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 OF THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 < -J&€-206 . G -5 M 5 4 1 7^1 
 
 Milner, Joseph, 1744-1797. 
 ^ Gibbon's account of 
 
 Christianity considered: 
 
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G I B B O N's 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 O F 
 
 Chriftianity confidered : 
 
 Together with fome Strictures on 
 
 HUME'S DIALOGUES 
 
 Concerning Natural Religion. 
 By J O S E P H SI I L N E R, A. M. 
 
 Mafler of the Grammar-School of Kingfton upon Hull, 
 
 . • male verum exammat omnis 
 
 Corrupttis judex ■ Hor. 
 
 But the Lord of Hosts fhall be exalted in judg- 
 " ment, and God that is holy fhall be fanclificd in 
 *« Righteoufnefs." Isaiah v. i6. 
 
 YORK: 
 
 rrinted by A. Ward ; and fold by G. Robinson, in Pater- 
 nrikr-Row, and T. Cadell, in the Strand, London; 
 J Merrill, in Cambridge; J. Fletcher, in Oxford; 
 W. Tesseyman, in York; T. Browne, in Hull; and 
 J. BiNNS, m Leeds. 1781. 
 
 [Price THREE SHILLINGS.] 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ^/¥R. GIBBON^ ill his vindication of 
 _ A fome pafiages in his hiftory, frankly 
 avows, that fame is the motive of his labours, 
 and the moil valuable object of his pofleiTions, 
 Or at leail of his hopes. He mull then feel 
 very fenfibly any attempt that is made to rob 
 him, who expofes himfelf to our mercy, and 
 who confefTes that his life exiils in our breath. 
 He may well be allowed in fuch a cafe to com- 
 plain in the language of the idolatrous Micah, 
 Te have taken away my gods which I made^ and 
 what have I more ? * 
 
 The reader will find the propriety of fuch a 
 motive examined, on Chriftian principles, in a 
 more convenient place. At prefent fhould 
 Mr. Gibbon take the fame method with me 
 that he has done with his other anfwerers, fend 
 for the book as foon as he fees the advertife- 
 ment, it may not be am.ifs to affure him, that 
 I have not the lead intention to depreciate his 
 
 a fame. 
 
 * Judges xviii. 24. 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 fame. His chara6ler, as a Scholar and a Gentle- 
 man, fliall through me ftand uniuilied and 
 unimpeached. It may be faid, " Who are you 
 " that talk with fuch an air of generofity ? Of 
 ** what coniequence are you in the literary 
 " world J or who will be influenced by your 
 ^' opinion of claflical charaders ? Mr. Gibbon 
 " ftandi too high in the Temple of Fame, to 
 " be at all endangered by fuch puny opponents 
 '^ as you." I believe his fame is firmly, and, 
 1 ferioufly add, defervedly eftablifhed. 1 may- 
 be allowed, however, to declare, that I have 
 no malevolent intention againft this great man ; 
 and that it is as oppofite to my inclination, as 
 it is beyond my ability to injure his chara6ter, 
 as a man of exquifite judgment, found clafTical 
 erudition, and every quality necelTary to form 
 the accompliflied Hiflorian. " Why then the 
 *^ following Iheets of oppofition?" The very 
 little leifure which the laborious employment 
 of teaching a fchool, and other ftill more im- 
 portant cares, have left me, I ftudioufly de- 
 vote to the reading of hiftory. Mr. Gibbon's 
 performance falling in my way, I read it with 
 avidity, delighted as I went along, to find a 
 new light and order given to fubjedls, v/hich 
 1 had read indeed when young, but had never 
 
 {ccn 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 fecn arranged with fuch perfpiculty and philo- 
 fophical precifion. In one point of view only, 
 truth and impartiality ft^emed evidently to be 
 wanting. The reader will be beforehand with 
 ine in fuppofing I mean, whatever has any rela- 
 tion to Chriilianity. The following fheets, 
 perhaps, may convince him, that it would not 
 be wrong to add, any relation to Chriilianity, 
 dire6t or indiredl : The fao-acious author fmells 
 the defpifed religion at an im.menfe diftancc, 
 and fteadily purfues his game throuo;h the motl 
 intricate thickets with unwearied alTiduitv. 
 Not without fincerely compafTionating the au- 
 thor's want of tafte for that divine religion. I 
 own I felt an indignation of foul to find it fo 
 elegantly, and yet fo illiberally afperfed. I do 
 not apprehend that he has wilfully mifrepre- 
 fented any tenet or pafiage, rpuch lefs that his 
 underflanding is too weak to enable him to do 
 jultice to Chriilianity. His charader of a 
 Gentleman forbids the firftj of a man of fenfe 
 and a Scholar the fecond. It is very uncandid 
 and illiberal (though I believe it is often done) 
 to impute that to defign which arifes from 'pre- 
 judice. What obje6t will not this lafl difcolour? 
 fie who reads Mr. Gibbon, with the leafl de- 
 gree ^of attention, mufl fee that he is ftrongly 
 
 a 2 prejudiced 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 prejudiced againft Chriflianity . Nor v/iU k 
 appear furprifing, that not even his good judg- 
 nient has fecured him from a feries of mif- 
 takes in every thing relating to this religion, 
 from which, in all other parts of his hiftory, 
 the native force of a found judgment, opera- 
 ting without controul, has happily fecured 
 him. 
 
 I thought it necefiary, however, to fee fome- 
 thing of what had been anfwered to Mr. Gib- 
 bon before I ventured, in my zeal for Chrifli- 
 anity, to give myfelf to the public. I read 
 Dr. Watfon's Apology and Mr. Gibbon's Vin- 
 dication. This laft gave me fo clear an infight 
 into the plan of his other anfwerers, that I did 
 not trouble myfelf with reading any of them, 
 perfuaded, without depreciating at ali their 
 merits, that there was room for an anfwer on 
 a plan widely different from theirs. 
 
 The reader may be convinced of this, if he 
 pleafe to perufe the Contents, in which he will 
 find, unavoidably lome, but not many mate- 
 rials, that have been ufed by other writers on 
 this occafion. 
 
 Some 
 
P R E F A C E. vii 
 
 Some fads and charaders that, in my judo-. 
 nienr, have been mif-ftated by the author, fliall 
 be examined and fet in a true light : This wil] 
 ^orm Part the Firfl. 
 
 The nature of Chriftianity itfelf fhall be laid 
 open in a Second Part, fo far as I can fee into 
 it from the Word of God itfelf. This, tho' 
 mofl: neceflary and moft important, (hall be dif- 
 patched with brevity. A multitude of words 
 often darkens that divine fubjefl, and robs it 
 of its brighteft ornament, an inimitable fimpli- 
 pity. The ufe and neceffity of both thefe 
 Parts will more plainly appear in 
 
 Part the Third, which will be devoted to 
 the difcuflion of feveral interefting fubjecls, all 
 reducible, however, to one point, the recommen- 
 dation of the Gofpel to the attention of the po- 
 lite and the learned, and the vindication of its 
 dod:rines from the fubtil afperfions of Mr. 
 Gibbon. I fhall have occafion here to llep 
 cut of my way, and advert a little, to another 
 refolute enemy of Chrifhianity. I beg the 
 reader's careful attention to the two firft Parts 
 before he meddles with the third, as I trufl 
 he may find they mingle their influence upon 
 
 thisr 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 this laft, and give and receive from it both 
 light and ftrength. The recommendation of 
 real Chriflianiry is indeed the one defign of this 
 performance; and a very fuperficial view of the 
 prefent religious, fhall I fay ? or irreligious 
 iVate of the genteel and falhionable world, will 
 enable any man to anfwer the quellion, Is there 
 not a canfe ? * 
 
 * The reader will pleafe to obfervej that my remarks are 
 entirely confined to Mr. Gibbon's firil volume. The plan was 
 laid, and a confiderable progrefs made, before his other two vo- 
 lumes appeared, which do not indeed, fo far as I can judge 
 from a very curfory view of them, contain any thing of fuch 
 moment with teference to religion, as to call for any particulaf 
 snimadverfioDf 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
»—■»<»»'■ I II'I1B»»II 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. Farls and Char a Hers, 
 
 SECTION I. The Jezvs. 
 Their pronenefs to idolatry in the early ao-es Re- 
 markable difference of their charader in later times 
 in this refpecft — ^Mr. Gibbon's and Lord Boling- 
 broke's deiftical inference from this : An attempt to 
 refute it by accounting for the facl. ■ — p. i 
 
 SECT. II. yudai'Ling Chr'ijiians. 
 Mr. Gibbon's charge of uncharitablenefs in the pri- 
 mitive Church toward them anfwered, and his mif- 
 reprefentation of Juftin Martyr on this head expofed. 
 
 p. 10^ 
 SECT. III. Heret'icks, 
 
 The attempt to confound thefe with the real members 
 
 of the Church expofed, and the conduct of the Chri- 
 
 ftiatis in difclaiming connection with them, defenaej. 
 
 p. 12. 
 
 SECT. IV. Neiv Account of the Gmfi'us, 
 Mr. Gibbon's erroneous account of thofe Hercticks ex- 
 pofed — His charge againft the dovSlrines of original 
 fm, of the Jewifh csconomy, and of the divine {o- 
 vereignty, anfwered. * p. 17. 
 
 SECT. V. The Revelation of St. John. 
 Evidences of the authenticity of this book, both ex- 
 ternal and internal, againft Mr, Gibbon's infinua- 
 tions. '-"-^ ■ — P- ^5 
 
 sp:ct. 
 
K 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. VI. Ig.iatius's Teftimori) to our Lord's Re- 
 furreSiion defended, ■ — — p. 36 
 
 SEC \\ Vil. The Infidel's Challenge, 
 Unreafonablenefs of demanding more evidence for the 
 truth of the Gofpel, than has been already afforded — - 
 Inutility of more, if afforded. — p. 41 
 
 SECT. VIII. Miracles, 
 Mr. Gibbon's confufion of genuine and counterfeit Mi- 
 racles expofed-— The diftindlion between them ca- 
 pable of being known. — — -— p. 490 
 
 SECT. IX. The Charaaer of the prmitive Chrifii- 
 ans defended, ' ' ■ P* 55 
 
 SECT. X. Cyprian, 
 His chara(£ler particularly afperfed by Mr. Gibbon,' 
 unj uftly fo. ■ — p. 61. 
 
 SECT. XI. Tiherlus, 
 Tertulllan's account of his favourable idea of the Chri- 
 ftians vindicated. _ . p. 68 
 
 SECT. XII. Nero, 
 Mr. Gibbon's remarks on his condud toward the Chri- 
 flians confidered, ■ ■■ p. 74 
 
 SECT. XIII. Trajan, 
 Mr. Gibbon's remarks on his conduct toward the Chri- 
 flians confidered. ■ p. ygl 
 
 SECT. XIV. The Martyrs and the Perfecutors, 
 Mr. Gibbon's account of the fmall number of Martyrs* 
 particularly obviated— An hiftorical view of the per- 
 
 fecutioni 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 fecutions from Nero to Conftantine — Dirc£l evidence 
 of their amazing cruelty— The deaths of the perfc- 
 cutors carry evident marksof divine vengeance. p.*83 
 
 PART II. Evangelical Truth. 
 The pretended difficulty of difcovering this, anrwered-^ 
 
 By the confideration of the necelTuy of ferioufnefs 
 
 Of a fpiritual underftanding Prejudices againft 
 
 this laft obviated — Sceptical objedions anfwered by 
 a fhort fimple view of the nature of Chriftianity. 
 
 p. 83 
 
 PART III. Chr'ijlian Principles defended, 
 
 SECT. I. Faith, 
 Mr. Gibbon's and Mr. Hume's erroneous account of 
 Chriftian faith — An attempt to defcribe it according 
 to the fcriptures, and to ihew its influence in the 
 juflification of a fmner before God — Hence their in- 
 fmuations of its tendency (hewn to be groundlcfs, 
 
 p. lOI 
 
 SECT. II. The peculiar nature of Chriflianity , 
 An eftimate of the pretended virtue of the antient Pa- 
 gan Sages — Its perfect contrariety to Chriftian vir- 
 tue evinced — The peculiar nature of this, and the 
 necefTary connection between Chriftian principles 
 and good pra6lice illuftrated. — — p. 109 
 
 SECT. III. Future State, 
 The fcriptural view of this in conneilion with Chri- 
 ftian principles — Applied to refute Mr. Gibbon's and 
 Mr. Hume's invidious account of a future ftate as 
 Reduced from Revelation. — p. 118 
 
 b ' SECT, 
 
Xll 
 
 content! 
 
 SECT. IV. Humanity. 
 The boaftof the prefent day— Ridiculoufly perverted— 
 Neceffity of guarding this amiable principle— R.e- 
 vealed religion vindicated from inhumanity, p. 126 
 
 SECT. V. Love of glory. 
 The perfea contrariety of this to Chriftian princi- 
 ples evinced. — "~" P* J^35 
 
 SECT. VI. hnpiety. 
 Mr. Gibbon's defence of Impiety— obviated on Chri- 
 ftian principles ■ ■ "- P* ^43 
 
 SECT. VII. Mr. Gibboris dangerous idea of lewd- 
 nefs expofed. • ' P- ^4^ 
 
 SECT. VIII. Rationality. 
 The exceflive attachment of the prefent age to this— 
 Its unreafonablenefs in religion— An account of fpi- 
 rituality as oppofite to it from i Cor, il. applied to 
 refute fome miftakes in Locke's account of faith, 
 reafon, and enthufiafm — The right ufe and office of 
 reafon not injured by this account. — p. 154 
 
 SECT. IX. A fcriptural idea of the Church. 
 An hiftorical view of it — Mr. Gibbon's contempt of it 
 confidered. ■ ' p. 163 
 
 SECT. X. The progrefs of Chrijiianity. 
 Mr. Gibbon's confufion of ideas in his account of the 
 progreL of Chrifiianity — The infufficiency of his ac- 
 cr.int — The nf^fcefliiy and reality of a fpiritual in- 
 flu nee — Sketch of tht; chara6ler of real Chriftians — 
 Hence the Gofpel proved to be divine. P* 172 
 
 SECT, 
 
CONTENTS. xlli 
 
 SECT. XI. Caufe of the enmity againfi Chriftianity 
 
 pointed out* ■ -— p. iqi 
 
 SECT. XII. Mr. Hume. 
 His oppofition to natural religion in his dialogues con- 
 fidered — St. Paul's view of natural religion largely 
 defended againft his infinuations . p. jg^ 
 
 SECT. Xfll. Validity of the evidences of Chriftianity, 
 
 The proofs valid — The obje(5lions inconclufive Mr. 
 
 Gibbon's infidel infinuation with refpedl to the 
 eclipfe at our Saviour's Paffion, anfwered. p. 221 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Recapitulation — An addrefs to Sceptics — To Forma- 
 iifts— To Believers. p. 238 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page i6. in the Note, for Tertull. Apolog. c. ii. r^^c? Irenxus^ 
 
 b. 1. p. 29. 
 p. 17. 1. a. for new accounts, readritvj account. 
 p. %T. 1. 13. for no idea of it, read no great idea of it. 
 p. 37. the la(t line of the Greek quotation, for aa-y.xloiit reai 
 
 ua-ufjictior. 
 Ibid, for svQoq, read stj^vq, 
 V' 54' I. I. for have fatisfied, read hsiih fatisfied„ 
 p. 59. 1. 8. for wordly, r^^^ worldly, 
 p. 63. 1. rz.y^jr judge, read xt]u6gt 
 p. 68. Note.y??r reveleverat, r^W revelaverat, 
 p. T%. I. a6. for too, read tvjo. 
 P' 75* Note.y«?r ya^lygrjaaj, r^rt^ [Jt,a.^v^via-ei(;, 
 p. 135. 1. i.yj?r with what, read with whatever, 
 p. 145. I. 7. add a comma after ill defert. 
 p. 149. 1. 19. for condefcended, r^^i condefcending, 
 p. 154. 1. 7. for charity, r^^^ chaltity. 
 p. 160. 1. i.for I, read It. 
 p. 162. I. 5. for found, read find, 
 p. 183. 1. 9. for infidelty, r<f^2^ infidelity. 
 p. 186. 1. 21. for wordy, r(f«<i worldly. 
 p. 190. 1. 22. for Gopel, read Gofpel. 
 p. 199. 1. 8. for we may remain, read \vt mud remain:^ 
 p. 200. 1. 16. for date, r<f^^ data. 
 Ibid. 1. 22. for Eve called, read v/e call, 
 p. ^^92 1. 23. for polite, r^^^ politic. 
 p. *98. Note. /or Gatilignian, r^^a^ Catilinarian, 
 p. *I04. 1. 2.forysfa, read ^i^a. 
 
 Ibid. 1. 12. /^rudminfler, j.v^iadmim(teF, 
 
G I B B O N's 
 
 Account of Chriftianity conlidered, &;c. 
 
 PART I. Faofs and Cbaraolcrs, 
 
 SECTION I. tbejezvs. 
 
 'R. Gibbon fpeaking of the Jews obfervesj 
 ^' The contemporaries of Mofes and 
 ^' Jofliua had beheld with carelefs indiiference 
 *' the nioft amazing miracles. Under the pref- 
 '' fure of every calamity the belief of thofe 
 '' miracles has preferved the Jews of a later 
 ^' period from the univerfal contagion of ido- 
 " latry •, and, in contradidion to every known 
 *' principle of the human mind, that fmgular 
 '^ people fecms to have yielded a ftronger and 
 '^ more ready affent to the traditions of their 
 *.' remote anceftors, than to the evidence of 
 " their own fenfes." * 
 
 Let the reader weigh the tendency of the 
 pafTage before us : 
 
 . Grimine ab uno 
 
 Difce omnes. — — . • Virg, 
 
 A For 
 
 w 
 * Page 482, Secood Edition. 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 For tl\ere is a remarkable uniformity of infinaa- 
 tion, which runs through every thing that af- 
 fects Chriiiianity in his hill:ory. It is incredible 
 th^t the Jews Hioukl act in contradiction to 
 every known principle of the human mind, 
 more fo, would he not infinuate ? than that all 
 the accounts we have of the miracles of Mofes 
 and Jofhua Ihouid be falfe. A lover of tha 
 human fpecies, who valued their immortal in- 
 terelts, and faw in any degree that thefe depend - 
 cd, or even might depend, on a cordial regard 
 for the oracles of the Old and New Teftament^ 
 would be extremely careful of faying any thing 
 that might have fo much as a remote tendency 
 to leffen that regard. Nothing but the mod: 
 confirmed and the mod decifive proof of the 
 falfehood of the Bible, which no Deift ever did 
 or can, in the nature of things, attain, can 
 furely warrant this egregious, and I will add, 
 inhuman trifling with a book,, which, for any 
 thing the trifler knows to the contrary, may re- 
 quire the moft lerious and refpeclful treatment, 
 on pain of eternal ruin. Either Mr. Gibbon 
 believes the Bible to be Qod's word, or he does 
 not ; or, if he pleafes to have it fo, he is in 
 doubt. Under none of thefe fuppofitions can 
 his conduft be juftified. As to the firft cafe, 
 ^vords are fuperfluous : The fecon^ would afk 
 
 a 
 
C 3 ) 
 & mDre manly and a more open way of oppofi- 
 tion i even the impious honetly of Lord Bolincr^ 
 broke, horrible as it is. is ieis offenfive to a 
 lover of plain-dealing than the fly, infinuating, 
 artful mode of Mr. Gibbon. As a Gentleman, 
 he m.uft fcorn it in common life : and the thing 
 itfelf is fo reprehenfible, that I do not fee any 
 way but to deny the charge itfelf, is left for 
 him, in order to attempt a vindication of his» 
 charader in this point. And here 1 can only 
 appeal to erery unprejudiced reader, whether 
 in his two lall chapters he does not conifantly 
 pradice the very contrary of that with which 
 h€ charges Eufcbius, fupprds what would tend 
 to the honour of the Gofpel, and enlarge on 
 whatever v/ould difgracc it. You lee not in his 
 account of the primitive Chriftians the fincerity, 
 the charity, the good qualities of all forts, 
 with which the umverfal voice of all ancienc 
 writers, who knew what they were, adorns 
 them. But their faults, their imprudence, 
 their inhumanity is enlarged on. And if you 
 look at their pirfecutors, the lion is turned into 
 a lamb^ their ferocit/ is evaporated through 
 the emollient power of his fniooth di^lion, and 
 he has a world of excufes for whatever he can- 
 not liill defend in them -, yet he talks at times 
 with a fort of refpedt for Revelation and for 
 , A 2 Saints : 
 
i 4 ) 
 Saints : But, farely, here is a flagrailt abiife of 
 the gift of fpeech. Men of honed minds would 
 be content with kfs elegance, if they were fa- 
 voured WMth more frankneis of language. In 
 a word, if he diil^elieves the Bible altogether, 
 he ought never to have fpoken of it at all, as a 
 Divine Revelation. And in the third cafe, a 
 ftace of doubt would have reftrained a mind 
 leafoned with any devout regard to the Al- 
 mighty, from writing any thing to the difcredit 
 of the Gofpel. For one thing is clear, ami.ift 
 all the mazes of his pen, that he cordially hates 
 Chriftianity. It is not fo eafy a thing, even for 
 Mr. Gibbon, to difguile his heart. Who fu- 
 fpedls, when he is praifmg Antoninus, or Taci- 
 tus, his real efteem of the men ? who ca-n help 
 fufpeding his fincerity, even when he does be-- 
 flow fome encomiums on Chriltian perfons and 
 fubje6ls ? If then his guarded manner of fpeak- 
 ing would not allow one to call him a Deift, 
 this at lead mufb be faid^ the wliole of what 
 he writes on religion has a Deiflical tendency. 
 But 
 
 We are called on to account for this pha^- 
 nomenon, the remarkable propenfity of the Jews 
 to idolatry before the Babylonifh captivity, du- 
 ring the ages of miracles, and their exemption 
 
 from 
 
( 5 ) 
 f'vom it in after-ages to this day, fo loner after 
 miracles have ceafed. 1 own the cafe is remark- 
 able \ It has coll me ferious thought, before I 
 faw Mr. Gibbon's remark upon it, which whe- 
 ther it was copied from Lord Bolingbroke I 
 muft not prefume to fay. But he has obferved 
 the fame thing, and glories in the inefficacy of 
 all the Mofaic miracles. We may juflly ob- 
 ferve, with Dr. Watfon, that the Jews did not 
 beliold theie^iiracles with carelefs indiiference; 
 withDr. Warburton, that in all their idolatries 
 they never avowedly gave up the God of their 
 Fathers j with the common ftream of Chrillian 
 Divines, that the feventy years captivity of 
 Babylqn had a great efFc6l in curing their ido- 
 latrous propenhties. But though all this may 
 alleviate, it does not feem entirely to remove 
 the diiEculty. Even if we could not do it, I 
 fee no reafon to argue from thence againft the 
 truth of the Scriptures. I'he rational belief of 
 their truth, furely, does not oblige us to be able 
 to account for all the ways of Providence. It is 
 a fatisfadion, however, to gain an infight into 
 an affair of this nature, where w can. The 
 following train of thought has fatisned my own 
 mind on the point, v^hether it may that of the 
 reader, he mufl determine for himfelf. 
 
 Wc 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 We firft find the Jews as a nation in Egypt. 
 They there fo deeply imbibed the fpirit of ido- 
 ktry, as not eafily to part with it^ and that the 
 ^mprtiTion of miracles was tranfient, while that 
 of old habits was permanent, will give no fur- 
 prife to thofe who know human nature in gene- 
 ral, and the exceflive idolatry of Egypt in par- 
 ticular. Their mixture with heathen nations 
 after their conquefl of the land of Canaan, and 
 the conftant view of idolatrous obje6ls all 
 around, fo fimilar to thofe which had overcome 
 ^hem in Egypt, and fo apt to revive the force 
 of old temptations, thefe things, joined to the 
 common principles of human depravity, will 
 account for the .continuance of their idolatry, 
 from age to age, though frequently favoured, 
 with miracles, and fcarce ever totally deprived 
 of them till the Babyloniih captivity. When. 
 we come to Ezra's age, we find a generation of 
 a {lamp almoft entirely different from any pre- 
 ceding one *. I fay almoft entirely, becaufe 1 
 am av/are- of the diftinguillied godlinefs of 
 Joihua's generation. Perhaps, hov/ever, an at- 
 tentive obfervation of the chara6tcr given of 
 them in Ezekiel xx. 21, may iefien, if not de- 
 
 llroy, 
 
 * Should I be afKed to account for this, I nmil defire the. 
 reader to confult Jerem, xkiv. 7. there the piety cf Ezra's age 
 rs foretold, and alfo the inflnence bv v,h\ch it. was efFe<?.ed. 
 
( 7 ) 
 ftroy, the idea of their excellent qualities. Be 
 that as it may, a religious education v;ith which 
 Ezra's pious age (lb ^pious univerfally as to 
 break the moft endearing conne6^tions for the 
 honour of Jehovah *) would favour pofterity, 
 mufi: have had large and lafting influence, as it 
 always has, unlefs impeded by untoward adven- 
 titious circumftances, fuch as great profperity, 
 and a bad neighbourhood, both of which would 
 unite their malignant influence to prevent any 
 fimilar good efFefb from religious education in 
 the days of Jofhua. But in Ezra's days the 
 people are poor^ defpifed, perfecuted, opprelfedo 
 They arc no more the haughty vi(5lors of Ca- 
 naan, but the humble vaflals of a Perflan de- 
 fpot; and though, by his favour, reftored to 
 their own land after a feventy-years exile, yet 
 burdened with taxes, and depreffed with fervi- 
 tude. Add to this, their exemption from the 
 objefts of idolatrous temptation, which, in the 
 early days of their Theocracy, before the Ca- 
 naanites and Canaanitifh abominations were de- 
 ftroyed, muft have been very common in the 
 land. The ftate of the Puritans in Charles the 
 Second's time was in fome refpedls not much 
 unlike their own ; and the effects of education, 
 we may well conceive, would be much the fame. 
 
 We 
 * Ezra, the en4. 
 
( s ) 
 
 We know the effeds of the latter cafe,- a tena- 
 cious averfion to Popery, or to whatever the/ 
 -pleare to call fo. This^verfion has not ceafed • 
 it has continued, and is likely ftill to continue, 
 though it has not kept many of them from evils 
 to the full as oppofite to the fpirit of their re- 
 ligious anceftors. Socinianilm much abounds 
 at this day among the defcendants of the Puri- 
 tans. But their education had not fo ftrong a 
 guard againft that, nor did the circumftances 
 of the times require it, as again 11 Popery. 
 Perhaps it will not now be wondered at, if the 
 falutary effect of religious education, of hum- 
 bling adverfity, and other favourabl^^zircum- 
 llances conjoined, be placed in reviev/, that the 
 Jews after Ezra's time fhould be far lefs addicled 
 to idolatry than in any former periqd of their 
 hiftory. 
 
 Yet we find them verging to idolatry again 
 in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. The par- 
 ticular wickednefs of fome venal priefls, and 
 the influence of Greek connections account for 
 it. Antiochus, however, took an eifedual me- 
 thod to cure them, the argumentum haculinum of 
 perfecution. It fuccceded, and fcarce a veftige 
 of Jewifh idolatry can fince be found. This 
 \vas the firil inftance of nacional perfecution 
 
 for 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 for religion they ever underwent*. For Ne- 
 buchadnezzar and other conquerors diilurb- 
 cd them not on aocount of religious prin- 
 ciples. This had the fame effedt as Mary's 
 argument of the fame nature had in England. 
 The fanguinary proceedings of two or three 
 years have prevailed in both cafes to this day, 
 to imprefs a mod cordial hatred againft the 
 perlecuting religion. If idolaters perfecute, 
 the Jew, though ftili deplorably enOaved to 
 every other vice, will give up his idolatrous 
 propenfity ; and in conlequcnce of Mary's per- 
 fecution, Popery will ever be hated by Eng- 
 iifhmeW^ even by thofe who are void of prin- 
 ciple or confcience ; and our Legiflators are, 
 perhaps, now more fenfibly convinced, by the 
 ferment which their late indulgences to Pa- 
 pifts occadoned, that the effect of averfion, 
 once rouzed by perfecution, bids fair to endure 
 till time {liall be no more. Thus, from the 
 joint influence of adverfe circumftances, of re- 
 ligious education, and^ above all, the averfion 
 to perfecution, principles each of iteady influ- 
 ence on the human mind, the matter of fad 
 of this feclion is, I think, accounted for, and 
 io this view there is not any contradidion, but 
 
 B ratlicr 
 
 ♦ For Tome Individuals had been p^rfecuted, as appears from 
 ?:hc bcok of Daniel . 
 
ratlier a conformity to every known principle 
 of the human mind in the condud of the Jews. 
 
 SECTION iL 
 
 Judaizing Chrijlians, 
 
 THIS article is not of much importance, nor 
 wiii it detain us long : only it will fhew, 
 in a ftrong light, what is my profeiTed defign to 
 {hew, that the Author mifreprefents whatever 
 affects Chriilianity. " It became matter of 
 " doubt and controverfy, whether a man, who 
 " fmcerely acknowledged Jefus as the Mefliah^ 
 " but wiio ftill continued to obferve the law 
 *^ of Mofes, could pofiibly hope for falvation. 
 ^' The humane temper of Juftin Martyr in- 
 ^' dined him to anfwer this quefti^on in the af- 
 " firmative ; and though he exprefied himfelf 
 *V with the mod guarded diffidence, he ventured 
 '' to determine in favour of fuch an imperfed; 
 " Chriftian, if he were content to pradlife the 
 " roofaic ceremonies, without pretending to 
 " aflert their general ufe or neceffity. But 
 ^^ when Juilin was prelTed to declare the fenti- 
 ''"• ments of the churchy he confefled that there 
 " iv€i't I'ay many among the Orthodox Chri- 
 *' flians, who not only excluded their Judaizing 
 
 ** Brethren 
 
( II ) 
 
 *^ Brethren from the hope of faWation, but 
 *•' who declined any intercourie with them in 
 " the common offices of friendfhip, hofpitalicy, 
 ^' and'focial life*." The reader very eafily fees 
 that this is a very heavy charge againil the 
 Chriftians, very early Chriftians too, who are 
 fuppofcd to have imbibed the Gofpel in its 
 purity, as men of an inhuman and intolerant 
 fpirit. His candour will help him to fee alfo, 
 that if the inhymanity he complains of was far 
 from being general among them, the cenfure 
 ought to be confined to thofe who deferve it, 
 and^i^ot to affe6l the whole body, or their re- 
 ligion in general. Now this happens to be the 
 very cafe. Let the learned reader confult Juf- 
 tin''s dialogue againft Trypho, page 62 of the 
 folio edition, and there he may find the paf- 
 fage alluded to. The exprefTion is, Eiav oi 
 Myovlsg, What Greek criticifm taught Mr. 
 Gibbon to trandate this, there were^ very many 
 \vho faid fo ? There were fome^ Juftin confeiTcs: 
 nor does he fpeak a word that I can find re- 
 lating to the fentiment of the Church. If even 
 Juftin be ftill thought intolerant for excluding 
 from falvation thole who prelTed the necefTity 
 of Judaifm on Gentiles, he has the honour of 
 following the dodtrine of the Apoflle Paul, as 
 
 B 2 the 
 
 * Page 458. 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 the whole epiftle to the Galatians evinces. 
 And its reafonabltnefs appears from hence, 
 that though Judailm, as iuch, be hamikfs in 
 itfelf, yet Iuch a condiid with refpect to it 13 
 an infallible evidence of a fpirit and temper 
 totally ♦incompatible with the Gofpel, as will 
 appear when we con:>e to fpeak of the method 
 gfj unification. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Here ticks. 
 
 R. Gibson obferves, " That the Apoia^ 
 " gifts of Chriftianity betrayed the 
 *' common caufe of religion to gratify their 
 *' devout hatred-}- to the domeftic enemies of 
 " the Church, charging on Hereticks the fame 
 *' bloody facrilices, and, the fame inceftuous 
 ^"^ feftivals, which were falfely afcribed to the 
 " orthodox believers. A pagan magiftrate, 
 " who poilefTed neither leifure nor abilities 
 
 . *' to 
 
 f It would a{]v a greater degree of logical ftill than even Mr. 
 Gibbon is pOilefTed of, to define what is meant by a devout ha- 
 tred. I Ibppofe it is a random (hot againlt piety and the fpirit 
 of prayer, and arifes from an abfurd and confufed notion, too 
 commonly cherifhed in this frivolous and prayerlefs age, that 
 malice and devotion go hand in hand, as if our duty could not 
 he intenfely difcharged toward Go^, without infringing oot 
 duty to our neighbour. 
 
( ^3 ) 
 *' to difcern the almoft imperceptible line 
 *' which divides the orthodox faith from he- 
 *' retical pravity, might eafily have imagined, 
 *' that their mutual animofity had extorted the 
 *"* difcovery of their common guilt*." 
 
 I make no doubt but the enmity and preju- 
 dice of the Pagans would incline them to con- 
 iound in one common mafs the Chriftians 
 and all the various fedls of Hereticks, who, 
 more or lefs, made profefllon of the Chriftian 
 name. Such a confufion would evidently 
 tend to weaken the evidences, and difgrace 
 the profeflion of the Gofpel. Our author, 
 aduated by the fame fpirit, naturally falls into 
 the fame train of thinking. But it belongs to 
 tht)fe who underiland real Chrillianity, and 
 are adluated by ajuflzeal for its purity, to 
 judge what is prudent to be done in this cafe, 
 and not to thofe who do not underftand what 
 it is. Thefe, like fuperficial obfervers, will 
 ever confound and blend together, what thofe 
 will think it their duty to feparate and diftin- 
 guifli. To do the lirft requires only a ma- 
 levolent temper, and very little underftanding 
 of the fubjed in queftion : to do the fecond, 
 ivould afK a competent degree of fkill, and 
 
 an 
 
 * Page jag. 
 
 t 
 
( 14 > 
 
 an heart-felt fenfe of the importance of the 
 jTubjed:. Admit that there is a line of diftinc-* 
 tion, though to carekfs eyes innperceptible, 
 yet, to thoughtful and ferious mindsj difcover- 
 ing itfelf to bejnarked with the boldeil and 
 the moil decifive precifion between primitive. 
 Ghriftianity and all herefies whatever *, admit 
 this, I fay, for the prefent, which I hope to 
 prove and illuftrate unanfwerably in the courfe 
 of this work*, and the prudence of diftin- 
 guifhing where Heathens and fupepficial Chri- 
 llians would confound, appears at firfl fight. 
 If it be matter of fad, that the Gnoftics and 
 other Hereticks v/ere monfters. o£ wicked- 
 nefs, error, and abfurdity •, and fo far from 
 being governed by the precepts of Chriftianity, 
 as our author affirms, had radically nothing 
 that belongs to it, was it not Erting that the 
 firfl: Chriftians, who (Pliny himfelf being wit- 
 nefs) were refpe6lable for virtue and probity, 
 fhould fhew themfelves to be a people ciT'^n- 
 tiaily difl:in6t from them ? Did, not charity to, 
 the fouls of others, as yell as juilice to their 
 own charaders, require that the jewel they 
 embraced fhould be exhibited clean and bright, 
 and no more polluted with the filch and mire 
 of herefy ? If their regard to the good of foul^i 
 
 would 
 ^ See parts fecpnd and tliird. 
 
'( t5 ) 
 
 ^voiiid p'r6mpt them to recommend the real 
 Gofpel to others, mull they not necefiarily 
 a6l in this manner ? Thus we find St. John 
 does : they in'cnt out from us^ but they were twt 
 cf us j but they went cut from tu^ that they might 
 be made manifefi^ that they 'Ujere not all of us. 
 Thus St. Peter, knowing that the way of truth 
 was evil ipoken of through their evil condud, 
 expofes, With what our author calls great im- 
 prudence, their extreme flagitioufnels in the 
 lecond chapter of his fecond epiille. So all 
 the Apoftles were direded to ad. And when 
 henetical feds began to abound, God in his; 
 providence raifed up a great and good man, 
 Irenaeus, who, with careful precifion and ex- 
 tenfive knowledge of the fubjed, fhould lay 
 open the various deceptions of herefy, and 
 diftinguifh the Gofpel from them all. His 
 charge againft the Hereticks, not only of error 
 and abfurdity, but alfo of extreme flagitiouf- 
 nefs and vice, is ftrong, decifive, and bold. 
 He points out evident fads* : What has Mr. 
 
 Gibboa 
 
 * Et quidam qu'idem ex ipfis clam eas muHeres quos difcunt 
 ab eisdodrinam banc corrumpunt; quemadmodum multJE fepc 
 ab lis fuais poll converfe mulieres ad ecclefiam dei cum reliqua 
 efrore & hoc confeffsE funt. ^lii vero & raanifelle, ne quidem 
 crubefccntes quafcumque adamaverint mulieres, has a viris 
 fuis abiirahentes, fuas nuptas fccerunt. Alii vero vAdc nio- 
 dettc -kKdo, quafi cam ibroribiis fingeates Iiabitare, proccdente 
 
 tempore 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 tjibbon to alledge againft his teftimony ? what 
 to fb€w of a fimilar kind among the Chriftians ? 
 if his fancy is to ftand for evidence, then 
 >» ■ non eft quod multa loquamur. 
 Nil intra eft oleam, nil extra eft in nuce duri, 
 
 HOR. 
 
 ®Tis evident that the Chriftians did no more 
 in this cafe than any fociety of men would 
 naturally do in like cafe for their own vindi- 
 cation ♦, and if pagan magiftrates had paid ib 
 much regard tojuftice and truth, as to have 
 examined into the nature and fruits of genuine 
 Chriftianity, the line of diftin6lion would have 
 appeared with the moft glaring evidence. I 
 cannot difmifs this fubje<5t without taking no- 
 tice of Mr. Gibbon's inconfiftency in praifmg 
 Mofheim's account of the Gnoftics as inge- 
 nious and candid, and at the fame time paying 
 lb little regard to it in his own account of them. 
 If he had confidered his defcription of Carpo- 
 crates's monftrous and fiagkious herefy, he 
 furelv would not have faid, that the Hereticks 
 were governed by the precepts of Chriftianity. 
 
 SECTION 
 
 tempore manifeftati funt, gravida forore a fratre fadla, & alia 
 multa odiofa & irreligiofa faclcntes. Thfe arejlrong charges, 
 and require Something more than our author's iwagi nation /<> 
 ^npvjer thc7n,{\,.f^^y^^^i Ih^.. 
 
 Tfft-Ttfn:,. Apolog, c. if. p. 39' I^^"^ folio ediiion. 
 
( i; ) 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 New accounts of the Gnojlics, 
 
 ^^^HUS Mr. Gibbon obfcrves of them*. 
 I "TheMofaic account of the creation and 
 " fall of man was treated with profane derifion" 
 (is this vfovd profile in jell or in earneft ? Why 
 does he deal in fuch ambiguous modes of 
 fpeech ? v/hy abufe the gift of language, whofe 
 principle end is, to lay open, not to difguife, 
 the fentiments of the foul ?) " by the Gnoftics, 
 *' who would not liflen wich patience to the re- 
 '*^ pofeof the deity after fix days labour, to the 
 *' rib of Adam, the garden of Eden, the trees 
 " of life and knowledge, the fpeaking ferpent, 
 " the forbi4den fruit, and the eternal condem- 
 ''* nation pronounced againil human kind for 
 *' the venial offence of their hril progenitors." 
 And more to this purpofe he puts into the 
 mouths of the Gnoftics againfb Jehovah, with 
 refpedt to his grant of the land of Canaan to 
 the defcendants of Abraham, and the charac- 
 ter and condud of that people. Though there 
 is fome truth couched under this account, yet 
 the whole is fo far from being a true account 
 of the Gnoilics, that I may well call it a 7mv 
 pne. To juflify this aflertion, I woukl defire 
 
 C ' any 
 
 * Page 460. 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 any of Mr. Gibbon's readers, who has not been 
 verfed in ecclefiatlical hiftory, to examine th^ 
 efFe^l which the whole paiTage concerning the 
 Gnollics has en his mind. Is it not this, to 
 lead him to the idea, that thefe Hereticks did 
 not believe there was any truth in the Mofaic 
 hiftory ? It is fitting that they fhould be told 
 that this was by no means the cafe. The 
 Gnoilics did believe thefe fads ♦, and Mofheim, 
 whofe account of the Gnoftics he calls inge- 
 nious and candid, would have lliev/n our au- 
 thor, particularly concerning the ferpent, thaC 
 they lavifhed their encomiums on the ferpent, 
 fo far were they from not liftening with pa- 
 tience to the fpeaking ferpent. Not that it is 
 of any material confequence v/hat fo abfurd and 
 impious a fe^l believed or difbelieved ; but he 
 who undertp^ js to give us hiilorical views of 
 things, fhould give us faithful, not enfnaring 
 ones. Iren:Eus's 34th C. B. i. may convince 
 any man, that the Gnoftics did not difbelieve 
 the matters of fac^ relating to paradife, to 
 Noah's Ark, to the moft early periods of 
 Jewifh hiftory. Divided as they were into many 
 parties, which dillurbed and difgraced the 
 church of Chrifl; in the firft, fecond, and third 
 centuries, they pretty generally agreed in the 
 ideas of two oppofite principles ruling the 
 
 univerf<^5 
 
( >9 ) 
 toiverfe, and in fuppofing that the evil princi- 
 ple, or at kail fome third principle, which 
 was far from being of a beneficent nature, 
 was the creator of the world, and the Law-giver 
 of Ifrael. Under his aufpiccs they fuppofed 
 all the miraculous events of Jewiih (lory to 
 have been conduced. Thefe were their idea^, 
 not Icfs impitsus it may be than thofe which 
 Mr. Gibbon afcribes to them, but alfo fo ab- 
 furd and nonfenfical, that had they been pro- 
 duced in their real colours, by a fair quotation 
 from Iren^us, with which there is no neceiTity 
 to decorate my page, they \vould not have 
 ferved his purpofe, which doubtlefs was to 
 afperfe the word of God by the help of fome 
 convenient vehicle. He takes care alio to in- 
 form us, that they were '' the moft polite, the 
 moll learned, and the mod wealthy ot tht^ 
 Chriftian name." I know no evidence of this, 
 iior does Le favour us with any. Bardefanes 
 and Tatlan were indeed men of genius -, but 
 neither the ideas, nor the praftice ot thefc 
 Hereticks in general favour this notion. It 
 is not the Gnodics, but Lord Bolingbrokc, 
 who fits for his picture in this vehement fatire 
 on the Old Teilament. I remember to have 
 feen fimJlai* exprefTions in the writings of that 
 haughty infidd. The genius of ancient is 
 
 C 2. vers* 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 very difterent from that of modern Infidelity. 
 The former was timid, hardly plaufible in its 
 reafonings, wholly abfurd, and covered with 
 fupeiflicion as bigoted and as violent as any 
 which it affedls to deride. The fame Tacitus, 
 who can deride the fuperftition of the Chrifti- 
 ans, can gravely tell a fuperftitious (lory him- 
 felf with all the marks of the moil unmanly 
 credulity. The modern infidelity, having, 
 by the rapid increafe of fcience and of auda- 
 cioufnels, divefted itfelf of all religious fear 
 of every kind, reafonable or fuperflitious, af- 
 fects a rationality and a politenefs unknown to 
 thofe ancients. Its character is a faflidious 
 parade of wifdom, and it is perpetually ringing 
 chancres on the evils of prom^pt belief and wild 
 enthufialm. No wonder fo fober and fpecious 
 an adventurer is afhamed of the alliance of 
 ancient infidelity, and therefore labours to give 
 her a more modern air, and drefs her in the 
 fafnion, before flie introduce her into com- 
 pany. 
 
 A writer, with the lead regard to the Scrip- 
 tures would never have fulfered fuch calum- 
 nies to have entered his book without giving 
 fomething like an antidote to his reader. 
 There are three charges againR God Almighty 
 
 in 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 in this nev/ account of the Gnodics, injuftic^ 
 to mankind in the fall of Adam •, various ab- 
 furdities and foiiies in the Jevvifli ritual, and 
 feveral circumuances of their hiilory ; and in- 
 juftice to the Canaanites in the grant of their 
 land to Ifrael. Does Mr. Gibbon, Lord Bo- 
 lingbroke, or any other objeclor pretend to 
 know the quantity of evil that is in fin ? then 
 they may decide how far the fm of Adam was 
 venial or not. Till then it is a folly paft the 
 power of defcription, to give any opmion con- 
 cerning it from the {lores of our own reafon. 
 But it is faid^ be it ever fo heinous, why mull 
 we be charged Vvdth it ? Mere again, if we 
 confider that union, which, in fcripture, is 
 ever fuppofed to connect the firfl parent and 
 the whole human race, it would firft be en- 
 quired, are you competent to decide upon 
 this union ? know you its real nature and 
 its properties ? Till you do, there lies not fo 
 much as a prefumption againft the Almighty's 
 dealings that refult from it. He mufl: know 
 v/e do not. However his judgments refult- 
 ing from it may appear to our reafon, her 
 conclufions on the point are of no more real 
 weight in the eye of right reafon, than the 
 imaginations of an infant on the conftru6lioii 
 ©f a fhip can be. The fame kind of reaion- 
 
 ing 
 
( 2i ) 
 
 hlg is eafily applicable to all objedtlons levelled 
 aoainft the Tewifh ritual and the whole oeco- 
 nomy of that difpenfatiort. No man without 
 fuperlative arrogance can pretend to be a 
 judge of all that was fitting for God to enjoin 
 in it. The relations, connedions^ dependan- 
 ces, and circumftances of the divine counfels 
 may, for any thing we know to the contrary, 
 be infinitely varied, and require even an infi- 
 nite capacity to comprehend theni. No inkCz 
 fis imming on the ocean can be fo much at a lofs 
 to meafure the dimenfions of that capacious bed 
 cf waters^ as m.an mud be, when he uftdertakes; 
 with his fcanty line, to fathom infinite wifdom. 
 
 It may be faid, " at leall we are judges of 
 matters of meum and ttium : The Ifraelitcs had 
 furely no right to difpofTefs and deftroy the 
 proprietors of Canaan." This is no intricate 
 cafe ; the voice of common fenfe and common 
 equity determines it at once." In what world 
 do men argue at this rate ^ In that which is 
 continually exhibiting proofs of the diviae 
 lb vereignty. Let only the rights of the uni^ 
 fverfal proprietor be exhibited, and this cafcj 
 the darling of faflidious infi.deiity, requires no 
 more. Cannot he who gives with free bene- 
 ficence, take away without injuilice ? Is he 
 
 not 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 not continually in the courfc of his providence 
 afting the fame thing ? If he command the 
 lightning to deprive this man of life, it is done. 
 If he charge fire and water with the fame 
 pommifTion, the obedient elements never fail 
 to execute his decree. May he not charge men 
 with fimilar orders, and fhall they be lefs 
 faithful than inanpiate nature ? This is the 
 cafe : A grant, a charter if you pleafc, is be- 
 llowed by the univerfal proprietor on the 
 Ifraelites of a certain portion of land. De- 
 ftrudlion is appointed againit the wicked in- 
 habitants by the fovereign judge. Yet even 
 here an humble acknowledo;ment of his fove- 
 reignty, there is reafon to believe, would be 
 the means of avoiding ruin, at lead of miti- 
 gating the punifhment. This was the cafe in 
 fadl of the harlot Rahab, And furely ample 
 proof of his fovereignty was exhibited to the 
 Canaanites, by a feries of miracles that 
 render unbelief inexcufeable. What is it that 
 men would make of the Almighty .^ Own only 
 that he is univerfal proprietor, and though al- 
 ways righteous and equitable, yet in his nature 
 always, and in his dealings very often, incom-. 
 prehenfible; and the very pedeftal of this 
 whole gigantic ftatue of reafoning is thrown 
 out of the world. " Do you then think that 
 
 this 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 this proves the Mofaic hiflory to be all true 
 and divine ?" I do not : Thac mull reft on its 
 proper proofs and evidences, which are partly, 
 external, partly internal. Juflice has been done 
 to thefe by many divines, and furely nothing 
 like an anfwer has been returned to them. 
 The force of what has been faid is to fliew, 
 that all objections drawn from the unreafon- 
 able nature of Jehovah's dealings, or that 
 would keep out of fight his incomprehenfibi- 
 lity and fovereign dominion over the univerfe, 
 contain not fo much as a prefumption againft 
 the Mofaic hifliory, becaufe they are all found- 
 ed on our ignorance ; and confequently leave 
 the proofs of the fcriptures in full pofTelTion of 
 every thing to which they are entitled. Our 
 humbler anceftors ufed to be content with this 
 plain argument drawn from the confideration 
 of ignorance : the difpofition of the prefent 
 age to be diffatisfied with it, indicates that we 
 have loft the idea of the infinite diftance be- 
 the creator and the creature, loft it in fa6c, 
 whatever we may pretend to in v/ords, and 
 is furely no proof of our grov/th m real wif- 
 dooi* 
 
 SECTION 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 - SECTION V. 
 
 ^he Revelation of St. John, 
 
 MR. Gibbon afierts^". That this Book has 
 very narrowly efcaped the profcription 
 of the Church. Thus has his averfion to the 
 word of God inclined him to afperfe one of its 
 mofl valuable parts. And the mifchief of thefe 
 hardy proceedings is, that perfons of a fceptical 
 and unfcriptural turn of mind, in this indoienc 
 age, will readily fwallow his declarations witii 
 as implicit faith as the mod bigoted Papill 
 does the juilly exploded decretals of the Ro- 
 man Hierarchy. In this refpe^t Infidelity and 
 Popery are nearly allied. Lazinefs effects for 
 that, what fuperfticion does for this. And 
 minds enervated by modern voluptuoufnefs, 
 and tutored by habitual profanenefs, are as 
 prone to reverence the didlates of the laborious 
 Mr. Gibbon, as ever the fpirits of the ninth 
 and tenth centuries, fubdued by papal domi- 
 nation, and darkened by fuperftition, were to 
 obey the bulls of the pretended fuccefTor of 
 §t. Peter. Mr. Gibbon has fliewn, that there 
 is nothing divine in the book of the Revela- 
 
 D tion : 
 
 * Gibbon 47>> and note Cj. 
 
( 26 ; 
 
 t!on : His judgment and iearning are decifive. 
 It muft be fo. 
 
 It will be well if the arguments of an ob- 
 fcure perfon, a profelTed friend of revealed re- 
 lio-ion, be thought worthy of the leaft atten- 
 tion. It fhould not be diflembled, that Mr. 
 Gibbon has attempted to give fome proof of 
 his afiertion. But what fort of a proof? Pie 
 tells us in his vindication*, that the council 
 of Laodicea, (which was held A. D. 360) after 
 enumerating all the books of the Old and 
 New Tellament, which fhould be read in 
 Churches, omit the Apocalypfe, and the Apo- 
 calypfe alone. Let any plain churchman, wha 
 knows that this book is not read in the courfe 
 of lefibns in Churches among us, judge of the 
 force of this argument. Does it therefore fol- 
 low, that the Anglican Church excludes this 
 book from the facred Canon ? Does there not 
 occur a very probable reafon for this, the 
 obfcurity and myitical nature of rhe book ? 
 Another reafon mis:ht influence the ancient 
 Churches, which can operate now no more, 
 and that is the danger of affronting the then 
 reigning, but rapidly declining Roman power. 
 The prophecies of this book were even then 
 
 applied 
 
 * Page 4z, 
 
( 27 ) 
 applied to the Roman empire, as appears 
 from Irensus, Book v. Latini fiint^ fays he, 
 qui nunc regnant. When one adds to this 
 political realon the abufes made by Ccrinthus 
 and judaizing Chriilians, befides the gene- 
 ral reafon of obfcurity, which we may fairly 
 fuppofe, mud have been the only one that 
 influenced the reformers of the Anglican 
 Church, we ihall not be much furprifed, that 
 the book fell gradually into difrepute in fome 
 parts of the Church ; and it is even poflible, 
 but it cannot be proved, that this fame coun- 
 cil of Laodicea had no idea of it. 
 
 This is not the only inftance of a temporary 
 negleci: of fame parts ot the word of God 
 from political or adventitious circumltances. 
 Truth will bear the mod open examination : 
 I fhall not diflemble another iimilar fad. The 
 Epiftle to the Hebrews was for a time negle6led 
 by the Latins, as the Apocalypfe was by the 
 Greeks. An abfurd interpretation of fomc 
 paffages in it, that feemed to favour the herefy 
 of Novatian, gave a very probable occafioii 
 to this. An inilance of a much more modern 
 date pay be affigned. Luther, with imprudent 
 precipitation, reprobated the Epiftle of Sr. 
 James, becaufe it feemed to him to militate 
 
 D 2 flfvainfb 
 
( 2S ) 
 
 agalnft the dofbrine of juftification, tvhicR he 
 had learhed from St. Paul's Epiftles, and de- 
 fended with fuch ability and fuccefs. That 
 great man lived, however, to repent his rafh- 
 nefs, and to retraift it, oil a nearer and ma- 
 tUrer infight into the genius of the Gofpel : 
 But had he died before his retra6lation, in all 
 probability the reputation which he had, and 
 not undefervedly, acquired in the Lutheran 
 Churches, would have funk the charader 
 of the Epiftle in queftion among them, and 
 rendered it, in their eyes at Icaft, of proble- 
 matical authority. 
 
 To fome I may feem to have increafed rather 
 than leffened the difficulty : But it is fitting 
 that things fhould be ftated with candid frank- 
 nefs as they are. A way is hence laid open for 
 the true folution of the cafe. What is it to us 
 what writers in the fifth century, or later, think 
 of this or that book of Scripture ? The ^ra is 
 too recent to decide any thing concerning the 
 authenticity of the facred books. It might 
 previoufly be expedted that the channels of 
 divine truth, however immaculate in their 
 fources, would be difcoloured, as they flow 
 through the dregs of time. Muft not the va- 
 rious and even endlefs miftakes and prejudices^ 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 of which the word feafons of the Church arc 
 full, and from which the bed are not exempt 
 have a natural influence in the produdion of 
 events like thefe we are reviewing ? Whoever 
 knows the fifth, and I may add the fourth 
 century^ will not be furprifed at thefe thino-s. 
 But who, except a Sceptic or determined In- 
 iidel, would argue thence againft the purity of 
 the original fources ? Thefe are what they are 
 flill ', they bring of themfelves independent, 
 complete, decifive evidence j what was received 
 by the primitive Chriftians, that alone mud 
 decide this point. In this Jerom is furely 
 right, Veterum aii5loritatem feqiientes. 
 
 It is an advantage for the clearing up of a 
 doubtful fubjefl, to ftrip it of all heterogeneous 
 matter, and exhibit it in that fimple point of 
 view, which may be called peculiarly its own. 
 The proper evidence of the Revelation now 
 only remains to be confidered \ that is partly 
 external, partly jnternah A few words will 
 fuffice for both. 
 
 I. This book then is owned to be of divine 
 authority, and to have been received as fuch 
 in the Church by Irenarus, whofe teflimony 
 alone outweighs the whole fourth and fifth 
 
 century. 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 century. For this man lived the next age to 
 St. John ; he had been the dirciple of Folycarp, 
 who, together with the renowned Ignatius, had 
 been the difciple of the beloved Apoflle. He 
 was fo thoroughly fatisfied with its divinity, 
 that he wrote commentaries on the book, as 
 in part we have feen already. The cafe is now 
 brought to a fimple point. Irenseus acquaints 
 us that this book was received into the facred 
 Canon in his time ; there is no more appear- 
 ance of any diffent in any part of the Church 
 to it, than to any othef part of the Scriptures. 
 He treats it as divine himfelf ; he tells us it 
 was written by John the difciple of the Lord, 
 he could not but know from his mafter Poly- 
 carp the truth of what he afferts. We add to 
 him Juftin Martyr, who alfo wrote commen- 
 taries on the fame book, as Jerom informs us*, 
 Tertullian, Melito of Sardis, Theophilus of 
 Antioch, and Clemens Alexandrinus. All thefe 
 were of the fecond century. If you add to 
 thefe, of the third century Dionyfius of Alex- 
 andria, the famous Origen, and Cyprian of 
 Carthage •, furely the evidence of the univerfal 
 primitive Church is fufficient to fatisfy any 
 reafonable mind. 
 
 II. The 
 
 * rcol's Synopfis. 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 II. The internal evidence of this book is 
 peculiarly flrong. However unpromifmg the 
 fubjedt be, it is his own unhappy word, I would 
 earneflly wilh him not only to read, but to 
 ftudy, not only to meditate as a critic, but as a 
 man defirous of learning his duty in order to 
 do it, Bifhop Newton's expofition of this book 
 in the laft of his three volumes on the prophe- 
 cies. There he might learn not only the pad 
 accomplifhment of the prophecies of the Reve- 
 lation, but their prefent accomplifliment in 
 the world. In fliort, to give my opinion alfo, 
 I know no fubjed more fublime, more im- 
 portant, more glorious than this of the Reve- 
 lation. It gives us a regular and confident 
 fcheme of God's adminiftration of the affairs 
 of the world frorti St. John's time to the end 
 of all things, in which the oppofite interefts of 
 his kingdom and that of his enemy Satan are 
 each unfolded in the mod fimple, and yet the 
 mod nervous language. The peculiar glory 
 of the true God in foretelling future events, 
 he thus exprefles : Let them bring them fortb^ 
 and Jhew us what jhall happen, Shezv the things 
 that are to come hereafter^ that we may know that 
 ye are Gods *. / am God^ and there is none like 
 me^ declaring the end from the beginnings and from- 
 
 ancient 
 ^- Ifajah xli. 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 ancient times the things that are not yet dqne^^ 
 faying^ My counjel Jhall Jland^ and I will do all 7ny 
 ^leafure*. Would any one know what is the 
 religion that comes from Jehovah and what is 
 not ? Jehovah bids him make ufe of this teft 
 of prophecy. He only who is omnipotent and 
 omnifcient can at once predeilinate, foretel, 
 and execute in due feafon his own decrees. 
 This is the peculiar proof of the Divinity of 
 the Scriptures. It Ihines in various parts of 
 the Old and New Teftament, and in the book 
 of Revelation with uncommon luftre. Here 
 we are not called on to weigh abilrufe concep- 
 tions, and fettle metaphyfical difficulties , only 
 to exercife our reafon upon plain matters of 
 fad, and compare events with prophecies. It 
 is not, furely, beneath the dignity of Mr. Gib- 
 bon to ufe this method of Jehovah's own re- 
 commendation. What fubjedl more copious, 
 more elevated, more magnificent than fuch 
 an hiftoric view of the world confidered as 
 God's own world, hallening in the courfe of 
 its events to fulfil the divine decrees, and 
 educing the beauty and glory of the Godhead 
 from the giddy, and apparently fortuitous 
 diftradions of human affairs, both civil and 
 ccclefiaflical, till we behold in anticipation the 
 
 myllery 
 
 * Ifaial? xlyi. 
 
( 33 ) 
 myftery of God's Providence confummated on 
 the lad day in the deftrudtion of all the powers 
 of darknefs and iniquity, and in the perfect 
 everlafting eftablilhment of the kingdom of 
 truth and righteoufnefs ! Much ftill remains to 
 be fulfilled of the divine plan : Yet v/hat is 
 fulfilled in fad, is furely as real an earned of 
 the remainder, as the debtor's pad pun6luality 
 is of his future payments. Here our author 
 may fee Chridianity to be divine, and karn 
 the difference between fcriptUral prophecies, 
 ^nd thofe oracular ambiguities of polytheifm. 
 Aio t€ yEacidem Romanos vincere poffe^ is an ex- 
 cellent comment on the fird pafTage from 
 Ifaiah, jud quoted, and the evidence of the 
 divine oracles is as found and decifive, as that 
 of the Epirot was ambiguous and delufive. 
 At the fame time Mr. Gibbon may fee an ufe 
 of his hidoric knowledge far more noble and 
 liberal than any he has hitherto made of it. 
 To trace the movements of Divine Providence 
 mud, furely, be a more grand and ufeful em- 
 ployment than to examine the fprings of human 
 artifice, and invedigate all the laborious, but 
 impotent, fchcmes of fublunary ambition. His 
 hidoric page, in the fubfequeht parts of his 
 work, may receive a drength of colouring, 
 and a fublimity of conception even from this 
 
 E unpromijing 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 unpromifing Juhjetl^ while he acquaints his rea- 
 ders, as he goes along, how every thing in the 
 hiftory of the Church, of Mahometanifm, of 
 Pagan and Papal Rome, is only fulfilling the 
 decrees of the Almighty exhibited in the Re- 
 velation. Should it be faid, after all. How 
 can you fecure us from being milVaken in the 
 ufe and application of thefe things ? Every 
 man mull do this for himfelf : The book in 
 queftion, I mean Bifhop Newton's, feems td 
 me to have fatisfied this fubjedt ; and the ad- 
 ditional and concurrent light of the prophet 
 Daniel^ and other prophetical parts of Scripture, 
 confirms the argument abundantly. Should 
 any man afk, How do you prove the propofi- 
 tions of Euclid ? Would not this be the anfwer ? 
 Confult him, and exercife your own faculties 
 upon his argumentation. The fame, with all 
 due allowances for the difference between 
 mathematical and moral fubjeds, (hould be 
 done in the cafe before us. I mention Newton 
 particularly, becaufe he has availed himfelf of 
 the helps of former writers, and given us a 
 comprehenfive fcheme of prophecy : But the 
 Church in no age was dellitute of this light. 
 The belief of real Chriftians is not fo irrational 
 as Infidels are apt to fuppofe. While thefe 
 are towering with uncertain fight on the heights 
 
 of 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 of metaphyfical fpeculation to confirm thern- 
 felves in Infidelity, thofe are humbly crcepincr 
 on the terra firnm of prophetic matter of fad, 
 which lies even with the powers of the human 
 mind,^ and was given by Jehovah himfelf as 
 the faireft and mod fatisfadlory proof of his 
 Revelation. Let Infidels anfwer, if they can, 
 thefe proofs ; let them deted their fallacies, 
 and expofe their weaknefs. Till this be done, 
 Chriftians have a right to a6l on what has once 
 been demonftrated. Th? Newtonian principles 
 of gravitation, and of light and colours, once 
 eftablifhed by folid proofs, are allowed and 
 taken for granted by al\ Philofophers. Why 
 ^he fame liberty fhould not .be ufed with refpedl 
 to the proofs of Revealed Religion, it behoves 
 the enemies of thje Gofpel to confider. Hume, 
 with all the pofitivenefs of the moil arrogant 
 dogmatift, and in plain contradidtion to his 
 own principle of univerfal fcepticifm, takes it 
 for granted, that Sir Ifaac Newton deferved 
 reproach for applying himfelf to meditate on 
 the prophecies *. And Mr. Gibbon reprobates 
 any attempt of the fame kind on the Apocalypfe, 
 as made on an. unpromifing fubje5i. No proof, 
 not a fhadow appears of an argument to invali- 
 date what has been demonftrated. Is it in 
 
 E 2 favour 
 
 * Hume's Hiflory of England, Vol. vi. p. 197. 
 
( 36 ) 
 favour of Infidelity alone that, in this reafon^ 
 ing age, irrational difguft muft pafs for argu- 
 ment, and fupercilious contempt for demon- 
 ilration ? 
 
 SECTION VI, 
 
 Ignatius' s "Tejlhnony to our Lord's RefurreElion. 
 
 ■R. Gibbon obferves, " It was impoffrbl^ 
 that the Gnoflics could receive our 
 prefent Gofpels, many parts of which (particu- 
 larly the refurredion of Chrift) are diredlly, 
 and as it may feem defignedly, pointed againfl 
 their favourite tenets. It is therefore fomewhat 
 fmo-ular that Ignatius (Epifi. ad Smyrn.) fhould 
 chufe to employ a vague and doubtful tradition, 
 inftead of quoting the certain teflimony of the 
 Evangelifts." ^ 
 
 Mr. Davfs had obferved, that though he 
 had read over, more than once, the whole 
 Epiftle, he could not find any paffage that 
 bears the leaft affinity to what Mr. Gibbon 
 obferves. Perhaps the learned reader will not 
 be furprifed at this, when he fees the paffage 
 <riven us by Mr. Gibbon himfelf in his vindi- 
 
 cation, 
 Gibbon^s XV. Chap. 34 "O^e. 
 
( 37 ) ^ 
 
 cation, attended with his own tranflation of 
 it. 
 
 Xy TTtffuw ovia* >^ oii Txrcog rag Trfpt Uffpou TiXhv^ t(py\ 
 ^vloic, Aa^f7f, 4^'nXa.(pn<Tocl£ ^f, xj t^ils cjt ovk «at 
 ^xtfAO]fiov a,(r{Aoclov. Kat fu&i? ccvjit ri^avlo, >^ fIC■»^f'J<^a^. 
 
 ^' I have known, and I believe, that after his 
 ^' refurreclion likewife he exifted in the flefh : 
 ^' and when he came to Peter, and to the refl", 
 *' he faid unto them, take, handle me, and fee 
 ^' that lam not an incorporeal d^mon or fpirir. 
 " And they touched him, and believed.'' 
 
 I was inclrned at firft to think here, that 
 lo-natius meant to inform us, that he himfelf 
 had {^^n our Lord after his refurrcdlion. The 
 firft member will doubtlefs bear this fenle-, 
 and perhaps it was to relieve his mind from 
 fome fufpicion, that Mr. Gibbon takes care ro 
 introduce what is indeed a ijague and doubtful 
 tradition of the modern Greeks, that Ignatius 
 was the child whom Jefus received into his 
 arms ; fo that the Bifhop of Antioch being 
 fcarcely then old enough to remember the re- 
 furreclion of the Son of God, mufl have deri- 
 ved his knowledge either, fays he, fror/i our 
 prefent Evangelifls, or from fome apocryphal 
 
 Gofpel, 
 
* ( 3.3 ) 
 Gofpel, or from fome unwritten tradition. 
 However, as the fubfequent members of the 
 pafTage feem to favour Mr. Gibbon's tranQation, 
 particularly the expreffion au7oi?, which tacitly 
 at kail: denies Ignatius's prefence at the Divine 
 Saviour's appearance before his difciples, let 
 us fee from other pofTible four^es of informa- 
 tion, whether Ignatius tias made ufe of a vague 
 md doubtful tradition. That fource of informa- 
 tion which he calls fome apocryphal Gofpel, we 
 fhall he enabled to rejed without hefita^tion on 
 the authority of Irenaeiis, who, fpeaking of thje 
 Gofpels, fays, Neque plura numero quam hxc 
 funt^ neque rurfus pauciora'^. The four Gofpel% 
 which we at prefent have are all that the Church 
 ever received as canonical. 
 
 What is necelTary to be faid on the other 
 
 two dates of the cafe, may be briefly difpatched. 
 
 Ignatius in his journey to Rome, a prifoner, 
 
 aoing to be devoured by lions for the faith of 
 
 Chrift, neither was mailer of books nor of 
 
 leifure. Who would expedl from one in fuch. 
 
 a fituation accurate quotations ? Yet if the 
 
 learned reader compare the original of Luke 
 
 xxiv. 39. with the pafTage of Ignatius, he will 
 
 furely fee the fenfe to be exadtly the fame. 
 
 Handle 
 * IreiKEus, p. 25?. 
 
( 39 ) 
 Handle me arid fee •, for a fpirit hath not flefh 
 and bones, as ye fee me have. This Epiftle to 
 the Smyrnaeans, like the reft, was written on 
 his journey, with a view to guard the faith of 
 Chriitians againft the then favourite herefy, 
 that Chrift had not really died on the crofs, 
 but a mere phantom feemed to die in his ftead. 
 The Smyrnasans would naturally be led to re- 
 colled the paflage in St. Luke, or other fimi- 
 lar paftages in the Gofpels, from the Martyr's 
 -words j fo that his defign would be as effedually 
 anfwered, as if he had quoted with precifion, 
 But from Ignatius, who had been the difciple 
 of St. John, the declaration, " I know that 
 after his refurredion he was in the flelh,'* would 
 come with decifive authority. For admit, that 
 he had not feen the Lord himfelf, he knew 
 what St. John had faid on the fubjed, who had 
 feen him, and received every poftible proof of 
 his fubftantial exiftence. If Mr. Gibbon pleafea 
 to call this the teftimony of tradition, he has 
 my leave at leaft for fo doing -, though I may, 
 furely, without offence obferve, that it is not 
 common to ufe the word tradition in fuch a 
 fenfe. When you fay, you received fuch a 
 thing by tradition, you furely fuppofe a longer 
 diftance •, whoever heard of a man's coming to 
 know what time of the day it is by tradition ? 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 A"S abfurd is it to fuppofe, according to thd 
 ufual modes of fpeech, that Ignatius, who had 
 the intelligence from an Apoflle, and probably 
 Apoilles, received it by tradition. But I would 
 candidly fuppofe that Mr. Gibbon has not 
 adverted to this plain and decifive fource of 
 Ignatius's information ; which, furely, now 
 the reader fees muft not be called a tradition 
 at all, much lefs a vague and doubtful one. 
 
 I cannot, however^ fo ieafily fatisfy myfelfj 
 that he did not mean to quote the Evangelift 
 Luke. There is a perfedb famenefs in the 
 ideas, though a great diverfity of exprefTion *, 
 and he who is acquainted with the fimple negli- 
 crence of Clement, in his manner of quoting, 
 will not be furprifed at the inaccuracy of Ig- 
 natius, even if we could not account for it in 
 the manner we have done. Thofe firft Fathers 
 fecured the fenfe and Ipirit of the Scripture^ 
 with little regard to mere words. Their minds 
 were at once too fimple and too elevated, to 
 defcend into the modern arts of verbal criticifm. 
 
 I have nothing to add to what has been amply 
 fhewn by many of the truth of our Lord's re- 
 furre6lion -, and the intent of this Se6lion is 
 anfwered, if it has demonftrated the injuftice^ 
 
 and 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 and even weaknefs of our author's attciupt to 
 rob us of Ignatius's teftimony to it. 
 
 SECTION VIL 
 
 ^he InfiAeVs Challenge, 
 
 AVING taken notice of Irena^us's ac- 
 count of the miracles of the fccond 
 century, Mr. Gibbon obferves, " at fuch- a 
 period, when faith could boaft of fo many 
 wonderful victories over death, it feems difti- 
 cult to account for the fcepticifm of thofc 
 philofophers, who ftill rejected and derided 
 the dodirine of the refurre6lion.'* A very ex- 
 traordinary method of reafonino- truly ! The 
 philofophers were unbelievers ; therefore Ire- 
 n^us is a liar. This or nothing is the tendency 
 of Mr. Gibbon's obfervation. With fimilar 
 fairnefs he might argue thus. The Sadducees 
 denied the pofTibility of any refurreftion ; 
 therefore Lazarus was not raifed from the 
 dead* 
 
 Our author however, jealous of the honour 
 of his philofophical friends, and ever fbiidi- 
 ous to fupport it, though at the expcnce of 
 Chriftianity, gives us a (lory, that fliall in 
 
 F fom? 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 ibme mearure excufe, if not fully vindicat<? 
 the reafonablenefs of fcepticifm. A noble 
 Grecian had refted on this important ground 
 the whole controverfy, " and promifed Theo- 
 " philus, Biihop of Antioch, that if he could 
 " be gratified with the fight of a fingle perfon 
 " who had been ad u ally raifed from the dead, 
 " he would immediately embrace the Chriftian 
 " religion. It is fomewhat remarkable, that 
 " the prelate of the firft Eaftern Church, how- 
 *' ever anxious for the converfion of his 
 "friend, thought proper to decline this fair 
 *^ and reafohable challenge*.' 
 
 
 Thus does our author for once forget his 
 ufual prudence, and openly efpoufe the caufe 
 of infidelity : For furely this Grecian's chal- 
 lenge ought not to have been called fair and 
 reafonable, but by him, who believes the mi- 
 racles and other proofs already afforded in 
 favour of Chriftianity, to have been infufiicient 
 for the purpofe. This rafli aiTertion of- his 
 evidently implies the author's firm perfuafion, 
 that neither the miracles of the Divine Sa- 
 viour, nor of his Apoftles^ nor all the va- 
 rious and complicated proofs of the Gofpel 
 afforded in the firft century to mankind, were 
 
 fufHcient 
 
 * Page 476. 
 
( 43 ) 
 Sufficient to Induce a reafonable man's afTent 
 to it as a divinely revealed religion, and to 
 overturn any obje(ftions that may be made 
 againft it. It may not be fo agreeable to Mr. 
 Gibbon to be exhibited totally oppofite to the- 
 fcriptures, but it is fitting his lefs wary 
 readers fliould know that he is fo. " Thefe 
 things gire written that ye might believe, that 
 Jefus is the Chrift the Son of God^ and that 
 believing ye might have life through his 
 name*." They are not fufficient to prove 
 that he was the Son of God, replies, in effe6t, 
 our author v/ith his ancient philofophical 
 friend : I make a fair and reafonable chal- 
 lenge, when I demand that I may fee a man 
 raifed from the dead. Why is it fair and rea- 
 fonable ? becaufe the proofs already adduced 
 are not fufficient. For if they be, the demand 
 is furely unfair and unreasonable. 
 
 Here then we might leave this matter,^ calling 
 upon our author tq prove what, with a fuper- 
 lative, but I believe an inadvertant fpirit of 
 do^matifm, he has fo roundly aflerted. The 
 evidences of Chriftianity have been Hated with 
 fuperior light and ability : Is it not fomcv/hat 
 fmguiar that Deifts fhould fo cautiouily avoid 
 
 F 2 2"y 
 
 ♦ St. John's Gofpd. 
 
( 44 ) 
 any fair and deliberate attack on thofe evi- 
 dences, and yet ihould afiert with fo much 
 confidence, that there is nothing in them ? 
 But it may be worth our author's while to con- 
 fider a fcene of Evangelical hiftory, in which 
 the meek and holy Jefus rs difplayed with a 
 fimple pathos of exprefTion as ajBTeded in a 
 peculiar m.anner, and to take notice how. far 
 he himfelf is concerned in it. He may one 
 day find himfeif affected by it to a degree he 
 at pfefent little imagines, unlefs in good time 
 he under (land his own intereft better, which 
 it is the fervent wilh of the writer of thefc 
 llieets that he may. * ^rid the Pbarifees 
 came for thy and began to quefiion with him^ peeking 
 of him a ftgn from Heaven^ tempting him. And 
 he fighed deeply in his fpirit^ and faith^ Why doth 
 this generation feek after a ftgn ? Verily I fay unto 
 yoUy there fhall no ftgn he given to this generation. 
 And he left them. Thus he who was the mofl 
 perfe^L model of patience and meeknefs that 
 was ever exhibited on earth, cannot bear the 
 arrogance of thofe who pour contempt on that 
 profufion of miraculous evidence, which is 
 fned around his divine religion, by afking for 
 more. Surely men do not confider what they 
 are doing when they make fuch demands. If 
 
 one 
 * Mark Till, ii, 12, r^. 
 
( 45 ) 
 one man has a right to make them, all have • 
 and if all make them, and all were complied 
 with, miracles would ceafe to be miracles • 
 they would be nothing more than the common 
 courfe of riature. 
 
 Befides, it mud be fitting that the Almighty 
 fliould referve tp himfelf the right of punifhing 
 his refradory enemies, after they have refufed 
 p yield to the moft competent evidences of 
 his truth and majefty, and not oblige himfelf 
 to give them fuch invincible evidence, even if 
 the evidence they defire were invincible, as 
 would leave no room for the exercife of a can- 
 did and ingenuous temper. 
 
 There remains or*e confideration more, to 
 iiluftrate the unreafonablenefs of the challenge 
 before us ; and that is, that the primitive 
 Chriftians never pretended to an independent 
 power of v/orking miracles : No man at all 
 acquainted with primitive Chriftian hiftory, 
 fuppofes that the Apoflies could work them 
 whenever they pleafed, or when called on by 
 others. It was fitting that the Sovereign of 
 the univerfe fliould difplay his ibvereignty in 
 this, as in all his other gifts. St. Paul wa'j 
 for fom^ time grieved at the diabolical iHu- 
 
 fion3 
 
( 4^ ) 
 fions of the Philippian Pythonefs, before h^ 
 Jiad the divine commiffion to lubaue them. 
 And it will fcarce be controverted, that while 
 he was ftruggling tor his life amidft the Adri^ 
 atic waves, he had no more fupernatural abi- 
 lity than any of his fhipwrecked companions. 
 
 Perhaps it may be fuggefted, if the conver- 
 fion of Theophilus's friend was really impeded 
 by this inability of the Bifhop ; is it not a pity 
 that his miraculous powers were fo curtailed ? 
 We may fafely anfwer : No fuch laKitary event 
 would have happened. Modern Infidels are 
 very free in drawing pidures of mere imagi- 
 nation, little fuppofing that they thernfelve^ 
 would have a6ted the fame parts which they 
 ihink ancient Infidels could not have a6led, 
 had they been really favoured with miraculous 
 evidence. The way to judge in this matter is 
 to fee how they behave with refpefl to evi- 
 dence already afforded. What probability is 
 there, that the worthlefs fpendthrift, who has 
 fquandered his thoufands, v/ould enjoy with 
 more prudence and moderation even tens of 
 thoufands ? For befides the beft-atteiled evi~ 
 dences of miracles, and all that internal light 
 which glows from every page of fcripture, is 
 not the fare word ot prophecy expofed to the 
 
 daily 
 
( 47 ) 
 daily obrervation of Infidels ? Has iiot Jeho- 
 vah himfelf appealed to it ? Can a more rea- 
 fonable and a lei's intricate mode of proof be 
 de fired ? 
 
 Is it not in their power to fatisfy themfelves, 
 that the prophecies concerning the fingular 
 condition of the Jews to this day are daily re- 
 ceiving their completion. How unlikely, that 
 the Gofpel lliould be at the fame time fo vi- 
 rulently hated, and yet fo triumphantly vi6lo- 
 rious in the world ? But both thefe things 
 were prophecied, and both are taking effect to 
 this day. Are not the Arabs, in their ado- 
 niHiing fingularities, conftantly fulfilling the 
 predidion inMofes*? Has not Egypt (till con- 
 tinued the bafejl of kingdoms^ as Ezekiel fore- 
 '^fcld ? Who can give the lie to Obadiah, de- 
 claring the utter extinction of the houfe of 
 Efau ? Are not the rocks and fifhing nets of 
 eld' Tyre a flanding monument of the truth of 
 Jehovah ? Would not a diftind and orderly 
 prophetic narrative of that great theatre of 
 hiftory, Rome, Pagan and Papal, prove an 
 infallible feai to the truth of the Gofpel ? In- 
 fidels previouQy would fay, furely it would : 
 It has been done, and we are told, that one ot 
 
 the 
 
 * Gen. xvi. iz. 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 ih^ moil fagiclous men that ever breathed^ 
 became a fool for even attempting to examine 
 the fubject. 
 
 There are always methods by which ill-difpo- 
 fed minds may evade convi6lion. It was a fpirit 
 of the fame nature that induced the Pharifees 
 to afcribe our Lord's miracles to magick ; 
 Julian the Apoftate to undervalue, at the fame 
 time that he could not difprove them ♦, and a 
 modern Infidel to deny them, becaufe he af- 
 fedts to be wifer than the vulgar. 
 
 A propenfity fo unreaibnable, working va- 
 rioufly indeed in different ages, ever fo far af- 
 fe6led by the circumflances of the times as to 
 chancre its complexion with them, but never 
 yielding to plain and fufHcicnt evidence, mu . 
 have an origin men little fufpe61:, an immenfe 
 depravity of heart, which no moral proof can 
 overcome. And it is not of Jewifh Infidels 
 only that the Saviour may juftly fay. If they 
 hear not Mofes and the Prophets^ neither will they 
 he perfuaded^ though one rofe from the dead, 
 
 SECTION 
 
( 49 ) 
 SECTION viir. 
 
 Miracles, 
 
 UR author acquaints us with the difficul- 
 ty he is under of defining the miracu- 
 lous period. " Every age, fays he, bears tefti- 
 " mony to the wonderful events by which it 
 ** was diflinguifhed, and its teftimony appears 
 *' no lefs weighty and refpeftable than that oi 
 *' the preceding generation, till we are infen- 
 *' fibly led on to accufe our own inconfiftency, 
 *' if in the eighth or in the twelfth century we 
 *' deny to the venerable Bede, or to the holy 
 " Bernard, the fame degree of confidence which, 
 " in the fecond century, we had fo liberally 
 ^' granted to Juflin or to Irenaeus*.'* 
 
 He does not fay, totidem verbis, that the 
 teftimony of every age appears no lefs weighty 
 and refpedbable than that of the apollolic age. 
 But it is evident that he wifhes his readers fo 
 to underftand him, becaufe his manner of re- 
 prefenting the affair is as much calculated to 
 lead them into that idea, as if he had expreffed 
 it. Let any unprejudiced perfon examine then 
 the evidence of Lazarus's re furred ion, as 
 
 G recorded 
 
 ^ Page 477, 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 recorded with inimitable fimplicity of pathos 
 by the Apollle John. Let him weigh the evi- 
 dence of the miraculous fubterraneous fire and 
 earthquake, which attended Julian's attempt 
 to rebuild the temple of Jerufalem, as it has 
 been folidly and triumphantly flated by the 
 ]ate learned and laborious Bifhop of Gloucefter. 
 I am far from meaning to weigh them in the 
 fame fcale, or to place them in the fame im- 
 portant light. But furely the juft evidences 
 of a miraculous irtterpolition, though not in 
 an equal degree, are cbnfpicuous in both. 
 The outward teftimoriy of witnefTes competent 
 in number, ability, and veracity, and all the 
 juft meafures of probability, and the inward 
 teftihiony of the irhportance and nature of the 
 event itfeif, abound with ah e:Jvuberance of proof 
 in the tirll cafe, but are by no means wanting 
 in the fecond. 
 
 Let the unprejudiced examiner now turn his 
 eyes to the opprobrious fcene of thofe lying 
 wonders, which Antichrifl fo liberally exhi- 
 bited during the middle ages, yet not without 
 a di(lin(5l forewarning from God by his pro- 
 phecies. Let him apply the allowed rules of 
 inward and outward evidence to all or any of 
 the fuppofed miraculous events. In the mid- 
 
 dk 
 
( 51 ) 
 
 die of the tenth century behold the haughty, 
 the inhuman Dunftan feizing the Devil by the 
 nofe with a pair of red-hot pincers, as he put 
 his head into his cell, being one day more 
 earneft than ufual in his temptations*. Thofe 
 who are converfant in Roman Legends know 
 that this ilory, however ludicrous and abfurd, 
 is no improper fample of them all. Horace s 
 rule. 
 
 Nee Deus interfit, nifx d.ignus vindlce nodus 
 
 Inciderit ■ 
 
 is as proper in Divinity, as it is in Poetry. 
 This, with every other mark of evidence, 
 external or internal, is fo palpably wanting in 
 fuch ilories, that it would be an egregious in- 
 fuit on my readers' underftanding to attempt 
 in form to evince it. 
 
 It would afk a long train of reafoning to 
 adjuft the evidences of a really miraculous 
 interpofitlon, that are fufficient to produce 
 conviaion, and to diftinguiih them from thofe 
 that are not fo. Mr. Locke's grounds of pro- 
 bability, in the latter part of his efiay on the 
 human underftanding, throw a fufficient light 
 on the fubjed ; and all the fcrlpture-miracles, 
 as well as many of the more early times, that 
 
 G 2 efpecially 
 
 *, Hume's HKlory, vol. i. p. 112. 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 efpecialiy which has been hinted at, and which, 
 perhaps, was the lad, with which the Church 
 of God has been favoured, might eafily be 
 fhewn to tally with Mr. Locke's meafures of 
 probability. Mr. Hume tells us, indeed, that 
 no evidence can be fufficient to confirm the 
 evidence of miracles, though furely the leaft 
 careful attention to the natural motions of the 
 human mind, not yet fophifticated by artful 
 reafonings, or clouded by prejudice, in many 
 cafes that might be conceived to happen, muft 
 invalidate fuch afiertions. It is enough that 
 we have fliewn the extreme weaknefs of our 
 author's artifice in attempting to confound all 
 cafes of miracles together. If he m-eant to da 
 any thing to the purpofe in juflifying the caufe 
 of infidelity, he ought to have demonftrated^ 
 thac all the miracles, believed by real Chri- 
 ftians, were on a par in . point of evidence 
 with thofe of the Roman Hierarchy. Till this 
 be done, the page .on which we are animad- 
 verting will Hand a monument of a jaundiced 
 mind, but will do no honour to the folidity 
 of his judgment. Dr. Watfon has fhewn him 
 that it is quite natural to fuppofe, that genuine 
 miracles would be fucceeded by fpurious ones: 
 So natural indeed is it, that one is no more 
 furprifed at it, than that adulterated money 
 
 Ihould 
 
( 53 ) 
 ihodd be made In imitation of genuine •, and 
 the exiftence of falfe miracles, had there been 
 no true ones, is almoft as difficult to be ac- 
 counted for as the corruption of the coin 
 would be, if genuine money had not been 
 iirft produced. That which our author calls 
 *' a cold and pafTive acquiefcence," may be 
 eafily conceived to be the utmoft which men 
 will attain, whofe hearts are no way interefted 
 in Chriftianity. The merchant does not, how- 
 ever, reje6l all money, becaufe much is adul- 
 terated. The fcales are applied •, and why ? 
 becaufe there is fomething in money that ar- 
 refts his attention and engages his affedlion. 
 And thus will our author adt with refped to 
 miracles, whenever the religion, they are meant 
 to fupport, Ihall appear in any degree worthy 
 his attention, as a finner feeking the favour 
 of his Maker. 
 
 Certain, however, it is that miracles have 
 long fmce ceafed ; and there feems a plain 
 hint given us that they fhould do fo after a 
 time, in the 13th chapter of St. Paul to the 
 Corinthians, though faith, hope, and charity, 
 the foul of the true Church, fhould always 
 abide in it. The well-atteiled evidence of pall 
 miracles, joined to the conftant and even in- 
 
 creafing 
 
( 54 ) 
 crcafing evidence of prophecy, kav-e fatisfieci 
 the minds of thoufands, that Chrifbianity is 
 true-, and that there is nojuft reafon to ap- 
 prehend that the continuance of them woulc} 
 have any other effed than to aggravate the 
 guilt of thofe w\\o perfift in unbelief. The 
 gradual cefTation, together with the difficulty 
 of determining in fome cafes no way effential 
 to the Being of Chriftianity, and the eafinefs 
 of belief in thefe things which the minds of 
 the mod pious and the mofl judicious in the 
 early ages would naturally contrafi, may fuffi- 
 ciently explain the caufe, why the earliefl 
 Chriftians exprefled not more furprife, when 
 the fupernatural operations ceafed. Good men 
 needed them not : The power of the Gofpel 
 on their own hearts and lives has ever bee^ 
 with them a moft fatisfying witnefs. Tongues 
 ere for a fign^ not to them that believe^ hut to theif 
 ".Mch believe not*. 
 
 SECTION 
 
 * I. Cor. xiv. 12, 
 
{ 55 J 
 
 E C T I O N IX. 
 
 Tbe character of the 'primitive Chrijlians. 
 
 NO liian has, perhaps, in our age, or iri 
 any age, diiplayed more artifice and in- 
 genuity than Mr. Gibbon in drawing the cha- 
 radlers of the ancient Pagans arid Chriftians. 
 "We were wont to look on the former as irri- 
 merfed in folly, ferocity, and fuperftition : 
 Even their fages arid philofophers could never, 
 in the view of men of plain ferife and honelly, 
 be exculpated from the charge of a bafe in- 
 fmcerity, for their hypocritical compliance 
 with the religious ceremonies of their country. 
 And we have been taught to reverence the 
 latter as lights that Ihone in a dark world, 
 and as the moft amiable exemplars of every 
 thing truly great and good. But the pidlurc 
 Is reverfed : for feventeen centuries the Church 
 of Chrift has laboured, it feems, under a very 
 palpable miftake in a point of all others thci 
 caflcft and the moil fufceptible of decifive in- 
 formation, the determination of the moral 
 charadlers of men, whofe adtions are v/ell 
 knov^n : and the prefent age can boafl: of a 
 teacher who has fhewn us that good fenfe, arid 
 every manly virtue adorned the charadler of 
 
 Pao-an?j 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 Pagans, while that of the Chriilians was dlf- 
 graced by the mofl illiberal and difagreeable 
 qualities. 
 
 It is eafy for him to deny this. What Mr. 
 Pope calls, to damn with a faint form of praiie, 
 was never more fkilfully exemplified than by our 
 author. All the poifon of fatire is thus fecured 
 in its effed, and he himfelf is fupplied with a 
 plaufible mode of felf-defence. No man how- 
 ever, devoid of prejudice, will be affedled by 
 the pi6lures he draws. It were an infult on 
 the reader's underftanding, to detain him long 
 in this fcene, in which though, as I conceive, 
 our author has* been guilty of the molt egre- 
 gious diHortions, yet every ftudious man can 
 and will think for himfrlf from a furvey of 
 original evidence. Tholt who are not ftudi- 
 
 o 
 
 ous are defired, perhaps not improperly, to 
 refufe their aflent to fo partial an evidence as 
 Mr. Gibbon. A remark or two fhali be made 
 on three traits of the Chriilian charader, very 
 liberally beftow^ed on them by our author, 
 with relpedt to their incapacity for the dif* 
 charge of civil and military duties, their bi- 
 goted and intolerant fpirit, and their gloomy 
 aufteritv. 
 
 the 
 
( 51 ) 
 The firft of thefe is reprefented as treated 
 by their adverfaries with fovereign contempt. 
 What is to become of the empire, if all be as 
 pufilanimous as you ? They had what our au- 
 thor calls an " indolent, or even criminal dif- 
 regard to the public welfare." It were to be 
 wilhed that he had deigned to pay fome re- 
 gard to the facred monuments of the New 
 Teilament in his views of the primitive Chri- 
 ftians. He might have there found the firft 
 fruits of the Gentiles to have been the family 
 of a Roman Centurion. Had his calling been 
 unlawful, we fliould naturally have imagined 
 that fome account would have been given of 
 his leaving; it after his converfion*. But we 
 need not have recourfe to conjedure : It is a 
 facred rule, let every man abide in the fam.e 
 calling wherein he was calledf . Thus has 
 the divine authority fandified all the lawful 
 employments of human life, and taught us, 
 that they are fo far from being unworthy of a 
 Chriftian, that it is his duty and his glory to 
 honour God in the ufeful difcharge of them. 
 We find Chriilians were in Nero's houfehoid, 
 and he who pleafes may fee inftances in the 
 Scriptures of their being engaged in the va- 
 rious employments of human life. The pro- 
 
 H fcilioH 
 
 * Acls X, t I. Cor. vii. ao. 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 fefiiOii of arms, we may well imagine, would 
 be of all others the moll difagreeable to a Chri- 
 ilian. It was, however, undoubtedly lubmitted 
 to, on evident calls of duty : For fubmiffion 
 to the migiftrate is ftrongly inculcated in the 
 New Teftament, and was practiced by the 
 primitive Chrillians to a degree which moft 
 men in our times would be more difpofed to 
 cenfure than to imitate. Let the monadic Ter- 
 tullian be heard : Speaking of the number of 
 Chrillians, he fays : " Vedra omnia implevi- 
 nius, urbes, infulas, caflella, muiiicipia, conci- 
 liabula, caftra ipfa^ tribus, decurias, palatium, 
 fenatum^ forum. Sola vobis relinquimus tem- 
 pla." I quote not Tertullian to fupport fenti- 
 ments, but fa6ls. In thefe he may be com- 
 petent to decide, though in thofe he is one of 
 the lall of the fathers, whofe judgment I fhould 
 regard. Though he fell into Montanifm only 
 in his latter days, he had always, it is ex- 
 tremely evident, a four, monadic, unchridian 
 tendency. His publication de Pallio^ and in- 
 deed his cad of thinking in general, mark the 
 meannefs of his views of Chridianity. What 
 if he and fome others encouraged an unfocial 
 difpofition } Is it equitable in our author to 
 afcribe this to Chridians in general ? Does 
 hot the very tedimony of Tertullian himfelf 
 
 to 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 to their pra6llce loudly prove the contrary I 
 Does not a well-known (lory prove that Chri- 
 ffians fer.ved in the army of Marcus Antoni- 
 nus, and fhould not our author's own account 
 of Diociefian's court* have fhewn him, that 
 Chriftians v/ere as capable as other men of 
 difchargino; all the fundtions of focial life ? 
 Their moderation furely, in wordly things, 
 would be an advantage to their judgment and 
 their integrity, and the fear and love of God 
 would amply fupply that a6livity, which their 
 \yant of fublunary zeal might feem to dcny^ 
 them. ir^may even be demonflrated, that 
 none are fo well fitted to difcharge all the du- 
 ties of human life as true Chriftians, 
 
 Their bigoted and intolerant fpirit will be 
 c^nvafTed more freely hereafter. Let the rea- 
 der warily diftinguifh between the fpirit of 
 Chriftianity, and thofe abufes and peryerfions 
 of it which gradually prevailed in after-ages 
 to fo enormous a degree, and with v/hich the 
 New Teftament and the charafler of the firft 
 Chriftians is as unconne6led as they are with 
 Paganifm itfelf. Even Julian himfelf can tell 
 us, our author being witnefs, that Chriftians 
 exercifed liberality to the heathen poor, as well 
 
 H 2 as 
 
 '^ Gibbon, p. 564. 
 
C 60 ) 
 
 as their own. The Adts of the Apoflles, and 
 the Epiilles demonftrate in the fulleil manner 
 their generous, difinterefted, god-like fpirit. 
 What are all the patriotic feelings of old 
 Romans, compared with the glow of affection 
 which burns, for inflance, through the Epiftle 
 to the Philippians. Our author fhould have 
 told his readers, in order to do juftice to the 
 Chriflians, that they were the only men in the 
 Roman empire who thought it wrong to perfe- 
 cute or opprefs mankind on any account, who 
 really loved their enemies, and returned good 
 for evil. This was their bigotry and intole- 
 rance. And as to their monkifh aufterity, 
 let him, who can, find any traces of it in the 
 Apoilles' writings, the original monuments of 
 primitive Chriftian manners, and which it 
 might feem amazing our author has fo little 
 attended to*. If joy in the Holy Ghcfl" be 
 aufterity, of that they were full. But the in- 
 fluence of the Divine Spirit never led any ta 
 abandon human fociety. He has, on the con- 
 trary, foretold and forewarned us againfl the 
 raonaftic fpirit. 
 
 SECTION 
 
 * Ads. 
 
i ^^ ) 
 
 S E C T I O N X. 
 
 Cyprian. 
 
 NOTHING is more injudicious than to deal 
 out general chara6lers with an indifcri- 
 minate hand. This has been done to the Fathers 
 of the Church in former times, in the light of 
 panegyric and encomium. The moderns have 
 ken this folly,, but have equalled it by a fimi- 
 lar conducfh in the other extreme. And now 
 every fmatterer in hiftory folicits the praife of 
 liberality of fentiment, by treating their cha- 
 rafters in the grofs, with faflidious contempt. 
 Our author, who, I really apprehend, is ac- 
 quainted with their original writings, has yet 
 indulged the fafhionable tafte moft eminently 
 in his ftridtures on the chara61:er of Cyprian. 
 
 I have given up Tertullian to his rage of 
 cenfuring -, but Cyprian muft be ferioufly de- 
 fended. And yet the nature of the thing for- 
 bids me to enter into any courfe of argumen- 
 tation : All that can be done is to lay before 
 the reader the genuine copy of the impreflion 
 which original evidence has made on my own 
 mind. 
 
 What 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 What can be the reafon of our author's ani- 
 moiity againft this African Bifhop ? Is it that. 
 his inftinctive hatred againft Chriftianity leads 
 him with blind impetuous ardour to attack 
 one of its moft fhining ornaments ? Or does 
 an exclufive zeal for the honour of Pagan vir- 
 tue difpofe him to depreciate that very forti-^ 
 tude and patriotifm in a Chriftian hero, which 
 he admires in a Roman ? Or is the caufe of 
 the Kingdom of Heaven (for Cyprian mud 
 furely be allowed a right to fix his own creed*, 
 as much as Scipio or Csfar) of lefs importance, 
 and lefs worthy of zeal, than that of the dig- 
 nity of the Roman State ? " He united the 
 arts of the ambitious flatefman with the vir^ 
 tues of the Martyr, ruled in the Church with 
 moft abfolute fway, with eqvial fury and de- 
 votion." Strange, abfurd connexion ! "Some- 
 times afFe6ting the chara6ler of the Jewifli 
 Lawgiver, fometimes of a Roman ConfuL It 
 was lefs dangerous to negledl moral duties, 
 than the ceniures of the Bifhops, He renoun- 
 ced that worldly greatnefs which it is probable 
 he would never have attained : But he acquired 
 what is more grateful to the pride of the hu- 
 man heart, an abfolute dominion over the con- 
 fciences and underftandings of men. Nor were 
 the dangers he fuftained fo great as men are 
 
 ready 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 ready to undergo in the purfuit of temporal 
 honours." 
 
 Thele are the lights in which the African 
 Prelate appears in Mr. Gibbon •, this is that 
 *' holy Prelate, the ambitious Cyprian." 
 
 Is not the reader prepared to hear the re- 
 cital of a turbulent^ intriguing^ oftentatious 
 Pontificate, like that of thefamious Plildebrand ? 
 But matters of fa6l ftand in a ilronsr contrail 
 to thefe invidious flouriflies. 
 
 I beg leave to obferve here with Dr. Gold- 
 fmith, that '' it appears now too late to judge 
 the virtues or the vices of men." Attempts 
 have been made to «2:ive our Richard the Third 
 a charader very different from that which 
 his contemporaries give. The famous Cicero 
 has alfo been new-modelled by an ingenious 
 pen. Yet men of plain common fenfe, who are 
 not eafily fophifticated by a fpecious train of 
 reafoning, will doubtlefs be difpofed to give to 
 thefirft the charafler of cruelty and hypocrifyi 
 to the fecond, that of integrity and patriotifm, 
 which their contemporaries gave them. Let 
 the fame rule be applied to Cyprian : He was, 
 m his own time, the liril of characters in the 
 
 Chrifliaa 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 Chriilian world. His piety, judgment, pru- 
 dence, fortitude, and charity were univerfally 
 famed. He had given up worldly wealth and 
 honour ; how great he might have been we 
 know not. Our author's probabilities will 
 fooner evidence the ftrength of his prejudice 
 than of his fagacity. He fold his eftate for 
 the benefit of the poor -, would have adled 
 over again the fame liberality, were it not that 
 he avoided the odium of the perfecution •, was 
 profcribed for the Chriftian faith, lived in ba- 
 nifhment tv/o years : In adverfity ever dif- 
 played a fleady magnanimity -, if he had Iliewn 
 fomething of the frailty of human nature in 
 his flight, as cur author fuppofes, it would 
 only ihcw him to have been a man ^ but this 
 which our author raflily aflerts was not the 
 cale, as any man may fatisfy himfelf from his 
 letters ; and he finilhed his career at length 
 after a perilous courfe of ten years labours in 
 his BiflriOpric of Carthage, by the hand of the 
 executioner. How dangerous his flation was 
 all that time, may be determined from this 
 fingle circumilance, that five Bilhops of Rome 
 received the crown of Martyrdom within that 
 period. Thefe were the general outlines of 
 Cyprian's life ; and if we add to this the 
 emazing influence that he poiTelTed in the 
 
 Church, 
 
( ^5 ^ 
 
 Church, the whole of which cannot pofTibly 
 in his circumftances, be afcribed lo any other 
 caufe than the univerfai opinion of his virtue, 
 ^e may at once fee how injurious and rafli ic 
 is, in a modern to attempt to give a new com- 
 plexion to a character fo ftrongiy marked, and 
 fo illuftrioutly diftinguilhed with the general 
 applaufe of antiquity. Had any attempted to 
 rob his Antonines of their fame, he had furely 
 refented the wrong : And where is the pi>ellie* 
 minence of Pagan difcernment above Chriftian, 
 that the voice of contemporaries Hi all not de- 
 termine characters as fully in the latter cafe 
 as in the former ? 
 
 Had he voluntarily thrown himfelf into the 
 arms of his perfecutors, he might have been 
 charged with temerity ; had he betrayed a re- 
 lu»5lance to die, with pufilanimity. His con- 
 dud was, like that of every truly wife and 
 good man, regulated by that 
 
 modus in rebus -, funt certi deniq; fines, 
 
 Quos ultracitraq-, nequit confiitere redum. 
 
 HOR. 
 
 In his epifcopal capacity, though I confefs fome 
 expreflions in his letters may lavour of haugh- 
 tinefs, (for I am not writing his panegyric, 
 but his apology) yet thefe may fairly be 
 
 I afcribed 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 afcribed to the influence of the epifcopal IdeaSj 
 which even then had begun to exceed the due 
 bounds. His letters lay open the man ; vehe- 
 ment, no doubt, zealous, ardent, vigorous, and 
 vigilant ; but at the fame time defiring no au- 
 thority of a defpotic and arbitrary nature-, 
 nothing in the Church will he attempt without 
 the concurrence of the Prefbytery. In admi- 
 niftration of difcipline fo judicioufly poized 
 between the extremes of feverity and remifs- 
 nefs, that he was blamed by the bigots of 
 both parties : So very attentive to inculcate 
 moral duties, that he ftrongly rebukes thofe 
 who had fufFered imprifonment for confefTmg 
 Chriil, on account of immoral condu6b. His 
 treatife on patience^ and indeed the whole of 
 his writings breathe fo warm and tender a fpi- 
 rit of benevolence, fuch an overflowing libe- 
 rality of mind, and fo exa6t an attention to all 
 morality, that it requires fome degree of can- 
 dour to believe, what I yet would believe, that 
 our author really thought it was true, that he 
 lefs regarded moral duties than obedience to 
 the Bifliop. 
 
 The lead real attention to the genius of Cy- 
 prian mufl: have convinced him, that he at- 
 tended to the latter as a thing fubordinate to 
 
 the 
 
( 6; ) 
 
 the former. I would recommend to him the 
 careful perufal of his letter to Demetrian, and 
 then afic his own heart what fort of a charadler 
 |ie muft be who wrote it. 
 
 He had contentions, 'tis true, and virulent 
 enemies, even in the bowels of the Church. 
 But it were wonderful, if a man, whofe life 
 was devoted to the real good of mankind, had 
 not. We may be afTured no pains would be 
 wanting to depreciate his virtues. St. Paul 
 himfelt feems to have found at Corinth the 
 fame unworthy treatment, and for fimilar rea- 
 fons too, which Cyprian did at Carthage. 
 His fevere cenfures of the faftion of Felicifli- 
 mus ought to be difproved before they be con- 
 demned : He charges them with horrid crimes : 
 and would Cyprian lie ? What proof can any 
 bring of his want of veracity ? I would take 
 his bare word before the oaths of an hundred 
 Roman Patriots. 
 
 Had this man, fo folidly diftinguifhed by a 
 life of real holinefs, been only a Pagan, all 
 praife had been below his virtues : The ma- 
 gick of the Eleufmian myileries had rendered 
 him uniformly rerpe6lable, and the worfhip of 
 Jupiter had placed him in a ilation little be- 
 
 I 2 low 
 
( 68 5 
 
 low Thrafea Foetus himfelf. Nero, fays Ta- 
 citus, defined to extirpate virtue itfcli by his 
 death*; whether our author has not really 
 done fo, in the cafe before us, let the learned 
 reader determine. 
 
 SECTION XL 
 
 J^iherius. 
 
 A PASS AGE inTertullian's apology-}- bear$ 
 an honourable afpe6t towards Chriflianity. 
 That is a fufiicient reafon with our author to 
 decry and to pervert it. 
 
 " We are required to believe, fays he, that 
 " Pontius Pilate informed the Emperor of 
 " the unjuft fentence of death which he had 
 " pronounced againft an innocent, and as it 
 *' appeared, a divine perfon \ and that, without 
 *' acquiring rhe merit, he expofed himfelf to 
 
 " the 
 
 * Virtutem ipfam exfclndere concupivit, interfe<5lo Thrafea 
 Paeto. 
 
 f Tlbetlus ergo, cujus tempore nomenChrifHaniiminfecuIum 
 introivlt, annunclatum fibi ex Syria Palefliria, quod illic verita- 
 tem illlus divinltatis reveleverat, detullt ad fenatum cum praero- 
 gativa fufFrngii fui : Senalus, quia non in fe prob.iverat, refpuit : 
 Ofar in fententia manfit, comminatus periculum accufatoribiw 
 CftrifHanorum. 
 
( % ) 
 
 the danger of Martyrdom -, that Tyberius, 
 who avowed his contempt for all reliaion, 
 immediately conceived the dehgn of placino- 
 the Jewiih Mefliah amons; the Gods of Rome; 
 that his fervile Senate ventured to difobey 
 the commands of their mader ; that Tibe- 
 rius, inilead of refenting their refufal, con- 
 tented himfelf with protecting the Chrillrans 
 from the feverity of the laws, many years 
 before fuch laws were enadied, or betore the 
 Church had affumed any diltin6t name or 
 exiftence ; and laftly, that the memory of 
 this extraordinary tranfaCtion was preferved 
 in the mod publick and authentick records, 
 v/hich efcaped the knowledge of the Hifto- 
 rians of Greece and Rome, and were only 
 vifible to the eyes of an African Chriftian, 
 who compofed his apology one hundred 
 and fixty years after the death pf Tiberius." 
 
 The paiTage merits a few ftri6lures on ac- 
 count of its fmgular malignity. It puts one in 
 mind of Momus's cenfure of Venus, " her 
 flippers were too noify.'* Can our author fe- 
 Tiouily believe that Pilate expofed his life to 
 any hazard by acquainting Tiberius that he 
 had put an innocent perfon to death in Jul ea ,? 
 A fubjed of the Britilli Empire, however higk 
 
 or 
 
( 70 ; 
 
 or refpedable his fituatlon, might expert the 
 mod fatal confequences from fuch a condu6l. 
 But neither Rome republican nor Rome impe- 
 rial ever knew the bleiTings refulting from arv 
 equal adminiftration of jufbice. It was diffi- 
 cult to bring to capital juftice the moft flagi- 
 tious offender, if a Roman citizen, fpecially 
 a dignified Romaa citizen. Cicero is con- 
 demned to exile with a colour of legality for 
 the deaths of four or five as execrable confpi- 
 rators as ever exifted. And the infamous Verres, 
 after accumulated murders, retires into banifh- 
 ment. But a mean man, a (lave, a foreigner 
 might be difpatched, fo to fpeak, with impu- 
 nity, in that much envied, but little underftood, 
 conftitution of Rome. Appius Pulcher (Varves 
 five Salaminian Senators to death : And the 
 humane Cicero (fuch the force of habit) is not 
 afhamed of remaining ftill on civil terms with 
 the murderer. He then who confiders the 
 low eftimation in which the lives of foreigners 
 were held by thefe haughty tyrants of man- 
 kind, the obfcure fituation of life in which the 
 Divine Saviour was pleafed to extiibit himfelf 
 in Judea, and the plaufible colour which Pi- 
 late might put on the affair, by reprefenting the 
 neceffity he was under of gratifying the Jews, 
 will conceive that there was not even a diftanc 
 
 reafon 
 
( 71 ) 
 
 reafon for his fearing the Emperor's refent- 
 ment. Where jealoufy for his perfonal fafety 
 and interefl interfered not, all the world knew 
 Tiberius was not a man'difpofed to punifh out 
 of regard tojullice. 
 
 Our author reprfefents it as an unlikely thino- 
 that Tiberius fhouid conceive the defign of 
 placing the Mefliah among the Gods of Rome^ 
 becaufe he avowed his contempt of all religion. 
 Did he fo indeed ? Little of this appears 
 among the antients : Modern infidelity is more 
 bold and dogmatical : And our author feems 
 to confound the fpirit of antient and modern 
 impiety. His favourite Tacitus in one place 
 would inform him of his refpedful care of 
 fome religious ceremonies in the choice of a 
 Flamen : In another place of the Sybiiline 
 oracles ; and he thought both thefe topics 
 worthy the attention of the Senate. His well- 
 known letter to the Senate, which in fo lively 
 a manner difplays the horrors of an agitated 
 confcience, feems not to agree fo well with 
 the idea of an avowed contempt of all reli- 
 gion*. It is as eafily conceivable then that 
 this Emperor might propofe the worlhip of 
 
 the 
 
 * I am aware that Suetonius fays he was area deos negligen- 
 ti9r : But this implies not an avowed contempt of ail religion. 
 
( 72 ) 
 the Jewifli MeiTiah, as the tv/o religious pro- 
 pofitions that have been hinted at j and as 
 eafy to conceive, that he might be no more of- 
 fended with the negative of the Senate on his 
 motion, than he was with their determination 
 on the firfl: of the cafes mentioned by Tacitus, 
 \yhich was furely different from his views*. 
 Tyrants are not always and in all cafes tyran- 
 nical ♦, there are cafes in which they will fuffer 
 their flaves to think and afl with freedom ; 
 and artful courtiers will not want difcernmenc 
 to find what thefe are. The detail of circum- 
 ftances alone can diredt to a decifive judgment 
 in fuch matters ; and it much offends againfl 
 the caution and impartiality which the laws 
 of hiftory require to facirifice to mere preju- 
 dice in a cafe, where this detail of circum- 
 ftances is utterly unknown. 
 
 One might have expected a greater degree of 
 conformity to the times of which he writes, 
 with reipe6l to his judgment of men and thmgs, 
 than our author has lliewed. When he fpeaks 
 of the danger of a Roman Jucige, from his 
 fuperior, for paffmg an unjuil: fentence, and 
 mentions a Roman Emperor, who himfelf is 
 Pontifex Maximus, and whofe te« immediate 
 
 predeceffors 
 
 * Annals, Lib. iv. 
 
( 1Z ) 
 
 predeceflbrs were both worlliipped as ^q\s,^ 
 yet, avowing a contempt for all religion, one 
 fancies it is fome mere modern, who knows 
 nothing more diftant in hiftory than the pre- 
 fent century, and not the judicious and clafil- 
 cal Mr. Gibbon, who thus fpeaks of antient 
 facls in the fpirit of the modern way of think- 
 ing. But thus it is, that the moil exquifite 
 judgment is no relief againll the eitecls of pre- 
 judice; and a third inflance is viable in this 
 little affair : How does it appear, that the hi- 
 ftorians of Greece and Rome knew nothing of 
 the tranfadions in review before us ? Might 
 they not know and think them too infigniiicant 
 to record in their hiflories ? Should not our 
 author have imagined himfelf to have lived in 
 their times, when Chriftianity was perfeclly 
 frivolous in their eyes, and not in the prefenr, 
 when it is of extreme importance to its friends, 
 as their very hope of immortality ; and to its 
 enemies, as the obje6t of their dread and abhor- 
 rence ? It mull, however, feem flrange to the 
 reader, that Tiberias fhould proted the Chri- 
 ftians againft laws which did not then exiHj 
 but it will feem ftranger to him to hear, that 
 there is not a word in TertuUian concernine; 
 any fuch laws, though there is concerning the 
 accufers of Chriftians ; and that Tcrtuliian him- 
 
 K {dt 
 
( 74 ) 
 felf, in the very next fentence, aflerts that Nero 
 was the firft who enaded edidis againft the 
 Chriftians. How could our author talk then 
 of laws in being againft Chriftianity in Tibe- 
 rius's time on the authority of TertuUian, when 
 the next fentence ought to have fhewn him the. 
 very contrary ? 
 
 SECTION XIL 
 
 Nero, 
 
 IT feemed necefTary to take in the views of thi^ 
 and the fucceeding Sedion, in order to lay 
 before the reader the complete evidence of oui" 
 author's extreme partiality, though he has been 
 amply refuted in what relates to them in Dr. 
 Watfon himfelf, and in the Appendix to his 
 publication. I am unaviodably obliged, there- 
 fore, iti a few inftances, to repeat what has been 
 faid already (not 1 hope without fome additional 
 light) in the profecution of a plan, which the 
 patient and candid reader may by and by ob- 
 ferve to open itfelf, in a manner eflentially di- 
 ilin6l from any thing that has hitherto beerl 
 advanced on occafion of our author's hiflory. 
 
 His 
 
( IS ) 
 
 His laft chapter deferves to be called A« 
 Apology for the perfecutors of Chriftianity. 
 A reader of plain fenfe cannot poflibly put any 
 Other interpretation on all his lucubrations: 
 The fadl being neither more nor lefs than this, 
 that for three hundred years an innocent fet of 
 men were expofed to a variety of ill treatment, 
 even to death in its moil tremendous forms, 
 for no crime but the profeiTion of the religion 
 of Jefus \ and Mr. Gibbon, tho' he profefles 
 to be no apologifl for perfecution, is perpcr 
 tually exculpating, extenuating, foftening the 
 condud of the perfecutors. One cannot help 
 applying here, 
 
 Nos noftraque lividus odit, Hor. 
 
 The Pagan perfecutors had not found in him 
 fo warm an Apologifl, had not the Chriflians 
 found in him a determined enemy. Clement * 
 informs us, that St. Paul fuffered martyrdom 
 under the Roman princes ; and Tertullian f 
 appeals to the Roman records themfelves to 
 prove that Nero firfl raged againft the Chri- 
 flians, and thatDomitian followed his example; 
 and though fucceeding princes mitigated the 
 (everity of their bufferings from time to time, 
 
 K 2 yet, 
 
 1S\ . . . ■ 
 
 * J^ag%g>3ira$ £C7iI&;f ^fy/x^i-'y, EpiUle to the Corinthians. 
 
 \ Apology, chap, v. 
 
( 76 ) 
 vet, furcly, they continv;ed more or lefs in a 
 perfecuted (late till the days of Conllantine. 
 What can be faid for the perfecutors ? 
 
 Nero is but another word for all that is, exe- 
 crable and infamous in human nature. Our 
 author is not the firft who has praifed his con- 
 dud. He has the honour of walking in the 
 fceps of Cardan. The fame man, who main- 
 tained that religion was even hurtful to human 
 fociety, wrote alfo an encomium on Nero ! and 
 the hiilorian of the Roman empire, who labours 
 to weaken all the evidences of Chriftianity, 
 and to blacken its brigheft charadiers, attempts 
 to throw fome milder lliades on the character 
 of the fame Nero ! When men have once dpne 
 violence to reafon in refufing her jufleil evi- 
 dences in religion, they wander free and difTo- 
 lute in the regions of paradox, and fcorn to. 
 think even on indifferent fubjeds with the bulk 
 of mankind. 
 
 He has been fliewn from Suetonius that therre 
 was nothing in that generofity of Nero towards 
 thofe who had been diilreiled by the lire of 
 Rome •, that having thrown open the imperial 
 gardens to tiie diftreffed multitude, he " would 
 not fuffer the owners to touch v/hat the flames 
 
 had 
 
( 77 ) 
 bad fpared, and converted all to his own uie.'* 
 Moft generous Emperor ! " It is evident that 
 the effedts, as well as the caufe of Nero's perfe- 
 cution, were confined to the walls of Rome." 
 He cannot then get over the ihibborn fadl, 
 that Nero, with all his prudence and humanity^ 
 did falfly charge the Chriftians with the burn- 
 ing of Rome, and perfecute them in the moft 
 horrible manner on the account. All that can 
 be done, is to lelTen in our eyes the odium of 
 the perfecution as much as poflible. It extend- 
 ed not beyond the walls of Rome. Where is 
 the evidence of this ? The hatred of the Jews 
 and Pagans was fo ftrong againft the Chriflians 
 in every place, that we may be aiTured, on 
 hearing of the Emperor's example, they would 
 commence a grievous perfecution through the 
 empire, the effects of which nothing but a po- 
 fitive edidt to the contrary could control. Wc 
 may conclude, therefore, from the nature of 
 things, that the perfecution was not confined 
 within the walls of Rome. 
 
 But our author is in pain for Tacitus as well 
 as for Nero. From him we have at once the 
 moft decifive evidence of Nero's cruelty to the 
 Chriftians, of their innocence with refpe6t to 
 ;he crime of v/hich he accufed them, and of 
 
 his 
 
( 7» ) 
 )iis own prepoiTeflion and bigotry in condemn- 
 ing the Chriftians in the grofs, on vulgar re- 
 ports and prejudices. Tacitus muft not remain 
 under the alperfion of a rafh and credulous 
 cenfor. It muft not be faid, that Tacitus 
 loads the innocent Chriftians with the hornc^ 
 and flagitious crimes, of which all in our days, 
 even the moft determined Infidels, believe thenx 
 to have been innocent. What, but a weak 
 partiality for Tacitus and for Paganifm, could 
 have induced our author to imagine, that they 
 might be the Gaiilasans, and not the Chriftians, 
 who were the objedls of Nero's perfecution ? 
 Thefe were a Jewifti party who refufed to fub- 
 mit to a taxation from the Roman Emperor, 
 and were indeed men of the moft flagitious 
 charadlers : But except the mere names, they 
 were fo totally diftinct from Chriftians, that it; 
 muft be a mere imagination indeed, to fuppofe 
 either that Nero, or that Tacitus, or that any 
 one elfe could ever confound one with the 
 other. 
 
 SECTION 
 
( 79 ) 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 « 
 
 Trajan. 
 
 /f R. Gibbon obferves*, " That Tertuilian 
 JL confiders this (Trajan's) relcript as a 
 relaxation of the antient penal laws, quas 'Tra- 
 janus ex parte fruftratus eft •, and yet Tertullian, 
 in another part of his Apology, expofes the 
 inconfiftency of prohibiting inquiries, and en- 
 joining punifhments." The fa6t was this : 
 Pliny defires the Emperor's directions how he 
 fhoiild proceed with refpedl to the Chriflians ♦, 
 and the fum of the Emperor's anfwer is. That 
 he Ihould prohibit all enquiry, and yet that he 
 ihould punifh thofe who were convided of the 
 crime of Chriftianity on the pofitive evidence 
 of an open accufer. Can a more egregious in- 
 confiftency be imagined? Might not Tertullian 
 well afk, if they are innocent, why punifh them 
 at all ? if guilty, why prohibit enquiry ? and 
 yetj with fufficient confiftency, Tertullian might 
 urge even this inconfiftent relaxation of the per- 
 fecution in his Apology againfl the perfecutors 
 of his own time. 
 
 Mr. Gibbon allows that Pliny gives, in hh 
 letter to the Emperor, " in fome refpects a fa- 
 vourable 
 * Chap. xx7i,-~^Note .5^, 
 
( 2o ) 
 
 VGurable account of the Chrifllans." It i^ 
 httincr that the EnorHni reader fhould know 
 what this account is which fo fully clears them 
 of the flagitious crimes which were charged 
 upon them by the Pagans, and fixes an inde- 
 lible infamy on his own bigotry and cruelty in- 
 perfecuting the moft upright and the moft in- 
 nocent of mankind. " They affirmed", fays 
 he, (and he evidently acquiefces in the truth of 
 the affirmation, without producing any thing 
 that has the leafl tendency to invalidate it) 
 " that tliis w^as the fum of their fault, or error; 
 *' that they ufed to meet on a ftated day before 
 *' day-light, and fung together an hymn to 
 " Chrift as God ; and that they facramentally 
 " bound themifeives not for the perpetration of 
 " any wickednefs, but that they would abftain 
 *' from theft, robbery, adultery, breach of 
 " fidelity, or denial of any depofit ; which be- 
 " ing done, it was their cuflom to depart, and 
 *' meet together again at a promifcuous and 
 " harmlefs meai." * 
 
 Thefe were the men againO: whom penal 
 laws were enacted and enforced with more or 
 lefs feverity, by virtuous as v/eli as vicious 
 Emperors ! Our author indeed takes fome pains 
 
 to 
 
 * EpliUe xcvvi. book x. 
 
to iliew from tlie cicumftaaces of Pliny's i<y* 
 norance, and define of the Emperor's direc- 
 tions, that the Chriftians were not then 
 amenable to the Roman laws : But if this 
 had been the cafe, why did he receive any in- 
 formation againll them at all ? It is c\irious to 
 hear our author declare himfelf unable to dif- 
 cover any bigotry in his language or pro- 
 ceedings*. No! when he put two Deaconefies 
 to the torture, in order, as he fays, to fmd 
 out the truth, bur found in their confciTion 
 only an exceilive and bad iupcrftition. Does 
 not this (liew bigotry, or cxcelTjve attachment 
 to the religion of the Hate, produdive of the 
 moft unreafonable treatment of thofe who ven- 
 tured to difient from his religion ? And when 
 he talks of their deferving puniihment ofi 
 account of their obftinacy, is not this bigotry r 
 Gr fhall that be given up to the miCrcileU 
 rage of unreferved cenfiire in a Papift, which, 
 in a Pagan, mud pafs for an humane incon- 
 fiftency, or even the evidence of a moderate 
 and candid temper ? 
 
 Calvin burnt Servetus as an obdlnate He- 
 l^etick. Some thoughts have already occurred 
 to me, tending, not to juftify, but to exte- 
 
 ^L nuate 
 
 * Chao. xvl. j(>. 
 
( 82 > 
 
 nuate his guilt. But I fupprefs them. De- 
 teflcd be the fpirit of perlecution, though 
 found in Calvin : Derefted be murder and 
 adultery, though found in the man after God's 
 own heart ! It is not worth v/hile to trouble 
 the reader with our author's palliatives of the 
 Pao-an fpirit of perfecution. No wickednefs 
 ever exifted, but an ingenious man might give 
 it fome plaufible colour ; and if fufficient evi- 
 dence has been given, that Mr. Gibbon deferves 
 the charadler of a partial writer altogether in 
 whatever relates to the Chriflians, I have gained 
 my point : Its importance may appear in the 
 latter part of this work. Should he deny the 
 charge, I fball willingly retradh it on this con- 
 dition, that after reading the account of Calvin's 
 behaviour in the affair of Servetus, he will de- 
 clare him.felf unable to difcover any bigotry in 
 his lanoruage or proceedings. I fnall then con- 
 clude, that he is not influenced by the fpirit of 
 prejudice, but by fome whimficai train of 
 thought, which is no uncommon attendant of 
 fuperior genius. 
 
 SECTION 
 
( n.3 ) 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 The Martyrs and the Pcrfecutors. 
 
 Confiderable degree of ingenuity has been 
 employed by our aurhor to lefTen thq 
 number of thofe, and the infamy of thefe*. 
 It anfwers much the purpofe of the enemies of 
 Chrift to deal in arguments of this nature. An 
 apology for the perfecutors tends indiredlly at 
 lead to depreciate the chr,ra6ler of the Chri- 
 llians ; and if men can perfuade themfelves, 
 that the fuffcrings of the latter were not extra- 
 ordinary,, they will be little a fFedted with the 
 argument dray/n from this confideration in fup- 
 port of thofe preternatural aids, which at oncq 
 infpire the fufferers with patience and charity, 
 and indicate the divine nature of the GofpeL 
 It will be proper firft to ob%^iate Mr. Gibbon's, 
 objeclions, and then to produce the direcft evi- 
 dence of antiquity. 
 
 I. He has great objedtions to the integrity of 
 Eufebius. He refers us to two palTaaes, 1. viii, 
 c. 2. ^ de Martyr. Palefi. c. 12. in which ^' he 
 " has related whatever might redound to t\\t 
 .'' glory, and has fupprefled all that could tend 
 
 * L 2 " to, 
 
 * See the four lart pages of the hiflory, with notes. 
 
( •*S4 ) 
 
 " to the difgrace of religion." An heaver 
 tharore! But let the Ensrlifh reader hear him 
 fpcak for himfelf Speaking of Chriftian Bl- 
 Ihops, he fays, '' It is improper for us to record 
 " their mutual diffenfions and foiiies before the 
 '' perfecution : We fnall, therefore, relate no 
 " more concerning them, than what may fuf- 
 *' fice to juftify the divine vengeance. But 
 " Vvhat happened in relation to the Bifliops of 
 " the Churches; the ambitious defires of many-, 
 " the raih aad illegal ordinations, and the 
 " fchifms even am.ong the confeiTors them- 
 " felves ♦, the fuccefTive innovations introduced, 
 " even in the midil: of the calamities caufed by 
 '' the perfecutions, and the accumiilated mif- 
 *' chiefs confequent on thefe things •, all this I 
 " think proper to omir, the relation being, in 
 " my judgment, inconvenient, and which I al- 
 " too-eiher diflike, and am determined to avoid. 
 " I fuopofe it to fuit bell with the defign of an 
 " hiftory concerning the Martyrs, to fpeak, 
 " write, and inflii into Chriftian ears, whatever 
 " is of importance to, and commendable in 
 " our religion, and thofe palTages which are 
 *' virtuous and praife-worthy." 
 
 It is difiicuk to conceive v/hat fundamental^ 
 laws of hiflory are violated by this procedure. 
 
 PI as 
 
( *S5 ) 
 
 Has not every hiftorian a right to chnfe his 
 fubje6i: ? If Euicbius chufes to write only on 
 that part of Chrillian hiftory which refpeds 
 their fufferings from the Pagans, and to omit: 
 j:hat part which refpedts their internal divif^ons 
 is he partial on this account ? Would any man 
 fufped Mr. Gibbon to be an enemy to the 
 profperity and grandeur of the Roman Empire, 
 becaufe he has c;hofen to give an hiftory only 
 ■Df its Decline ? Had he infmuated indeed in 
 any part of his wprk, that the Roman En^pire 
 never was in fuch a (late of profperity and o-ran- 
 deur as is generally believed, room mi^ht be 
 given to fulpe^l him of lb abfurd and malio-nanc 
 •pn intention : But his frank confeffion and de- 
 fcription of it in the beginning of this work, 
 precludes fuch an idea. Let him only meafure 
 Eufebius w^ith the fime line of equity with 
 which he would chufe to be meafured himfelf. 
 Eufebius tells us, thatjie thinks it more profit- 
 able to dv/eil on what may properly be called 
 the external, rather than the internal hiftory of 
 the Church, 
 
 It muft be confefied, the former tends more 
 to its glory than the latter. But does he deny 
 any of thofe circumftances which difgrace the 
 Church ? Is nor the ftiort defcription which has^ 
 
 been 
 
been quoted from him a frank confefTion of 
 them ? Has not the enemy of Chriftianity from 
 thence an opportunity of feeing the vices of 
 profeflbrs in the flrongeft light, tho' its friends 
 know hov/ to feparate thefe vices from the 
 caufe of Gaci itfelf ? One circumftance only is 
 neceflary to be cleared up. If the internal di- 
 vifions of the Church produced any civil con- 
 vulfions or feditions, the relation of them might 
 tend to apologize for the perfecutors. This 
 may be imagined indeed ; but the loyalty of 
 the Chriftians is an unqueftionable fa6t : Du- 
 ring the firft three hundred years no civil revo- 
 lution ever owed its rife to Chriftian agency ; 
 and therefore no fuch ufe can be made of 
 Eufebius's fiienco. 
 
 This great obje£lion againA Eufebius's cre- 
 dibility being removed, there remain no fufpi- 
 cious circumftances that affed his character 
 of hiftorical veracity. His relations are mi- 
 nute and circumftantial ; opportunities of de- 
 tedtion are every where afforaed. It liad been 
 as eafy in effe6t for the Pagans to expofe his 
 falfehoods, if any material ones had been com- 
 mitted, as it would be for Papifts to expofe 
 the falfehoods of Proteftant Hiftorians con- 
 cerning Mary's periecution in England. Ju- 
 lian, 
 
( *87 ; 
 
 liaTi, LIbanius, and many others wanted noc 
 malevolence to do it •, but antiquity is filent 
 on the fubjeft. And Mr. Gibbon expeds too 
 much from the credulity of his readers, that 
 the narrative of the parent of Ecclefiaftical 
 Hiftory muft be condemned by v/holefale on 
 his ipfe dixit^ though every candid reader will 
 allow fome errors. His perfonal charader is 
 a dillinct confideration. No one imao-ines 
 the authenticity of the hiilory of Henry the 
 Seventh to be at all connected with the vena- 
 lity of its noble author. Admitting Eufebius's 
 virtue to have been none of the pureft, his li- 
 terary abilities are very refpedlable •, nor did 
 he want competent means of information ^ and 
 it is inconceivable that, at this diftance of 
 time, his total want of hiilorical veracity fhould 
 be firfl: difcovered. 
 
 The reader, it is hoped, v;ill now fee rcafon 
 to believe the accounts of various tortures de- 
 fer! bed by Eufebius to be far from being dcRi- 
 tute of truth. They form indeed a ghaftly 
 fpeclacle, to the eternal difgrace of the perfc- 
 Gutors. But Mr. Gibbon, (lill jealous of their 
 honour, is willing to imagine, that if anv c^x- 
 cruciating tortures were inflifled, it was tor 
 want of prudence^ or perhaps of decency in 
 
 the 
 
( *8S ) 
 
 the Martyrs. He fupports this imagination 
 by the ilory of Qldelius, who, Eufebius tells 
 us, (and Eufebius's authority is here at lead 
 not dilputed) ftruck the Judge, and reviled 
 him with much abufe. He does not tell us 
 from the fame writer, that the Judge had deli- 
 vered women, moft eminent for their chaftity, 
 to panders *, that they might be defiled with 
 all forts of obfcenity. The provocation was 
 extreme ; yet it by no means juftihed the Mar- 
 tyr's conduct. The arms of Chrillianity are 
 not carnal. Mr. Gibbon's candour^ however, 
 would have made fome allowances for fuch a 
 condud in a Pagan, perhaps have juflihed it; 
 but CEdefius was a Chriftian, And in general 
 the meeknefs of Chriitianity w^as lb ftrongly 
 exemplified in the condudt of the martyrs, that 
 this remark of the author can prove little elfe 
 but his ov.n malis;nirv. 
 
 " The confeflbrs, who were condemned to 
 *' work in the mines, were permitted, by the 
 " humanity or tlie negligence of their keepers, 
 " to build chapels, and freely to profefs their 
 " religion." Hence he v/ould infer, that " the 
 *' general treatment of theChrillians, who had 
 *' been apprehended by the officers of juflice," 
 
 " wa5 
 
 ^- F.-afGl). Martyrs cf Palcfl. c. v. 
 
*^ was lefs intolerable than it is ufualiy imap-jned 
 " to have been." The llory in Eufcbius is 
 this* : The perfecution had raged feven years ^ 
 it was now in the eighth year gradually abating. 
 A number of confefTors in the brafs-mines of 
 Paleftine took the opportunity of ereding build- 
 ings for the purpofe of worfhip : But the go- 
 vernor of the province making a journey thi- 
 ther, and being informed of their w^ay of livincr 
 in that place^ envied them this fmall ceiTation 
 of their miferies, and acquainted the Emperor 
 of the circumftance. Afterwards the governor 
 of the mines came thither, and (too impatient 
 it feems to w^ait for the arrival of the imperial 
 orders) difperfed a number of the confelTors in 
 various places, and gave orders that they fhould 
 be wearied out with various forts of laborious 
 employments \ fele6ling four of them for mar- 
 tyrdom, who were accordingly burnt alive. I 
 believe I may now leave this matter to the 
 reader's refiedions •, may not I add, to the 
 confcience of Mr. Gibbon himfelf ? 
 
 From the pains which the Bifliops were 
 obliged to take in checking and ceafuring the 
 forward zeal of the Chriftians, " who volun- 
 tarily ^hrew themfelves into the hands of tho 
 
 * M magi- 
 
 * JVTartyrs of Paleftine, c. xiii. 
 
( *90 ) 
 
 magillrates,'* our author would alfo infer, that 
 their fufterings were not extremely violent. 
 But the learned reader, who has paid any at- 
 tention to Cyprian's Letters, will fee the affair 
 in a very different light. That prudent and 
 magnanimous prelate had much occafion to re- 
 buke the precipitation and ralh zeal of his 
 people •, their fufferings were great notwith- 
 ilanding ; and to fome, perhaps to many tem- 
 pers, a quiet fubmiffion to good difcipline and 
 a prudent fobriecy of condud, is more difficule 
 than all the zeal and fortitude of martyrdom. 
 
 I fliould Imagine from our author's good 
 fenfe, which feems never to fail him but on 
 fubiedts connected with relio-ion, that on fecond 
 thoughts he will not find himfelf inclined to 
 lay much weight on his calculation of the 
 number of martyrs during that moft violent^ 
 perfecution of ten years. After acquainting 
 us from Eufebius, that Paleftine furniHied only 
 ninety- two of thefe martyrs, he fays, " Pale- 
 fline may be confidered as the fixteenth part of 
 the Eallern Empire; it is reafonable to believe^ 
 that the country which had given birth to 
 Chriftianity, produced at lead the fixteenth 
 part of the martyrs, who fuffered death within 
 the dominions of Galerius and Maximin -, the 
 
 whole 
 
( *9i ) 
 
 whole might confequently amount to about 
 fifteen hundred. Allotting the fame proportion 
 to the provinces of Italy, Africa, and perhaps 
 Spain, where, at the end of two or three years, 
 the rigour of the penal laws was either fufpend- 
 ed or abolilhed, the multitude of Chriftians in 
 the Roman empire, on whom capital punilh- 
 ment was inflided by a judicial fentence, will 
 be reduced to fomewhat lefs than two thoufand 
 perfons." 
 
 What will obyioufly overturn this whole 
 calculation, is the anomalous nature of all 
 perfecutions. Would any man, who chofe to 
 calculate the confumption of martyrs in Eng- 
 land in Mary's days, fix on the Bilhoprick of 
 Durham as a flandard, where the humane 
 Tonftal contributed little or nothing to the 
 carnage ? I grant the Bifhoprick of London, 
 where Bonner exercifed the moft favage cruel- 
 ties, would be as improper a ilandard on the 
 other fide. What is to be done in this cafe ? 
 Were Mr. Gibbon as difpaflionate in this 
 cafe as the great Newton was in his chro- 
 nological calculations *, he would have at- 
 
 * M 2 tempted 
 
 * See Sir I. Newton's Chronology, of antlent kingdoms ; an 
 admirable fyltem of reafoning, which evinces a cordial belief 
 of Revealed Religion, as divinely infpired, to be very confif^ent. 
 with the exercife cf the foundefl judgment. 
 
( *92 ) 
 tempted a medium as a ftandard. Tiie fame 
 Eufcbius tells us, that in Thebais in Egypt, 
 from ten to a hundred perfons had frequently 
 fuffered martyrdom in one day. Our author 
 roundly denies the truth of all rhis. But he 
 who founds his whole calculation on his vera- 
 city in one cafe, ought to have better reafons 
 than the trifling criticifms which he adduces 
 for rejecting it in the other : I fhall take it for 
 crranted then, that Eufebius deferves in efFed 
 equal credit in both inltances, efpecially as he 
 declares himfelf to have refided in both fcenes. 
 
 If I have not been able to afford fufficient 
 data for a iuit calculation, enough has, perhaps, 
 been faid to demonftrate, how erroneous is that 
 of our author. After all, the theatre of The- 
 bais, amazingly bloody as it was, was perhaps 
 exceeded by that of i\4ilan, Illyricum, and Ni- 
 comedia. It is extremely probable that the 
 refidence of the Tyrants would always diilin- 
 •yuifli itfelf in carnage. And the reader, who 
 is verfed in this part of Roman hiftory, need 
 riot be told that Milan was the refidence of 
 the ferocious Ma^^imian, that Galerius re- 
 fided in Illyricum, and that the lpol4tr, but un- 
 feeling Dioclefian, and the favage Maximin, 
 refided at Nicomedia. 
 
 2. T,"he 
 
( ""93 ) 
 
 2. The reader of plain fenfe, who is not 
 critically acquainted with hiltorical events, 
 will, perhaps, defire to fee the pofitive and 
 dire6l evidence of the prodigious number of 
 the fufferers reduced to fome order. This 
 may eafily be done, though to eftablifli any 
 thing like a precife calculation of their num^ 
 bers feems impoiTible, 
 
 And fas eft et ah hofte doceri. In the clofe of 
 his hiftory our author obferves from Grotius, 
 that in the Netherlands alone more than a 
 hundred thoufand of the fubjeds of Charles Y, 
 (of Philip II. he fhould rather have faid) fuf- 
 fered by the hands of the executioner. Fra. 
 Paolo reduces them to half the fum. Ad- 
 mitting them to have been at a medium fe- 
 venty-live thoufand, or, even what will be an 
 excefs of candour, admitting the calculation 
 of the Papiil, and fetting afide that of the Pro- 
 tellant, one may aflc, is it at all credible, 
 that the number of Martyrs in Dioclefian's 
 perfecution fhould have been no more than 
 two thoufand perfons, fince the rage of per- 
 secution v/as as vehement in one cafe as in the 
 other ? I am aware, that additional political 
 caufes operated in the cafe of the Belgic Mar- 
 tyrs : But with all due allow^ance for this, a 
 
 fingle 
 
( *94 ) 
 
 fingle province cannot be conceived to hava 
 produced fo many more Martyrs than the 
 whole Roman empire. 
 
 But though Dloclefian's perfecutlon is al- 
 lowed to have been the (everefl:, yet from 
 Nero to Conilantine there was a fucceflion of 
 perfecutions more or lefs fanguinary, but on 
 the whole amazingly profufe in blood. 
 
 Cyriac of Ancona* was the firfl antiquary 
 of eminence in Europe, and his collections 
 of infcriptions are of the higheft authenticity. 
 This is one which he colleded in Spain : 
 
 '' To Nero Claudius C^efar Auoruflius Pont. 
 *' Max. For having cleared the province of 
 " robbers, and thofe who taught mankind 3, 
 " new fuperllition.'* 
 
 One can fcarce help remarking, though it 
 be totally foreign to our prefent purpofe, that 
 as the Mafter himfelf was treated, fo are his 
 Difciples in this bad world. He was cruci- 
 fied between two robbers, the fcorn of men, 
 
 and 
 
 * See the authenticity of this inrcriptlon follJly efbbllfhed 
 by Prof. Bullet, in his hiRory of the eftablifliment of Chridi- 
 anity, I haye made ufe of him in fome other indances. 
 
( *95 ) 
 
 and they are coupled with robbers in the in- 
 fcription, which celebrates Nero's judicial 
 feverities in Spain ! But to return. 
 
 It is obvious at firft fight, that the perfe- 
 cution mult have been very bloody, fince the 
 total extindion of the Chriftian name was 
 evidently aimed at. It would naturally be no 
 lefs bloody in Italy, probably much more ib : 
 And there is no reafon to fuppofe, that Spain, 
 which muil have very recently received Chri- 
 ilianity, would feel the weight of Nero's rage 
 in a peculiar manner. Greece and Macedon, 
 more antient and far more numerous femina- 
 ries of Chriitianity, would probably feel its 
 force dill more feverely, elpc^cialiy as Nero 
 himfelf travelled into Achaia after the com- 
 mencement of it. On the whole, the number 
 of Nero's Martyrs mud have been confiderable, 
 and the raflmefs of our author's afi^ertion*, 
 that his perfecution was confined within the 
 walls of Rome, appears with fuperior evidence, 
 
 Dio CafTius afilires us, that not only Do- 
 mitian's relation, Flavius Clemens, but that 
 many others were condemned for the crime of 
 Atheifm und Jewifo manners^ by which he un- 
 doubtedly 
 
 * See Se(5tion xii. part v 
 
( *9^ ) 
 
 doubtedly means Chriftianity. Mr. Gibbort 
 is pleafed to give us an ambiguous alternative^ 
 " fentences either of death or of confifcation." 
 But Dio's words are^ AAAnre ttoAAs? :iocl£c-(px^£v. 
 'HeJIew many others. 
 
 The latter part of Pliny's famous letter to 
 Trajan demonftrates, that that emperor's per- 
 fecution was very extenfive, as any impartial 
 reader may fee for himfelf. And Tertullian's 
 apology would betray a want of common 
 fenfe, if the perfecutions in his time were not 
 am.azingly fevere. The very terms of reproach 
 affixed to Chriflians, which allude to the mode 
 of their punifhments, demonflrate them to have 
 been fuffcrers even to a proverb. 
 
 Aurelius*s fpirit of perfecution our author 
 himfelf allows to have been eminently ftrong. 
 
 No Prince favoured them more than Alex- 
 ander Severus. Yet in his reign the famous 
 Ulpian colle6led the edicts of the Emperors 
 asainfl the Chriftians, that the infii6tion of 
 their punilhmenrs might be put under a me- 
 thodical regulation. If they fuftered under 
 fuch a Prince as Alexander, what mull they 
 have endured under the other Emperors .? 
 
 Philip, 
 
( ^97 ) 
 Philip, the Arabian, was as favourable to 
 the Chriftians as Alexander : Yet even in his 
 time they fuffered extren:iely at Alexandria. 
 Whence it' is evident that they were never to- 
 tally exempt from perfecution for the three 
 firil centuries y and that thofe seras of perfe- 
 cution, which are marked in ecclefiaftical 
 hiftory, were only fo in a more eminent man- 
 ner. Decius fucceeded Philip. That his per- 
 fecution was extreme, and attended with va- 
 riety of tortures, is too notorious to need any 
 elaborate confirmation. The fame obfervation 
 may be made of Valerian's perfecution. 
 
 At iS[i comedian in the beginning of the iaft 
 and the fevered perfecution, '^ the worihippers 
 *•"' of God were deftroyed by heaps, by (word 
 " and by fire. A great company being bound 
 *^'^n boats were call into the fea*." And a 
 little after, the fame writer fays, " the multi- 
 ^' tudes of Martyrs in every province cannot 
 ** be numbered, efpecial'ly in Africa, Mauri- 
 " tania, Thebais, and Egypt." And fpeak- 
 ing of the Chriftians at Tyre, firft expofed rd 
 Vild beads, and afterwards difpatched with 
 the fword, he fays, with a particular reference 
 
 * N to 
 
 * Euf. b. vi. c. 41. Idemj b. viiii c vi. 
 
( *98 ) 
 to the iirll of thefe fcenes, " we ourfelves Wfer^ 
 
 prefent at thefe things*." 
 
 However difagreeable to humanity it is to 
 dwell on fuch fcenes of horror -, yet, as our 
 author has ridiculed the defcriptions of Chri- 
 fhian martyrdom, evidently with a view of re- 
 prefenting them as fabulous and romantic, and 
 of lefiening the prejudice of our minds againfl: 
 Pagans f, the intereil of truth feems to require 
 that a fmall fpecimen fhould be laid before the 
 reader. Eufebius has tranfcribed the account 
 of Phileas the martyr, concerning what hap- 
 pened at Alexandria in his time. It is eafy to 
 imagine objedions againfl its credibility. But 
 had Mr. Gibbon allowed his fancy the fame 
 range of incredulity in civil, as he has done in 
 ecclefiaflical hiftory, he had foon exhaufted his 
 materials of Reman ftory J. " Free leave was 
 " given to any one to injure them; fome beat 
 *' them with clubs, others with rods ; fome 
 *' fcourged them with thongs of leather, others 
 *^ with ropes ; fome having their hands behind 
 ** them, were hung about a wooden engine, 
 
 "and 
 
 * Eufeb. b. viil. c. vii. 
 
 t The claflical reader may perhaps difcern a fimllar artlficft^ 
 of Julius Csfar, in his famous fpeech in Sallud's GatiJigaiiMji. ''' ^"^ 
 war. 
 
 X Book viil. c. lo. 
 
( "^99 ) 
 ^* and every limb of tiheir bodies was diftcnded 
 ^' by certain machines. Tlie torturers rent 
 ^^ their whole bodies with iron nails, whicli 
 " were applied to th^ir bellies, their legs, and 
 '' their cheeks. — Others were bound to pillars, 
 ^' face to face, their feet being raifed above the 
 *' ground, that their bonds, being diftended by 
 " the weight of their bodies, might be the clofer 
 "drawn together; and this they endured al- 
 
 *' mod a whole day without intermilTion. 
 
 ^' No care, fays the Governor, ought to be 
 " taken of thefe Chridians -, let all treat them 
 " as unworthy the name of men *. Some, af- 
 ^' ter they had been fcourged, lay in the Hocks, 
 *' both their feet being (Iretched to the fourth. 
 ♦' hole ; fo that they were obliged to lie with 
 ^' their bellies upward, unable to Hand becaufe 
 
 ^' of the wounds caufed by the ftripes. ; 
 
 *' Some expired under their tortures. Others 
 *> fhut up in prifon, ended their lives not long. 
 *' after. Others having been recovered by 
 ^.' methods taken to heal them, and being re- 
 ^' duced to the alternative of facrificing or dy- 
 '-' ing, chearfully preferred the latter." This, 
 fays Eufebius, is the relation of Phileas the. 
 Martyr, a little before his death. 
 
 * N 2 Elie- 
 
 * We are made as the filth of the world> and are the ofF- 
 fcouring of all things, i Gor. ir. 13. 
 
( *IOO ) 
 
 Elfewhere he tells of fome-f in Mefopotamia 
 hung by the feet with their heads downward 
 over a flow fire ; of others at Antioch broiled 
 on gridirons not to death, but v/ith a view of 
 prolonging their torments. In Pontus fome 
 had fliarp reeds thruft up the fingers of both 
 hands from their nails •, others had melted lead 
 poured down their backs ; others underwent 
 an ingenuity of obfcene torture, the relation of 
 which decency forbids. Wearied at length, 
 and difcouraged wich the firmnefs of the Chri- 
 ftians, the perfecutors contented themfelve3 
 with plucking out their right eyes, and fearing 
 their left legs with hot irons, and then con- 
 demning them to the mines. 
 
 The humane reader has heard perhaps fufH- 
 cient : The fubjed: admits of no elegance, no 
 ornament, no pleafmg colours •, but it is fit- 
 ting that the reader, who is kfs verfed in this 
 part of hiilory, fhould fee for what fort of m.en 
 our author has made fo anxious an apology ; 
 But they were Pagans^ and the poor fufi^crers 
 were Chriflians ! The laft day will do juftice 
 to all characters ! 
 
 The infernal cruelty of Maximin is allowed, 
 
 mid with his favage deeds the perfecution clofcrd. 
 
 i Book viii. c. iz. But 
 
( *ioi ) 
 
 gut it ought not to be forgotten, that the per- 
 fecution was renewed in the Eafl by Licinius; 
 and therefore ceafed not properly till Conftan- 
 tine became fole mailer of the empire. 
 
 The reader has perhaps been beforehand 
 with me in obferying, that to confine the ac- 
 count of martyrs to thofe who died by judicial 
 procefs, is a very erroneous method. Vv^hen it 
 is confidcred that Chriftians were denied the 
 protection of the law, and that the firft obje6b 
 of the perfecutors was not their death, but 
 their return to idolatry -, it will be evident, 
 that in tumults, exile, poverty, torture, and 
 various other methods, Immenfe numbers muft 
 have loft their lives, perhaps far, very far more 
 than of thofe who ded in form by the hand of 
 the executioner. Abundant teltimony from 
 Eufebius might be given, were there occafion 
 for it •, but Mr. Gibbon, in his calculation, is 
 filent upon this. 
 
 I have now only two teflimonies to produce, 
 which alone^ will prove all that an impartial 
 reader would defire. * 
 
 I. Two pillars in Spain have thefc infcrip- 
 
 tions : 
 
 " Dioclefian 
 
 * See Prof. Biillet, p, 67, 68, 69. 
 
 • 
 
( *I02 ) 
 
 " Dloclefian Jovian, Maximian Hercules, 
 ^* for having extended the Roman Empire ir> 
 ^' the EaO: and WeJ^, and for having extin- 
 ^' guifhed the name of Chriftians, who brought 
 ^« the Republic to ruin." 
 
 ^^ Dioclefian Casfar Augufhus, for having 
 «' adopted Galerius in the Eaft ; for having 
 ?' every v;here abolifhed the fuperftition of 
 ^« Chrift •, for having extended the worfhip of 
 5' the gods.'* 
 
 A""eeeable to this, a, medal of Dioclefian Hill 
 remaining boafts, that he had aboliflied the 
 name of Chriitians, nomine Chriftianorum deleto. 
 
 Let any man judge from thefe arrogant pre- 
 tenfions, how cruel v/ere the perfecutors, how 
 bloody, beyond defcription bloody, the perfe- 
 cution muft have been ! 
 
 2. Libanius, a famous Pagan fophid, com- 
 mends Julian the Apoftate, becaufe he did not 
 follow the cruel methods of his predecefTors. 
 The plucking out of eyes, and rivers of bloody 
 with llrange kind of torments, he who muft 
 certainly know, he too who in his heart was 
 as inimical to the Gofpel as our author, con- 
 fefies to have been the appendages of the per- 
 
 fecutions 
 
( *i03 ) 
 feciifcions preceding his own times. Was &vtt 
 fceptical derifion more indifcreetly employed 
 than by Mr, Gibbon on this fubjcd: ? 
 
 The deaths of the perfecutors mufl: detain 
 us a few moments. " If any ftill delght, fays 
 Mr Gibbon, in recording the wonderful deaths 
 of the perfecutors, I would recommend to their 
 perufal an admirable pafTage of Grotius con- 
 cerning the lad illnefs of Philip II. of Spain.'' 
 
 Grotius's hlflorv is not accelTible to the se- 
 nerality of readers ; and as our author has not 
 favoured us with the paiTage, I muft be content 
 to remain deprived of 'the inftrudlion which it 
 is calculated to convey -, and making ufe of 
 the beft lights I have, I fliall lay before the 
 reader the account of the deaths of two of the 
 moft ferocious of the perfecutors, and compare 
 them with fome other fimJlar hiftorical events- 
 and then make a remark or two which may 
 feem to arife out of the fubjecl. 
 
 The death of Galerius, whofe contribution 
 to the fum of martryrs was eminently liberal, 
 is thus defcribed by Eufebius * : " An impolr- 
 
 hume 
 
 *' Book vlli. c. i6. I might have added Ladl intlus's tefit- 
 mony alio ; but have ftudiouny avoided any quotations from 
 this author, becaufe his political views of his ovvn times {ctm 
 liable to exception, and becaufe Eufebius's atrple account needa 
 BO help from his abridgment. 
 
( *io4 ) 
 hume fuddenly felzed him about the midft of 
 
 his privy parts (Trt^t ra yi^x nov uzj-opprilcoi/y con* 
 fumptis genitalihus defecit^ fays Vidor) after that 
 an ulcer in the fundament (fA>to? fv jSaOst) ; thefe 
 dileafes conjointly corroded his bowels, whence 
 ifTued an incredible number of worms^ and a 
 moll no'fome ilench : Being immenfely corpu- 
 lent, his fiefh now in a ilate of putrefadion, 
 was an horrid fpedacle to thofe who came near 
 him. Some of his phyficians loft their lives 
 by the ftench *, others, becaufe they could ad- 
 niinfter no remedy, were cruelly put to death. 
 Some degree of humiliation was at length ex- 
 torted from him ; he put a ftop to the perfecu- 
 tion, and foon after died." 
 
 Maximin had equalled, if not exceeded him 
 5n cruelty •, and his death was diftinguifhed by 
 fignatures no lefs tremendous. * 
 
 " Being fuddenly flruck from heaven with 
 *' the fevereit pains, he fell on the ground, and 
 *' perilhed through hunger. His flefh being 
 *' melted away by an invifible fire, he was re- 
 *' duced to a mere skeleton •, he v/as fcorched 
 *' to the very marrow of his bones •, his eyes 
 ** ftarted out of his head. At laft acknow- 
 
 " ledging 
 * F.ufcbius, b, ix. c. 10, 
 
( *io5 ) 
 
 ^' ledging the juflice of his fufferings, on ac^ 
 '^ count of his contempt of Chrift, he gave up 
 *' the o-hoft." 
 
 Scenes not unlike thefe the reader may meet 
 with in the hillory of the Maccabees in the 
 Apocrypha. Antiochus Epiphanes was as in- 
 genioufly cruel in perfecuting the Church of 
 the Old Teftament, as thefe men were in per- 
 fecuting that of the New ; and he died in ago- 
 nies of torture, perhaps no lefs extraordinary. _ 
 
 Let the grave Jofephus be heard, defcribing the 
 death of him whom flattery has (tiled the Greats 
 I mean the firil Herod, who perfecuted the di- 
 vine Saviour in his infancy, and maflfacred the 
 infants at Bethlehem on his account. " The 
 *' King's ficknefs fpread over his body, and 
 " his pains were dreadful •, he had a flrong 
 *' ague •, an intolerable itch over his body ; a 
 " daily colick ; his feet fwelled, as though he 
 " had a dropfy \ his privy members were putri- 
 " fied ; worms bred in the putrilied parts ^ he 
 " had a grievous afthma •, his whole body was; 
 *' convuifed \ he would have killed himfelf, 
 " but was prevented." In thefe complicated 
 tortures died this fanguinary tyrant. 
 
 * O The 
 
( *io6 ) 
 
 The twelfth chapter of the A(5ls of the 
 Apoflles gives us an account of the extraordi- 
 nary death of another Herod, a cruel perfecutor 
 of the Chriftians. The reader may find in 
 Jofephus an account of his death extremely 
 fimilar^ it belonged to divine infpiration to 
 add, " The Angel of the Lord fmote him." 
 
 Modern times have not fcen a more cruel 
 perfecutor of the Gofpel than Philip II. of 
 Spain. But mark his end : " For two-and- 
 " twenty days together there was a flux of 
 *' blood from all the veflels of his body ; and 
 " a little before his death, impofthumes that 
 *' broke in his bread, from which there con- 
 " tinually iffued fo great a fwarm of vermin, 
 *' that all the care of his attendants could not 
 " dellroy them." * 
 
 The emotions of that awful principle Con- 
 fcience^ would, I believe, in every man, whom 
 proud reaionings have not perverted, naturally 
 point out, this is the finger of God. Juftly are 
 they tormented, who delighted to torment the 
 innocent. It feems an high offence againfl na- 
 tural religion as well as revealed, not to fee, and 
 confefs, and adore the Divine interpofition in 
 
 thefe 
 * Sully's Memoirs, vol. ii. b. x. p. aji. 
 
( *io7 ) 
 
 thefe things. Neither is there a more natural 
 notion of God Almighty than this, that he 
 peculiarly delights to avenge the caufe of the 
 needy and the miferable ag;ainft the opprefTion 
 of the proud and the mighty. It is what one 
 eminently expeds from the Sovereign of the 
 earth -, and the Scriptures every where abun- 
 dantly confirm this idea. 
 
 Modern Sceptics pay then no great compli- 
 ment to their own wifdom, in treatino- with 
 contempt thefe fentiments, from which no bar- 
 barous age was ever totally exempt. Great 
 caution, it muft be allowed, ought ever to be 
 ufed in applying them to particular cafes ; but 
 not fuch a caution as excludes all piety, and 
 leads us into mere Epicurean ifm. 
 
 Our author, in perfefl confidence with him- 
 felf, Hill deals foitly with Galerius, pities his 
 fuiferings, and blames the Chriftians for in- 
 fulting him. But where is his pity for the 
 poor fuffering Chriftians ? 
 
 Indeed humanity will commiferate the dif- 
 trefled, whether defervedly fo or not. But in 
 the firft cafe, pity is mixed with indignation at 
 their crimes, and an approbation of the juflice 
 
 * O 2 which 
 
( *io8 ) 
 
 •which inflI6i:s the fufferings : In the latter it 
 ;s a fimple emotion of the mind, and indulges 
 itfelf without mixture. This diftinction is 
 juiUy applicable to the cafe before us •, and ic 
 needs no great difcernment to know what eili- 
 mate ought to be formed of Mr. Gibbon's 
 compafTion for Galerius, fince it would raife 
 itfelf on the ruin of all piety. 
 
 Thus have I, in various inflances, examined 
 the impartiality of our author in every thing 
 relating to Chriftianity. And it is only in 
 reference to that moll important objed, that I 
 would hold him out as the very contrail of his 
 favourite Tacitus, at lead of what he profefles 
 to be in the beginning of his annals, fine ircf^ 
 {5? Jiudio^ quorum caufas procul habeo. 
 
 PART 
 
( S3 ) 
 
 PART IL 
 
 Evangelical Truth, 
 
 THE fearch of truth has ever been looked 
 on as the befl employment of the hu- 
 man mind ; it is that which philofophy has 
 ever made her objedl real or pretended •, and 
 though the various fyftems, which have pre- 
 vailed in the world, have, for the mod part, 
 lived only to fucceed one another, yet truth 
 was what each profefled to inveftigate and 
 revere. 
 
 But as all truths are not equally ufeful or 
 neceflary, the limited powers of man, during 
 the Ihort fpace of his exiftence on earth, ought 
 certainly to be moil employed on thofe which 
 are mod valuable. His fphere is narrow and 
 confined -, it is then one of the moft: m.omen- 
 tous points of wifdom, for him to know how 
 to move in it with the greateft advantage to 
 others and to himfelf : An excelTive purfuit of 
 trifling knowledge, though attended with the 
 acquifition of real truth, being, perhaps, even- 
 tually as hurtful to himfelf, as lazy apathy,, 
 or the walk of error. 
 
 L 2 Thofe 
 
( H ) 
 
 Thofe truths which relate to the knowledge 
 and worfhip of God, and the way of fecuring 
 his favour, mud be more important than any 
 other, in the fame proportion as the fubftance * 
 is more valuable than the Ihadow, as eternity 
 is of more confequence than time. 
 
 Thefe truths are contained in the Bible •, and 
 therefore the ftudy of this book is more ufeful 
 than of all other books and fciences put tOr 
 gether. But here again, the idea of utility 
 muil modify the whole : If the great end of 
 this book be not kept in view, a fludent may 
 be as infignificantly employed in it, as many 
 laborious pedants have been in fettling the va- 
 rious readings of the ancient claflics. All who 
 have any idea of the genius of Chriilianity, 
 will allow me to call whatever relates to the 
 knowledge and worfhip of God, and the v/ay 
 of fecuring his favour, by the name of Evan- 
 gelical Truth. There are many truths of 
 the Scripture, of which we may be fafely ig- 
 norant •, though the ftudy of thefe alfo has its 
 advantages, and deferves commendation, pro- 
 vided that the main end be kept in view, and 
 
 no 
 
 * Proverbs v'lii. ai. TSat I may caufe thojl' thai love me tt> 
 inherit fuhjlance. As if every thing in comparifon of divine 
 Avifdom was, as indeed it is, a mere fliadow. 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 no injury thence be derived either to our un- 
 derftanding of, or regard for, the moft ufeful 
 and necellary truths. 
 
 And here occurs one of the moft fpecious 
 obje(5lions, vs^hich, in this age of fcepticifm and 
 affeded moderation in religion, you hear from 
 every quarter. " What is truth ? '^ The Bi- 
 " gots of various parties and denominations 
 •' are all perfuaded that they are in poflefilon 
 ^' of her, though they have no more charity 
 " for one another than they have for avowed 
 *' Infidels. All profefs to believe the Gofpel, 
 " but what the Gofpel is they cannot agree 
 " among themfelves. How happens it that 
 " thefe Evangelical Truths are not exprelTcd 
 " in Scripture with more precifion, and fo 
 " guarded againft the polTibiiity of a mifcake, 
 " that we fhould not fee fo m.any diverfe opi- 
 " nions concerning them : All pretended to 
 ^' be drawn from the Bible, all patronifed by. 
 " fome party or other ? Amidfi: fuch endlefs 
 " ambiguities, how can the Scripture be a fuf- 
 ^' ficient criterion of truth to an honefl en- 
 •^^ quirer?" 
 
 Perhaps this whole obje6lion is more than 
 half anfwered by this plain diredtion, *' be 
 
 ferious." 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 ferious." Simple as fuch an anfwer may feem, 
 it is what our Lord gave to the Jews on a, 
 fmiilar occafion *. For fafely may it be affirm- 
 ed, that if men who are moved by fuch ob- 
 jeftions had ever ferioufly inveiligated the 
 truth for themfelves with a defire to be kt 
 right in their mod important concerns, they 
 would have foon feen the weaknefs of them, 
 that they refult from the deepeft ignorance of 
 Scripture, and the moil carelefs gaiety of heart. 
 A tolerable infight into tihe genius of Chri- 
 ilianity will enable a man to diftinguifh be- 
 tween her vital parts and all circumflantials. 
 The former are few, fimple, and palpably, 
 nay, invincibly evident to thofe who make 
 ufe of the ligbt and ?r,ode of inilrudion pecu- 
 liarly belonging to it : The latter may be very 
 numerous, and a fruitful human imagination 
 may multiply them without end. But while 
 fuperficial or fceptical profefTors of Chriftianity 
 fmile over the diverfity of opinions which pre- 
 vails with refped to thefe, ferious perfons 
 know that this no more affeds the fymmetry 
 of the whole fyftem, than their inability to 
 count the fpots of the fun prevents their feeing 
 of his light, or their being warm^ed with his 
 beams. I fay, ferious perfons : For it is hardly 
 
 to 
 
 * John vii. 17. 
 
( ^7 ) 
 
 to be expe6l:ed that any but thofe whofe paf- 
 fions are interefted in the truths of Chriflianity, 
 will pay fo much attention to the fubjedl, 
 as to dillinguifli between a vital part and that 
 which is adventitious. The man v/hofe con- 
 fcience is awakened will judge here, what elfe 
 will elude the moft penetrating underitand- 
 Ing. Serioufnefs then is abfolutely neceflary 
 in order to comprehend aright Evangelical 
 Truth. 
 
 It may be expe61:ed then, that I fhould Ihew 
 "What is this light and mode of inftrudlion pe- 
 culiarly belonging to Chriflianity : What are 
 its vital truths, which I have affirmed to be 
 few, fimple, and invincibly evident to thole 
 who ufe this light and mode. If this be done, 
 it will be granted that there is no force at all 
 in the objection. 
 
 I would fet out with a divine declaration 
 concerning the fufficiency of the Scriptures to 
 teach a man the way of falvation. — "^bs holy 
 Scriptures are able to make a man wife unto falva- 
 tion^ through faith which is in Chrifi Jefus *. I 
 have fele^led this fingle text out of many that 
 . might be produced. I reckon it then a cer- 
 tainty^ 
 
 * % Tim. iii. 15. 
 
( ss ) 
 
 tainty, and a certainty on the befl of Grounds, 
 God hath faid it, that notwithllanding all the 
 diverfities of opinions the fcriptures are able to 
 make a man wife unto falvation. If immenfe 
 learning, indeed, was necefTary for this purpofe^ 
 the bulk of mankind would be in a pitiable 
 cafe. But it is not fo : Much learning indeed 
 may be requifite to enable a man to give to 
 ^he world a fyftematical perverfion of the Scrip- 
 tures, and to explain away their meaning, as it 
 has been done with unhappy ingenuity by 
 many commentators : But to take in its true 
 meaning in order to be favingly.wife, needs 
 neither depth of genius nor erudition. It needs, 
 indeed, the illumination of the fam.e Spirit that 
 firft gave the word. This is the light and 
 mode of inilru6lion belonging to Chriftianity ; 
 the natural darknefs of man (which we fhall 
 prefenily confider) requiring it. Nor is this 
 in the leail an argument againft the fulBciency 
 of the Scriptures, or the clearnefs and accuracy 
 with which they are written. Accurate and 
 dear, fuHicient and full they are ; but if out 
 underilandings be naturally dark with refpedl 
 to divine things, all the revelations in the 
 world will not give light, unlefs accompanied 
 with an illumination of the underfcanding. 
 
 This 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 This Idea of the neceflity of the communi- 
 cation of 2i fpiritual iinderftandmg^ (hould, one 
 would think, be entitled to a fair hearing from 
 two confiderations. Firil, that every fcience 
 has certain ruleji and orders within itfelf, the 
 neceflity or expediency of which flov/s from 
 its own nature, and the obfervation of which 
 every mailer has a difcretionary right to im- 
 pofe on his difciples. Well then may the fame 
 thing be expeded, when God Almighty pub- 
 lifhes a book, and deigns to become the pre- 
 ceptor of his creatures Surely fo peculiar a 
 cafe may well require peculiar circumftances : 
 What, if no fuch divine illumination be need- 
 ful for the underfl-anding of Other fciences ? 
 Each has its peculiarities : What wonder if 
 this be the peculiarity of Chriflianity ? 
 
 Secondly, Let the dilemma be confidered to 
 which the affair is reduced : Either the fcrip- 
 tures are infufficient for the purpofes for which 
 they were given, or mankind have generally- 
 mifapplied and abufed them. To fay the firft, 
 is the height of blafphemy : The latter then is 
 true : and if true, in what confifts their mif- 
 condud more eminently than in this, the con- 
 tempt of the office of the Holy Ghoil in teach- 
 
 M ing 
 
 * CoIofT. i. 9. 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 ing the heart^} No wonder men cannot nil^ 
 derftand the Scriptures, buc are toffed to and 
 fro with every wind of do^lrine-f^ while they 
 defpife, or only negledl the teaching of the 
 Spirit. With this light how is it polfible to 
 be elTentially deceived ? Without it, how is it 
 poilible for the natural man, who receiveth 
 not the things of the Spirit of God, nor can 
 know them Ji to be eftablifhed in real truth at 
 ail ? In Ihort, in proportion as men's ideas of 
 the importanee and neceflity of his illumina- 
 tion are diminifhed, their idea of the utility 
 of the Scriptures is diminifhed alfo : They 
 make objedlioris, like thofe we are obviating, 
 againft them, which have ^ tendency even to 
 fake away the ufe of them entirely -, and 
 though they may fee this confequence in fome 
 meafure, they behold it with a profane in- 
 difference. 
 
 Let men no longer then fpeak of the in- 
 fufficiency of the Scriptures to fatisfy in- 
 quiring minds, while they negled: the means 
 appointed by God for that end, to pray for* 
 and receive the illumination of his Spirit. 
 When I fet myfelf to fearch the word, let me, 
 with awful reverence and humble prayer, look 
 
 up 
 
 * Golka for Whitfunday. f ^P"* iv. I4. ± i Cor. xi. I4: 
 
( 90 
 
 up to the Holy Ghoft for light and wil'dom. 
 Let me never exped any fuccefs without the 
 ufe of this method. What* ftronger proof can 
 be given of the juftnefs of this reprefentation 
 than experience and the pofitive directions of 
 the word itfelf ? Could one afl< every foul in 
 the world that has read the Bible, whether 
 they have ferioufly ufed this method, thofe, 
 who look on the Scriptures as foolifh, as con- 
 fufed, as felf-contradidory, or as unimpor- 
 tant, would all confefs, or if they would not 
 confefs, their confciences would witnefs againft 
 them, that they never made ufe of thefe po- 
 fitive dire6lions of the word. And how arro- 
 gant is it for men to complain, when they do 
 not obey God, and yet expe6l to be as fuc- 
 cefsful as thofe who do ? For the fatisfaclion 
 refulting from the communication of a fpiri- 
 tual under ft anding cannot be made over to others 
 by thofe who receive it. Let us hear ^t, 
 James fpeak. If any of you, lack wifdom^ let 
 him ajk of God, who giveth to all men liberally^ 
 and uphraideth 7tot : and it fhall he given him^-. 
 How frequently did our Lord promife, in con- 
 fequence of his afcenfion, to fend down the 
 fpirit of truthy to lead his Difciples into all 
 
 M 2 truth I 
 
 * Ja,mes i. 5. 
 
( 92 ) 
 truth* I How ardently does the Pfalmift pray 
 continually that God would teach him his fta- 
 tutes, and open his eyes to behold the won- 
 derful things of his law f ! How earneftly 
 does the Apoftle Paul pray for the Ephefians, 
 that the eyes of their underftanding may be 
 enlightened J ! But I ihall not argue this point. 
 He that denies the neceflity of divine illumi- 
 nation in order to underftand the Scriptures, 
 might as well deny the divine infpiration of 
 the Scriptures themfclves •, at leaft he muft 
 throw out as fpiirious one chapter written 
 profefTedly on this fubjed§. Thus far then 
 we have fhewn, that men's miftakes concern- 
 ing the eflentials of Chriitianity ought to be 
 afcribed to their negledl of divine illumina- 
 tion, not to any want of clearnefs in the Scrip- 
 tures themfelves. But it is flill faid, " after 
 all the deduction that can be made of circum- 
 fliantials, in which all may lafely err, and 
 after all the illumination of the Spirit, we fee 
 many who profefs to know the mod and to 
 pray m.uch alfo, jarring with one another, not 
 
 about 
 
 * John xvi 13. Tie truth ; as the article requires it fliould 
 be rendered, that is Evangelical Truth. For it is not pretended 
 that this fpecial illumination is neceflary for tlie purpofes of 
 common life ; nor where it is neceflary, does it defhoy, biyj 
 rather give and regulate right reafon. 
 
 \ Plalra cxix. paffim. 1 Eph. i^ 18.— — § i Cor, ii. 
 
( 93 ^ 
 jibout lefTer circumftanccs, but about thoft; 
 things which each conceive to be eflential m 
 religion." 
 
 It is true : And if thofe good men, who give 
 occafion for this cavil, confidered the thing as 
 they ought, they might perhaps learn, that 
 they do more harm to real godlinefs by their 
 mutual contentions, than good to fouls by all 
 their knotty difquifitions. For, after all, this 
 is but a cavil : It would be eafy to (hew that 
 the difputes among good men arife from two. 
 caufes, one mentioned by St. Paul*, the 
 other by St. James f: That In reality they 
 mean the fame thing ; and that their conten-? 
 tipns are for the mod part, if not altogether, 
 a mere ftrife of words:]:. That this may be 
 more clearly fhewn, and the very foundation 
 pf the whole obje6tion be overturned, let us 
 endeavour to ihew the few fimple truths, or 
 rather the Jungle truth to which all the reft are 
 reducible, through which, in the ufe of the 
 light and mode of inftrudion above afcer- 
 tained, all cordial receivers of Chriftianlty 
 are, and ever were, and will be firmly agreed. 
 If we can refcue this jewel from the rubbifh 
 \Yith which it is too frequently covered by 
 
 angry 
 * I Cor. xiii. 9. f James iii. 2. % Aofoy.uyU i Tim. vj. 4. 
 
( 94 ) 
 angry difputants, we (hall fee, perhaps, the 
 criterion of Evangelical Truth to be more 
 fimple than it is generally imagined •, we fnall 
 do well to contemplate its native beauties, till 
 we be transformed mto their likenefs*, and to 
 remove as far from the duft of contention as 
 our fituation in this imperfe6t fcene of things 
 will admit. St. John defcribes the whole of 
 Evangelical Truth in one verfe. This is 
 the record that God hath given to us eternal life ; 
 and this life is in his Son\, Thofe who ail<: of 
 Jefus, what is truth? receive this anfwer. 
 That no doubt may be left concerning thia 
 matter, and that the fenfe of the words I have 
 quoted may be fixed by the confideration of^ 
 parallel places, let us hear the fame Apoftle 
 fet forth the fame truth in other words in ano- 
 ther place : TFe have feen and do teflify^ that the 
 Father fent the Son to he the Saviour of the 
 world X' And let us hear St. Paul to the fame 
 purpufe : This is a faithful faying^ and worthy 
 ef all acceptation^ that Chrift Jefus came into the 
 world to fave fmners^. Where is tlien any real 
 necefTity for that endlefs diverfity of opinions 
 which prevails in the religious world ? All 
 who know themfelves loft finners will fee that 
 Chrift the Saviour of the loftji is the fum and 
 
 glory 
 
 * 1 Cor, iii. ia.-~t i John v. 2.— —J i Johri 17. 
 § I Tim. i. 15. 11 Luke xix. 10. 
 
( 95 ) 
 glory of Scripture, and that there is not a 
 confideration in religion that is not reducible to 
 this fimple point, which, to the lerious, is the 
 ALL in religion, however the carelefs may roam 
 from idea to idea, from fyftem to fyftem, in 
 faftidious indolence of dilquifition. He who 
 knows the plague of his own heart*,, and fees the 
 fulnefs of the Gofpel-remedy, will eafily, in 
 the light and mode of initrudion above-de- 
 fcribedj reduce all the Scripture to one whole, 
 and make one grand truth of all revelation i 
 Though I fhall have no debate with thofe who 
 may chufe to branch it into three ; for fuch 
 a divifion is quite eafy, obvious, and natural. 
 
 I. Original fin. The ftate of fin, the death of 
 the foul, with all its dreadful appendages and 
 fruits, in which the human race are involved 
 by nature. This is felf-evident. What means 
 a Saviour of the world, if the world be not 
 previoufly in a loft dark flate-f? 
 
 II. Full falvation from this ftate by Jefus 
 Chrift, and the recovery of the faved foul to a 
 ftarte of everlafting life, and ail this a free gift 
 of God unto him. 
 
 III. In 
 
 * t Kings viii. cS.^ Rom. iii. io-^;to. 
 
( 9^ ) 
 III. In confeqnence of this falvation a change 
 in the finner's (Vate, called in Scripture rege- 
 neration, or new birth *- produdive of true 
 
 hoiinefs, by which the man lives unto God. 
 
 All this is contained iri the truth, that God 
 hath siven his Son to be the Saviour of the 
 loft world. 
 
 Let a man run over in his riiind the contents 
 of the whole book, and fee whether they are not 
 Confonant to this fimple account of Evange- 
 lical Truth. The Bible begins with the 
 account of man's primitive rectitude, and de- 
 fcribes his dreadful fall in the next place, the 
 melancholy confeqiiences of which are delinea- 
 ted throughout Scripture-hiftory. The gradual 
 preparations made for the introduction of the 
 Saviour in type and figure, in prophecy and 
 hiftory, take up, as it were, the whole Old 
 Teftament. The New gives us his hiftory^ 
 defcribes him in all his glorious offices and 
 faving benefits-, explains, both in hiftory and in 
 do6lrine, the exad manner of effedually apply- 
 ing his falvation •, and having favoured us with 
 Pifo-ah-glimpfes of the heavenly happinefs 
 hereafter to be revealed -f, arid given a tender 
 
 parting 
 * John iii.— t ^^v. two hH chapters. 
 
( 97 ) 
 parting-call to the reader, to accept of hhii *i 
 concludes. I cannot pretend, in a fliort eflay, to 
 iliuftrate all thefe particulars ♦, the reader who 
 chufes may fee them for the mod part well 
 done in Edwards's Hiftory of the Redemption. 
 
 Let us riot then content ourfelves with a bare 
 notion of the truths but, wherever we meet with 
 the expreflion in Scripture, confider the 'power 
 of it. That all Scripture refers to this one truth, 
 may be ftill more amply evidenced by the con- 
 fideration of fome of thofe pafTages in Scripture, 
 where the expreffion occurs. To menrion a 
 few of them : Te /hall know the truth ^ faith our 
 
 Lord, and the truth Jhall make you free-\, 
 
 San^iify them through thy truth J^ he prays to his 
 Father for his dilciples. I came into worlds fays 
 he to Pilate, that I fbculd hear witnefs unto the 
 truth : Every one that is of the truths heareth my 
 voice %, Who hath bewitched you^ faith St. Paul 
 to the Galatians, that ye Jhouldnot obey the truth\\ ? 
 ^hat they all might he damned^ who believed not 
 the truth 4-, faith the fame Apoftle. Te have 
 purified your fouls ^ faith St. Peter, in obeying the 
 truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of 
 the brethren^*. For the truth's fake^ faith St, 
 
 N John, 
 
 * Rev. xxii. 17. \ Johnviii 32. X John xvli. 17. 
 
 John xviii. 37. -jj Gal. iii. i. 1 a ThelT. ii. iz. ^ 
 
 ** I Pet. i. 2%. 
 
( 98 ) 
 John, which dwelleth in us, and Jhall he with ut 
 for ever *. In all thefe places the Greek article 
 is found, which points out to us not truth in 
 general, not a number of truths, but the truth, 
 fomething that by way of eminence deferves to 
 be fo called, which gives the law to all other 
 truths in the Bible, and receives it from none. 
 By this truth we are told is received true free- 
 dom of mind, and fandification of heart and 
 life. The reception of it implies obedience ta 
 the voice of the Son of God. Thofe that re- 
 ceive it not, are faid to be bewitched, and Jefus 
 Chrift crucified is its objed. Thofe who rejedt 
 this truth are damned, thofe who receive it 
 purify their fouls unto unfeigned love of the 
 brethren ; this truth dzvells in the difciples, and Jhall 
 he with them for ever. What can this one truth 
 be but that one which I have fet forth, the re- 
 cord that God hath given of his Son ? I fhall not 
 aro-ue fo clear a point, but apply what has 
 been faid to the folution of the objedlion : Set- 
 ting afide many circumftantials, in which men 
 may fafely err, there are but few truths of 
 Scripture of an efTential nature -, or, to fpeak 
 more properly, there is but one, concerning 
 which all believers (I mean thofe who deferve 
 
 the 
 
 * % John ii. 
 
( 99 ) 
 the name*) 4re firmly agreed. This truth is, 
 the teftimony of the word of God concerning 
 Jefus Chrifl, that he came into the world to 
 fave Tinners fully, freely, and eternally. So 
 little room then in reality does the Scripture 
 give for the diverfity of opinions, that it calls 
 for perfect unity of fentiment ; the diverfity 
 itfelf being owing to the corruption and blind- 
 nefs of human nature in the word, as well as 
 the remains of that corruption and blindnefs 
 in the bed. The evidence of this truth, whence 
 arifes fo full an agreement among believers, 
 and fuch complete fatisfadion to their own 
 minds, is far greater than what can arife from 
 any argumentation, in which mankind are apt 
 to deceive both themfelves and others. It is 
 the evidence of internal experience : I feel 
 myfelf thus loft and miferable : I experience 
 fuch an healthful change in my whole moral 
 fyftem : — So that upon the whole, Chriftianity 
 is the true cure of Scepticifm ; and to the 
 ferioufly difpofed, who fubmit to -the teachino- 
 of the Spirit, it gives the higheft internal evi- 
 dence of its own truth. The man found himfelf 
 
 N 2 naturally 
 
 * Fpr no doubt many who call themfelves Believers are not 
 fo : What numbers, for inffance, exped falvation by their own 
 deeds ? This is not receiving the gift of the Son : this is giving 
 God the lie, i John v. lo. This is denying themfelves to be. 
 loll fmners : this is, in fhort, denying the whole truth. 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 naturally averfe to all good, ignorant of God, 
 ^nd without either love or gratitude towards 
 him, feltiih and hard-hearted with refpe<^ to his 
 fellow-creatures. By putting his truft in Chrift 
 he has attained peace of conlcience, love, and 
 new views of the glory of God. He has ex- 
 perienced a real change in his affe6lions and 
 tempers : Surely, he muft be allowed to be 
 a competent judge of what he has felt, he may 
 preach too by his life the truth and power of 
 the Gofpel to others ; and as he will find his 
 evidences increafe more and more, he may be 
 more and more happy from the confcioufnefs 
 of God within him now'*, and the profped of 
 perfed blifs hereafter. 
 
 If it be aflved, Where are fuch perfons to be 
 found ? it is confefTed their number is but rare: 
 We may thank for this the contempt of the ope- 
 rations of the Holy Ghoil, which prevails in 
 our days, A ferious defire of knowing the 
 real truth, and a fpirit of fubmiffion to this 
 divine teaching, are things which the truth re- 
 quires of all who feek it. If you refufe this, 
 you unreafonably refufe toChriflianity her own 
 mode and order of things : you ftrip her of 
 her arms, and then complain of her feeblenefs 
 
 ^nd 
 * Col. i. 27. % Cor. xiii. v. 
 
( lOI ) 
 
 &nd impotency. But if you fubmit to be the 
 fcholar of Jefus indeed, you will find, by ex- 
 perience, whether he will not give you to knoij^ 
 the truths and whether the truth will not make 
 you free. 
 
 PART III. 
 SECTION I, 
 
 Faith, 
 
 ry^HE line of diflindlion between Chriftian 
 X Faith and Pleretical Pravity, which our 
 author calls almoft imperceptible*, has been 
 drawn, I think, with fome degree of fcriptural 
 exadlnefs and fimplicity. Let us now advert 
 to fome of its fair and obvious confequences, 
 and fee what advantage they will give us in 
 refcuing Chriflianity from his afperfions. 
 
 He is pleafed to give us this idea of Faith. 
 
 " Miracles that exceeded not the meafure of 
 
 their own experience infpired them with the 
 
 moft lively afTurance of myfteries, which were 
 
 acknowledged to furpafs the limits of their 
 
 underilanding. It is this deep impreffion of 
 
 fuper- 
 * Page 529. 
 
\ 102 ) 
 
 fapernatural truths, which has been fo much* 
 celebrated unds.r the name of Faith •, a ftate of 
 mind deicribed as the furefl pledge of the dir 
 vine favour and of future felicity, and recom- 
 mended as the firft, or perhaps the only merit, 
 of a Chriilian. According to the more rigid 
 Dodors, the moral virtues, v^rhich m.ay be 
 equally pradlifed by Infidels, are deftitute of 
 any value or efficacy in the work of our juili- 
 fication*." 
 
 Mr. Hume has a fentence fo homogeneous 
 to this, that it deferves to follow it, and may 
 throw fome light upon it. " Among ourfelves, 
 fome (the more rigid Dodors of Mr. Gibbon) 
 have been guilty of that atrocioufnefs, un- 
 known to the Egyptian and Grecian fuperfti- 
 tions, of declaiming in exprefs terms againft 
 morality •, and reprefenting it as a fure for- 
 feiture of the divine favour, if the lead truil 
 or reliance be laid upon itf." 
 
 As thefe Gentlemen have ventured into an 
 unknown region, and behave in that aukward 
 manner in whch the mod fagacious are apt to 
 do, when meadling .with things to which they 
 have never been accuftomed, it behoves us to 
 
 correct 
 
 * Page 479. 1 Dialogues, p. 248. 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 €orre£t, if we can, the impertinent intrufiort^ 
 and diflipate that confufion of ideas to which 
 their inaccurate mode of thinking expofes the 
 all-important do6lrine ot jultification. I may 
 well call it an unknown region to them ; jufci^ 
 fication is a purely fcriptural idea, and figni- 
 fies not only the forgivenefs, but alfo the 
 honourable acquittal of a fmner at the bar of 
 God, by declaring him righteous in his fight*. 
 The reader will do well to weigh the impor^ 
 tance of this fubjed, as one who has an im- 
 mortal foul. It is even impoflible to form 
 any lively, folid, and ufeful ideas of the fub- 
 jedt without this ferioufnefs of mind. He who 
 looks on fm as nothing, or next to nothings 
 conceives the majefty and holinefs of God as 
 nothing, or next to nothing, and juftification 
 muft, of courfe, be to him a barren unpro- 
 mifmg fubjedt. But the man in wliom con- 
 fcience is allowed to do its work with ftridt 
 impartiality, whofe mind is at all enlightened 
 with awful views of the Divine Majeily, and 
 with juft views of the divine law, mud furely, 
 (tho' he be the mod innocent and upright of 
 men in a comparative fenfe) with Job, abhor 
 himfelf, and repent in duft and afhes *. An 
 accurate furvey of himfelf will convince him 
 
 that 
 -* Job. xUi, <5. 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 that he is a finner by nature as well as by prae* 
 tice> and that his foul is naturally in that ilate of 
 moral death, in which the Scripture reprefents 
 all men, and from which alone the redemption 
 of Chrift can deliver us. I fpeak ferioufly, I 
 never knew a man who gave probable evi- 
 dence of an honed, careful, infight into him- 
 felf, and of a juft cultivation of all proper 
 means of informing himfelf concerning God, 
 his duty and the value of his foul, and the 
 evidences of Chriftianity, but he would inge- 
 nuoufly confefs he was thus corrupt and fin- 
 Ail : And, as far as I can judge from obferva- 
 tion, the dire6t contrary was the cafe of all 
 who were of a different opinion. 
 
 Let then this ferions man be brought to the 
 Scripture. Its defcription of himfelf (for no 
 book in the world but the Bible gives fuch an 
 unpleafing view of human apoftacy) will foon 
 convince him, that the book was the produc- 
 tion of him who knows what is in man, and 
 will difpofe him to liften to the account of the 
 remedy. He finds, as has been fiiewn, that all 
 Chriftianity may be reduced to this, That 
 God has given us eternal life, and that this life 
 is in his Son. When this is truly underftood, 
 and feen in its own glorious light, it will not 
 
 only 
 
I 1^5 ) 
 ©nly rcfle6l the higheft honour on all the per^ 
 fedtions of the Supreme Being, and particularly 
 on the furprifing union of juftice and mercy, 
 but it will fuggeft the only pofTible plan in the 
 world for the relief of his guilty confcience. 
 How fnall he, a guilty finner, become righteous 
 in the eyes of infinite purity ? This is the bur- 
 den of his foul ; nor can fuch a man reft till he 
 obtain fatisfa6lion. No rtafonable man can 
 call this a frivolous metaphyseal cobweb ; to 
 a mind at all imprefled with fuitable ideas of 
 the moft important interefts of man, or to 
 humour the Sceptic, what may be, for any 
 thing he knows to the coritrai*y, the moft im- 
 portant interefts of man, the fubjed; of juftifi- 
 cation muft fwallov/ up all other fubjeds in 
 point of weight and dignity, 
 
 " What ill all T do to be faved ? Believe oh 
 the Lord Jefus Chrift and thou ftialt be faved *," 
 is the Scripture anfwer» Short and decifive. 
 The proper merit, confideration, atonemenr^ 
 or whatever you call it, for the fake of which 
 God Almighty is pleafed to accept any fmner 
 as righteous, and beftow on him eternal life, 
 is not that of himfelf, no work, no endeavour, 
 €0 duty, no virtue of his of any kind, religious, 
 
 O or 
 
( io6 ) 
 
 6r /bcial, or private*, but it is the righteoufnefs 
 of Jefus Chrift alone -f. Thus all Scripture 
 fpeaks, wherever the fubjedl of j unification 
 before God is introduced : It is this view of 
 things alone that gives God his glory in the 
 way of falvation by Chrift, and affixes a deter- 
 minate idea to that common, but too often un- 
 meaning found, Our Saviour : And thus thofe 
 who are a6lually arrived at heaven, who have 
 doubtlefs the cleareft views of things, are re- 
 prefented as fmging, nou waft Jlain^ and haft 
 redeemed us to God by thy blood, J 
 
 We are now arrived at the true idea of Faith. 
 Even found reafon requires, that that which 
 alone has fatisfied Divine Juftice, ihould alone 
 be the ground of our dependence. 
 
 He then, who, without his own works, in 
 point of dependence |I, freely and unrefervedly 
 ventures on the foundation that has been de- 
 fcribed for his eternal happinefs, from juft 
 views of God in Chrift, and of his own depra- 
 vity and unworthinefs, he only is a Chriftian 
 believer. All who falfely call themfelves fuch, 
 and rejed this way of falvation, rejed the crofs of 
 Chrift and God's gift of eternal life, by looking 
 
 on 
 * Rom. xl. 6.— t Roni* v.—- j: Rev. v. 9.— |I Rom. iv. 
 
( lo; ) 
 
 ©n the former as infufficient to purge away 
 their fins, and by abfolutely denying the latter. 
 If eternal life be given, there is no way of 
 receiving it but by faith 5 if it be fold, there 
 is no way of purchafing it but by works : And 
 here it is on the fubjed of juftification that the 
 Scripture-religion differs from all the religions 
 in the world -, and the man ferioufly affe6led, 
 as above defcribed, will find folid peace of 
 mind, as foon as he is eflabliihed in this faith, 
 and never in any other way, becaufe he mufl 
 be perfuaded, that he who belleveth not in 
 Chrift mufl be damned *, as Chrift himfelf 
 declares, and his own confcience will teftify, 
 that the damnation is juft. 
 
 The reader is earneflly intreated to confider 
 ferioufly the view that has been given of judi- 
 iication, and to examine what the Bible and his 
 own heart may teach him of its importance ^ 
 and the two fentences with which I fet out 
 may now foon be difpatched. 
 
 3 
 
 He will allow that the " flate of mind defcri- 
 bed, is the furefl pledge of the Divine Favour 
 and of future felicity ^" but he will deny that 
 :" faith is recommended as the firfl, or, perhaps, 
 
 O 2 the 
 
 * Mark xv. l6» 
 
( io8 ) 
 
 the only merit of aChnftian." He will afErm, 
 that it is no merit at all •, that Chrift alone ls^ 
 all his merit •, he will allow, " that the moral 
 virtues are deftitute of any virtue or efficacy in 
 the work of juftification ;" but he will fay the 
 fame of faith and of all religious duties what- 
 ever, laying the whole weight, where the Scrip- 
 ture does, on the offering of Chri.ft on the crofs 
 once for all ^, He knows of none who follow 
 the religion of the Bible, who were ever guilty 
 of declaiming in exprefs terms againft morality : 
 He owns it is a fure forfeiture of the Divine Fa- 
 vour, if the lead trull or reliance be laid upon 
 it, becaufe this is that unbelief to which the 
 Saviour threatens damnation, and becaufe he 
 alone is the end of the lavf for righteoufnefs to 
 a fmner -f-. But then he would difcard all reli- 
 o-ious duties, and even faith itfelf in the fame 
 fenfe in which he difcards morality ; and, of 
 courfe, the candid and attentive reader fces^ 
 there is no ground for the infinuation of both 
 thefe authors, that.Chriftian believers magnify 
 faith at the expence of morality; an infinuation 
 which I impute to their extreme ignorance of 
 the whole fubjed to which they adverted. 
 
 May 
 
 ^^ Hcb. X. lo.-rt Rom* X. A.—'l Rom. vL 
 
( 109 ) 
 May men then fafely negled good works^ 
 gnd yet be faved ? How naturally does this, 
 objedlion occur ! fo it did to the oppofer of 
 St. Paul ; yet he does not in the leafl weaken 
 his view of juftification ; though he boldly de- 
 nies the conlequence, and brings the neceflity 
 of holinefs and virtue (in which true believers 
 mufl and ever will excel all others) to its true 
 bafis. This may be taken notice of in the next 
 Se6lion : at prefent let Mr. Gibbon aflc himfelf, 
 though the felfifh motive of good works as the 
 grand one be withdrawn, whether it be not 
 poflible to conceive a much higher and nobler 
 motive ; and if he is ftill jealous of the honour 
 of Hiioral virtue, let him learn from St. Paul, 
 the great defender of Chriftian faith, that cha~ 
 rity is even greater than it in value and im- 
 portance, and ceafe at length to accufe a fyfteiB 
 which he does not underftand. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 ^he peculiar Native of Chrijlianity, 
 
 ^UR author fpeaks of fome illuftrious Pagan 
 charaders, which " in our eyes,'* fays h^,^ 
 *.' might have feemed the mod worthy of th^ 
 
 y heaven!]^ 
 
( no ) 
 
 ^' heavenly prefent. The names of Seneca, of 
 " the Eider and the Younger Pliny, of Tacitus, 
 *' of Plutarch, of Galen, of the flave Epidetus, 
 •' and of the Emperor M. Antoninus, adorn 
 *' the age in which they flourifhed, and exalt 
 " the digni'-y of human nature." After de- 
 fcanting, with apparent pleafure, on the virtues 
 of thefe favourite heroes, he obferves, '' yev 
 *' all thefe fages*^ (it is no lefs an objeft of fur- 
 prife than of concern) •* overlooked or rejedted 
 *^ the perfedbion of the Chriftian fyftem." 
 
 * 
 
 I believe no man, who knows properly what 
 the Chriftian fyftem is, will be in the leaft 
 furprized at this, though it calls for the real 
 concern of every Philanthropift. There are 
 numbers who call themfelves Chriftians at this 
 day, who rejedl the fyftem as really, though 
 not fo grofsiy, as thefe antient fages, and their 
 difpufition to admire thefe in preference to 
 Chriftian faints, is a demonftration what manner 
 of fpirit they are of. 
 
 The dodrine of juftification will lead us into 
 a difcovery of tht peculiar nature of Chrift's re- 
 ligion ; fo peculiar, fo totally diftind from all 
 ideas of all other religions, that it is no matter 
 
 of 
 -^ rage 516. 
 
( III ) 
 
 of furprife at all, that even the moft ftrlkin« 
 miracles, and other the moft powerful attella- 
 tions of divine truth, wrought no falutary efFedt 
 at all on minds entirely prejudiced againft this 
 do6trine. 
 
 To fet this matter in a juft point of view, 
 it will be proper to give a concile view of the 
 religious fyltem of the Pagan Philofophers, to 
 fhew how far all religions that we have heard 
 of, are inimical to tne peculiar dodcrine ex- 
 plained in the laft Sedion •, and then, after 
 tracing the proper moral effedts of this do(^lrine 
 on a Chriilian believer, to fhew the total con- 
 trariety of Chriftianity from them all. 
 
 The moft renowned of the antient philofo^ 
 phers were pretty unanimous in fupporting the 
 dodrine of the to Iv, God was with them a 
 fort of lubtil fpirit which penetrated all nature, 
 and was therefore literaliy " the foul of the 
 univerfe." 
 Mens agitat molem et magno fe corpore mifcet, 
 
 ViRG. 
 
 The fouls of men were particles of this uni- 
 vcrfal numen 5 and, after their feparation from 
 th^. bodies to v/hich they had been united, were 
 
 abforbed 
 
( tl2 ) 
 
 obforbed into the to ei/, or animated other bo^ 
 dies in endlefs progrelTion. The confequences 
 of this horrid fyftem are obvious. It is much 
 the fame as that revived by Spinoza. The idea 
 of God is totally evaporated, fince it allows of 
 no Being fuperior to ourfelves. Prayer, humi- 
 lity, and whatevei* belongs to religious worfhip 
 are hence totally excluded^ except the hypo- 
 critical conformity to the eftablifhed religions 
 of their country, which, however fuperflitious 
 and abfurd, were furely not lb contrary to the 
 moral fenfe and natural confcience of men, as 
 this religion, fhall I call it P or irreliglon of 
 the Philofophers. The idea of guilt, or even 
 of the pofTibility of a future ftate of puniiliment 
 is juftled out of this fyftem ; for they feared no 
 tribunal fuperior to that of their own breafts. * 
 Inftead of fearing the judgment of God becaufe 
 of their fms, which is furely a very natural ob- 
 je6b of fear to a Being lb v/eak, corrupt, and 
 finful as man, they rather talked of arrogating 
 divine honours to themfclvesf. The firft and 
 
 com- 
 
 * Mors aut plane negllgenda eft, fi omnino extingult ani- 
 mum, aut etiam optanda, fi aliquo eiim deducit, ubi fit futurus 
 seternus. j^tqui tertiu??i ccrte tiihil inven'tri poteji. 
 
 Cicero de Senedute. 
 
 \ Sic me colitote lit deum. So Cyrus dying is introduced 
 in Cicero's Diulogue de ?£ne(5lute. 
 
( 113 ) 
 
 'Commahliing dodlrine of Chriilianity is juftlfi- 
 tation. Whatever evidences of the religion be 
 offered, prejudice would be blind to them all^ 
 while the nature of the religion itfelf is abhor- 
 red. Antoninus's works, and Epi6letus's too/ 
 nay all, or nearly all the remains of philofo- 
 phical antiquity evince^ that their fyftem was 
 no other than what has been explained. How 
 could haughty independent gods fubmit to be 
 taught a way of obtaining pardon as guilty 
 criminals from the God of gods ! Will any 
 perfon be furprifed at their rejection of Chri- 
 ilianity ? Does the enmity of fuch men tend in 
 the lead to invalidate its credibility ? The 
 learned reader v/ill foon fatisfy himfelf from 
 Cicero de Sene6lute and his Tufcillan Dilpu- 
 tations, that this proud atheiftic fyftem was 
 really the creed of the Philofophers. We are 
 eafily dazzled by the glare of fome luminous 
 fentences, confidered in a detached point of 
 view, to fuppofe them to have been much 
 nearer Chriftian truth than the Pagan vulgar. 
 But their notions reduced to a whole, do really 
 appear to have been ftill mdre remote from the 
 Golpel. Bifliop Warburton* has, I think^ 
 amply proved the point before us. It is worth 
 any man's while to perufe him, in order to gain 
 
 P a 
 
 '* Leg. of Mcr^J, voL ii. b. iii. 
 
( 114 ) 
 
 a clear infight into that text, " the world by 
 wifdom knew not God *." Salluft exprefTes the 
 whole dodlrine thus : " Animus incorruptus 
 " asternus, re61:or humani generis, agit atque 
 '*' habet cundta, neque ipfe habetur." 
 
 All other religions in the world, befides the 
 Chrillian, though not fo totally abhorrent from 
 natural confcience, do, however, all agree in 
 teaching men to look for juflification from 
 their own works. The Philofophers having 
 hardened their hearts againft all inward fenfe 
 of fin, and, in proportion as they avoided grofs 
 enormities, having inflated themfelves with 
 fpiritual pride, could not have any plan of 
 juftincation. They were no finners. Other 
 Pagans, who had not reafoned themfelves out 
 of the natural feelings of confcience, felt them- 
 felve^i finners in fome degree ; but their views 
 of fin were fo frivolous, as to enable them to 
 fpeak peace to confcience by a round of reli- 
 gious ceremonies. And what means the Ma- 
 hometan by his luftrations, the Papifl by his 
 maffes, the Bramin by his aufterities, the So- 
 cinian by his boailed humanity, and the formal 
 Proteftant by his dependance on the facrament, 
 but to jullify themfelves before God by their 
 
 works ? 
 
 * I Cor. i. 21. 
 
( 115 ) 
 
 works? We conclude that a man is juftiBed 
 by faith without the deeds of the law *, and 
 he that believeth on me, hath everlafting life-j-; 
 Thefe divine aphorifms are equally reje6led by 
 them all. To give God all the glory of our 
 juflification is the peculiar praife of his own 
 religion •, to extol the merit of man, is the 
 mark of all the religions in the world of man's 
 invention. 
 
 I fnould certainly defpair of evincing the 
 importance of thefe views, were not their mo- 
 ral influence eflentially important. Conceive 
 now a man, through that divine influence v/hich 
 alone can overcome the oppofition of apofl:ate 
 nature, fubmitting to be faved by pure grace, 
 itripped of all pretenfions to merit, feeling 
 himfelf m.iferable, guilty, blind, and naked, 
 difcovering the holy nature of God, and in that 
 light beholding the bafenefs of his befl: per- 
 formances, humbled under a jufl view of his 
 infinite inferiority to his Creator, and ready as 
 a child, in undifputing fimplicity, t^ receive 
 the law from his lips. Conceive that God who 
 is thus renewing his nature, to remove alfo the 
 only obfl:ru6lion that now remains to his hap- 
 pinefs, the guilt of his flns, by the atoning 
 
 P 2 ' blood 
 
 * Rom. iii. 28. f John vi. 47. 
 
( 110 ; 
 
 blood of his own Son. Conceive him to fee 
 in this light all the perfediions of the Godhead 
 to fhine in a light hitherto unknov/n. fie be- 
 lieves, he rejoices in God, he dares call him 
 pather -, he fee^ himfelf enriched with the gift 
 of eternal life thro' the mere merit of another, 
 Xht only-begotten Son of God. What mnfl: be 
 the neceflary refult ? Pride has here its death- 
 wound ; he no more iloops in weak dejedlion, 
 nor raifes himfelf in proud infenfibility. An 
 infant foftnefs, but eafy, chearful, and free, 
 will take poflefTion of the whole man. Tho* 
 the mere felfifli motive of obedience has loft its 
 afcendant, it is fucceeded by what is immenfely 
 better, love, joy, gratitude, delight. He loves 
 God, and this he now finds at once to be vir- 
 tue and happinefs. What a fund of patient 
 magnanimity muft the profpedl of eternal life 
 afford to him amidft the forrows of life, tho' 
 they are not defpifed in Stoical pride, but felt 
 in humble refignation, and thankfully endured 
 as means of promoting his good. The fafli- 
 dious pride of felf-conceit is for ever broken : 
 What humble reverential difpofitions towards 
 the Creator mufl fucceed them 1 How muft the 
 love of God now expand itfelf toward mankind ! 
 He who is forgiven fo much, can freely forgive 
 his fellow-creatures. Nothing of a focial, be- 
 
 nevolentj, 
 
( 117 ) 
 nevolent, amiable fplrit can be wanting to him, 
 who has the love of God fhed abroad in his 
 heart by the Holy Ghoft given to him*; and 
 in the might of that love, with his back to the 
 world, is travelling to heaven : But all other men 
 jnuft be flaves of fm ; they have no principles 
 that can emancipate them. Either guiJt muft 
 dejedt, or ftupidity muft harden them. A Chri- 
 flian is a fon of God : Others are either timo- 
 rous or fullen flaves ; either wallowing in open 
 wickednefs, or corroded by philofophical pride; 
 indignant at this world's courfe of things ; 
 enemies in their minds to its fupreme Gover- 
 nor 1 unwillinor to fubmit their underfbandino: 
 
 ' O t!> 
 
 to his ; and deftitute of any well-grounded hope 
 of immortality. And while pride prevails, is it 
 to be wondered at, if all the Antoninufes in 
 the world, with all their falle fhew of virtues, 
 Ihould reje6l a religion which gives glory to 
 God alone, and that many pretended Chriftians 
 Ihould not pofTefs even the firft principles of 
 the Gofpel ? 
 
 *' Rom. V. 5. 
 
 SECTION 
 
( ii8 ) 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Future State, 
 
 WE have Icen how the view given above 
 of the general nature of Chriftianity, 
 by the principles it affords of juftificatlon, and 
 of a liberal plan of virtue, defends this divine 
 religion from the common charge of encoura- 
 ging licentioufnefs, and alfo accounts for the 
 rejedlion of it by thofe who, in our author's 
 eye, were the wifeft and the beft of mankind. 
 It is now high time (but with ferious reverence) 
 to look into that which is or fhould be the moft 
 momentous of human cares, a future flate, and 
 to fee what light .principles peculiarly Chriftian 
 throw upon it, at the fame time that they difli- 
 pate the artificial gloom and mifreprefentation 
 of Infidelity. 
 
 Speaking of the Millennium, (he fhould 
 have faid the heavenly (late, fucceeding the laft 
 general refurredion, which is quite a diftindt 
 thing from the Millennium*) he fays, " That 
 "the New Jerufalem was quickly adorned 
 
 " with 
 * Compare Rev. xx. with xxi. 
 
( 1^9 ) 
 "' with ail the gayeft colours of the imagination. 
 '' A garden of Eden, with the amulements of 
 *'" the paitoral life, was no longer fuited to the 
 " advanced ilate of human fociety which pre- 
 " vailed under the Roman Empire. A city 
 *' was therefore ereded of gold and precious 
 " (tones, &c." * 
 
 The tendency of this paffage is to Jhew, that 
 the advantages which the Gofpel holds out to 
 its faithful foUov/ers are very much of a mere 
 worldly nature. 
 
 Mr. Hume takes a very different method. 
 "- I Ihall venture to affirm,'* fays this dogma- 
 tical Sceptic, " that there never was a popular 
 *' religion, which reprefented the ilate of de- 
 '' parted fouis in fuch a light, as would render 
 " it eiiorible for human kind, that there fhould 
 " be fuch a ffate." — " As death lies between the 
 " eye and the profpe6t of futurity, that event 
 " is fo fhocking to nature, that it m.ufc throw 
 *' a gloom on all the regions which lie beyond 
 " it -f — nor is there any (late of mind fo happy 
 '^ as the calm and equable : But this ftate it is 
 " impoflible to fupport, where a man thinks, 
 " that he lies in fuch profound darknefs and 
 
 " uncertainty, 
 
 * Page 471. — t Dialogues of Natural Religion, p. aj;. 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 *^ uncertainty, between an eternity of happinels 
 " and an eternity of mifery" — " gloom and me- 
 " lancholy, remarkable in all devout people."* 
 " The fteady attention alone to fo H^ important 
 " an interefl as that of eternal falvation, is apt 
 ^* to extinguifli the benevolent afFedions f ." 
 The tendency of thefe palTages is flill more 
 J)oifonous, to teach us that what Chrillianity 
 'offers in a future life is not worth the having, 
 Jand that the belief of it is an enemy to all true 
 virtue in this. 
 
 Let us endeavour to ftate the true idea of 
 that pregnant word Happiness, as the Scrip- 
 ture ftates it, and then fee how it will apply 
 itfelf to anfwer thefe hard fpetches. 
 
 The Gofpel does not then profefs to confer 
 on its mod faithful followers a perfed happi- 
 iiefs in this life. If in this life only we have hope 
 in Chrijly we are of all men mofi miferable. This 
 fentence is as true in one age as in another. 
 if we hope for that we fee net; then do we with 
 patience wait for it. This fhews that the per- 
 fect happinefs we feek, is only to be enjoyed 
 In the world to comb. To be fupported by the 
 hope of it amidfl the fms and forrows of mor- 
 tality,- 
 
 -* Dialogues of Natural Religion, p. 259 — \ V, 250, 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 tality, ill which we ail are born, and from 
 which even the regenerate are far from being 
 exempted in this imperfedl Hate, and to have 
 that earneft of the Sprit * which gives the foul 
 at once an idea, a foretaile, and a preparative 
 for heaven \ this the Gofpel offers us, this the 
 Scriptures hold cue as the objed of our pur- 
 fuit. 
 
 It is certain from them, that no gifts whatever 
 that come from God, fhort of the gift of himfelf, 
 can fill the mind of man. God our portion for 
 everf^ our exceeding great reward\ •, this the mofl 
 fimple and the motf fublime of all conceptions 
 is happinefs. Every obje6t of the fenfes^ every 
 fpeculation that regales the intelledt, fails thro' 
 impotence, and even furfeits thro' fatiety. A 
 more rational thought can fcarce be conceived, 
 than that the blifs of the New Jerufalem fnould 
 confifl; in this, the glory of God did lighten it § . Cer- 
 tainly He who fills all things, may be conceiveii 
 himfelf to be all that is excellent and lovely, 
 and all that enjoyment to us in which lies true 
 happinefs, in whom the underflanding fliall for 
 ever contemplate, and the affe\5lions fliall for 
 ever delight. Other obje6ls may be prized as 
 
 Q^ means 
 
 * a Cor. i. 22. -i- Pf. Ixxiil. zC. + Ger., xv. i. 
 
 <;^ Rev. sxi. 2\. 
 
( J22 ) 
 
 means leadirtg t6 this end. This is itfelif the 
 end. The mind, that has received a fcriptural 
 xliredlion, refls in the Love of God itfelf as 
 blifs, and looks no farther for the idea of 
 Happiness. 
 
 What then becomes of felf-love * ? It grati- 
 fies itfelf in the love of God, as its ultimatum, 
 juft as the delight we take in a friend's con- 
 verfation gratifies us for its own fake. One 
 may defy the moft ingenious Reafoner in the 
 world to propofe any fcheme of blifs fo rational 
 as this of the Scriptures. As they continually 
 declaim againft worldly objedls confidered as the 
 materials of blifs, as the New Teftament con- 
 tinually contrails the folidity of things not feen 
 with the emptinefs of things feen ; and even the 
 Old Teftament has one book, the Ecclefiaftes, 
 profefTedly written to expofe all worldly things 
 as vanity, it required only a moderate fhare ot 
 attention and candour in Mr. Gibbon to fee 
 and own, that the defcription of the New Jeru- 
 falem in the Revelation, was conveyed under 
 the images of gold and precious ilones, not 
 with a view to feed the avarice of Chriftians, 
 but to enliven their ideas of fpiritual glory by 
 fuch fenfible images, as are moft adapted to 
 
 ftrike 
 ^ See Butler's Sermon on ihe Love of God. 
 
C "3 ) 
 ftrike the iiiiagination in our prefent ftate : But 
 if this had been confidered, his image of Eden 
 and a paftoral life, compared with that of a 
 golden city, had loft its force and propriety. 
 
 He then, who has the earnefi of the Spirit^ has 
 this idea of blifs in as adluai experience, as he 
 has the idea of an odour from a flower. Like 
 other men he is born without it in a blind and 
 miferable ftate. When God gives him eternal 
 life in his Son, he gives him a fcretafte of 
 heaven in the knowledge and love of himfelf. 
 No rational or fenfitive powers can create this ; 
 it is a pure emanation from God -, a new per- 
 ception altogether, though it takes away none 
 of his former perceptions, but leaves them all 
 in their full ftrength, and many of them are 
 meliorated by it. He difcharges all duties 
 political, domeftic, and felfiih •, but refts in 
 God alone, and waits for the eternal comple- 
 tion of his hope. Thus that gloom, with 
 which divine things till the mind, while un- 
 known, is removed by a fpiritual difcovery of 
 their nature. Chrift crucified is the medium 
 in which the Love of God illuftrioufly ftiines ; 
 and the pardon of fin, the peace of confcience, 
 and the profpe6l of a joyful refurre61:ion to 
 eternal life, are more than fufficient to over- 
 
 Q^ 2 come 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 come the fear of death and the world unfeerv ; 
 they render eternal objeds of all others the 
 mod amiable and inviting. That this eternal life 
 is given in Chrifl, and not bought by our works, 
 \yhile it enlarges the idea of the Love of God 
 exceedingly, and amplifies the food on v/hich 
 the happy loul mull leed ; it alfo gives peace 
 to the confcience, and affords a foundation to 
 the humbled believing finner of the moil folid 
 afTurances of blifs. A viev/ of God incar- 
 nate, redeeming him by his ov/n blood, exalts 
 unmeafurably the idea of the ^t^reatnefs of this 
 blifs. He only, who can conceive the dignity 
 of God, and the afionifhing greatnefs of his 
 condefcenfion in the work of redemption, can 
 conceive how great that hajjpinefs mufl be, 
 which is the refuit of fuch an amazing method.* 
 Let now the reader ferioufly weigh the amiable 
 defcription of charity in j Cor. xiii. and con- 
 fider what a view the Apodle gives us of the 
 humble, gracious, and permanent nature of 
 this queen of virtues, how it firft will adhere 
 to God, and then, for his fake, to all his people; 
 and he will fee how exactly this fuits with the 
 idea of happinefs before us, and be prepared 
 to fee what weight there is in the aifertions of 
 both thefe authors. 
 
 Tnc 
 
 I Petei i. i8. 
 
( 125 ) 
 
 The total excliifion of every thing of a worldly 
 nature from the fcriptural idea of happinefs, 
 leaves no room for Mr. Gibbon's invidious 
 refledtion concerning gold and precious flones. 
 
 And would Mr. Hume venture, after any 
 degree of candid attention to the Scriptures, to 
 have alTerted, That Chridianity reprefented 
 not a future ftate in an elig;ible lio-ht ? O the 
 force of Scripture-truth ! Even an Infidel, while 
 he oppofes, confirms it. Marvel not that 1 
 
 faid unto thee^ ye muft he horn again * ■ 
 
 the natural man receiveth not the things of 
 the Spirit of God : For they are fooliflonefs unto 
 him \ neither can he know them^ hecaufe they are 
 fpiritually difcerned-\ — thefe fentences were never 
 more confirmed than by his affertion. He 
 confeiTes their truth, and owns the blifs of 
 heaven itfelf to be folly to his tafte ! Were he 
 within my reach, I w^ould prefs on his mind 
 the necefTity of the New Birth, even to enjoy 
 heaven itfelf: The place, without the changed 
 heart, mufb give inexprefTible torment to the 
 mind. — There remain only tv/o more detached 
 remarks of Mr. Hume to be examined ; a, 
 word on each will fufhce. 
 
 Firll, 
 
 * John ill. — — I I Cor. ii. 14. 
 
( 12^ ) 
 
 • Firft, All devout people are melancholy. I 
 have been, i luppofe, far more in the company 
 of fuch than Mr. Hume's prejudices would 
 ever permit him to be. I have leen them in 
 various fcenes of life, and in the awful hour 
 of death itfelf ; and I do declare from my own 
 obfervation the afiertion to be as falfe as falfe- 
 hood can make it. No ; devout people are 
 chearful people j and in death itfelf I have feen 
 them fupremely fo. But I ^an conceive hov/ 
 the referve and awe, which the accidental com- 
 pany of a man fo horribly impious and fo pro- 
 foundly fagacious as Mr. Hume might flrike 
 a pious mind, would by him be conftrued into 
 melancholy. 
 
 Secondly, That the belief of an eternal life^ 
 whofe nature is Love, fhould lelTen the bene- 
 volent affe6tions, is too ridiculous a thought 
 to be impofed on the weakeft underitanding. 
 
 SECTION IV, 
 
 Humajtity, 
 
 '< f I ^ HEY had been commanded to extir- 
 
 JL pate fome of the moft idolatrous 
 
 tribes, and the execution of the Divine Will 
 
 had 
 
( 127 ) 
 
 had fclciom been retarded by the weaknefs oi* 
 humanity*." So fpeaks our author of the 
 Jews, whOj under the condud of Jofhua, took 
 pofTeflion of the land of Canaan by that beft of 
 charters, the gift of God, and deftroyed the 
 antient inhabitants by that flrongeft of all 
 commiirionSj the Divine Command. 
 
 Humanity is the boaft of the prefent day. 
 Many a thoughtlefs fpendthrift will go to weep 
 over virtue in diftrefs at a play-houfe, while 
 honed men are deprived of their right by his 
 cruel extravagance. Suicide prevails in the land ; 
 the law has provided the wholeforhe barrier of 
 ihame, by a difgraceful interment, to ftop the 
 madnefs of thofe whom a fenfe of honour might 
 fooner move than the fear of God ; but the 
 Coroner's fafhionable humanity eludes its exe- 
 cution. An audacious profanenefs, with gi- 
 gantick ftrides, menaces every thmg facred 
 and venerable among us. But the humanity 
 of Magiilrates will fcreen the mod daring pro- 
 fanations of the Lord's day, and the interelt of 
 the kingdom of heaven mud fuffer, led fenfe- 
 lefs fmners fhould lofe a little worldly gain. 
 Children of both fexes advance more and mord 
 into the regions of profligate lev/dnefs, and un- 
 lettered 
 
 * Fags 45 1 . 
 
( 128 ) 
 
 lettered impudence : But Solomon was inhumart 
 it feems, as well as unvvife, when he wrote, 
 Chaften thy fon^ while there is hope^ and let not thy 
 foul j-pare for his crying. 
 
 If this humour of exalting humanity, at the 
 expence of law and order, juftice and equity, 
 and every rule of good government, both in 
 publick and private life, fliould proceed a few 
 degrees higher, it is evident that our whole 
 flate muft become a " rudis indigeftaque 
 moles." 
 
 Men of fenfe muft fee, that humanity itfelf 
 may be carried to a moft vicious excefs in hu- 
 man fociety -, and men of candour will fee, 
 that I mean only to guard againft this excefs ; 
 and to fhew that humanity itfelf, though moft 
 amiable and moft endearing in its nature, ought 
 to move within certain limits, and to feel the 
 conftraint of principle, or it defeats its own 
 end, and becomes the foe of the human fpecies. 
 
 Did it require an uncommon degree of pene- 
 tration in Mr. Gibbon to fee, that the fame 
 quality, attended with the fame excefies, ap- 
 plied to thc^^ivine Government, may alfo be 
 very albfurd and ruinous^? I fpeak of him as 
 ^ * *^' " ' ' iniinliating. 
 
( 1^9 > 
 Inlinuating, that the cruelties of the Tfraelites 
 in Canaan could never proceed from God, nor 
 be juilified in their own nature; nor fhall I 
 arorue this point, but leave it to his own con- 
 fcience and the reader's judgment. There is 
 a fyftem of government in the world ; God 
 Almighty is its head : In many inftances his 
 laws execute themfelves, both in rewards and 
 in punifhments, in the natural courfe of things. 
 He is pleafed alfo to infli6t many punifliments 
 on fmners in a mofe extraordinary way. The 
 JewiHi difpenfation was much concerned in 
 this : The chofen people were appointed the 
 executioners of the Divine Vengeance on ido- 
 laters. If of themfelves, to fatiate malice or 
 ambition, they dealt deaths around, let them 
 be given up to the cenfure of the mod unmer- 
 ciful criticilirij and let Roman ferocity^ deceit, 
 and pride, which for fo many ages tormented 
 the earth, be called patriotifm, virtue, and for- 
 titude, in comparifon of JewiHi inhumanity : 
 But if Mofes, Jofhua^ and David afled in obe- 
 dience to a Divine Command, let their pious 
 zeal be refcued from the abufive obloquy of in- 
 fidelity. Shall any man fay, That God has no 
 right to punifli guilty nations ? Kas he a right 
 to do it, without the intervention of men, by the 
 plague, by lightning, by water, by various 
 
 R defolatino; 
 
( 130 ) 
 defolating judgments ? There is no medium iri 
 this cafe : If the Ifraelites had no right to de- 
 ftroy the Canaanites •, if David was wrong in 
 the feverities exercifed on the Ammonites, who 
 burnt their own children to Moloch*, (a Divine 
 Command being always fuppofed in the cafe) 
 men need not have recourfe to the cafe of eter- 
 nal punifhments : That may be more fhocking 
 to that treacherous faculty^ the imagination -, 
 but fober reafon will fee a fmaller injuflice to 
 be as real in a lefTer cafe, as in a greater. And 
 the whole courfe of God's Providence at this 
 day, fo full of fevere judgments and afflidions, 
 muft be as utterly inexplicable as any thing of 
 the kind we meet with in the Scriptures, and 
 as really offenfive to the interefts of humanity. 
 
 In fad, I find Mr. Hume thus boldly rebel- 
 ling againft the government of God in hard 
 fpeches f : What is to be faid in this cafe ? 
 
 Let humanity know her province, and nei- 
 ther reafon nor a6l in contradidlion to the Di- 
 vine Authority and true principles of virtue.. 
 The eternal life which God gives in his Son 
 
 confids 
 
 *' G. note i on chap. xvi. This at leafi feems to me thf 
 cio(t natural light of confidering this fubjej^. 
 
 t Hume's Dialogues, p. 207, 
 
( 131 ) 
 
 coufills in Love 5 love of God in the firfl place, 
 and of all Beings whatever in due fubordina- 
 rion. If the health of the whole require the 
 facrifice of fome, let humanity fubmit to ju- 
 Itice; in all other cafes let her thrive and 
 llourifh. This is no more than what human 
 judicatures are doing continually ; and had 
 Mr. Gibbon confidered that we cannot poffibly 
 be judges of that which is fit for God to do, 
 but ought to fubmit to his will ; and yet that, 
 we may be judges of plain matter of fad, of 
 what is divinely revealed, he had fpared this 
 weak and inconfiderate innuendo. 
 
 Indeed it is true, however our author's hu- 
 manity may be affedled with it, that the pri- 
 mitive Chriilians did believe ^ nay, what is 
 more, that the Gofpel requires all its profeiTors 
 to believe, that eternal punilhruents await the 
 impenitent and the unbelieving. Till men can 
 judge what is the quantity of evil that is in fm, 
 how far it is necelTary that the honour of the 
 Divine Government Ihould be fupported, and 
 what are the mutual relations and dependencies 
 of the whole fyflem of things, they cannot pof- 
 fibly form the leaft judgment, a priori^ in the 
 cafe. Matter of fad, of which we may be 
 judges, fpeaks ftrongly, in every point of view, 
 
 R 2 for 
 
( 13^ ) 
 for the evil of fin, and the necefilty of puniih^ 
 nient •, and humanity muft be only an abfurd 
 rebel in undertaking to forni any judgment at 
 all. The Scriptures do certainly teach us, 
 that God affii^eth not willingly^ nor grieveth the 
 children of men -, nay, defcribe his Love as in- 
 finite and boundlefs. The redemption of Chrifl 
 exhibits it in the mofl flriking light; but then 
 it implies and fuppofes the evil of fin to be 
 extreme. Thus the n^-ture of Chriilianity af- 
 fords us ample principles to confute whatever 
 an ill-tempered regard to humanity may fug- 
 ged ', and the common anfwer made to Infidels, 
 deduced from our ignorance, will, I believe, 
 appear folid to every reafonable man who coolly 
 confiders it. 
 
 But is there not danger of grafting inhu- 
 manity on piety from thefe principles ^ If in- 
 deed men indulge an inhuman temper under 
 the mafis: of religious zeal, (and it often has 
 been done) the mod diabolica] evils may en- 
 Cue*. The principle then before us of check- 
 ing 
 
 * To acquiefce in the juftice of a judicial procefs, and to 
 refpeft the uprightnefs of the judge, is one thing ; to indulge a 
 fplrit of infult againft the condemned criminal, is another ; ihey 
 oiiginate from tempers of mind fpecifically diftinfi: from one an^ 
 other. VViiether TertulJian may have erred, in what our 
 author calls his unfeeling v/itticifms, I will not contell. 
 
( ^33 ) 
 ing humanity requires to be guarded, not to 
 be exterminated. Chriftian faith will humbly 
 and reverently lubmit the underilanding and 
 fhe will to God, without allowing herfelf in 
 any fenfations of malice to man : Zeal and love 
 to God, and pity to men, may furely (land in 
 perfeft confidence. However paradoxical it; 
 may feem, that which is called orthodoxy may, 
 and always is, when the heart is under real in- 
 fluence of Chriftian principles, be united with 
 the moft liberal benevolence to all mankind, 
 the moft ardent activity for their good, and thq 
 moft determined abhorrence of a perfecuting 
 fpirit *. But Mr. Hume is pofitive -]-, that it 
 is contrary tq common fenfe to entertain appre- 
 henfions or terrors upon account of any opinion 
 whatfoever, or to imagine that we run any 
 rifque hereafter by the freeft ufe of our reafon. 
 Aftoniftiing Dogmatift ! The man that could 
 doubt of every thing which is plain to men of 
 common fenfe, could yet have no doubt in a, 
 cafe of the moft complicated and myfterious 
 nature. Is he fure that no reafons may influ- 
 ence the Divine Mind in the cafe before us, 
 befides thole two which he mentions immediate- 
 
 * See this union of things well fupported in a Tra^H: lately 
 pabliilied, called '* An Addrefs to the Proteftant AfTociation.*^ 
 t Dialogues, p. 359. 
 
( 134 ) 
 
 ly after? Has he the line that meafures the 
 iminenfity of the Divine Mind ? And is it pof- 
 fible a man of moderate acquaintance with the 
 human heart fhouid be fure, that the freeft ufe 
 of our reafon may not be chargeable with a 
 high degree of pride and infolence, and would 
 even he have allowed his menial fervant the 
 exercife of the fame freedom in his domeftic 
 concerns ? 
 
 It would be inhuman, I fuppofe, to hnagine 
 any punifhment fhouid enfue. Satan feems to 
 watch over the different follies and vices of 
 different ages, and to improve them to the 
 intereft of his king-dom. In the ruder ao-es 
 favage ferocity and fuperftition were predomi- 
 nant : Thefe he nurfed, and by thefe alone he 
 maintained his feat. Where religious zeal pre- 
 vailed, he pufhed it to the extreme of inhu- 
 manity and political injuftice: Now that refine- 
 ment and civilization prevail, he caufes huma- 
 nity to fwallow up all other virtues ; but not- 
 withftanding the prevailing tafte, I cannot but 
 think the bufmefs of this Se6lion to have been 
 an humane employment. 
 
 SECTION 
 
^35 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Love of Glory, 
 
 WITH wfeat^agreeable reveries the antient 
 philofophical heroes indulged them- 
 felves in fpeculation concerning the DeiSy of 
 their fouls, their views of a future ftate of 
 exiilence were far too faint and dubious to in- 
 fluence much their practice and their condu6l. 
 The principle itfelf of the to fi/, meeting with 
 the natural pride of the human heart, in which 
 its innate depravity peculiarly confifts, would 
 cherifh and inflame it to a degree unknown td 
 the Pagan vulgar. Hence the item patriotifm 
 and ftoical apathy ; hence the rigid feverity of 
 manners, and the whole train of fidlitious vir- 
 tues, which catch the approbation of all, but 
 thofe whom felf-knowledge and heaven-taught 
 views of the real glory of God have truly hum- 
 bled. But the pride of the atheiltic principle 
 mud have objects of gratification more real 
 than the fpeculations of die unfeen world could 
 'give-, and it fpent its whole force on the love 
 of glory, that darling paffion of Pagan anti- 
 quity, avowed by fome indeed lar more than 
 by others, but foUov/ed by ail pretenders to 
 
 virtue 
 
( isS 3 
 
 virtue as the grand motive, their mofx ilib- 
 flantial reward. 
 
 The moderns, who admire Socrates and Plato 
 more than Paul and Peter, follow their maxims 
 and ideas *, nor is there a greater enemy to Chri- 
 llianity *, its Divine Author himlelf being 
 witnefs, than this fame love of glory. 
 
 How much does our author deferve the fin- 
 cere compaflion of every real Chriftian, who 
 declares, that " Fame is the motive, it is the 
 reward of our labours, the moft valuable obie(5l 
 1 of our polTeflions, or at leafl: of our hopes -f." 
 Not to be indifferent indeed to what men fay 
 of us, to guard againfl fhame and reproach, 
 and to be careful of our good name, but ftill 
 in fubferviency to infinitely more valuable con- 
 fiderations, is not inconfiftent with Chriflianity. 
 But to talk of Fame as the motive, the mofi 
 valuable obje^^ betrays a wretched tafte indeed, 
 and is as oppofite to the Gofpel as darknefs is 
 to light. 
 
 Here is then another inilance of the oppo- 
 fition between the religion of Jefus and the 
 
 fpiric 
 
 * John V. 44. How can ye believe v;hich receive honout- 
 one of another ? 
 
 f Vindication, p. 4* 
 
( ^2,1 ) 
 fpirit of the world. Our author talks of the 
 ufeful vid'tories atchieved by Mam upon the 
 barren hills of PaleUine*^ thus giving to Man 
 the praife which, without derogating from the 
 ofHces of human induftry, Mofes undoubtedly 
 afcribes to the peculiar bleffing of God. A land 
 which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes of the 
 Lord thy God are always upon it^ from the begin- 
 ning of the year^ even unto the end of the ^ear -f . 
 And whether the Prophet's language, Ceafe ye 
 from man^ whofe breath is in his noflrils ; for where- 
 in is he to he accounted of ? or that of our author 
 concerning the dignity and merit of man, be 
 more agreeable to the corrupt and frail ftate of 
 human nature and to matter of fa(ft, every care- 
 ful and modefl; obferver may judge. 
 
 I am only concerned in the remainder of 
 this Sedion to fhew, that Chriitian principles 
 exclude and condemn this love of glory, in the 
 fenfe that has been explained. 
 
 ^he eternal life which God in Chrlft bellows 
 upon believers, refpedls the world to come, 
 not this world's advantages of any kind. The 
 praife of men muft not be fought •, the maxims 
 of the kingdom of heaven forbid it ; and in- 
 
 S deed 
 
 ^■- vindication, p. 33. f Dent. xi. 15^, 
 
( 138 ) 
 
 deed an hearty compliance with them ^vill riot 
 lead to the praile, but to the contempt of 
 mankind. To feek the efteem of men as a 
 motive for our good actions, is the mafk of an 
 hypocrite*; indeed the knowledge of our fallen 
 ftate, and of our recovery to a holy life as the 
 mere gift of God, if we be recovered, is fuch 
 an humbling confideration, as effedually ex- 
 cludes from a real believer's breaft the indul- 
 o-ence of the love of praife. "Thou alfo haft 
 wrought all our works in us-\\ He will fay, with 
 gratitude, to his God in the world to come, 
 even while he is receiving the reward of grace, 
 which the overflowing bounty of his heavenly 
 Father confers upon him, " God forbid that 
 I fhould glory, fave in the Crofs of Chrifl^ by 
 whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto 
 the world J." So declares, v;ith his ufual vi- 
 p-our of emphafis, the Apoftle of the Gentiles, 
 and the man, who wich him beholds Chrift 
 crucified as his grand object^ will be concerned 
 for the glory of God, not his own, in all his 
 thoughts, words, and deeds. Such a difplay 
 of the Divine Charadter, as that tranfadlion 
 exhibits, will fwallow up all his ideas of glory, 
 and leave him no other fubjedl of admiration. 
 Himfelf he beholds as juftly obnoxious to the 
 
 curfe, 
 
 * Mat. vi. 2. — t iraiahxxvl. is.— t Gal. vi. 14. 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 l^urfe, and as a firmer who might at this hour 
 be lifting up his eyes in hell-torments^ if he met 
 with the due reward of his deeds. While he 
 feels the impreflion of this truth, how can he 
 be proud ? How can he even delire the praife 
 of men ? His falvation is of grace and not of 
 works *. Boafting is excluded -[-. When he 
 confiders the infamy of the crofs, the con* 
 tempt and fcorn his Mailer endured, and the 
 difregard which he ever fnewed for the praife 
 of men, how naturally mufl he follow his 
 fleps, and think meanly of the good opinion 
 of that bad world which crucified the Lord 
 of glory ? The fong of heaven is, Thou wafi 
 fiain^ and hafl redeemed us to God by thy blood. --^ 
 How miferable mull that m^an be in fuch foci- 
 ^ty, who feeks his own praife ? None there 
 will gratify his pafHon : Another obje^l, infi- 
 nitely worthy of all blefTmg and praife, exhaufbs 
 all their powers of encomium. How necefTary 
 that the love of glory be eradicated, to render 
 even heaven delirable ! The moft unreftrained 
 profligacy of temper and condu6l is not more 
 unfuitable to the temper of the heavenly world-, 
 than that palTion for glory, which is fo com- 
 monly deemed the mark of a great and generous 
 ijiind. Perfons of fuch a tafte may be ufeful 
 
 S 2 and 
 
 ' * Ephef. ii. f Rom. ili. 
 
( MO ) 
 and refpe6lable citizens, they cannot be Chri- 
 ilicin believers. 
 
 It is natural for the reader to afl<: here^ 
 ^* Pray what is your motive for adding to the 
 ) labours of the teeming prefs ?" What my mo- 
 i:ive is, is known to the great Searcher of 
 hearts. 1 will frankly own what I think it 
 ouo^ht to be, and what I defire it may be one 
 day found to have been. " JVhatfoever ye do, do 
 all to the glory of God *". This alone is the 
 motive that is acceptable in the fight of God. 
 I look upon Mr. Gibbon's two laft chapters 
 as highly injurious to the honour of God, and 
 in their dired: tendency, notwithftanding the 
 ambiguous windings of a referved prudence, 
 inimical to the falvation of precious fouls, 
 with which the divine glory is infeparably 
 connected . I refped: his learning and abilities, 
 his elegant tafle, and his powers of nervous 
 defcription. I would not be thought to at- 
 tempt any competition with him in thefe 
 things : But a man of moderate knowledc^e 
 and capacity, fuch is the advantage of a good 
 caufe, may defend the truth of God againft 
 the mofi: ingenious and the mod learned in- 
 fidelity. There was a time when learned men 
 
 were 
 
 ^ I Cor. X. 31, 
 
( Ui ) 
 were not afnamed to employ their talents in 
 the lervice of revealed religion : A Boyle, a 
 Newton, and an Addifon fincerely believed 
 Chriftianity to be from God, and it was looked 
 on as no reproach to their underftandings, that 
 they believed " that all Scripture was given 
 by infpiration of God." But the tables are 
 turned : While vice, profufion, and profli- 
 gacy are corroding the very bowels of the na- 
 tion, fcarce any fuperior geniufes appear in 
 print, but they enlifl themfelves in the fervice 
 of infidelity. What fuch men think to gain 
 for themfelves and others bv fuch a conducfl:, 
 I know not: But the profpe^l is lamentable; 
 and, admitting Chriftianity be true, God Al- 
 mighty muft be provoked. Every remainin^r 
 rampart againft iniquitv is removed ; and as 
 this humour has increafed, it is eafv to fee 
 that all kinds of wickednefs have increafed m 
 proportion. Satan laughs at fuch punv an- 
 tagonifts as moral philofophy and prudential 
 confiderations : Nothing, he knows, can pre:- 
 vcnt the progrefs of his kingdom but pure 
 Chriflian principles. What renders this con- 
 dud the more culpable and dangerous, is the 
 manner in v/hich the enemies of Chriftianity 
 proceed. They do not diredlly tell you they 
 are oppofmg the Gofpel ; that would put the 
 
 mod 
 
( 142 ) 
 
 moft unwary readers on their guard. They 
 do not confider in form the evidences of Chrl- 
 (lianity, which, with triumphant argumenta^ 
 tion, have been e.llabliftied by many refped- 
 able writers : That would be a talk far too 
 great even for Mr. Gibbon himfelf. But art- 
 ful innuendos, pregnant hints, half-fentences, 
 o-ilded always vv^ith a fpecious and modeft ap- 
 pearance, are the arms with which they fight 
 againft heaven. If they think they have dif- 
 covered the falfehood of the Gofpel, why do 
 they not avow their fentiments, and bjing 
 forth their arguments in form ? If they are. in 
 doubt themfelves, a more careful condudl in a 
 matter of fuch infinite moment would furely be- 
 come them, and even a tender and humane 
 concern for their fellow-creatures would call 
 for a very different behaviour. Mr. Gibbon 
 cannot but be fenfible, that the tendency of 
 his two laft chapters is to weaken in his rea- 
 der's mind a regard for Chriflianity. Should 
 that religion prove true in the iifue, he may 
 ftand convidled of having contributed to the 
 eternal damnation of many of his fellovv'-crea^ 
 tures. And what is fame or praife to a ge- 
 nerous mind, when fet againfl: fuch dreadful 
 mifchief ? In a word, he ought to have ^ full 
 demonftration, that the Gofpel is falfe, or hi^ 
 
 procedure. 
 
( 143 ) 
 
 procedure cannot be cleared, I do not fay of 
 deliberate, but of very inconfiderate cruelty. 
 Who that honours God and cares for fouls^ 
 feeling at the fame time any thing of the truth 
 of Chriftianity, can be filent in fuch a cafe ? 
 Si natura negate facit indignatio verfum; 
 
 Juv. 
 
 I pity the tiiithor, and defire the Candid 
 reader to excufe the warmth of rny language : 
 The Gofpel calls for no cool aflent : Its im- 
 portance is even infinite •, and if but one foul 
 Ihould, by thefe papers, be refcued from dan- 
 gerj my aim will be anfwered : It will richly 
 pay for the fcorn and contempt of all the reft 
 ©f mankind. 
 
 SECTION VL 
 
 Impiety, 
 R. Gibbon, fpeaking of the ufurpatioii 
 
 of the titles of the Divinity by the Ro- 
 man Emperors, obferves, " fuch extravao-anc 
 *' complim.ents, however, foon lofe their im- 
 *' piety by lofing their meaning ; and v/hcn 
 " the ear is once accuftomed to the founds 
 *' they are heard with indifference as vague^ 
 l^ though excelTive profefiions of refped*." 
 
 * Page 53 7. ThuS 
 
( 144 ^ 
 Thus does our author teach us, in one in- 
 ftance at leaft, that the frequency of a crime 
 deprives it of its malignity •, and that an adlion 
 which is impious, if once or twice committed, 
 ceafes to be fo, when committed a thoufand 
 times^ 
 
 If impiety of language lofes its immoral 
 nature at this rate, then the profane founds 
 which are fo fhocking to the ears of all who 
 are pofTefled of the leafl reverence for God, are 
 perfedtly harmlefs, becaufe common. Let the 
 Grammarian only give them a place in his lift 
 of mterjedtions, and they have no more fm in 
 them than the found of Atat or Apage. 
 
 But is it not ungenerous to take advantage 
 of an unguarded exprefTion in an author ? It is 
 fo ; but 1 am perfuaded this is not the cafe 
 with our author. His deliberate meaning is 
 exprelfed. For the rejedion of Chriftian prin- 
 ciples has ever been found to leave the mind 
 dellitute of every pradlical principle of piety : 
 And though our author was far from meaning 
 to fhew us this in the paffage before us, yet if 
 he has inadvertently fhewn it, a regard to truth 
 and the beil interefts of mankind requires that 
 Jhis impiety fhould be expofed, 
 
 TheL 
 
( U5 ) 
 The principle of genuine Chriftianity ex- 
 plained in the fecond part of this work, and 
 traced into fome of its falutaiy confequences in 
 the five foregoing Se6lion3, is ever produdive of 
 the mod profound and the moil fincere reve-. 
 rence of the Supreme Being* The views of guilt 
 and ill defert jof the Divine Holinefs and the 
 malignity of fin, which are learned from the 
 crofs of Chriil, fail not to beget in the foul 
 fuch ideas of God, attended alfo v/ith fuch 
 grateful, filial, and liberal fenfations, as entirely 
 exclude the impiety which Mr. Gibbon excufes. 
 If we may take the liberty of ufing unmeaning 
 exprelTions in conversation dr^wn from common, 
 life, the liberty of treating the Divinity in the 
 fame manner is far too bold, however freelyv 
 this age of licentioufnefs may take it. The 
 diminution of internal reverence thence arifing 
 is a fure effect of the licence •, and fuch is the 
 connexion between the heart and the tongue, 
 that the moment any man is obferved to fpeak 
 fcripturally, to " become a new creature ia 
 Chrift," however long the habit of impious 
 language may have prevailed, it ceafes at once, 
 and in all his converfation he fpeaks with the 
 utmoft reverence of that Being whom he was 
 wont in every fentence to blafpheme. The 
 kail regard for the Almighty in the heart is fure 
 
 T fa 
 
( H^ ) 
 to overcome this moil common, but moft hei- 
 nous fin : And it is an inftance of the extreme- 
 incapacity oi moral difcernment which mud 
 atctnd Infidelity, however c;reat the intelleflual 
 faculty may be, that the learned Mr. Gibbon 
 cannot fee the fmfulnefs of a pradice, v/hich 
 the mereft babe in the fchool of Chrifl would 
 feel with horror, and reje6t with the mod ratio- 
 nal abhorrence. The grand blefling of eternal 
 life, which God gives in Chrift to a believer, 
 includes in it a divine nature and an holy con- 
 verfation •, and the pofTefibr feels he can never 
 be fufficiently thankful and reverent in, his re- 
 prards to Jehovah. The happinefs of heaven is 
 dcfcribed in the bopk of the Revelation, as re- 
 plete with the lowed felf-abafement in the mod 
 dignified fpirits. Proud man, a worm of earth, 
 is too haughty, too wife, too elevated, to imi- 
 tate their lowlinefs. 
 
 Indeed the reafonablenefs of this humility is 
 evident to a mind at all feafoncd with divine 
 truth. Who can exprefs the praifes of God ! 
 The Bible is as full of his praifc as the eart^ 
 is of his didionour. The contempt of his 
 Majedy, with which this ifland abounds, is 
 one of its mod baleful fymptoms. It is eafy 
 \o fay, they mean nothing by their oaths and 
 
 curies ; 
 
( M7 ) 
 curfes ; but here lies the very Cm of the pfJic- 
 tice, that they dare, Vy-ithout conlidet-ation, 
 fport v/ith the name of God. Socrates is thus^i 
 introduced by his fcholars continually profan- 
 ing the name of tht heathen divinity, in all' 
 the impudence of the mod frivolous blafpliemy.j 
 Nt] Aioc difgufls the ferious taile in every page J 
 land it may be fafely faid, that the irreverence^ 
 which it encourages is far too pernicious to be^t 
 afoned for by all the good that, in a detached 
 point of view, may be gathered from the So-: 
 cratic lefTons. 
 
 I fhall not infult the reader's underfbandinof 
 by arguing the point before us any longer -, I 
 would rather apoeal to his confcience, rcferrino- 
 him to the fentiment of a fincere believer of 
 Scripture, no ways inferior to our author, even 
 in thofe endowments in \yhich he excels, and 
 defiring any man to judge intuitively, whether 
 Gibbon's or Butler's judgment be more ac- 
 cording to truth. 
 
 " Tho' we fliould fuppofe profane fvvearing, 
 *' and in general, that kind of impiety novv^ 
 " mentioned, to mean nothing, yet it implies a 
 '' wanton difregard and irreverence towards an 
 *' infinite Beine, our Creator : and is this as 
 
 T 2 '* fuitable 
 
(. 148 ) 
 
 " fuicable to the nature of man, as reverence 
 *' and dutiful fubmifTion of heart towards that 
 ^ Ahnighty Being ?" * 
 
 SECTION YII. 
 
 Lewdnefs, 
 
 IN the courfe of the hiftory, making fome 
 remarks on the feverity of the laws of 
 Conftantine againft rapes, Mr. Gibbon men- 
 tions the gentle fedudtion which might perfuade 
 an unmarried woman, under the age of twenty^ 
 five, to leave the houfe of her parents, as one 
 of " the moll amiable weaknefies of human 
 nature -f ." It is foreign to my defign to criti- 
 cife the civil charadler of Conltantine; no more 
 need be quoted, therefore, than what diredlly 
 relates to our purpofe. Lewdnefs is in the 
 Man at lead, our author being judge, a moil 
 amiable weaknefs ! tempora ! O mores ! 
 
 By this time the readef fees that the interefl:^ 
 of morality would fuffer in our author's hands 
 as much as that of religion, fhould he favour 
 the publick with as many lucubrations on that 
 
 fubjed:, 
 * See Bullet's fecond Sermon on Human Nature.— t P. 44®. 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 fubjecft, as he has on the fubje6t of religion* 
 The connedlion between irreligion and immo-* 
 rality, and the importance of Chriftianity, with 
 relpe6t to its moral influence, would deferve a 
 diiLincl treatife, it can here only have a few 
 remarks. 
 
 Take a view of the egregious infincerity, 
 the bafe hypocrify of the Philofophers of an- 
 tiquity in our author's own words ^ fevere as I 
 may be thought in my eftimation of them, a 
 feverer cenfure of them will not be found in 
 thefe fheets, than what our author has, though 
 fomewhat undefignedly, given of his favourite 
 worthies. 
 
 " Viewing, with a fmile of pity and indul- 
 " gence, the various errors of the vulgar, they 
 " diligently pradlifed the ceremonies of their 
 " fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of 
 "the gods ; and fometimes condefcendedT.to 
 ^' a6l a part on the theatre of fuperftition, they 
 '* concealed the fentiments of an atheift under 
 " the facerdotal robes. Reafoners of fuch a 
 " temper were fcarcely inclined to wrangle 
 " about their refpedive modes of faith or of 
 " worfhip. It was indifferent to them what 
 " fhape the folly of the multitude might chufe 
 
 '^ to 
 
t H^ ) 
 
 ^* to afifume; and they approached with th(j 
 ^* fame inward contempt and the fame external 
 *' reverence the altars of the Lybian, the Olym- 
 •' pian, or the Capitoline Jupiter." * 
 
 The bafenefs of this condu6b would flrike 
 any man's mind in any concern but that of re- 
 ligion i and if this be of any concern at all, it 
 is infinitely the moil momentous : And in that 
 degree infincerity muil here be the mod flagrant 
 compound of impudence and hypocrify. Truth 
 and integrity are the ornaments of the creation-, 
 duplicity and prevarication, a reproach for 
 which no genius and learning can atone ; and 
 the God of truth, when they are pradifed in 
 religion, punifhes them both in their neceffary 
 confequences, and judicially; 
 
 Flabits of hypocrify nluft warp the whole 
 
 mind, darken and pervert the moral fenfe, and 
 
 deeply corrupt the moral chara6ter throughout. 
 
 He who could impofe on his fellow-creatures 
 
 in an affair of fuch moment as religion, and 
 
 affront the Almighty by an hypocritical woriliip 
 
 of idols, (for it would be extremely difficult 
 
 for the moft laborious fy item- maker of atheifm 
 
 ' among 
 
 * Page 32. — Scenes to be paralleled perhaps by the modern 
 Deiit's receiving the Lord's Supper to qualify for ofEces. 
 
( i5i ) 
 
 amono; them to eradicate the natural notion of 
 an Almighty) and yet could excufe the want of 
 truth by the idle pretence of an humane regard 
 to the vulgar, could with the fame eafe look 
 on a lewd fedu^lion as an adt of amiable hu- 
 manity. The reverent regard for God being 
 totally erafed by repeated afts of hypocritical 
 \yorfhip, men would give the rein to the mofb 
 licentious appetites, and no fear of God v/ould 
 reftrain them in their unbridled career. 
 
 It is immaterial to fay here, that many of the 
 Philofophers have been men of chafte and fober 
 manners. Thanks to a particular bodily con- 
 ftitution, and the habits of (ludy and refie6lion. i 
 The mind is in the mean-time as lewd and 
 impure as the unawed corruption of nature can 
 make it. The fober Mr. Hume (admitting 
 him to have been fuch) will view lewdnefs 
 •without horror •, and the fober Mr. Gibbon 
 (for I am inclined to take it for granted he is 
 fo) will call a foul feduclion an amiable weak-r 
 nefs. 
 
 Not long fince, within the circle of my ob- 
 fervation, an unmarried woman, not "with bru- 
 tal violence," but by '' gentle fedu6lion," was 
 p.erfuaded to go on board an armicd vefTel. 
 
( 152 ) 
 
 Her afflided father hears, gets himfelf rowed 
 in a boat to the vefTel, demands his daughter, 
 is anfwered with horrible menaces, returns how 
 diftrefled ! it v/ill be a mercy if the confolationa 
 of piety may prevent his literal diftraftion ! 
 
 Suppofe now our author to be the father- 
 fuppofe him to forefee only the temporal evils 
 moil probably attendant on the fedu6lion, pro- 
 fligate impudence, difeafe, poverty, fliame, and 
 an immature death ! Would he fay the feducer 
 or feducers were guilty of an amiable weaknefs ! 
 Ought he not to learn the ethics of the defpifed 
 Galilean, JVhaifoever ye would that, men Jhoidd 
 do to yoiiy do ye even fo to them *. Shameful 
 meannefs ! that a Gentleman of fuch refpedl- 
 able literary talents can in this age of bold 
 licenfe and egregious profligacy, vindicate in 
 effedl the falhionable vices, as if the evils^ 
 under which the land already groans needed 
 the additional weight of his authority. But 
 there is fomething divinely judicial in this mat- 
 ter. Men who profejfed themjelves wife he came 
 fools ; and hecaufe that when they knew God^ they 
 glorified him not as God ; for this caiife God gave 
 them up unto vile affeBions-\, Philofophic an- 
 tiauitv is eminently concerned in this cenfure. 
 
 Gibbon 
 
 * Matt. vii. 12.- 1 E.om« i. 
 
( i53 ) 
 
 Gibbon will tell us of Adri:.n *, and every 
 fchool-boy knows from his Virgil and his Ho- 
 race, what horrible lewdnefs prevailed among 
 the polite Romans : St. Paul only tells us the 
 judicial caufe. 
 
 The reception of Chriftlanity is, in its necef- 
 fiiry confequences and in the gracious oeconomv 
 of the Divine Government, the reverfe of all 
 this. If Truth and Chastity forfake all the 
 earth, they will yet dwell in a Chriftian. The 
 life of Jefus, in his foul, is pure and holy ; 
 guile and hypocrify are abhorrent from the 
 whole image of God which in faith he received'; 
 snd the love of God, while it lifts up the foul 
 to celeflial pleafures, fubdues unchalle defircs, 
 and does alone, — let Philofophers laugh, while 
 Chriftians can confute them by adions, — docs 
 alone, I fay, what Philofophy pretends to, fu fa- 
 due the appetite to reafon, becaufe reafon her- 
 Iclf is fubdued to God; 
 
 It will be no Unprofitable fpeculation, con- 
 fidering the vail importance of this article even 
 to human fociety, if to the candid reader it 
 has appeared, that mere philofophy and mere 
 morality cannot take care even of their own 
 
 U province ; 
 
 * Page 77. 
 
( 154 ) 
 
 province; they lead men either into actual 
 profligacy, or, what is little better, into a vin- 
 dication of it y but Chriilianity, at the fame 
 time that fhe moves in a fphere of true piety 
 peculiarly her own, ever lends the mofl power- 
 ful aid to true morality, and reads efficacious 
 lectures of truth and cWifcy to mankind. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 ' Rutionality, 
 
 R. Hume's Philo obferves, That all re- 
 ligion is liable to abufes in civil fociety^ 
 except that of " the philofophical and rational 
 kind *." Mr. Locke led the fafhion in intro- 
 ducing a pompous parade of reafoning into re- 
 ligion •, from that time a raticnal religion has 
 been the cant term, with all who profefs to be 
 wifer than others. The proper humble fub- 
 ferviency of Reafon to Chriilianity, as a very 
 ufeful, but very fubmiffive handmaid, has been 
 difcarded : The many who blindly follow men 
 of fuperior penetration and capacity, think 
 they have fufficiently anfwered the friends of 
 Chriftian truth, by crying out, *' Enthufiafm." 
 
 Men 
 * Home's Dialogues, p. 244, ' 
 
(. ^55 ) 
 
 Men of no ability in reafoning, feek the praiie 
 of cool kn^t and folid fagacity, under the pre- 
 tence of pleading the interefts of reafon. Infi- 
 dels have not flopped where Mr. Locke did •, 
 he was at leaft a fpeculative believer, though 
 he appears to know little or nothing of that 
 divine faith which the Scripture defcribes * ; 
 from Locke down to Hume, that is to fay, 
 from a cold hiftorical affent down to Atheifm 
 itfelf, or to what is much the fame, there has 
 been a gradual melancholy declenfion from 
 evangelical fimplicity ; the laft of the train 
 had fagacity enough to difcern-f the advantage 
 which the firft undefignedly gave to Infidelity; 
 and he has fo compleatly difplayed the triumphs 
 of reafon over religion, that fhe feems in his 
 hands to be, what Grecian vanity feigned of 
 Alexander, at a lofs for more workj and groan- 
 ing, becaufe fhe has no more enemies to con- 
 quer. 
 
 Indeed the great progrefs of the human mind, 
 during the two lafl centuries, in every branch 
 of fcience has but too much flattered the ignis 
 fatuus of what is called a rational relio-ion. 
 This world's procefs in all the arts of humanity 
 has received fuch liberal advantage from the 
 
 U 2 improve- 
 
 * See Seaionon Faith.— f Hume's Dialogues, p. ^jjr. 
 
( 15^ ) 
 
 improvements of reaibn, that no lover of man-r 
 kind can fail to congratulate the times in this 
 refped, and felicitate modern fociety, when 
 compared with the ferocious miferies of antient 
 io-norance. But the fame love of mankind v/iil 
 induce hini, if polTeffed of the fmallefb fnare 
 of what theApoftie cvAh fpiritual underjlandmg*^ ' 
 10 lament that reafon has impertinently inter- 
 meddled with the Gofpel, and that with fuch 
 overbearing fedulity, as to darken it more and 
 more •, and rivers of tears would not fuffice to 
 bewail the increafe of moral mifery, which, 
 fmce Mr., Locke's time, has pervaded thefe 
 
 kincdems. 
 
 <-^ • 
 
 I am free to fay, that the bold intrufions of 
 reafon have been a mod powerful caufe of our 
 national depravity. Will the reader be pleafed 
 to examine carefully for himfelf i Cor. ii. 
 and endeavour to divefl: himfelf of partiality, 
 in fixing on the plain obvious fenfe of the 
 whole .^ I might refer hira to the Bible through- 
 out •, but that chapter peculiarly points out 
 what 1 would offer as the real truth in this 
 matter. If he cannot prevail on himfelf to 
 do me this jufcice, I have no hope of his agree- 
 ing with me in the following account of fpiri- 
 
 tudity ; I 
 
 * ColofT, i. 9. 
 
( isi ) 
 
 tuality ; nor fhall I attempt to give him any 
 pther proof of its truth. 
 
 Man being dark and blind, with refpect to 
 to God and the beauty of holinefs, through the 
 fall, a very confiderable branch of that eternal 
 life which God gives him in his Son^ lies in the 
 gift of the mind or fpirit of Chrift the Lord. 
 Hence, and not from the beft ufe of the mod 
 improved rational faculties, however ufeful ih^Y 
 be in all things elfe, he has a proper percep- 
 tion of real Chriilianity. Had the wife of 
 this world been pofTeiTed of the leail degree of 
 divine tafte, they had never crucified the Lord 
 of glory. A real knowledge of, and reliance on 
 Chrift crucified, is only this way attained. The 
 reafon of man, in his prefent depraved ilate 
 is not only not friendly, but is moft directly 
 inimical to this Spirit of God. All the know:- 
 ledge called rational, mAift be deduced from 
 the fources of fenfation and rcfiedlion, as Mr. 
 Locke, in his admirable treatife on the Human 
 Underftanding, has demonftrated ; fimple ideas 
 being the ultimate fources. Where there is no 
 perceptive organ, there no art can educe them. 
 The blind can by no means form an idea of 
 colours, nor the deaf of founds. The percep- 
 tive faculty, vvhich relates to the apprehenfion 
 
 of 
 
( 158 ) 
 
 of the real Gofpel, is of the fame kind, and has 
 the fame properties, as any man, who both un- 
 derftands Locke's Treatife and the real Gofpel^ 
 may fatisfy himfelf. It gives him new ideas 
 of the glory of God and of moral beauty •, in 
 ihort, of every thing which enters into the 
 genius of the Gofpel. Like other ideas and 
 other knowledge, deduced from the perception 
 of the agreement and difagreement of ideas, 
 this divine tafte, and all the knowledge deduced 
 from it, m,ay be (Irengthened by exercife, and 
 be impaired by Hoth, but muft itfelf be the 
 diredt gift of heaven. The Spirit of Chrifl, 
 thus imparted, communicates a new world of 
 ideas, which are foolijhnefs unto the natural 
 man ; the mi an of mere nature and mere rea- 
 fon *, inexplicable to others as the ways of the 
 incomprehenfibie God himfelf f; pr, as one 
 man's ideas muil be to another, deftitute of 
 his identical fpirit J. Hence alone we can ac- 
 count for the enmity which natural men have 
 againftthe Gofpel, and will have, until they be 
 renewed. Yet does this fpiritual faculty by no 
 means weaken any of the natural powers of 
 man, or fupcrfede their true ufe and efficacy ; 
 on the contrary, he that is fpiritual judgeth all 
 
 things : 
 * I Cor. ii. 14. 1 I Cor. il. i6.~l- i Cor. ii. ii» 
 
( ^59 ) 
 
 things^: The removal of prejudices, and the 
 conqueil of pafTions which it imparts, mufl aflift 
 and flrengthen the rational faculty, even in 
 thofe things which are reafon's province, at the 
 fame time that the fpiritual faculty itfelf remains 
 a perfedt my fiery to thofe who are merely pofTef- 
 fed of the rational. — He that is fpiritual judgetb 
 all things^ yet he himfelf is judged of no man *. 
 The evidence, by which every man ouorht to 
 judge himfelf, whether he be pofTefTed of this 
 fpiritual perception, on which all happinefs 
 and eternal life depends, is the conformity of 
 his experience with the written word. This is 
 fuiiicient to difcriminate him from a mere en- 
 thufiaft, or one who imagines, as many have 
 done, that he is guided by tlie Spirit of God, 
 when he is not. 
 
 If thefe views be faid to be extremely abhor- 
 rent from the prevailing fpirit of the times, it 
 is confefTed, with forrow and regret, that they 
 are. No confequence however it is apprehend- 
 ed can hence be deduced but this, that we are 
 fallen very much from real Chriftianity. 
 
 I 
 
 * I Cor. ii. ij. See EdA'irds's Treatife on the Religious Af- 
 
 fcaions. 
 
( i6o ) 
 
 Itwiil now be eaiy, in a fummary way, to 
 anfwer Mr. Locke's account of the provinces 
 of faith and reafon, and of enthufiafm, in thefe 
 four obfervations. 
 
 i. He greatly miftakes- the fenfe of that 
 text. Eye hath not feen^ nor ear heard, neither 
 have entered into the heart of man^ the things 
 ij^hich God hath prepared for them that love him *. 
 The chapter to which the reader's attention 
 has been earneflly folicited, and of which thefe 
 words are a part, forbids us to underfland 
 them with Mr. Locke of the revelations made 
 to St. Paul in his miraculous extafy, and lead 
 us entirely to underfland them of thofe ordi- 
 nary, but precious fenfations and difcoveries 
 communicated to every believer in every age ; 
 without the lead reference to thofe extraordi- 
 nary, but far lefs precious, gifts of the Holy 
 Spirit confined to the primitive times. 
 
 2. His account of the diftind: provinces of 
 faith and reafon is infidious and weak, becauie 
 he underftands by faith nothing of that divine 
 quality, which apprehends Chrift alone for fal- 
 vation, and to which fo much is confliantly 
 afcribed in Scripture. Doubtlefs in this, reafon 
 
 may 
 
 * I Cor. ii. 9. 
 
( l^^ ) 
 
 may and ought to exerclfe herfelf in determin- 
 ing the evidences of revelation in general, as 
 well as in many circumftances relating to the 
 dodlrines of Scripture that might be mentioned -, 
 and this a natural man m.ay do, notwithftand- 
 ing his fpiritual blindnels, juft as Profeflbr 
 Saunderfon, though blind, might give excellent 
 ledlures on light and colours. But the true 
 nature itfelf of Gofpel- truth, grace, and glory, 
 and all the enjoyment, and all the holinels 
 thence arifmg, a natural man, fo remaining, 
 muft continue deftitute of to eternity. 
 
 3. His v/hole account of Enthufiafm is ob- 
 viated in a word-. Wiien men cannot prove 
 their fuppofed fpiritual experience to be con- 
 formable to the written word, in that^ cafe 
 they may, and ought to be, deemed Enthu- 
 fiafls. 
 
 4. He allows good men may fometim.cs be 
 fupernaturally aflifted : The account we have 
 given Ihews that they always are fo ; not they, 
 but Chrift dwelling in them *. It is true they 
 cannot give any other evidence to others, tltat 
 tiiey are fo, but what refults from the bright 
 jfixianation of their holy lives, joined to their 
 
 X ij.mple 
 
 * Gal. ii. ao. 
 
( 1^2 ) 
 
 iimple tertimony, and to the proof which they 
 bring from the Scripture of thefe things •, and 
 it is fufHcient, and let me add very rational, 
 encouragement to any man tofeek for the fame 
 unfpeakable blefTings, though he as yet found- 
 himfelf deftitute of them, that God gives the 
 Holy Spirit to them that ajk him, They that ajk 
 jhall have^ they that feek Jhall jind^ to them that 
 knock it Jhall he opened^. In the mean-time the 
 extravagant applaufes bellowed on the rational, 
 have entirely J uilled out of our religious fyftem 
 the y5)/W//m/ powers ; and fo fpecious and plaufi- 
 ble is the deceit, that even many good men do 
 much impede their fpiritual progrefs by their 
 excelTive leaning to what is called rational in 
 religion. This has once demolifhed the fim- 
 plicity of truth in the Anglican Church ; and 
 now that a partial revival of truth has taken 
 place, it will be well for us, if it do not at 
 lead check the progrefs of it in this Ifle. Let 
 reafon be kept to her province, be refpedled^ 
 cherifhed, and encouraged in it by every me- 
 thod. But let her not pretend to incorporate 
 with fpirituality itfelf, though fhe may judge 
 of the circumftances that relate to it. So low 
 are we fallen in this refped, that, when the 
 operations of the fpirit are named, men feem 
 
 fearcc 
 * Matthew y\\. 7. 
 
( 1^3 ) 
 Icarce to think of any other operations as pofli- 
 ble, but the miraculous. The concefllons of 
 Locke to Infidels have given them advantages, 
 which they profecute with mercilefs rigour. 
 If an emphafis of obflinacy in guarding againft 
 the fpecious fnare of rationality has appeared 
 in wh^t has been faid, let it be laid to the ac- 
 count of the author's vehemence of jealoufy ; 
 let his reafonings, however, be candidly weigh- 
 ed, and let it be confidered after all, whether 
 the leaft diniinution of the honour jullly due to 
 reafon, or the lead invafion of her rights, has 
 been incurred by this account of an additional 
 fpiritual faculty, any more than the addition 
 of the rational faculty is any diminution of the 
 juft honour, or any invafion of the rights of 
 the animal nature. 
 
 SECTION IX, 
 
 ^'he Church, 
 
 BY this time the attentive reader may think 
 it necelfary, that we fhould define what 
 we mean by the word Churchy in its Scripture- 
 fenfe, in order to afcertain with flill greater 
 precifion what is Chriftianity, and to refcue it 
 
 X 2 by 
 
( 1% "> 
 
 by ajuO: feparatlon from the difgrace it has ever 
 lullained from the hand of infidelity. 
 
 The Church of Chrift confifts of thofe, and 
 mily thofe, vi'ho are y^in//^/z//y united to Jefus 
 Chrifl as their Prophet, Prieft, and King, or 
 to fay all in a word, their Saviour, and through 
 him to God the Father by an everlafl:- 
 ing covenant. The fpirituality of this union 
 refpe(51:s the communication of his fpirit as a 
 principle of heavenly life, fuperadded to all 
 that is. merely rational*, not in the leaft 
 weakening any one common principle of hu- 
 manity, but ftrengthenfng and redtifying them 
 all. This heavenly life begins on earth, and 
 is confummated only in heaven. God himfelf 
 is the giver of this life ; and the merit for the 
 fake of vv'hich he confers it, as well as the me- 
 dium through which it is conveyed, is the 
 propitiation of his only-begotten Son-j*. Hu- 
 man merit being thus totally excluded, and 
 every member of the church being a child of 
 wrath by nature, and dead in trefpaffes and 
 fins as others J, there is no way rn the world 
 conceivable of obtaining and enjoying eternal 
 life, but that of the faith which has been de- 
 fcribed§, and which muft ilTue in a courfe of 
 
 pra6lice 
 
 * Sea. via. f Tan ii -: — :;: Eph. li. z. ^ Sed. i. 
 
*• 
 
 ^ 
 
 ( 165 ) 
 
 practice radically diftind: from mere morality 
 with a fpecial and determinate reference to a 
 future ftate of blifsful immortality 7. We 
 now behold a living member of Chrift's body, 
 holding fad the head, and deriving fpiritual 
 nourifhment from him for the maintenance 
 of this pra6lical plan as really and as vitally, 
 as the members of the human body derive the 
 fupport of the animal oeconomy from the head. 
 Hence toward God arifes that awful and ha- 
 bitual reverence of heart ; toward himfelf, that 
 purity and chadity of affedion ; and toward 
 his neighbour, that difmterefted benevolence 
 equally abilradled from the love of praife or 
 of gain, which mark him as a fmgular being 
 in the eyes of mankind :^, and, to crown all, 
 excites their difguft by a fpirituality, not con- 
 trary to, but far above all that is merely ra- 
 tional in man §. This is the Church •, but 
 the Spirit of Chrifl has not left her to drive 
 at random from wave to wave of fancied il- 
 lumination, without an helm. The Scripture 
 guides each member in every fpiritual move- 
 ment, and affords a fufficient dire6lory to fe- 
 cure him from enthufiafm, and to difcriminate 
 his path to glory from the walk of all that 
 delufive infpiratlon, which, vvhether its origin 
 
 ^be 
 
 *Se<fl. ii. r Sect, iii.— t Seel. iv. y, mI and yil.~§ Se(5l. \n\. 
 
( I^^ ) 
 
 be from man or from Satan, pretends to b^ 
 from God. Faith, hope, and charity are real 
 fpiritual qualities, and as they grow only out 
 of real union with Jefus, fo they will not incor- 
 porate with any enthufiafm whatever. 
 
 If this be a fcriptural and precife idea of the 
 Church, the intelligent reader will be able to 
 diftinguifh the holy city, as Mr. Gibbon fcorn- 
 fully calls her*, from all ftrangers, who may. 
 claim an intereft in her privileges. He will 
 not look for Chriftianity in any national or 
 congregational Churches, m,erely as fuch. He 
 will view thefe as inftitutions necelfary for the 
 prefent courfe of things j but neither thefe, nor 
 the endlefs motley-mixture of hereiies, diflen- 
 fions, and feparations that have obtained in 
 the Chriilian world, will diftra6t his mind in 
 the fearch of the real Church. Where Chrift 
 is really trufled in, and really loved, and 
 where the fcriptural marks of unfeigned at- 
 tachment to him exill, there is the Church. 
 A thoufand circumftances of diverfity prevent 
 not the union of thofe, in whom refides the 
 fame fimple fpirituality •, nor do a thoufand 
 circumftances of agreement unite in fellowfliip 
 
 thofQ 
 * Page 3 of his Vindication. 
 
( 1^7 ) 
 thofe who are fpritual with thofe who ar^ 
 natural *» 
 
 Had Mr. Gibbon underftood this^ he had 
 deprived himfelf of all that pleafure, which the 
 recital of the evils natural and moral occafioned 
 by nominal Chrillians, evidently affords him. 
 Not a Ihadow of real difgrace would fall on 
 the fpotlefs fpoufe of Chriil from all the abo- 
 minations of harlots. The truth is, all who 
 are not of the Church are Infidels, as really fo 
 as Bolingbroke or Hume. Chriftianity has no 
 real connection with their follies and vices, 
 becaufe they are not united to her head by 
 faith •, and it no more concerns her to obviate 
 the fcandals they occafion, than thofe occa- 
 fioned by Mahometans or Pagans. 
 
 The difcerning reader will fee to what a 
 length of confequences thefe thoughts may be 
 extended. A fingle inftance may give him a 
 clear idea of what I mean. It gives Mr. Gib- 
 bon pain, that Chrillians, whom he would 
 rob of every other glory, Ihould pofTefs the 
 peculiar glory of fuffering. After taking great 
 pains to Ihew how little their fufferino-s were, 
 he comforts himfelf with the thougrht, that 
 
 the 
 
 ■ " * I Cor. Ji, 
 
( 1^3 ) 
 
 t^e Chriftians, in the courfe of their inteftine 
 diifenfions, have infiided far greater feverities 
 on each other, than they had experienced from 
 the zeal of Infidels *. 
 
 In truth, the perfecutions in France, in Spairl, 
 in Germany, in the Netherlands, and in Eng- 
 land, which, at different times, have deluged 
 thofe countries with rivers of blood, were ad- 
 ditional inllances of the malice of infidelity 
 againft the Church of Chrift, and ought not^ 
 even in im.agination, to be clafTed under ano- 
 ther head of events. Did the perfecutors in- 
 deed regard the fpiritual new birth, faith in 
 Jefus alone for falvation, and the other fcrip- 
 tural marks of the Church ? Did they not in 
 fid: deride thefe things as much as Dioclefian 
 or Julian could do, and did they not hate thofe 
 who loved them as fuch ? What if fome forms 
 of nominal Chrifbianity feem to give them ano- 
 ther afpedt ? What do they prove, but that 
 Satan teaches his children in the progrefs of 
 the world an hypocrify more and aiore re- 
 fined, while he direds them fiill to carry on 
 the fame intereft •, and pride, love of the worldj 
 and enmity againll the kingdom of Chrift are 
 as difcernible as ever in his fubjeds ? 
 
 The 
 
 * Page 585. 
 
( 1% ) 
 
 The Church then has ever been In general 
 the fuffering party in the world. No inftancc 
 can be given of fuch malicious perfecution 
 carried on, fometimes with open fury, at other 
 times with refined difgujfes, again ft any fet of 
 men as againic real Chriftians. The fpoufe of 
 Chrift may be traced, as by the other marks 
 laid down, fo by this of fuffering, from age 
 to age. The ftreams of blood, and the taunts 
 of reproach, diltinguifn her moil evidently, 
 and fnew that fhe has not a friend upon earth : 
 Her confolation is, her friend is above, and 
 becaufe he lives fhe fliall live alfo^. Her head 
 fuffered more than heart can conceive, while 
 On earth, and fhe muft mark her courfe of 
 conformity to him, by fuffering till God wipe 
 away all tears from her eyes. 
 
 It is not hard for a lover of evangelical 
 truth to trace hiftorically this Church of Chrift 
 from th^ beginning of time to the prefent. 
 From the blood of Abel let us carry down our 
 eyes through the cruel bondage of Egypt to 
 the fufferings of the Prophets, who fuccefTively 
 adorned the Church. Behold Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes glutted with the blood of the Maccha- 
 bces, and you ftill fee the Church, even be- 
 
 Y fore 
 
 * John xiv. 19. 
 
C 170 ) 
 
 fore the incarnation of Jefiis, living in depen- 
 dance upon him, and fubftantially the fame as 
 the Church fince his time, though under a 
 darker difpenfation. It was indeed a dull fea- 
 fon of the Church when Jefus vifited the earth 
 in human form •, but Simeon, Anna, Cornelius, 
 and probably feveral more, ftill tellified, that 
 God had a Church upon earth. The bright- 
 nefs of the three firft centuries of Chriftianity 
 points her out with a fplendour which needs 
 no faint defcription of mine. Through the 
 following centuries to the twelfth, though with 
 decreafing fplendour, yet ftill the children of 
 the Church are difcoverable like bright lumi- 
 naries amidft the growing darknefs of Anti- 
 chrift, 
 
 " A crowd of daring fanatics from the twelfth 
 to the fixteenth century alTumed the popular 
 chara6ler of reformers*.'* Thus faftidioufly 
 fpeaks our author. The pious Waldo of Lyons, 
 I fuppofe, is one of them, who, leaving his 
 houfe and goods, devoted himfelf wholly to 
 the profeflion of the Gofpel, and took care 
 to have the writings of the Prophets and 
 Apoftles tranflated into the vulgar tongue f. 
 Grofthead, Bifliop of Lincoln, is another who 
 
 has 
 * Page 586. — t See Newton on thePhrcJphecies, vol. iii. p. 176- 
 
( 171 ) 
 
 has merited the illiberal appellation for his ho-^ 
 nefl labours in defence of religious liberty 
 againft the encroachments of Popery in the 
 thirteenth century. V/alter Lollard, burnt 
 alive at Cologne, is another -, and John Wick- 
 liffe, whofe name will remain fragrant to the 
 lateft pofterity, is, it feems, in Mr. Gibbon's 
 eyes, a daring fanatic •, and the noble Baron 
 of Cobham, in the fifteenth, is honoured with 
 the fame goodly epithet. John Hufs and Je- 
 rome of Prague, what men were thefe ! What 
 a teftimony did even a learned Papift give of 
 the latter ! daring fanatics a learned Modern 
 efteems them. And how difficult will it be for 
 him to clear himfelf of indire6lly accufmg, in 
 the fame manner, the magnanimous Luther, the, 
 meek Melancthon, and the vyhole tribe of 
 German and Britifh reformers, to whomi, under 
 God, we owe fo much at this day ! Mr. Gibbon, 
 is beyond all doubt learned, fagacious, and 
 difcerning ; but he ought not, like another 
 Pope, to arrogate to himfelf an infallibility of 
 judgment : Nothing fhort of thjs can vindicate 
 fuch pofitive ftigmas againft whole bodies of 
 men. The Church, ever praifed be her Head ! 
 ilill fubfifts in various parts of the world, and 
 aniwers the calumnies of enemies by faith, 
 meeknefsj patience, benehcence, and prayer. 
 
 y 2 This 
 
( 172 ) 
 
 This is the Church : What her enemies are, 
 their own enmity declares. But the Gates of 
 hell lliall never prevail againd her : So pro- 
 mifes her Lord. Thus far his words are made 
 good ; the Church is neither reafoned nor per- 
 fecuted out of the world -, what he has done 
 already in his indulgent providence, is an 
 earnef^ of what he will do to the end of time. 
 
 SECTION X, 
 
 I'he progrefs of Chrijlianity, 
 
 THOUGH Mr. Gibbon owns, in words, 
 that ^' it was owing to tht convincing 
 evidence of the doftrine itfelf, and to the ruling 
 providence of its great author*," yet nothing 
 is more evident than this, that the whole 
 energy of his fifteenth chapter is direded to 
 eilabliih pofitions, tending to account for its 
 progrefs by methods merely human. What 
 confequences fubverfive of its divine authority 
 would thence be deduced, its enemies will tell 
 with pieafure. Whether our author really 
 meant to furnifh them with the materials of 
 this malignant triumph, is referred to his own 
 confcience. But it behoves every friend of 
 
 mankind, 
 * Page 459. 
 
( ^73 ) 
 mankind, who loves the Gofpel, to oppofe what 
 is inimical to it, whether defignedly fo or not. 
 
 It will be neceflary then to jQiew (what will 
 now need only a few words to illuftrate, but 
 which it was a principal obje6t of thefe flieets 
 to eilablifh) the total infufficiency of his pro- 
 je6led methods of propagating Chriflianityj and 
 that even " the convincins: evidence of the doc- 
 trine itfelf, and the ruling providence of its 
 great author," though furely of great impor- 
 tance, needed alfo the addition of another 
 capital mean for the fuccefsful propagation of 
 the Gofpel. 
 
 And here I would premife, that there are 
 two cafes, and two feafons, which relate to 
 this fubject, extremely neceflary to be di- 
 flinguiilied, in order to elucidate its nature, 
 which Mr. Gibbon has all along confounded, 
 and thence has rendered the whole chapter 
 under confideration, ambiguous and infidious 
 to the lad degree. The cafe of a general pro- 
 feflion of Chriftianity, grounded on fpecula- 
 tive belief, education, or tradition, but void 
 of energetic faith, and produdive of no mo- 
 fal and fpiritual renovation of nature, ought 
 
 ever 
 
( 174 ) 
 ever to be diilinguillied from the cafe of the 
 real Church of Chrift, confiiling of living 
 members of his body, influenced by his Spi- 
 rit, poJTeffed of the real faith and holinefs of 
 the Gofpcl, and by confeqnence exprefiing ia 
 their lives the dodlrines and precepts of the 
 New Teilament. 
 
 He who would enquire into the caufes of 
 the propagation of Chriftianity, can never do 
 juftice to his fubjed, nor fo much as give a 
 clear idea of the objed: before him, except he 
 define, whether he means the firfl or the laft 
 of thefe cafes. They are widely difiindl from 
 one another. Even modern Judaifm and Pa- 
 gan idolatry are not fo different in their nature, 
 as thefe two confiderations. For there may. 
 be, and often is, much of the firft, where there 
 is none at all, or very little, of the fecond. 
 
 Two feafons alfo mufl be carefully didin- 
 ouiflied ♦, and it ought to be confidered, whe- 
 ther \^e have in view the iirfl extenfive propa- 
 gation of Chriftianity by the preaching of the 
 primitive teachers, till their numbers became 
 confiderable in the empire, or the fecond {till 
 more extenfive propagation of it, after Churches^ 
 were formed, and fome fcope was given for 
 
 the 
 
( "^io ) 
 
 the exercife of human power and policy In this 
 work. The neglecl of the hrft di(lin6lion 
 would feem to indicate an extreme ignorance 
 of the nature of the Gofpel, which mufl: be 
 taken into confideration by every one, who 
 undertakes fairly to account for its propao-a- 
 tion. And the negledl of the fecond feems 
 to betray the want of candour, as that of the 
 former does the want of difcernment. 
 
 I. It has been too largely fnewn by many 
 divines, to need any repetition, how impolTible 
 it was that fuch a religion as that of Jefus, 
 fo extremely perfecuted as it certainly was*. 
 Under fuch a concurrence of difadvantao-es, in- 
 tcrnal and external, could ever, had it been 
 falfe, have overcome the deep-rooted preju- 
 dices of idolatry, and have brought fo large a 
 part of mankind, even to the profefiion ab- 
 jR:racl-ed from the vital obedience of Jefus. 
 The firft cafe is that which, under this head, 
 will alone engage our attention. It is eafy to 
 account for the rapid progrefs of any party, 
 good or bad, after it has once made itfelf re- 
 fpe(fi:able or formidable enough to engage the 
 attention of mankind. The difficulty is, how 
 to account for the firil fuccefs of the Gofpel. 
 
 Conceive 
 
 * See part i. fet5lion lalh 
 
( 176 ) 
 
 Conceive twelve illiterate fifliermen or mecha- 
 nics, aided by feventy affiiiants, beginning at 
 Jerufalem to fpread the religion of their de- 
 fpifed and crucified Mafter among the Jews, his 
 virulent enemies, and among the Gentiles^ 
 whcfe religion and whofe manners they con- 
 demn in the grofs. The malignity of Infidels 
 may dwell with fatisfa6lion on the pious frauds, 
 the religious crufades, and the horrible perfe- 
 cutionsi which, in afrer-ages, were made ufe 
 of to propagate, not Chriftianity furely, but 
 the Chriftian name : But this does not at all af- 
 fe6l our fubjecl ; for if the diflindlion of fea- 
 fons be fiieadily kept in view, the necefTity of 
 the truth of the Gofpei will be evident. Ficti- 
 tious miracles could never have counter-failed 
 fuch povv^erful oppofition. They mufl have 
 been llifled in the birth : The miracles mull 
 have been true, known and felt to be true, or 
 even the bare profeiTjon of fo obnoxious a re- 
 ligion could not have obtained among man- 
 kind. 
 
 Our author thmks* the multiplicity of fc(51sj 
 into which the Chriftian world was divided, 
 had its influence in propagating the GofpeL 
 Quite the reverfe feems the judgment of un- 
 
 bialTed 
 
 * page 46?. 
 
( ^11 ) 
 
 bialTcd reafon. A houfe divided o.gainft iifelf 
 falleth^ is a proverb ufed indeed by the divine 
 
 Saviour on a particular occafion, but the 
 thouorht ori2;inates from ihe common fenfe of 
 mankind. Whatever advantages the Goipel 
 might receive from the acquifition of thefe 
 feces, after they became incorporated into the 
 general Church, this, at the motl, was preca- 
 rious and incickntal, and can by no m^ans ac- 
 count for that which alone demands our atten- 
 tion, the firfl amazing propagation of the Gof- 
 pel. Let the learned reader look mto Irenseus ^ 
 he will be aflonillied at rhe mukiplicity of 
 fe<fts, ali which affumed the Chriftian name, 
 in a very early period of the Church. The 
 pregnant principle of original depravity, aided 
 by the influence of Satan, will eafily account 
 for it indeed, in the eyes of the true believer; 
 but yet he will be led to admire the flrength 
 of thofe evidences, on which the belief of 
 Chriftianity {lands, fmce a ciixumftance of a 
 nature lb peculiarly difcouraging, as this of in- 
 ternal flrife and confufion, and that to a very 
 high degree, leiTened not the fuccefs of the 
 Gofpel. 
 
 In vain does the fagacious author exert thofe 
 talents, which, with fo much perfpicuity, 
 
 Z elafied 
 
( 178 i 
 claficd and arranged the anomalous tribes of 
 Barbarians in the civil part of his hiilory, in 
 the difcovery of caufes merely human*, that may 
 account for the rapid progrefs of the GofpeL 
 His invention was furely diilreffed, when he 
 threw cut the zeal of the Chriftians againft 
 idolatry, as one of thefe caufes. The diltinc^ 
 tion of feafons, which perpetually calls for our 
 attention, demonftrates this. The fecond ra« 
 pid propagation of Chrifc's religion may be 
 conceived to have been aflifted by this medium. 
 In after-ages the zeal of Charlemagne againft 
 idolatry tended, no doubt, tofprcad theChriftian 
 name at leaft among the ftubborn Saxons, and 
 many inftances of a more recent date might be 
 produced. But what is this to the firft pro- 
 pao-ation of the Gofpel through the Roman 
 Empire in the three lirll centuries, without the 
 leaft aid of civil power ? That which is al- 
 ready propagated, always has, within itfelf, 
 energetic caufes of a propagation ftill more 
 extenfive, but how to propagate at all, hie la- 
 hcr^ hoc opus eft. 
 
 Let us place before our eyes the firft begin- 
 nings of the Gofpel, as ftatcd in the hiftory 
 of the Ads, and as allowed of necefTity by all 
 acquainted with antient hiftory. Will any 
 
 man 
 
( 1/9 ) 
 |iian fay, that the fervent zeal of the ApoHles 
 againfl: idolatry had, in itfelf, the leaf!: tendency 
 to propagate the faith ? Do men love to have 
 their favourite paflions openly oppoled ? Is that 
 the way to win the heart ? Did the Jefuits in 
 the Eaft make their converts by this method ? 
 Did not artifice, equivocation, and unwar- 
 rantable compliances mark their charader and 
 condu6t ? This then is fo far from havinp- 
 been an human caufe of the fuccefs of Chri- 
 ftianity, that it only fhews in a flron^er lio-ht 
 the power of thofe divine caufes, which alone 
 can account for it. 
 
 We are told, that the belief of the Millen- 
 nium, and the near approach of the end of the 
 world, had a mighty influence*. It has al- 
 ready been fliewn, that the deicription of the 
 Millennium, in carnal images, was intended to 
 convey fpiritual ideas ; nor were the fii-fl Chri- 
 ftians fo unacquainted with the genius of Scrip- 
 ture, as to mifunderitand this matter : It may 
 be added, none who deferve the name of Chri- 
 flians in that or in any age, are moved in the 
 choice of their religion by motives of a merely 
 wordly nature. If fome of the firft Chriftians 
 inight have imagined the fecond coming of 
 
 Z 2 Chrifl 
 
 * page 471. 
 
( iSo ) 
 
 Chrift to be at hand, St. Paul, in the fecond 
 chapter of the fecond epiille to the TheiTalo- 
 nians, fully obviated the miftake : And St. 
 John's Apocalypfe, by deducing a long period 
 of prophetic events from his own time to the 
 end of the world, necelTarily threw it back to a 
 very diiiant period in the eyes of all Chriftians, 
 The imagination is eafiiy feduced to counte- 
 nance whatever we are much inclined to • but 
 the facred writings (the moil material evi- 
 dences furely in this affair) fay nothing of 
 fuch an univerial belief among Chriilians as 
 our. author fpeaks of. 1 recoiled only the 
 miftake of the ThefTalonians, and this we 
 have feen was prefently obviated. The direc- 
 tions to patience, and to much long-fuffering, 
 the appointment of fuccelTive paifors in the 
 Churches, and the intimations given of fo 
 many events which mufc require a courfe of 
 time, point out to Chriilians no fuch fpeedy 
 extinction of the world. Clement, in his 
 epiille to the Corinthians, fuggeils, I think, 
 no fuch idea, which he would fcarce have 
 failed to do, of an event fo interefting, and 
 believed fo near. Cyprian conilantly encou- 
 rao-es the Martyrs with no other arguments 
 than thofe which a good man would ufe in 
 
 our 
 
( i8i ) 
 
 our days:- And St. Auftin*, in a letter to 
 Heiychius, breathes the fame language, con- 
 feiiing, with his ufual candour, his entire ig- 
 norance of the time of our Lord's fecond 
 
 commg. 
 
 On the whole, we feem more obliged to our 
 author's imagination, than to any hiitorical dif- 
 cernment of his, for this new caufe of the fuc- 
 cefs of the Gofpel. 
 
 '' But the fear of eternal punifhment de- 
 " nounced againil unbelievers might influence 
 " much the minds of men in their firil reception 
 «^ of the Gofpel f." Let even Hume anfwer 
 our author, and that in the mod folid manner : 
 " Confider, I btfeech you, the attachment 
 " which we have to prefent things, and the 
 *' little concern which we difcover for objedls 
 " fo remote and uncertain.j:." Place then hell- 
 fire, but invifibie, on the one hand, and on 
 the other the vifible tortures of various kinds 
 which have been fhewn, I think unanfwcrably, 
 to attend Chriilianity, whether v/ouid naturallv 
 operate moil, is obvious to underiland. 
 
 And 
 
 * AugufHni Opera, vol. i. p. 350. f Page 474. 
 
 t Hume's Dialogues, p. 245. 
 
■( lS2 ) 
 
 And the cffcfl of the virtues of the fir% 
 Chnftians, and of their eccleliaftical polity, is 
 liaDle to the fame objeftions which have been 
 confidered in other inftances. Admit their ef- 
 fect to have been even greater than Mr. Gibbon 
 would defcribe them. But then v/hat caufed 
 thefe firft Chriftians, and virtuous Chriftians 
 too ? What gave rife to fo ftrong an ecclefiaili- 
 Cal polity ? His fubordinate caufcs come evi- 
 dently too late to do their mailer's bufinefs. 
 
 "The alms ^ of the firflChriftians" might make 
 a few hypocrites, but their pecuniary abilities 
 v/ere too narrow, and the difadvantages of vio- 
 lent perfecution were too difcouraging, to give 
 any force to the confideration deferving the at- 
 tention of a reafonable man : But it is a bold 
 thmp- to fay, that fuch a fpirit of incredulity- 
 had taken place in the polite world, that " an 
 <' objed much lefs-deferving than Chriflianity, 
 '• would have been fufficient to fill the vacant 
 ** place in their hearts." f 
 
 For hath a station changed their gods, which are. 
 yet no gods F Are old habits fo foon worn out? 
 Let incredulity be ever fo firong in the gentle- 
 man, the peafaht will ilill adhere to his fuper- 
 
 ftitious 
 
 * Pag^ 498. -f Page 504. 
 
( 1^-3. ) 
 ftitious attachments. If the change from Ido- 
 latry to Chriftianity was fo eafy, why was ic 
 not before attempted ? What evidence is there 
 that, had not Chriftianity appeared^ ail the 
 learning of Phllofophers, and all the power of 
 Emperors would have made any more alteration 
 in the prevailing religious fyftems fince the 
 Chriftian sra than they did before *. Indeed 
 the increafeof Infidelty, w hi 1ft it left the Pagan 
 gentry as much hypocritically addicted to the 
 com.mon fuperftitions as the vulgar \i^x^fincerely^ 
 rendered them lefs fufceptible of that fair evi- 
 dence which Chrift'ianity offers. So eafy a thing 
 is it to turn aroiuments, which derive all their 
 ftrength from fancy, againft the inventor; and 
 fo contemptible does the fagacity of a great 
 man appear, v;hen it is employed againft the 
 caufe of heaven ! - 
 
 2. It is, I hope, apparent, that nothing that 
 has hitherto been laid before the reader v/ill 
 account for this amazing faci, the eftabliih- 
 ment of the Church in fuch a world as this. 
 The cafe of real Chriftians requires a diftin(5l 
 confideration : If miracles, prophecies, and in- 
 ternal evidence would account for the DroDa- 
 gation of profeftional Chriftianity, they cannot, 
 
 however, 
 
 '* See Prof. Ballet's Hidory of the FJUblilliment cf Chiiltianitv. 
 
( i84 ) 
 
 however, create the real Church. This is the 
 fail : There v/ere in" the primitive times, and 
 it is not difficult to fhew from the lights of 
 hiftory, that there ever have been fince, a num- 
 ber of perfons powerfully difhinguiihed from 
 all the world in their views, affedions, and 
 condu6l, fo fmgular that they evidently appear 
 to be poiTcfTed with a principle of action and a 
 fenfation peculiar to themfelves. They love 
 the Lord God ; their zeal in his fcrvice j their 
 delight in his ways ♦, and their courfe of fuffer-- 
 ing for his honour demonllrate, that it is not 
 merely for the advantages attendant on religion, 
 but for their religion itfeif, that they practice 
 its precepts. They have a peculiar attachment 
 to Jefus Chrid, and own that it is by a vital 
 connedtjon with him only, the nature of which 
 they themfelves are far from being able to ex- 
 plain, that they enjoy this new life. The 
 world may be pleafed to call it an enthufiaftical, 
 they, according to fcriptural phrafeology, call 
 it a fpiritual life, becaufe they believe it begun, 
 continued, and carried on by the Spirit of God ^ 
 and they have this evidence of the truth of 
 what they affirm, that they find every power 
 of natvire and mere reafon totally incompetent 
 to produce this life. On the contrary, they 
 feel themfelves apollatc, guilty, corrupt, un- 
 done 
 
( 1^5 ) 
 
 done finners: They feek not their own glory-, 
 they value not human praile -, they are low 
 enough in their own eyes to be obliged to mere 
 grace for all their happinefs, and to confels 
 that ruin is their defert. They adore the wif- 
 dom, the grace, and the love of God exhibited 
 in the redemption through Jefus Chrift. His 
 merit and death form their fole title to glory^ 
 and fole relief of confcience. The love of 
 Chrift conflrains them to live righteoufly, fo- 
 berly, and godly. That virtue to which Phi- 
 lofophy pretends, is theirs in reality. x\b- 
 ftraded from the world in tafte and fpirit, they 
 yet demonftratCj that they love all men in fin- 
 cerity. Pride and oflentation, which fo evi- 
 dently mark and (lain the charader of other 
 fufferers, appear not in the Chriilian fufierer : 
 His patience is humble^ meek, and ferene ; 
 and he has that within, which is the never- 
 failing fpring of his fmgular virtue and fu- 
 preme delight, an hope full of immortality. 
 In fine, he is in this diftinct from all the v/orld, 
 as diftindl from others who yet call themfclvca 
 Chriftians, as from ail the religionifts that 
 ever lived, that he lives, and hopes, and glo- 
 ries, not in any thing done or fuffered by him- 
 felf, but while he views himfelf as undeferving 
 as any other, he lives, and hopes, and rejoices 
 
 A a in 
 
( i86 ) 
 
 in the righteoufnefs and infinite merit of an^ 
 other, which becomes his only by imputation, 
 and forms the bafis of his comfort, the ftrength 
 of his heart, and his portion for ever. 
 
 This is the Christian : This is what the 
 Apoflles laboured to propagate : And a Phac- 
 nomenon fo rare, and I will add fo glorious, 
 mulf have afmgalar caufe. It will be evident 
 to any man capable of confidering the fubje6t, 
 that this is a production to which the moft 
 improved faculties of the human mind are 
 unequal. The moft that can be effcclcd by 
 human refolutions is a conftrained obedience. 
 Self lies at the bottom. The love of honour 
 will urge a man to do and fuffer many things 
 with vigour and fortitude : But what will he 
 do, when felfifh motives are removed, and 
 pure Love is made the predominant princi- 
 ple ? The leaft knowledge of human nature 
 will enable any man to fee, that abftradled 
 from pride, oftentation, or fome felfifh and 
 wordly motive, Cato had been no more than 
 the vulgar in his virtue.^ 
 
 Turn we to the Scriptures for the difcovery 
 of a caufe. " It is eafy," fay many, " to fee 
 there the true caufe. The difcovery of a fu- 
 ture 
 
( i87 ) 
 
 ture ftate of rewards and punilhments infla- 
 ^nces the Chriliian." It is granted, that felf- 
 love has its place in the Chriftian fcheme, but 
 then it is not predominant. Love is the mo- 
 narch in all her oeconomy. The two princi- 
 ples of hope and fear will account for much 
 vigour and adtivity in fome tempers, but not 
 at all for that pleafant, free, joyful obedience 
 of humble love, mortified from all that is 
 worldly and all that is vain-glorious, and giving 
 glory to God and fhame to man, from the 
 heart. But the fa6l we have Hated is of this 
 kind ; and nothing is more evident t^han that 
 this is the conllant Scripture-charader of a 
 Chriftian. 
 
 Let the fame book, which defcribes the cha* 
 rafter, explain the caufe. No man can fay^ 
 that Jefus is the Lord^ but by the Holy Ghoft. 
 Now we have received not the fpirit of the worlds 
 hut the fpirit which is of God^ that we might 
 know the things which are freely given unto us of 
 God. We all^ with open face^ beholding as in a 
 glafs^ the glory of the Lord^ are changed into the^ 
 fame iniage^ from glory to glory ^ even as by the 
 fpirit of the Lord. No man can come to me^ ex- 
 cept the Father which hath fent me draw him. 
 Flefh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee^ but 
 
 A2i 2 my 
 
( i88 ) 
 
 my Father^ il'hich is in heaven. If any man lack 
 wijdom^ let him ajiz ef God, which giveth liberally 
 and uphraideth not, and it JJoall be given him. If 
 ye being evil know how to give good things to 
 your children^ how much more Jloall your heavenly 
 Father give the Holy Spirit to them that afk him ? 
 
 'I'he fole adequate caufe of the fuccefsful 
 propagation of the Gofpel is according to the 
 Scriptures, the Holy Ghoft. It will be well 
 if his agency, in thefe polite and rational days, 
 be thought to deferve a moment's attention. 
 Yet it is evident that there rnufl: be fome caufe 
 for this wonderful Pha^nomenon. I fliall not 
 ciifgufc the rational world by fuppofing the 
 agency of any fupernatural Being in the affair, 
 but that of the great author of nature. Any 
 fpirit inimical to him couI4 no;-, and any fpi- 
 rit obedient to his authority would not pro- 
 duce a character of fuch goodnefs, but under 
 his authority, and by a power derived from 
 himfelf. Even miracles cannot change the 
 heart, whatever eiTe6t they may have on the 
 judgment -, and the ruling providence of God 
 implying only an external government does, 
 not influence the vv'ill, as fads abundantly 
 tcHify. All that is rational and human is to- 
 tally unequal to the tafl^ , nay, perhaps, the 
 
 mofl: 
 
( 189 ) 
 
 inoft fenfible of mankind, fhould they deign 
 ^o honour thefe ftieets with their inlpediion, 
 can fcarce bear the idea of a real Chritlian 
 with patience. There is, there is an energy* 
 more than human, which produces this cha- 
 ra6ler, and it remains that this muft be the 
 Influence of thp Holy Ghost, 
 
 ■ The reader, v/ho will allow himfelf ferioufly' 
 to weigh this fubje6t, may fee that nothincr 
 fhort of this could conftitute one real Chnftian^ 
 in this or in any other age of the Church. Let 
 
 him confider, whether it is even pofiible for 
 mere man to invent fuch dodrines, much lefs 
 to propagate them with any fuccefs in a world 
 like this -f . A number of men poflefled of a 
 fixth fenfe, of which we had not the leait idea, 
 would find but few brought over to their opi- 
 nion, that they were poircfTed of fuch a fenfa- 
 
 tion. 
 
 * See Sedlion on Rationality. 
 
 f Men who have formed their religious fentiments from tra- 
 dition, education, or mere rationality, will naturally fall into 
 views not radically diltind from ihofe of other Religioniils, 
 Pagan, Mahometan, or Philofophical, and dill call themfelves 
 Chiiitians ; but a difcovery of xtdX Chriftianity will enable any 
 man to fee it to be totally diiiinft in its whole nature from all 
 riii.'gions in the world ; and to fuch and fuch only it will ap- 
 pear that a religion which completely debafes felf, and magnifies 
 God alone, could not originate from man, nor could ever havQ 
 been propagated by mere man : It mud have proceeded from 
 God^ aqj havt made its way into tiie hearts of men by an in- 
 ^uence purely divine. 
 
( 190 ) 
 
 pon. Their pretenfions would be mirconftraecj 
 into pride or folly : But thofe whom the Most 
 JiiGH ihould endow with the fame fenfation 
 would eafily believe. The application is ob- 
 vious. 
 
 Thus we have a fimple and obvious proof of 
 the ti uth of Chriftianity. I fear, indeed, it will^ 
 weigh but little with thofe who love not the 
 real Golpel. The generality will fay, " at this 
 rate the majority of thofe who call themfelves 
 Chriftians, do not even know their own reli- 
 gion." It is devoutly to be willed, that thi$ 
 were not the cafe ; that even many who have 
 written ably in defence of Chriflianity, had 
 themfelves known its nature. Much of the 
 advantage which Deifm has gained, had then 
 been prevented •, we fliould have had more of 
 the experimental proof. That Scripture had 
 been better known, he that believeth on the Son 
 of God hath the witnefs in himfelf^. Sceptical 
 doubts will vaniQi before (lubborn fadts ; were, 
 the Gopel itfeif undertlood, little time need be 
 fpcnt on its evidences. One light of the fun is 
 fuiBcicnt to point out its glorious Author. In 
 all things elfe experience is allowed to be the 
 bed fchool-mafter •, in religion only it is called 
 Enthujiajm, 
 
 * I John V. 10. SECTION 
 
( 191 ) 
 SECTION XL 
 
 Caufe of the Enmity againji Chrijlianityi 
 
 IN the former part of his fixteenth chapter; 
 our author, in a long apparatus of criiicifm, 
 iendeavours to inveiligate the caufe why Chri- 
 flianity was fo much perfecuted by the Roman 
 Emperors. It evidently ilrikes his mind, that 
 there mufl be fome powerful caufe that could 
 produce fo Angular an exception to the tolera- 
 ting genius of ancient Polytheifm : And never 
 did the oppofition between fubjefls peculiarly 
 Chriitian, and thofe which are mere y rational, 
 appear in a more confpicuous point of vieW 
 than on this occafion. That fagacity, wh ch 
 hcts hitherto invefcigated with fuch judgrhcnt 
 and precifion the caufes of the decline of Ro- 
 man greatntfs, and which ha.> afforded a plea- 
 fing profpedl oi farther difpiays * to every ra- 
 tional lover of hiilory, leems here to be uevoid 
 of even the firll elements of the fubjed:. He 
 fees that it is fomething wonderful, that the 
 Jew, as finguiar as the Chriflrian in mary re- 
 fpe6ls, fhould yet efcape that ferocity of reli- 
 gious perfecuiion, which fell with fucft weight 
 
 on 
 
 * The greater part of this u'f>'-k \V3<? wntter. before the 
 publication of our author's fecond and third volumes. 
 
( ^92 ) 
 
 on thofe whom they contcmptuoufly called ihz 
 feet of the Nazarenes. What is in hi^ eyes to 
 account for this aftonifliing diverfity ? The, 
 Jews were a nation^ the Ghriftians were a fe£t : 
 And of what effedl can fo flight a diftindion 
 as this be to account for the l*age of perfecution^ 
 which vexed the Church for 300 years almoft 
 without ceafing ? 
 
 I doubt not but every real Chrifiian is before-^ 
 hand with our author in giving the true account 
 of this matter. It were an infult on the meanef^ 
 fpiritual underfbanding, to undertake in forni 
 to acquaint them with it. If the world hatd 
 you^ ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 
 If ye were of the worlds the world would love his 
 czvn ; hut hecdufe ye are not of the worlds hut I 
 have chofen you out of the worlds therefore the 
 world hateth you. Cain war, of that wicked one^ 
 and flew his brother^ and wherefore flew he him ? 
 Becaufe his own works were evil^ and his brothers 
 righteous. Marvel 7iot^ my brethren^ if the world 
 hate you. This is a very fimple account of the 
 whole matter. Mankind are in a ftate of guilt, 
 apoftacy, and corruption -, their minds are en- 
 mity itfelf againfl: God*. His holy nature, 
 that is himfelf, is the obje6t of their averfion* 
 
 He 
 
 * P.oni, viil. 7. 
 
C ^9^ ) 
 
 i4e found it fo experimentally, when it pleafcJ 
 him to become manifeft in the fiefti *, though 
 for the moil benevolent purpofe that can be con- 
 ceived. His divine nature was impafTive ; his 
 human nature was capable of fuffering, and it 
 did fufFer to a degree beyond all defcription. 
 In proportion as any of his regenerate chil- 
 dren partake of his Spirit, they are expofed 
 to his fufferings. The dodlrines of grace, of 
 j unification, of faith, of holinefs, of this world 
 and the next, which Chriftianicy reveals, are 
 diametrically oppofite to all that any other re- 
 ligion devifes, or any philofophy invented. The 
 world will bear, and even in fome circumftances 
 admire, certain forms and fhadows of goodnefs. 
 Real goodnefs itfeif, all that are of the world 
 will hate, will perfecute with unremitted ran- 
 cour : For other animofities, time and various 
 lenient circumftances will adininifter a cure : 
 Godlinefs muft be hated by the world for 
 ever : Satan, its God, will ever aid his fubjedls 
 in the profecution of the quarrel, and no man 
 can cfcape the infection, execept he become a 
 new creature. Even the virtues of the world 
 are full as hoftile to the Gofpel as its grolTeft 
 vices : For it condemns all the glory as well as 
 ail the lliame of the world \ and the reader 
 
 B b who 
 
 * r Tioi. iii. i6. 
 
( 194 ) 
 
 who has been at the pains to confider the nature 
 of Chriil's religion, as delineated above, and to 
 view in contraft the fpirit of the world, will 
 need no farther illuftration of this fubjed. 
 
 i 
 
 The Roman perfccutions form but a fmall 
 part of ecclefiaftical hiftory, which may hence 
 be illuilrated. The rage of Philip II. had no 
 other origin : And Mr. Gibbon will allow us 
 to fay, that Rome Papal has been as bloody as 
 Rome Pagan. In fhort, with whatever diver- 
 fity of circumflances, wherever we fee the pe- 
 culiarly Chriftian principles operating among 
 mankind, there we fee the Church, and there 
 we fee it perfecuted; and the perfecutors, what- 
 ever they call themfelves, form, in Scripture 
 language, the world. 
 
 It is true, in bur days, the enmity of man'5 
 
 mind againil holinefs has lefs fcope of perfe- 
 
 cution than ever. But let the reilraints of civil 
 
 government be once removed, and torrents of 
 
 Chriftian blood v/oujd flow as freely as ever. 
 
 \ ^uman nature is not changed. Perfecution 
 
 -^"15 now confined to the tongue and the pen. 
 
 ' Mr. Gibbon's unjuft cenfures of the primitive 
 
 , Chriftians, which in the firft part have been 
 
 confidered, originate from the enmity of human 
 
 nature 
 
( ^95 ) 
 nature agalnft the Gofpel. That lives and will 
 live in all whofe hearts are not chrijlened^ fo to 
 fpeak ; though in fome there is a natural gene- 
 rofity of temper that may prevent its malevo- 
 lent exertions in torture and blood ^ and if 
 Mr. Gibbon infills that this is his cafe, I am 
 by no means difpofed to difpute it. 
 
 By this time, it is hoped, this Gentleman 
 and his admirers rnay underftand the fpirit of 
 thefe fheets. Perfonal ill-will, envy of his 
 fame, defire of detradting from the praifes fo 
 juftly attributed to his merits, or even the moil 
 diflant wifh to give him pain, form no part of 
 the defign. Opprefled or defpifed Chriftianity 
 has ever had fome advocates : If the writer of 
 this be a feeble one, he is at leafl fincere. En- 
 thufiaft! No matter : But yet he knows, that 
 to call names is mt to reafon j nor would he be 
 hence deterred from vindicating what he takes 
 to be the real Gofpel, defirous of no arms but 
 thofe of argument, and convinced that Mr. 
 Gibbon's account of the primitive Chriftians 
 muft have arifen from the enmity of human 
 nature, which ha^ in this cafe betrayed his 
 judgment. 
 
 B b 2 It 
 
( 19^' ) 
 It is not fingularity, as luch, that excites 
 this enmity. The modern Diflenters, I meaa 
 only thofe who have deviated from the Gofpel, 
 may be as tenacious as they pleafe of their fec- 
 tarian peculiarities, without giving the leafl 
 offence ; and the Churchman may, with rigid 
 exadnefs, obey his Diocefan, and regulate his 
 ecclefiaftical conduct by the Rubric ; but if 
 he preach, and feel, and live the Gofpel, he 
 will be feverely cenfured by the world : Both 
 thefe cafes are well known in England ♦, and, 
 they illuftrate, in oppofition to our author, that 
 jtational eftablifliments will not fecure real Chrj- 
 llians from that perfecution from which the 
 "unchriftian fedaries will be exempt. And \ 
 ferioufly believe, had the nation of the Jews 
 been wholly evangelized, and the Chriilian fe6l 
 become in fpirit and condu6l like the Jewifn 
 nation, the tables had been reverfed •, the di- 
 ilindion between a nation and a fed had proved 
 frivolous in experience, the Chriftians had been 
 tolerated, and the Jews had felt the whole 
 weight of perfecution. 
 
 SECTION 
 
( ''^l ) 
 
 SECTION XH. 
 
 Hume, 
 
 THE principles of revealed religion have 
 been confidered, and the futility of Mr, 
 Gibbon's attempt againft them has been expo- 
 fed by arguments drawn from the nature of 
 Chriflianity itfelf. '^. But is there not fuch a 
 " thing as natural religion ^ or, to fpeak more 
 '*' intelligibly, can we fee nothing by the light 
 V of nature concerning God and our duty ?" 
 
 I anfwer, Yes ; and St. Paul tells us how 
 tnuch. All that Metaphyficians have invefli- 
 gated on this head, may be reduced to thefe 
 two fentences : T^he invijihk things of him from 
 the creation of the 'world are clearly feen^ being 
 underjlood by the things that are made^ even his eter- 
 nal po'wer and Godhead^ fo that they are without 
 exctife *. And when the Gentiles^ which have not 
 the law^ do by nature the things contained in the 
 laWy thefe having not the law^ are a law unto them- 
 felves \ which fJoew the work of the law written in 
 their hearts -, their confciences alfo bearing witnefs^ 
 and their thoughts the mean-while accufingy or elfe 
 excujing one another, \ 
 
 Thus, 
 
 * Rom. i. 20.^^^ — t Roni. ii. is* 
 
Thus, St. Paul being judge, God has not left 
 himfelf without witnefs^ eyen in the natural 
 world. The works of creation fpeak to us 
 from without', and the moral nature, which he 
 has given us, fpeaks to us from within. In 
 conjun6lion they declare his Being and Sove- 
 reign authority, his pov/er, wifdom, and good- 
 xiefs, his equitable government, and the ac- 
 countablenefs of the human race for all their 
 moral condud: before him. And this is the 
 iitmoft ftretch of natural religion, an intuitive 
 feeling rather than the refuit of any laborious 
 invefligation. Strong and deep in its nature, 
 though confufed and indeterminate in its de- 
 gree, it lays, however, all mankind under a 
 formal obligation of obedience, becaufe all 
 mankind feel its force, and of necefllty ac- 
 quiefce in its authority, while they flrive in 
 vain to reafon away its validity. Its impor- 
 tance in the Chriitian fcheme, that admirable 
 reafoner St. Paul himfelf explains in the Epiflle 
 to the Romans. Aware what Reafon coulcj 
 do, and what fhe could not do, he begins 
 with natural religion, as a bafis not of juftifi- 
 cation and comfort, but of defpair and con- 
 demnation. Confcience alone, of all the mo- 
 ral powers of man, is not ruined by the fall ; 
 but as fiie muft be a torment, not a relief to 
 
 I an 
 
( ^99 ) 
 an awakened mind, free room and fcope ar6 
 hence afforded for the difplay of that convic- 
 tion of fin, and of that imputed merit of Jefus, 
 by which the penitent finner may be fully fe- 
 ftored to the divine favour, and enriched for 
 ever. — But this belongs to revealed religion. 
 And we cannot now fqllow him in the delight- 
 ful fubjed ; we n^y remain about the avenues, 
 for a virulent enemy of all goodnefs flops us 
 in the paflage, and following the rational fcent 
 qf Mr. Locke*, v/ho firft unhappily gave Rea- 
 fon leave to intrude herfelf into the fecrets of 
 Chriftianity, keeps her in full employ, till fhe 
 has demolilhed all, both natural and revealed 
 religion. 
 
 In his dialogues concerning natural religion, 
 we have the fubltance of all his fceptical eifays $ 
 and notwithtlanding his declaration at the 
 clofe in favour of Cleanthes, the natural reii- 
 gionift, it is evident from the whole tenour 
 of the book, and Hill more fo from the en- 
 tire fcepticifm of his former publications, that 
 Philois is his favourite. Sincerity conilitutes 
 no part of a philofopher's virtue. 
 
 He fpends many nugatory pages on the na- 
 tural attributes of God, and labours hard to 
 
 provc^ 
 
 * Hume's dialogues, p. zs. 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 prove^ by a variety of childifh imaginations 
 at leafl, if not of arguments, that one fcheme 
 of Godhead is as good as another, with a view 
 to reduce Polytheifm, Spinozifm, Chriflianity, 
 and all forts of views of the divinity to the 
 fame level of evidence, or rather of no evi- 
 dence j and, on the ruin of all, to eflablifh his 
 horrible univerfal fcepticifm. Indeed the hu- 
 man mind is fo totally incompetent to decide 
 on thefe points, and the divine efTence is fo 
 entirely removed from our comprehenfion, that 
 nothing is more eafy than for a man of lively 
 imagination, unawed by the fear of God, that 
 is to fay for Mr. Plume, to reprefent many 
 various views of this kind-, and yet^as^the 
 procefs is carried on without any da^/ the 
 whole muil be, 
 
 *' The bafelefs fabric of a vlfion." 
 
 And if we confider what he ov/ns muft ftill 
 efcape the wreck of fcepticifm, that there 
 muil be fomewhere an intelligence and defign 
 that pervades the univerfe, which Eve call^' 
 God, we iliail have reafon to be little afte^led 
 with all his queries concerning his abftracl 'na- 
 ture, becaufe it makes no part of our concern. 
 That effedts prove a caufe, that numberlcfs 
 inftances of defmn Drove a deRener, this af- 
 
 ford s 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 fords a fufficient bafis of natural religion. That 
 he is not material, every one who believes 
 Sciipaire (the evidences of which are furely 
 obtained in a way perfcdly independent of this 
 metaphyfiCal enquiry) will acknowledge, be- 
 caufe Gcd is a fpirit^ and 2ifpirit halh not fujh 
 and bones^, Thcic remain only the moral at- 
 tributes of God to be confidered. They only 
 affldl us as rational and accountable agents : 
 And a dreary viev/ it is which Mr. Hume has 
 given of them. He contends, that, mod pro- 
 bably, he has neither moral good nor moral 
 evil in him, on account of the mixt appear- 
 ance of things in the world, which fecms to him 
 to exclude the idea of either perfeft goodnefs, 
 or perfedt malice f. Allowing that the ob- 
 jedl'ons againil his goodnell-, deduced from 
 the miieries with which the world is pregnant, 
 are foiidly anfwered from the confi 'eration of 
 our ignorance, he maintains that the fame con- 
 fideration will invalidate the proofs alfo J. 
 
 The laft obfervation feems to contain the 
 fubftance of all that deferves a careful anfwer 
 in the treatife. The ftrengih of it lies in the 
 fuppofition, that the proofs drawn from the 
 natural and moral world for the moral sovern- 
 
 C c menc 
 
 * Luke xxiv. 39- 1 P«'2e 221. + Pasc 219. 
 
( 202 ) 
 
 ment and attributes of God, are juftly liable 
 to txhe fame charge as the objections are ; thac 
 in both cafes we have equal right to fay, that 
 we are incompetent to decide-, whence univerfal 
 icepticifm muil neceffarily enfue. 
 
 The attentive reader now fees what he has a 
 right to expe6t from the remainder of this 
 fedtion. It behoves us firft to (hew, that there 
 are foiid proofs of the righteous character of 
 God : Secondly, That all objeftions, deduced 
 from the phsenomena of nature, are inconclu- 
 five, on account of our ignorance of the fcheme 
 of the Divine Government, at the fame time- 
 that the proofs are not at all expofed to the 
 like objedtion's. 
 
 I. Let any man coolly attend to what pafTes 
 within himfelf, and alk what account can be 
 given of that principle within him which w^ 
 call CGnjcience. However it has been derided, 
 it is not derided out of the world ; and any 
 perfon may, if he pleafes, convince himfelf of 
 its power, by attending to the energy of its re- 
 bukes, in fpite of the moft fubtil reafonings 
 which he may have made ufe of to drown its 
 voice*. Still it fpeaks, and fpeaks not like 
 
 other 
 
 * Let any man, wha has attended to his own feelings, aflc 
 himfelf whether it be poflible for any mode of education, either 
 to implant or to eradicate this moral fcnfe. 
 
( 203 ) 
 
 other principles and inftindls of human nature y, 
 but with an authority fleady and flrong, yet 
 ever upright and equitable, commanding the 
 whole man, and commanding no lefs the eileem 
 than the fear of the whole human race. All 
 render themfelves more or lefs obnoxious to its 
 rebukes ; but to bribe it into filence, or rather 
 to ftupify and intoxicate it, v/ould afk a long 
 and enormous courfe of confirmed fiao-itioul- 
 nefs ; and if it be ever effeded at all, it leaves 
 a man in a flate too monilrous and unnatural, 
 to excite any other ideas than thofe of horror 
 and deteflation. If any man might be con- 
 ceived to have conquered in himfelf this awful 
 principle, fo as to have loft all idea of its in- 
 fluence, one is tempted to think it was Mr. 
 Hume : Yet hear how elegantly, as well as 
 emphatically, he defcribes it. Speaking of 
 Somerfet, the murderous favourite of James I. 
 he fays, " The favourite had hitherto efcaped 
 
 C c 2 " the 
 
 f See Blfnop Butler's Sermons on H;]man Nature and his 
 Analogy. I once for all acknowledge here my great obhgaiions 
 to this author, andfliall fpare myfelf the labour of repeated re- 
 ferences. He wiio would learn to cultivate his judgment, and 
 at the fame time to chadife l^is imagination in fubjeds of tliis 
 nature, will do well to meditate this writer. Hq will at the 
 ^ame time furnifli himfelf with an anfwer to all the deiflical or 
 fceptical fpeculations that ever were, or perhaps will be pnb- 
 lifhed. 
 
( 204 ) 
 
 " the enquiry of juftice ; but he had not 
 " elcapcd chat iiiii voiCt, which can make aieif 
 " be heard amid it all the hurry and flattery of 
 ^' a court, and aitonifhes the criminal with 
 *' a juft rcpreientation ot his moft lecret enor- 
 " mities." Aiid a iitrle after, " the grace of 
 " his youth grauually difappeared; the. gaiety 
 ^' of his manners was oofcured -, his poiitenefs 
 "^nd obli'ing behaviour were changed into 
 ^' fullennefs and filence." * 
 
 This is but one inflance of the dominion of 
 confcience. What renders its empire deci- 
 fively great, is the little or no conne6Lion 
 whi>-h it has wich any elaborate procefs of rea- 
 foning. Its voice is plain and ilrong, not ini- 
 mica! to, but far fuperior to the voice of rea- 
 fon. It requires, in common cafes at lead, 
 very little fagacity to diredl it : It fpeaks like 
 an inftindl in all men. And it is very ob- 
 fervable, that plain men ot tOicrable equity, 
 though of fmall capacity, generally more feel 
 Its force than the learned and the ingenious : 
 For much argumentative fkill is neceffary to 
 elude its force, none to Iharpen and direct it. 
 
 From 
 
 * Hifloiy of England, vol. vi. p. 75. 
 
( 205 ) 
 
 From thefe obvious con fide rations we may 
 fairiy infer, (fo long as the common fenfc of 
 manKihd will lead them to look out for a caufe 
 of fo powerful an effect) that this moral prin- 
 ciple IS implanted in all men by the Author of 
 nature. And as it is nut to be imagined, that 
 he would itnplant in us what is contrary to his 
 own nature, we are ied to infer the moral per- 
 fedlions of God. If he who made the eye mufl 
 fee *, he who gave to map a moral nature, mud 
 himfelf be the moral governor of the world, 
 Juilice, and equity, and goodnefs mud be his 
 delight ; our very feelings witnefs it. 
 
 This is an argument, it is apprehended, 
 completely conclufive in itfelf. It has recom- 
 mendi^d itfelf to the common fenfe of men in 
 all ages. The very intuitive nature of this 
 moral Lnfe L; no contemptible proof that it is 
 from God. That which is plain and obvious 
 to all, bias faired to be natural What if a 
 few fuperior geniufes have fophidicated them- 
 felvcs out of the common feelinors of huma- 
 
 O 
 
 nity, and reafoned away the univerfal appre- 
 henfions of the fpecies ? Even thofe who have 
 not talents to unravel the fallacies of their 
 
 reafonings, 
 
 * Pfalm xcly. 9, 10 He that chajiifeth the Heathen^ Jlmll 
 not ^corre^ ? The Pfiilmiib argues much in the fame manner. 
 
( 2o6 ) ♦ 
 
 reaibnings, act not unreafonably in Vvathhold- 
 ing their aflent to conclufions, which are pal- 
 pably contrary to the common fenfations of 
 mankind. Thefe are certain and obvious ; 
 but things which are called demonftrations, 
 are often mere cobwebs of the fancy, or tho* 
 depending on a juft concatenation of ideas for 
 the mofl part, yet, through the omifTion or 
 perverfion of fome feemingly trifling circum- 
 Itance, become the moil egregious and the ;nofl; 
 jidiculous follies. 
 
 Here then an obligation to obey the God 
 of nature, abflradled from all confideration, 
 pf the works of nature, is contra6ted by every 
 moral agent : And the mofl confirmed Sceptic 
 is inexcufably blind, if he will not fee the 
 righteoufnefs and m.ajeily of the Lord. What- 
 ever uncertainties he may be under on thq 
 Other fide, they can never preponderate an 
 undoubted certainty on thi^. 
 
 By the w^ay, one may fee here, not only how 
 common but how reafonable it is, that plain 
 men of little fkill in argument, are mod fuf- 
 ceptible of affent in all queftions of a religious 
 and moral nature. Ingenious fceptics may 
 fufped:, that religion ov/es its chief fupport 
 
 t^ 
 
( ^07 j 
 
 to ignorance. But a more candid account 
 may be given of the matter. The inftindive 
 principle before us is, in unlettered men, more 
 pure and unfullied. Ail true religion and true 
 morality are on the v/hole fo friendly to natu- 
 ral confcience, that it is no wonder their dic- 
 tates gain a more eafy aflcnt from thofe in 
 whom confcience does fairly its ofnce, than 
 from thofe who, by learned pride and faflidi- 
 ous reafoning, have adulterated its nature. 
 For, truly, in a being fo corrupt as man, (and 
 corrupt he is in his will and underftanding, 
 notv/ithilanding the innate power of confcience) 
 the more vigorous exercifes of reafon are, in 
 religion, good for little elfe than to confound 
 and miflead him. The intellectual faculty, the 
 more folid and piercing it is, fmks only the 
 deeper in abfurdity, while it mixes itfelf with 
 the inire and dirt of human depravity. 
 
 Further : This moral nature of man is not 
 the only proof of the moral attributes of God. 
 Final caufes are as obvious in the adminiitra- 
 tion of the moral, as of the natural world. 
 The difeafes attendant on lewdnefs and drun- 
 kennefs^ the mifchiefs refulting from impru- . 
 dence and inattention, the evidently natural 
 t-endency of goodnefs in its own nature to 
 
 praife, 
 
, ( 208 ) 
 
 praiie, and honour, and profperity, the awe 
 with which even wickedncfs is itruck at the 
 fight of that goodnefs which it perfecutcs and 
 afRidls, the accidental nature of thofe impedi- 
 ments, which, at prefent, prevent the domi- 
 nion of goodnefs in the world ; the hypocrify of 
 wicked men, who never punilh goodnefs as 
 fuch \ all thefe confideracions unitfe their 
 {lreno;th in evincins; the righteous chara6ler of 
 the governor of the world. And it is material 
 to our purpofe to obferve, that all thefe proofs, 
 being drawn cither from feelings or from fa6ls, 
 have neither the flippery nature of tedious 
 reafonings,' nor are they fubje61: to the charge 
 of intruding into what is incomprehenfible by 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Hume calls thofe who reprefent good- 
 nefs in God of the fame nature as in man, by 
 the hard name of Anthropomorphites. A hard 
 name weighs little with thofe whom reafon 
 governs rather than fancy. Sceptic ifm fhould 
 know fome bounds. Juftice and goodnefs are 
 what they are in Spirit or in Man ♦, and in- 
 juftice and malice muft be deteilable in either: 
 Our feelings tell us this •, and I would no more 
 reafon with any who difpute this, than I would 
 fight with a lion or a tiger. It may be worth 
 
 while 
 
( 209 ) 
 
 while to obferve from Scripti:ire here, that St, 
 Peter declares *, that real Chnftians become 
 partakers of the divine nature ; and that Love, 
 on which St. John fo nobly, and yet fo fimply, 
 writes in his firil Epiftle, is of the fame nature 
 in God and in the Saint. 
 
 Still farther : The works of creation abound 
 with proofs of Divine bounty and goodnefs, not- 
 withftanding the miferies of mankind. So far 
 as we can fee and feel the proofs of this good- 
 nefs, fo far the proof of the moral attributes 
 of God is decifive •, neither is there any room 
 to fay we are not judges, becaufe experience 
 proves that we are. But to enter on this field 
 is neediefs : Ray's Wifdom of God in the Works 
 of Creation, and many other treatifcs, have done 
 juftice to it. The refult of this whole head of 
 argumentation is a pofitive proof of the moral 
 perfections of God^ in no one inftance liable to 
 impofition, becaufe in all deduced from fenfa* 
 tion, or from fad:s. 
 
 II. The futility of objeClions muft now en- 
 gage our attention : And here, at fird fight, it 
 deferves the ferious confideration of every one 
 who pretends to the lead degree of modefcy, 
 
 D d Vt'hethcr 
 
 * a Peter i. 4, 
 
( 2IO ) 
 
 whether he can pofiibly think, that his inability 
 to account for any phenomena in nature, can 
 form even the lead prefumption againft the 
 wifdom and goodnefs of God; v/herher, if 
 every thing in the whole fcheme of Divine go- 
 vernment was perfectly commenfurate with his 
 capacity, he fhould not be inclined to harbour 
 very mean and debafing conceptions of his 
 inajeily and greatnefs, and be tempted to think 
 wickedly, that God was even fuch an one as him- 
 felf. * 
 
 I. If the mod reafonable modefty lead us 
 to think a priori^ that the Divine adminiftration 
 muft be a lyftem as fuch incomprehenfible by 
 us, it will be natural for us to confider in what 
 lights we may probably be enabled to under- 
 fland any thing of it. To fay that, if the ob- 
 jections be inconclufive becaufe of our igno- 
 rance, the proofs are equally fo, is to fay that 
 v/e are incapable of underdanding any thing 
 at all v/hich relates to it. This would be to 
 edablidi a complete Scepticifm indeed ; but 
 then it is a m.ere begging of the quedion, and 
 will fooner fhew the eagernefs with which this 
 impious man hadened to the horrible conclu- 
 fion he had fo much at heart, than any peculiar 
 
 fagacity 
 * Pfalml. at. 
 
( 211 ) 
 
 iigacity of reafoning. He ought to have exa- 
 mined the proofs diftin6liy, and to have fliewn 
 that they are really enveloped in the fame 
 clouds of ignorance in which the objections are. 
 It is previoufly probable, that God would give 
 us fome fatisfadtory light into the ends of his 
 government, but not much into the means by 
 which it is carried on. Analogy dictates this. 
 Children have a clear conception of the general 
 end of their education. They foon learn, that 
 the intent of the whole is to qualify them for 
 future fcenes of life ; though fenfible at the 
 fame time, that they are very incompetent 
 judges of the means by which it may be mod 
 profitably carried on : Yet the allowed reafon- 
 ablenefs of their fubmiflion to, and acquiefcence 
 under fuch circumfcances, is a plain proof, 
 that not only we are formed with a frame of 
 mind originally fuited to fuch a (late of modeft: 
 dependance, but that it is right and fitting it 
 lliould be fo. ne moral fenfe is calculated to 
 iVrengthen our view of the end of the Divine 
 government, and to enable us to conclude, that 
 in the ilTue God mull do all things right, and 
 that though clouds and darknefs are round about 
 him^ yet righteoufnefs and judgment are the habita- 
 tion of his feat^ and will appear fo at the lad 
 with fuperior evidence. This, though a mod; 
 
 D d 2 fublimc. 
 
( 212 ) 
 
 fublime, is yet a fimple conception, and not 
 beyond our faculties. But the means by which 
 this fcheme is carrying on are fo intricate, and 
 indeed the whole fcheme itfelf confifts of fo 
 many parts, and may have fo many relations 
 and dependancies to us totally unknown, that 
 all objedions deduced from this quarter dif- 
 play a pride and a folly, to the reprehenfioa 
 of which all language is unequal, 
 
 2. Yet even in the means we have fome 
 lioht, indeed very confiderable light, confu 
 dered pofitively, though, confidered compara- 
 tivt-iy with what we do not know, very fmall. 
 The whole affair of final caufes in the works 
 of nature, and the general lav/s of rewards and 
 punilhmxnt in the -works of providence,, de- 
 monftrate this. Who can deny it to be an 
 act of o-oodnefs as well as wifdom, for inllance, 
 that the human fight is fituated where it h^ 
 when he refleds on the prodigious difadvan- 
 tac^es which muft enfue, in confequence of any 
 other fituation ? It muPc be a degree of fcep^ 
 ticifm mod dogmatically unreafonable, to deny 
 that temperance, chaftity, jufbice, moderation, 
 are evidently marked out even in their tempo- 
 ral confcquences, as things agreeable to God ; 
 and that intemiperancc, lewdnefs, injuilice, and 
 
 violence 
 
( 213 ) 
 
 violence are (ligmatized in the fame way v/ich 
 tokens of his difpleafure. It is fufFicient to 
 have given a fingle inftance, one in the natural, 
 the other in the moral world. Thoufands muit 
 occur to every careful obferver. Here it is 
 evident we are competent judges. The whole 
 facl, with its confcquences, lies before us. 
 And we feel, we prove the goodnefs of God 
 too palpably, to give reafonable room for the 
 admilfion of doubt. The cafe is not fo in 
 thofe phaenomena, which feem to lie on the 
 other fide. Why are volcanos, hurricanes, 
 peftilences, and the like ? Why do the riah- 
 teous ever fuffer under God's government ? 
 To confine ourfelves merely here to the lighc 
 of nature, we cannot fay that we are judges of 
 the whole of the cafe. What neceffities of the 
 natural and moral world in the oeconomy of 
 the divine government, may require thefe ir- 
 regularities, and what on the whole will con- 
 duce to the health of the univerfe, we are no 
 fort of judges. Of this we are furc, that the 
 moral nature, which we feel, excludes every 
 ground of fear, left the imprefTions of divine 
 goodnefs, which the cafes we do underlland 
 are capable of affording, (liould be loft by any 
 future arrangements of his providence -, while 
 the fame moral nature affords us a ftrong pre- 
 
 fumptior^ 
 
( 214 ) 
 
 fumptIon,of our being enabled in future, t^ 
 give agooQ account of thole difagreeabie phas- 
 pomena, the caules of which we do not at 
 prelent unaeriland, 
 
 3. Let us try, if a fimilar cafe or two mayr 
 not render this matter eafy to our apprehen- 
 fiuns, and credible to our underftandino-. A 
 child IS brought up by a k,iad and confideratc 
 parent. He is reitrained from every thino- 
 •which would hurt him, he is taught whatever 
 may be conducive to his good in after-life, 
 and has conilant opportunities of obferving 
 the indulgent and provident care of his father. 
 Will any man think that this is a jull metliod 
 of realoning in the child ? '' Sometimes my fa- 
 " ther frowns on me, fometimes he fmiles. 
 '' He crives me meat indeed, and accommo- 
 " dates me with all the neceffaries of life ; 
 ^' but he denies me many things, v/hich I 
 " much defire. The attention to ftudy is irk- 
 " fome to me •, but he compels me to it. It is 
 '' true, he is always telling me, that he does 
 "every thing for my good, and I am daily 
 " receivino- fome proof or other of it. But on 
 «« the whole, his condudt forms fuch a motley 
 «' mixture, that I cannot but conclude he has 
 "i' neither crood nor bad intentions toward me.'' 
 
 Exadly 
 
( 215 ) 
 
 Exaftly bf a piece with this is Mi*. Huine'a 
 courfe of reafoning on the government of Godo 
 And he who can tell where lies the fallacy of 
 the child's argument, with refpecl; to the mo- 
 ral character of his father, may point oitt aifo, 
 where lies the fallacy of the Sceptic's argument, 
 with refpedt to the charader of the Almighty, 
 
 Nor is this cafe only fimilar to that before 
 us, but, properly fpeaking, a part of it. Do- 
 meftic government evidently forms a confide- 
 rable branch of the divine government, and is 
 regulated by fome of thofe general laws, by 
 v/hich the author of nature rules in the world. 
 
 The v/ant of modeuy is evident in this ar- 
 gument. To fay that the difagrceable things 
 he receives trom his father, weigh as much 
 on the fide of malevolence as the agreeable do 
 on the fide of goodnefs, is to fay, that the 
 child's underilanding is equal to the father's. 
 Common modefryj as a branch of our moral 
 nature, readily didlates to a child of tolerable 
 docility an acquiefcence in his father's fupe- 
 rior judgment, in thofe things which he can- 
 not account for ; while the fame moral fenfa- 
 tion, aided by repeated experience of his own 
 fallibility and of his fuperior knowiedge; 
 
 teaches 
 
( il^ ) 
 
 teaches him to give the full weight of com- 
 ir.endation to all the kindnefs which he does 
 
 receive from his parent. 
 
 How much ftronger does this argument con* 
 elude with refped to the Almighty^ when we 
 confider that the neceflary approbation of 
 goodnefs which he has implanted in us, de- 
 monflrates the perfedlion of his moral attri- 
 butes ; and his infinite greatnels leaves no 
 room to compare the creature with him in un- 
 deritanding ! If I have ilated this matter in 
 a juft light, to fay that the hiftory of all time 
 affords not a parallel to Mr. Hume's cricique 
 on the divine government in want of modeity, 
 were perhaps no hardy aflertion. If rhe chad's 
 pride would have in it a thoufand evils, his 
 mull: have tens of thoufands. 
 
 Or conceive the fame thing in another light. 
 Here is a complicated machine invented by 
 t)ne of unqueiiioned fuperior ability and inte- 
 grity, the end of which too is underflood by 
 thofe of the lowed capacity. If it feemed to 
 ijs to fail of its end m fome inftances, merely 
 through our want of underftanding the ma- 
 chinery, and we were ftili afTured by the ma- 
 ker, that all was going on as it ought, but 
 
 that 
 
( 217 ) 
 that the work was yet m a very imperfect fcate, 
 this aflurance, backed with acmonitraiive evi- 
 dence of fuccefs in a variety of inftanccs that 
 fell Within the level of our capacity, would re- 
 move all ihadow of doubt from every reafon- 
 able mind. 
 
 The reader will not, perhaps, be difpleafed 
 to fee the expofition of this parable. That 
 God is good, that the end of his government 
 muft be good, we feel from the moral nature 
 he has given us. We find ourfelves lod, how- 
 ever, in the myfterious condudl of the means 
 he ufes. But we fee evidently that v/e un- 
 derltand not the fum of things, and experience 
 tells us that nothing is more fallible than our 
 judgment in thefe matters. While then v/e 
 find undoubted proofs of his goodnefs in a 
 variety of cafes, we cannot rationally doubt 
 the perfedlion of Iiis moral charadler. 
 
 It is hoped that the grand fophifm of this 
 arrogant performance is expofed and refuted. 
 Indeed his Cleanthes, with many others, would 
 perfuade us that the world is not full of mi- 
 fery. But Philo for once may be believed: 
 Matter of fad fliews that it is miferable to 
 a degree beyond the powers of defcription. 
 
 E e Indeed 
 
( 2l8 ) 
 
 Indeed Chriftianity is built on this foundation^- 
 and without it would be the moft unintelligible 
 thing in the world. It alone acquaints us not 
 only with the remedy of all our evil, but alfo 
 with the firft introduction of it. Bold infide- 
 lity catches fire in a moment, " why fhould we 
 fuffer for our firft father's fin," or " why fuf- 
 fer fo very feverely ?" Let her be afked, is Ihe 
 a judge of the nature of that union which the 
 Scripture affirms* to fubfift between Adam 
 and the whole human race, and from which 
 alone muft flow the re6litude of the imputa- 
 tion of his trangrefTions to us ? Or is fhe a 
 judge of the malignity of fin, and of the rea- 
 fons for which it muft be punifhed by the So- 
 vereign of the univerfe ? If he only is a pro- 
 per judge of thefe things, and if we liave no 
 data, on which to build the flighteft argumen- 
 tation, the objedlions, however they may play 
 round the imagination, have no right to deter- 
 mine the judgment in the leaft. And matter 
 of fa6t all around in this forrowful world is 
 fpeaking for God, and confcience fails not to 
 fpeak for him within. Even the analogy of 
 nature, which points out numberlefs inftances 
 of innocent perfons fuffering for the guilty, in 
 the daily courfe of Divine Providence, and 
 
 particularly 
 * See Rom. v. 
 
( 219 ) 
 
 particularly in the fufFerings of children for 
 the offences of their parents, demonftrates that 
 this is far from being an uncommon difpen- 
 fation. 
 
 " Were that Divine Being difpofed to be 
 offended at the vices and follies of filiy mor- 
 tals, who are his own workmanfhip." It is 
 too late to reafon on the cafe : It is matter of 
 fad: that he is difpieafed. What opiate (lupi- 
 lied this man, that he could not fee it ? The 
 drunkard, the thief, the murderer, the fpend- 
 thrift are continually meeting with the pu- 
 niiliment of their crimes in the natural confe- 
 quence of things. He might as juflly have 
 faid, that the fandions of human laws, which 
 are provided againll various offences, do yec 
 argue in the Icgiilators no dlfpleafure againd 
 them. 
 
 How fmcere he was in his profeflions of 
 refped: for revealed religion, expreffcd in the 
 clofe of the book, his treatment of every 
 material fcripture-truth, in the whole courfe 
 of the book declares. We have * already ta- 
 ken notice of his audacious obfervation, that 
 no popular religion (conlequently not the 
 
 E e 2 Chriftian) 
 
 * Sedlon iii. Part iii. 
 
( 220 ) 
 
 Chriftian) gives an eligible view of the hap- 
 pinefs of a future world. One might challenge 
 even natural reafon itfeif to conceive the poffi- 
 bility of a more eligible heaven than that of 
 the Scriptures. Let any man learn thence *, 
 that Heaven is Love. If love be not happi- 
 nefs, what can be ? Nor is. it in this only, but 
 in every thing needful, the Scriptures meet 
 our difficulties, and anl'wer our doubts. And 
 I hope it has been fl:iewn, that there we learn 
 what true happinefs is, and the real and only 
 road to it through this evil world. 
 
 In the mean-time v;hat do thofe men deferve, 
 who labour to rob mankind of the only thing 
 which is calculated to dire6l them into the 
 way of happinefs, and proftitute fuperior ta- 
 lents to the invention of notions tending to 
 deprive the unwary of that faith, which, for 
 any thing they know to the contrary, may be 
 necefiary for their eternal welfare ? 1 appeal 
 to Mr. Gibbon's humanity (Hume is out of 
 my reach) how he feels on fuch an occafion ! 
 I alk his good fenfe, whether he ought not to 
 have had a complete demonftration of the 
 falfehood of what is vulgarly called Ortho- 
 doxy, before he wrote a fyllable of any thing 
 
 that 
 * 1 Cor. xiii. throughout. 
 
( 221 ) 
 
 that had an Infidel tendency, left he might ht 
 accefTary to the eternal damnation of fouls ! 
 
 I have taken no notice of Hume's Demea, 
 becaufe I cannot find a feature of Chriftianity 
 about him. Dr. Clark's metaphyficks and the 
 Gpfpel have, 1 think, no fort of connedlicn. 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Validity of the Evidences of Chriflianity, 
 
 TH E proofs of Chrilllanity may properly 
 be confidered either as external, or in- 
 ternal, or experimental, I fnall not fpeak of 
 thefe with a view of undertaking the proof of 
 the Gofpel in form, which has been ably and 
 fully performed by many writers, but with a 
 view of illuftrating what has been laid down in 
 the preceding Sedion, concerning the different 
 nature of proofs and of objedions, and of efta- 
 blillfing its folidity in revealed as v^/eii as in 
 natural religion. 
 
 The external proofs are, in the opinion of 
 many, fuperfeded a priori. " Our fms," lay 
 they, " can never be fo offenfive to God, as 
 ^' to incur eternal damnation-, and what muft 
 
 " become 
 
( 222 ) 
 
 i^ become at this rate of the many nations wha 
 " never heard of Chriflianity ?" But, furely, 
 this language is a mere begging of the queition : 
 How came you to be a jujge of the Divine 
 arcana ? Upon what principles oi reafoning can 
 you in this cafe build any opinion, except on 
 thofe which are deduced from experience ? To 
 realbn without fa6ls is as abfurd in divinity as 
 it is in philofophy. The Newtonian Syftem 
 juftly triumphs over all others, becaufe it dif- 
 cards niere hypothefis, and reafons from expe- 
 rience. The prejudices of men will not fuffer. 
 them to fee, that deifm and fcepticifm proceed 
 as abfurdly in theology as Des Cartes did in 
 philofophy. To reafon without fa6ls is wild 
 fancy indeed. '' It would be cruel to damn 
 men"-— but there are a thoufand things in the 
 prefent courfe of nature, which we fhould have 
 ordered otherv/ife : And therefore experience 
 alone of what is the will of God in fad, not of 
 what we think it ought to be, muft be of any 
 weight in this fubjecl. We are infinitely lefs 
 qualified to judge what is reafonable for God 
 to do or not to do, than a child is to judge of 
 a man's affairs. But matters of fa61: we may 
 judge of, becaufe they lie within the reach of 
 pyr faculties. 
 
 Look 
 
( 223 ) 
 
 Look then at the face of the world ^ fay^ h 
 £n lb trifling ? How dare men fay, that a mif- 
 take in the choice of our religion is fo imma- 
 terial, when in life it is often feen that a mi- 
 flake is the ruin of a man's fortune ? What 
 fevere torments do many fms bring on men 
 even here ? Is not this a fpecimen, that God 
 judges and punifhes fm feverely ? When you 
 behold the world filled with difeafes, poverty, 
 war, plagues, opprefTion, violence, and deceit^ 
 thefe matters of iad fpeak to you loudly the 
 awful juftice of God, and demon ft rate that he 
 is not that eafy carelefs Being men fuppofe. 
 
 And how arrogant mufl- it be to afTert, that 
 the Chriftian religion, if true^ oi^gbt to have 
 been fpread over the world ? Does God do fo 
 in any other cafe ? Are not medicines, matters 
 of fcience, the arts of civilization well known 
 in one part of the globe, and not in another ? 
 Experience then fl:iews a priori, that it is not 
 likely that God fhould Ipread his religion 
 equally over the world, becaufe it is not agree- 
 able to his method of ading in a variety of 
 other cafes. 
 
 And fo important is the eternal interefl; of 
 caen, that even doubtful evidence ought to de- 
 termine 
 
( 224 ) 
 
 terniine a man pradically on the fide of CKn- 
 ftianity. Were mere felf-love only confidered, 
 he ought to chufe the fafeft fide. Here again 
 God aione muft be the judge of the degree of 
 evidence which it fhall pleafe him to afford us. 
 And the wickednefs of writers, in endeavour- 
 incr to render men regardlefs of the Gofpel, ap- 
 pears to be only equalled by their folly. 
 
 When thefe confiderations have had their 
 influence in removing tlie force of objedions 
 from the mind, the pofitive evidences them- 
 felvcs may be confidered. As, 
 
 I. The evidence of miracles. And the pe- 
 culiar excellency of them lies in this, that the 
 belief of them could not have obtained, had 
 they been falfe. The miracles of Egypt, of 
 the Red Sea, of Manna, of the death of Korah, 
 with many others that might have been enu- 
 merated, are of this kind. There were fome 
 Handing miracles which plainly befpeak a divine 
 interpofition. The land of that highly-favour- 
 ed people, after live years uninterrupted tillage, 
 which one would imagine ihould have exhauft- 
 ed its prolific virtue, yielded conftantly fuch an 
 extraordinary increafe, as to fupply the demands 
 of the fucceeding year, when, by the divine; 
 
 appomtment. 
 
( 225 ^ 
 
 appointment, it was to lie fallow and unculti- 
 vated *. All their nnales were ordc-rcd alio, at 
 three Hated Iblemnities every year, to appear at 
 Jerufalein. What a trial of their faith ' thus 
 to have their frontiers naked and delencekfs, 
 expofcd as they were to fuch numerous ene- 
 mies •, yet they were never invaded at this cri- 
 tical jundlure, as the Lord had promifed them 
 by Mofes, their enemies ftjall not dejire their land 
 at thofe feafons\. Is it to be conceived, that 
 the credit of their religion could have been 
 preferved, unlefs thefe events conllantly hap- 
 pened ? And notwithftanding their frequent 
 relaples into idolatry, it appears that the 
 Ifraelites conftantly did, in a fpeculative fenfe 
 at leaft, believe their religion to be from God. 
 
 The fame kind of reafoning is eafily appli- 
 cable to the New Tellament miracles. 
 
 2. Nor would Mr. Gibbon J have fpoken fo 
 dirrefpectfuUy of the evidence of prophecy, 
 which, by his ufual fubtilty of reprefen at on, 
 has an evident tendency to draw an unvvaiy 
 reader to form a mean conception of it, had 
 he himfelf, with any tolerable degree of can- 
 dour, examined it. The prophetic accounts 
 
 F f of 
 
 * Lev. XXV. 21. 1 Exod. xxxiv. 24. X Pa'£e 517. 
 
( 226 ) 
 
 of Jefus contained in the Scriptures of tlie Old 
 Teftamfent, and preferved by the moft viru- 
 lent enemies of the Gofpel, are no ambiguous 
 things. There is not a circiimftance of any 
 conficierable note relating to the Redeemer's 
 hillory and charadber, or even to the reception 
 which his miflion would have among men, 
 but it is delineated in the plained terms. This 
 has been fhewn too often to need any illuftra- 
 tion here. His contemptuous treatment of 
 fueh evidence in general, may afFedt the ima- 
 gination of fome -, but it behoved him to have 
 attempted a regular and diilindl refutation, in 
 order really to convince the judgment of any. 
 Suffice it to fay, that the proofs on this head 
 are of the moft fimple nature, and the farthefl 
 removed from the reach of thofe charges of 
 unintelligible myftery, which muft ever afted 
 the obje^ions. 
 
 3. The fame obfervation is applicable to the 
 fulfilment of prophecies relating to the ftate of 
 the nations who have made the greateft figure 
 in antient or in modern ftory : But all that might 
 be faid on this head has been anticipated by 
 Bifhop Newton in his DifTertations, which will 
 Ihew to every candid mind a long feries of pro- 
 phetic proof deduced through ages. 
 
 4. I 
 
( 227 ) 
 
 4- I would only add here particularly, that 
 three very remarkable forts of people are fpoken 
 of in the Bible, whofe exiilence even to this 
 day affords one of the ftrongeft proofs of its 
 real credibility, the Jews, the Papifts, and real 
 Chriflians. The cafe of the firft needs no elu- 
 cidation. The other two are equally ftriking, 
 though certain prejudices may prevent many from 
 being equally affedled with the argument. Is 
 it not foretold, that the man of fm fhould ap- 
 pear \ fhould fet himfelf up as God •, fhould 
 magnify himfelf againft the Prince of princes ? 
 Who is this but the Pope ? For who bur he 
 pretends to infallibility, and the power of for- 
 giving fms ? And who is that "johore^ in whom 
 was found the blood of martyrs^ but the fame bloody 
 church of Rome ? Whofe coming is after the 
 working of Satan^ with all power ^ and Jigns^ and 
 lyi'ng wonders^ and with all deceivablenefs of un- 
 right eoufnefs\ witnefs the thoufands of frauds 
 and lying legends of the fame apoflate church. 
 She has two diftin(5liye marks fet upon her by 
 St. Paul, forbidding to marry^ and commanding to 
 abfiain from meats^ not holding the head, fays 
 lie, in another place : They truft not in Chrift 
 alone for the forgivenefs of fm and holinefs of 
 heart, and are therefore led into numberlefs 
 fuperflitions. Thefe two, of abftinenc9 fro.m 
 
 F f 2 meats 
 
( 228 ) 
 
 meats at certain feafons, and of connecting the , 
 idea of celibacy with that of fuperior holinefs, 
 are prophecied of, and plainly point her out, 
 as the Antichriil: fpoken of in Scripture to all 
 who do not wilfully Hiut their eyes. 
 
 A third fort of people are fpoken of every 
 where in- the Bible -, thole 1 mean who exprefs 
 the power of the Gofpel in their life and con- 
 verfation. Certain it is, that there is nothing 
 faid of their character, circumftances, and treat- 
 ment in the world, but it is fulfilling at this 
 day. 
 
 They are defcribec! as entering in at the flrait 
 gate, being but few in comparifon of the many 
 who walk ;n the broad way •, and fo it is to this j 
 
 day They {tt their affe<flions on things above; 
 they count all things but dung for Chrift's 
 fake •, they believe in him only for life eternal; 
 they have joy in the Holy Ghoil ; they are 
 harmlefs in the midft of a crooked generation ; 
 they do what they do in the name of the Lord \ 
 they avoid filthinefs and foolirti talking; they 
 fpeak to one an3ther in pfalms and hymns, and 
 fpiritual fongs ; they have all manner of evil 
 falfely fpoken of thein for Chrilt's fake ; and 
 men hate them, and feparate them from their 
 
 company. 
 
( 229 ) 
 
 company* Men flumble at their doctrine, be- 
 caufe they profefs to leek falvation by grace, 
 not by works. The men of the world are" 
 tempted to look on them continually as Mr. 
 Gibbon's * favourite Pagans did on the hrd 
 Chritlians, as weak or obilinate enthufiails. 
 
 If no fuch perfons were to be found in 
 Great-Britam, yet ftill the declaration of Jefus, 
 that the gates of Hell ihould never prevail 
 againft his Church, would ftand good, fince 
 their exiilence in other parts of the globe would 
 confirm it •, and there is no promile that fixes 
 their exiftence to any particular foil or cli- 
 mate. But this kingdom is favoured with the 
 exittence of living members of Chriil's body, 
 perhaps, with aii its abounding profligacy, as 
 much as any nation upon earth : And they 
 carry about with them a character of humility 
 and of charity, radically diflind from the 
 pride of Pagan virtue, and condemning it to 
 the full as much as the grolTelt notorioiis 
 wickednefs. 
 
 This would lead me to confider the internal 
 evidences of Chritlianity. But they have been 
 ftated in the foregoing fections : For it has 
 
 been 
 
 * Page 516. 
 
( 230 ) 
 
 been proved, I hope, by an argument, of whic^i 
 the meaneft capacity may determine, that the 
 very nature of the Gofpel is fuch, that it could 
 not have been propagated but by a divine; 
 influence. 
 
 But the experimental evidences are to all, 
 who are capable of feeling their force, the molt 
 convincing of any. If any man will do his will;, 
 he ffoall know *, fays the great Author of Chri- 
 flianity. He that helieveth on the Son of God, 
 hath the witnefs in himfelf-f, fays his beloved 
 Apoftle. Accordingly there have always been, 
 and are at this day, thofe who folemnly and 
 conftantly declare, that they habitually expe- 
 rience in their own hearts the very fame things 
 which the Scripture deicribes as the infeparable 
 concomitants of a lively faith injefus, which, to 
 unbelievers, are perfedly unintelligible, which 
 were once fo to themlelves, and which are now 
 intuitively evident. With them, every day's, 
 experience is bringing in accumulated evidence 
 to the truth of the Scriptures •, the written 
 word and the exercifes of their own minds are 
 in perpetual correfpondence and harmony. 
 And here again the proof is of the moft fimple 
 kind, matter of fad, and depends on no fuch 
 
 incom-^ 
 * Johnvii. i?.- — :\ i John v. ict. 
 
( Z3i ) 
 
 ■jricoitiprehCnfibie matter as the obje^lions 
 muft ever do. If it be afked what fort of men 
 thefe are, they are indifputably the moft inno- 
 cent, and the mod upright of human kind. 
 To themfelves the evidence refulting from this 
 new fpiritual life muft, in its very nature, af- 
 ford the completed fatisfa6tion •, to others it 
 has the nature of the moft credible teftimony^ 
 abundantly fufficient to excite in every mind, 
 imprefled with a deep fenfe of the importance 
 of eternity, an ardent defire, by prayer and fe- 
 rious enquiry, to attain the fame fatisfadlion on 
 the fame ground of encouragement. God giveth 
 the Holy Spirit to them that ajk hm^. 
 
 Thus does it appear, that the proofs of 
 Chriftianity are built on reafonable grounds, 
 and the objedions on unreafonable ones, in the 
 fame manner as we have feen to be the cafe 
 in natural religion. The proofs are drawn 
 from things within our reach ; the obje6tions 
 ambitiouQy extend themfelves beyond the level 
 ©f our capacities. 
 
 Yet a prejudiced mind will ever find fomc 
 little cavil or other to fupport itfelf in unbe- 
 lief, even againft the force of the moft irre- 
 fragable 
 
 * Luke xi. 13. 
 
( 232 ) 
 
 Fragable arguments. The conclufion of Mn 
 Gibbons litteenth chapter affords a ilriking 
 proof of this. 
 
 " The lame walked," fays he, " the blind 
 '' faw, the fick were healed, the dead were 
 " raifed, demons were expelled, and the laws 
 *' of nature were perpetually fulpended for the 
 " benefit of the Church. But the Sages of 
 *' Greece and Rome turned afide from the 
 " awful fpettacle, and purfuing the ordinary 
 " occupations of life and ftudy, appeared un- 
 " confcious of any alterations in the moral or 
 " phyfical government of the world.'* 
 
 Here is a bold infmuatlon, that no fuch mi- 
 racles were ever wrought : If they were, it is 
 impoffible but thefe fame Sages muft have been 
 convinced by them. In no part of his work 
 does our author fo plamly avow his own in- 
 fidelity. 
 
 « 
 
 But with or without the leave of Mr. Gibbon 
 and his Sages, neither the fa6l is fairly flared •, 
 nor if it were, do the conlequences follow. An 
 unwary reader might be led to fuppofe, by his 
 reprefentation of the cafe, that the great -men 
 of Greece and Rome were laid, by the advocates 
 
 of 
 
( 233 ) 
 of Chrlftianity, to have been conftant eye-wit- 
 nefles oi miraculous interpofitions. But who 
 ever aflerted fuch a thing before our author ? 
 Miracles were frequently indeed, not perpetually 
 wrought ; but the great men of the world were 
 fo remote from all Chriilian connexions, and 
 had fuch an entire contempt of them, that 
 there is great room for queilioning whether 
 any, or fcarce any, of them ever faw one 
 miracle performed. By credible tedimony 
 they might have known fuch miracles were 
 performed indeed ; but any candid obferver 
 of the circumllances of the miracles wrouc^hc 
 in the primitive times may fee, that it required 
 fome attention to Chriftianity, and fome at- 
 tendance on its minifters, in order to become 
 cye-witnefles of them. 
 
 Nor would the conclufion hold good, if the 
 miracles had been forced upon their obferva- 
 tion. It is well known that Julian, the Apof- 
 tate, allowed the miracles of Jefus to have 
 been real, and yet faw nothing glorious or di- 
 vine in him who performed them. His tefti- 
 mony to the victorious evidence of the mira- 
 cles themfelves is decifive : He afcribed them 
 no doubt to magick. It fuits not modern 
 icepticifm, with its parade of reafoning, to fol- 
 
 G g low 
 
( 234 ) 
 low him here : It appears fafe and more fpe- 
 cious, at this great diftance of time, to deny 
 the miracles themfelves. The unreafonable 
 malignity of infidelity is curious, but Itriking. 
 Antient Infidels were forced to believe the mi- 
 racles, but yet defpifed the religion they were 
 intended to fupport : Whilil modern Infidels, 
 from this very contempt, infer that they did not 
 believe the miracles themfelves. 
 
 *' Under the reign of Tiberius," continues 
 our author, " the whole earth, or at lead a 
 " celebrated province of the Roman Empire^ 
 " was involved in a preternatural darknefs of 
 " three hours. — It happened during the life- 
 *' time of Seneca and the elder Pliny, who 
 " mufi: have experienced the immediate effedls, 
 " or received the earliefl intelligence, of the 
 " prodigy. Each of thefe philofophers, in a 
 " laborious work, has recorded all the great 
 " ph^enomena of nature, earthquakes, meteors, 
 *' comets, and eclipfes, which his indefatigable 
 " curiofity could colled. Both the one and 
 " the other have omitted to mention the greatefb 
 " Phenomenon to which the mortal eye has 
 " been witnefs fince the creation of the globe." 
 
 Ev 
 
 ^rjjta, 
 
( '^35 ) 
 Ev^wx^ Eu^njta, I have demolifhed Chri- 
 ilianity, our author may well cry, in the tri- 
 umph of his heart, with Archimedes after the 
 invention of his problem. Indeed here is an 
 attack upon the Gofpel, the mod diredt of any 
 to be met with in the book. 
 
 I promifed the reader to (land on my own 
 ground, and to avoid, as much as pofTible, the 
 repetition of any thing that had been advanced 
 by any of his anfwerers. I beg leave to refer 
 him, therefore, to Dr. Watfon's refutation of 
 this argument, only fuggefling, that his idea of 
 the darknefs at the paflion being by no rneans 
 fo complete as is generally fuppofed, but rather 
 only a general gloom, is not deftitute of proba- 
 bility. Or if we fuppofe the darknefs to have 
 been confined to Judea, the prejudice againit 
 that country would probably prevent the Ro- 
 man Sages from regarding a miracle of that cli- 
 mate •, and credat Jud^us Apella would con^ 
 tain the whole of their lucubrations on the fub- 
 jed. 
 
 But we are not obliged to account for their 
 Incredulity on the point at all, in order to 
 llrengthen the evidence of Chriftianity. Let 
 ^ny man confider by what fort of evidence he 
 
 G g 2 is 
 
\ 236 ) 
 
 is influenced in common life. If matter of fa6b, 
 on credible repeated tellimony, plead for an 
 event, the afTent of the human mind is thought 
 perfedly natural, though Ibme odd circum- 
 ftances relating to the event may appear to be 
 perfectly unaccountable. In no court of hu- 
 man judicature is this method of procedure 
 thouo;ht to be unreafonable. We know fo little 
 of the fprings, motives, and connedlions of 
 events, that no man thmks himfelf obliged to 
 account for every thing in a matter of fa6"t, 
 before he yield to evidence. Pofitive proof 
 muft Hand good*, though various circum- 
 llances may appear in their own nature impro- 
 bable. For the world is full of fuch fort of 
 improbabilities •, and it would be very ftrange, 
 if good evidence muft be rejeded, becaufe Se^- 
 neca and Piiny in one cafe aded unlike them- 
 felves. The attentive reader, who calmly 
 weicrhs the natural motions of the human mind, 
 will fee that this is perfeftly agreeable to our 
 allowed method of ading in all other cafes -, 
 
 and 
 
 * The intelligent reader need not be told, that in this cafe 
 the pofitive proof is the t;eftimony of the Evangelifh, who men- 
 tion the extraordinary darknefs ; and whofe credibiliiy in ge.- 
 neral, as witnefles, who were neither themfelves deceived, nor 
 were capable of deceiving others, has been fo amply ilkiftrared, 
 that I could only r. peat here what has been (hewn by otheJS ; 
 and let me add, what no j^nfidcl has fcarce attempted to expofQ 
 as inconclufive. 
 
( 237 ) 
 
 and It would be ftrange, if the vaft importance 
 of Chrifcianity fhould form a fingular excep- 
 tion With regard to the allowance of its proofs. 
 Univerfal fcepticifm, in common life as much 
 as in religion, muft follow on the admiffion of 
 fo extravagant an idea. 
 
 An hiflorical cafe may fet this matter in the 
 cleared light. No one in our days, who has 
 read the whole hiflory of the Popifh Plot in 
 Charles the Second's time with any candour 
 and actention, believes it. The incoherence, 
 and every way incredible circumftances of the 
 whole depofition, together with the infamous 
 chara6ters of the v/itneffes, preclude our aflent. 
 Yet a circumftance to this day unaccounted 
 for, the murder of Sir Edmonbury Godfrey, 
 happened to give it an air of credibility. Yet 
 he would be thought injudicious to the laft de- 
 gree, who Ihould thence be inclined to favour 
 the evidence of Oares. The cafe before us is 
 oppofire, but parallel. Chriftianity (lands fup- 
 ported by pofitive evidences of the mod unex- 
 ceptionable nature ; yet the circumftance of 
 Seneca's and Pliny's filence concerning the 
 eclipfe, admit only for argument's fake, is un- 
 accountable, — The evidence of the Gofpel is, 
 however, by no means ihaken, nor will be 
 
 fhaken. 
 
( 238 ) 
 
 fliaken, till any man can prove, that we muft 
 be able to account for every thing in an event,^ 
 before we admit any teilimony of the event 
 itfelf. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 TO recapitulate what has been attempted 
 in this trad, may at once refreih the 
 reader's memory, and pave the way to a free 
 addrefs, in conclufion, to the different forts of 
 characters interefted in the fubjedt. 
 
 The union between Infidelity and Infallibility 
 was never more pra6lically, though it is by no 
 means fpeculatively, believed than at the pre- 
 fent day. The Pope of Rome has loft his 
 throne in the eyes of all men of fenfe •, and Vol- 
 taire, RouiTeau, Hume, and Gibbon may feem 
 to contend for the vacant feat, or rather reign 
 in conjundion. Their decretals in religion are 
 fwalloweJ without examination •, they argue, 
 or they afTert ; and hiftorical objeds muft be 
 feen only through the medium which they give 
 to the publick. The cenfure of Infidelity is 
 theirs •, but the prompt belief of their affertions, 
 and the afreded mimicry of their contempt 
 
 of 
 
( 239 ) 
 of Chriftlanity, are to be afcribed to the fcepti- 
 cal propenfity of the age, joined to its indolence 
 and inconfideration. Thus one learned and 
 laborious enemy of the Gofpel furnifhes afler- 
 tions, if not arguments, for thoufands ; they 
 are prepared to anfwer whatever may have been 
 fuggefted by the molt judicious Divines, with 
 this " Mr. Gibbon has ihewn the matter in 
 another light." 
 
 Of thefe four men, the two firft, though men 
 of genius, are allowed to have poflefTed no true 
 judgment. To the two lad, every candid per- 
 fon will attribute the pitaife of a found and vi- 
 gorous underftanding. That the abilities of 
 the laft, emmently refpedtable in other fubjedts, 
 have failed him in theology, was the defign of 
 the firft part to fhew ; and I (hall think the 
 labour not to have been in vain, if the difco- 
 very of his miftakes and mifreprefentations may 
 drip him of his infallibility in the eye of the 
 puolick, and difpofe them to liflen with atten- 
 tion to the far more important matter which 
 follows. 
 
 With this view it was fhewn in feveral mif- 
 cellaneous articles, fome of more, others of lefs 
 importance, that he has mifreprefented Chri- 
 
 ftianitv. 
 
( 240 ) 
 
 fllanity. None of his miftakes are afcribed to 
 want of capacity •, but all of them purely to 
 the power of prejudice, of which there is this 
 Urong prefumption, that none of his errors are 
 in favour of Chriftianity, but are ail of an op- 
 pofite tendency. 
 
 As he has fhewn a particular diflike to the 
 charadler of Cyprian of Carthage, one Se6lion 
 is appropriated to wipe off the afperfions cail 
 on the name of that excellent Prelate. 
 
 The condu6l of the Roman Emperors, with 
 reference to Chriftianity, has been examined ; 
 the chara6ler of the fuffering Chriftians has been 
 vindicated ; it has been evinced that they were 
 an innocent people, and that their perfecutors 
 exercifed rigorous cruelties to a degree far be- 
 yond what Mr. Gibbon afTigns. 
 
 But what is Chriftianity itlelf ? A view of 
 i.ts real nature may more dire6tly lead to a juft 
 difcovery of the truth on thefe fubjeds, and 
 open the way to the moft important fpecula- 
 tions which can influence the mind of man. 
 
 This the fecond part has briefly attempted. 
 The third part, in a variety of confiderations, 
 
 deduces 
 
( 241 ) 
 
 deduces the natural confequences, and attempts 
 to prove, that, in the ideas of faith, of holinefs, 
 of a future (late, of humanity, of chaftity, of 
 glory, of rationality, and of the Church of 
 Chrift, a real Chrillian is eflentially diltinfl 
 not only from avowed Infidels, but alfo from 
 ihoufands of thofe who profefs Chriftianity, 
 but really believe it not; and whom I beg leave 
 to call by the name of Formalists. 
 
 This reviev/ not only obviates many charges 
 of Mr. Gibbon, becaufe it fhews that thofe 
 whom he accufes w^ere no more real Chriftians 
 than profelTed Pagans were; but, it is hoped, 
 may lead the ferious perfon to an earnefl: in- 
 veftigation of the Scriptures themfelves, that 
 he may educe his creed from thence, and not 
 implicitly take up v/ith the prevailing failiions 
 of the times. 
 
 Hence alio the grand defign of Mr. Gibbon, 
 in his two lad chapters, or, if he plcafes, the 
 tendency of thofe two chapters, is refuted. 
 If one may be allowed to gruefs the defign of a 
 writer fo void of franknefs, it feems to have 
 been this, to fhew that fuch a religion as Chri- 
 ftianity might have had an origin m.erely hu- 
 pian ; and that there is no occafion to have re- 
 
 H h courfc 
 
( 242 ) 
 
 courie to miracles, or indeed any fupernatural 
 agency, to account for its eftabiiihment in the 
 world. Mr. Gibbon has too much good lenfe 
 not to perceive that this is the evident ten- 
 dency of the former of the two chapters in 
 queftion, and that every reader ^vho agrees 
 with his reafonings, wiH naturally form this 
 conclufion. And if this be allowed, it is not 
 neceflary that I fhould have a pofitive proof 
 of this defign, in order to juftify the feverity 
 with which I have treated him. I have endea- 
 voured then to point out the neceflity and the 
 reality of a fupernatural influence, even that of 
 divine grace, refulting from the peculiar na- 
 ture of Chrifiianity itfelf, in order to account 
 for the fuccefsful propagation of this religion. 
 It has amply appeared, I hope, that fuch a re- 
 ligion mud have been from God, is peculiarly 
 his^ and could neither have been invented nor 
 propagated by man. 
 
 The true caufe of the enmity agalnil the 
 Chriflians is laid open, the infufficiency of that 
 affigned by Mr. Gibbon is expofed, and it is 
 fhewn that the fpirit by which Galerius />^ry^- 
 cuted^ and that by which Mr. Gibbon has 
 'Written^ was, in reality, the fame. 
 
 Thus 
 
( 243 ) 
 Thus one great argument for the truth of 
 Chrifi-janity is illuitrated, drawn from its pe- 
 culiar nature and fuccefsful propagation in 
 conjundion -, which, independently of all others, 
 it is apprehended, forms a complete demonftra- 
 tion of its Divinity. 
 
 It feemed not amifs, however, to retouch the 
 more common {landing arguments in its fa- 
 \"Our, and to^vince their folidity. And as, at 
 the very threfhold of Divine Truth, a ftuh^- 
 born antagonift prefented himfelf, an attempt 
 was made to overturn the fubtil reafonings of 
 Mr. Hume in favaur of univerfal fcepticifm. 
 This was done by fhev/ing that the proofs of 
 religion remain in all their ilrength, notwith- 
 Handing the ignorance of man ; and that the 
 objedlions are juftly overthrown becaufe of the 
 fame ignorance. 
 
 What we are competent to decide, and what 
 not, and the application of this diftindion to 
 the point in queftion, has been fhewn. The 
 fame mode of realbning is applied in a more 
 obvious and eafy way to the proofs of revealed 
 religion. 
 
 H h z There 
 
( ^44- ) 
 
 There are three forts of perfons evidently in- 
 terefted in this whole llibjecl. 
 
 T. Sceptics or Infidels, who profefTedly 
 doubt of or difbclicve Chriftianity. 
 
 2. Formalists, who fancy they believe it, 
 when they do not, and v/ho do not even under- 
 ftand what it is. 
 
 3. Real Believers in the proper fenfe of 
 the v/ords. 
 
 A few ferions words to each at parting may 
 not be amifs : They furely cannot be unfeafo- 
 nable. 
 
 I. The favourite notion of Sceptics is, that 
 all religious opinions are much alike with re- 
 fpedl to practical influence-, and thus, in reli- 
 gion, the moil important concern of any to 
 mankind, if it be of any importance at all, 
 they difibive that connection between the un- 
 derftanding and the will, which is allowed to 
 fubfift in every other concernment. No won- 
 der, with thefe views, that they exclaim againft 
 the injuflice and bigotry of condemning men 
 for miflakes of the underftanding. But it is 
 hoped that the connection between Divine 
 
 Truth 
 
( 245 ) 
 Truth and Holinefs of life has been evinced 
 in the courfe of thefeflieets. Chriftianity con- 
 demns no man for miftakes of the head as fuch^ 
 but always for bafenefs of heart. And the 
 thing which it behoves every Infidel to dif- 
 prove, in order to jullify his contempt of re- 
 velation, is, that he is not guilty of any in- 
 fincerity of mind toward God in his unbelief. 
 It affords, at firft fight, a ftrong fufpicion that 
 he is, becaufe he turns a deaf ear to all aro-u- 
 ments in favour of the Gofpel, while fimilar 
 arguments, and far weaker, gain his ready 
 afTent on other fubje6ls. Such men muft al- 
 low the evidences of Chriftianity to be very 
 confiderabie, and yet they rejedl them as of no 
 weight at all. The worft part of this bufinefs 
 is, that they take it for granted, that their 
 hearts are honed, impartial, fmcere •, though 
 the whole procefs of human affairs might fnew 
 them, that nothing is more common than for 
 men to deceive themfeives here through the 
 blindnefs of felf-love. The formal nature of 
 unbelief, in the fcriptural fenle of tlie word, 
 comprehends in it a baleful aiH^mblage of all 
 wickednefs. The authority of God, his attri- 
 butes and perfe6lions, and even his Being, fo 
 far as any thing pradlical is concerned, is de- 
 nied by it, O, Sirs ! if ever your confciences 
 
 operate 
 
(• 246 ) 
 
 operate with any thing of their native force^^ 
 they will convince you, that fuch a pure reli- 
 gion as that of Jefas deferved not to be dif- 
 rnifTed without being ferioufly heard. It is eafy 
 for yju, in health and profperity, to defpife 
 fjch plain refleclions as thefe •, but a near 
 pi-ofpe6t of eternity, attended with the leafl 
 fenfation of the value of your fouls, mufl awa- 
 ken you into very juil and rational fears of the 
 niofl: alarming nature. If you fancy moral ho- 
 nricy and humanity will fave you, confider that 
 this is not the language of confcience. Is 
 duty owing to man only ? Is none owing to 
 the God who made you ? And if he has pre- 
 fented you with a religion the moft beneficial 
 and the moft holy that can be conceived, be- 
 comes it you to rejed the prefent with fcornful 
 indifference ? " But how do we knov/ that the 
 reliction is h:s ?'* In this addrefs I only intreat 
 you to be ferious, candid, and fair enquirers. 
 Th re is no medium in the cafe. If Chriftianity 
 be true, this fentence of it muft be true alfo. 
 He that Mievetb not JJoall he damned*, I am 
 under no pain for the confequence, if once, in 
 the fpirit of prayer and ferious enquiry, levity 
 and bantring apart, you begin to examine. 
 If any man will do his wtll^ he jhall know -j-. Your 
 
 unbelief 
 
 '^ Mark xvi. 16.- — t J^l^" ^i^- ^7. 
 
( 247 ) 
 
 unbelief is reprefented in Scripture as the ffefuH 
 of pride, perverfenels, rebfUion. T'ou hate the 
 ■lights left your deeds ftoould he reproved'^. You 
 ought to be certain that this is not the cafe, 
 before you exclaim againfi: the unreafonablenefs 
 of condemning men for mere opinions. Yours 
 is an unfair Hate of the cafe. The Scripture 
 is as uniform in reprefenting all virtue to be 
 involved in faith, as it is in reprefenting all 
 wickednefs to be involved in unbelief. Mr. 
 Gibbon, in the cafeof Paulof Samolata+, fup- 
 pofes, that the Chriftians v/ere unreafonable 
 in condemning him for nice and fubtil errors 
 in do(51;rine, rather than for the immorality of 
 his life. But his errors were not fo unimpor- 
 tant as he imagines. His views feem on the 
 whole to have much refembled thofe of the 
 modern Socinians J. No Avonder that his life 
 was wicked. Men may talk of virtue, but 
 provifion for the effectual practice of it is only 
 attained in the fchool of Chrid, from whichj 
 in reality, Sbcinianifm is as abhorrent as any 
 Dcifm whatever. The atonement and inter- 
 ceflion of God the Son, and the influence of 
 God the Holy Ghofl, being excluded or ex- 
 plained away, nothing remains of the Gofpel, 
 
 m 
 
 * Johniii. 20. f Page t(>z,-—A. Mofheim's Eccl. Hi(K 
 
 ?, 188. Quai'to Edition. 
 
( 248 ) 
 
 in effefl, but what it has in common with the 
 religion of nature. 
 
 And if experience prove, that as we have^ 
 advanced in mfi.el principles, we have advan- 
 ced in wicked ncfs, the connexion, I would ear- 
 neftly put you in mind of, has the ftrong fup- 
 port of matter of fa6t. The times are awful. 
 Sirs ! and call for ferious thought. Chrillianity 
 has been fcorned without examination, and in 
 a levity of fpirit extremely unbecoming the 
 dignity of the fubjcdl. And as if the tide of 
 unbelief were not ftrong enough already in the 
 land, an author of the firft eftimation for 
 learning and talents has aided the caufe. Could 
 a perfon of my obfcurity hope to attrav5l the 
 attention of the Great, I would fay. Be ferious 
 for your fouls •, fearch the Scriptures ; examine 
 clofely the evidences of its truth -, and pray for 
 that Spirit which the Scriptures promifc to 
 thofe who petition the Almighty. 
 
 2. It muft have appeared to the mod fuper- 
 iicial reader, that the Golpei, in my view of 
 it, is quite a different thing from that which 
 it is apprehended to be by the major part of 
 thofe who call themfelves Chriftians. This, it 
 ought not to be difiembled, is really the cafe. 
 
 The 
 
( 249 ) 
 The do6lrines of Scripture were very early per* 
 verted ; and though a pure Church, in Tome 
 individuals, has ever been fuccefTively prefer- 
 ved, yet, on the whok", a darknefs, not radi- 
 cally better than that of Paganifm itfelf, fcems 
 to have prevailed, atter the perverfion once 
 took plarce, even till the sra of the Reforma- 
 tion. I am fenfible how obnoxious to the charcre 
 of fupereilious arrogance I am rendered by this 
 view of things. But, in truth, he v/ho ccnfcfles 
 himielf to be as vile and as ignorant as others 
 by nature, and to be indebteci to a very peculiar 
 Divine light and grace, if indeed he be now 
 different from them, has of all men the lead 
 right to be proud. And even the fufpicion of 
 arrogance he would gladly avoid, if the interell: 
 of truth and duty, and compaflion to fouls 
 would admit it. The candid reader will then 
 bear with the appearance of a dogmatical fpirit; 
 I hope it is not the reality. 
 
 The Reformation was one of the brighteft 
 periods of evangelical truth, and its happy re- 
 ligious and moral effe6ts were extremely pal- 
 pable in Protefbant countries. But let us mark 
 th^Jire crifis of its decline in England. 
 
 I i Beyond 
 
( 250 ) 
 
 Beyond all doubt much hypocrify and mucli 
 real enthufiafm prevailed during the civil con- 
 fufions of the laft century, though much real 
 piety prevailed alfo at the fame time. After 
 the Reftoration, fome leading men in the Eila- 
 blifhed Church endeavoured to correal thefe 
 evils. The method they took can'fcarce be 
 better explained than by one, who fo deeply 
 entered into their fcheme, that he owns he 
 learned the beft part of what he knew from 
 fome of them *. Speaking of one of them, 
 Whichcot, he fays, " Being difgufted with 
 " the dry fyftematical way of thofe times, he 
 ^' ftudied to raife thofe who coriverfed with him 
 " to a nobler fet of thoughts, arid to confider 
 *' religion as a feed of a deiform nature. In order 
 " to this, he {tt young ftudents much on rcad- 
 " ing the antient philofophers, chiefly Plato, 
 " Tully, Plotin •, and on confidering the Chri- 
 " ftian religion as a dodlrine fent from God, 
 " both to elevate and fweeten human nature." 
 So this fet of men at Cambridge ftudied to aflert 
 and examine the principles of religion and mo- 
 rality on clear grounds, and in a philofophical 
 method — the making out the reafons of things 
 being a main part of their ftudies. — But let the 
 reader fee the whole account in Burnet himfelf, 
 
 who 
 
 * Burnet's Hifiory of his Own Times, vol. i. p, 319. 
 
( 251 ) 
 
 who enters with evident pleafure into every part 
 of their fcheme. 
 
 Had thefe men, in attempting to corred cer- 
 tain abufes and errors, made ufe only of the 
 Scriptures, v/hich are certainly fufficient to per- 
 fect the man of God, and completely furmjh him 
 for every good work*^ they doubtlefs might have 
 found ample matter of rebuke for mere En- 
 thufialls, and of correftion for really good men, 
 who lliould have needed it : But, alas I in at- 
 tempting to cure the patient, they deftroyed 
 him. For is it fo indeed, that Scripture-truth 
 needs to be retouched and polifhed by Pao-an 
 philofophers ? 
 
 Were, the Platonifts the great enemies of 
 Chriflianity while living, and could the v/orks 
 they left behind them be ferviceable to it ? 
 Might not thefe rational Divines have learned 
 from the knowledge they had, or might have 
 had, from hiflory of the deadly oppofition of 
 Platonifm to the Gofpel, that it was impofTible 
 they fliould ever incorporate? and was no more 
 refpedt due to the infpired writings of St. Paul, 
 who exprefsly guards us againft the poifonous 
 gfteds of philofophy ? \ 
 
 I i 2 But 
 
 * a Tim. iii. 17. f Colof. ii. 8. i Tim. vi. ao, 21. 
 
( 252 ) 
 
 But they admlniftered the poifon, and poilc- 
 rlty feel the malignant efFed to this hour. 1% 
 has pleafcd God, in his infinite mercy, in various 
 local inflances, to revive among us the do6lrines 
 of the Reformation at this day. But in general 
 the Church of England has drooped, as to 
 every holy purpofe, ever fince this proud at- 
 tempt of employing reafon to corredl the Gofpel. 
 It furely is its own guard •, it difdains any other ^ 
 and if every part of it be impartially ftudied^ 
 one part will check and balance another. But 
 thefe men, by introducing heterogeneous mat- 
 ter, adulterated its very nature. It was no 
 peccadillo-, it was an error of the firft magni- 
 tude, and the confequences have fliewn it to be 
 fo. With diliicalty, a barren orthodoxy of 
 fentiment, with reference to the Trinity and the 
 Atonement, vv-as for a while preferved : But 
 the influence of the Holy Ghoft in regeneration 
 and fanclification, together with juililication 
 by faith in Chrift alone, and the Scripture-views 
 of the true charader of God and of fallen man^ 
 were foon deftroyed or debilitated among us. 
 All idea of feeling in religion, or of what St. 
 John calls fellow/hip with the Father and the Son'*^ 
 was ridiculed as Enthufiafm. The indolent, 
 part of the Clergy contented themfelves with a 
 
 ferviie 
 
 * I John i. 
 
( '^53 ) 
 fervile imitation of thefe admired models ; the 
 laborious and more enterprizing have made 
 bolder advances into the province of haughty 
 reafon. Many Difienters have caught the in- 
 fection, and, being lefs reftrained by fubfcrip- 
 tions, have openly avowed principles diredly 
 pppofite to the real Goipel. The fcience of 
 Ethics alone is left in repute ; Chridian my- 
 fleries are excluded as occult, or frivolous, or 
 falfe •, and the leaven of reafon * has fpread it- 
 felf through all Chriilianity, and threatens to 
 leave neither root nor branch. 
 
 What the precious truths of the Gofpel are, 
 which have been by this means corrupted amono- 
 us, has appeared for the moil part in the fore- 
 going ilieets, in which, if not the whole of Gof- 
 pel-truth, yet its leading features have been 
 defcribed. In a word, Philofophy and Chrifli. 
 anity will not, cannot be united. 
 
 The advantage hence given to Infidels is 
 evident. Scepticifm has prevailed abundantly: 
 How was it poflible that it fliould be otherwife ? 
 The defenders of Chriilianity underilood it not 
 
 themfelves -, 
 
 * The candid reader will eafily fee, that I mean by the 
 ■word reafon^ a ipirit of religious inveiHgaiion, which exerts 
 jtfelf independantly of revealed truth. 
 
( 254 ) 
 themfelves ; and while they ably defended tho 
 outworks, I mean its external evidences, they 
 betrayed its citadel to the enemy. And the 
 inward and bed proof of its truth deduced from 
 its peculiar nature, they could not fee, they 
 could not defend, while they reje6led, with ^ 
 f orn nothing lefs than Deiilical^ its diftinguilh- 
 ing peculiarities. 
 
 Pradlce has grown as corrupt as principle. 
 This mufi: be the cafe. The preaching of mo- 
 rality is not God's appointed way of making 
 mcrn holy in their lives. It has a place, an ex- 
 tremely necelTary place in doflrine to fuftain, 
 but not a prominent one. Chrift and him cruci- 
 fied is the chief Gofpel- theme. Who does not 
 fee what an increafe of wickednefs has prevailed 
 among us ! Look at the Clergy. I would be 
 t nder in fpeaking of my brethren-, but is there 
 not a loud call for it in charity ? That fermons 
 fr.ould be fold to them by a perfon advertifmg 
 in the news-papers *, is a flaming proof of the 
 ^ow ftate of their religious views and iludies. 
 
 With regard to the Univerfities J would be 
 fender alio ; but truth calls for a charitable 
 animadvcrfion. The negled of true theologi- 
 cal 
 
 *. Pr. Truflec. 
 
{ '^55 ) 
 
 cal knowledge among the fludents is palpable ♦ 
 and a general inlenfibility to divine things, is^ 
 I fear, too fadly prevalent in the Colleges, rhe 
 fervants of the Colleges, and the couniry 
 around them. 
 
 But to dwell on particular corruptions of the 
 times is needlels -, nor does Satn'e make any 
 part of my defign •, that we are a felfilh, pro- 
 fane, licentious people is evident. 'The whole 
 head is fick^ and the whole heart faint. I fhall 
 be happy, if any real light has been thrown 
 on the true caufe of it. Let me defire thofe 
 who may find themlelves concerned in thefe 
 animadverfions, particularly my brethren the 
 Clergy, to weigh in charity wnat has been in 
 charity advanced. And if they are at all con- 
 vinced of its truth, to apply themfelves, by 
 prayer and fcriptural inveiligation, to the at- 
 tainment of the knowledge of the real Gofpel, 
 the true and only cure of infidelity and immo- 
 rality, however ftrong, however inveterate. 
 
 3. Though this trad is not peculiarly de- 
 figned for the ufe of real believers, yet as it is 
 hoped the fubjects handled in it may not be 
 altogether unferviceable to them, let a cordial 
 word in the dole engage their attention. You 
 
 are 
 
( 256 ) 
 
 are fallen on evil days and evil tongues ; your 
 principles are to the laft degree unfafliionable. 
 On that account hold them fall, and maintain 
 and confefs them before the world as freely and 
 as tenacioufly, as the world adhere to their 
 maxims and cuftoms. I do not mean that you 
 Ihould be noify, oftentatious difputants ^ it is 
 worth no man's while to contend vehemently 
 for opinions merely as fuch : But, oh ! contend 
 earneftly for the faith zvhich was once delivered to 
 the Saints^ by an hearty exercife of it in all 
 your condudl. Give no way to any conciliatory 
 fchemes, which vainly attempt to unite the 
 interefts of God and Mammon. The felf-know- 
 ledge which you have, bears witnefs to the 
 concurrent teftimony of Scripture, that reafon, 
 the more decent and plaufiblc part of man, is 
 as much alienated from God as the palTions. 
 Cherifli, by conilant prayer and inward com- 
 munion with God, the Divine Life which you 
 have received, and fupport it by faith, not- 
 withftanding all the noife which men, ignorant 
 of Divine Truth, may make concerning en- 
 thufiafm and iicencioufnefs, and all the wife 
 caution of luke-warm profeiTors. The pecu- 
 liar truths of the Gofpel are not merely matters 
 of expedience and of preference to other forts of 
 religious views ; they are your very Life, and 
 
 that 
 
( ^57 ) 
 tiiat holinefs, without which no man Jhall fee the 
 Lord, and which is the ultimate end of all your 
 religion, can have neither fubfiilence nor 
 growth without them. And be not feduced 
 from the truth as it is in Jefus, by the falls of 
 many falfe profeflbrs : Be affured, that though 
 many who profefs the Gofpel difgrace it alto- 
 gether by their pradice, yet that there is, 
 however, no other way than that of the ge- 
 nuine Gofpel^ which leads to real virtue. Men 
 may deceive themfelves with a falfe faith, and 
 the fruits may awfully prove it -, but ftill the 
 true faith is abfolutely neceflary for the pro- 
 duction of the lead degree of real holinefs. A 
 life of faith in the Son of God is as necelTary 
 for holinefs here, as it is for glory hereafter. 
 We have feen what difmal confequences flowed 
 from the vain attempts of thofe who, in the laft 
 century, endeavoured to corredl religious abufes 
 by the light of nature, reafon, and common 
 fenfe. Thefe Ihould be taught to know their 
 proper fphere, the affairs of human life, and to 
 move cautioufiy within it ^ it is not at all 
 their province to amend what is wrong in the 
 relic^ious world. Errors and abufes will in this 
 imperfed ftate of things be arifing from time 
 to time > the pmtmiical age was not fingular 
 
 K k i^ 
 
in this rerpe<5t ; and even good men may, in i 
 certain degree, be infected with thefe evils. 
 The temptation is very ftrong in fuch cafes to 
 have recourfe to rational expedients of correc- 
 tion ', and the mind, before it is aware, contrails 
 a fecret, but powerful contempt of the fimpli- 
 city of Gofpel-faith, as if that had either 
 broup-ht on the evils, or was too weak to coun- 
 teracb them : But remember, that not the ex- 
 cefs, but the defedl of faith is ever the caufe of 
 a religious decline of all forts and degrees. 
 Apply yourfelves to Jefus for the promifed 
 Spirit, do every thing in unreferved dependance 
 on him •, and if that courfe do not effedlually 
 fandify your fouls, then fay Chrift is dead in 
 vain, and your faith is alfo vain. But it is not 
 a merely fyftematical faith, to the efficacy of 
 which fuch great things are to be afcribed j but 
 to a cordial dependance on your Divine Saviour^^ 
 cherifhed by conftant prayer, and clofe walking 
 with God in the way of his commandments. 
 
 Nor do I mean to difcountenance the culti- 
 vation of the rational faculties. God forbid ; 
 they are his gift ; and if the improvements of 
 them be fanctified by grace, they anfwer many 
 valuable purpofes, which need not be here re- 
 counted r 
 
( ^59 ) 
 
 counted : I only mean to exclude them from 
 the province of dic^tating in religion. Chrifti- 
 anity is from heaven, and is not underftood, 
 exercifed, and pradiced, but by 2ifpmtual un- 
 derfianding^^ far fu peri or to that which is mere- 
 ly rational. Nor v/ould T be underllood to dif- 
 countenance the ftudy of the antient Claflicy 
 and Philofophers by any thing I have faid : %/ 
 only mean to exclude them wholly from the 
 office of teaching religion. The ftudy of them 
 anfwers many important purpofes ^ while manly 
 fenfe and good tafte fhall be at all refpcdled 
 among men, they will be efteemed as excellent 
 models of both. But this ig an age of diffipa- 
 tion and floth ; and it fureiy adds not to our 
 virtue, that the antients are held in fuch fove- 
 reign contempt. I wifh the knowledge of them 
 was more deep and more general amono- real 
 Minifters of the Gofpel than it is. St. Paul 
 feems, by fome Scripture-hints, to have made a 
 profitable ufe of his human learning, as Mofes 
 before him no doubt converted the wifdom of 
 Esypt, which he had ftudioufly learned, to the 
 fervice of the Church. The Reformers made 
 a glorious ufe of their fecular knowledge in the 
 fame way as St. Auftin had done before them. 
 
 K k 2 And 
 
 \ GoloiT. i. 9,^ 
 
( 26o ) 
 
 And the really learned and excellent Dr. Owen 
 in later times did the fame. 
 
 9 
 
 It will be well if the fafhionable, and even af- 
 fected contempt of antient learning, which has 
 infedted even godly men, arife not in them more 
 from floth than from fpirituality. Man was not 
 fhade to be idle. Minifters of the Gofpel fhould 
 lead of all be fo., A lively and clofe atten- 
 dance to every branch of duty, in connexion 
 with that bed jewel of life, inward communion 
 with Jefus^ is not incompatible with fome de- 
 gree of fecular (ludy. Sure I am, that prayer 
 and human learning are better companions than 
 prayer and that fauntering, gofliping fpirit, 
 which fo much difgraces the practice, devours 
 the time, and vitiates the imagination of m.any, 
 of fome even good men, who have not from 
 youth been habituated to clofe thinking. The 
 Bible, and books written in the fpirit of the 
 Bible, muft ever claim by far the principal 
 part of the attention of ftudious men, wiio 
 mean to glorify God by all their ftudies. Per- 
 haps the learned antients deferve the next place; 
 I I am confident the light reading of modern 
 pamphlets does not. We feem to embrace the 
 \ iTiaxim as true, a great hook is a great eviL But 
 / notwith- 
 
t 
 
 ( 261 ) 
 
 notwithftanding the contrary current of the 
 times, I am free to fay, that if thofe who love 
 reading employed themfelves more in feverer, 
 more voluminous, and of courfe more antient 
 authors, they would find their time and trouble 
 to be better repaid. Were the antient Philo- 
 fophers in particular more known amonp- Mi- 
 niflers, they would be far better enabled to de- 
 fend the truths of God againil learned Infide^ 
 lity, and to evince the importance of revelation 
 than at prefent they are. 
 
 But a Chriflian owes various duties to fociety. 
 To pray for our nation ; to figh before God for 
 its abominations ; to ftudy to do all pofTible 
 good to the fouls and bodies of men ; to de- 
 mean himfelf as a loyal fubje^l, and as a peace- 
 able citizen, and even to return good for evil, 
 thefe are his ornaments • thus it is that his light 
 Ihould Ihine before men. If he is ill treated on 
 account of his faith and piety, patience and 
 meeknefs are his arms. ^' God himfelf," as St. 
 Cyprian fublimely obferves in his excellent 
 Treatife on Patience, " is not yet avenged for all 
 the infults he has received from his creatures." 
 His creatures Ihould wait with him for the re- 
 tribution of the laft day. That, O Chriflian, 
 
 is 
 
j| 262 ) ♦ 
 
 is thy day of triumph, referve thyfelf for this, 
 hj patient continuance in well-doing', always main- 
 taining thy intereft in Jefus by faith, till the 
 myftery of God lliall be finiihed-, then thy 
 eternal day of reft Ihall commence, and God 
 (hall wipe away all tears from thy eyes. 
 
 E I N I s, I 
 

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