
 a thoufand apologies for the innocence, 
 and perhaps the public utility^ of it, which 
 his own reafon, bialTed, of courfe, by in- 
 clination, might never be able to fee the 
 fallacy of; which however the authority 
 of an acknowledged maPcer will filence at 
 once. What has not the ingenuity of liber- 
 tines pleaded in favour not only of forni- 
 cation, but even of adultery; and by what 
 {pecious names have thofe grofs offences 
 againft the order, the decency, and peace 
 of fociety been not only covered from ig- 
 nominy, but even recommended, as indi- 
 cations of a man's fpirit, as a fource of 
 real pleafure to fome, and only an imagi-^ 
 nary injury to others? How many perfons 
 have adually made their boaft of a<5lions 
 of other kinds for which they deferved to 
 be banilhed from all civilized fociety ? How 
 has murder itfelf, in the form of a duel, 
 and in fome countries in that of private 
 affafTmation, been m.ore than juftified, 
 from falfe notions of honour, the fuppofed 
 dignity of revenge, and the meannefs of 
 fubmitting to infults and wrongs? 
 
8 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 We fee that men who have no belief 
 in rehgion, aftually commit thefe crimes, 
 and indeed any other, without remorfe. 
 But this can never be the cafe where there 
 is a principle of religion, where it is really 
 believed that the authority of the Supreme 
 Being has interpofed, and exprefsly, as by 
 a voice from heaven, abfolutely forbidden 
 the praftices above mentioned, how inge- 
 nioufly foever apologized for; faying to 
 man. Thou J]:alt not commit murder ^ thou floalt 
 not cwmnit adultery^ thou [halt not Jleal^ 
 
 2. Many perfons, influenced by regard 
 to their reputation, w ill refrain with fuf- 
 ficient care from fuch aftions as they know 
 would difnonour them in the opinion of 
 their fellow creatures; but without a fenfe 
 of religion they would feel httle or no re- 
 morfe in committing any crime with refpeft 
 to which they had no fufpicion of being 
 detefted and expofed. Religion is a 
 guard againft even fecret vices. The be- 
 lief that nothing is concealed from the 
 eye of God, that he fees *vhat man cannot 
 
 fee. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. g 
 
 fee, difcerning even the thoughts and in- 
 clinations of the heart, will make a man 
 as careful not to offend in private as in 
 pubUc. When the eye of man is not upon 
 him, he well knows there is an eye that 
 always fees him, and that though he might 
 efcape the cenfure of man, he has no 
 means of efc aping the righteous judgment 
 of God. 
 
 Not only pubhc cenfure, but other 
 punifhments, often fail to be infhaed on 
 the guilty in this world. A man, there- 
 fore, who has no belief in another, may 
 be tempted to rifk a great deal with a 
 reafonable profpeft of impunity. For of 
 the many crimes that are committed in 
 human fociety, only a few are actually 
 punifhed. But this avails nothing to a 
 believer in religion, and a future flate. 
 He knows that there is a day coming in 
 which God will judge the world in right- 
 eoufnefs, and that no vice, though unde- 
 tefted, and unpunifhed, here, will efcape 
 animadverfion and punifhment hereafter. 
 
 C Many 
 
10 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Many offenders efcape punilhment in 
 this world by means of their power, as 
 well as their addrefs. The rich and the 
 great have, in too many cafes, little to fear 
 from the moft flagrant violations of juftice 
 with refped to the poor, who are without 
 money and without friends ; and the kings 
 and tyrants of the earth, to gratify their 
 revenge, their luft of power, or mere 
 caprice, ravage whole nations, and intro- 
 duce an incalculable mafs of mifery among 
 their fellow-creatures, without the moft 
 diftant apprehenfions of fuffering in their 
 own perfons in confequence of it. But all 
 this ends with the prefent fcene. In the 
 future the greateft monarchs will appear 
 on a footing with the meaneft of rational 
 beings. No wealth or power will be of 
 any avail then, and the knowledge of 
 this may well be fuppofed to reftrain men 
 from thofe violences and oppreffions of 
 which they now are the authors. Thus 
 is religion a powerful auxiliary of virtue, 
 and thereby contributes to the good order 
 and peace of fociety, as* well as to the 
 
 regulation 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. tt 
 
 regulation of the private paffions, and 
 the happinefs of individuals. 
 
 3. Religion is of no lefs ufe with re- 
 fpeft to the troubles of life, than the du- 
 ties of it. That, with a great prepond- 
 erance of happinefs (which fufficiently 
 proves the goodnefs of God) there is a 
 confiderable mixture of mifery in the 
 world, is what no perfon who is at all ac- 
 quainted with it, will deny. We need 
 not adopt the melancholy defpairing lan- 
 guage of Job, and fay, Man that is born of 
 a woman is of few days and fidl of troithky 
 or that he is horn to trouble as the fparks fly 
 upwards; for this gives an idea of a pre- 
 ponderance of mifery, as the proper and 
 intended lot of man. But certainly there 
 is in the 'world ficknefs as well as health, 
 pain as Vv^ell as pleafure, and on many ac- • 
 counts grief as well as joy. Induftry is 
 not always fuccefsful, marriages are not 
 always happy, children are not always 
 a bleffing to their parents, and other 
 connedlions in life, which are generally 
 fources of pleafure, are not always fo. 
 
 There 
 
tz EVIDENCES OF 
 
 There are alfo many evils againft which no 
 human prudence can guard us, as famine 
 from inclement feafons, and peftilential 
 diforders, which we are as yet unable to 
 inveftigate, or prevent. All countries are 
 more or lefs fubjeft to hurricanes, tem- 
 pefts, and earthquakes; and the happieft 
 and longeft life muft terminate in death. 
 It is in vain to fay, witli the Stoics, that 
 what we fufFer by thefe means are no 
 evils, or that we do not feel them. 
 
 But when nature abandons us to grief 
 and defpair, religion fteps in to our confo- 
 lation, affuring us, that nothing can befal 
 us, or others, without the will and ap- 
 pointment of God, our heavenly Father, 
 and that whatever he wills is always 
 wifeft and beft, whether, at the time, we 
 can fee it to be fo or not. As the Pfalmift 
 fays, though clouds and darknefs are round about 
 him, righteoufnefs and judgment are the habi- 
 tation of his throne. Religion afTures us 
 that, if by means of the evils of life, 
 God chaflifes us, it is with the aifeftion 
 of a parent, arid always for our good. 
 
 We 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 13 
 
 We can then fay, with the apoftle, that 
 all things will be made to ivork together for 
 good to them that love Gody that, m this 
 cafe, life or death, things profperoiis, or things 
 adverfe, are equally otirs, and will termi- 
 nate in our advantage. With this per- 
 fuafion we may bear all the evils of hfe, 
 numerous and heavy as they fometimes 
 are, not only with patience and refigna- 
 tion, but even with fatisfadion and plea- 
 fure, rejoici?tg, as the apoftles did, in all 
 kinds of tribulation, 
 
 4. But religion is found to be of the 
 greateft value at the clofe of life, opening 
 to us a better profpeft than that on which 
 we then fhut our eyes. Without religion 
 all that the greateft philofopher can pre- 
 tend to is that he has had enough of life, 
 and that he obeys the call of nature without 
 relu<Slance. But even this, if he has really 
 enjoyed life, is more than he can fay with 
 truth. If he has enjoyed life, it muft be 
 fweet to him, and confequently he cannot 
 but wiih to prolong or refume it. A good 
 
 man 
 
14 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 man may, in one fenfe, have had enough 
 of Hfe, and, from the fatigues and unifor- 
 mity of it, be as it were weary of it; but 
 it is only fuch wearinefs as is felt at the 
 clofe of an a6live w^ell fpent day, when we 
 willi for reft, but with the hope of rifing 
 with renewed vigour and aftivity, ^nd 
 witli the profpe6l of greater enjoyment, 
 in the morning. That morning to a 
 chriftian is the refurreftion to a new and 
 better life. Of this nature gives us no 
 hope; but religion the greateft certainty. 
 
 According to the principles of reli- 
 gion, this world is only the infancy of our 
 being. This life is only a fchool, in which 
 we are training up for a better and im- 
 mortal life, and all the events and difci- 
 pline of it arc calculated to prepare us 
 for entering with advantage upon it; fo 
 that a good m*an, with the faith and hope 
 of a chriftian, can bid adieu to this world 
 not only with tranquility, but with fatif- 
 favSlion and triumph; fmging the triumph- 
 ant fong, death ivhcrc is thy Jiing, grave 
 'where is thy vidory. 
 
 When 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 15 
 
 When chriftians lofe their friends and 
 relations by death, they do not grieve as 
 the heathen who have no hope; but com- 
 mit them with confidence to the hands of 
 their merciful creator, whofe views in cal- 
 ling them into being were not confined to 
 this prefent life. He believes that this his 
 reparation from his virtuous friends is but 
 for a time, and a fhort time, and he has 
 no doubt of meeting them again, and in 
 more favourable circumftances for enjoying 
 their fociety than ever. There the affec- 
 tionate parent will meet his beloved child- 
 ren, and children their parents, not worn 
 down by affiidion, difeafe, or hard la- 
 bour, incapable of enjoyment, which is 
 often the cafe in this world, but with all 
 their faculties in full vigour, and fuperior 
 to what ever they where before; every 
 thino- valuable and amiable in them im- 
 proved, and their imperfeiSlions done 
 away; fo that their fociety, which we 
 fnall never lofe again, will be more de- 
 fir able than ever. Compared with this 
 folid ground of confolation under the trou- 
 bles 
 
i6 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 bles of life, and the fears of death, what 
 has mere reafon or philofophy to offer ? 
 
 5. And it is a particular recommen- 
 dation of religion, that both its teachings 
 and confolations require no acutenefs of 
 intelledl. They are level to the under- 
 ftandings of all men. As to the precepts 
 of religion, they are thus fummed up by 
 the prophet. What doth the Lord thy God 
 require of thee, but to do jujlice, to love fnercy, 
 and to walk humbly with thy God. In this 
 fliort compafs are comprized all the great 
 duties of religion, and furely nothing can 
 be more intelligible. 
 
 As to the confolations of religion, they 
 are addrefTed to the common feelings and 
 principles of human nature, fuch as men 
 aft upon every day. It is the expeftation 
 of diftant good as a balance to prefent 
 evil. Religion does not require men to 
 give up their eafe, their fortunes, or their 
 lives, for nothing; but for a fufficient re- 
 compence. Thou Jhalt be recom-penced faid 
 our Saviour, at the refurredion of the jujl^ 
 All that is requifite is a ftretch of thought, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 17 
 
 and a comprehenfion of mind, which fhall 
 eaable men to contemplate a thing cer- 
 tainly future, as if it was prefent : and by 
 this means give it its proper value in 
 comparifon with things prefent, which, in 
 confequence of being fo, are poffefTed of an 
 undue advantage over them. But what 
 things that are future lofe in this refpeft, 
 is balanced by their real magnitude, and 
 importance. The things that are feen^ fays 
 the apoftle (2Cor. iv. 18) are temporal^ hut 
 the things that are imfeen are eternal. It is, 
 therefore, the more eafy, by a firm faith, 
 and a fteady contemplation, to give them 
 their juft degree of eftimation, and to 
 feel and aft properly with refpeft to them; 
 as thoufands and millions have actually 
 done, who have cheerfully abandoned 
 every thing in life, and life itfelf, when the 
 retaining of them was incompatible with 
 their great profpeds beyond the grave. 
 
 6. It is by habituating the mind to 
 contemplate great and diflant objects, that 
 religion enlarges and ennobles the minds of 
 men, advancing them farther beyond the 
 
 D .ftate 
 
1 3 F,V1DENCES OF 
 
 Hate of children, who are only alFecled 
 by things munediately prefent to theniy 
 and from the great bulk of mankmd, who 
 do mdeed look before them, but not far. 
 They can fow and plant one year in hope 
 of a return in the next, and they can 
 expend their money in the purchafe of 
 goods with a view to fell them to advan- 
 tage in a future and diftant market. Alfo, 
 when they labour under any diforder, they 
 can take difgufting medicines in the hope 
 of a cure. But this is far fhort of look- 
 ing to a w^orld beyond the grave, laying 
 up treafure in heaven, making friends of 
 the mammon of unrighteoufnefs here, in 
 order to be received into everlafting ha- 
 bitations hereafter. This is done by the 
 help of rehgion, which by this means 
 makes a man a luperior kind of being to 
 what he was before. 
 
 If great thoughts, as Lord Bacon fays, 
 Diake great minds, how much fuperior muft 
 be that man who is habitually employed in 
 the contemplation of God, of a providence, 
 and a future ftate, who fees the hand 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 19 
 
 of God in every thing, and receives all the 
 difpenfations of providence with a con- 
 tented and thankful heart, whofe faith is 
 not ihaken by all the diftrefs and calamity 
 of which he is a witnefs, and all that him- 
 feif, his friends, his country, or the world, 
 may fufter, and who when he comes to 
 die can Icok back with fatisfaftion, and 
 forward with hope and joy, to the man 
 who is either wholly ignorant of thefe 
 great principles, or an unbeliever in them, 
 whofe views are bounded by v/hat he fees 
 in this life, and v/ho can only fay, Let vs 
 cat and drink for to-morrow we die. To fuch 
 perfons life is indeed of little value. And 
 it is no wonder that, under any particu- 
 lar preflure of trouble or difapp ointment, 
 they throw it up, and put an end to thxsir 
 lives in defpair, 
 
 7. Though I have reprefented the 
 religious mxan as afting on plain and intel- 
 ligible principles, and as overlooking prc- 
 fent evils for the fake of future good, it 
 by no means follows that he will be an 
 ^nterefted character, and never love virtue 
 
 for 
 
i>o EVIDENCES OF 
 
 for its own fake. It is by a rational felf 
 intereft that the moft difinterefted charafters 
 are formed. This admits of an eafy iliuf- 
 tration from what we know concerning 
 the love of money. The greateft mifer 
 does not begin with the love of money as 
 an ultimate objed, or for its own fake, but 
 only for the fake of the advantages it can 
 procure him. And yet we fee that it is poffi- 
 ble, in a courfe of time, for men to come 
 to love money, and to employ all their 
 powers, and all their time, in the acquifi- 
 tion of it, without giving the leaft atten- 
 tion to the ufe of it, and indeed without 
 ever making any proper ufe of it at all; 
 their ideas never going beyond the mere 
 accumulation of it. Let any thing be 
 purfued, though as a means, and in a 
 courfe of time, it will come to be an end. 
 In like manner, let a man from any 
 principle, habituate himfelf to refpeiS the 
 authority of God, to do good to others, 
 and praftife virtue in general, though at 
 firft with no other view than to his re- 
 ward in a future ftate, and in time he will 
 
 live 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 21 
 
 live virtuoufly, without giving any atten- 
 tion to his ultimate intereft in it ; and in 
 this progrefs he will neceffarily become as 
 difintereftedly virtuous as it is poffible, in 
 the nature of things, for a man to be. He 
 may begin with the mere fear of God, or 
 a dread of his difpleafure, but at length he 
 will be actuated by the pureft love, and an 
 entire devotednefs to his will, as fuch. He 
 may begin with doing kind offices to others 
 from any motive fufficient to produce the 
 external aftion, but at length he will come 
 with the apoftle, to love with a pure heart 
 fervently, taking the greateft pleafure in 
 doing kind offices, without any idea, or 
 exped:ation, of a return. He may at firft 
 abftain from fenfual indulgence from a 
 perfuafion of what he may ultimately fuf- 
 fer in confequence of it, but in time he 
 will have greater fatisfaftion in modera- 
 tion than he ever had in excefs, and he 
 will readily and cheerfully do whatever 
 he apprehends to be right, without a/king 
 why. The diftates of confcience will be 
 
 with him a fupreme rule of adion. 
 
 This 
 
22 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 This is that truly great and fublime 
 charader to which religion, and rehgion 
 alone, can raife a man. Without the 
 principles of rehgion, v/ithout the fear of 
 God, which Solomon juflly calls the begin- 
 ning ofwifdom, he wants the firft neceflary 
 ftep in this progrefs. There muft be a 
 belief in the being and providence of God, 
 and in a life of retribution to come, to 
 give a man that comprehenfive view of 
 things, which alone can lead him to over- 
 look temporary gratifications, and give him 
 that due command of his paiTions which 
 is elTential to rational life. He muft firft 
 look beyond the things that are feen, and 
 temporal, to things unfeen and eternal, or 
 he might never fee fufficient reafon for the 
 practice of thofe virtues which do not 
 bring an unmediate recompence. He 
 would never refpefl: the authority of God, 
 unlefs he had a belief in his being and 
 providence. All his works would be 
 done to be {ccn of men ; and if the 
 only reward of virtue was in another 
 world, which he believed to have no 
 
 exiftence, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 23 
 
 cxiftence, he would have no fufficient rca- 
 fon to exercife it at all. 
 
 But having this faith, the foundation of 
 right condu6l, the fuperftruclure is eafily 
 raifed upon it. PoffeiTed of this firft princi- 
 ple, a feed is fow^n, v/hich cannot fail in 
 time to produce the noble and full grown 
 plant, the excellent character above de- 
 fcribed. If the mind be thoroughly im- 
 prefTed with the fear of God, the two 
 great principles, v/hich comprife the whole 
 of the moral law, the love of God, and 
 of our neighbour, will in due time appear, 
 and produce all ibe fruits of righteoufnefsy 
 without the lead view to any reward 
 whatever ; and on this account will be in- 
 titled to, and will afFuredly find, the 
 greatefl. This is to be moil truly god- 
 like, and the neceffary confequence of be- 
 ing like -God, of being perfe^ (or approach- 
 ing as near to it as may be) as Godisperfed, 
 which our Saviour requires and encourages 
 us to be, muft be accompanied with a de- 
 gree of happinefs approaching the divine. 
 
 Such 
 
24 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Such being the obvious ufe and fubftan- 
 tial value of reUgion, vi^ith refpeft to the 
 conduft of Ufe, the troubles we are ex- 
 pofed to in it, and at the hour of death, 
 and to form the moft exalted of human 
 charafters, it certainly behoves us to exa- 
 mine the evidence of it, and to do this 
 not fuperficially, but with the greateft at- 
 tention, as a queftion in the decifion of 
 which we are ail moft deeply interefted. 
 I may add that a virtuous and good man 
 cannot but wifh that the principles of reli- 
 gion may appear to be well founded, be- 
 caufe it is his inter eft that they Ihould be 
 fo ; and if there be this bias on our minds 
 in this enquiry, it is a reafonable and ho- 
 nourable bias, fuch as no perfon need be 
 afhamed to avow. 
 
 At the fame time, the greater is the 
 objeft propofed to us, the more fcrupu- 
 lous we lliall naturally be in our enquiries 
 concerning it. When the apoftles were 
 firft informed of the refurreftion of their 
 beloved mafter, it is faid by the hiftorian, 
 
 that 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 3,; 
 
 that they did not believe through joy ; and it 
 was not without the moft irrefiilible evi- 
 dence, that of their y^;//^j-, that they were 
 at length fatisfied with refped: to it. Let 
 us afl; the fame part, and not receive a 
 pleafmg tale merely becaufe it is pleafmg 
 to us, but ftritftly examine the evidence of 
 it ; and this is what I propofe to lay be- 
 fore you, with the greateft plainnefs, 
 without concealing any difficulties that 
 appear to me to be worthy of much 
 notice. Chrift and the apojftles always 
 appealed to the underftanding of their 
 hearers, and it can only be a fpurious kind 
 of religion that difclaims the ufe of reafon^ 
 that faculty by which alone we are capable 
 of religion, and by which alone we are 
 able to diftinguifh true rehgion from falfe, 
 and that which is genuine, from the foreign 
 and heterogeneous matter that has been 
 added to it. 
 
DISCOURSE IL 
 
 Of the Jitperior Value of Revealed Religion, 
 
 He hath fliewed thee, O man, what is good ; and what doth 
 the Lord require of thee, but to do juflly, to love mercy, 
 and to walk humbly with thy God. 
 
 MiCAH, vi. 8. 
 
 Proposing to deliver a ferles of 
 Dlfcourfes on the evidences of revealed 
 religion, I have begun with fliew^lng the 
 real value of religion in general, confiftlng 
 m a belief of the being and providence of 
 God, and of a future ftate of retribution. 
 Taking it, therefore, for granted, that 
 this faith is of real value to men, both as 
 mdividuals and as members of fociety, I 
 fhall now endeavour to ftiew that the plan 
 of communicating this knowledge by occa- 
 fional interpofxtions of the Supreme Be- 
 ing 
 
sS THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ing is, in feveral refpefts, preferable to 
 that which unbehevers boaft of as fuperior 
 to it, viz. the gradual acquifition of it by 
 the mere ufe of reafon. 
 
 But I would previoufly obferve that, 
 provided the great end be gained, viz. the 
 improvement of the human character by 
 the attainment of fuch knowledge, and 
 the forming of fuch habits, as will qua- 
 lify men to be moft happy in themfelves, 
 and difpofe them to communicate the moft 
 happinefs to others (which is the great ob- 
 jeft with God, the common parent of us 
 all) the means are of no farther value. 
 That fcheme, or fyftem, whatever it be, 
 which beft promotes this great end, is, for 
 that reafon the beft; and if the two 
 fchemes be equally adapted to gain the 
 fame end, they are exadly of equal va- 
 lue. 
 
 Religion itfelf is only a means, or in- 
 ftrument, to make men virtuous, and 
 thereby happy, in fuch a manner as ra- 
 tional beings are alone capable of be- 
 ing made happy: and the different kinds, 
 
 forms,. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 29 
 
 forms, rites, or exercifes, of religion are 
 of no value but as they tend to make men 
 religious, infpiring them with the fear of 
 God, and a difpofition confcientioufly to 
 obferve whatever he is fuppofed to re- 
 quire of them. Tills great truth, which 
 we ought ever to bear in mind, is clearly 
 exprefled in my text, JVhat doth the Lord 
 veqidrc of thee, ha to do jnftly, to love mercy ^ 
 and to walk humbly with thy God, i. e. to en- 
 tertain juft fentiments, and obferve a right 
 conduft, with refped; to God and man; 
 and every thing that God has Jheived us, 
 whether by the light of nature, or by oc- 
 cafional interpofitions, has no other objed 
 than this. He hath fnevjed thee, man^ 
 what is good, what tends to make him vir- 
 tuous and happy. 
 
 Let no perfon, therefore, value him- 
 felf on his religion as fuch, be the princi- 
 ples of it ever fo true, his knowlegde of 
 it ever fo exaft, and his faith in it ever fo 
 firm. He is thereby only pofTeffed of a 
 means to a certain end, and if that end 
 be not attained, he is fo far from being a 
 
 gamer 
 
30 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 gainer by being poflefled of the means that 
 he is highly culpable for having fuch an 
 inftrument, and making no proper ufe of 
 it. For better, as the apoftle fays, (2. Pet. 
 ii. 21.) would it be never to have known the 
 way of rlghteoufnefs than, after having known 
 ity to depart from it, i. e. by living a vi- 
 cious life. Alfo, according to our Sa- 
 viour's moft folemn declarations, whatever 
 may have been a man's relation to him- 
 felf, even though he may have worked 
 miracles in his name, if he be a worker 
 of iniquity he will at the laft day difclaim 
 all knowledge of him, and order him to 
 depart from him. 
 
 As the improvement of the human 
 character in virtuous principles and habits 
 is the end of all religion, we muft judge 
 of the preferablenefs of natural, or revealed 
 religion by their fuperior tendency to ef- 
 feft this great end. But, indeed, fo little 
 of religion properly fo called have men ever 
 derived from the light of nature, and fo 
 little are thpfe who rejeft revelation really 
 influenced by any religious principle, that 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 31 
 
 the true ftate of the queftion, in fad, is 
 whether it be better for man to have the 
 reUgion that is taught in the fcriptures, 
 or none at all. They who rejeft revela- 
 tion may not abfolutely, and in words 
 rejedl the belief of a God, and of a 
 providence (though we fee in the example 
 of the French philofophers, and many 
 others, that this is generally the cafe) they 
 are not influenced by that belief. Nor 
 can we wonder at this, when they cer- 
 tainly have not, in faft, any expectation 
 of a future ftate, v/hich, as I Ihall fhew, 
 was never taught to any ufeful purpofe but 
 by revelation. 
 
 Religion implies the belief of the be- 
 ing and providence of God, and fuch a 
 refpeft for the will of God, as will effec- 
 tually controul a man's natural inclinations 
 and direft his conduft, reftraining him 
 from irregularities to which he is naturally 
 prone, and exciting him to aftions to 
 which he is naturally averfe. But as men 
 in general are governed either by ftrong 
 natural appetites, or a view to their in- 
 
 tereft. 
 
32 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 tereft, it cannot be expefted that virtue 
 alonCy without any hope of future reward 
 or punifhment, can have fuch charms for 
 them, that they will abandon their plea- 
 fure, their eafe, or their advantage, for 
 the pure love of it. Suppofing that men 
 might arrive at a knowledge of the will of 
 God with refpeft to their condud; in life, 
 they would not feel any fufhcient obligation 
 to conform to it, without the great fanc- 
 tion of future rewards and punifhments. 
 Mere authority, as that of a parent, or of 
 a magiftrate, is little or nothing without 
 the power of rev/arding and punifhing. 
 Nothing, therefore, but a firm belief in a 
 future fta.te of retribution, can be expefted 
 to reftrain men from giving into thofe in- 
 dulgences to which they have a ftrong 
 propenfity. 
 
 I . With refpe£i to every article of reli- 
 gion, the light of nature is far from being 
 fufficiently clear and diftinft, fo as to be 
 inferred with certainty by the moft intelli- 
 gent of men. With refped: to what is moft- 
 eflential to human happinefs, the wifefl of 
 
 men 
 
REVEALED RELIGON. 33 
 
 men do not appear to have been, in fad, 
 fuperior to the bulk, having in a variety 
 of refpefts, laid down the moft erroneous 
 rules for the conduft of men. Plain as 
 the moft important maxims of morality- 
 are, there is not one of them, but what 
 the moft enhghtened not only of the an- 
 cient philofophers, but of modern unbe- 
 lievers, have controverted. What we call 
 confcience, and which we might expeft to 
 be a better guide in this refpeft, than even 
 reafoUy is by no means the fame uniform 
 principle in all men. It is formed by va- 
 rious aflbciations of ideas, depending on 
 the circumftances of our education, fo that 
 things which abfolutely Ihock fome perfons, 
 are not felt as at all improper by others. 
 There is, therefore, fomething wanted 
 fuperior to the diftates of reafon, or natu- 
 ral confcience, and this can only be revealed 
 religion, or the authority of our maker, 
 which muft be obeyed without reafon- 
 ingv Man will, no doubt, difpute even 
 about the will of God, when it is moft 
 clearly revealed, as they do concerning 
 
 the 
 
34 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the moll: exprefs laws that are ever made 
 by men, but if this be done with refped 
 to the articulate voice of God, it will be 
 done to a much greater extent, and with 
 much more plaufibiUty, to the inarticulate 
 voice of nature, which every perfon will 
 interpret as he is previoufly inclined. 
 
 If when men are hurried on by paffion, 
 or fwayed by inter eft, they will tranfgrefs 
 fuch pofitive and acknowledged commands, 
 as thou /halt not commit adultery^ thou floalt not 
 Jleal^ (6^^. as we fee that, in faft, they do, 
 it will not, however, be without reluc- 
 tance, and remorfe; and therefore tranf- 
 greffions will be lefs frequent, and lefs fla- 
 grant, and repentance and amendment may 
 be more reafonably expelled to follow. 
 But where no fuch pofitive command is 
 acknowledged to exift, and the voice of 
 nature alone is to be confulted about the 
 proper conduft of life, moft men will mif- 
 take their own inclination for the voice 
 of nature, and confequently fm without 
 relua:ance or remorfe. Of this it would 
 be eafy to give inftances in the cleareft of 
 
 all 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 3 . 
 
 ail cafes, but this wouid talce up too mucli 
 of our time, and fometliing of tliis was 
 mentioned in my laft difcourfe. 
 
 2. Still lefs would men, by the mere 
 light of nature, have ever attained to any 
 fatisfatflory conclufion with refpeft to the 
 ultimate defign of the author of nature in 
 the formation of man. I mean the pro- 
 longation of his exiftence beyond the 
 grave. On this mod inter efling of all 
 queftions nature is altogether fdent. Judg- 
 ing from appearances, as the brutes die, 
 fo does man; and all his faculties and 
 powers die with him. That at death any 
 things efcapes, unaffefted by this cataftro- 
 phe, is a mere arbitrary fuppofition, unfup- 
 ported by any appearance, or probability 
 of any kind. 
 
 That the belief which the ancient 
 Greeks and Romans had of a future life, 
 imperfeft, and of little value, as it was, 
 was originally derived from revelation, 
 but exceedingly corrupted by tradition, 
 is pretty evident from this circumftance, 
 that when they began to fpeculate on the 
 
 fubjeft, 
 
36 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fubjed, and examine the reafons they could 
 produce for it, all ferious belief in the doc- 
 trine foon vaniflied. With the Platonifts, 
 who made the moft of this doftrine, it 
 was only a curious fpeculation, of no real 
 ufe in the conduct of life, fuch as it is 
 with Jews and Chriftians. Indeed, the 
 reafons which the Platonifts gave for this 
 do6lrine, and which Plato puts into the 
 mouth of Socrates, are fuch as could not 
 pofTibly have any weight with thinking 
 men. That on which he lays the greateft 
 ftrefs, is the doftrine of pre-exiftence, 
 that the fouls of men were originally with- 
 out bodies, and afterwards confined in 
 them as in a prifon, and that death is the 
 breaking of this prifon. But where is the 
 evidence of men having pre-exifted ? This 
 do(5lrine of pre-exiftence we find moft ful- 
 ly eftablifhed in Egypt and the Eaft, 
 whence Plato and other Greeks derived it. 
 With modern unbelievers it certainly has 
 no weight. 
 
 It is well known that the firft philofo- 
 phers among the Greeks did not pretend 
 
 to 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 37 
 
 to difcover any thing by their own rea- 
 foning. They only taught what they had 
 learned of others, who had received the 
 tenets that .had been tranfmitted to them 
 from early times, and that what they 
 taught was delivered to their pupils on 
 their fole authority, as what was not to 
 be contradifted. This was the eftablilhed 
 cuftom of the Pythagorean fchool. Rea~ 
 foning came into their fchools after^vards, 
 and with it the wildeft theories on all fub- 
 jefts, as I ftiall fhew in its proper place, 
 and a total fcepticifm with refped to the 
 doftrine of a future ftate of retribution, 
 as a motive to virtue. 
 
 Suppofing that it were poflible by the 
 mere light of nature to arrive at the be- 
 lief of a future ftate, yet judging from 
 prefent appearances, it could not be the 
 future ftate announced in the Scriptures, 
 a ftate in which virtue will find an ample 
 recompence, and vice its juft punilhment, 
 but only fuch a life as this, and in all other 
 refpecfts refembling the prefent ; which is 
 the belief of the North American Indians, 
 
 and 
 
38 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and moft other barbarous nations. If be- 
 caufe we diflike any thing in the prefent 
 fyftem, ^v^e entertain an idea that the in- 
 convenience complained of will be remov- 
 ed ^i a future (late, where is the evidence 
 that, under the fame powers, or principles, 
 of nature, whatever they are, things will 
 be ordered in a better manner? Is it pof- 
 fible to infer from what we fee (and we 
 have nothing elfe hy which to guide our 
 conjectures) that thofe evils which the 
 author of nature has thought proper, for 
 w^hatever reafon, to introduce, or to per- 
 mit, here, will not be continued there 
 alfo? If we fay that it is not agreeable to 
 juftice that good and bad men fnould be 
 treated as they are here, w^here is the evi- 
 dence, from any prefent appearances, that 
 the author of nature interided that they 
 iliould ever be treated otherwife l Left to 
 the light of nature, we could only reafon 
 from what we know, and this would lead 
 us to expeft that, if there be any life after 
 death, it will be fimilar to the prefent. 
 It is only from the exprefs affurance of the 
 
 author 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 3^ 
 
 author of nature, communicated by reve- 
 lation, that we beheve the future ftate 
 will be better than the prefent, that in it 
 the righteous will be fully rewarded, and 
 the wicked puniflied. It is evident, there- 
 fore, that when we abandon revelation, 
 we give up all religion properly fo called, 
 all that can have any falutary influence en 
 the hearts and lives of men. 
 
 3. With relpecl to 7}7en, there is cer- 
 tainly a great advantage m precepts and 
 commands, promifes and threatenings be- 
 ing delivered in vjords, proceeding as from 
 a real perfon, it being by this means that 
 inftruftions are delivered with the greatefl 
 diftinftnefs. It may indeed, be faid, and 
 with truth, that nature fpeaks to men, 
 and that nature teaches, and nature threat- 
 ens, but befides that the information is 
 more indiftinftly com.municated, it is in a 
 manner lefc apt to make an impreffion, 
 and command refpecl. It is, therefore, 
 of great advantage that the attention 
 of men be direfted to fomething beyond 
 mere nature, viz. to the author and lord 
 
 of 
 
40 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 of nature, and that he be confidered not 
 as an allegorical perfonage, but a real in- 
 telligent Being, capable of communicating 
 his will in words, and fuch figns as men 
 are daily accuftomed to, and apt to be 
 imprclTed by. 
 
 Befides, all men feel an unavoidable pro- 
 penfity to addrefs themfelves to the Being 
 on whom they depend ; and without fome 
 mode of intercourfe with him, they would 
 foon lofe fight of him, as a child would of 
 his father, if he never faw him, and had 
 no accefs to him. Without an idea of 
 God different from what we could colled: 
 from the contemplation of nature, there 
 would be no fuch thing as prayer. Indeed, 
 unbelievers in revelation ridicule the idea 
 of prayer as unnatural and abfurd, though 
 all nations, without exception, have had 
 recourfe to it; which is a clear proof that 
 it is natrual, as every thing that is univer- 
 fal muft be. 
 
 Authority is beft fupported by a mix- 
 ture of affection, but there cannot be any 
 thing of this except towards a being re- 
 
 fembling 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 41 
 
 fembling other beings which have been 
 the objed; of an afFedion, and which have 
 engaged our confidence. And in revela- 
 tion, but by no means in nature, the Su- 
 preme Being appears to us in the famihar 
 char after of a parent, a perfon with 
 whom we can have communication, who 
 may be conceived to be always prefent 
 with us, who encourages us to addrefs 
 ourfelves to him, who always hears us, 
 and fometimes anfwers us. By this means 
 God eafily becomes the objeft of real af- 
 feftion, and attachment. Here we find 
 a folid foundation for love and fear^ which 
 are the chief motives for men's aftions. 
 With believers in revelation, this fome- 
 times degenerates into an abfurd enthufi- 
 afm, hy which the Divine Being becomes 
 the objeft of a fond and improper afFeftion. 
 We may fay that it is beneath the Su- 
 preme Being, and unworthy of him, to 
 have this familiar intercourfe with men ; 
 but it is of great importance to our virtue 
 and happinefs ; and to a being of perfeft 
 benevolence, and who knows, the frame 
 
 that 
 
 G 
 
4> THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 that he has given us, nothing will appear 
 beneath him that is fo well adapted to an- 
 fwer his benevolent purpofe refpetTting us. 
 Nor, indeed, would the mofl abfolute 
 prince, if he really wifhed to appear as 
 the father and friend of his people, think 
 any thing beneath him that tended to pro- 
 mote the happinefs of his fubjecls. 
 
 It is faid by modern unbelievers, that 
 the expeftaion of fuch a being as the great 
 author of nature condefcending to aft this 
 humble part is unreafonable, and that 
 miracles of all kinds, the only evidence 
 of it, are neceffarily incredible. I anfwer 
 that the affertion betrays a great unac- 
 quaintednefs with human nature, and the 
 hiftory of man. For it has been the be- 
 lief of all nations, and all ages, that the 
 higheft beings of whom they had any 
 idea have acted this very part. Socrates 
 himfelf exprefled an earneft wifli for a 
 divine inftruftor. This expedation and 
 belief is, therefore, by no means unnatu- 
 ral, and there muft be fomething in human 
 nature that leads to it. 
 
 If 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 43 
 
 -'If we look to the laft, and therefore 
 what we may fuppofe to be the moft im- 
 proved ftate of heathen philofophy, that 
 of the later Platonifts, or EclevSlics, to 
 which the emperor JuUan (whofe fuperior 
 good fenfe is fo much the boaft of modern 
 unbeUevers) attached himfeif, we fhall 
 find them in this very refpeft the moft 
 fuperftitious, the moft enthufiaftic, and the 
 moft credulous of men. Far from fup- 
 pofing that men had no intercourfe with 
 the fupreme being, they expelled to unite 
 themfelves to him by contemplation, and 
 corporeal mortification. ** The piety of 
 " Proclus, one of the moft celebrated of 
 ^* them, is highly extolled by his biogra- 
 *^ pher. He fpent whole days and nights 
 '^ in repeating prayers and hymns, that 
 '^ he might prepare himfeif for an imme- 
 *^ diate intercourfe with the gods. He 
 *' obferved with great folemnity the new 
 *' moons, and all public feftivals, and on 
 *^ thefe occafions imagined that he con- 
 *' verfed with fuperior beings, and was 
 * ' able by his facrifices, prayers, and h} mns, 
 
 to 
 
44 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 *' to expel difeafes, to command rain, 
 <^ to flop earthquakes, and to perform 
 ** other fmiilar miracles." Whether, 
 therefore, we look to the vulgar, or the 
 philofophers among the ancients, v^e fhall 
 find the idea of divine communications and 
 of miracles, to have been natural to man. 
 Thefe philofophers did not deny the mira- 
 cles of Chrift, but maintained that he 
 wrought them by the fame magical or 
 theurgic powers, as they were termed, 
 which they themfelves poflefled. See En- 
 field's Hiftory of Philofophy, Vol. i. 
 p. 83, 92. 
 
 4. They who give fo decided a prefer- 
 ence to the light of nature, the appear- 
 ances of which are uniform, to that of 
 revelation, which fuppofes an occafional 
 departure from the ufual courfe of nature, 
 betray their ignorance of the nature of 
 man, by whom all uniform appearances, are 
 apt to be difregarded, but who never fail 
 to be flruck by what is unufuaL Does 
 not every human being fee the regular ri- 
 fing and fetting of the fun, the periodical 
 
 returns 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 45 
 
 returns of fummer and winter, feed time 
 andharveft, but how few ever think of the 
 wifdom or benevolence of thefe appoint- 
 ments? They content themfelves with ob- 
 ferving effeffs, and directing their condu6l by 
 them, without ever refledling on the ccmfe. 
 But wherever any thing ^/;/^//z/^/ happens, 
 when comets are feen, or ecUpfes of the 
 fun or moon take place, their attention is 
 forcibly arrefted ; and after reflefting on 
 the caufe of the extraordinary appear- 
 ances, they may be induced to give fome 
 attention to thofe that are conftant. I 
 ihall illuftrate this by a cafe w^hich I have 
 put on a former occafion. 
 
 Let a perfon unacquainted with clocks, 
 watches, and other machines, be intro- 
 duced into a room containing many of 
 them, all in regular motion. He fees no 
 maker of thefe machines, and knows no- 
 thing of their internal ftrufture ; and as he 
 fees them all to move with perfeft regu- 
 larity, he may fay, on the principles of 
 the atheiftical fyftem, that they are auto- 
 mata, or felf-moving machines; and fo 
 
 long 
 
46 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 long as all thefe machines continue in re- 
 gular motion, and he knows nothing of 
 the making of them, or the winding of 
 them up, this theory may appear plau- 
 fible. 
 
 But let us fuppofe that, coming into 
 this room again and again, and, always 
 attending to the machines, he fhall find 
 one of them much out of order, and 
 that at length its motion Ihall intirely 
 ceafe ; but that after continuing in this 
 
 Hftate fome time, he fhall again find it in 
 perfect order, mo\ing as regularly as 
 ever. Will he not then conclude that fome 
 perfon, whom he has not feen, but pro- 
 bably the maker of the machines, had 
 been in the room in his abfence ? The ref- 
 toration of motion to the difordered ma- 
 chine \vould imprefs his mind with the 
 idea of a maker of them in a much more 
 
 •forcible manner than his obferving the re- 
 gular conflruciion, and uniform motion of 
 them. It muft convince him of the exift- 
 ence of fome perfon capable of regulatings 
 and therefore probably of making thefe 
 
 machines. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 47 
 
 machines, whether he fhould ever fee this 
 perfon or not. 
 
 Thus do miracles prove the exiftence 
 of a God in a fhorter and more fatisfafto- 
 ry manner than the obfervation of the 
 uninterrupted courfe of nature. If there 
 be a Being v/ho can controid the courfe of 
 nature, there muft be one who originally 
 ejlabliped it, in whatever difficulty we may 
 ftill be left with refpe£l to his nature, and 
 the manner of his exiftence. 
 
 Why men iliould be ftruck with un- 
 ufual appearances it is not my bufinefs to 
 explain, though it v/ould not be difficult 
 to do it, the facl of their being Jo is fuffici- 
 ent to my purpofe. And therefore a per- 
 fon acquainted with human nature, and 
 this property of it, would not negled: to 
 avaU himfelf of it when he wiihed to en- 
 gage the attention of men, for the purpofe 
 of their inftrud:ion and improvement. 
 Why then fhould we think it uimatural, 
 or improper, in the divine Being, who, as 
 the maker of men, beft knows what they 
 are, and in what way to apply to them? 
 
 Let 
 
48 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Let no one then fay that occafional in- 
 terpofitions, or imraculous appearances, are 
 an unnatural, or improper mode of in- 
 ftrudling mankind, when it is in a manner 
 neceffary to draw their attention to a fu- 
 perior being, as a foundation for their 
 intercourfe with him. 
 
 4. No lefs are they miftaken who 
 imagine that the evidences of revealed 
 religion have more of difficulty in them 
 than thofe of natural religion, by which 
 we mean the arguments from nature for 
 the being, perfeftions, and providence of 
 God. On the contrary, far greater diffi- 
 culties occur with( refpeft to thefe, than 
 with refpeft to the others, and all that 
 can be faid is, that great difficulties muft 
 give way to greater. Far am I from 
 fuppofing that the evidence for the being of 
 a God, is not demonftrative, fince marks 
 of defign, with which the world abounds, 
 neceffarily imply a defigning or intelligent 
 caufe. But notwithftanding this, we can 
 never fully fatisfy ourfelves with refpe6l 
 to the objeftion of the atheift, that if the 
 
 univerfe 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 49 
 
 univerfe require a caufe, this caufe muft 
 require another; and if the author of na- 
 ture, or the being we call God, exift 
 without a caufe, fo may the univerfe it- 
 felf. 
 
 All that we can fay in anfwer to this, 
 is that, whatever difficulty we may labour 
 under with refped: to this fubjeft, which 
 will always be above our comprehenfion, 
 the a6lual exiftence of a vifible \vorld, 
 and of marks of defign in it, cannot be de- 
 nied, and therefore, whether we be able to 
 proceed any farther or not, we muji ac- 
 knowledge a defigning caufe. Otherwife 
 we might fay that a houfe had no archi- 
 teft, or a child no father. If the eye of 
 a man require no defigning caufe, neither 
 would a telefcope, which is an inftrument 
 of a fimilar nature, evidently adapted to 
 anfwer a fimilar purpofe. And at this 
 fuppofition every mind would revolt. 
 
 More and greater difficulties occur 
 when we proceed to the confideration of 
 the unity, the omni]5refence, the conflant 
 agency, and what is of more confequence 
 
 H ftill, 
 
^o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ftill, the benevolence of the Supreme Being, 
 on the principles of the Hght of nature. 
 So forcibly were the minds of men in the 
 early ages, imprefled with a view of the 
 evils which abound in the world, and fo 
 inconfiftent did they conceive them to be 
 with the defigns of a benevolent author, 
 that they fuppofed there was an original 
 principle of evily independant of that of 
 good. And they who fuppofed there 
 was a multiplicity of deities (to which 
 they were led by the extent and va- 
 riety they obferved in the works of na- 
 ture) imagined fome of them to be of a 
 benevolent, and others of a malevolent 
 difpofition. That the author of nature is 
 one, that he is fimply, invariably, and in- 
 finitely good, and that all the evils we 
 fee and experience, are calculated to pro- 
 mote good, are great and fublime truths, 
 which we derive from revelation only, 
 though, on a ftrifl: examination, they ap- 
 pear not to be inconfiftent with the ap- 
 pearances in nature. 
 
 On 
 
REVEALED RELIGIO^r. 51 
 
 On the other hand, the evidences of 
 revelation are level to every capacity. 
 That it is the author of nature who inter- 
 pofes muft be evident from every interup- 
 tion of the ufual courfe of it. For no other 
 than he who eftabliilied the laws of nature 
 can controul them ; and though there may 
 be fome difficulty in diftinguilliing fome 
 preternatural appearances from fuch as are 
 merely unufual, this cannot be the cafe with 
 refpe£l to numberlefs others. If it was a fad 
 that the Ifraelites walked tlirough the Red 
 Sea, and the river Jordan, if all the firft- 
 born of the Egyptians, and the firft-born 
 only, of man and beaft, died in one night, 
 and that announced before-hand; if an 
 articulate voice was aftually heard to pro- 
 nounce the ten commandments from mount 
 Sinai, fo as to be heard by a million of 
 people, there could be no doubt of a di- 
 vine interpofition in any of the cafes. 
 And the fame may be faid of numberlefs 
 other fadls in the fcripture hiftory. If the 
 fa^s be afcertained, there can be no doubt 
 concerning their caiifc. 
 
 Now, 
 
^2 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Now, all fads may be afcertained by 
 fufficient teftimony, or that of a compe- 
 tent number of credible witneffes, i. e. of 
 perfons who were in circmnftances not to 
 be impofed upon themfelves, and who had 
 no apparent motive to impofe upon others. 
 This is fully equal to the evidence of a 
 man's own fenfes. Nay, there are many 
 perfons who would diftruft their own eyes 
 and ears rather than thofe of other per- 
 fons, who they thought were better judges 
 than themfelves. 
 
 Though fingle perfons may be im- 
 pofed upon in a variety of ways, or may 
 take it into their heads, for reafons which 
 it is not in the power of any man to in- 
 veftigate, to impofe upon others, this can 
 never be faid to be the cafe with refped: 
 to thoufands who believe, or atteft, things 
 evidently contrary to their intereft, and 
 previous inclinations. That great num- 
 bers of perfons, and others in fucceffion to 
 them, all of whom had fufficient oppor- 
 tunity to inveftigate any particular faft, 
 Avhich required no other evidence than 
 
 that 
 
KEVEALED RELIGION. 53 
 
 that of the fenfes, and who were intereft- 
 ed m the mveftigation, their fortunes or 
 their lives depending upon it, fhould per- 
 fifh in their atteflatlon of it, w^ould be a 
 greater miracle, more contrary to what 
 we know of human nature, than any fad 
 contained in the fcripture hiftory. 
 
 As to the evidence of a future ftate, 
 , what are all the arguments derived from 
 the light of nature compared to that 
 which is furnifhed by the gofpel, which is 
 therefore juftly faid (2 Tim. i. 10.) to bring 
 life and immortality to light? There we fee 
 a perfon eommiflioned by God, teaching 
 the doftrine with the greateft plainnefs 
 and emphafis, enforcing it by miracles, 
 among which was the raifing of feveral 
 perfons from a ftate of death to life, 
 and, what w^as infinitely more, fubinitting 
 to die himfelf in the moft public and 
 indifputable manner, and rifing to life 
 again at a fixed time. Had mankind in 
 general been aiked what evidence would 
 fatisfy theni, they could not have demand- 
 ed more. 
 
 Whatever 
 
54 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Whether therefore, we confider the 
 precepts of reUgion, i. e. the rules of a 
 virtuous aud happy Ufe, the authority re- 
 quifite to enforce the obfervance of them, 
 the motives by v^hich they are enforced, 
 or the evidence of their truth, revealed 
 religion has unlpeakably the advantage of 
 natural; and therefore fo far is the fcheme 
 of revelation from being improbable a 
 priori^ that it muft appear fuch as a wife and 
 good Being, who was acquainted with hu- 
 man nature, and wifhed to engage the atten- 
 tion of men, and imprefs their minds with 
 fentiments of reverence of himfelf, and re- 
 Iped: for fuch laws as were calculated to 
 promote their greateft happinefs, would 
 adopt in preference to any other; being 
 the beft adapted to gain his end. It was 
 of the greateft importance to mankind to 
 be made acquainted with thofe moral prin- 
 ciples and rules of conduft on which their 
 happinefs depended, and which they would 
 never have difcovered of themfelves, to. 
 have their attention drawn to them, in the 
 
 moft 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 55 
 
 moft forcible manner, and to have the 
 moft fatisfaftory evidence of their truth ; 
 and this is what v^e find in revelation, and 
 in revelation only. It is therefore as the 
 apoftle juftly calls it (iCor. i. 24) the wifdom 
 and the power of God, though objefted 
 to, and ridiculed, by light and fuperficial 
 men. 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 A View of Heathen Worfhip* 
 
 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven againfl all 
 ungodlinefs and unrighteoufnefs of men, who hold the 
 truth in unrighteoufnefs. Becaufe that which may be 
 known pi God is manifeft in them, for God hath fhewed 
 it unto them. For the invifible things of him, from the 
 creation of the world, are clearly feen, being underftood 
 by the things that are made, even his eternal power and 
 godhead, fo that they are without excufe. Becaufe that 
 when they kiiew God, they glorified him not as God, 
 neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagina- 
 tions, and their foolifli heart was darkened. Profefling 
 themfelves to be wife, they became fools, and changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like 
 to corruptible man, and to birds and fourfooted beafts, 
 and creeping things. M^herefore alfo God gave them up 
 to uncleannefs, through the lufts of their own hearts, to 
 diflionour their own bodies between themfelves, who 
 changed the truth of God into a lie, and worfhipped and 
 ferved the creature more than the Creator, who is bleffed for 
 ever. For this caufe God gave them up to vile affedlions. 
 
 Romans, i. i8 — 26. 
 
 In order to give you a jufi: idea of 
 the real value of revelation, it is neceflary 
 that I lay before you the ftate of things 
 with refped to religion in the heathen 
 
 world, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^y 
 
 world, efpecially in the early ages of 
 mankind, about the time of Mofes; that 
 when I come to give you a view of his 
 inftitutions, the difference may be the 
 more ftriking. Very few, I am perfuaded, 
 of the modern unbelievers have a juft 
 knowledge of this fubjeft. If they had, 
 it would, I hope, be impoffible for them 
 to treat the religion of the Hebrews with 
 f6 much contempt. Not only the extreme 
 ignorance, but the great depravity, of 
 mankind in a ft ate of heathenifm, would 
 hot be credible at this day, if there did 
 not exift a fuperfluity of the moft authen- 
 tic documents of it, fo that the fafts can- 
 not be denied without the extreme of 
 effrontery. This, however, we find in Vol- 
 taire, who fays that ^' the religion of the 
 *' heathens confifted in nothing but mora- 
 *^ lity^ and feftivals; morality" which he 
 fays ^* is common to all men, and fejlivals 
 ** which were no more than times of re- 
 ** joicing, and could not be of prejudice to 
 *< mankind." The particulars which I Hi all 
 be obliged to mention, and which could not 
 
 J be 
 
? . THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 be unknown to this writer, though they are 
 to many others, will fliew how fliamefuUy 
 the truth is difguifed in this reprefentation. 
 The religion of the heathens had nothing 
 to do with morality, and their public fefti- 
 vals were almoft without exception, fcenes 
 of the greateft riot and debauchery. Be- 
 lieving their gods to be cruel or fenfual, 
 there is 110 vite how deteftable and unna- 
 tural foever, that did not find a place in 
 the nioft folemn ads of their worlliip. 
 
 It is not neceflary for me to give any 
 accovmt of the manner in which mankind 
 fell into this deplorable ftate of depravity 
 it being fufficient to fliew that fuch ivas 
 their ftate, and that it was evident, from 
 the experience of ages, in which men 
 made the moft of their powers of reafon, 
 that they were not able to relieve them- 
 felves. TVhy the Supreme Being permitted 
 the rife and progrefs of this Ipecies of 
 .evil, may be as infer utable to us, as the 
 permiflion of any other evilj natural or 
 moral, aone of which it muft be acknow- 
 ledged, could have taken place without 
 
 his 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 5^ 
 
 his knowledge and permiffion, and all of 
 which, and this among the reft, we have 
 reafon to beheve w^ill lead to good, and 
 hereafter appear to have done fo. In 
 the mean time it is well worth our while 
 to contemplate the magnitude of the evil, 
 and the goodnefs of God in the cure of it, 
 in what, no doubt, was the proper time, 
 and in the moft proper "and effecftual man- 
 ner. 
 
 That the great principles of religion, 
 concerning the being and providence of 
 •God, and a future ftate of exiftence, 
 were communicated by God to the firft 
 parents of mankind, is probable from fe- 
 veral circumftances. Obfcure traces of 
 this knowledge are found in all antient 
 nations, and the farther we go back into 
 antiquity, the purer we find their reUgion 
 to be. But in procefs of time it became 
 more and more corrupted, till, inftead of 
 coming in aid of virtue, it was itfelf, a 
 great fource of the corruption of morals, 
 as the progrefs is well defcribed in my 
 
 text. 
 
 The 
 
6o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The world ever bore fufHcient marks 
 of its being the produftion of an omnipo- 
 tent and good Being, a lover of virtue, 
 and a hater of vice ; but men, contempla- 
 ting, as we may fuppofe, the immenfe 
 variety, and feeming contrariety, of the 
 works of creation, could not believe that 
 the whole was under the direction of 
 one being: And being left to their own 
 imaginations, and judging of other intel- 
 ligent beings by what they obferved in 
 themfelves, and others, they concluded 
 that there muft be a multiplicity of beings 
 concerned in the government of the world, 
 and the dirediion of human affairs, fome 
 well, and others ill difpofed towards them. 
 For it required more knowledge and com- 
 prehenfion of mind than they had attained, 
 to perceive that all the evils with which 
 the world abounds were calculated to pro- 
 mote good. They thought they faw in 
 them the effefts of malice, and ill will, at 
 leaft of caprice, and their condud: natu- 
 rally correfponded to their ideas. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 6t 
 
 The mind of man is never fatisfied 
 without looking for the caufes of events, 
 efpecially thofe that take place only occa- 
 fionally, and to appearance, irregularly, 
 and ftill more if they be favourable or un- 
 favourable to themfelves, becaufe they hope 
 by this means to be able to avoid the one, 
 and fecure the other. And not being able 
 to difcover the true caufes, they muft, of 
 courfe, acquiefce in vv^hat they imagine to 
 be the true caufes. It appears from all 
 hiftory that, in the moft early ages, man- 
 kind in general afcribed every thing that 
 affefted rhem to the influences of the hea- 
 venly bodies, the fun, moon, ftars, and 
 planets, and to an intelligent principle 
 which they fuppofed to refide in them. For 
 heat and cold, ftorms and rain, often com- 
 ing unexpe6ledly, they naturally enough 
 imagined that they did not come without 
 defign, and that, if thefe heavenly agents 
 had been fo difpofed, their influences would 
 have been always favourable. To thefe 
 objefts therefore, they, of courfe, dired- 
 ed all their regards, and their worfliip. 
 
 Ihey 
 
«« THE EVIDENCES OF " 
 
 They alfo came to fuppofe that there 
 was an intelligent principle in the earth, 
 and in the feveral parts of it, as the air, 
 the fea, the rivers, mountains, forefts, &c. 
 fo that they foon became poffefled of a 
 great multiplicity of objefts of worlliip, 
 whofe favour they thought it of import- 
 ance to gain, and whofe difpleafure they 
 wilhed to deprecate. 
 
 Having got the idea of different fu- 
 perior intelhgences, whether fubordinate 
 to the fupreme Being or not, they foon 
 loft fight of the fupreme Being himfelf, 
 and gave their whole attention to thofe in- 
 ferior beings, whom they fuppofed to be 
 the immediate authors of the good and 
 evil that befel them. This was on the 
 fame natural principle that tenants look 
 to the fteward, with whom they tranfaft 
 all their bufmefs, and not to the proprietor 
 of the land, with whom they have nothing 
 to do. 
 
 We have this farther evidence from 
 faft, that this praftice was natural. 
 When Chriftians got the idea of Jefus 
 
 Chrift, 
 
. REVEALED RELIGION. 63 
 
 Chrift, of faints and angels being proper 
 obje&s of worfliip, they generally fell into 
 the habit of looking no higher, neglefting 
 the worlhip of God; and had it not been 
 for the prayers addreffed to him in the 
 fcriptures and in the antient liturgies, he 
 would, I doubt not, have been as much 
 overlooked and forgotten, as if no fuch 
 being had exifted. 
 
 But on v^hatever principle tjiis took 
 place, the fatS cannot be denied, and the 
 number of gods kept increafing, inftead 
 of diminifliing by time and reflecftion. 
 Orpheus reckoned only as many gods as 
 there were days in the year, but in the 
 time of Hefiod, the Greeks had no lefs 
 than thirty thoufand divinities. The Ro* 
 mans in the time of Varro had three hun- 
 dred Jupiter s, that is the fame God was wor- 
 fliipped under fo many different titles, un- 
 der which he was fuppofed to polTefs diife- 
 rent powers, and fome have reckoned ho 
 lefs than two hundred and eighty thoufand 
 
 gods. 
 
 The 
 
64 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The Egyptians, from whom the Greeks 
 originally received their rehgion, imagined 
 that particular animals were the favourites 
 of particular deities, and communicated 
 their powers to them. At leaft, they con- 
 fidered their fever al qualities as fymbols of 
 divine power, and at length paid a proper 
 worfhip to them. Plutarch exprefsly fays, 
 that *' the greater part of the Egyptians 
 ** worfliipped the animals themfelves,'* 
 which he faid '* led fome to the moft ex- 
 ** travagant fuperftition, and precipitated 
 ** others into atheifm." Cotta, in Cicero, 
 fays that ^' though there have been many 
 ^* inftances of temples plundered, and the 
 *' images of the gods carried away, by 
 *' the Romans, it had never been heard 
 " that a crocodile, an ibis, or a cat, had 
 *' been ill treated by the Egyptians," fo 
 far did they carry their fuperftitious re- 
 fpeil for them. 
 
 Another fource of the multiplication 
 of deities was an idea that particular fupe- 
 rior beings prefided over particular cir- 
 
 cumflances 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 6^5 
 
 cumftances relating to men, and their af- 
 fairs, fo tliat they had gods correfponding 
 to many abftra^a ideas. Thus the Romans 
 had temples and altars dedicated to the 
 fever, and ill fortune, and the . Athenians 
 to contumely and hnpudence. At length, after 
 deifying all the parts of nature, and many 
 of the qualities and properties of things, 
 they deified particular men, and worlhip- 
 ped them after their death. Nay the Ro- 
 mans, in the time of the emperors, car- 
 ried their adulation fo far as to pay divine 
 honours to fome of them, and thofe the 
 very worft of them, while they were alive. 
 The heayenly bodies being fometimes 
 invifible, the heathens had recourfe to fome 
 fymbols of their power, or fome vifible 
 objeft, to which they imagined their powers 
 were in fome way or other attached, and 
 to which they could always have recourfe. 
 Thefe were at firft pillars, or only large 
 ftones, confecrated in certain pofitions of 
 thofe heavenly bodies, which they wanted 
 to reprefent. Refining upon this, they 
 afterwards made ufe of the forms of men 
 
 and 
 K 
 
66 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and animals for that purpofe. The forms 
 of fome of their deities being altogether 
 unknown, they made ufe of fuch figures 
 as they conceived to be proper fymbols of 
 their powers. The idols of the Egyptians 
 had the heads of particular animals, as 
 that of a dog, on the body, or part of the 
 body of a man. At Rome the god Janus 
 had two faces, and the idols of Indoftan 
 have a great number of arms, &c. Hence 
 Varro, fpeaking of thefe images fays, that 
 '^ if they had life, and any perfon fhould 
 '* meet them unexpeftedly, they would 
 ^' pafs for monfters." He alfo cenfures 
 the cruel and lafcivious rites that were in- 
 troduced into the worihip of feveral of 
 their gods, efpecially of Cybele ; yet he 
 fays that *^ a wife man will obferve all 
 *^ thefe things, not as acceptable to the 
 '^ gods, but as commanded by the laws,^' 
 and fpeaking of the '^ ignoble rabble" as 
 he calls them '' of the gods," which, he 
 fays, <« the fuperftition of ages has heaped 
 ** together," he adds, '' we fo adore 
 *^ them, as to remember that this wor- 
 ihip 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 67 
 
 " fhip is rather matter of cuftom, than 
 *^ founded on nature and truth." So far 
 were the heathen philofophers, who were 
 fenfible of the abfurdity and pernicious ten- 
 dency of this worfhip, from being difpof- 
 ed to reform it. It was a maxim with 
 them, as with the generahty of modern 
 unbehevers, to think with the wife, and 
 aft with the vulgar. But had Chrift and 
 his apoftles adled on this princple, we 
 fhould now have been worihipping Thor 
 and Woden, and imbruing their altars 
 with human blood. 
 
 The moft horrid of all the rites of the 
 heathen religion was that of ku?nan j acrifices , 
 which, however, were univerfalin ancient 
 times, and efpecially among the Canaanites, 
 and in the countries that bordered upon 
 Paleftine, as, indeed, the hiftory of the Car- 
 thaginians, who were defcended from the 
 Tyrians, abundantly proves. 
 
 We fhall not much wonder at the in- 
 troduftion of this rite, fhocking as it is to 
 humanity, when we confider the deftruc- 
 tion of life, and other evils occafionally 
 
 produced 
 
68 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 produced by natural caufes, as by heat, 
 drought, hghtning, earthquakes, &c. 
 Thefe the heathens, of courfe, afcribed 
 to the agency of their gods. They would, 
 therefore, imagme that they were fome-^ 
 times very angry, and that great facrifices 
 were neceflary to appeafe them. Appre- 
 henfive, then, of greater evils, they wil- 
 lingly fubjedled themfelves to thofe that 
 were lefs. 
 
 In general, the heathens thought the 
 facrifice of flaves and captives would fa- 
 tisfy the blood thirfty appetites of their 
 gods ; but on particular occafions, fearful 
 that this would not be deemed fufRcient, 
 they facrificed the children of the mod 
 diftinguifhed perfons in the ftate, as thofe 
 of their kings themfelves. The Cartha- 
 ginians, after fome great difafter in war, 
 facrificed at one time three hundred young 
 men of the firft families in their common- 
 wealth. In this the Ifraelites, during their 
 apoftacy from their own religion, imitated 
 their heathen neighbours as we read, Pfalm 
 cvi. 37. They facrificed their fons and their 
 
 daughters 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 69 
 
 daughters to demons^ and Jhed innocent bloody 
 even the blood of their fons and daughters, 
 ivhom they facrificed to the idols of Canaan. Jer. 
 vii. 3 1 . T^hey built the high places of Tophet 
 which is in the valley of the f on of Hinnomy to 
 burn their fons and their daughters in the fire. 
 They built alfo the high places of Baaly to burn 
 their fons with fire for burnt offerings unto 
 Baal. This place was called tophet y from 
 a Hebrew word which fignifies a drmn, or 
 fiftrum, inftruments which made a loud 
 noife, which the priefts made ufe of to 
 drown the cries of the vid:ims, as it was 
 the cuftom to burn them alive. 
 
 By Baal was meant the fun, the prin- 
 cipal objed of worfhip in all antient nations; 
 and as the heat of the fun is fometimes 
 very deftruftive, it is no wonder that they 
 fuppofed him to. be aftuated by the paflion 
 of anger. Lord Herbert obferves that 
 viftims of lefs dignity were deemed fufii- 
 cient for the inferior deities, but that to 
 their higheft god, the fun, human facri- 
 fices, as the moft valuable, were to be 
 offered. 
 
 Human 
 
70 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Human facrifices appear to have been 
 univerfal in antient times. They were in 
 ufe among the Egyptians till the reign of 
 Amafis. They were never fo common 
 among the Greeks or Roinans ; yet with 
 them they were in ufe on extraordinary 
 occafions. Porphyry fays that the Greeks 
 were wont to facrifice men whfen they went 
 to war. Clemens Alexandrinus fays that 
 both Ereftheus king of Athens, and Marius 
 the Roman general, facrificed their own 
 daughters. Plutarch, in his life of The- 
 miftocles, relates that three beautiful Per- 
 fian women, richly habited and adorned, 
 were, by the advice of the prophet Eu- 
 phrantides, offered as facrifices to Bacchus 
 Omeftes, as a vow for viftory at the com- 
 mencement of the Perfian war; and though 
 Themiftocles was Ihocked at the inhuma- 
 nity of it, the people with one voice, 
 invoking Bacchus, and bringing the vicSims 
 to the altar, compelled him to perform the 
 facrifice. 
 
 The fame hiflorian fays that the Ro- 
 mans, in the beginning of a war with the 
 
 Gauls, 
 
. REVEALED RELIGION. 71 
 
 Gauls, and in obedience to an oracle in 
 the Sybilline books, buried alive a Gaulifli 
 man and a Gaulifh woman, and alfo a 
 Greek man and a Greek woman, in the ox 
 market by way of facrifice. Livy fays that 
 they repeated this facrifice at the begin- 
 ning of the fecond Punic war. 
 
 Human facrifices were oifered at Rome, 
 fays Porphyry, till the reign of Adrian, 
 who ordered them to be abolifhed in moft 
 places. This writer, who lived in the time 
 of Diocletian, mentions it as a thing well 
 known, that in the city^ of Rome itfelf a 
 man was wont to be facrificed at the feaft 
 of Jupiter Latiaris. Laftantius, who wrote 
 a little after this, fays that the fame was 
 praftifed in his time. Human facrifices 
 were fo numerous among the Gauls and 
 Britons, that the Romans forbad the pub- 
 lic exercife of their religion. According 
 to Caefar (De Bello Gallico, lib. 6. § 15) 
 they fometimes made images of an im- 
 menfe fize, conftrufted of wicker work, 
 which they filled with men, and then 
 
 burned them alive. 
 
 In 
 
72 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 In later times we find human facrifices 
 as numerous among the Mexicans and 
 Peruvians, who, of all tlie inhabitants of 
 America, had arrived at the greateft 
 degree of civilization, as in any of the 
 antient nations. 'The moft authentic re- 
 cord fays that the Mexicans facrificed 
 annually twenty thoufand men, and at 
 the dedication of their great temple, not 
 lefs than fixty or feventy thoufand. If 
 any perfon will only read with attention 
 the hiftory of this country by Clavigero, 
 he will be convinced that fuch was the 
 rooted attachment of that people to their 
 religion in general, and this horrid rite 
 in particular, that nothing but fuch a con- 
 queft of them as that by the Spaniards, 
 would ever have put an end to that cuftom. 
 His account of the ftate of facfts will abun- 
 dantly juftify the conduA of divine provi- 
 dence in the utter extirmination of the 
 inhabitants of Canaan. It was for the 
 good of mankind that fuch nations fhould 
 be extirpated from the face of the earth. 
 
 If 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ;3 
 
 If any perfons will fay that the author 
 of nature could not give a commiffion, 
 which they think to have been fo cruel and 
 unjuft, let them fay whether the author 
 of nature does not continually do things 
 which they themfelves muft fay are more 
 cruel and unjuft; as the promifcuous de- 
 ftrudlion of perfons of all ages and cha- 
 rafters by peftilence and famine, by 
 hurricanes and earthquakes, as alfo by 
 difeafes and death, which are univerfal. 
 Did not the author of nature clearly fore- 
 fee thefe calamities, and therefore intend 
 that they fhould take place ? And where 
 is the difference^ in a moral view, between 
 doing any thing by laws of his appointment, 
 or by a fpecial commiffion. The thing to 
 be objected to is the ultimate event, not 
 the means by which it was effected. In 
 faft they who make this objeftion, and 
 others of a fimilar nature, firft form to 
 themfelves an idea of the author of 
 nature from their own imagination, and 
 not from the obfervation of his works, 
 which is the only method of forming a juft 
 
 L idea 
 
74 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 idea of any charadler^ and then pronounce 
 that fuch and fuch things as they wifh 
 to have been othefwife are incompatible 
 with his character. Befides, the firmeft 
 believer in the divine benevolence (and 
 juftice, ftriftly confidered, is only a modi- 
 fication and branch of benevolence) will 
 fay that any kind or degree of evil that 
 may, direftly or indireftlyj be produftive 
 of a greater good, is compatible with it^ 
 and of this ultimate tendency of things 
 God himfelf, and not man, is the judge. 
 This conduft, however, is not to be imitated 
 by man, on account of the imperfeftion of 
 our knowledge. We muft not do evil that 
 good may coine^ though this is conftantly done 
 by the Divine being, becaufe we cannot 
 tell whether the evil will be productive of 
 good, whereas, he always knows the end 
 from the very beginning, and therefore 
 cannot be miftaken with refpeil to the 
 final refult. 
 
 Befides the horrid cuftom of human 
 facrifices, which were thought to b^ tie- 
 ceflary to appeafe the wrath of fome of 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 the heathen deities, they had other rites, 
 which, though they did not terminate in 
 death, were extremely painful. Thepriefts 
 of Baal, as we read, i Kings xviii. 28. 
 cut and Jlajhed themfehes with knives and 
 lancets till the blood gujhed outy when they 
 were defirous of getting a favourable 
 anfwer from him. The fame, according 
 to Herodotus was praftifed in the worfhip 
 of Ifis, an Egyptian deity, and of Bellona 
 among the Romans. Alfo in the feftivals 
 of Cybele, called the mother of the gods, the 
 priefts, who were caftrated, made hideous 
 noifes and howlings, and cut themfelves 
 till the blood gufhed out. The worlhip 
 of this goddefs, was introduced from the 
 Eaft to Rome. At afeftival in Sparta, boys 
 were whipped with fo much feverity, on 
 an altar of Diana (the prieftefs attending 
 to fee that it was done in a proper man- 
 ner) that they often died in confequence 
 of it. When this was the cafe, and the 
 boys had borne the torture with fufficient 
 fortitude, they had the honour of a public 
 funeral, as having died in the fervice of 
 
 L 2 ^heir 
 
76 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 their country. This cuftom was inftituted 
 by Lycurgus, the great Spartan lawgiver, 
 in exchange for the facrifice of a man 
 every year at the fame altar, the oracle 
 having only declared that the altar of that 
 goddefs muft be fprinkled with human 
 blood. There was alfoan altar of Bacchus 
 in Arcadia, on which many young women 
 were beaten with rods till they died. 
 
 The rites of heathen religions now or 
 lately exifting, are as cruel as thofe of any 
 of the antients. In Indoftan it is frequent, 
 and deemed particularly meritorious, for 
 widows to be burned alive with the bodies 
 of their hufbands, and their Faquirs volun- 
 tarily undergo fuch tortures as it is pain- 
 ful to read of. They will often con- 
 tinue fo long in the moft conflrained pof- 
 tures, that their limbs are incapable of 
 any motion ; fo that they remain fo until 
 they die, their wants fupplied, and their 
 prayers requefted, by great numbers of 
 perfons. Sometimes, having ftrong iron 
 hooks, thruft through the fkin of their 
 backs, they get themfelves to be drawn 
 
 up, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 77 
 
 up, and whirled round in the air, with 
 the greateft violence, by means of a ma- 
 chine conftrud:ed for the purpofe. The 
 Mexicans, accuftomed to the bloody facri- 
 fice of their prifoners, ** failed not," fays 
 Clavigero, '^ to fhed abundance of their 
 ** own blood. It makes one ftiudder to 
 * ^ read of the aufterities which on fome 
 ^* occafions they excercifed on themfelves, 
 ** either as an atonement for their fins, or 
 *^ a preparation for their more folemn 
 " feftivals. They mangled their flefh as 
 ^' if they had been infenfible to pain, and 
 ^' let out their blood in the greateft pro- 
 *^ fufion. This was pradlifed every day 
 ** by fome of their priefts. They pierced 
 *^ themfelves with the fharpfpines of aloes, 
 ^^ and thruft them through feveral parts 
 ^' of their bodies, making the holes larger 
 ^' on every repetition of the operation. 
 *' They had alfo fevere watchings and 
 *^ faftings in their religious rites.'' 
 
 At the faft of the Tlafcalans, which 
 lafted one hundred and fixty days '' the 
 ^' chief prieft, attended by about two 
 
 ^^ hundred 
 
yS THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ' hundred perfons afcended a high moun- 
 ^ tain, and when they defcended, they had 
 
 * a number of Uttle knives, and a great 
 ' quantity of fmall rods dehvered to them. 
 
 * The firft day they bored holes through 
 
 * their tongues, through which they drew 
 
 * the rods, and notwithftanding the ex- 
 
 * eeffive pain, and lofs of blood occafioned 
 
 * by it, they were obliged to fmg aloud 
 
 * hymns to their gods. This cruel opera- 
 
 * tion was repeated every twenty days. 
 < When eighty days of this faft of the 
 
 * priefts was elapfed, a general faft of 
 
 * the people, from which the heads of 
 
 * the republic were not exempted, began, 
 
 * and was continued an equally long 
 
 * time.' 
 
 Inconfiftent as it may feem to have 
 been with this aufterity, other rites of the 
 antient heathen religions, and thofe which 
 occurred the moft frequently, encouraged, 
 and indeed required, the extreme of fen- 
 fual indulgence ; and fometimes that of 
 the moft unnatural kind. It is not eafy 
 to fay by what particular train of thinking 
 
 they 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ' ^ 
 
 they were led to conclude that fuch pracr- 
 tices as thefe could be pleafmg to the gods, 
 but fome of thofe deities that were to be 
 appealed by human facrifices were fuppofed 
 to be no lefs pleafed to fee their worfliip- 
 pers indulge themfelves in whatever could 
 gratify their appetites; and their groves, 
 and the temples themfelves, were fcenes 
 of open proftitution. 
 
 It is well known that, in general, the 
 heathens afcribedto their gods thepaflions 
 and adions of men, and too many of the 
 joriental princes, and thofe the moft cele- 
 brated for their warlike and other exploits, 
 gave into the extreme of both cruelty and 
 iuft. It is poffible, however, that the in- 
 decent fymbols of their worlhip, which 
 might be originally defigned to reprefent 
 what is, no doubt, the moft remarkable 
 circumftance in the conftitution of nature, 
 viz. its reprodiiBive -power ^ or that of gene- 
 rat/.on, might lead to thofe afts of lewd- 
 nefs with which the heathen worihip 
 a^oounded. And incredible as it may ap- 
 jjear to us, figures which cannot be 
 
 named 
 
8o THE EVIENCES OF 
 
 named with decency, were expofed and 
 carried about in thefe facred proceflions, 
 hymns were fung to them, and religious 
 worlhip paid to them. This was done by 
 the Egyptains, and moft other antient na- 
 tions, efpecially the Greeks, who borrow- 
 ed the cuftom from them*. 
 
 To recite the particulars of the inde- 
 cencies of the heathen worlhip would be 
 difgufting, and the account could hardly 
 be given in language proper for a public 
 affembly, but as fomething of this kind is 
 become neceflary, in order to give a jufl 
 idea of the ftate of faBs which have been 
 ftrongly difguifed by unbelievers, and to 
 fhew the great fuperiority of revealed 
 religion to that which almoft all mankind 
 naturally fell into, I muft, be excufed 
 if, for the fake of thofe who may have 
 
 * Lucian, a heathen writer, fays that, in the portico of 
 the temple at Hierapolis, which flood on a hill, there was 
 a tower three hundred cubits high, built in that indecent 
 form, to the top of which a man afcended twice a year, whv'^re 
 he continued feven days, that he might with more advantage 
 converfe with the gods above. In the worihip of the people 
 of Indoflan, figures even more fliocking to modefly than 
 thofe of the antient weftern nations are now made ufe of. 
 
 been 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 8i 
 
 been mifled by fach writers as Voltaire 
 and others, (who have fmoothed over the 
 enormities of the heathen worfhip) recite 
 as many particulars as may be neceflary to 
 give you an idea of the general charafter 
 of the fyftem, which they reprefent as 
 perfectly innocent, and not at all unfavour- 
 able to purity of morals, their feftivals, as 
 Voltaire fays, being only feafons of rejoic-j 
 ing, which could not be prejudical to 
 mankind. This would be true if their 
 fedlivals had been nothing more than fea- 
 fons of rejoicing. But judge for yourfelves, 
 whether they were not fomething more. 
 
 That lewdnefs was a part of the an- 
 tient heathen worfhip, is evident from the 
 account that Mofes gives of that of Baal 
 Peor, to which the Ifraelites were inticed 
 by the Moabites and Midianites. For du- 
 ring that feftival, Phinehas aflerted the 
 honour of his religion by killing a man 
 and a women in the very aft of fornica- 
 tion; which, from the narrative, appears to 
 have been committed without any conceal- 
 ment. For we read, Numb. xxv. 6. Aid 
 
 Behold 
 
^^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 heboid me of the children of Ifrael came and 
 hoiight uiuo his brethren a Midianitijh uooman^ 
 in the fight of Mofes, and in the fight of all 
 the congregation of the children of Ifrael y who 
 were weeping before the door of the tabernacle 
 of the congregation ; and when Phinehas the f on 
 .- of Eleazar the fon of Aaron the friefifaiv ity 
 he arofe up frop among the congregation y and 
 took a javelin, in Us hand, and he went after 
 the man of Ifrael into the t^nt^ and thruft both 
 of them through, the man of Ifrael and the 
 woman y through her belly. Now the name of 
 the Ifraelite who was /lain was Zimri the fon 
 of Salu, a prince of the chief hoiife among 
 the Simconites, aud the name of the Midianitif 
 ivoman who was flain was Cozbi the daughter of 
 T^ury who was head over a people^ and of a 
 chief hoife in Midi an. 
 
 This worfhip of Baal-Peor, if we may 
 credit feveral antient writers, confifted in 
 fuch obfcene praftices, Or poftures at leaft, 
 as are not fit to be mentioned ; fo that it is 
 not eafy to fay whether they were more 
 ridiculous, or impure. Hofea fays of this 
 worfhip, ch. xi. lo. l^hey went unto Baal 
 
 Peory 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 8) 
 
 Peor, and feparated themfelves unto their Jhame ; 
 and their abominations were according as they 
 lovedy or, as the Bifliop of Waterfof d ren* 
 ders it, and became abominable as the objeiis 
 of their love, or worftiip. 
 
 The farther we go back into antiquity 
 or fo much nearer to the time of Mofes, 
 the more undifguifed were thefe fhameful 
 praftices. It appears from Herodotus, 
 the oldeft Greek hiftorian, that the temples 
 of the heathen gods had been univerfally 
 places of proftitution. For he fays the 
 Egyptians were the firft who forbad it in 
 their temples. He fays that all other na- 
 tions, except the Greeks (who borrowed 
 much of their religion from the Egyp- 
 tians) fcrupled not to perform thofe ac- 
 tions in the temples. Nor did the Greeks 
 wholly abftain from them. For when 
 Antiochus Epiphanes converted the temple 
 at Jerufalem, into a temple of Jupiter 
 Olympius, we read, 2 Mac. vi. 4. The tem- 
 ple was filled with riot and revelling by the 
 Gentiles y who dallied v/ith harlots, and had 10 do 
 ^nvith women, within the circuit of the holy places. 
 
 Julius 
 
84 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Julius Firmicus fays that, after the 
 feafon of mourning, with which the princi- 
 pal feflival of the oriental nations com- 
 menced, the reft of the time was fpent 
 with every expreflion of mirth and jollity, 
 to which they added the moft abominable 
 debauchery, adultery, and inceft. Thefe 
 were conftantly praftifed in their groves 
 and temples. * 
 
 Surely, then, we may fay, with the 
 apoftie in my text, that, as a puniihment 
 for men's apoftacy from his worfhip, God 
 gave up the heathen world to vile affedions ; 
 and that there was infinite wifdom and 
 goodnefs in the Jewifh and Chriftian dif- 
 penfations, in which we are taught a mode 
 of worfhip worthy of a pure and holy 
 God, a religion the great objeft of which 
 is the pureft morality, and in which all 
 the abominations of the heathen worfhip 
 are treated with juft abhorrence. For 
 our unfpeakable happinefs in being favour- 
 
 * *ln what temple,' fays Juvenal, a Roman heathen poet, 
 ' are not women debauched ?, Qw non pro/iat femina templeo. 
 
 Sat. ix. 24. 
 
 ed 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 8^ 
 
 ed with thefe revelations, we cannot be 
 too thankful. But I muft defer the far- 
 ther confideration of thefe, and other en- 
 ormities of the heathen worfhip, with 
 which the generality of chriftians are little 
 acquainted, but which you muft be fen- 
 fible, it is highly ufeful for them to know, 
 though difgufting to contemplate, to an- 
 other difcourfe, with which I (hall con- 
 clude this part of my fubjed:. 
 
DISCOURSE IV- 
 
 A View of Heathen Worjhip. 
 
 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven againft all 
 ungodllnefs and unrighteoufnefs of men, who hold the 
 truth in unrighteoufnefs. Becaufe that which may be 
 known of God is manifeft in them, for God hath fhewed 
 it unto them. For the invifible things of him, from the 
 creation of the world, are clearly feen, being underftood 
 by the things that are made, even his eternal power and - 
 godhead, fo that they are without excufe. Becaufe that 
 when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
 neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagina- 
 tions, and their foolifh heart was darkened. Profefling 
 themfelves to be wife, they became fools, and changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like 
 to corruptible man, and to birds and fourfooted beafts, 
 and creeping things. Wherefore alfo God gave them up 
 to uncleannefs, through the lufts of their own hearts, to 
 diflionour their own bodies between themfelves, who 
 changed the truth of God into a lie, and worftiipped and 
 ferved the creature more than the Creator, who is blefled for 
 ever. For this caufe God gave them up to vile affeftions. 
 
 Romans, i. i8 — 26. 
 
 The moft plaufible objeftions made 
 to the fyftem of revelation, and thofe by 
 which perfons who have no knowledge of 
 antiquity are moft liable to be impreffed, 
 
 are 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 5^ 
 
 are thofe which relate to the Jewifh 
 religion, and the books of the Old Tefla- 
 ment, with which the generality of Chrif- 
 tians are too little acquainted. Voltaire, 
 and other unbelievers, are more particu- 
 larly fond of reprefenting the inftitutions 
 of Mofes as unreafonably intolerant, with 
 refpeft to the heathens who, they fay, only 
 differed from the Hebrews in religious 
 opinions. It therefore behoves thofe who 
 undertake the defence of revealed religion 
 to ftiew, what it is very eafy to do, that 
 antient heathenifm was by no means a 
 mere fyftem of fpeculative opinions, and 
 innocent praftices; but that, befides being 
 abfurd in the extreme, it really promoted 
 the moft deftruftive and the moft execra- 
 ble vices, and that the religion of the 
 Hebrews was free from every tendency 
 of the kind, and infinitely fuperior to it 
 in every other refpedl. 
 
 In my laft difcourfe I gave you an idea 
 of fome of the enormities of the heathen 
 religion, fuch as, though well known to 
 the learned, are not fo to the generality of 
 
 Chriftians, 
 
88 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Chriftians, and yet without this knowledge 
 it is impoffible that they can have a juft 
 idea of the value of their own religion, or 
 a right underftanding of the fcriptures, 
 efpecially thofe of the Old Teftament, in 
 which there are perpetual allufions to the 
 principles and rites of the heathen worlhip. 
 I particularly mentioned the multiplicity 
 of the heathen deities, the vile chara6lers 
 of many of them, the horrid rite of human 
 facrilices, the painful aufterities to which 
 their religion fubjefted them, and the 
 open proftitution which was encouraged 
 by it,' and praftifed in their very temples ; 
 and in fupport of my reprefentations, I re- 
 cited a variety of fadls, from the authority 
 of the fcriptures, and other antient writ- 
 ings. Had I contented myfelf with ex- 
 claiming in general terms only againft the 
 religion of the heathens, faying of it, as 
 Voltaire does of the religion of the Jews, 
 that it was an execrable fiiperjlition^ without 
 reciting any of the circumftances which 
 fhew it to have been fuch, all that you 
 could have inferred would have been, that 
 
 I was 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. , 89 
 
 was defirous of imprelfing your minds 
 with an abhorrence of that rehgion, but 
 then you would have had no knowledge of 
 the reafons why it deferved that abhor- 
 rence, and therefore might have paid no 
 regard to my unfupported reprefentation. 
 My laft difcourfe concluded with 
 obferving that a mofl prominent feature 
 in the religion of the antient heathens, 
 was the encouragement it gave to 
 lewdnefs, and this continued with increafe, 
 when, in the progrefs of civihzation, the 
 cruel rite of human facrifices, and their 
 painful aufterities, became lefs frequent. 
 For this reafon the apoftle Paul, in the 
 chapter which contains my text, and in 
 other parts of his epiftles, particularly 
 dwells upon it. 
 
 On this fubjeft I fhall only mention 
 one more circumftance, which is feveral 
 times mentioned, or alluded to, in the 
 fcriptures. It is that a confiderable 
 -revenue arofe to many of the heathen 
 temples, as is now the cafe in Indoftan, 
 from the proftitution that was encouraged 
 M in 
 
90 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 in them, or in places provided for that 
 abominable purpofe adjoining to them. 
 The Divine Being, alluding to this prac- 
 tice of the heathens, fays, by Mofes, Deut. 
 
 xxiii. 1 8. Thou pah not bring the hire of a 
 harlot into the houfe of the Lord thy God. There 
 pall he no harlot of the daughters of Ifrael^ nor 
 a Sodomite of the fons of IfraeL For, in- 
 credible as it may appear to us, who have 
 had the happinefs of being educated in the 
 principles of the pureft of all religions, 
 even unnatural pollution was allowed, and 
 encouraged, in the religion of the antient 
 heathens. For this we have the clear evi- 
 dence of the fcriptures, as well as of many 
 antient writers. Concerning the pious king 
 Jofiah, we read, 2 Kings, xxiii. 7. that 
 he brake down the houfes of the Sodomites that 
 ivere by the houfe of the Lordy where the wo- 
 men wove hangings for the grove y or rather 
 for ylferothy or, Aflarte, a famous Syrian 
 goddefs'^'. 
 
 In 
 
 * Herodotus informs us that at Babylon, a city the moft 
 devoted to the worfliip oi idols of all the nations of antiquity 
 eveiy woman was obliged once in her life to proftitute her- 
 
 felf 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 91 
 
 111 the time of Conftantine, and no 
 doubt from times of the moft remote an- 
 tiquity, the Egyptians had religious rites 
 in which fodomy was pradlifed, and they 
 imagined that the rife of the Nile depend- 
 ed on the obfervance of them. Thefe this 
 Chriftian emperor ordered to be difconti- 
 nued ; and whereas the fuperftitious hea- 
 thens 
 
 felf to fome ftranger in the temple of Venus. Becaufe the 
 moft wealthy difdained to expofe themfelves in public, 
 among the reft, they went in covered chariots to the gates 
 of the temple, with a numerous train of fervants attending 
 at a diftance But the far greater part went into the temple 
 itfelf, and fat down covered with garlands. The galleries in 
 which they fat were in a ftraight line, and open on every 
 fide, that all ftrangers might have free paftage to chufe fuch 
 as they liked beft. The beautiful women, he fays, were 
 foon difmilfed ; but the deformed were fometimes obliged to 
 wait three or four days before they could fatisfy the law. 
 The perfon who made choice of any of them made her 
 a prefent, which was facred to the deity, and could not be 
 refufed, though ever fo fmall. 
 
 The fame hiftorian fays that the women of Cvprus had a 
 cuftom not unlike this of the Babylonians. There was the 
 like in the temple of Venus at Sicca in Africa, at Corinth, 
 and at Comana in Cappadocia. In the temple of Venus at 
 Aphaca, on mount Libanus, there was a kind of academy 
 of lewdnefs, open to all debauched perfons, where the moft 
 beaftly crimes were committed in the temple, as a privileged 
 place, exempt from all law and government. The ludi 
 jF/o;Wdi at Rome were celebrated by a company of proftitutcs, 
 M z who 
 
92 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 thens had imagined that the confequence of 
 this fuppreflion would be that the river 
 would not rife as ufual, the Chriftians faid 
 it arofe higher than before. 
 
 Sodomy, fays Julius Firmicus, who 
 wrote in the time of the fons of Conftan- 
 tine, was then pradlifed in the temple of 
 Juno, He adds that they were fo far from 
 being afhamed of it, that they gloried in 
 it. And it appears from various writers, 
 that the gains of this abominable kind of 
 proftitution were a fource of revenue to 
 the heathen temples, as well as thofe of 
 the women who belonged to them. And 
 yet of this religion Voltaire fays that *^ it 
 
 who fan up and down naked, ufing the moft lafcivious pof- 
 tures. The temple of Venus at Corinth maintained above 
 a thoufand proftitutes, facred to her fervice, and what they got 
 was given to the goddels. The lame is the cafe at this day 
 with refpe<fl to many of the temples in Indoftan. Tavernier 
 fays there is a Pagod near Cambaye, where women profti- 
 tute themfelves, and Marco Polo lays that the like cuftom 
 prevailed at Camul ; and that when it was forbidden by the 
 Mahometan prince Mongou Khan, and the order had been 
 obeyed three years, the people fent deputies to get it repealed, 
 as they faid that their fields had not been fo fruitful as they 
 liad been before. 
 
 i^ could 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^j 
 
 *' could not be of and prejudice to man- 
 '' kind."* 
 
 Befides the rites which were performed 
 in public, and at which all perfons were 
 permitted, and often required, to be pre- 
 fent, there were in the antient heathen 
 religions, rites of a private nature, to which 
 none were admitted but under an oath 
 of fecrecy, the violation of which was 
 deemed to be the greateft a6l of impiety. 
 Some have fuppofed that the defign of 
 thefe myjierks, as thofe rites were called, 
 
 * How the rites of the goddefs Cybele operated as an in- 
 centive to lewdnefs may be feen in Juvenal, Sat. vi. 313. &c. 
 
 That thefe practices thus fandioned by religion, had a 
 fatal influence on the public opinion and the public morals, 
 is evident from the writings of the heathens, efpecially thofe 
 of the poets, which abound with the moft difgufting obfceni- 
 ties. One of the moft admired eclogues of Virgil, who is 
 efteemed the chafteft of the Roman poets, celebrates the love 
 of a man to a boy, and the only remaining, and much ad- 
 mired poem, of the Greek poetefs Sappho, defcribes that of a 
 woman to a woman, which is an abundant confirmation of 
 what to us appears moft incredible in the apoftle Paul's repre- 
 fentation of the depravity of the Gentile world. And with 
 the dilbelief of revelation v;e find in fa«5l, that the juft abhor- 
 rence which all the Chriftian world entertain for thefe un- 
 natural vices difappears; a proof of which might be given in 
 fome well authenticated anecdotes of the late king of Pruflia,. 
 but not to be related in this place. 
 
 was 
 
94 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 was to fhew the abfurdity of the popular 
 worfhip ; but this is in the higheft degree 
 improbable. Indeed, nothing which fhould 
 have been fufpefted to have that tendency- 
 would have been borne with, and they 
 who made the greateft account of thefe 
 myfteries where the moft devoted to the 
 popular fuperftitions. The moft probable 
 opinion is, that whatever was the original 
 intention of thefe private myfteries, they 
 became a fcene of fuch exhibitions and 
 praftices, as were worfe than any that 
 were tranfadled in public. 
 
 Socrates, the moft moral of all the 
 heathen philofophers, and the leaft attached 
 to the vulgar fuperftition, would never be 
 initiated into thefe myfteries. In the time 
 of Cicero the very term myfteries was al- 
 moft fynonymous to abominations y and we 
 may well fuppofe what the nature of 
 them muft have been when it is known 
 that they were celebrated in the night; 
 in honour of Bacchus, Venus, or Cupid, 
 and that indecent images were carried in 
 proceffion in them, fo that they could not 
 
 fail 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 55 
 
 fail to countenance that impurity, and dif- 
 folutenefs of manners, which was fo general 
 m tlie Pagan world. To thefe myftehes 
 it is moft probable that Paul refers, when 
 he fays, Ephef. v. 12. It is a Jhame even to 
 [peak of thofe things with are done by them in 
 fecret. Clemens Alexandrinus called thefe 
 myfteries, '* the myfteries of atheiftical 
 men," adding, ** I may rightly call them 
 ** atheifts, who are deftitute of theknow- 
 *^ ledge of him who is truly God, and who 
 *^ moft impudently worfliip a boy torn in 
 *^ pieces by the Titans, women lamenting, 
 *^ and the parts which modefty forbids 
 *^ to name." A Roman conful difcover- 
 ed . that ^^ the Bacchanalian myfteries 
 ** confifted of fuch things as the moft un- 
 '*' bounded proftitution could exhibit in 
 ^^ private and no diurnal aflemblies, that no 
 *' perfon could be initiated into them 
 ** without renouncing his modefty, while 
 *' the priefts who prefided over them pre- 
 '^ fcribed in public, to thofe who were to 
 ** be admitted to them, a ten days 
 '' abftinence." Conftantine, who forbrd 
 
 the 
 
g6. - THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the pradife of fodomy in the rehgious 
 rites of the Egyptians, forbad all fecret 
 rites of initiation in all the Roman empire. 
 But there is no occafion to pry into the 
 fecret myfteries of the heathen religion 
 for fcenes fufficiently fhocking to decency. 
 Public games and plays, in which the fla- 
 gitious adlions of the heathen gods were 
 reprefented, were always confidered as afts 
 of religion, and celebrated in their honour, 
 though fome of the wifer of the antients 
 were afhamed of thefe exhibitions. Cicero, 
 fpeaking of the adulteries of Jupiter, his 
 ravilhing the boy Ganymede, and carry- 
 ing him oif to be his cup-bearer, fays 
 *^ Homer feigned thefe things, and afcrib- 
 *' ed human aftions and qualities to the 
 *' gods. I had rather that he had raifed 
 *^ man to the imitation of what is divine." 
 It. is not, however, true that Homer in- 
 vented thofe ftories. He only introduced 
 into his poems what was generally believed 
 in his time. ^^ The fame gods," fays 
 Auftin, " that were ridiculed on the thea- 
 ** tre, were adored in the temples." And 
 
 what 
 
REVEALED RELIGION ^7 
 
 what is particularly remarkable, is that 
 worfe things were afcribed to gods of the 
 greateft dignity, as Jupiter, than to any 
 of an inferior rank. Such was the rehgion 
 which Voltaire reprefents as perfedly in- 
 nocent, with refpeft to its moral ten- 
 dency. 
 
 Some of the rites of the antient hea- 
 then religions, which were not remarkable 
 for their cruelty or lewdnefs, confifted of 
 fuch inftances of favage ferocity and ex- 
 travagance, as are not eafily accounted for. 
 But whatever was the caufe that led to 
 fuch rites, the faBs that 1 fliall mention 
 are unqueftionable, and perhaps fuch per- 
 fons as Voltaire would not have been fhock- 
 ed, but only amufed, with them. 
 
 When the fun entered Aries, at the 
 time of the vernal equinox, the Egyptians 
 celebrated a feftival in honour of the fun, 
 when perfons of both fexes counterfeited 
 madnefs, ran about the ftreets, and alfo 
 up hills, and through deferts, pulling in 
 pieces, the carcafes of the animals they 
 facrificed, breaking their bones, and eat- 
 ing 
 
98 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ing the flefli raw with the blood running 
 out of their mouths, and committing every 
 fort of extravagance. From Egypt this 
 rite paffed into Greece. At Chios, and 
 alfo at Tenedos, they facrificed a man, 
 whom they tore in pieces in this manner. 
 Plutarch, fpeaking of thefe things, fays 
 ^ Thefe feftivals and direful facrifices, 
 
 * which are celebrated with eating raw 
 
 * flelh, torn with men's nails, as others 
 
 * in which men faft, and beat their breads, 
 ^ were not, I think, performed on the 
 ' account of any of the gods; but rather 
 
 * to mollify and appeafe the fury of fome 
 
 * evil demon. For it is not probable that 
 ' there ever was a god, who required 
 ^ men to be facrificed to him, as ha^ 
 
 * been antiently done, or received fuch 
 ^ facrifices with approbation.' But Plu- 
 tarch, from his own better reafon thought 
 too favourably of the religion of his an- 
 ceftors. 
 
 In the Omophagia, which was a feftival 
 of the Greeks in honour of Bacchus, the 
 priefts tore with their teeth, and devoured, 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^^ 
 
 the entrails of the goats which they facri- 
 fice, raw and reeking, in imitation of 
 their god. And the Lupercalia, one of 
 the moft antient of the Roman feftivals, 
 in honour of the god Pan, was celebrated 
 by the priefts running about the ftreets, 
 naked, all but the middle, and ftriking 
 all they met, and efpecially women, with 
 thongs made of the ikins of the goats, 
 which they facrificed. And the women, 
 thinking there was great virtue in thofe 
 lalhings, rather threw themfelves in their 
 way than avoided them. 
 
 What a ftriking contraft with refpecl 
 to all the things I have enumerated do we 
 fee between the religious rites of the hea- 
 thens, and thofe prefcribed to the Hebrews, 
 in none of which is there any thing that 
 favours of cruelty, immorality, or inde- 
 cency ; and yet Voltaire is ever loading 
 the religion of the Jews with every term 
 of reproach, and apologizing for that of 
 the heathens. 
 
 The proper parent of all fuperftition, 
 and falfe rehgion, is, as I have obferved 
 
 imorancc 
 
loo THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ignorance of nature , and the true caufes of 
 events ; and men being naturally anxious 
 about the good or evil that may befal them, 
 not knowing, their true caufes, but afcrib- 
 ing every thing to fome caufe or other, 
 v^ere led, from circumftances v^hich it is im- 
 poflible at this diftance of time to trace, to 
 fix upon caufes entirely foreign to the pur- 
 pofe. But though their opinions, and fome 
 of the praftices derived from them, cannot 
 nov^ be mentioned without exciting a fmile 
 of contempt, they were ferious things in 
 times of antiquity , and to have laughed at 
 them then would have coft a man dear. 
 
 When the fun, and his emblem fire, 
 were the principal objects of worfhip, it 
 w^as imagined that no child would live or 
 thrive, that was not made to pafs through 
 the fire, and therefore the drawing them 
 over lighted ftraw, or any kind of flame 
 that w^ould not materially injure them, 
 was deemed a neceflary rite of religion. 
 This we find pradifed by the Ifraelites, in 
 imitation of their neighbours, during their 
 defection from their own religioa. Thus 
 
 we 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. lot 
 
 we read concerning ManafTeh Chr. xxxiii. 
 10. that he caufed his children to pafs through 
 the fire^ in the valley of the f on ofUinnom, as alfo 
 that he obferved times, ufedinchantments, and dealt 
 with a familiar fpir it , and wizards, all which 
 praftices were of heathen origin, and de- 
 ferve to be particularly noticed. 
 
 The obferving times, or diftinguifhing 
 days into the lucky and unlucky, when 
 they cannot have any real influence on 
 the bufinefs tranfa6led in them, was a very 
 antient heathen fuperftition, and even 
 continues to this day, though one of the 
 remains of heathenifm, in moft Chriflian 
 countries. 
 
 Lucian, a heathen philofopher, fpeak- 
 ing of unlucky days, fays *' on them neither 
 *^ do the magiftrates meet to confult about 
 ^* public affairs, neither are law fuits de- 
 *' cided in the hall, nor facrificcs offered, 
 *' nor in fine any fort of bufinefs under- 
 ^' taken, in which a man would wifli 
 *' himfelf fortunate." He fays that Ly- 
 curgus the great Lacedemonian lawgiver 
 made it it a fundamental inftitution of go- 
 vernment 
 
102 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 vernmeiit, never to enter upon any warlike 
 expedition, but when the moon was at the 
 full ; being of opinion that all things were 
 under the influence of the moon, and that 
 neither would their forces abroad aft 
 with fufficient vigour and fuccefs, nor 
 would their affairs at home be fo well 
 condufted, in the increafe, as in the de- 
 creafe, of that planet. The emperor 
 Auguflus was fo much a flave to this 
 fuperftition, that he never went abroad on 
 the day after the nundiiu, on which the 
 public markets were held, nor did he begin 
 any ferious undertaking on the nones of any 
 month. Ambrofe fays that the firft con- 
 verts from heathenifm were much addifted 
 to thefe obfervances. 
 
 What is called witchcrafty which is 
 another of the fuperftitious praftices to 
 which Manaffeh was addifted, was very 
 common among the heathens. It con- 
 fided in the invocation of demons, in order 
 to produce by incantation, charms, medi- 
 cated compofitions of herbs, &c. the moft 
 furprifing effefts. This art Maimonides 
 
 fays 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 103 
 
 fays was much pradifed by the Zabii, and 
 the Chaldeans : and it was very common 
 among the Egyptians, and Cannanites. 
 
 None of thefe magical operations could 
 be performed without a regard to the 
 ftars. For they held that every plant 
 had its governing ftar. With the hea- 
 thens, therefore, thefe magical practices 
 were a£ls of religion. By this means 
 they believed that the demons were fub- 
 je6l to them. In the antient heathen 
 religions the moft extraordinary effeds, 
 efpecially of the mifchevious kind, were 
 afcribed to charms, and talifmans, but it 
 was fuppofed that they might be counter- 
 adted by more potent charms, though 
 alike infignificant. A fuperllitious perfon, 
 fays Theophraftus, if he fees a weafcl crofs 
 his path, goes no farther, till fome other 
 perfon goes before hiip, or till he has 
 thrown three ftones acrofs the way. Many 
 of thefe things, though abfurd in the 
 extreme, made fo deep an impreifion on 
 the minds of the heathens, that it was 
 with great difficulty that they were brought 
 
 to 
 
104 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 to difregard them when they embraced 
 Chriftianity. 
 
 It might be hiiagined that thefe idle 
 notions and cuftoms were pecuUar to the 
 vulgar among the heathens, but they were 
 regularly praftifed by the graveft ma- 
 giftrates of the wifeft flates in antiquity. 
 For in fafl; when thofe ftates were con- 
 flituted, the legiflators themfelves were 
 not, in thefe relpefts, more knowing than 
 the reft of the people. When any great 
 public calamity was to be averted at Rome, 
 the fir ft magiftrate went in folemn pro- 
 ceffion, and drove a nail of brafs into the 
 temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. This was 
 deemed to be the moft effedual method 
 of appeafing the anger of the gods. 
 
 The greateft ftrefs was laid by the an-^ 
 tients on folemn imprexations^ as we fee in the 
 cafe of Balak, king of Moab, who at a 
 great expence, fent for the prophet Balaam 
 to curfe Ifrael. For the curfes of prophets 
 and priefts, were thought to be the moft 
 efficacious. Hence it was cuftomary for 
 men condemned for any notorious crime 
 
 to 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 105 
 
 to be publicly curfed by the priefts. It 
 was alfo often done from particular en- 
 jnity and faftion. Thus when Craflus the 
 Roman triumvir undertook his famous ex^ 
 pedition agaiaft the Parthians, hi$ opponent 
 Ateius Capito, the tribune, running to the 
 gate of the city through which he pafied, 
 placed there vefTels full of burning coals, 
 on which he offered odours and oblations 
 and then he pronounced the moft direful 
 curfes againft him as he w^nt along. 
 
 Prying into futurity was always a great 
 objedl in the religion of the heathens; and 
 from their ignorance of nature, they ima- 
 gined that the gods, who were the rulers 
 of the fates of men, gave indications of 
 future events by various figns, which it 
 was the bufinefs of the priefts to ftudy. 
 This was the art of divination. 
 
 Divination was moft commonly made 
 by facrifices, and efpecially by the obfer- 
 vation of the entrails, and more particu- 
 larly the livers, of the viftims. This 
 among the Romans was a fcicnce of itfelf, 
 and a diftind order of priefts, called Ha- 
 
 N rufpicef 
 
.io6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 nifpiceSy were appointed to the ftudy and 
 practice of it. Another folemn divination 
 was by the obfervation of the flight of birds, 
 and this was the bufinefs of another order 
 of priefts, called Augurs ; and unlefs their 
 reports were favourable, no public bufinefs 
 could be tranfafted. A peculiarly folemn 
 rite of this kind called taking the aiifpices, 
 was by obferving the manner in which 
 a coop of poultry, which was kept for the 
 purpofe, eat their food. If they did it 
 heartily, the omen was thought to be fa- 
 fourable, if otherwife, unfavourable; and 
 fo much were the minds of the Roman 
 foldiers imprelTed by this circumftance, that 
 no prudent general would riik an engage- 
 ment with the enemy, till the augurs made 
 a favourable report. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 did not undertake his expedition againft 
 Jerufalem without firft confulting the gods, 
 according to the rites of divination prac- 
 tifed in his time, though we know but 
 little of them at prefent. Thus we read, 
 Ez, xxi. 21. The king of Babylon flood at the 
 
 parting 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 107 
 
 parting of the way, at the head of the two 
 waySy to ufe divination. He made his arrozvs 
 bright y he confulted with images , he looked in 
 the liver. At his right hand was the divination 
 for Jerufalem, to appoint captains, to open the 
 mouth in the /laughter, to lift up the voice with 
 flouting, to appoint battering rams againft ihs 
 gates, to caft a mount, and to build a fort. 
 
 It "were endlefs to enumerate all the 
 various modes of divination praftifed by 
 the antient heathens, as by lots, by ominous 
 words and things, &c. with allufions to 
 which the Greek and Roman writers 
 abound, fo that they are well known to 
 every fchool-boy. But one of the moft 
 extraordinary and direful of thefe modes 
 of divination, that by having recourfe to 
 the dead, I muft briefly mention. This 
 was the ferious art of necromancy, to which 
 Manafleh was faid to have been addided ; 
 and to this king Saul had recourfe in his 
 diftrefles. Thus alfo UlyfTes is reprefented 
 by Homer as facrificing a black fheep in a 
 ditch, and after pouring libations, inviting 
 the ghoft of Tirefias and others to drink of 
 
 N 2 the 
 
io8 • TH:e evidences OF 
 
 the blood, in order to their anfwering the 
 queftions that would be put to them. 
 
 Similar to this was the having to do with 
 
 familiar fpirits, and wizards, with which 
 
 Manafleh is likewife charged ; for the an- 
 
 fwers received by this means are repre- 
 
 fented as feeming to come from under the 
 
 ground, the place of the dead ; as we read 
 
 If. viii. 19. Seek unto them that have f ami- 
 
 Uar fpirits, and unto wizards y that peep and 
 
 that mutter y and If. xxix. 4. Thou Jhalt be 
 
 brought down, and fball fpeak out of the ground y 
 
 and thy fpeech fall whijper out of the duji. 
 
 Sometimes the perfons who pretended to 
 
 this art feemed to Ipeak out of their own 
 
 Jbellies. Of this kind Maimonides fays is 
 
 •the oracle of Pytho. '^ He is one," he 
 
 fays, *' who after a kind of fumigation, 
 
 *' flourifhes a myrtle rod in his hand, and 
 
 '^ pronounces certain fet words of in- 
 
 *' chantment. Then he feems to confultone 
 
 ** who is talking with him, and anfwers 
 
 *' his queftions, as it were from under the 
 
 ** ground, with fo low a voice, that he 
 
 '^cannot 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 109 
 
 ** cannot diflindlly hear it, but muft col- 
 <^ led: the meaning by his imagination." 
 
 Thus have I endeavoured to give you 
 a general idea of the nature of the hea- 
 then religion, as it was praftifcd in the 
 earlieft ages, and indeed as it continued, 
 with little or no improvement, till the 
 promulgation of chriftianity. It was not, 
 you fee, a merely contemptible fuperftition, 
 founded on the groffeft ignorance of the 
 laws of nature, but fuch as in the higheft 
 degree muft have debafed the minds, and 
 have corrupted the morals, of men. How 
 juftly is the ftate of the heathen world de- 
 fcribed by the apoftle Paul in my text, 
 and other facred writers ; and how remote 
 from truth, and the appearance of truth, 
 is the account that Voltaire, and other 
 unbelievers, out of a defire to difcredit 
 revelation, have given of it. Surely then 
 the reftifying thefe fundamental errors, 
 into which all the world had fallen, with 
 refpeft to religion, and the putting an end 
 to praftices fo debafmg to the human 
 charafter, and fo deftruvSlive of human 
 
 happinefs. 
 
I TO REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 happinefs, was an objeft not unworthy of 
 the great parent and friend of mankind. 
 
 That there was rio profpetSl of men, by 
 any ufe they could make of their own 
 reafon, recovering from this deplorable 
 ignorance and corruption, was evident 
 by the experience of three thoufand years, 
 in which, though many parts of the world 
 became enlightened in other refpefts, they 
 grew, if polfible, more confirmed in their 
 attachment to their religions received from 
 their anceftors ; continuing to believe, 
 notwithftanding the ftrongeft appearances 
 to the contrary, tliat the profperity of 
 their feveral ftates, and even the fertility 
 of the ground, depended upon the obferv- 
 ance of their particular rites. And there- 
 fore as foon as the heathen magiftrates 
 faw the rapid fpread of chriftianity, and 
 the danger to which their antient religions 
 were expofed in confequence of it, they 
 employed all their power to fupprefs 
 it, perfecuting the profeflbrs of the new 
 religion in every form, though happi- 
 ly in vain. Truth, fupported by clear 
 
 evidence, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. m 
 
 evidence, could not be overcome by 
 power. 
 
 That nothing lefs than repeated inter- 
 pofitions of the deity could have preferved 
 any part of the human race from this Ihock- 
 ing idolatry, fo deftruftive of virtue and 
 of happinefs, is particularly evident from 
 the hiftory of all the nations defcended 
 from Abraham, whofe founders were, no 
 doubt, infl:ru6led by him in the knowledge 
 and worlhip of the one true God, and who 
 notwithftanding this, all became idolaters. 
 This was the cafe with the Arabs, defcended 
 from Ilhmael, and other fons of that great 
 patriarch, though in the time of Job, who 
 was probably prior to Mofes, fome of them 
 were not fo. This was alfo the cafe with 
 the Edomites, though defcended from 
 Ifaac, and of the Moabites and Ammonites, 
 defcended from Lot, the friend and com- 
 panion of Abraham. There muft, there- 
 fore, have been fome thing exceedingly 
 fafcinating and plaufible in the fyftems of 
 heathen worihip, though to us, who have 
 been enlightened by revelation, nothing 
 
 appears more abfurd and ihocking. 
 
 But 
 
112, THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 But when the world by its own wifdom knew 
 not God, it pleafed God, as the apoftle fays, 
 I Cor. i. 21, by the foolijhnefs of preaching, i. e. 
 by the gofpel (which at its firft publication 
 was ridiculed ajs foolifh by thofe who were 
 reputed wife) to efFeft a reformation. And 
 to this day there has not been any refor- 
 mation of the moft abfurd of the heathen 
 religions, but by means of the gofpel. 
 All that Mahometanifm has done in this 
 refpeft was by means of the principles 
 derived from the Jewilh and Chriftian 
 religions, the truth of which it fuppofes. 
 Thus was verified the declaration of our 
 Saviour, Johnxiv. 6. No man cometh to the 
 father (or attains to the knowledge and 
 worfhip of the one true God) but by me ; a 
 moft extraordinary prediction, but abun- 
 dantly verified by fafts. 
 
 Can we then be too thankful to God 
 for the promulgation of the gofpel which 
 has not only brougbt life and immortality to 
 light, by the clear revelation of a future 
 ftate ; but has freed mankind from the 
 grofleft ignorance, and fuperftitious addift- 
 ednefs to innumerable praftices of the moft 
 
 hor- 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 113 
 
 rid and abominable nature ; fuch as furnilhed 
 incentives and opportunity for every vice, 
 the moft debafing of the cliarafters of men, 
 and the caufe of infinite mifchiefs to them, 
 both as individuals, and as members of 
 fociety. The gofpel, whatever elfe may 
 be faid of it, has been, if there be any 
 truth in hiftory, the only, but it has been 
 an eifeiSual, remedy of thefe great evils ; 
 while all the evils that have been charo-ed 
 upon ity are clearly owing to a departure 
 from its genuine principles, as they are 
 now to be feen in the New Teftament, 
 the rife and progrefs of them being invef- 
 tigated with the greateft eafe and certainty. 
 And as the reformation advances they are 
 now every where abated, and may there- 
 fore be expeded foon to difappear, when 
 the gofpel will again appear in its purity, 
 the greateft of bleffings to all the human 
 race. 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 The excellence of the Mofaic injlittitions. 
 
 Behold I have taught you ftatutes and judgments, even as 
 the Lord my God commanded me, that ye fliould do fo in 
 the land whither ye go to poflefs it. Keep therefore and 
 do them. For this is your wifdom and underllanding, in 
 the fight of the nations which fliall hear all thefe ftatutes, 
 and fay, Surely this great nation is a wife and underftand- 
 ing people. For what nation is there fo great, who hath 
 God fo near unto them as the Lord your God is, in all 
 things that ye call upon him for; and what nation is there 
 fo great that hath ftatutes and judgments fo righteous, as 
 all this law which I fet before you this day. 
 
 Deut. iv. 5 — 8. * 
 
 JlIAVING, in the two preceding 
 difcourfes, given you a view of the reU- 
 gions of the antient heathen nations, I fhall 
 nov/, by way of contraft, give you a fimi- 
 lar view of that of the Hebrews ; and this 
 it will be the eafier to do, as the original 
 records of it are extant in the writings of 
 Mofes, which were compofed at the time 
 of its inftitution ; fo that there cannot be 
 
 any 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ,15 
 
 any difficulty in diftinguifhing the genuine 
 principles of this religion from the corrup- 
 tions and abufes of it. No other nation can 
 give fuch an account of the origin of their 
 rehgion. For it is not pretended that any 
 other has writings coeval with their infli- 
 tutions. All the accounts of them are 
 traditional, and their traditions are deriv- 
 ed from the moft remote antiquity ; fo that 
 much is neceflarily left to conjefture with 
 refpeft to them. 
 
 The fuperior excellence of the fyftem 
 of Hebrew religion and policy, for they 
 had the fame fource, and the moft inti- 
 mate connexion, is ftrongly afferted by 
 Mofes in my text. On the other hand, 
 Voltaire, followed by the generality of 
 unbelievers, fays, that *' the Jews were 
 *^ an ignorant and barbarous people, who 
 ** have for a long time joined the bafeft 
 ** avarice to the moft deteftable fuperfti- 
 ** tion. They have done much hurt," 
 he fays, *^ to themfelves, and to the hu- 
 *' man race." This writer had, no doubt, 
 read the books of Mofes, and the other 
 
 books 
 
ii6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 books of the Old Teftament, for he fre- 
 quently quotes them ; but many perfons, 
 without ever reading thefe books them- 
 felves, take for granted that what he 
 fays of them is true. But, my brethren, 
 be perfuaded to make ufe of your own 
 eyes, and judge for yourfelves. To affift 
 you in this, I ihall, as briefly as poffible, 
 lay before you the moft important particu- 
 lars of which the inftitutions of Mofes 
 confift, and occafionally compare them 
 with particulars of a fimilar nature in the 
 fyftems of the heathens, which were co- 
 temporary with them. 
 
 In order to throw the greater odium 
 on the Hebrew nation, Voltaire fays, 
 *' they were ignorant and barbarous, that 
 *' they were never famous for any art, 
 ** tliey never were natural philofophers, 
 '' geometricians, or aftronomers.'' Ad- 
 mitting this to be the cafe, if there be any 
 wifdom, or fuperior excellence, in their 
 religious or political inftitutions, it will be 
 the more probable that they had fome 
 other fource than any knowledge of their 
 
 own. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION^. 
 
 II? 
 
 own. But I do not defire to take any 
 advantage of this ycircumftance. 
 
 It, is not true that, in antient times, 
 the Hebrews were much, if at all, infe- 
 rior to other nations with refped to the 
 arts. In the art of war, which, even in 
 the age of Mofes comprized many other 
 arts, it will hardly be denied that the 
 Hebrews, if there was nothing miraculous 
 in their hiftory, muft have excelled. For 
 to fay nothing of their emancipating them- 
 felves from the yoke of the Egyptians, 
 then the moft warlike people in the world, 
 when they were wholly unprovided for 
 the conteft, they completely expelled the 
 inhabitants of Canaan, ten times more 
 numerous than themfelves, who had horfes 
 and chariots of iron, and whofe cities are 
 faid to have been fenced up to heaven ^ when 
 they only fought on foot. The whole 
 land of Cannan was of no great extent, 
 and yet David conquered, and held in 
 fubjeftion, all the neighbouring nations ; 
 and it is probable that they continued tri- 
 butary to the Ifraelites all the reign of 
 
 Solomon. 
 
ii8 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Solomon. There are few nations in all 
 antiquity that can boaft of two fuch princes 
 as David and Solomon with all their faults. 
 
 The conftrUiSlion of the tabernacle in 
 the time of Mofes, and of the temple in 
 the time of Solomon, Ihows that tliere 
 were ingenious artifts among them, as 
 well as in other countries, and the know- 
 ledge that any people in thefe early ages 
 had of real fcience, that is, of the laws of 
 laature, and the application of that know- 
 ledge to any ufeful purpofe, was very in- 
 confiderable. Knowledge of this kind 
 would have prevented that miferable fu- 
 perftition, in which, as I have Ihewn, the 
 antient heathen religion confifted. 
 
 As to what is properly called literature^ 
 or the art of writing, and compofing books 
 no antient nation can pretend to vie with 
 the Hebrews. We have no account of 
 any books fo old as thofe of Mofes, and 
 though there is not in them the leaft ap- 
 pearance of arty or ftudied compofition, 
 they are written with that engaging fim- 
 plicity, which has not yet been exceeded 
 
 by 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ,19 
 
 by any writings whatever. The pathos 
 in the addrefs of Mofes to his nation in 
 the book of Deuteronomy, written juft 
 before his death, is inimitable. It is not 
 poffible to read it, if I may judge of the 
 feehngs of other perfons by my own, 
 without the ftrongeft emotions. The in- 
 cidents in the hiftory of Jofeph were not 
 the invention of Mofes, but they have loft 
 nothing in going through his hands. There 
 is not, in all antiquity, fo affefting a nar- 
 rative. 
 
 With refpeft to the knowledge of hu- 
 man nature and human life, the Proverbs 
 of Solomon difcover as much of it as the 
 fayings of the feven wife men of Greece, 
 in a much later period ; and for fublimity 
 of fentiment, and energy of expreffion, the 
 Pfalms of David, and the writings of Ifai- 
 ah, and other Hebrew prophets, though 
 in a language but imperfectly known, 
 and though they have fufFered more than 
 any writings whatever by frequent copying 
 are infinitely fuperior to any poetical coin- 
 pofitions of the Greeks or Ptoinans in any 
 
 age; 
 
J20 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 age ; efpecially if they be read in profe 
 tranflatioDS, which is all that we can do 
 with refpeft to the poetry of the Hebrews, 
 the meafure of which is now loft. Both 
 are extant. Let them be compared by 
 the principles of juft criticifm ; but not by 
 fo prejudiced a perfon as Voltaire. 
 
 The Egyptians had the art of writing 
 but they had no books of which we have 
 any certain account. The fame was the 
 cafe with the Chaldeans. And as to thi 
 Greeks, they were, in a period long after 
 the time of Mofes, as barbarous and ig- 
 norant as the North American Indians at 
 this day. If we many judge of the antient 
 Hebrews by the Jews, who are defcended 
 from them, we muft fay that, with refpefl: 
 to natural ingenuity, or induftry, they are 
 far from being inferior to the reft of man^ 
 kind. They are perhaps rather fuperior, 
 not by nature (for in that refpefl: probably 
 all mankind are nearly equal) but in con* 
 fequence of the greater exercife of their 
 faculties, owing in a great meafure to the 
 treatment thy have met with from other 
 
 nations. 
 
REVEALED PvELIGlON. 121 
 
 tions, and the manner in which they are 
 compelled to provide for their maintenance 
 among them. In Europe at leaft, a very 
 filly, or a very idle, Jew could hardly 
 fubfift. 
 
 But without any regard to the people^ 
 let us confider their injlitutions ; and in 
 doing this we muft endeavour to forget, 
 or overlook, principles that are familiar 
 to us Chriftians, and which we derived 
 from the fcriptures, and attend fimply to 
 the ftate of the world in the time of Mofes, 
 and the principles and cuftoms which were 
 then moft prevalent, and which the Ifrael- 
 ites themfelves had in a great meafure 
 adopted while they were in Egypt. Ad- 
 mitting that Mofes, in confequence of 
 his having been educated at the court of 
 Pharoah, was acquainted with all the learn- 
 ing of the Egyptians, he had no opportu- 
 nity of acquiring morCy or indeed any 
 knowledge of a different kind ; and he was 
 not likely to improve his knowledge of 
 any kind by living afterwards forty years 
 among the Arabs, where he married, and 
 
 o was , 
 
122 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 was fettled; having probably given up all 
 thoughts of ever returning to Egypt, his 
 life being in danger if he did. 
 
 Notwithftanding this, at the age of 
 eighty, he did return, and though Egypt 
 was then in a ftate of its greateft power, 
 and his countrymen in a ftate of the moft 
 abjeft fervitude, deftitute of arms or 
 friends, he effetSed their complete eman- 
 cipation, in a very few months without 
 the lofs of a fmgle life, while the Egyp- 
 tians were fo weakened, or overawed, that, 
 though the Ifraelites continued many years 
 in their neighboui'hood, and without any 
 connexion with other nations, their old 
 mafters never attempted to get them back 
 again : and yet on account of the fervice 
 they had derived from them, they had 
 been moft unwilling to part with them. 
 This, however, is a circumftance, which, 
 though highly favourable to the fuppofition 
 of there being fomething miraculous in 
 their deliverance, I only mention by the 
 way, before I recite the particulars of 
 thofe inftitutions, which, in their ftate of 
 
 emancipation 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ,23 
 
 emancipation from their bondage in Egypt, 
 and before they had got any other fettle- 
 ment, Mofes deUvered to them. 
 
 In confidering thefe inftitutions, let us 
 pay no regard to what Mofes fays of 
 their having been deUvered to him by God, 
 but only what they are in themfelves, that 
 we may judge, from the circumftances of 
 the times, whether it be more probable 
 that they were devifed by himfelf, or that 
 they were communicated to him in the 
 manner that he relates. In this view of 
 the Mofaic inftitutions I fhall not, however, 
 ftriflily confine myfelf to what may be 
 drawn from the writings of Mofes, but 
 take advantage of the farther lights that 
 are thrown upon them in other books of 
 the Old Teftament, the authors of which 
 had 'no other fources of information. They 
 are all writt,en on the fame principles, and 
 in the fame fpirit. 
 
 I . You have feen the monftrous polythe- 
 ifm of all the nations of antiquity. In dired 
 oppofition to this, the firft, and moft fun- 
 damental, prmciple in the religion of the 
 o 2 Plebrews, 
 
124 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Hebrews, was that of the unity of God. 
 The firft of the ten commandments, deU- 
 vered from mount Smai is (Exodus. 
 XX. 2.) Thou Jlmlt have no other Gods befides 
 me. This precept is repeated with the 
 greateft emphafis through all the writings 
 of Mofes, and thofe of the fubfequent 
 prophets. Deut. vi. 4. Hear^ Ifrael^ the 
 Lord our God is one Lord ; and thou Jloalt love 
 the Lord thy God with all thine hearty with 
 all thy foul, and with all thy mindy that is, 
 with an undivided affeftion, there being 
 no other legitimate objed of worfhip be- 
 fides him. 
 
 That this principle is a juft one, will 
 not now be queftioned; but, compared 
 with the principles and pradlices which 
 then prevailed in the world, it muft be 
 pronounced to be not only juft, but alfo 
 great, and fublime ; being entirely remote 
 from the apprehenfions of the moft enligh- 
 tened of mankind in that age. That fuch 
 an immenfe, and infinitely various, ftruc- 
 ture as that of the world, or rather what 
 w^as called the univerfe, confifting of all 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. i.^ 
 
 the vifible objefts in nature, the fyftem of 
 the fun, moon, and ftars, as well as the 
 earth and fea, Ihould have had any proper 
 author, and much more only one author, 
 that one mind fliould perfeftly comprehend, 
 and dired, the whole, was utterly incom- 
 prehenfible by mankpd; and therefore they 
 had recourfe to a multiplicity of fuperior 
 beings, each prefiding in his feparate pro- 
 vince; and hence the idea of the different 
 charafters and difpofitions, of the heathen 
 gods, and the varieties in their modes of 
 worfhipping them. It is in vain that we 
 look for fuch an idea as Mofes gives of the 
 Deity, even among the learned Greeks, 
 two thoufand years after his time, when 
 they had long been poflefled of leifure, 
 and every other advantage, for fpecula- 
 tions concerning the origin of the univerfe, 
 which was indeed the great objeft of their 
 philofophy. 
 
 2. You have feen in what ftrange 
 forms the heathens reprefented their divini- 
 ties, and under what fymbols, as the 
 
 figures of animals, and others, they wor- 
 
 fhipped 
 
126 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ftiipped them, a pra^lice that muft have 
 fuggefted low and degrading ideas of their 
 gods. And it adually led to the worfhip 
 of the animals, and the images themfelves, 
 divine powers being fuppofed to refide in 
 them. This was univerfal among the na- 
 tions that bordered on Judea. The Per- 
 fians, indeed, who worfhipped the fun, 
 had no images of their god befides fire ; 
 but all the nations that the Hebrews in 
 the time of Mofes, were acquainted with, 
 were properly idolaters, worfhipping their 
 gods by means of images in various fliapes, 
 and the Egyptians the animals themfelves. 
 This fource of corruption and abufe 
 was effeftually cut off in the inftitutions of 
 Mofes. The fecond commandment ex- 
 prefsly fays, Exod. xx. 4. Thou Jhalt not 
 make to thee any graven image, or the likenefs 
 of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is 
 in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters 
 tinder the earth. Thou fjalt not bow down to 
 them nor ferve them. Alfo when Mofes, a 
 fhort time before his death, reminds the 
 Ifraelites of what they had feen and heard, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. / j^; 
 
 and of their obligation to refped; his laws, 
 he fays, Deut. iv. 14. When the Lord f pake 
 to you out of the midft of the fire, ye heard the 
 voice of the vjords, but ye faw no fimilitude, 
 ofily ye heard a voice. "Take ye therefore good 
 heed to your fives, for ye faw no manner offimi- 
 litude on the day that the Lord fpake to you in 
 Horeb out of the midft of the fire, left ye cor- 
 rupt yourfelves, and make you a graven ijnage, 
 the fimilitude of any figure, the likenefs of male 
 or female y the likenefs of any be aft that is on the 
 earth, the likenefs of any winged fovA that flics 
 in the air^ the likenefs of any thing that creepeth 
 upon the ground, the likefiefs of any fijlo that is 
 in the waters under the earth; and left thou lift 
 up thine eyes imto heaven^ and when thou feeft 
 the fun, and the moon, and the ftars, even all 
 the hoft of heaven, which the Lord thy God hath 
 divided unto all nations under the whole heavens^ 
 fl)oidd he drawn to worftoip and ferve them. 
 
 The very idea of an intelligent Being, 
 immenfe and omnipotent, and Vv^ithout any 
 definite form, never occurred to any of 
 the heathens. It is in vain that we look 
 among their philofophers for any thing 
 
 fo 
 
138 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fo great and fublime. The leaft degree of 
 attention will convince us of the greatnefs 
 and fublimity of it, and yet it was fami- 
 liar to this /g/^or^/^r and barbarous people as Vol- 
 taire reprefents the Hebrews to have been. 
 
 Thefe great and fplendid objefts, the 
 fources of light and heat, and, as was 
 fuppofed, of other beneficial influences, 
 which were the primary objefts of worlhip 
 to other nations, Mofes always defcribed 
 as having been created by the one fupreme 
 God, as well as the earth, which was 
 another great obje£l of worlhip to the 
 heathen world. According to the jufl: and 
 fublime defcription of the writers of the 
 Old Teftament, all things are fubjed to 
 the controul of this one great Being, 
 Dan. iv. 35. He doth whatever he pleafes in 
 the armies of heaven above, as well as among 
 the inhabitants of the earth beneath. Heaven 
 is the throne, and the earth the footftool 
 of God. 
 
 According to the principles of the 
 wifeft of the heathen nations, matter, if 
 not the world itfelf, with all the vifible 
 
 fyftem 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 129 
 
 lyftem of things was eternal, and the gods 
 who were the objefts of the popular wor- 
 Ihip, arofe out of it, and of courfe after 
 it. For the idea they had received by 
 tradition of one God having created all 
 things, was foon loft and forgotten, fo that 
 he was no objeft of their worfliip at all. 
 
 The fupremacy of this one God, as 
 the author, and lord, of univerfal nature, 
 is declared in the moft emphatical terms 
 on a variety of occafions in the Hebrew 
 fcriptures. On a folemn faft, after the 
 return from the Babylonifh captivity, 
 we find an addrefs made to God, in 
 which they fay, Neh. ix. 5. Blejjed he thy 
 glorious fiame, which is exalted above all blef- 
 fing and praife. ThoUy even thoUy art Lord 
 alone. Thou hajl made the heaven, and the 
 heaven of heavens, with all their hojis, the 
 earthy and all things that are therein, the fea, 
 and all that is therein, and thou prefervefi them 
 all, and all the hojl of heaven worflnp thee. 
 Do fuch fentiments as thefe, and fuch lan- 
 guage as this, befpeak the Hebrews to 
 have been that ignorant, barbarous, and 
 
 fuperftitious. 
 
r30 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fuperftitious nation, that Voltaire defcribes 
 tliem as having always been ? 
 
 3. Let us now fee what are faid to 
 have been the attributes of this one God, 
 the fole obje£l of worfhip to the Hebrew 
 nation, according to their own writings. 
 The objefts of the worlhip of the hea- 
 then nations, we have feen, were ac- 
 cording to themfelves, all limited in their 
 knowledge and powers, and indeed by 
 one another, one of them being occupied 
 in this province, and another in that. 
 But the God of the Hebrews is always 
 reprefented as omnipotent, omniprefent, 
 and omnifcient. 
 
 According to the fublime language of the 
 prophet Ifaiah (xl. 12.) It is he who has mea- 
 fired the waters in the hollovj of his hand^ who 
 has meted out the heavens with afpan^ and com- 
 prehended the diijl of the earth in a meafure, 
 hath weighed the mountains in fcalesy and the 
 hills in a balance. Who, fays he, has direBed 
 the fpirit of the Lord, or being his counfellor has 
 taught him ? With whom took he counfely and 
 who inJlruBed him, and taught him knowledge, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 13, 
 
 and Jhewed him the way of underfianding ? Be- 
 hold, the nations are as the drop of a bucket ^ 
 and are cowtted as the fmall dufl of the balance. 
 Beholdy he taketh tip the ijles as a very little 
 thing. All nations before him are as nothinor, 
 and they are counted to him as lefs than nothings 
 and vanity. To whom then will ye liken Gody 
 or what likenefs will ye compare unto him ? Have 
 ye not known ^ have ye not heard ^ has it. not been 
 told you fro7n the beginning ? It is he that 
 fitteth upon the circle of the heavens ^ and the 
 inhabitants of the earth are as grafoppers^ who 
 flretcheth out the heavens as a curtain y and 
 fpreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Haft 
 thou not knovMty hafi thou not heard, that the 
 everlajiing God, the Lord, the creator of the 
 ends of the earth, fainteth not neither is weary? 
 There is no fearching of his under ft andi?ig. 
 
 What a fublime idea doth Solomon 
 give of the attributes of God, on occafion 
 of the dedication of the temple, i Kings 
 viii. 27. But will Cod indeed dwell on earth ? 
 Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, 
 cannot contain thee. Hozv much Icfs this houfe 
 which I have built? In the prophet Jere- 
 miah, 
 
132 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 miah, the divine Being is reprefented as 
 faying, Am I a God at hand, and not a God 
 afcir off? Can any perfon hide himfelf in fecret 
 places that I cannot find him? faith the Lord. 
 Do I not fill heaven and earth? fiiith the Lord. 
 The fecrets of the hearts of men are re- 
 prefented as known to God. Jer. xvii. 9. 
 / the Lord fear ch the heart , I try the reins , even 
 to give to every man according to his %vaySy and 
 according to the fruit of his doings. 
 
 Where Ihall we find in any of the 
 Greek or Latin poets fuch an idea of any 
 of the heathen gods as David gives us of 
 the God of the Hebrews in the cxxxix. 
 Pfalm ? Lord thou haft fearched me, and 
 known me. Thou knovjeft my down fittingy 
 and my uprifing. Thou underftandeft my thoughts 
 afar off. Thou compaffeft my path, and my 
 lying down, and art acquainted with all my 
 ways. For there is not a word in my tongue 
 hut loy . Lordy thou knoweft it altogether. 
 Thou haft hefet me behind and before, and haft 
 laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is 
 too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot at- 
 tain unto it. Whither ft?all I go from thy fpirity 
 
 or 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 133 
 
 or whither Jlmll I flee from thy prefence ? If 
 I afcend up into heaven ^ thou art there. If I 
 make my bed in the grave y behold thou art there. 
 If I take the wings of the mornings or dwell in 
 the uttermoft parts ofthefea, even there fait thy 
 hand lead me, and thy right hand fall hold me. 
 If I fay y furely the darknefs fall cover fne^ 
 even the nightfall be light about me. Tea^ the 
 darknefs hideth not fro7n thee^ but the night 
 fineth as the day. The darknefs and the day 
 are both alike to thee. 
 
 The abfurdity of the heathen worfhip, 
 and the vain pretenfions of the heathen 
 gods, are finely ridiculed by the Hebrew 
 prophets. Ifaiah, foretelling the deftruc- 
 tion of Babylon, a city peculiarly devoted 
 to the worfhip of idols, fays, chap. xlvi. i. 
 *' Bel boweth down, Nebo floopeth. 
 ^' Their idols were upon the beafts, and 
 *^ upon the cattle, your carriages were 
 *^ heavy laden, they are a burden to the 
 *^ weary beafl. They floop, they bow 
 *^ down together, they could not deliver 
 ** the burden, but themfelves are gone 
 *« into captivity." Jeremiah exprefTes 
 
 equal 
 
134 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 equal contempt of them, when he fays 
 chap. viii. i. ^' Thus faith the Lord, Learn 
 
 * not the ways of the heathen, and be 
 
 * not difmayed at the figns of heaven, 
 
 * for the heathen are difmayed at them. 
 < For the cuftoms of the people are vain. 
 
 * For one cutteth a tree out of the foreft 
 
 * (the work of the hand of the workman,) 
 
 * with the ax. They deck it with filver 
 
 * and with gold, they fallen it with nails 
 
 * and with hammers, that it move not. 
 
 * They are upright as the palm-tree, but 
 
 * fpeak not. They mull needs be borne, 
 
 * becaufe they cannot go. Be not afraid 
 ^ of them, for they cannot do evil, nei- 
 
 * ther is it in them to do good. Foraf- 
 
 * much as there is none like unto thee, O 
 ^ Lord. Thou art great, and thy name 
 ' is great in might. Who would not fear 
 
 * thee, O King of nations, for to thee doth 
 ^ it appertain. 
 
 4. Confidering the Ihockingly cruel and 
 abominable cuftoms of the heathens, we 
 do not wonder that fuch worlhip as theirs 
 was moft ftridly forbidden o the Ifrael- 
 
 ites. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 135 
 
 ites. Indeed, to preferve in the world the 
 knowledge and worfliip of the one true 
 God, was the great objeft of the inlH- 
 tutionsof Mofes; and a greater and more 
 worthy object cannot be conceived. In 
 the direftions that Mofes gives his coun- 
 trymen, how they fliouid conduft them- 
 felves in the land of Canaan, he fays, 
 Deut. xii. 2. * And ye fhall utterly de- 
 
 * ftroy all the places wherein the nations 
 
 * that ye fhall poffefs ferved their gods, 
 
 * upon high mountains, and upon hills, and 
 
 * under green trees. And ye fhall over- 
 ^ throw their altars, and break their pillars, 
 
 * and burn their groves with fire. And 
 
 * ye fhall hew down the graven images of 
 
 < their gods, and deftroy the names of 
 
 < them out of their places.' No idolater 
 was permitted to live in the country of 
 the Hebrews, which was appropriated to 
 the worfhip of the one true God ; and 
 every Jew conforming to the heathen wor- 
 fliip was to be put to death without mer- 
 cy. It is to be obferved, however, that 
 the Ifraelices were not direfted to propa- 
 gate 
 
136 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 gate their religion by the fword, and com- 
 pel other nations to conform to their wor- 
 fhip. Their conquefts, and the extirpation 
 of idolatrous worfliip were confined to the 
 boundary of the land of Canaan, the coun- 
 try promifed by God to Abraham. Ac- 
 cordingly when David, who had more 
 zeal for his religion than any of the kings 
 of Ifrael, conquered all the neighbouring 
 nations, he did not compel any of them 
 to change their religion for his.. 
 
 5. The characters of the principal of 
 the heathen gods we have feen to have 
 been ftained with vices of the groffeft kind, 
 and the moft abominable rites were prac- 
 tifed in their groves, and the temples 
 themfelves, as peculiarly proper for their 
 worfliip. The reverfe of every thing of 
 this kind is always reprefented by Mofes, 
 and the prophets, as the difpofition of 
 the God of the Hebrews. Nothmg of 
 impurity, or indecency, was admitted in- 
 to his worfhip. Nay the great objeft of 
 the whole fyftem of the Hebrew religion 
 was to form men to the perfeftiou of mo- 
 ral 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 137 
 
 ral charafter, and all the rites and cere- 
 monies of it are conftantly faid to be 
 wholly infignificant without this. Be ye 
 holy.y fays Mofes, Lev. xix. 2. for the Lord 
 your God is holy. 
 
 When the Pfalmift difcribes the cha- 
 rafter of the man who was acceptable to 
 God, and fit to be admitted to his prefence, 
 he fays, (Pfalm i.) xv. Lord^ who Jl?all abide 
 in thy tabernacle^ who Jhall dwell in thy holy 
 hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
 righteoufnefsy and fpeaketh the truth in his 
 heart. On the other hand, vice and wick- 
 ednefs is always reprefented as the great, 
 and indeed the fole, objecS of his difplea- 
 fure. There is no peace, fays God, to the 
 wicked. If. vi. 22. 
 
 The infignificance of all merely ritual 
 obfervances, in which the whole of the 
 heathen religion confided, compared with 
 moral virtue, is expreffed in the moft em- 
 phatical manner by feveral of the facred 
 writers,^ as If. i. 11. * To what purpofe is 
 * the multitude of your facrifices to me, 
 « faith the Lord? I am full of the burnt- 
 p ^ offerings 
 
138 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * offerings of rams, and the fat of fed 
 Vbeafts, and I delight not in the blood of 
 
 * bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 
 
 * When ye come to appear before me, 
 
 * who hadi required this at your hand, to 
 
 * tread my courts. Bring no more vain 
 ' oblations. Incenfe is an abomination unto 
 
 * me. The new moons, and fabbaths, 
 
 * the calling of affemblies, I cannot away 
 
 * with. It is iniquity, even the folemn 
 ^ meeting. Your new moons, and your 
 
 * appointed feafts, my foul hateth. They 
 
 * are a trouble unto me, I am weary to 
 
 * bear them. And when ye Ipread forth 
 
 * your hands, I will hide mine eyes from 
 
 * you, yea when ye make many prayers 
 
 * I will not hear. Your hands are full of 
 
 * blood. Wafh ye, make you clean, put 
 
 * away the evil of our doings from be- 
 
 * fore mine eyes, ceafe to do evil, learn 
 ' to do well, feek judgment, relieve the 
 
 * opprefled, judge the fatherlefs, plead for 
 
 * the widow. Com.e now and let us rea- 
 
 * fon together faith the Lord, though your 
 ' fms be as fcarlet, they fliall be as white 
 
 ' as 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 139 
 
 ' as fnow, though they be red like ciiai- 
 
 * fon, they fhall be as wool.' 
 
 'Wherewith,' faith Micah, ch. vi, 6. 
 
 * fliall I come before the Lord, and bow 
 
 * myfelf before the high God. Shall I come 
 ' before him with burut offerings, with 
 ' calves of a year old? will the Lord be 
 ' pleafed with thoufands of rams, or ten 
 
 * thoufands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my 
 ' firft born for my tranfgreffion, the fruit of 
 
 * my body for the fm of my foul? He hath 
 
 * Ihewed thee, O man, what is good, and 
 ^ what doth the Lord require of thee, but 
 
 * to do juftly, to love mercy, and to walk 
 
 * humbly with thy God.' Paffages equal- 
 ly excellent, and as purely moral as thefe, 
 abound in the fcriptures of the Old Tefta- 
 ment. 
 
 6. The pubhc feftivals of the heathen 
 gods were feafons of rioting and lewdnefs, 
 but thofe of the Ifraelites were fcencs of 
 innocent rejoicing, joined with afl:s of de- 
 votion, which are by no means incompati- 
 ble with it ; and every thing relating to 
 the fervice of the tabernacle and the tem- 
 
 p z pie, 
 
I40 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 pie, was conduced with the greateft 
 regard to decency; while the utmoft ab- 
 horrence is exprefled for the horrid cuftoms 
 of the heathens. * Thou fhalt not/ fays 
 Mofes, Deut. xii. 29. * inquire after their 
 
 * gods, faying how did thofe nations ferve 
 ^ their gods, even fo will I do likewife. 
 ^ Thou flialt not do fo unto the Lord 
 
 * thy God. For every abomination to the 
 
 * Lord, that he hateth, have they done 
 
 * unto their gods. For even their fons and 
 ^ their daughters have they burned In the 
 
 * fire to their gods.' And yet this very 
 thing, which is here mentioned as the 
 greateft enormity in the worlhip of the 
 heathens, viz. human facrifices, Voltaire 
 fays was praftifed in that of the Jews. Is 
 it poffible for effrontery to go farther than 
 this? (except indeed his maintaining that 
 the Jews were canibals, and fed on human 
 flefh) while without any evidence, but his 
 own, and contrary to every reprefentatioa 
 of the fafts by heathen writers themfelves, 
 he fpeaks of the heathen feftivals as mere 
 feafons of perfedly innocent feftivity. But, 
 
 juftly 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ,41 
 
 juftly or unjuftly, every thing not Jewifh 
 muft be harmlefs, and their rehgion muft 
 be, as he calls it, a detejlahk fuperjlition, 
 
 7. While the religion of the Hebrews 
 was free from every ftain of impurity, it 
 contained nothing of unneceflary auflerity. 
 It had no painful rite, except that of cir- 
 cumcifion, which being performed on chil- 
 dren of eight days old, who can have no 
 apprehenfion of the thing before hand, and 
 whofe wounds foon heal, is a very trifling 
 inconvenience. The Hebrews had only 
 one faft, and that of no more than a fingle 
 day in the year, but three feftivals of fome 
 continuance. 
 
 In the principal of the heathen fefti- 
 vals there was fir ft a folemn mourning, all 
 the people performing whatever was cuf- 
 tomary at funerals, or in feafons of great 
 calamity. They tore their hair, ihaved 
 their heads, and mangled their flefh. But 
 the Ifraelites w^ere exprefsly forbidden to 
 do any of thofe things, Deut. xiv, i . * Ye 
 * are the children of the Lord your God, 
 ^ Ye Ihall not cut yourfelves, nor make any 
 
 ^ baldnefs 
 
14S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * baldnefs between your eyes for the dead, 
 
 * (that is for idolatrous ufes) for ye are an 
 
 * holy people to the Lord your God.' 
 Thefe directions had no view to private 
 mournings, for on thofe occafions they al- 
 ways did thefe very things, but to the 
 worlhip of God. 
 
 It was the cuftom of the heathens to 
 imprint on their fkin various indelible 
 marks, being figures and charafters ex- 
 prefFive of their devotednefs to their gods, 
 which muft have been a painful operation. 
 But this was alfo forbidden to the He- 
 brews, Lev. xix. 27. Te fiall not make 
 any cuttings in your fiejlo for the dead, 
 nor print any marks upon yoUy I am the 
 Lord. 
 
 8. If the extreme of aufterity was 
 with fo much care avoided in the Hebrew 
 inftitutions, that of fenfual indulgence was 
 avoided with more. Every incentive to 
 lewdnefs, which was encouraged, and 
 openly pra6tifed, in the heathen temples, 
 was far removed from the worlliip of Je- 
 hovah. The heathens were fond of wor- 
 
 fliipping 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ,43 
 
 fliipping on the tops of mountains, and in 
 groves, in which every fpecies of abomi- 
 nation was committed; and for this reafon 
 both were forbidden in the Hebrew wor- 
 fhip, Deut. xvi. 21. 'Thou fhalt not plant 
 
 * thee a grove near to the altar of the 
 
 * Lord thy God, which thou fhalt make 
 ^ unto him.' 
 
 In the rites of fome of the heathen 
 deities men were habited like women, and 
 women like men. This was more efpeci- 
 ally the cafe in the worfliip of Venus. 
 This manner of worfliip was alfo common 
 among the Syrians, and Africans, and 
 thence it pafled into Europe, the Phoeni- 
 cians having brought it to Cyprus. In a 
 rehgious rite of the Argives, Plutarch fays 
 the women were clothed like men, and 
 men like women. But in the laws of 
 Mofes it is faid, Deut. xxii. 5. The wo- 
 man Jloall not wear that which appertaineth 
 unto man, neither JJoaU a man put on a wo- 
 man^s garment. For all that do Jo are an 
 
 abomination to the Lord thy God. 
 
 You 
 
144 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 You have feen that the heathens had 
 places adjoining to their temples, in which 
 both men and women proftituted them- 
 felves in honour of their deities, and to 
 augment the revenues of the place. With 
 a view, no doubt, to this abominable 
 cuftom, the Hebrews were commanded 
 to avoid thefe praftices. Lev. xix. 9. 
 Do 720t projlittite thy daughter y to caufe her 
 to be a whore y teji the land fall into whore- 
 dom, and the land become full of ivicked- 
 nefs. Te ftiall keep my fabbaths, and re- 
 verence my fanBuaryy I am the Lord your 
 God. 
 
 9. A fuperftitious refpefl: for the hea- 
 then temples and altars made them afylums 
 for all kinds of criminals, and it was deem- 
 ed the greateft aft of impiety to take any 
 perfon from thence, whatever his guilt 
 had been, and however clear the proof of 
 it. But this was not the cafe in the reli- 
 gion of the Hebrews, which Voltaire re- 
 prefents as the extreme of the moll detef- 
 table fuperftition. Ex. xxi. 12. He that 
 fmiteth a man fo that he die, JImll furely 
 
 be 
 
 \ 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 145 
 
 be put to death* If a man lie not in ivait, 
 but God deliver him into his handy then 
 will I appoint thee a place whither he Jhall 
 flee. But if a man come prefumptuoiijly 
 upon his neighbour y and flay him with guiky 
 thou foalt take him from mine altar , that be 
 may die. Where then do we find the pro- 
 per charafters of fuperftition, and where 
 are thofe of good policy, and good fenfe. 
 
DISCOUPxSE VI. 
 
 The excellence of the Mofaic Injlimtions. 
 
 Behold I have taught you ftatutes and judgments, even as 
 the Lord my God commanded me^ that ye Ihould do fo in 
 the land whither ye go to pofTefs it. Keep therefore and 
 do them. For this is your wifdom and under/landing, in 
 the fight of the nations which ftiall hear all thefe ftatutes, 
 and fay, Surely this great nation is a wife and underftand- 
 ing people. For what nation is there fo great, who hath 
 God fo near unto them as the Lord your God is, in all 
 things that ye call upon him for; and what nation is there 
 fo great that hath ftatutes and judgments fo righteous, as 
 all this law which I fet before you this day. 
 
 Deut. iv. 5—8. 
 
 1 N my laft Difcourfe I began to give 
 you a general view of the religious inftitu- 
 tions of Mofes, correfponding to that 
 w^hich, in two preceding Difcourfes, I 
 gave you of the religion of the heatheus, 
 to which they were oppofed: in order to 
 enable you to judge whether it was pro- 
 bable that the former were devifed by 
 
 men. 
 
THE EVIDENCES, &c. 147 
 
 men, or were of divine origin. You have 
 feen that, in a variety of important re- 
 fpefts, the rehgion of the Hebrews, faid 
 by unbehevers to be a barbarous and fu- 
 perftitious people, had dodlrines and rites 
 infinitely fuperior to thofe of the heathens. 
 I particularly mentioned the great doc- 
 trine of the Scriptures concerning the 
 unity of God, in oppofition to the multi- 
 plicity of heathen deities, his being reprc- 
 fented as having no definite form, fo as to 
 be worfhipped under any image, his attri- 
 butes of creating and governing the world, 
 his omniprefence, omnifcience, and infinite 
 wifdom, the perfeftion of his moral cha- 
 racter, and his making the ftrifteft virtue 
 the great end of his worihip. 1 mention- 
 ed the decency of all the religious feftivals 
 of the Hebrews, as the reverfe of the iicen- 
 tioufnefs encouraged in thofe of the hea 
 thens, and at the fame time their freedom 
 from any unnecefTary or painful aufterity, 
 and the peculiar abhorrence in which hu- 
 man facrifices, and other rites of the hea- 
 then worihip were held by the Hebrews. 
 
 I alfo 
 
i4.S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 I alfo obferved that the Hebrew altars af- 
 forded no afylum for criminals, which 
 thofe of the heathens conftantly did. 
 
 I o. I now proceed to obferve that, where- 
 as much of the attention of the heathen 
 nations was taken up witli the fuperftitious 
 practice of divinatioUy in a great variety of 
 forms, with witchcraft and necromancy ; 
 thefe beng effential parts of their religion, 
 and more ftudied than any other (fo that 
 at Rome to defpife the eftablilhed auguries 
 would have been reckoned the extreme of 
 profanenefs) the Hebrews of all the an- 
 tient nations, were entirely exempt from 
 this wretched fuperftition, the offspring of 
 the moft extreme ignorance, though they 
 knew no more of philofophy, or the true 
 caufes of events, than other people. Eve- 
 ry branch of this fuperftition was ftridtly 
 forbidden to the Ifraelites, as well as 
 things of greater enormity. Lev. xix. 26, 
 '* Neither Ihall ye ufe enchantments, nor 
 *' obferve times,' Deut. xviii. 10. ^ There 
 *^ Ihall not be found among you any one 
 ^' that maketh his fon or his daughter to 
 
 pafs 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 14, 
 
 *' pafs through the fire, or that ufeth divi- 
 ** nation, or an obferver of times, or an 
 *^ enchanter^ or a witch, or a charmer, or 
 ** a confulter with familiar fpirits, or a wi- 
 ** zard, or a necromancer. For all that 
 *^ do thefe things are an abomination unto 
 ** the Lord, and becaufe of thefe abomi- 
 ^' nations the Lord thy God doth drive them 
 *' out from before thee. Thou ihalt be 
 *^ perfeft with the Lord thy God. For 
 *' thefe nations which thou Ihalt poflefs 
 ** hearkned unto obfervers of times, and 
 ** unto diviners ; but as for thee, the Lord 
 ** thy God hath notfufFered thee fotodo.* 
 Is this any mark of the deteftable fuperfii- 
 tion, with which Voltaire charges the 
 religion of the Jews? On the contrary, 
 it is fuch good fenfe, as we in vain look 
 for in the religions of other nations, that 
 this writer reprefents as in all relpefts their 
 fuperior. 
 
 Confidering the very ftrong hold that 
 thefe opinions and praftices flill have on 
 the minds of men (for to this day many 
 Chriflians, and even many unbelievers in 
 
 chriftianity, 
 
150 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 cliriftianity, have great faith in charms, and 
 other things of a fimiiar nature, relating 
 to good or bad fortune, as infignilicant as 
 the failors whifthng for a v^ind) there is 
 not a clearer and more unequivocal mark 
 of fuperior, of divine wifdom, than the 
 contempt that is fo ftrongly exprefTed for 
 every thing of this kind in the books of 
 Mofes, efpecially confidering the times in 
 which they were written. 
 
 1 1 . The heathens had many fuperfti- 
 tious rules with refpeft tofacrifices. Thus 
 hogs were facrificed to Ceres, an owl to 
 Minerva, a hawk to Apollo, a dog to 
 Hecate, an eagle to Jupiter, a horfe to 
 the fun, a cock to iEfculapius, a gcofe to 
 Ins, and a goat to Bacchus. The Zabians 
 facrificed to the fun feven bats, feven mice, 
 and feven other reptiles. , The Egyptians 
 -vvevQ fo far from facrilicing horned cattle, 
 that they worfliipped them, as alfo the 
 ram. The Hebrews alone kept to the 
 natural and rational idea of facrifices, 
 which was to confine them to things mofl 
 proper for the food of man, in order to 
 
 exprefs 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. i-i 
 
 exprefs their gratitude to God, as the 
 giver of it, and, as it were, to be the 
 guefts at his table. 
 
 That facrifices, though not required of 
 Chriftians, was a natural mode of worfliip 
 cannot be denied, becaufe they were uni- 
 verfal, and are ufed by all heathen nations 
 to this day. No philofopher, in the nioft 
 enlightened period of the heathen world, 
 ever objefted to them. 
 
 The heathens were ufed to referve 
 fome of the flejQi of the animals t]iey facri- 
 ficed for fuperftitious ufes, as the Chrif- 
 tians, when fuperflition crept in among 
 them, did of the confecrated bread in 
 the eucharift. For the Chriftians derived 
 all their fuperftitious practices from the 
 heathens. When the Mahometans facrifice 
 a ftieep, as they always do on their pilgrim- 
 age to Mecca, they dry a great part of 
 the flefli, which by this means may be 
 kept two years, and make prefents of it 
 to their friends at their return. This was 
 probably an ancient idolaltrous cuftom, 
 which Mahomet kept up. But to prevent 
 
 every 
 
15^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 every fuperftitious ufe of facrifices, the 
 Hebrews were direfted to keep nothing of 
 theirs till the next day ; and no flefh of 
 the pafchal lamb was to be carried out of 
 the houfe in which it was eaten* They 
 were alfo ftriftly forbidden to eat any part 
 of it raw, Exod. xii. 9. whi^ has been 
 obferved to have been a fuperftitious and 
 indecent cuftom with the Egyptians, and 
 others. 
 
 12. Some part of the iirft fruits of 
 their harvefts were referved by the hea- 
 thens for magical purpofes. On the con- 
 trary, the Ifraelites were diredled, when 
 they prefented their firft fruits, to recount 
 the goodnefs of God to them in the fol- 
 lowing pious form. Deut. xxvi. in the 
 prefence of the prieft. *^ I profefs this 
 " day unto the Lord thy God, that I am 
 ** come unto the country which the Lord 
 '* fware unto our fathers for to give us.'* 
 When the prieft had taken the bafket 
 out of his hand, and prefented it, he was 
 to fay farther. ^ A Syrian ready to perifh 
 * was my father, and he went down into 
 
 ' Egypt, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 153 
 
 ' Egypt, and fojourned there, with a few, 
 
 * and there became a great nation, mighty 
 
 * and populous, and the Egyptians evil 
 
 * intreated us, and afflifted us, and hiid 
 ^ upon us hard bondage, and when we 
 
 * cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, 
 
 * the Lord heard our voice, and looked on 
 
 * our afHiftion, and our labour, and our 
 
 * oppreflion. And the Lord brought us 
 
 * forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, 
 ' and an outftretched arm, and with great 
 ^ terriblenefs, and with figns, and wonders; 
 
 * and he hath brought us into this place, 
 ^ and hath given us this land, even a land 
 
 * that floweth with milk and honey ; and 
 
 * now behold I have brought the firft 
 ' fruits of the land which thou, O Lord, 
 
 * haft given me.' 
 
 When fome of the antient idolaters had 
 gathered all their fruits, they took a kid 
 and boiled it in its mother's milk, and 
 with magical rites fprinkled with it their 
 fields, gardens, and orchards, thinking 
 that by this means they would become 
 fruitful. This practice was exprefsly for- 
 (l bidden 
 
154 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 bidden to the Hebrews, no doubt, as fu- 
 perflitious and idolatrous. Thott Jloalt 
 not feethe a kid in its mother'' s milk. (Exod. 
 xxiii. 19. Deut. xiv. 21.) To this 
 cuftom it is not improbable that Ifaiah, 
 alludes, when fpeaking of idolaters, he 
 fays, (Chap. Ixv. 4.) Who eat fwine^s 
 ftefpy and broth of abominable things is in 
 their vejfels. For they might put other 
 things into the pot along with the flefti 
 of the kid. And on this account, when 
 they had diftributed their tythes, they 
 were direded to fay (Deut. xxvi. 13.) 
 . I have brought away the hallo'wed things 
 out of mine hotfe^ and alfo have given 
 them to the Levite, and unto the flranger^ 
 to the fatherlefsy and to the widowy accord- 
 ing to all thy commandmmts, which thou 
 haft commanded me. I have not tranf 
 grejfed thy com?nandmentSy neither have I 
 forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof 
 in my mourning (alluding to the folemn 
 mourning in the feftival of Ifis) neither have 
 I taken aivay ought thereof for any tin- 
 
 clean 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 155 
 
 dean ufe, nor given ought thereof for the 
 deady (that is for idolatrous purpofes) hut 
 I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my 
 God, and have done according to all that 
 thou hajl commanded me. Look down from 
 thy holy habitation, from heaven, and blefs 
 thy people Ifrael, and the land which thou 
 haJl given us, as thou f war efi unto our father s^ 
 a land that foweth with milk and honey. 
 Here certainly is piety and good fenfe, 
 and nothing of that detejiable fuperjiition, 
 which Voltaire afcribes to this antient 
 people. 
 
 13. The rules laid down in the books 
 of Mofes for the diet of the Ifraehtes, 
 permitting the ufe of feme kinds of food, 
 and prohibiting others, will, no doubt, 
 be deemed fuperftition by fome perfons. 
 But if the particulars be confidered, it will 
 be found that the Ifraelites were confined 
 to that food which was the moft wholefome, 
 and beft fuited to the climate they were 
 deftined to inhabit. On the contrary, 
 there was real and mere fuperftition in the 
 reftridlions that many of the heathens laid 
 Q. 2 them- 
 
i^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fcjji^mfelves under in this refped:, and in 
 all antient nations relio-ion was concerned in 
 the choice of food. Thus the Egyptians 
 would not eat the flefh of a cow. It was 
 commonly faid of them, they would as foon 
 eat that of a man. Their priefts, and 
 the Pythagoreans^ who followed them in 
 it, abftained from beans. The priefts in 
 Syria ate no fifli, the Phoenicians no pigeons, 
 and the antient Arabians abftained from 
 eating a variety of things, becaufe they 
 thought them particularly confecrated to 
 fome of the heavenly bodies, which were 
 the objefts of their worfhip, and becaufe 
 they made ufe of them in their divinations. 
 Mofes, therefore, or rather God by him, in 
 order to counteraft and prevent this fuper- 
 ftition (for it cannot be called any thing 
 eife, as the things refrained from cannot 
 be denied to be wholefome food) eftablifli- 
 ed a diftinftion c" meats on a quite differ- 
 ent, and perfectly rational, principle. 
 
 The article that will perhaps be rnqfj ob- 
 jected to is the prohibition to esitfwi^cs fle/h; 
 which we find not to be un wholefome. But 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 157 
 
 the Egyptians, Arabians, and all the eaftern 
 nations, from Ethiopia to India, deteft 
 fwines flefti, and fo do the Mahometans 
 univerfaliy. As to blood, I believe it is 
 generally allowed to be grofs andunwhole- 
 fome food ; but probably the principal 
 reafon why it was forbidden to the He- 
 brews, was the ufe that was made of it 
 in fome of the facrifices of the heathen 
 nations, who drank of the blood, by way 
 of communicating with the infernal deities. 
 For this reafon too, it might be that, in 
 the- Hebrew facrifices, the blood was di- 
 refted to be fprinkled on the altar, or 
 poured out at the foot of it. The. blood 
 was alfo confidered as, in a peculiar man- 
 ner, the feat of animal life ; and by giving 
 it back, as it were, to God, they ac- 
 kno^vledged that it came from him. 
 
 14. There is, indeed, hardly any Ipecies 
 of fuperftition that was praftifed by the 
 antient idolaters that is not either diredly 
 noticed, or alluded to, and particularly 
 guarded againft, in the religion of the If- 
 raelites. The Zabians, it is faid, conftrurt- 
 
 ed 
 
i^B THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ed certain images, according to the con- 
 ftellations, which they called talijmans^ by 
 means of which they expelled to perform 
 the greateft wonders, and efpecially to 
 foretel future events. Thefe were pro- 
 bably the teraphim of which mention is 
 made in the Hebrew fcriptures ; and it is 
 well known that the ufe of them was 
 condemned by Mofes ; and the Ifraelites 
 were directed to other means of becoming 
 acquainted with fuch future events, as it 
 was proper for them to be informed of. 
 But this I fhall make the fubjeft of a fepa- 
 rate difcourfe. 
 
 There are feveral things in the Hebrew 
 ritual for which we are not at prefent able 
 to give any fatisfaftory reafon. But this 
 is probably owing to our not being fuf- 
 ficiently acquainted with remote antiquity, 
 and efpecially the worfhip of the moft 
 antient idolators, which it was the great 
 objeft of the Mofaic inftitutions to oppofe. 
 Tor this reafon, and perhaps, in fome 
 cafes, for no other, the cuftoms of the 
 Ifraelites were ordered to be the very re- 
 
 verfe 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 159 
 
 verfe of thofe of other nations. When 
 the heathens worftiipped their fuperior 
 divinities, who wer^ fuppofed to have their 
 refidence above the clouds, they did it not 
 only on mountains, and in high places, 
 but on high altars, thinking that by that 
 means they had a nearer accefs to the ob- 
 jects of their w^orfhip. For this reafon the 
 Hebrews were directed not to build fuch 
 altars, or to worfhip in fuch places. The 
 heathens ufed leaven and honey ^ in the cakes 
 which they offered to their gods, whereas 
 in thofe of the Ifraelites they were both 
 forbidden, but they were always to ufe 
 fait. The heathens bowed towards the 
 Eaft, as an avH; of homage to the rifing 
 fun; and therefore their temples were 
 made to front the Weft, that when they 
 entered them, which they always did 
 bowing, it might be towards the Eaft. 
 For this reafon the tabernacle and temple 
 of the Ifraelites were made to look to the 
 Eaft, that on entering them, the worfhip- 
 pers might bow towards the Weft, turning 
 their backs on the place of fun-rifing. 
 
 The 
 
i6o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The antient idolaters held heifers hi 
 peculiar veneration, and for this reafon 
 perhaps, it was ordered, (Deut. xxi. 3.) 
 that if any perfon was found murdered, 
 and the murderer could not be difcovered, 
 a heifer which had not been ufed to the 
 yoke fhould be flain in his place. It was 
 not facrificed, but its head was to be ftruck 
 off. The Egyptians held in peculiar abhor- 
 rence animals that had red hair, which they 
 fuppofed to have been that of Typhon. In 
 oppofition, perhaps, to this, the Ifraelites 
 were" commanded to prepare their water 
 of purification with the afhes of a red 
 heifer, without fpot, or perfeftly red. 
 Numb. xix. 
 
 15, Many unbelievers think that where- 
 ever there are priejis, there muft be prieft- 
 crafty and of courfe the interefl of the 
 people facrificed to their emolument ; it 
 being always, as they think, in the power of 
 that order of men to impofe upon the reft. 
 But there were feveral circumftances in the 
 fituation of the Hebrew^ priefts, which fliew 
 that they could have had no fuch power. 
 
 In 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. i6i 
 
 In the firft place, the Hebrew priefts had 
 
 no fccrets. Every thing that tliey knew 
 
 or that they did, was as well known to the 
 
 whole nation as to themfeJves. It was all 
 
 detailed in the books of the law, which 
 
 were not confined to themfelves, as the 
 
 facred books of the Hindoos are to the 
 
 Bramins, but direfted to be read in the 
 
 hearing of all the people. To thefe books 
 
 they always had accefs, and the Levites 
 
 were difperfed all over the country, that 
 
 they might with the more advantage in- 
 
 ftrud the people in them. 
 
 So far w^as Mofes from wifliing that 
 
 the priefts fhould have any advantage over 
 
 the people by their fuperior knowledge, 
 
 that his exhortations to all the people to 
 
 make themfelves accurately acquainted 
 
 with the law are peculiarly emphatical, 
 
 (Deut. vi. 6) T^hefe words, which I co?nmand 
 
 thee this day, pall be in.thine heart . Aid thou 
 
 jloalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and 
 
 palt talk of them when thou fitteft in thy 
 
 houfe, and when thou walkejl by the way, and 
 
 when thou liejl down^ and when thou rifcjl up. 
 
 Aid 
 
x62 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 And thou JJmh^bind them for ci fg^i upon thine 
 handy arid they floall he as frontlets hetiveen thine 
 eyes. And thou fmlt -write them upon the pofts 
 of thy houfe, and on thy gates. Had the If- 
 raelites obferved this excellent precept, 
 they could never have revolted, as they 
 did, from their own religion to that of 
 the neighbouring nations. It Were to be 
 Avifhed that Chriftians would obferve thig 
 Excellent rule, or adopt the fpirit of it. 
 There would . not then be fo many unbe- 
 lievers as there now are in Chriftian coun- 
 tries. 
 
 There was indeed, a part of the ta- 
 bernacle, and of the temple, into which 
 only the priefts entered, and another into 
 which the high prieft only entered. But 
 there was nothing depofited in thofe places, 
 or done in them but what was perfedly 
 w^ell known to the w^hole nation, and they 
 did not, and could not, pretend to derive 
 any extraordinary powders from their having 
 accefs to thofe particular places. Whereas 
 in all the antient heathen religions, there 
 wxre myfteries or fecretSy wdth which only 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. i6j 
 
 the initiated were acquainted, and which 
 were communicated to them under the 
 moft folemn oath of fecrecy. Which of 
 thefe inflitutions then, bears moft of the 
 marks of prieft craft ? .y 
 
 In the next place, though the Hebrew 
 priefts were of a particular family, and 
 confidered as the moft refped:able order of 
 perfons in the nation, as being more im- 
 mediately employed in the fervice of God, 
 they could have no landed property, and 
 without this they could never attain any 
 great degree of civil power ; and in fad 
 their judges, who were occafionally ap- 
 pointed to dired the civil power, and the 
 kings, who held it permanently, were ne- 
 ' ver of the order of priefts, till the time of 
 the Maccabees, which was a long time 
 after the Babylonifh captivity, when they 
 had departed very far from their original 
 plan of government. 
 
 However, the priefts of Ifrael were not 
 fo far a feparate order of men, but they 
 were capable of civil offices. They were 
 alfo married, and fo much mixed with the 
 
 reft 
 
1 64 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 reft of the people, that they could have 
 no intereft feparate from theirs. Their 
 , chief dependance was upon the tythes 
 which they received from the people, who 
 by this means had them completely in 
 their power. By' this means, however, 
 it was wifely provided that it iliould be 
 their intereft to inftruft the people in the 
 law, and keep them to the obfervance of 
 it. But when the priefts and Levites did 
 their duty in this refped:, and received all 
 the advantages they could from it, it does 
 not appear that the tribe of Levi, which 
 comprehended the family of the priefts, 
 the defcendants of Aaron, was upon the 
 whole fo well provided for as any of the 
 other tribes. The Levites in general muft 
 have been poor ; for when mention is made 
 of charity, the cafe of the Levite is gene- 
 rally recommended together with that of 
 the ftranger, the fatherlefs, and the wi- 
 dow. Indeed fome part of the tythes, 
 as you have feen, were given to all thefe 
 without diftinftion. Jacob, who foretold 
 the future condition of all his fons, fpeaks 
 
 of 
 
I 
 
 REVEALED RELIGION. 16^- 
 
 of the Levites as well as the Shiieonites, 
 as under a kind of curfe. For he fays of 
 them, Gen. xlix. 7. Curfcd be their anger for 
 it IV as fierce, and their wrath for it -was cruel. 
 I will divide them in Jacob, and feparate them 
 in IJraeL This was a punilhment for their 
 treachery, and cruelty with refpeft to the 
 inhabitants of Sichem. 
 
 Whatever advantage the Hebrew priefls 
 were poirelTed of, it muft have depended 
 upon their keeping the people to the ftrift 
 obfervance of their religion. But in this 
 they notorioufly failed (which is an abun- 
 dant proof that their influence w^as not 
 great) through the flrong predileftion of 
 the Ifraelites in favour of the religions of 
 the neighbouring nations ; and many times, 
 but more efpeceially during the reign of 
 Ahab, the priefls of Baal had far more 
 influence than the priefts or prophets, of 
 Jehovah. Elijah was then the only pro- 
 phet who made his appearance, while tlie 
 priefts of Baal including thofe of the groves, 
 or rather of Aftaroth or Aftarte, were 
 eight hundred and fifty (fee i Kings, xviii. 
 
 19.) 
 
il56 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 19.) and there were not more than feven 
 thoufand perfons in all the country who 
 were not worfliippers of Baal (i Kings 
 xix. 18.) At the fame time the inflPUence of 
 the court, and of the nobles, was in fa- 
 vour of that foreign religion. As to the 
 priefts of Jehovah, there is no mention 
 made of them in any tranfaftions of thofe 
 times, fo. that they could not have been 
 at all confpicuous. Whatever, therefore, 
 of prieftcraft there was at that time in the 
 country, it mull have been in the hands of 
 the priefts of Baal, and not of thofe of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 16. In all antient ftates, religion and 
 political inftitutions had a very near con- 
 nexion. With the Hebrews, there was a 
 peculiar reafon for its being fo. They 
 were a nation feparated from all others, 
 for the fole purpofe of preferving in the 
 world the knowledge and worlhip of the 
 one true God, in a time of univerfal de- 
 feftion from it, and they were made to 
 depend upon the providence of God, more 
 iimnediately than other nations, God, ac- 
 cording 
 
REVEALED l^ELIGION. i6y 
 
 cording to their original conftitution, being 
 their proper King, or fupreme civil ma- 
 giftrate. He was their God, and they were 
 his people in a peculiar fenfe. In his ad- 
 drefs to them, when they had left Egypt, 
 he fays, Exod. xix. 4. 2^e have feen vjhat I 
 did to the Egyptians ^ and how I heir e y oil oh 
 eaglets wings y and brotdght you unto myfelf. 
 Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed^ 
 and keep my covenant ^ then ye fall be a peculiar 
 treafire unto me* For all the earth is mine. 
 And ye (hall be to me a kingdom of priefs, and 
 a holy nation. He alfo fays, Exod. xxv. 8. 
 het them make me a fmBnary, that I may 
 dwell among them. Agreeably to this, when, 
 in imitation of the neighbouring nations, 
 they wilhed to have a king, it was confi- 
 dered as a rejeftion of the government of 
 God, to which they had been fubje6l, and 
 therefore God fays to Samuel on the occa- 
 fion, I Sam. viii. 7. 7hey have not rejeded 
 thee, hut they have rejeded me, that I fioidd 
 not reign over them. Under the immediate 
 government of God, that of the Hebrews 
 was an equal republic, while all the neigh- 
 
 bourinc; 
 
i68 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 bouring nations were governed by kings, 
 and in the mofl arbitrary manner. What 
 could have led Mofes to think of fuch an 
 excellent mode of government as this? He 
 could not have feen, or heard, of any 
 thing refembling it. For at that time no 
 fuch thing exifted in any part of the world. 
 
 The religion and civil government of 
 the Hebrews having this intimate connec- 
 tion, I fhall mention fome particulars of 
 the latter, that we may fee whether it w^as 
 fo very barbarous and abfurd a fyftem as 
 Voltaire and other unbelievers reprefent it 
 to have been, and w^hether the civil inlli- 
 tutions of other antient nations bear greater 
 marks of wafdom and liberality. But on 
 this fubjecl I mean to be very breef. 
 
 The great objeft of the inftitutions of 
 feveral of the antient nations was offcnfive 
 vjar, and conqueji. That of the Hebrews 
 was fimply agriculturr.y which is certainly 
 the moft natural and rational objeft, lead- 
 ing to the happieft ftate of human fociety. 
 Foreign commerce was not encouraged, 
 oa account of the danger that was to be 
 
 apprehended 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 169 
 
 apprehended with refpedl to their religion, 
 from an intercourfe with foreign and 
 idolatrous nations. And as a purely agri- 
 cultural, and not a commercial nation, 
 they were forbidden to take any intereft 
 for money lent to one another. 
 
 In order to attach them to the lands of 
 their inheritance, the Hebrews had in their 
 laws an excellent provifion unknown in 
 any other, viz. their reverting to the family 
 of the original proprietors at the year of 
 Jubilee, which was every half century, at 
 which time alfo any contract which a He- 
 brew might make to bind himfelf to fervi- 
 tude was diflblved. By this means it was 
 not in the power of the mod improvident 
 fpendthrift intirely to ruin his family. He 
 could only mortgage his pofleffion for a 
 limited time, nor could there be any in- 
 ftance of a permanently exceffive landed 
 property. What an excellent inftitution 
 was this for preferving a reafonable equality 
 among this people, the only fecurity for 
 liberty, and alfo for creating an at- 
 tachment to the foil, and of courfe the 
 
 R love 
 
ijo ^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 love of their country, in which all hiftory 
 fhews that no nation ever exceeded, or 
 equalled, the Jews. 
 
 Beyond the boundary of the land of 
 Ganaan, which was promifed by God to 
 their anceftors, and of which they got 
 pofleflion not by any power of their own, 
 but by the immediate hand of God, they 
 were not to attempt any conqueft. All 
 their wars were to be defenfive, and when 
 they took arms to repel an invafion, they 
 were ordered in the firft place to propofe 
 terms of peace. In cafe of fuccefs in war, 
 and when, in confequence of it, they 
 marched into the country of the enemy, 
 they were required to do no unneceflary 
 injury to it ; and efpecially not to cut 
 down the fruit trees, and to fpare all who 
 did not bear arms. 
 
 Every Ifraelite of an age capable of 
 bearing arms was, as in all antient nations, 
 obliged to join the army^ but at the head 
 of it a proclamation was diredied to be 
 made, excufmg every perfon who had 
 either lately married a wife, built a houfe, 
 
 or 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 171 
 
 or planted a vineyard, which would natu- 
 rally make him more attached to life. 
 Even if any man felt himfelf on any other 
 account fearful and faint hearted, he might 
 return home. It is in vain that we look 
 for maxims of fuch moderation, and good 
 fenfe, in any other antient nation. 
 
 The great ftrength of any country con- 
 fifts in its population, and fuch were the 
 principles of the Ifraelites, that with them 
 beyond all other nations, celibacy was 
 deemed to be a misfortune, barrennefs a 
 reproach, and a multitude of children the 
 greateft bleffing. But in heathen nations 
 many perfons devoted themfelves to a An- 
 gle life as an aft of religion ; as the Veftal 
 Virgins among the Romans. They were 
 heathen principles and pradlices that led to 
 the fyftem of monks and nuns among 
 Chriftians. 
 
 The Hebrew inftitutions allowed of 
 fervitude, but enjoined more humanity to 
 flaves than thofe of any other nation. If 
 a mafter, in beating his flave, flruck out 
 an eye, or even a tooth, he was obliged 
 R 2 to 
 
■17^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 to fet him free. Exodo xxi. i6. If aflave 
 committed a capital offence, the judge, 
 and not his mafter, was to pronounce the 
 fentence. If the mafter wilfully murdered 
 his {lave, he was to fuffer death. The 
 Ifraelites were not permitted to ufe the 
 captive women, who were of courfe flaves, 
 at their pleafure. The law is fo exprefs 
 on this fubjeft, that I Ihall recite it. Deut. 
 xxi. lo. When thou goefi forth to war againft 
 thine enemies^ and the Lord thy God hath de- 
 livered them into thine hands y and thou haft 
 taken them captive^ andfeeft among the captives 
 a beautifid woman, and hajl a defire unto her, 
 that thou woiddji have her to thy wife^ thou 
 /halt then bring her home to thy houfe, and Jhe 
 jhall Jloave her head, and pare her nails, (as it 
 is in our tranflation ; but the meaning is 
 that file fhould make them beautiful by- 
 colouring them, which is at this time done 
 in the Eaft, and confidered as a great ar- 
 ticle of beauty) and JJoe JJoall put the raiment 
 of her captivity from off her, and fall remain in 
 thine houfe, and bewail her father and her mother 
 a full month; and after that thou fall go in 
 
 unto 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 1 73 
 
 unto hevy and/he Jhall be thy -wife. And itfiall 
 be if thou have no delight in her^ then thou Jloalt 
 let her go whither Jhe will, but thou Jhalt not 
 fell her at all for money ^ thou Jhalt not make 
 merchandife of her^ becaife thou hajl hufnbled 
 her. We Ihall find no law approaching to 
 the humanity of this among the Greeks or 
 Romans, a thoufand years after this time, 
 and ftill lefs among nations of greater an- 
 tiquity. How Httle will the treatment 
 of flaves by Europeans bear to be compar- 
 ed with this ? 
 
 Voltaire charges the Jews with a vio- 
 lent hatred of all other nations; but let 
 us attend to their original laws and inftitu- 
 tions on this fubjeft, Deut. xxii. 8. If a 
 fir anger fojourn with you in your land, ye foall 
 not vex him, but the fir anger foall dwell with 
 you. He /hall be unto you as one born among 
 youy and thou fait love him as thyfelf For 
 ye were f rangers in the land of Egygt, I am 
 the Lord your God, The Lordloveth the ftr anger. 
 Exod. xxii. 22. Many antient nations made 
 great difficulties about the naturalization 
 of foreigners; but among the Hebrews 
 
 any 
 
174 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 any perfon, being circumcifed, and con- 
 forming to the laws of the land, became 
 one of themfelves in all refpefts. Only, 
 for particular reafons, perfons of certain 
 nations could not be completely naturaUzed 
 till after the expiration of a certain number 
 of generations. 
 
 In all antient nations, and many mo- 
 dern ones, torture was made ufe of both 
 in the punifhment of crimes, and for pro- 
 curing evidence. But no ufe whatever was 
 made of it among the Hebrews. Punifh- 
 ment by fcourging was limited to forty 
 ftripes, murder and fome other atrocious 
 crimes were punifhed with death, but exe- 
 cutions were performed by ftoning or hang- 
 ing, and the body buried before fun-fet. 
 Where, then, are thofe " cruel and tor- 
 *' turous executions, and that imrelenting 
 ** vindiftivenefs" which Mr. Paine fays 
 contribute to make him confider the Bible 
 as *< the word of a demon rather than the 
 *' word of God,'^ and which makes him 
 *^ deteft it,'' as he fays ^* he detefts every 
 ^*^thing that is cruel." They have no 
 
 exiftence 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 175 
 
 exiftence whatever, but in his own ima- 
 gination. How eafy is it to caiuminate 
 what a man does not underftand, and what 
 he is ftrongly predifpofed to diflike and mif- 
 reprefent. In cafes of mere manflaughter, 
 a city of refuge was provided, in which the 
 innocent author of the death of another, 
 was fafe from the purfuit of the relations 
 of the deceafed. Theft was puniihed by 
 reditu tion, by fine, or flavery, but not 
 with death. 
 
 Such, my brethren, is the general out- 
 line, and fome of the principal features, 
 of that fyftem of religion, and civil policy, 
 which Voltaire treats as moft execrable ; 
 but judge for yourfelves with whatjuftice. 
 On the contrary, I have no doubt but 
 that, if all the circumftances of the He- 
 brew nation, and of other antient and 
 neighbouring nations, could be known, 
 we fhould be fatisfied that it was, in all 
 relpedls, the beft fyftem poffible, as much 
 fuperior to any of thofe of human inven- 
 tion, as the works of nature are fuperior 
 to thofe of art. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 The Principles of the Heathen Philofophy 
 compared -with thofe of Revelation. 
 
 The world by wifdom knew not God. 
 
 I Cor. i. 2: 
 
 IN my two laft difcourfes I fhewed 
 you how greatly fuperior were the religious 
 inflitutions of Mofes, though fo much de- 
 cried by modern unbelievers, to thofe of 
 the heathens, the fhocking enormities, and 
 grofs abominations of which, are fo much 
 difguifed and fmoothed over by them. But 
 becaufe it will be faid that what I then 
 exliibited was only the fyftem oi fiiperjiition 
 adopted by the vulgar, and that the more 
 intelligent perfons among the heathens 
 (though for political reafons, they did not 
 choofe to oppofe, and even countenanced 
 it) held a more rational fyftem, I ihall 
 
 now 
 
THE EVIDENCES, »c. lyy 
 
 now fhow you what that more rational fyf- 
 tem was. 
 
 For this purpofe I fhall lay before you 
 and in as intelligible a manner as I can, (for 
 I will not undertake to make the two dif- 
 courfes which, it will be necefTary for me 
 to give on this fubjed;, perfectly intelligible 
 to allj what it was that the philofphers 
 among the antients really thought concern- 
 ing the fyfrem of nature, and the govern- 
 ment of the world, and alfo concerning 
 the nature of man, and his future deftina- 
 tion, with iome of their ideas concerning 
 the principles of morals, that you may 
 compare them with thofe that are advanced 
 in the fcriptures. And if it appear that 
 thefe are more confonant to reafon, it will 
 afford a confiderable prefumption that they 
 were of divine origin. For how can it 
 be fuppofed that the authors of the books 
 of fcripture, who had no advantage of 
 literature, and whom unbelievers treat 
 with the greateft contempt, for their ig- 
 norance and barbarity, fhould have adopted 
 a more rational fyftem on thefe great fub- 
 
 jefts 
 
17S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 jefts than thofe who have been the mofl 
 celebrated for their wifdom in the mofl 
 poliflied and civilized nations in the v^orld. 
 It will be very eafy to make this compari- 
 fon, as there is fufficient evidence what 
 the tenets of the antient philofophers were, 
 many of their own writings being now 
 extant, as well as the fcriptures of the 
 Old and New Teftament. 
 
 I. It was a fundamental maxim with 
 all the philofophers of antiquity, that crea- 
 tion from nothing was abfolutely impofTible; 
 and many of thofe who admitted a princi- 
 ple of intelligence in the univerfe, main- 
 tained that matter in fome confufed chaotic 
 mafs was another principle, coeternal with 
 it, and independent of it, and therefore 
 could only be modified, but not deftroyed 
 by it. Mofes on the contrary, afferts a 
 proper creation of every thing that exifts, 
 antecedent to the chaotic fiat e which he de- 
 fcribes. Gen. i. i. In the beginning God 
 created the heavens and the earth , and the eafth 
 ims without form and voidy and darknefs was 
 upon the fate of the deep. And fince the 
 
 pro-pertiiiT 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 179 
 
 properties of bodies are all that we know 
 of them, the appointment and changing 
 of thefe, which the philofophers admitted 
 to be within the province of the intelligent 
 principle, implies a power of proper crea- 
 tion^ and proper deftrnBion. For if we 
 take away all the properties of any thing, 
 nothing will be left. The fyftem of Mofes 
 therefore, is more rational than theirs. 
 This, however, continued to be the doc- 
 trine of the Greek philofophers to the 
 lateft period of their hiftory. Plato held 
 that matter exifted coeternally with God. 
 Alfo, according to Zeno, the founder of 
 the ftoical philofopliy, *' there exifted from 
 " all eternity a dark and confufed chaos, 
 " in which were contained the principles 
 '* of all future beings.^' 
 
 2. Another fet of philofophers, and 
 perhaps of greater antiquity than the 
 other, equally maintaining that creation 
 from nothing was impoflible, maintained 
 that every thing, was originally emitted 
 from the fubftance of the felf-exiftent and 
 Supreme Being. And not only did they 
 
 fuppofe 
 
i8o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fuppofe that intelligent beings of all orders 
 proceeded from him, by this mode of 
 emanation, as rays of light from the fun ; 
 but that other fubftances of an inferior 
 nature proceeding in the fame manner 
 from theniy at laft matter itfelf, the moil: 
 remote from the divine effence, came 
 into exiftence, and therefore that this fub- 
 ftance, of which they fpeak with the great- 
 eft contempt, had its origin from the di- 
 vine effence. This was the fyftem of the 
 Oriental philofophy, which is ftill found in 
 Indoftan, and other parts of the Eaft, and 
 from them was derived the doftrine of the 
 Gnojlics, by which Chriftianity was cor- 
 rupted in the time of the apoftles. 1 need 
 not fay how far this notion of the deriva- 
 tion of every thing from the fubftance of 
 the divine Being, deviates from reafon. 
 There is certainly nothing fo wild and ab- 
 furd as this in the writings of Mofes, who 
 always fuppofes God to have created all 
 things, but not by the projeftion of them 
 from his own effence. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. iBt 
 
 The fame clafs of philofophers who 
 held that every thing had been produced 
 from the fubftance of the Supreme Being, 
 alfo fuppofed that, after a certain period, 
 they would be abforbed into it again ; and 
 as originally nothing had exifted befides this 
 felf-exiftent being, he would again exift 
 alone; but that after another period, other 
 beings w^ould be again produced from him, 
 and that thefe fucceffive revolutions would 
 go on forever. This ever has been, and 
 ftill is, the eftablifhed doftrine in the Eaft, 
 and it was adopted by fome of the Grecian 
 philofophers, efpecially the Stoics, who 
 faidthat ''the world, including the whole 
 *' compafs of nature, both God and mat- 
 '' ter, had fubfifted from all eternity, and 
 *' would for ever fubfift ; but that the 
 *^ prefent regular frame of nature had a 
 ^'beginning, and would have an end, 
 *' from the alternate prevalence of moijliire 
 *' and drynefs ; that when the former pre- 
 *' vails, all things are deftroyed by an ///- 
 <' undation, and when the latter prevails, 
 *' by a conflagration ; that, however, from 
 
 '' both 
 
j8a THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 *^ both of thefe cataftrophes every thing 
 *^ will again emerge, by the energy of 
 ^^ an efficient principle, when all the forms 
 *^ of regular nature will be renewed, but 
 *^ to be again diflblved, and again renewed, 
 *Mn an endlefs fucceffion.'* 
 
 This fcheme excludes all idea of melio- 
 ration. For according to it, every thing 
 has been, and in all future revolutions 
 ever will be, juft what it now is. Accord- 
 ingly Seneca fays, that *' many perfons 
 *' would rejeft this reftoration of being, 
 *' v/ere it not this reftoration will be ac- 
 " companied with a total oblivion of paft 
 '* events." How far lefs rational, as well 
 as lefs pleafmg, is this fyftem, than that of 
 the fcriptures, which fuppofes a conftant 
 tendency to a better ftate of things, every 
 rational being retaining his feparate con- 
 fcioufnefs, always diftinft from the fu- 
 preme Being, but making nearer ap- 
 proaches to him in perfeftion and happi- 
 nefs to all eternity. As to any proof, or 
 evidence, of the truth of this philofophical 
 fyftem, of every thing having been produced 
 
 by 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 183 
 
 byway of emanation from the divine eflence, 
 and being abforbcd into it again, it is only 
 this; that there cannot be two eternal 
 principles, and therefore every thing that 
 exifts, muft have been derived, imme- 
 diately or mediately, from one, and this 
 one muft have been the fpiritual and intelli- 
 gent principle. But will any modern phi- 
 lofopher admit the validity of fuch an argu- 
 ment as this, aud adopt the conclufion I It 
 is univerfally rejefted with contempt. 
 
 As to the ejjencey or fubjlance, of the 
 Supreme Being, from which they fay that 
 all things were derived, it is a qeftion of 
 no moment, fmce all that we have to do 
 with are his attributes, as thofe of power, 
 wifdom, and benevolence, in whatever 
 it be that they maybefaid to refide. But 
 according to our apprehenfions, ^ there 
 is fomething degrading in the ider. of 
 his being of the fame nature with all 
 other beings, as he muft be, if every thing 
 was produced hy mere protrufion from 
 his fubftance. Zeno, however, fuppofed 
 that both i^ the aftive and paffive princi- 
 ples 
 
i84 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 " pies in nature/' that is, both God, and 
 matter y '^ were alike corporeal, only that 
 •' the former was a pure ether, or fire, 
 ** occupying the external lurface of the 
 *^ heavens, that is, a more attenuated kind 
 *' matter." And Epicurus, conceiving 
 the human form to be the moft perfeft, 
 faid that, ** though the gods were of an 
 *^ ethereal fubftance, they were fliaped 
 '* like men." 
 
 3. Both the clafles of philofophers, 
 whofe opinions I have now defcribed, 
 admitted a principle of intelligence in the 
 univerfe, and a real diflinftion between 
 God and matter. But in later times this 
 was by many denied, and fome philofo- 
 phers even proceeded fo far as not to 
 admit the exiftence of any fuch being as 
 Gody in any fenfe of the word. Sancho- 
 niatho, explaining the philofophical fyftem 
 of the Phoenicians, fays, that *' the uni- 
 " verfe arofe from the neceffary energy 
 '' of an eternal principle, acSive but with- 
 '' out intelligence, upon the eternal paffive 
 ** chaotic mafs." This is fuppofed to 
 
 have 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 185 
 
 have been advanced in oppofition to tlie 
 principles of Mofes ; but certainly thefe 
 will not fufFer any thing by the compar- 
 rifon. If there be no marks of intelligence , 
 that is, of defigny in the univerfe, where 
 Ihall we find them ? not furely in the works 
 of men. How much more juft and noble 
 are the fentiments and language of the 
 Pfalmift, Pfalm civ. 24. hord how mam- 
 fold are thy works ^ in uuifdom hajl thou made 
 them all. 
 
 Ariftotle did not in words deny the 
 being of a God, but he fuppofed the univerfe 
 to have exifted from all eternity, indepen- 
 dent of any wifdom or contrivance, of his. 
 He only confidered him as the * main fpring 
 
 * of the whole machine, and therefore 
 
 * properly a part of it, employed, in fome 
 
 * inexplicable manner, in communicating 
 
 * motion to it/ Strato of Lampfacus, a 
 difciple of Ariftotle, held that * the world 
 
 * was neither formed hy the agency of the 
 ^ deity, diftinft from matter, nor by any 
 ' intelligent animating principle, but that 
 
 * it arofe from a force iimate in matter, 
 
 5 originally 
 
iS6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * originally excited by accident, and fince 
 
 * continuing to aft according to the pecu- 
 
 * liar qualities of natural bodies. He neither 
 
 * denied nor aflerted the exiftence of a di- 
 5 vine nature, but, in excluding all idea 
 ^ of a deity from the formation of the 
 
 * world, he indireftly excluded him from 
 
 * his fyftem.' 
 
 Thefe atheiftical doftrines were not 
 cor fined to a fingle philofopher, or his 
 difciples, many of them, and thofe of the 
 greateft eminence, entertained the fame, 
 or fimilar, fentiments. Democritus held 
 that * the firft principles of all things were 
 
 * atoms and a vacuum^ in which, by a natural 
 
 * neceffity, or fate, they perpetually move, 
 
 * and that from their combinations arife 
 
 * all the forms of things.' Pythagoras, alfo 
 had held that * motion is the effeft of a 
 ^ power effential to matter.' Protagoras in 
 one of his books, faid concerning the gods, 
 ^ I am vmable to determine whether they 
 
 * have any exiftence, or not. For the 
 ^ weaknefs of the human underftanding, and 
 
 * the ihortnefs of human life, with many 
 
 * other 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 187 
 
 * Other caufes, prevent us from attaining 
 
 * this knowledge.* But Diagoras openly 
 denied the exiftence of a deity. Heraclitus 
 
 * made ufe of the term God^ but not to 
 
 * denote a diftinft being of a pecuUar na- 
 
 * ture, but merely a natural force in that 
 
 * primary fire, from which he fuppofed all 
 
 * things to have proceeded, and by means 
 
 * of which he fuppofed that its particles 
 
 * had been in eternal motion, and at length 
 
 * to have united, to form the prefent 
 ' fyftem of nature. To this force, con- 
 
 * fidered as diftinft from matter on which 
 
 * it afts, he applied the term god.' 
 
 Epicurus admitted a deity into his fyf- 
 tem, but it was chiefly to avoid popular 
 odium. For he maintained that ** the 
 ^^ univerfe always exifted, and will always 
 *^ continue to exift; for that there is no- 
 ** thing by which it can be changed. There 
 *^ is nothing, he faid, in nature, nor can 
 ^* there be conceived to be any thing, 
 M befides hody and jpace; that the atoms, 
 ** from which all things were corapofed, 
 *^ are not only all the materials of which 
 
 s 2 bodes 
 
VS8 THE EVIDENCES Of 
 
 ^^ bodies are made, but that the energy ^ or 
 " principle of motion, which eflentially be- 
 ^* longs to them, is the fole agent in the 
 ^^ operations of nature." 
 
 As the Oriental philofophers fuppofed 
 that all things would be refolved into th^ 
 divine effence, from which they originally 
 iprung, Epicurus fuppofed that they would 
 be refolved into their original atoms. 
 '^ The world," he faid, ^' is prefervedby 
 " the fame mechanical caufes by which it 
 ** was framed, and from the fame caufes 
 ** it will at laft be diffolved. The inceffant 
 ^* motion of the atoms which produced 
 ** the world is continually operating to- 
 ^* wards its diffolution. For nothing is 
 ** folid and indiffoluble befides atoms; 
 *^ whence it may be concluded, that the 
 *^ time will come when nothing will re- 
 *^ main but the original atoms, and infinite 
 '' fpace." 
 
 Epicurus abfolutely denied all ivijdom 
 in the conftru6lion of the univerfe, even 
 in the moft obvious inftances. ^' The 
 
 ^' parts of animals, " he faid ^^ were not 
 
 *' originally 
 
REVEALED RELIGION, ig^ 
 
 '' originally framed for the ufes to which 
 " they are now applied; but having been 
 '* accidentally produced, they were after- 
 '' wards accidentally employed. The eye, 
 '^ for example, was not made for feeing, 
 ^^ nor the ear for hearing ; but the foul 
 ** being formed within the body, at the 
 " fame time with the organs, and con- 
 ** nefted with them, could not avoid mak- 
 ** ing ufe of them, in their refpedive 
 '' funaions.'^ 
 
 Can we attend to thefe things, and 
 not be ftruck with the truth of the apof- 
 tle's obfervation in my text, the world by 
 wifdom knew not God. It was not even able 
 to retain that knowledge of God which 
 had been originally communicated to man. 
 And how juftly is their cafe defcribed by 
 the fame apoftle, in another paflage, where 
 he fays, Rom. i. .21. They became vain 
 in their imaginations^ and their foolijh heart 
 was darkened. But are not their minds 
 equally, or more, darkened, who can pre- 
 fer the abfurd conceits of thefe philofo- 
 phers, to the rational doctrines of revela- 
 tion? 
 
196 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 tion ? We fhall, however, fee more of the 
 wandermgs of the human hnagination 
 when left to itfelf, in what I have farther 
 to obferve. 
 
 4. The exiftence of evil always creat- 
 ed the greateft difficulty to thofe who 
 fpeculated concerning the origin and con- 
 ftruftion of the univerfe, and the caufes 
 of events. Indeed, fo difficult is the quef- 
 tion, that nothing but revelation could 
 have folved it. In the fcriptures we learn 
 that evily as well as good, is the appoint- 
 ment of the fame great Being, but always 
 for the moft benevolent purpofes. Shall 
 Tve receive good at the hand of God, fays Job, 
 chap. ii. 10. and Jloall we not receive evil? 
 ch. i. 2 1 . The Lord gave, and the Lord hath 
 taken away^ Blejjed he the name of the Lord. 
 In Ifaiah, xlv. 6. 7, I am the Lord, and there 
 is none elfe. I form the light, and create dark- 
 nefs ; I make peace, and create evil ; I the 
 Lord do all thefe thi?igs. All thefe evils, in 
 the adminiftration of this greateft and beft 
 of Beings, are fubfervient to good, as the 
 Pfalmift fays, Pf. xcvii. i • 7he Lord reigneth 
 
 lit 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 191 
 
 let the earth rejoieey let the multitude of the ifller 
 be glad thereof. Clouds and darknefs are round 
 about hifUy righteoufnefs and judgment are the 
 habitation of his throne. But through thefe 
 clouds and this darknefs, the heathens, by 
 the help of their greateft wifdom could not 
 fee. Some of the antients, as the Perfians, 
 thought that there were t-wo independent -prin- 
 ciples in nature, one the author of good, 
 and the other of evil. The good prin- 
 ciple they called Oromazes, and the evil 
 Arimanius, The Egyptians alfo worfhip- 
 ped an evil principle under the name of 
 Typhon. 
 
 The Greek philofophers in general con- 
 fidered matter as the caufe of all evil. In 
 their ancient cofmogonies it is afcribed to 
 chaos. Plato held that ' there is in matter 
 
 * a neceflary but blind and refraftory force 
 
 * from w^hich arifes a propenfity to diforder 
 f and deformity,' which he faid, * was the 
 
 * caufe of all the imperfedion which is 
 
 * found in the works of God ,' fo that he 
 appears to have thought that matter, from 
 its nature, refills the will of the fupreme 
 
 artificer, 
 
U9Z THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 artificer, fo that, on this account, he cannot 
 perfedly execute his defigns, Plato was 
 alfo influenced by the argument from con- 
 traries. ^ It cannot be,* he faid, * that evil 
 
 * fhould be deflroyed ; for there muft al- 
 
 * ways be fomething contrary to good/ 
 
 The Stoics faid that * evil was the ne- 
 < ceffary confequence of eternal necejfity, 
 ' tO' which the great whole, comprehending 
 ' both God and matter, was fubjeft.* 
 When Chryfippus was aiked whether dif- 
 eafes were to be afcribed to divine provi- 
 dence, he replied, that * it was not the in- 
 
 * tention of nature that thefe things fliould 
 
 * happen, nor were they conformable to 
 
 * the will of the author of nature, and the 
 
 * parent of all good ; but that, in framing 
 
 * the world, fome inconvenience had ad- 
 ' hered by neceffary confequence to his wife 
 
 * and ufeful plan.' 
 
 How different is this from the fublime 
 doftrine of the fcriptures on this fubjeft, 
 as when we read, Pfalm cxxxv. 23^ 
 / know that the Lord is great y and that our Lord 
 is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleafeth 
 
 that 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. r^ 
 
 that did he in heaven and in earthy in the jeas^ 
 and all deep places. 
 
 5. It is in vain that we look for the 
 rational and fublime dodtrine of an univerfal 
 providence among the philofophers of anti- 
 quity. But according to the fcriptures, 
 there is no event, great or fmall, but what 
 comes to pafs according to the will of 
 God. Dan. ii. 20. BleJJed be the name of 
 God for ever and ever ; for ivifdom and might 
 are his. He changeth the times andfeafons^ he 
 removeth kings and fetteth tip kings. The 
 proud king of Affyria, in the midft of his 
 conquefts, is reprefented, If. x. 5. as the 
 flaffm the hand of God. At the fame time 
 we are affured by our Saviour, Mat. x. 33. 
 that a Jparrow falleth not to the ground without 
 his willy and that the very hairs of our heads are 
 numbered. And this is true philofophy, for fo 
 connefted are all the parts of the fyftem, 
 that the fmalleft things are as neceffary as 
 the greateft, and in many cafes we cannot 
 but fee that the greateft things depend 
 upon the fmalleft. Voltaire juftly ob- 
 ferves that had a particular ftone been 
 
 thrown 
 
194 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 thrown with a little more force, it would 
 have given a different turn to the whole 
 hiftory of the Eaft. It was a ftone by 
 which Mahomet was knocked down, as 
 he was engaged in battle, but not killed. 
 
 There is moft of the appearance of the 
 doftrine of a providence among the Stoics. 
 But according to Zeno and Chryfippus, 
 ^ there is in nature a fatCy or an eternal 
 ^ and immutable feries of caufes and ef- 
 
 * fefts, within which all events are includ- 
 
 * ed, and to which the Deity himfeif is 
 
 * fubjefl:,' though the later Stoics, who 
 wrote after the promulgation of chriflianity 
 changed this fate into the providence of the gods. 
 
 Other philofophers did not pretend 
 that God, or the gods, had, in any fenfe, 
 or in any refped, the government of the 
 world. According to Ariftotle, the Deity, 
 if it can be faid that he believed in any 
 proper deity, * is eternally employed in 
 
 * the contemplation of his own nature. 
 
 * He obferves nothing (this philofopher 
 fays) ' he cares for nothing beyond himfeif. 
 ^ Refiding in the firft fphere, he poflTeffes 
 
 neither 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. «9| 
 
 * neither immeiifity nor omniprefence. 
 
 * Removed from the inferior parts of^ 
 
 * the univerfe, he is not even a fpeftator 
 
 * of what is paffing among its inhabitants, 
 
 * and therefore cannot be a proper objeft 
 
 * of worfhip/ 
 
 Epicurus, I have obferved, faid that 
 there were gods, only to avoid popular 
 odium. According to his own account of 
 them, they were of no manner of ufe in 
 creating or governing the world. ** There 
 ** are,'' he faid, ^* in the univerfe divine 
 *' natures, but that it is inconfiftent with 
 " our natural notions of the gods, as hap- 
 ** py and immortal beings, to fuppofe that 
 *^ they encumber themfelves with the 
 *^ management of the world, or that they 
 " are fubjeft to the cares and paffions 
 *^ which muft neceflarily attend fo great 
 '' ^ cliarge. We are not, therefore, to 
 ^* conceive that the gods have any inter- 
 ** courfe with mankind, or any concern 
 ^^ in the affairs of the world." But, ac- 
 cording to the fcriptures, every thing is 
 conduced by the Supreme Being, without 
 
 trouble. 
 
196 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 trouble. With refpeft to creation itfelf, it 
 is faid. He Jpake audit was done, he command- 
 ed and it Jloodfafi. He faid Let there be light; 
 and there was light; and the government of 
 the world, is no doubt, as eafy to him as 
 the creation of it. It is, in faft, a continu- 
 ation of the fame exertion, whatever that 
 be. But no idea fo fublime as this was 
 ever entertained by any heathen philofo- 
 pher* 
 
 It was the confideration of the immen- 
 fity of the univerfe, and the idea men had 
 of the multiplicity of cares that was ne- 
 ceflary to the government of it, that led 
 thofe of the philofophers who fuppofed that 
 the world was in any fenfe governed by 
 fuperior Beings, to think it neceflary to 
 provide a great number of them, each to 
 fuperintend his particular province. They 
 had no conception of the fublime, but tru- 
 ly rational doftrine of the fcriptures, ac- 
 cording to which one intelligence, one 
 mind, perfeftly comprehends, and direds, 
 the whole. And yet the uniformity we 
 obferve in the works of nature might have 
 
 fuggefted 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 197 
 
 fuggefted the idea of one mind having ar- 
 ranged and direfted the whole, immenfe 
 as that whole is. But the amazing variety, 
 and feeming difcordancy, of many parts 
 of the fyftem prevented their perceiving 
 their uniformity, nor could Mofes, or any 
 of the Hebrews, have been able to difcover 
 it of themfelves. 
 
 6. Mention is made in the fcriptures 
 of angels, as created beings, fuperior to 
 man; but they are never fuppofed to in- 
 terfere in the affairs of men, except on 
 particular occafions, and by the exprefs 
 appointment of the Supreme Being, never 
 by their own voluntary agency. They 
 are employed merely as mejfengers (for fo 
 their name in the Hebrew fignifies) to 
 convey the orders of the Almighty. But 
 according to the fyftem of all the philofo- 
 phers, as well as that of the vulgar, among 
 the heathens, there are beings inferior to 
 the Supreme, who at their own pleafitre , in- 
 terfere in the affairs of men, and a6l ac- 
 cording to their peculiar humours and 
 pafFions, 
 
 Among 
 
198 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Among the Egyptains the idea of one^ 
 fupreme God was, from the earlieft times, 
 connefted with the beUef of inferior divi- 
 nities, refiding in the various parts of na- 
 ture, whence arofe the worfhip of thofe 
 parts of nature. According to the mytho- 
 logy of the Greeks, thofe inferior deities 
 Iprungfrom chaos. Pythagoras fuppofed 
 the region of the air to be peopled with 
 thefe beings, whom he calls godsy demons^ 
 and heroeSy according to their rank, thefe 
 laft approaching the neareft to the nature of 
 man, ' Thefe,' he faid, ^ at their pleafure, 
 
 * by means of dreams and other inftru- 
 5 ments of divination, communicate to men 
 
 * the knowledge of future events, and the 
 
 * good demons are to be invoked by pray- 
 
 * er.' Socrates admitted the exiftence of 
 beings * poflefled of a middle nature be- 
 
 * tween the Supreme Being and man; and 
 
 * to their agency he afcribed the ordinary 
 
 * phenomena of nature, and the particular 
 < condudl of human affairs; and he encou- 
 
 * raged the praftice of divination, under 
 
 * the notion that the gods fometimes dif- 
 
 * cover future events to good men.' 
 
 ^ Plato 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 1 99 
 
 Plato fuppofed that there were ^ fub- 
 
 * ordinate divinities appointed by the Su- 
 ^ preme Being, both to form the bodies 
 
 * of animals, and to fuperintend the affairs 
 
 * of the vifible world.' Xenocrates, a 
 difciple of Plato, taught that ' the heavens 
 t are divine, and the ftars celeftial gods, 
 ' and that befides thefe divinities, there 
 
 * are terreftrial demons, of a middle nature 
 
 * between God and man, and partaking 
 
 * both of mind and body, like human 
 ' beings, capable of paflion, and liable to 
 
 * a diverfity of char after/ 
 
 Ariftotle, who beheved in no particular 
 providence, yet fuppofed that there were 
 
 * intelligent natures inferior to the firft 
 
 * mover, who prefided over the lower 
 
 * celeftial fpheres/ 
 
 Though Democritus rejefted the doc- 
 trine of a Supreme Deity, he admitted 
 the popular belief of divinities inhabiting 
 the aerial regions, faying that ^ they made 
 
 * themfelves vifible to favoured mortals, 
 
 * and enabled them to fortel future events/ 
 He faid, ^ they were inform liicemen, but 
 
 of 
 
200 THE EVlDENCESt &c, 
 
 * of a larger fize, and a fuperior nature ; 
 ' being compofed of the moft fubtle atoms, 
 ' and lefs liable to diflblution than human 
 
 * beings, but neverthelefs mortal/ Accord- 
 ing to the Stoics, ' portions of the ethe- 
 
 * real foul of the world, being diftributed 
 
 * through all the parts of the univerfe, and 
 
 * animating all bodies, there are inferior 
 
 * gods and demons, with which all nature 
 
 * is peopled. They conceived them, how- 
 
 * ever, to be limited in their duration, re- 
 
 * turnmg at length to their original, and 
 
 * lofing their feparate exiftence/ 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 The Principles of the Heathen Philofophy 
 compared with thofe of ReveJation. 
 
 P A R T II. 
 
 The world by wifdom knew not God. 
 
 I Cor. i. 21. 
 
 XTAVING given you a comparative 
 view of the religion of the Hebrews, and 
 that of the antient idolatrous nations, I 
 began, in my laft difcourfe, to give you a 
 fimilar view of the principles of the heathen 
 fhilofophy^ that it might not be faid that I 
 took an unfair advantage, in relating no- 
 thing more than the opinions and practices 
 of the vulgar among the heathens, inftead 
 of the real fentiments of the wifeft among 
 them. Thefe, however, I fhewed you 
 were, in feveral refpefts, far lefs rational 
 than thofe of the fcriptures, I mentioned 
 
 T their 
 
202 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 their univerfal opinion of the impoffibiiity 
 of creation out of nothing, of the eternity 
 and indeftrud:ibiUty, of matter ; its necef- 
 fary evil tendency ; the doctrines of many 
 of them, of the produftion of all inferior 
 beings by emanation, or protrufion, from 
 the fubftance of the deity, and their ab- 
 forption into it again ; the abfolute denial 
 of the being of a God by many, and thofe 
 fome of the moft eminent, of the Creek 
 philofophers ; their various and unfatisfac- 
 tory opinions concerning the origin of evil ; 
 their denial of a divine providence, their 
 belief of the exiftence of intelligent beings, 
 inferior to the fupreme, who at their plea- 
 fure, and contrary to the will of the Su- 
 preme Being, interfered in the direftion of 
 human affairs. I now proceed to obferve, 
 7. If the heathen philofophers became 
 fo vain in their imaginations, when they fpe- 
 culated concerning the nature of God, and 
 the origin and government of the univerfe, 
 and were not able to retain the great truths 
 which mankind had received by tradition 
 relating to them, much more did they 
 
 wander 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 203 
 
 wander in uncertainty and error, with re- 
 Ipedl to the dodirine of z future flat e, con- 
 cerning which, as I have obferved, the 
 light of nature gives us no information at 
 all. On this fubjed:, fo important that 
 without it the doftrine concerning God and 
 providence is merely a curious fpeculation, 
 of no pradlical ufe, the principles of thofe 
 philofophers who admitted a future ftate 
 are totally difcordant with thofe of the 
 fcriptures, which alone are agreeable to 
 reafon, though not difcoverable by ic. On 
 this fubjed, I muft be excufed if I advance 
 fome things which will not be approved by 
 the generahty of Chriftians, who, in my 
 opinion, have not mtirely got rid of doc- 
 trines introduced into Chriftianity from a 
 heathen fource, from which have been 
 derived almoft all its corruptions. 
 
 According to the fcriptures, the future 
 ftate of man depends intirely upon a rcjur- 
 reBioUy to take place at a diftant period, 
 called the lafi day, and nothing is faid con- 
 cerning the rewards of the righteous, or 
 the punifhment of the wicked, antecedent 
 
 T 2 to 
 
5^04 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 to that time. Our Saviour recommending 
 ads of charity, fays, (Luke xiv. 14) Thou 
 jloalt he recompenfed at the refurre3ion of the jiifi, 
 and on no occafion did he refer his hearers 
 to any ftate of things prior to this. When 
 he fpeaks of being caji into hell, it is with 
 hands and eyes, which are members of the 
 body ; and the rich man in the parable is 
 reprefented as with a tongue, tormented 
 with burning thirft, thovigh for the fake 
 of fome circumftances in the parable the 
 future ftate is reprefented as taking place 
 before the proper time. 
 
 The Apoftle Paul, comforting the Thef- 
 falonians on the death of fome of their 
 friends, refers them only to the refurrec- 
 tion, and gives no hint of their enjoying 
 any degree of happinefs at the time that 
 he was writing, which would have been 
 unavoidable if, in his opinion, they had 
 been happy then, i. Theff. iv. 13. I would 
 not have you be ignorant^ brethren^ concerning 
 them that are afleep^ that ye forrow not as thoje 
 %uho have no hope. For if we believe that Jefus 
 died and rofe again, even fo alfo them that 
 J fleep 
 
RfiVEALED RELIGION. ' i^^ 
 
 fkep in Jcfiis will God bring with him, and thd 
 dead in Chrijl Jliall rife firfi, that is, before 
 any change take place on thofe who will 
 be then alive. Why, indeed, did he ufe the 
 term Jleep, tf, in his idea, the dead were not 
 in a ftate of infenjibility , and not to h6 
 awaked to life and adion, but at the re- 
 furreftion ? 
 
 Again, when the fame apoftle exhorts 
 Chriftians to live fober, righteous, and godly 
 lives, Tit. ii. 13. he directs them to look for 
 that blefed hopCy even the glorious appearing ef 
 the great God, and our Saviour Jefus Chriji, 
 when he fhall come again to raife the dead 
 and judge the world. When our Saviour 
 fays that he will receive the apoftles to 
 himfelf, he refers them to the fame time, 
 and nothing prior to it, John xiv. 3. / will 
 come agaiUf and take you to ntyfelf, that where 
 I am there ye may be alfo. When, therefore, 
 the apoftle Paul fpeaks of being abfent from 
 the body and prefent with the Lord^ he muft 
 have meant the fame great period, over- 
 looking all that pafled between the time 
 of his death and bis refurreftion, which 
 
 indedd 
 
so6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 indeed will only appear as a moment: as 
 in the cafe of a man awaking from a pro- 
 found fleep. 
 
 When Mofes defcribes the formation 
 of man, he reprefents him as made whol- 
 ly, and not in part only, of the diijl of the 
 ground^ and fays after this, God put breath 
 and life into him, thereby giving motion 
 to the curious machine, which was before 
 a lifelefs mafs. It is to this doflrine of 
 Mofes, that our Saviour refers, when he 
 fays that God is able to dejlroy both body and 
 
 foul, or the power of life, in helL For the 
 word that is here rendered foul, is elfe- 
 where rendered life, meaning that men, 
 by killing the body, which God has been 
 pleafed to put in their power, cannot pre- 
 vent its returning to life, this being in the 
 power of God only. There is not, in 
 reality, any more reafon to fuppofe life 
 to be a real fubftance, than death, which 
 we neverthelefs perfonify, when we fay 
 that death comes, and furprifes men, and 
 takes them. In the fcriptures, both death, 
 
 * and fin, are perfonified. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 207 
 
 The Gnoftics, who were the firft of 
 the philofophers who embraced Chriftiani- 
 ty, could not diveft themfelves of their 
 prejudices with refpeft to mattery as the 
 fource of all evil ; and thinking it the hap- 
 pieft ftate of the foul, to be entirely de- 
 tached from it, they explained away the 
 dodlrine of the refurreBioUy as to be under- 
 ftood of fomething that took place during 
 life. To them the apoftle Paul alludes, 
 when he fays, 2 Tim. ii. 18. that they erred 
 concerning the faith; faying that the refurredion 
 was pafi already, and overturned the faith of 
 fome, Juftin Martyr, the firft Chriftian wri- 
 ter after the apoftolic age, whofe works are 
 come down to us, enumerating the parti- 
 cular tenets of the Gnoftics, who were 
 deemed to be heretics, and not allowed to 
 be properly Chriftians; fays of them, Dial, 
 p. 2. ' They alfo fay that there is no re- 
 ' furredion of the dead, but that immedi- 
 
 * ately after death, fouls are received into 
 
 * heaven. Do not take thefe to be Chrif- 
 ' tians.' 
 
 This 
 
-ftog THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 This language of this antient and ve- 
 nerable writer, is not a little remarkable. 
 Think not, however, that I approve of 
 his harlh cenfure of the Gnoftics. Others 
 will fay that they who rejeft the dodrine 
 •of a foul, are not Chrifhalns, Both are 
 equally reprehenfible. The Gnoftics as 
 ^well as Juftin, believed the divine miffion 
 of Jefu^, 'and a Irfe of retribution after 
 death, and many of them were martyrs 
 as well as himfelf. The doftrine of a fu- 
 ture life, is the moft important article of 
 Cliriftian faitli. The time, the place. Or 
 the manner, in which it will be effe6ted, 
 are all comparatively of little moment. 
 -1. ; Thotigh after this Chriftians in general 
 adopted the doftrine of a foul diftind: from 
 the body, they thought that, after death, it 
 remained in a place under ground, called 
 'Hades, wh^re it waited for the refurreAion 
 of the body, when, and not before, it would 
 be admitted to the immediate prefence of 
 •God and of Chrift, in heaven. This con- 
 tinued to be the faith of the Chriftian 
 world, for about a thoufand years. They 
 
 pretty 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. fief 
 
 pretty foon, however, made an exception 
 in favour of the fouls of the martyrs, which 
 they thought went direftly to heaven. 
 
 There are thought to be fome traces of 
 the doftrine of a refurreelion in the heathen 
 world, as among the Chaldeans and Za- 
 bians. But if this was the cafe, the doc-' 
 trine was foon obliterated, and fpeculative 
 perfons, thinking a proper rejitrredion to be 
 abfolutely impoffible, and yet unwilling to 
 give up all hope of iovnQ future ft ate, ima- 
 gined that there was fome fpiritual, or 
 ethereal, principle in man, which having 
 exifted long before his birth, would fubfift 
 after his death. For with the heathens 
 thefe two doftrines always went together; 
 and Origen, one of the moft learned of 
 the early Chriftians, believed both the 
 pre-exiftence of the foul, and its feparate 
 exiftence after death. Afterwards Chrif- 
 tians in general abandoned the former, but 
 retained the latter, though originally they 
 were both derived from the fame fource. 
 
 But what evidence is there, from any 
 appearances in nature, which is ail that 
 
 the 
 
2IO THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the heathens had to look to, on which their 
 belief either of the pre-exiftence, or the 
 feparate exiflence of the foul is founded. 
 The former will be allowed to have been 
 wholly chimerical. But with refpedb to 
 the latter, is it not evident that the power 
 of thinking depends upon the brain ; and 
 if thought is fulpended in the ftate of found 
 fteepy and during a fiimn, muft it not be 
 more eifeftually fufpended in a ftate of 
 death? 
 
 It will be fai,d that we cannot conceive 
 of any connection between the properties 
 of perception or thought, and the idea 
 of matter. But we know nothing at all 
 of the connection of any properties with 
 thofe of any fubftance w^hatever. Who 
 can explain the connexion between the 
 magnet and the property of attrafting 
 iron, or the caufe of the gravitation of all 
 material fubftances towards each other ? 
 And what clearer ideas have we of the con- 
 nexion between the power of perception 
 and thought with an immaterial fubftance 
 any more than with a material one. Let 
 
 us 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 211 
 
 US then no longer cover our ignorance, or 
 our fancied knowledge, with the repeti- 
 tion of mere words, to which we have no 
 ideas, but confine ourfelves to known /i?r?j, 
 fuch as the flri^l conne6lion between the 
 powers of thought and the organization of 
 the brain. When that is deftroyed, fenfa- 
 tion and thought ceafe ; fo that there can- 
 not be any rational ground to expeft the 
 reftoration of the one without the reftora- 
 tion of the other. And certainly the 
 great Being who made man of the duft of 
 the ground, can make him again, though 
 reduced to the fame duft. As to the 
 manner in which this is to be eifefted, we 
 know as much of the one as of the other ; 
 which is juft nothing at all. But as the 
 one has been effefted by the fame Being 
 who has promifed the other, we have no 
 reafon to entertain any doubt of its ac- 
 complifliment at the time appointed. 
 
 The only rational hope of a future 
 life muft, therefore, be founded on the 
 fcripture dodlrine of a refiirreEHoUy when 
 the whole man, with all his powers, will 
 
 be 
 
2tii THE IVIDKN-CES OF 
 
 be revived. That this dodrine of a re- 
 furreftion is inconfiilent with that of a 
 foul, \vhich furvives the body, and retains 
 all its faculties, not only unimpaired, but 
 improved, (for fuch is the original and 
 proper doftrine on the fubjed:) is obvious 
 to the flicrheft confideration. For if fuch 
 
 o 
 
 be the condition of the foul, when freed 
 from the clog and obftruclion of the body, 
 a refurred:ion would not only be unneceP 
 fary, but even undehrable. The two fyf-^ 
 terns are, therefore, repugnant to each 
 other, and cannot be rationally held to-^ 
 gether. 
 
 The doctrine of a foul, and confe- 
 quently that of an intermediate ftate be- 
 tween death and the refurreftion, has 
 been the foundation of the worfliip of 
 dead men and women, called faints, of 
 the do6trine of purgatory, and many 
 other doArines of popery. Thefe, and 
 almoft every other corruption of genuine 
 chriftianitv, came from the fame heathen 
 fource, as I have fiiewn at large in my 
 Hijiory of the Corruptions of Chriftia?iitj. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^^13 
 
 The imagiRation of man being let loofe 
 in fpeculations on the origin and nature of 
 fouls, and their exifrence after deaths wq 
 do not wonder at the wildeft and moft ex- 
 travagant hypothefes on fo obfcure a fub- 
 j.e<ft. The general opinion of the philofo- 
 phers was, that all fouls, having been 
 portions of the divine eflence, or of the 
 great foul of the world, and having con- 
 tracted various impurities in their ftate of 
 feparation from their fource, muft pafs 
 through a courfe of purgation, by going 
 through various animal bodies, before they 
 could be reunited to the fountain from 
 which they fprung, and to which they al- 
 ways tend. 
 
 The Egyptians, according to Herodo- 
 tus, believed that when the bocjy wa^ 
 decayed, the foul paffed into that of fome 
 other animal, which was juil then born, 
 and that after it had made the circuit of 
 beafts, birds, and fiflies, through a period 
 of three thoufand years, it again became 
 an inhabitant of a human body. They, 
 therefore, endeavoured to delay rfiis tranl- 
 
 mlgration. 
 
214 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 migration, by embalming the body, and 
 thereby preferving it uncorrupted, and in 
 a ftate fit for the refidence of the foul, as 
 long as pofFible. 
 
 Pythagoras, who borrowed his doc- 
 trines from the Eaft, carried this of tranf- 
 migration into Greece. He alfo held that 
 of the final return of all fouls into the 
 eternal fource from which they fprung. 
 It does not, however, appear that the doc- 
 trine of tranfmigration, though ftill held in 
 die Eaftj remained long in Greece ; but 
 the doclrine of pre-exiftence^ ever accompa- 
 nied that of a foul, and on this principle, 
 the Grecian philofophers believed its natu- 
 ral independence on the body, and its con- 
 tinued exiftence after its feparation from 
 it by death. Socrates held this doftrine, 
 but either with fome degree of doubt, or 
 having no high opinion of the happinefs 
 of a future ftate*. Plato reprefents him 
 
 as 
 
 * The heathens in general, at leafl the Greeks, do not 
 appear to have had any high idea of the happinefs of tlie 
 bed of men after death. For Homer makes Achilles fay to 
 
 Ulyfles, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 215 
 
 as faying to his friends, who attended 
 him at his trial, * whether it is better to 
 
 * Uveor die, was known only to the gods." 
 
 Plato, though a difciple of Socrates, 
 combined his doctrines with thofe of other 
 philofophers, and had fome peculiar ideas 
 on this fubjet^. Thefe, on account of his 
 great celebrity, I muft not omit to men- 
 tion, if it were only to fhew what very 
 abfurd and extravagant notions the great- 
 eft of men have adopted Vv^hen deftitute of 
 the light of revelation. He fuppofed that 
 ' there exifts fomething between God, and 
 ' the matter of which the world was form- 
 
 * ed, which he calls ideas ^ exifting in the 
 ' divine mind; and as external objefts are 
 ^ perceived by the jhijesy thefe can only be 
 
 * perceived by the mtelled,^ Senfible things, 
 he faid, * being in a ftate of continual 
 
 * fluftuation, cannot be the object of 
 
 * fcience^ but thefe ideas ^ being permanent, 
 
 * may^ and by the contemplation of them, 
 
 UlyfTes, when he found him in the Elyiian fields, ' I had 
 
 * rather be a poor man, and ferve another poor man, who 
 
 * had himfelf a bare f efficiency of food, on earth, than rule 
 
 * over all the dead.' 
 
 * he 
 
2i6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * he fuppofed that men might attain to a 
 
 * kind of union with God, in whofe mind 
 
 * thofe ideas exift. He alfo fuppofed that 
 
 * there is a third fuhjtance, compofed of 
 
 * fpirit and matter, difliifed through the 
 
 * univerfe, and the animating foul of 
 
 * the world ; that the fouls of men are 
 
 * not derived immediately from God, but 
 
 * from this foul of the world, which from 
 ' its origin was debafed by a mixture of 
 
 * material principle. He faid that when 
 
 * God formed the univerfe, he feparated 
 
 * from the foul of the world, a number of 
 
 * inferior fouls, equal in number to the 
 
 * ftars, and aifigned to each its proper ce- 
 
 * leftial abode; but that thefe fouls (from 
 
 * what reafon does not appear) were fent 
 
 * down to the earth, as into a fepulchre, 
 
 * or prifon, and that it is only by difen- 
 ' gaging itfelf from animal pafTions, and 
 
 * rifing above fenfible objefts, to the con- 
 
 * templation of tlie world of intelligence,' 
 (the ideas above mentioned) ' that the 
 ' foul of man can be prepared to return 
 
 * to its deftined habitation.' 
 
 He 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. a^xj: 
 
 He moreover held that ' the fQ^l ^o^i- 
 
 * fifts of three parts, the firft the fea^ pf 
 \ intelligence, the fecond of the paffions, 
 and the third of appetite, and he alfigned 
 tQ each its proper place in the human body. 
 
 The Stoics thought very differently 
 from each other concerning the duration 
 of fouls. ^ Some of them were of opinion 
 ^ that they would all remain till the general 
 
 * conflagration; fome that only thofe of 
 
 * the wife and good would continue fo 
 \ long; fome thought that all fouls, on be- 
 ^ ing releafed from th^ir bodies, would be 
 
 * immediately abforbed in the foul of th^ 
 
 * world ; fome that fouls being of the ^14- 
 
 * ture of firCy would b^ extinguifhed at 
 
 * death ; others that the^ foul was fo cor^- 
 *• filled in the grofs body, ;hat it could not 
 ^ find a paffage out even at death, but 
 ^ mufb remain till it was intirely deftroyed. 
 
 * Sonie of the Stoics thought that, in the? 
 
 * univerfal reftoration of nature, each in- 
 < dividual would return to its former body, 
 ^ but others thought that then only fimilar 
 
 * fouls would be placed in fimilar bodies. 
 
 u Uncertainty 
 
2i8 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Uncertainty cannot be more ftrongly in- 
 dicated than in this diverfity of opinion. 
 
 It does not appear whether Ariftotle 
 thought the human foul to be mortal or 
 immortal; but the former is the more pro- 
 bable, from his opinion concerning the 
 nature and origin of it. For he fays * it 
 
 * is an intellecSlual power, externally tranf- 
 
 * mitted into the human body, from the 
 ' common fource of rationality to human 
 
 * beings.' He does not fay what he con- 
 ceived this univerfal principle to be ; but 
 there is no proof that he fuppofed this 
 principle continued with any individual 
 after death. 
 
 If we may colled the fentiments of 
 Ariftotle from thofe of his followers, we 
 may certainly conclude that he did not 
 expe^^ that men would in any fenfe, fur- 
 vive death. Dicaearchus, an Ariftotelian, 
 held that * there was no fuch thing as mind^ 
 
 * OT foul, in man or beaft, that the principle 
 
 * by which animals perceive is equally dif- 
 
 * fufed through the body, and infeparable 
 ' from it.' Alexander Aphrodifceus, an- 
 other 
 
THE EVIDENCES OF 319 
 
 Other follower of Ariftotle, faid that ^ the 
 
 < foul was not a diftiiift fubftance itfelf, but 
 
 * the form of an organized body/ mean- 
 ing probably, that it was a property that 
 was the refult of organization. Theo- 
 phraftus, an Ariftotelian, at the clofe of 
 life, exprefled great regret at the fhort- 
 nefs of it, and complained that ^ nature 
 
 * had given long life to flags and crows, 
 ^ to whom it is of little value, and had 
 ^ denied it to man, who, in a longer du- 
 
 * ration, might have been able to attaui 
 
 * the fummit of fcience , but now, as foon 
 t as he arrives within fight of it, he is ta- 
 
 * ken away.' His laft advice to his difci- 
 ples was that, ^ fince it is the lot of man 
 
 < to die, as foon as he begins to live, they 
 
 * ftiould take more pains to enjoy life, than 
 
 * to acquire pofthumous fame.' Indeed 
 the natural inference from this doftrine is, 
 as the Apoftle expreffes it. Let us eat and 
 drinky for to morrow we die» 
 
 The great father of modern unbelievei:s 
 among Mahometans and Chriftians, was 
 Averroes, a Saracen, devoted to the phi- 
 
 u 2 lofophy 
 
220 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 lofophy of Ariftotle, whofe writings made 
 all the unbelievers in the age of Petrarch, 
 and that of Pope Leo X. He held ' the 
 ^ eternity of the world, and the exiftence 
 
 * of one univerfal intelleft, the fource of 
 'all human intelligence, into which every 
 
 * feparate intelligence will finally be re^ 
 ' folved, and confequently he denied the 
 ^diftind: exiftence, and proper immortality 
 ' of the human foul.' T need not fay how 
 irrational this notion, fo long prevalent 
 with thofe who ridiculed the fcriptures, is. 
 Modern unbelievers will fmile at the ex- 
 treme abfurdity of it, as much as any 
 Ghriftians, and fo they will at all the fyf- 
 tems of their prcdeceflbrs, the heathen 
 philofophers ; though in a general way, 
 with a view to difparage the writers of 
 the fcriptures, they, but with little 
 real knowledge of them, occafionally cry 
 them up. 
 
 I hardly need to mention any more of 
 thefe vague opinions, altogether deftitute of 
 proof, or probability. But I fliall obferve 
 that Democritus faid that * men were firft 
 
 * produced 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 221 
 
 ' produced from water and earth, and 
 ' that the foul, or the principle of animal 
 
 * life and motion, is the refult of a com- 
 
 * binatioii of round and fiery particles, and 
 
 * is mortal, and perifhes with the body.' 
 And Epicurus faid, ' the foul is a fubtle 
 ^ corporeal fubftance, compofed of the 
 
 * fineft atoms/ 
 
 The principles of found reafoning and 
 true philofophy, have fufficiently exploded 
 all thefe crude fyftems, the beft of which 
 never produced fuch a perfuafion concern- 
 ing a future ftate as men could aft upon, 
 and fuffer and die for ; whereas the faith 
 of Jews, and Chriftians, has unqueftion- 
 ably produced, and does flill produce, 
 thefe fubftantial fruits. And if the great 
 end of theory, as it undoubtedly is, be 
 praSice, a do6lrine which is both rational 
 in itfelf, and fupported by fufEcient autho- 
 rity, muft be infinitely preferable to fuch 
 wild and incoherent fyflems as thofe of 
 the antient philofophers, the knowledge 
 of which, moreover, never extended be- 
 yond their own difciples, and which does 
 
 not 
 
21% THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 not appear to have had any real influence 
 even upon them. 
 
 But the great queftion before us at 
 prefent is this ; if Mofes, and the other 
 writers of the Old and New Teftament, 
 are to be clafled with fhilofophers or legijla- 
 tors, how came they to frame a fyftem fo 
 fundamentally different from any that other 
 philofophers and legillators of the fame 
 age had conceived ? And if they were 
 noty but are to be confidered as perfons 
 who had no advantage of learning or edu- 
 cution, and therefore to be clafled among 
 the vulgar y and the vulgar of a rude and 
 barbarous nation, as the Jews are gene- 
 rally confidered, how came they to dif- 
 cover fo much true knowledge, and adopt 
 a fyflem of religion, laws, and morals, 
 which cannot be denied to be free from 
 the crude conceptions, and grofs abfurdi- 
 ties, with which the fyftems of the 
 boafted philofophers of the heathen world 
 are chargeable ? The only anfwer is, 
 that what they wrote was from a fource 
 of wifdom not their own, or any that they 
 
 could 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 223 
 
 could have borrowed from the neighbouring 
 nations, but one much fuperior ; and as 
 they profefs, from God. But what are we 
 to think of thofe, who with the fads that I 
 have recited before them, whether they 
 will attend to them or not, are continu- 
 ally exclaiming againft the religion of the 
 Bible, without Iparing any term of re- 
 proach, and praifing the fuperior attain- 
 ments, and philofophy, of the Greeks 
 and Romans. Happily, however, there are 
 fafts enow before us, and abundantly af- 
 certained, by which impartial perfons may 
 eafily form a true judgment concerning 
 both; and I hope tliere is yet in the world 
 common fenfe, and candour too, fufficient 
 to make a juft comparifon between them. 
 8. In a former difc our fe I ihewed you 
 to what horrid and abominable praftices 
 the popular religions among the heathens 
 led. But thefe, it may be faid, were pe- 
 culiar to the vulgar y and that the philofopbers 
 would not fail to condemn thofe praftices. 
 This, however, was far from being the 
 cafe. Many of the philofopbers, no doubt, 
 
 knew 
 
S2^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 knew better, and among themfelves d^- 
 fpifed and ridiculed the popular fuperfti^ 
 tions, at leaft fome of them; but they had 
 hot the juft courage in the caufe of truth 
 knd virtue, to run any rifque in oppofing 
 lb deftrudlive a torrent. They tliemfelves 
 ctonfoi-med to all the fuperflitious practices 
 t)F thofe times, and recommended the fame 
 to others. Xenophon began his account 
 t)f his beloved m after Socrates, with fay- 
 ing, that ' he wondered how he came to 
 
 * be charged with not believing in the gods 
 
 * of his country, when he not only joined 
 
 * in the public facrifices, but frequently 
 
 * facrificed in private, attd openly prad:ifed 
 
 * divination, which was always deemed a 
 ^ part of religion.' Socrates himfelf faid, 
 ' that it is the duty of every perfon, to 
 
 * follow the cuftoms of his country, in all 
 
 * its religious rites.' In fuch veneration did 
 feVeral of the philofophers hold the laws of 
 their country, that they maintained there 
 tvas no other rule of right and wrong. 
 This doftrine was avowed by Democritus 
 and Ariftippus. I need not obferve how 
 
 abfurd 
 
REVEALED RELIGION* 225 
 
 abfurd this maxim was. Were the laws 
 themfelves framed by no rules of natural 
 right or wrong ? and how are we, on this 
 principle, to make an eftimate of the 
 comparative excellence of different fyftems 
 of law ? 
 
 So far were the antient philofophers 
 from entertaining the liberal fentiments 
 which it is now the fafhion to afcribe to 
 them, that, in a period of three hundred 
 years, during which the Chriftians were 
 perfecuted, as oppofers of the vulgar fu- 
 perftition, there is no example of any 
 philofopher pleading for the toleration of 
 them. On the contrary, they were often 
 the foremoft to promote the perfecution. 
 The celebrated emperor Marcus Aurelius, 
 who was himfelf an eminent philofopher, 
 was one of the moft unrelenting perfecu- 
 tors of Chriftians. 
 
 9. As feveral of the philofophers were 
 aware that fome of their tenets would have 
 given offence to the vulgar, either from the 
 nature of them, or from their being liable 
 to be mifunderftood, they had doBrines^ 
 
 which 
 
226 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 which they communicated only to a few, 
 and this under a ftn6l injunftion of fecrecy. 
 This pradlice was adopted by Pythagoras 
 from the Egyptian priefts. He moreover 
 enjoined upon his pupils a filence of two, 
 and fometimes of five, years. In this ftate 
 of probation they were not permitted even 
 to fee their mafter, or to hear him, except 
 from behind a curtain, and when they 
 were admitted to his prefence, and favour- 
 ed with his fecret doftrines, they bound 
 themfelves by an oath not to divulge them. 
 Something of this nature was adopted by 
 Plato. He faid, ' it is a difficult thing to 
 
 * difcover the nature of the creator of the 
 
 * univerfe, and being difcovered, it is im- 
 
 * poffible, and would be impious, to expofe 
 
 * the difcovery to vulgar underftandings. 
 
 * He therefore threw a veil of obfcurity 
 
 * over his public inftru6tions, which was 
 
 * only removed for the benefit of thofe 
 
 * who were thought worthy to be admit- 
 
 * ted to his more private and confidential 
 
 * ledures.' 
 
 But 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 227 
 
 But how much more noble was the 
 condudl of Mofes, andof our Saviour, who 
 made no fecret of any thing that they 
 taught? How much dignity was there in the 
 charge that Jefus gave to his apoftles, to 
 pubhfh every thing that they knew of his 
 doftrines, Mat. x. 27. What I tell you in 
 darknefs, that /peak ye in the lights and -what 
 ye hear in the ear, that preach ye tipon the 
 houfe tops. 
 
 10. In general, no doubt, the heathen 
 philofophers had juft ideas concerning mo- 
 ral virtues, and in their writings they ex- 
 prefs themfelves with truth and energy on 
 the fubjeft ; but in feveral refpecls their 
 peculiar tenets mifled them, and were un- 
 favourable to a right difpofition of mind, 
 and a proper condud: in life. This could 
 not but be the cafe with the Stoics, the 
 moft rigidly moral of all the antient fedls. 
 Their opinion that all fouls are portions 
 of the divinity, from which they inferred 
 that they were fufficient for their own 
 happinefs, infpired them with a great de- 
 gree of pride. For they faid, * it was 
 
 * not 
 
12-8 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * not in the power of the gods to make a 
 
 * good man mJhappy.' They main- 
 tained diat pain was no evil, and that 
 a wife man may be happy even in 
 the midft of torture. They alfo held 
 that he ought to be free from every emo- 
 tion of afFeftion or paffion. Nature would 
 never fuffer any man to reduce this abfurd 
 fyftem to pradice; but die attempt to do 
 it mud have had an unfavourable influence 
 on a man^s temper and conduA. Whether 
 confidently with their principles, or not, 
 many of the more eminent of the Stoics 
 put an end to their own lives. This was 
 done by Zeno himfelf, the founder of the 
 feiS, when, in a very advanced age, he was 
 in much pain from breaking his finger. 
 
 II. It is common with unbelievers to 
 decry both Chriftianity and Judaifm, as 
 fpecies of fitperfiition. But no mifconcep- 
 tions or abufe, of the Jewifti or Chriflian 
 religions, led to more abfurd fuperftitions 
 than the doftrines of the heathen philofo- 
 phers, concerning the defiUng nature of 
 matter, their confequent contempt far the 
 
 body 
 
REVEAXJEP EELIGION. 32,9 
 
 body, and their ideas of the purification 
 of th€ foul by the mortification of it, It 
 was, in fa6l, from the heathen philofo- 
 phers that the Chriftians of the fecond and 
 following centuries derived their opinions 
 and praftices on the fubjeft. It was from 
 them alfo that the monkilh ideas of the fu- 
 perior merit of a contemplati'ue to an aiiivc 
 life, and of the value of feclufion from the 
 world, were originally derived. 
 
 Pythagoras faid that ^ contemplative 
 ^ wifdom cannot be completely attained 
 '. without a total abftraftion from the or- 
 
 * dinary affairs of life, and a perfedl tran- 
 ' quility and freedom of mind.' But the 
 later Platonifts, among whom we might 
 expeft the moll advanced and improved 
 ftate of philofophy, carried thefe ideas 
 ftill farther. * They praftifed the moft 
 'rigorous abflinence, as by this means 
 \ they expected to purify themfelves from 
 
 * moral defilement, and they paffed whole 
 
 * days and nights in contemplation, and 
 ^ what they called devotion. Plotinus 
 ^ had fuch a contempt for the body, that 
 
 ' he 
 
2 30 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * he never could be prevailed upon to 
 
 * make ufe of any means to cure the dif- 
 
 * eafes to which his conftitution was fub- 
 
 * jedl, or to alleviate his pain. His rigo- 
 
 * rous abftinence, and determined neglecSb 
 
 * of his health, at laft brought him into a 
 ' ftate of difeafe and infirmity, which ren- 
 
 * dered the latter part of his life extremely 
 
 * painful.' In Chriftians this would be 
 laughed at, but in this deep philofopher, it 
 may perhaps be admired. 
 
 To this fuperftition thefe philofophers 
 joined the moft extravagant enthufiafm. 
 They fuppofed, that * the foul of man, 
 
 * prepared by previous difcipline, might 
 
 * rife to a capacity of holding immediate 
 ^ intercourfe with good demons, and even 
 ^ to enjoy in ecftafy an intuitive vifion of 
 
 * God himfelf,' a degree of perfection and 
 felicity which fome of the more eminent 
 among them, fuch as Plotinus, Porphy'ry, 
 Jamblicus, and Proclus, were fuppofed 
 aftually to have attained. Plotinus is faid 
 
 * to have afc ended through all the Platonic 
 
 * fteps of contemplation, to the aftual vi- 
 
 * fion 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 2^1 
 
 * fion of the Supreme Being himfelf, and 
 
 * to have been admitted to fuch inter- 
 ' courfe with him as no other philofopher 
 
 * ever enjoyed." Porphyry fays that he 
 
 * himfelf, in the fixty-eighth year of his 
 ' age, was in a facred ecftafy, when he 
 Vfaw the fupreme intelhgnece, the god/ 
 he fays, ' who is fuperior to all gods, with- 
 
 * out an image.' 
 
 According to Jamblicus, ' the human 
 
 * foul has an innate knowledge of God, 
 
 * prior to all reafoning, in confequence of 
 
 * its having originally derived its eflence 
 
 * from, and having fubfifted in, the divine 
 ' nature ; that by the intervention of de- 
 
 * mons, it enjoys communication with 
 ' the fuperior divinities, and with God 
 
 * himfelf. Gods, demons, and heroes,' 
 he fays, * appear to men under various 
 ' forms, in dreams, or waking vifions, to 
 ' render them bodily or fpiritual fer vices, 
 
 * and to enable them to predift future 
 
 * events. But thefe communications with 
 
 * the divine nature are not to be obtained 
 
 * without the obfervance of certain facred 
 
 rites. 
 
2SZ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 '. rites. The figns of divine communica- 
 
 * tions/ he fays, ' are a temporary fufp en- 
 *-. fion of the fenfes and faculties, the inter- 
 
 * ruption of the ordinary fundlions of 
 
 * Hfe, and a capacity of fpeaking and dq- 
 
 * ing wonders, fo that in this ftate the per- 
 ' fon does not hve an animal, or huni4n> 
 
 * but a divine life/ 
 
 Jews and Chriftians are reproached for 
 their credulity, for their faith in miracles, 
 however well attefled; but can they fay 
 .that thefe Platonifts were lefs credulous ? 
 f. With a view to deftroy the credit which 
 
 * the Chriftian religion derived from mira- 
 
 * cles, or at leaft to advance their philofo- 
 
 * phy to a level with it, they pretended to 
 
 * a power of performing fupernatural ope- 
 
 * rations, by the aid of invifible beings, 
 
 * and faid that the miracles of Chrift/ 
 which they did not deny, * were wrought 
 *. by the fame magical, or as they termed 
 ' them, ibeurgic powers, which they them- 
 
 * felves poffefled. The emperor Julian, 
 
 * made great ufe of magical arts in exe-> 
 ' cuting his political purpofes. While he 
 
 * reported 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 233 
 
 * was at Vienna, he reported that m the 
 ' middle of the night he was vifited by 
 
 * a celeftial form, which, fpeaking in heroic 
 
 * verfe, had promifed him the pofleffion 
 ' of the imperial dignity/ 
 
 With thefe fads before us, and many 
 more of the fame kind might have been 
 adduced, furely chriftianity will no longer 
 be exclufively taxed with fuperftition, 
 enthufiafm, or creduUty. . But no coun- 
 tenance is given cO thefe idle notions, or 
 abfurd practices, in the fcriptures. Chrift 
 and the apoftles Vv^ere not monks, nor had 
 they any monki(h ideas. Their piety was 
 perfeftly rational, and their love of God 
 evidenced by benevolence to man. And 
 they inculcated no aufterity, or morti- 
 fication, befides that temperance, which is 
 oppofed to vicious excefs, and contributes 
 to the true eqjoyment of life. 
 
 On the whole, we may furely fay that 
 had modern unbelievers found in the fcrip- 
 tures any of the do6lrines which I have 
 lliewn to have been profeffed by the philo- 
 fophers of antiquity, had they found there 
 
 X the 
 
»34 TH£ EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the doftrine of two coeternal principles, 
 that of the emanation of all fouls from 
 the fubftance of the Supreme Being, the 
 abforption of them into it again, with 
 their repeated emiffions and retractions to 
 ail eternity; had they found there the 
 doctrine of the formation of all things by 
 the fortuitous concourfe of atoms, that the 
 air is filled with demons of different cha- 
 racters, directing the affairs of the world 
 at their pleafure, and giving intimations of 
 future events by omens and divination ; 
 had they found in the fcriptures the doc- 
 trine of the pre-exiftence of all human 
 fouls, their lapfe into grofs bodies, where 
 they are confined, and alfo contaminated 
 by their connection with fo debafing a com- 
 panion, the purification of thefe embodied 
 fouls by aufterity and mortification, their 
 tranfmigration through the bodies of ani- 
 mals, by way of preparation for their af- 
 cent to the empyreal regions; had they 
 there found the doCtrine of one common 
 principle of intelligence, or foul of the 
 univerfe, in all men and animals, without 
 
 giving 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 235 
 
 giving to each a permanent exiflence, had 
 all or any of thefe dot^rines been found in 
 the fcriptures, would they not have ex- 
 claimed againft fuch crude notions, and 
 wild conceptions, and have rejefted the 
 fyftem without farther examination ? It 
 was, in faft, the finding no fuch opinions 
 as thefe in the fcriptures, that firft led 
 chriftian philofophers, (after having adopt- 
 ed feveral of them from a heathen fource, 
 and having long endeavoured to hold them 
 in conjunftion Vv^ith their chriftian princi- 
 ples) that led them to fufpeft their truth ; 
 and farther reflection on the fubjeft 
 led many to explode them altogether. 
 Thus is the world indebted to chriftianity 
 for the deteftion of errors which were 
 the difgrace of human reafon, though pa- 
 tronized by the moft eminent philofophers 
 of the heathen world; yet modern un- 
 believers, though lying, with the reft of 
 the world, under fo great obligations to 
 chriftianity, are now bufily alfaulting it 
 with every weapon of reafon or ridicule. 
 Its friends, however, are under no appre- 
 X 2 henfions 
 
236 THE EVIDENCES, &:c. 
 
 henfions about it. This very ftate of things 
 was forefeen, and foretold, by its founder. 
 Revealed religion is fo far from Ihrinking 
 from, that it invites, the ftridleft examina- 
 tion. Its friends being thofe of reafon and 
 truth, engage in its vindication only as 
 fupported by reafon and truth, and as 
 favourable to the beft interefts of man- 
 kind. 
 
DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 T'he evidence of the Mofaic and Chriftian 
 Religions, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 God, who, at fundry times), and in divers manners, fp- 
 in time pafl unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath, . 
 thefe laft days, fpoken unto us by his fon. 
 
 Heb i. I — 2. 
 
 In the preceding Difcourfes I have 
 endeavoured to prepare the way for the 
 proper evidence of revealed reUgion, by- 
 explaining the nature, and fhewing the im- 
 portance, of the fubjefl:, and by exhibiting 
 a comparative view of the heathen reli 
 gions, and that of the Hebrews, which is 
 that branch of revealed religion which is 
 moft objedled to by unbelievers. The 
 fyftems of the heathen religions, efpecially 
 
 thofe 
 
23S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 thofe of remote ages, coeval with the 
 Mofaic inftitutioiis, you have feen to have 
 been not only a confufed mafs of mifer- 
 able fuperftition, arifing from a total igno- 
 rance of the laws of nature, but to have 
 confiiled in rites fho eking to humanity, 
 good morals, and common decency, and 
 that they were, in a great meafure, the 
 caufe of the horrid depravity of manners 
 which prevailed in the Gentile v/orld. On 
 the contrary, the tenets of the religion of 
 the Hebrews, which has been fo much de- 
 cried by Voltaire and others, were, in the 
 higheft degree, rational, worthy of the 
 Supreme Being, leading to the greatefl 
 purity of heart and life, and peculiarly 
 calculated to counteraft the effeds of the 
 abfurd and mifchievous religions of the 
 neighbouring nations. Being, therefore, 
 fo much fuperior to, and reverfe of, all 
 the forms of religions, with which Mofes 
 or any of his countrymen, could have been 
 acquainted, and even fuperior, as I have 
 ihewn, to the principles advanced by the 
 moft celebrated of the heathen philofo* 
 
 phers. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 259 
 
 phers, there is the greateft antecedent pro- 
 bability that it came from God, the foun- 
 tain of wifdom ; who thought proper to 
 make choice of one nation, in which to 
 preferve the true knowledge and woriliip 
 of himfelf, amidft the general defection 
 from it, and by that means to diffufe, in 
 due time, the moft falutary hght to all 
 his offspring of mankind. And it has al- 
 ready, in a great meafure, eifefted this 
 benevolent purpofe, in the gradual unfold- 
 ing of the plan, in the chriftian revela- 
 tion, which has a conflant reference to 
 that of Mofes ; fo that they are to be con- 
 fidered as parts of the fame fcheme ; the 
 proper evidence of which I fhall now pro- 
 ceed to lay before you. In order to 
 do this as briefly as pofTible, I fliall not 
 confider the evidence of each feparately, 
 but jointly ; efpecially as I have done the 
 former, and more in detail, in another fet 
 of difcourfes, w^hich are already before 
 the PubUc. 
 
 I Ihall begin with obferving that the 
 only proper evidence of the interpofition 
 
 of 
 
340 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 of God, as the author of nature, is an ex- 
 hibition of fomething wliich he alone is 
 capable of performing, that is, a proper 
 miracle, or a controlling of the order of na- 
 ture, which it muft be allowed that no 
 other than he who eftablifhed it, and who 
 conftantly maintains it, can do. The me- 
 dium of divine communications may be 
 ^en, and where the inftrudlion and refor- 
 mation of men is the objeft, it is moft 
 naturally and properly fo ; but the power 
 by which it is efFefted, muft appear to be 
 of God. Other wife, there would be no 
 reafon to fuppofe that there was any thing 
 fuperhuman in the fcheme. 
 
 It has, indeed, been the opinion of fome, 
 that proper miracles may be wrought by 
 beings fuperior to man, though inferior to 
 the Supreme God, and even for purpofes op- 
 pofite to any that could be his, tending to 
 miflead and injure mankind. But this is 
 an opinion which I am perfuaded will not 
 be ferioufly maintained by any perfon at 
 this day. It cannot, with any appearance 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 241 
 
 of reafon, be fuppofed, that the Supreme 
 Being would put it in the power of any 
 malevolent demon (fuppofing fuch beings 
 to exift) thus to deceive his creatures, and 
 without refer ving to himfelf the power of 
 undeceiving them. For if fuch beings as 
 thefe were permitted to work real ndra- 
 cles, or perform fuch works as men were 
 unable to diftinguifli from real miracles, it 
 was all that himfelf could do; fo that the 
 mifchief would be without remiedy. 
 
 We muft therefore, take it for granted, 
 and I doubt not, it will be univerfally al- 
 lowed, that if there be a real departure from 
 the order or laws of nature (v/hich in the 
 greater inftances there is no danger of 
 miftaking') it muft be by the interpcfition 
 of a power properly divine, and for a pur- 
 pofe worthy of divinity, of the great and 
 good parent of the human race; for in- 
 ftance, to give them feafonable alfiftance 
 in the difcovery of interefting truth, and 
 removing the caufes of error, vice, and 
 mifery, which mull otherwife have re- 
 mained without remedy. 
 
 Miracles, 
 
242 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Miracles, then, being allowed to be 
 the only, but a fufficient, evidence of di- 
 vine interpofition, it will be afked, what 
 is the evidence of their having been 
 wrought, to thofe who are not them- 
 felves witnefles of them? For it is not 
 pretended that miracles are exhibited be- 
 fore all perfons, but only occafionally. 
 I anfwer, the teftimony of thofe who were 
 properly witnefles of them, but teftimony 
 fo circumftanced, that the fuppofition of 
 its being falfe would be more improbable 
 on the whole than that of its being true; 
 fo that its being falfe fhall, by a fair efti- 
 mate, appear to be a greater miracle, or 
 a greater deviation from the ufual courfe 
 of nature, than what is related as fuch. 
 And certainly fuch cafes may be fuppof- 
 ed. 
 
 If, for inftance, a great number of 
 perfons, miiverfally allowed to have the 
 nfe of their fenfes and underftanding, fe- 
 rioufly declare that they actually faw, or 
 heard, any thing whatever, though a priori 
 ever fo improbable, and their veracity be 
 
 not 
 
REVEALED RELIGIOl^. 245 
 
 not queftioned, their fenfes muft have 
 been under a miraculous illufion, if the 
 thing be not as they reprefent it. It will 
 alfo be allowed, from the opinion general- 
 ly entertained of human nature, that cir- 
 cumftances may be fuppofed, in which a 
 great number of perfons agreeing to tell 
 a falfehood, when they could not have any 
 motive to do it, would be deemed nothing 
 lefs than miraculous. 
 
 It is readily acknowledged, that mira- 
 cles not being events of daily or frequent 
 occurrence, require more definite evidence 
 than ordinary fafts, and this in proportion 
 to their antecedent improbability, arifing 
 from their w^ant of analogy to events that 
 are common. But there is no fad that 
 is poffible in itfelf, but the evidence inay be 
 fuch as to make it credible. The circum- 
 ftances which tend to give credit to human 
 teftimony with refpeft to miracles, are the 
 following. The witnefles muft be in fuf- 
 ficient number. They muft be in circum- 
 ftauces in which they cannot be deceived 
 themfelves, and they muft have no appa- 
 rent 
 
^^4 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 rent motive to deceive others. In order 
 to this, the miracles mud be in fufficient 
 number, and exhibited fo long, as to af- 
 ford opportunity^ for examining them. 
 They muft alfo be upon a large fcale, or 
 of fuch a nature as to exclude all idea of 
 trick or impofition. They muft be exhi- 
 bited before perfons who had no previous 
 difpolition to expecb or to receive them. 
 A fufficient degree of attention muft be 
 excited to tliem at the time, and a num- 
 ber of perfons muft be interefted in afcer- 
 taining their reality. The hiftory of 
 them muft be coeval with the events, and 
 the belief of them muft produce a lafting 
 eifea. 
 
 If all thefe circumftances fliould be 
 found to concur in the miracles recorded 
 in the fcriptures, it muft be allowed that 
 they have all the credibility that fa6ls fo 
 extraordinary, and of fo great antiquity 
 can have, and nothing more can be requir- 
 ed in the cafe. The moft fceptical of 
 men cannot demand more fatisfadlory evi- 
 dence. I fliall therefore now proceed to 
 
 confider 
 
REVEALED RELIGION 245 
 
 confider how far thefe circumftances apply- 
 to the miracles of which an account is con- 
 tained in the Old and New Teftament. 
 For it is the truth of the fyftem of reli- 
 gion propofed to us in thefe books that is 
 to be proved by them. 
 
 I muft, however, remind you, that 
 though 1 would by no means crave your 
 indulgence in being fatisfied with a finall 
 decree of evidence, or lefs than fuch as I 
 have defcribed, the thing to be proved is 
 far from being improbable a priori, fo as to 
 make fuch extraordinary evidence necef- 
 fary. If men, who are the oifspring of 
 God, were involved dn error, vice, and 
 mifery, from which it v^as not in their 
 power to refcue themfelves, it m^ight even 
 have been expcBed that their benevolent 
 parent would provide fome efteilual means 
 for their relief. And the fchenie of re- 
 velation, which gives men the fuUeft ir.for- 
 mation concerning the being, the perfe(^ions 
 and the providence of God, concerning 
 man-s duty here,, and a future Hale of 
 retribution hereafter, the knowledge ot 
 
 >\ hlch 
 
246 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 which we have feen the wifeft of men 
 never attained of themfelves, is excellent- 
 ly adapted to anfwer this end, and there- 
 fore it is not only defirable, but far from 
 being improbable. On the contrary, I have 
 Ihewn at large that the plan of revelation 
 is, in a variety of refpefts, the moft natural 
 and the moft effeftual, and confequently 
 the moft eligible, mode of communicating 
 religious inftruftion to men. 
 
 In this, however, I fpeak to the feel- 
 ings of the virtuous, the worthy, . and the 
 thinking part of mankind, thofe whofe 
 charafters and conduft are fuch as will na- 
 turally lead them to wifh for, and rejoice 
 in, the difcovery of fuch momentous 
 truths, and not the profligate and thought- 
 lefs, who are governed by mere appetite 
 and paflion, like the brutes, who, looking 
 no farther than to mere animal enjoyments, 
 never think of a God, of a providence, 
 or a future ftate at all; and who, if it 
 depended upon them, would not choofe that 
 there fliould be any fuch thing. 
 
 In 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^47 
 
 It is well known that there are ftate$ 
 of mind in which no attention will be 
 given to any thing that is ofFenfive to it. 
 A philofopher of great eminence, having 
 advanced an opinion concerning fomething 
 that might be determined by a microfco- 
 pical obfervation, refufed to look through 
 a microfcope that Avas brought to him, 
 with the objeft ready prepared, when he 
 was told that the infpedion would refute his 
 hypothefis. And certainly vicious propenfi- 
 ties lay a ftronger bias on the mind than 
 any fpeculative opinions whatever. 
 
 In minds exceedingly debafed, there 
 muft be an almoft invincible bias againft 
 the dodlrines of revelation ; and probably 
 the evidence even of their own fenfes 
 would not be fufficient to convince them. 
 To fuch perfons as thefe, I do not ad- 
 ■drefs myfelf at all, becaufe it would be 
 altogether in vain. Indeed I can hardly 
 fuppofe that any motive, even that of cu* 
 riofity, would bring any perfon of this 
 character to hear me on the fubjeft, and 
 
 therefore 
 
248 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 therefore I will not fuppofe any fuch to 
 be prefent. 
 
 I . To thofe perfons whofe minds are 
 not abfolutely ihut againft conviftion, I 
 would obferve, in the firft place, that the 
 miracles recorded in the fcriptures, and 
 on which tlie truth of the Mofaic and 
 Chriflkn inftitutions refts, are fufficiently 
 numerous. Faffing over all that preceded 
 the age of Mofes himfelf, the miracles 
 which efFefted the emancipation of the 
 in^aelites from their bondage in Egypt, 
 and their fettlement in the land of Canaan, 
 will certainly be allowed not to have 
 been deficient with refpecl to nimber, 
 whatever elfe be objefted to them. They 
 began Vv^ith the miraculous appearance of 
 fire, in a bufli which was not confumed 
 by it, the withering and reftoring of Mofes' 
 arm, and the changing his rod into a fer- 
 pent, and that ferpent into a rod as at firft. 
 Then follow the ten great plagues of 
 Egypt, beginning with the changing of 
 the waters of the river into blood, and 
 
 ending 
 
 '^-K 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 249 
 
 ending with the death of all the firft born 
 of the Egyptains in one night, according 
 to the prediction of Mofes. We then pro- 
 ceed to the paflage of tl^ red fea, while 
 the waters rofe on each fide to admit of 
 it; the fweetning of the waters of Mara, 
 the delivery of the ten commandments in 
 an articulate voice from mount Sinai, the 
 fupplying of the whole nation with man- 
 na, and the condudling of them with the 
 appearance of a pillar of cloud by day, 
 and of fire by night during forty years, 
 the drawing water from a rock, enough 
 to fupply the whole nation, at two differ- 
 ent times, the death of Korah, Dathan, 
 and Abiram by the opening of the earth 
 at the word of Mofes, the death of Na- 
 dab and Alihu, the two fons of Aaron, by 
 fire from heaven, the pafTage of the river 
 Jordan, by the dividing of its waters, the 
 fall of the walls of Jericho, and fome 
 others of lefs confequence, all in the com- 
 p.afs of one generation. 
 
 In the fubfequent hiflory of the Ifrael- 
 ites, miracles were not fo numerous, but 
 
 Y i% 
 
 % 
 
s^o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 it is probable that no long period of it was 
 intirely without them, till they were difcon- 
 tinued after the Babylonifh captivity. But 
 in this interval the Hebrew prophets foretold 
 in the plaineft language many future events 
 which came to pafs in their own times, or 
 vfery near to them, and among thefe the fate 
 of all the neighbouring nations, as well as 
 of their own, to the lateft period of timCi 
 Jeremiah foretold not only the Babylonifli 
 captivity, but the exaft duration of it. 
 In the time of Daniel we have the deliver- 
 ance of Shadrach, Melhach and Abednego 
 from the fiery furnace, of Daniel himfelf 
 in the den of lions, and his foretelling the 
 infanity (for fuch it muft have been) of 
 Nebuchadne^ar, and his reftoration after 
 feven years, as well as his prophecies con- 
 cerning the rife and fall of the four great 
 monarchies, which have been wonderfully 
 verified, though part of them yet remain 
 to be fulfilled. 
 
 After this we have an interval of about 
 four hundred years, in which we find no 
 pretentions to miracles, or propliecy. But 
 during the public miniftry of Jefus, mira- 
 
 #• cles 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 251 
 
 cles were more numerous than they had 
 ever been before. His divine miffion was 
 announced three times by articulate voices 
 from heaven, he cured the difeafes, how- 
 ever obftanate, of all who applied to him, 
 and fome when he was at a diftance, and 
 he raifed at ieaft three perfons from a ftate 
 of death. He twice fed feveral thoufand 
 perfons with a fmall quantity of provifions, 
 he alfo changed a large quantity of water 
 into wine. He ftilled a tempeft at a word^ 
 he walked on the fea, and caufed a fig- 
 tree to wither by only fpeaking, he fore- 
 told the deftruftion of Jerufalem, and the 
 temple, and the defolation of the country, 
 to come to pafs, in that generation ; he 
 rofe from the dead after being publicly 
 crucified, and vifibly afcended to heaven. 
 
 Miracles notlefs confiderable than thefe 
 diftinguiihed the miniftry of the apoftles, 
 who fucceeded Jefus. They not only ex- 
 prefled therafelves in languages which they 
 had never learned, but imparted this pow- 
 er to all the converts ; they healed many 
 fick perfons, they even raifed the dead, 
 
 Y 2, and 
 
2^2 . THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and foretold feveral future events, w^hich 
 came to pafs in their own time. If any 
 perfon will fay that thefe miracles (and 
 many are omitted in this general view) 
 are not fufRciently numerous for the pur- 
 pofe for which they were wrought, he 
 would fay that no number whatever would 
 be fufficient, and therefore his objeftion 
 would not be to the number ^ as fuch, but 
 muft be of fome different kind, which will 
 be confidered under fome of the following 
 heads. 
 
 2. Many of the miracles recorded in 
 th^ fcriptures, were on fo large a fcale or 
 on other acounts of fuch a nature, that 
 there could be no fufpicion of trick or de- 
 ception, with refpeft to them. If the ap- 
 pearances only exifted (and with refpe6l to 
 them, the fenfes of men could not be de- 
 ceived) the caiife was indifputable. And 
 fuch were almoft all the miracles exhibited 
 in Egypt, as the changing of all the water 
 of fuch a river as the Nile, as large as any 
 in this country, into blood, or any thing 
 like blood, fo that no ufe could be made 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 253 
 
 of it ; and this not momentarily, but for a 
 confiderable time, and yet an evil of this 
 magnitude was removed at the prayer of 
 Mofes. Perfons fkilled in tricks of flight 
 of hand, which was, no doubt, the cafe ol 
 the magicians of Egypt, might impofe upor 
 a company, even of intelligent and quiet: 
 fighted perfons, not ufed to them, and or 
 Mofes himfelf, with a fmall quantity 01 
 water, contained in a bafon, or they might 
 dexteroufly fubftitute a ferpent in the place 
 of a rody or a rod in the place of a ferpent, 
 but the miracles exhibited by Mofes, con-> 
 vinced even the magicians themfelves, that 
 what he did was by the finger of God, as 
 they expreflfed themfelves. 
 
 The plague of frogs, that of the lice, 
 (as our tranflation renders the word) of the 
 murrain among the cattle, of the boils, of 
 the hail, of the locufts, and of the darknqfs, 
 might each of them feparately, have been 
 produced by natural caufes. But that they 
 fhould all be announced before hand, that 
 none of them fhould affeft the diflrift oc- 
 cupied by the Ifraelites, which adjoined to 
 
 the 
 
2,-4 ¥tt£ MVIDENCfeS Of 
 
 tfee feft 6f Egypt, and that they fhould all 
 b^ removed at the prayer of Mofes, are 
 undeniable evidences that the hand of God 
 was in them. Still more was this evident in 
 the death of the firft-born, and of the firft- 
 born only, df man and of beaft, through all 
 the country, while not one of the Ifraelites 
 died. By this difplay of divine power, Pha- 
 rdoh and all the Egyptians were fo terrified 
 and fubdued, that, unwilling as they before 
 had been, to part with fuch ufeful fervants, 
 they ^ver^ now defirous of getting rid af 
 them, at any rate. 
 
 Upon a greater fcale ftill, was the paffage 
 of the whole nation of Ifraelites, though 
 not fewer than two millions of people, 
 marching at their leifure with all their cattle 
 and baggage, through an arm of the red fea, 
 while the water rofe on each fide of them, 
 and all the Egyptians who had ventured to 
 follow them were drowned. There could 
 be no impofition on the fenfes in fuch a 
 fcene as this, or in the funilar miracle of 
 the paffage of the river Jordan, in the fame 
 manner. The fame may be faid of otlier 
 
 miraculous 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^i[5 
 
 miraculous appearances in the time of Mo- 
 fes, efpecially that of the delivery of the 
 ten commandments in an articulate voice, 
 heard by all the Ifraelites, then, as I ob- 
 ferved, more than two millions of people, 
 from mount Sinai, in a river, (for it 
 could not be lefs) ifluing from a rock, at 
 the word of Mofes ; for the blow of his 
 ftafF could not have had any fuch efFeft, 
 and the defcent of the manna every morn- 
 ing, with the remarkable and conftant ex- 
 ception of one particular day in the feven, 
 on which no manna fell, for the fpace of 
 forty years, and the pillar of a cloud by day 
 and of fire by night, which alfo attended 
 them the fame time, and direfted all their 
 marches. He muft have been a bold im- 
 poftor, indeed, who fhould have attempted 
 any thing of this kind, and not fo reluftant 
 and fo timid a leader as Mofes evidently 
 was. 
 
 Among the miracles which were on fo 
 large a fcale as to exchide all idea of de- 
 ception, 1 may mention the falling down 
 
 of the walls of Jericho, on the ark being 
 
 carried 
 
256 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 carried round the place feven times, the 
 falling down of the idol Dagon, in the 
 prefence of the ark, the calamities which 
 befel the cities of the Philiftines, to which 
 it was fent, and the circmnftances of its 
 conveyance back into the land of Canaan, 
 viz. in a carnage drawn by cows whofe 
 calves were kept at home. 
 
 Of the miracles that come under this 
 
 clafs, was the ftrength imparted to Sam- 
 fon, by which he was able to take down 
 the gates of a city, and carry them to the 
 top of a hill, and after lofing his ftrength 
 his recovering it again, fo as to pull down 
 the building in which were afTembled all 
 the lords of the Philiftines, when they w^ere 
 all killed. Such alfo was the burning of 
 
 the facrifice of Elijah, on mount Carmel, 
 while the priefts of Baal attempted the 
 fame in vain, he being alone, and they four 
 hundred men, favoured by an idolatrous 
 king, who was himfelf prefent, and the 
 people in general alfo favouring them. I 
 might add, under this head, feveral other 
 miracles recorded in the Old Teftament, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 257- 
 
 and muft not omit to mention in this view 
 alfo, the cafe of Shadrach, Mefhach and 
 Abednego, who were preferved unhurt in 
 the fiery furnace at Babylon, and alfo the 
 delivery of Daniel from the lions, in the 
 fame city. 
 
 The miracles recorded in the New 
 Teftament are not, in general, on fo large 
 a fcale as many of thofe recited in the Old, 
 but they are fufficiently fo to be out of the 
 reach of any charge of trick and impofi- 
 tion. Such were the cures performed by 
 Jefus, of fach difeafes as, though fome- 
 times curable by medical treatment, always 
 require a long time ; whereas his cures were 
 always inftantaneous, and yet complete. 
 Such were his cures of blindefs, efpecially 
 of the man who was born blind, of fevers, 
 which are never cured but by coming to a 
 certain crifis, of leprofy, of the dropfy ; 
 and efpecially of infanity, called the carting 
 out of demons, the fuppofed caufe of that 
 diforder. Of this clafs, more efpecially, 
 Avas his raifmg to life, the daughter of 
 Jarius, at Capernaum, the widow's fon at 
 
 Nwiin, 
 
ft^S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Nain, and of Lazarus at Bethany. Of 
 miracles of this clafs, were bis feeding 
 firfl: five thoufand, and afterwards four 
 thoufand perfons, with a few loaves and 
 fifhes, his ftiUing a tempeft, his walking on 
 the fea, and a ftormy fea, and laftly his 
 refurredion and afcenfion. 
 
 In the hiftory of the apoftles, the 
 Biiracles of this clafs arc thofe called 
 the gift of tongues^ by which thoufands of 
 perfons were enabled to exprefs them- 
 felves in languages which they had not 
 learned, the cure of the beggar w^ho was 
 know^n to have been lame from his birth, 
 at the gate of the temple, the deli- 
 verance of Peter and John, and after- 
 wards of Peter only, out of prifon, when 
 every precaution had been taken to fecure 
 them, and alfo the cure of many difeafes 
 by Peter and others, fimilar to tlie cures 
 perfoi'med by Jefus, Several other mira- 
 cles might be mentioned under this head, 
 but thefe are abundantly fufficient for the 
 purpofe, that is, they were appearances 
 with refpeftto which there could not have 
 
 been 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ajg 
 
 been any deception. Perfons who were 
 prefent could never have been under any 
 miftake with refpedlto the fads ^ and the 
 fads were of fuch a nature, that they 
 muft neceflarily have been miraculous, 
 how ignorant foever we may be of the 
 powers, or laws, of nature in other re- 
 fpeds. 
 
 3. Many of the miracles recorded in the 
 fcriptures, and almoft all thofe that are 
 mentioned under the preceding head, were 
 performed in the prefence of a great num- 
 ber of perfons. At the miracles perform- 
 ed by Mofes, all the inhabitants of Egypt, 
 and the whole nation of Ifraelites, were 
 prefent. All the latter mull; have feen 
 every thing that paiTed in the wildernefs. 
 The whole nation pafled through the river 
 Jordan and faw the falling of the walls of 
 Jericho. The whole nation of the Phi- 
 Jiftines could not but know of the triumph 
 of the ark of God over their idol Daoon, 
 and the manner in which it was conveyed 
 back to the land of Canaan. Ahab and 
 his court, and no doubt thoufands of the 
 
 common 
 
2 6o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 common people were prefent at Elijah's 
 facrifice. Nebuchadnezzar, and all the 
 people of Babylon, muft have known of 
 the deliverance of Shadrach, Mefliach, and 
 Abednego, and fo muft Darius, and all 
 people in his time, the deliverance of Da- 
 niel from the lions. 
 
 With refpeft to the miracles of Jefus^ 
 it is evident from the nature of them, and 
 from his manner of life, that they could 
 not but have been known to the whole na- 
 tion of the Jews. Peter, fpeaking of them 
 to a promifcuous multitude who were af- 
 fembled in Jerufalem on the report of the 
 wonderful gift of tongues, expreffed himfelf 
 in the following remarkable manner, Afts 
 ii. 2Z. Te ?ncn of Ifrael, hear my words ^ 
 J ejus of Nazareth y a man approved of God 
 among you, by miracles and wonders and figns^ 
 which God did by him, in the midji of you, 
 as ye yourfelves alfo know. Again addreffing 
 himfelf to CorneHus, a Roman centurion, 
 and his friends, he fays, concerning Jefus, 
 •and the gofpel, A6ls, x. 36. The word 
 which God jent unto the children of Ifrael^ 
 
 that 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 261 
 
 that word ye know, which was publified 
 throughout all Judea. I le evidently did not 
 think it neceflary to produce witneffes of 
 particular fads. He took it for granted 
 that they were known to every body, 
 how God anointed Jefus of Nazareth with the 
 holy fpirity and with power, who went about 
 doing good, and healing all that were opprcffcd 
 of the devil, for God was with him ; and we 
 are witnejjes of all things which he didy both in 
 the land of the Jews, and in Jerufale?n. 
 
 Alfo, when Paul was addrefiing king 
 Agrippa, in the prefence of Feftus, and 
 the court, he fays. Ads xxvi. 20, None 
 of thefe things are hidden from him ; for this 
 thing vjas not done in a corner* To the re- 
 furreftion and the afcenfion of Jefus, all 
 the country, but for the beft reafons, 
 were not witneffes. But certainly five 
 hundred who faw him at one time, were 
 abundantly fufRcient to afcertain the fad:, 
 as far as any number could do it. 
 
 The miracle of the gift of tongues, 
 conferred on the apoftles, and ail the 
 primitive Chriftians, could not but be 
 
 known 
 
t6z TH5 EVIDENCES OF 
 
 known to all the country; and in every- 
 place in which it was conferred. The cure 
 of the lame beggar at the gate of the tem^ 
 pie, was, from the circumftances of it, as 
 public as any thing of the kind could well 
 be^ and the deliverance of Peter and John 
 from prifoD, \vhcn the court and ail the 
 people kne^v of their commitment, and 
 were in expedation of their being pro* 
 duced, muft have engaged univerfal atten*' 
 tion. Paul was a perfon fo well know^n 
 to the chief priefts, and fo adive in the 
 perfecution of the Chriftians, that thedr- 
 cumflances of his converfion were, no 
 doubt, the fubjefi: of much converfation, 
 and the miracles that he performed in 
 ftriking Elynias with blindnefs in the pre- 
 fence of the governor of Cyprus, the cure 
 of the lame man at Lyftra, for which the 
 people would have facrificed to him as to 
 a god, his cm'e of the infane w<?man at 
 ThefTalonica, and of the demoniacs at 
 JEphefus, wei^e of the moft conipicuous 
 nature, 
 
 A. The 
 
REVEALED IIELIGION. 265 
 
 4. The miracles recorded in the fcrip- 
 tures, efpecially the great ones which at- 
 tended the promulgation of the law of 
 Mofes, and of chriftianity, where all per- 
 formed in the prefence of enemies, at lead 
 of perfons not at all predifpofed to believe 
 them, or to be convinced by them. It 
 appears that Mofes himfelf, who had re- 
 fided fm'ty years in Arabia, and was mar- 
 ried, and had fettled there, was exceed- 
 ingly averfe to undertake any thing in fa- 
 vour of his countrymen, and that they, 
 feeing no remedy, had acquiefced in their 
 ftate of fervitude ; but that his reludiance 
 was overcome by miracles, and the pofitive 
 command of God. 
 
 In his expoftulation with God on the 
 fubj€<ft, he €xpreffed the unwillingnefs of 
 his countrymen to believe his miiFion. On 
 the fight of the miracles which he was 
 impowered to work in their prefence, 
 they were fatisfied with refpe6l to it, but 
 their deliverence not being eftecled imme- 
 diately, and their fervitude being render- 
 ed more galling, they conceived great in- 
 dignation 
 
264 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 dignation againil: Mofes and Aaron, for 
 attempting it. We read, Exod. v. 20. 
 
 And they met Mofes and Aaron^ ivho Jlood in 
 the way, as they came forth from Pharoah^ and 
 they faid unto them, the Lord look upon you^ 
 and 'judge, hecaufe you have made our favour 
 to be ahbojTed in the eyes of Pharoah, and in 
 the eyes of his ferv ants, to put a f word into their 
 hands to (lay us, Mofes himfelf at this time 
 repented of his undertaking. For we read 
 V. 22. And Mofes returned unto the Lord, and 
 faid, wherefore kafl thou fo evil intreated this 
 people ? Why is it that thou haft fent me, for 
 fince I came to Pharoah to fpeak in thy name, 
 he hath done evil to this people, neither haft thou 
 , delivered thy people at all. On this Mofes re- 
 ceived farther encouragement, but when 
 he Ipake to his countrymen again, chap, 
 ix. they hearkened not unto him, for angidfh of 
 fpirit, and for cruel bondage. 
 
 When, in confequence of a feries of 
 miracles, of the moft aftoniihing kind, 
 the dehverance of the IfraeUtes was ac- 
 tually efFeded, and they had marched out 
 of the country, on perceiving that they 
 
 were 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 265 
 
 were purfued, they were exceedingly alarm- 
 ed, and faid unto Mofes, Exod. xiv. ri. 
 Becaufe there ivere no graves in Egypt, hajl 
 thou taken us away to die in the wilder nefs. 
 Wherefore haft thou dealt thus with us, to carry 
 us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the %uordthat 
 we did tell thee in Egypt ? faying. Let us alone 
 that we may ferve the Egyptians, For it had 
 been better for us to ferve the Egyptians, than 
 that we Jhoidd die in the wilder nefs. It was 
 almoft with as much reluftance that the 
 Ifraelites were induced to leave Egypt as 
 the Egyptians exprefled to let them go. 
 On every adverfe event, or hardlliip, we 
 find them making the fame complaints, 
 and regretting that they had left Egypt. 
 
 Thus, when they wanted water, we 
 read, Exod. xvii. 3. The people murmured 
 againft Mojes, and faid, wherefore is it that 
 thou haft brought us out of Egypt, to kill us 
 and our children, and our cattle with thirft. 
 And Mofes cried unto the Lord faying, what 
 fjall I do unto this people, they be almofi ready 
 to ftone me. Finding no flefh meat in the 
 wildernefs, they again repented that they 
 z h^d 
 
;j66 the evidences OF 
 
 had left Egypt, Num. xi. 4. They wept 
 Joying, Who jhall give lis flejh to eat. We remefnr 
 her the fif,o that we did eat freely in Egypt ^ the 
 cucumbers and the mellons^ the leeks ^ the onions^ 
 and the gar lick; but now is our foul dried away. 
 There is nothing at all hut this manna before our 
 eyes. 
 
 On the unfavourable report of the fpies, 
 who had been fent to explore the land of 
 Canaan, we read, Num. xiv,^ 2. All the 
 children of Ifrael murmured againfi Mofes and 
 dgainfl Aaron, and the whole congregation faid 
 unto them. Would God that we had died in the, 
 land of Egypt, or would God that we had died 
 in the wildernefs ; and wherefore hath the Lord 
 brought us unto this land to fall by the fword, 
 that our wives and our children foould be a 
 prey. Were it not better for us to return to 
 Egypt. Again, when they wanted water, 
 after paffing forty years in the wildernefs, 
 and been maintained by miracle all that 
 time, we read, chap. xx. 2. they gathered 
 theynfehes together againfi Mofes, and againfi 
 Aaron, and the people chode with Mofes, and 
 the people faid, Woidd God we had died when 
 
 our 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 267 
 
 our brethern died before the Lord, and why have 
 ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into 
 this ivildernefsy that we and our cattle foould 
 die there ; and wherefore have ye made us come 
 up out of Egypt y to bring us to this evil place? 
 It is not a place of feed , or of figs, or vines ^ 
 or pomegranates, neither is there any uuater to 
 drink. Laftly, When Arad the Canaanite 
 fell upon them, and took fome prifoners, 
 we read, Numb. xxi. 4. the fovtls of the 
 people were much difcouraged, hecaufe of the 
 way, and the -people Jpake againfl God and 
 agai?t/i Mofes, Wherefore have ye brought us up 
 Utt of Egypt, to die in the wilder^efs j for 
 there is no bread, neither is there any water, 
 and our foul loathe th this light bread. 
 
 As to the religion which Mofes pre- 
 fcribed to this people, there is the moft 
 abundant and indifputable evidence of their 
 having been very far indeed from having 
 had any predeliftion for it. On the con- 
 trary, they from the firft difcovered a dif- 
 like to it, and took every opportunity of 
 deferting it, and revolting to the more al- 
 z 2 luring 
 
268 THE EVIDENCES, &c. 
 
 luring rites of the neighbouring nations ; 
 and fuch as, no doubt, they had been ac- 
 cuftomed to, and been fond of, in Egypt. 
 But as this is a fubjeft of the greateft im- 
 portance, I fhall defer enlarging upon it 
 to the next opportunity. 
 
DISCOURSE X- 
 
 7he evidence of the Mofaic and Chrijlian 
 Religions. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 God, who, at fundry timcb, and in divers manners, fpake 
 in time paft unto the fathers, by the prophets, hath, in 
 theie laft days, fpoken unto us by his fon. 
 
 Heb i. I — 2. 
 
 1 N my laft Difcourfe, I obferved that 
 the only proper evidence of divine revela- 
 tion, is the exhibition of fomething to 
 which divine power alone is equal, or pro- 
 per miracles^ and that thefe, not being ana- 
 logous to common events, are, on that ac- 
 count, improbable, a prioriy and therefore 
 require more definite evidence, though 
 there is nothing that is poflible in itfelf, 
 but may be proved to have taken place by 
 
 humau 
 
270 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 human teftimony. And T farther obferv- 
 ed, that all that the moft fceptical perfons 
 could require in the cafe, were the follow- 
 ing circumftances, viz. that the miracles 
 muft be in fufficient number, and alfo 
 exhibited fo long, as to afford fufficient 
 opportunity to confider and examine them. 
 They mufi: be on fo large a fcale, or other- 
 wife of fuch a nature, as to exclude all 
 fufpicion of trick and impofition ; they muft 
 be exhibited before perfons who had 
 no previous difpofition to expeft or be- 
 lieve them; a great degree of attention 
 muft be excited to them at the time, and 
 a fufficient number of perfons muft be 
 interefted to afcertain their reality, while 
 the events were recent; the hiftory of 
 them muft be coeval with the events, and 
 the belief of them muft have produced a 
 lafting efFeft. 
 
 Three of the firft jnentioned of thefe 
 circumftances I have already fliewn are 
 found in the miracles recorded in the fcrip- 
 tures, and with refpeft to the next, I 
 have ftiewn that the Hebrew nation was 
 
 fufficiently 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. a-jt 
 
 fufRciently indifpofed to believe the divine 
 milfion of Mofes in general, and I fliall now 
 proceed to ihow that they were more par- 
 ticularly indifpofed to receive the religion 
 which he prefented to them, and which it 
 was the great obje6l of all the miracles to 
 eftablifh. So far, I have obferved, were 
 they from being predifpofed to receive and 
 embrace it, that from the very firft they 
 difcovered a diflike of it, and took every 
 opportunity of deferting it, and revolting 
 to the more alluring rites of the neighbour- 
 ing nations, and this difpofition continued 
 more than a thoufand years. 
 
 Upon Mofes's Haying in the mount 
 longer than the people expedled, and chink- 
 ing they ihould hear no more of him (for he 
 had been abfent forty days, and where he 
 could not find any fuftenance) we read Ex- 
 xxxii. I . the people gathered themfelves toge- 
 ther itnto Aarofiy and j aid unto him. Up make iis 
 gods that jloall go before us. For as for this 
 Mofes, the man that brought ns up out of the land 
 of Egypt, we ivot not luhat is become of him. 
 After- this, they made a golden calf, built 
 an altar before it, offered burnt offerings, 
 
 and 
 
a;^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and peace offerings, when the people fat 
 dovjii to eat and drink y and rofe up to play, no 
 doubt in the Hcentious manner in which the 
 religious feftivals of the Egyptians were 
 condufted. 
 
 A fevere judgment, and the return of 
 Mofes, brought them back to the new re- 
 hgion. But after they had pafled forty years 
 in the wildernefs, in which they had no 
 opportunity of fhewing their difpofition, 
 on coming into the neighbourhood of the 
 Moabites and Midianites, we read Numb. 
 XXV. I . the people began to commit whoredom with 
 the daughters of Moaby and they called the people 
 to the facrifces of their gods , and the people did 
 eaty and bowed down to their gods, and Ifrael 
 joined himfelfunto Baal Peor, Another heavy 
 judgment recovered them from this defec- 
 tion, but it is not probable that any reafon- 
 ing, or expoftulation, would have done it. 
 The miraculous paflage of the river 
 Jordan, the falling down of the walls of 
 Jericho, and their conquering the warlike 
 inhabitants of Canaan, devoted to the wor- 
 Ihip of idols, fatisfied the Ifraelites that 
 their God was fuperior to the gods of that 
 ' country, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 273 
 
 country, and tlierefore we read Jofh.xxiv* 
 31. that * Ifrael ferved the Lord all the 
 ^ days of Jofhua, and all the days of the 
 
 * elders who out lived Jofhca, who had 
 
 * known all the works of the Lord, that 
 
 * he had done for Ifrael/ But the very 
 next generation Ihewed a different dif- 
 pofition. For we read Jud. ii. 10. * w^hen 
 
 * that generation was gathered to their fa- 
 
 * thers, there arofe another generation af- 
 
 * ter them, which knew not the Lord, nor 
 
 * yet the works which he had done for 
 ^ Ifrael ; and the children of Ifrael did 
 
 * evil in the fight of the Lord, and ferved 
 
 * Baalim, and they forfook the Lord God of 
 ' their fathers, who brought them out of 
 
 * the land of Egypt, and followed other 
 
 * gods, of the gods of the people who were 
 
 * round about them, and bowed themfelves 
 
 * unto them, and provoked the Lord to 
 ^ anger, and they forfook the Lord, and 
 < ferved Baal and Afhtaroth.' 
 
 The hiftory of this people, till the time 
 of Samuel, is nothing but a repetition of 
 revolts, and punifliments for them, by the 
 invafion and oppreffion of fome neighbour- 
 ing 
 
274 THE EVIDENCES OF - ' 
 
 ing nation. ^ When they repented,' as we 
 read Jud. ii. 1 6. ' the Lord raifed up judges, 
 
 * who delivered them outof the hand of thofe 
 
 * that Ipoiled them, and yet they would not 
 
 * hearken unto their judges; but they went 
 *a whoring after other gods, and bowed 
 
 * themfelves unto them. They turned quick- 
 
 * ly out of the way which their fathers walk- 
 *edin, obeying the commandments of the 
 ' Lord, but they did not fo. And when the 
 
 * Lord raifed them up judges, then was the 
 ' Lord with the judge, and delivered them 
 
 * out of the hand of their enemies, all the 
 
 * days of the judge. And it came to pafs 
 
 * when that judge was dead, that they re- 
 
 * turned and corrupted themfelves more 
 
 * than their fathers, in following other 
 ^ gods, to ferve them, and to bow down 
 ^ unto them. They ceafed not from their 
 ^ own doings, and from their ftubborn way. 
 ' And the anger of the Lord was hot againft 
 ^ Ifrael, and he faid, Becaufe this people 
 ^ has tranfgrefled my covenant, which I 
 ^ commanded their fathers, and have not 
 
 * hearkened unto my voice, I alfo will not 
 ' henceforth drive out any from before 
 
 them. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. a;^ 
 
 ' them, of the nations which Jofhua left 
 
 * when he died, that through them I may 
 
 * prove Ifrael, whether they will keep the 
 
 * way of the Lord, to walk therein, as their 
 
 * fathers did keep it, or not. 
 
 For thefe revolts they were reduced 
 into fervitude, firft by Cufhan-rilhathaim, 
 king of Mefopotamia, from whofe power 
 they were refcued by Othniel, then by 
 the king of Moab, from whom they were 
 delivered by Ehud ; then by the Phiiif- 
 tines, when they were delivered by Sham- 
 gar. From Jabin king of Canaan, they 
 were delivered by Deborah and Barak ; 
 from the Midianites by Gideon, from the 
 Ammonites by Jephtha, from the Phiiif- 
 tines a fecond time, in part by Samfon, 
 but more completely by Saul and David, 
 under whom the worlhip of Jehovah was 
 rendered triumphant ; and in that ftate it 
 continued till the latter end cf the reign 
 of Solomon, when he had the weaknefs 
 not only to indulge his v/ives, taken from 
 the neighbouring nations, in the worfhip 
 of the gods of their refpedive countries, 
 but to join them in it. 
 
 Notwithflanding ' 
 
276 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Notwithftanding the very flourilhing 
 ftate of the affairs of the Ifraelites in the 
 reigns of David and folomon, which was 
 always in thofe days, and long afterwards 
 afcribed to the power of the gods that 
 they worfliipped, the ten tribes which re- 
 volted from the houfe of David, revolted 
 alfo from the religion of Mofes, at firfl; in- 
 deed by only fetting up images at Dan and 
 Bethel, in honour of the true God, but 
 afterwards, and elpecially in the reign of 
 Ahab, worihipping Baal, and all the hoft 
 of heaven. And though by the judgment 
 of a three years draught, in which they 
 found that the worfhip of Baal could give 
 them no relief, and the feafonable miracle 
 of Elijah at mount Carmel, they were re- 
 covered, at leaft for fome time, from this 
 fpecics of idolatry, they continued to wor- 
 fhip the calves at Dan and Bethel, till 
 their captivity by the Affyrians ; when 
 they became fo mixed and incorporated 
 with other nations, as not to be diftin- 
 guiflied ; and whether they be now difco- 
 vered or not, they are without any badge 
 of their antient religion, to which it is evi- 
 dent 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 27; 
 
 dent they never difcovered any attach- 
 ment. 
 
 The kingdom of Judah havmg the 
 temple within its limits, and other advan- 
 tages, adhered better to the worfhip of 
 the true God, but with feveral remark- 
 able departures from it, as in the reign of 
 Rehoboam the fon of Solomon, who as 
 we read, 2 Chron. xii. i. forfook the law of 
 the Lord, and all Ifrael with him ; in that of 
 Jehoram, the fon of Jehofaphat, of Aha-/ 
 ziah, of Joalh, after the death of the pious 
 high-prieft Jehoiada, of Ahaz, of Manaf- 
 feh, who made ufe of the temple itfelf, 
 for the worfliip of other gods ; and of 
 Amon, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, whofe 
 reign was put an end to by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar taking Jerufalem, deftroying the tem- 
 ple, and carrying the people into captivity 
 to Babylon. 
 
 If this hiftory, of which I have only 
 given a faint outUne, do not fupply fuffi- 
 cient and redundant evidence of the dif- 
 like which the Ifraehtes had to the infti- 
 tutions of Mofes, and confequently of the 
 reluftance with which they muft have re- 
 ceived^ 
 
278 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ceived, and conformed to them, nothing 
 can be proved concerning the difpofition 
 and turn of thinking of any people what- 
 ever. It cannot, therefore, be denied, 
 that all the miracles wrought to eftablifli 
 this religion, and confirm them in it, may- 
 be confidered as exhibited before enemies, 
 perfons predifpofed not to receive, but to 
 cavil at, and rejeft it. This is the more 
 remarkable, as there is no other inftance 
 in ajl hiftory, of any nation voluntarily 
 abandoning the religion of their anceftors 
 till the promulgation of chriftianity, be- 
 fore which they all gradually difappeared, 
 like clouds before the fun. 
 
 The Babylonifti captivity having been 
 foretold, together with its cxadl duration, 
 by the Hebrew prophets, and the over- 
 throw of Babylon, famous for its addidl- 
 ednefs to idol worfhip, effeftually cured 
 thofe of the Jews who returned to their 
 own country, and no doubt many others, 
 of any difpofition to the worfliip of fo- 
 reign gods, but they were not by thj^ 
 means the more, but in fad, the iefs dif- 
 pofed to receive the miracles of Jefus. 
 
 Indeed 
 
REVEALED RELIGIOlT. 279 
 
 Indeed it is evident that they had not been 
 previoufly difpofed to believe any miracles, 
 For before the appearance of Jefus, there 
 had been no pretenfions to a power of 
 working miracles in the country, a cir- 
 cumftance which by no means agrees with 
 the charge commonly advanced againft 
 the Jews as a credulous people. It is weU 
 known, however, that when Jefus appear- 
 ed, the nation in general, then in a ftate of 
 fubjeflion to the Romans, a fituation which 
 they ill brooked, were in anxious expecta- 
 tion of the appearance of the Meffiah an- 
 nounced by their prophets, and who 
 they took for granted, was immediately 
 to aflUme the chara£ler of a temporal 
 prince, refcue them from their fubjeftion 
 to the Romans, and give them the domi- 
 nion of the whole world ; and certainly 
 to this charafter .that of Jefi^s bore no re- 
 femblance, 
 
 Befides, Jefus's free confure of the 
 priefts, and leading men in the nation, 
 foon made them his moft bitter enemies. 
 They, feeing, th?.t whatever he was, they 
 
 had 
 
iSa THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 had nothing to expeft from himy fpared no 
 pains to deftroy him, and did not reft till 
 they had actually compaffed his death. 
 All the miracles of Jefus, therefore, were 
 exhibited before enemies. Even the moft 
 virtuous and beft difpofed of the Jews 
 were as much attached to the idea of a 
 temporal prince, for their Meffiah, as any 
 of their countrymen, fo that even this 
 part of the nation muft have been exceed- 
 ingly indifpofed to receive Jefus in that 
 charaiSler ; and when they did it, it was 
 with the idea that, though he did not aflume 
 it then, he would at fome future time. 
 Even after his refurreftion, the apoftles 
 afked him whether he would at that time 
 rejlore the kingdom to Ifrael, Afts i. 6. and 
 their minds w^ere not fully enlightened 
 on this fubjeft till after the defcent of the 
 Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecoft. 
 
 The refurreftion of Jefus, though 
 the moft pleafmg event to all his difciples, 
 was a thing of which, it is evident, they 
 had no expe6bation after his death, fo that 
 it was not without the greateft difficulty, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 281 
 
 and the moft undeniable evidence, that of 
 their own fenfes, that they were brought to 
 believe it. The manner in which the apoftle 
 Thomas exprefled his incredulity on the fub- 
 jeft, is very remarkable. He was not pre- 
 fent at the firft appearance of Jefus, and 
 when the others, as we read, John xx. 25, 
 faid unto him, We have feen the Lord, he 
 faid unto them. Except I fee in his hands the 
 prints of his nails , and put my finger into the 
 print of the nails y and thrufi my hand into his 
 fide, I will not believe. In this particular 
 however, Jefus, the next time that he ap- 
 peared to his difciples, gave him the fatis- 
 faftion that he demanded. Yor he faid to 
 Tho7nas, Reach higher thy finger, and behold my 
 hands y and reach hither thy hand, and thruft it 
 into my fide, and be not faithlefs, but believing. 
 No doubt all the reft of the apoftles were at 
 firft, in the fame ftate of mind with refpeft 
 to this event. In this cafe, therefore, even 
 ' the difciples of Chrift, may be confidered 
 as prejudiced againft the reception of this 
 great miracle, and are by no means to be 
 charged with credulity. 
 
 A a The 
 
2S2 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The apoftles, and all the firft preachers 
 of chriftianity, were in the fame fituation 
 with refpe^l to the great body of the Jews, 
 that Jefus had been in before them; and 
 nothing could be more violent than the op- 
 pofition they aftually met with. One of 
 the mofi: remarkable converfions, was that 
 of Paul, and in the hiftory of it, we fee, 
 in the ftrongeft light, the extreme preju* 
 dice which even the better kind of Jews, 
 entertained againft chriftianity. Nothing 
 lefs than the appearance of Jefus himfelf, 
 was able to effeft his converfion. Of the mi- 
 raculous circumftances attending this con- 
 verfion, his chofen companions, men who, 
 no doubt, were actuated with as much zeal 
 as himfelf, againft the new religion, and 
 who probably continued enemies to it, were 
 witneifes, and to them he afterwards ap- 
 pealed for what they faw and heard, viz. a 
 light furpaffmg that of the fun at noon-day, 
 and the found of a voice, though they did 
 not diftinguifli the words, that were dired:- 
 ed to him. 
 
 As 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 283 
 
 As to the Gentiles, nothing can be ima- 
 gined more unpromifing than the mifTion 
 of the apoftles to them. The pride of the 
 Jews, and the contempt with which they 
 treated other nations, had given rife, as 
 was natural, to an equal degree of hatred 
 and contempt on their fide; fo that nothing 
 coming from a JeWy was at all likely to 
 be favourably attended to by them. The 
 heathens in, general, and the Greeks and 
 Romans in particular, were moft ftrongly 
 attached to the rites of their religions,- and 
 thought the obfervance of them necelfary 
 to the profperity of their feveral ftates. 
 The graveft magiflrates dreaded the dif- 
 continuance of them, and the profligate and 
 licentious among the heathens, gave a loofe, 
 as I have fliewn, under the fanftion of re- 
 ligion, to their favourite vicious propenfi- 
 tiea, in the greateft latitude. The learned 
 and philofophical among the heatliens, 
 looked with the greateft contempt on the 
 plainnefs and want of eloquence, in, the 
 apoftles, and other preachers of chriflanity. 
 In this ftate of things, then, was it td^be 
 A a 2 expefted 
 
2U THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 expefted that the heathen woi^id hi general, 
 would be at all credulous, with refpefl: to 
 miratles wrought by fuch men. On the 
 contrary, the preachers of chriftianity, had 
 nothing to expecS but the extreme of in- 
 credulity. In faft, great numbers could 
 not be brought to give the leaft attention 
 to any thing that was reported concerning 
 them, or to look into any of their books. 
 Dr. Lardner obferves, that it is pretty evi- 
 dent that even Pliny, who gave the empe- 
 ror Trajan an account of his proceedings 
 againft the Chriftians, and his examination 
 of them, when they were brought before 
 his tribunal, (and he was a man of letters) 
 had not read any of the books of the New 
 Teftament, or any other writings of ChriA 
 tians, which were unqueftionably extant. 
 If, therefore, the new religion did make 
 its way, it muft have been againft every 
 poflible difadvantage, and hiftory fhews that 
 this was the cafe. 
 
 5. In order to fecure credit to accounts 
 of fniracles, there muft be both opportunity ^ 
 and motive^ for examining into the truth 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^S^ 
 
 of the fads. Now, the miracles being 
 numerous, a circumftance on which I have 
 already enlarged, gives opportunity for ex- 
 amination ; fo alfo does that of their conti- 
 nuance fome fpace of time, and this was the 
 cafe with refpeft to many, I may fay almoft 
 all the miracles, which have been already 
 mentioned, particularly the fever al plagues 
 of Egypt, none of which were momentary 
 appearances, but all were of fome days 
 continuance. Such, alfo, was the pafTage 
 through the red fea, and the river Jordan, 
 one of which took up a whole night, and 
 the other a whole day. The fame was the 
 cafe with refpeft to the delivery of the 
 ten commandments from mount Sinai, but 
 more efpecially the miracle of the manna, 
 and the pillar of cloud and fire, which 
 continued forty years. 
 
 The cures performed by Jefus, though 
 inftantaneous, produced lafting effefts, efpe- 
 cially his raifing of the dead, as of Lazarus, 
 which, as we read, excited much curiofity 
 to fee him afterwards. Our Saviour's own 
 appearance after his refurreftion, was not 
 
 like 
 
286 THE EVIDElSrCES OF 
 
 like that of an apparationin the night, but 
 always in the day time, and frequently re- 
 peated. His firft appearance was when 
 his difciples had no expeftation of any fuch 
 thing, fo that they could not have been 
 deceived by their imaginations, and after- 
 wards by particular appointment, fo that 
 they had time to recolleft themfelves, and 
 to procure any kind of fatisfa6tion that 
 they w^anted ; and this continued the fpace 
 of forty days before^ his afcenfion, which 
 appears to have been leifurely, fo that 
 they who were prefent flood gazing fome 
 time, while they faw him go above the 
 clouds. He did not leave them in a private 
 manner, and go they knew not w^hither. 
 
 But the beft opportunity for examining 
 the truth of any fafts, is when fome per- 
 fons aflert, and others deny them, and 
 when they are at the fame time much in- 
 terefted in the event of the inquiry, as by 
 having what is moft dear to them depend- 
 ing upon it. And this was remarkably 
 the cafe with refpeft to the refu/reftion of 
 Jefus. With refpeft to his miracles, and 
 
 alfo 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 287 
 
 alfo thofe of the apoftles, there does not 
 appear to have been any difpute about 
 them, by thofe who were then in the 
 country. They only afcribed them to a 
 falfe caufe. But Jefus not appearing to all 
 perfons after his refurreftion, and efpecially 
 not to his enemies, but only to his friends, 
 though in numbers abundantly fufRcient 
 for the purpofe, his enemies denied that 
 facl. 
 
 The fad:, however, was of fo very 
 important a nature,, that we cannot doubt 
 but that it muft have been thoroughly 
 hiveftigated, much more fo than any other 
 fad; in all hiftory, becaufe infinitely more 
 depended upon it, than upon any other fad 
 whatever. For in a very Ihort time fuch was 
 the rage of the rulers of the Jews againft the 
 rifing fed:, that not only were the peace, and 
 the property, but the lives of the Chriftians 
 at flake, and thefe they would not give up 
 for an idle tale. At the fame time their 
 perfecutors, who were the men in power, 
 ftimulated by hatred and oppofition, would 
 leave nothing untried to refute the ftory. 
 This ftate of things began immediately 
 
 after 
 
a8S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 after the refurreftion of Jefus, and continu- 
 ed about three hundred years, during all 
 which time the Chriftians, though expofed 
 to previous perfecution, kept increafing in 
 number, till at the time that Conftantine 
 was advanced to the empire, it was not 
 only fafe, but advantageous to him to de- 
 clare himfelf a Chriftian. We may there- 
 fore be fatisfied, that the great fa6l of the 
 refurredion of Jefus, on which the truth of 
 chriftianity more particularly depends, un- 
 derwent a more thorough inveftigation 
 than any other fa£l in hiftory. 
 
 This rigorous fcrutiny began while the 
 event was recent, and when there was, 
 accordingly, the beft opportunity of ex- 
 amining into its truth or falfehood. Paul, 
 who fays that Jefus at one time appeared 
 to more than five hundred perfons, fays 
 that the greater part of them were then 
 living, and of courfe liable to be interro- 
 gated on the fubjed:. Now, had Jefus 
 appeared as publicly after his crucifixion 
 as he did before, and of courfe the whole 
 Jewifh nation had become Chriftians, we 
 
 fhould 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. z^ 
 
 ihould now have been without this moft 
 fatisfaftory argument for the truth of the 
 fa<a. 
 
 It w.ould, in this cafe, have been faid, 
 that the Jews, always a credulous nation, 
 (though this has appeared to have been the 
 reverfe of the truth) had for fome reafon 
 or other, which it is now impoffible to af- 
 certain, changed their religion, or ra- 
 ther made fome addition to what they 
 profefled before, ,and that as no perfon 
 objefted to it at the time, there is no evi- 
 dence now before us that the fads, or 
 reafons, on which it was founded, were 
 properly fcrutinized ; and that it is impof- 
 fible to do it at this diftance. And thus 
 chriftianity might have fpread no farther 
 than Judaifm. 
 
 6. To enfure the credibiHty of mi- 
 racles, it muft appear that the accounts of 
 them were written while the fafts were 
 recent, fo that an appeal might be made 
 to living witnefles, and this was never in 
 antient times queflioned with relpeft to 
 the principal books of the Old or the New 
 
 Teflament. 
 
ago THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Teftament. Befides, the internal evidence 
 of the books afcribed to Mofes, having 
 been written hy him, or by fome perfon 
 under his diredlion, which to every im- 
 partial reader of them, muft appear 
 ftronger than the evidence of any other 
 books having been written by any other 
 perfons, whofe names they bear, the faft 
 was never doubted by the Hebrew nation, 
 the only proper witneffes in the cafe, from 
 the earlieft times to the prefent; and no- 
 thing ftronger than this can be faid in fa- 
 vour of the authenticity of any writings 
 whatever. 
 
 This argument is peculiarly ftrong 
 with refpeft to the writings of Mofes, on 
 account of the reluctance with which thofe 
 writings, and the whole hiftory of that 
 nation, fhows, that they received his in- 
 ftruclions. If thofe of the Ifraelites who 
 were addicted to the religious rites of 
 the neighbouring nations, and who were 
 frequently the majority of the people, 
 could have Ihewn that the books afcribed 
 to Mofes, were not written hy him, or 
 
 by 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. agi 
 
 by his authority; would they not have 
 done it, and thereby have had the beft 
 reafon for continuing in the rehgion they ^ 
 preferred ? And what motive would any 
 man have to forge books which could be 
 fure to give the greateft offence, and could 
 not fail to be rejefted with contempt and 
 indignation I 
 
 The account of the death of Mofes in 
 the laft chapter of the book of Deuterono- 
 my, could not have been written by him- 
 felf. But what was more natural, than for 
 fome perfon of eminence, acquainted with 
 the fad, perhaps Joihua, or the high priefl 
 at the time, adding this account to the 
 writings of Mofes, and its being afterwards 
 annexed to them. Alfo, notes by way of 
 explanation of certain paflages, were, no 
 doubt, firft inferted in the margin, as has 
 been the cafe with many antient books, 
 and afterwards added by tranfcribers, in 
 the text. But fuch circumftances as thefe 
 are never thought to affea; the genuinenefs 
 of any antient writings. Judicious criti- 
 cifm eafily diftinguiflies the cafual additions, 
 
 from the original text. 
 
 The 
 
»9» THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The internal evidence of the authen- 
 ticity of the writings of Mofes is peculiarly 
 ftrong. No other than a perfon aftually 
 prefent at tlie tranfaftions could have re- 
 lated them in the manner in which we 
 find his narratives written, with fo many 
 particulars of perfons, times, and places, 
 and with fo natural an account of the im- 
 preffion that was made on the minds of 
 men by the events that he relates*. 
 
 * That additions may be made to books, and even fuch 
 as the writers difapprove of, we have a remarkable inftance 
 of in the firft part of Mr. Paine* s Age of Reafon. In the fecond 
 part juft publiftied in this city, he fays, p. 84. " The for- 
 ** mer part of the Age of Reafon has not been pubhUied two 
 " years, and there is already an expreflionin it that is not mine. 
 *' The expreffion is. The book of Luke was carried by a majority of 
 ** o?ie -vote only. It may be true^., but it is not I that have faid 
 " it. Some perfon, who might know of that circumftance, 
 *' has added it in a note at the bottom of the page of fome of 
 *' the editions, printed either in England or in America, and 
 *^ the printers, after that have erefted it into the body of the 
 ** work, and made me the author of it. If this has happen- 
 *• ed within fuch a fliort fpace of time, notwithftanding the 
 ** aid of printing, which prevents the alteration of copies 
 *' individually, what may not have happened in a much 
 *' greater length of time, where there was no printing.** He 
 adds, " and when any man who would write, could make 
 " a written copy, and call it an original by Matthew, Mark, 
 "Luke, or John." But though this might eafily happen 
 with reipe^ft to flight circumftances> according with the reft of 
 
 a book. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 29^ 
 
 It ihould alfo be confidered, that books 
 were not forged till men were practifed m 
 the art of writing, and many books had 
 been written, fo that confiderable ad- 
 vances had been made in the art of com** 
 pofition and of criticifm. We may there- 
 fore conclude with certainty, that the 
 books afcribed to Mofes, which are un- 
 queftionably of as great antiquity as any 
 in the world, except perhaps the book of 
 Job, and a very few others mentioned by 
 Mofes, are no forgeries. Otherwife, the 
 art of forging hiftorical writings, the moil 
 difficult of all others, was brought to the 
 greateft perfeftion all at once, a fuppofi- 
 tion that cannot be admitted. Indeed, 
 there does not appear to have been the 
 
 a book, well known to exift, the fabrication of zvlwle boohy 
 which were not known to exift at all, and impofing them 
 on the world, when the belief of their contents drew after 
 it the facrifice of every thing dear to a man in life, and 
 often of life itfelf, was not fo eafy. 
 
 The infertion Mr. Paine complains of, being a recent 
 thins, and all the editions of his book not very numerous, 
 may be traced to its author, and it behoves" him, or his 
 friends, to do it ; but this cannot be done with refpe6l X.Q 
 books written two or three thoufand years ago. 
 
 leaft 
 
294 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 leaft fufpicion of the forgery of any books 
 till after the time in which all thofe of the 
 Old Teftament are well known to have 
 been extant. There cannot, therefore, be 
 any reafonable doubt but that the books 
 afcribed not only to Mofes, but thofe to 
 the prophets Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
 and Daniel, are genuine, except fo far as 
 they may have fuffered by tranfcribers. 
 
 The objeftion of Porphyry to the book 
 of Daniel, that it was written after the 
 time of Antiochus Epiphanes (for which 
 it does not appear that he had any other 
 evidence than the exaft fulfilment of fome 
 part of his prophecies in the events) is 
 certainly not to be regarded. It can de- 
 rive no more weight from the time in 
 which he w^rote, than if it had been firft 
 advanced at this day, becaufe it is only 
 an argument from what appears on the 
 face of the book itfelf, which is before us, 
 as it was before him. And at that time 
 the evidence of the whole Jewifh nation, 
 which had always received that book, and 
 in fafl: that of the Samaritans too, who, 
 
 as 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 295 
 
 as far as appears, never objedted to it, 
 was againft him. 
 
 It is moreover felf evident, and in- 
 deed never was denied, that the books of 
 the Old Teftament were written by dif- 
 ferent perfons, and at different times. That 
 any number of them fhould have been 
 written by the fame perfon, or a combina- 
 tion of perfons, and impofed upon a whole 
 nation as written in former times, and by 
 different perfons in thofe times (efpecially 
 confidering the many ungrateful truths 
 contained in thefe books) is an hypothefis 
 which no perfon will fay is even poffible. 
 Coiifequently, the references to particular 
 books from others, may fafely be admitted 
 as an evidence of their genuinenefs, which 
 is the principal argument for the age, and 
 the genuinenefs, of all other antient writ- 
 ings. Now it appears from the books of 
 Kings and Chronicles, that Ifaiah lived in 
 the time of Hezekiah, and from the fame 
 that Jeremiah lived at the time of the fiege 
 of Jerufalem by Nebuchadnezzar, which 
 is abundantly evident from his own writ- 
 ings. 
 
ag6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ings. The narrative part of the book of^ 
 Jeremiah is remarkably circumflantial, fo as 
 to render its internal evidence unqueflion- 
 able. I do not even think it poffible for 
 anyperfon of the leaft degree of judgment 
 Jn thefe matters, to entertain afufpicion of 
 its being a forgery of a later time. Jere- 
 miah is alfo mentioned in the book of Da- 
 niel. Such too is the internal evidence 
 for the genuinenefs of the book of Ezekiel 
 v^ho makes mention of Daniel, of that of 
 Daniel too, and of all the other propheti- 
 cal books, in which there is any mention 
 of or allufion to hiftorical fadls. 
 
 A circumftance which adds to the au- 
 thenticity of the writings of Mofes, is, 
 that the folemn cuftoms and religious rites 
 of the Jews, fuch as their public feftivals, 
 and efpecially the obfervance of the paff- 
 over, were coeval with them, fo that they, 
 as it were, vouch for each other. The 
 paflbver was a folemn cuftom, exprefsly 
 inftituted, in commemoration of the deli- 
 verance of the Ifraelites from their bond- 
 age in Egypt, and began to be obferved at 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. g^7 
 
 the very time ; fo that accompanied as it 
 is with the written account of it, it is the 
 moft authentic of all i^ecords. No other 
 event in hiftory, is fo fully authenticated 
 as this, except that of the death of Chrift, 
 by a firnilar rite, viz. that of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 The early exiftence of the fed: of tlie 
 Samaritans affords a proof that the books 
 of Mofeshave not undergone any material 
 alteration from before the time of the Ba- 
 bylonifli captivity. If Ezra, who collefted 
 the books after that event, had made any 
 material alteration in them, the Samari- 
 tans, who were then extremely hoftile to 
 him, and to all who refided and woriliip- 
 ped at Jerufaiem, would, no doubt, have 
 expofed it. But in our Saviour's time, 
 they had the fame refpe£l for the books of 
 Mofes, that the Jews themfelves ever had, 
 arid this they have at this very day. It 
 is probable too, that tliey had the fame 
 refpefl: for the writings of the prophets, 
 though they did not make ufe of them in 
 their religious w^orlhip, and therefore had 
 
 B b 110 
 
298 THE EVIDENCES Of 
 
 no copies of them ; for they appear (John 
 iv. 25;) to have expefted a Meffiah, of 
 whom there is no account, but in the wri- 
 tings of the prophets. 
 
 There is fimilar evidence, internal and ex- 
 ternal, that the principal books of the New 
 Tefl anient, by which I mean the hiftorical 
 ones, and alfo that the epiftles of Paul, 
 were written while the events were recent, 
 and that they were received as fuch, by 
 thofe who were mofl: interefted in their con- 
 tents. This was never queftioned by any 
 unbeliever, within feveral hundred years of 
 the time of their publication. It was admit- 
 ted by Celfus, and the emperor Julian, both 
 of whom wrote againft chriftianity, and did 
 not even queftion the truth of the greater 
 part of the miracles recorded in them. 
 And yet Mr. Paine, ignorant of this, af- 
 ferts in the fecond part of his Age ofReafon; 
 p. 83. that ^ there is not the ieaft fhadow 
 ^ of evidence, who the perfons were that 
 ^ wrote the books afcribed to Matthew, 
 * Mark, Luke or John, that none of the 
 ^ books of the New Teftament, were writ- 
 ten 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 299 
 
 ^ ten by the men called apoflles, and that 
 
 * there was no fueh book as the Nevj 
 
 * Tejlamenty till more than three hundred 
 
 * years after the time that Chrift is faid to 
 
 * have lived/ that is about the time of 
 Conftantine. On this fuppofition how ftu- 
 pendous a miracle, mull: have been the 
 overthrow of heathenifm, and the general 
 reception of Chriftianity, in the Roman 
 empire at that period. This would have 
 been far more extraordinary, than all the 
 miracles recorded in the fcriptures. But to 
 this obvious confequence of his hypothefis, 
 Mr. Paine had certainly given no attention. 
 In the fame manner, he alone, of all un- 
 believers, fays that none of the books of 
 the Old Teftament, were written before 
 the Babyloniih captivity. He might with 
 as much plaufibility, fay that the whole 
 Bible was a publication of the laft century. 
 
 Fafts fo interefting to thoufands, re- 
 corded in this manner, in books univerfally 
 received as genuine, by thofe who muft 
 have known whether they were fo or not, 
 have the teftimony not of the writers only, 
 B b 2 but 
 
300 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 but of the age in which they were pubUfli- 
 ed. In reality, the authenticity of the fails 
 recorded in the NewTeftament, does not at 
 ^11 depend on the authenticity of the books; 
 for chriflianity exifted, and had made a 
 tonfiderable fpread, long before any of 
 the books were written. The books were 
 iiot the caufe, but the cff^eS, of the belief 
 of it. The authors of thefe books were 
 not writers by profefFion, but only wrote 
 when neceffity, in a manner, called for 
 them, that is, when thofe who were beft 
 acquainted with the fafts, were about to 
 quit the ftage, and other perfons folicited 
 their teftimony to them, and this was not 
 till about thirty years after the death of 
 Ghrift, when there were Chriftians in all 
 parts of the Roman empire. The epifties 
 of Paul were written before that time, and 
 in them we find allufions to the ftate of 
 things, at the time of his writing, and 
 their exacl correfpondence to the hiftory, 
 would be a flrong confirmation of it, if ^ 
 fuch confirmation were wantinor. 
 
 7. In 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 33^ 
 
 7. In the laft place, the miracles i^e- 
 corded in the fcriptures, produced a great 
 and permanent eiFecl, correfponding to 
 their extraordinary nature ; which abun- 
 dantly proves that they were believed by 
 thofe before whom they were exhibited, or 
 who had the befl opportunity of informing 
 themfelves concerning them. Thofe which 
 were wrought in Egypt, effefted the deli- 
 verance of the Ifraelites from their ftate 
 of fervitude in that country, though they 
 were then the moft unwarlike, and their 
 mafters perhaps the moft warlike people in 
 the world, and exceedingly defirous to de- 
 tain them. 
 
 But what v/as much more than this, 
 addi<Sled as the Ifraehtes were to the religi- 
 ous rites of the Egyptians, and fond of fimi- 
 lar rites, in the religions of all the neigh- 
 bouring nations, fuch an impreflion was 
 made upon them by the miracles wrought 
 in their favour, and efpecially the delivery 
 of the law from mount Sinai, that they 
 actually adopted a very complex fyftem 
 of religion, the r-everfe of any thing of 
 
 the 
 
302 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the kind, to which they had been accuf- 
 tomed, and which they were far from being 
 predifpofed to Hke, or to receive; and in 
 all their apoftacies afterwards, it does not 
 appear that they ever dilbelieved the fafts. 
 They only thought they might join the 
 worlhip of other gods with that of their 
 own, at leaft with the acknowledgment of 
 the truth of their own, which was then 
 the prevailing fentiment of all nations, 
 who fcrupled not to admit the pretenfions 
 of other gods along with their own, and 
 to join in their worlhip efpecially in the 
 countries fuppofed to be under their imme- 
 diate protedlion, which was the cafe with 
 relpecl to the modes of worfhip, to which 
 the Ifraelites fo often revolted. On the 
 other hand, it appears, that the neighbour^ 
 ing nations entertained the greateft refpeft 
 for the God, and the religion, of the If- 
 raelites, though they did not conform to it. 
 This V7as the cafe with the Philiftines, the 
 Syrians, the Babylonians, and the Perfian? ; 
 as it would be eafy to fhew by facSs in 
 their hiftory. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 303 
 
 Thd efFed produced by the miracles 
 recorded in the New Teftament was ftill 
 more evident, becaufe more extenfive. 
 Many thoufands of the Jews became con- 
 verts to chriflanity on its firft promulga- 
 tion, notwithftanding their extreme aver- 
 fion to receive any fcheme of the kind, 
 from their attachment to their antient re- 
 ligion, which they thought to be incompa- 
 tible with the new, efpecially after the 
 admifTion of the Gentiles into the chrifU- 
 an church. From this time, indeed, 
 Jewifh converts were much iefs numerous 
 than before, this circumftance ihocking 
 their prejudices in a peculiar manner. 
 Many of thofe who were already chriflians 
 were exceedingly offended at it. 
 
 But the moft extenfive effed of the 
 miracles wrought by Chrift and the apof- 
 tles was the reception of chriflanity by 
 the Gentiles, attached as they were to the 
 rites of their antient religions, which 
 were enforced by the laws, and recom- 
 mended by all the learning and philofophy 
 of the age, and notwithftanding the 
 
 preachers 
 
304 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 preachers of the gofpel laboured under 
 the greateft difadva.itages, being Jews, 
 generally illiterate, and deftitute of any 
 talent of public fpeaking or writing, and 
 'having nothing to proraife theii' converts 
 but happiiiefs in another world, with per- 
 fecution in this. Yet with all thefe difad- 
 vantages, in a reafonable fpace of time, 
 and exceedingly Ihort, confidering the 
 magnitude of the event, a complete revo- 
 lution was effefted in all the Roman em- 
 pire, which at that time comprehended 
 almoll: all the civilized part of the world ; 
 the heathen religion which had prevailed 
 from time immemorial, being every where 
 difcredited, and new rites and cuftoms the 
 reverfe of them, adopted. 
 
 No revolution produced by force of 
 arms can be compared to this, which was 
 effefted without arms, by the mere force 
 of truth, the evidence of which mufl 
 have been invincibly ftrong to have pre- 
 vailed as it did. Incredulous as unbeliev- 
 ers now are, thoufands, as incredulous as 
 they, and more interefted than they can 
 
 be, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 305 
 
 be, to difcredit chriftianity, became 
 converts to it; and therefore, though 
 they now give Uttle attention to the evi- 
 dence, w^hich does not force itfelf upon 
 them, as it did upon thofe who Hved 
 nearer to the time of the tranfaftions, 
 had they Hved in thofe times, they might, 
 with the fame indifpofition to this reUgion, 
 have been unable to refift the evidence 
 with which the publication of it was ac- 
 companied. To do themfelves and the 
 queftion juftice, they fhould put them- 
 felves in the place of their predeceflbrs. 
 confider how the evidence flood in their 
 time, what was then obje(5led to chrftia- 
 nity by men as quickfighted and as preju- 
 diced as themfelves, and fay whether they 
 would abide by their objections. They 
 certainly would not, becaufe they go up- 
 on quite different principles, and fuch as 
 all modern unbelievers would rejeft, and 
 even with more contempt, than they re- 
 jeft chriftianity. Will they now afcribe 
 the miracles of Chrift and his apoftles to 
 
 the power of magic ? 
 
 The 
 
3o6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The ftate of the argument very near 
 to the promulgation of chriftanity is eafily 
 afcertained, and certainly ought to be par- 
 ticularly attended to. All that the antient 
 unbelievers objeded to chriftanity, has 
 been carefully coUeded by Dr. Lardner, 
 in his excellent work on Jewijlo and Heathen 
 TefiimonieSy and a fummary view of the 
 whole may be feen in the fecond part of 
 my Letters to a Philofophical Unbeliever. But 
 inattention y joined to averjion, to any fubjefl: 
 will account for any degree of incredulity 
 with refped: to it. Several among the 
 moft confiderable unbelievers in France 
 will not admit that there ever was any fuch 
 perfon a Jefus Chrift; when with more rea- 
 fon they might fay there were never fuch 
 perfons as Alexander the Great, or Julius 
 Caefar. 
 
 But the greateft eifeft produced by 
 the miracles recorded in the New Tefta- 
 ment, an effeft far more difficult to be ac- 
 complilhed than any change of opinion y or 
 Ipeculative principles, is from vice to vir- 
 tue, which, however, was produced in 
 
 thoufands. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 307 
 
 thoufands. For this we have the tefti- 
 mony of all hiftory. Be not deceivedy fays 
 the apoftle Paul, i Conn. vi. 9. neither 
 fornicatorsy nor idolatorSy nor adulterers^ 
 nor effeminate^ nor abiifers of themfelves with 
 mankindy nor thievesy nor covetous y nor drunk- 
 ards y nor revilersy nor extortioners y JJoall in- 
 herit the kingdom of God, And fuch ivere fome 
 of you. But ye ate -wafoed, hut ye are fanBi- 
 fiedy hut ye are juftifed in the name of the 
 LordJefuSy and by thejpirit of our Gody that 
 is by the power of chriftianity and its 
 evidences, commonly called the gift of 
 the Ipirit. 
 
 If we compare the evidence of the 
 miracles recorded in the fcriptures with 
 that of any that are mentioned by hea- 
 then writers, we Ihall foon be convinced 
 of the fuperiority of that of the former. 
 Mr. Hume fays, that the cure of the blind 
 and the lame man, faid by Tacitus and 
 Suetonius to have been performed by the 
 emperor Vefpafian, at Alexandria, is one of 
 the heft attejled of any in frofan'e hiflory^ 
 and he meant, I doubt not, in any hiftory* 
 
 But 
 
30& THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 But this boafted miracle is not related by 
 any perfon who was prefent. The oldeft 
 account we have of it being written about 
 thirty years after the event. It was not 
 exhibited before enemies. Such cures as 
 thefe might eafily have been pretended by 
 perfons prepared beforehand. The hea- 
 thens were very credulous with refped: to 
 things of this kind, and the report of thefe 
 might be very ufeful to procure credit to the 
 new emperor. There was no fcrutiny into 
 the truth of the fact at the time. Indeed 
 fuch fcrutiny would have been difcounte- 
 nanced, and not have been very fafe. And 
 laftly, the pretended miracles do not appear 
 to have produced any efFecS. It is even al- 
 moft certain, that the hiftorians themfelves 
 did not believe them. What then muft 
 have been the force of prejudice in a man 
 who could think that thefe miracles were ' 
 better attefted than thofe of the fcrip- 
 turcs? 
 
 Such, my brethren, is the outline, for 
 it is nothino- more, of the evidence of the 
 credibility of the miracles recorded in the 
 
 Old 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 309 
 
 Old and New Teftament. It is readily ac- 
 knowledged, that though the great truths 
 to be proved by them, have nothing in 
 them incredible, but on the contrary, are of 
 fuch a nature as to be both defirable in 
 themfelves, and probable, a priori confider- 
 ing the ftate of vice and ignorance in which 
 the world was involved^ when deftitute of 
 that light, and confidering the benevolence 
 of our common parent, who indeed per- 
 mits all evils, but only for a time, and 
 makes them fubfervient to good) they yet 
 require much ftronger evidence than ordi- 
 narj" fafts, in proportion to their want of 
 analogy to fuch events as fall under our 
 daily obfervation. But notwithftancling 
 this, the evidence for them is abundantly 
 fufficient for the purpofe. The miracles, 
 as I have fliewn, were fufEciently nmner- 
 ous, they were performed on the largefl; 
 fcale, they were, from their nature, free 
 from any fufpicion of trick and impofition, 
 they were exhibited in the prefence of 
 perfons the leaft predifpofed to believe 
 them, or to be influenced by them ; they 
 
 were 
 
3IO THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 were fubjefted to the moft rigorous exa- 
 mination at the time, and while they were 
 recent, the written accounts of them were 
 of the fame age with the events them- 
 felves, and they aftually produced the 
 moft extraordinary effects ; which proves 
 that they were fully aflented to at the 
 time, by thofe who had the beft opportu- 
 nity of inquiring into the truth, and the^ 
 ftrongeft motives for doing fo. 
 
 More than this it is not in the power 
 of any perfon to require, and therefore 
 it is all that is neceflary to the moft com- 
 plete fatisfaftion. I mean of the candid 
 and attentive. 
 
 For there is a ftate of mind in which 
 no evidence can have any effeft, as we fee 
 every day, and we muft not expeft that 
 miracles will now be wrought for the con- 
 vidion of any perfons, and leaft of all 
 miraculous changes in the difpofitions of 
 men's minds. Indeed, fuch miracles as 
 thofe do not appear ever to have been 
 wrought. All miracles were external, and 
 the reflection on them produced its natural 
 
 eifeft. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 311 
 
 eiFecl, on the minds of thofe who gave 
 due attention to them ; and who were 
 fuitably impreffed with them. 
 
 As to the proper time for working 
 miracles, and making this or that age the 
 witnefles of them, and of courfe the vouch- 
 ers of their reaUty to others, it is a queftion 
 which we muft acknowledge we are not 
 able to anfwer. But neither does it con- 
 cern us to anfwer it, any more than to 
 affign a reafon why it pleafed the Divine 
 Being to create the world, or men and 
 other animals, at one time rather than ano- 
 ther, or why he did not make more or 
 fewer planets to attend the fun, &c. &c. 
 Of every thing of this nature, he alone is 
 the proper judge. It is enough for us if 
 we be fatisfied, on fufficient evidence, that 
 miracles have been w^rought at any time, 
 and if we have been informed of the pur- 
 pofe for which they were wrought. If 
 they were adually feen by others, though 
 at ever fo great a diflance of time, they 
 ought, in reafon, to have the fame efre^l 
 as if feen by ourfelves, and we are as in- 
 
 excufable 
 
312 THE EVIDENCES, &c. 
 
 excufable, if we be not as much influenced 
 by them. And if God has fpoken, it can- 
 not be a matter of indifference, whether 
 we will attend to his voice or not. In this 
 cafe I may fay, after our Saviour, He that 
 hath ears to hear^ let him hear. 
 
DISCOURSE XL 
 
 The proof of Revealed Religion 
 frofu Prophecy. 
 
 I have even from the beginning declared it unto thee. Before 
 it came to pafs I flievved it thee, left thou ftiouldeft fay- 
 mine idol has done them, and my graven image, and my 
 molten image, have commanded them. 
 
 Isaiah, xlviii. 5, 
 
 X HERE is not, perhaps, any thing 
 more exclufively within the province of the 
 Supreme Being than the foreknowledge of 
 future events, depending on the voUtions 
 of men. For though all things future 
 may be faid to exift in their caufes, 
 which are prefent, thofe caufes are not 
 apparent, and their operations and com- 
 binations, are fuch as no human intelled 
 can trace ; fo that to us they are as con- 
 tingent, and uncertain, as if the caufes 
 did not exift. They who know mankind 
 c c m 
 
314 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 in general, and even particular perfons, 
 the beft, can only conjedure how they 
 will aft in given circumftances, and are 
 often miftaken; but how they will aft in 
 future timey when it cannot be known in 
 what circumftances they will then be, is 
 what no man will pretend to, and this 
 ftill lefs with refpeft to perfons then un- 
 born. A prediftion of a future and 
 diftant event, depending on the voluntary 
 aftions of men, has therefore the etreft of 
 a miracle of the moft indifputable kind. 
 Now many fuch are recorded in the fcrip- 
 tures, and confequently ought to be enu- 
 merated among the cleareft proofs of their 
 divine authority, and of the truth of the 
 religion they contain. For this reafon I 
 iliall make them the fubjeft of this dif- 
 courfe, ftiewing, from the circumftances 
 of the prediftions, that they are not lia- 
 ble to any juft fufpicion of impofture, 
 that in this refpeft they were the reverfe of 
 the oracles of the heathens, and that they 
 ^lave been clearly verified by the events. 
 
 There 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 31^ 
 
 There were two ways in which the 
 knowledge of future events was commu- 
 nicated to the Hebrews. One was by 
 confulting the oracle^ as it may be called, 
 when anfwers to particular queftions were 
 given to the high-prieft ; and the other 
 by prophets, who were raifed up from 
 time to time to fpeak to the people in the 
 name of God. I fhall confider the cir- 
 cumftances of both. 
 
 I. The regular method of confulting 
 the divine oracle, called inquiring of the 
 Lord, was by the chief magiftrate attend- 
 ing in the fandiuary along with tlie high- 
 prieft in his proper veftments, direfting 
 him what queftions to put; when the an- 
 fwers were equally heard by them both. 
 Thus when Joihua was appointed to fuc- 
 ceed Mofes, it is faid. Num. xxvii. 16. 
 And he Jhall Jlaiid by Eleazar the prieft, who 
 /hall afk council for him, after the judgment of 
 Uriniy before the Lord. From this it is ob- 
 vious, that it w^as not in the power of the 
 high-prieft to impofe upon the country 
 what he thought proper, as a divine ora- 
 c c 2 cle. 
 
3i6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 cle. It does not even appear that he 
 ever went of his own accord to confult 
 the oracle, but only when required to do 
 fo by the civil magiflrate, who attended 
 along with him, and heard the anfwer as 
 well as himfelf. Of this we have feveral 
 examples in the courfe of the fcripture 
 hiftory. Indeed, it is evident from the 
 w^hole hiftory of the Hebrews, that nei- 
 ther by this, nor by any other means, was 
 it in the power of the priefts to acquire 
 any more authority than w^as given them 
 in the original conftitution. 
 
 If this had been the cafe, they would 
 always have preferved their fuperiority 
 over any occafional prophet, whofe claim 
 to refped: interfered w^ith theirs. How, 
 for example, could it be fuppofed that the 
 old high-prieft Eli would eafily have ac- 
 quiefced in the divine communications 
 made to the child Samuel, which contain- 
 ed the heavieft denunciations againft him- 
 felf and his family ? But inftead of contra- 
 didling them, though delivered by a mere 
 child, he, with the greateft refignation, 
 
 replied. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 31; 
 
 replied, It is the Lord, kth'mi do what feemeth 
 him good. Surely here was no prieftcraft. 
 Neither under the judges, nor under the 
 kings, did any high-prieft acquire the 
 fmalleft addition to his civil power, or to 
 his emolument. 
 
 2. The Hebrew oracle appears to have 
 been acceifible at all times alike ; which w^as 
 not the cafe with the oracles of Greece. 
 That at Delphi could only be confulted 
 during one particular month in the year, 
 which was in the fpring; and, as it fhould 
 feem, only on a few dated days in that 
 month. At other times, as we are inform- 
 ed, the greateft princes could not by any 
 means obtain an anfwer. This certainly 
 gave the heathen priefts a better opportu- 
 nity of knowing what queftions were like- 
 ly to be propofed, and of being prepared 
 with the anfwers. 
 
 3. Noexpence attended the confultation 
 of the Hebrew oracle, fo that the priefts 
 ould not derive any emolument from it; 
 whereas the confulting of the Grecian ora- 
 cles was fo very expenfive, on account of 
 
 the 
 
3i8 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 the facrifices that were to be offered, and 
 the prefents that were expefted on the oc- 
 cafion, that only the great and the wealthy 
 could have accefs to them. The riches of 
 which the temple of Delphi was poffefTed, 
 from the donations of opulent princes, 
 fuch as Craefus king of Lydia, were im- 
 menfe ; but it does not appear that either 
 the tabernacle, or the temple, of the If- 
 raelites, gained any thing by this means. 
 
 4. Nothing was done to overawe the 
 perfons who confulted the Hebrew oracle; 
 or to affeft their imaginations, fo as to 
 prepare them to receive whatever anfwers 
 the prieft, who direfted the oracle, might 
 fuggeft; which was the cafe more or lefs, 
 with all the Grecian oracles, but elpecially 
 that of Trophonius. The perfon who con- 
 fulted this oracle went into a cavern, and 
 and not immediately, on his prefenting 
 himfelf, but after much folemn prepartion.* 
 
 ■* In this time all his food was the remains of facrifices, 
 and he was not permitted to bathe. After this he was waflied 
 by boys of thirteen years of age, and when this was done, he 
 drank of two waters, one of oblivion, and the other oi re- 
 membrance, and before he entered the cavern he was brought 
 
 to 
 
REVEALEiD RELIGION.' §i| 
 
 Such were the marks of terror and 
 melancholy with which perfons ufually 
 came out of this cavern, that when any 
 perfon was unufuall} dejefted, they faid he 
 looked as if he had been confulting the 
 oracle of Trophonius. 
 
 5. Ihe anfwer of the Hebrew oracle 
 was always delivered in an articulate voice, 
 which was not liable to mifconftruftion; 
 whereas all tlie Grecian oracles, except 
 that of Apollo, gave their anfwers in a 
 difl^erent manner, as by dreams, the flight 
 
 of 
 
 to a certain ftatue, before which he made fome prayers. 
 Being then conduced to the mouth of the cavern, he de- 
 fcended by a ladder, which he brought with him for the 
 purpofe. At the bottom of this defcent he came to a nar- 
 row paffage, through which he was required to thruft himfelf 
 with Kisfeet foremoft; but during this he was forcibly drag- 
 ged along till he came to the place where he was to wait foJr 
 his anfwer, which M^as fometimes given in words, and fome- 
 times only by appearances of various kinds. Afterthis, which 
 fometimes detained him more than a day, he returned 
 through the narrow paiTage in the fame manner as before, 
 viz. with his feet foremoft. 'J'he priefls then placed him on 
 a kind of throne, and inquired of him what he had heard 
 or feen, and they made the report to others, who then car- 
 ried him, commonly in a ft ate of ftupefa<ftion, v/ith terror 
 and aflonifliment, to the cnapel of good genius, and of 
 
 good 
 
320 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 of birds, or the entrails of beafts, &c, &c. 
 At Pherae, a city of Achaia, there was an 
 oracle of Mercury, where the perfon who 
 confulted it, after making the proper fa- 
 crifices and offerings, propofed his quef- 
 tion; and in order to get an anfwer to it, 
 walked with his ears flopped by his hands, 
 through the market-place, and then re- 
 moving them, took the firft words that he 
 happened to hear for the anfwer of the 
 oracle. At another oracle in Achaia, the 
 anfwer was given by throwing dice, in- 
 fcribed with particular charafters, which 
 the priefts interpreted. At another place 
 
 in 
 
 sood fortune, where after fome time he recovered his fenfes 
 and cheerfulnefs. This account is given by Paufanias, an 
 eminent Greek writer, who fays that he had himfelf con- 
 fulted this oracle. 
 
 Another perfon, of whom Plutarch gives an account, 
 was detained two days and nights in this cavern, and when 
 be came out he gave an account of many ftrange fights that 
 he had feen, and frightful founds that he had heard, refem- 
 bling the yellings and howlings of wild beafls, as well as a 
 difcourfe that was delivered to him Who does not fee 
 that it was in the power of the priefts to condu(ft all this 
 machinery juft as they pleafed, taking advantage of the 
 terror which was unavoidable in thefe circumftances ? 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 321 
 
 in the fame country, the anfwer of the 
 oracle, which was only given to queftions 
 relating to ficknefs, was given by letting 
 down a mirror into a fountain, and ob- 
 ferving the figures and images on its fur- 
 face. 
 
 6. There was no ambiguity in the an- 
 fwer given by the Hebrew oracle. It 
 was always plain and direft, not capable 
 of two conftruclions, of which the priefts 
 might avail themfelves on comparing it 
 with the event, as was remarkably the 
 cafe with refpeft to many of the an- 
 Iwers returned by the Grecian oracles, 
 even that of Apollo at Delphi, which, 
 however, was celebrated for the compa- 
 rative perfpicuity of its anfwers. Two 
 of thefe anfwers are particularly mention- 
 ed by Herodotus. 
 
 When the Lacedemonians inquired of 
 the oracle whether they ihould fucceed 
 in their attempt to conquer all Arcadia, 
 they received for anfwer, they ihould not, 
 but that he would give them Tegeay which 
 
 was 
 
32a "rtlS EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Was vety fruitful, and which they fhould 
 Ineafure with a line. On this they had no 
 doubt but that they Ihould gain the poflef- 
 fion of it ; but being defeated in battle, 
 inany of the Lacedemonians were made 
 prifoners, and compelled to cultivate the 
 ground for their conquerors; and in doing 
 this, they ma4e ufe of a line to meafure 
 it, which was deemed to be a fulfilment 
 of the oracle. Again, w^hen Craefus con- 
 fulted the fame oracle, on his engaging in 
 a war with Cyrus, he received for anfwer, 
 that if he did, he fhould overturn a great 
 empire, and that the Perfians would not 
 conquer him until they had a mule for 
 their prince. Being conquered, and lofing 
 his empire, he fent to upbraid the oracle 
 for deceiving him, but he w^as anfwered, 
 that the empire that was to be overturned 
 was his own, and that Cyrus being de- 
 fcended from a Perfian father, and a Me- 
 dian mother, was the mule intended by 
 the oracle. 
 
 The Hebrew oracle never returned 
 fuch anfwers as thefe, but always fuch as 
 
 were 
 
REVEALED RELIGIOlSf. 32^ 
 
 were dired:, and perfectly intelligible.^ 
 The divine oracle fubfifted, though irt 
 fome different manner, before the time of 
 Mofes. For we read that Rebecca, when 
 flie found herfelf with child, and felt a 
 violent motion in her womb, inquired of 
 the Lord, and received the following an- 
 fwer, Gen. XXV. 23, Two nations are in thy 
 tvomby and tzvo manner of people fall be fepa- 
 rated from thy bowels. The one fall be flronger 
 than the other, and the elder fall ferve the 
 younger. 
 
 When the oracle was confulted after 
 the death of Jofhua, v/e read, Jud. i. i . 
 Then Ifrael afked tbe Lord, faying. Who fall 
 go up, for us againfi the Canaanites firfi, to 
 fight againfi them, Jehovah faid Judahfall go 
 up, behold I have delivered the land into his 
 hand. David, in the courfe of his life, 
 received feveral anfwers from the oracle, 
 one of which was very particular. The 
 Philiftines fpreading themfelves, as we 
 read, 2 Sam. v. 23. in the valley of 
 Rephaim, v/hen David inquired of the 
 
 Lord, 
 
324. THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Lord, he faid, Thoujlmlt not go tipy hut fetch 
 a compafs behind them, and come upon them over 
 again fi the mulberry trees; and let it be ivhen 
 thou hearejl the found of a marching in the top 
 of the midberry trees ^ that then thou foalt befir 
 thyfelf for then Jhall the Lord go out before thee 
 to fmite the hofi of the Philijlines, Vv^e have 
 no account of any other anfwer from this 
 oracle, that was not equally plahi, and free 
 from ambiguity. 
 
 All the diretSlions and predidtions that 
 were occafionally delivered by the God of 
 Ifrael, or by angels commiffioned by him, 
 v/ere equally clear and intelligible. Such 
 was the original command given to Abra- 
 ham, Gen. xii. i. ' Get thee out of thy 
 
 * country, and from thy kindred, and from 
 
 * thy father's houfe, unto a land that I will 
 
 * fliew thee, and I will make of thee a 
 
 * great nation, and thou Ihalt be ablelling.' 
 fuch was the meffage to Hagar when ihe 
 fled from her miftrefs, Genefis. xvi. ii. 
 ' And the angel of the Lord faid unto her, 
 
 * Behold thou art with child, and fhalt 
 
 bear 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 32^ 
 
 * bear a fon, and call his name Ilhmael, 
 
 * and he will be a wild man; his hand will 
 
 * be againft every man, and every man's 
 
 * hand againft him, and he fhall dwell in 
 ^ the prefence of all his brethren.' A pre- 
 didion which has been exadly verified in 
 the general character, and hiftory, of the 
 Arabs, who are defcended from Ifhmael, 
 to this very day. All the commands of 
 God to Mofes were perfpicuous, and free 
 from ambiguity ; and fo were all the 
 divine communications without any excep- 
 tion. 
 
 Sometimes communications were made 
 in dreams, and by means of emblems; 
 but the interpretations were given in the 
 moft intelligible language. Thus Jofeph 
 in the interpretation of their refpedive 
 dreams, told Pharoah's baker, that after 
 three days he would be hanged, and that 
 the butler would at the fame time be re- 
 ftored to his office ; and he told Pharoah 
 that the next feven years would be years 
 of unufual plenty, but would be followed 
 by feven years of famine. The prophetic 
 dreams of Nebuchadnezzar were inter- 
 preted 
 
426 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 preted with i:he fame diftin^lnefs by Da- 
 niel, and DanieFs own dreams by an 
 angel. 
 
 Befides the regular oracle, to which 
 the Ifraelites had accefs on particular emer- 
 gencies, God was pleafed to fend to that 
 nation a fucceffion of prophets, and they 
 all delivered their meflages in the plaineft 
 language, as became the melfengers of 
 God. The greateft, and ftriftly fpeak- 
 ing, the firft, of thefe prophets, was 
 Mofes; and nothing could be more dif- 
 tin£l and intelligible than the manner in 
 which he always fpake in the name of 
 God, on a great variety of occafions; 
 and he was informed that tH^^e would be 
 a fucceffion of prophets, like himfelf, Deut. 
 xviii. 1 8. * I will raife them up a prophet 
 ' among their brethren, like unto thee, 
 
 * and will put my words in his mouth, 
 < and he fhall fpeak unto them all that I 
 
 * command him.' 
 
 An example of this we have in the 
 meflage which the prophet Ahijah was di- 
 refted to deliver to Jerufalem, of which 
 
 we 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 327 
 
 we have an account i Kings, xi. 29. 'And 
 
 * it came to pafs at that time, when Je- 
 
 * roboam went out of Jerufalem,' (which 
 was in the reign of Solomon,) ' that the 
 
 * prophet Ahijah the Shiionite found him 
 
 * in the way, and he clad himfelf in a new 
 
 * garment, and they two were alone in 
 
 * the field. And Ahijah caught the new 
 
 * garment that was on him, and rent it in 
 
 * twelve pieces. And he faid to Jerobo- 
 
 * am, Take thee ten pieces.* For thus 
 ' faith the Lord, the God of Ifrael. Be- 
 ' hold I will rend the kingdom out of the 
 
 * hand of Solomon, and will give ten 
 
 * tribes to thee, becaufe they have for- 
 
 * faken me, and have worfhipped Aflita- 
 
 * roth, the goddefs of the Sidonians, Che- 
 
 * mofh the god of the Moabites, and Mii- 
 
 * com the god of the children of Ammon, 
 
 * and have not walked in my way, to do 
 
 * that which is right in mine eyes, to keep 
 
 * my ftatutes and my judgments, as did 
 
 * David his father. Howbeit, I will not 
 
 * take the whole kingdom out of his hand, 
 
 * but I will make hi<n a prince all the 
 
 * days 
 
328 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 * days of his life, for my fervant David's 
 
 * fake, whom I chofe, becaufe he kept 
 ^ my commandments and my ftatutes: 
 
 * but I will take the kingdom out of his 
 
 * fon's hand, and will give it unto thee, 
 
 * even ten tribes, &c.* In the fame plain 
 and direft manner, did all the prophets 
 deliver themfelves ; as Elijah to Ahab, 
 Ifaiahto Ahaz,* and Hezekiah, and Jere- 
 miah to Zedekiah. With the fame dif- 
 tinftnefs did our Saviour deliver his pro- 
 phecy concerning the deftrudlion of Jeru- 
 falem, the demolition of the temple, and 
 the defolation of Judea. 
 
 Let this be compared with the manner 
 m which the pretended prophets among 
 
 the 
 
 * Mr. Paine charges Ifaiah with being a falfe prophet in 
 what he announced to Ahaz, concerning the invafion of 
 his kingdom by Rezin king of Syria, and Pckah king of 
 Ifrael, which was as follows. Ifaih vii. i, ' And it came 
 
 * to pafs in the days of Ahaz, the fon of Jotham king of 
 
 * Jiidah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the fon of 
 ' Remaliah, king of Ifrael, went up towards Jerufalem to war 
 ' againft it, but could not prevail againft it. And it was told 
 
 * the houfe of David, faying, Syria is confederate with Eph- 
 
 * raim; and his heart was moved as the trees of the wood 
 
 * are moved with the wind. Then faid the Lonl unto Ifaiah, 
 
 'Go 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. ^29 
 
 the heathens delivered themfelves. It was 
 always in a kind of madnefs, or ecftafy, to 
 give the appearance of fome other being 
 than themfelves fpeaking from within them, 
 or making ufe of their organs. When 
 the pythonefs at Delphi delivered the ora- 
 cle, with which fhe was fuppofed to be 
 infpired, fhe began to fwell and foam at the 
 mouth, tearing her hair, cutting her flefli, 
 
 and 
 
 * Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shear- jafliub thy 
 
 * fon, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the 
 ' high way of the Fullers field, and fay unto him, Take heed 
 'and be quiet, fear not, neither be faint-hearted, for the two 
 'tails of thefe fmoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of 
 ' Rezin with Syria, and of the fon of Remaliah, becaufe 
 'Syria, Ephraim, and the fon of Remaliah have taken evil 
 ' council againft thee, faying, Let us go up againft Judah 
 
 * and vex it, and let us make a king in the midft of it, even 
 ' the fon of Tabeal. Thus faith the Lord God, it fhall not 
 ' {land, neither fliall it come to pafs.' He farther afTured 
 him that before a child that was foon to be born could dif- 
 tinguifli between good and evil, the countries of his enem.ies 
 would be 'forfaken of both their kings.' 
 
 . On this Mr. Paine fays, p. 47, ' To fhew the impofition and 
 ' falfehood of Ifaiah, we have only to attend to the fequel of 
 
 * this ftory, which, though it is pafled over in filence in the 
 ' book of Ifaiah, is related in the 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles, 
 ' and which is, that, inflead of thefe two kings failing in 
 'their attempt againft Ahaz king of Judah, as Ifaiah had 
 'pretended to foretel in the name of the Lord, they fuc- 
 
 ceeded. 
 
 Dd 
 
330 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and in all her behaviour appearing as if 
 diftrafted. One of them was at one timefo 
 enraged, that fhe terrified not only thofe 
 who confulted the oracle, but the priefts 
 themfelves, fo that they ran away and left 
 her, and foon after fhe died. Others, 
 who were fuppofed to pry into futurity, 
 lay like dead men, deprived of all fenfe 
 and motion, and when they returned to 
 
 themfelves, 
 
 *ceecied. Ahaz was defeated and deftroyed, an hundred 
 ' and twenty thoufand of his people were flaughtered, Jeni- 
 ' falem was plundered, and two hundred thoufand women, 
 ' and fons and daughters, were carried into captivity. Thus 
 
 * much for this lying prophet and impoftor Ifaiah, and the 
 ' book of falfehoods that bears his name.' 
 
 Such is the charge, but the defence is extremely eafy. 
 The calamity which Mr. Paine, with much exaggeration 
 defcribes, was in the beginnhig of the reign of Ahaz, before 
 the prophecy was delivered. For it commenced about the 
 death of Jotham his predeceiTor. After reciting the events 
 of the reign of Jotham, the hiftorian fays, 2 Kings, xv. 37, 
 *• In thefe days the Lord began to fend againft Judah, Rezin 
 
 * the king of Syria, and Pekah the fon of RemaHah. And 
 ' Jotham flept with his fathers, and Ahaz his fon reigned 
 *in his Head.' 
 
 This calamity, great as it was, by no means extended 
 fo far as Mr. Paine afferts. For Jerufalem was fo far from 
 being plundered, that it is exprefsly faid, 2 Kings, xvi. ^. 
 
 * That thefe two kings came up to Jerufalem to war, and 
 ' tJiey befieged Ahaz, but they could not overcome him.' 
 
 Agreeably 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 351 
 
 themfelves, they related what they had 
 feen and heard. For it was their opinion 
 that the foul might leave the body, wan- 
 der up and down the world, vifit the re- 
 gions of the dead, and even converfe with 
 gods and heroes. Plutarch relates that 
 while the foul of one Hermodorus of Cla- 
 zomensE was thus out of his body, a wo- 
 man who had the cuftody of it, delivered 
 it to his enemies, who burned it. 
 
 Agreeably to this, Ifaiah fays * they went up towards Jerula- 
 
 * lem, to war againft it, but could not prevail againft it.' And 
 fo far were ihey trom being able to dethrone Ahaz, and fet 
 lip another king, the fon of Tabeal, that Ahaz reigned fixteen 
 years, and in the fourth year of his reign Pekah king of If- 
 raei was flain in a confpiracy of his own fubje61:, i. Kings, 
 XV. 30. and about the fame time an end was put vO the 
 kingdom of Syria by Tiglath Pilefer king of AlTyria taking 
 Damafcus, whither Ahaz went to meet him. 
 
 Mr. Paine takes advantage of the figurative and no doubt 
 hyperbolical language of the prophet Ezekiel, in his ac- 
 count of the defolation of Egypt daring forty years after the 
 conqueft of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, chap. xxix. 11. 
 
 * that no foot of man or of beaft ftiould pafs through it.' 
 We have no particular account of the ftate of Egypt in 
 this interval, but the civil war between Apries or Pharoah 
 Hophra and Amafis, which followed the devaftation made 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, muft have made travelling particularly 
 hazardous, 
 
 D d 2 The 
 
33S THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 The delivery of prophecies in a fran- 
 tic manner, as if the prophet was poflefled 
 by fome demon, is ftill praftifed in feve- 
 ral barbarous nations, as in Tartary, and 
 among the Indians of fome parts of Ame- 
 rica, of which travellers give amufing 
 accounts. In fa^^, when the Grecian ora- 
 cles were inftituted, that nation had as 
 httle knowledge as the Tartars, or In- 
 dians. At this day the random fayings of 
 ideots, and perfons difordered in their 
 fenfes, are catched up in the Eaft, as if 
 they came from the infpiration of fome 
 fuperior being. 
 
 But the principal queftion before us is, 
 not in what manner prophecies were de- 
 livered, but whether predictions faid to 
 come from God, and, as fuch, recorded in 
 fcripture have been verified by the events. 
 And to this the Divine Being himfelf ap- 
 peals. When the fucceffion of prophets 
 mentioned above was announced to Mofes, 
 he fays, Deut. xviii. 21, ^ If thou ftialt 
 ' fay in thine heart, how fhall we know 
 * the word which the Lord hath not fpoken? 
 
 ' it 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 333 
 
 it is anfwered, « When a prophet fpeaketh 
 ^ in the name of the Lord, if the thing 
 
 * follow not, nor come to pafs, this is 
 
 * the thing which the Lord hath not 
 
 * fpoken, but the prophet hath fpoken pre- 
 ' fumptuoufly. 1 hou fhalt not be afraid 
 
 * of him.' And on this fubjed: it is that 
 Jehovah challenges the gods of the hea- 
 thens, in Ifaiah xli. 21, ' Produce your 
 
 * caufe, faith the Lord, bring forth your 
 
 * ftrong reafons, faith the God of Jacob. 
 
 * Let them bring them forth, and fhew us 
 
 * what fhall happen. Let them fliew for- 
 
 * mer things what they be, that we may 
 ^ confider them, and know the latter end 
 
 * of them, or declare us things for to 
 
 * come. Shew the things that are to 
 
 * come hereafter, that we may know that 
 ^ ye are gods.' This is what no heathen 
 oracle or prophet could do. But the fcrip- 
 tures abound with prophecies which have 
 iudifputably been verified by the events, 
 and in fome cafes, at a great diftancefrom 
 the time of their dehvery. 
 
 There 
 
354. THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 There are few prophecies more re- 
 markable than thofe of Mofes, which ex- 
 tend even to the prefent times, and indeed 
 far beyond them. When his nation was 
 in a ftate Uttle better than that of the wild 
 Arabs, wandering in the wildernefs; he not 
 only looked forward to their certainly tak- 
 ing pofleffion of the land of Canaan, then 
 inhabited by a warlike people, who had 
 horfes and chariots of iron, and whofe ci- 
 ties are faid to have been fenced up to 
 heaven, and who had many years notice of 
 the intended attack upon them , when none 
 of the Ifraelites had feen war, when they 
 were poorly provided with weapons, and 
 could only fight on foot, and muft have 
 been wholly unacquainted with the method 
 of attacking fortified places; but he fore- 
 told their apoftacy from their religion, 
 their confequent expulfion from the land 
 of Canaan, their difperfion into all the 
 moft diftant parts of the world, their cruel 
 fufferings, and contemptuous treatment, in 
 thofe countries, of which we near three 
 thoufand years after the predidion, are now 
 
 witjieifes, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 335 
 
 witneiTes, their fubfifling, notwithftanding 
 this, as a feparate people, of which alfo 
 we are witneffes, and Ukewife their final 
 reftoration, and refettlement in their own 
 country, when they are to be the moft 
 diftinguilhed of all nations. But I do not 
 enlarge on this fubjeft, becaufe I have done 
 it already, in a difcourfe which is- before 
 the public. 
 
 There is no nation bordering on the 
 land of Canaan, whofe future deftiny was 
 not foretold by fome of the Hebrew pro- 
 phets, and there is no pretence for faying 
 that the prediftions were written after the 
 events. For the accompliihment of feve- 
 ral of them is quite recent; whereas the 
 books have been extant between two 
 and three thoufand years. I fhall confine 
 myfelf to thofe concerning ^gypt, Baby- 
 lon, and Tyre, with lome obfervations on 
 the prophecies of Daniel. 
 
 I . The Egyptians were the firft nation 
 that rofe to any great degree of power, 
 and they continued in the firft rank of 
 warlike people, till they were conquered 
 
 by 
 
336 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 by Nebuchadnezzar. But feveral years ber 
 fore that conqueft, viz. in the tenth year 
 of the captivity of Jehoiakim, three years 
 before he undertook the fiege of Tyre, 
 and fourteen before his invafion of Egypt, 
 the vjord of the Lord came to Ezekiely as we 
 read, Ez, xxix. i. &c. fcifmgy Son of man , 
 fet thy Jace againji Pharoah king of Egypt, and 
 prophecy againji him, and againji all Egypt. 
 Speak and [ay. Thus faith the Lord God, Be- 
 hold I am againfi thee Pharaoh king of Egypt ^ 
 the great dragon that lieth in the midji of his ri- 
 vers, who has faidy My river is my own, and 
 I have made it for myfelf^. But I %vill put 
 hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee ttp out 
 of the midfi of thy rivers. And I will leave 
 thee thrown into the wildernefs. I have given 
 thee for meat to the heajls of the field, and to 
 the fovjls of hedven, and all the inhabitants of 
 Egypt fall know that I am the Lord, becanje 
 they have been a (iciff of reed to the hoife of If 
 
 raeL 
 
 * This king of Egypt Pharaoh Hophra (called Apries by 
 Herodotus) was remarkable for his pride and impiety. Ac- 
 cording to this hiftorian, he boafted that it was not in the 
 power of the gods to dethrone him. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION, 337 
 
 rae'L Thus faith the Lord God, I will bring a 
 fivotd upon thee, and cut off man and beajl out 
 of thee, and the land of Egypt fall he de folate 
 and waftey and they fall know that I am the 
 Lord. He then foretels a ftate of defolation, 
 which was to continue in Egypt forty 
 years, after which he fays, v, 14. 15. thej 
 fall be a bafe kingdom. It fall be the bafef 
 of the kingdoms y neither fall it exalt itfelf any 
 more above the nations, for I will diminifh theniy 
 that they fall no more rule over the nations. 
 
 A fhort time before Nebuchadnezzar's 
 expedition, Ezekiel again prophefied as 
 follows. Chap. XXX. 10. 1 will alfo make 
 the midtitude of Egypt to ceafe by the hand of 
 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, he and his peo- 
 ple with him. The terrible of the nations fall 
 be brought to deflroy the landy and they fall 
 draw their fvords againfi Egypt y and fill the 
 land with the fain, and I will make the river 
 dry^y and fell the land into the hand of the 
 
 wicked, 
 
 * This is a figurative expreflion, denoting probably that 
 the river, of which this king made fo great a boaft, fhould 
 not avail him when he was invaded by his enemy. It flioulJ 
 be as eafily palTed, as if its channel had been dry. 
 
33^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 wicked, and I will make the land wajle^ and all 
 that is therein by the hand of Jlr angers. I the 
 Lord have fpoken it. Tims faith the Lord God, 
 I will alfo deflroy the idols ^ and I will caife their 
 images to ceafe out of Noph, and there fall he 
 no more a prince of the land of Egypt, and I 
 will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 
 
 The hiftory of Egypt from that time to 
 the prefent, which is more than two thou- 
 fand years, correfponds in a remarkable 
 manner to this predidion; that country 
 having been ever fmce under the dominion 
 of foreigners, viz. the Babylonians, Per- 
 fians, Macedonians, Romans, Saracens, 
 Mamluks, and Turks. And, judging from 
 appearances, it is not at all probable that 
 the Egyptians will ever recover their liber- 
 ty, and have a king of their own. Indeed, 
 Egypt has been fo often conquered and 
 enflaved, fo many perfons of foreign ex- 
 tradlion have fettled in it,- that it muft be 
 hard to fay who of the prefent inhabitants 
 are of the flock of the antient Egyptians. 
 But it is not probable that any native of 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 339 
 
 the country, of whatever flock, will ever 
 have the fovereignty of it. 
 
 2. Ifaiah Uved in the reign of Uzziah, 
 Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of 
 Judah, about one hundred and fifty years 
 before the conquefts of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and more than two hundred before thofe 
 of Cyrus, while the kingdom of Babylon 
 was inferior to that of the Aflyrians, yet 
 he foretold the fall of the Babylonian em- 
 pire, in language peculiarly emphatical, 
 and his predictions have been verified by 
 the events in a moft remarkable manner, 
 fome of the particulars not having taken 
 place, till many ages had elapfed. Ifaiah 
 xiii. 9. Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the bean- 
 ' ty of the Chaldees excellency y flail be as ivben 
 ■God overthrezu Sodom and Go?norrah. It Jhall 
 never be inhabited, neither Jhall it be dzvelt in 
 from generation to generation, neither flmll the 
 Arabian pitch his tent there; and their hoiifes 
 pall he full of doleful creatures, and ovjIs Jhall 
 dwell there, and fatyrs fall dance there, and 
 wild beafts of the iflands (that is foreign wild 
 beafts) fhall cry in their deflate hoifes, and 
 
 dragons 
 
340 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 dragons in their pleafant palaces^ and the time is 
 near to come, and her days Jhall not he prolonged. 
 He alfo fays-. Chap. xiv. 22. / will rife 
 up againfi them, faith the Lord of hoftsy and 
 cut off from Babylon the name and remnant y 
 andfon, and nephezu, faith the Lord. I will 
 alfo make it a poffefion for bitterns , and pools of 
 water ; and I will fweep it with the hefom oj 
 deflnidiony faith theLordof hofts. The pro- 
 phet even mentioned the nations, then in 
 their very infant ftate, by which Babylon 
 would be conquered, when he faid, chap, 
 xxi. 2. Go lip Elamy (i. e. Perfia) befiege, 
 Media, for they were the Medes and Per- 
 fians in conjundlion that overturned theBa- 
 by Ionian empire. 
 
 Jeremiah, who lived in the reign of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, at the time when the 
 Babylonian empire was in its greateft 
 ftrength and glory, prophefied to the 
 fame purport with Ifaiah, chap. 50. * Lo, 
 ^ I will raife up, and caufe to come up 
 
 * againfi Babylon, an affembly of great 
 
 * nations from the north country, and 
 
 * they ftiall fet themfelves in array againft 
 
 * her. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 341 
 
 * her. From thence llie fliall be taken. 
 
 * Becaufe of the wrath of the Lord it ihall 
 
 * not be hihabited, but it fhall be wholly 
 
 * defolate. Every one that goeth by Ba- 
 
 * bylon fhall be aftonifhed, and hifs at all 
 
 * her plagues, for it is a land of graven 
 
 * images, and they are mad upon their 
 
 * idols. Therefore the wild beafts of the 
 
 * defert, and the wild beafts of the ifiands, 
 
 * fhall dwell there, and the owls fhall 
 
 * dwell therein, and it fhall be no more 
 
 * inhabited for ever, neither fhall it be 
 
 * dwelt in from generation to generation.' 
 
 This prophet alfo mentions the names 
 of the future enemies of Babylon, chap, 
 li. II. ' The Lord fhail raife up the fpirit 
 
 * of the kings of the Medes; for his devile 
 
 * is againft Babylon to deftroy it.' The 
 duration of the captivity of his country- 
 men by the Babylonians, Jeremiah exact- 
 ly foretold. After mentioning the con- 
 quefts of this nation, he proceeds thus, 
 chap. XXV. II, ' Thofe nations fliall ferve 
 
 * the king of Babylon feventy years, and 
 < it fhall come to pafs, that when feventy 
 
 years 
 
ij4.^ THE EVIDENCES, OF 
 
 ' years are accomplifhed, I will punifli the 
 
 * king of Babylon, and that nation, faith 
 'the Lord.' Chap. xxix. lo, ' For thus 
 ' faith the Lord, that after feventy years 
 ' be accomplifhed at Babylon, I will vifit 
 
 * you, and perform my good word to- 
 
 * wards you, in caufmg you to return to 
 
 * this place.' 
 
 The prophecies concerning the defola- 
 tion of Babylon were not fulfilled in their 
 full extent, till long after the time of our 
 Saviour. Babylon was taken by Cyrus 
 exaftly feventy years after the conqueft of 
 Judea; but it was not reduced to the (late 
 mentioned in thefe prophecies but by flow 
 degrees. Cyrus having taken the city by 
 turning the river which flowed through 
 it out of its channel, all the neighbourhood 
 became marfliy and unhealthy. Diodorus 
 Siculus, who wrote a little before the 
 time of ou% Saviour, fays, that the build- 
 ings of Babylon were then decayed, that 
 only a fmall part of it was inhabited, and 
 that the refl of the inclofure was employ- 
 ed in tillage. Pliny, who wrote in the 
 
 firfl 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 343 
 
 firft century after Chrift, fays that Baby- 
 lon was then reduced to folitude, being ex- 
 haufted by the neighbourhood of Seleucia, 
 which was not far from it. Paufanias, 
 who wrote about the middle of the fecond 
 century, fays, that '' of Babylon the great- 
 " eft city that the fun ever faw, there was 
 *' nothing remaining but the walls;' andLu- 
 cian, who wrote about the fame time, fays, 
 that very foon it would, like Nineveh, be 
 fought for, and not be found. In the 
 time of Jerom, who lived in the fourth 
 century, the whole inclofure of the walls 
 of Babylon Vv^as aclually converted into a 
 place for keeping wild beafts, and was 
 ufed for that and no other purpofe by 
 many of the kings of Perfia. At length, 
 even the walls of this great city, fo much 
 celebrated for their height and thicknefs, 
 \vere demolilhed, but by whom is not 
 known. About feven hundred years ago, 
 Benjamin a Jew, found fome remains of the 
 ruins of Babylon, but people were afraid 
 to go among them on account of the fer- 
 pents and fcorpions with which it fwarm- 
 
 cd. 
 
344 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 cd , and at prefent it is not agreed among 
 travellers, in what place the great city of 
 Babylon flood. In this cafe, furely, there 
 cannot be any pretence for faying that the 
 prediftion was fubfequent to the event, 
 and yet no event was ever more diftinftly 
 defcribed. 
 
 What is perhaps, however, more re- 
 markable ftill, Ifaiah mentions Cyrus by 
 name, as the conqueror of Babylon, and 
 tlie perfon who was deftined to favour the 
 people of Ifrael, by ordering the rebuild- 
 ing of Jerilfalem and the temple, though 
 in his time they were both (landing. Ifa. 
 Ixiv. 2 2. ' Thus faith the Lord, thy re- 
 
 * deemer, and he that formed thee from 
 
 * the womb, I am the Lord that maketh 
 ' all things, that flretcheth forth the hea- 
 
 * yens above, that fpreadeth abroad the 
 ' earth bymyfeif ; that faith to Jerufalem, 
 *- Thou llialt be inhabited, and to the cities 
 ^ of Judah, Ye fhall be built, and I will 
 ' raife up the decayed places thereof; that 
 
 * faith to the deep. Be dry, and I will 
 
 * dry up their rivers, that faith to Cyrus, 
 
 * he 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 345 
 
 * he is my fhepherd, and fhall perform all 
 
 * my pleafure, even faying to Jerufalem, 
 ^ thou fhalt be built, and to the temple, 
 
 * thy foundation fhall be laid. Thus faith 
 
 * the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, 
 
 * whofe right hand I have holden, to fub- 
 
 * due nations before him, and I will loofe 
 5 the loins of kings, to open before him 
 
 * the two-leaved gates. I will break in 
 
 * pieces the gates of brafs, and cut in fun- 
 . * der the bars of iron. And I will give thee 
 
 * the treafures of darknefs, and hidden 
 
 * riches of fecret places, that thou mayeft 
 
 * know that I the Lord, who call thee by 
 ^ thy name, am the God of Ifrael. I 
 
 * have furnamed thee though thou haft 
 ' not known me. I am the Lord, and 
 
 * there is none elfe. There is no god be- 
 ' fides me. I girded thee though thou 
 
 < haft not known me; that they may know 
 f from the rifing of the fun, and from 
 
 < the Weft, that there is none befides 
 ' me. I am the Lord, and there is none 
 
 * elfe. I form the light, and create dark- 
 
 E e ' nefs : 
 
346 TrtE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 *iiefs: I make peace, and create evil; I 
 
 * the Lord do all thefe things.' 
 
 3. Not lefs remarkably have the pro- 
 phecies concerning Tyre, received their 
 accompHfhment. In the eleventh year af- 
 ter the captivity of the Jews, w^hich wzs 
 fcefore the fiege of Tyre by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, E^ekiel fays, Chap. xxvi. i. * The 
 
 * word of the Lord came unto ihe, faying, 
 
 * Son of man, becaufe that Tyrus hath 
 
 * faid againft Jerufalem, Aha, flie is bro- 
 
 * ken, that was the gatfe of tftie people, 
 
 * ihe is turned unto me, Tlhall be replenifli- 
 
 * 'ed now fhe is laid wafte. Thereforie thus 
 ' faith the Lord God, Behold I am againft 
 
 * thee, O Tyrus, and will caufemany na- 
 
 * tions to come up againft thee, and they 
 ^ fhall deftroy the walls of Tyrus, and 
 
 * break down her towers. I will alio 
 ^ fcrape her duft from her, and make her 
 
 * like the top of a rock. It ihall be a 
 
 * place for the fpreading of nets in th*e 
 
 * midft of the fea, for I have ipoken it 
 
 * faith the Lord God, and it fhall become a 
 
 ' fpoil 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 347 
 
 * {poll to the nations/ It is added v. 14. 
 
 * Thou fliall be built no more/ 
 
 When this prophecy was deUvered 
 Tyre was in its glory, probably the moft 
 wealthy and the ftrongeft city in the world. 
 It was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, but not 
 till it had fuftained a fiege of thirteen 
 years. That city was never rebuilt, but 
 another on an ifland, at the diftance of 
 half a mile from the Ihore, which in time 
 became as flouriftiing, and as powerful, as 
 tlie former. This, however, was taken by 
 Alexander the Great, and it never reco- 
 vered itfelf. It is now a heap of ruins, 
 vifited, not inhabited, by a few filhermen. 
 A traveller, who, about a century ago gave 
 an account of it, fays that when he ap- 
 proached the ruins of Tyre, he found rocks 
 -ftretched out into the fea, and great ftones 
 ieattered up and down on the fhpre, made 
 clean fmooth by the fun, the waves, and 
 the wind, and of no -ufe but for the drying 
 of jfilhermen's nets, many of which were 
 gt that time, fpread upon them ; fo that 
 ihe full completion of this prophecy, deli- 
 
 E e 2 vered 
 
348 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 vered above two thoufand three hundred 
 years ago, did not take place till within 
 the laft two or three centuries. 
 
 4. The prophecies of Daniel relate to 
 the moft diftant times, even thofe which 
 we have not yet reached; butfome of the 
 great events indicated in them by emblems, 
 and afterwards explained in words, have 
 fo evidently come to pafs, that for this, 
 and no other reafon, (which is merely tak- 
 ing the queftion for granted, againft the 
 ftrongeft evidence, internal and external) 
 it has been faid, that they muft have been 
 written after them. 
 
 To Nebuchadnezzar, chap. iv. was re- 
 vealed in a vifion of a great image, con- 
 fiding of different kinds of metal, over- 
 turned by a ftone, which afterwards be- 
 came a great mountain, filling the whole 
 earth, the fucceffion of four great mo- 
 narchies, of which his own was declared 
 to be the firft, and of which the laft can 
 be no other than the Roman, terminating 
 in ten kingdoms, which now exift, after 
 which is to come what is called the kingdom 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGIOM. 349 
 
 of heaven^ which will continue for ever, 
 and this, according to many other ac- 
 counts of it, is to be the reign of peace 
 and righteoufnefs. 
 
 In another vifion, feen by Daniel him- 
 felf, chap. vii. four great empires, and no 
 doubt the fame with the former, are re- 
 prefented by four beafts, the laft of which 
 had ten horns, fucceeded by the appear- 
 ance of one like to the fon of man, to 
 ivhom was given domimoUy and glory ^ and a 
 kingdom ivhich fhould be univerfal and ever- 
 lailing. The firft of thefe empires being 
 the Babylonian, it is impolfible not to in- 
 terpret the fucceeding ones to be the Per- 
 fian, the Macedonian, and the Roman, 
 divided at laft into ten kingdoms as be- 
 fore. 
 
 Farther than this, another power is 
 defcribed as arifing among the ten king- 
 doms, in which the laft of the four em- 
 pires terminates, and by this it is almoft im- 
 poffible not to underftand, the papal. I 
 confidered the ten horns, fays Daniel, chap. vii. 
 8» and behold there came up among them another 
 
 little 
 
350 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 little horn, before whom "were three of the frjl 
 horns plucked up by the roots ^ and behold in this 
 horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a 
 mouth fpeaking great things, v. 21. 1 beheld^ 
 and the fame horn made war with the faints, 
 and prevailed againfi them, until the antient of 
 days came, and judgment 'Vtfas given to the faints 
 of the Moft High, and the time came that the 
 Jaints poffcjjed the kingdom. In the interpre- 
 tation of this, the angel fays, v. 24. The 
 Pen horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that 
 fhall arife. Hud another fall arife after them, 
 and he pall be diverfe from the firfi, and he 
 fhall fubdue three kings. And he fall fpeak great 
 words againft the Mofi High, and fall wear out 
 the faints of the Mof High, and think to change 
 times and lawf, and they fall be given into his 
 hand until a time and times, and the dividing of 
 time. But the judgment fhall fit , and they J hall 
 take away his dominion, to conjume and to deftroy 
 it unto the end. The hiftory of the popes, 
 tiiough I cannot now enter into the par- 
 ticulars, correfponds in a wonderful man- 
 ner' with this predidion, delivered tinqufef- 
 tionably above a thoufand years before 
 the event. 
 
 In 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 351 
 
 Ir^ anothet* vifion, chap. viii. a rain 
 with two horns, the one higher than the 
 pther, pf which the highefl came up laft, 
 was deftroyed by a he-goat, with one 
 great horn between his eyes^ which being 
 broken off four others came up in its 
 place. And in the interpretation it is ex- 
 prefsly faid, that the ram with two horns 
 reprefented the empire of the Medes and 
 Perfians, of which the latter was more 
 powerful than the former, though it was 
 pot fo at the firft, and that the he-goat 
 reprefented the kingdom of the Grecians, 
 that the great horn was the firft king, 
 and that after him four fhould ft and up out 
 of the nation, but not in* his power. 
 
 This vifion was in the reign of Belfliaz- 
 zar, before the conqueft of Babylon by 
 the Medes and Perfians, while the Medes 
 were by much the more powerful nation, 
 and therefore long before the conqueft of 
 Perfia by Alexander, on whofe death his 
 dominions were divided ainong four of his 
 generals. The remainder of this vifion, 
 and others, which probably relate to times 
 
 that 
 
352 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 that are yet future, have fome difficulty in 
 their interpretation, which time will pro- 
 bably clear up. But if Daniel defcribed 
 the empire of the Greeks or Macedoni- 
 an, and much more that of the Romans, 
 it cannot be queftioned but that the events 
 indicated in his writings, were fubfequent 
 to the prediction of them, and fuch as no 
 human fagacity could at that time dif- 
 cover. 
 
 We find the cleareft marks of a pro- 
 phetic fpirit in the New Teftament, as well 
 as in the Old. Jefus, befides foretelling 
 his own death, and that by crucifixion, 
 with all the circumflances of indignity at- 
 tending it, alfo his refurreftion and afcen- 
 fion, appears by his parables, to have had a 
 clear forefight of the fpread, and final pre- 
 valence, of his religion in the world, of the 
 perfecution of his followers, the diflention 
 and mifchief of which it would for fome 
 time be the occafion, and of the corrup- 
 tion of his doftrine. He alfo foretold in 
 the cleareft language, without any figure 
 or parable, the deftruftion of Jerufalem, 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 35J 
 
 the total demolition of the temple, and the 
 defolation of the country of Judea, with 
 many figns of its near approach in that ge- 
 neration, when no other perfon of that na- 
 tion, or any other, appears to have had the 
 leaft apprehenfion of fuch events. The 
 warning he gave his difciples to flee out 
 of the country on the approach of thefe ca- 
 lamitous times, was well underftood by 
 them, and was the means of faving them 
 all; no Chriftians being in Jerufalem when 
 it was befieged and taken by Titus. 
 
 The apoftle Paul forewarns Chriftians 
 of the rife of a power in the Chriftian 
 church, which would advance higher claims 
 than thofe of any other earthly potentate, 
 that he would gain his authority by arti- 
 fice, and pretences to miracles, that he 
 would recoimnend abftinence from certain 
 meats, and difcourage marriage; but that 
 it would be finally deftroyed at the fecond 
 coming of Chrift, 2 Thefl*. ii. 3. Let no man 
 deceive yon by any means, for there miijt come a 
 falling away, or an apoftacy, firfl, i. e. be- 
 fore the time of final judgment, and that 
 
 man 
 
354 THE EVIDENCES QF 
 
 man of fin mufl be revealed ^ the fon of perdi- 
 tioriy who oppofeth and exalteth himfelf above all 
 that is called God, or that is ivorjhippedy fo that 
 he, as God, ftteth in t/^e temple ofGodyJhew 
 ing himj elf that he is God — whom the Lord /hall 
 epnji^me with the fpirit of his mouth, and Jhall 
 deftroj with the brightnejs of his coming ; even 
 hifn zvhofe coming is after the working of Satan, 
 with all power, and figns, and lying wonders ^ 
 and zuith all deceitjidnefs of unrighteoufnefs, 
 I Tim. iv. I . The fpirit fpeaketh exprefsly, 
 that in the latter times fome fall depart from 
 the faith, giving heed to feducing fpirits and 
 doBrines of demons— forbidding to marry, and 
 commanding to abfiain from meats, which God 
 has created to be received with thankf giving, A 
 farther defcription of this fame power, is 
 given in the Revelation of John, with the 
 fteps by which it rofe, and the fliocking 
 ufe that would be made of its power, in 
 the perfecution of the church. Certainly 
 ail thefe charavS^rs are to be found in the 
 Pope, and the church of Rome, and what 
 probability was there of the rife of any 
 fiich power, at the time that the prophe- 
 cies 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 355 
 
 cies were delivered? This apoftle alfo gives 
 a fketch of the moft interefling events of 
 every kind, from his own time to the end 
 of the world. But as, for evident reafons, 
 this prophecy is delivered in figurative lan- 
 guage, and emblems, its correfpondence 
 with the events cannot be expected to be 
 apparent, till after they have taken place. 
 And therefore it is not much for the pur- 
 pofe of my prefent argument, though I 
 think that till pretty near to the prefent 
 times, the correfpondence will be fufficient- 
 ly evident to the impartial and candid. 
 
 But without any regard to thefe predic- 
 tions, which are acknowledged to be bet- 
 ter calculated to confirm the faith of the 
 beUever, than to convert unbelievers, the 
 prophecies I have enumerated, though few 
 in comparifon of what might have been 
 adduced, will fatisfy any reafonable per- 
 fon, that they muft have been dictated by 
 a forefight more than human, and there- 
 fore that the Jewifti and Chriftia^ reli- 
 gions, having the fame author, muft be 
 of divine authority. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 Internal Evidence of Jefiis hemg no 
 Impojlor. 
 
 We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jefus 
 Chrift. 
 
 1 John, v. 20. 
 
 IJESIDES the evidence of miracleSy 
 including that of prophecy , which is the 
 proper feal of God to any thing that is al- 
 leged to come from him, with which we 
 become acquainted by hiftory, or traditi- 
 on, and which is ufually called the external 
 evidence of divine revelation, there is ano- 
 ther kind of evidence properly denomi- 
 nated internal, which to thofe who have a 
 fufficient knowledge of human nature and 
 human life, is hardly lefs fatisfaftory. 
 For knowing what men are, and what 
 men have done, we readily judge what is 
 probable or improbable, polfible or impof- 
 
 fible, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 357 
 
 fible, with rcfpeft to the defigns and ac- 
 tions of men ; and if any thing be aflerted 
 of a man, and efpecially of a number of 
 men, which we well know could not be 
 aflerted with truth of any man, or any 
 number of men, with whom we were 
 ever acquainted, or concerning whom we 
 have had any authentic information, we 
 do not hefitate to pronounce it to be highly 
 improbable, and perhaps abfolutely impof- 
 fi ble. 
 
 It is, therefore, of the greatefl im- 
 portance, that we apply the knowledge 
 we have of human nature, and human 
 life, in our ftudy of the evidences of di- 
 vine revelation, to attend accurately to 
 the charafters and circumftances of Mofes 
 and the prophets, of Chrift and the apof- 
 tles, that we may form a judgment whe- 
 ther what is related of them, on the fup- 
 pofition of their having had divine com- 
 munications, or of their having been im- 
 poftors, be probable or otherwife. Hav- 
 ing in a former fet of difcourfes confidered 
 the circumftances of the hiftory of Mofes, 
 I ftiall in this confider the hiftory of Je- 
 
 fus; 
 
358 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fiis ; aiKl I think it will appear, that, if 
 what is, and muft be, allowed concerning 
 him be true, it w^as abfolutely impoffible 
 that h€ fliould have been an impoftor, every 
 thing related of him being perfeftly natu* 
 ral on the idea of his being confcious to 
 himfelf, or fully perfuaded in his own 
 imind, of his having a divine miffion, but 
 in the higheft degree unnatural, and even 
 impoffible, on the idea of his having been 
 an impoftor. That he was a mere enthu*- 
 f^fi, and really imagined that he had a 
 divine miffion when he had none, is ano- 
 ther <|ueft ion , which I fliail confider only 
 incidentally. This indeed was evidently 
 impoffible in fuch a cafe as this, and will 
 not, I am perfuaded, be fuppofed by any 
 unbeliever; fo that if Jefus was no im- 
 poftor, and did not know that he 
 was deceiving his followers and the 
 world, his divine miffion muft be ac- 
 knowledged. 
 
 I . If we confider the nart:ure and ex- 
 tent of the undertaking of Jefus, it muft 
 appear higWy improbable that it ihouM 
 
 have 
 
KfeVEALEt) HELlGlOI^. ;^ 
 
 have occurred to a perfon of his country, 
 and of his low birth, and education. 
 Had his views, whatever they were, ex- 
 tended no farther than his own country, 
 is undertaking any thing that fhould bring 
 hitn into notice, and advance him in life, 
 (which is all that an impoftor can be fnp* 
 pofed to aim at) muft have appeared very 
 unhkely to fucceed, and confequently muft 
 have been very unlikely to enter into his 
 thoughts, and have been undertaken by 
 him.. With the Jews, the place of a 
 man's birth was a circumftance of no 
 fmall moment, and Jefus was of Nazar- 
 reth, efteemed a mean place, in a defpifed 
 part of the country, fo that, on this ac- 
 count, he muft have lain under great dif- 
 advantage; and his occupation, which 
 was that of a carpenter, without any ad- 
 vantage of education, fuch as his countr}- 
 afforded, muft have made his undertaking 
 much more difficult. In thefe circum- 
 ftances, ambition fo prepofterous as that ol 
 Jefus, muft have bordered on infanity or 
 infatuation, which muft have appeared in his 
 
 conduft. 
 
36o THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 condud* But nothing of this kind does ap- 
 pear in him. Exclufive of the language 
 fuited to his undertaking, there was no- 
 thing like extravagance in his words or 
 affions. On the contrary, his whole be- 
 haviour fhewed a mind perfectly compofed 
 and rational, and what is more, there was 
 not in him any thing of oftentation, but the 
 moft amiable humility and modefty, though 
 accompanied with becoming dignity. 
 
 Whatever we may think of a Jewifli 
 education, and Jewifh literature, they 
 were highly valued by Jews, and muft 
 have been neceflary to gain general ef- 
 teem, efpecially with the higher clafTes ' 
 of men, and for the purpofe of ading any 
 confpicuous part in that country. Jefus 
 himfelf could not but have found, and have 
 felt, this difadvantage ; and if he had not 
 been deterred by it from his undertaking, 
 he muft have had fuch an immoderate 
 and abfurd conceit of himfelf, as could not 
 but have appeared in his general conduft, 
 and muft have expofed him to contempt. 
 Such is always the cafe if any perfon in 
 
 fimilar 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 36: 
 
 fimilar circumftances with us attempt any- 
 thing above his fphere of Hfe. It fre- 
 quently happens that men of no education, 
 and, even of low occupations, ftep out of 
 their fphere, and become preachers, but 
 they are feldom attended to, except by 
 perfons like themfelves, and they general- 
 ly appear ridiculous in the eyes of others. 
 But fuch was not the cafe with Jefus. He 
 was revered and dreaded, by the chief 
 perfons of his nation; and the contempt 
 they fometimes expreifed for him was ei- 
 ther affected, or conceived before they had 
 fufficient knowledge of him. The manner 
 in which they at length proceeded againft 
 him, fliews that they v/ere moft ferioufly 
 alarmed, and thought their own credit 
 and fafety depended on their deftroying 
 him. 
 
 Some perfons deftitute of the advan- 
 tages of birth and education, have great 
 natural talents, vWiich fupply their place, 
 and give them great influence. But Jefus 
 does not appear to have had any advantage 
 of this kind. Like Mofes, he was neither 
 F f an 
 
362 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 an orator, nor a warrior. He could, in- 
 deed, fpeak pertinently upon proper occa- 
 fions, and he difcovered great prefence of 
 mind incritical circumftances. But this is 
 not very uncommon, and there was no- 
 thing in his manner of fpeaking to capti- 
 vate an audience, by moving the paffions. 
 He never attempted any thing of the kind, 
 and the admiration with which his dif- 
 c6urfes were heard, was excited not by 
 any thing that we call eloquence, but by 
 the importance of what he delivered, and 
 and his authoritative manner of fpeaking, 
 v/hich a confcioufnefs of a divine miffion 
 naturally gave him. It is evident that he 
 avoided as much as polfible all occafions 
 of drawing a crowd after him, and when, 
 from the fame of his miracles, this was 
 unavoidable, he always withdrew as foon, 
 and as privately, as he could. 
 
 2. If we confider what it was that 
 Jefus undertook, we fliall find that it was 
 of a nature leaft of all calculated to ftrike 
 and captivate the Jews. All that we 
 know of them, of their general charafter 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 363 
 
 and views, make it evident that the only 
 perfon likely to gain their favourable atten- 
 tion was one who would perfonate their 
 Mejfiah, who was then expedled to make 
 his appearance, to deliver them from the 
 ftate of fubjedion they were then under 
 to the Romans, and to give them the em- 
 pire of the world. Except Jefus himfelf, 
 and his forerunner John the Baptift, no 
 other perfon ever gained any confiderable 
 number of followers among the Jews, 
 who did not flatter their ambition, by ad- 
 vancing that pretention, or in fome other 
 form erefted the ftandard of liberty among 
 them. But with thefe pretenfions they 
 never failed to gain many followers in 
 that nation. Jefus, however, eftabliflied 
 a permanent interefl in the affections of 
 thoufands of that country, all prepofTeffed 
 with the idea of a temporal deliverer (at 
 firfl, indeed, fondly hoping thatfe was the 
 perfon) though he carefully difclaimed all 
 fuch pretences. And what is more extra- 
 ordinary, his difciples and followers in- 
 F f 2 creafed 
 
364 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 creafed after his death, when every idea 
 of that kind muft have been given up. 
 
 By fetting himfelf ahke againft the 
 Pharifees and Sadducees, Jefus not only 
 rendered himfelf obnoxious to all the 
 higher orders of perfons in the coun- 
 try, but muft have been lefs likely to fuc- 
 ceed even with the common people, by 
 whom the Pharifees were held in the 
 higheft efteem. Indeed, it cannot be faid 
 that there was any clafs or defcription of 
 perfons to Vv^hom he paid court, or v/as 
 at all ftudious to recommend himfelf. One 
 of his difcourfes to the people was of fuch 
 a nature, that all his audience left him, 
 except the twelve apoftles, and yet he 
 was not concerned or difcouraged by it ; 
 but, turning to the twelve, he calm- 
 ly faid, Will ye alfo go avjay? . Of what 
 kind, then, muft have been the ambi- 
 tion of Jefus, which was equally inde- 
 pendent of the favour of the great, and of 
 that of the commonality ? What could 
 he have expefted but univerfal contempt ? 
 
 A Jew, 
 
REVEALED RELIGION, 36^ 
 
 A Jew, whofe obje6l had been to 
 draw attention as a prophet, would natur- 
 ally have aflumed the habit and manner of 
 the antient prophets of that nation, which 
 had in them much of aufterity. And by 
 this means John the Baptifh, who did not 
 pretend to work miracles, was highly 
 and generally refpefted. But Jeius, 
 though with that example before him, 
 adopted a very different manner. He 
 appears to have dreifed, and to have 
 lived, like other perfons, without any pe- 
 culiarity whatever. Whenever he was 
 invited, he did not decline being prefent at 
 entertainments, and his prefence does not 
 appear to have been at any time a check 
 upon their innocent feftivity. This was 
 fo much the cafe, that his enemies faid 
 of him, that he was a gluttonous man and a 
 -winebihber^ as well as 2i friend oj public am and 
 fmners. 
 
 Befides, that, in a civil refpecSl, the ap- 
 pearance and pretenfions of Jefus were ill 
 adapted to favour any ambitious views, he 
 taught nothing with refpe<5l to religion 
 
 that 
 
366 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 that was likely to recommend him to his - 
 countrymen. He did not pretend to teach 
 any dodlrine that was properly new, but 
 his expofingofthe abfurd comments of the 
 authorifed expounders of the law of Mo- 
 fes, together with their perlbnal vices, 
 was certainly hazardous. The general 
 obje-ft of his preaching was to inculcate 
 the ftrifteft and pur eft morality, fuch as 
 is found in the antient prophets. But he 
 drew the attention of his hearers in a more 
 particular manner to a juture Jlate^ much 
 more than had been done by any of the 
 prophets who had preceded him. 
 
 The doftrine of a refurreftion was at 
 that time the general belief of the Jewilh 
 nation, as it continues to be at this day. 
 But what he afferted of himfelf being ap- 
 pointed to raife all the dead, and to judge 
 the world, muft have appeared in the 
 higheft degree extravagant, and revolting, 
 without the moft evident teftimonials of a 
 divine authority for fuch high pretenfions. 
 What could an impoftor, who muft have 
 known that he had no authority for fuch a 
 
 claim. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 367 
 
 claim, if fuch an idea could have been en- 
 tertained by him (which, however muft be 
 confeiTed to be very improbable) have ex- 
 pefted, but that, on the firfh hearing of 
 fuch pretenfions, his audience would have 
 turned from him with derifion. His pre- 
 tending to a kingdom, and a kingdom not 
 of this world, but in another, after he 
 Ihould be dead, was alfo more likely to 
 expofe him to contempt, than to procure 
 him refpeft. And this declaration was 
 made by Jefus when he was before a court 
 of judicature, expelling immediate death. 
 That, notwithftanding thefe circumftances, 
 Jefus did not appear an obje6l of contempt, 
 but attradled the moft refpeftful attention, 
 and had many difciples while living, and 
 many more after he was dead, has furely 
 in it fomething very extraordinary, and 
 well deferving to be enquired into; great 
 effedls always implying great caufes. All 
 thefe circumftances certainly fhew that Je- 
 fus was confcious to himfelf of having ad- 
 vantages fufiicient to counterbalance all 
 the difadvantages he lay under, and his 
 
 fuccefs 
 
368 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fuccefs proves that he was really poflefled 
 of them. 
 
 .3. Still more extraordinary was it that 
 fuch a perfon as Jefus fliould have extend- 
 ed his vie^vs beyond his own country, as 
 it is evident that he did when he direfted 
 his difciples to frofelyte and baptize all nations, 
 and when he foretold the univerfal fpread 
 of his religion, which, though inconfidera- 
 ble in its rife, like a grain of muftard feed, 
 or a fmall quantity of leaven, was deftined 
 to -embrace the whole world. No other 
 Jew, of any rank or charafter, had talked 
 in this manner before; and confidering the 
 extreme contempt in which the Jews muft 
 have known that they w^ere held by other 
 nations, except by the few whom they had 
 profelyted, any Jew muft have known that 
 a perfon of his nation undertaking any thing 
 confiderable, was likely to meet with the 
 worft reception, and nothing more offen- 
 five, or more hazardous, could have been 
 undertaken by any man. 
 
 The objeft of the religion of Jefus, 
 was nothing lefs than to overturn all the 
 
 eftablilhed 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 369 
 
 eftabliftied fyftems of religion then fubfifting 
 in the world, fyftems always moft inti- 
 mately connefted with civil policy, and as 
 fuch moft vigilantly guarded by all the 
 power of the reipeftive ftates, and, as was 
 then univerfally thought, with the greateft 
 reafon; it being taken for granted, that 
 their temporal profperity depended upon 
 the obfervance of the rites tranfmitted to 
 all nations by their remote anceftors; The 
 philofophers, who defpifed thefe rites, ne- 
 ver ventured to hint at the propriety, or 
 the fafety,»of difcontinuing them; and the 
 few who incautioufly fpake with difrelpe<S, 
 of them were charged with atheifm, and 
 had been put to death, or banillied. We 
 may, and juftly do, laugh at the religion 
 of the Greeks and Romans, and that of the 
 reft of the heathen world, as fyftems of 
 the moft wretched fuperftition; but they 
 were ferious things with themfelves; and 
 befides their reputed facrednefs, and the 
 general dread of a negled; of them, they 
 mixed with all their habits of life. 
 
 In 
 
370 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 In all antient nations all occafions of 
 joy or forrow, and almoft every tranfaftion 
 of a civil nature, partook of their religion; 
 but more efpecially wsls every feafon of 
 feftivity, to which they were mod paffion- 
 ately attached, a religious aft. Even the 
 theatrical exhibitions of the Greeks and 
 Romans, calculated to entertain perfons of 
 the moft refined tafte, as well as the fefti- 
 vals of Bacchus and Venus, which gratified 
 the lewdeft and moft debauched of the 
 vulgar, were equally in honour of their 
 gods. Alfo all their moft admired poems 
 were with them, as with other nations, 
 tinftured with their religion ; fo that with- 
 out a knowledge of their religion, it is not 
 now poffible to underftand them. I can- 
 not, indeed, give a juft idea of the extreme 
 difficulty of the undertaking to overturn 
 the religion of the feveral ftates of anti- 
 quity, without entering into a detail of 
 particulars, too long for any difcourfe. 
 Only perfons well acquainted with anti- 
 quity, will ever conceive it. 
 
 This 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 371 
 
 This being the cafe, to change the re- 
 ligion of a people was, in a manner, to 
 make them over again. To fubdue them 
 by force of arms muft have appeared 
 much more eafy. There is not, indeed, 
 a fmgle inftance in all antient hiftory, of 
 a nation changing their religion from per- 
 fuafion or example. It is what the 
 greateft calamities, and the approach of 
 extermination has not been able to effeft. 
 The cafe of the Jews is the only excep- 
 tion on record. For they were ever ready 
 to adopt the religion of the neighbouring 
 nations. But then their remote anceftors 
 in Mefopotamia, according to Jofhua, and 
 themfelves in Egypt, had been addifted to 
 them. Though the Egyptians faw the in- 
 ability of their gods to fave them from a 
 feries of the greateft calamities, and 
 though the Canaanites found that theirs 
 could not prevent their expulfion from 
 their country, and their almoft extermina- 
 tion, both the Egyptians and the remains 
 of the Canaanites, appear to have conti- 
 nued as much attached to their feveral re- 
 ligions 
 
37a THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ligions as ever. They would rather fup- 
 pofe that their gods were angry with 
 them, and had for that time deferted 
 them, than imagine that they had not 
 been able to defend them, or that the gods 
 of other nations (whofe power they never 
 called in queftion) had in that particular 
 prevailed over theirs. For no heathen na- 
 tion in all antiquity excluded the agency 
 of fuperior powers in any event, public or 
 private. The events of battles, though 
 iiioft evidently dependmg on the conduft 
 of the generals, and the valour of the 
 combatants, were always afcribed to the 
 fecret interference of the gods. 
 
 The prophet Jeremiah, exprefles in 
 very emphatical language, the extraordi- 
 nary cafe of the Ifraelites in revolting from 
 tlieir religion. Chap. ii. lo. Pafs ovei^ the 
 ijles ofChittim, and fee, and fend unto Ke.dar^ 
 and confider diligent Ij, and fee if there be juch 
 a thing* Hath a nation changed their gods^ 
 luhich are yet no gods; but my people have 
 changed their glory for that ivhich doth not pro- 
 ft. 
 
 In 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 37^ 
 
 In thofe circumftances, fuch an under- 
 taking as that of Jefus, of the magnitude 
 of which it is not eafy for us at this day to 
 form an idea, muft furely have appeared 
 impoffible to a Jewifh carpenter. Or if, 
 from ignorance, he had conceived fuch an 
 idea, he, or his followers, would foonhave 
 found the imprafticability of it, without 
 divine aid. Jefus himfelf did not go be- 
 yond the bounds of his ov/n country, but 
 no fooner did the apoftles begin to preach 
 to other nations, and appeared to be 
 fomething different from Jevvs (vv^hofe 
 privileges and cu{loitls had been long tole- 
 rated, without any ferious inconvenience 
 arifing from it) than they found, that if 
 they perfifted, it muft be at the hazard 
 of every thing dear to them in life, and of 
 life itfelf. And with thefe difficulties the 
 preachers of chriftianity aftually ftruggled 
 about three hundred years; when the 
 whole fyftem of heathenifm, which had 
 prevailed from time immemorial, in the 
 whole extent of the Roman empire, hav- 
 ing been gradually undermined, gave way 
 
 on 
 
374 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 on the converfion of Conftantine ; and 
 from that time, nothmg, as we may fay, 
 remamed of it, but ruins, which alfo crum- 
 bled away and difappeared in about three 
 hundred years more. And now nothing 
 more remains of the worihip of Jupiter 
 and Juno, Apollo or Bacchus, than if it 
 had never exifted. Thefe celebrated dei- 
 ties are gone into oblivion, together with 
 Baal of the Canaanites, Ifis and Orifis of 
 the Egyptians, and Thor and Woden 
 in Europe. It is only in hiftory, and 
 the books in which they are mention- 
 ed, that the memory of them, and of 
 the horrid and abominable rites with 
 which they were worfhipped, is preferved. 
 What could have accomplifhed fo great a 
 revolution, a revolution far more aftoniih- 
 ing than any that has ever been effefted 
 by policy or by arms, but a power not lefs 
 than divine, accompanying Jefus and the 
 apoftles ? 
 
 The revolution produced by Maho- 
 met had nothing it in approaching to this. 
 He did not queftion the divine origin of 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 375 
 
 the Jewiili or Chriftian religions. He 
 only pretended that his own v/as derived 
 from the fame fource, fo that he had no 
 occafion to v^ork any miracles. Idola- 
 ters, indeed (who, however, do not ap- 
 pear to have been very numerous) he fub- 
 dued by force, but Jews and Chriftians, 
 unable to treat them in the fame manner, 
 he tolerated. When the Mahometan 
 power was fully eftablifhed, and the ca- 
 liphs of Bagdathad longm.ade the greateft 
 figure of any princes in the Eaftern world, 
 and their fubjedls had attained a high de- 
 gree of civilization, feme Tartar nations 
 emerging from barbarifm, adopted their 
 religion; as the Tartars who conquered 
 China, adopted the inftitutions of the Chi- 
 nefe, and the Romans the literature and 
 philofophy of the Greeks. In this there 
 is nothing at all extraordinary. But the 
 Greeks and Romans changed their reli- 
 gion for the Chriftian when they were the 
 moft learned and civilized, and the Jews, in 
 their opinion, the moft ignorant, and the 
 moft defpifed of all nations, and the preach- 
 ers 
 
376 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ers of chriftianity were at firft of the moft 
 illiterate of that delpifed nation. This is a 
 fa£l that cannot be contradidled; and 
 having no parallel in the hiftory of man- 
 kind, is certainly deierving of particular 
 attention. 
 
 3. With all thefe difficulties before 
 him, from the nature of his undertaking, 
 and the people whom he had to gain to 
 his purpofe, Jefus promiled to his difciples 
 nothing at all in this world, but only in 
 another. On the contrary, he frequently 
 apprized them, that if they adhered to 
 him, they had nothing to expecl: in this 
 life, but perfecution, and many of them 
 that violent death to which he himfelf 
 was deftined. This is a kind of conduft 
 which muft certainly be deemed in the 
 highefi: degree prepofterous, and unac- 
 countable, in an impoftor, who, whatever 
 he gave out, could not have had a view to 
 any thing but fome advantage in this life. 
 It muft have been to facrifice himfelf and 
 his followers, for whom it is evident he 
 had the greateft affeflion, for no advan- 
 tage 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 379 
 
 tage whatever, to himfelf or them, which 
 is what any man muft pronounce to be ab- 
 iblutely impoffible. 
 
 That a great nmnber of perfons fhould 
 dehberately abandon themfelves to perfecu- 
 tion and certain death, in order to eftabhih 
 a fcheme which they conceived to be fa- 
 vourable to the happinefs of mankind, is 
 not to be admitted. That a fingle perfon 
 fhould devote himfelf to prefent death, 
 when immediate and great glory would 
 certainly accrue to himfelf, and an ample 
 recompence to his family, ispoffible, though 
 examples of it are uncertain and rare. 
 But that many perfons fhould do this, when 
 the profpeft of fame to themfelves, and 
 of advantage to their families, was diftant 
 and uncertain, and when for the prefent, 
 and an indefinite length of time, contempt 
 would be joined to their other fufferings, 
 is impoffible while human nature is what 
 we know it to be. Such conduft would be 
 deemed to be nothing lefs than infanity; and 
 that a number of perfons fhould be infane 
 in exactly the fame way, and infed thou- 
 
 G g fands 
 
3§Q THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fands with the fame fpecies of the diforder, 
 would be moft miraculous. 
 
 That Jefus did expecft a violent death 
 for himfelf, and that he apprized his fol- 
 lowers that many of them muft expeft the 
 fame, appears from the whole courfe of 
 his hiftory. It was not a thought that oc- 
 curred to him only juft before his death, 
 and which he had not time torefleftupon; 
 but it appears that it was what he had ftea- 
 dily in view, fo as to have had an oppor- 
 tunity of confidering it in all its terrors, 
 and all its confequences, from the very be- 
 ginning of his miniftry, and what he in 
 good time informed his difciples of. Some 
 time before his laft journey to Jerufalem, 
 it is faid, Matt. xvi. 21. Fj'om that time 
 began Jefus to Jhew to his difciples how that he 
 miifl go up to Jerufalem^ and fuffer many things 
 of the elders y and chief priefts, and the fcrihes^ 
 and be killed, and be raifed again the third day. 
 This, as was natural, ftaggered his difciples, 
 who at that time expelled preferment in 
 the kingdom which they believed he was 
 about to ereft, and Peter faid unto him, 
 
 7his 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. sSr 
 
 This be far from thee Lord. But Jefus,' fo far 
 from palliating the matter, and endeavour- 
 ing to foften it, and reconcile their minds to 
 it, replied. Get thee behind me fat an y thou art an 
 offence unto me. For thou favour eft not the things 
 that are of God, but thofe that be of men; and 
 turning to his difciples, he faid. If any man 
 'will come after me, let him take up his crofs and 
 follow me. For whojbever will fave his life, fall 
 lofe ity and whofoever will lofe his life for my 
 fake fall find it. On another occafion he 
 faid. Matt. x. 38. He that taketh not his crofs 
 and followeth after fne, is not worthy of me. 
 On all proper occafions he clearly apprized 
 his difciples that in this world they had 
 nothing better to expeft than the treatment 
 that he himfelf met with. For when the 
 fons of Zebedee, James and John, applied 
 to him for the chief feats in his kingdom, 
 he faid. Matt. xx. 22. Ye know not what ye 
 afk. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I fall 
 drink of, and to be baptized with the baptifm 
 that I fall bebaptifed with? And when they 
 faid, we are able, he faid, Te fall indeed 
 drink of my cupy and be baptized with the bap- 
 
 G g 2 tifn 
 
3S2 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 tifm that I am baptized with. When he fore- 
 told the deftrudion of Jerufalem, he faid 
 to the apoftles, Matt. xxiv. 9. Then /hall 
 they deliver you up to he afflidedy and Jloall kill 
 youy and ye Jhall be hated of all men for my 
 name*s fake. By way of encouragement to 
 bear all this, he could only fay, and this 
 he did in his firft public difcourfe from the 
 mount. Matt. v. 10. Blejfed are they that 
 are pcrfecuted for righteoufiefs fake, for theirs 
 is the kingdom of heaven, Bleffed are ye when 
 men fball revile you, and perfemte you, and fay 
 all manner of evil againfl you falfely for my fake. 
 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your 
 reward in heaven. 
 
 What could any man expeft from this 
 mode of addrefs, from which Jefus never 
 varied, but that his hearers, who looked 
 for nothing but worldly advantage (which 
 at firft was the cafe of the apoftles them- 
 felves) finding that he had nothing of that 
 kind to offer them, would turn from him 
 with indignation and contempt. Difap- 
 pointed in their fond profpefts, what could 
 have kept them with him but a firm per- 
 
 fuafion 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 383 
 
 fuafion that he had a divme miflion, and 
 therefore that it was their duty to follow 
 him implicitly, confident that, in fome 
 way or other, of which they had no idea, 
 they would in the end find their account 
 in it. Notwithftanding his perfifting in 
 difclaiming all pretenfions of a temporal 
 nature, they did not abandon the expedla- 
 tions they had entertained ; ftill flattering 
 themfelves that though he did not acquaint 
 them with it, he would at a proper time 
 afliime kingly power. But when he was 
 apprehended as a malefaftor, which did 
 not at all furprize or difconcert km, they 
 allforfook him and fled ^ while he with a pain- 
 ful an^ ignominous death before his eyes, 
 met his dreadful fate with the greateft com- 
 pofure, and went through the whole of 
 the trying fcene without giving the leaft 
 fufpicion that he wilhed to avoid it. Natu- 
 rally indeed he did, and therefore he pray- 
 ed that the bitter cup might pafs from him. 
 But he immediately added, but not as I willy 
 but as thou wilt. Surely this behaviour was 
 very unlike that of an impoflor. 
 
 This 
 
384 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 This was far from being the conduft 
 of Mahomet. Befides promifmg his fol- 
 lowers the enjoyment of every luxury of 
 life, and efpecially that of women (free, 
 as he frequently repeats it, from impuri- 
 ty,) he did not fail to hold out to them 
 fomething worth fighting for in this world. 
 Neither himfelf, nor any of his immediate 
 followers, were voluntary martyrs to their 
 religion. 
 
 As Jefus did not fail to apprize his 
 followers of the dangers, and the incon- 
 venience, to which their adherence to him 
 would expofe them, he did not conceal the 
 great evils which would attend the propo- 
 gation of his religion, though it would 
 ultimately be in the higheft degree benefi- 
 cial to the world, and would finally pre- 
 vail in it. Think not^ fays he. Matt. x. 
 30, that I am come to fend peace on earth, I 
 came not to fend peace, but a fword. For I am 
 come to fet a man at variance againfi his father, 
 and the daughter againfi her mother, and the 
 daughter-in-law againfi her mother-in-laiv , and 
 a man^s foes fall he they of his own hoifehold, 
 
 V. 21. 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 385 
 
 V. 2 1 . The brother Jhall deliver up the brother 
 to death y and the father the child; and children 
 Jhall rife zip againft their parents and caufe them 
 to be put to death y and ye fall be hated of all 
 men for my name^s fake. Surely fuch difcourfes 
 as this was not likely to recommend his 
 religion, or invite followers. 
 
 4. An artful impoftor, would proba- 
 bly \\2iVC fecrets and confidental friends, to 
 w^hom he would intruft what he did not 
 choofe to communicate to others, though 
 this is not neceiTary to every impoftor. But 
 Jefus had no fecrets, nor does there appear 
 to have been any perfons to whom he com- 
 municated what he concealed from others. 
 When his audience difcovered great per- 
 verfenefs, and a difpofition to cavil, he 
 fpake to them in parables, but he after- 
 wards explained the meaning of them to 
 his apoftles, one of whom was Judas, who, 
 as he betrayed him, would, no doubt, 
 have divulged whatever he had known to 
 his prejudice. In the general inftruftions 
 which Jefus gave his apoftles, he direfted 
 them to publiih to the world every thing 
 
 that 
 
386 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 that they had heard from him without ex- 
 ception. Matt. X. 27. What I tell you in 
 darknefs, that fpeak ye in the light ; and what 
 ye hear in the ear^ that preach ye on the houfc 
 tops. 
 
 The only fecret that Jefus had, was 
 not his pretenfions to a divine miffion (for 
 this he always openly aflerted, and ap- 
 pealed to his miracles for the evidence of 
 it) but to his being the Meffiah, announced 
 in the antient prophets. But this was only 
 for fear of exciting an alarm which would 
 have done no good, and at a proper time 
 he declared this to all the apoftles, and to 
 Judas among them. After his refurred:ion 
 and afcenfion, this was no fecret to any 
 perfon. He alfo avowed it in the moft fo- 
 lemn manner at his trial before the high- 
 prieft. 
 
 5. Jefus difcovered no anxiety about 
 the evidence of his divine miffion, which 
 vvould have been natural to a perfon who 
 had been confcious to himfelf that he was 
 unable to produce any that was fatisfadlory. 
 This anxiety appears through the whole of 
 
 the 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 387 
 
 the Koran. Mahomet's affertion of his 
 divine miffion, of the chapters in the Ko- 
 ran being fent to him from heaven, his de- 
 nunciations of the wrath of God, and of 
 hell-fire to the unbelievers, are repeated 
 without end, fo as to be tirefome in the 
 extreme. What he wanted in evidence 
 he endeavoured to fupply by confident af- 
 fertions, and this, together with the fuc- 
 cefs of the battles that he fought fuffici- 
 ently anfwered his purpofe. To thefe he 
 appealed, and his followers, no doubt, 
 thought that God would not give fuch fuc- 
 cefs to a mere impoftor. 
 
 On the contrary, Jefus never, of his 
 own accord, faid any thing about his mif- 
 fion, leaving it to thofe who faw his mira- 
 cles to make the neceffary inference from 
 them. He contented himfelf with an- 
 fwering objedlions as they were made to 
 him; and as his miracles were never quefti- 
 oned, he eafily fhewed the abfurdity of 
 every thing that was objedled to them, ef- 
 pecdally that of his cafting out demons by 
 Beelzebub- With great dignity he obferv- 
 
 ed 
 
388 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ed, on one of ihefe occafions, John x. 25. 
 thdit the works which his faiher gave him to do, 
 bare witnefs of him ; and in anfwer to the 
 clamorous demand of a fign from heaven, 
 he referred them Matt. xii. 39. to the fign 
 of the prophet Jona$, facing that as Jonas 
 had been three days in the belly of a fifh, 
 he fhould remain fo long in the ftate of the 
 dead, and rife again on the third day; 
 which it appears that his enemies well un- 
 derftood, by the precautions they took to 
 prevent any impofition with refpeft to it. 
 
 How natural was this conduft on the 
 fuppofition of Jefus having been confcious 
 to himfelf that he had a commiffion from 
 God, and that the evidence of it, w^hich 
 was conftantly before the world, was fuf- 
 ficient to fatisfy any unprejudiced perfon. 
 Had he been confcious that his pretenfions 
 were deftitute of any folid proof, he would 
 naturally have made the mofl of any falla- 
 cious appearance of evidence that he could 
 produce, as Mahomet did of his viftory of 
 Beder, and the excellence of the compofi- 
 tion of the Koran. 
 
 6. The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 389 
 
 6. The piety obfervable in the cha- 
 rader of Jefus is alone a proof, to thofe 
 who give due attention to the human cha- 
 rafter, that he was no impoftor. That he 
 was aftuated by the genuine fentiments of 
 piety, appeared in all his difcourfes, and 
 the whole of his conduft. He not only 
 always declared that he came to do the will 
 ofGodwhofent him, and (Johnviv. 10.) that 
 the father within him did the works y which 
 evidenced his divine mifFion ; but it is evi- 
 dent that, as the Pfalmift faid, God was in 
 all his thoughts, and that to his will he was 
 at all times refigned. It was, as we read, 
 John iv. 34, his meat and drink to do the will 
 of him that fent him. He was frequent and 
 earneft in prayer, and taught his difciples to 
 pray, to avoid oftentation in prayer, Matt. 
 vi. 6. to go into their clofets, 'dnd flitting the 
 doors, pray to their father, who, he faid, faw in 
 fecret. Such a reverence for God, and de- 
 votednefs to his will, in life and in death, as 
 Jefus difcovered, is abfolutely incompa- 
 tible with falfe pretenfions to a miffion 
 from him, whatever **might be his objeft 
 in the impofture. It muft have appeared 
 
 to 
 
390 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 to him as the extreme of arrogance and 
 impiety, fuch as could not fail to draw af- 
 ter it the divine difpleafure, and the hea- 
 vieft judgments. 
 
 No perfon can read the New Tefta- 
 ment, and imagine that Jefus was an athe- 
 ift, or an unbeliever in a future ftate of 
 righteous retribution. Indeed, it is not 
 probable that there were any proper unbe- 
 lievers am.ong the Jews in his time. Even 
 the Sadducees were believers in the being 
 and moral government of God, and in the 
 divine miffion of Mofes. But Jefus was 
 not a Sadducee. He was, without all 
 queidion, a fincere believer in the doftrine 
 that he taught. And that he was fuch an 
 enthufiaft as to imagine that he had thofe 
 fupernatural communications to which he 
 pretended without having them, is even 
 more improbable than the fuppofition of 
 his having been an impoftor. If ever man 
 was in his ri^n mmd, and knew what 
 he was about, it was Jefus. All his dif- 
 courfes and aftions difcover the greateft 
 calmnefs and compofure, and favour no- 
 thing of extravagance, which fo egregious 
 
 an 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 391 
 
 an enthufiafl could not always have con- 
 cealed. All his difcourfes are perfedlly 
 rational, and his whole conduft was of a 
 piece with them; fo that, if he had no di- 
 vme miffion, he muft have been not an en- 
 thufiaji, who had impofed upon himfelf, 
 but properly an impojior, who endeavoured 
 to impofe upon the world; and whether 
 this fuppofition be at all tenable, let any 
 perfon, at all acquainted with human na- 
 ture, now judge. 
 
 Befides the piety of Jefus, he was evi- 
 dently a man of great benevolence, and 
 had a ftrong fentiment of friendiliip for 
 his apoftles and others. And it cannot be 
 fuppofed that fuch a perfon would pur- 
 pofely deceive and miflead his country- 
 men and friends. Impoftors have callous 
 hearts. Intent upon their fchemes, they 
 are deaf to ever other confideration. 
 
 Jefus gave many proofs of the ftrongeft 
 and tendereft afFeftion. When he came 
 within fight of Jerufalem, he zuept over /V, 
 in the profpeiSl of the calamities that 
 awaited it. He wept at the grave of La- 
 
39a THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 zarus, and his difcourfes to his apoftles a 
 little before his death difcover the moft 
 amiable fympathy, and concern, without 
 the leaft regard to his own approaching 
 fufFerings. He was only occupied with the 
 idea of what they would feel when he 
 was removed from them. We fee no- 
 thing like this in the conduft of Mahomet. 
 Though Jefus affefted no aufterity, he 
 was free from all fenfual indulgence, which 
 was by no means the cafe of Mahomet; 
 and he certainly did not aim at temporal 
 power, but refolutely declined feveral pro- 
 pofals of the multitude to make him a king. 
 What, then, could an impoftor, without 
 ambition, or perfonal indulgence, aim at ? 
 Jefus, being a man, muft have had fome 
 fuch objects as other men have ; but there 
 was nothing that other men moft covet 
 that his conduft was at all adapted to gain. 
 He muft, therefore, have had views of a 
 higher nature. On any other hypothefis 
 his conduft is abfolutely unaccountable; but 
 on the fuppofition of his being confcious of 
 having a divine milfion, and of a ftation 
 
 of 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 393 
 
 of honour and power deftined for him in a 
 future world, all his difcourfes, and his 
 whole conduft, are perfeftly natural. For 
 the joy that was fet before him (Heb. xii. 2.) 
 he endured the crofs^ defpifing the fi ame of that 
 ignominous death ; but that he fhould have 
 done this without having had in view any- 
 thing that any other man ever thought 
 worth purfuing, is not to be fuppofed of 
 him, or of any man. 
 
 Let all thefe circumftances be duly 
 confidered, the obfcure birth, and mean 
 occupation of Jefus, in a diftant and de- 
 fpifed country, his high pretenfions to be the 
 Jewilh MelTiah, without any afTumption of 
 kingly power, univerfally deemed to be 
 moft efTential to that charafter, his claim 
 to a kingdom though not of this world, 
 and to the power of raifmg the dead and 
 judging the world, when he had nothing 
 but the certain profpeft of a violent death 
 before him ; his undertaking to overthrow 
 all the reUgions of the heathen world, 
 firmly attached as the feveral nations were 
 to them, religions which had kept their 
 
 ground 
 
394 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 ground from time immemorial, notwith- 
 {landing a long period now boafted of as 
 the moft enlightened of any till the prefent ; 
 when there had not been from the begin- 
 ning of the world an example of any na- 
 tion voluntarily changing their religion; 
 his holding out to his difciples nothing but 
 perfecution in this world, and happinefs 
 in another; his having no fecrets; his dif- 
 covering no anxiety about the evidences of 
 his divine miffion, joined with his calm good 
 fenfe, his exalted piety, his general bene- 
 volence, and the ftrong afFeftion he always 
 Ihewed to his friends and followers ; let all 
 thefe circumftances, I fay, be confidered 
 and, without attending to his miracles, and 
 his fuccefs, it muft furely be thought im- 
 pofiible that this man could have been an im- 
 poftor, and meant to deceive the world. This 
 internal evidence added to the external, on 
 which I have already enlarged, viz. from 
 miracles, and prophecy, muft be abundantly 
 fufficient to fatisfy any reafonable and can- 
 did inquirer, with refpeft to the truth of 
 chriftianity, and of revealed religion in 
 general. 
 
DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 The moral influence of Chrijlian Principles. 
 
 If ye know thefe things, happy are ye if ye do them. 
 
 John. xiii. 17, 
 
 In the Difcourfes which I have 
 already deUvered, on the fubjed: of the 
 evidences of revealed religion, I fir ft endea- 
 voured to iliew the value of relidon in g-e- 
 neraly then the fuperior value of revealed 
 religion, compared with that which is called 
 natural. After this I gave you a view of the 
 ftate of the heathen ^vorld with refpeiSl to 
 religion, and to philofophy alfo as connected 
 with religion; and the great fuperiority of 
 the fyftem of Mofes, which has been moft 
 objeded to by unbelievers, in both thofe 
 refpefts. I then proceeded to explain the 
 dired, or external, evidence of the Jewiih 
 H h and 
 
396 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 and chriftian religions, from miracles^ and 
 from prophecy ; and in the laft place, as a 
 part of the internal evidence, I Ihewed, 
 from the circumftances of the hiftory of 
 Jefus, the impoffibility of his having been 
 an impoftor. 
 
 Having thus finiihed the argumentative 
 part of my undertaking, I now proceed 
 to conclude the w^hole with fome obferva- 
 tions of a practical nature. 
 
 I . If revealed religion be true, it muft 
 be of great importance , and demand our 
 clofeft attention. It may well, mdeed, be 
 prefumed, that if the divine Being, the 
 great author of univerfal nature, has in- 
 terpofed in fo extraordinary a manner as 
 has been reprefented, in a fcheme com- 
 mencing with our firft parents, carried on 
 through the difpenfation of Mofes, continu- 
 ed by Jefus Chrift, and to be refumed at his 
 fecond coming, the object muft be fomething 
 of the greateft importance to the duty and 
 the happinefs of man ; and it cannot be 
 without hazard to ourfelves if we negleft, 
 and rejed: it. 
 
 The 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 397 
 
 The moft interefling article in the 
 fcheme of revelation is the doftrine of a 
 future fiate. And furely, if there really be 
 a future ftate for man, if it be of much 
 longer continuance than the prefent, 
 elpecially if it is to laft for ever, and if 
 our well being in that ftate will depend on 
 our behaviour in this, it behoves us to pay 
 much more attention to it, than to any 
 thing in this Ihort and tranfitory life. Did 
 any perfon now living in this country cer- 
 tainly know that he muft foon leave it, and 
 go to another, for example to France, 
 where he had the profpe£l of fucceeding 
 to a large eftate, would he not be thinking 
 of his voyage, and making preparations 
 for it I Would he not be learning the 
 French language, and endeavouring in every 
 other way to provide for his enjoyment of 
 life in that diftant country ? And would a 
 man be commended for his prudence in 
 this cafe, and blamed for fuperftition and 
 folly in another cafe exaftly fimilar to it ? 
 Or would you not think a man infane who 
 fhould forget a journey he was upon, and 
 H h 2 take 
 
39^ THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 take up with his inn; and not think it 
 reafonable that a man who beheves he is 
 travelUng towards an eternal world, fhould 
 have his attention fixed upon it, and make 
 light of any inconvenience he met with in 
 his way thither ? 
 
 Surely, then, it becomes Chriftians, 
 
 who profefs themfelves to be pilgrims and 
 
 frrangcrs here, and citizens of heaven, to be 
 
 thinking of their proper country, and 
 
 preparing for1:heir remove to it. 
 
 Men of the world naturally fay, let 
 lis eat and drink jor to-morrow we die. This 
 is the great burden of the fong with all the 
 heathen poets. But the Chriflian as natu- 
 rally fays with the apoftlePaul, Phil. iv.5. 
 1m your 7noderation be known unto all men, the 
 Lord is at hand. 
 
 To ufe one example m^ore. If you 
 knew that any particular child would die 
 at a certain age, as at ten or twelve, you 
 would adapt his education, and your whole 
 treatment of him accordingly, and not 
 trouble him with making him learn things 
 which he would have no occafion for till 
 
 he 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 399 
 
 he was a nian. But hoping and expefting 
 that your children will grow to man's 
 eftate, you reafonably endeavour to qua- 
 lify them for it, and would be univerfally 
 blamed if you did not. ♦ 
 
 Let us, then, believing that we are 
 born for immortality, overlook the tranfi- 
 tory enjoyments and purfuits of this uncer- 
 tain life, and, inftead of laying up (Matt, 
 vi. 19) trcafitres on earth, where moth and nijl 
 corrupt, and where thieves break through and 
 fteal, lay up treasures in heaven, where none 
 of thefe inconveniences happen, and where 
 our treafure is, there let^our hearts he alfo. 
 
 2. If a life of virtue will alone enfure our 
 happinefs hereafter, and vice our mifery, 
 it certainly follows, that virtue is our 
 greateft good, and vice our greateft evil. 
 Confequently, our principal endeavour 
 through life, fliould be the improvement 
 of our moral character, to reftrain every 
 propenfity to the irregular indulgence of 
 our appetites and paffions, to cultivate 
 every generous fentiment of equity and 
 humanity to our fellow-creatures, and 
 
 habitual 
 
40O THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 habitual piety to God, Every thing elfe 
 Ihould in reafon be made fubfervient to 
 this one great end of human hfe. To be 
 rich, or to be poor, to be mafter, or to be 
 fervant, to be heahhy or difeafed, are 
 mere trifles, and wholly infignificant, com- 
 pared with afting our part in life well, 
 whatever that part be, that of a king or 
 of a beggar, becaufe it is upon our afting 
 the part affigned us ivelly and not at all 
 upon the nature or comparative dignity 
 of it, that our future well-being will de- 
 pend. 
 
 3. In fuch a world as this, in which 
 it has pleafed divine providence, and, no 
 doubt, with the greateft wifdom, to place 
 us, a ftate of trial and of difcipline, a 
 ftate in which temptations to vice and 
 excefs of every kind are continually before 
 us, conftant vigilance, and the moft ftrenu- 
 ous exertion, are abfolutely neceflary. In 
 youth the love of pleafure, in more ad- 
 vanced years objefts of ambition and 
 avarice, have ftrong charms for men ; and 
 the love of thefe things cannot be kept 
 
 within 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 401 
 
 within due bounds without the moil: unre- 
 mitted attention, till a habit of moderation 
 and felf government be acquired and con- 
 firmed. This habit once formed not only 
 takes away all pain of reftraint, but 
 converts our duty into pleafure. But, 
 then, fuch powerful habits as thefe, are 
 not acquired without much refleftion and 
 exercife. Reftraint of any kind (and all 
 virtue, at firft, is fuch) is neceffarily pain- 
 ful, and therefore will not be fubmitted to 
 without fome ftrong counteracting princi- 
 ple, without a principle of fubmiffion to fome 
 authority y as that of a parent, of a magiftrate, 
 of confcience, or of God. This, as I fhewed 
 you, is the moft certain and the moft power- 
 ful of all, and it is no where fo clearly afcer- 
 tained as in revelation. There we learn in 
 the moft inteUigible language, what it is that 
 the Lord our God requires of us, in order 
 to live and to die in his favour, fo as to 
 fecure a happy immortality. 
 
 Do not deceive yourfelves by imagin- 
 ing that this great prize, of eternal life^ is 
 to be attained without exertion and labour. 
 
 Ad' 
 
403 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 Advantages far inferior to this are never 
 fecured without them; and can w^e expeft 
 that the greateft of all good, fhould be 
 obtained fo eafily ? Chriftianity is, no 
 doubt, the fame thing now that it was in 
 the time of Chrift and the apoftles : and 
 he faid, (Matt. x. 37.) He that loveth father 
 or mother^ [on or daughter^ wife or friend, 
 more than me is not luorthy of me, and he that 
 taketh 7iot lip his crofs and followeth me is not 
 worthy of me. The apoftle Paul frequently 
 compares the life of a Chriftian to a ftate 
 of warfare, as when he exhorts Chriftians 
 Tim. vi. 12. to fight the good fight of faith, 
 and Eph. vi. 1 1 . to put on the whole armour of 
 God, He alfo compares it to a race, as 
 when he fays, i Cor. ix. i^*fo run that ye 
 ?nay obtain, viz. what he calls (Phil. iii. 14.) 
 the prize of the high calling of God in Chrif 
 Jefus. Now both the ftate of warfare, 
 and the exercifes of running and wreftling, 
 as pradiifed in the Grecian games, to 
 which the apoftle alludes, required great 
 preparation before the conteft, and great 
 exertion in the courfe of ito 
 
 If 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 40J 
 
 If we be chriftians in earneft, we mufl 
 have the advantages of Chriftianity, and 
 the profpe6l of its rewards in a future 
 fliate, fo much at heart, that we fhall 
 prefer them to every other confideration, 
 to every thing in Hfe, and to hfe itfelf. I do 
 not fay tliat they who cannot do this are 
 no Chriftians, or are to be numbered with 
 the zuicked, and configned to future punifh- 
 ment ; but they cannot have any juft claim 
 to thofe diftinguifhed rewards ofChrifti- 
 anity, which are promifed to thofe who 
 are faid to have overcome the zuorldy which 
 imphes a contending with great difficukies, 
 and of whom it is faid (Rev. iii. 21.) that 
 they Jhall fit down with Chrift on his throne, as 
 he aljo overcame, and is fat down with his 
 father on his throne. In the houfe of God 
 the kingdom of heaven, there are many 
 manfionSy and the choiceft are referved for 
 thofe who (Afts iv. 22) through much tribu- 
 lation enter into the kingdom of God. But as 
 we do not content ourfelves with lov/ 
 attainments in this world when higher are 
 \vithin our reach, let the fame ambition 
 
 animate 
 
404 REVEALED RELIGION. 
 
 animate us with refped: to things of ftill 
 more value, in another world. 
 
 As there are all varieties of charafters 
 in men, and all gradations in every cha- 
 rafter, in this world, there will, no doubt, 
 be a correfponding diftribution of rewards 
 and puniihments in a future flate, though 
 in a general way of fpeaking, and in the 
 fcriptures, men are ufually divided into 
 two clafles, the righteous and the wicked. 
 For the Judge of all the earth will, no doubt, 
 do that which is right ; and if fo, there 
 mud be as great a variety of fituations 
 in the future world, as there are of 
 charadlers and deferts of men in this, 
 though we may not be able to form any 
 idea, or conjecture, in what manner this 
 will, or can, be effefted. 
 
 It may, indeed, be faid, and with 
 truth, that if we love virtue at all, fo 
 as to be juftly intitled to the character of 
 virUious and confcientioiis meuy wg Ihall fet no 
 bounds to our love of it. For if, in any 
 cafe, we give other objects and purfuits a 
 preference to it, it is only in feme cafes, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 405 
 
 and not univerfally, that we are difpofed 
 to a£l the confcientious and upright part; 
 whereas God requires that we fhould give 
 him our whole hearts, we muft (Matt. xxii. 
 37.) love the Lord our Gody with all the 
 hearty with all the Jouly and all the mindy that 
 is, we muft be wholly devoted to his will, 
 hi doing and in fuffering, in life and in 
 death. The apoftle James obferves (chap, 
 ii. 10.) that he who keeps the whole law, 
 but offends in one pointy is guilty of all. If 
 there be any cafe in which a man wilfully 
 and habitually offends, he certainly wants 
 the proper principle of obedience, that is, a 
 juft refpedl for the divine authority, which 
 would lead to an uniform and invariable 
 regard to the laws of God. This is a 
 proof that there is fome vicious propenfity, 
 to which, in his mind, every thing elfe 
 will give way ; and that, had he had as 
 ftrong a propenfity to any other gratifi- 
 cation or purfuit, he would have been 
 equally regardlefs of the authority of God 
 in that cafe alfo. For he only obeys the 
 laws of God, and the dictates of con- 
 
 fcience. 
 
4o6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fcience, when he feels no ftrong tempta- 
 tion to tranfgrefs them. 
 
 In this cafe no perfon can properly be 
 faid to be a fervant of Gody or of righteotif- 
 ncfsy but only a flave to his own favourite 
 appetite or paffion. But we cannot ferve 
 God and mammon. 
 
 In the prefent ft ate of things, fuch as 
 we cannot doubt is the beft for a ftate of 
 trial and difcipline, a theatre on which to 
 form great and excellent charafl:ers, a pro- 
 per Chriftian temper is neceflarily a difficult 
 attainment. To form a truly great cha- 
 radier there muft be many difficulties to 
 ftruggle with, evils of all kinds, moral as 
 w^ell as natural. For how could the greater 
 virtues of forbearance, doing good againft 
 evil, refignation, and truft in God, be 
 formed, but in a world in which men 
 fhould be expofed to injuries of every kind. 
 Not only could not real virtue be med, 
 and confequently knowity but it could not 
 even he formed y or exift, in other circum- 
 ftances. And furely the charafter in which 
 tlie virtues above mentioned exift is greatly 
 
 fuperior 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 407 
 
 fuperior to that of the generality of the 
 world ; who not comprehending its nature 
 or value, will under-rate and defpife it. 
 With them what is commonly called a high 
 fpirit, and a promptnefs to revenge injuries, 
 will be more admired and cultivated than 
 a difpofition to pity and befriend the inju- 
 rious perfon, which will be reckoned tam.e, 
 and defpicable; though certainly it mull 
 appear, on a little confideration, that the 
 latter is more truly magnanimous, implying 
 a greater command of paffion, and fuperior 
 refieftion. It is no lefs evident that it is 
 this prevailing fpirit of the ^tuorld which fills 
 private life with quarrels, and which, en- 
 tering into courts, fills the world with wars, 
 the fource of unfpeakable mifery; whereas 
 a truly Chriftian temper, a humble, meek, 
 and benevolent difpofition would make the 
 intercourfe of individuals, and of nations, 
 the fource of peace and of happinefs. 
 
 It is, however, no fmall attainment to 
 get above the cenfure and contempt of 
 perfons whofe minds are in a lower and 
 more degraded ftate than our own, vvhen 
 
 they 
 
4o8 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 they are the great majority of the world 
 we live in, and are likely to continue fo. 
 In this ftate of things great exertion of 
 mind is requifite fo far to overcome the 
 world, as to poffefs our own minds in peace 
 and joy. It can only be done by looking 
 habitually towards a ftate in which a truer 
 judgment of charafters will be formed, 
 and in which thofe who are really fuperior 
 here will be advanced to that ftate of con- 
 fideration and refpeft to which they are 
 intitled. 
 
 The real difference between a merely 
 nominal believer, and an unbeliever is 
 very fmall, and of little confequence, com- 
 pared to the difference between the merely 
 nominal and the real Chriftian. What are 
 the generality of Chriftians, in what are cal- 
 led chriftian countries ? They are, in faft, 
 perfons who mind nothing but their bufi- 
 nefs, or their pleafure, without giving any 
 attention to the principles of chriftianity 
 at all. It is by no means the fubjeft of 
 their daily thoughts, it fupplies no motives 
 to their adlions, it contributes nothing to 
 
 moderate 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 409 
 
 moderate their joys, or to alleviate their 
 forrows. It neither enables them to bear 
 the troubles of life, nor does it give them 
 any folid hope in death. Whereas the 
 real Chriftian, as the apoftle fays, Rom. 
 xii. 15. rejoices as though he rejoiced tioty and 
 iveeps as though he -wept noty becaufe the fa-- 
 JJnon of this vjorld pajjeth away, and the Lord 
 is at hand. He is ever looking. Tit. ii. 13. 
 to that blejfed hope, even the glorious appearing 
 of the great God, and his Saviour Chrif, 
 and has peace and joy in believing. 
 
 4. Chriftianity is lefs to be confidered 
 as a fyftem of opinions, than a rule of life. 
 But of what fignification is a rule, if it be 
 not be complied with ? All the dodrines 
 of chriftianity have for their obje6l chrif- 
 tian morals, which are no other than the 
 well known duties of life ; and the advan- 
 tage we derive from this religion is that 
 the principles of it aflift us in maintaining 
 that fteady regard to the providence and 
 ;moral government of God, and to a fu- 
 ture ftate, which facilitates and enfures the 
 pradice of thofe duties; iiifpiring greater 
 
 piety 
 
4IO THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 piety towards God, greater benevolence 
 to man, and that heavenly mmdednefs 
 which raifes the heart and afFed;ions 
 above thofe mean and low purfuits 
 which are the fource of almoft all vices. 
 But chriftian principles not reflefted upon, 
 or attended to, cannot be accompanied 
 with any advantage of this kind; and bet- 
 ter, furely, were it to make no profeffion 
 of any principles, than to live without a 
 due regard to them. Better, therefore, 
 were it for any perfon to be an unbeliever in 
 chriftianity, than to be a Chriftian, and Uve 
 as if he had not been one. He deprives him- 
 felf of all apology or excufe, for his bad con- 
 du6l. And it would, I fear, be happy for 
 thoufands of profeifing Chriftians, if they 
 had been born and lived among heathens. 
 
 We cannot too much imprefs upon our 
 minds, that religion of any kind, is only 
 a means to a certain endy and that this end 
 is good condu(3; in life. Confequently, 
 if this end be not attained, we not only 
 lofe the advantage of the means, or in- 
 ftrument, of which we were poflefled, 
 
 but 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 411 
 
 but are chargeable with the guilt of fuch 
 neglecS, are guilty of an ungrateful con- 
 tempt of the means that were afforded us 
 for the greateft and beft of purpofes ; 
 and can we exped: that this will go un- 
 punifhed ? 
 
 The guilt of unbelief does not confift 
 in mere dilbelieving. For opinions of any 
 kind, as fuch, bear no relation to crimir 
 nalityy but in refufmg to confider with 
 due ferioufnefs and impartiality the evi- 
 dence of chriftianity that is laid before 
 men ; that refufal arifing from, and im- 
 plying, fome vicious prejudice, or improper 
 bias. And if, in any particular cafe (and 
 I doubt not there are fuch) this refufal 
 does not arife from any vicious prejudice, 
 there is nothing to blame in fuch refufal. 
 If, for example, any perfon had no accefs 
 to the fcriptures, by which he might have 
 had the means of better information, and 
 he was required to believe, as what was 
 contained in them, things that he found 
 it abfolutely impoffible for him to believe, 
 as that bread and wine were flefh and blood, 
 
 I i or 
 
4tz THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 or any thing elfe that appeared to hhn 
 equally impoffible, he muft of neceffity either 
 be an unbeliever, or give up all pretence 
 to common fenfe. 
 
 No perfon, however, can be wholly 
 innocent who does not weigh the difficul- 
 ties of believing with thofe of unbelief. 
 Whatever difficulties any perfon finds, or 
 are thrown in his way, he ihould confider 
 the general evidence of the great fads 
 on which chriftianity is founded ; and if 
 that be fufficient, he may be fatisfied that, 
 though he cannot for the prefent account 
 for fome particular appearances, or repre- 
 fentations, the difficulties occafionedby this 
 circumftance cannot be infuperable ; fince 
 all truths are confident with one an- 
 other. If it appear, from indifputable 
 hiftorical evidence, that Chrift wrought 
 real miracles, if he died, and rofe from the 
 dead, his religion is unqueftionably from 
 God ; and then all the abfurdities charged 
 upon his doftrine mufthave arifen from fome 
 mifconception, or mifreprefentation, though 
 we may not be able to trace it. But it is 
 no uncommon thing for a difficulty which 
 
 appears 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 413 
 
 appears infuperable to day, to be cleared 
 up to-morrow, as we fee in many cafes. 
 
 The principles of chriftianity, how- 
 ever, may be, and no doubt are, of great 
 ufe when they are not explicitly attended 
 to. They have been the means of eftablifli- 
 ing fuch maxims and habits in parents, as 
 are afterwards communicated to their pof- 
 terity, more by the natural and filent 
 operation of example, than by dired; in- 
 ftruftion ; fo that unbelievers, born of 
 Chriftian parents, and living in a chriftian 
 country, may be, in a manner, half Chrifti- 
 ans, without their knowing it. Alfo mere 
 nominal Chriflians are, no doubt, often 
 reftrained from vices and irreo-ularities 
 forbidden by chriftianity, without their 
 being aware that the reftraint comes origi- 
 nally from that quarter ; having acquired 
 habits of decent and proper conduft, which 
 operate mechanically, and without any 
 explicit regard to chriftian principles, 
 though originally derived from them. 
 
 There are alfo, all degrees of the in- 
 fluence of chriftian principles, from the 
 I i 2 exalted 
 
414 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 exalted charadler of Chrift and the apoftles, 
 and many others m every age, who had 
 no other objed: of attention, and all whofe 
 thoughts, fentiments, words, and aftions, 
 were under the conftant influence of them, 
 who lived as the apoflle faid, as if con- 
 fiantly feeing things invifihle^ Heb. xi. 27. 
 hy faith and not by fight ^ 2 Cor. v. 7. as 
 if the great fcenes of the future world 
 were prefent to them ; there is a great 
 difference, I fay, between fuch chriftians as 
 thefe, and thofe of the lowefl order, who 
 may, indeed, have read the fcriptures, or 
 part of them, and who retain fome know- 
 ledge of them, and who entertain no doubt 
 of their truth, but in their general condufl: 
 they give no explicit attention to them. 
 Neverthelefs the knowledge they have ac- 
 quired has left fome favourable impreffions 
 on their minds, fome latent fear of God, 
 and refpeft to his providence, and a world 
 to come, which prevents the commiffion of 
 great crimes, and leads to an uniformly bet- 
 ter conduft than they would otherwife have 
 been capable of. 
 
 5- If 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 415 
 
 5. If we have any value for our re- 
 ligion, thinking it to be an ufeful inftitution, 
 and wirii well to our fellow creatures, to 
 whom we are therefore defirotts to recom- 
 mend it, we fhould be particularly careful 
 to exhibit it to proper advantage, in our 
 own difpofitions and condu^;. It is to 
 this that the generahty of mankind, ina- 
 tentive to reafoning, will look, and not 
 unjuftly. Our Saviour himfelf faid of 
 pretenders to prophecy, and of men in 
 general. Matt. vii. 6. By their fruits ye Jhall 
 know them. Indeed, as the only end of 
 good principles is good pradice, if the 
 latter be not apparent, the former will 
 not be inferred. On this account we mufl 
 not confine our religion to our clofets, but 
 carry it with us into life, and in the bufi- 
 nefs andbuftle of it, difcover that fuperior 
 meeknefs, benevolence, and difinterefted- 
 nefs, which chriftian principles tend to 
 infpire. We fhould, in all refpecfts, fliew 
 a greater command of our paffions, and a 
 greater freedom from the influence of a 
 love of fenfual pleafure, of ambition, and 
 
 avarice 
 
4i6 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 avarice, and from all thofe vices which 
 arife from an exceffive love of the world, 
 and the things of it, to which a regard to 
 heaven and heavenly things, (on which 
 alone our beft affeftions ought to be fet) 
 naturally leads. 
 
 When this is done, but not before, the 
 world in general will have an opportunity 
 af perceiving the real effed: of chriftian 
 principles; and if they be not properly in- 
 fluenced by it, the blame will not be ours. 
 There can be no doubt but that^ though on 
 fome the faireft and moft advantageous 
 exhibition of chriftian conduft may have 
 an unfavourable effeft, fince as our Saviour 
 obferved, there are thofe who (John. iii. 
 19.) love darhiefs rather than lights and that 
 the worlds which loves its own (xv. 9.) 
 v/ill hate his difciples hecaufe they are not of 
 the world y this will be the cafe only with 
 thofe whofe hearts are greatly corrupted. 
 On others the effeft muft be favourable. As 
 he fays, (Matt. v. 6.) that when our light 
 Jhines before men they woidd fee the good works of 
 his difciples^ and glorify his father who is in 
 
 heaven 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 4^7 
 
 heaven. What he meant by g/ori)5'/V/gGo^, we 
 clearly fee from his faymg on another oc- 
 cafion (John xv. 8.) thenismy father glorified 
 when ye bring forth much fruity that is, fruits 
 of rigbteoufnefs y which the apoftle alfo fays, 
 (PhiL i. II.) are to the praife and glory of 
 God, 
 
 But, on the other hand, if, in the 
 whole tenor of men's lives, there does not 
 appear to be any difference between the 
 Chriftian and the man of the world, how 
 can thofe who have no other means of 
 judging, or who wall not have recourfe to 
 any other, fuppofe that there is any advan- 
 tage in the principles of the one more than 
 in thofe of the other? If the nominal 
 Chriftian behave juft like other men, if he 
 puts as little reftraint upon himfelf in indul- 
 gences of any kind; if he be as ambitious, 
 as avaricious, and as revengeful, when 
 provoked; if he appear to have no greater 
 regard to God, or love to mankind; (hew- 
 ing itfelf, as it natually will, in afts of 
 kindnefs, generofity, and mercy; if the 
 Chriftian appear to be in all refpefts, as 
 
 much 
 
4i« THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 much attached to the world, and the 
 things of it, as other men are, they will 
 naturally fay, that all his pretences to a 
 belief in a future world, a world pre- 
 pared for the righteous only, are vain, 
 when it is evident from his condud:, that 
 this world has as full pofleflion of his heart 
 as it has of thofe of other men. 
 
 By this condud:, not becoming, and 
 adorning, but difgracing, his profeffion, 
 the nominal Chriftian incurs the woe pro- 
 nounced by our Saviour, (Matt, xviii. 7.) 
 It muji needs he that offences come, hut woe to 
 the man hy whom they come. By this means 
 we not only lofe the benefit of chriftian 
 principles ourfelves, but, by giving others 
 an unfavourable opinion of chriftianity, we 
 indifpofe them to the reception of it, and 
 confequently deprive them of the benefit 
 of it. Inftead of being preachers of the 
 gofpel, as every Chriftian in fome fenfe or 
 other ought to be, and which every chriftian 
 may be, at leaft by his example, a perfon 
 who is only a nominal Chriftian, but a vi- 
 cious man, is in faft a preacher of infideUty, 
 
 and 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 419 
 
 and does every thing that is in his power 
 to unchriftianize the world. On this ac- 
 count there was great ufe in the ftrid dip- 
 cipUne of the primitive church, which 
 rejeded all fuch perfons from their com- 
 munion. Vicious men were to them as 
 heathen men and publicans. Being excluded 
 from all connexion with Chriftians, and 
 being known to be fo, the caufe of chrifti- 
 nity did not fufFer by their mifcondud: *. 
 
 It 
 
 * It has been unfortunate for the caufe of chriftianity, 
 that ecclefiaftical hiftory, like the civil, is, in a great mea- 
 fure, an exhibition of vices, and of mifery. For thefe things 
 are always mofl prominent, and catch the attention of tiie 
 generality of obfervers; while the beneficial effefts of reli- 
 gious, as well as of civil inftitutions, are much lefs confpicu- 
 ous. The meek, the humble, and the heavenly minded, 
 though the benevolent among Chriftians, attraft little atten- 
 tion, and therefore make no figure in the eye of an hiftorian. 
 Befides, in all cafes, virtue is more common than vice ; and 
 on this account the latter attracts more attention. The for- 
 mer is like the gentle rain, or dew, which though it does 
 infinite good, yet, becaule it is common, is not fo much 
 noticed, as the deftru^live ftorm or hurricane, which tears up 
 every thing before it, and lays a whole country wafte. 
 
 Wealth and power will corrupt the heartb of men. It 
 cannot, therefore, be thought extraordinary, if this was 
 the effect of wealth and power in the bifbops of the greater 
 fees, and it is the condu6t of thefe men about which ec- 
 clefiaftical 
 
420 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 6 It will be enquired by what means 
 the influence of the world can be counter- 
 afted, or by w^hat means a due attention 
 
 to 
 
 cleliaftical hiftory is moll converlant; while the poor, 
 the humble, and laborious teachers of chrillianity, and 
 their hearers in lower life, who were really influenced by 
 its fpirit, and laid themfelves out to do good, hoping for 
 no reward but in heaven, pafTed unnoticed. 
 
 Occafions, hov^iever, have frequently occurred, which 
 drew out thefe men, and their principles, into public view. 
 1 mean feafons of perfecution ; and then it might be feen 
 what the power of chriftian principles really is. And when 
 it is confidered what numbers of Chriftians have fuffered 
 for their religion, in the heathen, the Papal, and even pro- 
 teftant, perfecutions, what torture many of them endured, 
 and, what is much more trying, of how long continuance 
 were the fufferings of many of them, in prifons and dun- 
 geons, w^here they lingered out their lives dellitute of every 
 comfort, when liberty, life, honour, and wealth, would 
 have been the reward of a fimple renunciation of their faith, 
 it will be evident that there is in chriftianity fomething that 
 has great power over the hearts and lives of men. 
 
 But the principal circumftance to be attended to in the 
 biftories of perfecutions is not the greatnefs, or the duration 
 of the fufferings of the martyrs, but the temper of mind 
 with which they fuffered ; their piety, their patience, their 
 meeknefs, their benevolence, their freedom from the fpirit 
 of revenge, and the good will which they fhewed even to their 
 enemies and perfecutors. This is an attainment of a truly 
 extraordinary nature, which it is in vain that we look for 
 among the heathens. This is not the difpofition with which 
 the North American Indian bears his torture. 
 
 Should 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 421 
 
 to chriftian principles can be bed fecured, 
 I anfwer, the principal means to efFefl: this 
 great purpofe, and one that will naturally 
 lead to every other, is a familiar acquaint- 
 ance with the fcriptures. The zealous 
 chriftian will make thefe books his con- 
 ftant companions. With the pious Pfalmift 
 (Pfalm i. 2.) his delight will be in the lavj of 
 the Lord^ and in his law will he meditate day 
 and flight. 
 
 Be affured that in reading the fcrip- 
 tures ever fo often, you will always find 
 fomething new and interefting. Many 
 
 Should perfecution again arife, chriftian principles being 
 the faiTie that they ever were, would, I doubt not, produce 
 as great and as extenfive efFefts. But I am far from wiftiing 
 for an experiment of this kind. We are direfted not to 
 court, but to Ihun perfecution, if we can do it with integrity 
 and honour, from which, however, we are never to fwerve. 
 And perhaps chriftian principles undergo a trial no lefs k^ 
 vere in profperity than in adverfity. It is commonly faid, 
 and with truth, that if adverfity has flain its thoufands, 
 profperity has ftain its ten thoufands. A feafon of perfecution 
 forces an attention to chriftian principles, and unites num- 
 bers in the fame caufe; but in profperity we muft of our own 
 accord, and without any external impulfe, give attention 
 to chriftian principles; and this the obtrufion of worldly 
 objects too often prevents. 
 
 difficulties 
 
442 THfi EVIDENCES OF 
 
 difficulties you will, no doubt, meet with, 
 as may be expected in books of fuch great 
 antiquity, written many of them in a lan- 
 guage which is but imperfectly underftood, 
 and abounding with allufions to cuftoms 
 with which we in this part of the world 
 are unacquainted, and, which being in 
 many refpefts the reverfe of ours, will of 
 courfe appear unnatural. But new light 
 is thrown upon things of this nature every 
 day. Many difficulties are already cleared 
 up in the moft fatisfaftory manner, and in 
 the mean time every thing of this nature 
 may be fafely neglected, or referred to 
 farther confideration, efpecially if you read 
 for the purpofe of moral improvement, 
 the greateft part of the Bible being per- 
 feftly intelligible to every capacity, and in 
 the higheft degree ufeful and edifying. 
 
 A familiar acquaintance with the fcrip- 
 tures will preferve upon the mind a lively 
 fenfe of God and his moral government. 
 It will continually bring into view, and 
 give you an habit of contemplating, the 
 great plan of providence, refpeding the 
 
 defign 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 423 
 
 defigns of God in the creation of man, and 
 his ultimate deftination. You will by this 
 means have a clearer view of the divine 
 wifdom and goodnefs in the government of 
 the world, even in the moft calamitous 
 events, as in the corruption of true religion, 
 as well as in the reformation of it. You 
 will perceive figns of order in the prefent 
 feemingly difordered ftate of things, and 
 will rejoice in the profpe6l of the glorious 
 completion of the fcheme, in univerfal 
 virtue and univerfal happinefs. Such views 
 of things as thefe, which will be perpetu- 
 ally fuggefted by the reading of the fcrip- 
 tures,have the greatefl tendency to ennoble 
 and enlarge the mind, to raifeour thoughts 
 and affedlions above the low pur fuits which 
 wholly occupy and diftraft the minds of the 
 bulk of mankind, they will infpire a 
 moft delightful ferenity in the midft of the 
 cares and troubles of life, and impart a 
 joy which the world can neither give nor take away. 
 By the frequent reading of the fcrip- 
 tures we fliall be unavoidably led to the 
 exercifes of meditation, conftant watch- 
 
 fulnefs 
 
424 THE EVIDENCES OF 
 
 fulnefs, and prayer, and every other means 
 of virtuous improvement, whatever has 
 any tendency to reprefs what is vicious 
 and defeftive, and promote what is moft 
 excellent in the human charadler. 
 
 The ftudy of the fcriptures, w^hich 
 contain the hiftory of the tranfad:ions of 
 God with men, and which furnifh topics 
 of difcuffion proper for the exercife of the 
 greateft genius, is equally interefting to 
 the loweft and the moft improved of the 
 human race. Sir Ifaac Newton, whofe 
 reputation as a philofopher ftands higher 
 than that of any other man, devoted 
 almoft the whole of his time after he was 
 turned forty (and he lived to the age of 
 eighty-four) to theology ; and from my 
 perfonal knowledge I can fay that fome 
 perfons now living, and lately living in 
 England, who had greatly diftinguifhed 
 themfelves, in mathematical and philofophi- 
 cal purfuits, declared that, as they advanced 
 in life, they had the moft fatisfadlion in 
 theological ones. Nor can this be thought 
 extraordinary, when it is confidered that 
 
 thefe 
 
REVEALED RELIGION. 42- 
 
 thefe are fubjefts of infinitely more mo- 
 ment than any others to rational beings, 
 born for immortality. 
 
 Let us then, my chriftian brethren, 
 whatever be our fituation or employment 
 in life, whether our purfuits relate to agri- 
 culture, raanufaiSlures, commerce, natural 
 philofophy, or any of the learned profeflions; 
 though we fliould be employed in the more 
 immediate fervice of the public, in any civil, 
 or military capacity, let us not forget that 
 we are ?nen and Chrijlians, and without ne- 
 gledling the immediate and neceflary bufi- 
 nefs of this life, attend chiefly to what is of 
 infinitely more importance, viz. our defli- 
 nation to another ; and, accordingly be 
 folicitous to aft fuch a part, and to culti- 
 vate fuch habits, as will be our beft 
 preparation for it ; that whenever we come 
 to die, the great bufinefs of life may be 
 done, and vve may be like fervants con- 
 ftantly looking for the return of their 
 lord, that when he pall return ^ and take an 
 account of his fervants y we may he found oj him ^ 
 as the apoftle fays, 2 Pet. iii. 14. without 
 
 fpot 
 
426 THE EVIDENCES, &c. 
 
 fpot and hlamelefsy and not be ajloamed before 
 him at his coming: but at the great day, em- 
 phatically fo called, before the confidera- 
 tion of which every thing elfe ihould 
 vanifh like a fhadow, we may hear the 
 joyful fentence. Matt. xxv. 21. well done 
 good and faithful fervants, enter ye into the 
 joy of your lord. 
 
CATALOGUE OF BOOKS 
 
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 1788, IS. 
 
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